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Manchester City fans cannot understand why Aymeric Laporte has been excluded from the 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist.

The Frenchman has been a sensational signing for City since he joined in 2018 for £57m, helping the club win a domestic treble last campaign.

In that time, Laporte bagged himself three goals and provided three assists in 35 Premier League games, proving that he can be an asset at both ends of the pitch.

Fans cannot understand how his hand in a historic domestic treble has not earned him a spot ahead of the likes Marquinhos, who won the Ligue 1 title last season.

The former Athletic Bilbao man has gone from strength to strength and has already proved his importance through his absence this season, with City losing to Norwich City and Wolverhampton Wanderers during his time on the sidelines.

On the other hand, Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero are part of 13 Premier League stars making the cut.

However, fans are struggling to get their head around the fact their French star missed out.

Here’s what they had to say…

Some Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter have been discussing the potential of Ajax boss Erik ten Hag being their next manager.

It’s fair to say the pressure has increased a little on Mauricio Pochettino following the humiliating 7-2 home defeat by Bayern Munich on Tuesday, and it appears to have led to supporters starting to think about who they would want to replace the Argentine if he goes.

Jose Mourinho is one name that was mentioned in the aftermath of the heavy loss to the Bundesliga giants, and it appears that others are talking about ten Hag.

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The 49-year-old of course led the Dutch side to the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, and they were on the cusp of meeting Liverpool in the final until Lucas Moura’s last-gasp goal.

They have started their current campaign in Europe’s elite club competition with two wins out of two as well – the latest an impressive 3-0 win in Spain against Valencia on Wednesday.

Ten Hag certainly seems to be doing something right then having nurtured the talents of Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek among others, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed in north London.

While one individual described him as “the closest to Poch in terms of philosophy”, another said he is a “young manager who would easily succeed at Tottenham”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Barcelona’s weekend clash against Sevilla was a rollercoaster, to say the least.

Not only did the Catalans tally all three points after beating their opposition 4-0 on the night but they also managed to get two red cards at the same time.

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First, their young centre-back, Ronald Araujo, was shown a straight red card and then Ousmane Dembele soon followed after exchanging some words with the referee, Matez Lahoz.

That left Barcelona with nine men on the pitch and with some problems for the upcoming fixtures in La Liga.

Sevilla couldn’t take advantage of that because the deficit was simply too big but many Barcelona fans just couldn’t believe what was happening and were fuming at Lahoz’s officiating.

Some accused him of being a Real Madrid fan, hating Barcelona and wanting to be at the very centre of attention once again.

You can see some of their reactions down in the tweets below:

Sergio Ramos premiered his brand new documentary “The Heart of Sergio Ramos” just the other day, and of course, most of his Real Madrid teammates were there to celebrate with him.

Ramos talked about the movie and about the team in general, mentioning their hunger, their desire to win titles and much more.

But the talk of the evening, at least among many of the fans around the globe, was actually not about Ramos himself but rather the potent forward Karim Benzema.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Even though he is already 31 years old, the Frenchman seemed to have dressed like a “freshman” or as a kid on his “first day of school”, as lots of the fans were quick to notice and comment on his choice of attire.

There were mixed reactions, to say the least. Some fans thought it was a pretty bold choice to dress casually in an event that’s full of smartly dressed people, some just thought it was really funny and then there were some who didn’t think much of it.

You can see some of the replies in the tweets down below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Northern Echo, Steve Bruce will “step up his planning” for the January transfer window, with Sevilla’s Rony Lopes a target.

What’s the word?

Newcastle spent in the region of £61.5m on summer signings, with the likes of Joelinton, Allan Saint-Maximin and Emil Krafth all arriving on Tyneside.

However, The Northern Echo claim that having received £30m from selling Ayoze Perez, Bruce will have the majority of that money available for him to spend in the winter window.

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The report adds Lopes is being considered as a “leading target”, and having seen him fail to establish himself in the Sevilla side, the Magpies are ready to make a formal approach towards the end of the year.

Attacking quality

Having scored just four goals in their opening five Premier League games, Newcastle are in desperate need of some attacking firepower. Club-record signing Joelinton has shown glimpses of what he can bring to the table with his physical play, but Saint-Maximin’s injury troubles and Miguel Almiron’s luckless run in front of goal have compounded the Magpies’ woes going forward.

