(^) Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 13, 2019
76 PREMIER LEAGUE
POGBA PUZZLE
French star
raises fresh
doubts over
United future
ARSENAL FEAR SECURITY THREAT MAY KEEP OZIL OUT
@ChrisWheelerDM
by CHRIS
WHEELER
By SAMI MOKBEL
Football News Correspondent
ARSENAL fear the security
threats that caused Mesut
Ozil and Sead Kolasinac to
miss the first game of the
season could keep them
out of more matches.
The Gunners took the
surprise step of
wihdrawing the duo from
the squad that travelled
to Newcastle over the
weekend due to ‘further
security incidents’. This
followed the attack on
the stars ambushed by
two knife-wielding thugs
at the end of last month.
The incidents are
believed to have involved
London-based gangs —
and there are concerns
the threat to Ozil and
Kolasinac will become an
ongoing problem.
Two men were arrested
outside Ozil’s house in
north London last week
and security guards and
dogs have now been seen
outside the stars’ homes.
The players were on a day
off yesterday following
the win at St James’
Park on Sunday but are
due to report back for
duty today.
Unai Emery said on
Sunday that he wanted
the pair available as soon
as possible but even if
they are able to return
against Burnley on
Saturday, the situation
will have to be regularly
reviewed.
Kolasinac’s partner is
understood to have
returned to Germany
— underlining the
security threat.
Ozil has been linked with
a move away from the
Emirates but the forward
loves London life and has
made clear he wants to
stay and fight for his place
despite having fallen out
of favour for much of
last season.
MLS club DC United want
to hold talks with the
World Cup winner about a
move to Washington next
year as they seek a
replacement for Wayne
Rooney, who will join
Derby in a player coach
capacity from January.
But sources claimed
yesterday that Ozil is not
ready to consider a move
to the US.
P
AUL POGBA has
put a dampener
on Manches-
ter United’s
uplifting win
over Chelsea by
claiming that a question mark
still hangs over his future at
Old Trafford.
Pogba set up the third and fourth
goals in a 4-0 victory that got United’s
season off to a flying start on Sunday.
But the Frenchman has clearly not
given up hope of a move to Real Madrid
before the transfer window closes in
Spain on September 2 after he and
his agent Mino Raiola indicated
earlier this summer that he wants to
leave United.
‘Obviously there have been things
said, but only time will tell. This
question mark remains,’ said Pogba.
‘However, I am here in Manchester.
I enjoy playing with my team-mates
and I always want to win every
game. I always give it everything.
‘I am always good whenever I play
football. It is what I love — it’s my
job. I give the maximum each time.’
United’s coaching staff are said to
be surprised that Pogba is still at
the club even though executive
vice-chairman Ed Woodward has been
unflinching in his refusal to consider
selling the club’s £89million
record signing.
Woodward blocked Pogba’s move to
Barcelona a year ago and has been
equally determined to withstand any
attempts by Madrid to sign him this
summer. United dismissed a bid from
Real of £27.6m plus James Rodriguez
last week which only reinforced the
view that the Spaniards do not have
enough money to finance a move for
Pogba in this transfer window.
It’s understood United would have
considered offers of around £170m
before the Premier League transfer
deadline last week, but it seems
unthinkable they would sell Pogba
now when there is no chance of signing
a replacement.
It follows another summer of uncer-
tainty in which the 26-year-old told
team-mates he wasn’t going to turn up
for United’s pre-season tour but then
reported for duty on time.
Pogba also sparked concerns that he
would try to force a move when he
missed the flight to Cardiff for United’s
final friendly against AC Milan,
although the club later insisted he was
allowed to stay in Manchester for
treatment on a back spasm.
It seems the midfielder will have to
wait until next summer to try again for
the move he wants when there will only
be a year left on his contract.United
have an option to extend it by a fur-
ther 12 months, but they will be in a
weaker bargaining position than now.
Spurs’ huge
new deal to
keep Eriksen
TOTTENHAM are willing to more than double
Christian Eriksen’s wages to secure their
playmaker’s long-term future.
But there are concerns that even that may
not be enough to persuade the Denmark star
to sign a new deal after he made it clear that
money won’t be the only consideration when
it comes to making his decision.
Spurs are desperate to extend Eriksen’s
contract and are willing to offer the
midfielder close to £200,000 a week — more
than double his current £80,000.
But Eriksen (left) has offered no guarantees
that he is willing to sign a new deal and has
made no secret of his desire to play for one of
European football’s superpowers.
Real Madrid and Juventus have been linked
with moves for him this summer.
It leaves Spurs in a worrying predicament
given Eriksen — worth at least £100million —
can leave for nothing next summer.
Sources indicate that even if he was willing to
sign fresh terms he would look to insert a
clause that would allow him to join certain
clubs for a fixed price.
Totenham chairman Daniel Levy could still sell
Eriksen this summer as the European transfer
window is still open until September 2. But his
exit would come as a huge blow to Mauricio
Pochettino’s side.
Eriksen underlined his importance to Spurs on
Saturday when he came off the bench to help
his team come from behind to secure a
3-1 win over Aston Villa.
SAMI MOKBEL
Determined: Ozil wants
to stay in London AP
LENGTHY LAY-OFF FOR ALISSON
to
gs
his
a.
r.
t
e
en
der
on
152
CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN has
been directly involved in
152 goals in 278 games for
Spurs since joining from
Ajax for £11million in
- The Dane has
scored 66 times and
provided 86
assists
LIvERPOOL goalkeeper
Alisson will be out for ‘the
next few weeks’ after
suffering an injury on the
opening day of the season.
The 26-year-old Brazilian
damaged a calf during the
first half of Friday night’s
4-1 Premier League
victory over Norwich and,
although the club have
put no timescale on his
recovery, manager
Jurgen Klopp is
expecting to lose him
for some time.
Klopp, whose side meetChelsea in the UEFA Super
Cup tomorrow, said: ‘It’s
not too cool. It’s a calf
injury, which takes him out
for a while. I don’t want to
make an exact prognosis on
when he will be back, but it
will not be Wednesday for
sure, so we have to see.
‘I saw already like “six
weeks” and stuff like this,
but Ali was not injured a lot
in his career, so I would like
to wait a little bit to see
how he develops in that
process, but he is not in for
the next few weeks.’