Tag: Manchester United

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca believes Cole Palmer will avoid groin surgery after the England forward was forced off during Saturday’s defeat against Manchester United.

Palmer has made just two Premier League starts this season and lasted only 21 minutes at Old Trafford before limping to the sidelines in a game Chelsea lost 2-1.

Asked whether the 23-year-old will need an operation on an injury that has been troubling him for a while, Maresca told reporters: “The medical staff, they didn’t mention to me about surgery.

“I don’t know if in the next days or the next weeks, but I don’t think so, to be honest.

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“He made a huge effort on Saturday to try to play the game. He did the test, he was OK but not 100 percent. But he wanted to be there to help his team-mates and to be there in that kind of game.

“Unfortunately, it was painful so we decided to change it. And it’s more day-by-day, week-by-week, game-by-game to see how it is and then decide what we do.”

Palmer is likely to miss Chelsea’s League Cup third-round tie at third-tier Lincoln on Tuesday, with Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile also ruled out.

Maresca is likely to select several youth academy players but the Italian conceded it was a risky strategy given the potential for a cup upset against a team flying high in League One.

“These are the games that worry me most, because you can slip up very easily,” he said. “Football is full of these kind of games and I am very worried about that.”

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Manchester United eased the pressure on beleaguered boss Ruben Amorim with a chaotic 2-1 win against Chelsea as both teams finished with 10 men at Old Trafford.

Fighting to avoid the sack after a woeful start to the season, Amorim received a welcome boost when Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was sent off after just five minutes of Saturday’s clash.

Bruno Fernandes quickly put United ahead with his 100th goal for the club in all competitions in his 200th Premier League appearance.

Casemiro doubled United’s lead before the Brazil midfielder was dismissed for a second booking in first-half stoppage time.

Trevoh Chalobah’s late reply for Chelsea set up a tense finale, but United held on for just their second win in six matches in all competitions this term.

Having kicked off languishing just above the relegation zone, Amorim’s side climbed to ninth place to give the Portuguese coach a little breathing space.

“I felt the urgency. Of course, the Sanchez sending off helped us, but we had the red card with Casemiro. We like to complicate our game always,” Amorim said.

“It is really important to win because I understand the situation around this club.

“I have nothing to say to the critics, and most of the time they are right. Today we won, and it is a good day for us.”

Amorim, who has won just nine of his 32 Premier League matches, shouldn’t rest on his laurels just yet.

After presiding over United’s lowest top-flight finish since 1973-74 and a limp Europa League final loss to Tottenham last term, Amorim spent big in the summer to overhaul his moribund team.

But United suffered an embarrassing League Cup exit at fourth-tier Grimsby in August before last weekend’s 3-0 loss at Manchester City underlined the vast gulf to their rivals.

Former Sporting Lisbon boss Amorim, who replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in November, insists he retains the backing of co-owner Jim Ratcliffe after speaking to the British billionaire at the club’s training ground on Thursday.

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Ratcliffe was in the directors’ box at rain-lashed Old Trafford to see if his support for Amorim was well placed.

With storm clouds gathering for Amorim, he stuck with his much-criticised 3-4-3 formation after joking this week that even the Pope could not make him change his tactics.

The move paid dividends as the erratic Sanchez rashly raced out of his penalty area in a bid to clear before Bryan Mbeumo could reach Benjamin Sesko’s flick, but instead sent the United forward crashing to the turf with a reckless challenge.

It was a clear red card for denying a goal-scoring opportunity, and there were no complaints from Chelsea about their quickest ever Premier League dismissal.

Filip Jorgensen replaced Sanchez in goal as Maresca took off wingers Estevao, Willian, and Pedro Neto in a defensive move that immediately backfired.

United went for the jugular and took the lead in the 14th minute when Fernandes, played just onside by Chalobah, timed his run perfectly to meet Patrick Dorgu’s header with a clinical finish from four yards.

Chelsea’s misery mounted when England forward Cole Palmer was forced off with an apparent recurrence of a groin injury, making it a remarkable three substitutions in only 21 minutes for the Blues.

For once, the luck was all going Amorim’s way, and Chelsea imploded to gift United their second goal in the 37th minute.

