كشفت شبكة “سكاي سبورتس” في إيطاليا عن اقترب نادي ليستر سيتي المنافس في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي من ضم خليفة محمد صلاح خلال الساعات القليلة المقبلة.

ووضع ليستر سيتي أنظاره منذ فترة على جناح الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي روما، جنكيز أوندير، والملقب بـ خليفة محمد صلاح في النادي الإيطالي بعد انضمامه لهم عقب رحيل المصري الدولي إلى ليفربول في 2017.

اقرأ أيضًا.. محمد صلاح ضمن تشكيل آلان شيرار لفريق الجولة بالدوري الإنجليزي

وبحسب الصحفي الشهير بالشبكة، فابريتسيو رومانو، فمن المتوقع أن يتوصل ليستر سيتي لاتفاق مع روما لاستعارة أوندير مع بند إلزامي للشراء في نهاية الموسم.

يأتي ذلك بعدما تقدم ليستر سيتي بعرض لصالح برشلونة لضم ترينكاو، لكن تم رفضه من جانب النادي الكتالوني، لذلك توجه إلى الخيار البديل بالتوقيع مع أوندير.

الجدير بالذكر أن ليستر سيتي قد بدأ الدوري الإنجليزي بقوة، بعدما حقق الفوز على حساب وست بروميتش ألبيون بنتيجة 3-0.

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Confidence and momentum are absolutely integral to the success of centre-forwards at any level of the game.

What’s the word?

Charlie Wyke’s dismal run of form in recent weeks is a typical example of how the life of a striker can be unforgiving and confidence-sapping.

The 26-year-old forward has scored just one goal for Sunderland this season, and his struggle to find the net continued on Saturday against Bristol Rovers.

Wyke was brought on as a second-half substitute and he had chances to add to his tally for the season, but he let three big chances go begging.

Jack Ross, though, did not seem overly concerned by his failure to find the net and he praised the goal-shy striker for his intelligent positioning, as per Sunderland Echo.

“I was really pleased with him when he came on.

“I know people will say that’s easy [to say] because we won the game.

“But I was. His all-round performance when he came on, he got himself into three really good positions, his movement was good.

“He’ll score and I’m desperate for him to score.”

Confidence-boosting goal could stimulate turnaround

As Ross has alluded to, the fact the Black Cats recorded a 2-0 victory made it easier for him to take such a patient stance with Wyke, but the striker’s ability to manufacture opportunities during a rough patch is a sign of promise for the future.

Ultimately, the run Wyke is on is bound to frustrate Sunderland supporters, but a single goal could be all that he needs to stimulate a major turnaround.

While the former Carlisle hitman continues to find himself in the right positions, both Ross and the supporters should keep believing that he will eventually rediscover his clinical instinct.

Sunderland left it to the very end of the January transfer window to finally land a replacement for the outgoing Josh Maja.

Right at the death, the Black Cats finally secured a deal to land Wigan striker Will Grigg, with the Northern Ireland striker signing for the Wearsiders for a fee in the region of £4m.

Grigg has been decent enough through his career, and is famed for his song created during the Euros by the boisterous Irish fans, but we here in the Tavern feel like Sunderland have been backed into a corner and could well have paid over the odds for the striker.

The 27-year-old, while bagging 19 goals in League One last term, has struggled somewhat in the Championship with the Latics and his form for his country has hardly set the world alight either.

It’s with that Championship form and lack of goals at the top level which causes something of a worry, and at £4m, you have to ask the question of if Sunderland might well have paid slightly too much for Grigg.

Of course, they simply had to replace Maja, and Grigg’s record last term for Wigan suggests he can do it in League One and fire in the goals to get the Black Cats back to the Championship.

Sunderlansd fans will no doubt have their own reservations, but on the one hand if Grigg does fire them into the second tier, then £4m will look money well spent.

The jury is still out from us here in the Tavern though, and we feel that Grigg has a lot to prove in the next three months if he is to justify his price tag.

Sunderland fans, what do you think? Have you overpaid? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

According to Sky Sports football reporter Keith Downie on Twitter, Sunderland are planning on buying striker duo Tom Eaves and John Marquis before the end of the month. 

Eaves is currently with Gillingham in League One, while Marquis is with Doncaster in the same league, and are both being eyed as replacements to Josh Maja at the Stadium of Light.

This would be a wonderful move for Eaves, who is floundering at the bottom of the league with Gillingham. Currently sitting in 19th place, The Gills are embroiled in a relegation battle this season. With 15 goals and four assists this season, Eaves has, in truth, carried his club. So much so that the next best scorer has nine fewer goals. He will want to test himself at a better club, and promotion-chasing Sunderland are certainly that team, who can offer him the prospect of Championship football. It may spell the end for Gillingham, but it will be very promising for The Black Cats.

