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With Kieran Tierney joining Arsenal on deadline day, Celtic have released a statement assuring fans that the departure was entirely down to the player.

What’s the story?

Tierney finally made his move to the Emirates after a transfer window full of twists and turns came to an end on Thursday evening. His departure of course robs the club of a fantastic player, but also places a hefty wad of cash into the Bhoys’ back pocket.

The 22-year-old was Celtic through and through and departed the club having played an integral part in the historic treble treble success over the past three years.

Yet, the statement announcing his departure is littered with an overwhelming sense of bitterness.

The official club site reads: “We did all we could to keep Kieran at Celtic. While the club did not need or wish to sell Kieran, this was an opportunity which Kieran very much wished to pursue and with the club having received a significant offer, we have agreed to the transfer.”

Poor form from Celtic

The 22-year-old has given a lot to the club since making his debut in 2015 and to point the blame for the deal in his direction isn’t a great look for the club.

Unfortunately, thanks to the lack of an eye-watering TV deal such as the one Premier League outfits enjoy, Celtic are something of a selling club at the moment.

Players like Moussa Dembele, Virgil van Dijk and Victor Wanyama join the club knowing they can win trophies, play for a passionate fan base and immortalise themselves in an iconic club’s history books, while also having a great route to the biggest stage in football – the Premier League.

Focusing the fans’ anger towards a player who gave his all, came through the academy and earned a club-record fee of £25m might make players think twice about a move to Parkhead in the future, scuppering the club’s current structure of getting a few good years out of these types of players before selling for huge profit.

Potential signings might be turned off signing for the club if they think they could be in line for this sort of treatment. It’s not as bad as the Moussa Dembele situation, but it could have been handled better from the club, as they haven’t exactly come out of the deal empty-handed, and the player made zero public fuss to force a move.

It’s not terminal and it’s far from the worst thing the club could’ve done, but given everything Tierney has done for the Bhoys you’d have expected a more graceful summation of his commitment and career in Glasgow.

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It has been six years since Atletico Madrid last clinched the Spanish crown. Six long years of clinging to the status of one of Spain’s best but never the very best.

Ever since Diego Simeone took over, the Rojiblancos have been a steady ship, weathering the storm, staying afloat but they were also, at times, daydreaming.

And while being in the top three in any league for an extended period of time is truly an impressive feat, it’s also quite an infuriating and frustrating one. Finishing second is not bad but hurts more than finishing third, doesn’t it? Obviously, a change was needed.

If Cholo and his troops were to continue down the same path, doing the same things and fielding the same squad, the results would also, in turn, remain mostly the same.

Arguably, that would mean Atletico Madrid hoping for a Barcelona choking in the Champions League or a Real Madrid crisis, both of which are not anomalies as of late, in order to get their chance to shine. But not anymore. This summer came and went but the Colchoneros have used it to the fullest.

The core of the team is gone and new and exciting faces have been brought to compensate, but none of them as exciting as Benfica’s young starlet and now Atletico Madrid’s biggest ever signing, Joao Felix. The young 19-year-old was brought in for a hefty sum of £113m and represents Atletico’s response to losing Antoine Griezmann to Barcelona in a similarly heavy deal.

With such a price tag and undeniable talent on his back, Felix looks set to become the new face of Atletico Madrid, and it couldn’t be more fitting if it wanted to: a young, vibrant star, ready to take the stage by storm.

That sounds like a perfect description of what the team needs, what it has been craving for in these fairly successful but equally stressful times. Out with the old, in with the new is the new motto and who better to lead the charge than Felix.

But it won’t be easy, not in the slightest.

After all, it seems that the responsibility of replacing a marquee name like Griezmann, the man who was Atletico Madrid’s top scorer in every La Liga season he has participated in, is falling on the shoulders of a 19-year-old boy. A kid at the start of his career and a kid who’s about to experience his first steps in the big leagues. Benfica are a great team, a team with rich history no less, but this is definitely a step up for the youngster.

Asking him to reinvent a team of Atletico Madrid’s pedigree all by himself sounds like a tall task despite his potential. Simeone has to be really careful in his approach. Apply enough pressure and he turns into a diamond but put too much and he could break.