Jorgensen stood rooted to the spot as Reece James’s sliced clearance was headed on by Harry Maguire to Casemiro, who nodded home from close range for his first league goal in 11 months.

Casemiro, booked for an earlier foul on Enzo Fernández, saw red on the stroke of half-time after needlessly pulling back Andrey Santos.

United struggled to find any rhythm in the second half, and Chalobah reduced the deficit in the 80th minute when he rose unmarked to meet James’s cross with a powerful header that flashed past Altay Bayindir from 12 yards.

It was too late to stop Chelsea slumping to their first league defeat this season as Amorim breathed a sigh of relief.

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Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has completed a season-long loan move to Turkish side Trabzonspor.

Onana’s future at Old Trafford was in doubt after United signed Antwerp goalkeeper Senne Lammens for 21 million euros (£18.2 million) plus add-ons.

The 29-year-old Onano joined United from Inter Milan in 2023 for an initial 51 million euros plus a potential four million euros in add-ons and ended his first season with an FA Cup winners’ medal.

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But Onana’s increasingly erratic performances and clashes with manager Ruben Amorim last season left his position in doubt.

A hamstring injury prevented Onana from being involved with the team during pre-season, and he made a mistake in his first game of the campaign in United’s humiliating League Cup exit at Grimsby.

The arrival of Lammens was the final straw.

 

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“Manchester United goalkeeper Andre Onana has joined Trabzonspor on loan for the duration of the 2025/26 season, subject to international clearance and registration,” United confirmed in a statement.

“The move has been completed ahead of the Turkish transfer window closing on Friday. We would like to wish Andre good luck,” the club statement added.

United return to action after the international break with an away trip to rivals Manchester City on Sunday.

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Matthijs de Ligt insists Manchester United players “stand behind” beleaguered boss Ruben Amorim and that they deserve the blame for the club’s calamitous start to the season.

Amorim’s side needed a last-gasp penalty from Bruno Fernandes to beat promoted Burnley 3-2 on Saturday after twice blowing the lead at Old Trafford.

United’s first Premier League win in three games this term came just days after a humiliating League Cup second round loss at fourth-tier Grimsby.

Amorim had admitted after the stunning cup defeat that he sometimes thinks about quitting United and often hates his players.

With speculation still swirling about Amorim’s future despite the much-needed victory over Burnley, United defender De Ligt backed his boss.

“I think the only thing that counted was a win,” he said. “Everybody saw how. We know we could have done that better, but the win was the most important thing.”

Asked if he wanted Amorim to stay, De Ligt added: “Yeah, of course. I mean, as a player you are responsible for the results.

“They always speak about the manager, obviously, but I think as players we also looked at each other in the eye after Grimsby and said to each other ‘guys, the performance of this week is not acceptable’.

“It will be really, I think, bad to say that it’s the manager’s fault or… it’s mostly us, and we know that.

“So, yeah, obviously, we still stand behind him, and he stands behind us, so we keep going like that. I think the result for today makes that feeling even more.”

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De Ligt was sporting a black eye from Wednesday’s battle with Grimsby, which ended in a penalty shoot-out loss after United recovered from two goals down in normal time.

De Ligt said the embarrassing result had not been discussed among the team at length because it was too painful.

“I don’t think there’s much been said because everybody knows how the feeling was,” he said.

“I think everybody from outside could also understand what the feeling is if you lose a game like that.

“So, yeah, it’s not easy. We know that. We were really disappointed, in ourselves especially, so then to win today was I think the only cure that could a little bit help the defeat of Wednesday.”

United hardly looked a cohesive unit against Burnley, with careless defending and poor goalkeeping twice allowing the visitors to draw level.

But Fernandes’ latest heroics in a United shirt kept the critics at bay heading into the international break.

Amorim will face a major test of his job security when Premier League action resumes for United at rivals Manchester City on September 14 before they host in-form Chelsea six days later.

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Wayne Rooney believes Ruben Amorim’s remarks following Manchester United’s shock League Cup loss at Grimsby prove “something is broken” at the club.

