Kobbie Mainoo nickname
Manchester United fans praised Kobbie Mainoo after his brilliant response to a question about his “nickname”.
An ITV interviewer asked: “So it was you and Phil from Stockport.
“They call him the Stockport Iniesta. What do they call you?”
Mainoo wasted no time in delivering his response.
With a huge smile on his face, he simply declared: “Kobbie.”
Gary Neville interrupted
Manchester United legend Gary Neville was interrupted on live TV by rowdy England fans to leave his fellow pundits in stitches.
Neville was discussing the Three Lions’ woes but in the background viewers could hear singing from a group.
And just as he was in full rant about what Gareth Southgate’s side needed to do to go on and win it, the pundit was suddenly drowned out by a chorus of “Hey Jude” from nearby England fans in honour of Jude Bellingham.
The ex-England international could not stop himself from laughing as both Eni Aluko, Gaizka Mendieta and host Mark Pougatch joined in the chuckling.
Neville joked: “We just need a few pints like they’ve had.”
Gary Neville told off
Manchester United legend Gary Neville received a light-hearted reprimand from Roy Keane and Ian Wright before England’s last-16 win over Slovakia at Euro 2024.
Neville referred to England as “woeful” in his post-match analysis, while Keane stated “how many excuses are we going to find?”
But before the game got underway, the Sky Sports pundit praised the high quality that exists within the squad.
Before simultaneously putting his own self down by saying: “You know this isn’t a team of Nevilles”.
The former right-back’s jest was met with laughter, but also a prompt intervention from Keane, who said: “Why are you putting yourself down?”
While Wright chimed: “Yeah, we’ve told you about that”.
Wilshere’s England advice
Arsenal hero Jack Wilshere told SunSport England boss Gareth Southgate has to build his team around Manchester United ace Kobbie Mainoo:
Kobbie Mainoo has shown he is the player that England need to build their midfield — and their team — around.
That’s what I felt as it looked like we were slipping to defeat.
I know he was not on the pitch when our goals went in.
But until that unbelievable comeback, Mainoo was our best player.
He has a fearlessness and an instinct to do the right things at the right times that seemed to be lacking for so much of the game.
Mainoo alongside Declan Rice gives England better structure. In theory, at least, because for so long it didn’t look like that.
Jack Wilshere
How Man Utd got Ashworth
Newcastle slashed their demands for £20million in compensation from Manchester United for sporting director Dan Ashworth to avoid being hit with a points deduction next season.
SunSport learned the Magpies accepted an offer of significantly less than £10m from their rivals in 11th-hour talks before Sunday’s PSR deadline.
The Toon had been demanding £20m from the Red Devils to secure the release of Ashworth this summer and were insisting he would be held to the final 12 months of his contract.
But in a major U-turn, the Tyneside giants reopened talks over the weekend and reached a deal worth less than half of their original asking price due to concerns about being charged by the Premier League for a PSR breach.
Newcastle had already raised almost £70m last week through the sales of Yankuba Minteh and Elliot Anderson to Brighton and Nottingham Forest respectively, with their desperate need to receive compensation for Ashworth showing the true extent of their PSR problems.
The bitter case seemed set to go to arbitration after Newcastle rejected an offer of £3m from United but an unexpected compromise deal was reached yesterday which will allow Ashworth to start work at Old Trafford immediately.
Joshua Zirkzee ‘advanced interest’
Manchester United have stolen a march on their Premier League rivals in the hunt for Bologna star Joshua Zirkzee during the summer transfer window.
United are in talks with Zirkzee’s camp after showing “advanced interest”.
Arsenal have been leading the striker’s list of other Premier League admirers.
But despite a switch to England appearing most likely, AC Milan are still understood to be keen on the Netherlands international.
The 23-year-old has a buyout clause worth €40million (£34m) and the Serie A giants would love to keep their star man, whose contract runs until June 2026.
