Transfer Talk:Manchester United ready to pay £53M for Laliga Super star According to Sky Sports Pundit

Mercy Lank

Manchester United are set for another bid summer of bid spending it seems as Jose Mourinho looks to turn us into Premier League and Champions League title challengers. It is widely expected that we will sign a couple of defenders and midfielders before the start of next season and several players have been strongly linked already.

With Michael Carrick set to retire at the end of the current campaign and Maourane Fellaini ready to leave on a free transfer we can be sure to sign two central midfielders. Another key position for us is at centre-back where Victor Lindelof failed to live up to his expectations this season and has only made a dozen Premier League starts following his big money move from Benfica last summer. The boss doesn’t appear to see either Chris Smalling or Phil Jones as long-term options so we’d expect to bring in another centre-back this summer to partner Eric Bailly. The Ivorian himself has been injury prone during his two seasons at Old Trafford as it is. One defender we have been strongly linked with since the close of the January transfer window is Barcelona’s Samuel Umtiti. The 24-year-old has yet to put pen to paper over a new deal at Camp Nou and has reportedly stalled on offers from the club amid interest from us. Now Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert, Guillem Balague, reckons that we are interested in bringing the French international to Old Trafford this summer. Balague claims that Jose Mourinho would be willing to pay £53 million to bring Samuel Umtiti to Manchester United. Balague said: “Contrary to reports, Manchester United are still willing to pay €60m [£53m] for him.” However, the Spanish football expert added that Umtiti has reduced his salary demands at Barcelona: “But Umtiti has since reduced his demands and the conversations with Barcelona are more fluid than they were a few months ago.” Samuel Umtiti has started 23 La Liga games under Ernesto Valverde this season and did miss a couple of games over the winter period due to injury. The 6’0″ centre-back has been excellent for the Catalan club as they close in on another La Liga title. He offers pace, good in tackle and solid in the air. I’d certainly welcome him into the Manchester United starting lineup to potentially form a long and successful partnership alongside Eric Bailly.

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Liverpool Manager Jurgen Klopp eager for Keita arrival as Liverpool eye more summer signings

Mercy Lank

The Reds boss is expecting big things from his new star midfielder ahead of his move from RB Leipzig Jurgen Klopp has backed Liverpool-bound RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita to have a "big effect" next season, while the German manager expects to complete more signings. Keita will swap the Bundesliga for the Premier League in 2018-19 after Liverpool agreed a deal with Leipzig for the Guinea captain at the start of the season . The 23-year-old has impressed this term, scoring six goals and tallying five assists for Leipzig, and Klopp is excited by Keita's imminent arrival at Anfield. "Naby has the quality to have a big effect on the team immediately [when] he arrives," said Klopp, who is looking to bolster his squad following Philippe Coutinho's move to Barcelona, while there is uncertainty over Emre Can's future amid interest from Juventus. "He is not playing the World Cup so he will have a full pre-season with us, which will help him a lot. We will probably sign a couple more players in summer because we need more depth in the squad. "To bring in players who are 200 per cent better than what we have will be difficult but we had a problem when Coutinho left and Adam Lallana and then Emre Can became injured. "You can never remove all injury risk and the boys still did brilliantly, but of course we will try to strengthen the squad because that's how it is." Liverpool, who are preparing for the Champions League final against holders Real Madrid May 26, face Chelsea in a key Premier League clash at Stamford Bridge Sunday .

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José Mourinho provides injury updates on Alexis Sánchez and Romelu Lukaku 1 hour ago

Mercy Lank

They both missed Friday night's game against Brighton

Romelu Lukaku missed Manchester United's 1-0 loss to Brighton on Friday night, still recovering from an injury picked up against Arsenal last weekend. The striker returned to Belgium for treatment, while Alexis Sánchez also didn't travel. His absence was more surprising, but José Mourinho explained that he had picked up a knock during the week. United play Chelsea in the FA Cup final on Saturday 19th, when Mourinho will be desperate to beat his former employers and lift the trophy. In order to do that, they will have to play vastly better than they did against Brighton. Having Lukaku and Sánchez available would certainly make that easier, and Mourinho has said he expects them both to be back fit. "I hope they can play in the final. We have two matches and need four points," Mourinho told BBC Sport. The United boss didn't seem overly concerned about the injury sustained by his number 9 when speaking at his press conference this past Thursday. "I don't know, I just know that of course not tomorrow, (against Brighton) apart from that we need to wait for more scans, more time. "Hope so (that he will be fit for the final). It looks positive."