The expectation, the pressure, the inexperience and his youthfulness could all play against him if the right steps are not taken.

On paper, however, it looks promising. Felix very much feels like a younger version of Griezmann when everything is said and done. Both have this natural gift of exploiting space in the final third and are mostly played as second strikers. Back in Benfica, Felix was mostly a part of a striker tandem in a 4-4-2 system which is, incidentally, the same one Simeone has been preaching in the Spanish capital ever since he sat on the throne.

He may have lost a prolific goalscorer and a World Cup winner in the French forward but now he has the Portuguese prodigy who’s already showing the early signs of that same lethality in a similar role.

In a total of 43 games for Benfica, the 19-year-old scored 20 goals and assisted 11 in the process. The figures might not be out of this world, but considering that this is only the beginning, they make for a pretty good start.

The ability is certainly there and it’s layered with facets of potential that reach the skies and probably goes even beyond that. But despite all of this, it is far from being a straightforward swap of superstars for Atletico Madrid to proceed as usual.

Putting their hopes in Felix in the long run sounds like a good plan but the foundations have to be set to serve as a springboard and support for the youngster.

How do they do that? That in itself might be a story for a different time but in essence, everyone will have to pull their own weight and then some. It’s fair to assume they will miss Griezmann at first and miss him dearly. Not a single player from their squad has been hitting his numbers on such a consistent season to season basis and it’s unlikely that Felix will, at least not for now.

It would be a foolish thing to assume and sloppy homework by Atletico.

The change of personnel and the signs from pre-season, beating Real 7-3, already suggest the Atletico Madrid of 2019/20 might be far different than the one we saw in 2018/19.

Change is never good by default but this very much feels like a necessary step after years of playing the same old track. The team has been grooving to that tune for years and despite some highs here and there, they hardly represent their ambitions as a top-tier club from Spain.

It does feel, however, like the signing of Felix was exactly what the doctor prescribed.

Let’s wait and see whether it ends up working or not.

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The words injury blow and Leeds United have become rather synonymous with each other in the last year.

Marcelo Bielsa may have turned Leeds back into a side with swagger but there is still one huge problem and it may just have another colossal say in their bid for promotion.

Before Tuesday night’s defeat against Stoke in the Carabao Cup, the Whites were unbeaten this season. Indeed they still are in league action, sitting top of the Championship, but the injuries are still there for Leeds.

At the moment they’re missing Luke Ayling and Tyler Roberts, two individuals who have yet to feature in any form of football this term.

Players like Stuart Dallas, who scored against Stoke, and Adam Forshaw, who has completed 91.8% of his passes, have stepped up adequately but the fact remains that lingering fitness issues are still a concern.

If you were to walk into the Thorp Arch training ground, it would probably feel like an elephant in the room.

In mid-February last season, Leeds were staring down the barrel of a campaign that had 28 separate injury issues and a total of 140 games missed.

By early-April, that had risen to 31 issues. The number of games missed sat on 165 and that wasn’t even including those who were set to be ruled out for the season.

The sheer volume of injuries was nigh on absurd and it’s understandable if there were yet more worries about this in 2019/20.

As a result, a cunning policy that Bielsa adopted last Saturday needs to be implemented throughout the campaign.

Liam Cooper suffered an injury against Brentford on Pontus Jansson’s return to Elland Road and although it was a knock, aggravating an ankle issue, the Argentine decided to be cautious with his fitness, ultimately not selecting him for Leeds’ clash with Stoke in the Championship the following week.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, he told reporters: “He could have played today, but he wasn’t at 100 per cent.”

And therein lies what now must become a common theme in Leeds’ season. If a player isn’t fit enough and is a remote risk, they shouldn’t play.

Whatever Bielsa does in training clearly has an effect on his players and the very fact that there had been 31 issues by April last season tells the story.

There is more than just bad luck at play here.

That’s why he needs to be cunning and continue to use this policy going forward, especially if they’re targeting promotion.

Cooper was a major player for Leeds in 2018/19 and was named in the PFA Team of the Year. However, despite his impressive start to this season, conceding just twice alongside Ben White, he was left out against the Potters.

