Month: June 2023

Manchester City are in talks to sign Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea.

The Blues are preparing for a host of summer exits after a disappointing season saw them finish 12th in the Premier League table.

New manager Mauricio Pochettino is eager to trim the West Londoners’ bloated squad and will likely not stand in the way of the Croatian midfielder’s departure.

The 29-year-old has just one year remaining on his current deal at Stamford Bridge.

According to ESPN, Kovacic has been granted permission to speak to Pep Guardiola’s side and it is thought Chelsea would command a fee of £35million.

The 93-cap international has been a key player for the Blues since joining on a permanent basis from Real Madrid in 2019, winning four trophies.

He featured in 27 Premier League games this term, scoring one goal and registering two assists.

Another midfielder who looks set to part ways with Chelsea is academy graduate Mason Mount.

The Telegraph report the Englishman has now agreed personal terms with Manchester United.

Erik ten Hag’s side are said to be ready to make a formal offer in a bid to get the deal completed quickly, with the 24-year-old valued at £80m.

In other news

Joao Felix has been offered to Newcastle on a loan deal by Atletico Madrid, say the Daily Mail, with Chelsea opting to not make the 23-year-old’s move a permanent one.

Elsewhere, The Sun report the Magpies have offered star midfielder Bruno Guimaraes a new £200,000-a-week contract to try and ward off interest from Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Los Blancos could make a move for Tottenham striker Harry Kane this summer, according to The Times, due to Karim Benzema being linked with a big-money switch to Saudi Arabia.

Liverpool claimed their sixth European Cup after a 2-0 victory over Tottenham in the Champions League final in Madrid, on this day in 2019.

Jurgen Klopp’s men returned to the big stage 12 months after they had lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the 2018 final in Kiev, determined to go one better.

They did so still reflecting on a remarkable Premier League season during which they had finished on 97 points, yet still narrowly missed out on the title to Manchester City.

The intervening three weeks had given them time to reflect upon on a near miss, but also to prepare for their showdown with Spurs after both had negotiated a path to Madrid in thrilling fashion.

Liverpool had looked to be heading out of the competition after the first leg of their semi-final when they went down 3-0 in Barcelona, but two goals each from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum on a memorable night at Anfield rekindled their hopes.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side too needed something special to make it to the final when, with just 35 minutes of their last-four tie against Ajax remaining, they trailed 3-0 on aggregate in Amsterdam only for Lucas Moura to plunder a hat-trick which took them through on away goals.

The scene was set for a classic in Spain, although while the opening was explosive, the game failed to live up to expectations.

The die was cast within 22 seconds of kick-off when Moussa Sissoko was adjudged to have handled Sadio Mane’s cross and referee Damir Skomina pointed to the spot.

Mohamed Salah dispatched the resulting penalty past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and although Klopp’s first trophy as Reds boss was not secured until substitute Origi struck three minutes from time, Spurs never really looked like getting back into the game.

The German, who had lost his previous six cup finals, said: “I only want to enjoy that we won it. All the rest is not important.

“I feel mostly relieved, to be honest. Relieved for my family because they are pretty close to me, as you can imagine.

“Six times we always flew on holiday with a silver medal. That doesn’t feel too cool.”

After giving his silver medal to a fan in the crowd, AC Roma boss Jose Mourinho thanked his players despite losing in penalties to Sevilla in the UEFA Europa League final in Budapest.

Mourinho was set to become the most decorated European manager in history with six trophies and after a Paulo Dybala goal put them in front it was looking likely.

Roma went on to concede an own goal and lost 4-1 in penalties when Roger Ibanez and Gianluca Mancini missed from the spot.

Mourinho told ITV Italy after the game: “I’ve won five finals and I lost this one, but I’m coming back home proud again. The boys gave everything.

“We felt pressure against a team that has more talent than us. We lost a game but not dignity.

“I’ve never gone home prouder than today, even when I won. We had also worked hard on penalties but… we missed two – but all together, not only the penalty takers.”

Mourinho said while his players are sad, his side deserve to go home with their heads held high.

“We are all attached to the shirt, to our nature. We take things seriously and humbly, we work a lot,” Mourinho said.

“Everyone reacts in a different way: one cries, the other doesn’t.

“Congratulations to Sevilla, but also congratulations to my players. The boys must go home peacefully, with pride for having done what they have done. These are my boys from Budapest.”

Footage after the game showed Mourinho handing his medal to a child in the stands.

Meanwhile, Sevilla forward Erik Lamela told BT Sport it was a really tough game as Sevilla won their seventh Europa League title.

