[ad_pod ]Hugo Lloris turned in a performance of the highest calibre against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday.Holding a 3-0 lead from the first leg, Spurs travelled to Germany knowing that anything other than a heavy defeat would see them safely through to the quarter-finals.Dortmund burst out of the blocks against Mauricio Pochettino’s side as they attempted to pull off a truly dramatic comeback.But they were met with great resistance by the France international, who made a number of excellent saves.Per WhoScored, Lloris made seven, including a superb reaction block from Julian Weigl in the first half and an athletic stop from Mario Gotze.Spurs only needed to keep a clean sheet to ensure their progress but Harry Kane, of course, had his say, sending an excellent, curled finish past Roman Burki at the beginning of the second half.

And fans were delighted with the performance of their goalkeeper, who also enjoyed an excellent performance against Arsenal at the weekend, saving a last-minute penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Transfers: They have been a bit of a mixed bag in recent years, haven’t they? There have been numerous deals that looked good on paper, yet their ability failed to materialise. There have been other moves that may have gone under the radar, but some players of that calibre have gone on to establish themselves in the capital and make a significant impact at West Ham United.

Manuel Pellegrini’s first transfer window at the club was a positive one. The most notable incoming, in Felipe Anderson, has proved his worth so far, representing some fine business by the Hammers. Other renown signings in Jack Wilshere and Andriy Yarmelenko have been hampered with injuries as of yet, but the West Ham faithful will be hoping they can make a sustained, positive impact when they return.

Having heard some rather impressive signings of late, to balance the books, here are possibly the two worst West Ham signings in recent years…

Havard Nordtveit

Nordtveit joined West Ham in 2016 on a free after playing a pivotal role in an impressive Borussia Monchengladbach side during his time at the German outfit.

In England, the Norweigan international was used frequently at centre-back, despite holding midfield suiting him better and during that time, he really struggled to establish himself in the Premier League.

Part of that struggle will have been down to the side he was playing in and the role he had to fulfil, but he did not really help himself with some of his displays. Nordtveit was then moved on at the end of that season as he signed for Hoffenheim and finds himself back in English football, on loan at Fulham.

Simone Zaza

Zaza was brought in on a season-long loan from Juventus in the same summer as Nordtveit and in eight appearances for West Ham, he failed to score once before a knee injury sidelined the Italian and he was moved on to Valencia.

His arrival came soon after his infamous penalty miss at Euro 2016 and the player himself told Italian media that the very poor spell at West Ham was down to that moment. Zaza is now back in Italy, on loan at Torino.

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Arsenal had a nightmare Thursday evening in Belarus, and fans are absolutely fuming at Granit Xhaka’s performance in the 1-0 defeat to BATE Borisov.

Unai Emery suffered yet another setback this week, as the Gunners were beaten 1-0 in Belarus.

BATE, which was originally an acronym for Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics, needed just one goal to earn a famous victory, as Stanislav Dragun headed home the winner just before half-time.

Arsenal’s evening then went from bad to worse, as Alexandre Lacazette was sent off late in the second half, the Frenchman swinging his elbow at an opponent in retaliation after a foul. The 27 year-old also had a goal chalked off before his dismissal.

While none of the players covered themselves in glory, fans are crucifying Xhaka, who if truth be told looked out of his depth against the side that are currently nine points clear at the top of the Belarusian Premier League.

The Swiss international made just one key pass, zero tackles or interceptions and also picked up a yellow card.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, look away now Granit…

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According to The Sun, West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice would cost around £70m if Manchester City wanted to sign him this summer, but the Irons are running a big risk if those demands are true.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Sun report that the 20-year-old is one of three young English players that Pep Guardiola is keen to bring to the Etihad Stadium during the next transfer window, with the man who has now pledged his allegiance to England internationally valued at around £70m.

The Sun report that the Premier League champions see the London-born starlet as their long-term replacement for Fernandinho, and that is no surprise given some of the strong performances he has produced for Manuel Pellegrini’s men in a defensive midfield role this term.

While receiving that amount for a player that can’t make a difference in terms of goals and assists would obviously be something not to be sniffed at, there is proof that the grass isn’t always greener.

Why’s that?

You only have to look at Southampton to see how business that can look great on paper can quickly go horribly wrong.

Saints agreed to sell Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool for a world-record fee (£75m) for a defender in December 2017, and while they would have been gutted to lose the Dutchman they also would have been confident of significantly strengthening their squad as a whole with the money.

Instead, they appear to have thrown more money down the drain bringing in the likes of Guido Carrillo and Mohamed Elyounoussi for large fees, with both so far failing to make the grade at St Mary’s.

The south coast outfit now find themselves in another relegation battle and there is always a risk that West Ham’s business could go wrong too should they cash in on their prized asset.

