Premier League: Fosu-Mensah, Chilwell and Ojo the ones to watch in 2016-17

The ESPN FC crew discuss who could finish in the top four this season.

Could this be the breakout year for your club's rising star? Our Premier League bloggers select one young player who could make a name for themselves in the Premier League this season.

ARSENAL: Jeff Reine-Adelaide
The hype over him went into overdrive after last summer's Emirates Cup but a quieter season with the Under-21s was an exercise in managing expectations around the leggy playmaker, who is still only 18. However, he has been promoted to the first-team squad in preseason and has featured in friendly matches to reignite hopes that Reine-Adelaide could make the breakthrough. Quick-witted and even quicker-footed, he will hope for cup exposure at first and then to follow in the path of Alex Iwobi by forcing his way into the full team, if circumstances allow. -- Tom Adams

BOURNEMOUTH: Lys Mousset
Besides arriving for a reported £5.4 million, the 20-year-old attacker is still relatively unheard of in England but did start to make a name for himself in France after playing eight times for their Under-20 team. He's a centre-forward who's also capable of fitting in on either wing, and after scoring 14 goals for Le Havre in Ligue 2 last season, his finishing ability is clearly one of his biggest assets. -- Will Kent

BURNLEY: Aiden O'Neill
Sean Dyche is not known for developing young talent -- nobody has made the breakthrough in his three full seasons at the club -- but perhaps 2016 will be the year that changes. There are a few notable talents in the club's development squad but perhaps the most likely to make an impact is 18-year-old central midfielder O'Neill, given the severe lack of options available to Dyche in this area. Brisbane-born O'Neill has been training with the first-team squad throughout preseason, but a loan spell at a Football League club looks on the cards for the teenager. -- Jamie Smith

CHELSEA: Ola Aina
Aina has been a key member of Chelsea's all-conquering development squads with two UEFA Youth League titles and two FA Youth Cups to his name. A versatile defender who can play all across the backline, he has been training regularly with the first team since the beginning of last season and is as comfortable with the ball at his feet as he is tracking opposition attackers. The 19-year-old has shone in his four preseason outings at full-back to date and with Branislav Ivanovic currently injured, Aina has the natural ability and the confidence to make the most of his teammate's absence. -- Phil Lythell

Ola Aina is seen as a potential replacement for Branislav Ivanovic at Chelsea.

CRYSTAL PALACE: Sullay KaiKai
If there's one youngster who has earned a chance in the Palace first team it is KaiKai. The 20-year-old forward has already made his professional debut and scored, during a League Cup defeat to Newcastle almost two years ago. Since then he has spent loan spells at Cambridge United in League Two (where he won the club's Young Player of the Year) and League One side Shrewsbury (where he ended up top scorer). His pace and directness could be a useful addition off the bench -- and he easily has the best name of any of the youngsters on this list. -- Jim Daly

EVERTON: Mason Holgate
Just as John Stones made the move from Barnsley to Everton in 2013, 19-year-old Holgate is another defender following this path having made the same switch last summer. A prominent and composed presence throughout preseason and able to play right-back or centre-back, two positions Everton lack depth, this could be a breakout year for a youngster chasing a competitive first-team debut. -- Luke O'Farrell

HULL CITY: Josh Tymon
You must go a long way back for Hull City to have produced a player with the promise of Tymon. The attack-minded left-back became the club's youngest player in a generation when making his debut aged 16 in January and has since reportedly been courted by Tottenham and Arsenal. A Premier League debut feels inevitable this season for a teenager yet to be fazed by a challenge that has come his way. -- Phil Buckingham

LEICESTER: Ben Chilwell
The 19-year-old left back has committed to a five-year deal despite strong interest from Liverpool. He has also won two England U21 caps already despite rarely starting for Leicester. This season could be his breakthrough one. Composed on the ball, strong and with an inviting delivery, Chilwell is arguably City's most promising talent. His only problem will be ousting the ever-reliable Christian Fuchs, who doesn't deserve to be dropped. -- Ben Jacobs

Leicester have so far resisted attempts from other clubs to land rising star Ben Chilwell.

LIVERPOOL: Sheyi Ojo
Fast and skillful, the winger returned to Liverpool's preseason almost immediately after going to France with England U19s, showing his eagerness to make his mark. Consistency is always a problem with young wingers but after a bright display against AC Milan, fans will hope he'll be more akin to Raheem Sterling than Jordon Ibe, should Klopp give him a chance. -- Dave Usher

MIDDLESBROUGH: Dael Fry
The 18-year-old was drafted into the first team at a crucial point last season, when Boro found themselves in a bad run of form and key defender Daniel Ayala was out with injury. Fry's performances at that time proved he can be more than just a stopgap, with a confidence and assurance that belies his years and an unflappable approach to holding the backline. He has also featured in a string of preseason games and should the club's quest to bring in another centre-back not come to fruition, Fry can expect to make some Premier League appearances this campaign. -- Catherine Wilson

MAN UNITED: Timothy Fosu-Mensah
Due to his versatility, Fosu-Mensah could be set for an impressive season. Jose Mourinho has previously looked kindly upon young players who can fill several roles, most recently with Kurt Zouma at Chelsea. And in Fosu-Mensah, he has a player who could be a tremendous asset in his traditionally small squad. Fosu-Mensah has already shown that he can be resilient and intelligent in both defence and midfield at Premier League level. -- Musa Okwonga

Louis van Gaal gave Timothy Fosu-Mensah his debut at Manchester United in 2015-16.

MAN CITY: Tosin Adarabioyo
Adarabioyo's reading of the game and eye for a tackle is up there alongside the more senior professionals that have far more first-team experience. The centre-back looks at home with the ball at his feet and is able to position himself well to be able to steal back possession or intercept, and could be in a prime position to learn from new manager Pep Guardiola. The only real stumbling block to his progress is likely to be a new incoming defender but, equally, he could be the reason City may be thinking twice about prospective targets' price tags. -- David Mooney

SWANSEA: Stephen Kingsley
Neil Taylor finally has some real competition at left-back. Kingsley made a handful of appearances toward the end of last season in relief of Taylor, notably shining in wins against Arsenal and West Ham, and looks to have the edge on the senior man despite his lack of experience. The Scot is faster and sharper in the final third and has played at centre-back as well as full-back for the U21s, which proves he understands the defensive aspects of the game. It wouldn't be a surprise if the youngster, 22, becomes Swansea's starting left-back by the end of the season. -- Max Hicks

SOUTHAMPTON: James Ward-Prowse
The England U21 midfielder struggled to hold down a regular starting spot under Ronald Koeman but has the chance to make himself a mainstay under the Dutchman's successor Claude Puel, who has been briefed to use more homegrown players. Ward-Prowse has proved his ability to deliver top-class set pieces but he needs to produce more from open play to prove his worth to Puel and the Southampton fans. -- Alex Crook

James Ward-Prowse is a set-piece specialist and is hoping to become a regular under Claude Puel.

