WanderlustSport

For Friday's crucial match against Parma, Lecce has called up left-back Patrick Dorgu to their matchday squad while he waits for permission to travel to Manchester United for a medical.  Dorgu, 20, was originally scheduled to travel to Manchester on Thursday for a medical examination, but those tests were postponed until this coming weekend, just days before the transfer window closes.  United will be worried about the fitness of their potential new addition after he was called up to the Lecce squad for Friday's relegation battle against Parma. Ruben Amorim has been pushing for a new left-back all month, and United finalized an agreement for Dorgu worth €35 million (£29.3 million) earlier this week. Friday's match is considered vital to the team's fight for survival because Lecce is in the relegation zone in Serie A, but they are tied with Parma, who are two spots above them, and only two points behind Como, who are five spots above in 13th. "Currently, he is a Lec...

Amid worries over delays in Camp Nou's development, Barcelona has asked for an extension of their usage of the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.   There have been major delays in the renovation of Barcelona's iconic mansion. It was recently disclosed that additional setbacks made it doubtful that they would be able to return until late March at the latest, after plans to return by the end of 2024 were postponed until February 2025.  Barcelona's predicament stems from UEFA regulations that require teams to host all of their home games during the Champions League knockout stages at the same stadium. Although Camp Nou is not likely to be completed for the round of 16 to begin in early March, Barcelona had not anticipated being there for this long, thus their temporary home was also reserved for Champions League dates later in the season. Nonetheless, those alternative plans have now failed, and Barcelona has officially asked to utilize the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium until th...

Paris Saint-Germain will meet French rivals Brest in this season's Champions League quarterfinal play-offs, while Manchester City will play reigning champions Real Madrid. The enlarged 36-team table was ultimately finished Wednesday night after the Champions League's inaugural league phase concluded with 18 concurrent matches. The 16 clubs between ninth and twenty-fourth place will face off over two legs in February, as the teams that placed in the top eight automatically advanced to the round of sixteen and were not involved in Friday's draw.  Thiago Alcantara was there at UEFA's House of Football in Switzerland to interpret the specific ties, even though each club was already aware that it could only play one of two opponents in these play-offs depending on their final league phase table position. Complete draw for the 2024/25 Champions League knockout stage play-offs  [Second on the list are seeded teams] •  Juventus vs PSV • Feyenoord vs Milan • Brest vs PSG • Monac...

Following the conclusion of the first "league phase" this week, Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has taken aim at the new Champions League format for this season. With a single league table instead of a group stage and eight pre-knockout games instead of six, UEFA has completely redesigned its premier club competition this season. When questioned by media on Wednesday night about his thoughts on the new league phase format, Ancelotti said, "Too many matches. " While denying that Madrid in particular has suffered disproportionately from the increasing demand, Ancelotti reaffirmed the long-held belief that elite football requires fewer games. "There have been countless, yet for everyone," he stated. "At this point in football, we need to eliminate matches rather than increase them." "That’s how I see it."  It increases the number of matches on the schedule. Madrid will need to play four more games this season than they did in 2023–2024 i...

Ruben Amorim has challenged Marcus Rashford to improve his game and push his way back into the starting lineup after acknowledging that Manchester United lacks the forward's skill in front of goal.  Rashford has not impressed Amorim behind the scenes at United, and it was recently claimed that the two are no longer communicating as a result of the head coach's most recent critique of his forward's training standards.  With Rashford out of the lineup, United's results have been inconsistent, and Amorim has acknowledged that he wants someone with his skills to assist in attack as soon as feasible. "Our team should be so much better with Rashford," Amorim stated. However, he needs to change. We need a talented player like Rashford, therefore we're more than welcome to bring him in if he changes. "I believe it's really obvious right now that we need to establish some guidelines. If Marcus wants it badly enough, we are waiting for him. "I have not...

Box-to-box fiends are no longer in charge in England. The days of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard are over.  That does not, however, imply that the quality has significantly decreased. Not at all. Rather, there are numerous midfield profiles in the Premier League, each with their own special talent.  While press resisters have been more popular recently due to teams' efforts to regain possession high up the field, the box-to-boxer is still used, albeit less frequently. Additionally, there is an abundance of exceptional attacking midfield players who possess all the necessary keys to open any lock that is put in front of them. Based on their 2024–2025 performances, WanderlustSport lists the top midfield players in the Premier League. 5. Morgan Rogers [Aston Villa] Rogers, who had a slump in form before tearing apart Manchester City before Christmas, hasn't had an easy time.  In addition to having the height and quickness to dominate at transitions, Rogers is technically p...

