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Leicester Star James Maddison ‘Obviously Open’ To Arsenal Move

Former Premier League player Dean Windass believes that Leicester midfielder James Maddison would be open to a move to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

James Maddison has been linked with the side recently and his club has put a £70 million price tag on him.

Maddison is currently under contract with the FA Cup and FA Community Shield champions until 2024.

The 24-year-old attacking midfielder has scored 27 times for the Foxes and made 20 assists in 119 appearances in his time with the club.

Leicester’s ideal outcome of the situation would see them keep hold of their attacking midfielder for the upcoming season.

Former Hull City forward Dean Windass believes that the size of Arsenal compared to Leicester will have Maddison’s head turned.

Windass spoke to Transfer Tavern about the potential move and does not understand why Maddison would stay where he is.

Although Windass acknowledged that Leicester have been the better side in recent times, he argued that Arsenal’s position in world football is greater.

“Why wouldn’t you want to go to Arsenal?” the ex-Hull City striker said. “Listen, we talk about footballers now where it’s not about money anymore, it’s about winning trophies. Are Arsenal going to be in the top four next year? No. Are Leicester with Jamie Vardy? Yes.

“But a big club like Arsenal calling and he’s obviously open to it, reports saying he’d welcome the move.”

Leicester has finished above Arsenal in the Premier League in the last two seasons.

However, the two sides have won as much silverware as each other in that time and Arsenal have enjoyed much more success a the top level of English football than Leicester.

Windass sees that as an important trait for a club to have but it remains to be seen whether Maddison will be tempted over to North London.

Craziest moments of Tokyo 2020

The Tokyo Olympics will live long in the memory as one of the strangest Games but that was before any competitions even started. Here is a list of some of the weird and wonderful that was on show this summer 

Moroccan boxer’s best Mike Tyson impression

Many people aspire to be like their idols but some can go too far. One case of this is Moroccan boxer Youness Baalla who was caught trying to bite his opponent in the middle of an Olympic bout.

Baalla was only given a warning for the incident while New Zealand fighter David Nyika said it felt like a poor scratch of his cheek. The embarrassing moment got even worse as millions of people around the world then saw him lose the fight.

How the Australian’s celebrate gold

The Wallabee’s had a terrific Olympics this year gathering a haul of 17 gold medals in total. Even with this many medals, you can see by their coach’s expression that each one is more valuable than the last.

This video caught coach Dean Boxall celebrating his protege Ariarne Titmus winning gold in the women’s 400m freestyle.

A special nod must go to the poor Japanese steward who tries to calm down Boxall.

Not old enough to drive but old enough to skateboard

At 13, most people are just starting secondary school, trying to enjoy their holidays and watching television. But for some extraordinary young teens, they are standing on the podium holding a medal at the Olympics.

Japan’s Momiji Nishiya, Brazil’s Rayssa Leal, and Great Britain’s Skye Brown all won medals in women’s skateboarding before the age of 14.

At least Australia’s Mary Hanna showed the world that age does not matter, at the age of 66 was Tokyo 2020’s oldest athlete.

Expression through hair, masks, and jewelry

With a tournament being held in Japan, there was expected to be references to anime and other pop culture made by the Olympic committee but there was a lot more by the athletes.

We saw it all from a swimmer not being allowed to wear his favourite cat-inspired mask while on the podium to a Russian women winning silver while wearing a Witcher’s Wolf School medallion.

What beats them all were the haircuts, and there was a lot. Here is the pick of the bunch.

For those who made history for their country

Countries like the USA and China can be content with their 38 plus medals each but for smaller countries, it’s more about getting to the Olympics.

There is still well over 50 Olympic nations who have never won a gold medal before but at least three countries earned their first this summer.

Flora Duffy got Bermuda’d gold in the triathlon, Hidilyn Diaz brought back Philipinnes’ gold in weightlifting and Qatar’s first of two came in the high jump by Mutaz Essa Barshim.

Hopefully, Paris 2024 will bring just as much excitement.

Liverpool FC To Continue Taking The Knee In 21/22

Liverpool FC has announced that both of their senior teams will continue taking the knee throughout the 21/22 season.

Players in the Liverpool senior squads have taken the knee since the return of football last June, following its suspension in England due to Covid-19.

The club announced the teams’ desire to continue to take the knee against racism in a statement this morning and underlined that the action sends the message that prejudice of any kind is simply unacceptable, in football or in society.

Men’s senior captain Jordan Henderson welcomed the decision made by the Premier League last week that players in the league will continue taking the knee.

“On behalf of all of the players at Liverpool, I want to restate our commitment to taking the knee in the Premier League this season and welcome the decision that was taken by the Premier League last week,” said men’s captain Jordan Henderson.

“There has been unfounded debate about why footballers are continuing to demonstrate in this way but there should be none. It is very simple – we are protesting against racism.