This was a sensible decision and one which proves that Bielsa is learning the lessons from last term.

It was a horrible campaign as far as injuries were concerned and it undoubtedly impacted on their failed promotion dream.

Knowing when to take risks separates the good from the great managers but at this early stage in the season there is no compulsion to gamble.

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If a player isn’t 100% up to the task they should be left on the substitutes bench or at home until they have fully recovered.

This might be more difficult given Leeds’ slim squad but it’s still a possibility with some of the young players they possess.

After all, it appears Leeds are developing Leif Davis from a left back into a central defender because of the sparsity of their options. He played there against Salford and Stoke in the EFL Cup.

It might be that this season we start to see a few more of the Whites’ big guns left out on occasions when perhaps they are just about fit enough to start the game.

The Championship is a strenuous division and after all of the issues they had during Bielsa’s first year at the helm, it would be sensible to rest star names when necessary.

With Cooper missing out last Saturday, that was a fine example of what will need to be done.

The 64-year-old must take this into consideration more often to ensure Leeds are well-placed for promotion.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

In just four league games so far this season, Ralph Hasenhuttl has used a 3-5-2 system in the first two matches, and a 4-2-2-2 formation in the two most recent outings – both had differing results.

With the 3-5-2, Southampton lost 3-0 to Burnley and also lost 2-1 to Liverpool, looking shaky at the back and also fairly toothless up top – their only goal came courtesy of Liverpool’s Adrian kicking the ball at Danny Ings.

However, with the 4-2-2-2 system, the Saints picked up a 2-0 win over Brighton – the Seagulls did have 10 men for a large portion of the game – whilst also recording an impressive 1-1 draw against Manchester United last time out.

Whilst the likes of Jannik Vestergaard enjoyed a much improved performance in the new formation against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, one man did not in both that game and the match at the Amex – it could even be argued that he is set to become a casualty of Hasenhuttl’s tactical switch.

James Ward-Prowse.

The Southampton academy graduate is predominantly a centre-midfielder, although he can play on the right.

It is out on the right where the 24-year-old has been playing of late, and he really isn’t faring too well in the position.

Ward-Prowse played on the right of midfield in the win over Brighton and the draw against United, but was ineffective in both games.

The Englishman failed to record a single shot or dribble against the Seagulls, whilst also being dispossessed twice and having one unsuccessful touch.

Against the Red Devils, Ward-Prowse was just as ineffective, taking zero shots and completing zero dribbles, whilst recording just one key pass.

For a player of his undoubted quality – he scored seven goals from midfield last term under Hasenhuttl – much more is expected of the usually so impressive midfielder, but he really isn’t supplying the goods right now.

With Moussa Djenepo, Nathan Redmond and Michael Obafemi still to come back from injury, competition for places will be rife after the international break and Ward-Prowse could be the man to miss out due to his ineffectiveness in the 4-2-2-2 system.

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[ad_pod ]A trio of Championship clubs are facing an investigation from the EFL over financial fair play.The Times claim that Derby could face possible sanctions for breaches of FFP after the Football League ordered an independent valuation of Pride Park.Valuations of Sheffield Wednesday and Reading have also been commissioned according to the report.Upon seeing an article from Yorkshire Evening Post, detailing the claims, Leeds fans have had their say on matters surrounding their league rivals.There were varying viewpoints with one suggesting that nothing would happen because it wasn’t Leeds involved. A further supporter commented that it was about time something like this was looked into.Another individual said to relegate them all as one went as far as labelling the Football League as corrupt.

Leeds have had financial fair play issues themselves after Paul Bell admitted that one of the reasons for moving Pontus Jansson was because of that very matter.

Managing Director Angus Kinnear recently told West Yorkshire Daily that Championship clubs would have to restrict their spending because of FFP.

Here’s what Leeds fans have been saying on the reported investigation.

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It happens so rarely but when it does you know. You know for certain and you know instinctively.

It is a knowledge accrued from watching so many hours of football that if those hours were lumped together and placed in a pie chart of your life it would make up a sizeable portion rivalling sleep.

On October 19th 2002 a 16-year-old boy from Croxteth scored an absolute belter against Arsenal’s David Seaman at Goodison Park and a star was instantly born.