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Wenger: Not my job to pick Arsenal successor

Mercy Lank

ARSENE WENGER WILL not be involved in the decision-making process for the appointment of his successor as Arsenal manager. Wenger’s 22-year stay at the club has only three matches remaining and Arsenal have given no clues about potential replacements for the Frenchman.

Former captain Patrick Vieira and Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers have been linked with the post, and the 68-year-old clarified he will have no say over who the next person in the Emirates Stadium dugout is. “I’m not involved in that and it’s not my job. My job was to perform with the team and my job is not to choose my successor,” Wenger told Sky Sports . “If somebody asks me an opinion I will give it, but I think a club works well when everyone does their job.” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s long-time assistant Zeljko Buvac, who has been given a leave of absence by the Reds , is reportedly among the frontrunners for the post. “I don’t know him well,” Wenger said. “Publicly I think it is better I do not talk about it. It can disadvantage the other candidates and I don’t want to put pressure on people. It is better that they feel completely free to take who they want. “[My successor] will need to make this club the priority of his life and commit completely and totally like he owns the club. There is no other way to manage a club of this stature than to think that my life depends on what is going on here. They must give absolutely everything to do well.” Arsenal were beaten by Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-finals on Thursday, Diego Costa scoring the only goal in the second leg to knock the Gunners out 2-1 on aggregate. And Wenger, whose side will miss out on Champions League qualification for the second year in a row as a result, accepts it was a particularly painful loss. “Super sad – the next day is always worse than the night before,” Wenger added. “Over the two games I feel that we paid a high price for not being clinical enough in what we produced. “Overall the players produced total commitment over the two games. We played against a good side but we should be in the final. We played against a team who are in front of Real Madrid in the league and have played two Champions League finals in the past four years.” Burnley visit Emirates Stadium on Sunday in what will be Wenger’s last home match as Arsenal manager and he is expecting an emotional occasion. “It’s sad but all love stories come to an end and not all of them finish well. Most of the time they don’t finish well,” Wenger said. “I’ll feel sad because I love this club and I love what the club represents. You don’t give 22 years of your life and walk away easily. I have dealt with difficult situations in my life and I will do it again. “Of course I will go back, why not? First of all, I have to decide what I do in the future and take a little bit of distance. The intensity I’ve had in the last 22 years, it demands a little bit to take a reflection.”

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Paul Merson:Eden Hzard move to Chelsea has been a disaster and it needs to click for him quickly now or he’ll be forgotten,He must leave Chelsea this summer

Mercy Lank

Eden Hazard does not want to finish his career at Chelsea and will leave in the summer with Real Madrid eyeing a move, according to Paul Merson. Belgian superstar Hazard has been a mainstay in Chelsea’s team over the past six years, making almost 300 appearances for the club since signing from Lille in 2012. The 27-year-old has won two Premier League titles and a host of individual awards at Sta ‘If Hazard doesn’t leave Chelsea this summer he’ll be there forever. And I don’t think he wants that.’ Former Arsenal and England player Merson also believes Ross Barkley could be a casualty of the summer transfer window following his struggles in west London. Joining Chelsea from Everton at the start of January, injury-prone Barkley has made just three appearances under Antonio Conte. ‘He is running out of time to resurrect his career,’ Merson added. ‘His move to Chelsea has been a disaster and it needs to click for him quickly now or he’ll be forgotten. ‘I’m a big fan of his but it’s a strange one. He’s a No 10, and when I played, you didn’t start playing in that position until you were 27 or 28. ‘It’s the hardest position on the pitch. I know because I’ve done it. You’ve got to make things happen and you’re always under the microscope. It’s a pressure position.

