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Leeds United are still pushing to sign a Premier League player before the deadline, with a fresh round of transfer talks recently held.

Leeds transfer rumours

The Whites are not in Championship action now until after the January transfer window closes, with a 1-0 win over Norwich City in the week closing the gap on Ipswich Town and Southampton in the race for automatic promotion.

EFL Championship done deals: Every January 2024 transfer

As the January transfer window closes, FFC has you covered for every in and out involving your club in the EFL Championship.

ByLuke Randall Feb 1, 2024

Daniel Farke and his side now have to navigate a fourth-round FA Cup tie at home to Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon before owners the 49ers Enterprises possibly look to seal a number of late new signings in the final days of the market.

The priority appears to be on additions in defence, with right-backs Djed Spence and Luke Ayling leaving Elland Road earlier this month, with the former having his loan terminated and the latter heading to Middlesbrough after struggling for game time.

A number of full-back names have been rumoured to come in and fill the void left by the pair, including Liverpool’s Calvin Ramsay, Tottenham Hotspur’s Ben Davies, West Ham’s Ben Johnson and Burnley’s Connor Roberts. However, additions in the final third could also be made.

Burnley winger Manuel Benson has been heavily linked with a move to Yorkshire, and a new transfer twist has come to light.

Manuel Benson transfer update

Benson has been on the radar at Elland Road this month, with journalist Sacha Tavolieri claiming previously that Leeds wanted the Burnley man to replace Wilfried Gnonto, who was linked with West Ham.

However, a lot has happened since then. Reports suggested that the Whites were in “very advanced talks” to sign Benson, but it was then claimed that Southampton were set to win the race for his services. To add to all of the updates, it has since been rumoured that Gnonto is close to signing a new Leeds deal.

Deal close: Phil Hay shares what he's heard on Gnonto's Leeds contract

The future of one Leeds player looked uncertain up to this point.

ByDavid Comerford Jan 24, 2024

Despite this, the 49ers are still pushing to sign Benson, with fresh transfer talks held on Wednesday for the Premier League attacker. Tavolieri said on Thursday…

Journalist Josh Bunting hailed Benson as an “aggressive” winger and overall “beautiful footballer” last season, and after his second-tier tally of 12 goals and three assists helped Burnley earn promotion, whoever wins the race for Benson between Leeds and Southampton could get a much-needed boost for the Championship run-in.

The secrets behind Lionel Messi’s longevity at the very top of the game have been revealed, with the Inter Miami star always “first in, last out”.

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All-time great demands the bestWorks tirelessly on his gameSets example for others to followGettyWHAT HAPPENED?

That relentless drive, which is similar to eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo, has allowed the Argentine icon to dominate the world game over the course of a quite remarkable career. There is no sign of the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner slowing down in MLS, as he continues to break records in the United States.

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Ben Young works with Messi on a daily basis, as Inter Miami’s head of strength and conditioning, and he has told of what separates the best from the rest: “Messi is first in, last out, a true professional. He does his own individual activation and strength sessions, he will even be in training the next day after being away in an international camp in Argentina. He’s in his rhythm, his routine and that is why he’s at the top and has stayed there. He ticks all the boxes, he pushes himself but also does all his recovery work.

“We always want to make sure that the players can thrive in the most intense parts of the game and you do that by the training we expose them to.‌ We systematically expose the players to various training stimuli that mimic the demand of the game and when appropriate we exceed the game demands to ensure they are completely prepared for the toughest of moments. To offset this work we are also continually educating the players on the importance of recovery, nutrition and make sure your recovery is good and sleep in that process to make sure they can keep training and playing at that intensity Messi is getting individual treatment, massage and recovery which shows the importance of having people close to you who you can rely on.”

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Messi has become the undoubted star of MLS, while raising the profile of soccer in the States as a whole, and Young added on being part of that journey: “With the World Cup coming up in 2026, it’s really exciting to be a part of it. Football here is just incredible and the sport is growing so much. I personally love America, after the 2015 World Cup, I travelled around North America and always loved it for the show they put on around every sport. I love the country for its different states and different cultures in every state.”

