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Frank Lampard has revealed signing fellow Germany international Timo Werner helped him in his bid to sign the high-coveted Kai Havertz from Bayer Leverkusen in a £70 million ($89m) deal.

Chelsea sought the opinion of Werner, who came in from RB Leipzig through his £47.5m ($61m) release clause over two months earlier, which helped kickstart a summer transfer spend of around £200m ($252m) on five significant signings.

Indeed, having introduced Werner into the squad to train, Lampard had a player he could use to give him feedback on what would be a major deal for the club. After a long round of talks, Chelsea finally got their man and Lampard appreciated the input of his new striker.

"I was able to have some conversations with Kai after the buying process happened, or whatever you want to call it," Lampard told reporters on a Zoom video link.

"I did as much watching of him as a player as I could, and by that time Timo had arrived at the club, and Timo and Kai are pretty close so I could obviously ask Timo a lot about him, them playing in the national team together. So we had very good background on him.

"But again I was very struck in those conversations with him about his humility, and how he is as a person which I love. I love the humility in players who come with the idea they just want to improve and become a success. And I know he has great talent. I've seen that in the first week that he's been here.

"I think it's important to be clear that before the Brighton game Kai Havertz had trained for four or five days and two or three of those were a build-up to a game so you can't work that hard.

"Fitness levels for Kai were difficult. They are only going to get better and get better quickly. I've seen lots of his talent and have no doubt the impact he will have as a Chelsea player."

After making their debuts against Brighton on Monday night, Havertz and Werner will both likely start against Liverpool on Sunday in the Premier League.

Jurgen Klopp's side have made a major signing in bringing in Thiago from Bayern Munich in a £27m ($35m) deal . The midfielder excelled against Chelsea in the Champions League as the eventual European champions knocked out the Blues in a 7-1 rout over two legs.

The Spain international won't be available for Sunday's game but Lampard admits his admiration for the midfield maestro.

"Thiago's an incredible player, we saw first-hand his quality on the pitch, personality on the pitch and off the pitch," he added.

"The quotes from Hansi Flick this week talking about him on both fronts, and when you hear that from the manager who has just had such success with him at the centre of the team, I think it speaks for itself.

"I think he's an absolute world-class midfielder in the modern-day, and if he does come to the Premier League, he'll be a big plus for the Premier League, and a big plus for the team that he comes to."

Six Ghanaian youth players have been confirmed dead after a bus they were travelling in crashed into a river on Saturday, the Ghana Football Association have announced.

The accident occurred on the Kumasi-Offinso road in Ghana's Ashanti region.

"The leadership of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), and the National Juvenile Committee (NJC) have learnt of the passing of six juvenile football players on Saturday, September 18, 2020 at Offinso, near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region," the GFA announced on its official website on Saturday night.

"The GFA wishes to express our deepest condolences to the family of the six young footballers who passed away after the car they were traveling on submerged," the statement continued. "We are informed that the players and their handlers were headed to Afrancho having undergone their District Colts football registration exercise at Offinso.

"The GFA and the NJC have dispatched a team to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi to visit the accident victims."

The juvenile cub, said to be the Africa Vision Soccer Academy, were on their way back to Offinso from the town of Afrancho where they underwent registration for the upcoming District Juvenile League.

The crash victims, who are understood to be between the ages of 12 and 16, were transported to the Offinso St. Patrick Hospital, with local reports suggesting that some other players from the accident are in a critical condition.

Unverified videos have appeared on social media which appear to depict the aftermath of the incident; one shows several other travellers nursing injuries, while another portrays victims being rescued from the bus, which is understood to have burst a tyre.

“There were 36 passengers onboard," Divisional Commander for the Offinso Motor Traffic and Transport Department of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Edmund Nyamekye told Citi News. "Our investigation revealed that the passengers were made up of football team members who were returning after taking part in a league [registration].

"Upon reaching the spot at River Offin, as a result of speeding, the driver lost control of the steering wheel, veered off the road and entered into the river.

"Six of the passengers between the ages of 12 and 16 died on the spot. 30 others sustained injuries. They were sent to the St. Patrick hospital for treatment."

Currently in Ghana, all contact sports, including football competitions, are under a national ban as part of measures to curb spread of the coronavirus disease, which has disrupted socio-economic activities around the world.

The GFA has, however, opened the window for player registration in anticipation of imminent lifting of the ban to allow resumption of the various national leagues. 

Victor Osimhen is in line to make his Serie A debut having been included in Napoli squad for their 2020-21 campaign opener versus Parma.

The Nigeria international alongside Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly and Algeria's Faouzi Ghoulam are among the 23 players listed by manager Gennaro Gattuso for Sunday’s trip to Stadio Ennio Tardini.

