Both Darren Fletcher and Steven Fletcher have been named in the Scotland squad for October’s World Cup qualifying fixtures, Sky Sports report.
The Manchester United midfielder has been on the sidelines for eight months with a chronic bowel condition, but after making a return to action at Old Trafford has been recalled to the national set-up.
Sunderland striker Fletcher has impressed since moving to the Stadium of Light from Wolves in the summer, and has scored five Premier League goals so far for the Black Cats.
Fletcher and Scotland boss Craig Levein have had a well-publicised spat, but the under-fire coach has managed to persuade the attacker to re-join his contingent.
Scotland face Wales and Belgium throughout October.
Squad in full:
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Adam (Stoke), Berra (Wolves), Brown (Celtic), Caldwell (Wigan), D Fletcher (Man Utd), S Fletcher (Sunderland), Forrest (Celtic), Fox (Southampton), Gilks (Blackpool), Hanley (Blackburn), Hutton (Aston Villa), McArthur (Wigan), McGregor (Besiktas), Mackie (QPR), Maloney (Wigan), Marshall (Cardiff), Martin (Norwich), Miller (Vancouver Whitecaps),Morrison (West Brom), Mulgrew (Celtic), Naismith (Everton), Phillips (Blackpool), Rhodes (Blackburn), Snodgrass (Norwich), Webster (Hearts)
According to reports in The Sun, Arsenal could sell midfielder Aaron Ramsey this summer if he fails to sign a contract before the start of next season, and Manchester United should look to bring the Wales international to Old Trafford.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Ramsey’s contract at the Emirates Stadium is due to expire this summer, and the 27-year-old has yet to commit himself to a new long-term agreement with the north London outfit.
The Sun says that talks between the two parties have been going on for months with no real progress made, and they could be tempted to put the £40m-rated Welshman up for sale in order to ensure they aren’t held to ransom again after they were given the run-around by both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil this season.
Meanwhile, Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho may well be looking to bring in a new central midfield partner for Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba this summer with Michael Carrick retiring and the futures of Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera looking to be in real doubt, and Ramsey could be their ideal man.
How did Ramsey do this season?
Despite it being another hugely disappointing campaign for Arsenal as they finished sixth in the Premier League table and were knocked out of the Europa League by Atletico Madrid at the semi-final stage, the 27-year-old was one of their better performers.
The central midfielder, who can play in that role or either a defensive or attacking position through the middle too, scored 11 goals and provided a further 12 assists in 32 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners, which included a hat-trick against Everton in February.
Would he be a good signing for United?
He certainly would be.
As well as being neat and tidy on the ball and often proving to be influential in the final third, Ramsey is also well aware of his defensive duties – which of course is something Mourinho demands of his United players.
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The chance to pick up a player with huge experience in the Premier League and Champions League – and one with such an impressive overall record in terms of goals and assists – should be one that is too difficult to turn down, as he could prove to complement Matic and Pogba perfectly in the middle of the park for the Red Devils, whose fans on Twitter would be willing to let Anthony Martial go if they got a £90m-rated attacker in return.
Newcastle United are having a turbulent few months due to the takeover drama, results on the pitch and uncertainty over transfers.
Rafael Benitez is trying to make sure that the Magpies stay afloat in the Premier League, but at the moment the team are only three points above the relegation zone.
January can be an important transfer window for clubs in Newcastle’s predicament, as they can aim for members who could be the difference between staying up or dropping back into the Championship.
The North-East outfit have been linked to numerous targets, particularly forward players due to the current team’s continuous misfiring.
Within the rumour mill emerged a story from ESPN, who claimed that Newcastle were weighing up a move for Everton winger Aaron Lennon.
If the club’s interest was serious then they have been dealt a blow as BBC Sport claim that Burnley have agreed a deal to sign Lennon for an undisclosed fee.
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After hearing the reports, Newcastle fans gave a mixed response on Twitter.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes is plotting a January swoop for Borussia Monchengladbach striker Luuk De Jong, according to reports from TuttoMercato.
