Football transfer news

One of the most surprising parts of the speculation that comes with the end of the season has been the uncertainty surrounding Bruno Fernandes’ future at Manchester United.

While nobody can fairly question his talent – Fernandes leads United in both goals and assists this season – questions have been asked over whether he is the right fit for the team heading into the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era.

United don’t need to be pushing Fernandes out the door, but here are four reasons why they shouldn’t be ruling out an exit either.

Are United winning the title next season? Let’s be realistic. The Red Devils are preparing for their third rebuild in as many summers, with a number of young players fighting to prove they deserve to be cornerstones of the future.

Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund are the obvious highlights of the young crop, who are going to need a good few years to grow together before they are capable of really moving the needle in English football.

With that in mind, what good is relying on Fernandes, who will turn 30 in September, for immediate results? Do you want a win-now team or are you building for the future? Being lost between a rebuild and the relentless quest for perfection may be harming United, who need to sort out their identity in the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era.

Perhaps it’s time for Fernandes to get selfish. He’s nearly 30 which, as any Football Manager player will tell you, means his time at the top is coming close to an end. Father Time is not always kind to do-it-all attacking midfielders.

With, let’s say, two or three years left of prime Fernandes, should he really be waiting around for United to find the sort of stability needed to deliver silverware? A move now may be the only opportunity for Fernandes to be the guy on a title-winning team.

His connection to United is admirable, but sometimes players have to think about themselves. We saw it with Harry Kane last summer as he jumped ship from Tottenham to Bayern Munich, knowing full-well he can’t maintain his current levels forever. Fernandes should be open to doing the same.

United need: two new centre-backs, improvements at full-back, a reliable defensive midfielder, more firepower out wide and another striker. That’s an expensive shopping list – but one which selling Fernandes would make far more realistic.

Fernandes is contracted to United until 2026 – the club also hold a 12-month extension clause – so this may be the last summer that the Red Devils can demand silly money for their talisman, particularly once he hits the dreaded Three Zero in September. A fee of £80m or so is more than justifiable this summer.

That sort of money would go a long way to help Ratcliffe rebuild this squad and enter a new era.

Erik ten Hag sanctioned the big-money move for Mason Mount last summer as he wanted the former Chelsea midfielder to help out in front of his defence. Not only was that a huge tactical miss, but Mount’s role in the team was further thrown into doubt when Mainoo proved to be exactly what the boss was looking for in the first place.

Mount is now an attacking midfielder once again, but the problem is he plays in the same position as Fernandes. If United actually have faith in their £60m signing, he may need to start ahead of the Portugal international.

It’s hard to justify choosing Mount over Fernandes at this point but, with everything else mentioned in this article, United should consider cutting ties and fully committing to the current state of their squad.

Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min gave credit to Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega for his crucial save when the two sides met in midweek.

With the score at 1-0 to City heading into the final five minutes, Son raced through on goal but failed to guide the ball past Ortega, who had only come off the bench 15 minutes earlier to replace the injured Ederson.

City went on to score a second and seal three points, which took them ahead of Arsenal in the Premier League title race heading into the final game of the season.

“I’m also human,” Son told the Evening Standard when asked about the miss. “The keeper made a really good decision and made himself really big.

“But I take the responsibility not to score that big chance for the team, because the team was working really hard and trying to get a good result.”

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou made headlines after the game after he hit out at the ‘foundations’ of the club following a 48-hour period which saw many fans urge their team to intentionally lose the match purely to stop Arsenal winning the title.

“We should understand it’s the gaffer’s first year and he brought so much positivity and different football,” Son continued. “I know it’s early to say, but we’ve got to do so much better for next season, because I still believe he can bring so much success to the club.

“I’m all in. I’m loving the way he wants to play. It’s the first time I’ve experienced it. Everybody – the club, the players, also the fans – everybody has to step up, because we have to be all together in this. He’s definitely shown he can bring success to the club.

“As players, we all wanted to do our best for the club and for us [against City]. We really didn’t care about anything else. We only concentrated on what’s best for us, for the team.

“The players, the staff who have had so many sessions, so many games, so much travelling, we just wanted to do the best for them. We didn’t want to do anything else.”

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A spot in the Championship is at stake when Bolton take on Oxford United in Saturday’s League One play-off final.

Having finished third in the table, Bolton were the favourites to earn promotion to the second tier ahead of the semi-finals but were handed a late scare by Barnsley in the second leg of their tie. Ian Evatt’s side eventually held off Barnsley’s resurgence to earn a spot at Wembley.

While Bolton are aiming to return to the Championship for the first time since 2019, Oxford Utd are vying for the first second-tier berth in their history.

Oxford rode their luck somewhat in the semi-finals against Peterborough having finished the League One season in fifth, seven points adrift of the Posh. The U’s require a vastly improved performance from their previous meeting with Bolton if they are to secure a historic result on Saturday.

Oxford were beaten 5-0 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in March.

Here’s 90min’s preview of the 2024 League One play-off final.

Bolton vs Oxford Utd H2H Record (Last Five Games)

Current form (all competitions)

There are unlikely to be any changes to the Bolton team that progressed past Barnsley in the semi-finals.

Carlos Gomes, Jon Bodvarsson, Caleb Taylor and Daniel Nlundulu all miss out due to injury.

Bolton predicted lineup vs Oxford Utd (3-5-2): Baxter; Jones, Santos, Toal; Dacres-Cogley, Maghoma, Sheehan, Thomason, Williams; Charles, Collins.

