Arsenal have been handed a major boost in their bid to sign Mikel Merino, with Real Sociedad confirming they will let him leave for the right price.
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After breezing past Ajax with ease in the previous round, Aston Villa welcomed Ligue 1 side Lille to Villa Park on Thursday night.
Unai Emery’s side set out with one mission in mind: to go to France with a lead, and they certainly achieved that, defeating the visitors 2-1.
The Villans could not have gotten off to a better start, opening the scoring in the 13th minute, and just before the hour mark, they had a two-goal advantage.
It looked set to be the perfect night, however, a late Lille goal did spoil the party slightly, making it all to play for in the second leg.
But in truth, the outcome could have been much worse if it weren’t for one star who was even better than John McGinn and Ollie Watkins.
As usual, Villa lined up in the Spaniard’s 4-4-1-1 formation, with the attack being led by none other than Watkins, with the support of McGinn just behind him.
Both players combined brilliantly for the first goal of the game, with the England attacker meeting the Scot’s inch-perfect corner kick to power the ball home via his head, scoring his 25th goal of the campaign.
After the break, Villa’s second goal once again heavily involved McGinn, as the provider turned goal-scorer, placing the ball into the bottom corner from outside the box with a controlled first-time finish.
To add further context to just how influential the dangerous duo were on the night, the number 11 was handed an 8/10 match rating by Birmingham World, while the 29-year-old was given an impressive 9/10, but they still weren’t the most important on the field.
The Villa faithful may already believe that Emiliano Martinez is the best goalkeeper in the world, hence their common chant, but he truly showed his quality yesterday.
The Argentine is an extremely important player to Emery’s side, not just because of his ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net but also because of his elite mentality, which will prove to be vital throughout the rest of the tournament.
In Birmingham World’s player ratings article, Martinez was handed a joint-highest 9/10 rating, stating, “absolutely outstanding to get his team out of trouble so often,” and although he was eventually unable to keep a clean sheet, the World Cup winner pulled off similar heroics to the ones he displayed in Qatar against France, coming out on top in crucial moments.
Throughout the tie, Martinez looked confident, comfortable, and relaxed, as shown by his pass accuracy of 90% and his 40 touches in the table below, which enabled Villa to not give possession away cheaply.
|
Martinez vs Lille |
|
|---|---|
|
Stats |
Martinez |
|
Saves |
6 |
|
Saves inside the box |
6 |
|
Goals prevented |
1.67 |
|
High claims |
2 |
|
Pass accuracy |
90% |
|
Touches |
40 |
|
Via Sofascore |
|
However, it's clear that it was his shot-stopping ability that deservedly got him the plaudits, as he made six saves in the tie, all of them from attempts inside the penalty area.
Most impressively, the 31-year-old had a goal prevented of 1.67, which is a brilliant indicator of just how good the chances were that he was denying, and shows that Villa could have drawn or lost the game without his heroics.
Overall, without Martinez in between the sticks, there’s no way that Villa would be going to Lille with the advantage, and although the goal-scorers tend to take the headlines, the Villa fanbase will certainly know who their real hero was with his colossal display in goal.
Tottenham Hotspur certainly have a chequered past in the transfer market, with much of the inconsistency since last tasting silverware owing to a repetitive cycle of misfires.
To this day, the club's record signing, Tanguy Ndombele, is arguably the worst in modern times, joining from Lyon with a weight of expectation but now floundering on loan with Galatasaray and having been branded "one of the worst signings Tottenham have made" by journalist Paul Brown, such was the calamity of the venture.
Gareth Bale's world-record £85m sale back in 2013 saw the notorious 'magnificent seven', for the most part, fail to live up to the hype, while the several seasons between Mauricio Pochettino's sacking and Ange Postecoglou's appointment have seen rotten luck on the transfer front.
Postecoglou's arrival last summer has seen the strategy streamlined, and improvements have been made. Harry Kane still hasn't been directly replaced since his sale to Bayern Munich however and Spurs must ensure they spend their money wisely when they do invest, avoiding a repeat of the signing that saw Roberto Soldado join the club.
Soldado joined Tottenham from Valencia in a club record £26m transfer back in 2013, targetted to counter the departure of Bale and considered a positive move after harvesting 30 goals from 46 appearances in all competitions during the 2012/13 campaign.
He fell quite flat in London, however, with reporter Kevin Palmer calling him "useless" for his abject shooting efforts in the Europa League, hardly producing the kind of shiny displays needed in the Premier League either.
|
Roberto Soldado: Spurs Record by Comp |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Competition |
Apps |
Goals |
Assists |
|
Premier League |
52 |
7 |
6 |
|
Europa League |
13 |
4 |
1 |
|
FA Cup |
4 |
0 |
3 |
|
League Cup |
5 |
2 |
1 |
|
Europa League Qualifying |
2 |
3 |
0 |
|
All stats via Transfermarkt |
|||
Journalist Sam Tighe even went as far as to claim that the Spaniard was the "flop of the season" after joining Tottenham, so miserable was he in emulating the previous phenomenon of Bale.
