- Iheanacho Scoops Premier League POTM Award
- Erling Braut Haaland Representatives Meet With Barcelona and Real Madrid
- Sergio Ramos Ruled Out Of Real Madrid-Liverpool Champions League Tie
- Eddie Howe Set To Be Named Celtic Boss
- Bianca Andreescu Defeats Maria Sakkari To Set Up Final Against Ashleigh Barty & More From The Miami Open
Football
Iheanacho Scoops Premier League POTM Award
Leicester City’s Kelechi Iheanacho has won the Premier League player of the month award for March.
The Nigerian striker, who bagged five goals in three league appearances for Brendan Rodgers’ men heading into last month’s international break, has beaten off competition from the likes of Harry Kane (Tottenham), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City), Jesse Lingard (West Ham), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Andreas Christensen (Chelsea), Illan Meslier (Leeds) and Leandro Trossard (Brighton) to win the award.
Iheanacho, 24, becomes the fourth Nigerian to win the award, after Jay Jay Okocha (November 2003), Osaze Odemwingie (September 2010, April 2011, February 2012) and Orion Ighalo (December 2015) .
Barcelona and Real Madrid Have Drawn Haaland Transfer Battle Line. But Where’s He Off To This Summer?
Erling Braut Haaland’s representatives have met with Barcelona and Real Madrid to discuss a possible summer move for the Borussia Dortmund striker.
The 20-year-old’s father Alf Inge, alongside agent Mino Raiola arrived in Spain on Wednesday and met with Barcelona’s newly elected president Joan Laporta, before proceeding to the capital city of Madrid to meet with Real president Fiorentino Perez.
Dortmund have slapped a £128 million price tag on Haaland, who they signed from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2020 for £19.5 million.
The Norway international has scored 21 Bundesliga goals and a further 10 in the Champions League this season to take his total European tally up to 20 goals in only 14 appearances.
Sergio Ramos Ruled Out Of Real Madrid-Liverpool Champions League Tie
Real Madrid will be without the services of influential captain and defender Sergio Ramos for both legs of their Champions League quarter-final clash against Liverpool, after the 35-year old suffered a calf muscle injury while on international duty with the Spanish national team.
Zinedine Zidane’s men face the Reds on Tuesday, April 6th and Wednesday, April 14th, in what would be the first meeting between the pair since their ill tempered Champions League final meeting in Kyiv 2018, where Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was taken off early in the game after picking up a shoulder injury in a tackle with Ramos.
“If there is something that hurts me, it is not being able to help the team in these highly demanding matches”
Ramos wrote on Instagram.
Former Bournemouth Manager Eddie Howe Set To Be Named Celtic Boss
The 43-year old is now the favourite candidate to replace Neil Lennon as Celtic manager after holding positive talks with the club’s board.
Howe, who has been out of job since leaving the English south coast in 2020, has impressed the Celtic Park hierarchy and will sign the dotted the lines as the club looks to regain the Scottish Premiership title from Rangers next season.
Yeovil Town Captain Lee Collins Has Sadly Passed Away at The Age of 32.
Collins, whose cause of death has not been revealed, played his last game for the club against Stockport on February 6th.
He was an unused substitute for last week’s 3-1 in over Barnet after missing large parts of the season through injury.
Yeovil’s National League match against Altrincham on Friday has been postponed as a mark of respect, and to allow everyone he has left behind some time to grief.
“All at Yeovil Town Football Club are mourning the loss of club captain Lee Collins.
“Lee sadly passed away yesterday (Wednesday) and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
“We ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy at this time.”
Official club statement.
The defender started his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and had stints at Port Vale, Barnsley, Northampton Town, Mansfield Town and Forest Green Rovers before signing for Yeovil Town in 2019.
Transfer News Round Up
- Chelsea are favourites to sign Argentine striker Sergio Aguero when he leaves Manchester City in the summer as the 32-year-old is determined to remain in the Premier League, according to the Mail.
- Portuguese club Benfica are the latest club linked with a move for Aguero since it was announced on Monday that he will leave Man City at the end of the season, according to Record, via Mirror.
- Arsenal and Independiente , the Argentine club where Aguero started his career, are also said to be among the host of clubs – including Barcelona, Juventus and Paris St-Germain – keen to sign him as a free agent in the summer, according to the Sun.