“This is amazing, I can’t ask for more, this feeling is unbelievable,” he said.

“Really tough game, not an easy game to play, we were not feeling in our best way because they defended well and it was difficult to find the spaces and create situations but this team fought it out and tonight we’re going to enjoy it.”

Gonzalo Montiel was the penalty hero once more as Sevilla made it a magnificent seven in the Europa League and handed Roma boss Jose Mourinho his first defeat in a European final.

Mourinho was on track to become the most decorated European manager in history with six trophies when Paulo Dybala defied an ankle injury he has been carrying for the last month to put the Serie A side in front in a scrappy affair in Budapest.

Gianluca Mancini, who had provided the assist for Dybala, put into his own net as the game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes then missed from the spot, as did Roger Ibanez, before Montiel scored the decisive penalty to secure a 4-1 shootout win for the Spaniards.

The Argentinian, who scored the winning spot-kick in last year’s World Cup final, initially missed from 12 yards but Rui Patricio coming off his line before the ball was struck meant a retake, and Montiel this time made no mistake.

While Sevilla claimed a record-extending seventh Europa League crown and qualify for next season’s Champions League, they had to do it in ugly fashion, with regular stoppages in play and players and coaches on both sides spoken to or warned by referee Anthony Taylor and fourth official Michael Oliver.

There were few openings as both sides started tentatively while there were regular interruptions, with both benches tetchy from the off, aware of what was at stake, and keeping Taylor on his toes.

The English referee had his first major decision when checking VAR after his countryman Tammy Abraham took a blow to the head but Nemanja Gudelj winning the ball meant no penalty was given.

The game came to life when Ivan Rakitic was dispossessed in his own half and while Sevilla’s defence seemed to anticipate a foul being given, Mancini took advantage and his through ball allowed Dybala to slot across Bono in the 35th minute. Amid howls of protest from Sevilla, substitute Rafa Mir was booked.

Lorenzo Pellegrini was cautioned for diving in the area and the constant breaks in play meant seven minutes were tagged on at the end of the first half, when Rakitic’s thundering effort from 25 yards thudded low off Patricio’s left-hand post.

Erik Lamela and Suso were brought on after the interval as Sevilla flew out of the traps, penning back Roma in their own half. The pressure told in the 55th minute as Mancini turned into his own net as he sought to stop Lucas Ocampos from latching on to Jesus Navas’ devilish whipped cross.

Sevilla were shown plenty of the ball but Roma almost scored again as a free-kick from Dybala, in his last involvement of the night before he was substituted, saw Abraham stab at Bono and amid a goalmouth scramble, the ball fell to an off-balance Ibanez, who sliced the rebound wide.

Ibanez’s night might have gotten worse when, with a quarter of an hour left, Ocampos went over the Roma defender’s trailing leg and Taylor pointed to the spot. With Mourinho and his coaches incandescent on the touchline, Taylor rescinded the penalty after a VAR check highlighted minimal, if any, contact.

It was Roma’s turn to appeal for a penalty soon after when the ball hit Fernando’s arm by his side. Taylor was unconvinced and then, not for the first time, headed to the Roma bench brandishing his yellow card.

While the names piled up in the official’s notebook, Roma almost had the last laugh but Andrea Belotti, on for Abraham, miscued a volley after a cute free-kick over the wall.

Fernando flashed wide as the match went to an additional 30 minutes, where both teams seemed reluctant to gamble.

Mourinho was booked for one of several confrontations with fourth official Oliver but after little action, Chris Smalling almost won it at the death but his looping header in the 10th minute of time added on from a corner came back off the bar.

The shootout started with Ocampos and Lamela netting either side of Bryan Cristante doing so for Roma but it was first blood to Sevilla when Mancini’s thunderous effort came back off a diving Bono’s legs.

Ibanez then saw his effort come back off the post and while Patricio seemed to have given Roma a glimmer when tipping Montiel’s spot-kick on to the post, the Portuguese’s encroachment gave the LaLiga player another chance he did not spurn.

Sarina Wiegman has expressed her frustration over the uncertainty surrounding England’s World Cup preparations as talks continue regarding the timing of players being released for duty ahead of the tournament.

The showpiece in Australia and New Zealand gets under way on July 20, and in mid-May, the European Club Association and FIFA announced they had reached an agreement establishing a non-mandatory release period of June 23-29.

The ECA and FIFA said that timeframe, to act as a guideline for clubs and national associations with exact dates to be agreed between them, “strikes the all-important balance between players having sufficient rest while allowing adequate time to prepare for the World Cup”.

