Rasmus Hojlund is fit to make his debut this weekend and Erik ten Hag says Sergio Reguilon could feature at Arsenal having trained with Manchester United ahead of his loan move.
Denmark international Hojlund joined United at the start of August for a fee rising up to £74million from Atalanta, but the 20-year-old has yet to feature, due to a back complaint.
But Ten Hag says the striker is fit to feature at Arsenal, when new goalkeeper Altay Bayindir and left-back Reguilon will also be available for selection.
United have agreed a loan deal with Tottenham for the left-back, and the Dutchman revealed he had trained with his new team-mates ahead of the announcement of the move.
“Yes (Hojlund will be available),” Ten Hag said.
“He had a good training week so tomorrow we have the final training. But he is doing well, responding well, so, yeah, he will be available for Sunday’s game.
“(Bayindir) will be in the squad as well, Altay, so happy. Now we have the keeper group fully there. We covered every position so I think we have a very good keeper group with the arrival of Altay.”
Asked if Reguilon could be involved at the Emirates Stadium, the United boss said: “He is here, he trained. Yes (he will also be available for Sunday).”
Reguilon comes in after United went from too many options at left-back to too few when Luke Shaw’s muscle injury compounded the absence of Tyrell Malacia and recent exits. The Spain international was linked with a move to Old Trafford three years ago and spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid.
“He’s a very experienced player, played for big clubs, played already a lot of games in LaLiga, Premier League, so, yes, I think very good background,” Ten Hag said.
“We have seen he can play very intense football, so we are happy while we had a problem with Luke Shaw injured, Tyrell Malacia injured, therefore long-term out. So I think we responded very well on that emergency situation.”
On top of deadline-day moves for Bayindir and Reguilon, progress has been made in United’s move for Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat.
The 27-year-old midfielder starred at the World Cup for Morocco and previously played under Ten Hag at Utrecht.
“There are so many rumours, but it’s nice, eh?,” the United boss said when asked about Amrabat.
“I think we have done good business, we constructed a strong squad and we are ready to go in to the fight.”
Pushed again on Amrabat, he said: “I can’t tell (you much) because I don’t know if he can sign, so if we have news, we will report it immediately.”
There could be outgoings as well as incomings before the day is out, with multiple clubs looking at Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly and Donny Van De Beek.
However, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay look set to stay, having been subject of interest this summer.
“If you see the schedule, it’s tough, it’s really condensed,” United boss Ten Hag said.
“When you see last season the World Cup, crazy season, the season takes longer, two weeks longer. We played (the) FA Cup final one week longer.
“We had a short break, we had a really condensed pre-season again, so we need numbers. But also we need not only numbers, the numbers have to be quality.
“I think, yeah, with this squad we have depth and we have quality players and we can be in a variety of systems and we are happy with it.
“We are ready to go into the fight.”
Man City's clash with Chelsea will decide WSL title, suggests Taylor
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor did not understate the importance of his side’s upcoming visit to Chelsea as he described the clash as “more than just a game”.
City currently sit top of the Women’s Super League (WSL) one point above closest rivals Chelsea on 19 points. The defending champions hold a game in hand, however, after their match against Manchester United was postponed.
Both enter the match undefeated, with Chelsea earning six wins from six while Manchester City have six wins and one draw from seven matches, only taking a point away at Arsenal.
Taylor’s managerial adversary, Sonia Bompastor, will be aiming to become the first-ever coach to win each of their first seven games in the WSL.
With City unbeaten in their last three WSL meetings with Chelsea (W2 D1), Taylor is aware of the impact a positive result at Stamford Bridge could have on his title aspirations.
"It is more than just another game, of course. We have proven so far that we can play good stuff and have got good results along the way," he said in his press conference.
"We have been difficult to play against. There is no denying, these games are really important. For us, it is a good game and the fact it is Stamford Bridge gives us something different. We are looking forward to the challenge.