SUNDERLAND: Joel Asoro
The 17-year-old striker with dual Swedish/Ghanaian nationality, barely known to most Sunderland supporters a month ago, showed impressive pace and skill on the recent French tour. His coolly taken goal in a July 27 friendly against newly promoted Dijon revealed precocious technique and he could be a short loan spell away from a role alongside Jermain Defoe. -- Colin Randall

STOKE: Julien Ngoy
Having arrived at the club as a 15-year-old amid interest from some of the biggest clubs in the world, Belgian striker Ngoy was fast-tracked through the club's youth system and at 18, he now has his eye on the first team. Having impressed in preseason against Preston with his speed, technique and confidence on the ball, he is expected to feature in the Premier League from the bench and continue his rise. -- James Whittaker

TOTTENHAM: Josh Onomah
While 17-year-old Marcus Edwards is an exciting talent, Onomah, 19, looks set for greater involvement in the first team, having made 19 appearances last season as well as playing for 105 minutes across the two preseason games in Melbourne last week. The midfielder helped to improve Spurs' performance as a half-time substitute against Juventus and he then displayed good movement and neat passing from the start against Atletico Madrid, while hitting the crossbar with a powerful volley. A goal or assist, which have eluded Onomah so far, would give him a valuable boost of confidence -- and he will need to start producing in the final third before too long to retain Mauricio Pochettino's trust. -- John Crace

WEST BROM: Sam Field
Made his debut in the final game of last season against Liverpool and the 18-year-old has caught the eye during the summer, playing both central midfield and left-back. Field is an intelligent footballer, a good passer and has a maturity beyond his years. With West Brom's first-choice midfield pairing of Darren Fletcher and Claudio Yacob not getting any younger, Field could find more chances coming his way this season. -- Matthew Evans

WEST HAM: Reece Burke
Most of the attention falls on Reece Oxford, but it's Burke who should be viewing 2016-17 as a breakout season. A highly successful loan period that saw the 19-year-old win Bradford's Player of the Season accolade last season means Slaven Bilic can't afford to leave the youngster too long on the sidelines this campaign. Burke is principally a central defender but his ability to cover at right-back might be the key to propelling the player into the first team. If Burke needed a further boost to his development, he'd do well to remember Sam Allardyce's glowing appraisal when he handed the defender a league debut in 2015. -- Peter Thorne

WATFORD: Tommie Hoban
Singled out last summer as the young player who could make the step up to the Premier League, then spent most of the season injured. It was the second significant injury setback he has suffered in his relatively short career. But the talented young defender, 22, is back in the first-team squad for preseason and his versatility could yet see him make it in the top tier. Hoban is comfortable on the ball and likes to play it out from defence -- and with some more experienced heads alongside him, he could flourish in a back three. -- Michael Moruzzi
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ICC: Messi starts in Barca win; Real top Chelsea; Green leads Bayern rout

Celtic were out-gunned but not out-classed as they fell to a 3-1 defeat to Barcelona in Dublin.
The Spanish giants named a strong starting XI that included superstar frontmen Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
And while the Parkhead outfit were undone by strikes from Arda Turan and Munir El Haddadi either side of Efe Ambrose's own goal, there was no humiliation for Brendan Rodgers' team.
Real Madrid rode a dominating first half performance to defeat Premier League side Chelsea 3-2 in an International Champions Cup match on Saturday.
Marcelo scored twice and Mariano Diaz added the third to stake Los Blancos to a 3-0 half-time lead. Real appeared to be cruising from there, but Chelsea's Eden Hazard scored a pair of late goals to provide the final scoreline.
Julian Green scored a first-half hat trick as Bayern Munich rolled over Inter Milan 4-1 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The United States international scored goals in the 7th, 30th and 35th minutes to help the defending Bundesliga champs to a comfortable victory over the overmatched Serie A side.
French star Franck Ribery added a 13th-minute goal for Bayern on a dominant day for the Germans. Mauro Icardi scored a late consolation goal for Inter.
Liverpool broke down a stern AC Milan side, winning 2-0 thanks to strikes from Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino.
Jurgen Klopp's team started the game brightly, enjoying most of the possession against a compact and organised Milan.
But there was a lack of end product to their build up and Milan goalkeeper Gabriel had to wait until the 41st minute to be forced into any work.
A stale game came to life following six changes for the Reds at the break. In the 59th minute, Origi picked up the ball in inside the penalty area and displayed wonderful feet to shift it on to his right and curl into the bottom corner.
A second goal quickly followed as Sheyi Ojo's deflected shot made its way to the back post where Firmino was on hand to tap in.
Leicester City were convincingly beaten 4-0 by French champions Paris Saint-Germain in Los Angeles.
PSG totally outclassed the Foxes and although friendly results don't matter the defeat will serve as a timely reminder to stay grounded ahead of the new season.
PSG took the lead just before the half hour mark from the penalty spot thanks to Edinson Cavani. Daniel Amartey, who didn't look comfortable in defensive midfield, was guilty of bringing down Jonathan Ikone.
Leicester conceded a second just before half time as PSG out-Leicestered Leicester. Unai Emery's side looked devastating on the counter-attack as the lively Ikone rounded off a deflected Thomas Meunièr cross.
Another fluid counter attack killed the game. Substitute Lucas Moura headed in Maxwell's cross and just before full-time teenager Odsonne Edouard finished from close range to wrap up an emphatic victory.
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Jurgen Klopp hails Liverpool's 'dominant football' against AC Milan

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp says that he's happy with how Liverpool is playing, but knows there's room for improvement.

Santa Clara, Calif. -- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp put Saturday's 2-0 win over AC Milan down to the team's impressive performance rather than individual ability.
The Reds ran out convincing winners at Levi's Stadium in the International Champions Cup fixture with second-half goals from Divock Origi and Roberto Firmino.
Origi broke the deadlock against the Serie A outfit following a wonderful strike in the 58th minute, with the Belgian striker impressing in his first appearance of the preseason.
However, Klopp insisted in a news conference after the meeting with the Italian side that the victory came from efforts by all those that featured.
"Everybody knows about the potential of Divock Origi. I understand that after a game like this you name single players," Klopp said.

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"But I think, especially tonight, it is not the night to talk about single players. If you want to talk, then it's [about] the style of play, the dominance we had, the passing.
"The situation we had in the first half -- we played brilliant, we did the right thing, we did the right thing, we passed all time until we were through. We created chances, we didn't score -- that's right. Of course, you need a finish but that will come 100 percent."
He added: "I said before the game that I'm really happy about the opponents because Italian teams are always organised and they make problems and you will always struggle with different things in a game because it is not easy to play them.
"We did really well and scored the goals and wonderful goals [and] had one or two more chances. In the first half we had four or five big moments.
"Playing dominant football like this and then reacting on balls we lose, like we did in the counter-pressing situations -- that's the only moment where there should be a little moment of hectic, all the rest should be calm and dominant.
"I'm pleased with the performance of the whole team."
Meanwhile, the Reds boss admitted that he is unsure on whether young winger Sheyi Ojo will remain with the first-team squad this season or head out on loan to gain regular action and experience.

