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Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson has announced that Grant Leadbitter will continue as club captain for the new season.

Leadbitter began his career with the Black Cats before embarking on spells with Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough.

Returning to the Stadium of Light in January 2019, the 34-year-old made 14 League One appearances during the 2019/20 season but was handed a spell of compassionate leave in February due to personal reasons.

Now available for selection ahead of this weekend’s opening League One fixture against Bristol Rovers, the midfielder will be looking to add to his 533 career appearances.

With Parkinson looking ahead to the new season, the Sunderland boss has confirmed that Leadbitter will continue to be the club captain, whilst Max Power is team captain and Bailey Wright is vice-captain.

Speaking on the decision to keep Leadbitter as captain, Parkinson said: “Grant has returned to the group for pre-season and has been a massive plus for us.

“He has come back to the club in excellent condition and trained well, and he has also really helped the younger players within the group.

“He has the club at heart and is desperate to have an impact on the pitch, which I’m sure he will, and he will be an invaluable asset for us throughout the season.”

This piece of news comes after former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips predicted the sort of impact Leadbitter could have on his return to action this season.

Having lost Leadbitter to compassionate leave last term, fans of the Black Cats will likely be keen to see the midfielder return.

His leadership and experience could hand Parkinson a massive boost ahead of the new season, and with the likes of Power and Wright backing him up as leaders, the club could have some good figureheads to drive a hopeful promotion charge on the pitch.

Do you think Parkinson’s captain selections are merited? Let us know your views in the comments section below…

After opening their Premier League campaign with a hugely disappointing home defeat to Newcastle last weekend, West Ham make the short trip to the Emirates to face Arsenal on Saturday evening.

David Moyes’ side slipped to a 2-0 reverse against the Magpies, before getting back to winning ways with a comfortable 3-0 triumph over Charlton in the second round of the Carabao Cup.

The Hammers will undoubtedly go back to a stronger line-up for the game against Arsenal, having made a few changes in mid-week.

Hilariously obscure Premier League players – Can you name them all?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

Some players’ performances against Charlton may just have given Moyes some food for thought, and with that in mind, below is a look at how West Ham could take to the field against the Gunners on Saturday.

Having not featured against the Addicks on Tuesday, Lukasz Fabianski will surely return to the starting line-up and reclaim the number one goalkeeping spot against his former club.

In front of him, Ryan Fredericks and Angelo Ogbonna could come back in to make a more familiar defence, whilst Moyes may make the choice to drop Aaron Cresswell after a disappointing display that saw Hammers fans criticise him post-match – Arthur Masuaku could therefore keep his place.

After missing the game against Charlton, Moyes confirmed in his pre-match press conference on Friday that captain Mark Noble has undergone an injection in his toe and is likely to be touch and go for the clash against Arsenal.

If Noble doesn’t make it, then Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice could be joined in a four-man midfield by Jarrod Bowen and Andriy Yarmolenko, with the latter picking up an assist in the win over Charlton – that could see Pablo Fornals drop to the bench.

And in attack, Sebastien Haller’s mid-week brace may have earned him a starting spot at the Emirates, with Michail Antonio alongside him in a two-man strikeforce.

Predicted XI: Fabianski; Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Masuaku; Soucek, Rice, Yarmolenko, Bowen; Antonio, Haller.

Plenty of Manchester United fans have been raging over a reported update on the club’s drawn-out pursuit of Jadon Sancho.

Despite Dagbladet reporting this week that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confident that a deal can be done before Monday’s transfer deadline, Sky Sports reported last night that Borussia Dortmund rejected a £91.3m offer from the Old Trafford club for the England winger.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano has since tweeted that Dortmund have made clear to United that they will not accept anything less than €120m (£109.64m), with the Bundesliga outfit refusing to soften their stance despite the Red Devils’ apparent hopes that they would do so.

