Is Paul Pogba's Transfer to Manchester United confirmed and Set?

As the session of the Premier League approaches thereby, decreasing the span of the transfer window for the Premier League every football fanatic is being kept on the edge with the latest and rapidly changing moves of the Premier League giants. With every club on the move to regroup and retool their squad for the most awaited and most viewed football tournament in history, the Premier League starting from 13th of August, 2016 and running until 21st May 2017 this summer is one of the most exciting parts of the tournament. With more football fantasies and speculations weaved than during the game, with the bids, deals, and contracts brimming with various speculations and desires every club of the Premier League is on the move.

With the Juventus star Paul Pogba being one of the most sought midfielders by the various clubs, deals are rumored to be set and defined just within the span of few days. The former Manchester United player who called United as his ‘first family' joined the Juventus on a free transfer on 3rd July 2012. Pogba scored his first goal for the Juventus in a 2-0 win over Napoli and was the key protagonist over the win over Lazio in the 2013 Italian Supercoppa over 1-4. Included in the list of the ten most promising young players in Europe by the Guardian Pogba has risen through the popularity and been the center of praise and attention over the four years he has been in Juventus so far.

As Paul Pogba's name has been shortlisted amongst the other nine men for the 2015 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award and awarded the prestigious number-10 t-shirt Pogba has become one of the most sought out midfielders. With this year's session to be in motion within fifteen days, the United Manchester has shown a great deal of interest in Pogba. With them offering the former audacious deals of €110M including add-ons and a bonus, the contract is rumored to be official in the next forty-eight hours after Pogba's agent Mino Raiola reportedly met the Juventus chief executive Giuseppe Marotta in Milan where supposedly a meeting via conference call was held with the United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

The rumors now seem to take a greater share of reality with the posting of Pogba's latest Instagram picture. In the midst of the black and white image, he was wearing red boots and a red cap which might just be one of the biggest hints the Red Devil fans have gotten so far indicating Pogba's return to his ‘first family'. While Pogba has publicly refused to discuss his future plans, we cannot help but keep thinking and hoping he might just be striking the contract as the midfielder to the United Manchester in nothing less than two days. As time races by, every football enthusiast is looking for the Premier League to commence finally and for the Red Devil fans it will be few days of rapid curiosity over what's finally being decided.

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Epl clubs steal the show

The transfer market has always been an exciting phase for the football fans from all over the world. The most exciting part of the transfer market is the huge names moving from a certain club to another. This year to the clubs has been very busy in signing big names to strengthen their squad. But this year the English clubs have made the most of the transfer season till date. The Spanish clubs has not been so impressive in signing players for the upcoming season. This time the managers involved in the premier league are all high profile managers and it is going to be one of the most interesting seasons to watch. The premier league has the likes of Jose Mourinho, Claudio Ranieri, Antonio Conte, Pep Guardiola, Arsene Wenger, Jurgen Klopp and Pocchetino. All these managers are looking to add talent to their squads and the battle has already begun.

The first big surprise of the transfer market came when Zlatan Ibrahimovich announced his next destination on twitter. And guess what? It was the theatre of dreams. Manchester United was after the Swedish international for a long time and finally sealed the deal earlier this month. Mourinho and Ibrahimovich are considered a pair made in heaven as they won the European title together with Inter Milan back in 2010. Ibrahimovich’s inclusion will certainly boost up a young United side to challenge for the title. With Mourinho back in the premier league but with a new club it would be quite interesting to see how his plans turn out to be.

The next big name was roped in by the blues. And it was Michy Batshuayi from Marseille. Batshuayi is a talented Belgian international who uses his two feet to play which is always an advantage. He featured in the Belgian team for the Euro Cup and has shown glimpses of his capabilities. Chelsea new boss Antonio Conte has told in a press conference that he is very happy to have Batshuayi in his team as Batshuayi is a strong and talented player who would definitely add value to the Chelsea front line.

