Real Madrid have been offered a chance to sign Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

The England international has struggled to settle into Pep Guardiola’s squad since making the move from Leeds two seasons ago.

At the time, Phillips was regarded as one of the best players in his position in the league, which is why Manchester City were willing to spend £45m to secure his signature.

But the 27-year-old has made 27 appearances for the Treble winners since with only five of them being starts.

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It is no secret that the club are willing to sell him and a host of clubs have shown interest over the past few months.

The most surprising of which is Real Madrid who according to Spanish news outlet Defensa Central, have been contacted by Phillips’ agent over a potential transfer.

Los Blancos currently have one of the best midfields in the world and with Jude Bellingham performing exceptionally well, it’s difficult to see Phillips making the move.

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Marcus Rashford did little to enhance his reputation in the Manchester derby at the weekend, Man United meekly surrendering to Pep Guardiola’s swashbucklers at Old Trafford.

It was a reminder of just how far the chasm is between United’s once noisy neighbours and themselves, and that’s unlikely to change for a few years yet.

There was no creativity or urgency from the Red Devils which is a damning indictment on Erik ten Hag’s squad.

Man City, a team that won it all last season, were by far the hungrier of the two teams and deserved to come away from the Theatre of Dreams with the three points.

The Dutch coach has certainly got a fight on his hands to keep his squad together and to turn them around from their current malaise.

How they’ve gone from the team they were just a few months after ten Hag took charge to the shell of an outfit they look at the moment is anyone’s guess, though Rashford’s antics in the wake of the derby hints at attitude issues.

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Rather than keeping a low profile and digesting the magnitude of the defeat, the striker went out partying according to The Telegraph (subscription required).

Though the report does state that he turned up for training as normal and on time, going clubbing after a defeat to your biggest domestic rivals shows poor professionalism at best.

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Once the January transfer window comes around, there’s bound to be movement from the blue half of west London as Chelsea attack the market once more.

It’s become something of a theme of Todd Boehly’s ownership that he needs to flex when the game’s best talent becomes available.

Though he certainly can’t be accused of not backing his managers in the transfer market, there’s a cogent argument as to whether the club’s current transfer policy is the best way of doing business.

In any event the wheels already appear to be being set in motion for one player that’s yet to be put on the market by his current club.

That’s because Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz is clearly one of the top young talents in European football, and any team would benefit by having him in their side.

TeamTalk note that Chelsea are showing the most interest in him, but he’s also being monitored by Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle.

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Bayern Munich and Barcelona are also mentioned as possible destinations for the 20-year-old.

Despite his relatively young age, Wirtz has played for the German national team on 12 occasions (per TeamTalk) and very obviously has the brightest of futures in the game.

It remains to be seen whether Leverkusen can hang onto him, with perhaps the future of coach, Xabi Alonso, tied into Wirtz’s.

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Erling Haaland was asked to pick between a Gary Lineker or Didier Drogba celebration after he scored his next goal.

The Norwegian striker failed to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday night after Lionel Messi picked up his record eighth.

But Haaland didn’t go home empty-handed, he was given the Gerd Muller Trophy for the best striker of the year after his treble-winning season with Manchester City.

While up on stage, Drogba challenged him to replicate either his or Lineker’s celebration after his next goal.

Erling Haaland: « The new celebration? You’ll see on my next goal »#ballondor pic.twitter.com/YBF0PCLU5A

— Ballon d’Or #ballondor (@ballondor) October 30, 2023

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Aston Villa have made an impressive start to the current campaign and in a bid to try and push for a top-four finish this season, Unai Emery is likely to recruit more stars in January. 

The Birmingham club are sat fifth in the Premier League, just four points behind leaders Tottenham, whilst Villa are also second in their Europa Conference League Group.

One problem that could hamper Unai Emery’s side from having an extraordinary campaign is squad depth but the Spanish coach will look to fix that in January.

According to TNT Sports, Aston Villa are keen to sign Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Exequiel Palacios, who has made a strong contribution to the German club sitting top of the Bundesliga.

The report states that the Villans could face stiff competition to sign the Argentina international, who is also being tracked by Manchester City and Newcastle United.

Emery already has an abundance of exciting midfield talent in his squad but the acquisition of the 25-year-old star will only make them perform better and make Villa’s squad stronger to compete on several fronts.

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Chelsea and Manchester City are reportedly among the clubs interested in Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.

That’s according to a recent report from TEAMtalk, who claim the young German playmaker is attracting a wealth of high-profile attention following what has been an excellent start to the season.

As things stand, Xabi Alonso’s side sit top of the Bundesliga table, unbeaten on 25 points after nine games, and Wirtz, 20, has been instrumental.

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It isn’t just domestically that the 20-year-old has shone though. Also contributing heavily in Europe, Wirtz already has five goals and eight assists to his name across all competitions.