Lessons need to be learned and selling Rice even for that price would be a risk, and one they shouldn’t take no matter what money is on the table.

Arsenal fans continue to mull over the situation that has seen their club turned on its head recently. Mesut Ozil and Unai Emery’s apparent rift continues to cause problems and the fans simply have no explanation, however, an unlikely source who does is Jose Mourinho as an Arsenal fan has uncovered an interest Jose quote on the German.

Mesut Ozil and Jose Mourinho worked together at Real Madrid and it seems that despite the Portuguese tactician’s rigid style and emphasis on defensive work, the German was a player who he cherished. Ozil produced 81 assists in three years under Mourinho and that stat speaks for itself as the Gunners wonder why Emery cannot get the best from the German.

Now 30-years-old, Ozil still has loads to offer at The Emirates and it seems crazy that the club fails to play to his strengths. His creative nouse is second to none and when he’s on form he becomes nye on impossible to stop. However, under Emery this season the ex-Los Blancos hero has provided just four goals and two assists in 18 games in all competitions as he continues to look closer and closer to an exit.

You can read the Gunners’ thoughts on Mourinho’s Ozil quotes here:

The Gunners will be even more frustrated to see that even Mourinho can see a solution to their problems as they continue to look for an answer to their Ozil issue.

أكد محمد فضل، عضو اللجنة الخماسية المُكلفة بإدارة اتحاد الكرة، أن الأهلي حصل منذ أسبوعين على رخصة الأندية المحترفة، ليكون أول ناد يتقدم بالأوراق الخاصة للحصول على الرخصة.

وتوج الأهلي ببطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز، رسميًا، للمرة 42 في تاريخه والخامسة على التوالي، وذلك قبل انتهاء المسابقة الجارية.

اقرأ ايضًا.. تشكيل الأهلي المتوقع أمام طنطا.. كهربا أساسيا ومروان محسن يقود الهجوم

وأضاف فضل خلال لقائه عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورت”: “الأهلي منذ أسبوعين بالظبط بدأ في إرسال الأوراق من أجل إنهاء التراخيص، ومن السهل حصول الأندية على رخصة المحترفين”.

وتابع: “أمامنا مشكلة تواجهنا من حيث أسعار اللاعبين، بدأت أضع الحلول من خلال التراخيص، لابد أن أعرف ميزانية النادي وبالطبع النادي عليه عدم الخسارة، لكن أسعار اللاعبين مبالغة جدًا ولا تسير مع السوق هذا غير منطقي ما هو مصدر الأموال”.

وواصل: “بدأنا أيضًا تكريم قدامى الأهلي والزمالك في لقاء السوبر الأخير ثم تكريم عبد الله السعيد بدخوله ضمن قائمة نادي المائة، ثم تغيير هوية الاتحاد وشكل الاتحاد المصري، وسيكون هناك تكريم لرموز نادي المائة”.

واستكمل: “بدايتي كانت من خلال النادي الأهلي باعتباري ناشئ لكن في العمل العام، أنا أفصل، علاقتي مع النادي الأهلي جيدة لأنه بيتي وبعد عملي العام سأكون بين صفوف الجماهير”.

واختتم: “بصرف النظر عن عمله الإداري لابد من الاستفادة من حسام غالي، مدير الكرة بنادي الجونة، لأنه من الكوادر القوية في المستقبل”.

Southampton have garnered a reputation for being a club that is able to make millions upon millions by selling their best talent. Players from Luke Shaw to Nathaniel Clyne to Virgil van Dijk have been sold by the club for big sums of money, and they’ve often been replaced seamlessly.

However, not all of their sales have been smart, and TalkSport man Adrian Durham has attacked the club for their decision to sell Dusan Tadic to Ajax.

As per TalkSport, Durham said: “On Dusan Tadic we’ve talked about this before – £10million. That was the fee agreed for Southampton to sell him to Ajax. He had two years left on his contract. For me, he’s the best footballer – think about my words – the best footballer Southampton have had since Matt Le Tissier.”

He continued: “What were the so-called brains trust at Southampton Football Club – whether it be Mark Hughes, Les Reed at the time – thinking of? Absolutely appalling decision from them…You can’t just let him go for £10million and you’re Southampton! It’s ridiculous.”

Durham clearly isn’t impressed by the Saints’ decision to sell Tadic, especially for such a small fee, and this is, of course, on the back of his brilliant performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League. He scored and assisted two goals for the Dutch side, and he was undeniably the best player on the pitch. In fact, he made history by being given the rare distinction of a 10/10 grade by L’Equipe for his performance (via Jonathan Johnson on Twitter).

His display would have given Southampton fans memories of just how good he could be in a Saints shirt, but admittedly, his problem was that he didn’t deliver that often enough. He was inconsistent, and that’s likely a core reason why the club decided to cash in.

