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Numerous fans of Manchester City have been reacting to a post on Twitter, which relayed a claim revealing Pep Guardiola’s conversation with outbound City star Sergio Aguero.

On Monday evening, Aguero posted an emotional statement on Twitter, in which the 32-year-old confirmed that, after 10 years at Manchester City, he will be leaving the club at the end of the current campaign.

However, Mike Minay then claimed that, rather than Aguero deciding his future at City alongside the club, as had been suggested previously, Guardiola “told” the Argentine that the latter would be leaving the Etihad Stadium this summer “in a private meeting” between the two of them.

After City Xtra relayed Minay’s claim on Twitter, many fans of Manchester City flocked to have their say on the matter, with several venting their fury with the 50-year-old City manager as they seemed to believe that the Spaniard has treated the club legend in a “disrespectful” manner.

So, what did these Manchester City fans have to say in reaction to the news of Guardiola’s Aguero conversation?

“This is really disappointing from Pep. Aguero deserves more this season, especially with Jesus lacking goals. He could have proved himself then and would have earned an extension.”

@L_Sane_19

“Pep treating Aguero like this is really disrespectful. I have to hate Pep.”

@H_RICHARD5

“It may be better for Sergio to go before Pep ruins his career like he did Joe Hart’s.”

@kateylangridge

“What happened to it being Kun’s choice??”

@FloatedQuickley

“They fed us lies and we believed them.”

@brod_riguez

“Josep Guardiola better have a solid replacement otherwise Khaldoon Al Mubarak will be making another phone call real quick.”

@SheikhManCity08

“Big mistake and sad for those who think we will get Haaland, we will end up with Danny Ings or Lukaku.”

@Revanchist20

“Pep nooooooooo, not in front of no fans.”

@MoNasereldin

“So Pep is the reason?”

@iD7Mi1

In other news: These Man City fans were ecstatic as this transfer news emerged – find out more here!

Ahead of the summer transfer window, Tottenham Hotspur have been linked to an array of strikers.

It’s becoming increasingly unlikely that Spurs will activate Carlos Vinicius’ £36m option-to-buy when his loan finishes at the end of the season as they do not want to pay that much for him, as per the Daily Mail.

The Brazilian has chipped in with a few goals – scoring ten times – whilst playing second fiddle to Harry Kane, but there are still doubts over his ability and potential to ever be on a similar level to the Englishman.

Granted, that’s a hard task for a mere back-up but the majority of his goals have come against lower calibre opposition, including a hat-trick against non-league Marine.

One name that has been mooted is Southampton star Danny Ings, who would certainly add further quality and more importantly, a proven record in the Premier League.

Eurosport’s Dean Jones claimed in January that Spurs are monitoring the 28-year-old’s situation on the south coast ahead of a potential bid whilst further fuel has been added to the fire, with Carlton Palmer suggesting exclusively to Football FanCast that an agreement may have already been struck.

Ings has scored nine goals this season but regular injury problems have crept back into his game. He’s missed nine games in all competitions, ranging from knee and hamstring issues, to just a knock.

His long list of injuries should have Spurs worried, which is why they may be better going for the cheaper alternative, Schalke 04’s Matthew Hoppe.

According to Transfermarkt, the north Londoners are among several clubs taking a keen interest in the American forward. He could be available for as little as €10m (£8.5m) this summer, and that’ll be right up Daniel Levy’s street.

Especially as he’ll have to pay over four times that to secure Vinicius – and there’s no way of knowing how much the Saints would want for their star man.

Intriguingly, Hoppe has modelled his game on Kane, so who could be better in firstly, replicating his style as a back-up and then secondly, one day replacing him.

The 20-year-old told OneGoal last year: “I didn’t really have a specific team that I would support. But I looked up to Harry Kane a lot, and since I’ve been in Germany, I’ve tried to model my game after (Erling) Haaland and (Robert) Lewandowski.”

Hoppe has been a rare bright spark in an abysmal season for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring five goals in only 16 appearances, via Transfermarkt.

