Former West Ham and QPR No 1 joins Terriers from Leeds for rest of season

Huddersfield Town have added to their goalkeeping options by signing Robert Green from Leeds United.

The 37-year-old mutually terminated his contract with Leeds and joins the Terriers for the rest of the season.

Green has made 267 Premier League appearances, including spells at Norwich City, West Ham United and Queens Park Rangers.

He is the 12th summer signing by David Wagner, whose Huddersfield team are unbeaten after three matches of their first Premier League season.

They are next in action at West Ham United on Monday 11 September.

N’Golo Kante blew the Premier League away last season for the second campaign in a row.

After playing a key role in Leicester’s shock 5000/1 title win in 2015/2016, the midfielder moved to Chelsea in a £30million deal.

Antonio Conte hasn’t hesitated in building his midfield around the 36-year-old.

While Chelsea sanctioned the sale of Nemanja Matic to Manchester United and they have brought in Tiemoue Bakayoko in his place, Kante is undoubtedly their main man in the centre of the park.

It’s very difficult to find anyone within the game who has anything negative to say about the former Caen star.

There is only one thing the French international is missing, at least according to Claude Makelele, and that’s leadership skills.

“What I like about him is that he’s very generous,” Makelele recently told SFR Sport, per Metro.

MAKELELE’S ONE CRITICISM 
“He plays with a smile on his face, and that’s an exceptional quality. I really hope he has a better career than mine, but he still needs that leadership.

“That doesn’t mean be a captain, but to have an aura within the team that when they look at him, they think ‘We’re going to win’ or when he speaks to them, they go ‘You’re right’.

“When he has that aura, he’ll be an exceptional player. That’s when he’ll become a regular for France.”

Given the plaudits he’s received since moving to England in 2015, it would be understandable if Kante were a little offended by the suggestion that he isn’t already an “exceptional player”.

KANTE RESPONDS 
To his credit, though, he has come out with a thoroughly classy response in an interview with the Premier League.

“I think it’s good to listen to the advice of this type of player like Makelele, I need to listen and try to give my best,” he said.

“But I cannot say I want to do what everyone wants me to do, but it’s good to listen to the advice of players like him and to the staff and manager at Chelsea.

“I want to improve and I’m doing my best to improve so I listen and try to do it. If I do it, okay, but [I try] not to put too much pressure on it.”

Paul Pogba is not willing to go overboard despite Manchester United’s blistering start to the season.

United top the Premier League table as one of only three clubs with a perfect record from two games.

They have beaten both West Ham and Swansea by scorelines of 4-0, and Pogba has impressed in the heart of midfield.

The Frenchman insists that the season “is not finished yet”, however. Someone should tell Neil Custis.

“I’m pleased and happy that we have started really well, but it is not finished yet,” Pogba told ESPN FC. “It is just the start of the season.

“The biggest challengers? We are our own rivals and we think about ourselves first. But we don’t have to be scared of anyone in the league because we know we are a strong team as well. We know we can do great this season.

“I hope [we can win the title]. Every team is strong, like when Leicester won it two years ago and nobody expected it, so you don’t know what’s going to happen.

“We started very well, but we can end up bad and we don’t want this. We want to be focused from game to game.”

Manchester United fans probably weren’t calling out for a new striker after scoring eight goals in their opening two Premier League games.

With £75 million arrival Romelu Lukaku scoring three goals during those comfortable 4-0 victories over West Ham and Swansea with Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial also scoring in both games, the Red Devils don’t appear to be lacking in goalscorers.

However, on Thursday afternoon, they added one of the greatest goalscorers European football has ever seen in Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Swedish superstar arrived at Old Trafford last summer and scored 28 goals in all competitions before a serious knee injury appeared to put his whole career in doubt. However, the 35-year-old has recovered remarkably and has been re-signed by Jose Mourinho.

But where will he fit in?

Mourinho is already probably having sleepless nights about how to fit Lukaku, Martial, Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan into his starting line-up. Throw Zlatan into the mix and he has an almighty dilemma.

But we’ve attempted to step into Mourinho’s shoes and tried picking United’s XI now that Zlatan has returned. Of course, he needs to return to full fitness first but, when he does, here are three different ways in which he and Lukaku could take to the field alongside each other.