Osimhen joined Napoli on a five-year deal in July after an impressive debut season in the Ligue 1 with Lille where he scored 13 goals in 27 appearances.

The ex-Wolfsburg man kicked off his career in Gattuso's team with an eight-minute hat-trick against L'Aquila - an encounter that ended 11-0.

Again, he found the net thrice as Stadio San Paolo giants hit Serie C club Teramo 4-0 as they ended their pre-season training camp in Castel di Sangro on a flying note.

The 21-year-old’s goalscoring start to life at the club has caught the attention of the Archbishop of Naples, Crescenzio Sepe, and he hopes to see the Nigerian score more goals.

"What I said to Victor Osimhen? We talked and I said to him: ' You have scored 3 goals in 7 minutes, next time you have to score 5 goals in 5 minutes, you have to score almost every minute, do you understand?'," Sepe said.

"And did he understand? No, not so much: he doesn't speak Italian… I communicated in Neapolitan, somehow, we got along. He is happy, I saw it from his face regardless of the language we spoke. I congratulated him and all the players."

The Lagos-born goal machine is looking forward to playing against Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in his maiden Serie A campaign.

“I’m really looking forward to a new career here in Serie A. Playing against the likes of Christian Ronaldo is something one can eagerly wait,” Osimhen told Caf website.

“While at Lille, I had the opportunity of playing against some of the best players in the world like Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and it would definitely be a whole great experience to play against Ronaldo, who is one of the greatest players on earth. So, I’m looking forward to facing him soon.”

Erling Haaland has picked up where he left off last season as he scored twice in Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach and showed his mental strength from the spot. 

In Dortmund's first Bundesliga game of the season,  Giovanni Reyna opened the scoring in the 35th minute before winning a penalty early in the second half.

After VAR intervention to award the spot-kick, Haaland stepped up and made no mistake with a low effort to the bottom left.

The Norway star then wrapped up the victory in the 77th minute as he chipped over Yann Sommer after being sent through on goal by Jadon Sancho. 

Speaking after the match, Haaland joked about Sommer's failed attempt to put him off from the spot and expressed his joy at playing in front of fans again. 

"It was a nice penalty and it was very nice to score against Sommer," Haaland told Bundesliga. "He tried to get into my mind but he had no chance...it was a nice minute there!

"It's a good result for us. I'm happy that it's all underway again, especially with 10,000 fans in the stadium. It felt unbelievable to have them back there. They supported us, and we needed that today.

"They gave us an extra boost, and it was obviously fantastic to score a goal in front of them.''

Reyna, dubbed 'The American Dream' by Haaland, scored his first Bundesliga goal in the match and is still just 17. 

Alongside Haaland, Sancho and Jude Bellingham, Reyna makes up a lethal, youthful quartet looking to fire Dortmund to silverware this season.

"It was a very good start to the season. We have a lot of young players, it's really enjoyable," Reyna said post-match.

"We all have so much energy, but we need to keep working, we need to improve even more. We were so happy to see that some of our fans could be there again. That's very important for us as players.''

Dortmund manager Lucien Favre is also savouring the prospect of using the club's talented youngsters this season. 

"I like working with young players, but of course I like working with experienced ones too," Favre said. 

"The variety is really good, that was there to see in our 3-0 win today. Mats plays the ball forward, and Jadon and Erling sprint the length of the pitch. It was a brilliant goal at the end.

"The variety gives us a great feeling. We're going to need all of our players over this long season. Now we have to analyse the match before picking things up next week.''

Many may not have had confidence in university side UiTM FC's chances when they gained promotion to the Malaysia Super League for the first time ever this season, especially when they were effectively a replacement team.

But fast forward nine months later, the Lion Troops have blew everyone out of the water with their string of wins under former Malaysia U-23 head coach Frank Bernhardt.

While their earlier three-league win streak was halted by a 1-0 win defeat to Perak away from home last weekend, they returned to winning ways on matchday eight, with an impressive 2-1 victory over Terengganu FC at home on Saturday. 

Luck helped Arif Anwar open the scoring for the hosts as early as the fourth minute, but a mistake by custodian Azfar Arif led to a penalty that was converted for the equaliser by Turtles skipper Lee Tuck. Defender Victor Nirennold netted what would be the winner in the 60th minute, although not without them having to work extra hard in defence due to the Khuzaimi Piee's second yellow and sending off with 20 minutes remaining.

Speaking after the match, Bernhardt praised the contributions of his foreign players to the team.

"We had a good start with the early lead, but a mistake by the goalkeeper conceded the equaliser. Afterwards it wasn't beautiful football anymore after fights keep breaking out on the pitch. But thankfully we got the winner in the second half.

