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      Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson says Wilfried Zaha will STAY at club even if there is a late transfer bid

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      WILFRIED ZAHA will be staying at Crystal Palace — even if there is a late bid from a Premier League rival.
      The Ivorian star, 27, has been linked with a move to Tottenham, Everton and Manchester United.

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      Wilfried Zaha looks set to stay at Crystal palace for another transfer windowCredit: Getty – Pool

      But Palace claim he will not be leaving before Monday’s 11pm deadline.
      Eagles boss Roy Hodgson said: “Well, I’ve been told and Wilf has had it made clear to him that we aren’t interested in late bids.
      “If it was going to happen, it would need to happen in a timeframe which would give us a chance to see what we’d do with the money.

      “So close to the end of the transfer window, I’d rather hope that certainly isn’t going to happen now.”
      SunSport reported on September 15 how Zaha was heading for a crushing disappointment and looks increasingly likely he will remain at Selhurst Park.
      Zaha has always felt a sense of unfinished business at a major side because his spell at Manchester United in 2013-15 was a total disaster.
      Zaha has proved to be a fine Premier League player. Many fans would love him in their team and it is hardly a surprise the lad from south London is adored by Palace’s supporters.

      But Zaha is no longer some fresh-faced talent with a long career ahead.

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      Roy Hodgson says Wilfried Zaha is staying at PalaceCredit: Reuters

      He is nearly 28, and earns an eye-watering £130,000-a-week.
      Also, no clubs are currently willing to meet the current asking price of £45million, particularly considering the way football’s finances have been ripped to pieces by the coronavirus crisis.
      As a result, so far this summer, there has been no firm interest for the former England winger who now plays for the Ivory Coast.

      Wilfried Zaha ‘disappeared’ from Man Utd action after rumours of affair with David Moyes’ daughter, admits Patrice Evra More

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      Aston Villa may have splashed cash on attackers this transfer window… but it’s their DEFENDING that has improved

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      ASTON VILLA may have bolstered their attacking options — but it has had a far greater impact on their ability to defend.
      Dean Smith’s men are starting this season on a real high with two wins from two and two clean sheets.

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      Aston Villa’s defence has improved under Dean Smith despite spending money on attackersCredit: Rex Features

      And boss Smith will be far more pleased with keeping goals out, rather than scoring them, seeing as they failed to keep a single clean sheet away from home last season.
      In fact, before their 3-0 win at Fulham, they had managed just three shutouts in their previous 19 games.
      It is a run that saw them survive by the skin of their teeth last campaign — but they appear to have turned a corner in time to welcome champions Liverpool to Villa Park tomorrow night.

      And the dramatic improvement at the back comes from their improvement up top.
      In particular, the amount of pace and quality that they now have.
      Bringing in the likes of Ross Barkley, Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash and Bertrand Traore to link up with John McGinn, Jack Grealish and Trezeguet means they are a real force on the counter-attack.
      And that also means the defensive line can afford to be deeper.

      In the past, because of the lack of creativity up front, the whole Villa team would be forced to push high up the pitch to get as many bodies forward as possible.

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      Aston Villa beat Fulham 3-0 last Monday to maintain their 100 per cent startCredit: AP:Associated Press

      That left them badly exposed and that’s where the majority of their losses came in the Premier League last term.
      Now, that space in behind is no longer there.
      The back four are able to sit and be more compact, while the frontline does the business when they retain possession.
      And unlike previous seasons, talisman Grealish finally has multiple runners and passing options — rather than having to do it all himself.
      Villa are a different prospect and have another dimension to their game that makes them dangerous.
      I remember speaking to Smith previously, who admitted they needed to bring in quantity, rather than quality, when they were promoted.
      This time, they have got quality and it will make them a force to be reckoned with.

      Ally McCoist can’t believe that Premier League clubs won’t financially help EFL clubs More

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      Steve Bruce hits out at ‘insulting’ Newcastle boo-boys as Toon Army turn on boss despite only one loss in six

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      A DEFIANT Steve Bruce came out swinging at his Toon Army critics — claiming he finds all the stick INSULTING.
      Despite one loss in six this season, the Newcastle boss is failing to win hearts and minds on Tyneside.