While he flattered to deceive on English shores and was shipped back off to his homeland just two years after signing for Villarreal in a £7m transfer in August 2015, he at least enjoyed a small measure of goalscoring success with the Lilywhites.
He's not the worst to lead as the spearhead over the past decade or so, with that tag pinned to Vincent Janssen's signature.
Janssen might just be the biggest disappointment of the Spurs era, completing a truly wretched spell in north London before fleeing to Mexico with Monterrey.
Spurs signed the Netherlands star in a £17m deal – approaching £20m – back in 2016 after he scored 32 goals from 49 games for AZ Alkmaar in 2015/16 – there's something of a theme, there.
Janssen endured a wretched time with Tottenham, scoring six times from 42 appearances before conclusions were made that he was not, in fact, up for the task at the front of the ship.
Reporter John Leverty even rebuked him for his "dreadful" spell at the club, with such views reinforced when, in 2017, Lille manager Marcelo Bielsa rejected the opportunity to sign the centre-forward, holding major reservations over Janssen's technical quality and decision-making in crucial moments.
While he didn't rake in the largest of pay packets at Tottenham, his £34k-per-week earnings over the three campaigns spent at the club – with an unsuccessful loan spell with Fenerbahce sandwiched in the middle – earned him around £3.5m during his stay.
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In total, this marks the outlay for Janssen at around £20m in relation to the salary and £17m fee, and when considering the return for the outlay, it can only go down as a horrible misfire, worse even than Soldado's time at Tottenham. The Spaniard, at least, secured a prominent role in the starting line-up at one stage and clinched 27 goal contributions from 76 fixtures.
Postecoglou will not want to make the same mistake when he moves to sign a Kane replacement this summer.
Kingsley Coman's agent has responded to claims that the Bayern Munich winger has agreed to join Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
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Manchester United are reportedly interested in completing the signing of a "dangerous" USA international midfielder in the summer transfer window.
The end of this season can't come soon enough for the Red Devils, with Saturday's 1-1 draw at home to Burnley in the Premier League indicative of a poor campaign at Old Trafford. Pressure is mounting on Erik ten Hag all the time, with potential replacements emerging, including current Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel.
In terms of new signings, a host of top players continue to be linked with a move to United this summer, with Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo one such figure and a £65m+ offer reportedly being prepared. The Uruguayan may have been in the headlines for the wrong reasons recently, following his red card against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League quarter-finals, but he is a top-quality player who has averaged 2.4 aerial duel wins per game in La Liga this season.
Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise is also seen as a great option for the Red Devils, with the Frenchman considered an upgrade on Antony, who could possibly even be sold in the coming months, following two underwhelming seasons at Old Trafford.
Another Premier League wide player who has been backed to join United is Brighton star Kaoru Mitoma, who like Olise, could be an improvement on another player in Marcus Rashford, who has looked a shadow of his former self this season.
While wide additions are important, adding to the midfield arguably takes precedence over anything, and United look like they are addressing that issue, following a fresh transfer update.
According to a report from Spain, Manchester United are eyeing a move for Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie in the summer, following a good season at the Turin giants.
The USA international's talks over a new deal are believed to be stalling – his current contract expires at the end of next season – and there is apparently now a "sensational opportunity for the Red Devils" to sign him, with Juve certain not to allow his deal to tick down to nothing.
There could be reservations about the Red Devils signing the 25-year-old, considering he struggled on loan at Leeds United last season, failing to score and registering just one assist in 19 Premier League appearances. The pace of English football arguably got the better of him, but in fairness, he was in a struggling team and may simply have been out of form.
This season, the £49,000-a-week McKennie has been excellent, picking up seven assists in Serie A, and his former manager Jesse Marsch has heaped praise on him, saying: "In transition, he was their most dangerous player. He set up a play where [Dusan] Vlahovic should've scored in the first half and that would've given them a 1-0 lead and then I think the game could've looked a little bit differently."
|
Weston McKennie's Serie A stats this season |
Total |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
32 |
|
Starts |
27 |
|
Goals |
0 |
|
Assists |
7 |
|
Clearances per game |
1.8 |
|
Tackles per game |
1.4 |
|
Key passes per game |
1.2 |
The American remains a relatively young player, and given his improvements this season, and box-to-box energy, he could be a shrewd option for United, especially if they could get him on the cheap, given his contract situation.
Barcelona star Lamine Yamal has opened up on how close he is with Athletic Club's Nico Williams and revealed he wants to play with him 'every week'.
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Glasgow Rangers hosted their end-of-season awards evening on Sunday night and, unsurprisingly, it was a busy event for goalkeeper Jack Butland.