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WHAT NEXT FOR MESSI?

Messi is currently putting club commitments on hold, but he remains in the U.S. for the Copa America tournament that is due to get underway on June 20 – with world champions Argentina entering that event as title holders.

Manchester United target Dan Ashworth reportedly held a secret meeting with Wolves after being placed on gardening leave by Newcastle United.

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Ashworth placed on gardening leaveMan Utd eye ex-Newcastle sporting directorAshworth reportedly held meeting with WolvesWHAT HAPPENED?

According to , the 53-year-old allegedly met with Wolves in March – without informing his employers Newcastle. This was when the Magpies had placed him on gardening leave, amid his desire to join Manchester United as their new sporting director in February.

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Newcastle are said to be holding out for something closer to £15 million ($19m) for Ashworth's services, but United are reportedly yet to go above £3m ($3.9m) for the former Brighton technical director. Red Devils minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe suggested Ashworth's gardening leave ends in 18 months' time but it remains to be seen if he will head to Old Trafford before then.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ashworth rose to prominence during a stint (2012-18) as the Football Association's director of elite development – during which time he helped created the "England DNA". This was a plan that aimed to "help create winning senior teams" in the men's and women's game and is said to have facilitated the more recent upturn in results for England's national teams.

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Ashworth's future is very much up in the air as he seeks to join United, with Newcastle standing firm on their valuation of the former West Brom technical director.

Set to retain his place in the XI, the pacer says the previous England sides he’s been a part of lacked belief

George Dobell at Edgbaston09-Jul-2019Liam Plunkett believes this England side are “a different animal” to their predecessors and “can beat anyone in the world” if they play well.Plunkett made his international debut in 2005 and played his first World Cup match in 2007, but admits to have never previously been part of a side who he thought could win the tournament.”For me, being involved in England squads of the past, I never expected to win a World Cup,” Plunkett said. “We had amazing players but I never thought we’d win it. I played in teams where you didn’t expect to win and the public didn’t expect you to win.”But with this squad the public sort of expect us to win games and series now. We’ve played well over the last four years, we’ve been ranked No. 1 and we’re feeling in a good place. We’ve made cricket exciting again and we’ve got people watching it.To him, Thursday’s World Cup semi-final against Australia is the “biggest game of my career” and could prove “huge for English cricket.” And while Plunkett has great respect for an Australian side he refers to as “a great team” filled with “great players,” he feels the current England side offer far sterner opposition from previous World Cup campaigns.”Australia are a great team,” he said. “They have great players and they have experience. They’ve been there and done it before. But we’re a different sort of animal compared to our last team. And we feel on our day if we play some good cricket we can beat anyone in the world.”This journey we’ve been on with this group of boys now comes down to this semi-final. It would be nice to finish this four-year cycle by winning the World Cup. Playing for your country is massive and if you can go ahead and win this game and win the final, it’s huge for English cricket. I don’t think I’ll play another World Cup, so individually I think it is the biggest game of my career.”Although Australia defeated England by 64 runs in the group stages of the tournament, Plunkett – who wasn’t selected for that match – feels that result came at a time when the team “went into our shell a bit” after dwelling on previously disappointing results. Despite the much-improved performances against India and New Zealand, he still feels there is more to come from the side.”We went away from [playing] our [style of] cricket,” he said. “We like to be positive but not reckless and we went away from our positive brand of cricket and went into our shell a little bit. We know we’re better than that. We want to attack in a positive way without being reckless and I think that’s how we’ve been for the last however many years.”When we have been beaten [in the past], we’ve not taken it lightly but we have put a line under it and gone on to the next game. But after getting beaten by Pakistan and Sri Lanka we dwelt on it a little bit rather than just forgetting about it and moving on. We can improve that by playing our positive brand of cricket.”There was a point against New Zealand when we got held back in the middle overs and we thought we could have made 370. They’re allowed to bowl well – which they did – but we feel we could have kicked on from there. We could have got 360-370 against both New Zealand and India.”The entire England squad reported fit for training on Tuesday. They tried to replicate the angle of a couple of Australia bowlers – Mitchell Starc, in particular – would pose. The batsmen were given a thorough work out against left-armers Donovan Miller (a coach on the Essex staff who has a powerful, left-arm throw and who has been with the England squad on and off throughout the tournament) and Ant Botha (another with a powerful left-arm throw who now coaches at Nottinghamshire).As things stand, it appears England will be unchanged for Thursday’s game, which means Plunkett is set to keep his place and Moeen Ali will again miss out.