The 6 foot 3 forward has even been tipped to become the German league’s best-ever American, whilst there have even been comparisons made to Robert Lewandowski.

Former Schalke boss Christian Gross was left dazzled by his work-rate, he said: “I’m impressed with how much effort Hoppe gives for the team, how he gives 100 percent for Schalke.”

And he went onto add: “He’s a boy who’s unbelievably ambitious, has tremendous commitment and only thinks about Schalke. He wants to do whatever it takes to get us out of this situation. He really is a model professional. Even though he’s still very young, he doesn’t shy away from working extremely hard.”

Obviously, at just 20, he’s still very raw but sometimes hard work defies talent and that is something Mourinho will absolutely love. He’d only have to become half the player of a Kane or Lewandowski to make an impact.

Considering he’s reportedly available for a bargain seven-figure price, Hoppe would come fairly low-risk. He ticks the boxes for those key figures in the Spurs hierarchy. Levy should get this one done.

AND in other news, Spurs star dealt “significant” injury blow on international duty…

Marcel Brands should repeat Everton’s success of signing Seamus Coleman for a bargain fee with a move for Crystal Palace’s in-demand Jesurun Rak-Sakyi.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, Rak-Sakyi is set to leave Selhurst Park at the end of the season after rejecting the offer of a professional contract with the south London side.

The 18-year-old whizkid is highly-rated by talent spotters and regarded as the brightest prospect to emerge in Palace’s academy since Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who sealed a £50m move to Manchester United in 2019 after playing 46 first-team games under Roy Hodgson.

Rak-Sakyi has scouts from a number of clubs on alert after turning in a string of impressive performances in the Eagles’ U18 and U23 squads, where he has excelled in an attacking midfielder role as well as on the wing.

And he looks increasingly likely to leave Crystal Palace this summer after snubbing a two-year pro deal, making his services available for just £150,000 in compensation for his development.

The Bundesliga appears the most probable destination for the teenager as he looks to follow the trend of young English players finding a path into the senior game in Germany, with Borussia Monchengladbach and FC Schalke 04 keen.

Rak-Sakyi also has suitors in Celtic, West Ham United and Everton, but each lag behind their continental opponents after his representatives held ‘very positive’ discussions with some of the youngster’s potential clubs.

He is expected to prioritise a pathway into the first-team over anything else, having grown concerned about what opportunities he will be given should the former Chelsea trainee stay at Crystal Palace.

Should Everton sign him?

Rak-Sakyi is still an unproven talent in the senior game with no appearances outside of the academies of Crystal Palace, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, but he clearly has a lot of potential as top sides begin to turn their eye to his imminent availability.

Creativity has not been an issue for the 18-year-old in Eagles colours, either, with the Crystal Palace official club website showing he boasts six goals in 11 appearances for the U18s this season and has already struck the back of the net once in three games for the U23s.

The coaching staff at Selhurst Park are also noted to have been impressed with Rak-Sakyi’s technical ability and awareness, as well as his eye for goal, that could now be available for a mere £150,000 as he questions what future lies in store in south London.

Given that doubt and the talks with German sides, Everton’s Director of Football Brands should be doing his utmost to convincingly present the path to the first-team at Goodison Park, as he managed when overseeing Niels Nkounkou’s move from Olympique de Marseille last year.

Everton have previous for signing would-be stars for bargain sum too, having paid Sligo Rovers a mere £60,000 for Coleman in 2009, who has since gone on to captain the Blues and make 340 appearances in all competitions.

It’s too early to say Rak-Sakyi will follow Coleman’s footsteps and one day lead Everton out at the club’s proposed 52,000 capacity new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, but it is fair to assume they could regret missing out on seeing what his potential is all about if he goes elsewhere.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti has set his eyes on bringing a £59m flop to Everton…

According to the Sunderland Echo, Tottenham ‘wonderkid’ Aaron Skinner is now on trial at the Black Cats despite putting pen to paper on his first professional deal with Spurs just last year – with football.london previously calling him one of the club’s brightest talents. 