And while Alonso and Leverkusen’s fans will be loving the young German’s impact, there will now be concerns over his future. Not only are Chelsea and Pep Guardiola’s City chasing his signature, but Barcelona and domestic rivals Bayern Munich are also thought to be big admirers of the Pulheim-born playmaker.

A transfer will almost certainly not be allowed to happen in January, but the young star is a player worth watching the closer next year’s summer window gets.

Since being promoted to Leverkusen’s first team in 2020, Wirtz, who has four years left on his deal, has directly contributed to 66 goals in 116 games in all competitions.

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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been heavily criticised by pundit Martin Keown for taking off Sofyan Amrabat in the 3-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.

Watch below as Keown singles out Ten Hag for a poor decision in the loss at Old Trafford, with the Dutch tactician for some reason deciding that this important summer signing shouldn’t play the second half of the game.

Man Utd clearly needed to strengthen in midfield this summer and so brought in Amrabat on loan from Fiorentina, and Keown couldn’t understand why he therefore took him off at half time in the Manchester Derby…

“What is he thinking, the manager?” ?

“You get Amrabat in to manage the midfield. What does he do? He takes him off at HT!”

Martin Keown wants to hear Erik ten Hag explain his decisions in #MUFC v #MCFC. pic.twitter.com/BZqmvnrmlA

— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) October 30, 2023

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Ten Hag is certainly not having an easy time at United right now, with the former Ajax manager under growing pressure after a poor start to the season.

One imagines MUFC will accept that this is a long-term project and stick with Ten Hag for a while longer, but he’s not doing himself any favours at the moment and things surely have to improve soon.

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Manchester City and Newcastle United are reportedly among the clubs interested in a potential transfer move for Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Exequiel Palacios.

The Argentina international has been one of the stand-out performers in the Bundesliga this season, playing a key role in Leverkusen’s remarkable rise under Xabi Alonso.

According to TNT Sports, Palacios now has interest from a host of top clubs, with Man City and Newcastle said to be among his main admirers.

The 25-year-old is surely good enough to come in as a replacement for Sandro Tonali at St James’ Park after his 10-month suspension, while City might also benefit from signing cover for the injured Kevin De Bruyne.

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Matheus Nunes and Mateo Kovacic joined City in the summer to bolster their midfield options after the exit of Ilkay Gundogan, but they’ve arguably not had the desired impact, so there could perhaps be room for Palacios.

Leverkusen will surely want to keep this squad together after their improvement under Alonso’s management, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to fight off interest in a talent like Palacios.

The post Man City and Newcastle United both in the mix for transfer of in-form Bundesliga star appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Manchester City are reportedly keeping tabs on the Real Sociedad winger Takefusa Kubo.

A report from Fichajes claims that Real Madrid are keen on signing the 22-year-old as well and it will be interesting to see who ends up signing the Japanese international.

Kubo has established himself as a reliable performer in the Spanish league and he has five goals and three assists to his name across all competitions this season.

The versatile winger is capable of operating on both flanks and he will add flair and creativity to the Manchester City attack. Pep Guardiola could certainly use more cutting edge in the final third and the 22-year-old would be a solid long term investment.

The Japanese international is rated highly around Europe and he has the potential to develop into a top class attacker. A move to Manchester City would be the ideal next step in his career and working under a world class manager like Guardiola will help him fulfill his tremendous potential.

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Meanwhile, Real Madrid are keen on the player as well and it remains to be seen whether the opportunity to return to the capital club proves to be hard to turn down for the youngster. Kubo came through the Real Madrid Academy and he might feel that he has unfinished business at the club.

It will be interesting to see how the situation develops over the next few weeks. Real Sociedad will not want to sell a key player like him midway through the season but the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid certainly have the financial resources to tempt them.

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Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel is not at all impressed with summer signing Sofyan Amrabat, who was taken off at half time in the weekend defeat against Manchester City.

The Morocco international looked a promising addition to this Man Utd squad when he joined on loan from Fiorentina in the summer, but he’s now just one of many members of Erik ten Hag’s squad to look a long way off his best.

Amrabat caught the eye of top clubs with his performances at last year’s World Cup, when he played a key role in helping Morocco to their first ever semi-final appearance, but it’s fair to say he seems to be finding Premier League football a bit of a challenge so far.

Schmeichel felt Amrabat was well off the pace against City, and it led to Ten Hag making a change in his midfield after the opening 45 minutes, so it’s fair to say this is starting to look like a serious concern.

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“I don’t know what his game plan was, I don’t know what he told the players but when he says they played a good first half I don’t agree,” Schmeichel said on Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro.

“I mean, he makes a change at half time, there’s a reason for that because it wasn’t working in midfield. Amrabat was so far off the pace Man City basically could do whatever they wanted.

“And the chances, yes, we had chances but they all came from Manchester City mistakes, it wasn’t like we were creating anything.”

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