Manchester United has been home to some of the most famous players in recent times and they could have welcomed another star to their hall of fame had Ronaldinho not snubbed them at the very last minute.

Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson are two of the most infamous sporting symbols in the world; the home of priceless memories, unforgettable games, countless trophies and the very man who orchestrated Manchester United’s unrivalled success for 26 years.

Those who’ve graced the pitch etched into footballing folklore.

So, it always comes as a shock, or maybe even a reality check, that a player could reject his chance to pull on the famous red shirt…

Ronaldinho – 2003

It would be a difficult task to find a footballer lover who didn’t know who Ronaldinho was growing up.

Now imagine Ronaldinho at Manchester United.

A match made in heaven. But one that sadly never materialised.

By his own admission, the Brazilian was only 48 hours away from signing for Manchester United before Barcelona and friend Sandro Rosell offered him the opportunity to play for Barcelona instead.

“It almost happened. It was a matter of 48 hours, but Sandro Rosell had told me way before I got the offer: “If I become Barca president, will you come?” I said yes,” he told FourFourTwo.

Rosell succeeded as president and the rest was history.

In a way, Manchester United fans can’t be too critical of his decision, or how things ended up for either party.

The club experienced major success under Sir Alex without the help of Ronaldinho, winning five major trophies, including the Champions League, in the six seasons he spent at Barcelona.

We also can’t forget the fact that a Cristiano Ronaldo entered the scene that very same year, who became a legend at Old Trafford in his own right.

On the other hand, the footballing world won when Ronaldinho transferred to Barcelona. Not only did we get to watch one of the finest footballers in the world, but we also saw a relatively unknown talent in Lionel Messi emerge under the guidance of the Brazilian to ultimately become one of the greatest of all time.

Ronaldinho – the one that got away.

يدرس نادي بايرن ميونخ فكرة التعاقد مع جناح الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي أتلتيكو مدريد، توماس ليمار، قبل انتهاء فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الحالية.

ويرغب بطل دوري أبطال أوروبا لعام 2020 في تدعيم صفوف الفريق الألماني، بعد الخسارة الكبيرة التي تلقاها الفريق بالجولة الماضية من بطولة الدوري أمام هوفنهايم بنتيجة 4-1.

وطلب مدرب بايرن ميونخ، هانزي فليك، من الإدارة الحصول على بعض الصفقات الجديدة من أجل تقوية صفوف البافاري للمنافسة على الألقاب في الموسم الحالي بعد رحيل فيليب كوتينيو وإيفان بيريسيتش وألفارو أودريوزولا وفيليب كوتينيو بعد انتهاء إعاراتهم.

اقرأ أيضًا.. رومينيجه يختار أفضل صفقتين جلبهما لـ بايرن ميونخ

ووضع بايرن ميونخ عينه على ليمار من أجل تدعيم مركز الجناح الأيسر، وهي ليست المرة الأولى التي يهتم فيها بضم الفرنسي، حيث سبق وحاول في العامين الماضيين ضمه ولكن فشل.

ستحاول إدارة النادي الألماني مرة أخرى مستغلة عدم نجاح ليمار مع مدربه دييجو سيميوني، واستبعاده المتواصل من المباريات في الفترة الأخيرة لإقناع أتلتيكو مدريد بفكرة التخلي عنه.

ويريد أتلتيكو مدريد بيع ليمار وليس إعارته، وهو ما أبلغ به بايرن ميونخ في الأيام الماضية ولذلك يدرس الأخير التقدم بعرض رسمي لحسم الصفقة لصالحه قبل 5 أكتوبر المقبل.

رحيل ليمار عن أتلتيكو مدريد سيمنح النادي الإسباني فرصة لتخفيض الرواتب بين اللاعبين من أجل التعاقدات الجديدة المتوقعة مثل إدينسون كافاني أو أركاديوش ميليك (نابولي) أو راؤول دي توماس (إسبانيول) أو ماكسي جوميز (فالنسيا) لتدعيم الهجوم.

In the first half of this Premier League season, Chelsea were pretty solid under Maurizio Sarri.

For most of it, only Liverpool had a better defensive record, putting into perspective how well things were going for the Blues at the back.

Rather, it was the team’s attack that was costing the west London club with Alvaro Morata epitomising how poor it had been.

However, after thrashings to Bournemouth and Manchester City among other terrible displays, it is clear defence is now the big problem area at Chelsea.

And while Sarri will be quick to point out that defending starts from the front and is done collectively, it is hard to look past David Luiz’s awful contribution in this mess.

Yet the 31-year-old is set to be handed a new contract (Evening Standard) in a development that could now have consequences for Andreas Christensen.

