Football transfer news

Erik ten Hag has offered his support to Marcus Rashford after the Manchester United forward called for fans to stop “abusing” him on social media.

Rashford was rewarded with a huge contract last summer after an outrageous first year under Ten Hag, but he has failed to match those heights this season. Fans have been quick to criticise his form – Rashford has just eight goals in all competitions this year – and even booed him off the pitch during the FA Cup semi-final scare against Coventry City.

A fan account came to Rashford’s defence by insisting the treatment of him by fans has been “disgusting”, and the 26-year-old posted a reply in the early hours of Friday morning, writing “I appreciate your support! It is abuse and has been for months. Enough is enough.”

Ten Hag, who has disciplined Rashford twice this season for incidents off the pitch, stood by the winger in his latest news conference but admitted he must raise his performance levels and prove people wrong on the pitch.

“I’ve a lot of sympathy for Rashy, of course,” Ten Hag said. “Last year, he had a brilliant season. I think the best season in his career, he scored 30 goals. You see what he is capable of.

“This season, he didn’t give the performances and people have been very critical. We have to back him and everyone should back him to get back to the levels of last year.

“I think he needs the support. We all know what he’s capable of, we all have to support and push him. He can do better than this year. We saw last year when he was really brilliant.

“I think the fans are behind us always. We are entering Old Trafford, I heard the reception. Wednesday was louder than I have heard. Also away: always supportive, backing the team and there is a very good connection between the team and the fans.”

Rashford’s drop in form has even invited questions about his future at United, with reports suggesting he could be sold for the right price. 90min understands Rashford has been identified as a possible replacement for Kylian Mbappe by Paris Saint-Germain.

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Manchester City breezed past Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday night to cut Arsenal’s lead at the top of the Premier League back to a single point.

Pep Guardiola’s side are seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive league title and have their destiny firmly in their own hands at this stage, holding a game in hand on the Gunners.

City wasted little time getting ahead thanks to a rare headed goal from Kevin De Bruyne, the improvised dive finding its way past Jason Steele in the home goal. Phil Foden then managed a first half brace to kill the game as a contest before the interval, with Julian Alvarez later adding a fourth.

Nobody even seemed to be that bothered that Erling Haaland wasn’t playing.

These are City’s best and worst players from the game according to 90min‘s player ratings.

Phil Foden: 9/10

At 23 years of age, Foden is now onto 51 Premier League goals after smashing through the half century milestone in this game. There was a big element of fortune in his first of the evening, thanks to a soft free-kick taking a big deflection. But his second was pure class, curling effortlessly in.

Honourable mention

Kyle Walker: 8/10

Talking of milestones, Walker has played nearly 400 times in the Premier League since his debut in the competition back in 2010. But this was the first time that the England right-back has registered two assists in the same top flight game. He set up De Bruyne’s opener and the fourth for Alvarez.

Josko Gvardiol: 6/10

On another night, Gvardiol might have given away a penalty for his challenge on Joao Pedro midway through the second half. City were already 4-0 up at that stage so it wouldn’t have changed the course of the game or the result, but it was a little clumsy and avoidable.

Dishonourable mention

Rodri: 6/10

Rather like Gvardiol, Rodri was the villain for Brighton players and fans when contact with Pascal Gross in the penalty area went unpunished. His passing accuracy was still close to 100% and he kept possession ticking over, but the few that did go astray left City vulnerable.

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Liverpool’s search for Jurgen Klopp’s successor has led them to the Eredivisie, where Feyenoord’s Arne Slot has been identified as the top target.

The Reds are now working to try and convince Feyenoord to part ways with their boss, but thankfully, things aren’t that complicated on Football Manager 2024 where, with the magic of editing, we can throw Slot into the Anfield dugout right in time for the 2024/25 season.

Let’s see how he gets on.

Slot signs his contract on July 1, 2024, replacing Klopp and beating surprise candidate Ange Postecoglou to the post.

