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      Erik Ten Hag’s bizarre gift for Man Utd players revealed in bid to raise morale after Crystal Palace heartbreak

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      MANCHESTER UNITED boss Erik ten Hag attempted to raise his squad’s morale after they drew to Crystal Palace with a novel gift.The Red Devils made the trip down to London in freezing conditions to face the Eagles last Wednesday.
      Erik ten Hag attempted to raise squad morale after the draw to Crystal PalaceCredit: EPA
      The club had arranged for everyone to be given a small gift to help them get homeCredit: Eamonn and James Clarke
      The game ended 1-1 after Bruno Fernandes’ goal was cancelled out in the last minute by a stunning free-kick from Michael Olise.
      The disappointed squad reportedly arrived back in Manchester at 1.30am with the temperature at -3C.
      But Ten Hag and United employees thought up a sweet way to cheer up the team.. handing every player some DE-ICER to clear their frozen car windscreens quickly, claim The Times.
      The de-icer supposedly saved the players ten minutes and it was a boost “when you’re freezing, tired and just want your bed.”
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      Ten Hag is big on fine margins and wanted to ensure his team were well rested with an eye on the clash with Arsenal at the weekend that they went on to lose 3-2.
      The club even had coaches waiting for them at both Liverpool and East Midlands airports just in case their flight home from London had to be diverted due to the cold conditions.
      The report also suggests that Man Utd have employed a new head chef pinched from England’s football and cricket teams to ensure the players have the best possible diet.
      Man Utd are paying more attention to detail off the pitch and it appears to be working with the club sitting fourth in the Premier League table.
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      They had been on an incredible run of form winning nine games in a row before the two poor results at Palace and Arsenal.
      The defeat to the Gunners angered Ten Hag despite the upturn in recent performances
      The manager said: “I am annoyed and I told the players if you want to win titles and medals, you have to change the mentality.
      “You are in a top game and you are making such big mistakes.
      “We started the game very well, scored, are leading and then make so many mistakes that are actually unacceptable.” More

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      ‘The perfect solution’ – Man Utd legend Teddy Sheringham urges club to go all out for Harry Kane transfer from Tottenham

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      TEDDY SHERINGHAM reckons Harry Kane would be the “perfect solution” for Manchester United.Kane has emerged as a summer target for the Red Devils, who signed Wout Weghorst on loan this month as a stop-gap after Cristiano Ronaldo’s acrimonious exit.
      Harry Kane has been a consistent source of goals for Spurs for several years nowCredit: Alamy
      Teddy Sheringham knows all about playing for and scoring goals for Manchester United and TottenhamCredit: Getty
      England captain Kane is into the last 18 months of his Tottenham contract.
      Though the 29-year-old is open to starting talks over a new deal with the North Londoners next month.
      Sheringham left Spurs for United in 1997 aged 31 and went on to win a stack of trophies, including the Premier League three times on the bounce and the historic treble in ’99.
      The former England striker, 56, told talkSPORT: “Harry Kane would be an unbelievable acquisition for Manchester United. I think he would be the perfect solution.
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      “He’s got to make that decision. I made a big decision when I decided to leave Tottenham because I didn’t like the ambition at the time. Harry has to assess that situation himself.”
      Kane has always had a dream of winning trophies with Tottenham but is yet to achieve it, despite scoring 265 goals for the club.
      That figure is two shy of breaking Jimmy Greaves’ record and if Kane does sign a new deal with Spurs, he will surely go on to smash it by some distance.
      Kane is understood not to be in any rush to pen fresh terms.
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      But the fact that he is open to recommencing negotiations, having not had talks since August 2021 and given the uncertainty of boss Antonio Conte’s future, will come as a huge boost to the Spurs.
      Yet Sheringham now feels United under Erik ten Hag are in a better position to win silverware than Tottenham.
      It is some turnaround given Spurs finished fourth last season, 13 points ahead of United, who are now in that position this season, six ahead of Conte’s side.
      Sheringham observed: “I thought a year ago they were on an even keel. 
      Harry Kane will eventually need to make a big decision on his Tottenham futureCredit: Alamy
      “I would say out of the two at the moment, Manchester United look like they are more likely to win a trophy than Tottenham are.”
      Spurs have been on a poor run in their last ten games, losing against Manchester United, Newcastle, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal and Manchester City.
      Sheringham, who played 277 times for Spurs in two spells at the club, added: “I know that Harry Kane was very happy this time last year with Conte, was delighted that he had come in and had brought that winning mentality to the football club.
      “But things change very quickly in football and it doesn’t seem like it’s working out with Conte at Tottenham.
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      “[Kane] decided all the way along to stick with Tottenham and stay there and hope things will change around and there would be a winning mentality to match his ambition while he’s at the club.
      “If he doesn’t think that’s going to happen, then it’s a short football career and maybe he might have to move.” More

