Fabian Delph spent the best part of four years at Manchester City.
Delph left Aston Villa in the summer of 2015 to join up with the Citizens.
The Englishman subsequently went on to rack up 89 appearances across all competitions for the Sky Blues, in which he scored five and assisted three.
However, after four successful years in Manchester, Everton recently completed the signing of Delph on a three-year deal.
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 09: Fabian Delph of Manchester City takes a throw in during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on April 09, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Victoria Haydn/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)
Delph’s target
During his stint with Man City, Delph managed to help the club to earn a plethora of trophies.
In total, Delph would win seven trophies in his four years with City.
Those trophies were two league titles, one FA Cup, three League Cups and a Community Shield.
Now, after being so successful at City, Delph is looking to share some of that winning mentality with Everton.
The Toffees have not won a piece of silverware since 1995, when they lifted the FA Cup.
Despite this, Delph claims that his main goal with Everton is to be successful and win something:
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in a squad full of winning mentality.
“I’m not going to change coming here. The main goal is to be successful and win something.
“I’m aware the club hasn’t won something in a long time. That’s top of my list to hopefully try and push the lads and them to push me and win something.
“[The winning mentality] probably comes easier to me because I’m one of the older players. You don’t have to be the best player in the team to influence people, to drive and to set standards high with good habits.
“The winning mentality is massive. Everyone needs to be on it and have that mentality in training. There’s no egos here. A great work ethic and the staff are fantastic.”
Eduard “Landslide” Folayang could be a tough challenge for Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez when they meet in Manila, but the latter is confident he can leave his opponent’s hometown as the winner.
The two former World Champions collide at ONE: DAWN OF HEROES on Friday, 2 August in a ONE Lightweight World Grand Prix semi-final bout, where both martial artists will seek to return to winning ways at the Mall of Asia Arena.
“I don’t think Eduard has the experience that I have in mixed martial arts,” 35-year-old Alvarez said. “I think there’s still a lot of mistakes that he makes in the sport that habitually he’s carried over from wushu, and we’re looking to exploit and then make him pay for all his mistakes.”
Alvarez is hoping to put the memories of his ONE Championship debut to rest. The four-time Lightweight World Champion sustained a serious eye injury in the opening round before being knocked out by Russian martial arts phenom Timofey Nastyukhin.
But despite the conviction, the Ricardo Almeida BJJ representative still regards Folayang as a dangerous athlete.
“I think Eduard is a really good, well-rounded fighter – good wrestling, good kicks, a lot of good spinning stuff from wushu,” Alvarez revealed. “He’s a World Champion, so he’s one of the best athletes in ONE Championship.”
Despite a shocking introduction to The Home of Martial Arts, his goal when he signed with the organization in October of last year remains the same.
“The Underground King” dreams of capturing the ONE Lightweight World Champion and hopes that a win against his Team Lakay opponent will be the first of many to come.
“I have not veered – not one single bit. My goals are still the same. I never defined myself from a loss or a win,” he said.
“I’ll be the ONE Lightweight World Champion, and it won’t be long,” Alvarez added. “I won’t lose again. I’ll beat Eduard, they’ll give me another tough competitor, and I’ll beat them, and I’ll be fighting for the ONE Championship World Title very soon.”
Whether or not his prediction will come true depends on the result of his battle on 2 August.
NANJING – Matthijs De Ligt telah resmi menjadi milik Juventus beberapa waktu lalu tetapi ia masih punya cerita menarik soal pengalaman di bursa transfser. Cerita itu uniknya tidak berkaitan dengan Juventus melainkan Manchester United.
De Ligt ternyata dulu hampir bergabung dengan Man United era Louis Van Gaal. Akan tetapi, transfer itu batal karena pencari bakat Man United saat itu, Marcel Bout, mematikan niat The Red Devils –julukan Man United– karena kegemukan yang dialami ayah De Ligt.
Bout memprediksi De Ligt di masa depan akan mengalami hal serupa dengan sang ayah sehingga Man United pun menghentikan niatnya. Keputusan itu terbukti salah karena De Ligt kini jadi salah satu bek muda terbaik di Eropa.
Jasa De Ligt bahkan jadi rebutan beberapa tim besar dunia di bursa transfer musim panas 2019. Pemain berpaspor Belanda itu akhirnya memilih untuk membela Juventus musim depan karena ingin menjadi bek tangguh di Liga Italia yang terkenal dengan pertahanannya.
