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Leeds United fans on Twitter aren’t pleased by the club’s decision to sell Aapo Halme after he joined Barnsley for an undisclosed fee

The 21-year-old is the third promising young defender to leave Elland Road this summer after Paudie O’Connor joined Bradford and Hugo Diaz was released.

Despite these sales, the Yorkshire outfit won’t be short at centre-back as Pontus Jansson, Liam Cooper , Gaetano Berardi and Ben White are all senior players who can operate in that role.

The Finnish defender made four league appearances for the Whites last term and Bielsa’s side conceded just one goal during those games.

He also played in Leeds’ 2-1 FA Cup loss to QPR where he scored the only goal for the away side that day.

The 21-year-ols has now left the club though, and fans are far from happy with this development.

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Here’s what the Elland Road faithful have been saying on Twitter…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur’s move for Real Madrid midfielder Dani Ceballos is in doubt, per Marca.

What’s the word?

The Spain youth international, who helped the Under-21 side to glory at the European Championships this summer, has long been linked with a move to north London.

Indeed, Football FanCast sources reported earlier this month that the two parties were in talks over a deal that would see the midfielder move on loan; Spurs, though, wanted to include a purchase option of £45m next summer.

Marca, though, reports that Real were impressed with Ceballos’ outings at the Under-21 Championships and believe he can become a key player at Santiago Bernabeu.

Indeed, Marca claims that Los Blancos had initially hoped to move the former Real Betis man on in order to make room for the acquisition of either Paul Pogba or Christian Eriksen from Manchester United and Spurs respectively.

However, their move for Pogba continues to drag and Real are now considering keeping Ceballos; Spurs and AC Milan are nevertheless said to have spoken with the player regarding a possible move.

Time to move on

The transfer saga involving Spurs and Ceballos has dragged on and on and we are now in the final month of the window.

Indeed, Spurs have only signed Tanguy Ndombele and Jack Clarke this summer and they would be well advised to move on from the midfielder.

His future appears to be interlinked with both Pogba’s and Eriksen’s, meaning that the club cannot directly influence their pursuit of him.

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Spurs have also been linked with Giovani Lo Celso and Leeds United’s Kalvin Phillips and it makes sense for the club to turn their attention towards that duo.

It does not seem like there will be a decision over Ceballos’ future anytime soon and Spurs still need to strengthen their midfield ranks as they look to add further depth to their squad.

They cannot afford to wait any longer.

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In terms of opening day fixtures, it doesn’t get much more exciting than Manchester United versus Chelsea at Old Trafford – the game, which kicks off at 16:30 BST on Sunday 11th August, will see both Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard begin their first full seasons as United and Blues managers respectively.

The top-four rivals last met on 28th April, when a Marcos Alonso goal cancelled out Juan Mata’s early opener to ensure both sides shared the spoils. Thereafter would follow two disappointing results against Huddersfield and Cardiff which saw the Red Devils crash out of the Champions League race.

Solskjaer will be hoping for a resurgent start to the 2019/20 campaign similar to that which saw his side go 12 games unbeaten after he took over from Jose Mourinho in December, although the side could have a very different look and feel to it this time around.

Having already secured the signings of Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka, the Old Trafford outfit have injected both youth and pace into the side, while also adding crucial strength in depth in key areas. There are plenty of ways in which the ‘baby-faced assassin’ could line up his United side come August.

Below, we’ve outlined five potential XIs that could be fielded by United on the opening weekend.

[snack_break title=”Dream XI”]

United’s global appeal means that they are usually linked with every high-profile name under the sun when the transfer window rolls around and while some of these rumours are completely unrealistic, there are some potential additions that would be perfect.

Leicester’s Harry Maguire could join United for a £90m fee and the England international offers exactly what Solskjaer is looking for from his central defenders – he can stroll out from the back line and find a teammate with ease, as evidenced by his 86.1% passing accuracy, while also being stoic in defence.

