🚨 Southgate's England surprise, West Ham set European record, Lewandowski could miss El Clasico, Palace's potential PSG bargain, Vinicius Jr. in court, and more
What could Gareth Southgate's reasoning be for not naming West Ham's in-form James Ward-Prowse in the England set-up?
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Today’s top stories:
Look at this accuracy from West Ham’s James Ward-Prowse - how is he not in the England squad?!
[Pictures via TNT Sports]
Al Ettifaq
Moussa Dembele launches a stinging broadside against former club, Lyon. Read his full, unbelievable, rant here.
Almería
Exclusive: La Liga side Almería make formal contact to appoint Veljko Paunović as new head coach. Negotiations ongoing as there’s an exit clause in his contract at Chivas. Paunović is open to a return after playing for the club in 2008.
Arsenal
Official: Arsenal announce that Myles Lewis-Skelly has signed his first professional contract. “It means the world to me — to play for Arsenal, I’m truly speechless. I’ve been dreaming of this moment. To say that I’m a professional football player is a dream come true.”
Aston Villa
John McGinn left it late to spare Aston Villa’s blushes in the Europa Conference League. Despite having 27 shots, nine of which were on target, it took until the 94th minute for the Scot to head the winner [pictures courtesy of TNT Sports].
Barcelona
Barça announce that tests carried out on Thursday morning revealed that Robert Lewandowski has a left ankle sprain. “He is out and his recovery will determine his availability,” the official club website noted.
Bayern Munich
De Ligt: “I didn’t have to think so much about leaving Juve to join Bayern. It was easy, because at Bayern you’ve a chance of winning the Champions League more often.”
Borussia Dortmund
Gregor Kobel signs a new deal until June 2028 at Borussia Dortmund — it’s done and sealed. Goalkeeper agreed to a new contract as he wanted to stay despite interest and approaches from English clubs. Two more years added to his current deal.
Brighton
Despite going 2-0 down in Marseille, Brighton managed to scrape a vital 2-2 draw in the Europa League thanks to second half goals from Pascal Groß and Joao Pedro [footage from TNT Sports and Canal+ Foot Direct]
Chelsea
Steve Cooper on Andrey Santos: “He’s been good. He’s obviously a really good young player. I had a really good chat with Chelsea this week. I didn’t realise some stuff had been written about him… his chance will come for sure.”
Crystal Palace
Premier League outfit, Crystal Palace, could be in line to pick up a bargain in the January window. The player concerned has no future at current club PSG and has already tried to negotiate a loan move to Selhurst Park against the club’s wishes. Find out who it is right here.
England
Gareth Southgate released the squad details for the October internationals and there was one glaring omission: West Ham’s James Ward-Prowse. Full squad:
Everton
Jarrad Branthwaite is close to signing a new deal at Everton — agreement now at the final stages. Sean Dyche confirmed: “I think things are probably close now, we have been speaking to him for a while.”
Juventus
De Ligt: “I didn’t have to think so much about leaving Juve to join Bayern. It was easy, because at Bayern you’ve a chance of winning the Champions League more often.”
Lens
Lens owe their Champions League success over Arsenal to a number of stars but one man in particular. Find out who and why here.
Liverpool
Ryan Gravenberch opened his account for Liverpool in the first-half of their Europa League tie against Union SG [pictures courtesy of TNT Sports]
Jurgen Klopp on €40m invested to sign Ryan Gravenberch: “It’s obvious how much of a talent we signed. He is enjoying the situation and getting there step by step. It's really good to see. Also Ryan fits well with the age-group of the majority of the squad.”
Diogo Jota added a second for an under-par Liverpool in injury time [pictures courtesy of TNT Sports]
“My dad cried a little bit! As it was nice… it was emotional. My father knows what it means.” Alexis Mac Allister, Kevin Mac Allister, Javier Mac Allister. Anfield, Liverpool.
Lyon
Moussa Dembele launches a stinging broadside against former club, Lyon. Read his full, unbelievable, rant here.
Napoli
Napoli official statement: “We’re denying any report in the Italian media about releasing a kids toy ‘Cicciobello Bomber’ inspired by Victor Osimhen in a Napoli shirt. That product was not authorised by the club — we will settle this issue in court.”
Newcastle
The good news for Newcastle is set to continue as Bruno Guimarães new deal until June 2028 will be announced soon. It’s all done and sealed.
Nottingham Forest
Steve Cooper on Andrey Santos: “He’s been good. He’s obviously a really good young player. I had a really good chat with Chelsea this week. I didn’t realise some stuff had been written about him… his chance will come for sure.”
Paris Saint-Germain
Balotelli: “What if PSG call me? No chance. No way — as I used to play for Marseille and Nice so… no way. What if they come with €10m salary proposal? Of course. In that case I’d accept… for €10m I’d even join my brother’s team and go play there!”
Luis Enrique’s suicidal approach to the Champions League tie against Newcastle was to blame for the heavy defeat. Insightful analysis from French football expert Jonathan Johnson here.
Premier League outfit, Crystal Palace, could be in line to pick up a bargain in the January window. The player concerned has no future at current club PSG and has already tried to negotiate a loan move to Selhurst Park against the club’s wishes. Find out who it is right here.
Real Betis
Isco rolled back the years and headed the winner in Betis’ 2-1 Europa League victory over Sparta Prague [pictures courtesy of Cuatro]
Real Madrid
Vinicius testified in court on Thursday regarding the racist insults received on May 21 in the Valencia-Real Madrid match. Valencia statement: “We wish to express surprise, rejection and indignation. We demand that Vinicius publicly rectify his alleged statement.”
Roma
Romelu Lukaku since September 1st: Nine games, seven goals, two assists. Key player for Jose Mourinho.
Tottenham
Manor Solomon will miss two to three months with a meniscus injury suffered in training, club sources confirm. One more blow for Postecoglou after Perisić’s ACL injury.
Valencia
Vinicius testified in court on Thursday regarding the racist insults received on May 21 in the Valencia-Real Madrid match. Valencia statement: “We wish to express surprise, rejection and indignation. We demand that Vinicius publicly rectify his alleged statement.”
West Ham
Lucas Paqueta’s epic leap put West Ham 1-0 up against Freiburg in their Europa League tie. The game which finished 2-1 to the Hammers thanks to Nayef Aguerd’s second-half winner [pictures courtesy of TNT Sports]
David Moyes’ West Ham side have now set a new record of 17 games unbeaten for English teams in Europe. It beats the previous joint record held by Don Revie's Leeds team from the 1960s and Bill Nicholson’s 1970s Tottenham side. No wonder Moyes was delighted [pictures from TNT Sports]
James Ward-Prowse has NOT been called up to the England squad by Gareth Southgate. He's been directly involved in 8 goals in 8 games for West Ham this season. Why is Gareth Southgate continuing to overlook the in-form midfielder? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
For all the very latest transfer news, read caughtoffside.com
Because Southgate is not a good manager. Just having Harry Maguire in the squad is proof of that