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      Brighton in talks to sign £20m-rated Shakhtar defender Mykola Matviyenko as De Zerbi raids former club for transfer

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      BRIGHTON have opened talks to sign Shakhtar Donetsk defender Mykola Matviyenko.The Ukraine international is a top target for Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi as he looks to build on an impressive start to life as a Premier League manager.
      Brighton are in talks to sign Mykola MatviyenkoCredit: Getty
      Manager Roberto De Zerbi knows him from his days in charge of Shakhtar DonetskCredit: Getty
      Matviyenko, 26, made 23 appearances under De Zerbi during the Italian’s time in charge of Shakhtar, scoring once.
      The star who is capable of playing at both centre-back and left-back, has spent the weekend in London with his family while talks between the two clubs continue.
      Shakthar recently held out for a £97million fee to allow Mykhailo Mudryk to join Chelsea, value Matviyenko at £20million. 
      The clubs are currently apart in their valuation of the man with 54 caps for his country.
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      He has also won the Ukrainian Premier League twice and was linked with a transfer to Arsenal in 2020.
      Matviyenko was expected to rejoin his teammates in Turkey at their training camp yesterday.
      Brighton are in the market for a new defender after Chelsea loanee Levi Colwill picked up a quadriceps injury that will rule him out for up to six weeks.
      The club could do with new recruits after letting Leandro Trossard join Arsenal for £27million.
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      They also face a battle to keep hold of talented midfielder Moises Caicedo with Chelsea and Liverpool monitoring his progress, according to reports.
      There has also been interest in star man Alexis Mac Allister, although it appears he will stay. More

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      Chelsea line up late Enzo Fernandez transfer bid worth £60m plus add-ons as Blues test Benfica’s resolve one last time

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      CHELSEA are preparing one final push to lure Enzo Fernandez from Benfica this month.And SunSport understands the Blues are considering a late bid of around £60million plus add-ons to tempt the Portuguese side into finally selling.
      Enzo Fernandez has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford BridgeCredit: EPA
      Graham Potter has seen SIX new signings come through the door in the January window alone, costing a total of £189m.
      Joao Felix, Benoit Badiashile, David Datro Fofana, Mykhailo Mudryk, Andrey Santos and Noni Madueke have bolstered the club’s already player-heavy squad.
      Including their summer splurge under new owner Todd Boehly, that figure rises to almost £400m.
      But a midfielder remains their priority, with World Cup-winning Argentine Fernandez top of their list – despite his £105m release clause.
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      Benfica have remained stubborn during this window, demanding the clause paid in full for any departure to be accepted for a player contracted until 2027.
      Chelsea have attempted to get around this with an offer including instalments – something that was not well received by club president Rui Costa.
      But they will resume talks this week, hopeful a bid at the final hour of the window will be too good to turn down.
      Fernandez has his heart set on Stamford Bridge after hearing of their interest earlier this month, and will be desperate for the Portugal giants to grant his Premier League wish.
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      Potter is in need of fresh legs in midfield.
      Jorginho and N’Golo Kante could both leave in the summer at the end of their contracts, although the latter could still sign on for longer.
      Chelsea are also keeping tabs on Brighton’s Moises Caicedo after having a £55m offer rejected last week, and could go back in for the Ecuadorian should Fernandez fall flat. More

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      Dream Team runaway leader Erling Haaland’s latest hat-trick is as astonishing as it is unremarkable

