Mourinho unsure whether Anthony Martial will rejoin squad
Anthony Martial's future at Manchester United is hanging in the balance after Jose Mourinho admitted he doesn't know if the AWOL French star will rejoin the squad.
Martial left United's tour base in LA against Mourinho's wishes last week and flew to Paris to be at the birth of his baby son with partner Melanie Da Cruz.
It stretched Martial's fractious relationship with Mourinho to breaking point, and the player made it clear to friends that he had no intention of returning to camp even though the baby was born only 24 hours later.
The United manager responded by calling for Martial to come back following United's defeat to Liverpool in Michigan on Saturday.
'He has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank God – he should be here and he is not here,' said Mourinho, having previously made a pointed reference to it being Martial's second child.
After United finished their US tour by beating Real Madrid in Miami without the absent Martial and prepared to fly home in the early hours of Wednesday, Mourinho was asked if the former Monaco winger would return to the group. 'I don't know,' replied Mourinho after initially ducking a question about Martial.
United were due to land in England on Wednesday morning, and Mourinho will give the plyers who went on tour Thursday off. They will re-assemble at Carrington on Friday and it remains to be seen if Martial returns to the club.
Mkhitaryan hope Ramsey will sign new Arsenal contract
27 minutes ago / autty
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has lavished praise upon Aaron Ramsey and expressed a desire to see his team-mate pen fresh terms to become a 'legend' at Arsenal.
Ramsey is entering the final year of his current contract at the Emirates Stadium and has yet to agree an extension despite being in negotiations for some time.
Arsenal are evidently eager not to risk losing the long-serving midfielder on a free transfer next summer and manager Unai Emery is said to be confident of securing his future, though wants talks to be wrapped up by the end of the window.
However, Sportsmail revealed over the weekend that Chelsea are keeping a close eye on his situation and could make their move in the event of a deadlock between the two parties, with Ramsey valued at around £30million.
The Welsh international thrived in support of a new-look attack in the second half of Arsene Wenger's final season at the helm, scoring eight times after February as part of a team now containing both Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
His hard graft from box-to-box certainly did not go unnoticed by the former, who told Arsenal's official website: 'His work rate is very, very high and everyone appreciates what he does on the pitch and off it, because he's a true professional.
'Of course it's very easy to play next to him because he tries to be everywhere to help the team - to score goals, to assist, to tackle, recover balls – and that's why I'm going to be very happy if he stays at the club.'
Ramsey joined Arsenal from Cardiff as a 17-year-old prodigy in June 2008 after rejecting both Manchester United and Everton.
He has since gone on to make 331 total appearances for the Gunners across all competitions, netting 59 times and providing 57 assists.
Ramsey has also lifted three FA Cups during that time - scoring two memorable final winners at Wembley - and Mkhitaryan wants to see him further embellish his already lofty reputation as an Arsenal stalwart.
'I think he's been with the club for 10 years already and it seems that he became a symbol for this club,' he added.
'I will be very happy for him if he signs a new contract because he's in the history of Arsenal already and I hope he can become a legend for Arsenal after a few more years.'
Martial left United's tour base in LA against Mourinho's wishes last week and flew to Paris to be at the birth of his baby son with partner Melanie Da Cruz.
It stretched Martial's fractious relationship with Mourinho to breaking point, and the player made it clear to friends that he had no intention of returning to camp even though the baby was born only 24 hours later.
The United manager responded by calling for Martial to come back following United's defeat to Liverpool in Michigan on Saturday.
'He has the baby and after the baby is born – beautiful baby, full of health, thank God – he should be here and he is not here,' said Mourinho, having previously made a pointed reference to it being Martial's second child.
After United finished their US tour by beating Real Madrid in Miami without the absent Martial and prepared to fly home in the early hours of Wednesday, Mourinho was asked if the former Monaco winger would return to the group. 'I don't know,' replied Mourinho after initially ducking a question about Martial.
United were due to land in England on Wednesday morning, and Mourinho will give the plyers who went on tour Thursday off. They will re-assemble at Carrington on Friday and it remains to be seen if Martial returns to the club.
Mkhitaryan hope Ramsey will sign new Arsenal contract
27 minutes ago / autty
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has lavished praise upon Aaron Ramsey and expressed a desire to see his team-mate pen fresh terms to become a 'legend' at Arsenal.
Ramsey is entering the final year of his current contract at the Emirates Stadium and has yet to agree an extension despite being in negotiations for some time.
Arsenal are evidently eager not to risk losing the long-serving midfielder on a free transfer next summer and manager Unai Emery is said to be confident of securing his future, though wants talks to be wrapped up by the end of the window.
However, Sportsmail revealed over the weekend that Chelsea are keeping a close eye on his situation and could make their move in the event of a deadlock between the two parties, with Ramsey valued at around £30million.
The Welsh international thrived in support of a new-look attack in the second half of Arsene Wenger's final season at the helm, scoring eight times after February as part of a team now containing both Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
His hard graft from box-to-box certainly did not go unnoticed by the former, who told Arsenal's official website: 'His work rate is very, very high and everyone appreciates what he does on the pitch and off it, because he's a true professional.
'Of course it's very easy to play next to him because he tries to be everywhere to help the team - to score goals, to assist, to tackle, recover balls – and that's why I'm going to be very happy if he stays at the club.'
Ramsey joined Arsenal from Cardiff as a 17-year-old prodigy in June 2008 after rejecting both Manchester United and Everton.
He has since gone on to make 331 total appearances for the Gunners across all competitions, netting 59 times and providing 57 assists.
Ramsey has also lifted three FA Cups during that time - scoring two memorable final winners at Wembley - and Mkhitaryan wants to see him further embellish his already lofty reputation as an Arsenal stalwart.
'I think he's been with the club for 10 years already and it seems that he became a symbol for this club,' he added.
'I will be very happy for him if he signs a new contract because he's in the history of Arsenal already and I hope he can become a legend for Arsenal after a few more years.'
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