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When Manchester United meet Everton on Monday it will be exactly one year since Ruben Amorim took charge of his first game against Ipswich Town. It has been a highly eventful and not always happy 12 months featuring explosions of anger, fall-outs with players and many defeats. Many people, including the man himself, thought he might not even end up completing a year in the job.

But Amorim is still here and he feels far more equipped to succeed than when he arrived. There are some signs he is succeeding, albeit at a slow pace. When he arrived United were 14th in the Premier League table, on 11 points from nine games, with four defeats and a goal difference of -3. 

They ended the campaign in an even worse position, slumping to 15th with 42 points and a goal difference of -10. They lost 18 matches, 14 of them on the Portuguese's watch. They are in a better position now, sitting much higher up the table with 18 points after 11 games and a goal difference of plus one. They have lost three matches but are unbeaten in their last five, their longest spell without a league loss since February 2024.

According to Opta, United's 12-game rolling points-per-game average dropped to 0.83 at two stages last season after Amorim had taken charge, the lowest it had been since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Amorim then managed to outdo himself early in this campaign when that average dropped to 0.75, almost half the amount it was when Erik ten Hag was sacked. But now their rolling points-per-game average is at 1.75, the highest it has been since December 2023.

Performances have also improved. According to Opta, United's non-penalty expected goals (xG) per game has increased by 20 percent, from 1.24 under Amorim last season to 1.48 this term. United are therefore both defending and attacking better than before. The improvements show that the club's hierarchy, above all co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, were right to keep their faith in their manager and resist sacking him at the lowest points of last season, as well as in September following the defeat at Brentford, when the most important pundits on English television were saying enough was enough. 

Now Amorim needs to build on the momentum and start to pay Ratcliffe back by delivering irrefutable, and not incremental, evidence that the team are improving and that he can take them back to where they belong…

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  Ruthless approach

  Five out of the 16 players that appeared in Amorim's first game at Ipswich one year ago are no longer at the club. While Amorim had little say in Jonny Evans retiring or Christian Eriksen leaving when his contract expired, he had a big say in the departures of Rasmus Hojlund, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Andre Onana.

  Rashford has the paradoxical status of scoring the first goal of the Amorim era and then being the first to be hounded out of the club by the manager. The forward was cast aside from the squad on the day of the derby at Manchester City just three weeks after the coach's debut match at Portman Road, never playing for the club again. 

  The player's wavering commitment to the team both during matches and off the pitch had been bubbling under the surface for a long time and Ten Hag did not know how to handle the situation properly, giving him lenient punishments for stepping out of line before. Amorim, by contrast, took a ruthless approach to one of United's highest-paid, and their most famous homegrown player of the last decade.

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  Changing the culture

  Amorim cut Garnacho a little more slack after also dropping him for the derby but the tempestuous winger repeatedly defied the manager's authority and was ordered to find a new club after his petulant response to not starting the Europa League final. Amorim also took a no-nonsense approach with Jadon Sancho, Antony and Tyrell Malacia (the Dutch defender is now back in the squad) by placing them in the so-called 'bomb squad', forbidding them from training with the first team. 

  It may have reduced the players' market value but it also sent out a clear message about who was in charge. Leny Yoro recently praised the manager's approach to the players who tested his authority, declaring: "We cannot build something with bad energy or bad atmosphere or bad characters." 

  The revelation from that Amorim singled out Manuel Ugarte for criticism on the same day he told Garnacho he had to leave also demonstrated that he held everyone to the same standard given he had worked with the midfielder at Sporting CP. also revealed that Amorim has made the players give more of their time to signing autographs and posing for photos for fans before and after matches at Old Trafford. Indeed, Amorim has led by example in this respect: he regularly attends to autograph and selfie hunters at the training ground.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Raising the bar

  That might seem like an insignificant detail but it is another reminder of how committed Amorim is to changing the culture of the dressing room and it seems to have worked, with the team looking more cohesive. The job, however, is far from complete. The way the team froze against Grimsby, when Amorim said "the players spoke really loud", was a reminder that they struggle to get up for every single game.