‘Sparky’ has set about transforming the Potters’ image as a long ball team since taking over from now Crystal Palace chief Tony Pulis over the summer and has been successful to a certain extent.
Stoke have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign, with their shock 3-2 win over Chelsea on Saturday moving them into 12th.
Hughes invested in multiple players during the last window to aid his cause, but is still thought to be eyeing further additions next month.
De Jong is one man he has been tracking for some time, and rumoured that he may be available have seen the club’s interest spike.
The 23-year-old is not seen as a key man at Monchengladbach, with the German side said to be prepared to let him leave.
Hughes is open to offering him the chance of a Premier League switch, where he could be used alongside Peter Crouch.
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De Jong has attracted interest from some English football’s top sides in the past, and has represented his nation seven times at senior international level.
Reading welcome Newcastle to the Madjeski Stadium on Saturday, in desperate search of Premier League points.
Brain McDermott’s men recorded their first domestic win of the new campaign in midweek, beating QPR 3-2 in the Capital One cup on Wednesday evening.
Newcastle suffered defeat at Old Trafford in the same competition, but have made a decent start to their league campaign, and picked up an important three points at home to Norwich last time out.
Reading striker Jason Roberts has a chance of playing for the first time this season. Roberts faces a fitness test after recovering from a calf injury. Mali winger Jimmy Kebe played against QPR in midweek and his hamstring problem will be assessed before the match.
Newcastle will assess the fitness of Danny Simpson and Tim Krul before the match, with the pair attempting to return from hamstring and elbow injuries respectively.
“Danny will train Thursday or Friday all being well. Tim is looking for the all clear on Wednesday to start back,” Pardew told the Evening Chronicle.
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This will be Alan Pardew’s first game in charge since the announcement he has signed a new 8-year-deal with the club.
According to ESPN FC, Tottenham Hotspur have joined Premier League rivals Leicester City and West Ham United in the race to sign giant 6ft 5in tall West Bromwich Albion defender Ahmed Hegazi, and Everton must also look to target the in-demand 27-year-old.
What’s the word, then?
Well, ESPN FC report that Spurs are targeting a move for the Egypt international, who the Baggies face a real fight to keep hold of following their relegation to the Championship.
ESPN FC says that the north London club view the centre-back as a possible replacement for Toby Alderweireld, with doubts over his future and whether he will still be with them next season.
The report adds that Mauricio Pochettino’s men will face competition from Leicester and West Ham if they do try and get Hegazi, who doesn’t have a release clause of £2.5m in his contract as per a previous report in The Sun.
Meanwhile Everton, whose new DOF Marcel Brands can become an instant hero if he finds agreement with 20-year-old attacker, will surely be targeting a new centre-back this summer with Ashley Williams and Phil Jagielka getting no younger, and Ramiro Funes Mori’s future at Goodison Park likely to be in doubt.
How did Hegazi do this season?
While West Brom suffered the disappointment of relegation, the 27-year-old impressed and established himself as one of the best out-and-out defenders in the Premier League in what was his debut campaign in England.
The Egyptian centre-back showed he is strong and decent in the air, while he is prepared to put his body on the line for his team – as shown by the fact he and Craig Dawson were picked ahead of captain Jonny Evans in the closing weeks of the season.
Meanwhile, he also showed how reliable he can be by featuring in all 38 of their Premier League matches, and only coming 33 minutes away from playing the entirety of their campaign.
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Would he be a good signing for Everton?
He certainly would be, and he could be the perfect dominant partner for Michael Keane at the heart of the defence.
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Former Everton director of football Steve Walsh played a big role in bringing the former Burnley man to Goodison Park, but it was something of a rollercoaster campaign for the England international as he struggled for form and consistency.
Bringing in Hegazi alongside him would certainly help him to improve, and the fact that the Egypt international is a strong character would mean that he make a really big impression on his 25-year-old teammate and the defence in general.
According to ESPN journalist Mattias Karen on his official Twitter account, Southampton have been dealt a huge blow in their attempt to bring Arsenal winger Theo Walcott back to the club during the January transfer window after Gunners boss Arsene Wenger said he ‘wants him to stay’.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the 28-year-old has emerged as one of the south coast outfit’s top targets this month as they look strengthen their attacking options having only scored 21 times in their 22 Premier League matches so far this term – a record that has contributed to them only lying outside of the relegation zone on goal difference.
