Arteta makes plans for Victor Osimhen

Arsenal have begun the signing process to bring Victor Osimhen to the Emirates Stadium. I understand that a £62 million fee has been agreed. Arsenal need a striker; and in their previous two games, they had taken 33 shots at goal with only three on target. Mikel Arteta put Mikel Merino upfront against Leicester and […]

Arsenal have begun the signing process to bring Victor Osimhen to the Emirates Stadium. I understand that a £62 million fee has been agreed.

Arsenal need a striker; and in their previous two games, they had taken 33 shots at goal with only three on target. Mikel Arteta put Mikel Merino upfront against Leicester and it paid off, but he knows that is not a permanent solution.

Osimhen is much sought after by several top European clubs, including Chelsea and Manchester United despite playing on loan at Galatasaray in Turkey. He has scored 96 goals in 160 games.

Arsenal have told his parent club, Napoli that they will pay his release clause of £70 million. Word is that Benjamin Sesko is also back in play after deciding to stay in Germany last summer.

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Arteta’s plan is to put Osimhen into attack, which will release Kai Havertz to play as attacking midfielder rather than using him as the main striker, where he is not entirely comfortable.

 

Eight seconds for goalkeepers to release the ball

If a team is losing or drawing and the opposition goalkeeper makes a save and holds the ball for a long period, it angers coaches and supporters who are powerless to intervene. To combat this, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) has passed a rule, which takes effect on July 1 and goalkeepers will be allowed only eight seconds from when they take possession of the ball until they release it up-field.

It is all part of new plans to cut out time wasting. If a goalkeeper breaks the rule, the opposition will be awarded a corner kick.

Chelsea and Manchester City are playing in the Club World Cup this year and we will be able to see how Ederson, Stefan Ortega, Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen would handle the situation.

 

Newcastle lose two stars for the Carabao Cup final

Newcastle coach, Eddie Howe held his head in his hands after revealing that 20 year-old defender, Lewis Hall’s foot injury is worse than first thought. The medical team said he would need surgery and could not play again this season. The left-back has been a stand-out performer for the Magpies, but he suffered the injury during the Premier League defeat by Liverpool in February. The news follows confirmation that Newcastle will also play in the Carabao Cup final against Liverpool without Anthony Gordon, who was sent off during last weekend’s FA Cup defeat to Brighton.

 

Mateta horror injury row continues

The row of words over Millwall’s Liam Robert’s FA Cup horrendous tackle and Jean-Philippe Mateta’s injury has continued furiously this week. Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said, “The most reckless challenge on a football pitch I have ever seen.”

The experienced goalkeeper, who is 30 years old, found himself the hottest topic in football this week for all the wrong reasons. Roberts will probably get a long ban, but from the goalkeeper’s point of view, he had to make the save however. His decision that he had to win the ball at all costs was caused entirely by making the wrong move at the time. Why the referee needed to rely on the VAR monitor after being told to review the tackle, only him knows. Initially, he did not even blow up for a foul. It has not been explained why the referee did not see the tackle, the main focus of play at that moment, and it should have been an instant red card. It is another example of referees using the VAR as a backup to mask their poor performances or to save them from criticism when making a mistake.

Millwall officials said there was no malice in the challenge and Roberts did not mean to harm the striker, but he should never have been outside of the box and misjudging the flight of the ball.

Mateta suffered a bad cut behind his ear, a broken nose and needed 25 stitches when taken to hospital.

Millwall are known for tough tactics, tough un-giving supporters and it is a tough area of London, but the display of ugly chanting aimed at Mateta was disgraceful.

 

Fernandes is the strongest card in Amorin’s pack

The main player in Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United team has to be Bruno Fernandes. I watched him in training a few days ago and was astonished how much effort he puts into every session, which in turn he converts to goals and assists and great defensive work up and down the pitch on match-days.

Fernandes would be an asset to any team. And whereas we criticise other United players for lack of effort, showing no willingness to work for the team and boasting of huge egos, one could never throw those kind of accusations at Bruno.

When I watched his contributions in the win against Ipswich, he was knocked to the floor by an Axel Tuanzebe shot and did not look capable of leading a counterattack.

He displayed a surge of energy, and seconds later, he was bursting down the wing, powered into the Ipswich penalty area and put in a low cross for Noussair Mazraoui, which narrowly missed.

The Tractor Boys then led their own counter attack and there was Bruno charging back into defence to foil a possible goal.

Fernandes was the architect of a free kick, which led to Ipswich captain, Sam Morsy scoring an own goal, his corner then led to a scrambled second goal, and finally, his corner kick gave Harry Maguire the opportunity to head home the winner.                

 

Cole Palmer is happy and will come back to score

Chelsea boss, Enzo Maresca says he is not concerned with Cole Palmer’s lack of form, and he will bounce back quickly.

Palmer has not made a Premier League assist since the Blue’s victory over Aston Villa at the start of the season. His last goal for Chelsea came on January 14 against Bournemouth and is goalless in six games till date.

Maresca however said, “Cole Palmer is a human being; and all human beings, all big players, all normal players, all the people at the big clubs, all big managers, we go through a bad moment or moments where we struggle. At this moment you react; and he is reacting perfectly. He is laughing, he is happy. He has to enjoy football; and for sure, we don’t have any doubt that he is going to score more goals.

Cole is a player I have known a long time. I know him from five or six years ago at Manchester City and I have said many times that he is a top player and top guy because he enjoys football and is very happy.”

 

Timo facing the door

Time is ticking for Timo Werner as Tottenham have decided not to take up their £8.5 million option to buy him this summer following his loan period from RB Leipzig. The German striker was originally signed on a six-month deal and this was extended for a season, but he has scored only one goal in 27 appearances this year. He returned to the side on Wednesday last week after recovering from a hamstring injury.

American MLS side, New York City, have shown interest in signing him. Tottenham boss, Ange Postecoglou, has plans to refresh his players with reinforcements to his forward line at the end of the current campaign.