United doubled their signing by roping in Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Dortmund for 26.3 million which was an amazing signing for the red devils. Mkhitaryan has continuously impressed for the yellow and black jersey and is a player of high calibre. Mourinho signed the midfielder to add some attacking flair to his side. On the other hand Chelsea too roped in N’golo Kante for 32 million who is a defensive midfielder. Kante was key to Leicester city’s title triumph last season and was also wanted by arsenal. But Chelsea edged the race to sign Kante as Blue boss Antonio Conte’s words impressed the midfielder. Former Chelsea legend Makelele has hailed Kante as his successor and thinks that he can play an important role for Chelsea this upcoming season.

Manchester City landed Spain international Nolito for 22 million as Pep Guardiola took over the blue side of Manchester. So these were the most high profile transfers of this month in the transfer market and we cannot wait for the season to start.

Author’s Bio: Goldengoals.com is an online football magazine. It covers latest match results, analysis, transfer updates and many more that the crazy fans are curious to know. 

Portugal clinches trophy without Cristiano

Portugal beat France 1-0 in the final of the Euro Cup 2016 thanks to a wonderful goal from the substitute Eder. Portugal won the European championship for the first time beating the hosting nation France. Portugal has faced a lot of criticism due to their non-impressive displays on the way to the final. But they kept finding a way and clinched the title without their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo on the pitch. The real Madrid star did start the match but suffered an injury during the course of the game and limped off the field in the first half itself. His tears told the whole story as it was quite clear that he was would not be able to continue following Dimitri Payet’s tackle.

Nobody expected Portugal to win the game from there as Ronaldo’s injury came as a huge blow for them. But the Portuguese fans were still dreaming with their broken hearts. However the first half belonged solely to France who had the best opportunities. Griezmann’s header was excellently pushed away from goal by Rui Patricio and Sissoko’s shot was well blocked by the Portuguese keeper. Giroud also had a half chance from the corner but his header was straight at Patricio. The win was Portugal’s maiden win against France and it came at the stage when both teams needed it the most.

France had 17 attempts on the Portuguese goal but perhaps luck was not on their side. France could not take advantage of their domination and failed to score within the regulation time which helped Portugal gain confidence as the game progressed. Gignac was the guilty party who hit the post at the closing stages of regulation time.  They went all square into extra time. In the 109^th minute substitute Eder shook the France defense and the whole nation as he hit the target from 20 yards wide and scored. The strike was so good that even a goal keeper of Hugo Lloris’s standard could not prevent the ball from hitting the nets. Despite some nervy and cagey dying moments Portugal managed to hold on to their lead and lift the title in front of a jam-packed stadium. France’s hopes were shattered and the whole nation came to a standstill. It was a heartbreaking loss if we look at France’s performances in the previous rounds. They were excellent in the previous rounds but failed to live up to the expectations at the final step. The party spoilers, Portugal celebrated their victory in style as Ronaldo joined the party with a sore left knee. This was arguably the best season he has had where he won two major trophies, one with his club and the other with his country. But we all have to admit that it was a stellar performance from Portugal without their talisman which got them the trophy. They showed real character and class as they portrayed their potential even without Ronaldo on Sunday. This is the best football website where you will get all the latest news from the world of football. Follow the site for more news and trivia.

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Euro 2016 round up

The Euro cup has been so far a mouth-watering contest between 24 of Europe’s best teams. Earlier this competition was played between 16 teams but this year the numbers saw an increase. France are the hosts of the 2016 Euro Championships and they have hosted the competition in style. All the matches have been competitive as we have seen both dominant performances and upsets. We have seen underdogs knocking out big names and also big names routing the smaller nations. After two fierce rounds of football the 8 countries who could make it to the quarters were France, Germany, Iceland, Portugal, Wales, Poland, Italy and Belgium.

