Manchester United have reportedly made a new left-back their priority for the summer transfer window, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.
Erik ten Hag has been left with a lack of options in the position due to the injury problems of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.
Shaw has made 12 Premier League appearances this term, while Malacia is yet to play a single game and may not return to the team before the end of the season.

Romano says that Man Utd have been planning to sign a new left-back since before Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival at the club, and that has not changed.
“Manchester United have already planned months ago to bring in a new left-back in the summer; expected to be a young one, an important player,” Romano wrote on X.
“Shortlist to be decided once board structure will be completed but Man Utd will go for a new left-back, no matter what happens with Malacia.”
READ MORE: Top Man Utd target pictured having fiery row with supporters in major boost to Ratcliffe’s £50m plan

Man Utd tracking three promising left-backs

As mentioned by Romano, Man Utd haven’t finalised their transfer shortlist yet but they reportedly have their eye on several left-backs ahead of the summer window.
Girona star Miguel Gutierrez is one player the Red Devils have been linked with. The talented 22-year-old has played a key role in Girona’s success this season, with the Spanish side sitting in third place in the table.
Related video: Project still going in right direction when players available - Ten Hag (Dailymotion)

Gutierrez has made 25 LaLiga appearances this season, scoring one goal, making four assists and helping his side to eight clean sheets in the process.
The youngster would fit into Ratcliffe’s transfer philosophy and could prove to be a solid long-term addition.
According to HITC, Man Utd are one of four Premier League outfits monitoring Borussia Monchengladbach left-back Luca Netz.
The 20-year-old has emerged as a key player for the German side this term, making 21 Bundesliga appearances and contributing four assists.
Newcastle United, Chelsea and Arsenal are all reportedly keen on him, too.
Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez, 20, is also admired by the Man Utd hierarchy, per recent reports. 
With that in mind, Man Utd don’t have any shortage targets when it comes to left-backs and it will be interesting to see who they launch an offer for in the coming months.
DON’T MISS: Next Man Utd manager: Massive name now a ‘serious contender’ to replace Ten Hag as source reveals Ratcliffe plan

Arsenal survive Ramsdale narrative-grab to deliver the regular day of Barclays we always craved

For as long as the meme has existed, we’ve both wondered what, exactly, the regular day of Barclays Antonio Conte never actually asked for or whose impossibility he lamented might look like, and spent more time than is healthy attempting to will it into existence.
Today’s fixture list had rich potential to deliver the most regular day of Barclays imaginable. Enough big teams involved to make it identifiably Barclays, but no apparent standout match to deliver the kind of nonsense that prevents the regular day being delivered.


With the results now in, we’re leaning towards claiming it. Starting at the start, and Manchester United v Everton delivered impeccably.
If you tried to imagine the most regular Barclays outcome from that game, you surely wouldn’t veer too far from an unconvincing Manchester United performance short on creativity and purpose but delivering three points thanks to penalties – even the two takers were ideal – against an Everton side who huffed and puffed but did one (well, two) too many stupid things while never ever looking like they might turn possession, territory and United shakiness into goals.
With that, we had one regular game of Barclays at least. But could it become a whole day?
We put it to you that Wolves v Fulham is the most Regular Barclays of which it is possible to conceive. Our reasoning here is that “Wolves have beaten Fulham” and “Fulham have beaten Wolves” sit joint first atop the list of least remarkable things that could possibly happen in the Barclays.
Related video: Can Arsenal Overcome their Defensive Weaknesses to Secure a Win? (SportsGrid)

and what some people may say is a bit of

There is just absolutely nothing surprising about any result in that fixture at all. Short of one team or other having some kind of conspicuous record-breaking bed-sh*tting collapse, it was always going to be Regular Barclays all the way at Molineux. And what scoreline do you want for your most unremarkable, regular Barclays win? Of course it’s a 2-1 home win. Two down, three to go.
Now some would argue that Luton’s late equaliser at Palace is disqualifying. A 96th-minute, result-changing goal cannot be regular Barclays. Pfft, of course it can if you need it to. Consider this: Crystal Palace win far less often this season than Luton don’t lose, so that’s one reason.
Plus Cauley Woodrow scoring a Premier League equaliser against Crystal Palace is so dripping in Barclays heritage that it first happened a decade ago. And Joel Ward – the most Regular Barclays footballer in existence – played in both those games.

