22 years after signing their first contracts, six of Manchester United’s most famous stars met at the place where it all started.
David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes got together on Monday night at the Artisan Bar & Restaurant to reminisce about the special time they shared together at Old Trafford.
The six footballers helped transform the Red Devils and set the club on their way to two decades of dominance. But where are they now?
Beckham is obviously known as both an English and global icon. Since his time at Old Trafford, he has played for Real Madrid, AC Milan and Los Angeles Galaxy. During his time at Man United, Beckham made the number 7 jersey famous and to this day still refuses to play for any other Premier League club.
Giggs, who holds a record 12 Premier League medals as well as two Champions Leagues medals, recently signed a one-year contract to join the coaching staff at United. The 39-year-old was also an honorary captain for Britain in the London Olympics last summer.
Since his retirement, Gary Neville has had a successful media career as a pundit for Sky Sports and columnist for MailOnline. He’ll always be known for his successful partnership on the right hand side for England with Beckham.
The younger of the brothers, Phil Neville was unable to establish himself as left-back until 2000. In 2005, he joined Everton where he became Captain. Recently he returned to the Red Devils as a first-team coach.
Somewhat flying under the radar, Nicky Butt ended his career in 2011 after a brief stint at South China, a Hong Kong club. Today, Butt is a reserve team coach for the Reds.
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And finally there’s Paul Scholes, who claimed 11 Premier League medals for Man United. He recently came out of retirement to try and strengthen United but has been plagued by injury. He has made over 700 appearances for the club.
One thing’s for certain, despite these footballers going their separate ways for a bit after their spell with Manchester United, they will always be remembered for their dominance at Old Trafford. As well as paving the way for the club’s global presence today.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that he may need to make a further attacking addition to bolster his squad after failing to see his side score in their first two Premier League games of the season at home to Sunderland and away at Stoke.
Arsenal’s lack of cutting edge in front of goal so far this campaign has highlighted the absence of Robin van Persie, who signed for Manchester United two weeks ago. Following Arsenal’s goalless draw at the Britannia Stadium yesterday, Wenger told the BBC, “We always felt we were dangerous, but we couldn’t finish it off. We have work to do in the final third.”
Wenger is still confident that his side will still score plenty of goals this season despite the departure of van Persie, “I don’t want to take anything away from Robin van Persie, he is an exceptional player, but I still don’t worry we will score goals with the players we have.” Additionally, Wenger said he is still confident new signings Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud will score plenty of goals for Arsenal despite creating any clear cut chances in the draw at Stoke, “we lacked a bit of understanding with the players in the final third. We have many new players and you can see something was missing.”
The Arsenal manager also added that the North London club are likely to be busy in the next few days, “we are active and there could still be action in the transfer market.” Arsenal have been strongly linked with Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila as a like-for-like replacement to Alex Song, who left the Gunners to join Barcelona for £15 million last week.
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Even the most ardent of Leeds United supporters would find it difficult to put a positive spin on what has been a very disappointing 2017-18 campaign for the club.
Indeed, the Whites currently sit down in 14th position in the Championship table following their 2-1 defeat at Norwich City on Saturday afternoon.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side have lost four of their last six Championship matches – winning just once, and big changes are expected to occur at the end of the season.
Leeds certainly have a problem when it comes to their goalkeeping department, and it does appear that German stopper Felix Wiedwald will be moved on following some poor performances.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell currently has the gloves for the club, but he was criticised at the weekend when Josh Murphy’s powerful effort seemed to go through the 21-year-old.
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Peacock-Farrell has been defended by a number of Leeds fans on social media, but there were also plenty that were upset with his performance at the weekend.
A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Love or hate politics, it’s taken over as the nation’s big talking point this week, even beating Chelsea’s Premier League title win! The General Election is, of course, much more important than 22 men kicking a ball around a rectangle of grass, but there’s no reason we cannot think of a world where the two combine, yeah?
Stay with us, as here are five politician/footballer match-ups we’d love to see…
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Boris Johnson vs. Paul Scholes – tackle contest
Paul Scholes was many things as a footballer. An excellent passer, and experienced playmaker, a scorer of goals… but he could not tackle. The former England international was frequently in a different time zone to his opponent when attempting to win the ball, with rash tackles commonplace in his game.