The midfielder for Barcelona, Pedri, has formally committed to a new five-and-a-half-year deal with the Catalan powerhouse. In September 2019, the Spanish schemer left his childhood team, Las Palmas, to join Barcelona. Pedri has been a Blaugrana supporter since infancy, even though he was raised in Tenerife, which is more than 1,500 miles from Camp Nou. The midfielder's grandfather established the Pena Barcelonista de Tenerife-Tegueste, among the earliest official Barcelona fan clubs in the Canary Islands, and his father would often play videos of the iconic Danish midfielder Michael Laudrup (prior to his time at Real Madrid, naturally).  There has been little uncertainty that Pedri would be lured away from Catalonia, and the club has now officially confirmed his new contract until 30 June 2030. As Barcelona deals with the long list of players whose contracts are about to expire over the next 18 months, Pedri's statement follows Ronald Araujo's confirmation one week earlier...

According to a source, Kevin De Bruyne wants to sign a new contract at the Etihad Stadium in order to put an end to the uncertainty surrounding his future with Manchester City. As he approaches his 34th birthday in June, De Bruyne has entered the last six months of his current contract and is expected to leave City this summer to pursue his skills in the Saudi Pro League or Major League Soccer, where there is a lot of interest in his services. De Bruyne, according to The Times, is instead considering a new contract with City that would extend his tenure with the team beyond ten years.  The happiness of his family and his aspirations to represent Belgium at the 2026 World Cup, which he acknowledges would suffer if he left the European spotlight, are at the heart of De Bruyne's choice. Even though he has openly admitted that De Bruyne is past his best, City boss Pep Guardiola has made no secret of his wish to keep working with the aging midfielder. De Bruyne has suffered greatly from...

In a strange turn of events, the El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid might wind up taking place at Wembley Stadium in the latter part of the season. As Barcelona wraps up a second season at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, the La Liga match is set for May 11 and is their penultimate home game.  Due to renovations at Camp Nou, the stadium that hosted the 1992 Olympics and was once home to local rivals Espanyol has being used as a temporary base since 2023. However, the Camp Nou project has already gone beyond its initial schedule, which called for Barcelona to return to the property by the end of 2024 and for all construction to be finished by June 2026. Given that the Olympic venue will host the first two games in 2025, that clearly hasn't happened. The problem now arises. Camp Nou is probably remain unavailable by April, when Barcelona's lease on the Montjuic stadium expires. However, there are already scheduled events at the Lluis Companys after that period, such a...

These are the poorest players for each Premier League team in the 2024–2025 season, based on WhoScored match ratings.  Players must have played in at least 10 games, including at least two starts, in order to be included. This season's worst players for every Premier League team Bournemouth: Enes Unal  Another wounded Bournemouth player who is unable to defend himself is Julian Araujo, who no longer meets the criterion. Despite only starting twice this season, Unal has two goals in 17 Premier League games and is out for the season due to a significant knee injury. Brighton: Evan Ferguson  At this time last year, Ferguson was the greatest thing ever and was expected to be transferred for £100 million. He can hardly get a kick anymore. This season, he has made ten substitute appearances and two starts in the Premier League, scoring one goal. It's possible that people became overly enthusiastic about him. Arsenal: Jorginho has appeared sluggish lately, but he has never been ...

Renato Veiga, a defender for Chelsea, has signed a loan deal with Juventus for the rest of 2024–2025. After just one season with Swiss powerhouse Basel, the 21-year-old signed a seven-year contract and went to Stamford Bridge in July of last year.  Veiga has made 18 appearances for Chelsea in all competitions, most of which have been in the Conference League. However, Marc Cucurella's play has made it difficult for Veiga to get regular playing time in the Premier League. The Portugal international was Enzo Maresca's backup left-back, but he was permitted to transfer to Turin to sign a loan deal with Juventus. Veiga will return to west London in the summer as part of the arrangement, which does not include a buyout option.  Due to Thiago Motta's numerous injury concerns, Veiga, who can also play center defense and defensive midfield and will wear the number 12 shirt, will have more opportunities to play first team football at the highest level. Given that Maresca has shunned...

