Stan Collymore has warned Newcastle fans that Rafael Benitez will have offers from “five or six” premium clubs this summer.

Newcastle are currently 16th in the Premier League, sitting rather uncomfortably just two points above the drop zone.

Benitez is suspected to be unhappy with the lack of transfer dealings from owner Mike Ashley, after just three loan signings were made in January to add to the six summer signings made last year.

Islam Slimani hasn’t kicked a ball for the club yet, though Martin Dubravka and Kenedy have made brighter starts to their times at the club.

Benitez has a contract on Tyneside until the summer of 2019, but Collymore suspects he will only fulfil that contract if he is given serious assurances by Ashley.

Collymore said:

“I think what he’s been frustrated with is that he was promised funds to be able to kick Newcastle on to the next level, which Mike Ashley hasn’t given him because of the projected takeover which obviously hasn’t happened now.”

Benitez was of course manager of Real Madrid before moving to Newcastle, and Collymore says there will be a queue of top clubs lining up to poach the Spaniard this summer.

“He’s won the Champions League, he’s managed in the Premier League, he’s managed in Serie A, he’s managed in La Liga, he knows what it takes to put teams together.

“And it wouldn’t at all surprise me if he keeps them in the league, but then he walks and he says: ‘Right, I’ve had enough.’ Because, with the greatest of respect to Newcastle, there are probably five or six premium jobs that are going to be going, – whether it be at international or club level – that he would walk into with his CV.”

Benitez’s legacy goes far beyond just what he does in his time at a club, proven by Napoli’s tremendous season carried mostly by a spine of players brought in by the Spaniard.

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West Ham are thought to be a long-term admirer of the 57-year-old, but Newcastle fans would surely dispute any claims that moving to the Hammers would be an upgrade.

Newcastle fans, do you think you can keep Benitez? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Liverpool travel to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon seeking to overtake their bitter rivals in the Premier League table.

Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho has shown how worried he is about facing the electric front three assembled by Jurgen Klopp in the last three meetings between the teams.

He usually parks the bus and tries to play on the counter attack, not allowing any space in behind his defence. That means that the midfield battle could become all-important.

Much has been made of the poor form of United talisman Paul Pogba and Klopp has an array of high-energy options he could select to go up against the struggling Frenchman.

Among those is Reds captain Jordan Henderson, who is valued at £22.5million by transfermarkt.co.uk. There’s no doubting his energy and endeavour but questions remain over whether he’s Liverpool’s best option at the base of midfield – with James Milner and Emre Can also impressing this season.

Is he disciplined enough to be a pure holding midfielder? Does he offer enough on the ball to make the difference?

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That’s why we’re asking you the big question; should Henderson start against United? Let us know by voting below…

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Leeds United’s managing director says “lessons have been learned” in the transfer window, but Leeds fans are having none of it.

Managing director Angus Kinnear spoke to the Yorkshire Evening Post about season ticket renewals, the club’s current state and its direction for the future, but fans are calling for actions not words.

Leeds have been making plenty of noise on their official social media channels about renewing season tickets, which will rise in price after Good Friday. Kinnear says sales are slightly ahead of last season, but he understands why some fans are cautious about signing up for another year.

“We understand, with the performances since Christmas, that supporter sentiment has been dented,” Kinnear told the Post.

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“We are lucky that our fans are the most loyal in the country and we know the vast majority of our 20,000 season ticket holders will keep the faith.

Of course, what people really want to know is where the club is headed next season, particularly in regards to summer transfers, a sentiment echoed by players and fans alike.

“Our objective of building a team that competes in the play-offs has not changed. We always knew that it would take time to return Leeds United to where they should be and that the journey would start by building strong foundations,” Kinnear said.

This was supposed to be a year where Leeds push for promotion after a busy summer, but the season has completely capitulated since Christmas, leaving Paul Heckingbottom’s side toiling in 14th place. Kinnear says the club will right their wrongs.

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“Lessons have been learned and we are excited to see the benefits of a carefully planned transfer window and pre-season.

“Our objective is to secure a play-off place, which we believe is achievable based on our resources and the scale of our fan base.”

Fans have been reacting to the comments on Twitter, and they don’t seem too convinced…

Tottenham ended a 28-year hoodoo and won for the first time at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League era to all but end Chelsea’s hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

Alvaro Morata opened the scoring for the Blues and it was just reward for a first half in which Antonio Conte’s side attacked with impressive panache and limited their visitors to very few goalscoring opportunities.

The game changed right on half-time when Christian Eriksen scored an absolute stunner to ensure the sides went in level at the break.

That was only the first memorable moment of an afternoon that saw Dele Alli go on to silence the growing number of critics after his fringe role on England duty with an outstanding double-strike to win the game 3-1.

That was not the last action of the match that caught the eye of the away fans and Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen – valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt – added some glee for Spurs supporters.

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Arsenal have contacted Real Madrid regarding a sensational move for Gareth Bale, according to Diario Gol.

What’s the story?

Bale has been regularly linked with a return to the Premier League, but not many would have included Arsenal in the list of potential suitors.

The Wales international developed his game at Tottenham Hotspur, where he spent six years of his career before moving to the Bernabeu in 2013.

Manchester United and Bale’s former club have been touted before as potential suitors, but according to Diario Gol, Arsenal have made contact.

The Spanish publication, though, has stated that Bale will not move to the Gunners as he would regard it as a step down.

Is it serious?