Mauricio Pellegrino is keen to bring the England international back to St Mary’s 12 years after he left for Arsenal as a 16-year-old, and he would have been hopeful of doing so with the winger struggling for game time in the English top flight having only featured for a total of 49 minutes across five substitute appearances.
However, Wenger’s latest comments suggest that he isn’t ready to let Walcott – who has 18 months left on his contract – leaving during the current window.
What did he say?
According to Mattias Karen on Twitter, the Frenchman said…
Is a deal dead?
Probably not but it could depend on a few things.
Firstly, whether Alexis Sanchez stays or goes this month will certainly have an impact, as Wenger will lose an attacking option if the Chile international is sold now rather than leaving for free in the summer.
In addition it could also depend on Olivier Giroud’s recovery time with the France international currently sidelined with a hamstring injury, although he is expected back in action soon.
What can Southampton do now?
They may have to wait a few weeks longer, but that certainly isn’t an ideal scenario given the position they find themselves in.
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Given that Walcott is keen to play regularly to try and reclaim his spot in Gareth Southgate’s England squad before the World Cup in the summer, perhaps if he pushes a little more for an exit then a deal may be more likely to go through sooner rather than later.
Everton are lining up a £15million bid for Wigan midfielder James McCarthy, according to the Daily Star.
The Toffees are keen to sign the Irish star, but will have to sell before they can make a move for the 22-year-old.
But with Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines the subject of a bid from Manchester United, a move could happen soon for McCarthy. United had a £28million joint bid for the Everton pair rejected, with the fee not matching Martinez’s valuation of the two players.
Baines has a price tag of £18million, whilst Fellaini will cost any side at least £20million. But David Moyes is confident he can push through a transfer despite his initial bid being far from Everton’s desired value.
McCarthy is also a transfer target for Newcastle, however a move to Everton is much more likely, in a move that would reunite him with Roberto Martinez. The pair won the FA Cup together last year despite being relegated, and McCarthy is reportedly keen on a move back to the Premier League.
McCarthy played in Wigan’s defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday, as his teammate Callum McManaman was sent off for a reckless challenge. But the Irish star will be hoping it is the last Championship match he has played.
Would McCarthy do well at Everton? Is he worth £5million?
Join the debate below!
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The topic of what economic realities our Premier League clubs face in today’s footballing world is often as highly charged, as it is emotive. Ever since Uefa rubber stamped it’s intentions to go ahead with its financial fair play initiative, fans of clubs within the nation’s top flight have certainly been split about its values and morality with a keen emphasis upon the transfer fees that clubs pay for players.
But although the effectiveness of the scheme remains questionable and the concern around lofty transfer fees undeniable, it is often the concept of the Premier League wage packet that is overlooked. It may not be something that bestows the sort of instantaneous and high profile effect that the transfer fee has, but its economic effects are potentially just as sinister – if not more so.
The latest round in the debate around finance in football has seen the case for a Premier League wage cap reintroduced. The league’s chairman, Richard Scudamore, was in London last Thursday to discuss a raft of potential new measures with clubs, as fears arise over the fate of the next wave of television money.
As was widely expected, the Premier League’s new set of television deals has blown away all manner of expectations. As the country’s economy continues to struggle in the face of what feels like a continuous realm of fiscal slump, it seems as if English football’s top tier exists in a different reality – £3billion has been raked in from UK rights alone.
But the fear is that a vast majority of that massive capital, which will be distributed between clubs in the Premier League, will instantly be swallowed up by wage demands. Supporters may have lit up like Christmas Trees when they first read about the almost unworldly level of imminent riches – but don’t think for a minute that such a sum immediately equates into a boosted transfer coffer.