  Hojlund and Onana did not show the coach a lack of respect or lack of commitment to Amorim in the same way as Garnacho and Rashford, although he was similarly merciless with the duo, essentially determining that neither player was quite good enough to play for his team. The jury is still out on whether that was the right decision with regards to Hojlund, who has impressed on loan at Napoli while his replacement Benjamin Sesko has struggled to settle into the team and is now injured for at least a month. 

  The decision to let Onana join Trabzonspor on loan and sign Senne Lammens, however, looks like a masterstroke, with the Belgian giving United some much-needed peace of mind in goal. Onana's reported eagerness to sign an improved contract after the whole squad saw their salaries cut by missing out on Champions League football, which apparently did not go down well with the coach, further feeds into the sense that Amorim is improving the culture within the team.

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  Fighting in adversity

  A sign that this change in culture is benefitting the team on the pitch can be seen in the amount of late goals United have been scoring this season. They have struck in the 80th minute or later in their last four games, with each goal proving crucial to the final result. Harry Maguire's 84th-minute header against Liverpool saw United snatch a first win at Anfield in 10 seasons and showed their resilience as they could quite easily have caved in when Cody Gakpo had levelled a few minutes earlier. 

  The following week Bryan Mbeumo scored in the sixth minute of added time to kill off Brighton's comeback from three goals down, ensuring United won 4-2 rather than swallowing a damaging 3-3 draw. Amad Diallo's wonder-volley in the 80th minute grabbed a draw at Nottingham Forest, as did Matthijs de Ligt's 95th-minute header at Tottenham in the last game. Towards the start of the season, Bruno Fernandes' penalty in the 96th minute gave United victory over Burnley after they had twice surrendered the lead in the second half. 

  In total, the late goals have been worth an extra six points from 11 games so far this season, or eight if you count Mbeumo's strike against Brighton as preventing the Seagulls from completing their fightback. In Amorim's 27 league games last term his side scored after the 80th minute in five games, salvaging a total of nine points. "We fight in every adversity," said Amorim after the draw at Tottenham.

أجرى الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم، مراسم قرعة بطولة كأس مصر، للموسم الجديد 2025-2026، اليوم السبت بمقر الجبلاية، لتحديد مواجهات دور الـ 32.

ويشارك في دور الـ 32 من بطولة كأس مصر، 21 ناديًا من الدوري الممتاز (القسم الأول)، إضافة إلى 11 ناديًا من القسم الثاني المتأهلين عبر المراحل التمهيدية.

ويتواجد من أندية القسم الثاني: أبو قير للأسمدة، السكة الحديد، القناة، بترول أسيوط، المصرية للاتصالات، بلدية المحلة، مسار إف سي، تليفونات بني سويف، بور فؤاد، ألو ايجيبت، دكرنس.

طالع | طريق الأهلي في كأس مصر 2025-2026 منافس الأهلي في دور الـ 32 من كأس مصر

وتحدد فريق المصرية للاتصالات ليكون منافسا للنادي الأهلي، في دور الـ 32 من كأس مصر. مواجهات دور الـ 32 من كأس مصر

الأهلي ضد المصرية للاتصالات

فاركو ضد تليفونات بني سويف

البنك الأهلي ضد بورفؤاد

إنبي ضد المقاولون العرب

بتروچيت ضد وادي دجلة

مودرن سبورت ضد القناة

الجونة ضد بترول أسيوط

بيراميدز ضد مسار

الزمالك ضد بلدية المحلة

سيراميكا كليوباترا ضد أبو قير للأسمدة

طلائع الجيش ضد السكة الحديد

الاتحاد السكندري ضد كهرباء الإسماعيلية

حرس الحدود ضد الإسماعيلي

سموحة ضد غزل المحلة

زد ضد ألو إيچيبت

المصري ضد دكرنس

يواصل منتخب مصر الأول لكرة القدم استعداداته الجادة في إطار معسكره المقام حاليًا بدولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة، وذلك ضمن فترة التوقف الدولي الجارية، استعدادًا للتصفيات المؤهلة لكأس العالم 2026.

ويشارك منتخب مصر في بطولة ودية دولية تضم منتخبات أوزبكستان وكاب فيردي وإيران، حيث تمثل فرصة للجهاز الفني بقيادة حسام حسن، لتجربة عناصر جديدة وتقييم الجاهزية الفنية والبدنية قبل الارتباطات الرسمية المقبلة.

