As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Manchester United are looking to sign Bayern Munich’s star midfielder Arturo Vidal this summer.

What’s the story?

There have again been question marks about United’s midfield in games against elite teams this season with a lack of defensive discipline in the middle of the park proving to be a real issue for Jose Mourinho’s side, notably seen recently in their defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

In order to help solve that problem, Jose Mourinho is looking to one of European football’s best midfielders – Bayern Munich stalwart Arturo Vidal.

That’s according to the Manchester Evening News, who say that United are ready to test Bayern’s desire to keep hold of the Chilean international, with his contract due to expire in 2019.

Can the club reunite him with Paul Pogba after their successful partnership at Juventus?

What can he offer Mourinho’s midfield?

With Paul Pogba seemingly desperate to have an impact on the game in the final third, it has left United’s midfield exposed and overrun up against more organised outfits this season.

Rated at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, Vidal can help solve that by bringing his tenacious all-round game to the middle of the park and at 30 years of age, with over ten seasons worth of experience at the top level, has the experience to bring more composure in that area too.

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With Pogba, he was part of one of the most respected midfields in the world at Juventus and reuniting the pair this summer could be a masterstroke on Mourinho’s part.

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Newcastle travel to the south coast tomorrow knowing that they are only two points off the relegation zone, and facing a Bournemouth side who are on something of a hot streak at the moment – having gone seven games unbeaten prior to losing to Huddersfield 12 days ago.

The Magpies will be looking to build on their heroic 1-0 victory over Manchester United before the FA Cup break, but will be daunted by the fact that they haven’t won back-to-back games since September.

Newcastle will be hoping that Ciaran Clark’s knee will be ready to take to the pitch tomorrow, while Bournemouth will be waiting to find out whether Jermaine Defoe will return from a foot injury.

Here is what our writers think will happen at the Vitality Stadium tomorrow…

Christy Malyan

A score draw. Bournemouth always seem to do well against the sides near or below them in the table lack the defensive quality to resist their flowing football and I think Newcastle will struggle at the Vitality Stadium this weekend.

That being said, Rafa Benitez’s side need to pick up points more than the Cherries and there’s a new sense of optimism surrounding Newcastle following their late January business. Bournemouth will control the game but Newcastle will get a goal and hold tight. 1-1.

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Chris McMullan

Draw. Bournemouth will probably be safe, but they still need to keep their points tally ticking over. Newcastle, however are only two points above the relegation places and are in need of points. Given anyone can beat anyone else outside of the top six, this could go either way, but on the basis that both teams would take a point, shared spoils is my prediction.

Charlie Coe

Newcastle win. The Magpies need this win badly given the narrow gap between them and the drop, and with Ciaran Clark looking like he may make it into the starting XI in his return from injury, it looks like the Tyneside club will be as defensively rigid as they were in their victory over Manchester United two weeks ago.

Arsenal were destroyed in the final of the Carabao Cup on Sunday, failing to compete with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and missing out on the opportunity to win major silverware.

The trophy is Guardiola’s first since becoming City boss and they deserved every bit of their victory, barely giving Arsenal a sniff across the 90 minutes, netting three goals without reply.

There were many faults with the Gunners’ performance, not least their efforts in attack. New signing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looked isolate from his midfield teammates, failing to combine with the likes of Mesut Ozil.

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The one chance that did fall the former Borussia Dortmund man’s way was fluffed, disappointing fans who are expecting more from a striker reported to be earning £180,000-a-week.

It’s still early days in his Arsenal career of course but fans will be hoping he can turn up for big games in the future.

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They took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his performance…

Fulham star Ryan Sessegnon, rated at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, scored his 14th Championship goal of the season in his side’s 2-1 win against Derby County at the Pride Park Stadium on Saturday, and Manchester United fans have urged their club to win the race to sign the highly-rated teenager this summer.

The 17-year-old left-sided player, who can play at left-back or as a left winger but has predominantly played in the latter in recent weeks, now has nine league goals in 2018 and continues to impress with his quality and maturity on the pitch.

With the likes of Anthony Martial and Alexis Sanchez already in the squad the Red Devils don’t appear to need a left winger, but Jose Mourinho may see him as one for the future or a player that could even play as an attacking left-back for them, although he will face competition for his signature from top flight rivals Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur.

Man United supporters were quick to have their say on Sessegnon’s latest display and goal via social media, and while one said he “will be one of the world’s best in three years”, another said “Ryan Sessegnon is 100% the next Gareth Bale”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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Rangers suffered a demoralising derby defeat against Celtic on Sunday, losing at Ibrox against the Hoops for the fourth consecutive time.

The most frustrating thing for supporters will be that they had victory in their grasp, going ahead in the match twice and finding themselves with a man advantage after Jozo Simunovic was sent off.

Ultimately losing 3-2, the squad, staff and fans will know that the victory virtually ends any hope of igniting a genuine title race in the Scottish Premiership.

The defeat wasn’t their only worry on Sunday either, with injury to defender David Bates being a bitter blow to Graeme Murty’s first team squad.

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The young centre-back has been in fine form recently but looked to suffer a fairly serious injury, his ankle bending under the weight of Tom Rogic as the Australian scored the Hoops’ first of the afternoon.

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Supporters are obviously hoping he makes a speedy recovery, especially considering they have little faith in Fabio Cardoso and Bruno Alves.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

As reported by The Scottish Sun, Swansea City striker Oli McBurnie has revealed his ambition to play for boyhood heroes Rangers one day.

What’s the story?