A swoop for Lopes would give them a creative winger who has proven in previous seasons that he can offer something different. In his standout 2017/2018 campaign, the Portuguese man registered 15 goals and 5 assists in Ligue 1 alone. His penchant for taking the game to the opposition is something the Magpies could really do with.

Before this current season, the 23-year-old had never averaged less than 1.5 shots and 1 dribble per game over his entire career. The former Manchester City starlet has had a difficult time since arriving at Sevilla earlier this summer, playing just 11 minutes of league football.

However, Lopes undoubtedly has talent. Speaking back in March 2015, his former reserve team boss at the Etihad, Patrick Vieira, provided a glowing assessment of just how good the winger could be.

“I must say Marcos ‘Rony’ Lopes is a special talent. He is 19, an attacking midfielder. We have just sent him to Lille on loan. Talent is not enough for the first-team. Your work-ethic, focus and determination has to be there. I believe Lopes has those things.” Patrick Vieira, March 2015

If Newcastle can revive the former prodigy’s career at St. James’ Park, then they could have someone with enormous potential to not only boost the quality of the first-team, but also one for the future too.

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Loads of Everton fans have been running the rule over their FA Cup exit at the hands of Millwall, and plenty are beginning to turn on Marco Silva.

With a European place in the Premier League slipping further and further out of the Toffees’ grasp, a cup run was absolutely necessary to get the fans and players back on the manager’s side.

The gaffer will be having nightmares about Saturday’s performance for quite some time though, as the Toffees were dumped out of the FA Cup in the fourth round courtesy of some truly shambolic defending.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Richarlison put Silva’s side in front at the Den towards the end of a scrappy first half, but the hosts equalised almost immediately as Lee Gregory finished with aplomb after Jake Cooper looped a header into the box.

Cenk Tosun then came off the bench to put the Blues back in front, but once again they were pegged back instantly, as Cooper turned scorer this time, finishing controversially with his upper arm from close range.

The hosts then took full advantage of Everton’s uneasiness at the back, grabbing the winner in stoppage time through Murray Wallace.

All three of Millwall’s goals came from the second ball on a set piece, and Silva’s zonal marking system must now come under very serious scrutiny.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, where fans are lashing out at the boss…

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A number of Arsenal fans have lavished praise on Reiss Nelson after the youngster scored the winner for England’s Under-21 side against Turkey Under-21s.

The actual goal will not be up for any awards at the end of the season, but it was a hugely important strike from the youngster as Aidy Boothroyd’s side claimed a 3-2 win.

Nelson spent last season on loan in the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim – scoring seven times in 29 appearances for the German club in all competitions.

The 19-year-old has been rewarded with a spot in the Arsenal first team this season – already clocking up 116 minutes of Premier League football for Unai Emery’s side.

And finding the back of the net against Turkey on Friday night would have done the attacker’s confidence no harm at all.

As expected, a number of Arsenal supporters have taken to social media to lavish praise on the academy product – a selection of which can be seen below:

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Ciaran Kelly spotted what Allan Saint-Maximin did right before he scored for Newcastle United in their game at home to Watford in the Premier League.

The Lowdown: Great finish

The opening goal in the 1-1 draw against the Hornets was typical of Saint-Maximin with his outrageous ability on the ball.

The Frenchman cut inside from the wing, beating two players before rifling an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner of the net past Ben Foster.

It put the North East club in the driving seat at St. James’ Park, although Joao Pedro levelled things up with a smart finish.

The Latest: Kelly reacts

Writing on Twitter, The Chronicle journalist Kelly spotted the hard work that Saint-Maximin did before he got his goal:

“Will go a little unnoticed but that all stemmed from Allan Saint-Maximin not giving up the ghost.

“Chased and harried Ngakia in build-up, forcing him into a mistake, before cutting inside and rifling the ball past Foster. Great finish. Deafening noise inside St James’ Park.”

The Verdict: All-rounder

Everyone knows that Saint-Maximin is an elite dribbler – he currently averages the second-most amount of dribbles per game in the top flight, only behind Wolves ace Adama Traore.

However, as Kelly points out, his work off the ball sometimes goes unnoticed, and his effort in trying to win it back off of Jeremy Ngakia before going on to score was such an important moment in the match.

Nonetheless, the 24-year-old will no doubt be a key player for the Tyneside outfit if they are to avoid relegation down to the Championship at the end of the campaign.