His performance on Tuesday was brilliant, but that was a one-off. He hasn’t been able to produce magic like that very often, and it would be wrong to view that fixture in a vacuum. Sure, his 16 goal Eredivisie return this term is a good record, but that’s only one part of his game, and he’s often been unrefined.

That said, is he worth more than £10 million? You’d certainly think so, and Southampton are likely regretting selling him for that fee. Hindsight, so they say, however, is 20/20, and there was no way of the club knowing that he had this sort of performance in his locker.

Southampton fans – do you regret selling Tadic? Let us know by joining the discussion below!

Could the well-documented demise of Sunderland Football Club been saved if Steve Bruce managed to sign one of the world’s most famous people, David Beckham, back in 2010 – we’ll never know.

What we do know, however, is that the extensive list of truly disappointing, overpaid “talent” each contributed in their own way to lead Sunderland to successive relegation from the Premier League to League One.

The Black Cat’s transfer history is long and makes for very, very poor reading.

Players such as Steven Fletcher, who’s now withering away in the Championship, were completing deals upwards of £14m (source: BBC Sport). Jack Rodwell, often considered their worst ever signing, joined for £10m and continued to collect his £70,000 per week up until 2018, despite rarely ever playing – costing a calculated £299,000 per appearance (source: Chronicle Live). Jeremain Lens, Fabio Borini, Kaboul, Alvarez and Kone; the list goes on and on.

Indeed, it’s no secret that their frivolous recruitment took its toll on the club, which later found itself on the brink of ruin.

To what extent would Steve Bruce’s marquee signing have saved the club…

David Beckham: the missing link?

At 35-years-of-age, David Beckham was in the twilight years of his career when former Sunderland manager Steve Bruce tried to acquire his services back in 2010 (source: Daily Star).

A player at LA Galaxy at the time, whose season had already ended, Beckham was on the market for a club while he waited for the following campaign and had a number of solid possible locations in Europe. Namely, Sunderland and Milan.

Bruce apparently tried his best to lure the ex-Manchester United and Real Madrid star to the north east but ultimately failed when Beckham opted to join Andrea Pirlo and Ronaldinho at AC Milan.

Although he certainly wasn’t in his prime, he certainly would have done a better job than Andy Reid and Sessegnon – with the added bonus of substantial financial benefits.

After all, his sole purpose in the MLS was to promote “soccer” to the American market.

The same could certainly have been said of Sunderland if he had he joined.

Then again, there’s every chance the club could have squandered the money on more useless players. So maybe it was for the better.

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Liverpool booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-1 success against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night.

Perhaps more was expected of Bayern in the second leg, but Liverpool deserve huge praise for winning in Germany to advance to the final eight of the competition.

Fabinho surprisingly started the clash on the bench, but was introduced in the 13th minute when Jordan Henderson pulled up with an ankle problem.

According to WhoScored, the Brazilian went on to make two tackles and won two aerial duels during his time on the field.

It would be fair to say that it took the midfielder a bit of time to settle at Liverpool following a move from Monaco in last summer’s transfer window.

Mo Salah has been brutally mocked for his recent diving antics in a new video by 442oons. Check it out below…

However, the 25-year-old has been a regular in recent weeks and the Merseyside outfit’s fans were delighted with his showing against the German champions.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

West Ham’s main man Marko Arnautovic has been linked with a move away from the club for months, but he now needs to knuckle down and prove he’s worth being snapped up.

The Austrian striker’s brother pleaded with the club to let him leave in a statement in January, but his ‘dream move’ to an unnamed Chinese club fell through when a £35m bid was rejected. Why he wanted to go to China is beyond us all but since that deal didn’t materialise, the talented frontman should perform like everyone knows he can to earn a move to a club which is a step up from West Ham.

Why he’d even want to leave The London Stadium in January is another question that’s hard to answer. They’re playing some great football at the moment and are looking capable of mounting a challenge for a European spot over the next year or so. However, if he really does want to leave, then he needs to get his head back into playing for the Hammers until the end of the season.

There’s no questioning his quality, it’s there, but his attitude is something that sometimes lets him down, and that’s the difference between a good player and a world-class player – mentality. This is a test of character for the 29-year-old and could mean him signing for a Chinese club to rot away into obscurity or being picked up by a club already playing European football.

The opportunity to build up his goal tally is there. He’s now playing alongside players like Samir Nasri, Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson who will be able to set him up for fun against most opposition. West Ham are creating chances against the best sides in the league too and he could be finishing those as their main man up top.

If Arnautovic would lift his head up and realise what an opportunity he has in front of him, he could be playing European football next season, whether that be with West Ham or not. Surely that would be more of a ‘dream move’ than China?

Where do you think Marko Arnautovic will be playing his football next season?