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      Newcastle boss Steve Bruce has hit out at his own fansCredit: PA:Press Association

      A dubious spot-kick saved them at the death against Tottenham last weekend before they scraped past League Two Newport on penalties in the Carabao Cup.
      The Toon have had just three shots on target in the Premier League and were thumped 3-0 in their last home game against Brighton.
      But ahead of hosting Burnley tonight, a spiky Bruce took a pop at the boo-boys who reckon he is winging it in his dream job.
      He said: “Now I’m lucky, lucky am I? Wow. So I’ve been lucky for 20 years, have I? I suppose it’s better to be a lucky manager than a good one.

      “But all of a sudden now it’s a raging debate.
      “If we win against Burnley we might go into the top six, and now because I’m lucky! I find that a little insulting.
      “If we were bottom of the league, we’d been knocked out of the cup by a lower division team and hadn’t taken a point, I could swim with you.
      “If we win tomorrow we probably go into the top six and we are in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.”

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      Newcastle fans are yet to take to their manager Steve BruceCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      The football has generally been a slog since Bruce arrived last summer.
      Taking over from fans’ favourite Rafa Benitez, the Geordie is moving at a snail’s pace to put his stamp on the side.
      But Bruce is adamant he is a man with a plan — even instructing journalists on the virtual press conference to spread the gospel of Bruce.
      He added: “Can you not explain that to supporters, what we are trying to do.
      “I just find it deeply frustrating, this thing about a lack of direction.
      “‘The style is a concern? So all of a sudden we have to think we’re Liverpool, do we?
      “The style is we’re going from a back five to a back four, with one off the front.
      “What do you not understand? If you’ve watched us, what do you not understand in what we are trying to do?
      “I think that would be pretty obvious.
      “I find it baffling, I really, really do. Does it feel like I can’t win? Sometimes.
      “I had noise from the moment I walked in. I know we haven’t played well but, for goodness sake, let’s just have some balance.”
      STILL INTERESTED IN HOLDING
      After adding Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser, Jamal Lewis, Jeff Hendrick and Mark Gillespie this summer, Bruce has ruled out splashing any more cash.
      But he wants a striker and centre-back on loan after a move for Arsenal defender Rob Holding collapsed.
      With the window closing on Monday, Bruce said: “I don’t expect to be that busy. But if something becomes available we will act.
      “If someone as good as Holding came along, we would look at it.”

      Newcastle United unveil new signings Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson More

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      Frank Lampard opens door to Callum Hudson-Odoi exit as Bayern Munich reignite transfer interest in Chelsea winger

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      FRANK LAMPARD has vowed to hold talks with Callum Hudson-Odoi over a loan move if Bayern Munich step up their interest.
      The 19-year-old winger is back in favour but is yet to start a Premier League match this season.

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      Lampard has opened the door to Hudson-Odoi joining Bayern MunichCredit: AFP or llicensors AFP or Licensors

      Hudson-Odoi is in the squad to face Crystal Palace today and appears to be winning his battle to get back in favour.
      European champions Bayern came close to signing him back in January when the player asked to leave.
      His team-mates Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fikayo Tomori may be sent out on loan too.
      Boss Lampard said: “With all those three players I will always take those things into consideration.

      “I have not got an answer on any of those three.
      “I have a good relationship with them all and speak honestly with them.
      “That is one we will broach player by player over the next few days.”
      Meanwhile, Marcos Alonso is looking for a getaway from Chelsea before Monday’s transfer deadline.

      The left-back’s bust-up with Lampard and the £50million signing of Ben Chilwell has convinced the Spaniard his future lies elsewhere.
      Alonso fancies a move abroad with Italy his preferred destination and a reunion with former Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte at Inter Milan.
      Lamps tore into Alonso, 29, last Saturday for storming off to the team bus after being subbed for errors in the 3-3 draw at West Brom.
      The Blues boss  said: “I’m not going to disclose what goes on in the dressing room. I think that would be wrong, so that was it.
      “I cannot have grudges or feelings in games that carry on.”
       CHELSEA (likely): Mendy, Azpilicueta, Christensen, Silva, Chilwell, Kante, Jorginho, Kovacic, Havertz, Werner, Mount.

