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      Arsenal shocked by William Saliba’s wage demands and could be forced to sell defender this summer as PSG eye transfer

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      ARSENAL are struggling to sort out a new contract with William Saliba and Paris Saint-Germain are monitoring developments.The French international only has a year remaining on his current £40,000-a-week deal and the Gunners are desperate to secure his services on a long-term basis.
      William Saliba is out of contract next year and is a long way from agreeing terms with ArsenalCredit: Getty
      Arsenal have been left stunned by Saliba’s wage demandsCredit: Getty
      Mikel Arteta’s side are ready to offer Saliba, 22, £120k-a-week to be their defensive rock for seasons to come.
      But they have been shocked by the demands being made by the centre-back’s representatives and are currently nowhere near reaching an agreement.
      And Arsenal fear that Qatari-backed PSG will pay Saliba whatever it takes to lure him to the Parc des Princes.
      Boss Arteta insists that Saliba is a crucial part of his long-term plans and has no intention of selling him this summer.
      Read More Arsenal News
      But the North London giants are not prepared to let him run down his contract and leave as a free agent next year.
      So now Arsenal are working overtime to reach a compromise agreement and end all the uncertainty surrounding the key defender.
      Saliba is understood to be one of the lowest paid players in the first-team at the Emirates.
      Arsenal acknowledge they need to award him a substantial increase to recognise his importance to the team and plan to put him on an equal footing with the likes of Ben White, Aaron Ramsdale and Oleksandr Zinchenko.
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      But that is miles away from the kind of money French Champions PSG are capable of paying him, particularly if they can get him for a cut-price fee with only a year of his contract to run.
      Arsenal paid £27million to sign Saliba from Saint-Etienne in 2019 but he has only played one season for the club after spending his first three years on loan back with his old club and then at Nice and Marseille.
      He was the mainstay of Arteta’s defence last season until a back injury ruled him out of the last 11 games of the season, which coincided with the team’s laste collapse in the title race.
      The club’s medical team have ruled out the need for surgery and hope he will recover in time for the start of pre-season training in July.
      He has finally settled into life in London after initially being reluctant to return from his loan spell at Marseille last year and has proved to be a huge favourite both in the dressing-room and with the supporters.
      And having recently agreed lengthy new deals with Bukayo Saka and Ramsdale, Saliba’s contract is now top priority for the Emirates hierarchy. More

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      Tony Adams: Arsenal’s squad has peaked… they may NEVER hit this level again

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      MIKEL ARTETA worked wonders to get Arsenal into second place considering the players he had at his disposal.But when a manager has massively over-performed and raised a club’s expectations so high, there’s often a fallout if the level of improvement isn’t maintained the following season.
      Mikel Arteta saw Arsenal’s title bid crumble as they gave up a big lead on Man CityCredit: Reuters
      Arsenal legend Tony Adams fears the Gunners might not be able to challenge againCredit: Getty
      And when that happens, he’s often gone by Christmas.
      Now I am not for one minute suggesting that the Gunners are going to be getting rid of Arteta, but I do fear that this could be as good as it gets for them.
      Talk of Arsenal bottling the title race was nonsense because they played to their absolute maximum and came up just short of the best team in the world.
      No one expected them to finish so high but the downside to all that is where do they go from here?
      Read More Arsenal News
      I hate to sound like a prophet of doom, but I do believe that a lot of this team has already peaked.
      It was possibly the best season that many of them will ever have. I don’t think they’ll get to that level again.
      They’re definitely not going to challenge Manchester City next season and without serious recruitment this summer it will be a struggle for them to finish runners-up again.
      City’s B team is better than any other Premier League side and we know that Newcastle, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea will all be much stronger next time out.
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      So if Arsenal want to push on from here, they have to sign four big, experienced leaders this summer.
      Declan Rice could certainly be one of those, but if I’m going to spend £100million on one player, I want a Jack Grealish type of player who is going to give me goals and assists, not a holding midfielder.
      The problem is that Arsenal want players who are already acclimatised to English football and they’re always going to be overpriced when you buy from your Premier League rivals.
      Ben White cost £50m and we still don’t know if he is meant to be a centre-half, a right-back or a central midfielder.
      Arsenal need another centre-half, a striker, a midfielder and a winger. And they all need to be better than the players they already have.
      They have spent more than £400m on new signings since Arteta was appointed in 2019 but none of them were players City would have wanted.
      I am not for one minute suggesting that the Gunners are going to be getting rid of Arteta, but I do fear that this could be as good as it gets for them.Tony Adams
      They’ve always fished in the pool of second dibs, but you don’t catch the serial champions without recruiting the same elite level of player.
      Unfortunately I don’t think they have the cash to buy everything they need this summer and that’s why I fear they have already missed their window of opportunity to win the title.
      I was talking with George Graham the other day and he said this Arsenal team has no resilience. They had a technical leader but no physical leaders to stand strong in the games that really mattered.
      There wasn’t enough experience in the camp from top to bottom.
      I also don’t think there are enough people in the backroom staff challenging the manager like me and Joe Jordan did when we worked with Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth.
      Arsenal handed the title to City with two games to spare after a horror run of resultsCredit: Getty
      Legend Adams is worried about Arsenal and Arteta’s futureCredit: Louis Wood
      Arteta said that none of his players had reached their peak and denied that they ran out of steam.
      Well, sorry Mikel, but I have to disagree on both counts. Mentally, physically and emotionally, they ran out of resources when some lost form and others were ruled out by injury.
      I get the impression that Arteta didn’t have much faith in his back-up players and so he picked the same team week after week when some of them were crying out for a rest.
      Every time I won the league with Arsenal, we always had magnificent back-up players sitting on the bench.
      David O’Leary,  Ian Wright, Martin Keown, Sylvain Wiltord, Freddie Ljungberg, Gilberto Silva, some of the greatest players in the club’s  history, all served as understudies at one point or another.
      There’s no one of that calibre currently waiting in the Emirates wings and that’s why they couldn’t sustain their title challenge all the way to the finishing post.
      Of course they’ll regret not snatching the title when it was up for grabs because a lot of things went their way in terms of going unbeaten in all of their London derbies and so many other big clubs messing up.
      Someone said to me the other day that the 84 points Arsenal finished with would have been enough to win the title in some previous eras.
      City’s B team is better than any other Premier League side and we know that Newcastle, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea will all be much stronger next time out.Tony Adams
      But that’s totally irrelevant because awesome City have raised the bar so much higher and are turning it into a one-team league.
      They are so dominant that it’s becoming boring, so at least we should thank Arsenal for giving them a run for their money.
      And while I get the opportunity, I also want to put on record that the supporters have been absolutely magnificent.
      I played my entire career at the Highbury Library and George always used to tell us that we couldn’t rely on the crowd to get us going. But the Ashburton Army and the North London Forever anthem means the Emirates is a proper stadium for the first time since we’ve been here.
      It wasn’t so long ago that there was a pretty toxic atmosphere at the home games but now it’s an absolute joy to attend.

