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      Mohamed Salah’s agent speaks out on reports Liverpool star wants transfer exit amid PSG links

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      MOHAMED SALAH’S agent has spoken out on sensational reports that the Liverpool star wants to leave.The Reds were this week dumped out of the Champions League with a 6-2 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid.
      A report in France had claimed that Mo Salah was considering his Liverpool futureCredit: PA
      They are also out of the FA Cup, which they won last season, and failed to retain the League Cup.
      And now they face a fight for a top four finish with their dismal campaign leaving them seven points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
      Boss Jurgen Klopp is set for a major rebuild of his ageing squad this summer and, despite becoming Liverpool’s highest-ever paid player when recently penning a new long-term deal, rumours have mounted that Salah could be set to depart.
      With Liverpool set for a transitional summer, there have been plenty of rumours suggesting Salah could be offloaded. Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have both been touted as potential suitors.
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      French publication Foot Mercato claims that the Egyptian forward, 30, is “increasingly considering” a move away.
      Both Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have been linked while this sensational report says that an unnamed Spanish club is his preferred move.
      However, after the story was shared by worried Liverpool fans on Twitter, Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas Issa quickly moved to squash the speculation.
      He tweeted: “Where did you get this from if not even Mohamed and I discussed this? Please tell us.”
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      Salah, who still has two years to run on his Anfield contract, recently had his stolen Africa Cup of Nations medal recovered by police after his villa was burgled in Cairo.
      Two men have been arrested on suspicion of ransacking the footballer’s luxury Egyptian villa on March 2.
      Salah’s silver Africa Cup of Nations medal has been recovered alongside a multitude of other items stolen.
      The luxury home is worth £350,000 per week, according to Egyptian daily newspaper Al-Ahram.
      One of the alleged thieves worked as a security guard in Salah’s residential complex, according to the Egyptian Interior Ministry. More

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      Everton plot transfer swoop for West Ham striker Michail Antonio but ONLY if they survive relegation

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      EVERTON will make an ambitious move for West Ham striker Michail Antonio if they beat the drop.Sean Dyche’s men will be in the market for a couple of forwards to bolster a squad that has been woefully short of goals this season.
      Everton are targeting a summer move for Michail AntonioCredit: Getty
      Coventry’s Viktor Gyokeres is also an option for the ToffeesCredit: Getty
      And Hammers frontman Antonio is top of their list — with owner Farhad Moshiri willing to fund the move once the Toffees are assured of Premier League safety.
      Hammers held on to Antonio in the last window despite Wolves’ interest, and since then he has featured regularly.
      The 32-year-old is the Hammer’s top goalscorer in the history of the Premier League with 59 goals.
      But West Ham will be looking for new forwards of their own if they survive — and Antonio could be cleared for one last big payday.
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      Everton tried and failed for strikers in the closing stages of the last market and have money to spend for the right players.
      Coventry’s Viktor Gyokeres, 24, is an option, but Antonio has the top-flight pedigree needed — and Dyche likes to play with two up top.
      Gyokeres has been in good form this season scoring 18 goals in 38 Championship games, already more than his tally last season of 17 goals.
      Any new faces would push Neal Maupay further down the queue.
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      The former Brighton striker has struggled for long spells having only scored once in 20 Premier League appearances for the Toffees.
      Injury-plagued Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s inability to play enough games means Everton need a couple of forwards they can rely on next time round. More

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      Chelsea and Newcastle lock horns in transfer chase for ex-Man City ace Brahim Diaz

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      CHELSEA and Newcastle are keeping an eye on former Manchester City forward Brahim Diaz.The Premier League pair have been made aware Real Madrid star Diaz, currently in his third season on loan at AC Milan, could become available in the summer.
      Chelsea and Newcastle are keeping an eye on Brahim DiazCredit: Getty
      Diaz, 23, had four years at City without breaking into the first team and moved to Real in 2019.
      He was part of the Milan side that won the Serie A title last season.
      Diaz hit the only goal in the last-16 Champions League win over Spurs.
      Milan have an option to buy the Spain striker for £19.5million at the end of his loan — but Real also have a buy-back clause worth £24m if he were to make a permanent move.
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      Meanwhile, SunSport revealed Chelsea are ready to back N’Golo Kante despite his injury record as he closes in on a new deal.
      But the French midfielder is poised to sign a two-year contract with the option of a third.
      That’s after his season was ravaged by fitness problems. Kante, 31, has not played since mid-August.
      And he needed hamstring surgery during the World Cup while his France team-mates went all the way to the final in Qatar.
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      His current deal expires at the end of this season.
      But Chelsea are confident the inspirational star is over the worst of his ills.
      SunSport understands the new contract will be a straight two-season agreement. That will take Kante up to his 33rd birthday and possibly beyond.
      Chelsea want to extend N’Golo Kante’s contractCredit: Getty More

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      Mikel Arteta labels Arsenal’s clash against Crystal Palace as most important of his CAREER in Gunners’ title charge