OPTION 1

This is obviously a very attacking line-up and Rashford and Mkhitaryan would be required to put in a defensive shift to give Nemanja Matic and Pogba some protection.

Daley Blind and Antonio Valencia would also be expected to be more defensive full-backs than attacking.

The downside to this formation is that it would limit Pogba’s ability to get forward like he has done so effectively so far this season.

OPTION 2

OPTION 3

Shifting Lukaku out to the left wing obviously isn’t ideal but Mourinho may need to do that to field him and Ibrahimovic in the same team.

This formation will also limit Pogba to a more conservative role with four attacking players ahead of him.

LUKAKU AND ZLATAN TO ROTATE?
Of course, there’s a real possibility that Mourinho doesn’t plan to play Zlatan and Lukaku together at all. Instead, he could be planning to rotate them using the same tactics he’s fielded so far as United compete on all four fronts.

First, though, the 35-year-old will be working on getting back match-fit having not played since Aprill.

One thing is for sure, Mourinho now has plenty of attacking options when Ibra makes his return to action.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a Manchester United player once again after signing a new one-year deal with the Red Devils.

The former Sweden international had last season cruelly cut short by a double knee ligament tear.

Having progressed remarkably quickly in his rehabilitation, he soon confirmed that he was looking for a club to take him on.

The odds of him rejoining United were always decent because he was continuing to train at their Carrington complex.

Besides, it’s known that Jose Mourinho likes having him around to inspire younger, up-and-coming players.

The 35-year-old hit 17 league goals last season and helped United to both the EFL Cup and Europa League – though this time around he’ll have £75million man Romelu Lukaku to compete with.

The Belgian is not only a lot younger than the former Barcelona, Inter Milan, and PSG superstar, he also signed for United at a much earlier point in the summer.

That gave him pick of the shirt numbers, and after Zlatan usurped Anthony Martial to take the number nine last year, this time it was Lukaku who got to don the jersey.

As you’d expect, however, the 24-year-old didn’t dare take it upon his move from Everton without Ibra’s blessing.

Probably the first player ever to “upgrade” his number. Would we expect anything less from the great man?

It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how a player of his stature adapts to fitting around another top forward. Mourinho surely can’t guarantee him a starting role, especially as he’s not going to be fit for a little while yet.

Whatever shirt he’s playing in, the one thing that’s guaranteed is goals. If even a serious ACL injury isn’t enough to stop him, potentially playing second fiddle to Lukaku shouldn’t either.

With a just week of the summer transfer window remaining, all of the talk around Stamford Bridge has been regarding potential incomings.

Chelsea’s impressive display against Tottenham may have papered over a few cracks but Antonio Conte knows more signings are required to strengthen the depth of his squad for the rest of the campaign.

Over the last few weeks, it was widely thought the only senior player who could leave the club was the disgruntled Diego Costa, however, that might not actually be the case.

According to The Sun, Chelsea’s newly appointed club captain Gary Cahill could also be making a shock exit.

Cahill started the Blues’ first game of the season against Burnley but was sent off early on and still has to sit out two more games to serve his suspension.

And given how well Conte’s makeshift defence handled Harry Kane last weekend, Cahill’s instant return to the starting XI isn’t necessarily a guarantee.

Which might explain why Juventus have reportedly made contact regarding the 31-year-old’s availability.

The Italian champions are still in the process of replacing Leonardo Bonucci, who joined AC Milan earlier in the summer.

So far, they have failed in pursuits of Diego Godin, Jerome Boateng, Eliaquim Mangala and Ezequiel Garay, and have now turned to Cahill in the hope he can end their quest for a new centre-back.

The same report claims Juve would ideally like to sign the England international on loan for a season but are prepared to spend up to £16.5 million to acquire the former Bolton player’s services.

Sources have apparently told The Sun that Conte is unsure how much of a role his captain will play this term which has encouraged Juventus boss Max Allegri to register his interest.

Given Conte is still eager to improve his defence, it seems unlikely he would be willing to let Cahill go, particularly after the departures of Nathan Ake, John Terry and Kurt Zouma already this summer.

The Blues are still closely monitoring the situation of Virgil van Dijk and could still make a late swoop before the transfer window shuts next week.

Arsene Wenger has shown a resilience Arsenal fans have not seen for quite some time regarding the future of Alexis Sanchez.

