Saturday, October 14 2017
EXTRATIME
30
ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP… ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP… ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP… ENGLISH PREMIERSHIP… Stories by Frank Jumbo with Agency Reports
Valencia
Valencia bags Premier League goal of the month award
M
Conte insists he is happy at Chelsea C helsea boss Antonio Conte claims recent speculation linking him with a return as Italy boss is wide of the mark. Conte left the Azzurri role after Euro 2016 to join the west London club but a recent radio interview in Italy, in which he admitted he missed his native country, has prompted suggestions he will return to take charge of the national team at the end of the season. Italy, under Gian Piero Ventura, failed to secure an automatic place at the 2018 World Cup and will have
to navigate the play-offs, but Conte is adamant he has no immediate plans to ride to the rescue and is willing to see out his Stamford Bridge contract that runs until 2019. He said: “For two weeks I have been reading the wrong things. I did an interview two weeks ago and I am sure the translation was wrong because all I said was that one day in the future I’d like to go back to Italy. “I have two years left on my contract with Chelsea and I am happy to work for this club, with my players, I like to work with them.
“I like to have these great feelings with our fans and I don’t see a problem but sometimes we want to create this type of situation. “My family stay here with me, not in Italy. My daughter is going to school here in Cobham and it’s important to write the truth.” Asked if he knew what he wanted to do after 2019, he added: “Every coach when they start work with a club, for sure you hope to stay for a long time and try to do something important for the club. But, at the same time, I always said it’s very difficult
Aguero may return against Stoke
S
Aguero
ergio Aguero could return to action for Manchester City against Stoke City on Saturday – a little over two weeks on from the Argentina striker suffering a broken rib in a car crash. A taxi taking Aguero to Amsterdam airport smashed into a lamppost, ruling him out of the Kevin De Bruyne-inspired 1-0 win at Chelsea that kept City at the top of the Premier League table heading into the international break. It meant Aguero was sidelined for Argentina’s concluding World Cup qualifiers, as Lionel Messi dragged them to Russia 2018 with a sensational hat-trick versus Ecuador, and national team doctor Donato Villani suggested a one-anda-half month absence was likely. However, the 29-year-old gave weight to the initial estimate from City’s medical team of a two-to-four week absence and he returned to light training earlier this week. At that stage, City said Aguero would not be ready to play Stoke but he took part in a full session on Thursday and Guardiola told reporters the man who is within one goal of City’s all-time scoring record may feature against Mark Hughes’ men. “He did his first training session after what happened and he did it quite well,” he said. “Hopefully as soon as possible he will be back. Maybe [Aguero will play against Stoke], we are going to see the last training session.
and our job is very strange because one day you are the best and another day you stay at home.” Conte also played down suggestions Andrea Pirlo, who he managed when with Italy and Juventus, could join his coaching team at Chelsea when his playing career with New York City ends in December. He added: “I know that Andrea has decided to retire and finish his career. I can talk about him in the best way but at this moment he doesn’t know his future, or what he wants to do when he finishes.”
anchester United rightback Antonio Valencia has won September’s Premier League Goal of the Month award for his stunning strike in the 4-0 win over Everton. The match was barely four minutes old against Ronald Koeman’s struggling Everton, when the Ecuadorian unleashed a remarkable hit to open the scoring in style. Nemanja Matic’s lofted pass bounced across the edge of the area and Valencia struck it in the air, hitting across it with his right foot and smashing it into the far side of the goal beyond the helpless Jordan Pickford. It was only the second Premier League goal Valencia has scored since January 2014 and sent United on their way to a crushing win.
Lukaku is world class - Klopp
J
urgen Klopp believes Romelu Lukaku has matured at Manchester United, although he never doubted his “world class” ability. Lukaku joined United for a reported £75million ahead of the Premier League season and has made a stunning start to life at Old Trafford, scoring 11 goals in 10 games in all competitions. Klopp’s Liverpool welcome Lukaku and United to Anfield on Saturday and the Reds boss hailed the forward’s development since making his big move. “He has matured, of course,” Klopp told a pre-match news conference. “He’s still a young player. I don’t think there was any doubt at any point of his career that he would be a worldclass striker - and he was already a world-class striker at Everton. “Now, being around these other fantastic players at Man United helps him and he has helped the team so far a lot. “They have been real goal-getter goals. It was: first try? No. Second try? There. And then do it again. It was not always fantastic play, it was fighting for goals. “He clearly enjoys life in this team a lot. He has all the confidence you need as a striker and I’m sure he’s improved since he joined Manchester.” Klopp will be reunited with Henrikh Mkhitaryan - a player of his at Borussia Dortmund - on Saturday and he had praise for the United man, even if he feels he may lack the edge to become an elite star. “He is a fantastic player, he was always a fantastic player,” Klopp said. “We played against him at Shakhtar Donetsk. Wow. He had the perfect attitude. “But he had the perfect mentality, too. He knew what he wanted to do in each moment of his life. He was the perfect boy, son-in-law, whatever. “Sometimes, in football, you need to have something a little bit different. We all know some of the best players in the world have a few little issues and that’s absolutely okay
Lukaku