Aston Villa are in danger of not re-signing Axel Tuanzebe next season in what will be a bitter blow to Dean Smith.
Back in March, The Sun claimed that Manchester United could be willing to let the defender have a third loan spell with the club. However, The Mirror has since reported a u-turn from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who wants to give him a chance next term.
Tuanzebe has been hugely impressive in recent times, establishing a fine partnership alongside Tyrone Mings. However, his period at the club has been filled with time on the sidelines after sustaining a significant metatarsal injury in December and also missing games when he initially signed back in January 2018.
Despite that, the 6 ft 1 centre back has been a hit at Villa Park and could be a huge loss if he wasn’t to rejoin the Villans ahead of next season. With that in mind, Football FanCast writers have given their verdicts on the situation.
Jack Saville:
“Dean Smith will be gutted if he cannot secure Tuanzebe for another season. The 21-year-old has been brilliant for Villa this season and clearly has the potential to thrive in the Premier League. If Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does indeed decide to keep hold of the promising central defender next season, the onus will be on Villa to land Tyrone Mings otherwise they could find themselves in a major crisis in defence.”
Luke Glanville:
“Whilst the fact that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is planning to include Axel Tuanzebe in his first-team plans for next season is great for the player, it’s a disaster for Aston Villa. The defensive utility man has been a key member of Dean Smith’s squad this season and if they get promoted, they will have a lot to thank him for. Another year’s loan at Villa Park for the 21-year-old would hopefully help the club survive in the Premier League or get promoted at the fourth attempt. His loss and the loss of Jack Grealish for next campaign could be something the Midlanders struggle to come back from.”
Harry Sherlock:
“The fact that Tuanzebe could return to United and be a part of their first-team plans speaks volumes to his quality. When he was out with a metatarsal injury, Villa won just six of the 16 games he was absent for. Since his return, they haven’t lost. It would be catastrophic for him to return to Old Trafford; Villa need him far more than United do, after all.”
The saying goes ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, but for Chris Wilder in the Premier League, his failure to adjust may be what costs his team next season after his comments in The Mirror.
Sheffield United were promoted to the top flight this season with a squad made up of entirely British and Irish players, but if the Blades try to repeat this trick next season, they could be relegated before they know it.
Hesitant to adjust
The 51-year-old has gone on record to state that he isn’t likely to start shopping abroad due to the Yorkshire club’s promotion to the Premier League.
“We’ve not had the ability to put three or four scouts in every country in Europe because obviously that’s a cost,” said the Blades boss.
“We don’t shy away from foreign players, but they would have to fit into the togetherness and mentality of what we’ve created.
“I don’t think there are many unbelievable bargains flying about there.
“People have cottoned on that there’s money in the Premier League and European agents are trying to move their players in, but many of them are expensive.
“It’s suited us when we’ve gone British and I don’t think we’re going to veer away from that too much.”
Archaic approach
Wilder needs to move with the times, or he risks seeing his team left behind in this division.
The Blades boss stated that he doesn’t think there are many unbelievable bargains available, but it’s going to be impossible to find them if he doesn’t even do due diligence with his scouting.
In a season where Fulham paid double what Wolves did for Joao Moutinho to sign Alfie Mawson, it is laughable that Wilder thinks his best business can be conducted domestically.
There are plenty of bargains throughout Europe, but if the Englishman is too stubborn to send scouts abroad, then they have no chance of finding them.
Financial constraints shouldn’t be an issue now that the Blades have been promoted. There should be a vast scouting network across the continent dedicated to bringing the best talent to Bramall Lane.
Bargain signings from abroad have often buoyed newly promoted teams; last year Pascal Gross was Brighton’s player of the season after being purchased for a small fee, whilst Wolves have hit the lofty heights of seventh with a team primarily built around foreign players.
Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…
Sheffield United need to adjust for their new surroundings and ruling out signing 99% of players available to them certainly isn’t a good start.
Wilshere posted this on Monday reflecting on a season of frustration but his teammates Ryan Fredricks and Robert Snodgrass piled in with some light-hearted banter.
Clearly, Wilshere must turn up to training in some dodgy gear and Sunday’s miss from six-yards out was shocking to say the least.