He brings in a 4-2-3-1 formation and goes unbeaten over six games during the summer, partly in thanks to the final signing of the Klopp era, Ricardo Horta, who joined from Benfica for £25.5m as a farewell gift from the German.

The Premier League season arrives but Slot’s tenure gets off to a bumpy start, with his Liverpool side drawing 0-0 with Brentford.

The biggest tactical shift from Slot is moving Trent Alexander-Arnold into midfield alongside Thiago Alcantara, who starts the campaign with a straight red card. Delightful.

Aston Villa rock up to Anfield and emerge with a 3-1 victory, with Slot turning to young Tyler Morton in his midfield alongside Alexander-Arnold. The 21-year-old gets a respectable match rating of 6.7, unlike Alisson and his 5.8.

Liverpool do bounce back with wins over Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, but a tough run of fixtures goes about as badly as possible for Slot, whose side fall to Manchester City, Real Madrid and Tottenham in September. A 2-2 draw with Chelsea (who are starting Romelu Lukaku, by the way) is the only bright spot.

However, Slot’s side do figure themselves out across October and November with a decent run of form across the Premier League and Champions League that at least gives fans some hope for the season ahead.

With Liverpool not really hitting the heights just yet, Slot gets on the phone to the sporting directors and pushes for a new forward.

In comes Red Bull Salzburg’s Maurits Kjaergaard, who costs Slot a cool £40.5m. He’s the only signing of the January transfer window but has to be patient for minutes as Alexis Mac Allister is quietly cooking in his attacking midfield role.

The first signs of pressure on Slot come in early 2025.

January begins with a 0-0 draw with Brentford, before a youthful outfit get thumped 3-1 by Norwich City in the third round of the FA Cup. Three goals inside the first seven minutes? Ouch.

Crystal Palace secure a 1-1 draw and Nottingham Forest beat Slot’s side 2-1, and there are even reports he could be sacked if Liverpool fail to get anything against Red Star in the Champions League.

Alexander-Arnold does his best to ruin things with a red card inside the first minute but Liverpool’s stars stand up and save Slot’s job…for now.

Unfortunately for Slot, February brings a nightmarish run of fixtures for any manager facing the sack.

Across 20 days, Slot is facing games against Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham, Fulham and Arsenal. If he survives, he’s going to need some big performances.

Slot survives just three days of that hellish schedule, getting thumped 3-0 by Chelsea and 2-1 by Man City before getting the dreaded phone call on February 5, 2025.

The Reds bring in Roberto De Zerbi, one of the men originally tipped to replace Klopp in the actual Anfield dugout, to take Slot’s place.

With just eight goals in Slot’s 23 Premier League appearances, it’s a massive fall-off from Mohamed Salah.

While he obviously hasn’t played a full campaign under Slot, Salah is on pace to record his worst goalscoring season of his Liverpool career – beating his previous worst of 19 in both 2019/20 in 2022/23.

Side note: How can 19 league goals be your worst-ever total? That’s mental.

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Manchester United could land themselves one of the most exciting young players in the Premier League if they decide to make a formal approach for Michael Olise this summer.

Olise has battled hamstring problems this season, but his numbers when fit have been genuinely outstanding. It’s seven goals and four assists in 15 Premier League games for the Crystal Palace star, including one of each in a victory over West Ham United, a brace against Brentford and the 95th minute equaliser from the penalty spot in a draw with Manchester City.

Interest in the 22-year-old predates Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s involvement at United, but the new INEOS contingent have endorsed Olise as a concrete option ahead of next season.

What’s more, 90min understands that the player himself is open to joining if the Red Devils come calling. Chelsea, who trained a young Olise in their academy between the ages of seven and 14, have no plans to resurrect rival interest following last summer’s messy approach, potentially leaving United a clear run. A legally complicated release clause in his contract is between £50m and £60m.

But how would Olise fit in at Old Trafford?

Olise is left-footed but has made the right flank his preferred home. It allows him to cut inside from that side of the pitch, either to shoot or play in-swinging passes or crosses to create chances.

