GOOD MORNING FOOTBALL FANS
SunSport’s Alan Nixon has revealed that Leeds hope to make it third time lucky with a £15million move for Rangers star Ryan Kent.
Boss Marcelo Bielsa is keen on the talented wideman, who has starred in Steven Gerrard’s title-winning team and stood out in Europe.
And Bielsa has told his transfer chief Victor Orta that the position is still open in his squad if he can pull off a deal for Kent.
Leeds bid £11m for the 24-year-old last summer and may have to go as high as £15m to get their man.
They want a quick answer after pursuing the player — who joined from Liverpool for £6.5m in 2019 — twice before without success.
Meanwhile, Frank McLintock is backing Leicester’s trio of covidiots to redeem themselves.
James Maddison, Ayoze Perez and Hamza Choudhury were dropped last week by Brendan Rodgers for attending a house party and painting the town red in breach of Covid rules.
McLintock, 81, told SunSport: “The players were out of order and they know it. I’m sure they feel sorry for what happened and will try to make up for it.
“I was disappointed. But when you’re in your 20s you are still a bit crazy and often do things that aren’t correct.”
But when McLintock was 21, he was still working occasionally as a painter and decorator.
He added: “I’d signed for Leicester on my 17th birthday when I was already two years into an apprenticeship in Glasgow.
“Me and another guy painted the floodlights at Filbert Street. As the players were running round the track, I would flick the paintbrush so it would come down on to their shirts.
“I did that job the day before the cup final but I was just used to it.”
And finally, Mikel Arteta says Arsenal must stop relying on young guns Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka so much.
The pair again starred as Arteta’s side thrashed Slavia Prague in the Europa League.
Statistics show Arsenal achieve much better results when BOTH Smith Rowe, 20, and 19-year-old Saka start matches.
Boss Arteta said: “They know playing every game is impossible, so we have to change those stats.
“It tells you a lot about what has happened this season.
“Eight months ago, if anybody had said that we were going to rely so much on these two guys to get a result, you would have said we were not going to be in a strong position.
“That is our reality. We have to change that reality because it doesn’t go in our favour.”