United came from 2-0 down to force a penalty shoot-out on Wednesday, but then lost 12-11 in a penalty shoot-out as summer transfer window signing Bryan Mbeumo hit the crossbar with what proved to be the decisive kick.

A crestfallen Amorim, who had not watched the shoot-out but preferred to sit in the dugout, said afterwards: “I felt my players spoke really loud today what they want.”

United ended last season a lowly 15th in the Premier League table, their worst finish since being relegated from England’s top-flight in 1974.

But there had been hopes a full pre-season for Amorim allied to some £200 million ($269 million) worth of new talent up front would lead to a revival in United’s fortunes.

United, however, have started this season with a home loss to Arsenal, a draw away to Fulham, and a woeful defeat by fourth-tier Grimsby that has led to speculation about Portuguese boss Amorim’s position at Old Trafford just three games into the campaign.

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Speaking on the BBC’s The Wayne Rooney Show, United’s record goal-scorer said: “Just the way they lost, it was disheartening. There’s something not right.

“I think that’s clear. I think the manager said that after the game and I think that’s clear for everyone to see that there’s something not right there.

“So the issue now is we’re seeing very similar performances, similar results and even though it’s only three games into the season, it’s getting to a point now where you’re like… what is going on?”

The former England striker added: “The biggest concern is the manager saying that, his words after the game were damning on the players and obviously being in a position where I’ve been in that dressing room, if your manager comes out with those words, there’s something broken.”

Rooney suggested Amorim, who took charge in November after United sacked Erik ten Hag, could be struggling with the demands of managing one of the world’s most famous football clubs after arriving from Sporting Lisbon.

“I think what we forget, he’s 40,” Rooney said. “He’s a young manager. And Manchester United is so different to where he’s been before. And you come in, there’s the media team, the commercial team, the fans, the media. It’s completely different.

“And there’s a pressure with Manchester United which he will never have felt before. And when you’re not winning games, that can start to get to you, and it looks like it was a breaking point for him.”

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Manchester United signed Slovenian international Benjamin Sesko on Saturday, the third forward the 20-time English champions have acquired in the close season.

The 22-year-old’s arrival from RB Leipzig, in a deal reported to be worth up to £74 million (85 million euros, $99 million), completes an overhaul of the Red Devils’ attack that failed to fire last season.

“Manchester United is pleased to confirm that Benjamin Sesko has joined the club, subject to registration,” read a club statement.

The five-year contract includes a guaranteed payment of £66.3million, with the remainder in add-ons, according to reports.

Sesko, who has scored 16 goals in 41 international appearances, is United’s third major signing in attack following the arrivals of Matheus Cunha for £62.5m and Bryan Mbeumo for £65m with £6m in add-ons.

“The history of Manchester United is obviously very special but what really excites me is the future,” said Sesko.

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“When we discussed the project, it was clear that everything is in place for this team to continue to grow and compete for the biggest trophies again soon.”

Benjamin Sesko had also been linked with Newcastle, but once again Eddie Howe’s League Cup winners failed to land their target despite being able to offer European football this season, unlike Manchester United.

Sesko, though, said he felt a vibrancy round the club as they seek to rebound from a desperately disappointing 2024-2025 campaign.

“From the moment that I arrived, I could feel the positive energy and family environment that the club has created,” he said.

“It is clearly the perfect place to reach my maximum level and fulfil all of my ambitions.

“I cannot wait to start learning from Ruben (Amorim) and connecting with my team-mates to achieve the success that we all know we are capable of together.”

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Manchester United have agreed a deal worth up to 85 million euros ($99 million, £74 million) to sign striker Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig on Thursday, according to multiple reports in England.

The BBC, Athletic, and Sky Sports reported Manchester United will pay an initial 76.5 million euros for the 22-year-old, with a further 8.5 million euros due in add-ons.

Newcastle were also interested in signing the Slovenian, possibly to replace wantaway star Alexander Isak, a target for Liverpool.

However, Sesko has been wooed by the enduring stature of the 20-time English champions despite a lack of European football in the coming season.

His arrival will complete an overhaul of the Red Devils’ blunt attack.