United’s links with Sancho go back to last year and the inability to get a deal done before the final week of the summer transfer window has left many supporters frustrated. Indeed, Donny van de Beek remains the only arrival at the club since the end of last season, despite Solskjaer’s side being linked with numerous players in recent weeks.

These Man United fans took to Twitter to vent their fury at the update on the Sancho saga, with one disgruntled supporter describing the whole affair as a “circus”:

Man United fans, are you getting tired of the Sancho transfer saga by this stage? Comment below with your views!

A number of Manchester City fans have been reacting to the latest report that Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly was ‘quite certain’ that he would move to the Etihad Stadium this summer.

City had been consistently linked with a potential move for Koulibaly throughout the summer transfer window, but Pep Guardiola’s side were unable to meet Napoli’s asking price for the 29-year-old, so the centre-back ended up remaining with the Italian club, as per Sky Sports.

City had already brought in Nathan Ake in a £40 million deal from Bournemouth, and they opted to move for Benfica’s Ruben Dias instead of Koulibaly, signing the 23-year-old in a deal worth around £65 million, with Nicolas Otamendi moving in the opposite direction.

However, according to the latest report from Corriere dello Sport, via Sport Witness, Koulibaly was confident of making a move to City during the transfer window. That was before Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis set an €80 million (£72.2 million) price tag, which seemingly put City off the move.

Some City fans have been saying that the blame for the transfer failing to get over the line should be directed at De Laurentiis, while others pointed out that Dias was a better option anyway due to the difference in age between the pair.

City fans react to emerging reports over Koulibaly

City fans, would Koulibaly have been a better signing than Dias? Let us know your thoughts below!

West Bromwich Albion have had many players come and go in recent years but do you remember Sebastian Blanco? Probably not.

The Argentinian winger was signed by ex-Baggies boss Alan Irvine in the summer of 2014 for just £2m from Metalist Kharkiv and even though the Midlands outfit enjoyed a pretty decent season by finishing 13th, Blanco was a truly forgotten man.

Irvine talked up his credentials after signing him, he said: “He’s a very talented player and a very two-footed footballer. He can cross the ball well, shoot with both feet. You’ll also see him score with both feet – some terrific goals too – if you look at his clips. He’s got an understanding of the game.”

But the two-time international only mustered up a total of 201 minutes in an Albion shirt across five first-team appearances, making him one massive flop.

Where is Blanco now?

Speaking about his time at West Brom, Blanco told The Athletic that is was “one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made,” and since his departure, he has certainly found his feet with spells at San Lorenzo and now Portland Timbers in the Major League Soccer.

He cost the MLS side around $4m (£3m) and has thrived ever since.

The 32-year-old has provided 33 goals and 32 assists from 121 appearances, via Transfermarkt, which means he’s contributing a little over 0.5 goals each time he takes the field for the Timbers.

Blanco played an integral role during their run in the MLS is Back tournament, scoring in the semi-final against Philadelphia Union before going onto win the competition. The winger scored or assisted in every game bar the final.

He was even named as the Player of the Tournament, beating Orlando City and former Manchester United winger Nani in the voting.

Those at the Hawthorns may not even remember his name, and they can be forgiven as he was barely given an opportunity, but clearly, he has thrived in new surroundings.

AND in other news, West Brom £20m target shows what they’re missing with gargantuan display…

West Bromwich Albion are surely regretting the decision to not sign one of Slaven Bilic’s former stars after his electric start to the season…

What was the word?

As the domestic deadline approached earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported that Swansea City forward Andre Ayew had emerged as a late option for the Baggies.

It came just a few weeks after Ghana SoccerNet revealed that the Championship outfit were keen to get him off the wage bill for the right price – hardly a surprise given he’s on around £80k-per-week in Wales.

Back in 2016, Bilic signed the Ghanian international in a £20.5m deal from the Swans.

One that got away?