وعلم موقع بطولات أن الجهاز الفني للمنتخب لن يستدعي بديلًا لمحمود حسن تريزيجيه، جناح النادي الأهلي، بعد استبعاده من المعسكر نتيجة الإصابة التي تعرض لها خلال مشاركته في نهائي كأس السوبر المصري أمام الزمالك في العاصمة أبوظبي.

طالع أيضًا | لتحديد نقاط القوة والضعف.. حسام حسن يستعد لمواجهة مصر وأوزبكستان بطريقة خاصة

وفضل الجهاز الفني عدم استدعاء تريزيجيه والاكتفاء بالقائمة الحالية لخوض مباريات الدورة الودية، خاصة في ظل ضيق الوقت وصعوبة انضمام عناصر جديدة إلى المعسكر الخارجي في الإمارات.

ومن المقرر أن يلتقي منتخب مصر نظيره أوزبكستان يوم الجمعة المقبل، الموافق 14 نوفمبر الجاري، في مباراة نصف نهائي البطولة الودية، على أحد الملاعب الإماراتية، على أن يواجه الفائز من لقاء كاب فيردي وإيران في المباراة النهائية.

Liverpool spent big back in 2018 on Virgil van Dijk and Alisson, with the pair helping transform the Reds into Premier League winners once again.

More recently, those at Anfield have splashed the cash on Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, with the latter becoming Liverpool’s all-time record signing. However, over the years, the Reds have also missed out on bringing some iconic names to Anfield.

Sir Alex Ferguson named Liverpool star as the best player in England and as good as Keane

This could settle the debate once and for all…

3 ByBen Goodwin May 17, 2025 10 superstars Liverpool almost signed 10 Cristiano Ronaldo

Starting off with arguably the biggest missed deal in Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2003. Liverpool thought they had their man for just £4m when the forward was at Sporting CP.

Former Reds assistant Phil Thompson recalled the story of Ronaldo’s failed move to Merseyside, with Manchester United hijacking a deal.

9 Jude Bellingham

Liverpool were close to signing Jude Bellingham when he was at Borussia Dortmund back in 2023, however, the Reds would pull out of a big-money deal.

Former Reds stars Jordan Henderson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were even looking to lure Bellingham while they were with England, but instead, the midfielder chose Real Madrid.

8 Dani Alves

One of the best right-backs the game has ever seen, Dani Alves came close to a Liverpool transfer in 2006.

Rafael Benitez and the Reds struck an £8m agreement to sign the Brazilian but instead opted to use the funds on Dirk Kuyt. Alves would go on to sign for Barcelona two years later.

7 Dele Alli

Before signing for Tottenham in 2015 from MK Dons, Dele Alli had interest from Liverpool, and being a Reds supporter growing up, was keen on a move to Anfield.

Brendan Rodgers was in charge at the time and once admitted a deal was close, but Spurs ended up paying £5m for Alli.

Dele Alli’s record vs Liverpool

Games

13

Wins

1

Draws

5

Losses

7

Goals

1

6 Diego Maradona

In 1980, Diego Maradona was an unknown teenager coming impressing at Argentinos Juniors and could have signed for Liverpool.

Bob Paisley was in charge at Liverpool and was offered the chance to sign Maradona, however, he was hesitant about the off-field antics of the Argentine and opted against a transfer.

5 Gareth Bale

Gareth Bale began his career as a left-back at Southampton, and Liverpool were after a new one in 2007.

The Welshman was wanted by Liverpool and Benitez, however, a fee failed to be agreed and Bale would join Tottenham. The Reds ended up with Argentine Emiliano Insua.

4 Nemanja Vidic

One of the best centre-backs the Premier League has seen, Nemanja Vidic was actually wanted by Liverpool before his move to Man Utd in 2006.

Vidic would spend eight years at Old Trafford, winning five top flight titles, but Benitez spoke to the Serbian about a move to Anfield.

3 David Silva

After winning the World Cup with Spain in 2010, David Silva was a man in demand and would leave Valencia for Manchester City.

However, Liverpool were also in the race and came close to landing the attacking midfielder. Instead, they would have to face his magic for City over the next 10 years.

2 Michael Laudrup

A teenager in 1983, Michael Laudrup grew up a Liverpool supporter and could have joined the Reds when he was at Brondby.

