Arsenal and Manchester United’s No.1. transfer target is Lille’s Gabriel Magalhaes

Gabriel Magalhaes has been in the headlines lately as the Lille defender has been picked out by Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United as a transfer target.

The Brazilian who is 22 and is 6ft 3” seems like a perfect candidate to move on and has had some great form for his club in Ligue 1 this season. And it seems that between just £25-£30m could secure his services. That’s not bad for a player that has already broken into the Brazil under 20 team and it only seems like a matter of time before he will make the senior side.

Lille finished 4th last season and conceded just 27 goals that was one of the lowest in the league and only 3 short of PSG, as they had another very solid season. Even though he’s Brazilian he’s no Roberto Carlos, in that don’t expect him to be a defender and attack too and he has scored just 2 goals for Lille in his time there since 2017. Although Lille have loaned him out to various clubs including Troyes and Dinamo Zagreb.

It seemed at one point with the Zagreb loan move that Magalhaes’ career could have petered out. But he impressed in that season enough for Lille to give him another chance and has completed a full season with the Ligue 1 side.

However it seems that Magalhaes may never settle with Lille and now that two big Premier League clubs have come calling it seems inevitable that the Lille defender will switch clubs and move on. But where will he go?

The temptation would be to join Manchester United given that they seem to be going in the right direction and have of course just qualified for the Champions League. But at United he may well be a small fish in a big pond.

Arsenal are still in transition and trying to find their best system and way under Mikel Arteta. But there is a good vibe around the Gunners at the moment after just winning the FA Cup. However if the player chooses to join them then it will be Europa League football for next season. At the same time it could well be argued that his life won’t be as demanding as it would be if he joined United at this stage.

With the Copa America and the 2022 World Cup around the corner Magalhaes will have to make that ‘big’ move to one of these clubs and this is an opportunity he can’t let go if he wants to break into the Brazil national team.

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Referee Jerome Brisard got it wrong with Neymar at the weekend

Even when PSG win games 5-0 Neymar appears to have arguments with someone but one could feel for the player this weekend.

PSG destroyed Montpellier 5-0 and even though Neymar did not get on the score sheet he did make an assist for Kylian Mbappe’s goal.

For Neymar it all kicked off as the first half was approaching closure. The Brazilian tried a fancy flick which looked great, although the ball did go out of play. Then, for some reason the camera’s zoomed in on him and referee Jerome Brisard it was hard to know what at that point was going on, but it looked heated. Some have claimed that Neymar was screaming that he was trying to play football. But words were exchanged and it is possible that at that point Neymar said something to the referee and then was booked. Which almost tipped Neymar over the edge.

It didn’t stop there though and at half time the players were seen to go through the tunnel to get to their dressing rooms and Neymar told the waiting officials again he was only trying to play football, of course he was speaking in Portuguese which didn’t go down well and one of the officials looking angry turned to him and said ”speak French”, it is claimed by some TV stations that Neymar replied ”speak French, my ass” and then kicked something.

So, two things here; The first is that why did Brisard book Neymar, and why did a confrontation happen in the first place. Was Brisard right to book him. Wasn’t it not just a heat of the moment thing, after all Neymar had not injured a fellow player. If he had sworn at the referee that is a different matter but it is some thing that we are not clear about.

The second situation seems a lot more darker. Why did a French official feel it was necessary for Neymar to speak French? Would that have suddenly validated his concerns- obviously not, so that seemed quite bizarre to say such a thing. Neymar replying simply added to what many think of him as a cry baby. But in defence of Neymar who also turned 28 it seems from this point of view that the officials were a little heavy handed on him and got it wrong. If anything they made sure to make the headlines especially in France.

As for Neymar he needs to put this recent episode behind him as PSG and him are in glorious form and will want to continue that to the end of the season.

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PSG go 10 points clear as Lyon continue great form

PSG stretched their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 10 points as they gained revenge over Lille for last season’s 5-1 hammering by beating them in a more conservative scoreline of 2-0. But less goals don’t equal less points and this was an assured rounded display by PSG who are looking like a much more maturer side as each week passes by.

Neymar got both goals, one was a penalty and his total for the season is 13. He has gone into joint 2nd place and is only one goal behind Monaco’s Wissam Ben Yedder. It was an emotional night for Neymar following the tragic events earlier in the day that saw Basketball legend Kobe Bryant die in a helicopter crash. The both of them were very good friends and Neymar dedicated his goals to him.

