Having arrived in a £47m deal from Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk, Fred struggled to establish himself as a main-stay of the Manchester United first-team in his debut campaign at the club.The Brazilian managed just 25 appearances across all competitions last season, and despite it only being the end of January right now, the 26-year-old has already featured four more times than that total this year.And against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, Fred produced an impressive display for United. As per Sofascore, he made a team-high six tackles over the course of the 90 minutes, whilst also delivering three key passes.

Get over 80% on this quiz to prove you’re a true Manchester Derby expert…

After seeing his outing, The Evening Standard’s Manchester football correspondent, James Robson, took to Twitter to wax lyrical about the midfielder.

High praise indeed. But Fred has really stepped up his game this season, and his importance to United cannot be understated. As per Whoscored, he has an impressive average match rating of 6.94 this season in the league, whilst he has also played and completed the full 90 minutes in his side’s last 17 top-flight games.

If he continues to perform like he did against City on Wednesday evening, then the plaudits will continue to come his way.

Meanwhile, Manchester United fans have hailed this player’s immense display against Man City.

It seems that Joselu has thrived since leaving Newcastle.

The Spaniard signed for the Toon in 2017 from Stoke City for a fee of £5m, but he managed just seven goals in 52 appearances. As such, he was sold last year to Deportivo Alaves for just £2.5m, and he is impressing for his new team in La Liga.

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In just 22 matches in the Spanish top flight, he has already scored more than he managed during his whole stay at St James’ Park – the nine goals he has managed have only been bettered by Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema, which is some esteemed company.

Lee Ryder shared an article of his on the 29-year-old on Twitter, and plenty of supporters have been reacting.

It seems that some are wishing him well.

It seems that his endeavour and commitment went down well with the club’s supporters on the whole – there doesn’t seem to be any bad blood towards him.

Some supporters, meanwhile, have blamed the fanbase for him not being with them now.

Clearly, these supporters would rather he wasn’t moved on.

Others fans, meanwhile, believe he is a lot better than one player they currently have.

The club’s record signing has struggled to adapt to the Premier League so far. In 25 matches, he has managed just one goal, whilst he has just two in 28 in all competitions. Joselu may not have been prolific, but even he scored at a better rate than the Brazilian has so far.

One fan, meanwhile, blames a former boss for his disappointing performances during his two-year stay on Tyneside.

It seems harsh to put the blame for his poor displays at the feet of Rafa Benitez. It seemed that Joselu just struggled to adapt. Anyway, Benitez had Salomon Rondon at his disposal last term, who managed 12 goals and seven assists in all competitions. The former Hannover 96 man just wasn’t needed.

Elsewhere, Newcastle fans slam Steve Bruce’s latest comments.

Manchester United fans love the fact that striker Odion Ighalo is attempting to get himself match fit after his move to Old Trafford.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Friday that the former Shanghai Shenhua striker, signed on loan on transfer deadline day, is currently working with the Great Britain taekwondo team as he attempts to get himself up to speed following his amazing return to the Premier League.

Quickfire Quiz: How much do you know about Man Utd’s history in the January transfer window?

Ighalo, of course, is 30 and previously played for Watford in England, scoring 40 goals in 100 appearances.

And United fans are thrilled that he is taking his switch to United so seriously.

Indeed, a number of other fans have taken to Twitter to back the Nigeria international, who has won 35 caps for his country, to hit the ground running.

In the top-flight, he has played 55 times, scoring 17 goals in total, and supporters believe he will quickly add to that tally at United.

Ighalo’s move to United came as something of a surprise but manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needed to find attacking reinforcements after the injury sustained by Marcus Rashford.

Ighalo played just 19 times for Shanghai, scoring 10 goals.

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Emre Can’s departure from Liverpool has not really gone to the plan.

The Germany international ran down his contract at Anfield before making the move to Juventus in Serie A. However, he managed just 45 appearances for the Old Lady, scoring just four times and providing a single assist.

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In the last transfer window, he moved to Borussia Dortmund initially on loan, but they have an obligation to buy if certain conditions are met – the fee would be €25m (£21m).

John Aldridge, clearly, feels he made the wrong decision to depart. He told The Liverpool Echo: ” To be honest I always felt was punching above his weight at Liverpool but he thought he could do better by moving on and it hasn’t worked out for him at Juventus. He scored a fine goal on his debut for Borussia Dortmund at the weekend but the fact he’s had to go back to Germany to try and salvage his career says a lot and is a warning to others that you walk away from Liverpool at your peril.”

This has got the Liverpool fans talking, and it seems they are not happy with his comments. Many have slammed him for his views.

It seems the fans have different views on the matter.

Some have said he respected his contract, so there is no problem with him leaving.

Indeed, Can played for the club until he was no longer tied down, before deciding to depart to join Juventus – who won Serie A whilst he was there. He hasn’t actually done anything wrong.

One fan, meanwhile, has said it isn’t illegal to depart the club.

Exactly. At the end of the day, Can played for Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich before moving to Merseyside, whilst he is a German national. What exactly does he owe Liverpool? If he wants to depart, then that is up to him.