THE 3PM BLACKOUT: Luton match title challengers to stay alive as Manager of the Year impresses again
And who set the goal up by cutting inside and crossing the ball against a team that have even less excuse than most for falling for it? You’d better believe it was Andros Townsend delivering another piece of extremely Regular Barclays.
Sheffield United looked like they might spoil it at Bournemouth. With the best will in the world, no day containing a Sheffield United win can be described as Regular Barclays. But a day when Sheffield United drop points late on? Regular. Very regular.
And dropping those points to a goal from one of those assorted nondescript players Manchester City have bought, never played, and then sold for a profit years later? A player whose name looks like it should be an anagram or part of a cryptic crossword clue? Regular. Barclays.

As a little bonus, we even had a Harry Kane hat-trick for a team that definitely won’t win the league, and it doesn’t get more Regular Barclays than that.
On we rode, then, to surely the safest bet of the lot. After 500 words, we finally get to the game this feature was supposed to be about, but the editor’s off today and therefore they have only themselves to blame.
Arsenal, in imperious form, against a Brentford side with 10 defeats in their last 13. A routine Arsenal win, and we have our full house and Conte’s demons can finally be laid to rest.
Declan Rice heading in after 19 minutes was the very ideal kind of thing. It was at this point apparently in the bag.
Then Aaron Ramsdale did a madness just before half-time and it was somehow, inexplicably 1-1. Tell you who you don’t hear so much from these days: Aaron Ramsdale’s dad.
We were seething. Much as it would have been enormously funny to see Arsenal’s Very Clever Loan Deal for David Raya actually end up costing them the title by forcing them to pick Ramsdale against their proper keeper’s parent club, it simply would not and could not make up for the loss of Regular Barclays Day.

And as the clock ticked down in the second half, that was becoming a very real risk.
There were only two ways the second half could save us. Arsenal simply easing clear again in the first 20 minutes or so and running out comfortable 3-1 winners would have been perfectly acceptable Regular Barclays. A penalty and a goal from a corner would have been ideal, if we were being particularly picky.
Once that was off the table, there was only one choice left. Late winner, and the inevitable potential of thus incurring the wrath of the Celebration Police.
While taking care to steer clear of the bad-faith joyless grumbling of most that is customary for those lads, there is no denying Arsenal are – for good and ill – an inherently emotional team. They spent the whole second half playing as if it was the last five minutes, before rather neatly finally getting that elusive but inexorably certain goal once it actually was the last five minutes.
And a lovely touch for Kai Havertz to get the goal as well, given the money chucked at him was at least part of the reason Arsenal couldn’t buy Raya outright in the first place.
Arsenal player Kai Havertz celebrates
© Provided by Football365
Kai Havertz has definitely cost Arsenal the title
Alan Smith on commentary just – and only just – managed to stop himself making a case for it being as big a goal as Havertz’s winner in an actual Champions League final.
A wild claim; it’s one of only two occasions on which it is acceptable to celebrate, for one thing.

In his defence, Smith got himself out of trouble neatly enough in the end with a judicious “for Arsenal” caveat on where the enormity of the goal might rank among others in Havertz’s career, thus cleverly reflecting Arsenal’s own ability here in getting themselves out of a tangle largely of their own making.
And in that moment, which had felt inevitable for much of that frenetic second half, we had our day. Antonio Conte had his day.
Because what could possibly be more Regular Barclays than a rampantly in-form Arsenal side making life needlessly and traumatically hard for themselves before collapsing over the line, annoying all the right people by being happy about it, and going top of the league in a title race they probably still won’t win?
At which point we find ourselves wondering if we’ve looked at this wrong all this time. What if everything now is just so Barclays-coded that every day is now just one day of Regular Barclays?

What if Conte had it there in his hands all along? After all, the game after which he didn’t actually lament that one regular day of Barclays will never happen was a 2-0 win for Chelsea against Hull. That feels very much like a regular day of Barclays, really.
The real regular day of Barclays was the friends we made and the Celebration Police we upset along the way.

Arsenal 2-1 Brentford: Arteta genius proven by dramatic late victory to send Gunners top

Mikel Arteta had two widely-criticised decisions vindicated as Arsenal scored late to win an eighth straight Premier League game and go top of the table.
Arsenal had scored six, five, four and six goals in their previous four league matches and seemed to be heading for a similar stroll when Declan Rice put them in front against Brentford after 19 minutes.

But the hosts failed to make their dominance or chances count and were made to pay in full shortly before half-time.
Aaron Ramsdale, starting only his sixth Arsenal game since the start of September, half of which have been against Brentford because Bees loanee David Raya could not play, was at fault for dallying in possession.
Yoane Wissa capitalised to catch the keeper off guard and deflect a pass into the net in first-half stoppage-time. Arteta might have known more than Ramsdale’s dad all along.
Arsenal seemed destined to drop points as Brentford continued to frustrate them in the second half, almost even taking the lead through a phenomenal 40-yard Ivan Toney effort.
But the Gunners eventually found the breakthrough four minutes from normal time when Kai Havertz headed in Benjamin White’s cross. Not sure the German has actually “cost Arsenal” the title.
Related video: Why Arsenal 's Biggest Weakness Was Exposed Against Porto (Dailymotion)

With title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City facing off on Sunday, any victory for Arsenal would have been enough to take them to the summit for the first time in 2024.
Toney, linked with Arsenal throughout January, cleared an inswinging Rice corner off the line early on as it seemed the Gunners would make their superiority tell again, but unlike in recent games Arsenal did not have everything entirely their own way in the opening stages.
They would, however, still break the deadlock as White crossed for Rice to head home like an accomplished Premier League striker as he enjoys the best scoring season of his career with six goals.
From that point on, Arsenal looked in control – that was until deep into first-half stoppage time when Ramsdale collected a routine back-pass from Gabriel Magalhaes but dallied in possession and, as he attempted to clear, was closed down by Wissa.


The block could have gone anywhere but looped into the back of Ramsdale’s net to take the teams in level at the break.
Brentford smelled blood and after the interval Toney attempted an audacious effort with Ramsdale off his line – but this time he made a good stop to turn the goal-bound strike behind.
Arsenal were still the more dangerous side and Gabriel almost headed home a Bukayo Saka corner only for Vitaly Janelt to block into the grateful hands of goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
READ MORE: Disastrous 6-0 bottle jobs and four more reasons why Arsenal won’t win the Premier League
The hosts were getting more and more frustrated with referee Robert Jones as they felt a number of penalty claims went against them, although Havertz was lucky to escape a second booking after seemingly diving inside the box just after the hour.
Brentford were still threatening and Ramsdale was now providing the rearguard protection, brilliantly tipping over a Nathan Collins header as the second half drew on.

The game was opening up into an end-to-end contest as Rice rattled the crossbar with a bending effort from outside the box, with nerves creeping in around the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal, though, manfully stuck to the task at hand and ultimately found a way through as White once again provided the cross, Havertz this time diverting a header past Flekken for his fourth goal in four league games.

Man Utd bounce back against Everton thanks to two penalties

Everton paid for conceding two first-half penalties at Old Trafford as Manchester United bounced back to winning ways to keep their Champions League hopes for next season alive with a 2-0 victory on Saturday.
Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford converted from the spot to extend Everton's winless run in the Premier League to 11 games.


Victory takes United to within eight points of fourth-placed Aston Villa and three of Tottenham in fifth.
Defeat leaves Everton still just five points above the relegation zone, having played two more games than 18th-placed Luton.
Back-to-back defeats to Fulham and Manchester City had dented a charge from Erik ten Hag's men towards the top four.
But with Villa and Tottenham facing off on Sunday, the Red Devils made the most of Everton's mistakes to close on their rivals for a return to the Champions League.
Alejandro Garnacho scored a goal of the season contender when the sides last met in November with a stunning overhead kick.
The Argentine was again the difference between the sides as it was his quick feet that twice provoked spot-kicks.
James Tarkowski was the first Everton defender lured into a mistimed challenge on 10 minutes and Fernandes rolled home his eighth goal of the season.
Related video: Man Utd 2-0 Everton: Post-match reaction (Dailymotion)

Scoring goals has been Everton's shortfall all season and it was a familiar tale for the Toffees.
A combination of Amadou Onana and Ben Godfrey should have opened the scoring just three minutes in.
Three times Dwight McNeil then tried his luck with his closest effort flashing inches wide.
And even when the visitors did hit the target, Andre Onana produced a flying save to deny James Garner.
Instead, they soon trailed by two due to another self-inflicted blow.
Garnacho danced through a series of challenges on the edge of the box before he was chopped down by Godfrey.
Just like he did at Goodison Park earlier in the season, Fernandes passed over penalty duties to Rashford.
Jordan Pickford was unable to deny his England international teammate as Rashford fired home his fifth goal in nine Premier League games.
Pickford did succeed in keeping the score down as he denied Fernandes a second from a well-struck free-kick and low drive that was arrowing towards the bottom corner.


Garnacho was also wasteful with a series of chances to add a goal to his involvement in the two penalties.
However, United were bailed out by Everton being even more toothless up front.
For the 16th time in 28 league games this season, United gave up 16 or more shots on their goal.
But Everton failed to make any of their 20 efforts count.
And they nearly conceded a third penalty in stoppage time when Rashford was wiped out by Jarrad Branthwaite, but the offside flag came to Everton's rescue.
Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).

Watford sack Valerien Ismael with former Man Utd star named as interim boss

Watford have parted company with head coach Valerien Ismael, it has been announced.
Pressure had grown on the Hornets chief in recent weeks following a poor run of results and the club have now confirmed that academy coach Tom Cleverley will take charge on an interim basis following Ismael's dismissal.


In a statement released on Saturday night, the club said: "Tom Cleverley will assume the position of Interim Head Coach at Vicarage Road. This follows Watford FC terminating the contract of Valérien Ismaël after today's home defeat to Coventry City.
"The Hornets thank Valérien and his staff for their dedication and commitment, however the club's Board considers it an appropriate time to make a change in order to improve results. Tom Cleverley's staff will be confirmed in due course."
Ismael, who has previously had spells in charge of Barnsley and West Brom, became the 19th permanent head coach to be appointed by Watford since the Pozzo family acquired the club back in 2012. The Frenchman won just 12 of his 41 matches at the helm, though, and leaves the club in 13th position, well adrift of the Championship's top-six.
He expressed his frustration with Watford's performance following Saturday's loss, saying: “We took the decision to have a mobile midfield again and had a great start with lots of chances. We should have scored a second goal, but then from nowhere they got the penalty. In the second half we continued to push, but they scored from their only shot on target, so it’s a real pity today.
Related video: We have to take our chances better - Dyche (Dailymotion)

“But we saw good energy and good dynamic on the pitch to change the way things are going at the minute. We had some crosses too high, some crosses too low, some crosses blocked, but at least we tried and our game was back. We didn’t see anything from Coventry today. It was just one of those days when things run against you.”
Former Watford midfielder Tom Cleverley walking off the pitch with Daniel Bachmann after the Championship match with Stoke City
© Richard Heathcote
Cleverley will now take charge of a team which has lost six of their last eight matches. The Hornets have won just twice in the league since Boxing Day, killing any hope of a play-off push. The 34-year-old spent six years at Vicarage Road before hanging up his boots last year due to injuries. He has been working with the club's Under-18 side this season.

Cleverley, a former England international, came through the academy ranks at Manchester United after joining the Red Devils at the age of 11. He made 79 appearances in total, scoring five goals in the process.
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.