"We've been lucky this season, as well as clever, when it comes to the foreign players. [Rabih] Ataya constantly troubles the opponents, Ousmane [Fane] is good in 1v1 situations, they fit well with the team and giving input to them is easy," explained the 51-year old trainer.

Frank Bernhardt. Photo from UiTM

He however criticised his 21-year old goalkeeper Azfar for the blunder that led to the visitors' equaliser.

"All players make mistakes, but when goalkeepers make them, they're mostly serious mistakes that concede goals. In the end, it (Azfar's error) was not necessary especially as a young player. I don't want to put the hammer on him, but it wasn't necessary."

The German however refused to think too much of their chance of finishing their first ever top-tier campaign in second place, preferring to officially secure their safety first. 

While league leaders JDT have broken away from the rest of the table by a huge margin, UiTM, now in third, are level on 13 points with second-placed Kedah, although the Red Eagles have a game in hand. The university team meanwhile is separated by seven points from the relegation zone.

"Everything is possible, but for me what's important today is the three points because now I'm quite sure that we have nothing to do with relegation anymore, which was the first target.

"We take what we can get. We will see what will come afterwards. The players need rest and we look forward to the next game," responded the German to a question.

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has told Riqui Puig he should leave the club on loan.

Puig, 21, has been linked with a move from Barca, and played no part in Saturday's 1-0 Joan Gamper Trophy win over Elche at Camp Nou.

The young midfielder joined La Masia in 2013 and made his La Liga debut in early 2019 before making 12 appearances in all competitions for the first-team last season. 

Koeman said while Puig was part of his plans, the midfielder should look for short-term opportunities elsewhere.

"It's not true that [Riqui Puig] is not in our plans. I spoke to him yesterday. I speak to the young players - they have to play. They can't not be playing," Koeman said via Marca.

"Him, [Carles] Alena, Pedri...I've told them that it's difficult for them and there's lots of competition. Nothing more.

"I've told [Riqui Puig] that he has a future here, but it depends on the player.  I'd recommend that he went out on loan. At 20 years of age, the young players have to play. They can't get stuck for a period of time."

Antoine Griezmann's early goal helped Barca past Elche, as the forward, Ansu Fati, Lionel Messi and Philippe Coutinho all started.

Coutinho is back from his loan spell at Bayern Munich and Koeman talked up the playmaker.

"Let's hope we can see a great version of him. For me, he's a great player," he said. "He works well physically and with the ball. He's an important player for the team."

The Brazilian himself was happy to be back at Camp Nou and seems determined to have a big impact at the club this season. 

"Well, I am very happy. I missed playing in this stadium," Coutinho told Barca TV post-match. 

"First game back in the Camp Nou and the official competition will start in one week, we are working really hard and we are focused on the new season. 

"I was really looking forward to playing at the Camp Nou again. I am very happy and working hard to start the season well. I have been feeling great and just hoping that my return to Barcelona goes well. I’m highly motivated." 

Barcelona will begin their La Liga season against Villarreal on September 27.

Mikel Arteta admitted Arsenal were lucky in a 2-1 win over West Ham, but was pleased with his team's belief on Saturday.

After Michail Antonio cancelled out Alexandre Lacazette's opener at Emirates Stadium, Eddie Nketiah came off the bench to score an 85th-minute winner for Arsenal.

West Ham had 14 attempts at goal to Arsenal's seven, although Bernd Leno was only forced into two saves.

Arteta said Arsenal, who have won their opening two games, were fortunate in the London derby.

"We were a little bit lucky in certain moments for sure," the Arsenal manager told a news conference.

"But as well, we find a way to win it and it's the mentality I want that the team always believes that we can do it up until the last moment. Even if we have difficult games where we suffer, we make it difficult for ourselves in certain periods, but in the end it's three points.

"This is why we are here. As well, take some big notes because there are a lot of things to improve."

Arsenal are one of three teams to have grabbed six points from their opening two games in the Premier League so far. However, Arteta believes they are still some way off being genuine title contenders.

"I think we are still very far away from where we want to be," he said.

"I think if you ask any manager in the Premier League if they are happy with everything [that] is going [on] with their team, it probably is no.

"We had a super-mini pre-season and we're still adapting some things. Some players are still not 100 per cent fit either but it's great to start winning, to have six points already and find ways to win."

Arsenal face Leicester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday with their next Premier League game to come against reigning champions Liverpool on September 28. 

After scoring the winner against West Ham, Nketiah addressed a recent bust-up with Dani Ceballos, who provided the assist for his goal. 

"We had a bit of a coming together. The reaction was there. We made up an got on with it. It was nice for him to make the assist. It's all love now," Nketiah told Sky Sports post-match. 