Arsenal-linked defender William Saliba has been photographed alongside a trio of Gunners’ stars, at a pre-season clash between Saint-Etienne and Marseille.
Saliba’s breakout
Saliba, an 18-year-old centre-half, burst onto the scene this past season, after being introduced to the first-team ranks of Saint-Etienne.
The imposing stopper, who has already been likened to fellow countryman and Real Madrid star Raphael Varane, went on to rack up 19 appearances across all competitions for Les Verts, quickly establishing himself as one of the most highly-regarded young talents in France.
And the teen’s standout showings at the heart of Saint-Etienne’s backline certainly didn’t go unnoticed across the rest of Europe.
Despite his tender years, the story surrounding Saliba’s future has proven one of the talking points of the summer transfer window so far.
Gaitan Laborde vies with William Saliba during the Ligue 1 match between Saint-Etienne and Montpellier.. (Photo by JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK / AFP) (Photo credit should read JEAN-PHILIPPE KSIAZEK/AFP/Getty Images)
Arsenal bound
Of the clubs to have been touted as potential destinations for Saliba, meanwhile, Premier League giants Arsenal have been by far the most persistently-linked.
And, on the back of mounting rumours over the last couple of weeks that the Gunners’ were on the verge of clinching a deal with Saint-Etienne, confirmation arrived courtesy of a number of reliable sources last Thursday night that an agreement to take the Frenchman to the Emirates had been found:
Saliba meets Gunners’ stars
As such, Saliba’s Arsenal switch looks set to be made official imminently, though he is expected to spend next season back on loan at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Despite his anticipated Saint-Etienne return, however, the gifted stopper is already taking the time to get acquainted with his soon-to-be new teammates.
As showcased below, Saliba was last night photographed alongside Arsenal trio Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Ainsley Maitland-Niles at Saint-Etienne’s preseason clash with Marseille:
KUALA LUMPUR: Ratu terjun negara, Pandelela Rinong bakal mempertaruhkan gaya terjunan baharu dalam Kejohanan Terjun Piala Asia di Kuala Lumpur pada September ini.
Katanya, selepas sekadar meraih tempat kelima dalam acara 10 meter (m) platform individu di Kejohanan Terjun Dunia ke-18 di Korea Selatan, beliau mahu memberi saingan lebih sengit kepada pencabar dari negara lain.
“Peluang lebih besar dengan terjunan baharu sebab beberapa penerjun muda ketika ini guna darjah kesukaran yang tinggi, jadi saya tidak mahu lagi berada di zon selesa.
“China juga sudah tukar pasangan baharu yang lebih muda dan bertenaga jadi skuad Malaysia perlu berusaha lebih keras,” katanya kepada pemberita sejurus tiba di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur, Sepang, pada Ahad.
Kejohanan itu menyaksikan Malaysia meraih dua slot ke Sukan Olimpik Tokyo apabila gandingan Pandelela Rinong dan Leong Mun Yee meraih tiket pertama ke Olimpik menerusi acara 10m platform seirama wanita.
Pandelela kemudian meraih tiket kedua Sukan Olimpik melalui acara 10m platform individu.
Pada masa sama, penerjun veteran Leong Mun Yee berharap selepas empat kali bertanding di Olimpik, satu pingat sekurang-kurangnya dapat berada dalam genggamannya nanti.
“Kelayakan kali ini agak susah tapi saya gembira dapat layak ke Olimpik lebih awal. Olimpik Tokyo bakal jadi pentas kelima untuk saya dan apa yang penting adalah jaga diri supaya tidak mengalami kecederaan sebab selepas layak, langkah seterusnya adalah meraih pingat,” katanya.
Wendy Ng Yan Yee yang layak ke Olimpik Tokyo selepas meraih tempat kesembilan dalam pusingan akhir acara 3m papan anjal individu wanita menganggap cabaran akan menjadi lebih sukar selepas ini dan fokusnya adalah untuk meningkatkan prestasi pada kejohanan akan datang.
Dalam pada itu, jurulatih terjun negara Li Rui berkata beberapa prestasi penerjun negara semakin meningkat terutamanya Leong Mun Yee yang dilihat sudah berlatih bersungguh-sungguh, dan pencapaian yang diraih dianggap sebagai satu pulangan yang berbaloi.
Skuad terjun negara akan memulakan sesi latihan selama tiga minggu di Sichuan, China pada Ogos ini sebelum menghadapi Kejohanan Terjun Piala Asia.