Only four other teams scored fewer than United’s 44 goals in 38 Premier League games last season as the English giants endured their worst campaign for 51 years, finishing 15th in the table.

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Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo were signed earlier in the window, taking United’s total spend on forwards in recent months to over £200 million.

Sesko had also previously been linked with Arsenal after impressing during his two-year spell in Germany, where he scored 39 times in 87 appearances for Leipzig, including 21 last season.

Standing 1.95 metres (6ft 4ins) tall, Sesko’s towering physique, electric pace and eye for goal have earned comparisons with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland.

Like Haaland, he also made his name at RB Salzburg before moving to Germany in 2023.

United are banking on Sesko realising his abundant potential to fire them back into contention at the top of the Premier League table.

Between them, Sesko, Cunha and Mbeumo combined for 58 goals last season.

The massive outlay on their arrivals needs to bear fruit quickly with United under pressure to meet financial sustainability rules, especially without the revenue of European football this season.

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Premier League sides Manchester United and Newcastle have both placed competing bids for in-demand RB Leipzig striker Benjamin Sesko, German tabloid Bild reported Tuesday.

The German tabloid said the Red Devils made an initial bid of 85 million euros (£73.9 million) on Tuesday for the 22-year-old centre forward.

Newcastle had offered a reported 80 million euros for the striker on Saturday, upping that to 85 million with bonuses on Monday.

The Slovenian striker scored 13 goals and laid on five assists in a disappointing league campaign for Leipzig last season. He has scored 16 times in 41 appearances at the international level.

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Sesko was stood down from Saturday’s home friendly against Serie A side Atalanta, which the visitors won 2-1, due to a potential transfer.

Leipzig sporting director Marcel Schäfer confirmed this, stating that Sesko would not play “due to the very concrete interests from several clubs.”

Manchester United are rebuilding after their worst top-flight campaign in 51 years, along with defeat to Tottenham in the Europa League final.

United were toothless in attack and have already brought in forwards Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo in the summer window.

Sesko’s arrival could push under-pressure striker Rasmus Hojlund towards the exit, with reports emerging that United could sell the Denmark forward for 35 million euros, less than half of what they paid to bring him from Atalanta in 2023.

Newcastle qualified for the Champions League with a fifth-placed finish last season but are reportedly in danger of losing striker Alexander Isak to Premier League champions Liverpool.

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Spanish champions Barcelona loaned Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford on Wednesday with a future purchase option.

“Barcelona and Manchester United have reached a deal for the loan of the player Marcus Rashford until June 30, 2026,” announced the La Liga champions in a statement.

“The agreement also establishes an option to buy the English forward.”

Barcelona are paying around 75 percent of Rashford’s £325,000-a-week wage ($435,000) while he is at the club, with the player foregoing the rest, according to Spanish reports.

The 27-year-old England international was out of favour under Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim and spent the final months of the 2024/25 season on loan at Aston Villa.

Rashford, who made his United debut in 2015, became an outcast at Old Trafford, with Amorim publicly doubting his commitment and desire.

In May, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Marcus Rashford and Liverpool winger Luis Diaz were “fantastic players” amid transfer links to both, with the club keen to reinforce on the left flank.

Last season, the Catalans were irresistible in attack, winning a domestic treble, but had little in the way of back-up for key wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.

Rashford could also offer cover for veteran Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, who turns 37 in August.

Barcelona had hoped to sign Athletic Bilbao winger Nico Williams to play on the left wing, but the Spaniard signed a new deal at the San Mames.

Rashford, who came through Manchester United’s academy, last played for the Premier League club in December, scoring 138 goals in 426 appearances for the Red Devils.

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At Aston Villa, he managed four goals in 17 games before a hamstring injury cut his season short in April.

Rashford was criticised by former Manchester United great Teddy Sheringham after trying to make the Barcelona switch happen in recent weeks.

“From my perspective, if you go from Manchester United to Barcelona, that’s a step up that he hasn’t deserved,” Sheringham told SkyBet.

Manchester United plan to sign several more players this summer, including Antony, Jadon Sancho, and Alejandro Garnacho.