Jurgen Klopp hailed Liverpool's ability to win back the ball after they lost possession.

The 19-year-old joined Klopp's team on the preseason tour immediately after taking part in this summer's under-19 European Championships with England.
"I don't know, we have to see," The German said. "He's a wonderful player that's for sure. His future is 100 percent at Liverpool. [But] the near future, we didn't make decisions. I don't think we have to make decisions so early.
"We have time and we have to use the time. We have already a few injuries, nor the biggest but in the wrong positions, I would say. We have to be cool enough to train and to make the boys as big as possible and Ojo is with us since five days, he came to us direct from the tournament. We will see but his future is at Liverpool."
Glenn is ESPN FC's Liverpool correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter @GlennPrice94.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores as Man United overcome Galatasaray

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored four minutes into his Manchester United debut. Getty Images

8:35 PM BST

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic made a dream start to his Manchester United career by scoring acrobatically in just the fourth-minute of his debut as they won 5-2 against Galatasaray in Gothenburg with Wayne Rooney netting twice.
United had to recover from a 2-1 deficit at half-time but they out-played the opposition in the second half with Antonio Valencia eventually setting up three of the team's goals.
It meant that Ibrahimovic could enjoy both his personal contribution and the end result, as he made a glorious return to his homeland of Sweden.
United manager Jose Mourinho again fielded a starting line-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Ibrahimovic beginning as the advanced striker, Rooney behind him and Anthony Martial wide left with Henrikh Mkhitaryan wide right.
After all the hype surrounding Ibrahimovic and talk of 'Zlatan time' from the club when promoting his move, a strong start to his career at the club was just what he needed. Zlatan time in this match came when Valencia delivered an impressive cross and Ibrahimovic met it with a scissor kick that bounced and nestled into the net.
United carried on looking the better side but a familiar problem from their days under former manager Louis van Gaal - a vulnerability against set-pieces - reared its head and allowed Galatasaray to equalise in the 25th minute. The free kick was delivered from Wesley Sneijder and an unmarked Sinan Gumus headed in.
Galatasaray were finding some more drive and David De Gea was forced into two saves in quick succession, tipping over an strike from Sneijder then palming away a header by Yasin Oztekin.
The Turkish team still managed to snatch the lead before the break though, as Bruma exchanged passes with Gumus then struck in a well-worked goal.
In the second half, Rooney - who had struggled in the first period - was the only one of the front four who were kept on the field, rather than being substituted, and he quickly showed that he was in the mood to make amends.
First, he touched in the equaliser from another Valencia cross.
It was much better from United and a key to that was the impact made by Marcus Rashford, who made a fine run and rounded goalkeeper Fernando Muslera before being hauled down by the goalkeeper and winning the penalty. Rooney had the courage to take the spot-kick and struck in to give United a 3-2 lead.
United were overpowering their opponents and added a fourth goal when Valencia delivered for Marouane Fellaini, who scored with a looping header. Juan Mata then slid in to make it 5-2 after a smart passing move in the build-up, culminating in Michael Carrick lofting the ball across for the Spaniard to finish.

Players to be sold won't play a 'single minute' in Man Utd preseason - Mou

ESPN FC's Paul Mariner once again sifts through transfer rumours as the deadline approaches.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that players who are part of his plans are given game time during preseason.
The former Chelsea manager explained that those who are not in his thinking would not be given a "single minute" of action. That could worry the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger and Adnan Januzaj, who did not feature against Galatasaray.
Speaking to MUTV after the 5-2 win over Galatasaray in Gothenburg, Mourinho was asked about players who came on and whether or not they had demonstrated they are in his plans.
He replied: "Well, if they were not in my plans, I would not give them one single minute. I wouldn't keep them in my squad."
He added that players with a squad mentality would be valued, explaining: "To be in the squad, you have to understand that the squad is more important than the individual, the club is more important than all of us."

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Marcus Rashford became a regular starter under former manager Louis van Gaal at the end of last season but, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan having arrived in attacking positions, the 18-year-old was a substitute against Galatasaray.
The England forward came on at half-time and was impressive, winning a penalty, which was scored by Wayne Rooney to give United a 3-2 lead.
Rashford claimed that he is happy to see Ibrahimovic at United, explaining: "It's been a massive help being with him, day in and day out. There is a lot to learn from him and hopefully I can bring those things to my game."
Arindam is ESPN FC's Manchester United correspondent. Follow him @ARejSport

How will Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte adapt to the Premier League?

Pep Guardiola addresses Samir Nasri's weight concerns and their chase for John Stones.

They are the ideas men but they are also the idealist and the pragmatist. Pep Guardiola has been the most influential tactician of the last decade. Antonio Conte was the most inspired at Euro 2016. The new Manchester City manager innovates and experiments. His Chelsea counterpart is more strategic and less romantic, designed with victory in mind.
Guardiola has secured notable triumphs and won 73 percent of his matches without it appearing his only objective. He has managed arguably the greatest club side in history, the Barcelona group of 2009-12. Conte coached an Italy team widely described as its least talented in half a century. They brilliantly dismembered Spain, whose personnel and playing style are still testament to Guardiola's gameplan.
Now they have both arrived in England with the added complication that if Roman Abramovich had got his way, Guardiola would have been at Stamford Bridge. Instead, masters of detail are rivals. Together, they ought to raise the standards of the Premier League, making it tactically better and, theoretically, leading to more games being decided in the dugout.
But that poses the question as to how they'll achieve it. Will they use blueprints developed in Barcelona, Munich and Turin, methods that worked with Catalonia, Bavaria and Italy's finest? Or will they turn to something both new to them and yet more familiar to both British audiences and Premier League players?

Guardiola and Conte have won plenty of trophies with their unique thinking. How will they fare in England?