In the past, if a star player had just 12 months to run on his contract and no intention of extending his deal, Wenger wouldn’t hesitate in selling him to the highest bidder.

But with Sanchez, the Gunners boss isn’t backing down without a fight.

At the risk of letting the Chile international leave for free next summer, Wenger is determined to do everything he can to keep Sanchez this season.

Every man has his price, though.

Manchester City have been considered the most likely destination for the 28-year-old and although preliminary talks have taken place, a formal bid has not yet been made.

Therefore Pep Guardiola and co. will be very intrigued to learn that The Mirror are reporting Arsenal’s valuation of Sanchez is at £70 million.

The newspaper claim the north London side will only consider selling their prized asset with bids matching or above their price tag.

Wenger will remain firmly against letting Sanchez join a Premier League rival but realistically there are not many other teams around Europe who could afford such a deal.

Even with that knowledge, it is unlikely the Citizens will immediately match Arsenal’s valuation.

A similar stance is being taken on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mesut Ozil, who also have less than 12 months to run on their current deals.

Wenger understandably feels their chances of returning to the Champions League will be better off with the trio in the squad, even if it means they move on for free next summer.

Arsenal’s campaign hit a bump last weekend with a 1-0 defeat at Stoke – just the kind of game Wenger could have done with someone like Sanchez to unlock the Potters’ stubborn defence.

The former Barcelona star is expected to return from a groin injury to face Liverpool on Sunday for his first outing in 2017/18.

If City are going to test Arsenal’s resolve, they need to move quickly, with just over a week of the transfer window remaining.

Man City substitute’s equaliser cancels out striker’s 200th Premier League goal to rescue 1-1 draw with Everton

Raheem Sterling rescued a point for Manchester City after a landmark goal from Wayne Rooney had Everton on course for victory at the Etihad Stadium.

Rooney opened the scoring when he struck after 35 minutes for his 200th Premier League goal.

The former Manchester United striker tucked home Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s cross to reach the milestone against the team whom he also scored his 50th and 150th career goals.

Man City had Kyle Walker sent off before half-time following two bookable offences, but rallied after the break.

A wave of pressure was finally rewarded with eight minutes to play when substitute Sterling met Mason Holgate’s miscued clearance and volleyed past Jordan Pickford.

Everton’s Morgan Schneiderlin became the second player to be sent off on 88 minutes, but it was too late for Man City to find a dramatic winner.

Liverpool showed in their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday that they miss Philippe Coutinho.

The club said Coutinho’s absence was due to a back problem but it’s likely Barcelona’s interest in the Brazilian has played a part in his non-appearance in Liverpool’s first two matches of the new season.

Liverpool rejected a bid that totalled £118 million from Barca on Friday, the third bid that Spanish giants have made since July.

The Times reported that the 25-year-old reacted to Liverpool blocking his move to Barcelona by informing Jurgen Klopp that he doesn’t want to play for the Reds again, but he may have little choice but to.

That’s because Barcelona have given up their chase for Coutinho, according to Spanish football expert Guillem Balague.

That news will come as a welcome relief to Liverpool supporters who were wondering if their club would eventually crack.

Liverpool released a statement earlier in the month confirming Coutinho wouldn’t be sold this summer but similar comments were made months before they sold Luis Suarez to Barcelona in 2014.

And with the transfer kitty boosted following Neymar’s move to Paris Saint-Germain, the Blaugrana wouldn’t have had a problem overspending on Coutinho.

But Balague claims Barcelona have given up on the playmaker and instead turned their attentions to three different players.

They are Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri, Ousmane Dembele of Borussia Dortmund and PSG’s Angel di Maria.

Seri, 26, is close to completing a £36m move to the Camp Nou and Barca have held a long-term interest in Dembele, who has been suspended by Dortmund following his desire to leave the club.

Di Maria’s name is an interesting one, though. If Barcelona’s interest in the former Real Madrid winger is genuine, they could find it easier to convince PSG to sell than Dortmund.

Neymar’s arrival at the Parc des Princes, combined with Julian Draxler’s presence, could see the Argentinian made available if Barcelona come up with a suitable offer.

But the Catalan outfit must act quickly. The transfer window shuts next week and the 5-1 dismantling at the hands of Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup suggests Ernesto Valverde’s side might struggle to keep up with Los Blancos this season.