Chelsea eye replacement for Cech

   

José Mourinho has made Stoke goalkeeper Asmir Begovic his ideal replacement for Petr Cech, who joined London rivals Arsenal earlier in the week.

The departure of Petr Cech has loomed large over Chelsea for the last few months but the Czech’s move to rivals Arsenal was finally completed on Monday.

With Thibaut Courtois as Chelsea’s permanent number one, the Blues need to sign a second-choice goalkeeper after Cech’s move andAsmir Begovic has emerged as the primary target. The Bosnian shot-stopper has been a consistent performer for Stoke City since joining in 2010 and qualifies as home-grown, ticking all the boxes for José Mourinho’s needs.

Begovic ticks all the boxes as a shrewd signing

The 28-year old is counted as home-grown because he joinedPortsmouth at the age of 16 and has played in England since 2005. The Bosnian has proven to one of the Premier League's top goalkeepers and has made 171 Premier League appearances, even scoring the “longest goal ever” against Southampton in 2013.

Begovic is entering the final year of his current contract with The Potters and has yet to show signs of extending his stay at theBritannia Stadium. England's young international Jack Butland is emerging as the future first-choice at Stoke and could eventually seal Begovic’s departure - the Bosnian was unhappy that Butland featured in the final few fixtures of last term, suggesting the club had a readily-available, and capable replacement if Asmir opted to leave.

Perfect replacement for Cech, and younger too

He’s seen as the perfect replacement for Cech at Chelsea and the move would mark the Blues’ first major signing in a summer of strengthening for England’s top clubs. With title rivals strengthening elsewhere, Chelsea moving for Begovic may be the first of many possible changes in West London this summer.

There were possible choices elsewhere but Begovic is the stand-out star amongst the possible candidates, having been a regular in England’s top flight for five seasons now. With plenty of Premier League experience under his belt, the Bosnian is sure to be a success if he does complete a move to Stamford Bridge. If the two clubs agree a transfer fee on the switch; believed to be around £10million pounds, Begovic will be expected to play a role in Chelsea’s participation in four competitions.

Manchester United 3 - 2 Manchester City: Where are they now?

A look back at Manchester United's 3-2 victory over Manchester City in 2011 Community Shield.

Back at the beginning of the 2011/12 season Manchester Unitedwere involved in one of the most dramatic Community Shield matches in recent memory.

They came up against a Manchester City side at Wembley and Sir Alex Ferguson’s found themselves 2-0 down in the first 45 minutes with goals from defender Joleon Lescott and striker Edin Dzeko.

However goals in quick succession from Chris Smalling and Nani at the beginning of the second period brought them on level terms. The game looked destined to go to penalties but Nani managed to grab a very late winner to send the red half of the national stadium into a frenzy.

Here is a look back at what those players from that famous win are doing now.

David De Gea

World Class: De Gea has established himself as one of the best GK's in the world this season

This was De Gea’s first season at Old Trafford since his £17.8 millionfrom Atletico Madrid in the summer. He didn’t really make a good impression on United fans as he could have done better to prevent the two City goals. 

This would be the path that his first season in English football would follow as he came under fire for mainly his lack of strength and authority of his area which saw him in and out of the team forAndres Lindegaard.

De Gea has come on leaps and bounds since then establishing himself as one of, if not, the best keeper in the league and easily one of the best keepers on the planet. Last season was the Spaniard's best one so far in a United shirt, pulling off a number of important saves in vital matches that saved Louis Van Gaal’s side numerous points throughout the campaign.

The summer has been swarmed by rumours linking De Gea with a move across to Spain with giants Real Madrid, with a deal looking more and more likely. Despite that, fans will be hoping that Van Gaal will lock down the keeper to a new long term deal.

Patrice Evra

The French left-back was virtually a  United veteran at this point after he moved to England back in January of the 2005-06 season and went on to establish himself in one of the most solid defences in United history and became one of the fan favourites.

Evra continued to be solid and reliant for another two seasons even picking up the arm band for the 2012-13 season. After eight years of service, Evra’s successful time in Manchester came to an end, picking up 15 trophies, 379 appearances and 10 goals along the way.

At the age of 33 Evra continued to play at the top level joining Juventus and went onto win the Serie A title. He also appeared in another Champions League final during his debut season in Italy.

Rio Ferdinand

The 2011/12 season was when Ferdinand’s career at Old Trafford was coming to an end but he still had lots to offer and had already established himself as one of the best defenders in the history of the club.

The defender was already one of the best young defenders in the English game during his time at West Ham and Leeds. His move to Manchester made him the most expensive player in British history at the time when Ferguson forked out £30million  for his services.

That substantial amount was pennies compared for what he brought during his illustrious 12 years  in Manchester with 455 appearances,eight goals and an impressive 16 trophies in that time.