The plan for England had been to start a pre-tournament camp on June 19, and boss Wiegman, who named her 23-player squad for the World Cup on Wednesday, said: “Of course that’s frustrating because we have all our plans, we thought we were all set and then like a month ago, all of a sudden, things change.

“We didn’t expect that, and it’s so late. I do understand, it’s about the calendar. It’s really hard. It’s about players having rest. We have to collaborate and talk to each other to try to solve that.

“But now in a short time like this, we’re all set and a month before we start, it all changes. That’s frustrating and it’s hard too because I think this is not the time to do this. It’s the time to do that later and solve it after this tournament.”

Wiegman was asked specifically about midfielder Georgia Stanway, who plays for Bayern Munich, and said: “I still hope we negotiate. At this point it’s hard but we’re trying to get the conversation going again.”

The Dutchwoman said the June 19 plan had been in place since last November, adding: “When we came to these plans, of course we have our principles, the knowledge, the expertise and experience, so we made the plan starting the 19th (of June).

“We spoke about that with the captains’ group, then with the players. We are in contact with clubs now and it’s very constructive but it’s not finalised yet.

“When you go to a World Cup, it’s the highest level, the most density, volume, so you have to be at your highest level.

“We also know that if you have more than two weeks’ rest, which if you would start later on you would have 26 days of no football, that’s not good for the preparation for the players, for the welfare of players that wouldn’t be good. So that’s why we want to start on June 19.

“It’s not only the physiology, it’s also the decision-making in football and getting really ready to start when we start on the 22nd (of July v Haiti).

“And knowing we’re going to the other side of the world, that takes a couple of days too. It’s two days of travelling, you can’t start training straight away because we first have to beat the jet-lag, so we really need that time to get prepared, so I just hope that we keep going with the good conversations and we can solve this.”

England are due to fly to Australia on July 5, and Wiegman also said regarding a warm-up fixture prior to that date: “The reason why we can’t tell you anything about that has to do with when we can start.

“If we start on June 19 we have enough days to get ready for such a game, but if we start later then you have too short a time to get ready for a fixture.”

Sevilla won their fifth Europa League in ten years as they defeated Roma 4-1 on penalties after a tightly-contested 1-1 draw in normal time. 

The winning penalty by Gonzalo Montiel was originally missed but VAR decided there was an encroachment and he scored the next one to earn more European glory for Nervionenses.

Before that, Paulo Dybala’s strike in the 35th minute was cancelled out by a Gianluca Mancini own goal only ten minutes after the restart. 

Here are five talking points from a tense final in Budapest.

 Sevilla do it again

Sevilla has once again come up trumps to win another Europa League trophy. 

The Spanish side have now won seven — an incredible record which means they have won four more than the next best side in Inter Milan (three). 

A disappointing season in LaLiga means little now as they will be in the Champions League next season. 

Mourinho run ends

Jose Mourinho’s magical run in European finals has come to an end.

The Portuguese manager had won every single final before tonight and he ran Sevilla all the way to penalties — but lost after Gianluca Mancini and Roger Ibanez missed their spot-kicks. 

The Italian side now have to play Spezia at the weekend with Europa League qualification in their hands, but they could still slip into the Europa Conference League.

Second-half Sevilla

Sevilla didn’t manage to lay a glove on the Roma backline in the first-half but after the restart they looked like a different team.  

In order to give his team more attacking thrust, Jose Luis Mendilibar decided to take off Bryan Gil and Oliver Torres — who were mostly ineffective — and bring on Suso and Erik Lamela.

The duo gave the side a lot more threat on the ball, receiving the ball in central and wide positions to create overloads. 

The Spanish side overall, however, upped the tempo decisively and grabbed a vital equaliser which turned the final into a different game.

Dybala difference

The signing of Dybala was viewed as a coup and the Argentine’s goal in the first-half proved why.

After an evenly-balanced first 30 minutes, Roma won the ball back in the middle of the park and put Dybala through one-on-one with the goalkeeper — the 29-year-old took one touch before slotting the ball away well.

It was a rare moment of calm in what was a final full of chaos. 

However, due to recent injury problems, he had to come off in the 68th minute.  

Fiery battle  

As expected, the game was an extremely fiery affair. 

Roma received six yellow cards during the match, which is the most ever in a final of this competition since it was rebranded in 2009.

Rather summing up the spectacle, there were twice as many fouls (15) as there were shots (7) in the first-half.

Mourinho was typically a menace on the sidelines, constantly shouting at the fourth official and referee Anthony Taylor and picked up a yellow card himself in extra-time.

This was backed up by the Spanish side, who were just as intense — especially when they had a penalty ruled out from VAR in the 75th minute.