Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has confirmed the surprise decision to start with James Trafford as his goalkeeper against Arsenal this weekend.
Man City take on the Gunners in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley, and it seems Guardiola is prepared to stick with his cup ‘keeper even for this hugely important game.
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The Spanish tactician, speaking at his press conference today, was asked about starting with Trafford over his usual no.1 Gianluigi Donnarumma, and confirmed he would be doing so.
As per BBC Sport, Guardiola said Trafford would be starting and described it as a “big moment for the team.”
James Trafford’s difficult time at Manchester City so far
Trafford joined City from Burnley in the summer, but Donnarumma joined from Paris Saint-Germain not long after.
It perhaps looked initially like Trafford would be Guardiola’s first-choice ‘keeper this season, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
The 23-year-old is a fine talent who will probably feel he could be starting for a number of other Premier League clubs, so it will be interesting to see what he decides about his future this summer.
Still, for the time being Trafford will be given the chance to make himself a hero this weekend.
What about Arsenal’s goalkeeper for the cup final?
Interestingly, it also wouldn’t be too surprising if Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta also neglected to use his usual no.1 ‘keeper for this game.
Kepa Arrizabalaga has played for Arsenal in all of their League Cup and FA Cup games so far, so that would probably suggest he’ll be in the starting XI on Sunday as well.
All in all, these decisions seem slightly risky, with Donnarumma performing superbly against Arsenal in last season’s Champions League semi-finals when he was still at PSG.
David Raya is also a top performer for AFC, so could be missed in this important game when silverware is up for grabs.
According to the Daily Mirror, the Red Devils will not accept a second loan offer as they hold out instead for a permanent sale for the out-of-favour Rashford.
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However, Man Utd are instead prepared to take Rashford back and find another buyer for the England international.
Manchester United believe Marcus Rashford’s value has risen
Rashford has performed well during his stint at the Nou Camp, and it seems United now feel they could get as much as £50m for him, according to the Mirror’s report.
Barca would surely do well, in that case, to sign the 28-year-old for almost half that price, but it remains to be seen if they can be persuaded to do so.
Rashford has proven a useful squad player for Hansi Flick’s side, contributing a total of ten goals and nine assists in all competitions despite only starting 21 games.
It would surely be sensible for Barcelona to simply pay the £26m required to keep Rashford, but MUFC may well do better now if he comes back to Old Trafford.
What next for Marcus Rashford?
In truth, it perhaps seems hard to imagine anyone paying as much as £50m for Rashford, whatever United may believe about his value rising.
Some United fans might even be thinking that the club should simply bring him back anyway and reinstate him in their first-team squad.
Things ended badly for Rashford at United, but he’s got back to his best during his time away in La Liga, so perhaps that can help him return to his parent club fresh and full of confidence.
Either that, or the change of scene has done him good and he’d find himself in a bit of a slump again if he were to go back to playing for United.
BAIC sales are up 410.6% year-on-year in February.
The Argentinean new light vehicle market drops -6% year-on-year in February to 39,498 units. This means the year-to-date tally is now off -5.2% to 102,615. Volkswagen (-21.5%) is in drab shape but repeats at #2 with 14.9% share, while Fiat (-17.7%) is #2 at 13% of the market. Leader over the Full Year 2025, Toyota (-26.9%) implodes to #3. In fact the entire Top 8 is unchanged on last month, with Ford (+55.9%) and Chevrolet (+10.1%) the only carmakers in positive just as Citroen (-29.8%), Renault (-28.9%) and Peugeot (-24.7%) struggle.
As it is the case in more and more countries around the world, Chinese carmakers are the most dynamic here. Newcomers BYD (#11) and MG (#21) progress, while BAIC is up 410.6%, Chery up 632.7%, Haval up 407%, Jetour up 922%, Changan up 5550%, Foton up 203.2%, JAC up 123.1% and DFSK up 72%… All in all, the Chinese are up a whopping 635.6% year-on-year and go from 1% share in February 2025 to 7.5% now.
Over in the models charts, the Toyota Hilux (-10.9%) remains dominant at 5.6% share ahead of two freefalling nameplates: the Fiat Cronos (-32.8%) and Peugeot 208 (-34.1%). Boosted by a new generation, the Ford Territory (+222.9%) threepeats at a record 4th place. The Ford Ranger (-21.2%) rounds out the Top 5 like it did last month. Once again the best-selling recent launch, the VW Tera repeats at #6 and remains the brand’s best-seller in Argentina. The VW Amarok (-45.6%) completes a Top 7 identical to last month.
The VinFast VF 3 is the best-selling vehicle in Vietnam in February.
New light vehicle sales in Vietnam drop -13.1% year-on-year in February to 32,261due to the Lunar New Year negatively impacting the number of opening days. However thanks to a fantastic January figure the year-to-date tally is up 35.3% to 91,180. Local hero VinFast falls significantly faster than its home market but at 30.7% share it beats its January share (27.4%) to account for 28.6% after two months. Toyota (+24.9%) defies the negative market and climbs back up four spots on January to return to its traditional 2nd place. Thaco-Kia (-21.1%) struggles but repeats at #3 ahead of Hyundai (+1.9%) and Ford (-10.3%).
Over in the models charts, the VinFast (-56.3%) is back to the #1 spot it held over the Full Year 2025 despite collapsing year-on-year. #1 last month and YTD, the VinFast Limo Green holds 5.6% share. In fact VinFast monopolises the Top 5 for the first time with the VF 5 (-46%) at #3, the new MPV 7 at #4 and the VF 6 (-47.9%) at #5. The Mazda CX-5 (+9.2%) is the best of the rest above the Toyota Hilux (+386.6%) and Ford Ranger (-27.2%). Notice also the VinFast VF 7 (+41.6%) up 8 ranks on January to #9, the Hyundai Creta up 112.9% and the Toyota Yaris Cross up 122.3%.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester United expect to complete the sales of Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford this summer, with a total of €80million expected to boost their finances from the two deals. After two relatively unsuccessful seasons at Old Trafford, Hojlund joined Napoli at the start of this season on loan, with the Serie […]
“Brentford” İngiltərə Premyer Liqasının 25-ci turunda “Qarabağ”ın UEFA Çempionlar Liqasında rəqibi olan “Nyukasl” üzərində tarixi 3:2 hesablı qələbə qazanıb.
Komanda.az xarici KİV-ə istinadən xəbər verir ki, bu uğur komandanın 21-ci əsrdə “Nyukasl”ın meydanında ilk qələbəsi olub. “Brentford” sonuncu dəfə təxminən bir əsr əvvəl, 1934-cü ildə “Nyukasl”ı səfərdə 5:2 hesabıyla məğlub edib. Klublar az hallarda qarşılaşıblar və bu, 1934-cü ildən bəri “Nyukasl”ın meydanında keçirdikləri 10-cu liqa matçı olub.
Qələbənin nəticəsi olaraq, “Brentford” Premyer Liqanın turnir cədvəlində 7-ci yerə yüksəlib. “Nyukasl” isə hələ də 13-cü yerdədir.
“Nyukasl” UEFA Çempionlar Liqasının pley-off mərhələsinin ilk oyununda, fevralın 18-də “Qarabağ”ın qonağı olacaq. Cavab matçı fevralın 24-də İngiltərədə keçiriləcək.
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