Of course, Wilshere has never been known for his finishing but fans still probably expected him to score just as Snodgras did..
The 27-year-old joined West Ham on a free from Arsenal last year and is supposedly earning 100k a week.
The England international has only made eight appearances and registered a single assist this season.
He has the talent but his injury problems suggest it’s unlikely he will play even 20 games a season and, for player earning so much money, that is not a sound investment.
Manuel Pellegrini will likely want to make him a key part of his Hammers side next year but that is not guaranteed given his glass legs.
The next campaign feels like a make or break season for Wilshere.
There is no doubt he has the ability to make a real difference to this West Ham side if he can stay fit, however, if he can’t, it could prematurely spell the end of his time at the Hammers.
Alexandre “Sacha” Gaydamak is a name to put anyone associated with Portsmouth FC in a bad mood; if they had not already got over what he did to them.
Pompey had become a much-loved club within the Premier League when they had made their unlikely journey through the Football League and had successfully implemented themselves as a top-flight side.
The Fratton Park outfit were able to attract some huge names to the south coast, with the likes of Yakubu Ayegbeni, Dejan Stefanovic, Arjan de Zeeuw, Sulley Muntari and John Utaka to name just a few (and of course, Harry Redknapp favourites Jermain Defoe and Niko Kranjcar, who could forget?!).
However, that was history and following Gaydamak’s destruction, Portsmouth find themselves in a very different position within the footballing pyramid.
But, the French/Israeli businessman almost made another transfer during his time at the club that would have not gone down too well if being able to look into the future was available.
Introducing Denilson. Remember him? Yeah, not the one that played for Arsenal all those years ago (he is still playing though).
The 2002 Brazil World Cup winner; the man that once broke the world transfer fee record when he signed for Real Betis (granted, it was back in 1998 but £21.5million was a helluva lot of money to be splashed on a player back then!). That one.
According to a report by The Guardian back in 2006, Portsmouth had decided to take the winger on trial after being released from his contract with Girondins de Bordeaux; despite a move to Al-Nasr already seeming to be on the cards.
Well, the then-28-year-old obviously did not make enough of an impression on the Premier League outfit and subsequently joined the Suadi Arabian outfit, before a spell in America with Dallas, before receiving a trial with Bolton Wanderers in 2009 (Independent).
Denilson did not win a place at the Reebok and found himself back in Brazil with Palmeiras and then Itumbiara, before spells in Vietnam (Haiphong) and Greece (Kavala).
Gaydamak, you may have destroyed Portsmouth with your shoddy loans and awful handling of finances and deal-making (selling the club for £1 did not fool anybody, Guardian); but at least the club managed to dodge this particular bullet as the Brazilian turned out to be nothing more than a flop later on in his career.
Portsmouth fans, what are your thoughts on this dodged bullet? Let us know below!
Rangers fans can sleep easy knowing that they no longer have to worry about Joe Worrall committing blunders at the back for them anymore. The Nottingham Forest man has returned to his parent club, and the chances are the Gers won’t be seeing any more of him, as The Nottingham Post claims he’ll be staying at The City Ground next season
Steven Gerrard had already purchased both Connor Golson and Nikola Katic last summer when he moved to loan Joe Worrall in the dying embers of the summer window, and whilst it may have a been move that has worked wonders for the young centre-half’s personal development, Rangers have hardly benefitted. Now, though, Worrall’s Rangers career is well and truly over.
There have been highs and was at Ibrox for the £7.2 million-rated defender, as per Transfermarkt, but for a lot of his time in Glasgow, it has been a struggle. If there is anything that a player can do to win over a fan base it’s usually get stuck into their rivals, but even Worrall’s X-rated rant aimed at Celtic couldn’t make him a beloved figure amongst the Bluenoses.
Gerrard will now have to go back to the drawing board and bring in a new defender to add to the squad, but as far as the Gers are concerned anyone is going to be better than Worrall, who has been more than a little bit disappointing this season. For the most part, fans have found themselves complaining as Katic has been left out of the side as Worrall plays.
