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According to The Sun, Manchester United have made the decision to keep interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at the club beyond his six month spell, although the club may not announce it until the end of the season. Spurs will be rubbing their hands as doubts over Mauricio Pochettino’s future are surely diminished.

What’s the word?

Well, The Sun reports that the Norwegian’s sensational start at Old Trafford has won over the United board who are set to offer the former striker the job on a permanent basis.

The ‘baby-faced assassin’ has won 10 out of 11 games since he took to the helm in mid-December and, besides the free-flowing football and emphatic wins, he has managed to do what Jose Mourinho never could when he was in charge and that is getting the best out of the likes of Paul Pogba, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

The latter, who scored a fine solo goal against Fulham at the weekend, has also backed his boss to stay beyond his current deal, thus burying reports that Spurs manager Pochettino could be on the way to Manchester in the summer.

Poch going nowhere

The Argentine has been heavily linked with the role since Mourinho’s departure at the end of last year having done an incredible job at White Hart Lane since he quit Southampton for Spurs in 2014.

Despite having yet to secure cup or league glory in his four-and-a-half year tenure, the former defender is credited with the development of Harry Kane and Dele Alli to name just two, and the impact he has had on the club in general is very impressive.

Spurs fans were surely worried sick seeing the reports that he was top of United’s managerial candidate shortlist but will be hugely relieved hearing that Solskjaer is going to retain his role.

Harry Kane gets his hands on the Super Bowl and Dele Alli gets his hands on a superb owl in the latest episode After 90 below…

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After a week at Celtic it looks like Jeremy Toljan has been playing his whole career with the Hoops.

The entire month of January seemed to be taken up with the elusive search for a right-back going on until two hours away from the transfer window closing.

In the final couple of days attention turned to the 24-year-old who hadn’t made a single Bundesliga appearance this term.

Two days after touching down in Scotland, Toljan found himself listed as a substitute away to St. Johnstone and when Mikael Lustig picked up a first half knock the German was thrown into a dramatic debut.

Toljan linked up instantly with James Forrest, pushing forward impressively but in a measured way as Celtic hunted down the breakthrough.

In midweek against Hibs, he provided the assist for Ryan Christie to open the scoring and the worries over the problem position started to clear.

During 2018, Jack Hendry, Lustig, Kris Ajer, Cristian Gamboa and Tony Ralston all played at right-back but it now looks like the loan signing from Dortmund has nailed it. His biggest test comes on Thursday when Valencia visit on Europa League duty.

And it’s safe to say, Celtic fans on Twitter are delighted with Toljan’s contributions so far…

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Marcus Edwards is a name that will be familiar to a number of Tottenham Hotspur fans.

This despite the fact that the attacking midfielder has played just once for the club, in a 5-0 thrashing of Gillingham in the third round of the 2016 League Cup.

The 20-year-old – then 17 – came on as a second-half substitute and played 15 minutes. There were warm ripples of applause when he came on the pitch, such was the excitement to see another academy product make his debut under Mauricio Pochettino.

And, since then, there has been little of note for Edwards to do in north London.

A loan spell at Norwich City did not work out; he played once before returning to Spurs, citing personal reasons. A Daily Telegraph report claimed that his attitude had been questioned at Carrow Road, as he repeatedly failed to keep good time when turning up to training and first-team meetings.

And yet there is a terrific young footballer within Edwards.

He has been capped at every England youth level from Under-16 to Under-20 and has scored for all of them.

In the Spurs’ youth academy, he has played 28 games for the club’s Under-23 side, scoring 10 goals and laying on seven assists.

This season, he has been playing senior football in Holland, with Excelsior. He has netted twice and laid on two assists, with a brilliant performance coming against FC Emmen in the Eredivisie, where he scored once and set up another.

Football.London’s Spurs correspondent Alasdair Gold has been keeping a close eye on Edwards and said in a Q&A on the website that he believes this summer is make-or-break for him.

He said: “He’s been doing really well on his loan at Excelsior Rotterdam since the turn of the year. It looks like it’s clicked out in the Netherlands for Edwards and when he returns to Hotspur Way this summer it will be interesting to see what happens.

“He will have one year left on his deal and the young midfielder and Pochettino will need to have a chat about what his future holds. Will it be at Tottenham? If not then the club will likely look to do a permanent deal for him this summer in order to get something for his services.”

Such is his contract situation, it appears that it would take more than a few consistent performances this season for Edwards to work his way back into Pochettino’s plans.

But stranger things have happened. The likes of Andros Townsend and, of course, Harry Kane have embarked on numerous loan spells before making their breakthroughs at Spurs.

Edwards, once feted as one of the best talents of his age in the country, could well do similar.