“Remember the name,” shrieked commentator Clive Tyldesley as the Toffees faithful went absolutely berserk and a lad still too young to drive or vote or drink ran away in celebration. It’s a great line but also a flawed one.

We didn’t need to remember Wayne Rooney for this was a generational talent, already fully formed bar the immaturity of a teenage mind. Generational talents dominate the headlines and a nation’s thoughts; they divide opinion and shoulder our hopes on the international stage and get talked about by relatives who would otherwise struggle to name five Premier League clubs.

Remember him? From the moment the ball left his boot and caressed off the crossbar to make him at the time the top flight’s youngest ever goal-scorer we knew he’d be as famous for the rest of our lives as Prime Ministers and A-list film stars. We knew instinctively and certainly.

If that might seem somewhat premature, even with the benefit of hindsight proving such a lofty claim correct as Rooney went on to win six league titles and a Champions League at club level while becoming England’s record goal-scorer but it should be noted that we – we being the populace who resided outside of Merseyside – were actually playing catch-up.

In Liverpool they were already well-versed in the very special talent emerging through the Everton ranks, for what it’s worth a born and bred Evertonian too.

Archie Knox, who was David Moyes’ assistant at Goodison at the turn of the century, had described Rooney’s displays as a 15-year-old playing in the under 19s set-up as ‘’Roy of the Rovers’ while the insular world of football also was aware of the one-man tsunami approaching.

Bob Pendleton, the scout who discovered the striker who would later be nicknamed ‘the White Pele’ by future manager Sir Alex Ferguson, relays the reactions of Glenn Hoddle and David Pleat on first witnessing Rooney’s innate brilliance at youth level and it is fair to assume that similar revelations took place on a regular basis. It’s fair to assume whispers of his promise spread like wildfire.

One such early devotee was Ferguson. When Rooney was 14 overtures were made following a recommendation by United’s youth coach Jim Ryan but nothing came of it: “The boy wanted to stay at Everton – at that time he had a love of the club and he’s an Everton fan,” the most successful manager in British football later recalled.

Rooney’s trajectory at Goodison was typically sharp and gob-smacking.

Just three short months after announcing his imminent greatness against Arsenal he won the BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year award. Two months after that he made his international bow becoming the youngest player to wear three lions on his shirt when he took on Australia in a friendly.

He never once played at any level below: he was thrown in the deep end; introduced at the top because when you know, you know.

At this point there is a reluctance to put up his stats while adorning the royal blue of Everton because they are ordinary whereas his performances – given his tender age – were anything but.

For the record though he scored 15 goals in 67 games. As for his displays there was a rugged maturity coupled with an easy vision and a deftness of touch that amazed from one so inexperienced.

The fans must have been in dreamland with all this. Not only did they possess a storied superstar-in-the-making. He was a local boy too with the club in his bones. In primary school he had written a letter to jailed star Duncan Ferguson.

After scoring in an FA Youth Cup final he famously unveiled a t-shirt declaring ‘Once a blue, always a blue’.

That shirt would come back to haunt him and sooner than maybe he or anybody else thought.

Check out which team have “the best defence in the Premier League” in the video below…

In the summer of 2004 Manchester United made overtures once again only this time they weren’t given short shrift by the player but instead – mere weeks after lighting up the Euros with a series of phenomenal showings – Rooney put in a transfer request.

Ferguson remembers the deal being all-but-concluded after several weeks of back-and-to, not to mention a million speculative headlines when United hosted the Blues in late August, two days before the transfer window ended. “We thrashed out the deal. £27m. 18 years of age.”

If the deal being finalised wasn’t a huge shock considering how long it had dragged on for the move as a whole prompted rancour through the streets of Merseyside.

Paul Stretford, Rooney’s agent, was reported to have received death threats blamed as he was for turning his client’s head. With the deal imminent the teenager was smuggled out of Bellefield – Everton’s training ground – in the boot of his team-mate Alan Stubbs’ car. A nascent love affair was now severed.

On his departure graffiti appeared close to the ground stating: “Rooney could have been a God but he chose to be a Devil”.