The departures of Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini have left United light in the middle of the park and the addition of Bruno Fernandes would give the Red Devils a truly world-class creative hub – imagine Paul Pogba and the Portuguese pulling the strings. The Sporting Lisbon captain chalked up a stellar 20 goals and 13 assists from midfield last term and, at 24 years old, still has plenty of room to get even better.

[snack_break title=”Nightmare XI”]

The aforementioned Pogba has proved a difficult player to manage and has been linked with a move away this summer. The dynamic number 6 is unplayable on his day and it would be a major loss to United if he were to find a way through the exit door before Chelsea visit next month.

Should United’s swoop for Maguire fall through, it’s possible that Red Devils fans could see either or both of Phil Jones and Chris Smalling in defence again, while the extension of Ashley Young’s contract suggests that Solskjaer sees a use for the former Aston Villa man in 2019/20.

Meanwhile, the combination of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez offers Solskjaer far less mobility up front than the likes of Rashford or Anthony Martial – this team could get ripped apart.

[snack_break title=”Progressive XI”]

The additions of James, 21, and Wan-Bissaka, 21, indicate that Solskjaer is keen to stray as far away from his predecessor’s transfer policy as possible – Jose Mourinho was usually more preoccupied with signing ready-made stars like Pogba and Nemanja Matic.

Former Swansea man James has already impressed with his athleticism in pre-season and was voted man of the match as he made his debut in the victory over Perth Glory – if he keeps it up, there’s no reason as to why he can’t oust Martial from the starting XI and thus make the left-wing spot his own.

Academy talent James Garner has been likened to Michael Carrick and is adept at dictating play from deep – perhaps he’s the perfect player to complement Pogba’s dynamism in the middle – while Mason Greenwood’s instinctive goal against Leeds on Wednesday suggested that he’s also ready to get an extended run in the first team.

[snack_break title=”Attacking XI”]

If Solskjaer wants to get at United’s visitors on opening day, then this is the XI he should be looking to start. Leaving out impressive new boy Wan-Bissaka is a contentious decision but the threat Diogo Dalot offers in the final third is what makes this approach appealing. The former Porto man completed a solid 1.1 key passes per game last term, whereas Wan-Bissaka managed just 0.4.

Up front, the electric combination of Martial and Rashford offers Solskjaer plenty of fluidity, while the deployment of Juan Mata at No. 10 means United have a player capable of picking out their striking duo’s runs. The inclusion of Pogba is non-negotiable, while pairing the World-Cup-winner with box-to-box Scott McTominay and holding midfielder Nemanja Matic gives United the balance in midfield.

[snack_break title=”Defensive XI”]

Starting former Palace man Wan-Bissaka at right-back ahead of Dalot means that United’s right side is basically on lock down – the number 29 completed an astonishing 3.7 tackles and 2.4 interceptions per game last term, while also being dribbled past just 0.3 times per game, according to WhoScored. There remains a place in the starting XI for Dalot, though, with the 20-year-old’s ability on the ball making him a decent option further forward while adding an extra layer of defensive protection.

The core of midfield remains the same, although Jesse Lingard should get the nod over former Blues man Mata – the England international completed 1.1 tackles per game in 2018/19 and can get stuck in when necessary, whereas the Spaniard managed just 0.4, according to WhoScored.

Rashford, meanwhile, offers threat in behind on the counter-attack and Chris Smalling gives pure physicality to the defence alongside Victor Lindelof.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Shkodran Mustafi’s Arsenal career has been plagued with horrific mistakes and embarrassing gaffes, and he has become the source of several memes on social media for his apparent ineptitude in defending. But, this summer has felt oddly different. It no longer feels like a running joke. It feels like the bitter end of a long drawn-out story.

The German World Cup winner has been the subject of heavy criticism from fans and pundits alike, and most of it has been fairly understandable. The centre-back’s highlight reel of bloopers are worthy of making its way onto ‘You’ve Been Framed’, and it’s a rather fine effort on the part of the 27-year-old that he continues to think of new ways of shooting himself in the foot.