"It was a great pass across, good vision. I tried to stay onside. It was an easy finish from there.

"I want to keep improving as a player. It's a great feeling to come on and score. West Ham made it very difficult. They came out very strongly in the second half."

Arsenal are yet to begin contract talks with Alexandre Lacazette, manager Mikel Arteta confirmed.

Lacazette is contracted at the Premier League club until 2022 after joining from Lyon 2017, but there has been speculation over the forward's future.

The Frenchman scored his 50th goal for Arsenal during Saturday's 2-1 win over West Ham at Emirates Stadium.

But there have been no talks for the 29-year-old to renew his deal at Arsenal, Arteta later confirmed.

"At the moment, we haven't started any negotiations," he said. "We have a lot of things still to do in this market and at the moment we are focusing on those things.

"He's a player I'm really happy with. I think we've shown him a lot of faith since I arrived here. 

"But we cannot start any speculation. We know that any player who is under two years of their contract is always going to be talked about."

Speaking after Arsenal's 3-0 against Fulham last week, Lacazette stressed he was happy at the Emirates and is determined to help fire the club to success this season.

"I am really happy. It's only the press that says I'm not happy," he told the club's website.

"From the beginning I've said I am happy at Arsenal and I want to play and win titles. We won a title last month so I am happy with Arsenal.

"I want to help the team to be on top, I know it's my job. It's not for me to [just] play and do the link-ups so I will try and do my best this season.

"Every day we work a lot to try and earn a place in the top four. I don't know if we are ready, but we'll try to." 

Gunners legend Alan Smith has called on the Frenchman to step up this season after seeing him strike again against the Hammers. 

"I think Arsenal need a big season out of Lacazette," Smith told Sky Sports on Saturday. 

"He’s struggled in the last couple of campaigns at times. His goalscoring tallies haven’t been what he would have wanted them to be, but a couple of goals in his first two games will do him the world of good."

New Chelsea arrival Kai Havertz credits Michael Ballack with instilling in him a passion for the Blues, while revealing that away from the field he is likely to be found tinkling the ivories or tending to vulnerable donkeys.

Chelsea's £70 million ($90.42) signing from Bayer Leverkusen has arrived with quite the hype since making his move to the Premier League but he leads a grounded life away from the pitch.

Still just 21, Havertz is able to play the piano and holds further passions for fashion and nature. He has battled to educate himself amid a punishing football schedule after becoming the youngest player to breakthrough at Leverkusen at just 17 years old.

Havertz even missed a match against Atletico Madrid in 2017 due to school exams, which he took seriously thanks to his role models: his police officer father and lawyer mother.

Those book-smarts may serve Havertz well in what is an increasingly tactical sport but he wants to turn his focus to animal welfare away from the field - with a slightly unusual focus on donkeys.

"It's funny, I loved donkeys as a kid very much, I think my first year it was always my favourite animal," Havertz told reporters on a Zoom video link. "So it was always a dream for me to have one someday and now it's a good opportunity to help donkeys that are from the circus or things like that.

"It will be a big project for me in the next years. As I said I try to do my best to help as many animals as possible, they are very important for us and for the world. I try to do my best to help them have a better life.

"Of course, football is one of the most important things in my life as well, but my family and things like this that are supports, like the animals, is very important for me as well. I'm trying to do my best to help people, to help the animals.

"Of course, in the future, it will be a bigger thing for me to do things like that, but football, of course, is very important for me. But to be honest for me there are very many more important things in life than football, and I'm trying to do my best to help as much as I can."

Havertz was inspired to get into football through his grandfather Richard while growing up in the rural German village of Mariadorf. He was the chairman of the local side Alemannia Mariadorf which Havertz enrolled in as a boy before going into the Leverkusen academy.

However, his grandmother equally inspired him into taking up piano and Havertz went onto described how his passion for music grew: My brother started playing the guitar at a young age, and I wanted to do the same.

"That's the reason why I started the piano. My grandma had a piano at home so I was playing as a kid sometimes," he said. "For three years I just wanted to start playing the piano. And now whenever I want to play I play, and it makes me feel comfortable and it's fun."

Undoubtedly though, football is where Havertz excels and the Premier League only got a glimpse of it in his debut away at Brighton where Chelsea won 3-1.

Havertz had long attracted interest from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich but ended up at Chelsea, along with four other big signings in a £200m ($252m) transfer market splurge.

Indeed, Havertz says that he has always followed Chelsea closely and is glad to follow in fellow former Germany international and Leverkusen star Michael Ballack's footsteps.

"It's a dream come true, and now I have to work hard and do my best for the club," Havertz continued. "Michael Ballack was a very, very big player, he also played for Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.

