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      Man Utd eye shock £50million Pedro Neto transfer as Solskjaer sees Wolves star, 21, as Jadon Sancho alternative

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      MANCHESTER UNITED are eyeing a £50million-plus summer move for Wolves star Pedro Neto.United have made signing a right winger one of their top priorities and Neto’s impressive season, despite Wolves’ struggles, has moved him up the shortlist of Old Trafford chiefs.
      Man Utd are eyeing a stunning £50million-plus move for Wolves star Pedro NetoCredit: PA
      Solskjaer sees Neto as a possible alternative to long-time top target Jadon SanchoCredit: Reuters
      Man Utd could have signed Neto, 21, for next to nothing back in 2016 when the he came to Carrington on trial from Portuguese side Braga – but he did not do enough to convince them to buy him then.
      But now United are understood to regard the Portugal international – Wolves’ £16m signing from Italian club Lazio – as a genuine alternative to long-term targets like Jadon Sancho and Jack Grealish.
      Rivals Manchester City have also been linked with Neto, but sources insist they are now ahead of United in the queue for Villa captain Grealish instead.
      Sancho’s future at Borussia Dortmund is tied up with what the German club decide to do if mega-money bids come in for striker Erling Braut Haaland.
      Sancho’s Champions League and international experience, especially for a player who will not turn 21 until Thursday, mean he is still an attractive proposition – but only at the right price.
      Dortmund refused to budge on their £100m valuation last summer.
      If the German side fail to qualify for next season’s Champions League, they will be under pressure to cash in on at least one of their biggest assets.
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      But there’s no guarantee that it will be Sancho.
      Neto is just a few days older than Sancho. He has caught the eye despite being part of a Wolves team that lost much of its attacking threat when centre forward Raul Jimenez suffered a fractured skull in November.
      United are also thought to be looking at Leeds winger Raphinha and Sporting Lisbon’s Pedro Goncalves, 22.
      Goncalves’ release clause is said to be £51.5m and it would probably take a similar offer to prise Neto away from Wolves.
      Man Utd boss Solskjaer says Rashford and Cavani have injury doubts ahead of Leicester match More

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      Jordan Pickford in race to play again this season as England sweat on Everton keeper’s fitness before Euros

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      JORDAN PICKFORD faces six weeks out in a Euros scare for England.The Everton keeper could be sidelined until May and may only make a couple of appearances before going off with the Three Lions.
      Jordan Pickford’s side strain is making Gareth Southgate sweat ahead of the EurosCredit: PA
      Pickford, 27, needs to rest a muscle injury in his side, having not taken enough of a break when he first did the damage earlier this season.
      Everton’s medical team have found out the problem was aggravated when Pickford made a save last weekend against Burnley.
      Toffees boss Carlo Ancelotti is stunned by the setback, that could hurt his team as they chase a European place.
      The Italian is frustrated that Pickford has broken down a second time after Goodison staff thought he was clear of the problem.
      But the bigger concern will be for Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate.
      He is without his first-choice keeper for three World Cup qualifiers this month, starting with San Marino on Thursday.
      And he will hope Pickford is 100 per cent fit for the summer.
      Southgate called up West Brom shot-stopper Sam Johnstone for the first time in the absence of Pickford.
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      Burnley’s Nick Pope and Manchester United’s Dean Henderson are the other keepers in the mix to deputise for the England No1.
      Everton were knocked out of the FA Cup by Manchester City on Saturday.
      The Toffees made the Citizens sweat but two late goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne, past stand-in goalie Joao Virginia, kept Pep Guardiola’s quadruple hopes alive.
      ⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
      Jordan Pickford weds childhood sweetheart Megan Davison in ripped jeans and baseball cap More

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      Chris Wilder already looking at managerial vacancies but will have to return pay-off to Sheff Utd if he gets new job

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      CHRIS WILDER wants to get back quickly into management – but it will cut his Sheffield United pay-off when he does. Wilder is out of work for the first time in years and already looking around for potential vacancies.
      Chris Wilder is already looking at new managerial opportunities – but his Sheffield United pay-off will be cutCredit: Reuters
      However, as part of his settlement after departing the Blades a week ago, he will continue to be paid by Bramall Lane chiefs for six months.
      If Wilder takes another job in that time, it means United will pay him less although he would try hard to find a way around that.
      Wilder’s exit was bizarre. He was even close to taking charge at Leicester last Sunday as his settlement package was not finalised.
      Club bosses only let him leave late on the Saturday night after he agreed to a farewell statement they could release.
      Caretaker manager Paul Heckingbottom did not even travel with the squad until it was settled.
      And Sheffield United were a sorry state as they were thrashed 5-0 at Leicester in Heckingbottom’s first game in charge.
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      Wilder was axed by bottom side Sheffield United after a series of bust ups with owner Prince Abdullah.
      But he is not likely to be short of offers after taking the Blades from League One to the Premier League.
      Wilder is currently the favourite to be the next Celtic manager and the chance to challenge Steven Gerrard’s Rangers for supremacy in Scotland could be hard to turn down.
      Sheffield United next manager odds – Danny Cowley leads market to replace Wilder, Bilic, Howe & Lampard also in contention More