Whatever happens now, the Gers aren’t wishing bad things upon the 22-year-old defender, they just want to see a more capable man come in to fill his shoes this summer, especially as they look to overcome Celtic next season. The race against time is on for Gerrard to chase down the Hoops and stop ten in a row, and a new capable centre-back will be absolutely key.
Are you happy to see the back of Joe Worrall, Rangers fans? Let us know!
Per an article from The Chronicle, Aston Villa will consider making a move for Isaac Hayden if they get promoted back to the Premier League.
The Villans take on Derby in the play-off final on Bank Holiday Monday and it doesn’t appear as though they’ll hang around long in their pursuit for Premier League talent should they win.
The Chronicle suggests that Newcastle could be willing to accept bids in the region of £15m for Hayden, who previously played for Arsenal.
However, there are two other teams in contention to sign the 24-year-old with West Ham also sniffing around the player. The report further claims that Brighton have been long term admirers.
The 6 ft 1 ace has been a reliable performer in the middle of the park for the Magpies this term, quickly becoming one of Rafa Benitez’s chief enforcers.
The midfielder is particularly composed on the ball but is also consistently good at the defensive side of the game, too.
With a possible move to Villa on the cards, Football FanCast writers have given their verdicts on whether he’d be a good addition to Dean Smith’s side. Here’s what they’ve said.
Harry Sherlock:
“A move to Villa doesn’t do a lot for Hayden, who has reportedly told Newcastle he wants to move nearer to his families down south. But he’s a Premier League quality footballer and he’d be an excellent buy for Villa. It remains to be seen, though, if he’ll be willing to make the move. It might well ride on whether or not Dean Smith’s side win promotion. If they do, he’d be a good start for what needs to be a busy summer.”
Harry Elnaugh:
“Hayden earned praise from Pep Guardiola in January after Newcastle beat the champions – he’s a rock-solid defensive midfielder who loves a tackle and that should endear him to the Villa faithful. There’s no doubt that he’s of top flight quality and he would greatly strengthen Villa’s bid to either stay in or achieve promotion to the Premier League, depending on the result against Derby.”
“Fair play nonsense!” – Watch one fan’s astonishing defence of Leeds’ controversial goal against Villa on Sunday in the video below…
Billy Meyers:
“Isaac Hayden would be an excellent signing for Aston Villa. He is undoubtedly a Premier League quality player and provides the grit in midfield that is needed in order for the attackers to fully express themselves and flourish. Of course, his personal issues might make this move a difficult one, but Villa should definitely do all they can to make it happen.”
Thierry Henry was a magnificent footballer. Winning countless team and individual honours, he is arguably one of the best foreign imports the Premier League has ever seen.
His former manager Arsene Wenger is another great of the league and the two of them were a force to be reckoned with when paired together at Arsenal.
Wenger knew Henry as a boy coming through at Monaco and then subsequently signed the winger with a view to turning him into a predatory forward.
He did so to devastating effect. But what if the French manager could have made him even better? Playermaker’s new technology, a company which the ex-Arsenal boss has invested in, could have done just that.
They’ve designed a tool dedicated to analysing player analytics and, while speaking to Football FanCast, Wenger theoretically detailed how their tech could have developed the Gunners’ record goalscorer.
“You can look at his game and the distances he makes – the accuracy of his passes. How many times did he use his right foot or left foot? How quickly when he gets the ball is he on the move?” Wenger assessed.
“If his first touch is to move the ball – if he turns on his first touch. The timing of his movement as well,” he added.
Henry was a player who would regularly move the ball on quickly, using his movement to outfox many a defender throughout his career.
If the striker had Playermaker’s technology available to him it would have added an extra layer of excitement to his career.
The tool they’ve created has so far been introduced to certain youth academies.
With that in mind, Wenger explained where Henry’s development could have been impacted, focusing on the pace of the former Barcelona man. “Thierry Henry was super quick but he can work on speed and develop real speed if you train at 14. Not many people know that,” he revealed.
“With a guy like Thierry Henry it was not a problem because he was naturally quick. But a guy with an average pace – if you miss that stage between 12 and 14, after that you cannot improve. It is important that you can measure at each age what you need,” Wenger said.
