Football transfer news

Abdoulaye Doucoure is facing months on the sidelines with a foot injury, with the Everton midfielder set to have an operation soon.

The Frenchman has been one of the Toffees’ best players this season, forming a formidable partnership with Allan while contributing two goals and four assists in his eight Premier League games so far.

However, he has suffered a broken metatarsal and requires surgery, and his absence is another issue for manager Rafa Benitez to resolve.

The Spaniard is already without Andre Gomes and Fabian Delph, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin has not featured for two months due to toe and thigh injuries. Richarlison has also been struggling, but he may recover from a knee problem in time to face Watford on Saturday.

Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray have stepped up in the absence of Everton’s top two attacking talents, scoring three goals apiece in the league so far this season.

Doucoure, who missed seven games last season with a foot fracture, may be replaced in the starting XI by either Tom Davies or Jean-Philippe Gbamin.

Everton concerned Abdoulaye Doucoure is facing lengthy time out with broken foot .

— paul joyce (@_pauljoyce) October 19, 2021

While Everton are yet to officially release a statement regarding the injury, if Doucoure were to miss a few months of action, it would leave him racing to be fit in time for the club’s Christmas schedule. They face Chelsea, Leicester, Burnley, Newcastle and Brighton in the space of 18 days.

Benitez’s side are currently eighth in the Premier League, having won four of their eight games so far. More recently, they picked up a point at Manchester United before losing at home against West Ham on Sunday.

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Well, gameweek 8 was fun, wasn’t it?

The fun got off with Liverpool thumping Watford, before Manchester United capitulated against Leicester and Arsenal came within seconds of their own humiliating defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace.

The excitement lasted from the first minute to the last (ignoring the 90-minute pause as Norwich and Brighton played out a stalemate), and here are 90min‘s top performers from it all.

Edouard Mendy (GK) – Made to face an onslaught against Brentford, Mendy pulled out six mental saves to seal a dramatic win for Chelsea.

Tino Livramento (RB) – The youngster just looks so at home in the Premier League. Like a duck to water.

Malang Sarr (CB) – A bit of a baptism of fire against Brentford, but on what was his first Premier League start, Sarr dealt with it admirably and will have played his way into Thomas Tuchel’s thinking.

Angelo Ogbonna (CB) – Ogbonna has grown into an absolute machine this season, with his partnership with Kurt Zouma proving to be particularly impressive here.

Ben Chilwell (LB) – The hot streak in front of goal continues for Ben Chilwell, whose half-volley was one of the best strikes of the weekend.

Declan Rice (DM) – Anchoring our midfield is Rice, who ran the show against Everton and proved that he’s just as comfortable in possession as he is out of it.

Youri Tielemans (CM) – Bagged an absolute corker to kick-off Leicester’s thumping victory and was inches away from netting a gorgeous second. Back to his best.

Bernardo Silva (CM) – Kevin De Bruyne could have snatched this spot, but it was Silva who made the most chances for City against Burnley, adding to his composed finish to open the scoring.

Mohamed Salah (RW) – The best player on the planet right now, Salah bagged an outrageous assist in the Watford mauling and then netted what could easily end up being named the goal of the season.

Harry Kane (ST) – A goal and an assist isn’t a bad way to finally get your season underway. Kane’s lob was one of the highlights of the round.

Roberto Firmino (LW) – Shunted out to the left, Firmino laughed in the face of the critics who say he doesn’t score enough with three expertly taken goals.

Former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has confessed that he regrets not kick-starting the club’s rebuild after their stunning defeat to Liverpool in the 2018/19 Champions League semi-final.

After Lionel Messi dragged Barcelona to a 3-0 win in the first leg, the Catalan side came unstuck in the return fixture as Liverpool roared to a famous 4-0 victory – the second year in a row they had been stunned by a big comeback, after Roma dumped them out in 2018.

Instead of hitting the reset button there and then, Barcelona stood firm and persisted with their squad at the time, only to be absolutely thumped 8-2 by Bayern Munich 12 months later, and Bartomeu has confessed he missed the right chance to start over.

