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Ruud van Nistelrooy singles out Manchester United star for praise ahead of Leicester City clash

LEICESTER, ENGLAND - MARCH 07 : Leicester City Manager Ruud van Nistelrooy during the Leicester City Training Session and press conference at Seagrave Training Complex on March 07, 2025 in Leicester, England. (Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images)
Ruud van Nistelrooy is primed for another Manchester United reunion (Picture: Getty)

Leicester boss Ruud van Nistelrooy is adamant he has seen signs of significant Manchester United improvement under Ruben Amorim.

United have had their struggles since the Portuguese took over following Van Nistelrooy’s short but successful spell as interim manager, which included two victories over his new club.

The two sides met in the FA Cup in February and United needed an offside goal in the final minute to earn a 2-1 win at Old Trafford.

There appear to be green shoots of recovery under Amorim – they reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League on Thursday night – and Van Nistelrooy insists they are a better side than the one Leicester played last month.

‘It’s important to realise that we played the cup game away, not so long ago,” he said ahead of Sunday’s visit of United.

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‘I think United is in a better place than at the time that we played in the cup.

‘They had a very good game against Arsenal and yesterday, they were very strong. Obviously, it’s a great boost that they’re in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

Manchester United v Real Sociedad de Futbol - UEFA Europa League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg
Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick in Thursday’s win over Real Sociedad (Photo by Alex Livesey – Danehouse/Getty Images)

‘That’s a great boost and a good win.’

Skipper Bruno Fernandes has come under-fire in recent weeks in his role as captain, but Van Nistelrooy has noticed the United captain’s form appears to be mirroring that of his improving side.

‘Bruno (Fernandes) is in great form, scoring a hat-trick and then scored the free-kick against Arsenal, so very decisive in that team,’ he said.

‘So, it’s a team that I think got some momentum going, especially after yesterday. It’s definitely a team that is in a better place than when we played them in the FA Cup.’

Leicester City manager Ruud van Nistelrooy during the Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, London. Picture date: Sunday March 9, 2025. PA Photo. See PA story SOCCER Chelsea. Photo credit should read: John Walton/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: EDITORIAL USE ONLY No use with unauthorised audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications.
Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester City team are heading for relegation (Credits: John Walton/PA Wire)

Leicester’s plight is not looking as positive as they are on a seemingly-irreversible slide to Premier League relegation.

They have lost 12 of their last 13 games and are six points adrift of safety.

But Van Nistelrooy admitted results were not matching performances.

He added: ‘We showed against Chelsea, we showed up, we were there. I think if you saw us playing and you don’t know any context, then you would see a team and say, ‘OK, this is a proper team”

‘A positive result would do us really good. That is really clear, it’s what we’re working for and what we took from the Chelsea game.

‘It’s what we’ve worked on this week to develop the structures we’ve put in place. We were able to build on that and bring it into Sunday’s game.

‘With the (international) break, it would give a good boost to get a positive result.’

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Hero jumps from burning building with ‘baby tucked into his boxer shorts’

Flats on fire in Lochawe Close Heywood Police, fire engines and paramedics swarm street amid reports of serious incident Emergency services have been scrambled to a street after reports of a serious incident. Greater Manchester Police together with the fire service and paramedics are at the scene in Heywood, near Rochdale, on Thursday afternoon. Vehicles are gathered on Lochawe Close in Heywood, which runs off Argyle Street.
Emergency services were called to the fire in Heywood yesterday afternoon (Picture: Steve Allen)

A kind community rallied after a man jumped from a burning building with a baby tucked into his boxer shorts to save the little one’s life.

The incident on Thursday saw emergency services rushed to Lochawe Close in Heywood, Greater Manchester, at around 3pm.

Fire crews responded to a blaze that tore through four flats and led to three people being taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.

Residents reported having to jump down from the building to escape the flames.

One local said they saw a man leap from the burning first floor flat and onto the ground with a baby, reported to be just five months old, tucked into his boxer shorts.

Flats on fire in Lochawe Close Heywood Police, fire engines and paramedics swarm street amid reports of serious incident Emergency services have been scrambled to a street after reports of a serious incident. Greater Manchester Police together with the fire service and paramedics are at the scene in Heywood, near Rochdale, on Thursday afternoon. Vehicles are gathered on Lochawe Close in Heywood, which runs off Argyle Street.
One resident said the community is ‘really tight’. (Picture: Steve Allen)

Anthony Wright, 34, said he saw his neighbour after he had leapt out of the building with his child.