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      ARSENAL’S clash with Crystal Palace is the most important match of Mikel Arteta’s career, insisted the Spaniard.The Gunners were dumped out of the Europa League by Sporting Lisbon with a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat on Thursday.
      Mikel Arteta says Arsenal’s clash with Palace is the most crucial of his careerCredit: Reuters
      That bruising encounter also saw both William Saliba and Takehiro Tomiyasu limp off through injury as well as leaving the squad both physically and mentally drained.
      Now they head into today’s home encounter with Crystal Palace with just three days of preparation as they look to stretch their advantage at the top of the table to eight points.
      And when asked where the match ranks in importance so far with Arsenal, Arteta said: “It’s the most important one.
      “It’s the only game we have before the (international) break now.
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      “And we will do what we have to do. If we do, we will be in a really strong position.
      “A lot of players had to play 120 minutes that we didn’t want to do, especially with the amount of minutes that some players have played, but we will see who is available and who is in what condition and put the best team out there to win.

      “If a player’s fitness is 50-50 he cannot play in the Premier League, you have to be at 90 or 100 per cent to be at the level we need in this league.
      “There are 48 hours to recover and assess everybody, and hopefully we will recover well.”
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      Meanwhile, Arsenal legend Patrick Viera won’t be returning to the Emirates on Sunday following his sacking as Palace manager on Friday.
      It comes after a poor run of form as the Eagles are without a win in their last eleven Premier League games.
      December 31st was the last time Palace tasted victory, and they are now just three points above the drop zone. More

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      I had to retire from football after a nasty head clash – it was so bad doctors had to drill a hole in my skull

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      RYAN MASON has opened up on the sickening aerial collision that forced doctors to drill a hole in his head and ultimately put paid to his football career.The former Tottenham star, now 31, was playing for Hull when he suffered a sickening clash of heads with then-Chelsea ace Gary Cahill in 2017.
      Ryan Mason is now coach at Tottenham after being forced to retireCredit: Rex
      Mason was involved in a sickening collision with Gary Cahill in 2017Credit: Getty
      Mason underwent emergency surgery to put 14 metal plates in his skull – held together with 28 screws and 45 staples – to save his life.
      Aged just 26, the one-cap England midfielder was forced to retire.
      In a recent interview with Jake Humphrey on the High Performance podcast, Mason spoke about the time he says he ‘died’.
      He revealed he “remembered everything” from the incident and was conscious the whole time.
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      He said: “The pain was pretty unbearable, I could tell it was quite a serious thing, the body was just telling me that.
      “I heard voices, people speaking, the process of getting off the pitch, putting a neck brace on, going into the ambulance and going to hospital, it was very very painful.
      “Id be lying if I [say] I wasn’t scared and fearing a lot.”
      Mason says he realised his career as a footballer was over when he came around a couple of days later and saw he had “50 staples in his head”.
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      Ryan Mason had to have 50 staples in his head after the horror collision
      He added: “You could tell by the luck on people’s faces, my parents were worried, my now-wife was at my bedside, scared.
      “My auntie, uncle and sister would walk into the room and burst out crying, it was like, ‘woah’.”
      “I guess I was quite lucky at that stage as I didn’t get to see myself.
      “The body is powerful The body was telling me I needed to sleep, I was listening and sleeping.
      “It was a feeling of ‘I need to get out of this hospital, I need to get back to playing football’ that was my initial thoughts, which were crazy at the time.
      “But I just wanted to get better.”
      Mason then went on to explain how people close to him tried to “protect him” to how serious things really were.
      He explained: “I didn’t know that I had a tube in my head, that they had to drain the blood from my brain.
      “Four days in a doctor came in and wanted to take the tube out of my head, I was like ‘woah, I’ve got a tube in my head’?
      “The next minute he is pulling that out and stitching the skin of my head.”
      Explaining when the tube was inserted in, Mason added: “Just before I went in to get scanned I went unresponsive, so at that point, it is code red, very serious.
      “They drilled through my skull to start draining the blood as soon as possible, and that bought time to go through the operating theatre to open me up and see what’s going on.”
      After recovering from the injury and trauma, Mason is now an integral part of Antonio Conte’s backroom staff at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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      The Italian boss visited Mason when he was in hospital, and the bond has strengthened since then. More

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      England boss Gareth Southgate reveals reason why Fikayo Tomori missed out on Euro 2024 qualifiers