The first quarterfinal saw Poland and Portugal locking horns. The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes of merciless football and it all went down to spot kicks. Poland are quite well known for their abilities from spot kicks whereas Portugal’s main man had already missed one in the group stages. But football is an uncertain and cruel game. Ronaldo took the first penalty for his country and scored. So did Lewandowski for Poland. But in the end it was Portugal’s Ricardo Quaresma who scored the winning penalty for Portugal taking then to the semis. Wales faced off against an in form Belgian side in the second quarter final. Belgium drew first blood through Radja Nainggolan who hit the target from outside the D-box. But Wales’s captain Ashley Williams scored the equalizer for wales and they later added two more to their total to edge past Belgium 3-1. This was one of the most shocking results of the Euros.

Italy has been impressive throughout the tournament as Italy and Chelsea’s new boss Antonio Conte produced a master class in the round of 16 to knock out holders Spain. Conte is known for his fierce defensive tactics and he exactly did the same against Germany in the quarters. The match went to penalties and both Italy and Germany seemed awful from the penalty spot. It was really a horror show from the spot. 6 of the first 10 penalties were not scored. But finally Germany’s Jonas Hector took Germany to the semis after Darmian’s shot was saved by Manuel Neuer. In the last match of the quarters France routed Iceland as they scored 5 past the underdogs. France looked unstoppable and showed no mercy to their opponents. Iceland bowed out of the Euros after an impressive show of their own which included the knocking out of England. So the 4 teams who advanced to the semis were Portugal, Wales, Germany and France.

Wales were considered firm favourites to head to the finals as Portugal were yet to win a match in 90 minutes in the 2016 Euros. But things don’t always happen as we think and Portugal emerged victorious 2-0 over Wales. Portugal's talisman Ronaldo scored and assisted in the game which is a big boost for them. Germany faces France in the most awaited match in the Euros so far in the second semi Final. It would be quite interesting to see who makes it to the final against Portugal.

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Messi Quits International!!

A heartbroken Lionel Messi announced his retirement from international football on the morrow of his defeat in the finals of Copa America at the hands of the Chilean behemoth.

Arguably the best player in the world, Messi had been part of four international outings with his national team, none of which were successful ventures. His only major international honour in his country's colours was gold at the 2008 Olympic Games. In spite of having a prolific record at his club Barcelona, with whom he holds eight La Liga titles and four Champions League cups, his retirement at this stage will hold him short of his compatriot Diego Maradona, who was the one who singlehandedly led Argentina to the victor's seat at the 1986 World Cup.

However, he does hold the record for the highest ever goals scored for his country with 55 goals to his name over a total of 113 Argentine caps since 2005, surpassing the previous record of 54 goals by Gabriel Batistuta. Five of those goals came from this year’s edition of the Copa America itself.

Reacting after their loss to Chile, Messi was reported to be inconsolable and in no small part due to his failure to convert his shot during the penalty shootout. If he had managed to convert it though, the headlines might have been altogether different today. Messi blamed himself for the loss, as all greats are wont to do. The decision may have been taken in the heat of the moment, as Messi himself admitted that he was utterly disappointed at the outcome, since he wanted this more than anything else but since it eluded him once again, there was nothing more he could do and that maybe it was time he stepped back.

Messi’s retirement may just be the tip of the iceberg of woes for the Argentine national team, with reports circulating that a host of other players were planning to follow suit. Names like Javier Mascherano, Sergio Aguero, and Lucas Biglia are just to point out a few.
According to other sources, the Argentina FA is quite frankly, one of the most corrupt football governing bodies in the world. With convicted and indicted board members as well as chairmen, and reports of misappropriated funds galore, it’s no wonder the top players are choosing just step back and let things sort out first.

Whether Messi’s retirement is going to be a permanent blow to the capabilities of the argentine team or just a flesh wound to the hearts of fans all over the world remains to be seen. Much graver decisions have been made in the heat of the moment, and when it comes to someone as emotional as Messi, this is expected since he plays his heart out on the field every single day. IT will be an extremely difficult sight to watch the team walk out on to the field in next year’s world cup, without the smiling face of the to be 30 year old forward leading the way.

Author’s Bio: Goldengoals.com is an online footballmagazine. It covers latest match results, analysis, transfer updates and many more that the crazy fans are curious to know.