      So we might not be as good as City on the pitch, but at least our fans are better than theirs.
      And that’s got to be something worth celebrating, hasn’t it? More

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      Leeds stars want Sam Allardyce to STAY despite failing to keep them up as potential US owners eye Steven Gerrard

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      SAM ALLARDYCE managed Leeds for just four games but if the players have their way, he will continue at Elland Road.While this remains a possibility, the club is in limbo until Andrea Radrizzani finally sells it to the owners of the San Francisco 49ers.
      Sam Allardyce failed to save Leeds from Premier League relegationCredit: Rex
      Steven Gerrard is another option should the potential US Owners get the gigCredit: Getty
      It seems the situation could take another two weeks to get sorted.
      And that is time Leeds do not have — as the Championship starts in 66 days.
      The Americans were expected for the final game against Spurs on Sunday but SunSport understands they did not actually turn up.
      With the team losing 4-1 they probably made the right decision.
      Read More Football
      The 49ers Enterprises group value the relegated club at £170million rather than £420m — which was agreed while Leeds were still in the Premier League.
      So their first decision, which could be communicated to Radrizzani before the June date, is whether to keep Allardyce, who is clearly keen to stay on, having rediscovered his mojo.
      Although the results were not great, the players seemed to enjoy working with the former England manager, who was assisted by former Oxford United boss Karl Robinson and ex-Spurs and Leeds striker Robbie Keane.
      But it was obvious that the squad’s fitness was a major issue.
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      The players struggled with Allardyce’s tactics in the second half of games because their levels dropped off alarmingly due to the fact they were not in good enough condition under Javi Gracia.
      And while the perception is that the players do not care, the majority of them impressed with their attitude — particularly the home-grown ones, along with the likes of Robin Koch, Max Wober, Rodrigo and Rasmus Kristensen.
      The key is whether the new owners listen to the current squad over the manager — or if they try to make their mark by bringing in another boss.
      Brendan Rodgers has already been mentioned, although it is debatable whether he would want to drop into the Championship.
      Steven Gerrard is a possibility.

      GARETH’S GAIN
      ENGLAND boss Gareth Southgate would never admit it but he won’t be too unhappy that Harry Kane will not feature in Europe if he stays at Tottenham next season.
      West Ham play their 15th European game of the season in next Wednesday’s Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina in Prague.
      So going into next summer’s Euro 2024, Three Lions skipper Kane — who looks increasingly likely to stay at Spurs — should be fit and fresh without having so many extra midweek matches.