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      Fran Kirby can finally end Chelsea’s Champions League drought and should be a shoo-in for the Ballon d’Or

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      IT IS Fran Kirby’s world and we’re just living in it.There was no better occasion than a League Cup final on Mother’s Day for Kirby to remind us just how far she has come.
      Fran Kirby helped Chelsea snap up the Conti Cup last weekCredit: Getty
      She scored and pointed to the sky as a poignant tribute to her mum Denise, while helping Chelsea cruise to a 6-0 victory over Bristol City at Wembley last Sunday.
      The strike sensation was also wearing the No 14 shirt to mark June 14 — her mum’s birthday.
      Denise tragically passed away in 2008 of a brain haemorrhage when Kirby was only 14-years-old.
      The striker has bravely spoken about how the grief hit her a few years later during an England training camp and eventually she quit football while battling depression.
      Gradually, she fell back in love with the game through her mate’s Sunday League team.
      Kirby celebrated every goal she scored in the local park the same way she does now in front of millions of people.
      But it’s the unseen side of her life that prepared her to be the superstar she is now and unlocked her potential, on the field and off.
      She has helped fire the Blues into the Champions League quarter-finals, with their first-leg clash against Wolfsburg on Wednesday.
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      In my eyes, there is no doubt she should win the next Ballon d’Or. I watched her against Everton and she was the bright spark.
      The former Reading ace is also on track to star for Team GB and England at next year’s home Euros.
      I remember her first England call-up under Mark Sampson and it was no surprise she was dubbed the “mini Messi” during her first World Cup, aged 21, in 2015.
      An in-form Kirby could be the difference in England finally ending years of hurt, having NEVER lifted a major trophy.
      In my eyes, there is no doubt she should win the next Ballon d’Or. I watched her against Everton on Wednesday and she was the bright spark.
      Kirby was the one who picked up the pieces when Melanie Leupolz missed a first-minute penalty.
      The pint-sized forward netted the opener when the team looked wounded and rattled.
      She only recently recovered from a rare condition called pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining around the heart.
      She learned of her diagnosis in November 2019 and was told she may never play football again.
      Kirby shot to fame with hometown club ReadingCredit: PA:Press Association
      The forward was on scintillating form in the recent win over EvertonCredit: Getty
      The condition also left her unable to do the most basic of tasks, like walking up the stairs.
      Just over a year later she became Chelsea’s all-time top scorer — passing 68-goal Eniola Aluko — and I couldn’t be prouder of my mate.
      She has been hitting the net with her eyes closed this term and is the second highest scorer with 12 goals and seven assists.
      Emma Hayes has a star-studded Blues attack, with some of the world’s best strikers.
      Pernille Harder arrived in the summer to slot in alongside Australian superstar Sam Kerr and Beth England.
      While Kirby was on the sidelines recovering from her heart condition, some thought there may not be a place for her in the starting XI among those heavyweights.

      But she has silenced the critics and the four of them are working in perfect harmony.
      Manager Hayes is desperate to end Chelsea’s Champions League trophy drought.
      And in my eyes, Kirby can be the one to finally make it happen this year.
      ⚽ Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds
      The amazing rise of Fran Kirby from being told she may never play again to Chelsea’s all-time top scorer More

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      Sir Geoff Hurst says he had no knowledge of footie paedos but feels ‘incredibly sorry’ for victims

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      WORLD Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst has spoken of his sorrow for football’s child sex abuse victims.The 79-year-old issued a statement in the wake of a damning report.
      Sir Geoff Hurst said he feels ‘incredible sorrow’ for football’s child sex abuse victimsCredit: Getty
      Clive Sheldon QC identified at least 692 victims.
      His report named eight paedos including Chelsea chief scout Eddie Heath.
      Sir Geoff sacked Heath six months after taking the manager’s job at Stamford Bridge in 1979.