“The question should no longer be why are we doing it, it should be why wouldn’t we? This is a necessary response to a problem that we know exists and which we also know should not be happening.

“So I’m proud of my teammates when we take the knee and I also couldn’t have been prouder to be captain of this club when our supporters applauded us as we did so.

“It is only by doing what is right and coming together that we can achieve positive change and it is in this spirit that we will carry on taking the knee.”

LFC Women captain Niamh Fahey said: “As a women’s team we’re pleased that the football authorities will once again support squads who wish to take the knee.

“We saw even this summer around the Euros that the scourge of racism remains not just in football but in society. It shows, sadly, that the reason we took the knee last season remains every bit as relevant this season.

“It is our way of saying there is no place for racism or other forms of discrimination in our game, and that things must change.

“We will proudly wear the Take A Stand badges on our playing shirts this season and we know our supporters will be firmly behind us when we take the knee before our games.”

The campaign will see both teams wear sleeve badges in support of the message they are sending.

Liverpool Men’s will wear ‘No Room For Racism’ in the Premier League while the Women’s side will wear  Kick It Out’s ‘Take A Stand’ in the FA Women’s Championship.

Former Barca player says he’s falling ‘back in love’ with football at Leeds

Leeds United secured the signing of former Barcelona left-back Junior Firpo at the start of July for £13.2 million

Many Whites fans were very happy to see a young defender with European experience making the move to Elland Road. The 24-year-old began his career at Real Betis before moving to the Catalan giants in 2019 after some impressive seasons in La Liga.

Two years later and Firpo’s game-time was halved with him spending much of the season on the sideline behind Jordi Alba and Oscar Mingueza. His most recent season only included three starts which lead to a goal and an assist by the defender.

Now, the Spaniard has moved to England in search of more time on the pitch. He opened up to DAZN Espana about his move to Leeds.

“I haven’t done a specific evaluation [of my time at Barcelona] but it’s clear that they haven’t been good years. It’s been a time of ups and downs – more downs than ups to put it like that,” said Firpo.

“But in the end, I’ve been at Barcelona for two years and not a lot of players can have that opportunity. It was an opportunity that maybe came a bit too soon.”

The left-back suffered a knock in training last week but is expected to be recovered in time for Leeds opening game of the season on Saturday.

Firpo will now be competing with Ezgjan Alioski, Stuart Dallas, and Jamie Shackleton for the full-back places.

He has already started well at his new club, bagging an assist in a pre-season friendly against former club Real Betis.

“I’ve been here two weeks and I’ve seen more videos of myself than I have in my two years at Barça – individual videos. But it’s good, they explain to you the way you have to play, what they want you to do in every possible situation, and in the end, they really look in detail.”

“Honestly, I want to fall back in love with football. I’m not going to say I’ve had bad years recently because you always come home to your family but with regards to football I’ve definitely not had the drive to play and enjoy it. In football I always look to enjoy myself,” added Firpo.

Leeds United’s first game of the season will be away to Manchester United at 12:30 on Saturday 14th August.

Super Cup Final: Chelsea v Villareal – Team News, Betting, Predictions

Champions League winners Chelsea will face Europa League winners Villareal in the UEFA Super Cup final on Wednesday evening

The match will kick off at 20:00 on Wednesday 11th August in Windsor Park. Coverage of the match will be shown live on Virgin Media 2.

Since Thomas Tuchel became Chelsea’s manager, they have only been getting better and better. This culminated in the side beating Manchester City 1-0 in the Champions League final last May.

They have built a strong defense around veteran Brazilian, Thiago Silva while allowing the fast youth to be creative up the field.

They are hours away from announcing the resigning of Romelu Lukaku but expect his role in this final to only be as a fan.

After Unai Emery was laughed out of Arsenal, he has recouped his career and became successful in Villareal. The team took the Europa League title after a thrilling 22-man penalty shootout against Manchester United with only one miss.

The side is built to frustrate big clubs, playing compact and physical. This does not mean that they do not have talent, their main striker Gerard Moreno scored 23 goals in the Spanish league last season.

Villareal has become a club where forgotten Premier League stars have come to refind their form such as Alberto Moreno, Etienne Capoue, and Francis Coquelin.

This trophy is not worth much in the grand scheme of things but it would be nice for both clubs to start their season on winning ways. Chelsea will start their league campaign on Saturday at home to Crystal Palace while Villareal begins theirs on Monday to Grenada.

Predicted Starting 11s

Chelsea

Formation

3-4-2-1

Predicted Lineup

Mendy(GK), Zouma, Silva, Rudiger, James, Kante, Kovacic, Alonso, Havertz, Ziyech, Werner

Injuries

None

Villareal

Formation

5-3-2

Predicted Lineup

Asenjo (GK), Moreno, Albiol, Mandi, Foyth, Gaspar, Capoue, Trigueros, Morlanes, Nino, Moreno.