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Bayelsa Monarch Accuses Oil Companies of Sex Trafficking

Mercy Lank

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has confirmed receiving a protest letter from the traditional ruler of Ekpetiama Kingdom, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Bubaraye Dakolo. King Dakolo had sent a petition complaining about the activities of expatriates working with oil multinationals companies operating in the state and the Niger Delta region, accusing them of alleged cases of human trafficking and the use of young girls as sex objects. Speaking on the questions raised by the monarch, the Director General of NAPTIP, Julie Okah-Donli, who spoke in Yenagoa during a summit organised by Bayelsa First-class Traditional Rulers Wives Association, said the petition by the monarch again brought to the fore the danger resulting from such abuses. She said, “Our daughters are being exploited by the oil workers who see them as sex toys to be played with, and as queens and mothers, we should not let that happen. Here in Bayelsa, our young girls are at the risk of trafficking due to the nature of our state. “Being in the coastal line and the presence of oil companies in the state has made our dear Bayelsa State a source, transit and destination state when it comes to human trafficking for sexual and labour exploitation.” The NAPTIP Director General called on Nigerian mothers to ensure that the girl child was educated to know the evils of human trafficking. She urged participants to work on increasing literacy and political representation in the state, encourage safe sex and enlighten the people on the need for smaller families so as to reduce poverty. “As queen mothers, there is the need for you to use your esteemed position to raise awareness on the importance of educating our girls who will in turn, grow into young women”, she said. Earlier in her speech, the Chairperson of the association of wives of traditional rulers in the state, who is also the queen of Twon Brass Kingdom, Dr. Josephine Diette-Spiff, noted that the platform was formed to be of benefit to all. She advised her colleagues to use the opportunity given to them by God to better the lot of their communities, attract progress to their people and add value to their lives.

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IPOB Announces 2018 Sit-At-Home Date

Mercy Lank

The leadership of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has announced May 30th as date for this year’s sit-at-home exercise. The exercise has become an annual event, which the group said was used to honour Igbo indigenes who lost their lives in the three-year long civil war which took place between 1967 and 1970. In a press statement signed by Emma Powerful, media and publicity secretary of the group and made available to THISDAY in Awka, IPOB said that this year’s event would be special as it had included states in the middle belt, which are being ravaged by Fulani herdsmen as part of the exercise. Powerful said another unique feature of this year’s exercise was that unlike other years when members were advised to stay at home, this year’s will feature solemn church service from the night of 29th May all through to 30th May. This it said would be in honour and remembrance of those killed during the civil war, those killed by security forces during IPOB rallies and those killed by Fulani cattle herders in the middle belt area of Nigeria. Part of the press statement released to THISDAY by the group read; “We consider it imperative to use this opportunity to announce the sit-at home-order throughout Biafraland and Nigeria in remembrance of our fallen heroes and heroines. “This year, we shall also remember all victims of Fulani herdsmen attacks, Boko Haram violence and those that died at the hands of Nigerian security agencies over the years that nobody remembers. “We are calling on all the people of Southern Kaduna, Middle Belt especially Benue, Adamawa, Kogi, those affected by herdsmen terrorism in Ondo and other states in Yorubaland to join the great family of IPOB in observing a day of solemn prayer and sit at home to remember those that lost their lives unlawfully at the hands of Fulani terrorist herdsmen and security agencies.” The group further stated that, “This year’s remembrance will be special because it will present a unique moment of shared pains and misery for all the families that lost their loved ones to war, hunger, disease and terrorism. “We remember those that sacrificed their lives to defend the defenseless and those that lost their lives because there was no one to defend them.” “There will be no human, vehicular or animal movement across Biafraland on the 30th May 2018. Biafraland will be in total lock down. Middle Belt and Yorubaland brethren are advised to join this historic sit-at-home to honour the memory of all that died unjustly in Nigeria. “Churches, mosques, synagogues and temples are encouraged to open their places of worship on the midnight of the 29th of May for special midnightprayers in remembrance of all that died as a result of violence. Special vigil will be held at the homes of select Biafran heroes. “30th of May is an annual remembrance event initiated by IPOB worldwide to honour our fallen Biafran soldiers without whom this generation of Biafrans would not have existed. We owe our heroes of the class of 67-70 an incalculable debt of gratitude and shall honor them annually until the end of time. We shall never forget them!” It called on its members in the diaspora to ensure full rally on the streets of their respective countries with written petitions which would be submitted to the nearest United Nation offices and embassies of foreign missions in those countries.

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