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You can swap your ‘extortionate’ England shirt for a free holiday

A £125 shirt or a week in Turkey... (Contains affiliate links)

Daisy Jackson Daisy Jackson - 22nd March 2024

A new amnesty is allowing people to swap their England shirt (the price of which has been labelled ‘outrageous’) for a literal holiday.

It means that England fans who have splashed out on the new kit could swap it – and our gloomy home nation – for the sunny climes of Spain.

The England shirt amnesty comes from package holiday experts On The Beach, who are targeting everyone who’s been upset by the launch of the new strip this week.

Fans have been criticising the price of the new England kit since Nike released it this week.

A replica England shirt will set you back £84.99 and the authentic ‘Dri-FIT Adv’ versions that the players wear are being sold at a whopping £124.99.

Many have also questioned the change to the St George’s cross on the collar of the shirt – it’s now a striped pattern of purples, blues and reds, rather than the usual solid scarlet (personally think it looks alright…)

Even Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer have kicked off about the flag, like there aren’t bigger projects for them to be working on right now.

Now On The Beach are joining the outraged people online and adding to the call for the strip to be changed.

And in the meantime, if you hate the new kit that much that you can’t bear to look at the one you’ve purchased, you can send it off to the holiday company and they’ll send you on holiday instead.

You can swap your 'outrageous' England shirt for a holiday in the On The Beach amnesty
You can swap your ‘outrageous’ England shirt for a holiday in the On The Beach amnesty. Credit: Nike

On The Beach is promising to swap the £124.99 shirts for a £250 holiday voucher, double the cost of the shirt, to spend on a trip.

They’ve highlighted a couple of holidays you can get for that price, including seven nights at the Club Munamar Beach Resort in Dalaman in Turkey (from £248pp) and the Alegria Maripins in the Costa Brava in Spain (from £235pp).

Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach, said: “Along with millions of England football fans we can’t believe that the England flag has been changed on the nation’s strip.

“British holidaymakers watching the Euros abroad wear that shirt with pride, but we have no doubt that they’ll be wearing classic strips this summer and not this so called ‘playful’ update.

“So, we’re taking action. Anyone who has bought the shirt and wants to get rid can send us the strip and we will give them a £250 holiday voucher in return.”

Nike said that the update was meant to be a ‘playful’ change that would ‘unite and inspire’ fans for the Euro 2024 tournament.

Zoe Harris added: “I know many of our customers will be repping the retro shirts but if you have taken a punt on the new England strip and you’re disappointed with the unnecessary changes that have been made, we’re here to take it off your hands.”

If you own one of the new authentic England shirts, you can send it to On the Beach’s head office at: On the Beach, England Shirt Amnesty, 5 Adair St, Greater, Manchester M1 2NQ, along with your contact name, address and number.

Fans have until 7 April to send their official shirt in and On the Beach will contact those who have taken part to send them a £250 holiday voucher.

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Featured image: On The Beach

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Benjamin Šeško quote resurfaces as Manchester United switch sole focus to pursuit of Slovenia star

Danny Jones Danny Jones Benjamin Sesko better than Haaland trainer quote

Slovenia striker Benjamin Šeško is now considered the primary transfer target for Manchester United for this summer window, as per multiple reports, and with the links only growing stronger as a quote relating to him and former RB Salzburg forward Erling Haaland has cropped back up.

Now on the books at the franchise club’s German counterpart in Leipzig, Šeško is one of the most highly sought-after talents in Europe at present, showing not only huge potential and a unique profile but already some impressive returns when it comes to goal contributions.

Although Haaland is ahead in terms of numbers, they do bear some resemblance in terms of height, physicality and speed for their size, and while they barely came across each other in the Red Bull setup – Šeško being loaned out to fellow Austrian side Liefering – they have drawn plenty of comparisons.

In fact, according to the 22-year-old himself, some feel he might just be “better” than the Norwegian phenomenon. At least that’s what some teammates and former colleagues are claimed to have said.

The pair may never have got to play together, but according to an old trainer who worked with both of them, each showed plenty of early promise.

Speaking to Sportsmail, ex-Salzburg coach Rene Aufhauser said, “Benjamin is maybe the better football player, better to play with the team, technically maybe better at the same age”.

The retired defensive midfielder elaborated that Šeško was arguably the more natural all-round athlete, detailing that he has always been “smooth with the ball, very good technique, good finishing, and he jumps so high; very, very good with the head – it’s unbelievable.”

Aufhauser went on to add, however: “Erling was mentally a monster and better at the same age. This is the last five, 10 per cent that Benji has to get.”