Injuries

Parejo, Chukwueze

 

Betting

Chelsea are favourites to claim the tie in 90 minutes with odds of 4/6 with Boylesports. If you place a bet of €10 you get €40 free bet. Click here to get the €40

Also you can back Ziyech to score first and Chelsea win at 100/1, click here

A draw in normal time has odds of 13/5.

Villareal are heavy underdogs to win the match with odd of 9/2.

 

Score Prediction

Chelsea are a team brimming with confidence, their squad includes four players who were in the Euro 2020 final. Although, they will likely rest Mount and Jorginho for the Premier League.

Villareal are a team known for causing upsets in Europe but this will not be one of them.

Expect this to be a cagey affair ending 2-1 to Chelsea.

 

Aidan Walsh Has Not Got Over Bronze Medal Feeling

Team Ireland boxer Aidan Walsh is back home but has not got over the feeling of becoming an Olympic bronze medallist.

Walsh defeated Mauritian Merven Clair to progress to the semi-finals of the Men’s Welterweight boxing tournament at the Olympic games.

Four judges had him down as the winner, securing a medal for him, but the Monkstown boxer had to withdraw from his semi-final bout after injuring himself while celebrating.

The Team Ireland member was due to fight Team GB’s Pat McCormack, who ended up taking home the silver medal in the division.

However, the 24-year-old is over the moon with his bronze medal and said: “To be honest, it still just all seems surreal.

“Usually I’m out in the crowd supporting other people, but to be standing on the side is crazy.

“I just feel lucky and extremely grateful. Everyone on the team deserves to be here as well with a medal.

“But first and foremost I’m an Olympian along with my sister alongside a great team. Everything else is a bonus.”

Walsh noted that he feels extremely lucky to be able to be in this position – a bronze medallist after his first Olympics.

The fighter is excited to get back to Monkstown and see the support group that helped him get to such a position.

The most important part of the Olympic journey for Walsh was sharing it with one person from that group – his sister Michaela Walsh, also an Olympian.

Michaela was a huge supporter of all the Team Ireland boxers after her exit from the Women’s Featherweight tournament at the round of 16.

“It’s great to have someone like that. Someone who [is my] best friend and [have] grown up together.”

Now, he looks forward to putting his feet up and not having to worry about such a strict diet.

His post-Olympics mindset follows the same pattern that Kellie Harrington’s does as the pair look to make the most of their time off.

Aidan will return to his caravan with his girlfriend and eat whatever he wants after spending so long focused on Tokyo – he added that sweets weren’t available to him in Japan.

“I’m going to go to the caravan with my girlfriend in Carnlough and just take it easy – have a bit of Chinese, a tin of Coke and lots of chocolates, lots of sweets and just pig out.”

Kellie Harrington: Gold Medal Win Hasn’t Kicked In Yet

Team Ireland boxer Kellie Harrington said that her gold medal win has not kicked in yet for her upon returning home on Tuesday following her victory at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Harrington defeated Brazil’s Beatriz Fereira by unanimous decision to earn Team Ireland’s second gold medal at Tokyo 2020 and conclude a fantastic run for the 2018 World Amateur Lightweight Champion.

The boxer has not been able to take in her achievement due to sleepless nights after her win and the increase in media attention compared to her World Championship victory.

“I think it will take for me to realize what’s actually going on, it will take me a couple of weeks, to not be around the team, to not be in that environment, to actually realize what has happened, and what I have achieved,” said the Olympic gold medallist.

A large amount of her family and friends greeted Kellie when she returned from New Delhi with gold in 2018 following her win over Olympic semi-final opponent Sudaporn Seesondee.

However, there was a smaller group waiting for her at the airport because of the restrictions in place and a large media presence wanting to hear from her as soon as she touched down.

The media have had a huge interest in Harrington since her victory and the fighter did not get back to her room in Tokyo until 9 pm JST on the day of the fight because of a press conference and an RTÉ interview.

“This is the first time speaking to me Ma and Da [since the win] because I haven’t been ringing people or anything like that because I’m just so exhausted.”

The only person she spoke to before returning home was her partner, Mandy Loughlin, via Bernard Dunne’s phone for only ten minutes.

Harrington hopes to relax for the coming weeks after being on a strict diet since she began preparing for the Olympics.

She is also thinking about getting a replica medal made as the original one already has a scratch on it.

However, Harrington did not seem too bothered about the scratch and the boxer is excited to watch some television, listen to the radio and eat whatever she wants over the coming days.

“I just want to sit down on me sofa, watch some telly, or not watch telly – listen to the radio…It’s gonna be brilliant to just eat whatever I want.”

