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After seeing summer transfer target Said Benrahma join West Ham on deadline day, Aston Villa could see the best of Trezeguet this season.

What’s the word?

Reports in recent months had suggested Dean Smith’s side were targeting a move for the Algeria international, with Villa eventually signing Benrahma’s Brentford teammate Ollie Watkins.

In the end, it was Villa’s fellow Premier League side, West Ham, who swooped in at the last moment to snap up Benrahma on an initial loan deal, with an obligation to buy.

Despite missing out on one of their key targets, it could have a very positive consequence on a player already at the club.

Time for Trezeguet to shine

Having joined Villa from Turkish club Kasimpasa last summer, it’s fair to say Trezeguet had a promising debut campaign in English football.

The Egypt international – valued at £7.2m by Transfermarkt – scored seven goals across all competitions last season, including a truly priceless winner against Arsenal in the penultimate game of the Premier League – a result that effectively sealed Villa’s status in the top-flight.

Despite playing 41 times, including featuring in 34 out of the 38 league games, Trezeguet may have been looking anxiously over his shoulders amid Villa’s interest in Benrahma.

Of course, Smith’s side did end up bringing in Bertrand Traore from Lyon, but Benrahma’s previous history with the Villa boss, and the fact he would have come in for a hefty price, may have seen Trezeguet slip into the shadows.

Instead, the fact that they missed out on him, could see him take his game up a level. He already has a full campaign of English football under his belt now, and that will stand him in good stead for this season.

Speaking after his winner against Arsenal, Trezeguet’s teammate, Tyrone Mings, hailed him as “brilliant” and that he’s an “important player” for the club. With no Benrahma, the Egyptian can knuckle down and light up Villa Park.

In other news, this Aston Villa star could wreak havoc against Leicester.

Arsenal defender Kieran Tierney has come on leaps and bounds since the Premier League returned last month and his performances have not gone unnoticed as he has received a personal accolade from the club.

Tierney was awarded with the Player of the Month prize by the club for his performances in June and this should be a great morale boost for the defender, who has struggled with injury in his debut season since joining from Scottish champions Celtic last August.

The award is voted for by the fans and the Scottish international received 40% of the votes, with Bukayo Saka in second place and Granit Xhaka in third, per Arsenal FC.

Despite losses in June to Manchester City and Brighton, Tierney was one of few at Arsenal who put in good performances throughout the month, per SofaScore, and he started to excel when Mikel Arteta switched to a formation which saw him more as a left-wing back.

He was part of the defence that kept a clean sheet in their 2-0 victory over Southampton and then was given Man of the Match when the Gunners beat Sheffield United in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Many Arsenal supporters seem to be enjoying what they have seen from Tierney and hopefully he can continue this good form next season as well as he starts to show why the Gunners bought him last summer.

Gunners fans, was Tierney a deserving Player of the Month for June? Comment below with your views!

A new transfer link has emerged for Premier League champions Liverpool as they find themselves monitoring Norwich City’s Jamal Lewis.

According to a report from Melissa Reddy, the Reds are looking to recruit a competitor for Andy Robertson. They are reportedly interested in bringing in the 22-year-old left-back ahead of the new season.

Jurgen Klopp and Co are said to be willing to pay about £10million to provide back-up for this position, which could suit Norwich who have just been relegated into the Championship. Lewis currently has a Transfermarkt value of £9.9million.

Reddy reports that the Northern Ireland international shares the same agent as Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, which could be a huge positive for Liverpool. Agency PLG could find it very appealing to have three high-profile clients all at the same club – the newly-crowned Premier League winners no less.

Plenty of Reds fans are excited over this link and are urging the club to make the deal happen. One supporter thinks Lewis would be the ‘perfect’ signing for Liverpool this summer. Indeed, Lewis now has some experience in the top flight having played 28 times for the Canaries last term.

Read more replies from the Anfield faithful here:

Do you think Jamal Lewis would be a good signing for Liverpool this summer? Join the conversation in the comments below!

Former Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp believes Spurs talisman Harry Kane could leave the club next year to fulfil his trophy ambitions.

Speaking to talkSPORT, Redknapp is unsure Kane will stay in North London if the Lilywhites fail to deliver silverware in the next couple of seasons.