So, it would be interesting to see him face off with London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson. The wavy haired bumbler featured in a charity match once upon a time, producing the above horrific challenge!
It would be interesting to see who’s the worst tackler: Boris or Paul…
Tony Blair vs. Andy Carroll – header face-off
As the above video shows, former Prime Minister Tony Blair was a dab hand at head tennis. The ability to cushion the ball and keep a back and forth going is quite a skill, so we think he could take on one of the best in the business when it comes to head-butting the football… Andy Carroll!
The one time £35m England international would give Blair a run for his money, but the ex-PM could lure Liverpool into a making a £50m offer for him should he beat the big Geordie.
John Prescott vs. Wayne Rooney – Boxing!
Wayne Rooney hit the headlines recently for some amateur boxing in his kitchen with former team-mate Phil Bardsley. Although he was KO’d by the defender, we think a comeback bout could be arranged…. against John Prescott.
The politician is famous for his reaction to being ‘egged’ in 2001, as he swung out at the culprit on a visit to Rhyl. Ding, ding, DING!
Nigel Farage vs. Roger Johnson – Drinking contest
Farage loves a drink. Pictures of him sipping pints of ale or lager are commonplace, which is normal. But if he wants a drinking buddy, or opponent, in the footballing realm, he should look no further than Roger Johnson.
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The 32-year-old Charlton defender allegedly turned up for training bladdered in his Wolves days back in 2012.
David Cameron vs. Mike Ashley – who’s the most frugal…
The current PM has had to make cuts in his tenure. He inherited the role with the UK in financial peril, and his work has, thus far, been respectable, despite criticism of tax regulations surrounding high earners.
Although not a footballer, Mike Ashley is known for his ‘money saving’ ways at Newcastle, form whom he’s sold, bartered and done just about anything to make a profit. We’re picturing some sort of contest negotiating cheap deals at the market challenge…
It’s not hard to find a rather outlandish transfer story. If it’s not been quoted from an anonymous source that any given transfer is an ‘already agreed’, ‘done deal’, it’s a media prediction that a player whose had half a season of good form will be moving to one of the Premier League’s top clubs, and along the way command a fee that surpasses the £20million mark.
Of course, almost every transfer rumour should be taken with a pinch of salt. More often than not, they are a smokescreen created by agents to hide a club or player’s real intentions, or simply to push the issue of a new contract.
Although books such as the Secret Footballer, and opinion articles from the vast array of former players who’ve turned their hand to writing upon their retirement, give a rare glimpse into what actually goes on behind the closed doors of training grounds up and down the country, the truth is that the English press only ever have a hyperbolic and misinformed view of our football clubs, and thus the broadsheets and tabloids are filled with second-guessing and exaggeration, which is how Gareth Bale has become a £100million player in the space of one season, as reported by the Metro.
But as well as portraying a misguided representation out of the media’s own desire to sell stories, part of the problem, regarding the rather overzealous estimations of what a certain player is worth, is due to rather outlandish, gung-ho, high-risk investments in the transfer market leading to a culture of over-spending that needs to come to an end.
The Premier League’s style is incredibly unique. Despite encompassing philosophies from all corners of the globe, there are an underlying set of characteristics that are required from an individual to achieve success -such as physicality, stamina and pace, but most importantly, speed of mind. This is why bringing in a player from a foreign league always presents an element of risk no matter what their former reputation may be, but furthermore, it is also the justification for the inflated price tags given to English stars as they are already well acquainted and specifically trained in the Premier League’s mould.
Despite the England national team failing to ever put in a performance that can be described as above par, which would suggest to me a rather intrinsic and systematic flaw in English players that starts with the manner they are trained as youth products, any footballer with an English passport can command an additional £10million to his transfer fee in comparison to a foreign counterpart.
Sitting at the tip of the iceberg is Andy Carroll’s £35million move to Liverpool in 2011. There is no real justification for a fee that outweighs that of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba to name a few, but the former Newcastle man would no doubt have been a considerably lesser purchase had he not been English.
