Manchester United has been the home to so many iconic centre-forwards over the years, with the fanbase often blessed by numerous elite-level talents at Old Trafford.

Players like Wayne Rooney so often caught the eye during their time as a Red Devil, with the Englishman undoubtedly leaving a lasting impression on the club’s history.

He registered a total of 253 goals for the club, subsequently sitting at the top of their goalscoring charts and beating the record set by the great Sir Bobby Charlton.

Rooney was partnered by numerous legendary players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Robin van Persie, subsequently helping Sir Alex Ferguson win 13 Premier League titles along the way.

However, no manager has been able to achieve such a feat since, with Ruben Amorim wanting to land another talisman to his ranks to boost any title success in the near future.

Man Utd’s hunt for a new striker in January

Over the last couple of weeks, United have been strongly touted with a potential winter deal to land Serhou Guirassy from Bundesliga outfit Borussia Dortmund.

The Guinean international has caught the eye of the last couple of years with his goalscoring exploits, subsequently registering 45 goals in just 65 appearances for the German club.

However, any deal would likely be an expensive one, as his current employers are demanding a fee in the region of £70m to part ways with the 29-year-old frontman.

He’s not the only name currently on their shortlist, with Crystal Palace star Jean-Philippe Mateta another talisman the hierarchy have set their sights on for the near future.

According to one Spanish outlet, the Red Devils’ hierarchy are considering a move to land the Frenchman and could present an offer to the Eagles in January.

The report also states that the player is understood to be frustrated over the lack of contract talks at Selhurst Park, which could lead to a £40m departure in the coming months.

Why United’s latest target is an upgrade on Sesko

The thought of talking about a new striker in December would have been a shock to many associated with United – especially after their move to land Benjamin Sesko in the summer.

Amorim and the board forked out a total of £74m, including add-ons on the Slovenian international after he netted 21 goals across all competitions for RB Leipzig last campaign.

Such a deal generated huge excitement and handed the supporters hope that they had found their new number nine, but ultimately, the move has struggled to lift off in recent months.

The 22-year-old has only managed to find the net twice for the Red Devils, with central midfielder Casemiro scoring more to date – subsequently highlighting his struggles in the Premier League.

Obviously, Sesko will need time to settle into life in England, but the early signs don’t appear to be promising, especially considering the fee paid for his services.

His lack of form has fuelled speculation over a deal for Mateta, with the Frenchman undoubtedly providing Amorim with the needed Premier League-proven star he craves.

He netted a total of 14 goals in his 37 league outings throughout 2024/25, but he’s continued his remarkable goalscoring feats into the current campaign – leading to Paul Merson labelling him “much better” than Sesko.

When comparing his stats to those of Sesko, he’s managed to outperform him in key areas, with his potential move undoubtedly an excellent pickup for United.

Mateta, who’s been dubbed “one of the best strikers in the Premier League” by Ben Mattinson, has scored three times more goals than Sesko, whilst also achieving a better shot on target accuracy rate.

Games played

11

11

Goals & assists

6

3

Shot on target accuracy

50%

38%

Take-on success

55%

20%

Carries into final third

0.8

0.4

Aerials won

51%

48%

Shots on target per 90

1.4

0.9

Pass accuracy

65%

63%

Such numbers showcase his clinical nature within the final third, often able to take advantage of more of the opportunities that have fallen his way in front of goal.

He’s also completed more take-ons in the Premier League, whilst completing more carries into the final third per 90, which has certainly made him a more all-round threat.

Aerially, Mateta has dominated, subsequently winning more of the battles he’s entered – making him the perfect target man in Amorim’s current system at Old Trafford.

£40m in today’s market would be an absolute steal for a striker who’s been producing incredible goalscoring numbers at the top level over multiple years.

As for Sesko, he desperately needs to find form in the Premier League to avoid losing his place in the side at Mateta’s expense ahead of January and beyond.

Sesko repeat: Wilcox plotting Man Utd move for “world-class” £70m talent

Manchester United look set to make yet another big-money transfer in January.

ByEthan Lamb Nov 21, 2025

Liverpool’s dire run of form continued on Saturday afternoon. The Reds were defeated 3-0 by Nottingham Forest at Anfield, leaving Arne Slot’s side with just three wins in their last 11 games in all competitions, and just 18 points to their name in the Premier League.

It was a hugely underwhelming performance from the reigning Premier League champions. Their poor form sees them slip to 11th in the top flight, with just 18 points to their name. They are already eight points behind league leaders Arsenal.

In terms of the Saturday afternoon clash at Anfield, a first-half strike from defender Murillo, and second-half goals from Nicolo Savona and captain Morgan Gibbs-White were enough to give Sean Dyche’s side all three points.