No team looks like catching PSG and if one team were going to give a challenge it was going to be Marseille, but they dropped points. Their 0-0 home result against Angers yielded just 2 shots on target between both clubs- both shots coming from Marseille. Whilst L’OM did fall 10 points behind PSG, the good news is that 3rd placed Rennes also drew which means the gap between 2nd and 3rd is still 5 points. Rennes drew 1-1 away to Nice with Flavien Tait scoring for Rennes- this was the midfielders first goal for his club this season.

The trio of Montpellier, Lyon and Nantes are now a threat to 3rd place for Rennes and the final qualifying position for a Champions League spot. Montpellier won their 3rd game in a row after beating Dijon 2-1 with Andy Delort in fine form getting the winner for the home side. They are now 4 points behind Rennes.

The good form of Lyon continues as the club tipped to challenge PSG this season beat bottom placed Toulouse 3-0 in a widely expected result. Maxwell Cornet opened the scoring and it was a game dominated by the home side. Nantes have 32 points but they lost at the weekend, 1-0 to Bordeaux and they could be dropping off given that they have lost 2 of their last three games.

Lille are in the poorest form for top half clubs and their defeat against PSG means they have lost 3 games in a row. Whilst they are in 7th place they have scored just 1 goal in their past three matches and conceded 8 goals, their next game is a tough one, away to Strasbourg. Rounding out the top 8 is Strasbourg, so that match should be an interesting one.

Strasbourg claimed their 4th win from five games with a surprise result as they went to Monaco and beat them 3-1. Ludovic Ajorque who has been in fine form opened the scoring.

Whilst it looks like PSG will be winning the league again, the race for 3rd is looking like one of the most exciting in years. There is just 7 points between 3rd and 8th and even Monaco back in 13th position are just a further point behind.

Round 22 kicks off this Friday.

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Monaco coach Robert Moreno labels his team a disaster as he searches for first Ligue 1 win

It’s fair to say that Robert Moreno’s time at Monaco has not got off to a good start and at the weekend he saw his new club lose to Strasbourg and labelled the match and performance a ‘disaster’.

Moreno is right it was and Monaco just seem a little off in the past few weeks as Moreno searches for his first league win as Monaco coach. It has been rumoured though that some players in the Monaco camp do not take criticism lightly, and that may well have been the downfall of former coach Leonardo Jardim who had actually turned around the clubs fortunes, it meant little as in the end he was sacked.

So is Moreno saying that he witnessed a disaster going to be a controversial moment and could it define his career as Monaco coach? Certainly if some players are sensitive then his words would not have gone down very well.

After losing at home 3-1 to Strasbourg Moreno said: “It’s a horrible feeling. We started the game well, but after the first goal, it was a disaster, it’s difficult to attack a team that sits back and waits for you.

Moreno continued: “There wasn’t a good feeling with the ball, passing it around, to attack the space. We lacked quality in our passing, in the preparation of the game, in my choices…What happens on the pitch is my responsibility. I must explain things better to my players. We’re not the worst in the world now. It’s my team. Win or lose, I think my players are the best.”

Moreno has had earned just 1 point from the three leagues games he has been in charge of, although two of those have already been against champions PSG. The more pressing point for Moreno and something he will need to work on is in defence. That was a part of the field where outgoing coach Leonardo Jardim was so good at, the defence became so solid that it helped Monaco win the title in 2017. This version of Monaco under Moreno have conceded 10 goals in his 3 league games in charge.

There is no denying the fact though that Monaco have made some really controversial choices in the past year. Sacking a good coach in Jardim twice, having to go through their nightmare patch with Thierry Henry in charge. Is Moreno going to be another coach that cannot work with the club? When he arrived Monaco were in 7th place now they have dropped to 13th. The good news perhaps is that they are just 4 points from a European finish.

But the club have just 1 win in their last five games and that does not bode well. Their next match is away to Nimes who are in 19th place and have won just 3 games all season. However Monaco have won just 2 games from their 10 away this season. The road looks like a long one for Moreno, how will he and the club fare by May?

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Top Ligue 1 Goalkeepers 2018/19: Edouard Mendy

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Edouard Mendy might not be a household name even in France but the goalkeeper who keeps command for Reims in Ligue 1 has, by his standards, had an interesting season after finally breaking through to first team football in the last couple of years.