The length of a contract was the key sticking point regarding Laudrup’s move to Anfield, and he ended up joining Serie A side Lazio.

1 Alexis Sanchez

After Luis Suarez’s move to Barcelona in 2014, Liverpool were on the search for a new marquee attacking signing and attempted to sign Alexis Sanchez.

The Chilean star was at the Nou Camp but would leave that summer, but instead of heading to Merseyside, Sanchez would sign for Arsenal.

Former New Zealand seamer takes over from Anderson in England back-room staff

ESPNcricinfo staff15-May-2025Tim Southee will link up with his former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum in time for England’s first Test of the summer, against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge next week, after being confirmed on a short-term deal as James Anderson’s replacement in their coaching staff across formats.Southee, 36, retired from Test cricket at the conclusion of England’s 2-1 series win in New Zealand in December, after a 16-year career that included a national-record 776 wickets across international formats.In that period, he played alongside McCullum on 170 occasions, including 78 under his leadership – while also sharing the field at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL and Middlesex in the T20 Blast. McCullum presented Southee with a bottle of red wine signed by the England team at the conclusion of Southee’s 107th and final Test in Hamilton.His official title in the England set-up will be “Specialist Skills Consultant”, but his appointment is in effect a like-for-like replacement for Anderson, who took his own vast international experience straight into the back-room staff after his own 21-year Test career came to an end at Lord’s last July.This summer, however, Anderson is proritising a season-long deal to play for Lancashire, for whom he could make a first appearance of the season later this month after recuperating from a calf injury.Southee’s England deal includes the one-off Zimbabwe Test, beginning May 22, as well as the white-ball series against West Indies and the five Tests against India that get underway in June and July. His stint will conclude after the Oval Test on August 4, at which point he is due to resume his playing career with Birmingham Phoenix in the Men’s Hundred.In a press release, the ECB welcomed his involvement, saying: “With his vast experience of playing in a wide range of conditions around the world and across all formats, [Southee] brings valuable insight and knowledge to the players.”

Marcus Rashford is reportedly facing a £15 million ($20m) bill as construction of his dream home becomes a nightmare. The Manchester United outcast, who is currently on loan at Barcelona, has been working on a project in Cheshire since 2020. The piece of land in question was purchased for £2.25 million, but progress on site has been slow and costs continue to rise.

Slow progress: Rashford's mansion nowhere near finished

Five years into that project and the grand mansion that Rashford had planned is nowhere near completion. The 27-year-old is, according to “investigating” why the former golf course and clubhouse looks nothing like what it should by this stage. It is claimed that work ground to a halt at one point “amid a rumoured dispute over money”.

Rashford is said to have “instructed his finance team to find out what has gone wrong” and discover when the build could be completed if no more issues are encountered. The England international wanted to make the former nine-hole golf course his “forever home”, but is going to have to dig deep in order to make that possible.

AdvertisementGrand plans: What Rashford's mansion will include

A source told : “Marcus has spent millions on it already but faces spending millions more. There was a dispute in the summer. Work has recently started again but there’s slow progress. It’s all about the money. Marcus fears the house isn’t ever going to be worth anywhere near what he’s put into it. But he’s between a rock and a hard place as he can’t just stop and leave it. He just wants to get it finished.”

Lavish plans were supposed to include five bedrooms, an indoor swimming pool, personal gym and chill-out area. There would also be a separate apartment in the grounds, landscaped gardens and welfare areas for local wildlife. The project has, however, been hit by floods and rising costs, leading to the original blueprints being changed.

Neighbour frustration: Slow progress causing problems

Neighbours are just as frustrated as Rashford is, with one telling of being visited by a man “acting on behalf of Rashford and his family”: “He said he deals with land disputes. There’s a dispute about how much money they’ve paid out. He was asking us questions about the contractors. I told him what I knew and what I’d seen. He told me how much they had spent — it’s in the millions.”

The neighbour added: “His house is right where it’s boggy. We have a cellar and up until 2014 it was dry as a bone but now we have a pump to keep the water out because the water table is so high. So you can imagine next door going two floors down. It’s non-stop pumping out.