"It is a game that everyone is excited about."
It will be the first time the two teams have met at Chelsea’s iconic stadium. The Blues have won all six of their previous matches at Stamford Bridge in the WSL by an aggregate score of 17-4.
It is the most any team has ever played in the competition at a home venue while maintaining a 100% win record.
While City won this fixture at Kingsmeadow last year, earning a 1-0 victory over Chelsea through a Bunny Shaw goal, their opponents ultimately went on to claim the title on goal difference on the final day.
Yet when asked whether outcomes in games against Chelsea will decide the title, he said: "Everything would suggest that [it will]. It's too hard to say. They have made a good start, similar to us.
"I think for us we want to stay consistent, I think that's really important. The league table at the moment looks a little lopsided because they have a game to play and of course we want to make sure that we can give the best versions of ourselves in order to get the best result.
"I think that trying to win the game for us is the objective and it never changes.
"And we have a real good opportunity to do that, particularly with some of the performances that we have seen already this season and that for us is going to be our main goal in this game, to go to win."
There was positive injury news ahead of the clash as Taylor confirmed top scorer Shaw would be fit to start, though fans will face a nervy wait for top assister Lauren Hemp’s late fitness test to determine whether the England winger will be involved.
Haaland and Gyokeres 'not a priority' for Barcelona, says Deco
Barcelona sporting director Deco has said that a striker is “not a priority” for the club despite recent links to Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyokeres.
Deco affirmed the club’s faith in current number nine Robert Lewandowski, who is in form with 14 goals and two assists after 13 games in LaLiga this season.
Gyokeres, by comparison, has 16 goals and one assist in the Primeira Liga while, despite a dip in form, Erling Haaland has 12 goals in the Premier League this season.
Barcelona, however, are “happy” with Lewandowski and hope he will lead the line in the Catalonian capital for another season at least.
"First we have to know whether Haaland is what we want for the future. We don't know that now,” Deco told El Mundo Deportivo.
"At the moment we don't want any 'nine.' We have Robert. We are not planning anything with any 'nine.' It's not a priority because we have to focus on this season."
Lewandowski leads the Barcelona squad for shots (38) and shots on target (26) in the league, indicating the 36-year-old is still maintaining pace at the top level.
He leads the league for goals with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior coming closest to matching his tally, trailing by six goals.
"I think it's very difficult to find a striker like Robert nowadays. There are one or two of this level. Maybe Haaland or another one. There are not so many of this level available,” explained Deco.
"But we are not going to get hung up on finding any striker now because we are going to focus first on what Robert can do. I surely think he is happy to be here. He is a winner and if we have a big season I think he will want to stay.
"We want Robert to continue to be happy, to score goals and to stay at least one more season."
While the Pole is without a goal in two games, Barcelona’s rumoured target Gyokeres has not faltered.
The Swede caught global attention in Sporting CP’s recent Champions League clash with Manchester City, producing a hat-trick to help his team to a shock 4-1 win.
He accumulated an expected goals (xG) total of 2.41 in the match, accounting for most of Sporting's overall 2.87xG.
"Gyokeres is a good player. He has been scoring goals for some time in Portugal. We know him as we know others, but it's not a priority for us right now,” said Deco.
"When the time comes to make a decision and I have to make it because I am the one at the club, we will consider the options. But I don't think it's the right time to talk about any player."
Cabal becomes second Juventus defender to suffer ACL injury
Juventus' Juan Cabal will undergo surgery after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, intensifying the Serie A giants' defensive injury crisis.
The 23-year-old was forced to return to Turin after injuring his knee during training with the Colombia national team ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Ecuador.
Cabal is the second Juventus defender to suffer an ACL injury this season after Gleison Bremer, who hurt his left knee during their 3-2 Champions League win over RB Leipzig last month.
Cabal has so far made nine appearances across all competitions this season.
Juventus are sixth in the Serie A standings and 11th in the Champions League's new-look league phase.
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