      The 1966 England hero said: “It was purely a footballing decision.
      “I feel incredible sorrow for the victims of Heath and the other protagonists in this sad affair, but at no point did I have any knowledge whatsoever of any wrongdoing.
      “It came as a complete shock to me.”
      Sir Geoff insisted he no knowledge of any wrongdoingCredit: Rex
      Independent inquiry finds the FA were guilty of five years of failure to protect children in game from paedophiles
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      Harry Kane wants to win things… there is NO way he can stay at Tottenham if they fail to get top four

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      IT’S always one of the special weekends of the season — especially in the good old days when the FA Cup meant even more.Quarter-finals weekend, two steps from the main event itself, the chance of silverware.
      Harry Kane was left disappointed as crashed out of the Europa League in embarrassing fashionCredit: Reuters
      It is the chance, in some cases, to turn a dismal season into an unforgettable one.
      Even though the old trophy may have lost some of its lustre to many, try telling that to fans of Leicester or Sheffield United if they reach the last four today.
      Yet for all that, there’s actually another final taking place on Sunday.
      Not in name, maybe, but most definitely in every other way.
      On the face of it Tottenham’s trip to Aston Villa is way down the list of potential headline-makers.
      In terms of long-term ramifications, though, it couldn’t be more crucial. Not after the week from hell which, given Spurs’ recent history, is saying something.
      Losing the North London derby so tamely — especially after being a goal up — was bad enough.
       Little did they know that was only the start.
      But blowing a two-goal lead and crashing out of Europe to Dinamo Zagreb so pitifully was inexcusable. Laughable . . . you name it, it was that.
      And don’t give me any of that b******s about how beating Manchester City in the Carabao Cup final would still salvage the season. No. It. Wouldn’t.
      The main thing now for Tottenham is reaching the top four and reclaiming a place in the Champions League — which is why victory at Villa on Sunday is so vital.
      Manage that and they are still only three points adrift of Chelsea, in the fourth and final slot, with a similar goal difference.
      Fail and they’d be big outsiders to get back into the competition they lit up just two years ago — even though their plummet since makes it seem like a different age.
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      But miss out again and there is no way on God’s earth you can picture Harry Kane starting another season in a Tottenham shirt, whether he’s one of their own or not.
      For all he loves the club, for all he has insisted he can achieve all he wants where he already is… blow it this time and you can forget that.
      Sympathy and Spurs haven’t been the closest of bedfellows over the years. Laughter at times. Pity at others. But sympathy? Rarely.
      Yet you looked at Kane on Thursday night and it was hard not to feel it. For him, not the rest of the clowns who basically got what they deserved, that is.
      Kane wants to win things, of course, and more than anything he wants to win them at Spurs. And by win things, he doesn’t mean one league cup. He means big stuff, regularly.
      That’s never going to happen where he is, and he knows it. Just like he knows this summer will probably be his last chance to get a move to one of the genuine big guns.
      And as much as Tottenham may insist THEY are one of the big guns, that’s in name only.
      Like Newcastle or Leeds. Big history, big tradition, big name… small modern-day ­trophy cabinet.
      Kane is the best striker of his generation, captain of his country, a World Cup top scorer — and a man desperate to have something palpable to show for it beyond a Golden Boot.
      And I know that when it comes to a one-off game, yes, Spurs are indeed capable of beating anyone.
      Kane cut a frustrated figure against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday nightCredit: AP
      But, as Terry Venables ­memorably said, any team needing the words “on their day” to describe how good they are, aren’t in reality actually all that good.
      The top ones, the ones who are there at the business end every season, are good virtually every week.
      You don’t look back at the great Manchester United and Arsenal teams  and say “on their day,” any more than the current City one, or Liverpool of the 1970s and 80s.
      It’s all you can remember saying about Spurs, though… and it’s not about to change.
      If Kane stays where he is, he will one day look back on his career as a Matt Le Tissier with knobs on.
      Surely Tottenham’s only chance of keeping him is with Champions League football.
      Which brings us back to why Villa Park is staging the real final on Sunday.
      Although, in truth, even that may ultimately not be enough.
      Livid Lloris calls Tottenham a ‘disgrace’ after Europa League exit against Dinamo Zagreb More

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      Ex-Premier League star Claus Lundekvam charged with benefit fraud

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      FORMER Premier League soccer star Claus Lundekvam is to appear in court in Norway next month accused of benefit fraud.The 48-year-old former Southampton captain is alleged to have falsely claimed dole while working on TV.
      Former Southampton star Claud Lundekvam has been charged with benefit fraudCredit: PA:Empics Sport
      Lundekvam, who made 357 appearances for The Saints from 1996 to 2008, will appear in the dock in Bergen on April 1.
      Prosecutors say the ex-Norway international defender received 523,000 kroner – about £44,000 – by submitting false declarations.
      He allegedly claimed he worked 454 hours from January 1, 2017, to April 28, 2019.
      However, he is accused of actually being in employment for 2,609 hours – meaning he was not entitled to claim that much.
      He has been working as a soccer pundit for Norway’s TV2 station.
      Lunderkvam has previously confessed to operating a Premier League betting scam with punts on first corners and throw-ins that netted him and fellow pros tens of thousands.
      He said of his Premier League betting in 2012: “It’s not something I’m proud of. For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money.
      “The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors.
      “We could make deals with the opposing players about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty.
      “Those were the sorts of things we had influence over. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing.”
      After retiring from the South Coast club, he fell into bouts of heavy drinking, taking cocaine and depression and checked into the Sporting Chance clinic run by Arsenal legend Tony Adams.
      Lunderkvam – who earned more than £30,000-a-week in his heyday – said: “I obviously took a few wrong turns and wrong decisions after my career,” he says.
      “I think, looking back, I would strongly advise players to find something meaningful to get you up in the morning. Find something, work-wise, that you enjoy.