Mendy had spent time in the lower national leagues of France and then was taken on for Marseille’s B team but at age 24 it seemed that Mendy’s career was in trouble, that is when Reims decided to take a chance on the shot stopper who hails from Normandy.

Mendy helped Reims win Ligue 2 and was rewarded when the team decided to keep him, mostly because of his chemistry with the back four. He has rewarded Reims by being statistically one of the best goalkeepers in the league this season.

In the fantasy rankings Mendy ranks as 4th finishing on 59 points and only 3 behind PSG’s goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. Mendy would have cost 8m to add to your team. What has been terrific about Mendy’s season is he went the whole 9 months without missing a game in the league and played all 38. Though he conceded 42 goals he also kept  a highly impressive 14 clean sheets- that’s the 3rd best record in the league. He was booked 3 times which is easily the most from the top 10 keepers in the league.

Overall Mendy finished in 16th place if we take into account all goalkeepers in the major European leagues. So what went well for the goalkeeper during the season, and not so well?

Mendy started the season in terrific form picking up 14 points from his first two games as Reims beat Nice and Lyon and kept clean sheets on both occasions. However in his 3rd game Amiens shocked Reims by beating them 4-1 and that earned Mendy -6 points and this was repeated a further two times during the season. Less goals conceded would have seen Mendy easily finish in third place.

His best period was from the end of September until the beginning of December where from 5 games he scored points in four of them and walked away in that time frame with 28 points.

Mendy and Reims started to fall away from springtime after having a decent shout at finishing in an European place. His final 7 games were average indeed, this despite earning a couple of clean sheets those games earned him -3 points.

In the end Reims blew their European chance and finished in 8th place on 55 points and 11 points behind European qualification.

However Mendy proved himself in Ligue 1 and has really come up the ranks and it will be interesting to see next season if he continues to grow as a footballer after a tough start to his career.

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How Reims went from Ligue 2 to Top 6 in Ligue 1

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The Stade Auguste Delaune houses one of the most famous and certainly historical team in France in Stade Reims, also known as Reims. This is the club that was made most famous by their 1950s team which included Raymond Kopa and a team that got to 2 European Cup finals only to lose to the infamous Alfredo di Stefano Real Madrid team.

Since then it hasn’t been easy for the club who were promoted back to Ligue 1 in over 30 years in 2012. They spent a few seasons in Ligue 1 before being relegated again and this season marks the clubs first back in 3 years. They won Ligue 2 and then started this campaign off very slowly before hitting their stride in October, surging into the top 10 and quite frankly they haven’t looked back. So what has been the secret for Reims who as the season draws to a close are in the top six teams in France?

Let’s start with the coach first and Reims have had too many coaches in the past decade so it was a surprise when youth team coach David Guion was finally given the job in 2017 when the club were in Ligue 2. Guion has been with Reims in some capacity since 2012, coaching the youth team, the B team then acting as caretaker manager and then taking the job full time two years ago.

He has oversaw a team this season back in Ligue 1 who have lost just 6 games this season and have lost just 1 game in their last 10 matches. which came in midweek against Strasbourg.

But Reims are in 6th place and just 3 points behind 4th and what would be an automatic qualification for next seasons Europa League- there is no doubt that the club have taken massive strides this season. Club ownership should be applauded for giving someone from within the club the job as manager as preferred to an outsider and the decision made so much sense given that Guion has been with the club for so long.

The big money for Reims at the beginning of the season was spent on Ghislain Konan a left back who came from Vitoria in Portugal for £3.6m. The attacking winger Arber Zeneli came for the same fee from Dutch side Heernnveen, and both have had to make their impacts known.

The majority of Guion’s buys though were centred on defence, be it the back four or holding midfielders and he has been able to correctly identify where Reims weakness would be entering Ligue 1 again, for that he should be applauded, plus a total expenditure of just under £14m for what amounts to bringing 8 new players in is very good business in this day and age.

Reims did take a £4m loss in the transfer market, but their buys last summer have been evidently beneficial and they have a game in hand in the league which could see them take 4th place if they can stay consistent. The dream for Champions League football is a little distant right now as they are 10 points from that milestone but at the same time if the club keep on this trajectory then they have every chance to realise that dream.

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