Liverpool star Andrew Robertson posts injury update

Liverpool left-back Andrew Robertson appears to already be back in light training following a recent ankle injury suffered during pre-season earlier this month.

The injury, which was later confirmed to be ligament damage ruled Robertson out of Liverpool’s opening weekend win over Norwich and was expected to be a doubt for the club’s remaining two games in August until the September international break.

But Robertson has shared a picture of himself back running on the training pitch a little over a week after the injury was sustained during a friendly against Athletic Bilbao at Anfield on 8 August.

It raises the outside possibility that the Scotland international could be involved when Liverpool host Burnley in their next Premier League fixture on Saturday lunchtime. Liverpool’s next game before the international break sees Chelsea visit Anfield on 28 August.

Greece international Kostas Tsimikas, who was signed for £11.75m from Olympiacos last summer to provide cover for Robertson, deputised for the 3-0 win against Norwich.

Such was Robertson’s relentless fitness last season, as well as the Greek’s only injuries, Tsimikas only made seven appearances in all competitions throughout the 2020/21 campaign, including just six minutes of Premier League action spread across two cameos as a substitute.

He played the full 90 minutes at Carrow Road at the weekend but his run in the team is now expected to be cut significantly shorter than initially thought.

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Jose Mourinho praises Tammy Abraham’s ambition to join Roma

Roma coach Jose Mourinho has praised Tammy Abraham for showing ‘ambition’ in joining the club from Chelsea and described the €40m transfer as a ‘real coup’.

Abraham scored 30 goals across all competitions in two seasons as Chelsea’s number nine, despite only starting 51 games during that time and losing his place almost completely after Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard in charge at Stamford Bridge in January.

The 23-year-old Englishman arrives in Rome to fill the shoes of departed veteran Edin Dzeko, who has joined Inter after scoring 119 goals for the Giallorossi since 2015.

Mourinho has admitted losing Dzeko has been a ‘surprise’, but praised the Roma hierarchy for how the situation has been handled and the capture of Abraham.

“In an incredibly difficult market and in a financial situation that is difficult for every, or more precisely, almost every club, having the willingness, the ambition, the respect for the fans and reacting in this way after losing Dzeko and bringing in Tammy Abraham was a real coup,” the Portuguese coach told the club’s official website.

“He’s never played for me because he was a 14, 15 and 16-year-old boy when I was at Chelsea, but I know him very well. I know him as a player, a person and in terms of his mentality. I know how he made the decision to leave the Premier League, which is always tough for an English player.”

Mourinho continued: “That tells me so much about him because when you leave the Premier League, you do so because you’re ambitious. You leave because you want to get back into your national team, because you want to play at the World Cup, because you want success outside of England, where not that many English players have had brilliant careers.

“He comes here with that ambition and we hope to see his best qualities as a player.”

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Arsenal target Aaron Ramsdale valued at £100m by Sheffield United boss Slavisa Jokanovic

Arsenal are back in talks with Sheffield United regarding a deal for goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, though Blades boss Slavisa Jokanovic has warned that he is valued at £100m.

Mikel Arteta’s side have been linked with a move for a goalkeeper for a few months now, initially targeting Ajax stopper Andre Onana.

They then turned their attentions to Ramsdale in recent weeks, though it appeared Arsenal had backed out of negotiations due to Sheffield United’s steep asking price.

But football.london report that talks regarding Ramsdale are back on, and that a deal worth £20m plus add-ons is close due to the Blades’ need to shift players before the transfer window shuts.

However, United manager Jokanovic has told Sky Sports that he values the goalkeeper at £100m, and that while ideally any club interested will have to be prepared to stump up big money, he understands the business side of proceedings.

“From when I signed the contract [to become manager], the club informed me two players have the possibility to leave the club,” Jokanovic said at a press conference.

“I had this information from the club before I signed the contract and one is Aaron. Either of these two [Ramsdale and Sander Berge] could go without my permission.