Christensen has barely featured in this Premier League campaign even with Luiz struggling for form, and that does not look like it is about to change now or in the near future following the news about his Brazilian team-mate.

Transfer ban or no transfer ban, Sarri seems set on having Luiz at the heart of his defence indefinitely, leaving Christensen in a difficult predicament.

Chelsea fans, does Luiz deserve his spot in the starting XI ahead of Christensen? Join the discussion by commenting below.

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Celtic fans will be absolutely fuming at club legend Davie Provan, who has slammed fans for criticising Brendan Rodgers.

Celtic were left stunned by the timing of Rodgers’ departure, bringing in Neil Lennon on a temporary basis to replace the now Leicester boss.

While most fans accept that the Premier League is the greatest height a footballer or manager can reach, the manner of the boss’ departure left a sour taste in a lot of mouths.

Provan, who made 206 league appearances for Celtic, scoring 28 goals and winning four league titles, has now hit back at Rodgers’ critics, insisting that the 46 year-old made the right decision.

Provan’s reasoning for his verdict though, is downright absurd.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

What’s he said?

Speaking in his column for The Scottish Sun, Provan said: “Those accusing Rodgers of betrayal need to wise up. He’s taken a better-paid job in a stronger league while escaping Glasgow’s sectarian cesspool at the same time.”

Later in the column he discussed crowd violence: “Already, Gerrard must survey our football landscape and wonder why he’s here.

“Yeah, the English game has its share of bonehead supporters, but nothing like the coin-throwing, foul-mouthed sectarian mob currently killing our game.

“You wouldn’t dream of taking your wife or kids into their company.

“And if Rodgers has spoken warmly of his time in Scotland, he must be relieved he’s rejoined civilisation at Leicester.”

Completely out of touch with reality

To be frank, the 62 year-old is about as far away from the mark as you possibly could be.

In fact, for a man so connected with Parkhead, he seems to have completely missed the point of why Bhoys fans are unhappy with the former boss.

No one will begrudge a relatively young manager the chance to perform on the biggest stage, but to leave on the brink of a league title and potentially even a “treble treble” shows cowardice.

On top of that, to suggest that crowd violence is a Scotland problem rather than a football problem is truly bizarre, as if Jack Grealish and Chris Smalling weren’t attacked on English football pitches this very weekend.

All in all, Provan has managed to completely miss why fans are angry with Rodgers while simultaneously branding all Scottish football fans responsible for the actions of a few idiotic rule-breakers. His comments are completely nonsensical.

Kyle Lafferty has had a bit of a tough time on his return to Ibrox this season. The 31-year-old striker had bagged just four goals before yesterday, with his most recent goal coming against Cowdenbeath in the Scottish Cup in January, and before that his most recent Scottish Premier League goal coming all the way back in late September.

There has been no doubting that Alfredo Morelos is Steven Gerrard’s number one choice up front, and the January signing of Jermain Defoe has only pished Lafferty further down the pecking order. However, when the Northern Irishman came on and scored yesterday it would have given him the much-needed confidence boost that he’s been needing for a while.

The Bluenoses will hope he can put together some kind of run of form now and if he can kick on and grab some goals between now and the end of the season then it will be a welcomed bonus that would relieve some of the goalscoring burden that is so often put on Morelos. However, it won’t be easy to string together goalscoring form, and if it is to happen then the big man will need more than cameo appearances from the bench.

You can read the Gers’ reaction to Lafferty’s strike here:

The Bluenoses loved seeing their big man score and will hope there are few more to come from Lafferty this season.

أعلن نادي الترجي التونسي إصابة معين الشعباني المدير الفني لفريق كرة القدم، بفيروس كورونا المستجد كوفيد 19.

وأوضح الترجي التونسي في بيان رسمي ان نتائج المسحة الطبية التي أجراها طاقم الجهاز الفني أظهرت إصابة 4 أفراد بينهم معين الشعباني. بيان الترجي

صدرت نتائج التحاليل لفيروس كورونا لأعضاء الطاقم الفني للترجي الرياضي التونسي وهم معين الشعباني وعثمان النجار صبري البوعزيزي وكانت إيجابية مع الأسف الشديد.

ونؤكد بالمناسبة أن حالة الثلاثي المذكور مستقرة والحمد لله مش ما هو الشأن بالنسبة المدرب مجدي تراوي الذي تعرف على نتيجة تحليله منذ نهاية الأسبوع المنقضي

تمنياتنا بالشفاء العاجل للجميع

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Tyrone Mings found it very difficult to earn minutes for Bournemouth in the first half of this season, but he has been an ever-present since arriving at Aston Villa.

