When Gabriel Jesus first arrived in England in January 2017, he was something of an unknown. Manchester City parted with a fee rumoured to be in the region of £27million for the Brazilian forward, who had made just over 80 appearances for Palmeiras and had netted 28 times. It was clear Jesus had potential but the high transfer fee seemed a risk to take on a teenager. However, City clearly felt h...
When the 2018/19 Premier League season kicked off, Divock Origi was an afterthought for most Liverpool fans. A disappointing loan spell with Wolfsburg preceded the new campaign and, according to countless reports, he was behind Dominic Solanke in the pecking order. Fast forward 18 months, though, and Origi is a cult icon and a Liverpool legend. The Belgian has been living the dream since Decembe...
As far as transfer windows go, Arsenal had one of the best last summer. Despite operating on what was supposedly a limited budget, the Gunners managed to land Kieran Tierney, Nicolas Pépé, David Luiz, Dani Ceballos and William Saliba. Though the latter only joins at the end of the season and Ceballos is only on loan from Real Madrid, it is still an impressive haul. Tierney had been linked with a...
The Sliding Doors moment of Jérémie Boga’s Chelsea career came on the opening day of the 2017/18 season. Having spent the previous two campaigns on loan at Rennes and Granada, the 20-year-old was handed a place in Antonio Conte’s first-team squad for pre-season. Boga impressed. His quick-feet and dribbling ability as problematic for experienced defenders as those who had been bamboozl...
When Gabriel Jesus first arrived in England in January 2017, he was something of an unknown. Manchester City parted with a fee rumoured to be in the region of £27million for the Brazilian forward, who had made just over 80 appearances for Palmeiras and had netted 28 times. It was clear Jesus had potential but the high transfer fee seemed a risk to take on a teenager. However, City clearly felt h...
When the 2018/19 Premier League season kicked off, Divock Origi was an afterthought for most Liverpool fans. A disappointing loan spell with Wolfsburg preceded the new campaign and, according to countless reports, he was behind Dominic Solanke in the pecking order. Fast forward 18 months, though, and Origi is a cult icon and a Liverpool legend. The Belgian has been living the dream since Decembe...
As far as transfer windows go, Arsenal had one of the best last summer. Despite operating on what was supposedly a limited budget, the Gunners managed to land Kieran Tierney, Nicolas Pépé, David Luiz, Dani Ceballos and William Saliba. Though the latter only joins at the end of the season and Ceballos is only on loan from Real Madrid, it is still an impressive haul. Tierney had been linked with a...
The Sliding Doors moment of Jérémie Boga’s Chelsea career came on the opening day of the 2017/18 season. Having spent the previous two campaigns on loan at Rennes and Granada, the 20-year-old was handed a place in Antonio Conte’s first-team squad for pre-season. Boga impressed. His quick-feet and dribbling ability as problematic for experienced defenders as those who had been bamboozl...
Liverpool’s luck might have just run out. Rival fans have chosen to overlook the injuries to Alisson and Mohamed Salah and instead claim the Reds have been fortunate not to face the same personnel problems as Manchester City. But an innocuous coming together in the draw with Napoli has seen Fabinho suffer ankle ligament damage. He is ruled out until 2020 and will miss at least ten matches. The B...
Nuno Espírito Santo has made a habit out of defying the odds. During his first season with Wolverhampton Wanderers, talk was centred around whether he could keep talented players focused and competitive in England’s second tier. He did just that and Wolves secured the Championship title at a canter. Many tipped Santo’s side to be the wildcard of the 2018/19 Premier League campaign. Some believed...
A late Gabriel Barbosa double may have prevented River Plate from retaining their Copa Libertadores crown but the stock of the capital club from Argentina is perhaps at its peak. They’ve appeared in three of the last five Libertadores finals, coming out in top twice, and in back-to-back years have managed to best rivals Boca Juniors. Head coach Marcelo Gallardo is perpetually linked to Europe’s...