Tottenham could lose Skinner

Skinner, whose trial at Sunderland is now underway, starting for the Wearsiders’ Under-23s in a North East derby against Newcastle United on Monday (Chronicle Live), could potentially leave Spurs if the temporary stay is deemed successful.

The talented defender signed his first professional deal with Tottenham just last year near his 18th birthday, with football.london touting a promising youngster as the club made sure to tie him down, but it appears his future is now up in the air.

Transfer Tavern take

As this development emerges, the chances of Skinner following the likes of Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Japhet Tanganga from the academy to the Tottenham first team now appear slim.

This trial could possibly have the potential to lead to a permanent exit, with the details surrounding Skinner’s decision to try out for Sunderland unknown by this report.

Time will tell whether Spurs do lose this ‘wonderkid’, but his trial at Sunderland is now underway.

In other news: This star has revealed he rejected a move to Tottenham, find out more here.

Speaking to Football Insider ahead of Jose Mourinho’s press conference, former Tottenham Hotspur keeper and Sky Sports regular Paul Robinson has been left worried by an injury to Son Heung-min – calling it ‘disastrous’ and ‘really bad news’.

Son has been a mainstay for Mourinho this season alongside fellow star attacker Harry Kane, starting 28 Premier League matches whilst bagging 13 goals and nine assists in that time (WhoScored).

Robinson reacts to Son injury for Spurs

The duo struck up a devastating partnership earlier this season, becoming one of the most deadly combinations in recent times, with Son’s absence coming as a huge potential worry for Tottenham.

Tottenham prepare to take on Dinamo Zagreb in their last 16 Europa League second leg tomorrow afternoon, and Mourinho is aiming to cement his side’s place in the next round on the road to a first piece of silverware since 2008.

Commenting on Son’s injury, with the South Korea star forced off before 20 minutes in a north London derby defeat at the weekend, Robinson has called the setback ‘really bad news’ and ‘disastrous’ for Spurs.

“It is disastrous for Spurs,” explained Robinson to Football Insider. “Whenever Kane or Son is out it is really bad news.

“It is obviously a bad one.”

Transfer Tavern take

There’s little denying his knock comes at a bad time with some important matches on the horizon for Tottenham.

Mourinho and Spurs still have a hope of finishing the season strongly, lying six points off the top four places with a game in hand on Chelsea, but they will need all of their star players readily fit and available for the run-in.

In other news: Tottenham are interested in making a move for this Serie A star, find out more here.

Ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League clash with arch-rivals Chelsea this evening, Jose Mourinho has been cruelly dealt some troubling injury news…

What’s the word?

According to the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick’s update ahead of tonight’s game against Chelsea, two of Spurs’ injured players have now seemingly been ruled out for the remainder of February.

Giovani Lo Celso has been absent since pulling up with a hamstring problem in their 2-0 defeat to Leicester City on December 20th, and the reliable journalist claims ‘there is little prospect of the midfielder returning for at least three weeks.’

While Sergio Reguilon is another who is currently on the treatment table at present.

Kilpatrick has also delivered an update over his progress as he too is out with hamstring trouble, though just like the Argentine, he’s ‘set to miss most of February.’

Cruel blow

Given Spurs’ current form, this will quickly become a nightmare for Mourinho as he could really do with both players right now. Indeed, they have lost back-to-back matches and now face the Blues, who have a bit of a new manager bounce after appointing Thomas Tuchel.

Spurs have missed both players and their attacking influence substantially over the last few weeks and would have hoped to have them back as soon as possible.

Across their two defeats to Liverpool (3-1) last week and then Brighton (1-0) on Sunday, Mourinho’s side have only amassed an xG of 0.47 as per Understat.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s strike against the defending champions was a rare scorcher from long-range, so without that, they’d have failed to score in successive outings.

Lo Celso ranks third for key passes per 90 (1.88) but when you factor in those that have played at least ten league games, he sits top of the tree, so clearly, Spurs have lacked his presence in attacking midfield as he’s been the man providing those valuable chances to Kane and co.