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But, his mistake against Crystal Palace back in April, when he allowed Wilfried Zaha to ghost through to fire home, felt like an oddly cathartic moment. No longer was the defender’s error simply one for people to throw their hands in the air and jokingly declare ‘oh there goes Shkodran again’. It felt like things had reached the point of no return. He had cost the club a chance at Champions League football.

And if Mustafi had harboured hopes that a summer away from the limelight would help see Gunners fans forget all about it and start with a fresh slate, then he was sadly mistaken.

The German was roundly booed by Arsenal’s contingent of American fans on the pre-season tour of the USA, whilst he received a similarly cold welcome when the north London side entertained Lyon at the Emirates on Sunday. The announcer’s call of Mustafi’s introduction in the second-half was met with widespread groans and boos, and whether you like him or not, it was certainly sad to see.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

Indeed, reports earlier this summer had suggested that Unai Emery had decided enough was enough with his bungling defender, but the 27-year-old still remains on the Gunners’ books with less than a month to go in the transfer window, and due to the fact that no new defender has come in for this campaign, the German may well have fancied his chances of having one last shot.

But after seeing and hearing the north London side’s fan base turn so unequivocally against one of their own this pre-season, we are surely entering the final chapter of Mustafi’s Arsenal career once and for all, the one titled ‘the end’.

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Once again, the footballing world has thrown up plenty of interesting stories over the past five days. There have been new signings, shocking incidents, disappointing debuts and much more. In this gallery, we take a look at 10 of the biggest stories from world football from this week…

In one of the most shocking pieces of news from the week, Mesut Ozil and Sead Kolosinac were attacked by a gang in an attempted carjacking on Thursday. Social media footage showed the assailants, one of whom was armed with a knife, eventually being chased off by the Bosnia international. Fortunately, both of the players escaped unscathed from the incident which took place in London on Platts Lane, near Golders Green.

Daniele De Rossi has been a part of the furniture at AS Roma for the past 18 years, but his time at the Stadio Olimpico has now come to an end. The former Italy international has completed a move to Argentinian side Boca Juniors on a free transfer. The 36-year-old said upon signing, “I still want to play football, it would be unjust to me if I decide to stop now.”

Last summer, Nabil Fekir was incredibly close to a move to Liverpool before the deal spectacularly fell through. Fast forward a year, and the France international has completed a move to Real Betis instead. The La Liga club have paid £17.7m to Lyon for the 26-year-old, who scored 69 goals and provided 46 assists in 193 games for Les Gones. He was also a part of the France squad that won the World Cup in Russia 12 months ago.

This season could have been a big year for Marco Asensio, but unfortunately for him it may have ended before it has even begun. The 23-year-old is expected to miss nine months of football after rupturing his external meniscus in a pre-season friendly against Arsenal. Many people have blamed the pitch at the FedExField, which has the highest injury rate in the NFL, for the incident.

Almost out of nowhere, Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with Argentina international Paulo Dybala. Spurs are even said to have made a bid of €50m (£44.9m) to Juventus for him, although that was quickly dismissed by the Old Lady. And now, the forward is considering his future at the Serie A club according to Sky Sport Italia (via Sky Sports). It remains to be seen whether Mauricio Pochettino and co can take him to North London.

Mike Ashley putting his hand into his pocket at all is enough to make the headlines, so the fact he has broken Newcastle’s transfer record comes as big news. The Toon have signed Joelinton from Hoffenheim for £40m, with the 22-year-old Brazilian signing a six-year deal with the North-East club. Steve Bruce will be hoping the attacker can improve on the 11 goals he netted last season.

Real Madrid had been in talks with Tottenham in regards to Dani Ceballos, but it is Arsenal who have signed the midfielder. The 22-year-old has joined the Gunners for the 2019/20 season on loan. The deal does not include a purchase option, with the Spain international expected to return to the Santiago Bernabeu once the spell in London comes to an end.

Nicolas Pepe is a man in demand after an impressive season for Lille which saw him score 23 goals. It is being reported by L’Equipe that four clubs have matched the French club’s €80m (£71.8m) valuation of the Ivory Coast international. Arsenal and Liverpool are two of the sides mentioned, whilst Internazionale and Napoli have also offered the full amount. The latter appear to be in pole position after the 24-year-old’s representatives met with the Serie A team.