The Reds dominate the ball, having 76% possession, and 21 shots at the Forest goal, but simply didn’t do anything of substance. They lacked real bite in attack, with just four of their shots actually finding the target. Forest, on the other hand, had seven shots on target out of 15.

There were some poor performances across the board from Slot’s side, although a few stand out in particular.

Liverpool’s worst players vs. Forest

It was yet another tough day at the office for Liverpool, with one man struggling to get into the game being Liverpool striker Alexander Isak. The Swede went another game without finding the back of the net, still chasing his first goal in the Premier League for Liverpool.

Liverpool content creator George Scaife expressed his surprise at the fact that Isak got just 15 touches of the ball against Forest. Indeed, there was a lack of service against Forest for the Reds’ number nine, who only managed one shot on goal.

Another man who left a lot to be desired for Liverpool on Saturday afternoon was Alexis Mac Allister. The 2022 World Cup winner was part of yet another reshuffled midfield, and although he almost put Liverpool ahead, he struggled to contribute anything of note.

Indeed, the disappointing performance from Mac Allister was noticed by Liverpool World journalist Will Rooney. He gave the Argentina international a 4/10 rating, criticising him for the fact that he ‘stupidly dived in’ on Neco Williams, which allowed the former Liverpool man to find a cross leading to Savona’s goal.

Isak and Mac Allister certainly struggled against Dyche’s men, but there was one player who was perhaps worse.

Liverpool’s worst player vs. Forest

It was yet another day to forget for Reds centre-back Ibrahima Konate. The Frenchman’s poor afternoon was summed up by James Pearce, The Athletic’s Liverpool reporter. He described it as a “nightmare” and said it was “error after error” at Anfield.

His once-formidable partnership with Virgil van Dijk has been breached plenty of times this season. Indeed, that was something that Forest found it easy to do on Saturday, given that they bagged three goals.

Some of the stats from the 26-year-old’s performance against Forest highlight how tough a day it was for him. Konate only won four out of seven attempted duels, conceded two fouls and was dribbled past once.

Touches

61

Passes completed

50/54

Number of times ball lost

5

Ground duels won

2/5

Aerial duels won

2/2

Fouls

2

Number of times dribbled past

1

Indeed, Rooney gave the former RB Leipzig man a scathing review. The journalist rated his showing a 4/10, explaining that he “should have dealt with the ball better,” which led to a corner from which Forest opened the scoring, and “made a meal of the cross” from which Forest had their goal ruled out.

This season, Konate, who is out of contract in the summer, has put in several underwhelming showings. As recently as September, it was reported that Real Madrid will try and sign the Frenchman, either on a free if he doesn’t sign a new contract, or in January.

Slot and the higher-ups at Anfield now have a decision to make. With Konate’s performances and contractual situation, they may well decide to recruit in January and look to move on from the Frenchman.

They have been linked with Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi again in the last few weeks, after failing to sign him on deadline day. Perhaps the Reds will be of the view that it is best they cut their losses on Konate and sell him to Los Blancos, or elsewhere, and reinvest that money.

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Liverpool have lacked balance and sharpness in the final third this season.

1 ByAngus Sinclair Nov 21, 2025

Rangers manager Danny Rohl has confirmed that as many as six players are currently injury doubts to square off against Livingston in the Scottish Premiership this Saturday.

It’s bad timing for the Gers, who are attempting to make it four league wins from four under their new manager. Victory over bottom side Livingston would also see those at Ibrox rise to third if Hibernian also fail to beat Dundee. It would be the result of the strong start that Rohl has made to turn things around following the disaster that was Russell Martin’s tenure.

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By
Ben Gray

Nov 20, 2025

The German told reporters in the build-up to Rangers’ return to action that he believes they’re “in a good way”, but still need to work on breaking old habits on the pitch.

As January approaches, the former Sheffield Wednesday boss may also be eyeing up some potential improvements to his squad amid recent links with the likes of Kilmarnock’s David Watson.

The midfielder would add the kind of depth that the Gers could do with this weekend following the latest injury news.

Rangers vs Livingston team news

As revealed by Rohl, as many as six stars could miss Rangers’ game against Livingston this weekend following a frustrating international break. Mikey Moore, John Souttar, Derek Cornelius and Bailey Rice are all certain to be absent after picking up knocks, whilst Youssef Chermiti and Liam Kelly are facing a race against time to return to full fitness.

Rohl told reporters: “I am very happy and very proud of my players during the international break. We do have a couple of injuries from players returning, such as John Souttar, Micky Moore, and Derek Cornelius, who all have muscle injuries. Bailey Rice got injured during training, and Liam Kelly is a question mark at the moment.”