The England international has attracted attention from a number of European clubs, including Premier League rivals Manchester United, and he has previously made it clear he wants to win trophies, amid reports he is set to consider his future in the summer.

When asked if he thinks Kane could leave Tottenham, the club legend told the talkSPORT Breakfast Show: “I suppose it’s always a possibility. I’d like to see him stay, but they’d need to win something.

“It’s been a long time and you can only see them winning a cup competition.

“I really can’t see them challenging at the moment now for the Premier League, they’re not as good as they were two or three years ago, for sure.

“It’s a difficult one, I’m [sure] Harry loves the club, he’s come through the youth system and it’s his team, but he’s always ambitious and I would think if it doesn’t happen next season he could possibly look to move on.

“And everybody in the world would want him, he’s a top, top player and a great guy.”

Although Daniel Levy has moved to ward off any interest from the Red Devils with a hefty £200m price tag for the club captain, it is difficult to disagree with Redknapp here.

Kane has scored 11 goals in just 20 games in the Premier League and is the leading goalscorer for Jose Mourinho’s side in all competitions at the time of writing (BBC).

A player of his calibre should be winning trophies consistently but, for whatever reason, Spurs have been unable to reap the rewards so far.

Indeed, he is yet to win a single trophy with his boyhood club, despite the fact he finished as the league’s top scorer in 2016 and 2017 (Transfermarkt).

If this drought continues, it is hard to imagine Kane will stick around for much longer, as he will want to write his place in the history books. Moreover, it is highly unlikely he will be short of suitors if he does choose to leave in the future, as Spurs recently rejected an approach from La Liga giants Barcelona.

Tottenham fans, do you think Harry Kane will leave if the club fails to win silverware in the future? Let us know down below!

Burnley are unlikely to call upon Ben Gibson despite injuries leaving them with a shortage of defensive cover.

The Daily Mail reported that the Clarets won’t extend an olive branch to the 27-year-old, who had been training with his former club Middlesbrough after falling out of favour at Turf Moor following disagreements with some Clarets staff.

Having already had to contend with several injuries, Burnley will now be without captain Ben Mee for the rest of the season as he was ruled out with a thigh problem. That blow leaves James Tarkowski and Kevin Long as the only two senior centre-backs currently in Sean Dyche’s squad, with untried academy prospects Bobby Thomas and Jimmy Dunne as backup.

Gibson became the Clarets’ joint-record signing two years ago when he joined from Middlesbrough in a £15m deal (as per BBC) but he has since made just six appearances, five of which came last season and only one of which was in the Premier League (as per TransferMarkt).

As per Daily Mail, Burnley have continued to pay his £40,000-a-week wages despite his fallout with the club, while he still has two years remaining on his contract.

It is a damning indictment of where Gibson stands with the club that, even with a sparsity of centre-backs, they appear in no rush to try and make up with the 27-year-old, who incredibly has cost £2.5m per appearance since his expensive transfer two years ago.

In that case, it may be for the best if Burnley were to simply sever his contract and pay out whatever he would be owed, if it is financially feasible to do so. He seems to have absolutely no future at Turf Moor if they are not willing to turn to him in their current scenario and, once the previously ever-present Mee is back from injury, any faint prospects of him getting into the team would appear even more remote.

Burnley fans, should the club just get rid of Gibson once and for all if they’re not going to turn to him now? Comment below with your views!

Aston Villa star Jack Grealish has taken to Instagram to address reports regarding his off-field conduct.

Reports emerging over the weekend suggested that Grealish had been partying with friends and subsequently crashed his Range Rover just hours after urging fans to stay indoors to combat the global pandemic.

And Grealish has now moved to address growing speculation via his Instagram account.

Clearly embarrassed and ashamed by his irresponsible actions during an international health crisis, the Villa star gave an apology on his Instagram story.

Here’s what he had to say.

“Hi everybody, I just want to do a quick video message to say how deeply embarrassed I am by what’s happened this weekend.

“I know it’s a tough time for everyone at the moment being locked indoors for so long, and I obviously just got a call off a friend asking to go round to his, and I stupidly agreed to do so.

“I don’t want anyone to make the same mistake that I did and obviously I encourage everyone to stay at home and follow the rules and the guidelines of what we’ve been asked to do. I know for a fact that I’ll be doing that in the near future now and, like I said, I urge everyone else to do the same.