      THE LEVY LEVY
      DANIEL LEVY is not exactly Mr Popular with the Tottenham faithful — although the club chairman is still making sure he gets every last penny out of the fans.

      Spurs supporters have until 5pm tomorrow to renew their season tickets — which are now accessed via a phone app.
      Despite having to fork out more than £1,000 for them, fans are less than impressed they have been charged a £2.25 booking fee.
      Daniel Levy is enduring some tough times at Tottenham at the momentCredit: Action Images More

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      Napoli chief can’t resist dig at English food as he gives Tottenham hope of getting Luis Enrique as boss

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      LUIS ENRIQUE has his mind on a Premier League switch, according to Napoli’s president.Serie A champions Napoli need a new manager with Luciano Spalletti leaving.
      Luis Enrique has been linked with the Tottenham manager’s jobCredit: Getty
      Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis believes Enrique fancies a crack at the Premier LeagueCredit: Getty – Contributor
      Ex-Barcelona and Spain chief Luis Enrique, 53, has been one of the names mentioned for the vacancy.
      He is also one of the bosses Tottenham have been considering for their own managerial post, along with the likes of Celtic chief Ange Postecoglou.
      And Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis reckons the Spaniard is more keen on a switch to England.
      De Laurentiis told Italian broadcaster Rai: “He is a great coach, he did really well at Barcelona but I think he prefers the Premier League.
      Read More Football
      “We must remember that we are dealing with leagues that are more appealing than ours, like the English one.
      “There are better offers there. I would tell him that he’d find better food here!”
      If he does indeed move to Tottenham, one of his biggest tasks could be to persuade Harry Kane to stay at the club.
      The Spurs striker, 29, grabbed two goals on the final day of the season at Leeds.
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      That took his tally for the 2022-23 Premier League campaign to 30 and 213 overall as he continues to chase down Alan Shearer’s record.
      However, where he will be playing his football next season still remains unclear with United and Real Madrid circling – especially as the striker enters the final year of his Tottenham contract. More

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      Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea transfer clear-out begins as Sterling agrees shock Rangers move and Zakaria exit confirmed

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      CHELSEA’S new manager Mauricio Pochettino has begun his summer clear-out with Denis Zakaria and Dujon Sterling leaving Stamford Bridge.Zakaria joined the Blues on loan from Juventus last summer but failed to stand out with only one goal in 11 appearances under his belt.
      Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has launched a summer clear-outCredit: Getty
      Chelsea academy graduate Dujon Sterling has joined RangersCredit: Rex
      Denis Zakaria has left Chelsea and returned to Juventus after his loan stint endedCredit: Rex
      According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the midfielder will return to Juve and “assess his options”.
      Romano tweeted: “Mauricio Pochettino has decided also on Denis Zakaria:

      “Swiss midfielder’s set to leave Chelsea in June, he’s not part of the plans.
      “Chelsea will not trigger the buy option clause, Zakaria will return at Juventus and then will assess his options.”
      Read More on Chelsea
      Sterling, on the other hand, has joined Rangers after a agreeing a four-year deal with the Scottish giants.
      The 23-year-old started his career at Chelsea’s academy at the age of eight.
      The right-back earned a senior call-up in 2017 and amassed two appearances with the first team.
      The former England youth international was also sent out on loan at Coventry, Wigan, Blackpool and Stoke.
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      Pochettino, though, has a lot more work to do after a disastrous campaign that saw Chelsea finishing 12th with their worst ever Premier League points tally.
      The Argentinean tactician comes in as the West Londoners’ fourth manager in the last 12 months.
      Chelsea started out with Thomas Tuchel last season before his dismissal led to Graham Potter taking over the helm.
      However, a raft of poor results saw Potter also getting the axe with Bruno Saltor taking over in an interim capacity that was cut short by Frank Lampard also coming in as caretaker boss. More

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      Neymar ‘wants to join Man Utd and won’t leave PSG for any other club’ in huge transfer boost for Erik ten Hag

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      NEYMAR wants to join Manchester United this summer.And he is reportedly refusing to leave Paris Saint-Germain for any other club.
      PSG misfit Neymar wants to join Man United this summerCredit: Getty
      Foot Mercato claims Neymar, 31, accepts he has no future at the Parc des Princes this summer.
      And he is now fully focused on securing a switch to Old Trafford.
      L’Equipe claimed last week that United were already in advanced talks with PSG over a move for the world’s most expensive player.
      Neymar cost £192million when he joined the French side from Barcelona in 2017.
      READ MORE ON MAN UTD
      But after 118 goals and five titles, PSG want to get rid of him this summer.
      United are known to be in the market for a new forward to help out Marcus Rashford.
      Boss Erik ten Hag admitted this week his is desperate for more firepower.
      He told the Times: “What we need besides Marcus Rashford is one extra player with scoring abilities.
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      “Whether it’s coming out of our own squad or we have to sign one.”
      Ten Hag even suggested outcast Mason Greenwood could return.
      But Neymar is keen on completing a move to the Red Devils, with the Brazilian showing no interest in leaving PSG for any other side.
      Should he join United, the veteran is likely to operate on the left flank.
      But as shown with Brazil, Neymar is equally capable of playing as a free-roaming No10.
      He isn’t the only star set to leave the French capital this summer.
      Argentina legend Lionel Messi is also likely to quit, with his contract expiring next month.
      The World Cup winner has offers to play in Saudi Arabia and America.
      But Barcelona are hoping to coax him back by pairing Messi with Robert Lewandowski in attack. More