The neighbour told Mr Wright both he and the child were ‘fine’.

He said: ‘The first thing I said was to ask if he was OK and he said they were fine.

‘I definitely wanted to make sure they are alright. This community is really tight.’

Mr Wright told the Manchester Evening News, said he also had to jump down from the first floor.

He said: ‘I’ve seen black embers outside the window and I’ve looked out of the window and people were waving at me. I didn’t know why they were waving.

‘I’ve gone to my front door and I’ve seen black smoke.

‘I’ve slammed the door. I kicked my window through [and] I’ve jumped out.’

Another resident, Liam Hughes, 35, said: ‘I was in the shops and saw the smoke and ran up there, banging on the windows to get everyone out.

‘If I had not gone there it could have been a lot worse. None of them had any clothes on.’

Residents on a local Facebook group titled ‘Heywood Town’ appeared to rally around a young family caught up in the incident.

One local wrote that they took a young woman and her boyfriend and baby ‘in my house to keep them safe’.

Other generous residents responded by offering support by providing nappies and clothes.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: ‘At just before 2.55pm on Thursday (March 13) GMFRS were called to a fire involving four maisonette flats on Lochawe Close, Heywood.

‘A number of fire engines and special appliances were quickly mobilised to the scene with surrounding properties evacuated.

‘Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used jets to extinguish the fire and are dampening down any remaining hot spots.

‘Crews remain in attendance alongside Greater Manchester Police and North West Ambulance Service.’ 

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All the celebrities who have fled the US as Justin and Hailey Bieber ‘plan move’

The 2021 Met Gala Celebrating In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion - Arrivals
Justin Bieber and Hailey Bieber are reportedly looking to leave the US (Picture: Getty)

Justin and Hailey Bieber are reportedly the latest celebs ditching the United States and seeking bliss elsewhere.

The couple – who have been married for nearly seven years – are now considering relocating to aEuropean villa with their son Jack Blues Bieber.

This comes after fans have expressed their concerns for the Somebody to Love hitmaker, 31, after consistent public appearances in which he looked disheveled and disconnected.

While many suspected trouble in paradise between Justin and Hailey, a source told The US Sun that the couple are finding a spot where the two can ‘enjoy some time far away from the spotlight.’

According to the source, the couple are looking to ‘enjoy a simpler life again’ with a ‘slower pace of life to reconnect in a quiet environment.’

And they’re not the only A-listers that have taken that leap…

Lindsay Lohan

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 02: Lindsay Lohan attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)
Lindsay Lohan has been living in Dubai for several years (Picture: Getty)

Actress Lindsay Lohan – best known for her roles in Mean Girls and The Parent Trap – now lives in Dubai with her husband, Bader Shammas, and their baby son, Luai, and has been based there for several years. 

The Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen star,38, shared what her day to day life in Dubai is like and revealed the biggest difference from living in Los Angeles.

‘(It’s) the same things that any normal mom would do in their daily life. Or you would do in L.A.,’ she shared with Flaunt magazine last year.

She went on to say that most days are laid back – she wakes up with her son and has breakfast with him before she goes to either pilates or the park.

‘I think the only difference is the time zone shift,’ the Freaky Friday icon  explained. ‘There’s a big disconnect between when work starts for me and other places. I can do my work calls with New York at like three or four … and then L.A. picks up later.’

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi

77th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals
Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi left following the US election (Picture: WireImage)

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, 67, and her wife Portia de Rossi, 52, moved across the pond into a house they purchased in The Cotswolds after the recent US election which saw Donald Trump back in power.

Last December, it was reported that the home flooded during Storm Bert, which saw days of torrential rain and 80mph winds.

However, in a post from Ellen, she confirmed her 43-acre property was not one of the casualties of the storm as the River Thames broke its banks.

In the post on social media, the star reflected on her 20-year relationship with her wife and their excitement about their ‘first snowy Christmas’ in the UK.

But at the end of the post she confirmed to her followers: ‘P.S. for those of you concerned, our UK farmhouse did NOT flood.’