Currently on loan and in-form at Championship outfit Barnsley, McBurnie could make his Scotland debut during the international break after Alex McLeish gave him a confidence boosting call-up for the friendlies against Costa Rica and Hungary.

Now, the striker has revealed another big career goal is to one day play for Rangers, speaking with passion about his boyhood heroes from Ibrox.

As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the 21-year-old said:

There were murmurs about Rangers in January but nothing ever happens easily or simply for me.

I got told about 3pm on deadline day that nothing was going to happen and I had a certain amount of clubs to pick from. I ended up choosing Barnsley and it’s going well for me at the minute.

Would I play for Rangers down the line? Of course.

I grew up supporting them and one day I would love to pull on the jersey.

We’ll just have to see how my career goes and see if I am lucky enough to pull it on.

It certainly sounds like he’d love to play for the club in the future, but does he have the ability to shine for the Light Blues?

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Can he make an Ibrox impact?

McBurnie hasn’t had much first team football in his career so far, given his age, but has shown exciting potential and certainly enough ability to make himself a hero with the Rangers support.

In a short loan spell at Newport County he scored three goals in three games and this season at Barsnley has scored six Championship goals in nine appearances.

He has found it more difficult in the Swansea first team, netting twice in 18 appearances, but the Premier League is a massive step up from the level required at Rangers.

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His form for Swansea’s U23 side is un-paralleled, with the player scoring 34 times and assisting six more in just 36 appearances for the development side.

If he can replicate this record at Rangers he would be a massive hit and the club should currently be assessing all options to bring him to Scotland, given his passion for playing for the club one day.

Sam Allardyce arrived at Everton in November to stop their ship from sinking following a disastrous few months under former manager Ronald Koeman.

The experienced coach managed to drag the Toffees away from the relegation zone and life appeared a little bit brighter for the Merseyside outfit.

However, after recording just two Premier League wins across January and February, the tide turned, and fans began blasting Allardyce on social media.

Attention has now shifted to potential coaches that could take over at Goodison Park when the season comes to an end.

There does not seem to be a clear frontrunner as yet, but some fans have brought back an old candidate – Nice boss Lucien Favre.

A report in The Mirror from May 2016 revealed that Favre was being considered by Everton following the sacking of Roberto Martinez, but due to their lack of urgency in securing a replacement, the former Borussia Monchengladbach boss chose Nice.

With Favre’s future at the French outfit uncertain, Everton supporters are wondering whether their club should make a move at the end of the season.

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A thread on Reddit has given an insight into what the supporters are thinking.

Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.Comment from discussion Lucien Favre?.

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Liverpool convincingly beat Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie at Anfield yesterday.

Goals from Mo Salah, Saido Mane and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin have put Liverpool in a convincing position before the second leg.

City disappointed for most the game, with no shots on goal. The game was marred due in the pre-match lead up when Liverpool fans attacked the Manchester City team bus.

When driving up to the ground, City were greeted with a hostile reception, with fans loudly chanting and releasing flares.

Small groups of fans took things too far, throwing projectiles at the team bus. The damage was so bad that the bus was undriveable and a replacement needed to be sent.

Fans reacted on Twitter, a section of this reaction can be seen below…

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David Moyes will never go down in history as an ally to Liverpool due to his managerial background.The Scotsman spent over a decade being in charge of the Reds’ Merseyside rivals Everton, and when he left in 2013, he embarked on a career at Manchester United.Moyes managed to earn a decent reputation while Everton manager, but his stint at Old Trafford diminished his image as he lasted less than a year.From a Liverpool fan’s perspective, the Scotsman was never going to be a much-loved figure on the red half of Merseyside.[ad_pod ]However, he has become somewhat of a joke for rival fans over the last few years due to failed stints at United, Real Sociedad and Sunderland.Now, Moyes is at the helm of West Ham United, and on Sunday his team did Liverpool a favour by restricting Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge.The result gives the Reds a 10-point lead above fifth-placed Chelsea with five games left to play.Liverpool fans on Twitter and Reddit were quick to thank Moyes.

Comment from discussion Huge West Ham draw against Chelski- keeps 10 point gap between us and Chelski.Comment from discussion Huge West Ham draw against Chelski- keeps 10 point gap between us and Chelski.Comment from discussion Huge West Ham draw against Chelski- keeps 10 point gap between us and Chelski.

Manchester United defender Eric Bailly should be available to face Arsenal on Sunday after being totally omitted from the squad to face their North London rivals Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, according to the Manchester Evening News. 

He is United’s best centre-half and will hope to dislodge either Phil Jones or Chris Smalling, despite the England pair performing impressively in that Wembley victory over Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

What’s the story, then?

The report states that the only reason that Bailly missed out at Wembley was through illness, with Jose Mourinho unwilling to risk the Ivorian, but he should be ready to return against the Gunners.

It goes on to say that the bug had been persisting since before the debacle against West Bromwich Albion and he was not 100 per cent well for the trip to Bournemouth, despite being named on the bench.

That news will be a relief to United fans who might have feared that he had suffered a recurrence of the injury problems that have blighted his Old Trafford career so far, having started just one of their last five games.

Why is it such a huge boost?

Bailly is so vital to United. He is their best centre-half and has the pace and athleticism that their other options lack.

Smalling and Jones will not be able to handle the pace of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Jose Mourinho will be desperate to get him involved in the match that could all but secure second place for United, with Liverpool occupied with Champions League commitments.

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Also, getting Bailly back into contention before next month’s FA Cup final, United’s biggest game of the season, would be a boost for Mourinho, who has missed the Ivorian desperately this term.

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