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      FIKAYO TOMORI must cut out the errors if he is to earn an England recall.Some Three Lions fans slammed boss Gareth Southgate for leaving the AC Milan defender out of the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine.
      Fikayo Tomori must cut out the errors if he is to earn an England recall.Credit: Rex
      Gareth Southgate explained his Euro 2-24 qualifiers team selectionCredit: The Times
      But Southgate reckons 25-year-old Tomori’s good display in the 0-0 Champions League draw at Tottenham led some people to get carried away.
      The England manager said: “There are a lot of players playing at a very similar level. We’re looking at a lot of data on that as well.
      “Sometimes players making fewer key errors leading to goals in that position can be important.
      “Fik had a good game at Tottenham the other day, which was in England and so had more spotlight.
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      “But there have been quite a few errors this season. The great thing is he is playing at a big club. There are high expectations every time.
      “He’s in a group that are close but at the moment we have one or two just ahead of him.”
      They include Harry Maguire — despite his lack of recent game time at Manchester United.
      World Cup winners Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez are Erik ten Hag’s preferred pair.
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      Southgate added: “We are where we were ahead of the World Cup. It’s not a perfect scenario.
      “Harry has two World Cup winners in the team ahead of him. That’s the benchmark.
      “He dealt with that brilliantly in Qatar, his performances were exceptional.
      “And he had a lot of pressure going into those games because that spotlight was on him.
      “He dealt with that exceptionally well and he was without doubt one of our best players in the tournament.”
      England boss Gareth Southgate and Harry MaguireCredit: Getty More

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      Liverpool legend looks unrecognisable 18 years on as he appears on TV for Champions League draw

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      A LIVERPOOL legend looked unrecognisable as he popped up on TV for the Champions League draw. Some fascinating ties were drawn out of the hat as Europe’s Premier competition reaches its final round.
      A Liverpool icon was on hand to help out with the European draws earlier todayCredit: AFP
      With Liverpool knocked out the competition on Tuesday night, their fans may have thought there would be little point tuning in to the draw.
      But if they had they would seen a man who left their club back in 2005 – and who wrote himself into Reds folklore in the infamous Champions League final of that year.
      The 49-year-old looks different now and any fans who missed his introduction may not have even recognised him.
      The midfielder spent six years at Anfield and became a fan favourite with his knack for producing big moments.
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      The man in question is Vladimir Smicer, who sported a small beard and neat comb over hairdo as appeared on TV.
      This was very different from the spiky hair and clean shaven look that fans will have been accustomed to in his playing days.
      Smicer arrived on Merseyside in 1999 during Gerard Houllier’s reign and would make his impact felt over the years.
      ‘Vladi’ is best remembered for his goal in the 2005 Champions League as Liverpool staged on of European football’s most infamous comebacks against AC Milan.
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      The Czech midfielder was not even in Liverpool’s starting line-up that day but had to come on as a first-half substitute after an injury to Harry Kewell.
      The Reds trailed 1-0 when Smicer arrived on the pitch and it would be 3-0 by half-time.
      But then the miracle began and Smicer’s brilliant strike from range was sandwiched in between goals from Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso as Rafa Benitez’s side clawed their way out of their grave.
      Smicer then scored the decisive final Liverpool penalty – his last kick of the ball in a red shirt – before Jerzy Dudek saved Andriy Shevchenko’s spot-kick to seal the win.
      The match would cement his legacy but Smicer also scored big goals down the years against Chelsea and Dortmund.
      Only a serious injury suffered in 2003 would blight his time at Liverpool.
      The star would go on to play for Bordeaux and Slavia Prague before retirement.
      Smicer came off the bench to help rescue Liverpool in 2005Credit: AFP
      Smicer scored in normal time and netted a crucial penalty against AC MilanCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd More

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      ‘S*** f***ing game’ – Owner Todd Boehly’s X-rated verdict on Chelsea draw with Everton after Potter’s side falter again

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      CHELSEA owner Todd Boehly delivered a scathing X-rated assessment of the club’s draw with Everton.The Blues went into Saturday’s clash against the relegation strugglers looking for a fourth-straight victory.
      Todd Boehly’s reaction to Chelsea’s draw with Everton was caught on cameraCredit: Twitter @fathurys216
      The American owner was quizzed about it as he left Stamford BridgeCredit: Twitter @fathurys216
      The Blues were pegged back twice by the ToffeesCredit: Alamy
      But Ellis Simms scored his first Everton goal to earn them a 2-2 draw after they twice came from behind twice.
      Joao Felix fired Chelsea ahead shortly after half time but Abdoulaye Doucoure bundled home an equaliser on 69 minutes.
      But Kai Havertz kept his cool from the spot seven minutes later to rifle home a penalty and seemingly secure the win for the West London club.
      However, there was a late twist as sub Simms produced a powerful run and finish in the dying seconds to silence Stamford Bridge.
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      That result left Chelsea sitting eighth and a huge 11 points off the top four and Champions League qualification.
      American billionaire Boehly was in attendance for the match, and afterwards he was quizzed about it by a supporter as he headed to his car.
      The footage was shared on social media, and replying to the question about what he thought, Boehly replied: “S*** f***ing game.”
      Manager Graham Potter also struggled to hide his disappointment following the clash.
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      But he managed to resist using expletives like his boss.
      He told Match of the Day: “We did a lot well and we are disappointed with the goals we conceded.

      “We thought we played well enough to get the three points but ultimately if you don’t defend well, you don’t get the result.
      “Credit to Everton, they are good at that but we have to do better. It’s disappointing.
      “There were a lot of good things about the performance but we have just taken one point.
      “Really disappointed because we wanted to win.” More