Whilst West Ham United didn't exactly enjoy a busy January deadline day when it comes to incomings, the Hammers are reportedly set to seal a dramatic departure after the window has slammed shut, despite an initial obstacle.

West Ham transfer news

Amid the chaos of the end of the transfer window, West Ham welcomed Bournemouth on Thursday evening, holding the Cherries to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League courtesy of James Ward-Prowse's penalty. The former Southampton captain spared the blushes of debutant Kalvin Phillips, who gave the ball away inside his own area for Dominic Solanke's early opener.

Most of the drama was saved for off the pitch, however, with the Hammers linked with a move for Armando Broja in the early stages of the day, only for the Chelsea striker to eventually join Fulham on loan late on. Meanwhile, those at the London Stadium were also busy negotiating the departure of Pablo Fornals. All looked on course for the Spaniard to join Real Betis before the deadline, but now a day later, a deal is yet to be confirmed.

Fans needn't worry though. According to Sky Sports' Dharmesh Sheth, Fornals' move to Real Betis is still expected to go through, with IT issues understood to be the problem. If ever there was a bad time for IT issues to take place for a football club, it is transfer deadline day. Sheth reported the news on Friday morning, posting on X:

David Moyes is certainly still optimistic over a deal taking place too, saying: "I think the Pablo deal has a chance to be ratified. I think we did get the paperwork tied up just before the deadline."

Fornals is written into Hammers folklore

Arriving at West Ham in the summer of 2019, Fornals has enjoyed a fairly successful four years in London, with last season's Europa Conference League win the top highlight. Cementing his place in the Hammers' history books as West Ham's all-time record European appearance maker, the midfielder will hope to see his reputation remain intact among the supporters. Fornals' stats during his time at the club show just how important he has been in Claret and Blue at times.

Appearances

203

Goals

23

Assists

19

Honours

Europa Conference League 2022/23

At his best, Fornals earned plenty of praise at the London Stadium, including during West Ham's Europa Conference League run last season. After the midfielder scored in the semi-final against AZ Alkmaar, former teammate Declan Rice said, via BBC Sport: "He's not played as much as he wanted to this year but every time he has come on he has given everything for the badge, for the shirt. To score that goal and put it through his legs to send West Ham into the final, his name is going to be written in West Ham history forever."

West Indies player called in a substitute despite being instructed otherwise by the on-field officials

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Aug-2019Kieron Pollard has been pulled up for “disobeying” the on-field umpires’ instructions during the second T20I against India in Florida on Sunday, picking up a 20% match fee fine and a demerit point.The incident in question took place during the Indian innings, when, according to an ICC statement, Pollard “called a substitute onto the field despite having been repeatedly told by the umpires that a request must be made for a substitute to come onto the field and being advised to wait until the end of the next over” and he “failed to follow the umpire’s instructions”.After being charged by Nigel Duguid and Gregory Brathwaite, the on-field umpires, third umpire Leslie Reifer and fourth official Patrick Gustard, Pollard denied his guilt in the matter and that necessitated a formal hearing with match referee Jeff Crowe, who found him guilty and handed out the penalties.Pollard didn’t bowl in the match and scored a run-a-ball 8 not out as West Indies got to 98 for 4 in 15.3 overs after India had put up 167 for 5, which meant a 22-run win for the visitors on the DLS method, giving India the three-match series 2-0 with one game left to play.Pollard did have a better outing in the first game of the series in Florida – his first game for West Indies since November 2018 – where he scored 49 in 49 balls in a poor West Indies batting effort of 95 for 9.The third and final match of the series will be played at Providence Stadium in Guyana later today.