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      THERE’S an unwritten rule here at Dream Team HQ that states we never ignore a hat-trick.Given that the player in question usually banks 28 points as a result of scoring three goals in a game, we feel it’s always worth remarking on in one way or another.
      But boy, is Erling Haaland (£8.8m) putting our rule to the test.
      Just another day in the life of Alfie Haaland’s sonCredit: getty
      Manchester City’s No9 scored all his sides goals in a 3-0 win over Wolves on Sunday to register his FOURTH hat-trick of the season.
      The prolific striker is collecting match balls at such a rapid rate that it’s difficult to find a fresh angle each time.
      Behold the Haaland paradox: when a hat-trick is both simultaneously unremarkable and astonishing.
      Making a big thing of the Norway international’s performance at home to Julen Lopetegui’s side is like highlighting the fact the sun rises in the morning.
      Equally, the fact he’s made scoring hat-tricks normal is incredibly abnormal.
      To put the frequency with which Haaland is bagging triples into context, consider that Sergio Aguero currently holds the record for most Premier League hat-tricks with 12, achieved over nine and a half seasons.
      Given that Haaland has four in half a campaign, we can perform a fun though experiment in which he remains a Etihad resident for as long as the legendary Argentine while maintaining his current rate, and therefore finishes his City career with 76 Prem hat-tricks.
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      That’s obviously not going to happen but those numbers underline the freakish nature of his debut season on these shores to date.
      Where is he keeping all the match balls?Credit: getty
      Ruud van Nistelrooy previously held the record for the least amount of games needed to register four Premier League hat-tricks – the Dutchman achieved the feat in 65 outings, 46 more than Haaland.
      The list of players with fewer hat-tricks to their name in England’s top flight includes revered goalscorers such as: Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Robbie Keane, Son Heung-min and Jamie Vardy.
      On four hat-tricks, he’s currently level with Mohamed Salah (£8.6m) , Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham, Fernando Torres and other notable names with years of Premier League experience.
      If Haaland didn’t already have the Golden Boot sewn up then he surely does now – he’s on course for 50 league goals for crying out loud.
      Harry Kane (£7.6m) is his closest competitor and the England captain is ten goals adrift.
      Records are tumbling
      There’s a similar gulf at the top of the Dream Team rankings.
      The 22-year-old is 92 points ahead of the next-best forward, Marcus Rashford (£5.4m), and 84 points ahead of his nearest rival overall, Kieran Trippier (£6.3m).
      To put that lead over the Manchester United man into context, Aleksandar Mitrovic (£5.1m), who is enjoying a brilliant campaign by anyone’s standards, has 91 points in total.
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      Haaland’s current tally of 256 points means Ronaldo’s all-time record of 477 in a single season is genuinely under threat – a reminder that the five-time Ballon d’Or winner is the only quadruple centurion in our beloved game’s history.
      Let’s circle back to this topic the next time he scores a hat-trick… call it a fortnight. More

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      Chelsea warn fans Stamford Bridge redevelopment won’t be ready until 2030 as club considers renting temporary stadium

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      CHELSEA fans have been told the redevelopment of Stamford Bridge will not be completed until 2030.Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, the new owners of the club, have been in “contact” with the board of Chelsea Pitch Owners and revealed to the club’s supporters that the stadium extension would not be completed for some time.
      The redevelopment of Stamford Bridge may not be ready until 2030Credit: Rex
      It is expected to take at least seven-and-a-half years to be finished.
      The Blues are believed to be “exploring all options” to redevelop the ground and have tasked co-owner Jonathan Goldstein with the job.
      One option the club could consider would be a temporary move while the work is done, similar to Tottenham’s move to Wembley Stadium during the construction of their new stadium.
      The expansion was expected to take four to five years should the club move out of Stamford Bridge during the work.
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      However, it would take longer should the club embark on a stand-by-stand redevelopment.
      Goldstein said: “We are looking very heavily at redevelopment. The planning process is something we will start next year, and we’ll hope central government will get behind it and see it as an engine for growth.
      “The only problem, of course, is the management of interest rates because it makes it so much more expensive to develop.
      The co-owner was then asked if the process could be put on hold, he replied: “No, no, we’ll carry on as fast and as hard as we can.
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      “It is a big project and there are very many constituents involved and we are at the beginning.
      “But we will carry on because we believe in the business, in Chelsea FC and the area and we know, over time, Stamford Bridge needs redevelopment.”
      Under the previous owner Roman Abramovich, the club had planning permission to expand the ground to 60,000 from its current capacity of 41,837, but it expired.
      The West London stadium is significantly smaller than the club’s rivals in the Premier League.
      By increasing the capacity, it would help increase matchday revenue for the club.
      Boehly and Co are believed to have made an offer to buy a £50million-valued site next to Stamford Bridge.
      The site is thought to be important in the quest to redevelop the ground. More

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      Everton sack Frank Lampard after less than year in charge as clear favourite emerges to replace Chelsea legend

