(^46) DAILY MIRROR TUESDAY 30.07.2019
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COUNTDOWN TO THE
LEICESTER HAVE SIGNED MITCHELL CLARK ON A THREE-YEAR DEAL. THE
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FOOTBALL SPY
THE ORIGINAL GOSSIP
COLUMN... LATEST NEWS...
THE BIGGEST MOVES...
OLI McBURNIE is set to
join Premier League new
boys Sheffield United in
a £20million club-record deal.
Blades boss Chris Wilder has
made an increased bid for the
Swansea striker, who scored 24
goals last season, and now
looks likely to get his man.
The offer is being seriously
considered by Swansea, who
are struggling financially after
relegation to the Championship
in 2018.
CHERRIES FIT BILL
PHILIP BILLING is thankful
Bournemouth offered him a
Premier League lifeline.
The Denmark midfielder is
back in the top flight after
being snapped up by the
Cherries from Huddersfield
for £15million yesterday.
Billing, 23, said: “I’m
delighted to be back in the
Premier League. It was an
easy decision to make. This is
an exciting step forward for
me.”
Billing (right) becomes
Eddie Howe’s third summer
signing after the arrivals of
Bristol City’s Lloyd Kelly and
Luton defender Jack Stacey.
Howe said: “He’s got a real
mixture of qualities that I
think will make us stronger.”
FEEL
BARKLEY: Frank’s my
idol, I used to watch
him on Match of the
Day. He has given me
licence to express myself..
BY TONY BANKS
ROSS BARKLEY, like any schoolboy, used to
collect stickers of famous footballers — and
Frank Lampard was one of his favourites.
The young Barkley used to be glued to Match of
the Day on a Saturday night, watching Lampard
scoring goals at record-breaking levels at Chelsea and
for England. And it was a dream come true for the
Merseysider to play alongside his hero for England.
And it is even more so now playing for Lampard,
the new Chelsea boss, and being told to think like a
striker, to express himself, take risks – and shoot
when you can.
Lampard, 41, is Chelsea’s all-time record scorer
with 211 goals and also the highest-scoring midfielder
in Premier League history.
So Barkley hopes that this new cam-
paign will be a marked change from
last year under Maurizio Sarri, when
he made only 13 league starts and
netted five goals, mired in “Sarri-
ball’s” tippy-tappy possession game.
Lampard has given Barkley
licence to shoot on sight and, even
though he has Mason Mount
breathing down his neck, the former
Everton schemer has responded with two
goals in pre-season, including a superb free kick in
the 4-3 warm-up win at Reading on Sunday.
Barkley said: “As a kid at nine or 10 you get stickers
of players, and I had him, so to go from watching
Frank on Match of the Day, to playing with him for
England and then have him as a manager, it shows
anything can happen in football.
“He was one of my idols as a kid. I saw him every
week on the TV scoring goals. Frank will help all the
midfielders here. He is a legend, so we are going to
take all he has to give us.”
Barkley, now 25, revealed: “In training he’s been
saying, ‘Express yourself on the pitch, take risks, don’t
be too safe, shoot, try to create chances.’
“It is something I can do and it is what he has been
putting into me in training and the pre-season games.
“I have seen what he was capable of as a player
when I played with him for England a few years ago.
“It’s great to hear a coach say that. You want to
be playing off the cuff sometimes, to take chances
and make something happen. That’s what players
like myself, Mason and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, when
he’s back, want to express on the pitch.
“I have been playing a bit further forward,
having to think like a striker.”
Chelsea travel to Austria tomorrow to take on
Red Bull Salzburg, and their final warm-up game
before their opening Premier League fixture at
Manchester United is at Borussia
Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
am-
m
n
nt
mer
itht
Ross Barkley was a
huge admirer of
Frank Lampard the
player and now as
a manager
ROSS LIKES
THE BOSS
tuis.
(Tuis.)
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