“The amount of heavy machines on there has been unbelievable. But there’s no sign of a finished article. No one knows what’s going to happen to it. There are all sorts of rumours but I’ve never even seen Rashford here. The costs involved are staggering, even for someone on £350,000 a week.

“We never objected to the planning. We did complain to the site manager once because you get lots of weeds. Then when the weeds seed they blow towards us. One particular weed is poisonous to our horses – ragwort.”

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GettyFuture plans: Permanent transfer option for Rashford

It is being claimed that merely managing the land will cost Rashford £1m a year. A spokesperson for the Barcelona loanee has denied that the project faces any issues, with Ben Smith – the MD of Noble Projects, the company building the house – telling : “We have a long record of undertaking multiple successful, prestige projects for a diverse range of clients. We are a highly professional business and we always respect the confidentiality of our clients. As such, we do not discuss publicly the details of any projects. We can advise that we have no concerns over the quality of our work or other such matters on any of our sites. We are proud to deliver exceptional work levels and we continue to do so.”

Rashford is unable to oversee events as much as he would like after leaving boyhood club United in the summer for a spell at La Liga giants Barcelona – with his loan agreement in Catalonia including the option for a permanent transfer to be completed in 2026.

يستعد الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، لمواجهة إيجل نوار البوروندي، مساء السبت، ضمن منافسات بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

الأهلي يفتتح مشواره في دوري أبطال إفريقيا أمام نظيره إيجل نوار البوروندي، في ذهاب دور الـ32 من بطولة دوري أبطال إفريقيا.

طالع | في أول اختبار لـ توروب.. الأهلي يبدأ مشواره في دوري أبطال إفريقيا أمام إيجل نوار

وتأهل إيجل نوار البوروندي لمواجهة الأهلي في دور الـ32 من البطولة على حساب أساس تيليكوم الجيبوتي بعد التعادل سلبيًا في الذهاب وإيجابيا بهدف لكل فريق إيابًا.

ومن المتوقع أن يشهد تشكيل الأهلي تواجد جراديشار أساسيًا في خط الهجوم وبجواره بن رمضان وزيزو وبن شرقي. تشكيل الأهلي المتوقع أمام إيجل نوار البوروندي

حراسة المرمى: محمد الشناوي.

خط الدفاع: أحمد نبيل كوكا وياسين مرعي وياسر إبراهيم ومحمد هاني

خط الوسط:  مروان عطية ومحمد بن رمضان ومحمود تريزيجيه وسيد زيزو وأشرف بن شرقي.

الهجوم: جراديشار.

So far in the Champions Trophy, New Zealand are doing all their usual things well – fielding nicely, finding top-order runs, finishing strong. They also have the bowling resources to adapt to Dubai’s surfaces, Glenn Phillips feels.The final group match of the tournament is not a live match exactly. New Zealand and India are both through to the final four, and their semi-final locations are set (New Zealand will definitely play theirs in Lahore, and India theirs in Dubai). The match will, however, decide whom they play – whoever wins plays Australia.Perhaps more vitally, however, a run in Dubai gives New Zealand a chance to become familiar with this set of Dubai conditions. Most of their players will have played at this venue previously, of course. But these are substantially used surfaces following the ILT20 and India’s first two games, in which the surfaces were on the slower side.Related

• India and New Zealand face off to identify semi-final opponents

• Dot-ball 'beast' Bracewell stays under the radar but soars high

• Trial by spin on slow Dubai pitches a key step in Gill's evolution

• Glenn Phillips finds secret to his success

“It comes down to the execution on pitches like this,” Phillips said. “We’ve got two really good spinners [Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell], and then allrounders in myself and Rachin Ravindra to be able to offer overs if we’re needed.”And then we’ve got three high-quality pace bowlers – Matt Henry nips it on glass, and our two big tall boys [Kyle Jamieson and Will O’Rourke] that have got variable bounce and in Pakistan have been quite tough to play. I think that covers our bases quite nicely.”New Zealand are also the only team in the semi-finals who will play four matches in four different venues. Australia have played two in Lahore already, and will play a third match there if New Zealand win on Sunday. South Africa have played two in Karachi so far. New Zealand began in Karachi against Pakistan, went to Rawalpindi and beat Bangladesh there, before travelling to Dubai for this game. Being adaptable, though, has been one of New Zealand’s hallmarks in big tournaments over the last ten years.New Zealand had also won the pre-Champions Trophy tri-series in Pakistan, defeating Pakistan and then South Africa in Lahore, before beating Pakistan in the final in Karachi. They then beat the hosts in Karachi to kick this tournament off.2:30

Does Daryl Mitchell slot back into NZ’s XI?