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Carroll’s case may on the surface seem extreme, as it will surely go down as one of the biggest transfer faux pas of all time, but in fact it is just the worst example of ridiculous fees for home-grown players. Jordan Henderson cost the Reds £16million, despite not even being close to earning a place in the Three Lions set-up, while Manchester City were forced to pay nearly £22million for Joleon Lescott, who may be a good defender but will be long forgotten in the grand scheme of things in comparison to the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and Ledley King.
Even Englishmen who stand very little chance of a call-up, and unlike Henderson, do not have the illusion of potential due to his age on his side, such as Matt Jarvis, are now commanding fees of over £10million. His two goals and no assists in 29 Premier League appearances shows how the winger is yet to live up to his price tag.
The problem is that no transfer can happen in an absolute vacuum. One deal influences another, leading to a distortion of an actual valuation of a player’s abilities, which is why even the most rank and file of English players, such as Jarvis, are constantly discussed in terms of double figures.
Furthermore, it is now leaking into our judgement of players who are not even English, such as Gareth Bale. I have no doubt the Welshman will go on to become a world-class winger if he is not already, but is it right to even discuss future fees above the £30million mark for a player who has only had one season of exceptional form?
The comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo have also been a factor, with the consensus being that Bale’s similarly in terms of age, style and goal return in regards to the Madrid man’s situation when he departed from Old Trafford back in 2009, equates to a similarity in fee, with the La Liga giants coughing up £80million for the Portuguese winger.
But will it actually benefit Bale in any shape or form to label him with such an audacious price-tag? Whereas undervaluing a player in fiscal terms tends to have almost no bearing on his psyche, weighing down a new signing with a fee which far outweighs his actual ability has proved to be incredibly dangerous. Fernando Torres is a shining example of how business can get in the way of football, and similarly, Stewart Downing’s torrid first eighteen months at Anfield were in no small part due to his inflated £20million transfer to Merseyside.
The trend has to stop somewhere. While £30million was a fee restricted for the world’s elite less than ten years ago, it is now an acceptable price to pay for anyone who can hold down a place in the first team at a top four club in the Premier League, or has the potential to do so. Hopefully, the financial fair play laws, set to come into effect next season, will make it far more difficult and pose hefty penalties for clubs making excessive investments on average players.
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But with money always comes greed, and as Manchester City and Chelsea have proved, it can also be one’s downfall. The over-reliance on finance has lead both clubs to becoming rather short-termist, in regards to managers and bringing in new players, and I believe the FFP legislation will encourage clubs desperate for trophies and titles to cut back on infrastructure and youth development as much as it will to reduce their activities in the transfer market.
It’s time the Premier League clubs gained some perspective. While for certain players that make the difference between success and failure, commanding large fees is understandable, it is the most average of players, the likes of Joleon Lescott, Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis, being involved in rather overzealous transfer deals which turns the stomach.
It’s making it impossible to create any sort of consensus on how much a particular player of any particular ability is actually worth, and at the same time, it is slowing killing the English game and stunting the success of homegrown players.
Stability is often what the majority of clubs in the top flight aim for before a season begins; very few think that they can’t compete for trophies, hoping for a decent cup run at best, knowing that getting sucked into a relegation battle is a realistic possibility.
However, while this may see quite a number of clubs dampen not only their expectations but ambitions, Swansea this term under new boss Michael Laudrup appear to be adding a new dimension to their play, something which Stoke have seriously struggled with since winning promotion to the top flight back in 2008.
Ever since crashing the top flight party, Tony Pulis has spent upwards of £70m on transfers, with over 30 new players coming into the club during those five summers. During that initial four-year same period, only Manchester City and Chelsea had a higher net spend figure than Stoke City since their promotion and they’ve made just £8.6million from selling players in five years – a truly shocking amount which shows their missteps in the transfer market.
To his credit, Pulis has clearly attempted to bring in players of a better quality, with the likes of Peter Crouch, Jonathan Woodgate and Jermaine Pennant coming into the Britannia during that time, but they’ve had to adapt to a seemingly ingrained style of play rather than the other way around – and what at first may have looked like ambition has given way to desperation and cynicism.
There’s only so far you can go with a long-ball style in the top flight, a glass ceiling as it were, and finishes of 12th (45 points), 11th (47 points), 13th (46 points) and 14th (45 points) clearly point to a club in danger of stagnation. Has Pulis taken them as far as he can?