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have sent representatives to monitor the performances of Morten Hjulmand at Euro 2024.

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Man Utd and Spurs scouts watch HjulmandMidfielder scores screamer for Denmark against EnglandSporting CP midfielder helped club win titleWHAT HAPPENED?

Hjulmand announced himself to the highest stage of European football as he thumped in an equaliser against England for the Danes and caught the eye of United and Spurs, according tovia . The Sporting CP midfielder impressed this season in the Portuguese capital as he helped lead the side to the league title. The Danish midfielder has received interest from United in the past and their interest is only set to grow if he continues to shine.

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It is likely that, if Spurs and United are to turn their interest into a serious bid for the services of Hjulmand, a significant fee will be required to prise the midfielder away from Sporting. The Red Devils were previously quoted £69m ($87m) as the fee necessary to sign Hjulmand, and that figure will only rise should he keep impressing for the Danes in Germany.

DID YOU KNOW?

Spurs and United may be less keen to find that their transfer target is boyhood fan of their rivals, Arsenal. Hjulmand has not hidden his love for the Gunners in the past and even has a tattoo of the club's crest on his arm.

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Hjulmand will play for Denmark in their final group stage game of the tournament against Serbia on Tuesday. After two draws against England and Slovenia, the Danes may need a win to secure passage into the knockout stages.

The last decade for Manchester United has been one to forget, both on and off the field.

From underachieving managers to underwhelming transfers, very little over this period can be classified as a success.

Therefore, let’s take a look at a player who failed to live up to the expectations of a Man United player.

Donny Van de Beek before United

The 2018/19 season was when Donny Van de Beek made a name for himself as one of the most promising midfielders in Europe.

Ajax dominated the Eredivisie, winning the title with 28 wins from 34 matches, with the Netherlands ace scoring nine goals and registering ten assists over the season. However, it was his performances during Ajax’s run to the Champions League semi final that earned him all his praise and a 28th ranking in the Ballon d’Or.

In his final season at Ajax, the 6 foot engine starred once again, registering 21 goal contributions in 37 games, which ultimately led to the Red Devils investing £35m in the midfielder that summer.

Van de Beek’s current market value

It’s well known that Van de Beek hasn’t exactly hit the ground running during his time at Old Trafford, with his performances being "underwhelming," as per Carl Anka of The Athletic, and changes off the field stopping him from rediscovering the quality he once showed at Ajax.

Under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, United always operated in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the boss relying on Scott McTominay and Fred in the deeper roles while Bruno Fernandes featured in attacking midfield.

With Van de Beek playing as a number ten at Ajax, he was never going to get a game in the side over the Portuguese star, who’s always available – having missed just one game through illness or injury in his United career to date.

In his first season, Van de Beek started just four Premier League games, and in January of his second season, then manager Ralf Rangnick sent him on loan to Everton, in an attempt to reignite his career.

Over his seven games at the Toffees, Van de Beek scored once and struggled to show his qualities in a relatively average side, with his estimated value being £21m.

December 2019

£43m

April 2020

£37m

May 2021

£26m

June 2022

£21m

March 2023

£14m

December 2023

£8m

Since the arrival of former boss Erik ten Hag, the 26-year-old has only played 11 games for Man United, with a knee injury making him miss 38 matches over the 2022/23 campaign. This caused his value to decrease even further to £11m.

As of today, Van de Beek has only recently joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan with an option to buy for around £9m, despite only being estimated to be worth £4m, according to CIES Football Observatory.

Market Movers

Football FanCast's Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club's star player or biggest flop worth today?

The Red Devils won’t be able to recoup barely any of the fee they splashed on Van de Beek in 2020, in what has aged to become an absolute howler of a transfer by the club, with a loss of £31m without wages.