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      FRANK LAMPARD has been sacked by Everton after less than a year in charge.The former Chelsea boss replaced Rafa Benitez last January but has failed to stop the rot at Goodison Park.
      Frank Lampard has been sacked by Everton after less than a year in chargeCredit: Rex
      Defeat to West Ham on Saturday proved to be the final straw for the Toffees brassCredit: Getty
      Lampard leaves Everton rock bottom of the Premier League and two points from safetyCredit: Getty
      And the disappointing 2-0 defeat to relegation rivals 3-2 defeat to relegation rivals West Ham on Saturday proved to be the last straw.
      The Telegraph is reporting that majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri ‘held talks held talks with the club’s board over Lampard’s future’, where the decision was made to swing the ace.
      Former Burnley boss Sean Dyche and ex-Leeds gaffer Marcelo Bielsa are the two favourites to succeed the Chelsea legend.
      Everton legend Wayne Rooney and former chief David Moyes, currently at West Ham, are also in the running.
      Defeat to the Hammers has left the Toffees rock bottom of the Premier League table – although they’re two points away from safety.
      After the match, a dejected Lampard said of his future: “Those things are not my choice, it is my job to work, focus and keep my head down.
      “I have confidence in how I want to coach. There’s difficult conditions that I am aware of.
      “I just do my job and talk about what I can affect, and that’s the players trying to get the right results.”
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      It has also been reported that Lampard has been involved in a bust-up with some of his own players.
      Midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure has been forced to train on his own as a result.
      Lampard’s tenure on Merseyside began brightly as they romped to a 4-1 FA Cup win over Brentford.
      That was followed by a 3-1 loss at Newcastle but they bounced back with a 3-0 home win over Leeds.
      But three consecutive Premier League defeats followed, with an FA Cup win over Boreham Wood sandwiched in between, before they were hammered 5-0 at Tottenham in the top-flight.
      A loss to Wolves at Goodison stretched their losing run in the Prem to five matches before a 1-0 triumph over Newcastle on home turf provided some brief respite.
      Despite his best efforts, Lampard has failed to unstick the struggling Toffees.
      Defeat at the London Stadium has left the Merseysiders with a record of just one win in their last 12 league matches.
      Everton registered a mere 15 points out of a possible 60 this season.
      The Toffees face the daunting prospect of welcoming league leaders Arsenal to Goodison a fortnight on Saturday.
      And the following week, they’ll travel across Stanley Park to face bitter rivals Liverpool in what will no doubt be another fiery affair.

      The writing was seemingly on the wall for Lampard when he got the dreaded public vote of confidence from owner Farhad Moshiri earlier this month.
      The British-Iranian businessman said: “I have faith in the work being done not only by our manager, but our director of football [Kevin Thelwell] and our board of directors.
      “That faith is based on my knowledge of the depth and quality of work being done both at Finch Farm [Everton’s training complex] and the Royal Liver Building [Everton’s administrative HQ) – and of the plan that is in place.
      “I am confident that we have skilled, experienced and focused professionals at all levels of the club.
      “We are all agreed that our current league position must and will improve.”
      He added: “In almost seven years since my arrival at the club, I have significantly increased my investment and our new stadium has become reality.
      Everton owner Farhad Moshiri gave Lampard the dreaded public vote of confidence earlier this monthCredit: Getty
      “We regularly review our performance and initiate change where we feel that the club falls short of standard.
      “This has meant that we have seen turnover in managers, directors of football and several board members.
      “But always as we have striven to achieve success.
      “Whilst, in virtually every instance, change has been supported and encouraged by fans, stability must be the key to progression.”
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      But Moshiri was coy when asked about giving Lampard the boot as he left the London Stadium.
      When asked if Lampard’s time had come to an end, he said “It’s not my decision.” More

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      ‘The reason Juranovic left Celtic’ – Fans all want to go to Union Berlin to taste incredible £3 giant steak sandwich

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      FANS have been joking that the reason Josip Juranovic signed for Union Berlin was to taste their incredible streak sandwich.The right-back secured a £10m move to the German capital, ending his 18-month stay with Celtic.
      The steak sandwich is available for £3Credit: @fcunion

      Despite a poor run of form, Die Eisernen are sitting third in the Bundesliga and are in with a great chance of qualifying for the Champions League.
      But some reckon Juranovic has moved to Berlin for other reasons.
      Twitter account FootyScran uploaded a photo of a spicy steak sandwich, which is available to buy at the ground.
      And the best bit? It only costs £3.
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      And fans have been replying in response to Juranovic’s switch to Berlin.
      One said: “This is the exact reason Juri is away 🤩.”
      A second replied: “This is why Jura left.”
      A third said: “No wonder Juranovic headed over there 🥰.”
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      Another said: “Found the reason why Jura left.”
      Sandwiches aside, Juranovic is in line to make his debut against Werder Bremen on Wednesday. More