      “For me, at the time, I had everything. I had a lot of money, a wonderful family, a great house. I had a house in Norway. Boats, cars, everything.
      “But I was depressed and I felt lonely. I felt that nobody needed me any more.
      “That was the loss of the dressing room. The loss of performing every week with your team-mates. That was taken away from me and I found that very difficult.”
      Claus Lundekvam will appear in court in NorwayCredit: Solent News
      Claus retired from football more than a decade agoCredit: Tor Erik H Mathiesen
      Single mum on benefits now only works two hours a week renting out other people’s houses with a business worth £2 million
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      Football and the FA ignored the signs of abuse allowing monsters to get away with it for years – just like Jimmy Savile

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      THE shadow of the Evil Knight, Jimmy Savile, falls over football again with the disturbing just-published report on sickening crimes against boys.The coincidences are striking. Just as the DJ and TV personality managed to silence many suggestions that he was sexually assaulting boys and girls, so too the knowledge of coaches conducting their repulsive crimes was ignored in football for many years.
      Barry Bennell was found guilty of abusing a schoolboy footballerCredit: AP:Associated Press
      At least one pervert escaped discovery until long after Savile died in 2012, despite FA ordering safeguarding at clubs. They are a current and everlasting danger.
      Clive Sheldon’s report into sexual abuse details the horror of what young boys were subjected to and turns the spotlight on the period 1995-2000 during which the FA ignored signals that paedophilia was widespread in sport.
      The first was the conviction of Olympic swimming coach Paul Hickson.
      The second was another conviction, that of Barry Bennell, found guilty of abusing a schoolboy footballer.
      As Savile remained untouchable, hiding behind the knighthood bestowed on him in the 1980s, the paedophiles in football hid behind significant failures by the FA and football clubs, which meant children were not kept safe and reports of abuse, as well as whispers of wrong-doing, were usually ignored.
      Bennell, whilst at Manchester City, Stoke and Crewe, raped and sexually assaulted boys who, years later, are still traumatised by the innocence they lost to Bennell, who much later was jailed for 34 years.
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      It was thirty-plus years before Andy Woodward of Bury and Sheffield United, braved publicity to talk about his experiences with Bennell.
      He was only 11 when he first came to the attention of the coach, scout and serial paedophile thus beginning a four-year horror story that took Woodward to the brink. It’s difficult even to contemplate how much Woodward has suffered.
      Bennell, sadly was not the only paedophile in football, there were many. In July 2018 it was reported that there were 300 suspects identified by 849 alleged victims, with 2,807 incidents involving 340 different clubs.
      Paul Stewart, of Manchester City, Spurs, Liverpool and England, talked about his experiences with paedophile coach Frank Roper.
      Karren Brady has slammed football for ignoring signs of abuse like Jimmy SavileCredit: PA:Press Association
      Paul was only 11 when the coach first touched him on the knee, the opening scenario in a four-year horror story that ruined Stewart’s childhood and had life-long consequences.
      Stewart says he “contemplated suicide even when things were going well. I was playing for Spurs and England, at the peak of my success.
      But there was that constant feeling. It was so dark and I just wanted to step out of it.” He’s 56 and, yes, the tears still well up.
      Roper threatened to kill Stewart’s mother, father and two brothers if he breathed a word to them. For an 11-year-old the threat was believable.
      Abuse could have happened at almost any club in those days, the procedures were paper-thin and little defence against determined, prolific and dangerous men was deployed.
      The naivety in all sports was unbelievable. Bullying, abuse, threats and punishment were ignored or treated as matter for jokes. It could have been Oliver Twist with skates on.
      Thank God things have changed. The FA, the Premier League and the clubs are united in determination to keep boys and girls safe.
      Premier League clubs now have big safeguarding teams whose remit includes safer recruitment practices, player welfare teams and safeguard training.

      Without these procedures in place there was poor supervision in football which allowed Bennell, Roper and others to destroy lives.
      It isn’t much of a defence to point out that attitudes in society were different in the 20th century but it’s the only one Sheldon puts forward.
      So I’ll leave you with a Sheldon remark. Bennell, he says, destroyed the lives and dreams of many of those entrusted to his care. True of those other abusers, too.
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