In other news, find out who NUFC are now in ‘advanced talks’ to sign here!

Club-record signing Daniel James delivered his worst performance in a Leeds United shirt as the Yorkshire giants were beaten by a struggling Newcastle United side at Elland Road on Saturday afternoon.

Having cost a whopping £30m from Manchester United in the summer, the Wales international – who had long been a target of manager Marcelo Bielsa, having gone close to signing him for a third of the price in January 2019 – has struggled to make his mark at Elland Road.

And Saturday’s disaster was another reminder that he’s just not been good enough.

Jonjo Shelvey fired in a 20-yard freekick to seal a 1-0 victory for the Magpies after Javier Manquillo was brought down on the edge of the box in the 75th minute.

Perhaps goalkeeper Illan Meslier could have done better with it seeing as it flew in on his side of the goal but by no means was he at fault for their overall display.

Toothless in the final third yet again, Leeds have been pulled back into the relegation mire and now sit just seven points above the bottom three, with a couple of sides below them holding games in hand.

Bielsa was once again without his star striker Patrick Bamford, leaving James to play upfront on his own.

In 71 minutes of action, the 5 foot 7 dynamo registered only 15 touches of the ball, comfortably the fewest of any starter on the pitch for either side. For further context, Meslier managed 39 touches, whilst visiting striker Chris Wood had 50 touches, as per SofaScore.

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It shows how the former United man was more involved in the game than James, despite playing the same role.

With those few touches, the Welshman managed only four accurate passes from nine attempts (44%), which would have done last weekend’s hat-trick hero Jack Harrison, top goalscorer Raphinha and others no favours whatsoever in the attack.

Whilst he also won just one of his six duels (16.6%), lost possession with nearly 50% of his touches (seven times) and to make matters worse, he fluffed two big chances – so despite barely being involved, he could’ve been the man to win it for Leeds.

LeedsLive reporter Beren Cross graded the £16.2m-rated star amongst the worst performers in his post-match ratings column and highlighted how ineffective he was at leading the line for Bielsa.

Indeed, in the past, James has been lambasted as “headless” with his decision making in the final third, so it’s a really baffling decision to see him trusted as a centre-forward, especially over someone like Rodrigo, who has bundles of experience playing that very role over in Spain.

Not only did he badly fail Bielsa on Saturday afternoon but also the Yorkshire outfit as a whole. Once again, the £52k-per-week-earning 24-year-old was a sheer disappointment and he ought to have no place in the starting XI going forward.

AND in other news, Leeds suffer transfer blow over “playmaker” who “Bielsa really wants”, he’ll be livid…

Leeds United want Raphinha to sign a new contract, amid rumours of a January move to Bayern Munich, Phil Hay reports.

The Lowdown: Bayern links

Raphinha, described as an ‘unbelievable player’ by Illan Meslier, has been the club’s top performer this season. The winger has scored eight of Leeds’ 18 goals this season and has missed just two Premier League fixtures.

As a result of his impressive form, Bayern Munich have been linked with a January move for the 24-year-old, who is under contract at Elland Road until 2024.

Brazilian outlet TNT Sports even went as far as to say Raphinha would join Bayern in a deal worth €50m, however, The Yorkshire Evening Post rebuffed claims by stating the German giants are yet to express an interest.

The Latest: Hay’s claim

Hay posted a link to a story on Twitter on Wednesday lunchtime, claiming ‘Leeds United want Raphinha’s next move to be the agreement of a new contract at Elland Road’.

Within his story, Hay claimed that the Brazilian likes Leeds and what his move to Yorkshire has done for him. Raphinha doesn’t feel as if the club are holding him back, with discussions underway over an improved deal.

The Verdict: New contract needed

Hay revealed that Raphinha’s current salary is a ‘fairly modest’ one by Premier League standards and behind Leeds’ biggest earners.

So, even if the Whites extend Raphinha’s contract by a further 12 months to 2025, a pay rise to make him one of the club’s biggest earners could be a wise move.

That would reflect his displays on the pitch and should keep him content in Yorkshire for the time being. A new deal would also allow Leeds to insert a release clause, meaning all parties involved could come out of discussions happy.

In other news: BBC man reacts as Leeds and Bielsa may now get ‘massive’ injury boost ‘for the Burnley game’.