      Frank Lampard admits he has been playing Chelsea new boys Havertz and Werner out of position due to injuries in squad More

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      Lionel Messi is a God but maybe the current mess Barcelona are in shows even he is running out of footballing miracles

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      THINGS are bound to look better after a 4-0 win.
      I’m not talking about West Ham’s against Wolves, although that certainly brightened our start to the season.

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      LIonel Messi decided to stick around at Barcelona – but it might just be for one more seasonCredit: AFP or licensors

      No, it was Barcelona’s against Villarreal.
      In Catalonia at least, Barca are regarded as the biggest club in the world, the best-supported club in the world — with the best player in the world.
      The fact they failed to win LaLiga last season, they haven’t won the Champions’ League in five years, lost a fortune and two managers in a few months and that Lionel Messi was set to go elsewhere a few weeks ago is considered by millions of supporters to be temporary and misleading.
      That may well be. But even the current Barca are regarded by the owners as a mess brought about by the policies of the people who voted them onto the board.

      Because, as you may well know, the club is owned by the supporters.
      This is both a strength and a weakness.
      Strength is the democratic connection between supporters and the club; weakness can be in overall management structure.
      No fewer than 11 of 21 directors have left in recent times.

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      Ronald Koeman is the new man in the Barca dugoutCredit: Reuters

      In the immediate post-Pep Guardiola years, the team maintained their success rate, winning LaLiga repeatedly and the treble in 2014-15.
      This was quite a feat for Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was appointed emergency president in 2014 before being elected two years later.
      Neymar’s sale to Paris Saint-Germain in the same year coincided with a change in fortunes.
      Soon the erosion was to become a landslide.
      And there is no doubt that the ageing team was badly mishandled. Led by Messi, the veteran players oozed power.
      Managers came and went — Gerardo Martino, Luis Enrique, Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setien.

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      Messi is sticking aorund for another year, then tipped to join Manchester CityCredit: AFP or licensors
      Players did the same and nearly £1billion was spent on no fewer than 28 of them.
      Neymar broke away from the famous MSN formation, departing for a world-record £200m, and now Luis Suarez has gone to Atletico Madrid, leaving only the unhappy Messi.
      Most of us would be happy on a reputed £600,000-a-week but the great Argentinian knows a slump when he plays in it.
      He already seems determined to leave at the end of his contract next year and he will re-start his career at 34, possibly with mentor Guardiola at Manchester City.
      Like Sir Alex Ferguson, Guardiola has the ability to re-create champions.
      Bartomeu said he will not stand for re-election next year, deserting new boss Ronald Koeman, once renowned as a free-kick scorer during six seasons at Barca.

      As a manager of nine clubs, including Southampton and Everton, free-kicks are about all his teams have won.
      And this Barcelona is no free-kick of a job. He has been chosen, I suspect, to be the tough guy Bartomeu requires.
      The haste and lack of appreciation with which Suarez was hustled away to Atletico is Koeman’s statement.
      Messi was so upset he claimed his mate was ‘thrown out.’
      Messi is a God in Catalonia but he is running short of football miracles.
      Barcelona’s dependence on him may have become a deadweight and it is certainly possible that a new president will have a clearer view once he goes.

      Sergino Dest absolutely butchers kick-ups at Barcelona unveiling before saving himself with sublime bit of skill More

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      Tottenham reject second Dele Alli loan bid from PSG with Mourinho keen to keep star despite row rumours

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      TOTTENHAM want to keep Dele Alli – after snubbing Paris Saint-Germain’s second bid to sign him on loan.
      The French giants offered to pay Spurs £3.5million to secure the star’s services for the rest of the season.

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      Dele Alli doesn’t look like he will be heading out to PSGCredit: EPA

      But the North Londoners have no intention of letting him leave – despite him falling out of favour with boss Jose Mourinho.
      Dele has played just 45 minutes of Premier League football this season after being subbed at half-time of Tottenham’s 1-0 home defeat by Everton on the opening day of the season.
      And he was not even on the bench for four of their seven games this term as Mourinho questioned his attitude.

      The Portuguese was also shown calling him a “f***ing lazy guy” in an episode of Amazon’s fly-on-the-ball documentary series.
      PSG, looking to take advantage, had an initial loan offer of £1.5m rejected by Spurs.
      The second improved bid has now also been turned down.
      It is believed to be a season loan only and not with a view to a permanent deal.