“It is natural he wants to be a Premier League player. I am talking with him. He believes it can be a good move for him but it is not a bad thing for him if he stays with us

“He is a talented English player and Arsenal are interested. If he is one of the best players in the league, his price is high.

“If you ask me if I want to sell him for £100m, I say ‘no’. But I understand the business side of the club.”

Ronny Deila praises NYCFC progress despite huge gap to New England Revolution

New York City FC head coach Ronny Deila has discussed his side’s gap to the dominant New England Revolution at the top of the Eastern Conference as the second half of the 2021 Major League Soccer season commences.

NYCFC currently hold a two match advantage but they stand 12 points away from trumping the Revolution in the Eastern Conference. Deila admitted that the goal will be a slow comeback rather than a quick turnover. 

“New England have been unbelievably good, they hardly lose,” Deila told media. “They have a big gap to the others. It’s still the halfway point – there’s so many games left, we have to keep on going. I’d love to be under the radar until the last game then win at the end. That’d be the best thing, so I don’t think too much about if we’re under the radar or not.”

New York City FC hasn’t lost a league game since July 7 against Montreal, maintaining momentum with the help of star forward Valentin Castellanos.

“I think we have respect,” Deila continued. “We’re a good football team but we have to keep improving, we have a lot to work on still. The other teams are getting better, too. It’s about who improves the most the rest of the season. If you take away New England, [the standings] are very even. There’s a long way to go. We’re working better, we have a different confidence.”

Deila’s side faces fifth place Philadelphia Union next in a match up that NYCFC are not taking lightly. The two last played each other in May, where the Cityzens defeated the Union 2-0 after a red card to Philadelphia opened up their path to the goal.

“A lot of things are more positive,” Deila said. “Having said that, Philadelphia are a really tough opponent. Last time we played them, they got a red card very early, so that made the game easier for us. That won’t happen this time, I don’t think. They are one of the top teams.”

Deila explained the nature behind his choices, claiming the roster rotations are tailored to each match but maintain the same team energy despite the lineup. 

“It depends what kind of team we are going to need, what kind of style we want to play, which players are tired or fresh. Injuries. There are 100 things that go into [a starting XI],” Deila said. “It’s difficult with the amount of games we have, but we’ve done very well to rotate the team and get results. We don’t have any other options, we’ll keep rotating. How much? We don’t know.

“I don’t think [rotating is] any problem – we can change how we want to play because we have so many intelligent players,” Deila said. “It’s less about systems, it’s about principles. And the players know the principles so well.”

Man Utd win practice match against Burnley at Old Trafford

Manchester United have beaten Burnley 3-1 in a behind closed doors practice match at Old Trafford, with Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Fred getting on the score-sheet.

The game against the Clarets was arranged to help build fitness and give some United players a chance to get some playing time before the Premier League season continues at the weekend with a trip to the south coast to face Southampton.

Jadon Sancho, who made his United debut off the bench during Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing of Leeds, started the match to build his sharpness. Tom Heaton was also named in the XI, while Phil Jones and Eric Bailly got crucial minutes off the bench in the second half.

Lingard, rejuvenated by his successful loan at West Ham in the second half of last season, was back after being forced to miss the Leeds game because of a positive test for COVID-19.

United actually went behind when Burnley took the lead through Aaron Lennon, but the hosts were back on level terms when Martial turned the ball in following a Harry Maguire header at a corner.

Lingard’s finish to put United 2-1 up was described by the club’s official match report as ‘clinical’. Fred, who scored a rare goal against Leeds, later made it 3-1 to secure a win.

There was no Raphael Varane just yet, with the Frenchman only training with his new teammates for the first time on Monday since completing an initial £34m transfer from Real Madrid. However, the Frenchman could yet be in contention for the clash against Southampton on Sunday.

United are top of the Premier League on goal difference after the first round of fixtures and will be hoping to hold on to that position with another victory over a Saints side who sit 16th.

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