"He was also the hero of course when I was younger, and he played for Chelsea as well. I liked him as a player very much, he played in my position and he was a midfield player who wanted to score a lot of goals.

"I think, of course, I try to score goals as well, like him and he was always a very big player for me. But I've never spoken to him. I'm thankful to play in a club where he played as well. The coach has a big impact on my decision, but I think for me I've loved Chelsea my whole life.

"I always watched the team as a kid, so it was not a very tough decision for me. For me, it was always important that a club comes to me or my agent and says 'you are the player, we want you, we'll do everything for you, please come to us'.

"That was the first thing that came in mind when I decided for a new club. For me, Chelsea's a very big club and I'm very grateful and thankful to be here now. I'll try to do my best to make everybody happy.

"But of course in the last year we had some conversations with other clubs as well, I think that's normal, but in the end, Chelsea gave me everything. It's a big project here, I love to play with young players as well.

"Of course, it's a few games to play good football, but of course I'm looking forward to that as I'm only here seven days now. I think it will be good in the next few weeks and months."

Having only had a taste of what Havertz is about, Chelsea next face Liverpool where the German star will hope to make an impact in his first game at Stamford Bridge. It is a spectacle that Havertz can't wait to be part of, facing off against the world-famous manager Jurgen Klopp and his league champion side.

"When you watch football as a kid you always dream to play in a stadium like Stamford Bridge," he concluded before talking about Klopp and his side. "I think he's [Klopp] hungry and he wants to win more titles, and I think that's the reason why we have to play our best football on Sunday because it will be a very hard game for us.

"For them as well, because I think we have a very good team and maybe Monday was not our best game but the most important thing is to win the games and we did it on Monday and we'll try our best to win on Sunday as well."

Arsenal duo Eddie Nketiah and Dani Ceballos issued the perfect response to their coming together last week as the pair secured a 2-1 win against West Ham on Saturday. 

Before the Gunners' first Premier League game of the season against Fulham, the pair were filmed clashing in the warm-up after both had been named on the bench. 

Both Nketiah and Ceballos had to be separated at the time but did seem to make amends by the end of the match, which Arsenal won 3-0, with a picture of the duo posted to social media. 

Any lingering doubts over the pair's relationship were then squashed on Saturday as Ceballos set up Nketiah to score the Gunners' winning goal in the 85th minute against the Hammers. 

After Alexandre Lacazette had opened the scoring for Mikel Arteta's side, West Ham looked set to claim a well-deserved point following an equaliser from Michail Antonio but Arsenal found a late winner courtesy of two players who were at odds this time last week.

"We had a bit of a coming together. The reaction was there. We made up an got on with it. It was nice for him to make the assist. It's all love now," Nketiah told Sky Sports post-match. 

"It was a great pass across, good vision. I tried to stay onside. It was an easy finish from there.

"I want to keep improving as a player. It's a great feeling to come on and score. West Ham made it very difficult. They came out very strongly in the second half."

Arteta was notably jubilant at full-time as the Gunners dug deep to secure another three points and continue their perfect start to the new season.

"I’m thrilled with the three points. I said before the game how difficult it would be with the way they play," Arteta told BBC Sport.

"We made it even more difficult in the first 15 minutes with the amount of balls we gave away and the open spaces we gave them to run into. I’m glad we found the right moment and kept competing and believing, with good momentum in the last 25 minutes.

"We created many other situations. But we gave too many opportunities to the opponent in the final third. There are still a lot of things we need to get better at.

"Eddie can do that every week. He’s hungry and has a great quality to score goals."

Percy Tau played for the entire duration as Anderlecht cruised to a 4-2 win over Waasland-Beveren in a Belgian First Division A encounter on Saturday.

Tau made his fifth appearance for the Purple and White at the Freethielstadion but he could not add to his tally of two goals so far this season.

Goals from Adrien Trebel, Jeremy Doku, Yari Verschaeren and Lukas Nmecha secured maximum points for Vincent Kompany's men despite late efforts for Din Sula and Daan Heymans for the hosts.

During the encounter, Tau made the third highest number of key passes, behind Albert Lokonga (4) and Yari Verschaeren (3).

The 26-year-old also played a defensive role in the game and he made three tackles in total.

Saturday’s victory shot Anderlecht to third in the Belgian First Division A table, level on 12 points with second-placed Beerschot while they are six points behind leaders Sporting Charleroi.

After playing two games without scoring, Tau will be hoping to find the back of the net when Kompany's side welcome AS Eupen to Lotto Park on September 27.

His last goal was against KV Oostende where he helped his team secure a 2-2 draw on August 28.