“I hope everyone can accept my apology and we can move on from this and obviously in the near future we can all be out enjoying ourselves again once this has all boiled over, so cheers guys.”

Exactly how Villa, the footballing and legal authorities will deal with the situation remains to be seen, but there can be no doubting that this will leave a dark stain on an otherwise glowing campaign for the 24-year-old.

One can only hope that this will be a profound, attitude-changing lesson for the budding England international.

After being linked with a move to PSV Eindhoven in the January transfer window, per Sky Sports, Patrick Van Aanholt is reportedly now a transfer target for French giants Paris Saint Germain, according to Eindhovens Dagblad and a lot of Crystal Palace fans are reacting to this news on Twitter, via CPFC News HQ.

The Dutch left-back has been a fan favourite since joining the club in 2017 for £9.45 million from Sunderland, per Transfermarkt, featuring 97 times and managing to score 13 goals along the way.

This season he has performed well at both ends of the pitch, managing 1.5 interceptions and 1.4 tackles on average per game, whilst also averaging 1.1 key passes and 1 shot per top flight match, via WhoScored.

The player seems pivotal to the side due to the fact that he does help both from an attacking and defensive perspective, and if he did leave it would be hard to find a player who can do the same for a price that is not massively inflated. It shows how good a role he plays on the pitch when Ligue 1 champions PSG want the player.

Here is what fans had to say following the news:

And there are some fans who don’t think he is good enough for Palace 😂

— WARREN GUEST (@WARRENG39) April 20, 2020

Palace fans, do you think it is a good or bad idea to sell Van Aanholt? Comment below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

England secured qualification for Euro 2020 on Thursday as they pushed Montenegro aside.

It was an emphatic victory for the Three Lions, who prevailed 7-0. Harry Kane, the captain, scored a hat-trick, whilst Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford, Tammy Abraham and an own goal completed the rout.

This was the youngest England side in 60 years, with Harry Maguire, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kane the oldest heads in the starting XI at just 26. On the other end of the spectrum was Jadon Sancho, who will only turn 20 in March.

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The Borussia Dortmund star has been linked with a whole host of clubs in recent weeks, including Liverpool, and a price of £100m was mentioned by The Daily Mirror in regards to what fee the German side are looking for. Even though he managed to grab himself an assist against the Balkan nation at Wembley, it was an overall disappointing display from the promising youngster.

There were a couple of small positives. The former Manchester City man did manage to create three chances for his teammates, which only Ben Chilwell beat, but there were plenty of other areas where he was left wanting.

Even against a side that was clearly a level below Gareth Southgate’s side, the winger only managed to complete two of the five dribbles he attempted, whilst he also lost possession a game-high 22 times. The teenager also led the way with the most fouls – two – and won a paltry three out of 11 duels, which works out at just 27%.

His performances in the Bundesliga – he managed a league-high 17 assists last term, as well as 12 goals – have led to intense speculation surrounding his future. According to The Daily Mail, he has decided he wants to quit Die Schwarzgelben, and Liverpool have been linked with a move for him.

Whilst the talent is clearly present, there will have been too many sloppy moments in this game for Jurgen Klopp’s liking.

He is still learning his craft of course – he is, after all, still 19 – but the Reds cannot afford to carry players who are so careless in possession at times. He will get better, but the German boss will be wanting to see a lot more from the prodigy before committing to such a big investment in the future.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Jose Mourinho gave his first interview as Tottenham Hotspur manager on Wednesday and was in charming form.

He routinely referred to Spurs as “we” and “us”, talked up the youth academy and also said that he would help the club climb the table from their current position of 14th. They face West Ham United this weekend.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier and look forward to the challenge. What can I promise? Passion, real passion. Passion for my job, but also passion for my club, that’s the way I have been all my career and I want to try, obviously, everything to bring happiness to everyone who loves the club.”

He added: “It’s a privilege when a manager goes to a club and feels that happiness in relation to the squad he is going to have. It didn’t happen many times. To be honest, the majority of the times we go to clubs and we always think ‘We like some, I don’t like enough’ and you think immediately about what to do to change, what to do to make an approach between your ideas and the profile of the players.”