This season and this summer will shape the remainder of his career and his destiny at Spurs.

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QPR fans are surely in dire need of positive news amid a woeful run of form that has seen them lose six of their last seven games in all competitions, save for a shock 1-0 victory over promotion hopefuls Leeds United.

Fortunately, the Hoops will soon be boosted by the return of Angel Rangel, who was filmed in training on Thursday – the former Swansea man hasn’t featured since the start of December having torn a tendon in a previous loss to Leeds.

Prior to the nasty setback, the 36-year-old had been a fixture for the Loftus Road outfit, making 17 starts and scoring two goals, both of which came in a 2-2 draw with Stoke in November.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Theo Ogden found two rebelious Leeds fans in the home end at Loftus Road in QPR’s 2-1 FA Cup win. Find out what happened next in the video below…

Darnell Furlong has deputised at right-back while the veteran Spaniard has been out and he has impressed; it might not be a straight-forward return to the starting XI for Rangel, then.

Here’s what the QPR fans on Twitter had to say…

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Phil Hay of the Yorkshire Evening Post has revealed that Samu Saiz could return to Leeds United at the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

What’s the word, then?

Saiz joined Getafe on loan from Leeds during the January transfer window.

The attacker had contributed four assists in 19 Championship appearances in the first half of the 2018-19 campaign, but was allowed to leave for the La Liga club in the winter window.

It had been thought that the deal included an obligation to sign Saiz on a permanent contract this summer.

However, according to Hay, that is not the case, with Getafe simply having the option to buy the Spaniard, rather than an ‘obligation’ to complete a permanent deal.

In the aftermath of the defeat to Queens Park Rangers at the end of last month, a number of Leeds fans said that their club made a mistake allowing Saiz to leave.

However, the 28-year-old was not missed on Friday as the Whites put four unanswered goals past West Bromwich Albion at Elland Road.

How will this one play out?

Saiz has not exactly set La Liga alight since his move.

The 5ft 9in ace has made six league appearances for Getafe, whilst he has also featured on two occasions in the Copa del Rey.

The Madrid-born ace has failed to come off the bench in each of his loan side’s last three league fixtures, though, and is currently struggling to earn a first-team spot.

It would certainly not be a surprise to see them decide against a permanent deal, meaning that Saiz would return to his parent club at the end of the season.

Should Marcelo Bielsa’s side earn promotion to the Premier League, though, they might feel that Saiz is also surplus to requirements at Elland Road.

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Middlesbrough gathered a huge three points in the Championship on Sunday afternoon, with Britt Assombalonga scoring the only goal of the match in a 1-0 win over Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park.

It was yet another strong defensive performance from Boro, who occupy fifth spot in the Championship table having collected 54 points form their 32 games this term.

Assombalonga made the difference in terms of his goal, but Ashley Fletcher caught the eye of a number of the Boro supporters with his unselfish work in attack.

It would be fair to say that the former Manchester United youngster has not exactly been full of goals during his professional career.

Indeed, he only netted once for West Ham United, twice for Sunderland and has just six goals for Boro since arriving in 2017.

Pl>ymaker FC’s Matchday with Max caught up with Jamaica’s women’s team. See what happened when he met the history makers in the video below…

The 23-year-old’s unselfish work in the final third of the field made a huge difference on Sunday afternoon, however, and the Boro fans were very pleased with his display.

Fletcher will now he hoping to earn more chances at the Riverside Stadium as the clash with Blackburn proved to be his first league outing since December 15.

A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be seen below:

تأكد غياب وليد سليمان لاعب وسط الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بالنادي الأهلي، عن مباراة الترسانة في كأس مصر، والمحدد لها مساء الأربعاء المقبل.

واشتكى وليد سليمان من آلام؛ بسبب كدمة في الضلوع قبل انطلاق المران الصباحي للفريق الذي أقيم على ملعب التتش بالجزيرة.

وخضع لاعب وسط الأهلي للفحص قبل انطلاق المران، حيث قرر الجهاز الطبي منحه راحة حتى يتعافى من الكدمة.

واكتفى سليمان بأداء تدريبات بدنية واستشفائية في «الجيم»، ولم يشارك في المران الجماعي للفريق.

ويستعد الأهلي لمواجهة الترسانة في دور الـ١٦ لبطولة كأس مصر والمحدد لها الثامنة مساء الأربعاء المقبل على ملعب الأهلي بالسلام.

Billy Sharp had an almighty brief spell with Leeds United back in the 2014-15 Championship campaign, but he could come back to haunt the Elland Road outfit.

The forward joined The Whites in the summer of 2014 from Southampton following numerous loan spells away from the Premier League club.

Brought to the club by Dave Hockaday for a fee thought to be around £270,000, per Transfermarkt, things could not have been any better for the native Yorkshireman.