United have had success with that style of wide player in recent seasons when Marcus Rashford or Alejandro Garnacho have operated from the left in a similar way. In that system, a left footer on the right offers balance to the team, especially if someone like Olise cutting inside can also help create space for Diogo Dalot to get forward on the overlap to the outside.

Garnacho has been United’s primary choice on the right this season as a more conventional winger, so Olise provides something different. His potential arrival could be bad news for Antony, though.

It’s not a position he’s played at club level since leaving Reading in 2021, but Olise has it in his locker to operate from the left too. Even if it proves not to be his primary purpose, there’s a benefit to having numerous options that can be plugged in depending on different in-game scenarios.

One role that Premier League fans might have been used to seeing Olise play, because it is one that he played in for Palace, is as a ‘number 10’ through the middle.

His vision and range of passing, as well as an ability to shoot from distance, lends itself to playing centrally behind a striker. That role typically belongs to Bruno Fernandes, but in games where United expect to dominate possession against a deep-defending opponent, it would make sense to drop the skipper slightly deeper in order to fit a second creative midfield into the lineup.

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Manchester City waltzed to a routine 4-0 victory against Brighton on Thursday night to keep them in control of the Premier League title race.

Pep Guardiola’s side found themselves out of sight with a three-goal lead at the break, with Phil Foden’s brace adding to Kevin De Bruyne’s earlier fantastic diving header.

Julian Alvarez’s effort added some gloss to the scoreline in the second half as Man City moved to within one point of league leaders Arsenal with a game in hand.

How the game unfolded

After Arsenal demolished Chelsea and Liverpool fell to defeat in the Merseyside derby, the pressure was on the reigning champions to secure victory on the south coast. They made a bright start to proceedings, enjoying the majority of possession, but it was Brighton’s Danny Welbeck who drew the first save of the evening from Ederson with his tame long-range strike.

However, it didn’t take long for City to make their territorial dominance count and it was De Bruyne who put them ahead with a remarkable effort after 17 minutes. Kyle Walker’s cross found the midfielder in the box and his brilliant diving header looped over the outstretched glove of Jason Steele.

It took just eight minutes for City to double their advantage and there was some controversy surrounding Foden’s effort. The England international won a free-kick on the edge of the box after slipping under no contact, with his subsequent effort taking a huge deflection off Pascal Gross en-route to the back of the net.

But there was nothing contentious about City’s third, with Foden grabbing his double to kill the game before the break. Brighton were caught playing out from the back and Bernardo Silva’s interception fell at the 23-year-old’s feet before he curled an effortless shot into the far corner in the 34th minute.

Brighton felt they should have had a penalty just a minute after the restart when Gross went down after contact with Rodri, but the referee and VAR didn’t deem it enough to award a spot kick.

City did eventually grab a fourth just after the hour mark and the home side were once again left frustrated by the officials. The ball appeared to brush Walker’s hand on its way to Alvarez following a collision with Steele, with the Argentine slotting home from close range. Referee Jarred Gillett was left unmoved by the incident, as was VAR official John Brooks.

Brighton’s anger at the officials reached boiling point in the 70th minute when Joao Pedro appeared to be tripped in the penalty area by Josko Gvardiol. Once again, protestation fell on deaf ears.

But the hosts were unable to rally and reduce the deficit heading into the closing minutes, with City holding on for an incredibly comfortable – and crucial – victory at the Amex.

GK: Jason Steele – 5/10 – Clearly instructed to play out from the back at all costs and, despite his passing being accurate, he often put teammates in trouble.

RB: Joel Veltman – 5/10 – Booked for booting the ball away as frustrations grew, with the Dutchman enduring a difficult evening. Hooked at the break.

CB: Jan Paul van Hecke – 5/10 – Made some decent blocks but struggled to cope with Man City’s movement in the final third.

CB: Lewis Dunk – 5/10 – Some loose touches hardly inspired confidence at the back and he was sloppy in possession when playing out under pressure.