Matthijs de Ligt was linked with half of Europe before finally signing for Juventus from Ajax. However, his Juve career could have started better than what he experienced in his first game for the club against Internazionale in pre-season. Just 10 minutes into his debut, the 19-year-old scored an own goal to put Inter 1-0 ahead. Fortunately for the Netherlands international, Cristiano Ronaldo was on hand to equalise soon after. The only way is up from here for the centre-back.

Whilst Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli may be edging closer to a deal for Nicolas Pepe, they ended up making one signing this week. The Serie A club have captured Eljif Elmas from Fenerbahce, with the length of the deal as of yet unknown. The 19-year-old made 47 appearances for Fener during his time there and he is also an 11-time North Macedonia international.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

Wolves have enjoyed a tremendous start to the new campaign, achieving victory in their first European contest for nearly 40 years with two wins over Crusaders.

Nuno Santo’s men will be buoyed by that and the fact they’ve added two fine players to their squad in the transfer window.

Jesus Vallejo has arrived on loan from Real Madrid whilst they also brought Patrick Cutrone through the door from AC Milan for £16m.

Yet another player who could well join is the experienced Sami Khedira. Capped 77 times by Germany, the World Cup winner was linked with Wolves during the week.

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That’s per Sky Italia, via Football Italia, who suggest Juventus’ Sporting Director Fabio Paratici has met with the Midlands club.

But what exactly could he bring barring a wealth of experience?

Well, considering Khedira has spent the majority of his career playing further back and deeper in midfield, he could bring a goal threat from central areas.

In 2017/18, he netted nine times but last season only added two. That being said, he has only played ten Serie A matches over the past year.

However, Understat demonstrates that he offers something that other Wolves midfielders struggle to offer.

Last season, he had 12 shots from open play, two more than Leander Dendoncker, as the German managed ten of those from inside the penalty box.

The Belgian, however, only had eight inside the 12-yard area.

An example of where Khedira can influence the game via his shots can be seen below.

Understat shows that he likes to get forward and arrive late in the penalty area, boasting a record of 2.12 shots per game with an expected goals rate of 2.70.

If we compare that to Ruben Neves, he had just two shots inside the box, both of which happened to be penalties.

Meanwhile, Joao Moutinho also failed to get into the penalty area on a regular basis. He also managed just two attempts in that area of the pitch.

Signing Khedira, therefore, could be extremely beneficial for Wolves who could gain a rather unexpected goal threat by landing the 32-year-old.

In matches where they struggle to break teams down, this could be key.

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The latest BT Sport Team of the Week has been announced, and the Rangers supporters think there are some glaring omissions.

After their 6-1 demolition of Hibs, pundits Darrell Currie and Chris Sutton named three Gers stars in their side, with Jordan Jones, Jermain Defoe and Ryan Jack making it in.

Despite three of their players making the cut, the Ibrox faithful aren’t happy, and not just because some of their own stars didn’t get in.

Some Gers fans would’ve liked to have seen Hibs goalkeeper Ofir Marciano picked, despite conceding six, as he did make countless saves to keep the score down.

Another Hibs player some have called to have instated is Scott Allan. Tounge is firmly in cheek here as the ex-Celtic man caught the eye with a wonderful assist, and some Gers fans didn’t like that it received as much attention as the result itself.

The failure to include Steve Davis is another issue that’s got the Rangers supporters annoyed on Twitter…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Dinamo Zagreb have pipped Celtic to the signing of creative midfielder Luka Ivanusec, per The Scottish Sun, but it could work out in their favour.

What’s the story?

Lokomotiv Zagreb wonderkid Ivanusec opted to remain in the city rather than make the switch to Neil Lennon’s men or Olympiakos, per the report.

It’s thought that the Celts were prepared to pay a total of £4.75m for the 20-year-old in instalments, but Dinamo’s willingness to pay a full £2.75m fee upfront swung proceedings in favour of the Croatian champions.

