Premier League
Mourinho says Man Utd ‘will succeed sooner or later’
Jose Mourinho says struggling Manchester United “will succeed sooner or later” as the Fenerbahce boss prepares to take on his former club in the Europa League on Thursday.
United manager Erik ten Hag is under pressure after a poor start to the season, which has included draws in their first two European matches — against Twente and Porto.
But Mourinho, who has also managed a string of other high-profile clubs including Chelsea, Real Madrid and Tottenham, said United had potential and he wants them to succeed.
“Maybe you English guys think I’m bluffing, think I am playing mind games,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “I’m not playing anything — they have a better team than the results are showing.
“I studied them the maximum I could with my staff and my analysts. We watched everything in the Premier League, we watched everything in the two matches, Twente and Porto — there is work there.
“They will succeed sooner or later. Hopefully sooner and hopefully before one day I go back to the Premier League and they become my opponents.
“At this moment they are just my opponents for one match.”
‘I wish them the best’
Mourinho, who managed United between 2016 and 2018, winning the League Cup and Europa League, was asked why his former club had struggled over the past decade.
“Honestly, I didn’t lose one minute thinking about it,” he said. “I wish the best to Man Utd since the moment I left.
“I left with a good feeling for the club, with a good feeling for the fans and I want the best for them, so if things are not going amazingly well for them it’s not something that makes me happy, but at the same time I have no time.”
The 61-year-old suggested that during his own reign at Old Trafford, the United hierarchy had not had the same patience they were showing towards Ten Hag.
“What happened for sure, because it’s very objective, is that they kept faith with the coach, they support the coach, who is staying season after season and that means stability, means trust and they are giving him conditions to keep developing his job,” he said.
“That was a difference in relation to me because as you know we won the Europa League, we finished second in the Premier League.”
Mourinho, who was named as the new Fenerbahce coach in June following his sacking by Roma, said United would be at “maximum strength” for the match in Istanbul.
“One thing are the results that Manchester United are having and another thing is the potential of the team,” he said. “The potential of the team is high.”
He added: “If I have to say now which are the two biggest candidates to win the Europa League, I think it’s easy — Manchester United and Tottenham.
“The Premier League is a different level of quality, intensity, pace, tactical culture — a different level of everything.
“Tomorrow, I think we are going to play against one of the two strongest teams.”
-AFP
Thomas Partey, who formerly played for English Premier League soccer club Arsenal, has been charged with rape and sexual assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Friday.
Partey, a Ghana international, was charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, with the charges relating to three women and the offences reported to have taken place between 2021 and 2022, the statement said.
Partey’s management did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
He is due to appear at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Aug. 5.
Partey, 32, was signed by Arsenal from Atletico Madrid for 50 million euros ($59 million) in October 2020 and became a key member of Arsenal’s first team.
He was first arrested in July 2022, though he was not named at the time and continued to play for Arsenal while investigations were ongoing.
-Reuters
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Five players including England forward Marcus Rashford and Argentina winger Alejandro Garnacho have informed Manchester United that they wish to explore a future away from the Premier League side, a club source said on Friday.
Brazilian midfielder Antony, Dutch defender Tyrell Malacia and England international Jadon Sancho are also looking to leave the club, the source added.
Rashford, who has made more than 400 senior appearances for United, has fallen out of favour with manager Ruben Amorim, played for Aston Villa on loan while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Amorim had called Rashford’s work rate into question, saying he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
Rashford said he was feeling fitter and better since joining Villa, where he scored two goals in 10 league appearances.
United also failed to qualify for the Champions League as they lost the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. Garnacho, who was a late substitute in the final, voiced his displeasure on social media after the loss.
“Up until the final, I played every round helping the team, and today I play 20 minutes, I don’t know,” he wrote in a post . “The final will influence (my decision), but the whole season, the situation of the club.”
Sancho was on loan at Chelsea, where he made 31 league appearances last season. Antony, who joined United from Ajax Amsterdam in 2022 for a reported initial transfer fee of more than $100 million, scored five goals in 17 LaLiga appearances on loan at Real Betis.
Malacia joined Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on loan in February.
-Reuters
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Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes turned down the opportunity to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal in order to keep playing “at the highest level”, he said on Tuesday.
The Portuguese midfielder admitted that he had considered the move, which media reports said was worth four times his current salary, after being contacted by Al-Hilal’s president.
“There was that possibility, the president of Al-Hilal called me a month ago to ask me about it,” Fernandes, who is preparing to face Germany with Portugal, told reporters on Tuesday.
“It was a big offer, very ambitious. There was a waiting period for me to think about the future.”
Fernandes ultimately decided to stay at United and said he was motivated by his desire to continue playing at the top level and encouraged by his family and the club’s coach Ruben Amorim.
“I would be willing to do it if Manchester United thought so,” Fernandes added. “I spoke to the coach Ruben Amorim who really tried to talk me out of it. The club said they would not be willing to sell me, only if I wanted to leave.
“I spoke to my wife and family, and she asked me what my personal goals were in my career.
“It would have been easy to move there but I want to keep myself at the highest level, playing in the big competitions and I feel capable of it. I am happy with my decision.”
The 30-year-old Fernandes scored 19 goals and provided 19 assists in 57 appearances across all competitions for United last season, winning the club’s Player of the Year award for the fourth time.
However, it was a season to forget for the team, as they finished 15th in the Premier League, their lowest league finish in half a century, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur.
-Reuters
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