There are doubts over the statuses of Joe Bennett and Tyler Goodrham, both of whom were forced off with injuries against Peterborough last week.

However, the two players are expected to be fit for Saturday’s final.

Oxford Utd predicted lineup vs Bolton (4-1-4-1): Cumming; Stevens, Moore, Brown, Bennett; Brannagan; Dale, Goodrham, Rodrigues, Murphy; Harris.

This is unfamiliar territory for Oxford, who are playing in just their second play-off final ever. Bolton, meanwhile, haven’t featured in such a fixture since 2001.

Despite their second-leg defeat to Barnsley in the semis, Bolton are favoured to triumph at Wembley and understandably so. They finished seven points clear of Oxford in the League One table having battered them 5-0 in their most recent head-to-head duel.

Play-off finals are typically cagey and Bolton are unlikely to blow Oxford away, but it’d be a surprise if Evatt’s side didn’t earn promotion to the Championship.

Prediction: Bolton 2-0 Oxford Utd

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NYCFC take the pitch this weekend to play host to rivals New York Red Bulls in the latest edition of the Hudson River Derby.

The Boys in Blue have managed to turn what appeared to be a train wreck of season around with five wins out of their last six MLS matches played. Head coach Nick Cushing has been under pressure to deliver results since the start of the campaign, and we just might be seeing his ideas come to fruition as NYCFC sit in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, just three points behind Red Bulls.

Cushing has primarily stuck his with 4-2-3-1 system that’s helped propel NYCFC to inside the top four of the East. With the likes of Santiago Rodriguez, Julian Fernandez and Agustin Ojeda, NYCFC will look to cause problems for the RBNY backline.

Here’s how NYCFC could lineup against their in-state foes at Citi Field.

GK: Matt Freese – Freese is coming off yet another brilliant showing in between the sticks for NYC. Despite conceding one goal against Philadelphia Union, his four saves were vital as the team went on to win 2-1 win at Subaru Park.

RB: Tayvon Gray – With Mitja Ilenic playing the full 90 Wednesday night, Gray returns to the XI after seeing out the closing stages vs Philadelphia.

CB: Thiago Martins – NYCFC’s club captain anchors the backline once more and won’t get the chance to catch his breath after starting vs the Union.

CB: Birk Risa – The 26-year-old Norwegian partners Martins in the heart of defense, looking to build off his decent performance in the middle of the week.

LB: Kevin O’Toole – Cushing doesn’t really have any other left-back options to rotate and could give O’Toole his 13th start of the campaign.

DM: James Sands – The young midfielder returns to the mix after not featuring against the Union. Cushing looks to have chose to rest Sands in preparations for the rivalry match.

DM: Keaton Sands – Parks is set to keep his place in the lineup and could have his work cut out for him with the talented NYC attacking department.

RM: Julian Fernandez – As Hannes Wolf managed the full 90 on Wednesday, Fernandez slots back into Cushing’s XI and will face off against John Tolkin in a key individual battle.

AM: Santiago Rodriguez – NYCFC’s No. 10 hopes to continue his excellent run of form this term to give his side a chance of victory.

LM: Agustin Ojeda – One of the newest Blues takes up shop on the left-wing, looking to build off his one goal scored in 2024.

ST: Monsef Bakrar – After coming off the bench for the last two matches, the Algeria international gets the starting nod up front and center.

The latest showdown between bitter rivals New York Red Bulls and NYCFC is on the horizon with the two going head-to-head this weekend at Citi Field.

Red Bulls have been of the most entertaining and efficient teams so far in the 2024 Major League Soccer season. Under first-year boss Sandro Schwarz, RBNY sit fourth in the Supporters’ Shield race and third in the Eastern Conference table with 23 points collected from 13 matches played and just two defeats on the season.

Schwarz has relied heavily on his preferred 4-4-4 setup to pick up points this term, and you can expect him to stick with his formation this weekend. The likes of Serge Ngoma and Peter Stroud will both miss out due to respective knee and ankle injuries, but Schwarz more or less has most of his squad available for selection.

Here’s how Red Bulls could lineup in their bid to make it four-straight unbeaten matches vs NYCFC.

GK: Carlos Coronel – The Paraguay international will have his sights set on keeping his third clean sheet of the campaign against a tricky NYCFC attack.

RB: Dylan Nealis – One half of the Nealis brothers returns to the XI after getting a breather in the win over DC United.

CB: Sean Nealis – The other Nealis brother anchors the backline alongside his younger brother. His experience will be tested against the likes of Julian Fernandez and Santiago Rodriguez.

CB: Noah Eile – Even though he’s coming off a 90-minute showing vs DC, the young Eile slots right into Schwarz’s lineup for the primetime contest.

LB: John Tolkin – The 21-year-old gets the starting nod and is all set to make his 114th appearance for RBNY.

RM: Dennis Gjengaar – Schwarz could opt to give Gjengaar some minutes due the quick turnaround.

CM: Frankie Amaya – The former FC Cincinnati player more than likely won’t receive a rest and could be thrown right back into the mix after playing the full 90 on Wednesday.

CM: Daniel Edelman – Edelman is key to Schwarz’s setup alongside Amaya, so there’s a good chance he won’t get the chance to catch his breath, either.

LM: Emil Forsberg – RBNY’s No. 10 will be eager to add to his seven goal involvements in 947 minutes played this term.

ST: Dante Vanzeir – Vanzeir returns to the XI after coming off the bench in the win over DC.

ST: Lewis Morgan – The former Celtic figure was on point once again last time out, registering his ninth goal of the campaign at Audi Field.