“I think the beauty of Pakistan is every pitch we’ve played on has been significantly different to the last and I think that’s been great preparation for us coming over to Dubai, knowing that the pitch is going to be different again,” Phillips said. “We’ve had a lot of different situations, we’ve had balls that have spun, we’ve had surfaces that have been flat and fast, and boundaries that are small.”This ground presents us with a different challenge of being potentially a little bit slower, more void of grass and maybe slightly slower outfields. So I think we pride ourselves on trying to be as adaptable as possible.”Phillips mistakenly initially thought there was no reserve day for the semi-final due to be held in Pakistan, which would have allowed the group-topper to progress to the final more smoothly. But there is a reserve day for the semi-final in Lahore, and it is only after a no-result across two days that the topping of the group becomes relevant to progressing to the final.He maintained, nevertheless, that there was incentive to finish at the top of the group by beating India.”Finishing in the top spot goes with a great deal of confidence going into the semi-finals,” he said. “At the end of the day, we always, in a tournament like this, go out to win every game possible and momentum is a strange thing in cricket especially.”

Celtic’s lack of top-end attacking talent was made abundantly clear in their biggest game of the season.

On Wednesday night, the Hoops were held to a dire goalless draw by Kairat at Parkhead in the first leg of their Champions League play-off, having just three shots on target all night and mustering a solitary big chance.

Thus, next Tuesday evening, Brendan Rodgers’ side must win in Kazakhstan, something the Celts have never previously achieved in three attempts, losing two of them, to book their place in the Champions League league phase.

Raucous chants of ‘sack the board’ could be heard throughout the second half of Wednesday’s, potentially disastrous, draw, with supporters frustrated by the club’s lack of spending, but could that be about to change?

Celtic's lack of attacking options

For the crucial mid-week tie against Kairat, Rodgers deployed a front three of Daizen Maeda, Adam Idah, and James Forrest.

After a less-than-productive first half, Idah was hooked at the interval, with Maeda deployed down the middle, and Yang Hyun-Jun was introduced.

Within seconds of the restart, Yang found Forrest, who forced Aleksandr Zarutskiy into a very smart save down to his left, but this was followed by little else, with unproven summer signing Shin Yamada thrown on towards the end, but this merely underlined Rodgers’ lack of proven options in forward areas.

As they seek to address this, according to Dutch outlet Voetbal International, as relayed by Daily Record, Celtic have been told the fee they’ll need to pay to secure the signature of Calvin Stengs.

They claim that Feyenoord are ‘willing to cooperate in a sale’ for a player whom they value at £5.1m, but it remains to be seen whether or not the Premiership champions are willing to pay the asking price at this moment in time.

55 years ago, Celtic and Feyenoord met in the European Cup Final at San Siro, but just six men have represented both clubs, namely Colin Kazim-Richards, Regi Blinker, John Guidetti, Glenn Loovens, Pierre van Hooijdonk and, of course, the king of kings himself Henrik Larsson, so could Stengs add his name to that list?

What Calvin Stengs would bring to Celtic

Stengs joined AZ Alkmaar as an 11-year-old, and his senior breakthrough came while representing the Cheese Farmers, scoring 24 goals and registering 22 assists in 113 appearances for AZ, with five of these goals coming in Europe.

This earned him an £8.6m move to Nice in the summer of 2021, but he made almost no impact on the French Riviera, scoring just a solitary goal during his one season with the Ligue 1 outfit.

After a decent campaign on loan at Royal Antwerp, scoring three goals but racking up nine assists in Belgium, he returned to the Netherlands by joining Feyenoord, thereby reuniting with Arne Slot, who’d previously been his manager in Alkmaar.

As the table below outlines, Stengs certainly produced impressive statistics during his first Eredivisie season in Rotterdam.