Both Guardiola and Conte have argued that they are not inflexible ideologues. Guardiola marked his unveiling at the Etihad Stadium by presenting himself as an evolutionary, not a revolutionary. He stated he was a humble figure who will adapt to the English game, someone who needed to customise himself to the players at his disposal. There were, he said, only "two or three things I will not change," principles he has set in stone.
Guardiola also refuted Javier Mascherano's suggestion that it takes a year to adapt to his brand of football. "That is not true," he added. "What we want is so simple. What we want is so simple: when the opponent has the ball, take it back as soon as possible. When you have it, move it as much as possible and create as many chances as possible."
If Guardiola has been brought in to transform City, he has instead begun by portraying himself as the continuity candidate. Beyond talk of deploying midfielder Fernandinho as a centre-back and use of a back three for part of Thursday's 1-1 draw with Borussia Dortmund, his most unconventional ideas -- the 3-diamond-3, 3-1-4-2, 3-3-3-1 or even 2-3-5 formations, all of which he tested at Bayern Munich -- may be on the back-burner until he has first brought a winning habit.
Unlike David Alaba and Rafinha, it's hard to imagine the City full-backs thrust diagonally forward as wing-halves to operate in front of the central defenders. Instead, their duties may be familiar. Guardiola has spent much of his first two games favouring the 4-2-3-1 formation Manuel Pellegrini employed for much of last season.
The formation may be the same, however, but the implementation will be different. At the end of Guardiola's first season in Bavaria, the statisticians worked out that his Bayern's defensive line was, on average, 45 yards from their own goal. In Jupp Heynckes' final season, it had been 36 yards. The chances are that City will push up further, necessitating Joe Hart to operate as more of a sweeper-keeper in the style of Manuel Neuer or Victor Valdes.

Antonio Conte praised the spirit of his players following a hard fought 1-0 win over Liverpool.

As his teams have always averaged at least 65 percent of possession and City had the ball for 55.2 percent of their league games last season, it is likely they will play a more possession-based game, probably with Ilkay Gundogan operating as a pivote. More time will surely be devoted to creating angles for a pass. Guardiola's willingness to adjust to the culture of English football may also result in more traditional tactics: his Bayern team were more direct than Barcelona, indeed averaging the fifth-highest number of accurate long balls per game in last season's Bundesliga (admittedly, they were runaway leaders in the chart for short passes).
One change appears certain to be accelerated but has already begun. Under Roberto Mancini, City's nominal wide men, David Silva and Samir Nasri, came infield at every opportunity. Under Pellegrini, Raheem Sterling offered more natural width and Jesus Navas hugged the right touchline. Guardiola wants wingers to make the pitch as wide as possible, at least until they enter the final third so it creates more space in central positions. In Nolito (already signed) and Leroy Sane (hopefully on the way), he should have the players to do make the pitch as big as possible.
This system hints at Silva playing infield, which highlights another favourite tactic of Guardiola's: the false nine. Lionel Messi became the most prolific ever but it was notable that with a genuine No. 9 at Bayern, Robert Lewandowski, he used an orthodox striker. Sergio Aguero's position seems safe, yet the intriguing element will be offered in his absence: Silva, Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne in particular are potential false nines in the City squad. Guardiola could also opt to use a 4-2-3-1 as Pellegrini did at the end of his reign, fielding two strikers with Kelechi Iheanacho behind Aguero.
This last part is unlikely, and it's also an area where Conte and Guardiola differ.
The Italian is set to pair centre-forwards at Chelsea, probably Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi. He often has done, whether with Bari, Juventus or Italy. It is a break with Chelsea's past; for the past dozen years, their default shape has been a one-striker system. Since the early weeks of Jose Mourinho's first stint in charge, their only real (and mismatched) partnership occurred when Abramovich bought Andriy Shevchenko to partner Didier Drogba; even when the Ivorian and Nicolas Anelka played together, it was usually with the Frenchman on the right.
No side has won the English title while regularly selecting three centre-backs since Arsenal in 1989 and while his Juventus and Italy sides usually played 3-5-2, Conte now seems intent on preferring a 4-4-2 that can be described as 4-2-4; it was the formation he favoured at Bari. Having largely eschewed wingers in the subsequent five years, he will now select two. Conte called himself a "tailor" at his first press conference at Stamford Bridge but is now "anglicising" himself, tailoring his principles to his surroundings. "I adapt my idea of football to my players, not adapt my players in my idea of football," he told ESPN FC this week.

Kante will have a key role to play in Conte's plans as he mulls over using two strikers.

Conte's system may prompt comparisons with the reigning champions, Leicester, and not just because N'Golo Kante is a common denominator. Yet while Claudio Ranieri has proved it is possible to prosper with what had seemed a discredited tactic, Kante's energy can compensate for a numerical disadvantage and the 4-4-2 offers a defensive structure, it can limit a strategist's options.
Conte's Italy were wonderfully flexible, adapting their shape anywhere from 3-3-4 in possession and 4-4-2 without the ball, but as an out-and-out formation it can be harder to create overloads in midfield or get players in space between the lines, whether vertical or horizontal. It was that, as much as anything else, that enabled Italy to outwit and outmanoeuvre more talented teams who used a specialist holding midfielder and roving box-to-box midfielders. Conte may have restricted his options to be clever.
Perhaps he is trying to be more English than the English; Guardiola, too, is suggesting that his Dutch-influenced, Spanish passing game will be more British than his previous teams. With only two central midfielders, it is safe to assume Chelsea will have less possession than City. A shared feature that should appeal to Premier League crowds should be their work rate: Guardiola's pressing game requires it while Conte's Chelsea, particularly in the absence of European football, ought to be fit enough to outrun opponents.

Wijnaldum 'great signing for Liverpool' - former Newcastle boss McClaren

ESPN's Steve Nicol reacts to Georginio Wijnaldum's move to Liverpool and discusses his possible role.

Liverpool have done some shrewd business bringing in Georginio Wijnaldum, two of his former Newcastle United coaches have revealed to ESPN FC.
The Dutch international completed his move from Newcastle on Friday for a reported fee of £25 million, penning a five-year deal with the Reds. Wijnaldum departed the North East after one season, where his 11 goals and five assists could not prevent Newcastle from relegation to the Championship.
The 25-year-old made a move to the Premier League in July 2015 from PSV Eindhoven for £14.5m, signing under then-manager Steve McClaren.
McClaren, who also played against Wijnaldum when managing FC Twente in the Eredivisie, believes the transfer will be good for both parties and says that the all-purposeful midfielder can fit anywhere into Jurgen Klopp's side.
"I think it's a fantastic move for him," McClaren told ESPN FC. "I know him really well from my Holland days when he was at PSV and I always kept my eye on him. I had an opportunity to buy him and I had no hesitation because on the field he can play in various positions, he works and can score goals -- a big asset.
"In Newcastle, he played in midfield, he played a No. 10, he played on right side and left side and he showed his versatility, which was needed. He was a big, big player.
"I used to watch him in Holland a lot when he was No. 10. He didn't adjust to that very well in England and he played in central midfield. He's got to find a best position. As he's getting older, he needs to establish a position.
"But it's a great signing by Liverpool because Liverpool play in that flexible way and [Klopp] wants players who have a high energy, can press, can deal with the ball, can take the ball in tight situations and, most of all, score and assist."
McClaren added: "He's fit, flexible and mobile. I remember one or two goals where he made unbelievable 80-yard sprints to get from one end into the other and in the box.

