Stories By Graham Ruthven

• Sport

  Declan Rice signing has changed Arsenal’s mentality

  Declan Rice has been everything Arsenal wanted him to be this season, and more. Signed for a club record transfer fee of £105m to be the Gunners’ new load-bearing pillar in the centre of the pitch, the England international has even offered something in an attacking sense, scoring his sixth league goal of the campaign in Saturday’s win over Brentford.

• Sport

  Caomihan Kelleher could play a key role in Liverpool’s title hopes

  Liverpool are lucky to have Caomihan Kelleher. Not many Premier League clubs have a second-choice goalkeeper as impressive as the Reds’ number two. Kelleher was crucial in the Carabao Cup final triumph over Chelsea and was once again central Liverpool’s dramatic 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

• Sport

  England must build around Phil Foden like City have this season

  Not many players are operating at the level Phil Foden is right now. In fact, Pep Guardiola believes the Manchester City midfielder is currently the “best player in the Premier League” after netting his 17th and 18th goals of the season in Sunday’s derby.

• Sport

  Carabao Cup triumph shows what Liverpool will lose when Klopp leaves

  The pride was clear in Jurgen Klopp’s grin as he celebrated an unlikely Liverpool triumph in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final. Everything was in Chelsea’s favour to get the job done, yet it was “Klopp’s Kids,” as they have been widely dubbed, that ended up with their hands on the trophy on the famous Wembley steps.

• Sport

  Foden enjoying the best season of his career and finally becoming a key pillar for City

  When Erling Haaland failed to make the difference for Manchester City against Bournemouth on Saturday, Phil Foden stepped up. The 23-year-old has been doing that lot for Pep Guardiola’s team of late, scoring five goals in his last six games in all competitions.

• Sport

  Arsenal don’t need a new superstar attacker when they have Saka

  Arsenal, according to many observers including some of their own fans, need a new attacking difference-maker. This widespread belief led to speculation about a move for a centre forward in the January transfer window and while the Gunners ultimately pulled back from several targets the consensus about Mikel Arteta’s attacking options remains.

• Sport

  Gary O’Neill emerging as the best young English manager in the Premier League

  Wolves’ players had to persuade Gary O’Neill to take his moment of acclaim in front of the travelling support at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The 40-year-old is a reserved character, but has forged an eye-catching team that pulled off an extremely impressive away win over Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

• Sport

  Garnacho can still improve his output in the final third.

  Manchester United spent over £150m in the space of just one year in an attempt to find a long-term solution to their problem position on the right wing. Jadon Sancho cost £73m. Antony cost £86m. Yet neither were able to give United what they needed on the right side of their attack.

• Sport

  Harry Kane joined Bayern Munich at the wrong time.

  Not since 2012 have Bayern Munich finished a season without the Bundesliga trophy in-hand. That was when Jurgen Klopp led Borussia Dortmund to title glory. Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben were Bayern players.

• Sport

  Chelsea might have no choice but to cut their losses on Sterling

  There was a lot for Chelsea fans to be unhappy with as they watched their team suffer a damaging 4-2 home defeat to Wolves on Sunday, but Raheem Sterling bore a large brunt of the frustration. Indeed, the 29-year-old was booed by his own supporters, raising questions about Sterling’s long-term future at Stamford Bridge.

• Sport

  Tottenham don’t need to replace Kane with Richarlison in this form

  The £100m collected by Tottenham Hotspur from Bayern Munich for Harry Kane still hasn’t been spent – at least not on a direct replacement for the centre forward. Spurs have invested in other areas of their squad under new manager Ange Postecoglou, but they have so far refrained from entering the market for a new goalscoring number nine.

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