Ayew has started the season immensely, directly contributing to four goals in just eight starts, he is also averaging 2.6 shots and 1.4 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

These are much better returns than what Grady Diangana has managed after his mega £18m switch from the Hammers in the summer.

The 22-year-old has scored just once in six matches, managing only 1.2 shots and 0.7 key passes per outing, also via WhoScored.

Albion are among the league’s lowest scorers on six goals, in fact, only the bottom three teams in the relegation zone have managed fewer, so clearly Bilic has a problem with creating and converting chances.

Ayew has eclipsed one of his star players, popping off over double the number of shots per match.

It’s no wonder that the Croatian once hailed his former signing as a “game-changer.”

Now valued at just £3.6m by Transfermarkt, a late swoop for the veteran winger could’ve been an absolute steal and perhaps, would have helped Diangana too in terms of being a mentor and someone to learn from.

Clearly, Bilic doesn’t fancy his options outside of Diangana and Matheus Pereira out wide, so he must regret not pouncing on Ayew when he had the chance this summer.

AND in other news, West Brom sensation has become Bilic’s new Dimitri Payet…

This Premier League season is proving to be an extremely interesting one as unlikely teams make up the top four and regular heavyweights continue to struggle. In what could be the most exciting campaign in a long time, managers are scrambling to change their teams and are taking desperate measures.

The likes of Everton and Chelsea have resorted to dropping their first choice goalkeepers and replacing them with fringe options. Kepa Arrizabalaga continues to disappoint Frank Lampard having been replaced by Edouard Mendy. More and more clubs could follow suit with this trend if results start not going their way.

Football FanCast spoke to former goalkeeper Chris Kirkland and delivered his take on the situation. When asked could Leeds’ Illan Meslier be next in the firing line of the Premier League goalkeepers, the 39-year-old said: “Yeah, he’s possibly the one I think. The number 2 on the bench for Leeds, Casilla, hasn’t had a great time when he’s played.”

Meslier at risk of being dropped by Bielsa

The 20-year-old shot-stopper joined the Whites permanently this summer after enjoying a loan spell in Yorkshire. The £7.2million-rated Frenchman has usurped veteran Kiko Casilla in between the sticks after helping to guide his side to promotion after a long 16 years away from the Premier League.

However, it’s a tough one for the youngster who has looked strong on certain days, but lost on others. Meslier did well to keep a clean sheet against Aston Villa recently, but was made an example of last time out as Leicester hit him for four. He has also been praised by Darren Bent for some of his performances, recently earning the title of “absolutely superb” after showing areas of improvements (via Leeds Live).

Bielsa will not want to see his side slip back into the Championship. He has already started to take desperate measures after bringing Jamie Shackleton off against the Foxes last weekend. The Argentinian has shown he is not afraid of making cut-throat decisions for the benefit of the team. Unfortunately for Meslier, he could be the next big switch up in the Leeds line up.

In other news, Exclusive: Chris Kirkland believes Leeds should’ve signed Ben Foster…

Southampton were one of several Premier League sides to be linked with a move for Hellas Verona goalkeeper Marco Silverstri earlier this year and they may now be regretting not signing him.

The Saints, Norwich City and Everton were all linked with a move for the former Leeds United man by TuttoMercatoWeb but the 29-year-old ended up staying with the Serie A club.

The shot-stopper enjoyed a very solid season in Italy’s top-flight last time out, as he conceded just 43 goals in 35 games, keeping nine clean sheets (per Transfermarkt).

This would help Hellas Verona secure an impressive ninth-placed finish in their first season back in the top-flight following promotion from Serie B.

The ‘keeper has started this season in arguably even more impressive form, having kept three clean sheets in their first seven fixtures, conceding just five goals (per Transfermarkt).

Whilst Alex McCarthy has impressed for Southampton this season, keeping four clean sheets in eight games, having Silverstri as a back-up could have been useful to Hasenhuttl, especially with the recent news on both of his back-up goalkeepers.

Angus Gunn has sustained an injury on loan with Stoke City, whilst Fraser Forster has been linked with a move back to Celtic, where he spent last year on loan. If Hasenhuttl isn’t careful, he could find himself without a back-up to McCarthy by the time the January transfer window comes around.

When making an appearance for Verona last back in 2018, TuttoMercatoWeb awarded the ‘keeper a 6.5 rating for his display despite a 3-0 loss against Benevento and suggested that he was “miraculous on several occasions” and that he could do nothing about any of the goals.

Considering Silvestri has now established himself as a first-team regular at Verona, and has earned himself a superb 7.2 rating for his performances in Serie A this season, it could definitely be argued that Southampton may be regretting not signing the £5.4 million-rated shot-stopper, particularly if Forster ends up departing in January.

The hopes of Newcastle United fans seeing the takeover by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium at St. James’ Park may have potentially been boosted as The Athletic have reported that the Saudis remain as determined as ever to buy the Tyneside club from Mike Ashley.

This follows an official statement made by the Magpies that confirmed that they have issued arbitration proceedings against the Premier League.

The statement goes on to say that it is unclear as to when those proceedings would be resolved, given the approach of the English top flight and its lawyers.

Nonetheless, the Toon Army are continuing to use its best efforts to press for a fair, full and timely hearing of its claim.

What does this mean in terms of the Newcastle takeover?

Indeed, the fact that NUFC have confirmed that they have issued arbitration proceedings against England’s highest division means that the whole legal dispute may well end up in a court case in where the lawyers of the EPL and indeed its chief executive Richard Masters will battle those chosen to represent Ashley, potentially including the highly regarded Nick De Marco QC.

Not only could the hopes of reviving the failed £300m deal between the KSA Group and Ashley be boosted by a possible settlement in court, but the added claim that the Saudis remain as determined as ever to buy the club will surely come as a welcome boost to supporters.

Nonetheless, it is anyone’s guess as to what conclusion the judges would come to if indeed the matter was taken to a court case.

In other news, find out which Newcastle star has been ruled out of the clash against Chelsea here!

Che Adams produced a disappointing display as Southampton threw away a 2-0 lead in their 3-2 loss against Manchester United on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Jan Bednarek and James Ward-Prowse had given Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side a 2-0 lead going into half-time but a poor second-half display allowed United back into the game, with Edinson Cavani’s late winner snatching all three points for the Red Devils.

One man who will be disappointed with his performance will be Adams, as the former Sheffield United man produced an ineffectual display.

As per SofaScore, the 24-year-old earned a 6.5 rating on Sunday, with only Jannik Vestergaard, Kyle Walker-Peters and Alex McCarthy scoring lower.

During his time on the pitch, the striker had just 40 touches of the ball but was unable to use it effectively, with only 19/24 of his passes finding a Southampton shirt, resulting in a pass accuracy rate of 79%, meaning he completed fewer passes than Saints ‘keeper McCarthy.

The Englishman was unable to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes and he never really threatened the Manchester United defence.

Adams also lost possession 13 times during the game and came out second-best in a lot of his duels during the game, winning just four of 12 ground duels, whilst he was only successful in two of his six aerial duels, resulting in an overall success rate of 33%

Unfortunately for the Saints, with Danny Ings still sidelined through injury, the pressure has been on Adams to replace the former Liverpool man’s goals in recent weeks, and whilst he has notched three times in the top-flight so far this season, today was clearly not his day.

After he scored in Southampton’s 2-0 win against Newcastle United earlier this season, Hasenhuttl was full of praise for the young striker, saying:

“He’s a role model for the time we went through – from zero to hero at the moment” (per Daily Echo)

However, today, Adams was more like his old self than the rejuvenated player we saw post-lockdown.

However, his performance against United was far from good enough and he will need to do a lot better in the Saints’ next game against Brighton, in order to repay the faith shown in him by Hasenhuttl.