Whilst the sporting market climate continues to be affected by the current global crisis, it looks more and more unlikely that clubs will be able to splurge on the transfer targets they had in mind this summer.

According to a recent report by Transfermarkt, player values have dropped by up to 20%, which could impact the way teams go about their summer business.

If spending big, or even at all, is not an option in the upcoming window then clubs may need to turn to their youth ranks in order to provide depth for the senior players next season.

Manchester United have been linked to some huge names this summer, their main target being Jadon Sancho, who is valued at £120million (via Mirror). However, it’s looking more and more likely that the move will not be completed.

If this is the case, we have put together a list of youngsters the Red Devils should turn to if they’re unable to spend big this summer…

Tahith Chong

Man United have a good number of attackers in their arsenal, but are thin on their options out wide. Aside from 20-year-old Tahith Chong, the Reds have only Jesse Lingard and Daniel James as registered wingers.

James has impressed this season with his four goals and seven assists in all competitions, however, fans are starting to become sick of Lingard’s subpar performances.

If Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is to offload the Englishman in any capacity in the near future, the club will need reinforcements to keep the wide positions well-stocked. Chong is an option United should be relying more on after doing well to accumulate seven goals and eight assists so far this term.

The Dutchman has already made three Premier League appearances, as well as featuring in the FA Cup and Europa League, in which he has bagged himself two assists.

Chong already seems first-team confident and has shown his creativity on the European stage, next season could be the chance he gets to really show what he’s capable of.

Largie Ramazani

Another promising young winger United should look to integrate into the first team next season. Largie Ramazani is the leading goalscorer in the Reds’ reserve team with nine goals, averaging a goal every 111 minutes.

The 19-year-old has proved himself clinical and confident in front of goal during his first full season in the U23s. After working his way up from the U18s team, Ramazani is determined to show United’s higher powers exactly what he’s here to do. His form is continuously improving and despite not being in or around the first team this season, he is showing all the promise that should be getting Solskjaer’s attention.

The Belgian striker could benefit from being around the likes of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. Not only would learning from them boost his confidence but he could soon be on the bench serving as back-up when called upon.

James Garner

James Garner has a head start over some of his U23 teammates – he featured against Norwich back in October and has been on the bench six times in the Premier League. He also boasts four Europa League appearances, starting three out of the four games played.

Operaring as a defensive midfielder, Garner has contributed to 11 clean sheets across all competitions, proving he is solid in helping out the back four. However, the 19-year-old has also scored an impressive nine goals this season, which is more than some of his more attacking teammates.

The Englishman should by now be confident in training around the first team and will surely want to shine next season if called upon. United’s only recognised defensive midfielder at the moment is Nemanja Matic, who Garner could provide essential cover for.

Angel Gomes

Angel Gomes is an extremely versatile young player who could provide support for Man United in several positions. Like some of his teammates in the reserves, the 19-year-old has made brief appearances in the Premier League as well as featured in Europe.

Gomes has a total of four goals and two assists this campaign but finished last season as the joint-highest scorer in the United U23s alongside Chong. The London-born attacker has played across four positions but mainly dominates the attacking midfield role. However, he has also enjoyed spells on the left-wing as well as in the No.9 spot, from which he bagged a goal and an assist against Stoke at the beginning of March.

Gomes is showing enough potential to be trusted in perhaps one of United’s cup runs next season, as well as maybe being a name Solskjaer should feature on the bench in the league.

Brandon Williams

Youngster Brandon Williams has seriously impressed this season as he has repaid Solskjaer’s faith in him. Now pretty much fully integrated into the first team, the manager has a tough decision on his hands over who to make his first choice left-back.

The two recognised left-backs in United’s senior squad are Williams and Luke Shaw, and the 19-year-old could seriously push to usurp Shaw from the starting eleven.