Not too long ago, Chelsea winger Noni Madueke was dismissing inquiries about the championship battle with a casual demeanor, claiming he had no idea what it was.  The constant questions about the Blues' chances of winning the Premier League undoubtedly became tedious, but many wish those times had continued beyond 2025.  Enzo Maresca's team has only won once in their last seven league games after suffering a 3-1 loss to Manchester City on Saturday. They are now in sixth place in the standings and are hardly on pace to improve on Mauricio Pochettino's lackluster one-season tenure. As the front-runners in recent transfer windows, the Blues have so far refrained from spending a lot of money to improve an already overburdened team. But their failure in the last month has revealed inadequate squad building, and better players are needed to get Maresca's team back on track.  Chelsea will aim to address these four issues prior to the deadline. 1. An improvement for Robert Sanc...

Radja Nainggolan, a former midfielder for Inter and Roma, has been taken into custody in connection with a Belgian cocaine trafficking investigation.   Belgian police are believed to have arrested the 36-year-old following several separate operations throughout the nation.  According to the Associated Press, investigators discovered 2.7 kilograms of cocaine, luxury goods valued at over €500,000, and more than €350,000 in cash during 30 searches conducted Monday morning in the Antwerp province and the surrounding area of Brussels. After a comparable length of time at Cagliari, Nainggolan played four years at Roma from 2014 to 2018, before moving on to current Serie A winners Inter. in the time of the transfer, he was among the most well-known midfielders in the nation, but he was unable to make a name for himself in San Siro.  The feisty star recently signed with second-tier Lokeren, who found out about his incarceration through media reports, to conclude a protracted abse...

With the 2025 January transfer window coming to an end, Europe still has a lot of issues to resolve.  This season, the winter window will not close on January 31; instead, deadlines will be moved to February 3. As everyone knows, January is a notoriously difficult month for business, with teams even less eager to deal with their most valuable assets and players not too interested in moving halfway through the season.  However, as heretofore stoic negotiators teeter toward desperation, much of the winter pandemonium usually emerges in the last few days of the window. Here are six players to watch in the last week of the January transfer window as big deals are being negotiated. Christopher Nkunku Nkunku had a challenging first season at Chelsea due to a serious injury, and the gifted French attacker had a lackluster experience in west London. Despite his lack of goals, Nicolas Jackson's Premier League minutes have not decreased, while Nkunku has been used nearly entirely as a s...

It has been predicted that Real Madrid and Manchester City will attempt to entice Sandro Tonali to leave Newcastle United this summer. Since coming back from his gambling ban, Tonali has been a key component of Newcastle's success; yet, the Magpies' inability to maintain a consistent Champions League berth has long raised rumors of a move away from St James' Park. Tonali was heavily linked to Juventus and AC Milan, and there were even rumors that the Italy international wanted to return to Serie A after becoming dissatisfied with life at Newcastle. However, Tonali's representation vehemently dismissed those rumors.  However, Tonali's outstanding play will continue to draw interest from other teams, and Italian reporter Gianluca Di Marzio has now predicted that Madrid and City will attempt to make a deal this summer. Di Marzio told Sky Sport Italia, "I think Tonali will leave Newcastle, but I don't know if he could return to Italy in June." "I beli...

According to a source, Chelsea center-back Axel Disasi is eager to move to Villa Park before the transfer window ends after reaching a personal agreement with Aston Villa. Disasi, who cost £38.5 million to join Chelsea in the summer of 2023, has fallen in the rankings since current manager Enzo Maresca took over, even though he was a consistent starter in his first season under Mauricio Pochettino. Disasi has made just six Premier League appearances this season, mostly as an emergency right-back. According to Maresca, the 26-year-old seems to lag behind Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Levi Colwill, and even Josh Acheampong, a rising academy star, in his preferred position.  Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, and Villarreal are among the teams that have indicated interest in signing Disasi this month; during the past several days, rumors about Villa's interest have been gradually intensifying. Fabrizio Romano has recently disclosed that Villa and Disasi...

WanderlustSport compiles the most recent rumors, gossip, and transfer news from around the globe. The Juventus full-back Andrea Cambiaso is one of Man City's targets. The Cityzens are anticipated to submit an offer after the Serie A team reduced their asking price from €80 million (£67.3 million) to €60 million (£50.5 million). [Corriere dello Sport - Italy] As criticism mounts on current manager Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur is considering signing Erik ten Hag, a former manager of Manchester United. [Fichajes - Spain]   When Timo Werner's loan with Tottenham ends, he is in negotiations with the New York Red Bulls about making an unexpected transfer to Major League Soccer. [Foot Mercato - France] AC Milan plans to make a higher proposal of about €34 million (£28.6 million) for Santiago Gimenez, a striker for Feyenoord. [Calciomercato - Italy] Christopher Nkunku, a forward for Chelsea, is eager to join Manchester United after talks to join Bayern Munich fell through.  [Ca...