While the style of football that the club persists with means that they will never win over everyone, it appears on the face of things that they may not be able to crack the top ten, particularly now that the budget has been tightened at the club. Of course, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t play with a style that suits them and enables them to get results, they are well within their rights to do so.
Having recorded just a 62 per cent pass completion record in their opening two games so far this season, plus the fact that they scored just 36 times last term, failing to find the back of the net in 13 separate fixtures, struggling all term to create anything from open play, they no longer look as if they think they can look up the table these days. Unless Pulis begins to compromise his principles, they will continue to not only standstill, but live in danger of going backwards and they’ve not really delivered on the significant investment in the side so far.
By that very same token, though, Swansea last term, with a far more aesthetically-pleasing style of play under Brendan Rodgers, only managed to score 44 times all term, failing to score in 15 games altogether across the entire league campaign. For all of their pretty possession, they lacked a cutting edge at times and any sort of penetration, yet instead of criticism, they were lauded by all and sundry from refusing to play long-ball football to survive, and they finished two points and three league places ahead of the more established Stoke in their first full season in the Premier League.
It seems that just so long as you play attractive football, that any critique is somewhat muted; it has been for Roberto Martinez at Wigan for quite some time. As Pulis would probably try to explain, there’s nothing noble in losing pretty and Stoke are certainly effective at what they do, but the question should be, after four seasons, now five in the league, should they be trying to do more?
Swansea took a risk in appointing legendary player Michael Laudrup this summer to replace Brendan Rodgers, who left the club to take over at Liverpool. It seemed a shrewd appointment by chairman Huw Jenkins, that he was able to attract such a big name, but it was entirely in keeping with the recent traditions at the club of passing football, going back to Paulo Sousa and Roberto Martinez before Rodgers.
Nonetheless, it’s worth remembering that despite doing a great job at Getafe, that Laudrup had failed in his previous two posts at Mallorca and Spartak Moscow, so there was an element of the appointment being something of a gamble for the club at a pivotal point in their history, as they attempted to retain their status as a top flight club this coming campaign.
As often happens when promoted clubs do well, not only did the manager move on but the side lost key midfielder Joe Allen, the metronome at the heart of their midfield to Liverpool also for a £15m fee, with the inevitable vultures at bigger clubs attempting to pick off what they want, with Scott Sinclair close to moving to Manchester City too, to replace Adam Johnson.
However, this has allowed Laudrup a budget to slowly but surely mould the club in his own image and the signings of Michu, Chico, Jonathan De Guzman, Pablo Hernandez and Ki Sung-Yeung mean that the club have a far more well-rounded squad than last term and they appear more prepared for the new season ahead as they bid to battle that most-dreaded of demons, second-season syndrome.
There’s also been a noticeable change in the club’s playing style and a shift away from what the side did so well under Rodgers. Keeping possession is of course at the heart of everything that they are trying to achieve, with Laudrup’s image as a player ensuring as such, but there’s been a willingness to get the ball forward earlier than before and they look a much more penetrative, direct outfit this term.
In their opening game of the season, they completely destroyed an expensively-assembled QPR side 5-0 – it took them well into October to score five league goals last season and whereas last term, Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge were told to hug the line and keep their shape, this term they can be found drifting inside and getting inside the full-back in an attempt to influence play – it’s a subtle but deliberate change and they’ve unquestionably evolved as a side.
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The ever-changing demands of the Premier League dictate that in order to compete, that change is needed and this comes not only in terms of fresh faces and new managers on occasion, but a willingness to adapt your style of play to ensure that you don’t become predictable, a trap which Stoke have certainly fallen into in recent times.
Stoke appear to be somewhat trapped within their own image as a long-ball side, entrenched in their own style, incapable of playing anything else; so far Swansea have shown this season that to maintain the initiative and keep an upwards trajectory, that sometimes change is not only good, but required and Tony Pulis could learn a thing or two as he bids to improve upon last season.
Newcastle fans are mercilessly mocking Sunderland after the Black Cats cancelled several tickets to their last game of the season thanks to a Magpie hoax.
You’d be hard pushed to find a happier set of fans anywhere in the world right now than on Tyneside, and things just got a whole lot funnier for the Magpies.