In a similar fashion to Trent Alexander-Arnold and Nathaniel Clyne, Solskjaer could opt for the younger, fitter model in the form of Williams and potentially cash in on Shaw. According to the Express, the 24-year-old was linked to a move away from Old Trafford which could still be in the back of the manager’s mind. If so, Williams is the perfect replacement.

This season, the England youth has one goal and seven assists across all competitions. He has also comfortably slotted into the left midfielder role when required, getting a goal and two assists from this position.

You summoned incredible courage once and beat up the school bully back in class five, but it doesn’t help if till then, and thereafter, he has thrashed you every single time. The memory of that one triumph might even start to fade with each successive failure. In 44 meetings, Bangladesh have defeated Pakistan all of once, in the 1999 World Cup. It’s been more than 13 years and 37 losses since that heady Northampton evening. The unfortunate part for Bangladesh is, even a win, unlikely as it seems, may not be enough to keep them in the tournament. Nothing less than a comprehensive victory will do.Mushfiqur Rahim knows what he is up against on Tuesday, but held out a brave front. “It is difficult but not an impossible task,” Mushfiqur said. “It is Twenty20, and England were bowled out last night for 80 [against India]. Who would have thought? Pakistan are good but not unbeatable. If we play our best cricket tomorrow, if everyone puts their hands up and shows guts anything is possible. We know where we have to improve and to how go about it tomorrow.”He also said something which rings true on the other side, considering the kind of rumblings the 1999 loss caused in Pakistan. “There’s pressure in every game. They’d think in the same way. Pakistan don’t want to lose against us, that is for sure. We have to come hard and we will give our best shot.”Bangladesh rely so much on their spinners but the fact that they played on a fresh pitch against New Zealand, and will do the same tomorrow, has forced Mushfiqur to consider playing another quick bowler. “I thought we made a mistake in the first game as the wicket was not that helpful for the left-arm spinners. We thought there would be something in the day. That is why we choose to field. We didn’t bowl well also.”We are looking at a fresh wicket tomorrow and it is also a night game. We have a few seaming all-round and pace bowling options. Probably we will have one more [quick] bowler in place of a spinner. We will come back tomorrow, have a look at the wicket again and see how it goes.”Mushfiqur said Bangladesh are in a tough group, with New Zealand and Pakistan, but said tomorrow was a chance to perform against another top side. “It brings a big challenge for us. They have great strength in their bowling and their batting is also good. It is one more opportunity, a do-or-die game for us. We have nothing to lose. Our boys did not put their hands up in the previous game, hopefully we will learn from our mistakes.”Fresh pitch or not, Mushfiqur knows Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez will be a handful. “He’s [Ajmal] a big factor. He will start bowling in the Powerplay when we have to take some risks. We can’t play all their bowlers normally, but attack some. We have players for that, and we are planning in that way.”Bangladesh have Saqlain Mushtaq, the former Pakistan offspinner, travelling with them as spin-bowling consultant. He’s been giving tips to the spinners in the squad and has also bowled to the Bangladesh batsmen during training. “He is telling us how to read Ajmal, Afridi, [Umar] Gul and Hafeez. But the application of it will depend on us.”The last time these two sides met, Bangladesh came within one stroke of winning the Asia Cup in Mirpur in what was ultimately an emotional loss. Mushfiqur said that was a different format and admitted Bangladesh would not have the same kind of confidence they had that night in Mirpur. A more revealing stat is that after beating West Indies in their opening game of the World Twenty20in 2007, Bangladesh have lost nine successive matches in the event. It is almost as distressing as their record against Pakistan. They are up against a lot of history tomorrow.

Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas has criticised the pitch at SuperSport Park in Centurion, calling it “no good for 20-over cricket” after his team was knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers having played only one match. Hampshire posted 121 on a surface with inconsistent bounce that did not allow the ball to carry through quickly, and Auckland reached the target with 33 deliveries to spare.”When we saw the pitch yesterday, we thought there was no way we could play on the wicket,” Mascarenhas said. “We knew that whoever won the toss would win the game. I heard there was a chance the match would be moved to the Wanderers but obviously that didn’t happen.” There has been no confirmation that a request was put in to change the venue and the second match continued as scheduled in Centurion.When the Hampshire team saw the pitch on Monday it was being watered, which groundsman Hilbert Smit said was “standard practice.” He admitted he may have “misread the weather,” when he watered the pitch during last week’s heat wave in anticipation of no rain early this week. Instead, 38 millimetres fell on Monday in the summer’s first storms, and the water table rose substantially.”Because of that [the rain] we knew the pitch would be slow and a few deliveries would hold back. But one team still scored at more than eight runs to the over and there is nothing wrong with that,” Smit said, referring to Auckland’s chase.Mascarenhas said the pitch had eased after the heavy roller was used in the innings break and it “definitely got better” to bat on. He thought his team had lost the match because of the batting performance. “Not many teams defend scores of around 120. When you are, you’re desperate for wickets and in doing that, you will give a few away.”Rather than a low-scoring game, Mascarenhas would have preferred a strip with runs in it. “In 20-over cricket, you want a flat wicket and you want to see runs on the board. You don’t want the ball to be dominating the whole time,” he said. “I am a bowler and even I don’t want the ball to dominate.”Auckland captain Gareth Hopkins was less scathing about the surface. “The toss did play a little part in it and it was easier to bat on second, but I don’t think it was too tricky up front,” he said. “It was a little bit slower than the pitch we had last night at the Wanderers and one or two balls did something funny.”Hopkins was the happier of the two captains not just because his team won but because Auckland have now qualified for the main draw. Their victories in both group matches mean they will progress irrespective of the result between Hampshire and Sialkot tomorrow.Hampshire were gutted not only to be out of the competition in the space of a day but because, as Mascarenhas said, “The most disappointing thing is that it was all in the toss, it was decided on that.”

AB de Villiers has been ruled out of Titans’ Champions League semi-final against Sydney Sixers on Friday. De Villiers has not played a match in the tournament as he recovers from a chronic lower-back condition and did not pass his fitness test on Thursday morning.”He is still getting a recurrence of lower-back pain,” Matthew Maynard, Titans coach, said. The Titans were prepared to go into the match without De Villiers though, and do not see the latest development as upsetting to their plans.What will be a concern, however, is whether De Villiers will be able to bat and keep wicket during South Africa’s three Test tour of Australia, which starts in just over two weeks’ time. De Villiers has been listed as the designated wicketkeeper and was instructed to take a three-week break after the World T20 to ensure he is able to fulfill that role.The time period comes to an end on Friday but he has not been passed match-fit and there is no exact determination of how much more recovery time he needs. National management is keeping a close eye on the situation and expects De Villiers to be able to assume all his duties in Australia. “He will definitely be able to travel to Australia but we will have to take it day by day on tour,” Mohammed Moosajee, team manager said.Moosajee has been monitoring De Villiers’ back condition since he took over the wicketkeeping role from Mark Boucher at the start of the tour of England. He does not expect De Villiers will be able to continue it permanently.”AB has had this back condition for a while and we knew about it. We knew that it would never resolve completely but that he would have times where he would be completely fine and then bouts when it would come back,” Moosajee said. “When his workload increases, it flares up. So in the long term, some strategic decision will have to be made.”The main decision is how long De Villiers will continue as wicketkeeper and who will be selected as the replacement. On the tour of Australia, Moosajee reminded that “we’ve got Thami Tsolekile as back-up so if something happens, he is there.”Tsolekile was nationally contracted in February, an indication that he would be part of the squad, and joined them when Boucher suffered a career-ending injury in England. He only played in the tour matches and De Villiers kept in all three Tests. It is believed that the national administration wants to re-introduce Tsolekile to international cricket at home, in what will be considered a less-challenging series against New Zealand in January rather than have him play against Australia first up.