According to a rumor, Chelsea has made Bournemouth center-back Dean Huijsen a top summer transfer target. Since joining Bournemouth for £12.8 million from Juventus last summer, the 19-year-old has excelled, scoring twice in 17 games to help the team launch an unexpected run for a Champions League berth the following season. Many of Europe's top teams have long been interested in Huijsen's play; Real Madrid has frequently been mentioned as a potential suitor for the Spaniard, who was born in the Netherlands, and Chelsea has acknowledged that they are strong contenders, according to Fabrizio Romano.  Despite Bournemouth's extreme reluctance to go with Huijsen, whose contract expires in 2030, Romano claims the defender's contract has a release clause that will go into effect in the summer. Although the clause's value is not stated, reports from Spain have previously estimated Huijsen's release clause to be worth approximately €65 million (£54.9 million). Huijsen is...

When Mohamed Salah scored in Liverpool's 4-1 victory against Ipswich Town, he passed Arsenal great Thierry Henry in the Premier League scoring statistics. With the second goal in Saturday's resounding victory, Salah's Premier League total now stands at an incredible 176 goals in 285 games during his tenure with the Reds and former employers Chelsea. The goal puts Salah ahead of Henry, who finished his tenure in the English top flight with 175 goals from 258 games, and puts him eighth in the league's all-time scoring rankings. With the 177 goals scored by former Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard next on his radar, Salah will be looking to soar even higher this season.  Salah is in some of his greatest goal-scoring form this season, and both Andy Cole (187) and Sergio Aguero (184) would seem to be in risk of dropping out of the standings. Salah scored his 100th Premier League goal at Anfield with the goal against Ipswich. Robbie Fowler has scored 85 goals at home for Liver...

Following Bruno Fernandes' intervention that saved Manchester United from Thursday night's letdown, the Red Devils refocus on the Premier League with an upcoming match against Fulham.  Ruben Amorim's club is having a difficult time. In midweek, they faced a bruised Rangers team that was missing several of its key players, but they controlled the whole of the game and needed a late goal from their captain to win. The club hasn't made any moves to help their talented new manager this winter, so it appears that Amorim will continue to work with the same group of players for the rest of 2024–2025.  The rest of the division has found visiting Fulham to be a difficult challenge this season, and United, who already have little left to gain from this tournament, are unlikely to have a different experience at Craven Cottage.  Before Sunday's match, here is the most recent injury update from the Manchester United camp. Defenders & Goalies The Red Devils' 2-1 victory o...

An 18-year-old center-back named Juma Bah from AIK Freetong has reportedly agreed to a contract with Manchester City. Bah is having a standout season on loan in La Liga with Real Valladolid, where he has already played 14 matches across all competitions, and several clubs are reportedly interested in the Sierra Leone international.  Fabrizio Romano has clarified that the Premier League champions are the ones attempting to recruit Bah, despite recent reports that the bigger ownership group behind Manchester City, City Football Group, had their sights set on him. Bah has agreed to a contract with City, although it's unclear if Pep Guardiola's team would buy him right away or when his loan with Valladolid ends at the end of the current campaign. However, there are rumors that the adolescent might be loaned to Lens, a French team that this week sold Abdukodir Khusanov to City. If all goes according to plan, Bah might become City's third center-back acquisition of the winter tra...

The team that Barcelona coach Hansi Flick believes has a good chance of winning the Champions League this year is not his own. Matchday seven of the league phase of Europe's top club competition has begun this week, and with just one round of games remaining, teams are vying for spots to finish as high as possible. After losing to Monaco in their first game, Barcelona bounced back to win five straight games against Young Boys, Bayern Munich, Red Star Belgrade, Brest, and Borussia Dortmund to move up to second place behind leaders Liverpool.  The Premier League team has won six straight games, making them the only team with a perfect record, and Flick acknowledged that Arne Slot's team is the team to beat. Barca take on Benfica in Lisbon on Tuesday evening, with coach Bruno Lage identifying the Catalans as the top contenders to win the trophy in May. Flick rejected that forecast, noting the challenge of accomplishing it entirely and mentioning Liverpool instead.  "In the fu...