Šeško has said previously that he watched lots of clips of Haaland’s movements, specifically, when he first joined the RB football group.

It was also noted that while the emerging prospect may have just edged out the now fully-fledged Manchester City superstar in some departments at an early age, the big number nine always managed to find the back of the net more often.

He’s certainly kept that up in the years since then…

A 2022 quote from Šeško is all well and good, but Haaland has proved plenty of paper in just a few short years at the Etihad.

It’s also worth noting that the two attackers are not just pretty equally quick in a straight line, but both as tall as each other, clocking in at exactly 6ft 4in, with the Man City man barely three years his senior.

On the other hand, Šeško is known for keeping up multiple sports besides just football (basketball, in particular),

Besides their position, he told Amazon Prime Video Sport that he believes there is a lot of value not just in being sized up against the likes of Haaland but in trying to take cues from other pros in training, having also named a previous Red Devil himself as a key role model: one Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Most of this talk probably sounds all well and good to most United fans, but another key stumbling block in terms of a move for the budding young goalscorer is RB Leipzig’s supposed asking price, as the Bundesliga outfit is said to value him in the region of £70m.

Nevertheless, The Athletic now writes that INEOS and head coach Ruben Amorim are now solely focused on trying to sign Šeško, having previously narrowed it down to him and Premier League-proven Ollie Watkins.

Even if they get it done, the question is, will the confident forward suit English football as much as Watkins or dare we say Haaland – and furthermore, if they do, what might this mean for Manchester United’s current centre forwards?

Ruben Amorim and Rasmus Højlund both make stances clear on forward’s future at Man United
More MUFC arrivals are still said to be largely dependent on player sales.

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Featured Images — Werner100359/Roland Osbeck (via Wikimedia Commons)

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Ruben Amorim and Rasmus Højlund both make stances clear on forward’s future at Man United

Danny Jones Danny Jones Ramsus Hojlund wants to stay at Man United

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim and striker Rasmus Højlund have both made their stances clear when it comes to the forward’s future, with question marks looming over whether or not he will stay at the club this season.

The Danish international opened the scoring in the Red Devils’ third pre-season fixture on their current US tour as they went on to beat Bournemouth 4-1 in their Premier League Summer Series clash.

Adding a glancing nod on the end of the man of the match, Patrick Dorgu’s cross, Højlund headed home the first, but also impressed with some key link-up play in transition, with Amorim arguing that Man United “are playing better because he’s playing better”, despite lingering links with a move away.

Speaking to various media outlets after the full-time whistle, the number nine made his feelings on the somewhat uncertain situation “very clear”, assuring that he wants to remain at Old Trafford and “fight for [his spot] whatever happens.”

Reiterating that he just wants to “keep working hard” and “stay focused” on the job at hand, the ex-Atalanta marksman admitted that the pressure of being the main and sometimes only goal threat when arriving at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’.

Speaking to the BBC’s Simon Stone, he said he “could have done with some help in terms of sharing the games a bit, especially in the beginning”, but went on to reinforce that he is more willing than ever to get stuck in, insisting: “Competition is fine with me, it sharpens me. I’m more than ready.”

The centre-forward, who is still just 22, also believes he’s still learning plenty about how to improve his game, adding, “I think you can see it in my game. I’m starting to develop and become even better in the basics” – something his manager also commented on in his own post-match duties.

Amorim, who is now eight months into the rather big job, told club media in the press conference following the promising victory over the Cherries that he was impressed with both his many others overall play compared to the previous campaign already.

Most importantly for the youngster, as well, although the Portuguese head coach wouldn’t be drawn into question regarding whether Højlund will stay at United or be sold to potentially fund a move for a new striker, he made it plain that he’s more than happy keeping him in his squad.

“For me, it’s more than a goal,” said the 40-year-old. “For him, it’s more important the goal, and for the fans maybe […] we need goals, but the way he’s linking the play in this moment, the way he’s fighting for the balls”, paying extra compliment to how he helped “connect” and “support” from midfield to attack.

Elsewhere, INEOS are reportedly looking to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch, having reportedly honed their sights on either one of two main targets, both of whom could potentially lead the line ahead of Ramus and Joshua Zirkzee while the Dane continues to mature.

In fact, Højlund himself was keen to remind his critics that he’s “still very young”, stating: “People forget that sometimes. “I’m only 22. Not every striker scores 100 goals by that age.

You can hear what Amorim, Dorgu and others made of their outing in Chicago HERE and watch the full highlights down below.

Do you think Højlund should/will stay at Manchester United?

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Featured Images — The United Stand/MUTV (screenshots via YouTube)

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