Back by popular demand... The Melwood lean...#WelcomeWijnaldum pic.twitter.com/lAS8cxIrcQ

- Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 22, 2016

"He always arrives in the box at the right time and has that composure to be able to finish the move, which not a lot of players have. There's more to come -- he's just got to find the best position."
According to Paul Simpson, McClaren's assistant coach during his time at the helm of St. James' Park, the midfielder's leadership skills and attitude were a big reason as to why Newcastle were so keen to make him the most expensive signing of Mike Ashley's reign of the club.
"We could see he was a leader of the team -- the top man for PSV in their championship-winning season," Simpson said. "We just knew that we would get assists from him, goals from him and that was the sort of thing that stood out to us.
"We just thought he was a really creative player who could stand up and grab a game by the scruff of the neck and try and get wins for the team."
Simpson continued: "He can talk a glass eye to sleep when it comes to talking about football. He's someone who can recognise problems on the pitch. If he has the trust of players around him, then he can actually solve any little issues on the pitch. He can see if for himself and, if people are prepared to listen, I'm quite sure he do that for Liverpool.
"I'm sure the experience of Newcastle for a year would have stood him in good stead because, as a young player, he probably hasn't experienced playing in a poor, struggling side. He struggled a little bit with that and actually standing up to the challenge and being the one who then went and took it on.
"When he was right, he was a real standout player for us. A game in particular that you look at, the Liverpool game at home when he was outstanding and got a goal, he was that sort of player who could do that and I think going into a good Liverpool side, he will stand out even more."
Glenn is ESPN FC's Liverpool correspondent. You can follow him on Twitter @GlennPrice94.

David Moyes succeeds Sam Allardyce as Sunderland manager

Former Everton and Man Utd boss David Moyes has been named the new manager of Sunderland. We take a look at the Scotsman's stats.

Sunderland have appointed David Moyes as their new manager on a four-year deal.
Moyes replaces Sam Allardyce who left the Black Cats to take charge of England.
The former Preston, Everton and Manchester United boss has been out of work since leaving Real Sociedad in November.
Upon his appointment, the Scot told Sunderland's official website: "I am delighted to have joined Sunderland. I am relishing the challenge and excited by the opportunity.
"I have taken over a big British club, with a great support and I'm looking forward to working in the Premier League again. I look forward to continuing the good work done by Sam."
Sunderland chairman Ellis Short added that Moyes had been a long-term target for the club.
He said: "We are absolutely delighted to welcome David Moyes to Sunderland, who was by far and away our first choice.
"He is a man whose football pedigree speaks for itself and is someone I have long admired. I have spoken with him on many occasions and I have always been hugely impressed. He was my number one managerial target for the last five appointments, but his desire to honour existing contracts meant we were not able to bring him to Sunderland previously. To be able to finally welcome him as our manager is fantastic news for the club."
It has been reported that Moyes was contacted soon after Allardyce was interviewed by the Football Association about their managerial vacancy.
Moyes will inherit a side that Allardyce kept in the Premier League with a game to spare last season after failing to win any of their opening nine fixtures of the campaign. However, they were only beaten once, by eventual champions Leicester, in their final 11 games.
So far this summer Sunderland have not signed any new players to the squad although Emanuele Giaccherini and Santiago Vergini have been sold while Wes Brown, Steven Fletcher and Danny Graham were released.
Moyes becomes Sunderland's sixth permanent manager since Steve Bruce's departure in November 2011.
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Andre Gomes at Barca leads to doubts over Ivan Rakitic and Arda Turan

ESPN FC's Steve Nicol and Raf Honigstein discuss Andre Gomes' surprise move to Barcelona.

There can be no doubt that Barcelona are building a squad with half an eye towards the future, but what will the consequences be on the present?
Late on Thursday, after former Diario SPORT editor Joan Vehils had tweeted that the club had signed Valencia midfielder Andre Gomes, a press release was hastily put together confirming that the Portugal international would be the fourth man to walk through the Camp Nou door this summer.
Barca, who have won the season's first Clasico by beating Madrid in the transfer battle for Gomes, will pay €35 million up front to Valencia, with another €20m potentially due in add-ons. Martin Montoya is expected to head in the other direction, too.
Gomes follows Denis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti and Lucas Digne in making the switch to Barca this summer. All four of them have one thing in common: youth. All of them are 22 bar Digne, who turned 23 on July 20, and all could potentially have long and prosperous careers in the Catalan capital.
However, not all the signings make as much sense as the next one.
With the buyback cost at just over €3m, it would have been madness not to bring Suarez back from Villarreal, while Barca hope that France international Umtiti will be the centre-back stalwart they've craved for years.
Digne's arrival did prompt some questions. Was a left-back really a priority when right-back Dani Alves fled to Juventus earlier this summer? With Adriano likely to leave, sporting director Robert Fernandez explained that competition for Jordi Alba was important, adding that the right side of defence is well covered in the form of Aleix Vidal and Sergi Roberto.
Which brings us back to Gomes.
Both Fernandez and Luis Enrique had openly spoken about the need for the club to sign another forward, someone to occasionally ease the burden on Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar.
And that was where the Catalan media had focused their attention -- would it be Luciano Vietto? Kevin Gameiro? Lucas Perez? Robin van Persie has even reportedly put himself forward for the role.
It came as somewhat of a bolt from the blue, then, when the Gomes signing was confirmed. That said, it wasn't a complete surprise; both Mundo Deportivo and SPORT had featured the Portuguese on their covers as far back as June, relaying details of Fernandez's talks with Valencia. But those reports had tailed off, and it looked earlier this week as if Madrid had moved into pole position.
There's a long list of reasons why Barca would want Gomes; his explosiveness from midfield should complement the way their style has evolved since Luis Enrique was appointed.
One of his former managers at Valencia, Gary Neville, felt he had potential to go on to be one of the best midfielders in the world, explaining that he felt his best position was on the left of a midfield three -- which is also where Andres Iniesta and Denis Suarez prefer to play.
He's still rough around the edges and often wasteful with his final ball, but when raw talent like that is available, it makes sense that teams of the calibre of Barca and Madrid act.
But Barca now have a problem. It's a problem any manager, admittedly, would love to have, but one which Luis Enrique is going to have to carefully manage.
With Gomes on board, he now has 10 players who would classify their best position as midfield. Two of them -- Javier Mascherano and Roberto -- will be used in defence, but that still leaves eight men vying for three positions.

Andre Gomes moves to Barcelona following a victorious Euro 2016 with Portugal.