During the course of Henry’s time with Arsenal he scored 228 times, cementing himself as a legend of the club. To think he could have become even better is a frightening thought.
The Gunners’ previous manager has always had a studious mind and an admirable attention to detail. In many senses, he was the perfect man to take Henry under his wing. The levels the 41-year-old reached during the early 2000s was simply sensational.
However, science and technology in football has been around before that.
Detailing his early experiences with statistical data, Wenger explained: “I think it was 1999. There was a guy from Leeds who created the system and I met him. I worked on performance in the years 1987/88 with friends of mine on computers. We worked day and night to really measure the performances of players.”
Soccer Football – Europa League – Arsenal Training – Arsenal Training Centre, St Albans, Britain – April 25, 2018 Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger during training Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
When he arrived in England, Wenger was ahead of his time, introducing revolutionary training methods to the Premier League.
But he also made groundbreaking innovations at Monaco. “We were 20 years ahead at the time and we made some good improvements to judge players. We discovered some players that were not really stars and good players after,” he commented.
Is it any surprise, therefore, that Wenger unearthed so many gems when he was in north London? Judging by these comments arguably not. Henry came to England as an unknown, as did a host of French players including the likes of Robert Pires and Patrick Vieira.
In terms of signing footballers of this nature, it was unheard of in the English leagues, but the former Monaco manager was quick to ensure that statistics weren’t a substitute for basic knowledge of the game. “If you take only the physical data you never play Messi. That’s where the knowledge comes in,” he admitted.
Making further reference to the Gunners, he noted one player who perhaps wouldn’t have gained much from extra statistics.
“You discover players who don’t work a lot but they work in the dark because they are generous and they compensate. For example we had a player like Gilberto Silva. You didn’t see him a lot in the game but his work rate was unbelievable. He accepted the job that the rest of the team didn’t want to do.”
Wenger’s understanding of football is supreme and despite his inability to adapt to the modern game during his final years in Islington, it’s hard to question the amount of knowledge he possesses.
Where he could have taken his management with more technology, however, is something we’re unlikely to get a chance to see.
Wenger was speaking on behalf of Playermaker.
PlayerMaker is a sports technology company revolutionising the way football teams use data. Utilising cutting-edge motion sensors and advanced machine learning algorithms, their device tracks all technical, tactical, biomechanical and physical movement on and off the ball, giving managers and coaches a granular understanding of their players’ and team’s performance. Used by elite level clubs worldwide, the PlayerMaker device delivers a competitive advantage to some of the most forward-thinking coaches. To find out more, visit www.playermaker.com.
Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Danny Murphy is worried that the club could lose a number of first-team players because they have yet to sign fresh terms in north London, per TalkSport.
What’s he said?
A number of players are nearing the end of their contracts at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium; Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen will all see their deals expire next summer, with Fernando Llorente and Michel Vorm poised to leave the club on free transfers in this transfer window.
Both Danny Rose and Moussa Sissoko’s terms expire in 2021 and Murphy is worried that Spurs could follow in the footsteps of bitter rivals Arsenal, who saw Aaron Ramsey agree to join Juventus on a free transfer this summer.
He said: “Llorente and Vorm are up at the end of the season, not the end of the world. But next season, with a year left, Arsenal let players get to a year left and we know how that’s gone, Eriksen, Alderweireld, Vertonghen.
“Rose has got two, Sissoko’s got two, (Victor) Wanyama’s got two, you’ve got to start looking, every club does it, good clubs, are we signing them or are we freshening it up?
“Because ultimately, when you look at that starting line-up in the (Champions League) final for Tottenham, most of them have been there a long time.
“So I think we’re going to see a bit of a turnaround at Tottenham this summer.
“I think we might have seen a bit of a turnaround if they’d won it but it’d be easier to do it if they’d won it.”
A lesson to learn
Murphy has hit the nail on the head.
Spurs are running the risk of several key players departing for nominal fees or even for free and it has led to a number of mooted transfers already this summer.
Alderweireld, of course, has a £25m release clause in his deal and could leave while Eriksen is being courted by Real Madrid.
Tying down the likes of Vertonghen, Sissoko and Rose is vital, however, particularly with the club looking to make progress in the Premier League and repeat their European heroics.
