Sergio Romero Hopeful of MLS Move After Collapse of Everton Deal

Sergio Romero
Sergio Romero is keen to depart Old Trafford | James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images

Manchester United goalkeeper Sergio Romero is hopeful of securing a move to MLS after his proposed switch to Everton fell through on deadline day.

The Argentine has served as a fine back-up for David De Gea ever since his 2015 transfer from Sampdoria, but Dean Henderson’s return from his Sheffield United loan has thrust Romero down Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pecking order.

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Dean Henderson has displaced Romero as De Gea’s number two | Pool/Getty Images

The 33-year-old was poised for a move to Goodison Park in the recently closed transfer window to provide competition – and potentially usurp – Jordan Pickford as Everton’s number one, but the deal fell through when United demanded a fee and the Toffees instead signed Robin Olsen from Roma on a season-long loan.

Thus, the Daily Mail reports that Romero, who has been at home in Argentina while his future is resolved, is keen to make a fresh start in MLS and is hopeful of securing a move before their transfer deadline closes on 29 October.

Nevertheless, the Argentine’s wife, Eliana Guercio, took to social media to voice her displeasure at her husband’s current situation at United.

“Sergio Romero worked hard for his club. Last trophy they won, they lifted it with him,” she wrote. “He helped the team reach four finals/semi-finals and then he was left on the bench only to lose them all. It is time for them to return the opportunity and let him go. Respect for once!”

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The Argentine started all of United’s knockout games on the way to Europa League success in 2017 | Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images

Romero has appeared 61 times for the Red Devils since his move five years ago, with the vast majority of his minutes arriving in cup competitions. In fact, he’s only played seven Premier League games – keeping six clean sheets.

The Argentine’s stellar form between the sticks, nonetheless, has helped the Red Devils to Europa League, EFL Cup and FA Cup finals. Although, he’s rarely been involved in the respective epilogues to these competitions with De Gea often favoured in the latter stages.

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Mesut Ozil & William Saliba Left Out of Arsenal’s Europa League Squad

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There was no room for Mesut Ozil in Arsenal’s Europa League squad | Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images

Arsenal announced their squad for the upcoming Europa League group stages on Thursday morning, with Mikel Arteta deciding there was no room for new-boy William Saliba or Mesut Ozil.

The Gunners were drawn against Rapid Wien, Molde and Dundalk in last Friday’s group stage draw, with their campaign set to get underway later this month.

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Sokratis also misses out | Dan Istitene/Getty Images

Football London’s James Benge reported on Wednesday that defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Ozil were poised to be the two left out of Arteta’s squad due to the competition’s quota regarding non-homegrown players.

Clubs are only allowed to name 17 such players in their respective squads but Arsenal currently boast 19, meaning two would miss out – which are confirmed to be the Greek and German internationals.

Sokratis has been left on the periphery by Arteta since the Spaniard’s arrival last December, while Ozil hasn’t been seen in an Arsenal shirt since he started the 1-0 win over West Ham in what was their final game before lockdown last season.

When asked recently about Ozil’s persistent omissions, the Arsenal boss said: “The team is evolving, you can see the level they are achieving.

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The German star enjoyed a bright start to life under Mikel Arteta but has since fallen out of favour | IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

“This is where we are at the moment. We want to evolve more and play better and compete better.”

The Gunners also opted against naming the injured Gabriel Martinelli and teenager Saliba in their squad.

The latter’s short-term future is currently uncertain after he failed to secure a loan return to France before the recently closed transfer deadline. Although, he could yet join a Championship side for the 2020/21 campaign in a bid for regular first-team minutes.

Martinelli, meanwhile, isn’t expected to return from a knee injury until 2021 after undergoing surgery in June.

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Gabriel Martinelli is out until 2021 with a knee injury | Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images

Neither can be named on the B list of young players and academy prospects as they have not been with the squad for more than two years.

Instead, top young prospects including Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah and Joe Willock will be named on the club’s B list.

You can see Arsenal’s full Europa League squad here.