Similarly, only Kane (11) and Heung-min Son (six) have delivered more assists for Spurs than Reguilon (three) in the Premier League this term, as per WhoScored.

No left-sided full-back is managing as many as his 0.7 successful crosses per 90 either. And that’s a problem as they attack most down this flank (37%).

It’s no wonder that Spurs have struggled to score in the absence of the duo, so to be without them throughout the rest of the month with games against Everton in the FA Cup, league leaders Man City and for the return of the Europa League knockout stages, is potentially one cruel blow to their chances of stopping the rot anytime soon.

Even when Kane hopefully returns next week, he’s going to struggle to score goals himself if Spurs aren’t creating chances, so having Lo Celso and Reguilon sidelined for such a long time is certainly going to keep Mourinho up at night.

AND in other news, Mourinho must unleash “exciting” £26m-rated beast tonight, he could be Spurs’ game-changer…

One of Tottenham Hotspur’s reported transfer targets has just dropped a masterclass display amid speculation over his future.

A month ago, the north London outfit were linked with a move for AC Milan powerhouse Frank Kessie, as per Calciomercato.it.

They claimed that Jose Mourinho was mulling over a move for the 24-year-old midfielder, though the Serie A leaders wouldn’t let him depart on the cheap with a fee in the region of €50m (£45m) mentioned.

Kessie was in action on Wednesday night as Spurs waited to see who they would face in the Carabao Cup, and despite being defeated, the box-to-box beast put in an impressive performance.

The Rossoneri were defeated 3-1 by defending champions Juventus at the San Siro, though the Ivorian centre-mid was arguably their best player.

He played the full 90 minutes, making 43 of his 46 passes (93% accuracy), including a 100% hit-rate with his long-balls and only lost possession five times from 59 touches, via SofaScore.

That’s quite a feat considering he was up against the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Adrien Rabiot and Paulo Dybala.

Kessie also put in three tackles, two interceptions and two clearances as he continued his fine start to the 2020/21 campaign.

Indeed, the 44-cap international has enjoyed a phenomenal season thus far, contributing to seven goals in 14 starts domestically whilst averaging 1.3 shots, 1.3 dribbles, 1.3 interceptions, 1.2 tackles and an impressive 90.3% passing accuracy per game, via WhoScored.

He certainly seems like an ideal candidate for that box-to-box midfielder Mourinho is thought to be lusting for, as per Duncan Castles.

Former Milan boss Vincenzo Montella’s glowing endorsement of Kessie only adds fuel to the fire, he once said:

“He is an extraordinary player, a sublime intelligence. Penalties? I have a lot of good, for this, I had chosen two games that were just Rodriguez and Kessie.”

If Mourinho truly wants another midfielder this transfer window, then he ought to look no further than the Milan monster.

Just think of how powerful a central unit Spurs could have with his arrival – imagine him next to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg with Tanguy Ndombele further forward.

That would be a game-changer for their trophy aspirations.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Daniel Levy urged to sign out-of-contract £58.5m-rated star…

Leicester City will have their eyes on a third-place spot in the Premier League table this evening as they prepare to host Brighton at the King Power Stadium.

Chelsea’s surprise 1-0 loss to Everton last night will have hugely frustrated Frank Lampard in his title endeavours, but the Foxes could capitalise on this and move third.

Leicester’s last fixture saw them bank a 2-0 victory over AEK Athens to finish top of their group in the Europa League.

Prior to that, they put their bodies on the line to snatch all three points from Sheffield United in what looked certain to be a game ending in a draw.

With morale high and their recent wins in mind, Football FanCast has predicted how Brendan Rodgers will set up to face the Seagulls tonight.

After his recent performances in the Europa League, Cengiz Under may have earned himself a start in the Premier League.

Whilst it would come at the expense of James Maddison’s spot in the lineup, the winger and Harvey Barnes are a very dangerous duo when they take to the pitch together.

Both of them teaming up with Jamie Vardy could cause a huge headache for Brighton in three changes by Rodgers.