Tau is in his third year in Belgium having spent the last two seasons on loan from Premier League outfit Brighton and Hove Albion.

Last season, the Bafana Bafana star helped Club Brugge win the First Division A title with a contribution of three goals in 18 appearances and he also made his debut appearance in the Uefa Champions League group stage against Real Madrid.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has declared he could not allow Lionel Messi to leave the club and suggested congratulations were in order following the star's decision to stay put.

Messi handed in a shock transfer request last month but Barca refused to allow the Argentine to leave for free with a contractual dispute brewing. 

In an exclusive interview with Goal, Messi ultimately decided to stay at Camp Nou this season but did hit out at Bartomeu for breaking his work and not allowing him to leave as promised. 

The under-fire club boss, however, believes he simply couldn't allow their best player to leave and is hopeful Messi can still prove the difference for Ronald Koeman's side moving forward. 

“I won’t get into any conflict with him. He’s our captain and the leader of our team,” Bartomeu told Catalan television network TV3.

“I couldn’t let him leave the club, he is the best player of all time and the team needs him. Having Messi is a guarantee of success.

“We have seen him do his talking on the pitch and we have moved on from the saga. We should congratulate ourselves for getting Messi to stay with us and for how he has behaved in the last few days. The best player in the world should stay at our home."

Since opting to remain at Barcelona, Messi has shown positive signs and struck twice in a recent pre-season friendly win against Girona. 

Koeman's side have won three straight games in pre-season and while things are running somewhat smoothly on the pitch, Bartomeu is facing a crisis off it following a successful petition for a vote of no confidence. 

An official board decision on Bartomeu's immediate future is expected within the next two weeks but the president remains focused on the job at the hand for now. 

"The board and I will keep working to ensure we have the most competitive team possible," he said.

"We will speak again after validating the votes but right now no-one wants to quit. The club won’t stop and we will keep working, we have lots of issues to sort out."

Gary Neville has warned Manchester United they need a new centre-back more than they need Jadon Sancho after a horror show in their opening Premier League game.

The former United captain said the current side stand no chance of winning the Premier League with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof at the heart of their defence.

His brutal verdict was delivered as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team were beaten 3-1 by Crystal Palace at Old Trafford on Saturday.

After finishing third in the Premier League last season following a 14-match unbeaten run in the competition, United began 2020-21 with high hopes of another lofty finish.

They want to bring Borussia Dortmund's exciting England winger Sancho to the club, but Neville says their priority should lie elsewhere.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville said: "You can talk about Jadon Sancho all you like, but until they get a centre-back in that can run and defend one on one, you're never going to win the league.

"They're not going to win the league with that centre-back pairing. They have to get a mobile, quick, dominant centre-back in alongside Lindelof or Maguire."

United were back on domestic duty five weeks after their 2019-20 Europa League trophy hopes were ended by a semi-final defeat to Sevilla.

Neville said United looked "knackered", "so leggy it's untrue" and "well short of Crystal Palace" in the fitness stakes.

Lindelof, the Sweden defender who is in his fourth season at United, was picked apart by Neville for his part in allowing Wilfried Zaha to scythe through and score his second goal and Palace's third.

"He's just not strong enough there, Lindelof," said Neville. "It's a 50-50; he's weak."

Neville questioned what United's response would be to their slow start, in light of many of their rivals making statement signings.

"The usual thing for Manchester United, on the back of something like this, is to react - go and sign a player or two to quell the Twitter and social media voice that will absolutely simmer and boil," Neville said.

"It's been simmering all week I think, particularly with Liverpool doing business today, Chelsea's done it in the last few weeks, [Gareth] Bale's going to Tottenham.

"Why are Manchester United not signing the players they need to bolster this squad - a talented squad?"

Arsenal duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette are fast closing in a Premier League record currently held by Newcastle United stars Ryan Fraser and Callum Wilson.

Aubameyang assisted the Frenchman as Mikel Arteta’s Gunners laboured to a 2-1 victory over West Ham United in Saturday’s Premier League outing.

With the opening twenty minutes goalless at the Emirates Stadium, the Gabon international timed his run to perfection and finding Lacazette with an excellent cross to score his 50th goal for the Londoners in all competitions.

The pair have now combined for 11 English topflight goals since February 3, 2018, with only Fraser and Wilson the only duo who have combined for more (13).

While the Gunners’ stars are only two away from matching their tally, they may struggle to surpass the former Bournemouth players considering their reunion in Steve Bruce’s squad at St. James' Park.

Auba saw every minute of action against David Moyes’ team, Lacazette was replaced by Eddie Nketiah in the 77th minute. Luckily, it was the Anglo-Ghanaian who sealed all maximum points from Arteta’s men when it looked like the Hammers would walk home with a point following Michail Antonio’s equaliser.