The first thought which springs to mind is bad news for Arda Turan. The Turkish international struggled in his first season with the club, although his agent, Ahmet Bulut, has insisted he wants to stay.
If an offer came in close to the €34m that was spent on him, though, the player's opinion may not matter so much as he'd likely be ushered towards the exit.
Ivan Rakitic, not Arda, has been the first player to come into the spotlight after the Gomes deal, though.
"I think it's time to go," tweeted Miquel Sors, Rakitic's supposed agent, after Barca completed their fourth purchase of the summer, before following that up with a string of messages backtracking and clarifying this is not the end of Rakitic and Barca. However, later on Friday Rakitic did not look like a man on his way out and clarified that his only agent is Arturo Canales, effectively discrediting Sors' comment.
Nevertheless, b then it was too late. The Catalan and Spanish press had already picked up on it and gone big. It's a taste of what is set to come.
Sergio Busquets, Denis Suarez and Iniesta should be safe, too. But will Luis Enrique be able to find regular minutes for Sergi Samper, Rafinha and Arda?
Something -- or someone, rather -- will have to give. Gomes' arrival and Barca's planning for the future is going to cost someone his present. Eight into three, even with rotations and a heavy schedule, does not fit.
Samuel Marsden covers FC Barcelona for ESPN FC. Twitter: @samuelmarsden.

Ex-Kano justice commissioner leads Saraki, Ekweremadu’s trial today

Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki at Code of Conduct Tribunal

Ade Adesomoju, Abuja

A four-man team will today take over the prosecution of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki; his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, and two others on charges of forgery of the Senate Standing Orders used for the presiding officers’ elections of the 8th Senate in June 2015.

The Federal Government, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, had, on June 10, preferred the charges against Saraki, Ekweremadu and a former Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, and his then deputy, Benedict Efeturi.

The accused persons were subsequently, on June 27, arraigned on two counts of criminal conspiracy and forgery before Justice Yusuf Halilu of a Federal Capital Territory High Court in Jabi, Abuja.

The Federal Government stated that the offence of conspiracy is punishable under Section 97 (1) of the Penal Code Act and offence of forgery with “fraudulent intent” punishable under Section 364 of the same law.

The court had, after the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges on June 27, fixed Monday (today) for the commencement of trial.

But sources in the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja confirmed to our correspondent on Sunday that a four-man team would take over the prosecution of the accused persons from the Director, Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Diri, as the case comes up today.

Our correspondent confirmed that the new prosecution team was led by a former Attorney General of Kano State, Mr. Aliyu Umar (SAN).

Born on June 16, 1952, Aliyu was a Director, Public Prosecutions in the Ministry of Justice of Kano State between 1986 and 1988.

The 64-year-old lawyer later served as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of the state between 2003 and 2011.

Other members of the team are a Lagos-based public interest litigation lawyer, Jiti Ogunye; Raphael Origo, and a state counsel from the Federal Ministry of Justice, Yetunde Adeola-Cole.

The case, scheduled for commencement of trial today, may be stalled by logistics of handing over of the case by the DPPF to the new set of prosecutors.

“I have no information about whether or not the handover has taken place. But from experience, since the case is coming up for the first time after the case was assigned to the new team of prosecutors, it is not likely that any serious thing will take place tomorrow (Monday),” a lawyer in the Federal Ministry of Justice told our correspondent on condition of anonymity on Sunday.

The PUNCH had exclusively reported on July 8, that a four-man team, whose members’ identities had not been known, would take over the case today.

The Prof. Itse Sagay-led Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption was involved in their training for over one month in Abuja.

Our correspondent learnt on Sunday that at least a lawyer from the Justice ministry was among the four lawyers in each of the teams while the rest are private legal practitioners.

The PUNCH had reported that the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, deliberately assigned the forgery case to the special prosecution team for “efficient prosecution and management of the case”.

It was learnt that the team was given the liberty by the AGF to review the case-file “and make necessary adjustment or amendments” where necessary to enhance the prospect of a successful prosecution of the case.

According to sources, the Aliyu-led team was also given the fiat by the AGF to handle any civil case that might arise from the forgery of the Senate Standing Rules.

When asked by our correspondent, one of the sources could not confirm whether the fiat given to the team covered an ongoing civil case relating to the forgery of the Senate Standing Orders before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The AGF is one of the defendants in the case which was filed by a serving Senator, Gilbert Nnaji, who is seeking an order of the court quashing the police report issued on the forgery case.

There is another case relating to it that was filed by five All Progressives Congress senators – Abu Ibrahim, Kabir Marafa, Ajayi Boroffice, Olugbenga Ashafa and Suleiman Hunkuyi.

The AGF is not a party to the senators’ suit.

“I cannot confirm to you if the fiat given to the prosecutors covers the pending civil case, but I can confirm to you that they are asked to handle civil cases that may likely arise from the case,”  a source told our correspondent on Sunday.

None of the four prosecutors could be reached for their comments on Sunday.

Ogunye was unreachable when our correspondent tried to reach him through his telephone on Sunday.

When contacted on Sunday, Isah said he could not disclose the names of the prosecutors to whom the forgery case was assigned.

“Since the case is coming up in court tomorrow (Monday, today), I can only advise you to wait till tomorrow,” Isah said.

France's Golden Boot winner Antoine Griezmann laments 'cruel' loss

Antoine Griezmann won the Golden Boot award at Euro 2016 after scoring six goals and notching two assists in 555 minutes of action for hosts France. Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Griezmann's teammate Olivier Giroud finished second and third, respectively.
However, Griezmann, 25, and France lost 1-0 to Portugal in the final on Sunday, and the striker said he couldn't celebrate the award at the moment because of his disappointment at not helping his team to the title.
The Atletico Madrid player had been one of the tournament's real star men, but his two best chances versus Portugal did not find the back of the net, leaving Griezmann to say he might celebrate the award at a later time.

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"It's cruel and magnificent at the same time," Griezmann said. "We've lived through some extraordinary moments, and the saddest moments as well. We have to learn. But tonight we gave it all and we have no regrets. I'm proud of the squad, proud of everybody. Now we have to come back stronger.
"This time we didn't manage it, unlike against Germany. It is a pity. We hit the post, I had chances as well and I almost scored. The goalkeeper played well, too. It's frustrating, but we must come back stronger."
When asked if he was proud to have won the award, Griezmann said he couldn't focus on that so soon after the loss and chose to keep his thoughts on the team for now.
"Maybe later I can feel proud, but for now, it's about the group. I'm very disappointed for my teammates. I really wanted to offer them this trophy, but I couldn't score and I'm disappointed."