His time at United did come to end in 2014 before he moved ontoQueens Park Rangers for the 2014/15 season, a handful of appearances and eventual relegation later wasn’t a fitting way for one of the best British defenders of recent times to bow out of the game, but his legacy especially at Old Trafford will live on for years to come.

Nemanja Vidic

Vidic came from Spartak Moscow along with Evra in the January of 2006 and would go on to be one of the best defenders in the continent.

Almost instantly he formed a fantastic partnership with Ferdinand which went on to become one of the best defensive partnerships that the league has ever seen. He dominated between 2008 and 2011 been named in the FIFA FIFPro World XI on two separate occasions.

However the 2011/12 season is where things began to decline as he would only make 10 appearances after he picked up a major injury in a Champions League match with Basel. He returned the next campaign but another injury setback saw him miss another eight weeks.

The 2013/14 season would be a bitter end to a sweet career in Manchester as he announced in January that he would be moving toInter Milan ahead of the 2014/15 season. Life has been tough so far in Milan for the Serbian but a defender of his quality will eventually reach the heights of quality that everyone knows that he has.

Anderson

Flop?: Anderson will go down as a flop among the United faithful, and an expensive one at that. 

When talking about the poorest signings in the Ferguson era Anderson is one of the names that will feature a number of times.

Along with Nani he moved from Portugal to England in the summer of 2007 and there was a lot of hype around the Brazilian midfielder as he was considered by many as one of the hottest young prospects on the continent.

However he very much failed to live up to that label as he managed to stumble through a poor eight seasons at Old Trafford making just181 appearances with nine goals to show for it aswell as four Premier League, two League cups, two community shields andone Champions League and a Club World Cup medal.

The lack of playing time saw him move to Fiorentina on loan during  January of 2014 were also failed to impress during eight match stint. He permanently moved to Brazilian side Internacional in 2015 and only aged 27 there is still time for the midfielder to rejuvenate his somewhat stagnated career.

Michael Carrick

It would be another season before Carrick really announced himself on the stage but for a number of years he has been considered one of the more underrated players in the side after his transfer fromTottenham back in 2006.

Fast forward three years and after an excellent 2012-13 season where he was arguably the best player in a great side making 36 appearances out of 38 in the league he has become integral in the United set up.

His importance to the side was evident during his injury setbacks and how United played on his return. He is now one of the more senior members of the squad and is arguably the best example that young players should be striving to imitate.

Nani

The Portuguese winger was the man of the match in this particular game versus Manchester City with his spectacular brace, but Nani could be considered to be one of the most frustrating figures in the eyes of united fans.

Nani was considered to be one of the best young players on the planet at the time when he transferred from Sporting Lisbon along with Anderson back in 2007 but after the departure of superstarCristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid the weight of expectation on Nani’s shoulders was massive with glimpses of potential on show.

After a 2013-14 season full of injuries and lack of form the winger returned to Sporting Lisbon on loan and despite rumours suggesting he has agreed terms with Turkish side Fenerbache, Nani is apparently determined to prove himself again at Old Trafford.

Ashley Young

New Start: Ashley Young is a completely different footballer to the one guided under Moyes

Another new arrival for the season along with De Gea was Ashley Young. The winger had been an integral part in a surprisingly brilliant Aston Villa side and was snapped up by Ferguson for a reported £18million.

He impressed in his season in a United but from there he lost  that spark that made him such a success at Villa Park and it was becoming more and more frustrating for fans to see him underperforming knowing the talent that he had.

Young seemed to go through a change through Van Gaal'sguidance, performing strongly throughout the pre-season tour of America. However, when it got to the beginning of the season his form seemed to drop back again.

However. he eventually got going again  and became one of the more vital components in the side and will be looking to build upon that ahead of the 2015/16 season.

Wayne Rooney

2011/12 was another good year for Wayne Rooney on his path to become one of the best strikers  the clubs history had ever had but even though he had been in Manchester for three seasons at this point, he was showing greatness after his £30million move fromEverton back in 2005.

He had lit Old Trafford on fire in the first few years after his £30million move from boyhood club Everton back in 2005 but  some would still argue that he never truly lived up to his expectations but it cannot be argued that he has been one of the best talents of his generation.

Rooney has been misused in the last few years frequently playing in the midfield but after being promoted to captain of club and country he is beginning to show his true quality once again.

Danny Welbeck

Welbeck was beloved by all United and had been a Manchester United fan favourite,  having come through the youth system straight into the first team, however he was a player that never really received his fair share of games making just 90 appearances for his six years at the club.

He was also criticised for his lack of goal scoring consistency scoring just 20 throughout his time at Old Trafford, the lack of playing time eventually led to the departure of the 24-year old to rivals Arsenalon deadline day at the beginning of this season and is finally  beginning promise to his new club.