Newcastle’s season has quickly gone from underwhelming lows to unbelievable highs, as the Toon Army’s four game winning streak has lifted them into the top ten.
As if any icing was needed on the cake, the Magpies are getting to watch their arch-rivals face back to back relegations, and now Sunderland have cancelled several tickets in the away end for their final home game against Wolves.
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To put a long story short, a Newcastle fan got a hold of a picture of some Wolves tickets for the match, and posted on social media as if they were his own.
Sunderland then presumed Newcastle fans were invading the away end, and cancelled the tickets in question.
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Of course, to get tickets in the Wolves away end, one needs to have racked up loyalty points by going to other Wolves away matches, and Newcastle fans are hilariously mocking Sunderland for not realising this.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
With the season slowly drawing to a close, it’s time to consider what some Premier League clubs will be up to in the transfer market this summer.
And the first port of call, in Football FanCast’s opinion at least, should always be to raid those unfortunate clubs who just have plummeted out of the top flight; firstly for players they can no longer afford to keep and secondly for players who’ve indisputably proven themselves to be too good for another season in the Championship.
With just seven points currently separating Leicester City at rock-bottom and Sunderland in 15th – or perhaps more importantly, just three points separating a 16th-placed Hull City and a 19th-placed QPR – there’s plenty of relegation-bound stars on offer at the moment.
And knowing full well how Magpies owner Mike Ashley likes a bargain buy – he’s got a whole sportswear company specifically dedicated to them – we’ve listed FIVE relegation-bound lads from the Premier League’s bottom five clubs Newcastle United should be targeting this summer.
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CHARLIE AUSTIN
Newcastle have struggled to find a dependable goalscorer this season but QPR’s Charlie Austin would address that in abundance.
16 goals in 28 appearances this term has left the 25 year-old fourth in the Premier League’s goal rankings, making him the division’s second-top scoring Englishman after Tottenham’s talismanic Harry Kane.
Austin combines natural predatory instinct with the work-rate, physicality and enthusiasm of a former non-leaguer, working his way up from Kintbury Rangers to the Premier League in the space of eight years, throughout prolific spells with Poole, Swindon and Burnley.
Often struggling without the assistance of target man Bobby Zamora, if there’s one obvious criticism of the QPR forward it’s his inability to serve as a lone striker, despite a powerful 6 foot 2 frame.
That being said, he’s clearly capable of scoring regularly at Premier League level in the right system and will almost certainly want to remain in the top flight next term after such an impressive campaign – with or without the west Londoners.
DANNY INGS
Another relegation-bound centre-forward Newcastle should be throwing everything at to sign this summer is Burnley star Danny Ings.
The 22 year-old’s 21 strikes fired Burnley to promotion from the Championship last season and although his influence has waned somewhat recently, nine goals and four assists in 28 league outings is a promising return for the youngster’s inaugural Premier League campaign.
In addition to his healthy supply of goals, it’s Ings intelligence, movement and fleet of foot that particularly stand out. He possesses the ability to change the angle of play in an instant; consequentially, Sean Dyche has often called upon him to act as a No.10 just in front of the Burnley midfield.
Furthermore, unlike most home-grown talents to ever show a decent level of form, the England U21 will be available for remarkably cheap this summer – a nominal compensation package – with his Turf Moor contract coming to an end.
Whether the Magpies can outmuscle the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City to his signature, however, remains to be seen.
ESTEBAN CAMBIASSO
In an otherwise Championship-standard Leicester City side, Esteban Cambiasso’s quality and experience has stood out a country mile.
The former Argentina midfielder is the Foxes’ second-top scorer with four from 23 Premier League appearances this term whilst averaging 2 tackles, 2.1 interceptions and 1.1 chances created per match.
Now at the ripe old age of 34, the former Inter Milan star – who won five Serie A titles and the 2010 Champions League during his time at the San Siro – doesn’t offer the Magpies much in the way of longevity, or for that matter, stamina in the middle of the park.
But he’s more than proved his capacity to play at Premier League level this year and, with his King Power Stadium contract set to expire at the end of the season, could prove to be a very astute addition for the coming campaign – especially if the likes of Moussa Sissoko and Cheik Tiote are moved on this summer.