Sissoko, in particular, has emerged as a star player under Mauricio Pochettino while Rose has enjoyed a renaissance at left-back.
Allowing either of them to leave without a hefty transfer fee would be tantamount to gross negligence, just like what Arsenal have shown allowing a player as talented as Ramsey to leave for nothing.
Ever since Victor Wanyama left Southampton, the Saints have been desperately crying out for a midfield enforcer and Ralph Hasenhuttl must be making sure he gets one this summer transfer window.
The defence was the weakest area for the club last season – especially after the arrival of the Austrian, as he was able to improve things going forward but not so much at the back.
For these reasons, the general consensus was that what the St Mary’s outfit really needed was a centre-back, though it doesn’t appear to be panning out like that as Jan Bednarek and Jan Vestergaard may well be the trusted partnership going forward given a lack of new centre-back links.
But what would be the point of putting together what could be a very promising combination moving forward, and not giving them any proper protection in central defensive midfield? Southampton’s most important signing this summer should be that enforcer.
The south coast club currently have at their disposal a horrifically unbalanced central midfield containing Mario Lemina, Oriol Romeu, Stuart Armstrong, James Ward-Prowse, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Harrison Reed and Jake Hesketh.
The only out-and-out defensive midfielder in those ranks is Romeu, and he’s far from the right style of player to act as the enforcer at the base of the midfield.
This is proven by looking at the stats of the primary defensive midfielder of the Saints in 2018/2019 Romeu and Wanyama at St. Mary’s during the 2014/2015 for example with the help of WhoScored.
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Wanyama made more tackles, interceptions, fewer fouls and more clearances on average than the much slower Romeu in comparison – he’s just not strong enough in many aspects of his game to play that role effectively.
And when we look at the amount conceded in the league by the team in those two campaigns there’s a stark contrast, just 33 with Wanyama as the enforcer and nearly double that amount (65) last season.
If the Saints want to return to that kind of solidity, they must bring in an enforcer of the Kenyan’s quality this summer and prioritise finding one over anything else.
Tottenham Hotspur are running the risk of missing out on Tanguy Ndombele.
The supremely talented Lyon midfielder has long been linked with a move to the London club and a Daily Mirror report on Thursday claimed that Spurs were willing to break their transfer record to sign him.
However, in the same breath, the report also states that chairman Daniel Levy is not willing to pay his asking price of £71m. They are, nevertheless, said to be confident a deal can be agreed.
And yet one feels that they are playing a remarkably dangerous game.
Telefoot journalist Julien Maynard claims that both Manchester United and Juventus are also in talks with the midfielder and that no agreement has been reached with any suitor as of yet. PSG, naturally, have also communicated their interest, though no bid has been tabled.
The London Evening Standard, in a separate report, claim that Spurs “face a battle to convince” Ndombele, as he favours a move to Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester City. Nevertheless, the club are again said to be “confident of reaching an agreement”.
This, though, is a once in a lifetime chance and it cannot be left to fate.
Ndombele is a generational talent, a genuinely world-class central midfielder who could be a game-changing acquisition for a club who have been forced to deal in cast-offs, youngsters and bargains for too long.
At this point in time, Spurs have the money to spend. They may have built a new stadium but they haven’t invested a penny into the playing squad since January 2018 and also have the benefit of the prize money from reaching the Champions League final.
There has been no greater time to invest; it is an old adage but to accumulate, one has to speculate.
Buying Ndombele is the definition of speculating and it feels as though Spurs are approaching a tipping point in their pursuit of the player.
If they leave it too long, a club with considerably greater pulling power could gazump them. Yes, Spurs reached the final, but very few players say no to Real or Barca.
This, then, is not the time for Levy to negotiate. Sometimes, he can feel like the Monty Python market trader, insisting that the buyer haggles despite offering to pay full price.
Now, though, is the time for him to merely slap the money on the table. If Lyon want £71m, he simply has to pay it.
Yes, it’s a massive fee, but Ndombele is good enough to be worth double it in four or five years. And that’s when he could move to a La Liga giant.
Now, though, Levy has to ensure he ends up in north London.