On his arrival in Manchester, Ferguson said: “I am very excited. I think we have got the best young player this country has seen in the past 30 years.”

Fifteen years ago on September 1st a transfer took place that shook English football involving a local hero playing for a mid-table side moving to one that chased silverware as the norm.

For those that emitted surprise then or recall it as a surprise now three words harshly but pertinently spring to mind. Remember the game.

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Having made a fantastic start to the game by taking the lead through a Jetro Willems stunner, the last thing Newcastle needed was one of their own players to shoot themselves in the foot.

Sadio Mane’s equaliser for Liverpool brought the Reds back on track, but Martin Dubravka’s massive gaffe completely turned things around and undid all of the Magpies’ good work in the first-half at Anfield.

The Slovakian rushed off his line to intercept a pass from Roberto Firmino, but got his angles all wrong, and saw the ball ricochet off him and into the path of Mane to give Jurgen Klopp’s side the lead.

After seeing their side slip to defeat, Newcastle fans took to Twitter to slam Dubravka for his role in the disappointing result.

Many supporters of the Tyneside club revealed it was “horrendous goalkeeping” and that the 30-year-old had “bottled it”.

Some Magpies fans labelled his mistake as “inexcusable”, and tore into him for conceding such a soft goal.

Check out some of the furious reaction of Newcastle fans below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking on episode 71 of the Talking Shutt Podcast, Leeds Managing Director Angus Kinnear has revealed what was discussed during the opening round of talks with Marcelo Bielsa over his new contract.

What’s he said?

After Leeds failed to achieve promotion last season Bielsa’s future was always going to be in doubt.

This is a man who has been at some prestigious club’s around Europe but that didn’t seem to bother him as he put pen to paper on a new deal at Elland Road in May.

The Argentine has since led his team to the top of the table in the Championship after the first month and a half of the new campaign.

However, appearing on the Talking Shutt Podcast this week, Kinnear has noted how the talks happened and what was actually said in the meeting between him, Bielsa and Andrea Radrizzani. He commented:

“The first conversation we had was actually him talking through the analysis of what went wrong and what we need to do to put things right. After listening to him for an hour and a half I just looked at Andrea and said this is the man that’s going to take us up.

“It was so comprehensive and he knew exactly what we needed to do to get it right. He had a plan which was going to right the wrongs of last season. I think emotionally he wanted to stay.”

Passionate Bielsa

Kinnear’s comments are incredibly intriguing and it’s fascinating to see just how invested in the club Bielsa is.

Judging by those comments there is a definite project that the 64-year-old has in place and for him to bring that to the table during negotiations after the playoffs should bring great hope to Leeds.

The hierarchy did a brilliant job to get him on board in the first place but it appears that talks to get him to extend his stay in west Yorkshire were actually easier than anticipated.

Bielsa is clearly emotionally invested in proceedings and with Leeds sitting top of the league after their heartbreak last season, it only goes to show that he knew what needed to be done.

The Whites are in a perfect place at the moment and have been relatively unaffected by player sales. Could this be their year? Only time will tell, but with Bielsa at the helm they have an excellent chance.

Of course, he wanted to mention the fact that he’d played his first game for the Anfield outfit, but he made it clear that the most important thing was the fact that his side were victorious against MK Dons.

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He didn’t say that he was gutted not to score despite missing a couple of half-chances – he was solely focused on the team’s result.

That type of attitude will certainly bode well for him in the future. Football is a team game and Brewster isn’t blind to that fact despite being touted as one of the most talented youngsters in the country.

No, the Croatian wasn’t campaigning for himself to be inserted into the team despite saying last year that he was one of the best defenders in the world.

Instead, he argued that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson deserved a spot in the side.

It’s hard to disagree with Lovren’s opinion on this one. Liverpool conceded just 22 goals in the league last year, as well as winning the Champions League.

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The full-backs weren’t only brilliant at the back either, both men hit double figures in terms of assists in the league last term.

Matthijs De Ligt, Sergio Ramos and Marcelo all got in ahead of the Liverpool pair, and while the Dutchman had a very good campaign, the two Real Madrid stars can certainly consider themselves very lucky.