Former England international Rio Ferdinand has urged Everton’s John Stones to pick Manchester United over Chelsea if the defender prefers more playing time.
Premier League champions Chelsea have had bids for the 21-year-old defender turned down with other clubs, including United, also in the fray, according to British media reports.
“If he goes to Man United, he plays every week so that’s the right club for him,” Ferdinand said.
“If he goes to Chelsea, he’s not playing every week. He’s at that stage of his development where he wants to play every week.
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“If you say to any young footballer to leave a club to sit on the bench, you’ve got to be a lunatic. You have to be.”
Ferdinand believes his former club United need to strengthen their defence.
“I don’t think (coach Louis Van Gaal) knows his best defence — that’s a problem in itself,” the 36-year-old Ferdinand, who retired at the end of last season, added.
“Part of the reason he doesn’t know it is because he hasn’t had a chance to watch them all play over a long time — consistently for 12 or 15 games.
“If you don’t get that familiarity between you as defenders, it’s difficult to build foundations.”
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ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
The Freedom Artist
By Ben Okri (Head of Zeus)
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes pen 2') Tottenham Hotspur 6 (Ndombele 4', Son 7' & 37' Kane (30' & pen 79, Aurier 51')
Man of the match Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
