Two highly talented sides capable of producing some stunning moments of football such as Bellingham’s scissor kick against Slovakia and 16 year-old Lamine Yamal’s superb shot into the top corner of the net against France.
Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente’s team also has the current top scoring Golden Boot leader Dani Olmo. Once again Spain will have Rodri at the heart of midfield and he is possibly the best in the world at the moment. He is a favourite to win Player of the Tournament. This Spanish team have won every single game so far and possess tremendous pace on the wings.
Full back Luke Shaw is back after injury and could start. On the right Kyle Walker will have a battle on his hands against Nico Williams and Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella, both of whom have had an excellent tournament.
Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham along with 19 year-old Kaibie Mainoo and Declan Rice will provide England with a real chance. They face a challenge for midfield supremacy with Spain’s Rodri, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo and this could decide the winners. To control midfield and feeding the forwards is key. England striker Harry Kane has been sluggish but hit some good form against Holland and Spain’s captain Alvaro Morata has yet to show his best.
This game could go either way but Spain are slight favourites…and as I said, I believe it will be a thriller – don’t miss it.
Mo slots back in at Liverpool
Mo Salah reported for pre-training duty at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre on Wednesday. He underwent routine testing following more than seven weeks away from the club.
On Thursday Salah was subjected to newly installed coach Arne Slot’s fitness routines which he has devised with performance coach Ruben Peeters. Players start with a six-minute race test which has replaced Jurgen Klopp’s famous lactate tests. Salah last played for the Reds on May 19th in a 2-0 win over Wolves.
Egypt wanted Mo for their Olympic squad but Liverpool have overruled that because they want him available for Arne Slot’s opening games of the new PL season. The Olympics are from
July 24th until August 9th but players are usually given three weeks rest afterwards and Liverpool kick off the new season at Ipswich Town on August 17th.
Villa eyeing up golden boy Joao Felix
2019 Golden Boy award winner Joao Felix transferred to Atletico Madrid for a staggering £113m and helped the club to the La Liga title and was named player of the season. However,
behind the scenes at Atletico his relationship with coach Diego Simeone deteriorated fast. Felix still has a five-year contract at the Spanish giants but both player and club are anxious
to part company and he has been out on loan. Apparently he has three options. He could return to his boyhood club Benfica in Portugal or return to Barcelona where he has already been on loan. Finally and most interesting, Aston Villa are interested in taking him where coach Unai Emery believes he can recapture Felix’s former high level performances having admired his talent in La Liga.
De Ligt features in Ten Hag’s plans
News coming out of Old Trafford features Matthijs de Ligt having talks with Manchester United and the 24-year-old is interested in leaving Bayern Munich for a challenge in the Premier League. Coach Erik Ten Hag wants De Ligt to team up with Lisandro Martinez in a 4-3-3 formation and considers this partnership as his strongest defence if the deal comes off. Ten Hag and the centre-back worked together at Ajax however 60,000 Bayern fans have signed a petition begging their club not to sell.
Dortmund forward attracts Chelsea
Chelsea want to strengthen their attack to support Nicolas Jackson and the wider players. Borussia Dortmund forward Karim Adeyemi has scored five goals and made two assists in 35 appearances and at 22 years-of-age fits in with the Chelsea strategy of signing younger players on long contracts. Adeyemi played as a central striker at RB Leipzig but has played on the wing for Dortmund. Chelsea met the player’s representatives last week to work out a deal which I understand is in the region of £30m. Napoli are selling Victor Osimen this transfer period so they can open the door to sign Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku.
What next for Grealish?
Pep Guardiola rates Jack Grealish because he knows how good he can be when on form. However, the beginning of this coming season is crucial for Jack and he is quite literally on trial
during which he must prove himself all over again. If he fails to ignite his talent then Manchester City will sell him on. Arsenal were reported to be interested in buying Jack however I can tell you positively that they were never interested and the reports were the result of an incorrect website article. Grealish attracted a lot of sympathy after being left out of England’s Euros squad and even Aston Villa fans have forgiven him for leaving the club in 2021. They would welcome him back. City accept they would not recoup the £100m paid because he turns 29 years-of-age in September. With Phil Foden, Bernado Silva and Julian Alvarez away on international duty and Jeremy Doku taking a holiday, Grealish could start the new season on the left wing. He has been proving to the club how serious he is by publicizing on social media his training schedule and he will enjoy a complete pre-season programme so he can hit the ground running on August 18th when City open their account away at Chelsea.
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