Mings joined Villa on loan from Bournemouth in January and has not missed a minute of football for the Championship club since his arrival.

Mings again operated alongside Tommy Elphick at the heart of the defence in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium.

And the Villa fans absolutely loved what they saw from the towering centre-back again.

It remains to be seen whether Dean Smith’s side are able to secure a spot in the playoff positions come the end of the 2018-19 campaign.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

However, whatever happens, it would be fair to say that the Villa fans are absolutely desperate for their club to sign Mings on a permanent contract.

According to WhoScored, the 25-year-old had a pass success rate of 88% against Stoke, which is staggering for a centre-back at Championship level.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Villa fans can be seen below:

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After Tuesday night’s Champions League clash, there’s plenty of Liverpool content doing the rounds at the minute. But rather than you spanning the internet far and wide, Football FanCast have put the biggest and most interesting stories all into one place. Here’s our Reds roundup…

Liverpool interested in Buckley

According to an exclusive from Teamtalk, Liverpool are one of a number of clubs interested in Blackburn Rovers’ highly promising youngster John Buckley. The attacking midfielder is yet to feature at senior level, but nonetheless his other suitors are said to include Everton and Manchester United – which has reportedly prompted a round of contract talks at Ewood Park. Football FanCast, however, fear for how signing Buckley could affect Rhian Brewster and Harry Wilson’s development at Anfield.

Fans livid with Mane

Liverpool drew a blank against Bayern Munich in midweek and Sadio Mane has emerged as the scapegoat, not least because he failed to capitalise on a glorious chance in the first half and then neglected numerous opportunities to set up team-mates as the game went on. Reaction on social media then has been pretty fierce with some fans calling for the 26-year-old to be dropped – you can check it out in full here.

Lewis signs new contract

Highly-rated 19-year-old Adam Lewis has signed a new contract at Anfield, the club confirmed on Tuesday. The teenager has been a regular at U23 level this season but is still awaiting his first-team breakthrough with the Merseysiders. With Alberto Moreno expected to leave the club this summer though, some Liverpool supporters have tipped him to fill the void and become Andrew Robertson’s deputy next season.

Liverpool fans pleased with Oliver appointment

Referees are very rarely figures of popularity but Michael Oliver represents a rare exception. Liverpool face Manchester United on Sunday in a potentially season-defining Northwest derby and their fans are pretty chuffed to hear that the 33-year-old will be in charge, with some dubbing him the best referee in the Premier League. Mike Dean won’t be too happy about that. Click here to see our full coverage.

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When you think of Wolves this season, eyes are likely to be cast in the direction of Raul Jimenez, Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota.

All three have been imperative to their wonderful first season back in the Premier League. But one man who goes under the radar is Joao Moutinho, a number in a line of Portuguese stars to feature for the club.

Following his performance against Manchester United last weekend, Wolves supporters have been left in awe of the midfielder, as he made seven key passes over the course of the 90 minutes.

Supporters at Molineux have had plenty to jump and shout about this season, but Moutinho presents them with the latest chance to rave over one of their players.

Individuals took to Twitter to laud the ex Monaco man, hailing him as the best player they’ve ever seen in a Wolves shirt whilst one tweeted that he was the best Wolves player he’d seen in his lifetime.

It was glowing praise for an experienced professional who has also been labelled by supporters as a superstar, world-class, a legend, and like a Jack Russell in the Wolves midfield.

What’s your club’s best chant? Check out the video below for a Wolves epic that surely has to be one of the best in English football…

Nuno Santo’s side signed him for a bargain price as one fan claimed it was the best £5m ever spent.

Here’s what was said about him on Twitter…

سجل محمد فاروق لاعب بيراميدز الهدف الثاني لفريقه أمام مصر المقاصة في مباراتهما اليوم ببطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويلعب بيراميدز ضد المقاصة في إطار منافسات الجولة 31 من الدوري.

وأحرز محمد فاروق الهدف بتسديدة من داخل منطقة الجزاء في الدقيقة 42 بعد تلقيه تمريرة من زميله صانع الألعاب عبد الله السعيد.

طالع أيضًا.. ترتيب الدوري المصري بعد فوز بيراميدز على المقاصة.. هبوط نادي مصر رسميًا

طالع أيضًا.. فيديو | بيراميدز يسجل هدف بيراميدز الأول أمام مصر المقاصة في الدوري

وكان الغاني جون أنطوي قد تقدم لبيراميدز على المقاصة بالهدف الأول. شاهد هدف بيراميدز الثاني أمام مصر المقاصة