Cristiano Ronaldo could never have imagined winning Euro 2016 like this

SAINT-DENIS, France -- Cristiano Ronaldo will have dreamed of this moment for years. He has won almost everything there is to win for his clubs, but he had never won anything for his nation. Even in his strangest dreams, he could never have imagined that it would happen for him this way.
This is not how Ronaldo wins. Ronaldo wins with well-struck shots, hit with such ferocity -- or, on occasion, sublime subtlety like a back-hell -- that crushes ordinary men like tin cans. He had never won from the technical area, arms aloft, directing his players through the last stages of a lung-busting cup final prior to Sunday.
A glimpse into the future? Ronaldo the manager? Probably not. He will need neither the money nor the stress. But here he was, injured and exhausted, channelling every thing he had, every last ounce of personality and celebrity, all in the hope that it might make some kind of difference on the pitch. And perhaps it did.
Asked afterward if he felt that this was the high point of his career, he agreed. "I always say I win everything in terms of clubs, then as individual, but I always say I never win something for Portugal," he said. "But I win tonight. I'm so happy, it's a moment I cannot describe.
      "I'm so glad, it's something unbelievable in my career, something that I deserve. Today I had bad luck because I had a small injury, but my colleagues do it. They run, they fight, we played against everyone, we played against 70,000 people in the stadium, nobody believed, but we won." It would have been a profound shame had Ronaldo's tournament ended, as it seemed it might, with the sight of him being carried from the pitch, his knee beyond immediate repair, his face streaked with tears. For all that he can rile and annoy people, he is one of the greatest footballers of his generation. He will be 33 when the next World Cup rolls around, 35 for the next European Championship. This really was it.
If he had failed out on the turf, that would be fine. That would be football. But to be neutralised by a crunching challenge before he'd even had a chance to impose himself on the game, that just felt like cruel fortune. He didn't want to go. He tried twice to continue, even as the French fans jeered and howled. But eventually even he had to relent. His race was run. On the pitch, at least.
"It was tough because we lost our main man," Pepe said. "We had all our hopes in him because he's a player who can at any minute score a goal, because we know his abilities, but when he said he couldn't go on, I tried to tell my teammates that we have to win it for him, that we were going to win it for him, that we were going to fight for him."
    Ronaldo, knee strapped and training top on, reemerged at full-time as his teammates slumped, drained and depleted on the turf. He strode through their ranks like a king before a battle, a quiet word here, a pat on the shoulder there. He did it again after the first period of extra time, looking measured and composed.
But when Eder slammed home his 109th-minute winner, that composure evaporated. Ronaldo celebrated alone on the sidelines, his hands over his face as the entire bench raced onto the pitch to mob the goal scorer. The tears flowed freely, the adrenaline coursing through the Real Madrid man's veins. He couldn't sit down. He couldn't take his place with the other players. He had to be there, on the touchline, making an impact. Any kind of impact.
One member of the coaching staff tried to urge him back to the bench, but with limited success. Like the moths that surrounded the Stade de France floodlights in their thousands, Ronaldo was irresistibly drawn to the action. In the end, the coaches left him alone, happy to let him shuffle up and down the touchline, bellowing instructions at players who were probably too tired to listen. And the clock ticked down.
Pepe, named man of the match, laughed when a journalist asked him how he felt about his new "assistant manager," but he was diplomatic about it.
"The gaffer is our leader," he said. "On the pitch, we're all managers, because the gaffer lays down the tactics and on the pitch we do our best, but in fact the older players are there to incentivise and help younger ones."

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates winning his first international trophy as Portugal topped France 1-0 in the Euro 2016 final.

Seconds before the final whistle, Ronaldo grabbed coach Fernando Santos and shook him vigorously. Santos looked awkward and uncertain. Managers do not celebrate until everything is confirmed. But then referee Mark Clattenburg blew his whistle and there was nothing left to worry about.
"Our skipper, he had an immense effort," Santos said later. "We had amazing team spirit, he had amazing team spirit. Twice he tried as much as he could to get back on the pitch, but he couldn't do it. But being there in the locker room, on the bench it was very important to us, the way he reached the lads, incentivised them, he believed, like I believed, that tonight was our night."
Again, the bench ran to the pitch to celebrate. Again, Ronaldo stood alone for a moment, eyes wide and flushed in the face. He hugged a coach and they fell to the floor, Ronaldo's shoulders heaving. And then he was back on his feet. He limped out to the pitch, congratulated his teammates one by one and because, even in the strangest dreams, some variables will always remain the same, he peeled off his shirt.
This is the victory Ronaldo had craved for so long. The international success that moves him, permanently if his retirement holds, ahead of Lionel Messi: one medal to none. It is the culmination of a life spent in constant pursuit of excellence. No, this is not how he would have imagined it happening, but as he lifted the trophy above his head and roared with delight, you suspect that he wasn't even remotely concerned.

Nigerian artistes without a hit song

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’Nonye Ben-Nwankwo, and Ademola Olonilua

Lami Philips

Lami is more popular on social media than on stage. She has been lucky to be invited to one or two not- so- popular gigs but even her performance at such gigs, isn’t earthshaking but almost boring.

The singer made her debut into the Nigerian music scene with the release of her debut album, Intuition, in November, 2009.

Some may excuse her since her songs are mostly love songs and not dancehall; however, she has not been able to repeat what she did with her ‘Know’song, which kind of topped charts for a while. Some people feel that the song was acceptable because of MI’s input (she featured him in the song).

She may have felt featuring another known person in another song would earn her some kudos in her career but then, the Kotobata, which featured Olamide, made little or no impact in her career.

Presh

Presh may be wondering which god he offended; since he and his former Best Friend Forever (BFF), KC broke up, Presh’s career has almost gone into oblivion.

As a group, their (KCPresh) career wasn’t even fantastic as they didn’t have a great hit that could earn them fantastic points even after they had won at the Nigerian Breweries sponsored music reality show, Star Quest.  However, they had performed on stage for so many years (all thanks to Nigerian Breweries sponsored concerts and gigs) with other A list international and Nigerian musicians.

Interestingly, they broke up and KC started dishing out club bangers back to back while Presh is…just Presh.

 When it looked as if his career was at a zero level, Okwudili Umenyiora’s Eric Manny Records came to the rescue and even went as far as ‘packaging’ Presh with exotic cars and other incentives.

Presh tried… he actually tried to make a comeback. His song, Say Dem, featuring Davido, could have earned him a place but oops, Presh has yet to deliver songs his fans would die to listen to.

2shotz

Once upon a time, 2shotz was the man of the moment. That time is quickly fading in the minds of many; so many people may not even recall what songs shot him to the limelight.

His song, ‘Superman,’ which was released in 2012, would have put him back on track because it gained a lot of public acceptance but that did not seem to be enough as he still wasn’t able to top charts

Apart from allegedly battering his girlfriend Beverly Osu and later on, his wife, and the stories making headlines, nothing more has been heard from the talented guy who used to make so many fans dance with the great songs he put out back then.

K Switch

Well, K Switch is popular; after all, he is D’banj’s biological brother. But that may be the only gene they share because musically, they are certainly world apart!