Liverpool To Review New Ticket System Following Issues

Liverpool FC will review their new ticket system, which they trialled in their two most recent friendlies against Athletic Bilbao and Osasuna, before their first Premier League home fixture of the season.

This news comes after issues with the system caused both games’ kick-offs to be delayed so fans could get into the stadium before the match started.

The changes Liverpool have implemented are encouraged by the Premier league and promote a contactless approach to increase safety at football stadiums.

Phil Dutton, vice-president of ticketing and hospitality at LFC, said: “These new stadium entry processes significantly change the matchday operation for supporters and staff so we wanted to have an opportunity to test those processes in order to refine and improve them going forward.

“As well as the obvious football reasons, that was the purpose of holding two friendlies held in little over 24 hours at which we were able to trial the new processes with a reduced capacity to see how they worked. The most significant outcome is that the technology in general works but other issues became apparent, resulting in supporter entry rates being slower than usual.

“All supporters got into the stadium safely but it did take longer than expected. There were huge improvements from the first game to the second game as a result of learnings in between the two fixtures. This, coupled with a better understanding of the system, saw entry rates increase significantly, albeit with a need for further improvements to be made.

“We will now do a full review of the process and gather data to identify those areas where access processes fell below our required standard. Importantly, we will work with supporters and matchday staff to fully understand the issues and identify opportunities for improvements.

“We will also continue to seek feedback from fan forum members who attended the friendlies this week and also from Spirit of Shankly, the supporters trust. I must say that all fans who attended the games have been brilliant and we must thank them for their patience and understanding with the new entry processes. We know it has been frustrating for many but, on both nights, our supporters have been fantastic and we couldn’t have asked any more of them.”

Following the full review of the new entry process and the fan forum, the club will update supporters on any further changes ahead of the Premier League home fixture against Burnley on Saturday August 21.

Leicester Winger Rachid Ghezzal Set For Besiktas Move

Leicester City FC winger Rachid Ghezzal is close to a permanent transfer to Turkish club Besiktas, according to reports.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has said that Ghezzal will make the journey to Istanbul on Tuesday to complete the move away from England.

Leicester and Besiktas are said to have “total agreement” on the terms with the confirmation expected to be a formality.

The fee is rumoured to be in the seven-figure r for the Algerian, who spent last season on loan at the Turkish outfit.

Ghezzal made 23 appearances for Leicester, all in his first season under contract with the club, and scored three goals and assisted three.

The Algerian fell out of favour when current manager Brendan Rodgers was brought in to replace Claude Puel.

Ghezzal has since spent time on loan in Italy at Fiorentina and with Besiktas and has not appeared for his parent club since a minute-long cameo against Bournemouth on March 30th, 2019.

The winger failed to make an impact in Italy, scoring just once in 21 appearances and assisting once in the same amount of time for La Viola but impressed in his time on loan at Besiktas.

The on-loan winger racked up 26 goal involvements in 35 appearances across all competitions for the Turkish Champions.

His attacking ability was an important cog in the machine for Sergen Yalcin’s side as they won the title on goal difference by one.

His run of five goals in the last six games in the league helped the club over the line, with Ghezzal grabbing the all-important winner against Goztepe on the final day of the season.

He also had a strong performance in the Turkish Cup final, creating one of the two goals for his side on the day as they clinched the first half of an impressive double.

Galatasary, Besiktas’ rivals who finished second in the league by just one goal, were also reportedly interested in Ghezzal but it looks like Besiktas have now got their man.

Manchester City Defender Stones Extends Contract To 2026

Manchester City FC defender John Stones has extended his contract with the club until 2026.

The 27-year-old has already spent five years at the club after joining from Everton for £50 million in 2016.

Stones’ career at City before last season was filled with individual highs and lows but a stellar season at the back alongside Portuguese centre-half Ruben Dias has seen fans’ opinions of him change.

His 22 appearances in the league garnered 13 clean sheets and the Barnsley native was a key piece in Manchester City’s run to the UEFA Champions League final.

His performances in the semi-finals against Paris Saint-Germain defined a fantastic season for the centre-half.

His form across his 35 appearances for the Citizens earned Stones a call-up to the English international setup.

Stones started every game for Gareth Southgate’s side as they went on a run to the final, falling at the last hurdle to Italy in Wembley.

He has made 168 appearances for Manchester City at the time of writing and has won every trophy in domestic football in England while at the club.

The England international has three Premier Leagues, two League Cups, one FA Cup and two Community Shields to his name.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Stones said. “I love being part of this squad. There are so many quality players here and I know we can continue winning trophies, which is my main focus.

“Working with the manager is a dream – he has taught me so much about the game and I feel like I learn something new every single day.

“The success we’ve had in the last four years has been incredible. To be a part of it has been a dream come true and I just want to continue winning.

“This is the best place for me to play my football and fulfil my ambitions.”

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