Liverpool announced world-record profits in their yearly-financial reports highlighting the club’s success off the field.

The Reds announced a profit of £106m – increased from £40m – with turnover increasing by £90m for the last financial year. Liverpool’s run to the Champions League final earnt them an estimated £72m while the £142m sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona also boosted their accounts. Despite their lavish summer spending, Liverpool have now leapfrogged Arsenal to third in the Premier League revenue standings.

Their excellent performance off the field should mean Jurgen Klopp will be backed with another transfer war chest when the transfer window reopens in the summer. If Liverpool manage to secure their first league title in 29 years, a bigger budget will be available.

One man Klopp should use his funds to sign is Benfica wonderkid – Joao Felix. Valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, the 19-year-old has emerged as one of Europe’s hottest prospects after joining the club on a free transfer in 2015. Felix has enjoyed plenty of first-team football this season, attracting plenty of interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs – Liverpool should aim to be first in line for his signature.

The Portugal U21 international has netted eight goals and registered four assists for his team-mates in all competitions this season. Felix possesses blistering pace and close control which makes him a nightmare for defenders to deal with. The youngster would help replace the magic lost in Coutinho’s departure and add another dimension to the Liverpool forward line.

Felix has the potential to be one of the world’s top playmakers and would thrive under Klopp’s management on Merseyside. He could prove to the final piece of the puzzle for the Reds.

Liverpool fans, thoughts?

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According to trusted West Ham insider, ExWHUemployee, the Hammers are looking at a “couple of loan deals” as the transfer window edges closer to deadline day and will surely be hoping these can be tied up sooner rather than later.

The east London outfit made their January intentions clear from the off as they secured Samir Nasri on a free and fans will have hoped that there would be more to come. However, the Frenchman remains their only winter addition so far, as the club turned their attentions to keeping hold of one of their star men, rather than bringing in new faces.

Marko Arnautovic has been linked with a move to China – Shanghai SIPG offered £35m for the Austrian’s services – but he now looks set to be staying. This has hasn’t stopped the high-ups from lining up a swoop for another striker, though, in the form of Celta Vigo hitman, Maxi Gomez.

The Irons are reportedly ready to pay the Uruguayan’s £43.3m release clause. However, some Irons fans have taken Ex’s words as a sign that the Gomez deal is off, while others have been making predictions about who the mystery loan players are, with names such as Danny Drinkwater, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Nicolas Otamendi being thrown around.

Y0u can check out the best of the reaction on Twitter below…

Who is your club’s worst ever January signing? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have picked theirs in the video above and they didn’t disappoint…

كشف الدولي الألماني تيمو فيرنر مهاجم فريق تشيلسي، أنه عانى ضد مدافعي برايتون، في مباراة الفريقين بالبريميرليج.

فيرنر خاض أولى مبارياته في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز مع البلوز، والتي انتصر فيها تشيلسي على برايتون بثلاثة أهداف مقابل هدف.

وقال فيرنر في تصريحات نشرها الموقع الرسمي لناديه: “كما قال لي الجميع من قبل، كرة القدم في الدوري الإنجليزي مختلفة”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. قبل مواجهة ليفربول.. فيرنر يطمئن جماهير تشيلسي بعد إصابته أمام برايتون

وأضاف: “كانت مباراة صعبة، نحن سعداء جدًا بهذا الانتصار، نأمل أنّ نتمكن من الفوز بالمزيد من المباريات، لقد لعبت ضد ثلاثة مدافعين ضخام، ولم أواجه شيئًا مثل هذا من قبل في ألمانيا!”.

وواصل: “كان من الممكن أنّ أسجّل هدفًا على الأقل، ولكن الأمر لم يكن ممكنًا، ولكن هذا ليس مهمًا، الأهم أننا انتصرنا وحصلنا على ثلاث نقاط في البداية”.