Can Spurs fans take this at face value?

His first interview as Manchester United manager is remarkably similar.

He said to MUTV, via SportsKeeda: “I feel great. I think I am in the right moment of my career because Manchester United is one of these clubs where you need really to be prepared for it because it is what I used to a call ‘giant club’.

“Giant clubs’ must be for the best managers and I think I am ready for it, so I could say I am happy, I am proud, I am honoured, I am everything. The reality is that what I love is to work and I cannot wait for the 7th of July to go on the pitch.”

He added, in his message to the supporters: “You know, I think I know what they can give me. I think also they know what I can give them. Obviously, the most important thing are the players and the relation of the players is the bridge with them, but I think it is very important and curious that I have played so many times against Man United and I played so many times at Old Trafford with other clubs.”

It didn’t really end well at United. Yes, he won both the Carabao Cup and the Europa League, but he fostered an environment of toxicity and also fell out with star player Paul Pogba.

He was sacked in December with the club sixth in the Premier League but closer to the relegation zone than the top of the division. The BBC stated at the time that United had identified a “catalogue of his failings” which contributed to his sacking.

Think back, too, to his time at Chelsea following his return.

He said, per The Telegraph: “I’m very happy. I had to prepare myself not to be too emotional for my arrival at the club but obviously I’m very happy.”

He added: “When you look at the profile of the Chelsea squad I think it’s what they need at this time. If you look from my time, there are around four or five boys and these are the older ones. It’s very important for this football club and very important for the balance of the squad, but it’s a young squad with a lot of talent and I think they need stability to reach a high point of their evolution and for their careers.

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“They need stability, stability I hope I can give them and between me, the owner and of course the club, we have no doubts about what we want to do and the approach we want to have. I’m very confident I can help the squad and I can help the boys to do better.”

There it is again, that happiness at being appointed, before things go so very wrong.

Mourinho, again, won trophies, including the Premier League, but he was sacked after rounding on his players and privately accusing them of betrayal, per one report.

These words at the beginning, then, mean nothing, really. It matters not a jot if Mourinho is “happy” when he arrives because he usually eventually leaves the club under a cloud of toxic smoke.

It happened at Chelsea and it happened at United; it could well happen at Spurs, too.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Daily Mail, Leicester have placed Kristoffer Ajer on their list of potential transfer targets at centre-back.

What’s the word?

The Celtic defender worked under current Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers whilst the pair were both at Celtic Park, and signed a new long-term contract with the Scottish giants that tied his future down to 2022.

However, The Daily Mail claim Leicester scout Sean St Ledger travelled to Scotland to watch Celtic’s Europa League clash against Lazio on Thursday night, with Rodgers himself openly admitted he would be keen on bringing in a new centre-back.

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

He said: “We’re looking at all options to see if we can strengthen in January. I’ve always tried to be positive in the January window. It’s normally worked fairly well for us when the availability has been there. (At centre-back) it’s one where we’re planning forward, if you look at Wes (Morgan) and where he’s at in his career.”

Maguire who?

At 6 foot 5, Ajer is an inch taller than former Foxes favourite Harry Maguire, and quite literally speaking at least, wouldn’t be in the England international’s shadow. The Celtic man has been a cornerstone of the Scottish side’s success since moving to Parkhead, racking up 100 appearances for the club.

One of the main qualities of Maguire’s game in his time at the King Power, was that he was calm and composed on the ball, averaging 56.4 passes per game at an accuracy of 85.6% in the Premier League last season.

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Ajer, meanwhile, has played at (and take a breath here): centre-back, right-back, holding midfield, central midfield, attacking midfield and even at centre-forward. The Norwegian’s versatility in areas further forward shows managers have had trust in him with the ball at his feet, and not just to be a ‘clear it to safety’ type of defender.

Indeed, after the Norwegian scored against Motherwell back in August, his current Celtic boss Neil Lennon said: “Ajer was magnificent. He is playing so consistently. It shows the quality he has, he is not just a versatile player, he plays the positions really, really well.”

The indoor football skills in the video below have to be seen to be believed…

Having previously worked with him before, Rodgers’ reported interest in the 21-year-old makes perfect sense. And having sold Maguire to Manchester United for £80m, a swoop for Ajer could help banish any lingering memories.