With Wilfred Ndidi back to fitness, he should be one of the first names on Rodgers’ team-sheet. The £75,000 per week defensive midfielder has been sorely missed and will help to keep any surprise Brighton attacks at bay.

An outlandish prediction which could come to fruition is that Luke Thomas could be rewarded with a start after his strong European form.

Whilst this would mean James Justin drops to the bench, it would be a huge chance for the 19-year-old, who is desperate to become a regular under Rodgers.

A win tonight will be huge for the Foxes, who will knock Chelsea off their third-place spot and put pressure on Liverpool and Spurs, who will face each other today.

In other news, Luke Thomas did Rodgers proud in match vs Athens…

Tottenham Hotspur are enjoying a resurgent campaign under Jose Mourinho, nearly one year after he was appointed.

This summer was the first time the Portuguese boss could fully stamp his authority down at the club having taken over from Mauricio Pochettino mid-season, and we’re starting to see his plans come to fruition.

Spurs find themselves in second place, one point behind Premier League leaders Leicester City, after the opening eight matches whilst in the Europa League, they appear to be strong favourites to advance into the knockout stages.

However, there is a pressing issue that has been masked by their sensational attacking play this season and it is one that has been lingering ever since the Special One took the helm.

In the top-flight last season, Spurs had the second-worst defensive record of any team that finished inside the top seven.

The north Londoners have lost just one of their last 14 matches in all competitions, but have only managed to keep two clean sheets – against Burnley and West Brom, who are currently two of the sides in the bottom three.

Evidently, conceding goals is still a major problem and that should come as a surprise given Mourinho appointed club legend Ledley King as his assistant coach

His experience is surely vital to this Spurs backline, yet we’re yet to see any true returns in that sense. Harry Redknapp once labelled the injury-prone centre-back an “absolute freak” for being able to play at the very top despite not training all week.

Well, it’s time to drill that sort of mantra into the likes of Davinson Sanchez, who is often thought to be the liability in N17, midfielder-turned-defender Eric Dier, Toby Alderweireld and the youthful duo of Japhet Tangana and Joe Rodon.

Forget Sanchez, the longer Spurs keep leaking goals, the more right there is to question the influence – or lack of – King is having on the squad.

AND in other news, Spurs should revisit beast compared to Bergkamp, it won’t cost Levy a penny…

Harry Wilson may have made his situation at Liverpool worse after putting in a disappointing performance on the international stage. The Welshman had very little impact on his country’s UEFA Nations League match against Ireland and was subbed off after 67 minutes.

He is currently in somewhat of a grey area with his club after being linked to a move away in the summer. He looks set to join another Championship side on loan this season, but it appears his Liverpool career could be coming to an end.

Wilson could leave Liverpool

The Wales international is squandering his chances of staying in the Anfield set-up. After parting ways with Rhian Brewster, and Xherdan Shaqiri also linked to an exit, Wilson’s time to step up could be now. He was given the chance to impress during Liverpool’s Carabao Cup clash against Arsenal, but the versatile winger went completely under the radar.

Despite his impressive loan spells with the likes of Derby and Bournemouth, Wilson has struggled to impress Jurgen Klopp. The 23-year-old has made just two senior appearances for the Merseyside outfit and has not yet been trusted to feature in the Premier League. However, he certainly has the capability. During his time with the Cherries, he scored seven top flight goals with one even coming against Manchester City (via Transfermarkt).

But completing just 17 passes and only 1/2 dribbles against Ireland is not a notable performance for the playmaker. Wilson also  lost possession 11 times and made an error that led to an opposition shot (via Sofascore). Despite boasting the ability to play on either wing and in midfield, his recent stats certainly aren’t doing him any favours and he could be headed for the door soon.

Especially in comparison to rising stars Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott, the 18-cap Wales performer’s progress seems to have stagnated at Liverpool and a move may be best for all parties involved.

In other news, Solid England display from Jordan Henderson is much-needed boost for Liverpool ahead of Everton clash…