Between them, they scored 50 goals two seasons ago, with the latter ending his first full campaign in England with 31 in all competitions and 22 in the Premier League, a tally which earned him a share of the Golden Boot alongside Liverpool’s Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

Meanwhile, the France international striker is not concerned that Aubameyang is the first-choice penalty taker at the Emirates Stadium.

“It’s true that I don’t take them anymore, but that’s not a problem,” he told L’Equipe. “I know if I wanted to get one, he would let me have it. 

“If it was getting into my head or if I was into something selfish, I would try to take them or ask him to have one shot out of two, but that’s really not how I see things. He scores them and he saves us, that’s what matters.

“Sometimes I’m criticised for not being selfish enough, but that’s not my vision of football. I like to score, but I have a role other than as a goalscorer. Now I take part in the game more and I get a different pleasure from doing that.

“In Lyon, I had the responsibility of scoring, but here, it’s a little more that I have to help the team play well and to be dangerous.”

The mediocre has turned to horrendous for Selangor, who were thrashed 6-1 by Malaysia Super League leaders Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) in their matchday eight encounter on Saturday.

A dubious foul given by referee Zulkarnain Zakaria just outside the Red Giants' penalty box in the first half added time allowed Safawi Rasid to score from the ensuing free kick, but after the interval Zulkarnain made a glaring error.

In the 46th minute Nicholas Swirad fouled Diogo just outside the box, and while the defender escaped a sending off for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity, Zakaria pointed to the spot instead. Safawi bagged his brace from the penalty, and afterwards it was all the home team. Diogo added their third in the 64th minute, Gonzalo Cabrera their fourth just three minutes later.

In-form young striker Ramadhan Saifullah took the opportunity to continue impressing when he was introduced, netting a brace in the 72nd and 75th minutes. The visitors netted their consolation goal in the 81st minute through Rufino Segovia's effort.

In the post-match press conference, Selangor boss B. Satiananthan conceded blame for his charges' hammering.

"My team could play in the first half, but they conceded an unexpected free kick just before half time, which then led to the first goal. Then they conceded a penalty very early after the interval, others are saying that the infringement was committed outside of the box, but that changed the game a lot.

"I have to accept this defeat as I'm the one to blame for it. There were players who weren't completely ready to play. Safuwan's [Baharudin] removal affected our midfield... only when Rufino [Segovia] and Sean [Selvaraj] were introduced were we able to score.

"We simply collapsed in the second half, that's what happened," explained the former Malaysia head coach.

He however noted that a top-three finish may still possible for them, if they can bag maximum points from their remaining matches.

"There is still a chance and we will try our best in the remaining three games. I have to hear what the management wants first. But I will continue on for the coming matches, and if we can collect all nine points we will be fine.

"There's the Malaysia Cup afterwards and everything is possible," responded Satiananthan to a question by a reporter.

Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has explained why he asked Wilfried Zaha to retake Jordan Ayew’s penalty in Saturday’s 3-1 triumph over Manchester United.

In the famous win at Old Trafford, Andros Townsend gave the Eagles a first-half lead thanks to his seventh minute lead courtesy of Jeffrey Schlupp’s assist.

With less than 20 minutes left to play, the visitors were handed a penalty by referee Martin Atkinson after Ayew’s flick struck the Victor Lindelof’s hand.

David de Gea saved Ayew’s softly struck penalty, only for a retake to be ordered by VAR as the Spain international stepped off his line. Zaha stepped up to smash the ball high into the net as Selhurst Park giants raced to a two-goal lead.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men pulled one back through substitute Donny van de Beek in the 80th minute, while the Cote d’Ivoire sealed victory with five minutes left to play.

Speaking after the game, the former England, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion boss revealed   why he called for another player to then step-up, reminding how a similar situation with a previous club changed his approach.

"I don’t think it’s good for a player to miss a penalty and then to immediately take another one. I think your confidence is affected by the miss,” Hodgson told club website.

“It wasn’t a good penalty, it was quite a comfortable save by De Gea and I’m pretty sure if I had allowed him to take the penalty, he might well have scored it. But I didn’t think it was a good idea to take that chance.

"I had an experience long in the past where our penalty taker - who never missed penalties - missed two in the same game in a European tie and ever since that moment I’ve thought it’s not a great idea to have the guy who’s missed take the second one."

Palace, with two wins from two in the English topflight far, tackle fellow fast starters Everton next on Saturday, while the Red Devils go to Luton Town in the English Football League Cup on Tuesday before getting back to Premier League action when they face Brighton and Hove Albion.