      But Spurs expect him to stay – after he came off the bench and scored a penalty in their 7-2 win at home to Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League play-off on Thursday.

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      Jose Mourinho wants to KEEP Dele Alli at SpursCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
      Mourinho praised Dele’s second half cameo and as well as his attitude in training.
      So it seems that there won’t be any old boys’ reunion for Alli at PSG.
      The French champs have been linked with a swoop for former Spurs star Christian Eriksen, who has struggled at Inter Milan.

      Dele Alli takes guard dog out for a walk after England ace was robbed and beaten by knife-wielding thieves More

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      Solskjaer admits he was wrong to say Man Utd could ‘exploit’ Coronavirus pandemic as boss faces more transfer window woe

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      OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER admits he was wrong to say Manchester United would ‘exploit’ the Covid-19 economic situation as they face more transfer woe.
      Borussia Dortmund will not budge on their £108million asking price for Jadon Sancho before Monday’s deadline.

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      Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admitted he was wrong to say Man Utd could exploit the coronavirus pandemicCredit: EPA

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      The Red Devils have been heavily linked with Jadon Sancho all summerCredit: Getty Images – Getty

      Solskjaer urged his board, who have spent just £35m on Donny van de Beek, to take advantage of the pandemic in April but was forced into a U-turn yesterday.
      He said: “My wording in lockdown, ‘exploit’, was a bad word by me.
      “I didn’t mean it in that respect, I meant there might be clubs and players out there who have to move because of the situation and it might be something interesting.
      “At the moment we’ve not had those situations.

      “We’ve lost loads of money, as the other clubs have as well.
      “And when I talk about squad depth, we’ve got a big squad.
      “Of course the transfer window is still open for a little while and the club has been working hard.
      “They know my view and that’s that we’re here to strengthen it, in the long term as well.”

      United, who host Spurs tomorrow, have failed to land England and Dortmund winger Sancho following a summer-long pursuit.
      The Bundesliga club are refusing the offer from Old Trafford of £70m rising to £100m.
      Dortmund sporting chief Michael Zorc said yesterday: “Everything there is to tell on this matter from our end has already been said.
      “And that won’t change over the next three days.”

      Solskjaer reveals Man Utd ‘have been working’ on transfers but refuses to stick boot into Woodward over failed targets More

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      Man Utd blow as Barcelona demand they pay Ousmane Dembele’s £215k wages in full to seal loan transfer

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      BARCELONA will demand Manchester United pay the whole of Ousmane Dembele’s huge wages if they let him out on loan.
      The £215,000 a week France forward has emerged as a possible alternative to key target Jadon Sancho.

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      Barca are thought willing to offload 21-cap Frenchman Ousmane Dembele, but if Man Utd borrow him they might need to pay all his wagesCredit: Rex Features

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      Old Trafford chief Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is eyeing Ousmane Dembele as time runs short to land transfer priority Jadon SanchoCredit: PA:Press Association

      United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to wrap things up quickly with the transfer window due to close on Monday.
      Barca are looking to raise funds after being hit hard by the coronavirus and with a move for Manchester City’s Eric Garcia in their sights.
      They would like to offload Dembele, 23, in a permanent deal but United are reluctant.
      Yet Barca may be willing to let him move on loan, providing a club agrees to pay his  salary in full.

      That could yet prove to be a sticking point, with United’s search for a new attacker likely to go down to the wire.
      Solskjaer could have more cash at his disposal with moves to Italy pending for both Chris Smalling and Andreas Pereira this weekend.
      Talks with Barca over Dembele appeared to be going well earlier in the week.
      The ex-Rennes star had last season wrecked by two hamstring injuries.

      And he last started a game 11 months ago.
      Dembele was also in Ronald Koeman’s bad books on Monday as he turned up 15 minutes late for training.

      Meanwhile, United’s hopes of landing Borussia Dortmund’s England attacker Sancho, 20, are fading.
      There have been few positive signs since Old Trafford chiefs tabled an offer some months ago of £70million up front rising to £100m.
      Instead, German giants Dortmund have stood firm on their desire for a fuller payment in one go.

      Man Utd open Ousmane Dembele transfer talks with Barcelona as they eye season-long loan amid Jadon Sancho struggles More