Meanwhile, Marquis will be another huge signing for Sunderland. When a club lose the league’s joint-second top scorer in Maja, the only thing they can do to improve that is sign the top scorer, which The Black Cats are proceeding to do. Marquis has 16 goals in the league this season, and with the added quality of Sunderland around him, he will only improve and could possibly make The Black Cats favourites to secure promotion.

Maja’s loss will be huge, but by recruiting two players like this, Sunderland will be taking massive steps forward rather than backwards.

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Nottingham Forest announced the signing of Leo Bonatini on loan from Wolves until the end of the season in a deal that has slipped under the radar somewhat, but there is no doubt that the frontman can use his memorable experience of the Championship to full effect. (via the BBC)

What can he offer Martin O’Neill upfront?

The Brazilian striker has only ever had a short taste of England’s second tier, having joined Wolves on a season-long loan deal from Al Hilal in the summer of 2017, before swapping the Championship for the Premier League following promotion.

However, in just a single season, the 24-year-old proved that he can be a deadly Championship marksman. Bonatini scored 12 goals in 29 starts under Nuno Espirito Santo as Wolves won the league, and Forest will certainly be hoping that he can replicate those numbers in the second half of the season.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Bonatini is an excellent frontman with a clever striker’s brain, always knowing where he needs to be in the penalty box and always able to finish with aplomb. His game is similar to that of a Glenn Murray type, in which he lacks pace and athleticism, but his movement and intelligence allows him to be a yard ahead of the game.

Whose place will he take?

Well, 14-goal Lewis Grabban hasn’t scored since the beginning of December, so whilst he had an amazing start to the campaign, he looks to have tailed off. He started on the bench in the recent 3-1 win over Wigan, whilst Daryl Murphy started up front in his place – however, the Irishman only has three league goals this season.

In that respect, Bonatini should and could go straight into the starting lineup, and will hopefully provide the kick up the backside that Grabban needs to rekindle his impressive form from the early months of the campaign.

[ad_pod ]Loads of Crystal Palace fans have been running the rule over their rather comfortable win against Fulham, and they’re full of praise for the colossal Mamadou Sakho.Saturday was just about the perfect day as far as Roy Hodgson is concerned, as the boss watched his side comfortably dispatch of Fulham while several of the teams around the Eagles dropped points.It was a really professional performance from the hosts at Selhurst Park, as for all Fulham’s defensive deficiencies they are more than capable of producing chances that Aleksandar Mitrovic will bury.Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!The visitors hardly got a sniff though, and that was mainly down to the excellent work of Sakho.The 29-cap French international is fast becoming a cult hero in South London, and it’s not hard to see why he was handed the captain’s armband at PSG aged just 17, as his commanding presence has transformed the Eagles’ back line.The 28 year-old won three aerial duels, made two interceptions, eight clearances and also completed a remarkable 98 per cent of his passes, per Whoscored.It is this unique mixture of technical quality and physical dominance that makes Sakho such a superb defender, and the Twitter reactions down below are falling further in love with the former Liverpool ace…

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Liverpool returned to winning ways on Saturday with a convincing 3-0 victory over Bournemouth – a game in which Jurgen Klopp continued to show faith in Naby Keita despite his poor showing against West Ham United prior to the weekend.

What’s the word?

The summer signing from RB Leipzig has struggled to live up to the huge expectation which surrounded his arrival.

Mediocre performances and a general struggle to establish a distinguishable identity within Liverpool’s midfield have seen his reputation diminish this season, but Klopp’s latest comments on his development suggest more experience at this level will enable him to discover his best form, as per The Times.

“We will probably see a couple of bad halves from Naby in the future, that’s completely normal. But it was clear the whole week the second half was really important to him.

“There is still a lot to come because he is still adapting. Sometimes it takes longer. People lose patience. That’s normal, but we don’t.”

Can Keita follow Oxlade-Chamberlain’s footsteps?

The Guinea international may well take some confidence from Oxlade-Chamberlain’s start to life at Anfield. Initially, the former Arsenal man looked out of sorts and struggled to adapt to his new surroundings.

Supporters questioned the club’s decision, but the England’s international form took an unexpected turn just at the moment in which supporters were beginning to lose faith. Oxlade-Chamberlain established himself as a key player in Liverpool’s midfield and shifted popular opinion while thriving in a box-to-box midfield role.

It must be considered that, unlike Keita, Oxlade-Chamberlain already had plenty of Premier League experience and he still struggled within the early stages of his Liverpool career.