The problem is, that as Premier League income grows to continuous record highs, it is being almost continuously matched by an equally startling increase in player wages. As David Conn superbly pointed out in The Guardian, figures for the last financial year highlight that although the overall income of Premier League clubs grew to £2.5billion, so did players wages, eating up a staggering £1.8billion of that figure or 70%. Poignantly, of the 20 clubs that make up the Premier League, only eight managed to make a profit.
To some, the grossly inflated size of top flight wages might not come as much of a surprise, but it does often feel as if it’s an element that can be misconstrued by supporters. For example, as Tottenham Hotspur broke into the top four for the first time in the Premier League during the 2009-10 season, supporters almost routinely expected for chairman Daniel Levy to pump in their forthcoming riches as soon as they got them- and as expected, turnover increased from £119.8million in 2010 to £163.4million in 2011.
But where as some fans seem to insist that Levy and principal owner Joe Lewis are continuing to hoard that money as opposed to splashing it on the likes of a new striker, a lot of that money had in effect, already been spent. Spurs’ annual wage bill skyrocketed from an annual £67million to around about £92million; the suggested figure has been said to be more. Although their Champions League adventure is of course an exaggerated example, they prominently highlight the effervescent bond between income and wage bill.
And it is the wage bill that seemingly will always increase, no matter what the fortunes of the clubs accounts. Regardless of whether clubs’ turnover had increased over the period of 12 months from 2010-2011, every single Premier League clubs’ wage bill increased without fail. For some, enough is enough.
Stoke City chairman Peter Coates said of the almost unstoppable escalation of Premier League wages, that the culture of inflation was out of touch with reality:
“I hope this view is widely shared: we cannot have all the new money going in inflated wages and payments to agents,” the Bet365 founder said.
“There is no need to do that; we will have the same players, they won’t get better because we pay them more. It should not be beyond us to find a formula which works for us all.”
Similarly, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes that Premier League clubs simply have to live within their own means:
“You should just get the resources you generate – that will determine the real size of the club.”
The argument here is of course that touted financial countermeasures such as a wage cap or even Uefa’s Financial Fair Play mechanism itself, simply ensure that the rich stay richer while the poor stay poorer. The nature of business demands that one must spend before they earn. It’s easy for the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, who rake in gargantuan amounts from match day revenue to throw their weight behind the live within their means argument – as in principal, the already existing ‘big clubs’ are less likely to face any fresh competition any time soon.
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It’s a difficult balancing act and there aren’t any easy answers. Uefa’s FFP has it’s heart in the right place, but it’s ultimate sanction of a blanket ban on European football isn’t something that is likely to prove effective in policing the majority of our domestic teams.
Although there is a feeling that the Premier League are serious about implementing something to try and stop the almost unrelenting escalation of clubs’ wage bill. The issue is finding a mechanism that all the clubs can agree on. In order for any rule change to be rubber stamped, 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs must all be in agreement with each other – something that may produce a very significant hurdle indeed.
How do you feel about the introduction of a potential salary cap into the Premier League? Should clubs be forced to limit escalating wages or are we wrong to try and police the way our clubs go about business? Let me know how you see it on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all of your views.
Swansea City’s relegation to the Championship wasll all-but confirmed after they were beaten 1-0 by fellow strugglers Southampton at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday night, but defender Alfie Mawson’s performance didn’t go unnoticed by Manchester United fans on Twitter.
Red Devils manager Jose Mourinho looks likely to strengthen his defensive options this summer with the futures of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof potentially in doubt, but it remains to be seen whether he will go for a British-based option or bring one in from abroad.
While the Swans are on the verge of relegation, Mawson has been one of their more consistent performers and as well as defensive qualities and his strength in the air at both ends of the pitch, he is also good in possession and bringing the ball out from the back – something that Mourinho may well like and that could mean that he is an upgrade on someone like Smalling.
We asked Man United fans to vote on our poll to see whether they want their club to make what would be a shock swoop to sign the 24-year-old considering he is set to go down to the Championship, and a majority 59% said they would.
It could be a big reshuffle for the Red Devils in terms of their defence this summer with a new left-back and right-back also potentially arriving at Old Trafford, and it will be interesting to see whether Mourinho chooses to take a punt on a player like Mawson.
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