A Celtic fan has claimed Celtic won’t just join the EPL in the near future but they’ll make the Top 4 as well! Watch the controversial video below…

The youngster impressed in the Croatian top-flight last season for Lokomotiv, setting up five goals and scoring six in his 34 appearances. He has started this season in even more scintillating fashion, scoring once and assisting two more in what could be his final three appearances for the club.

The attacking midfielder would’ve joined the likes of Ryan Christie, Olivier Ntcham, Tom Rogic and Mikey Johnston at Parkhead in vying for a starting role under Lennon.

A blow or a blessing?

The news comes in what has been a bad week for the club. Fan unrest is at its highest point in a long time thanks to the defeat to Cluj and the inefficient transfer window thus far. It may not have been the most pivotal transfer of the window, but fighting off Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos for an exciting 20 year-old might’ve helped ease some fans’ worries.

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It also shows where the club are in the European football pecking order. It wasn’t that long ago that Celtic were signing one of Dinamo Zagreb’s better players in Jozo Simunovic, so to be losing out to them now is perhaps a sign that without Champions League football the Bhoys’ appeal is greatly reduced.

While it’s not certain how interested Lennon was in the player, it’s not a great reflection on the club, who could do with a few statement signings to silence to their doubters.

However, the failed pursuit could turn out to be a blessing, and is of particular benefit to someone like Ntcham.

Signing another creative midfielder would’ve stymied his time on the park after a poor season last term, ruining absolutely any chance he has of getting back to his previous form.

The Frenchman has also been linked with a move away from the club, and one could deduce that he is more likely to stay in Glasgow after missing out on Ivanusec, and a player who has proven he can perform for the club before is surely a safer bet than a 20 year-old unknown quantity.

So, while it’s frustrating to see the club lose out on another ‘target’, it shouldn’t add to the doom and gloom at Parkhead, and could in fact be a blessing in disguise if it means Ntcham stays and puts in some of the displays we saw from him in the 2017/18 campaign.

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The Champions League draw is now officially behind us and all the top teams in Europe have gotten their groups and know their opponents for the upcoming campaign.

Obviously, some got a tougher draw and some were luckier than most and managed to maybe get more favourable opposition.

And then there’s always that one particular group that leaves everyone stunned; the famous “group of death”. We get that kind of a group almost every year and in general, that term is used to describe a group in which basically every team can beat the other because there’s no clear favourite.

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Many Barcelona fans feel that the Catalans are in that very group this year as they were drafted with Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan and Slavia Prague.

Others were not as dramatic but the general feeling appears to be a rather negative one and some fans seem to think that it will be tough to even exit the group in the first place.

You can see some of their reactions in the tweets below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

When your left-back features in the top two for assists and top five for goals last season, you know there may be a slight issue with your team. Lucas Digne enjoyed a marvellous campaign for Everton following his arrival from Barcelona, but Marco Silva’s side seemed to really lean on the defender to deliver the goods going forward.

The France international appears to be a dead-ball specialist, taking corners and free-kicks for the Toffees whenever Gylfi Sigurdsson doesn’t. But it’s the side’s reliance on the left-back to be their main attacking outlet in open play, that is threatening to really back-fire on them.

Following a defeat to newly-promoted Aston Villa on Friday night, Everton find themselves with just one goal to their name in their opening three Premier League games of the season. One of the big worries for Silva has to be that he has picked line-ups that contain some of his most destructive offensive players in Richarlison, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Bernard, and seen little reward.

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All three had an uneventful game against Dean Smith’s side, and the responsibility of creating chances was almost exclusively shunted towards Digne on the left-hand side. The full-back put in game-highs of eight crosses into the box and four key passes, and saw none of them converted.

If the Toffees continue to use the former PSG star as their chief architect, opposition teams will simply get their wingers to double-back and provide support for the full-back. It was startling to see how Silva’s men looked lost with the ball in central areas, and time and time again shifted the ball to the 26-year-old even where there was no room to cross.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Whilst their defensive record has been impressive, their ability to find goal-creating options from elsewhere will be the main source of concern for Silva.

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