At this stage of the season when clubs begin assessing their transfer plans, outlandish rumours filter through.

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This report in the Spanish press seems hard to believe; not because Arsenal would not want a player of Bale’s calibre, but the suggestion that they think that they had a chance.

Arsene Wenger’s side are struggling to maintain their stature among the elite Premier League clubs as they look on course to finish the campaign outside of the top four for the second consecutive season.

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Bale is used to regular success having won 10 trophies in Madrid, and even though injuries have prevented him from being consistent, the attacker can still provide at the elite level.

Arsenal have splashed the cash on big names in the past, but Los Blancos are unlikely to let the 28-year-old leave on the cheap.

Danny Ings was brought into a rotated Liverpool lineup for Saturday’s Merseyside derby as Jurgen Klopp prioritised the Champions League quarter-final second leg tie against Manchester City in midweek.

The Englishman – valued at £7.2m by Transfermarkt – has had a real struggle with injuries in recent years, which has blighted his Anfield career since his arrival from Burnley in 2015.

While that has been disappointing for the striker, it appears that he simply isn’t good enough for what Jurgen Klopp wants to do and with Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge to come back from their respective loan deals in the summer, his days at Liverpool look numbered.

The numbers behind his struggles against Everton back that up. No shots on goal, no key passes and no dribbles are evidence of a man who was unable to influence proceedings at all, despite being handed a huge opportunity in a big game.

He was successful with just over half his passes, which is poor for a forward playing in a team that was largely able to dominate the ball without too much competition from the hosts until the closing stages.

46 touches also showed Klopp a man who couldn’t get involved in the Liverpool build-up and the German will surely be looking for an upgrade once the summer rolls around.

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Southampton fans were full of praise for midfielder Oriol Romeu as he won the club’s Player of the Year award just under 12 months ago, but he is one of a number of Saints players who have suffered a significant drop in performance and fall from grace since then.

The 26-year-old was an indispensable, all-action player in the centre of the park for the south coast outfit back then, and was never afraid to use his strength or make a tackle to win the ball back, while he was often handy in possession.

The same can’t be said of the Spaniard – just like many of his teammates, including Mario Lemina and Sofiane Boufal with fans on Twitter suspicious of their latest absence – this term, as Mark Hughes’ men remain on course to suffer relegation to the Championship after four consecutive top-eight finishes.

Southampton had the opportunity to close the gap to 17th-placed Swansea City to just two points with a win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Thursday night, but they failed to do so with Romeu far from impressive alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The former Chelsea man only made two interceptions and two tackles all game, with one of the latter resulting in a foul.

Meanwhile, he was also dispossessed on two occasions and ended the game with a passing accuracy of just under 74% – much lower than the 84.2% he averaged last season, as per WhoScored.com.

Romeu was certainly overshadowed by Foxes midfielder Wilfred Ndidi, who made six tackles, six interceptions and won six aerial duels throughout the 90, all while having a passing accuracy of 81%.

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Southampton certainly need their man to find some confidence and start to replicate those sort of statistics in the south coast outfit’s final four matches of the season if they are to escape the drop.

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Arsenal marked departing manager Arsene Wenger’s last home match in charge of the club with a 5-0 thrashing of Burnley in the English Premier League on Sunday.

It was an emotional day at the Emirates, with everyone recognising it as a celebration of Arsene Wenger’s storied career in charge of Gunners.

A double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and goals from Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Iwobi and Sead Kolasinac ensured that there would be none of of the discontent that has blighted their season.

Fans were especially excited by the performance of January signing Aubameyang, who scored his seventh and eight goals in just his 11th appearance. Between his spells at Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund, he took his season’s tally to 29 goals.

Supporters cannot wait to see what he can do in his first full season at the club and are pleased he appears to be building a relationship with fellow forward Lacazette.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

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Everton fans are delighted about dumping Sam Allardyce, but they’re not quite so happy about his reported replacement.

It’s been a long and painful season for Everton fans, but even the most pessimistic Toffees would admit there is plenty of quality in their squad, and they could make a huge step up next season with a few smart moves this summer.

Sam Allardyce was brought in before Christmas to save the club from a relegation scrap, and the former England manager did exactly that, but at the expense of the performances.

Fans have grown increasingly fed up with Big Sam’s negative tactics and smug demeanour, so it’s perhaps no surprise to see the club are targeting a young, dynamic coach.

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Reports this week claim the club are lining up Marco Silva to replace Big Sam, but fans don’t seem too happy about the links.

Silva was sacked by Watford this season after a terrible run of form, but did get the Hornets playing some lovely football at times.

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His defensive frailties are certainly cause for concern though, ironically the area Allardyce specialises in.

Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…

Lucas Moura left Paris Saint-Germain in January because he struggled for football in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign.

The Brazilian made the move to Tottenham Hotspur, and probably assumed that he would be a regular for the London club in the second half of the season.

That has just not been the case, however, with the attacker starting just once in the Premier League since his arrival.

Ahead of Wednesday night’s key clash with Newcastle United, the Tottenham fans called on head coach Mauricio Pochettino to start Lucas.

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The attacker was once again named on the bench against the Magpies though, and did not see a minute of action as Erik Lamela, Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose were introduced ahead of him.

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Harry Kane scored the only goal of the contest as Tottenham secured all three points – and indeed a spot in next season’s Champions League – but the club’s supporters were once again left bemused by Lucas’ non-involvement.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: