Premier League
Premier League confirm surprise Player & Manager of the Month award winners for March
Fulham striker Rodrigo Muniz named Premier League Player of the Month for March
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola awarded Manager of the Month
First time this season recipients of both awards have been from bottom-half teams

By Sean Walsh
Apr 12, 2024
Muniz and Iraola take the glory
Muniz and Iraola take the glory / James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images, Alex Livesey/Getty Images
Fulham's Rodrigo Muniz has been named the Premier League Player of the Month for March 2024 and Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola has won the Manager of the Month award.

Brazilian striker Muniz continued his fine breakout season with four goals and an assist in March, while Iraola led the Cherries to three wins - including a 4-3 triumph against Luton Town after trailing 3-0 - and a draw to keep their hopes of European qualification alive.

Speaking to Fulham's club channels about his triumph, Muniz said: "Thank God. I worked a lot for it. Without my teammates, the staff, everybody who works here, this would have been impossible. I have to thank everybody.

"It's very special because the last two years and a half was difficult. I played a little bit, now my English is better, but now I am adapted to England, to Fulham. I think I am at home now."

Commenting on winning the manager's award, Iraola commented: "This award is for the whole club. I'm the one in charge but we have had a good run of results in March. The ones that probably deserve it more are the players because they are the ones that give us the chance to be successful and get the results.

Rodrigo Muniz
Muniz scored a sensational scissor kick away at Sheffield United / Jan Kruger/GettyImages
"Luton was a special game. We have had a few games where we were close to not winning them and scored late."

For the first time this season, both monthly awards have been handed to representatives of teams in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

Muniz follows on from James Maddison, Son Heung-min, Mohamed Salah, Dominic Solanke, Diogo Jota and Rasmus Hojlund in winning the Player of the Month award.

Iraola, meanwhile, is the sixth different recipient of this year's Manager of the Month prize. Ange Postecoglou scooped the award in the first three months of the season, with Erik ten Hag, Unai Emery, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta also triumphing prior to Iraola's achievement.

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FC Barcelona Transfer
Frenkie de Jong again linked with summer Barcelona exit
Dutch midfielder consistently linked with move away from Catalan giants
De Jong has expressed happiness at Barcelona and wants to stay
Uncertainty over club's finances could facilitate transfer to Paris Saint-Germain

By Toby Cudworth
Apr 12, 2024
De Jong returned to action for Barcelona against PSG in the Champions League
De Jong returned to action for Barcelona against PSG in the Champions League / BSR Agency/GettyImages
The never ending saga over Frenkie de Jong's Barcelona future shows no sign of abating, with reports in Spain again linking the midfielder with a move to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Dutchman was first tipped to leave the club during the 2022 summer transfer window, when Manchester United looked to make him the first marquee signing for then-new manager Erik ten Hag. But after months of speculation, conjecture and talks between the two parties, the Red Devils eventually gave up their pursuit and settled for signing Casemiro from Real Madrid instead.

Barcelona had been under severe pressure to sell players in order to address their worsening financial situation, and not much has changed in the following two years. The Catalan giants are still heavily in debt, with Camp Nou currently undergoing a €1.5bn renovation, and remain under pressure to offload players on high wages in order to comply with La Liga spending rules.

De Jong has consistently outlined his desire to stay at Barcelona, whom he remains an important player for, but Spanish media SPORT revealed in the build up to the 3-2 win over PSG in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie that if he opened the door to leaving ever so slightly, the French giants would be waiting to pounce.

PSG are preparing to lose Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid this summer - another move that has been long in the making - and his impending departure is likely to signify a shift in the club's transfer policy.

Frenkie De Jong, Xavi Hernandez
Departing manager Xavi is a fan of Frenkie de Jong / Soccrates Images/GettyImages
No longer will the club spend extortionate amounts of money on ageing players - Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos two recent examples - but will instead invest in talent capable of building a team for years to come. At 26, De Jong still has the best years of his career ahead of him, putting him firmly within the profile of player PSG are looking to build around.

De Jong has two years remaining on his Barcelona contract, meaning he's likely to retain a high value this summer, and for that reason he remains one of the club's most sellable assets. Raphinha and Lamine Yamal have also been linked with big-money exits, even though they both have important first-team roles.

Current manager Xavi has praised De Jong in the past and sees him as a key difference maker in midfield, but his impending departure in the summer - coupled with Barcelona's ability to cope without De Jong during a recent period of injury - is likely to keep the rumour mill spinning this summer, particularly if PSG show an appetite to make an appealing offer.

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If he needs a rest he will have rest – Pep Guardiola knows Rodri must be tired

Pep Guardiola has said he will rest Rodri if the Spain midfielder asks to sit out Saturday’s Premier League match against Luton.

Following Tuesday’s 3-3 Champions League draw with Real Madrid, Rodri’s 41st appearance of the season, the 27-year-old said he was tired and that a rest was “something we are planning”.

Rodri is arguably the most difficult player for Guardiola to replace in his squad, and City lost all four of the domestic games he missed through suspension earlier this season. They have not lost any of the last 66 games in which Rodri played.

“I didn’t speak with him but if he needs a rest he will have rest,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Or no. I don’t know.

“I have the feeling that the games when he was tired like against Crystal Palace and Madrid, he was better in the second half. He runs more and was more precise in the second half than the first.

“More than the physicality, it is a case of spending mental energy. Playing every three days, three days. Of course he’s tired, playing a lot of minutes. Rodri is so important for us and we’ll decide tomorrow what we have to do.”

If City beat Real in next Wednesday’s second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, they will not have a free midweek for the rest of the campaign, and Guardiola acknowledged it is increasingly difficult to manage player fitness during such an intense schedule.

“If a player doesn’t want to play then he’s not going to play, simple,” he said. “Another one will play. If he’s exhausted, it can happen and another player is going to play.

“It’s not just Rodri. I’d love to rest central defenders but we don’t have them. In the (international) friendly games they were injured and we are in big, big trouble. So they cannot rest.”

Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol got City’s goals in Madrid, with Erling Haaland having scored only one in his last five for City – although he has 30 goals for the season so far.

Haaland may have scored 82 goals in 90 appearances since joining City at the start of last season, but Jamie Carragher this week said he was a luxury player who is not yet at a world-class level.

Guardiola has defended the 23-year-old striker against criticism but said there was still much he could do to improve his game.

“He’s a young player,” Guardiola said. “He has some departments where he has to improve, like a 33-year-old player has margins to improve too. But it’s more about the team than him. We scored three goals (in Madrid). They had two central defenders close to him and it’s not easy.

“It’s the most difficult position on the pitch. Two against one. They were so tight and are really good defenders…

“He has to play more minutes, learn what you have to do. The target is not to win the Ballon d’Or, it’s the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and he did it.

“Without him what we won last season, five titles, it wouldn’t be possible, no chance.”