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Manchester City Chief Calls for Premier League B-Teams to Be Introduced to the EFL

Ferran Soriano
City chief executive Ferran Soriano has called for a restructure of the English Football League | Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Manchester City chief executive Ferran Soriano has called for a restructure of the English Football League, labelling the current format “not sustainable enough.”

Several EFL clubs have been financially hampered by the Coronavirus pandemic, with fans still not allowed back into stadiums.

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Soriano wants to introduce B-teams to the EFL | Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Soriano claims that the EFL has needed reorganisation for a while in order to make the system more viable.

Speaking to Leaders Week (via Sky), the Spaniard said: “One of the challenges is the EFL [is] a business that is not sustainable enough.

“They were discussing ways to improve it, they were discussing salary caps. Now they were sort of nudged, almost pushed, to solve the existing problems because of the crisis. It’s a good opportunity for the different elements of the football business to get together and solve these problems.”

Soriano has also stated that a change could be beneficial to the development of young talent at top flight clubs.

“There are other problems; the challenges of developing players in England where B teams are not allowed, we have a development gap of boys that are 17 or 18, they don’t find the right place to develop and, for example, they are taken from us by the German teams, who try to sell them back to us for a price which is 10 times what they paid.”

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Jadon Sancho was a youngster at Man City before moving to Borussia Dortmund in search of regular playing time | Alex Livesey/Getty Images

EFL clubs opted not to introduce B-teams into its leagues in 2016, but Under-21 sides have since been introduced into the EFL Trophy.

B-teams are used in many of the major footballing leagues in Europe – most notably in Spain. Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi made a combined total of 137 appearances for Barcelona B.

However, Soriano’s proposal has not been well received by the public. #BTeamBoycott was eighth trending in the UK, while MP Jonathan Reynolds claimed that B-teams would ruin the “depth and competitiveness” of the EFL.

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Olivier Giroud: More Important to His Country Than His Club(s)

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Olivier Giroud is France’s second all-time top scorer on 42 goals | FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

Olivier Giroud scored his 41st and 42nd international goals in France’s 7-1 win over Ukraine this week, matching and then surpassing the legendary Michel Platini’s tally for Les Bleus.

Giroud has been gradually moving past France’s all-time greats for the past few years.

In 2017, he went ahead of Karim Benzema when he got his 28th France goal. He then bettered Just Fontaine and Jean-Pierre Papin in May 2018 with his 31st. His 32nd in September 2018 saw him go ahead of Zinedine Zidane and in March 2019 his 35th was one better than David Trezeguet.

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Giroud captained France on his 100th international appearance | FRANCK FIFE/Getty Images

Now that he is ahead of Platini, who inspired France to two World Cup semi-finals, glory at Euro ’84 and was a three-time Ballon d’Or winner long before he came to be known as a disgraced official, Giroud is only nine goals behind the all-time leading mark held by Thierry Henry at 52.

To be among the leading scorers for one of the world’s great footballing nations is an incredible feat, especially when considering the contrasting club career that Giroud has alongside it.

Giroud, now 34, was a late bloomer. He didn’t play top flight football for the first time until he was almost 24. He hit the headlines with in 2011/12 as Montpellier shocked France and Europe to win Ligue 1 – that is the only top flight league season in his career in which he has reached 20 goals.

His form at Montpellier earned Giroud a transfer to Arsenal in 2012. But while he consistently chipped in with double figures in the Premier League, reaching more than 20 goals in all competitions on two occasions for the Gunners, his reputation was never that of an elite striker.

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Giroud has never been considered a world class striker | Michael Regan/Getty Images

Giroud has moved even further away from that status since joining Chelsea in January 2018, where he has largely performed a back-up role and is an important squad player at best. He made 27 Premier League appearances for Chelsea during the 2018/19 season, only seven were as a starter.

Giroud is a cup player. That same season, he netted 11 times as Chelsea won the Europa League and was the competition’s top scorer. Where just his league tally was concerned, he actually scored more goals for France that campaign.