With that in mind, it’s fair to say that the former RB Leipzig man’s form should be taken with a pinch of salt, and Klopp’s recent comments suggest that he expects him to blossom as his career develops at Anfield.

Supporters may well be underwhelmed by Keita’s progress at Liverpool so far but Klopp’s willingness to be patient and trust in the summer recruit could eventually facilitate a similar rise in prominence to the one Oxlade-Chamberlain has enjoyed during his time on Merseyside.

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Loads of Arsenal fans have been reacting to a huge development on the future of Nicolas Pepe, as his manager said the 16-goal winger will play in red next season.

Arsenal fans are desperate for some proper investment, as Unai Emery has been forced to make ends meet with mostly sub-par signings so far.

The manager brought in five new faces last summer before adding Denis Suarez in January, but of course the Spaniard is only at the club on loan.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

With Suarez barely making an impact (and due to leave this summer) and Henrikh Mkhitaryan enduring a pretty miserable first 12 months in North London, the Gunners could well sign a winger this summer, and Pepe has been heavily linked.

Now, the winger’s manager at Lille, Christophe Galtier, has heaped even more fuel on the fire by dropping a cheeky hint at his press conference this week.

As reported by GFFN, Galtier said: “He has to go to a club in the Champions League. In my view, he does not need an intermediary step to go to the highest possible level.

“I could see him playing for a team who plays in red that likes having wide players playing on the wing of their weaker foot.”

The Gunners do not look likely to make the Champions League this campaign, but that will certainly be their goal next season, and fans are hoping Pepe will be there to help them achieve it.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

علق مسعد عوض حارس مرمى أسوان على فوز فريقه أمام الزمالك في المبارة التي أقيمت اليوم ببطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وانتصر أسوان على الزمالك بهدفٍ وحيد في الجولة 28 من الدوري المصري، على أرضية استاد القاهرة الدولي.

وقال مسعد عوض خلال لقاء معه عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورت”: “هدفنا كان الفوز لنصحح مركزنا، والحمد لله على الفوز على الزمالك و3 نقاط غالية في توقيت صعب”.

وأضاف: “دوري وواجب عليّ أن أوجه زملائي وأحمد كشري (المدير الفني) يثق بي، أسوان فريق جيد ولاعبيه كبار بأقل إمكانيات ويستحقون أكثر من ذلك والجميع رأى ذلك بعينه وإن شاء الله نحسم البقاء مبكرا”.

طالع | أحمد كشري لـ بطولات: قميص كارتيرون؟ هو من يقلدني.. وسأرتديه في كل المباريات

وواصل: “نأخذ كل مباراة على حدة و9 النقاط السابقين حسنوا مركزنا لأن النقطة تفرق بالتأكيد، وأتمنى أن نظل على نفس المستوى”.

وعندما سُئل عن تواصل بعض مشجعي النادي الأهلي معه قبل المباراة رد مختتمًا: “الأهلي لا يحتاج فريق آخر يتسبب في حسم الدوري له، هو بطبيعة الحال كان سيفوز بالبطولة”.

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Nottingham Forest are currently a club on a high having beaten bitter rivals Derby County by a 1-0 scoreline at the City Ground on Monday. Martin O’Neill must quickly refocus his side though as they face a tough test against Stoke City on Saturday.

In order to gain a positive result against the Potters, the Reds must stick to an effective gameplan and reproduce the levels of commitment and discipline that they displayed against the Rams.

On the chalkboard

Having been relegated from the Premier League last season, Stoke will have expected to compete for promotion from the Championship this time around. Things have not gone to plan for the club though, who currently find themselves in the bottom half of the second tier.

Who do you want to see promoted this year? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have picked their 3 favoured teams in the video below…

However, Forest cannot afford to underestimate Nathan Jones’ side who still possess a lot of attacking quality. What’s more, defeat for Forest could seriously harm their hopes of reaching the play-offs.

In order to get a positive result, O’Neill must seek to replicate the most positive aspects of his side’s performance against Derby.

Playing to their strengths

On Monday, Forest were incredibly diligent. They were well-organised and compact throughout. They also demonstrated an admirable work rate to ensure that Frank Lampard’s side were never allowed to become too comfortable in possession.

Forest also used their key men well. Play was effectively and consistently channeled through Joe Lolley who has the quality to hurt the opposition in the final third. They also played to their physical and aerial strengths – it was unsurprising, therefore, that Yohan Benalouane’s match-winning goal came from a set piece. 

If Forest are able to shine in these all-important areas again on Saturday then they’re likely to return from the bet365 stadium with all three points in tow.