The Light Blues star collected the Men's Players' Player of the Year and the Men's Player of the Year awards for his outstanding contributions at Ibrox over the course of the campaign so far.
Signed on a free transfer last summer, the titan has been a colossus for the Gers and looks set to be Philippe Clement's number one for many more years to come.
Whilst Rangers will be delighted with their current shot-stopper, the club did once have a howler when they released a goalkeeper who is now playing in the Premier League – Wes Foderingham.
The English giant joined the Scottish giants on a free transfer from Swindon Town in the summer of 2015 and made 143 appearances across five years at Ibrox.
He helped the club to secure promotion out of the Championship in his first season, with 15 clean sheets in 36 league games, and was the first-choice goalkeeper for the next two campaigns in the Scottish Premiership.
Foderingham kept 12 shutouts in 37 games in his first top-flight term in goal for Rangers, before a return of ten in 33 during the following season.
However, Foderingham only played eight games under Steven Gerrard in the 2018/19 campaign and five the following term, which led to the former Liverpool midfielder opting to release him in the summer of 2020.
This allowed Sheffield United to swoop in to sign him for nothing ahead of the 2020/21 season, and he has gone on to enjoy a fantastic career with the Blades to date.
The 33-year-old did not make a single appearance for Sheffield United in the Premier League in his first season at the club as Manchester United loanee Dean Henderson was the number one ahead of him.
His compatriot's exit in the summer of 2021 opened up a spot for Foderingham to swoop in and take as the number one for them in the Championship, and he kept 36 clean sheets in 72 league games over the subsequent two years.
The ex-Gers titan helped the Blades to win promotion last year and he has been playing Premier League football, for the first time in his career, this term.
|
23/24 Premier League |
Wes Foderingham |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
27 |
|
Save percentage |
63% |
|
Saves made |
120 |
|
Goals prevented |
-5.10 |
|
Duel success rate |
86% |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
Whilst, as you can see in the table above, Foderingham has not been in the best of form in the English top-flight, the shot-stopper did leave Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp amazed earlier this season.
The German boss hailed an "incredible" stop by the Blades star as the Reds chief claimed that he did not know how Mohamed Salah's effort was kept out of the goal.
Sheffield United's relegation to the Championship was confirmed with their 5-1 loss to Newcastle United last weekend, though, and Foderingham may not have the title of Premier League goalkeeper for much longer, unless he can secure a transfer back to the division this summer.
Overall, Rangers had a howler with the now-33-year-old as they lost a player who went on to excel in the Championship and catch the eye of Klopp in the Premier League and did not receive a penny for him.
They could have given him more chances to thrive under Gerrard, instead of the 13 games across two seasons in all competitions, to emerge as the long-term number one at Ibrox, or extended his deal to attempt to rake in a fee for his services.
Declan Rice has explained why he rejected Harry Kane's attempts to give him the England captain's armband during the win against Ireland on Saturday.
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Reliable Leeds United correspondent Phil Hay has provided an update from Elland Road on the 49ers and their feelings towards manager Daniel Farke.
The Whites ended the Championship campaign in disappointing fashion, winning just one of their final six second-tier games to miss out on automatic promotion to both Leicester City and Ipswich Town.
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As a result, Leeds are now gearing up for a two-legged playoff semi-final with Farke’s former side, Norwich City, looking to reach a Wembley final against either Southampton or West Brom. Talking after the final game of the 46-game season, Farke said: "We have to say congratulations to Leicester and Ipswich, they fully deserve to be promoted.
"We fully deserve to be where we are, the third best team in this league on 90 points. Normally in any other season you go up automatically but in this special season perhaps one or two per cent we're not good enough to be better than Leicester and Ipswich. Right now a new competition starts and what happens before doesn't matter."
There have been some concerns from supporters over whether or not Farke is the right man for the job going forward, especially if Leeds fall short in the playoffs. However, it looks as if the Elland Road hierarchy are currently happy with the boss prior to the playoffs.
Writing for The Athletic on Thursday morning, relayed by Leeds United News, Hay said that the 49ers have been left impressed at how Farke has been conducting himself in the media, while the manager and chairman Paraag Marathe have a good relationship. The reliable reporter said: “All players brought into Elland Road since Farke’s appointment in July were on his say-so, or with his direct approval.
"He is said to have a firm relationship with Leeds’ board and chairman, Paraag Marathe. The 49ers have warmed not only to results under him, in the main at least, but also his public persona and knack of speaking in a way which avoids messy headlines.”
Farke guided Leeds to 90 points in 46 Championship games after taking over weeks before the campaign began. He had to make do with a tricky first few weeks of the season before the transfer window shut, and normally, Leeds’ overall, point tally would have been enough to earn a top-two spot.
Reports have also claimed that even if Leeds fail to win promotion, the 49ers will be sticking with Farke going forward, something which aligns with Hay’s latest claim out of Leeds on the general feeling towards the manager.
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