It’s a particular blow for Tottenham Hotspur loanee Moore, who scored his first Rangers goal against Dundee just before the international break. The 18-year-old, who was dubbed “brave” by former manager Martin upon arriving, has now seen his recent momentum halted by an untimely injury.

With Rangers set to face Braga in the Europa League next Thursday, Rohl will hope to have a positive update on several injuries just in time for what is a crucial game.

Rangers open talks to sign "quality" attacking star ahead of Aberdeen

MatériaMais Notícias

A Conmebol sorteou nesta segunda-feira (3) os confrontos das oitavas de final da Copa Libertadores 2025, e pelo segundo ano seguido, o Verdão vai encarar um time brasileiro por uma vaga nas quartas.

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➡️ Siga o Lance! Palmeiras no WhatsApp e acompanhe todas as notícias do Verdão

O Palmeiras de Abel Ferreira vai desafiar o Botafogo de Jhon Textor por uma vaga entre as oito melhores equipes do continente, marca que o clube vem alcançando desde 2018.

Do lado direito e mais forte da chave, o time de Abel Ferreira pode encarar o São Paulo novamente nas quartas, assim como na campanha do Tri, em 2021, caso passe do Fogão, e o tricolor passe do Nacional-URU, claro.

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Já numa hipotética semifinal, o Palmeiras pode encarar o Flamengo, que teria que passar por Bolívar e depois do vencedor entre Peñarol e o primeiro colocado do grupo C (que pode ser o Grêmio).

➡️ Clique aqui para assinar e assistir o mata-mata da Libertadores no Star+

Do outro lado da chave, o Palmeiras pode encontrar numa possível final alguns campeões de Libertadores, como River Plate, Atlético-MG, San Lorenzo e Fluminense.

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Edwin Díaz is headed to Los Angeles to join the reigning champion Dodgers.

His decision in free agency reportedly came down to the Dodgers and Mets, the latter of whom were in on the 31-year-old until the very end, before he ultimately chose to join the super team in Hollywood.

According to MLB insider Joel Sherman of the NY Post, New York put forth an offer to Díaz worth $66 million over three years, which included deferred money. Despite being shy just $1 million per season, Díaz opted to take the Dodgers deal, which was a three-year, $69 million contract.

Mets fans had been hoping to bring Díaz back on a new contract, but despite the push from owner Steve Cohen, they were unsuccessful in winning the bidding war. Now, an already-loaded Dodgers team gets even stronger, putting a patch on what was its only weakness in 2025.

It’s not as if the Mets haven’t made a splash this offseason, however. They already fortified the bullpen by signing ex-Yankees and Brewers reliever Devin Williams to a three-year deal. The team was hoping to pair him with Díaz as the late-innings options, but that plan didn’t come to fruition.

Where New York goes from here remains to be seen, but they’d certainly like to further upgrade their bullpen even after missing out on Díaz.

In 2025, Díaz owned a 1.63 ERA across 62 appearances and racked up 28 saves and 98 strikeouts in 66 1/3 innings.

The San Francisco Giants are hiring Tennessee Volunteers baseball coach Tony Vitello as the franchise's new manager, according to a report from ESPN's Jeff Passan and Pete Thamel.

The 47-year-old Vitello is making history, as he is becoming the first coach to ever jump from the college level to MLB as a manager without any professional coaching experience.

The Giants confirmed the hire on Wednesday afternoon.

"We're thrilled to welcome Tony to the Giants family," Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey said. "Tony is one of the brightest, most innovative, and most respected coaches in college baseball today. Throughout our search, Tony's leadership, competitiveness, and commitment to developing players stood out. His ability to build strong, cohesive teams and his passion for the game align perfectly with the values of our organization. We look forward to the energy and direction he will bring, along with the memories to be made, as we focus on the future of Giants baseball."

It's an outside-the-box hire for Buster Posey and the Giants, who in hiring Vitello are getting an elite college baseball coach. Vitello's teams at Tennessee have made five NCAA regionals, four super regionals, and three College World Series appearances. The program finally broke through in 2024 when they captured the national championship over Texas A&M.

Vitello will finish his career at Tennessee with a 341-131 record in seven seasons.

He will replace veteran MLB manager Bob Melvin, who was fired last month after two seasons.

Urvil Patel smashes 31-ball ton for Gujarat

Urvil Patel marked his T20 captaincy debut with a remarkable 119 not out off just 37 balls as Gujarat opened their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign with an eight-wicket win over Services in a Group C fixture in Hyderabad.Retained by Chennai Super Kings after being signed midway through IPL 2025 as an injury replacement, Urvil reached his hundred off just 31 balls, the third fastest by an Indian. His fireworks at the top of the order turned a chase of 183 into a cakewalk. Urvil hit 12 fours and 10 sixes as Gujarat won with 45 balls to spare.