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      Five men who streamed Premier League football games through £10-a-month subscriptions are JAILED

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      FIVE fraudsters who charged football fans £10-a-month for an illegal Premier League streaming service have been jailed.Flawless TV raked in £7.2million from over 50,000 subscribers, offering matches not available on UK TV.
      Ring leader Mark Gould – who netted a staggering £1.7million from the operation – was discovered among piles of Doritos packets when arrestedCredit: premier league
      Up to 30 set-top boxes running streams were found at Gould’s South London addressCredit: premier league
      Flawless TV intercepted football feeds from abroad and delivered them to paying subscribersCredit: News Group Nrewspapers Ltd
      It undercut the likes of Sky Sports by bypassing a Uefa-imposed “blackout” that stops the broadcast of most 3pm kick-offs on Saturdays, which encourages fans to go to games.
      Feeds were intercepted from broadcasters in Australia, the UK, US, Canada and Qatar and delivered a few seconds later to subscribers.
      The crooked service – which also offered film and tv – ran between 2016 and 2021 and even had its own streaming app.
      Flawless went to great lengths to avoid detection, even developing software to blur a unique code Sky adds to stop illegal streamers.
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      When Premier League investigators raided the homes Flawless’s masterminds, they seized computer equipment and documents detailing the operation.
      The group’s “prime mover” Mark Gould netted a staggering £1.7 million from the operation.
      He was found in pyjamas surrounded by piles of Doritos packets and Domino’s pizza dips when he was cuffed at his riverside flat in Greenwich, South London.
      Doug Love, a Trading-standards investigator who led the raid, said up to 30 set-top boxes running streams were found at the address.
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      At Derby Crown Court, Gould, 36, was sentenced to 11 years in prison following a rare private prosecution by the Premier League.
      Co-defendants Steven Gordon, Peter Jolley, William Brown and Christopher Felvus were all convicted of conspiracy to defraud, money laundering and contempt of court.
      Felvus, 36, was also found guilty of voyeurism and possessing indecent images of children.
      The four men were sentenced to between three and more than five years.
      A sixth gang member, Zak Smith, failed to appear at court for sentencing and a warrant has been issued for his arrest, the Premier League said.
      The Intellectual Property Office estimates nearly four million people in the UK used an illegal source to watch live sport last year. More

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      Man Utd ‘ready to pay £65m release clause for transfer target’ with Portuguese star ‘ready to move to Premier League’

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      MANCHESTER UNITED are ready to pay Portuguese keeper Diogo Costa’s £65million release clause this summer, according to reports.United are in the market for a new goalkeeper with Dean Henderson set to leave and doubts persisting over David De Gea’s form.
      Diogo Costa could be making a move to the Premier League this summerCredit: Getty
      Boss Erik ten Hag warned long-term stopper De Gea this week that he won’t be guaranteed the No1 spot next season, even if he signs a new contract.
      Ten Hag told The Times: “I will not say he’ll always be my No1 because in a club like Man United there must be competition in all positions.
      “You can’t do it with 11 players. It is impossible. You need double positions.
      “If you observe the biggest teams, you have to be capable of playing from the back, and use your keeper as a plus one in your back, otherwise it’s very simple for opponents to put you under pressure.

      “He [De Gea] had to step up. In a number of games, he showed progression.”
      Portuguese publication A Bola reckon Costa is the man earmarked to provide competition for the Spaniard.

      And they say the Red Devils won’t hold back as they considering matching his 65m release clause.
      Costa, 23, appeared to wave goodbye to Porto fans after the club missed out on the Portuguese title to rivals Benfica at the weekend.
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      He has 12 caps for Portugal and even went a crazy 16 games without conceding for his club this season.
      Costa is represented by super-agent Jorge Mendes who has significant influence in England.
      United’s interest comes as there are significant doubts over the future of De Gea.
      His deal is to set expire at the end of next month after 12 years at the club.
      Despite winning the Premier League’s Golden Glove award with 17 clean sheets, he still made a number of high profile errors.
      And United have asked him to take a huge 50 per cent pay cut to his £375k-a-week deal if he is to stay. More