A win that could just act as the catalyst for a second-half-of-the-season charge towards Champions League football.

Manchester United defeated Aston Villa 2-1 on the road this afternoon, which took them five points behind Unai Emery’s side.

Rasmus Hojlund opened the scoring within the first 20 minutes, in what was an end-to-end half full of attacking scenarios for both sides.

After the break, Douglas Luiz equalised for the hosts, but a certain Scott gave Erik ten Hag’s team the potential season-defining three points.

Super sub Scott McTominay

Scott McTominay saved the day once again after replacing Marcus Rashford, which is a substitution that will have left some United fans confused, especially as the visitors needed a goal.

But prior to his arrival, Man United were being overrun in the midfield, with Villa becoming increasingly dominant.

The 27-year-old only made four passes and had six touches in his 17 minutes on the field, but his impact in the final third continues to deliver goals, and important ones at that.

In the 86th minute, McTominay latched onto a wonderful Diogo Dalot cross to produce a bullet header, which left Emi Martinez helpless in the Villa goal.

This was his seventh of the season, making him United’s top scorer in the Premier League. He’s also scored or assisted in all of his last three games, despite starting none.

That said, another player in white stood out in the Midlands today, and it was a man devoid of much praise over the last few years.

Harry Maguire was the real hero

Harry Maguire stepped up immensely in the absence of Lisandro Martinez, putting in a simply “colossal” performance, as per StatmanDave.

Samuel Luckhurst of the Manchester Evening News gave the number five an 8/10 rating, describing him as “defensively solid", perhaps an understatement considering just good his display at the heart of Ten Hag's defence was.

Assists

1

Touches

71

Pass accuracy

81%

Ground Duels (won)

5 (4)

Aerial duels (won)

7 (7)

Clearances

5

Tackles

4

As you can see, Maguire was a rock at the back all game long while serving as a dominant figure in both penalty boxes. The England international used his aerial strength to win the header which fell to the feet of Hojlund securing Maguire's second assist of the season.

The 6 foot 4 defender also stood strong at the back, clearing corners and crosses for fun while also making four tackles. Maguire also won 12 of his 13 duels in the tie, with a 100% aerial duel success rate, which provided security and assurance when Villa ramped up the anti.

The best way to describe his evening is that he put his body on the line for his team.

To top his performance off, he was comfortable on the ball, taking 71 touches and not giving the ball away often, which isn't always an easy task at a hostile Villa Park where the fans become the Villan's 12th man.

Overall, it was a perfect evening for Maguire and United. Not only will the three points boost confidence, squad morale, and togetherness, but it was a performance that the former captain needed and one that he can build upon.

Lindsey Horan’s dog is discovering that there are plenty of perks to having the USWNT star as an owner, with pet pooch Ferguson enjoying a bike ride.

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American plying her club trade in FranceRemains a talismanic presence for her countryCounting down the days to 2024 OlympicsWHAT HAPPENED?

Fergy – who has his own Instagram account with over 13,000 followers – is a French bulldog that Horan took ownership of in 2020. He has been living the high life alongside the United States international and her partner Tyler Heaps.

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It is fitting that Horan has a French bulldog by her side as the versatile 30-year-old is currently plying her club trade at Lyon. She has savoured domestic title glory and a Champions League triumph during her time with the Premiere Ligue outfit.

DID YOU KNOW?

Horan is now enjoying a summer break, with the USWNT not due to be back in action until facing Mexico on July 13. They have another friendly against Costa Rice to come on the 17th of that month, with skipper Horan keeping herself in shape by heading out on her bike – with Ferguson being taken along for the ride.

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WHAT NEXT?

Horan has earned 148 caps for her country, scoring 35 goals. She is a World Cup winner, but has no Olympic gold medal to her name. The USWNT are hoping to change that in 2024, with former Chelsea boss Emma Hayes leading them towards this summer’s Games in Paris.