Weekly Football News Catch Up: August 21st: Sir Alex Ferguson Names PL Team Of The Week; Greenwood’s Fate Decided; Awoniyi Sets PL Record For Nigerians; Others

Sir Alex Ferguson Names Best PL Team Of The Week

Sir Alex Ferguson, the former Manchester United manager, has picked Aston Villa as the team that most impressed him during the first weekend of the current Premier League season.

Remember that Aston Villa is currently bottom of the Premier League table after losing 5-1 to Newcastle United at St James’ Park over the weekend.

Regardless of the results, Sir Alex Ferguson was quite satisfied with what he saw from Aston Villa and felt Unai Emery’s team were very unlucky to be on the losing side.

Asked which team had impressed him most after match-day one fixtures, Ferguson told NBC Sports: “To be honest with you, I watched Aston Villa against Newcastle, and I can’t believe the scoreline.

“Honestly, Aston Villa played fantastic football and just lost bad goals.

“Newcastle are going to be very difficult to beat in their own ground in particular and the manager [Eddie Howe] has done a great job there.

“But it is a surprising game of football. I mean, you can play teams off the pitch but you don’t score and that is what happened to Aston Villa.”

“He Paved The Way To Saudi League,” Neymar Says About Ronaldo

Neymar Jr, the new Al Hilal signing, has confessed that Cristiano Ronaldo paved the path for top footballers to move to Saudi Arabia.

The 31-year-old has departed European football, where he was a member of PSG, for the Middle East.

Neymar’s departure comes six months after Ronaldo’s departure from Manchester United for Al Nassr.

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“I believe Cristiano Ronaldo started all of this and everybody called him ‘crazy’, and this and that, today you see the league more and more,” Neymar told Al-Hilal’s official channels.

During his two-year stay in Saudi Arabia, Neymar will earn £137 million.

Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez, and Jordan Henderson are among the other notable players that have left Europe for the Middle East.

Nomination For EPL Player Of The Year Release

Players from Manchester City and Arsenal have dominated the PFA Players’ Player of the Year nominations.

The six-person shortlist is supposed to be voted on by the players themselves.

Manchester City has three players on the shortlist.

They include Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, and John Stones.

Arsenal, the Premier League runners-up last season, have Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard on their shortlist.

Harry Kane, who joined Bayern Munich from Tottenham Hotspur this summer, was also named to the six-man roster.

Full list of nominees for PFA Players’ Player of the Year:

Erling Haaland
Kevin De Bruyne
John Stones
Martin Odegaard
Bukayo Saka
Harry Kane.

The winner of the award will be announced on August 29.

Awoniyi Sets Record After Goal Against Sheffield United

Taiwo Awoniyi’s goal in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 win over Sheffield United on Friday night set a new Premier League record for Nigerian players.

In the fourth minute of the enthralling match, the 22-year-old nodded home Sergier Aurier’s cross.

The former Union Berlin striker also scored in Forest’s 2-1 loss to Arsenal last Saturday.

Awoniyi has became the first Nigerian to score in six straight Premier League games.

When Nottingham Forest visit Old Trafford on Saturday, August 26, he will attempt to become the third African player to score in seven straight games.

Only Emmanuel Adebayor and Mohammed Salah have done so.

Awoniyi was Forest’s top scorer last season, with 10 goals to help the club avoid relegation.

Manchester United Makes Decision On Mason Greenwood

Mason Greenwood has left Manchester United following an internal inquiry into allegations of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour, and assault levelled against him.

The 22-year-old, who was detained in January 2022 on suspicion of a number of offences including attempted rape, will not play for the club again and will either be loaned out or have his contract resolved.

After both parties agreed on the ‘difficulties with him resuming his career at Manchester United,’ the attacker will depart the club.

In a statement, the club said: “All those involved, including Mason, recognise the difficulties with him recommencing his career at Manchester United. It has therefore been mutually agreed that it would be most appropriate for him to do so away from Old Trafford, and we will now work with Mason to achieve that outcome.”

After the Crown Prosecution Service dropped its case against Greenwood, the 21-year-old was sidelined from Manchester United training and matches while the club concluded an internal investigation.

In a statement in February, the CPS said: “In this case, a combination of the withdrawal of key witnesses and new material that came to light meant there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction.”

Greenwood, a Manchester United youth product, last played for the club on January 22, 2022.

He has one senior cap for England, which he earned against Iceland in the Nations League in September 2020.

Man Utd CEO Richard Arnold also stated in a statement that reintegrating Greenwood into the first team was “considered and planned for” following allegations earlier this month that United’s senior officials had been briefed on the forward’s comeback.

“Reintegration was one of the outcomes we considered and planned for,” Arnold said. “For context, over the course of the past six months, several outcomes have been contemplated and planned for, and my view has evolved as our process progressed. While the ultimate decision rested with me, I was taking various factors and views into account right up until the point of finalising my decision.”

Greenwood has been linked with a number of clubs this summer, most notably Atalanta of Serie A. There were also rumours that he could be used as a makeweight in United’s effort to recruit Rasmus Hojlund from Serie A’ before the Danish striker completed his £72 million move.