Racing Santander defender Oluwatobiloba Olanrewaju now stands a bright chance of playing for Nigeria following the latest changes to eligibility rules proposed by Fifa, Goal can exclusively report.

The new rule will allow players to switch eligibility if they played at most three times for the first team – including tournaments and qualifying games, before turning 21, and at least three years earlier.

The 25-year-old had been initially called up to the Nigerian women's side twice, first in 2014 by then-handler Edwin Okon in the build to the Africa Women's Cup of Nations in Namibia.

The second was by erstwhile coach Thomas Dennerby in preparation for the 2019 Wafu Women's Cup in Cote d'Ivoire as part of the West Africans' build-up to that year's Women's World Cup.  

However, the Nigerian-born defender was later dropped from the list on the two occasions, having confirmed she had already turned out at international level for Equatorial Guinea. 

She was ruled out then as a player and could only switch nationalities if they had played in friendlies and not a single minute of any competitive match, which included qualifiers and tournaments.

In Goal's investigation, Olanrewaju featured twice for the Nzalang Nacional, with her first in a 2-2 draw at home against Cote d'Ivoire in the Africa Women's Cup of Nations qualifier on June 7, 2014.

Her second came in the first leg of the 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers against South Africa at Makhulong Stadium, Johannesburg, where the two teams played out a 0-0 draw on October 3, 2015.

Olanrewaju will now be eligible under these new requirements as she was 20 at the time when she represented Equatorial Guinea and has not played since then for the two-time African champions.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested that his Manchester United squad may need further investment after going down to a shock opening-day defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace. 

Wilfried Zaha netted a double against his old club to follow on from Andros Townsend's early opener and seal a 3-1 win for Roy Hodgson's visitors. 

United's only goal of the afternoon came via debutant Donny van de Beek, who finished coolly from close range to give his new employers a chance at 2-1 before Zaha swooped with his second strike. 

Van de Beek is to date the sole summer signing made by United, who saw interest for the likes of Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho rebuffed. 

And Solskjaer, while signalling United's lack of playing time prior to their first Premier League clash of 2020-21, admits that the club will have to keep searching for new talent before the transfer window closes in October.

"You can see we are short and they deserved the points," Solskjaer explained after the final whistle.

"[Palace] were sharper than us in challenges, tackles. We started off slowly and that had a knock-on effect for the rest of the game when they got the first goal.

"We had a long season last season and we didn't finish until August 16 and we have not had enough preparation time to be sharper. We've worked hard with the ones who've been here, there have been a few players away on internationals.

"I spoke to Roy [Hodgson] and he said they had four friendlies and this was their third competitive game, and it is a big difference to our one against Aston Villa last week.

"You have to make the most of the time you have got and we have already started playing catch-up, of course, and it showed. But we will improve quickly, hopefully quicker than we've seen today. Today was a performance that you don’t see very often from these players because these players are better than that.

"We can play so much better than today. If you look at the players we had on the pitch and on the bench and not here today, we have to look within first and look at ourselves and know we can perform better.

"But we are always looking to improve if there is something out there that is available at the right price. We always want to strengthen. But we can all look ourselves in the mirror instead."

Yakou Meite found the back of the net while Ovie Ejaria shone as Reading secured a 2-0 victory over Barnsley in Saturday’s Championship game.

The Royals started the 2020-21 campaign on an impressive note, defeating Derby County and the African stars were on hand to help the side stretch their fine form.

Ejaria teamed up with the Madejski Stadium outfit permanently this summer from Liverpool after delivering convincing showings during his two loan spells with the club.

The Anglo-Nigerian has hit the ground running this season, scoring against Derby last time out and was handed a starting role against the Tykes

Meite, meanwhile, was afforded his first Championship appearance as a second-half substitute and delivered sizzling performances in the encounter.

Reading started the game impressively, forcing Barnsley to commit a number of fouls in the first half which led to them being reduced to 10 men.

Mads Juel Andersen received a caution in the 23rrd minute and shortly before the break, Michal Helik was sent off.

Reading made their numerical advantage count when the Ivory Coast international opened the scoring in the 67thh minute of the encounter.

Barnsley suffered another setback when they were further reduced to nine men after referee Tim Robinson gave Andersen his marching orders in the 68th minute.

Michael Olise then sealed the victory for the Madejski Stadium outfit eight minutes after the incident.

Ejaria, who featured for the entirety of the game, struck one shot, made one key pass and completed three dribbles while Nigeria international Sone Aluko played for seven minutes in the encounter.

Meite and Ejaria will hope to continue their eye-catching performances in their next league game against Cardiff City on September 26.

The Anglo-Nigerian has represented England at the U20 and U21 levels but he is still eligible to play for the Super Eagles.