LB: Valentin Barco – 4/10 – The youngster’s needless pass was picked off for Man City’s third and he often struggled defensively against Walker. A baptism of fire on his first Premier League start.

CM: Carlos Baleba – 5/10 – Showed glimpses of his quality in more advanced positions, but he was bypassed far too easily by Man City’s midfield. Booked for a cynical foul in the second half.

CM: Jakub Moder – 6/10 – Put in the hard yards in the engine room and did his best to stifle Man City’s attacking threats.

AM: Pascal Gross – 5/10 – Unfortunate that he deflected Foden’s free kick past Steele but he did very little to positively impact the game as Brighton’s chief creator.

AM: Adam Lallana – 5/10 – Bar one neat Cruyff turn in midfield, the former Liverpool man was anonymous. Unsurprisingly withdrawn at half-time.

ST: Danny Welbeck – 6/10 – Tried his best with very limited service and was the liveliest of the forward unit.

ST: Joao Pedro – 6/10 – Signs of life in the second half and arguably could have won a spot kick with a smart run. Missed a sitter late on.

Substitutes

SUB: Simon Adingra (46′ for Lallana) – 6/10

SUB: Odel Offiah (46′ for Veltman) – 6/10

SUB: Igor (56′ for Moder) – 7/10

SUB: Mark O’Mahony (75′ for Welbeck) – 6/10

Subs not used: Bart Verbruggen (GK), Adam Webster, Facundo Buonanotte, Julio Enciso, Ansu Fati.

Manager

Roberto De Zerbi – 3/10 – A suicidal approach from the Italian as Brighton were continually picked off when trying to play out from the back. You simply can’t play like that against the champions and expect to get away with it.

GK: Ederson – 6/10 – Bar the odd bit of sweeping, he was rarely involved.

RB: Kyle Walker – 8/10 – Tested Barco with his frequent flying runs down the right and set up De Bruyne’s opener and Alvarez’s strike.

CB: Manuel Akanji – 7/10 – Seldom tested by Brighton’s forward line and was tidy playing out from defence.

CB: Nathan Ake – 7/10 – Spurned one half-chance prior to Man City’s opener but it mattered little in the end. A very quiet evening for the Dutchman defensively.

LB: Josko Gvardiol – 6/10 – Stepped forward when required but often wasn’t needed in attack. Perhaps could have been punished for tripping Pedro in the penalty area.

CM: Rodri – 6/10 – A few wayward passes could have put Man City in trouble had Brighton been more clinical. The Spaniard also could have given away a penalty moments after the break.

CM: Mateo Kovacic – 7/10 – Drove forward impressively from midfield and offered some dynamism in central areas.

RM: Bernardo Silva – 7/10 – A subtle performance from the Portuguese, who kept things ticking along in the final third.

AM: Kevin De Bruyne – 8/10 – A fantastic first headed Premier League goal from the Belgian, who was gliding across the Amex turf effortlessly. Another influential outing.

LM: Phil Foden – 9/10 – Another majestic display from Foden who grabbed himself two first half goals. The first was slightly fortunate, but the second was typically graceful.

ST: Julian Alvarez – 7/10 – Some really good runs beyond the Brighton backline and his persistence paid off when he ended his goalscoring drought in the second half.

Substitutes

SUB: Jack Grealish (71′ for Foden) – 6/10

SUB: Matheus Nunes (71′ for De Bruyne) – 6/10

SUB: Jeremy Doku (78′ for Silva) – 6/10

SUB: Rico Lewis (78′ for Walker) – 6/10

SUB: Sergio Gomez (78′ for Rodri) – 6/10

Susb not used: Stefan Ortega (GK), John Stones, Ruben Dias, Oscar Bobb.

Manager

Pep Guardiola – 8/10 – A sensational performance from his side, who cut Brighton open repeatedly and punished their risky tactics. Made a potential banana skin fixture look so, so simple.

Player of the match: Phil Foden (Man City)

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