That is because despite a lessening role at club level in recent years and never an elite reputation, Giroud has been indispensable for France for virtually a decade. That alone is what made cliched transfer rumours about seeking a move away from Chelsea last summer and January on the justification of ensuring his selection for France at Euro 2020 completely bizarre and hollow.

It is difficult to state how important Giroud is for France, regardless of his club output.

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Giroud has remained undroppable for France despite few club starts | TF-Images/Getty Images

Since Giroud was first called up and made his senior France debut in November 2011, without any prior junior or Under-21 experience, he has never been left out of a squad when fit.

From when Giroud made that bow, a substitute appearance in a friendly against the United States, France have played 113 games – Giroud has played in 100 of them. He is only left out when injured, which has been rare, and most of his omissions were in the autumn of 2014 as a result of a broken foot. What’s more, when in the squad, he very rarely just sits on the bench, missing only four games in nine years by virtue of being left as an unused substitute – and only two since 2012.

Ever since 2016, Giroud starts virtually every France game, going on to lead the line at Euro 2016, where Les Bleus reached the final on home soil, and the victorious 2018 World Cup.

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Giroud was a crucial member of France’s World Cup winning side | Fred Lee/Getty Images

He is so crucial to the way that France play, acting as a focal point that allows the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappe to perform as they can. Yet he is not just an enabler for others. In first half of last season, when he could barely get a game for Chelsea, Giroud scored in four of six Euro 2020 qualifiers, proving crucial to France’s qualification for the final tournament.

Of course, at 34, he is running out of time to catch Henry and become France’s all-time leading scorer. But with seven international goals to his name since the start of last season alone, he is much closer than you might think.

People might be shocked should a relatively unremarkable player get hold of that prestigious honour, but it would be no less than he deserves because, actually, he is quite remarkable.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!

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Man Utd Name 25-Man UEFA Champions League Squad

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Man Utd have left some big names out of their Champions League squad | DeFodi Images/Getty Images

Manchester United have named their 25-man Champions League squad for the upcoming group stage, notably excluding Phil Jones, Marcos Rojo and Sergio Romero from the list.

It means that none of the trio will be eligible to play for the club in Europe until at least January when alterations are permitted ahead of the knockout rounds. But even being drafted in at that stage is unlikely when all three are deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford.

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Sergio Romero has lost his place as David de Gea’s understudy | James Williamson – AMA/Getty Images

Having lost his place as chief back-up goalkeeper to Dean Henderson, Romero in particular was keen to secure a move away by transfer deadline day. That it didn’t happen prompted a furious attack on United from his wife, who accused the club of lacking respect.

Jones and Rojo weren’t seriously linked with new clubs over summer, but neither have been in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s plans since he set about overhauling the squad in 2019.

United have included all four of their new signings in the official UEFA list, including 18-year-old Uruguayan winger Facundo Pellistri, which is further evidence of the expectation he will immediately be part of the first-team picture, despite his young age.

Goalkeepers: David de Gea, Dean Henderson, Lee Grant

Defenders: Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Alex Telles, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Axel Tuanzebe

Midfielders: Paul Pogba, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Fred, Bruno Fernandes, Daniel James, Facundo Pellistri, Nemanja Matic, Donny van de Beek, Scott McTominay

Forwards: Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford, Odion Ighalo

There is no place in the 25-man ‘A’ list for Mason Greenwood or Brandon Williams. But United fans needn’t panic about shock omissions because all clubs can use an unlimited ‘B’ list to supplement their squad. The ‘B’ list can be made up of players born on or after 1 January 2019 who have been eligible to play for the club for at least two uninterrupted years since their 15th birthday.

Greenwood and Williams both fit that criteria, which means the club doesn’t have to use up a place in the limited ‘A’ squad list to include them in Champions League games.

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Mason Greenwood can still play in Champions League games | OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

The same goes for other home-grown players like Teden Mengi, Ethan Laird and Anthony Elanga, who could potentially feature in the competition, despite being left out of the main squad.

Despite his age, Pellistri has to be included in the ‘A’ list because he has only just arrived at United and therefore does not have the required two years under his belt.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!

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