Month: January 2025

LONDON: Liverpool manager Arne Slot has urged Mohamed Salah to sign a new contract with the club despite receiving a lucrative offer to move to Saudi Arabia. tempted by a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia.

Salah’s contract, which is currently at its peak, will expire next June.

Speculation about the future of the Egyptian international is increasingly heated, with the Saudi Pro League seen as one of the preferred destinations for him to continue his career.

In an interview aired on Piers Morgan’s YouTube channel Uncensored on Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal admitted they were interested in signing Salah if the player met all the criteria they were looking for.

“Of course, if he meets all the criteria, we would be very honored to have him,” Prince Abdulaziz said.

“We feel we share a lot in common with the Egyptians, from culture to history.”

At 32, Salah leads the Premier League’s top scorers chart with 19 goals this season, but in a statement in December, he said he was still a long way from reaching an agreement on a new contract with Liverpool.

Slot, said the club intends to keep Salah and hopes the player will choose to extend his contract.

“We want him to stay with us, that’s clear. But I wouldn’t be surprised if other countries, including Saudi Arabia, are interested in him,” said Slot in a press conference ahead of the match against Bournemouth, today.

“He is quite wise and experienced in making decisions for his future, and I am sure he will make the best decision, not only for himself but also for us.”

In addition to Salah, two other key Liverpool players, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, are also out of contract at the end of the season, adding to concerns over the team’s future.

Slot, however, declined to comment further on contract negotiations, but stressed that discussions about the future of his players were being taken seriously.

MANCHESTER, England: Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes said fans of the club should not relax their hopes even if the Red Devils struggle this season, especially at Old Trafford.

Fernandes rescued his team with an injury-time winner to beat Rangers 2-1 earlier this morning and move closer to automatic qualification for the last 16 of the Europa League.

United have lost four of their last five games at home, leading manager Ruben Amorim to declare the team the “worst” in the club’s history.

“At this club, you need to win every game, you know if you don’t win a game here it will be difficult, there will be difficult moments,” Fernandes told TNT Sports.

“This is a big club that usually wins matches. I hope our supporters never get used to losing matches, even though this is a difficult experience. I want them to feel that this team needs to win every match.”

One point on Romanian club FCSB next week should be enough to finish in the top eight of the Europa League for United and avoid playoff action.

Amorim was pushed to qualify automatically for the last 16 to give him more time on the training pitch to implement his ideas.

Fernandes has big dreams as he aims to win that match in Bilbao next May.

“Today it was important to win because we want to qualify for the Europa League, we want to qualify for the final,” he said.

“We want to be in the top eight so we can avoid playing two extra games.”

MANCHESTER: Real Betis are in the process of reaching an agreement with Manchester United for a loan move for Antony.

The Brazilian has never started for United in the Premier League this season, but has often been brought on as a substitute by Ruben Amorim.

The deal with Betis is expected to become a reality with United ready to cover part of Antony’s salary which reaches 200,000 pounds per week.

The loan will expire in June 2025 without an option to purchase.

Earlier this month, Olympiacos also expressed interest in loaning the winger, but Antony did not want to play for the Greek club.

Erik ten Hag made Antony, his former player at Ajax, one of his main purchases at Old Trafford in 2022, but it has not panned out as expected.

In seven Premier League appearances this season, he has played just 129 minutes and scored one goal in all competitions – a penalty in a League Cup tie against Barnsley.

He has not scored a league goal since April 2024. In 95 appearances, Antony has only scored 12 goals.

LONDON: Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said his team showed improvement after beating Arsenal on penalties in the third round of the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium.

United fans have often been fooled by the team’s false revival over the past few seasons under the management of Erik ten Hag and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Amorim seems to be following in the footsteps of his previous manager when three matches without defeat were followed by a series of disappointing results – except for the win over Manchester City.

However, after managing to perform differently when tying Premier League leaders Liverpool last weekend, United continued to be consistent by beating Arsenal to maintain their mission of defending the FA Cup title.

Amorim said he was happy with the improvement his team showed compared to the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Arsenal in league action last month, with both goals coming from set pieces.