Barcelona had trouble registering signings last season with La Liga, including midfielder Dani Olmo, and, according to reports, may need to find ways to balance the books before registering Rashford and their first summer arrival, goalkeeper Joan Garcia.

Few British players have joined Barcelona since the 1980s, when Gary Lineker, Steve Archibald, and Mark Hughes all played for the club.

Current Bristol City midfielder Marcus McGuane signed for Barcelona’s reserve team in 2018, making one appearance for the first team as a substitute in the Catalan Super Cup before leaving in 2019 on loan to Telstar and eventually joining Nottingham Forest.

In the summer of 2019, Louie Barry moved to Barca’s youth academy from West Bromwich Albion but departed for Aston Villa in January 2020.

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Brennan Johnson’s scrambled goal ended a 17-year Tottenham Hotspur trophy drought with a battling 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

Spurs, who had not won European silverware since 1984, will play in next season’s Champions League, while failing to qualify for it is a severe financial set-back for Manchester United.

Despite their triumph in Bilbao, manager Ange Postecoglou’s future is still on the line following a shambolic domestic campaign, with Spurs sitting a place below United in the lower reaches of the Premier League table.

The Australian furiously insisted he was “not a clown” on the eve of the final and had the last laugh on a nerve-racking night at the San Mames, as he made good on his claim to always win a trophy in his second season in charge of a club.

“This is what it’s all about, this club hasn’t won a trophy for 17 years, honestly, this is what it means, it means so much,” Wales winger Johnson told TNT Sports.

“Ever since I came here it’s been (people saying) ‘Tottenham are a good team, but they never get it done’ — we got it done!”

Fans came from far and wide to pack Athletic Bilbao’s stadium, some taking quite preposterous routes and sleeping in cars to avoid eye-watering prices, but they could not escape a final lacking in quality.

It was a match between teams languishing in 16th and 17th place respectively after dismal Premier League campaigns and that was the essence of it too, played at high intensity but with low confidence, and a prize on the line so big it overawed.

There were a large number of turnovers, neither side keeping the ball with any ease, moves ending in panicked defending and balls being thumped to safety, or a litany of clumsy fouls.

Manchester United fans chanted Ruben Amorim’s name, backing their Portuguese coach despite the club’s worst Premier League season in half a century.

In the early exchanges, 22-year-old United winger Amad Diallo, one of the few players high on self-belief, flashed a shot across goal and then left Destiny Udogie spinning as he dribbled past.

Spurs made the breakthrough after 42 minutes and, perhaps fittingly, it came in the form of a scrappy goal.

Tottenham midfielder Sarr, who had completed just a single pass to this point, curled in a cross to the near post for Johnson.

The winger’s attempted flick bounced off Shaw’s shoulder, brushed Johnson’s boot again and crossed the goal-line in slow motion with Andre Onana unable to claw it out with a desperate arm.

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Spurs sat back in the second half, for once pragmatically trying to protect their slender advantage and look for opportunities to strike again on the counter-attack.

They nearly found one when Yves Bissouma played in Dominic Solanke, but the striker could not control the ball.

Spurs had just 27 percent possession by the end, with three shots, just one on target.

Manchester United almost equalised when Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario came off his line but failed to claim a set-piece pounded forward from deep.

The ball dropped for Rasmus Hojlund but his header over the stranded Spurs stopper was sensationally cleared in acrobatic fashion by Micky van de Ven.

Spurs sent on captain Son Heung-min for the ragged Richarlison, with the South Korean international a surprising non-starter.

United defender Harry Maguire scored a vital goal against Lyon on United’s thrilling run to the final, and was thrust up front late on, but Spurs shut him out.

Shaw had a chance to redeem himself at the end for his part in Johnson’s goal, but his header was pushed to safety by Vicario.

United suffered a 21st defeat this season and a fourth against Spurs, who claimed their third Europa League trophy.

Amorim said winning the trophy would not solve United’s many deep-lying problems, but could set the club up well for the future, however United leave Bilbao without even that.

“We managed not to score again, which makes it hard to win matches,” said Amorim.

For only the second time in 35 years, United will not play European football next term.

“For a club like Manchester United, it’s nowhere near good enough,” Shaw told reporters.

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