He was a member of the defunct Mo’hit group but even back then, K Switch was just there, he wasn’t so spectacular.

His peculiar style of music, which tilts towards reggae, could have got him a breakthrough but the likes of Patoranking (who sing similar genre) came on the scene and practically chased him out of the league with their hit songs.

But K Switch could be pardoned a bit, his ‘Obimo’, featuring D’banj may not have topped so many charts but it is a good song. ‘His’, For Example featuring Olamide and Wizkid and Jaburata could not be said to have done great.

Styl-Plus

Who remembers Styl-Plus again? This group of boys held sway so many years ago and their song, Olufunmi, was a big hit. Sadly, that was   many, many years ago.

Back then, the lads stormed all the happening gigs, jumping from one point of the stage to another and so many fans, especially the females, went wild just at the sight of them. They were even dubbed Nigeria’s Westlife.

In 2006 when they launched their album, it was alleged that the star-studded event in Abuja and Lagos cost over N10 million making it one of the most expensive album launch in Nigerian history.

They may have felt they could do better than they did in their first album as they released their sophomore album, ‘Back and better’.  But that effort wasn’t so good and that was how the boys gradually faded.

Now, Styl Plus might need to reintroduce themselves to a lot of people if they should make a comeback as so many talents have come and overtaken them in the music business.

 Sasha P

Thank God Sasha P got another calling. Her musical career became practically dead and so many people felt that in order to remain relevant, the one-time rap queen switched to clothing and shoe business.

But there was a time the pretty babe was a rap queen. Yes, Sasha ruled, at least the female musicians’ scene. But it looked as if the babe couldn’t stand the competition when other female singers came on the stage.

By the way, Sasha broke into the Nigerian entertainment scene with the defunct hip-hop group, Trybesmen in 1994 when the first members, Eldee, Kaboom and Freestyle, met in Lagos. The group later broke up and everyone went their separate ways.

 In 2002, she sang, ‘Oya’ and ‘Work’ it but she did not gain prominence till she released ‘Emi le gan’, which was widely accepted, ditto for her ‘Adara’, which she released in 2008.

 In 2012, she sang, ‘Bad Girl P’ and the babe decided to go back and face what may likely be a better career, her clothing business.

PHOTOS: Mourinho’s new coaching crew

Jose Mourinho

Six newcomers have joined the Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho as backroom staff.

According manutd.com, the newcomers will join Mourinho in working with the first team and the existing specialist departments at the Aon Training Complex.

Below are their pictures: assistant manager, Rui Faria; coaches Silvino Louro, Ricardo Formosinho, Carlos Lalin and Emilio Alvarez plus analyst Giovanni Cerra.

Rui Faria

Silvino Louro

Ricardo Formosinho

Carlos Lalin

Emilio Alvarez

Giovanni Cerra

Source: manutd.com

Clattenburg to become first Englishman Euro final ref in 52yrs

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Clattenburg

Mark Clattenburg has been named the referee for the UEFA Euro 2016 final between hosts France and Portugal, making him the first Englishman to oversee a Euro final in 52 years.
The 41-year-old will be joined for Sunday’s game in Paris by fellow Professional Game Match Official Limited assistants Simon Beck and Jake Collin.
Anthony Taylor and Andre Marriner were selected as additional assistants, while Viktor Kassai and Gyorgy Ring both from Hungary will be the fourth official and assistant referee.
No Englishman has been chosen as referee for a UEFA European Championship final since Arthur Ellis and Arthur Holland officiated the first two finals in 1960 and 1964, respectively.

Sunday’s final will be Clattenburg’s fourth appointment of the tournament, following Belgium v Italy, Czech Republic v Croatia and Switzerland v Poland.
The appointment marks another milestone in the career of the former electrician who became an international referee in 2007.
Officiating Sunday’s final would mean Clattenburg had officiated three major finals in less than two months.
He was the referee for the FA Cup and Champions League final both in May.

Spanish judge drops case against Neymar

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Neymar

A Spanish judge on Friday dropped a fraud and corruption case against Brazilian superstar Neymar and his father in relation to the player’s 2013 transfer to Barcelona.

The case had been brought by the Brazilian investment fund DIS, former owners of the rights of the player, now 24 and who moved to the Camp Nou from Santos in his homeland.

DIS, which held 40 percent of Neymar’s sporting rights when he played at Santos, had claimed it was cheated out of its real share of the transfer due to parallel contracts that Barcelona and Santos allegedly used to hide the true cost.

High Court judge Jose de la Mata ruled that while the case “could have sporting, ethical and disciplinary repercussions”, it “cannot be pursued in the criminal courts”, the court said in a statement.

Neymar and his father, who acts as his agent, and Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell all denied any wrongdoing when they appeared in court in February.

The ruling comes less than a month after Barcelona accepted to pay a 5.5-million-euro ($6.2 million) fine over the contested transfer in a deal with prosecutors that allowed the club to avoid trial on tax evasion charges.

The agreement freed up Bartomeu and Rosell from possible criminal proceedings that could have seen them jailed.

Barcelona had originally published the fee in the shady transfer as 57.1 million euros, with 40 million euros of that given to the player’s family.

But Spanish authorities believe the true transfer figure was at least 83 million euros.

Santos, the Brazilian club of a young Pele where Neymar started his career, received 17.1 million, 6.8 million euros of which went to DIS.

But Spanish judicial authorities believe another 26 million euros from the parallel contracts were shared between Neymar, his family and Santos, with the DIS and the taxman missing out on their cuts.

The judge said irregularities in Neymar’s transfer were detected but it was an issue for a civil court, not a criminal court to settle. He added that it was not up to him to decide “if FIFA rules had been respected”

Neymar, widely regarded as one of the finest talents in world football, last week signed a five-year contract extension with Barcelona which includes a buy out clause of up to 250 million euros.

The player was already under contract until 2018 with Barcelona and the deal will keep him at the Catalan side until June 30, 2021.

The prolific Brazil striker has played brilliantly for the Catalan club as part of a much feared attacking trident alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.

He helped Barcelona win the Spanish league last season for the second year in a row, narrowly beating their fierce rivals Real Madrid.

But speculation had mounted around whether or not Neymar would extend his stay at the Camp Nou or make another lucrative move.

Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City had been named as possible suitors.

The scandal surrounding Neymar’s transfer prompted Rossell to resign as Barcelona president in January 2014.

The club and its players have been plagued by a series of legal woes.

A Barcelona court on Wednesday sentenced Barcelona’s Argentine striker Lionel Messi and his father to 21 months in jail for tax fraud although they are not expected to serve the term as is common in Spain for sentences of less than two years for non-violent crimes.

Messi’s Barcelona and Argentina teammate Javier Mascherano was sentenced in December to a one-year suspended sentence for tax fraud after he was found guilty of failing to pay 1.5 million in taxes for 2011 and 2012.