“I think we played, especially in the first half, better than in the first game.

“We were better in dead ball situations today, more aggressive. We showed a different spirit, even though we were playing with 10 men, we were better in that aspect,” said Amorim.

United’s second-choice goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and striker Joshua Zirkzee emerged as heroes in the penalty shootout after the game was tied 1-1 in normal time.

Zirkzee was booed during the defeat to Newcastle last month, while Bayindir was blamed when United were knocked out of the League Cup by Tottenham Hotspur.

LONDON: Liverpool endured a difficult journey as they sought to return to base after a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham early yesterday morning.

Arne Slot’s side suffered their second defeat of the season in the first semi-final of the League Cup with Lucas Bergvall’s controversial goal securing victory for the hosts.

The Reds boss must have had a lot on his mind after the match and he didn’t seem to have enough time after the journey back to Merseyside was disrupted by bad weather.

According to a report by The Athletic, after the match the squad’s return flight from London Stansted was unable to land at John Lennon Airport due to icy fog and instead had to divert to Birmingham.

From there, they used the team bus to return to Liverpool – a journey of approximately 160 kilometres and only arriving at their destination early in the morning, forcing yesterday’s training session to be cancelled.

Weather has been a recurring problem for Liverpool this season, including the postponement of the match against Everton due to Storm Darragh.

Heavy snow that hit Liverpool last Sunday also almost caused the clash with Manchester United to be cancelled, but match officials managed to ensure the game went ahead, despite snow being seen piling up on the sidelines.

The Reds will be looking to bounce back from their defeat in London when they return to action tomorrow night, hosting Accrington Stanley in the third round of the FA Cup.

The Slots team has not lost since September and the Premier League and Champions League leaders will hope to return to winning ways in their next match.

Slot was furious when Bergvall survived a second yellow card to score Tottenham’s winning goal in the League Cup semi-final first leg in north London.

“The decision has been made, you can’t change it. When he (the referee) didn’t show the second yellow card, no one thought it would have such a big impact 30 seconds later.”

LIVERPOOL: Manchester United player Manuel Ugarte’s performance in tying Premier League leaders Liverpool 2-2 at Anfield was praised by the club’s former player, Paul Scholes.

“His quality of control of the ball, it surprised me a little bit. He probably performed better than I expected.

“He (United manager Ruben Amorim) once said that Ugarte played brilliantly for him at Sporting Lisbon, when it was still easy, so he knows him very well. The player’s confidence is growing.

“I think he’s in a great position, he helps in defence, attack and I think he’s so calm with the ball,” Scholes said.

The draw lifted United to 13th place, still close to the relegation zone and far behind European qualification, but a point picked up at Anfield was celebrated like a major victory.

United finally played with the intensity and fearlessness that Amorim had wanted since he arrived in mid-November.

United travel to Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

LONDON: Ruben Amorim told Manchester United chiefs he should not wait until next summer to sign Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres, according to a report.

The Sporting Lisbon forward has excelled scoring goals under the Red Devils boss at the giant Portuguese club and has been linked with a move to Old Trafford following the club’s severe slump.

United could see both Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee leave the club during the January transfer window, with Rashford keen to take on a new challenge. The Dutch striker has also struggled to adapt since arriving last summer.

After the Red Devils’ 2-0 defeat at the hands of Newcastle last Monday – their ninth defeat of the league campaign – Amorim suggested he would not be able to improve his squad in the winter when he said: “We don’t have that possibility in January.”

However, according to the Daily Star , the Portuguese manager has now told club bosses that bringing in Gyokeres this month is a necessity.

The 26-year-old left Championship side Coventry last year in a deal worth £20 million following the club’s defeat in the second division play-off final at the hands of Luton.

But a move to Old Trafford forced the club to spend an estimated £80 million (RM448 million) to fulfill a clause in his contract.

Recent reports suggest United need to sell several players before they can bring in new talent.

Last month Gyokeres sparked speculation he would move to the EPL if he expressed his desire to play in the English top flight.

United face leaders Liverpool this Sunday before their FA Cup third round clash against Arsenal at the Emirates.