Another has compared the situation to Raheem Sterling’s exit.

Sterling’s departure was far more controversial – he made it clear he wanted to leave and even failed to turn up to training before moving to Manchester City – yet this fan clearly believes Can has it worst than the 26-year-old.

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The world doesn’t revolve around Liverpool, no matter how well they are doing. Aldridge would do well to remember that.

Meanwhile, Liverpool fans react to Anfield’s expansion plan timeline.

Plenty has been made of Sheffield Wednesday’s decision to freeze Keiren Westwood out of the squad, but until now we’ve not fully known what has gone on behind the scenes at Hillsborough.

Fortunately, Keiren Westwood has taken to social media to explain the situation between him and the manager.

Westwood has made it clear that he and the boss haven’t had a falling out, stating that Garry Monk has made a decision that he completely understands.

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Unfortunately, nothing has been cleared up in terms of what the future holds for the Republic of Ireland international, and it seems as though there is no real route back into the side for the 6 foot 2 goalkeeper.

Understandably, a number of supporters were saddened by this update.

Others took this as an opportunity to heap praise upon the stopper.

The Hillsborough faithful made it clear that they thought he should still have a part to play at the club, with one supporter declaring that his words showed exactly why he should still be in the starting XI.

Another section of the fanbase paid tribute to the goalkeeper as if he was leaving the club.

Westwood’s statement does read as if it is a goodbye, especially the second page where he reflects on his time at the Owls before going on to thank the chairman, the staff and his teammates for their support.

In other news, Sheffield Wednesday’s problems run much deeper than their manager.

Spurs’ defeat this afternoon was marred by a moment of controversy and former Premier League official Keith Hackett has chimed in with his verdict on the matter.

What’s he said?

Tottenham were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge to open up a four-point gap and substantially weaken Jose Mourinho’s chances of steering his side to a top-four finish.

Although much of the talk following this match will be about Giovani Lo Celso’s perceived stamp on Blues defender Cesar Azpilicueta during the second half.

No retrospective action was taken following a review by VAR after referee Michael Oliver missed the incident, but Stockley Park have since admitted their mistake – meaning the Argentine should have seen red for the incident.

Hackett has given his thoughts on the matter, he tweeted:

VAR troubles

The issue surrounding VAR and its involvement in the English game won’t be aided by this moment of madness.

Hackett has described it as a “red card every day”, and there aren’t many people disagreeing with it, which only goes to show how troubled the current system is.

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Questions have to be raised to why Oliver didn’t check the screen over the incident or why their opinion has even changed at all as it was initially ruled out for any wrongdoing.

VAR’s reputation in the top-flight has been sketchy at best and now that the PGMOL have had to come out and admit the error of their ways speaks volumes about what sort of troubles lie ahead with the way it is run.

Earlier in the season, Heung-min Son was sent off against the very same opposition for an awfully similar incident, which further emphasises the massive inconsistencies in the use of VAR.

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At the end of the day, it still comes down to a human decision and that a subjective viewpoint, whereas rules and regulations are set in complete stone.

It remains to be seen if the FA will get involved and punish the 23-year-old.

And in other news,ÂSpurs fans hammer ace who is ABSOLUTELY WASHED after Chelsea defeat…

Kiko Casilla’s future at Leeds United is up in the air at the moment.

The Spaniard has just been handed an eight-game ban for racially abusing Jonathan Leko, and fans have previously been very clear about what they want to happen to Casilla if he was found guilty.

Indeed, a number of supporters called for the goalkeeper to be sacked before the verdict came back, and while Phil Hay has stated in his recent article that his dismissal is unlikely, he has claimed that the former Real Madrid man isn’t likely to be at Elland Road for much longer.

What’s the story then?

The journalist’s article on the Casilla situation cleared a lot of things up, but one thing that wasn’t addressed was the 33-year-old’s long-term future at the club.

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One fan took to the comments section of Hay’s piece to ask about whether or not the goalkeeper will stay at the club beyond this season.

“No, I suspect he’ll go over the summer – especially if Meslier does well. It’ll be hard to shake this off and I can imagine him thinking a return to Spain might be preferable.”

Makes sense for all parties

The sad truth is that this is probably the best outcome for everyone involved.

Casilla’s actions have blighted his reputation, and it’s not good from a PR standpoint for United to stick by a player who has been found guilty of such a serious offence.

Hay says that it’ll be hard for him to shake this off, and he’s right, nobody will forget this incident, and nobody should.

The experienced ‘keeper is set to go on an educational course, and you’d hope that he’d learn his lesson through this, but it won’t be easy for fans or other players to forgive him, especially after the extent of what he said to Leko became public knowledge.

From a purely footballing stance it makes sense as well, despite being United’s first-choice and making 35 league appearances this term, Casilla has been incredibly dodgy this term, making high-profile mistakes against Wigan, Nottingham Forest and Brentford in recent weeks. Consequently, it drew anger from a lot of the fanbase.

The goalkeeper has had a torrid time in England, he cost United dearly in the playoffs last year with individual errors, and now this issue has arisen to make matters even worse.