“Not assessing after the Liverpool defeat that a change needed to be made was a mistake,” he told TV3 (via Marca). “We had to make a generational change.

“Instead, I listened to the players and I was wrong. We were pushing ourselves to the limit economically and then the pandemic caught us all by surprise.”

Bartomeu also lifted the lid on some of Barcelona’s infamously poor signings during his reign, namely those of Ousmane Dembele, Philippe Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann.

“Some of those deals we made did not meet expectations,” he explained. “Players who have cost a lot of money, but these things happen in football.

“When these two players [Dembele and Coutinho] were signed, they were applauded by everyone. Coutinho came because Andres Iniesta was leaving, he was the best in the Premier League. Dembele came because of Neymar’s departure. The parameters, according to specialists, are 50% correct and 50% incorrect.

“As for Griezmann, the coaches asked and insisted for a year. They considered it essential, especially because Luis Suarez had been injured a lot that season. He was a different striker, a world star and a team player.”

Atletico Madrid right-back Kieran Trippier has confessed he hopes to return to the Premier League before his career comes to a close.

The 31-year-old has impressed during his time in Spain, helping Atletico win the La Liga title last season, but he has long been linked with a return to England, where the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal have been tipped to sign him.

With 18 months remaining on his contract, Trippier is in no rush to leave the Wanda Metropolitano, but he admitted to the Daily Mail that he ‘would love to play in the Premier League again’.

United were linked with Trippier all summer and, at one point, had been expected to get a deal done, only for Atletico to refuse to budge from their £30m valuation of the Englishman.

Talks eventually broke down and United opted to give Diogo Dalot the chance to compete with first-choice Aaron Wan-Bissaka for minutes, but sources have confirmed to 90min that those in charge at Old Trafford are contemplating reigniting their search for a new right-back in January.

Trippier remains under consideration, but scouts have been instructed to look elsewhere for other targets amid concerns that Atletico will still refuse to do business.

Rangers duo James Tavernier and Nathan Patterson have both been watched closely, as has long-term target Max Aarons of Norwich City,

As for Trippier, he confessed that he hopes a reunion with Burnley boss Sean Dyche is on the cards at some point, admitting he would like to work on his coaching badges under his old manager.

“Who knows, maybe further down the line I would like to be a manager,” he said. “Who knows at the end of my career, I could play for Dyche again and get a coaching role with him.

“(That would be the) perfect scenario. I’m always on his case.”

Jurgen Klopp has warned his Liverpool side that they could be eaten alive by Atletico Madrid if they approach Tuesday’s game with the wrong mindset.

It’s a rematch of the 2018/19 Champions League last 16, in which Liverpool’s all-dominant season suffered a major bump in the road as Atleti roared to victories in both legs of the fixture to dump Liverpool out of the competition.

Liverpool were perhaps the better side in the second leg, which ended up in a 3-2 defeat after extra time, and Klopp believes that game will still be fresh in the memory of those at the Wanda Metropolitano.

“We didn’t forget how bad we were there and I’m pretty sure Diego [Simeone] hasn’t forgotten how good we were at home,” he said (via The Times).

“So I am pretty sure there is a way of causing them problems, but you have to play a top-class game and be incredibly brave. If you don’t do that, they eat you.”

Klopp also took the chance to discuss his relationship with Simeone, admitting that he is hardly the biggest fan of the Argentine’s style of play.

“Diego Simeone is doing absolutely everything right,” he continued (via Sky Sports News). “He is the current Spanish champion. Very successful at [Atletico].

“He has a bunch of world-class players, keeps them on their toes, they fight with all they have for their lives. That says a lot about the quality of Diego so I couldn’t respect more what they do.

“Do I like it? Not too much but that is normal because I prefer a different kind of football. That’s me. Other coaches prefer different styles of football. Nobody has to like it, it just has to be successful and that is what Atletico is for sure.”

Simeone was given the chance to respond to Klopp’s criticisms of his style before the game, but when asked what he had to say to his Liverpool counterpart, he responded in English: “Nothing.”