CURTIS DAVIES
Hull City are widely expected to avoid the drop this year, but currently just two points above the relegation zone, anything could happen between now and the end of May.
Should the Tigers plummet into England’s second tier, Newcastle would be wise to take captain Curtis Davies off their hands – addressing the desperate need for added quality and depth at the heart of their defence.
The 30-year-old boasts prior Premier League experience with West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa and Birmingham and has been an absolute rock since Hull returned to the top flight in summer 2013.
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This season, Stats enthusiasts Whoscored.com rate him as the fourth-best centre-back in the Premier League to have made twenty appearances or more, with an average rating of 7.32. No monumental surprise, considering he’s recorded an impressive 1.7 tackles, 3.1 interceptions, 10 clearances and 4.5 successful aerial duels per match.
Likewise, the former Luton trainee’s contract is set to enter its final twelve months this summer, so Hull will be forced to sell if they’re approached with a decent offer.
FABIAN DELPH
Fabian Delph may have signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract in January but he won’t be hanging around if Aston Villa fail to beat the drop this year, with his England career firmly on the line.
He’s been almost a one-man midfield for the Villians at times this season, providing the lung-bursting dynamism to contribute at both ends, averaging 2.2 tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 1.9 successful dribbles, 1.1 chances created and 1.5 shots per match, whilst taking over dead ball duties from the out-of-form Ashley Westwood.
The 25-year-old is an all-action, tenacious centre-mid who likes to get involved in every aspect of play. That dynamic style has earned quite the fan in Roy Hodgson, who has now issued Delph five England caps since his debut in September.
He’s Premier League proven and certainly to the standard of Newcastle’s other midfield options. But that contract extension in January gives Villa licence to demand a rather sizable fee for their Three Lions representative.
QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar has revealed he will be leaving the club by mutual consent once the summer transfer window opens.
The 33-year-old was one of a number of high-profile names to join the London club last summer, as owner Tony Fernandes aimed to create an established top-flight side.
The Brazilian is clear that he will not be playing football in the Championship next term, as he bids to keep playing at the highest level ahead of the 2014 World Cup in his home nation.
The former FC Internazionale Milano stopper has been one of the more consistent performers for Harry Redknapp’s side this term, but he will leave by mutual consent, with his wages too large for the club to continue paying in the English second-flight.
Cesar said: “It is confidential. My future today is a question mark.
“I have three more years on my contract, but the manager has already made it clear that it will be hard for me to stay at the club. I am happy he thinks that way, it is a sign that my work is being recognised.
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According to Bild, via Tuttomercatoweb, former Manchester United playmaker Shinji Kagawa is a summer target for Everton.
What’s the story?
Fussballeck reported this weekend that Shinji Kagawa is a target for West Ham, and now Bild are claiming the Toffees will rival the Hammers for the Japan international.
Kagawa, currently in his second spell with Borussia Dortmund, has found chances somewhat limited this season, making only 18 league appearances.
The crafty playmaker is known in England for his relatively unsuccessful spell with Manchester United, but his unquestionable talent has made him a Premier League target once again.
Everton have still been short of creativity since splashing out last summer, so a move for Kagawa could be perfect for the Toffees.
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Why move for Kagawa?
Valued at £11.7million by Transfermarkt, Kagawa certainly wouldn’t be a cheap signing, as his contract doesn’t run out until the summer of 2020. However, he would definitely be more bang for Everton’s buck than the enigmatic signing of Davy Klaassen.
The 29 year-old has scored 29 times in 89 appearances for Japan, and has had a decent season despite not being at his best, grabbing six goals and seven assists in all competitions.
While the Premier League move didn’t pay off for Kagawa last time, that was a turbulent time at Old Trafford, and the pressure may have just been too much. A move to Goodison could be perfect, as Sam Allardyce seeks a consistent creative force to supply hotshot Cenk Tosun.
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Kagawa’s physicality, or lack thereof, may be a concern to some fans, but his fantastic passing and quite simply stunning technical ability should more than make up for that.
If the Toffees can find the right balance in midfield to allow Kagawa to partner up with the likes of Theo Walcott, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Cenk Tosun in attack, there could be some serious goals on the blue half of Merseyside next season.
Everton fans, would you like to see a summer swoop for Kagawa? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…