- Liverpool could “muscle in on” Barcelona’s Pursuit of 27-year-old Lyon and the Netherlands striker Memphis Depay, who will be a free agent in the summer, according to Marca.
- Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Braut Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge, and his agent Mino Raiola are set for meetings in London with Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool on Friday about a move for the Norwegian 20-year-old. The pair have already met with Barcelona and Real Madrid, according to Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish).
- Liverpool , however, are not expected to further pursue any move for the sought-after Haaland and Chelsea remain the most likely English club to land his signature, according to Football Insider.
- Dortmund want at least 150m euros (£128m) for Haaland, which would make him the third most expensive player of all time after PSG duo Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, according to the Guardian.
- England striker Harry Kane, 27, will be staying at Tottenham this summer because the club will not let him join a Premier League rival and do not expect a European side to offer their £175m asking price, according to the Sun.
- Argentine forward Lionel Messi, 33, has issued Barça president Joan Laporta a list of demands of what it will take for him to sign a new contact at the Nou Camp, according to Eurosport.
- Arsenal and Uruguay midfielder Lucas Torreira, 25, who is on loan at Atletico Madrid, says he wants to return to South America following the death of his mother and is determined to join Argentine side Boca Juniors to fulfil a promise he made to his father, according to ESPN Argentina, via Goal.
- West Brom boss Sam Allardyce wants on-loan Chelsea midfielder Conor Gallagher to remain at the Hawthorns if they can avoid relegation from the Premier League, according to Metro.
- Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the future of French striker Alexandre Lacazette will be addressed in the summer, by which time the 29-year-old – who has been linked with Roma, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla – will be into the final 12 months of his current deal, according to the Guardian.
- Sheffield United have put Alexander Blessin, boss of Belgian side Oostende, on their list of possible replacements for Chris Wilder, according to the Sun.
- Olympiakos are considering a loan move for Arsenal’s 21-year-old English winger Reiss Nelson, according to Football London.
- Arsenal’s versatile 23-year-old Ainsley Maitland-Niles expects to leave the club this summer after finishing his loan spell at West Bromwich Albion, according to the Telegraph.
- Jorginho’s agent Joao Santos says the 29-year-old Italy midfielder, who has been repeatedly linked with a return to Napoli, will “100%” remain at Chelsea beyond the summer, according to Tutto Mercato (in Italian).
- Crystal Palace are planning a £50m squad overhaul this summer that could see them replace Roy Hodgson with a new manager to lead the rebuild, according to the Telegraph.
- Arsenal are set to renew their interest in RB Leipzig’s 23-year-old French midfielder Christopher Nkunku this summer, according to Sky Germany.
- Aston Villa’s Belgian defender Bjorn Engels could return to his native country in the summer, with Royal Antwerp interested in the 26-year-old having failed to sign him in January, according to VoetbalKrant, via Birmingham Mail.
- Atalanta’s Colombian striker Duvan Zapata, 30, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea and Liverpool, has spoken about “one day” playing in the Premier League and revealed he grew up as an Arsenal fan, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, via Football London.
- Everton full-back Thierry Small, 16, is willing to turn down a three-year professional deal in order to pursue first-team opportunities elsewhere, with Manchester United, Arsenal, Brighton and Brentford among those keen on his services, according to the Express.
Tennis – Miami Open
WTA: Bianca Andreescu Defeats Maria Sakkari To Set Up Final Against Ashleigh Barty
Canada’s world number 9 ranked player Bianca Andreescu will lock horns against Australia’s world number 1 Ashleigh Barty in the 2021 Miami Open final (WTA), after the pair defeated Maria Sakkari [7-6 (7), 3-6, 7-6 (4)] and Elina Svitolina [6-3 6-3] respectively in the semi-finals.
ATP: Hubert Hurkacz Shocks Stefanos Tsitsipas To Reach Semis, Andrey Rublev Also Through After Beating Sebastian Korda
There was a huge upset in the men’s event in Miami, as 24-year-old Hubert Hurkacz defeated 2nd seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match which lasted two hours and 20 minutes, to qualify for the last four.
Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev beat home grown Sebastian Korda – who became the youngest American since 2003 to appear at this stage of the competition – in straight sets (7-5, 7-6), in a match which lasted 1 hour and 42 minutes.
Action continues with the men’s semi-finals on Friday, with Roberto Bautista Agut up against Jannik Sinner, while Andre Rublev takes on Hubert Hurkacz in other last-four fixture on Saturday.