Sharp found the back of the net on his debut in front of a home crowd when he scored the only goal of the game against Middlesbrough in a 1-0 win.

However, the goals did not come too often for him, with the journeyman forward having netted just four more times in his 35 appearances for the club over the course of the season.

Leeds then decided to sell him to Sheffield United, the club where everything started for Sharp, for a fee thought to be in the region of £635,000, per Transfermarkt.

And, four season’s later, that move could end up costing The Whites dearly as they continue their chase for promotion to the Premier League.

Although Sharp originally joined The Blades in League One, he quickly rediscovered his goalscoring ability and has not looked back since.

In his first campaign with his boyhood club, he hit 21 goals in his 48 appearances, before netting 30 in 49 matches the following season to win promotion to the Championship.

In their first year back in England’s second tier, Sharp hit 14 goals in his 37 appearances, however, this season has seen him go from strength-to-strength.

The 33-year-old, who is the club’s captain and is valued at £900,000, per Transfermarkt, has smashed that total with 23 for the campaign already and has been a huge reason as to why Chris Wilder’s side are challenging for promotion to the Premier League.

With Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds currently fighting it out for a promotion spot with the likes of Norwich City, a recent run of indifferent form could see Sharp and Sheffield United turn their current season into a nightmare finish.

Leeds fans – thoughts?

It’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride this year for the Newcastle United fans. As well as a nice upturn in league position, the fans have been treated to some youth players coming through the system. For such a footballing hotbed, the Geordie faithful aren’t used to seeing homegrown prospects flourish in the first-team, so it’s certainly a novelty.

Indeed, with players like Sean Longstaff proving that Newcastle United have a bright future ahead of them, we look at a couple of players who can look to set St. James Park alight in the coming seasons.

Don’t fear, Geordies. There are more out there. Signings not been rolling through the door these days, but the youngsters can.

Cal Roberts 

Callum Roberts has recently gone out on loan to League two side Colchester United in order to gain some first-team football. However, this season, in the Newcastle under 23 side, he is proving to be a real star of Newcastle United’s future.

Having scored 9 goals and bagging 6 assists in the Premier League 2, the 21-year-old forward is showing the youth coaches, and, more importantly, Rafa Benitez that he is a player that can handle the youth leagues to be relied on to score a goal.

Having only recently moved to League 2, it will be interesting to see how the young Englishman handles the lower leagues. If he is to perform well, he may just be a name on the Newcastle team sheet next season.

Elias Sörensen 

Elias Sörensen has proven to be one of the main features for the Newcastle Under 23s. Bagging himself 12 goals in 14 Premier League 2 games, the dazzling young Dane has certainly been showing potential to become one of the Premier League’s deadliest strikers.

Considering the Magpies have been reliant on Joselu at times this season, that’s exciting.

Indeed, his good form earned him a loan move to Blackpool to get first-team football and try and prove his worth in what is a really tough League 1.

The 19-year-old centre forward has shown incredible strength and pace in the lower leagues and youth games, and will certainly be one to watch in the future for Newcastle and the Danish national team alike.

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Arsenal will be looking to make it back-to-back Premier League wins when they welcome Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

And Mesut Ozil must start for the Gunners, despite the recent comments from the London club’s head coach Unai Emery about rotation.

What has Emery said?

Emery has revealed that Ozil will continue to be rotated in and out of the XI, suggesting that he will be on the bench against Southampton this weekend having started Thursday’s clash with BATE Borisov.

Ozil was in the Arsenal XI for just the second time in 2019 against BATE, and the German helped his team record a 3-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.

The 30-year-old could well find himself back on the bench in the Premier League on Sunday, but there simply has to be a spot in the team for the playmaker.

Much can be said about Ozil’s energy levels and willingness to go that extra mile, but he remains Arsenal’s most talented footballer.

And he has to feature against a Southampton team who will find it very difficult to see much of the ball during the 90 minutes.

How has Ozil performed this season?

Nineteen matches – four goals and two assists. The fact that Ozil has only registered one Premier League assist this season is quite incredible when considering his talent.

There’s good news for fans of City, Liverpool, Spurs and United in the video below…

However, in fairness to the former Real Madrid attacker, who Transfermarkt value at £31.5million, it is clear that he does not have the trust of Emery as he simply does not work hard enough.

The Gunners will absolutely dominate the ball against the Saints, though, and they will not need every single player to be a workhouse.

On the contrary, it is in these type of games where players of Ozil’s quality are extremely important.

The 6 foot ace is intelligent enough to know that he has not been at his best this season, but it makes little sense to leave the German out of Arsenal’s home fixtures against the lesser clubs in the division, with respect to Southampton of course.