Minutes

2,095

113th

Goals

6

40th

Assists

12

3rd

Expected assists

8.6

3rd

Shots

44

47th

Key passes

71

2nd

Shot-creating actions

129

6th

Goal-creating actions

17

6th

Big chances created

13

6th

Accurate final 3rd passes

397

14th

Average SofaScore rating

7.51

7th

As the table documents, despite somewhat limited minutes, Stengs was one of the chief creators in the Eredivisie, ending up third for assists, while also ranking highly for expected assists, key passes, shot-creating actions, and big chances created.

The highlight of his Feyenoord career actually came against Celtic, marking his Champions League debut by scoring this long-range free kick at De Kuip, one that Joe Hart believes he should’ve kept out.

Last season, however, things did not go to plan for Stengs, seeing a miserly 797 minutes of action due to knee, hamstring and ankle issues, starting just eight matches across all competitions.

To commence the new campaign, the 26-year-old has been an unused substitute for all four of Feyenoord’s fixtures, including both legs of their Champions League qualifying exit at the hands of Fenerbahçe, as manager Robin van Persie seemingly prepares for the winger’s departure.

Nevertheless, he is still a highly-rated talent.

Jacek Kulig of Football Talent Scout labels him a “flamboyant winger”, praising his pace, dribbling ability, and creativity, while Nils Mackay of Opta adds that he is a “serious talent”.

Stengs is certainly a versatile player, predominantly deployed as an attacking midfielder during his time with Feyenoord, having made a name for himself as a right-winger at AZ, earning all eight of his senior Netherlands caps in that position out wide too, most recently bagging a hat-trick against Gibraltar at Estádio Algarve.

Following the sale of Nicolas Kühn, the aforementioned Forrest is currently Celtic’s starter wide-right but, at 34 years old, having scored just one goal last season, the club legend is no longer the elite-level difference-maker he once was.

Thus, there is a clear spot up for grabs, one that Stengs could come in and make his own, and all available evidence suggests he would be an excellent addition, which would result in Forrest dropping down to the bench after he started the last two games in the Premiership and the Champions League on the right flank.

Idah upgrade: Rodgers would love Celtic to sign "world class" star for free

As Adam Idah continues to find Celtic goals hard to come by, Brendan Rodgers would love to sign a “world class” striker available on a free transfer.

ByBen Gray Aug 19, 2025

Joan Garcia’s Barcelona switch has stirred debate, with Espanyol coach Manolo Gonzalez calling him “world-class” despite questioning his decision.

Espanyol coach admits he wouldn’t join BarcaStill hails Garcia as a “world-class goalkeeper”Started all three games for Barcelona so farFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Espanyol coach Manolo Gonzalez admitted Joan Garcia is a “world-class goalkeeper” but could not hide his disappointment over the player’s controversial Barcelona move. The Catalan giants activated his €25 million (£21m/$27m) release clause this summer, securing the 24-year-old on a five-year deal until 2030. Despite lucrative offers from the Premier League, including Arsenal and Manchester City, Garcia prioritised a switch to the reigning La Liga champions. Since arriving, he has featured in all three matches, producing standout saves and rescuing Barca in their 1-1 draw against Rayo Vallecano.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The Spaniard's exit struck a nerve at Espanyol, where he had been a fan favourite and homegrown star. His 146 saves last season were the highest in La Liga, playing a crucial role in keeping the club in the top flight. Now, his move to Barca is being viewed through the lens of rivalry, with Espanyol fans left disappointed. Nonetheless, Garcia’s rise has kept him in the spotlight, and his performances suggest he’s capable of becoming Barcelona’s long-term No.1.

WHAT MANOLO GONZALEZ SAID

In an interview with Gonzalez admitted he didn’t agree with Garcia’s decision but still praised his ability: “I understand everyone. I wouldn't go to Barcelona, but I understand everyone's decision. He sent me an audio, I replied, and we haven't spoken since. I don't share his decision, but I respect him. He's the best, he's a world-class goalkeeper, and that doesn't change just by changing teams. Everyone is free to do what they want in their life, but he's a homegrown player and was very popular, which is why he's been given so much attention. If he had come from Barcelona to Espanyol, something similar would have happened.”

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR JOAN GARCIA?

Garcia is expected to retain his starting spot when Barcelona host Valencia this weekend in their first home match of the new season.