وأتم تصريحاته قائلًا: “ربما في مباراتي القادمة سوف أسجل، أعرف أننا سنواجه ليفربول، والأمر سيكون أكثر صعوبة، ولكنني سأحاول، أنا أبذل قصاري جهدي، والآن أنا سعيد لتقديم المساعدة لفريقي”.

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Loads of Sheffield United fans have been reacting to their big deadline day signing, as Scott Hogan has joined the club on loan.

Hogan has joined the Blades on a temporary deal until the end of the season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

The 26 year-old has made just seven appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa this season, per Transfermarkt, due partly to the incredible goalscoring form of Tammy Abraham.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

While he hasn’t found the net in his limited playing time this season, Hogan’s work rate and versatility will be a huge boost for Chris Wilder.

The three-cap Irish international is of course primarily a centre forward, but he can play on the wings as well, and his tireless running down the channels and constant harrying of the opposition defenders will add another element to Wilder’s arsenal.

He will be an brilliantly shrewd signing if he can rediscover his Brentford form, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions to the signing down below…

Callum Hudson-Odoi has dominated the headlines at Chelsea over the last few weeks, with the English winger linked with a move to Bayern Munich (via the Daily Mail). He hasn’t featured all that much at Chelsea this term, all things considered, and Bayern seemingly want to offer him more minutes and a more prominent role in the squad.

Naturally, then, it would be a blow for the Blues if they were to lose him, but make no mistake: Hudson-Odoi isn’t the crown jewel of the Chelsea academy that some are making him out to be. Is he a brilliant player? Of course he is, but 18-year-old ace Ethan Ampadu is even more deserving of a first-team role than the in-demand winger.

Hudson-Odoi has incredible talent, but it’s obvious that he’s raw. Though he scored for Chelsea against Sheffield Wednesday, that was pretty much all he did, with many of his other passes and strikes missing their desired targets. That’s fine, of course, as he’s still developing – but that highlights how much training he still needs.

Ampadu, meanwhile, is already looking like a player that should be playing every week. The 18-year-old – who Chelsea signed from Exeter in 2017 – is equally capable in defence and midfield, and he proved that on Sunday, with a great performance for the Blues.

He tailed off slightly towards the end of his 60+ minute run in in the team, but for much of the game, he looked brilliant.

Perhaps most impressive is his leadership. From the first minute, despite being a teenager, Ampadu was consistently pointing and screaming at his teammates, directing them where to pass it and highlighting where the space was.

In addition, his range of passing was evident, whilst his brilliant tackling was proven by the overturned VAR decision that prevented Sheffield Wednesday from getting an undeserved penalty.

Hudson-Odoi is great, but Ampadu is emerging as Chelsea’s best academy star.

Thoughts?

Liverpool appear to be keeping tabs on one of England’s emerging attacking midfield starlets.

According to a report by TeamTALK, Blackburn Rovers’ John Buckley appears to have caught the attention of the Premier League giants.

However, the Anfield outfit are not believed to be the only club to have taken an interest in the Ewood Park prospect recently, with the likes of Everton and Manchester United also checking in on him.

The 19-year-old is highly-regarded at the Championship outfit and the news of rumoured interest has promoted Blackburn to hold talks with the youngster about a new deal.

Yet to make his first-team debut under Tony Mowbray, Buckley is believed to be on the fringes of the senior squad following his impressive performances for the Developmental side, where he has one goal and one assist in his 15 matches.

The Verdict:

Liverpool already have a number of quality young players on their books at the younger levels and Buckley could fit in with them at Melwood.

The 19-year-old has shown plenty of promise for Blackburn over the years, having been at Ewood Park since he was just six-years-old, and is highly regarded as a player for the future at the club.

Whether anything happens in the near future regarding the truth surrounding the interest in Buckley remains to be seen, however, if he continues to impress, a move to a big club like Liverpool could certainly be on the cards in the future.

Liverpool fans – thoughts?