Sophie Turner

Mandatory Credit: Photo by James Veysey/Shutterstock (14728375v) Sophie Turner 'Joan' TV Series photocall, London, UK - 19 Sep 2024
Sophie Turner returned back to her London roots following her divorce from Joe Jonas (Picture: James Veysey/Shutterstock)

Following her divorce from singer Joe Jonas and a period of living in the US, Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, 29, moved back to the UK and now lives in London.

She told Harper’s Bazaar magazine: ‘Every city we ended up in, the first thing I’d do was find a British shop and stock up on a month’s worth of chocolate …

‘[In America] the gun violence, Roe v Wade being overturned … everything just kind of piled on. I’m so happy to be back [in the UK].

‘It felt as if my life was on pause until I returned to England.

‘I just never really feel like myself when I’m not in London, with my friends and family. I was away for so long – six years … ‘

Eva Longoria

JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - DECEMBER 06: Eva Longoria attends Women In Cinema during the Red Sea International Film Festival 2024 at Jeddah Yacht Club on December 06, 2024 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images for The Red Sea International Film Festival)
Eva Longoria and her family split their time between Spain and Mexico City (Picture: Getty)

Desperate Housewives queen Eva Longoria, 49, explained why she left the United States with her family.

The Gabrielle Solis star revealed that she and her husband José Bastón, along with their six-year-old son Santiago, are splitting their time between living in Spain and Mexico City.

However, Eva made it clear her decision wasn’t based on the 2024 US presidential election.

‘I didn’t leave because of the political environment. I left because my work took me there,’ she said on The View: Behind the Table podcast.

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Alexander Isak responds to Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea transfer links

Newcastle United FC v Nottingham Forest FC - Premier League
Alexander Isak has been linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world (Picture: Getty)

Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak has responded to intense transfer speculation linking him with Premier League giants Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea.

Isak has been one of the best players in the English top-flight this season, scoring 19 goals to help Newcastle challenge for the Champions League places and reach the Carabao Cup final.

A number of top clubs have expressed interest in signing Isak, who joined Newcastle in 2023 from La Liga side Real Sociedad, and the player admits his future will inevitably be a ‘talking point’ come the summer.

Arsenal have been linked with Isak for over a year but Newcastle’s steep price-tag – he is believed to be valued at around £120m – has so far put the Gunners off a move.

Mikel Arteta is desperate to welcome a new striker to the Emirates Stadium, with Arsenal’s lack of firepower seeing them slip 15 points behind in the title race.

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Premier League champions-elect and Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final opponents Liverpool have also expressed interest in a deal after playing without a recognised striker for much of Arne Slot’s first season at Anfield.

Chelsea, too, could launch a summer move for Isak after struggling in front of goal in the second-half of the season.

The Club Badges of the So-Called Top Six in English Football
A number of top clubs have expressed interest in Isak (Picture: Getty)

Responding to the transfer speculation ahead of Sunday’s Wembley final, Isak said: ‘I am not really thinking about the summer yet.

‘That will be a talking point when the season is finished. No talks have been held yet. I have said many times that I don’t really think too much about my future. 

‘I have said many times I am happy here and we are competing for titles, which is what you want as a football player. We have been to one final and now we are in another one.

Newcastle United Training Session
Isak is preparing for the Carabao Cup final (Picture: Getty)

‘The chances are there. We should look at it one season at a time, and this season we can win a trophy.

‘I have said many times I am focused on doing a job. All of our focus is on Sunday and bringing a trophy back.’

Isak was subbed off during Newcastle’s Premier League victory over West Ham last week and their previous game, a FA Cup defeat to Brighton.

Asked if he has been carrying an injury, Isak said: ‘I have not been injured I have just had a bit of tiredness. I feel good. I am really excited for the game.

‘The best way to prepare is to train as normal. It will come down to what we do as a team, and that is all we can focus on. I am excited but focused on the job.’

Discussing his impressive exploits at St James’ Park, Isak added: ‘I just want to be the best version of myself. I have high ambitions. I am trying to create my own history at Newcastle.

‘I’m happy with what I have done so far but always looking forward. It’s hard work and training and the mentality to want to get better.

‘I have ambitions to achieve in my career and be the best version of myself.’

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