Prodigious Celtic teenager Karamoko Dembele has been urged to stay grounded and enjoy his football by a man who knows all too well the pitfalls of being an exciting young talent at Parkhead.
Islam Feruz was just 14 when he appeared for Celtic in a memorial match for Tommy Burns in 2009.
However, he was swayed by the riches of Premier League side Chelsea in September 2011 and his career stalled after moving to Stamford Bridge.
Loan spells at OFI Crete, Blackpool, Hibernian and now Excel Mouscron have followed for Feruz, who has failed thus far to live up to the early promise.
Dembele made headlines after making his debut for Celtic s Under-20 side at the age of 13 against Hearts last week, and Feruz urged the youngster not to rush any decisions regarding h…
Best Odds: 1/2
Bookmaker:
Two sides who will be desperate to extend on their Champions League qualifying adventure, Dinamo Tbilisi will welcome Astana to the Boris Paichadze Arena on Wednesday evening.
Dinamo Tbilisi
Starting with the hosts, putting in what was a hugely impressive performance out in Kazakhstan last week as they eventually snatched a first-leg 1-1 draw, Dinamo Tbilisi will be confident of spring a major qualifying upset here. Crowned Georgia’s Super Cup champions back on July 4th as they clinched a nail-biting penalties victory against Dinamo Batumi, Giorgi Tchiabrishvili s men should be excited to make a return to home soil on Wednesday evening. Claiming yet another domestic crown last season and signing off their 2022/23 romp with a routine …
Everton midfielder Fabian Delph has withdrawn from England s squad for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against Montenegro and Kosovo after failing to recover from a hamstring injury.
Delph sustained the injury during the 1-1 draw with Tottenham on November 3 and sat out Everton s 2-1 win at Southampton on Saturday.
The 29-year-old still joined up with England on Monday, but after being assessed by the medical team it has been decided he will continue his rehabilitation at Everton.
England boss Gareth Southgate has opted against calling up a replacement ahead of Thursday s home meeting with Montenegro and the trip to Kosovo three days later.
Delph has been capped 20 times by England since making his debut in 2014, though he has yet to feature in Euro 2020 qualify…
Everton are interested in signing Mohammed Kudus from Ajax in the January transfer window, according to . The report has claimed the Premier League club wanted to sign the Ghana international midfielder in the summer of 2022 and reman keen on him.
Kudus has been on the books of Ajax since 2020 and has established himself as one of the best young midfielders in Eredivisie. The 22-year-old has done well for Ajax, both in the Dutch domestic league and in European club competitions.
The former Nordsjaelland midfielder has made five starts and nine substitute appearances in the Eredivisie for Ajax so far this season, scoring five goals in the process. Kudus has also made five starts and one substitute appearance in the UEFA Champions League for the Dutch giants so far this c…
Mauricio Pochettino has no doubt that his Tottenham players remain fully committed to the club despite their troubled start to the campaign.
Tottenham have won just three of their 10 matches in all competitions this season and were thrashed 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Pochettino admitted last week his side s poor run of form could be down to an unsettled squad, with a number of players rumoured to have pushed for a move away during the close season.
Three days on from the home humiliation at the hands of Bayern, however, the Argentine coach shot down suggestions his players no longer care.
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)
I have no doubt the players want to always do their best to win, he said at Frid…
Antoine Griezmann has repeatedly been linked with a return to Atletico Madrid during this transfer window and Diego Simeone has heaped praise on a player he still believes can be a success at Barcelona.
Griezmann endured a mixed season for Ronald Koeman s men last campaign, scoring 13 times in 36 appearances as Barca s LaLiga title challenge faded down the home straight.
In contrast, Atleti – in true Simeone fashion – battled to secure their first Spanish top-flight success on the last day of the 2020-21 season and ended a seven-year spell without a LaLiga triumph.
Ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, reports in Spain have suggested that Simeone was keen to link-up with the France forward once more, but the Atleti head coach seemed keen not to inflame that specula…
Riyad Mahrez is hungry to achieve more with Manchester City after signing a new contract with the Premier League champions.
The Algeria international has spent the past four seasons with City, having joined from Leicester City in a £60million transfer, and his new deal will run through until June 2025.
Mahrez has scored 63 goals and assisted a further 43 across 189 appearances for City, winning seven major trophies across that successful period.
He also famously won the Premier League with Leicester City in 2016, but the 31-year-old is eager to add more trophies to his collection with Pep Guardiola s side.
I m very happy to sign the new deal, said Mahrez, who previously had just one season left to run on his contract.
I have enjoyed every sin…
Manchester United have activated the one-year extension in the contract of Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
The defender s deal had been due to expire at the
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end of the 2019-20 season.
However, Stats Perform understands the option to extend the player s terms by a further 12 months was exercised back in January.
Fosu-Mensah has not played a senior competitive game for United since the 2-0 Premier League win over Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in May 2017, at the end of Jose Mourinho s first season in charge.
The 22-year-old has spent the past two seasons on loan at Palace and Fulham, but he has been sidelined since having surgery on a knee ligament injury last April.
Fosu-Mensah is the latest United player to see his contract extended beyond the en…
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Lee Mason has left his role by mutual consent after his blunder cost Arsenal a win against Brentford last weekend.
The Gunners were held to a 1-1 draw in a London derby last Saturday, though Ivan Toney s equaliser should have been disallowed.
Toney headed in from close range after Christian Norgaard nudged the ball across the face of goal, but the latter had been offside in the build-up.
The goal went to a VAR check for a separate incident instead, with Mason – in charge of the technology for the game – not spotting Norgaard strayed just offside.
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), the body responsible for referees in England, subsequently acknowledged it was a significant error and Mason was not assign…
Best Odds: 4/9
Bookmaker:
Two sides who will turn their attention back to Nations League duties on Wednesday night, Scotland will welcome Ukraine to Hampden.
Scotland
Starting with the hosts, managing to make an immediate return to winning ways when heading into the summer break, Scotland will now have their sights set on trying to find some stability. Last seen on June 14th when picking up a routine 4-1 victory away at Armenia, Steve Clarke s men still have a Nations League promotion at the top of their agenda. Mustering six points from their opening three outings this year, the Tartan Army are also desperate to prove that their shock 3-0 drumming against British rivals Ireland three months ago was just a minor blip. However, watching their World Cup dreams go…