It may be for the best that the club and the player cut their losses and go their separate ways.

In other news, Marcelo Bielsa’s biggest blunder at Leeds has been highlighted.

Micah Richards joined BBC’s Football Daily podcast and discussed Manchester City’s huge victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League and outlined why exactly Pep Guardiola went with Gabriel Jesus on the night.

Maybe it was a bit of a surprise to see Jesus in the starting lineup and Sergio Aguero on the bench for the Citizens at the Santiago Bernabeu earlier this week.

But Richards still loved that move by Guardiola because the young Brazilian always gives his all and always plays well when he’s picked. He gave Man City that extra work-rate and energy they desperately needed.

Here’s what he said for BBC’s Football Daily podcast (26/2/2020): “I really like him because he’s always behind one of the best ever Premier League strikers, every time he plays he seems to do well. He didn’t look as clinical in front of goal as Aguero but he gives a lot more work rate for the team.”

And yes, Jesus had a couple of great chances on the night and failed to capitalise on Real Madrid’s defensive mishaps, but he was constantly up and down the pitch, as Richards alluded to.

That’s exactly why Pep decided to throw him into the team and it definitely worked out for the best. Needless to say, it really was a bold move from the gaffer but one that ultimately paid off.

Man City fans, were you happy with Jesus’ performance or would you have preferred to have Aguero in the lineup? Let us know in the comments down below!

Leeds fans were left buzzing before their match with Huddersfield had even kicked off.

That was because Millwall dealt a bitter blow to Nottingham Forest’s promotion hopes by defeating them 3-0 on Friday evening.

Forest have been challenging for a playoff spot this season and are seen as one of the main contenders who could push Leeds out of the automatic places.

However, their hopes of doing so took a blow before the weekend’s action had truly got underway.

Matt Smith was the man who dealt the defeat as the former Leeds man scored a hat-trick to wrap up the three points for Gary Rowett’s side.

Reacting on Twitter, a host of United fans were absolutely buzzing with his display at the City Ground.

One jokingly claimed it was his best performance in a Leeds shirt while a further supporter went as far as stating that Forest had made him look like Borussia Dortmund forward Erling Haaland. The striker famously once stated he wanted to win the Premier League with the Whites.

Many fans were left drooling over his performance for the Lions as he won a colossal 15 aerial duels and stuck home three goals in just 13 minutes of action.

It was a mightily impressive display and one that made a certain fan suggest he’d score as many as 50 per season for Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

He might be joking but it’s clear Leeds have needed to score more goals this term. They have the second-worst conversion rate in the league.

Similarly, one supporter said he was better than Leeds’ top scorer Patrick Bamford. So far this term the former Middlesbrough forward has 13 goals, and Smith is now just two behind on 11.

The 30-year-old has started just 16 times in the Championship this campaign, however.

Finally, two individuals joked about a famous tweet from Leeds on deadline day in 2014. They urged their fans not to go to bed yet with ten minutes of the window remaining, only to then sell Smith in a completely anti-climactic end to the day.

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The forward netted 14 goals in 48 appearances during his time at Elland Road.

Meanwhile, one Leeds prodigy is proving to be Jack Clarke 2.0 at Leeds…

Back in 2014, Crystal Palace completed the under-the-radar signing of Martin Kelly from Liverpool.

The one-cap England international penned a three-year deal with the Eagles, costing the south Londoners just £1.5m.

It seemed like a shrewd deal for an England international who had made 62 appearances for an English giant in Liverpool, and it has turned out to be just that – Steve Parish can pat himself on the back for this one.

Kelly remains an important first-team member to this day, making 17 Premier League starts under Roy Hodgson this season while appearing at centre-back and right-back.

In total, the 29-year-old has made 145 appearances for the south Londoners, helping them reach an FA Cup final in 2016 while also ensuring their Premier League status year after year.

Significantly, in an age where player wages can be quite astronomical, Kelly takes home a fairly modest £25k-a-week which makes him the lowest earner at Selhurst Park if Spotrac are to be believed.

That just makes Parish’s capture of him all the more brilliant – he is arguably the shrewdest swoop of the chairman’s reign, which speaks volumes seeing as Palace have also discovered bargains in the form of Jordan Ayew for £2.5m and James McArthur for only £7m.

Across the 291 weeks that Kelly has been at the club, he has earned a total of £7.28m in wages. This figure, when added onto his bargain transfer fee of £1.5m, means that the versatile defender has cost Palace a total outlay of £8.78m since his arrival on 14th August 2014.

As aforesaid, he has made 145 appearances for Palace, which means that each outing from the ex-Liverpool man has cost the Eagles just £60.1k, which makes him an extremely good piece of business in terms of value for money.

The England international is still going strong under Hodgson to this day, and there is certainly no end in sight to his Crystal Palace career as of yet, so his monetary efficiency will only look more attractive with each passing day.

Calling all Eagles fans: Can you get 90% on this quickfire Palace quiz?

Parish truly landed a bargain with this 2014 swoop.

In other news, take a look at three things we have learned about Gary Cahill this season…