According to The Sunday People, Aston Villa are interested in signing West Bromwich Albion defender Craig Dawson at the end of the season.
What’s the story?
West Brom are preparing themselves for a summer exodus with the club on the brink of being relegated from the Premier League.
The Baggies have struggled all season – collecting just 20 points from 31 matches to sit bottom of the table, and they are currently 10 points from the safety of 17th position.
According to The Sunday People, Dawson will be among those to leave the Hawthorns this summer, and Villa are very interested in completing a deal.
That said, much would depend on whether Villa can earn promotion to the Premier League.
Steve Bruce’s side are currently fourth in the Championship table after 38 matches, and need to secure a return to the top flight in order to splash the cash at the end of the season.
Would Dawson be a good signing?
The 27-year-old has been on West Brom’s books since 2010 – making more than 150 appearances for the Baggies in all competitions.
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Dawson has scored 10 times for West Brom since the start of the 2015-16 season, and there is no question that he has been one of the team’s better performers this term.
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Valued at £5.4m by transfermarkt.co.uk, the Englishman has netted twice in 25 appearances for his Premier League club this season.
There are bound to be other clubs interested in signing the versatile defender this summer, but Villa, whose supporters also want their club to sign Bristol City’s Joe Bryan, seemingly fancy their chances if they can earn promotion from the Championship.
Despite West Brom’s struggles this season, Dawson is a strong Premier League defender, and it would be a surprise if he was not playing top-flight football next term regardless of what happens to his current team in the final weeks of the 2017-18 campaign.
Liverpool showed the way to beat Manchester City in midweek; a frantic, high-tempo approach that creates chaos and exposes the fact that Pep Guardiola’s footballing philosophy renders one mistake potentially fatal.
The Reds’ 3-0 thumping of City at Anfield is bound to have dented the confidence of Guardiola’s men and that is something that Manchester United fans will hope their side can exploit in today’s Manchester derby.
The Red Devils have pacy players in their ranks, who could be capable of troubling a City side both looking to make history but also with one eye on Tuesday’s return match against Liverpool but Jose Mourinho’s natural instinct in these games is to adopt a spoiling approach.
The success of Jurgen Klopp’s aggressive approach might just have tempted Mourinho to change his ways as his side look to prevent City winning the league there and then.
While that’s an outside chance, we asked you whether one of the aforementioned quick players – Anthony Martial, valued at £58.5m by Transfermarkt, should get the nod at the Etihad.
The response was overwhelming, as 87 per cent of United fans want the Frenchman in the starting eleven for the trip to their local rivals. Check out the full results of the poll below…
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According to reports from the Birmingham Mail, Manchester United are set to finally bring Gareth Bale back to the Premier League this summer and bring the Real Madrid flier to Old Trafford.
The Welshman, valued at £63m by Transfermarkt, left these shores in 2013, winning 1 La Liga and 3 Champions League titles – with the prospect of a fourth this season – at the Bernabeu.
His talent and star quality is obvious. He would be yet another “X Factor” signing made by Jose Mourinho’s men but does that automatically make him a good fit?
Football FanCast take a closer look at the potential consequences – from a United point of view – if Bale did pitch up on the red half of Manchester this summer…
Consequence 1 – Anthony Martial leaves the club
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Both Martial and Marcus Rashford are not seeing as much gametime as they might like at Old Trafford and the January arrival of Alexis Sanchez has shunted both men even further down the pecking order.
But while Rashford appears content with the situation at his boyhood club, Martial’s attitude is reportedly failing to impress Mourinho and that makes him the man who currently looks as if he is closer to the exit door as it stands.
Martial is an incredibly talented player but Mourinho appears to prefer Rashford and Bale’s arrival would further limit the opportunities the Frenchman gets to play.
Consequence 2 – Juan Mata gets less gametime
Bale would likely want to operate from the right and that’s where Mata is usually fielded. The Spaniard’s transformation from prolific number 10 to right winger has been overseen by Mourinho but it doesn’t appear to be a comfortable fit.
Either way, Bale could come inside and deliver crosses and shots but also offer much more explosiveness than Mata can muster, which would be bad news for the former Valencia playmaker.
He may not force an exit from the club in the same way Martial may look to, but with Jesse Lingard also seemingly preferred, Mata could be marginalised if Bale arrived.
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Consequence 3 – United become a pure 4-3-3 team
It would suit their superstar players and the added explosiveness of Bale would encourage Mourinho that he could sit back and counter but also dominate sides with the 4-3-3 he first brought to the Premier League way back in 2004.
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Alexis and Bale either side of Lukaku with Paul Pogba racing forward to help out. It sounds like a wonderful combination on paper and a tactical solution that would allow Mourinho to get the best of his star men.
The penchant for the 4-2-3-1 may well become a thing of the past.
It was clear from Jose Mourinho’s pursuit of Ivan Perisic last summer that he was desperate for a winger to add zip and drive to his Manchester United side.
He has ended up with Alexis Sanchez after a protracted January struggle, and it is fair to say that the Chilean’s form since he arrived at Old Trafford has been patchy at best.
The man that Mourinho should have turned to in order to solve his wide problems is based in Italy, with Juventus, but he wasn’t when the summer transfer window opened.
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Douglas Costa, valued at £36m by Transfermarkt, made the switch from Bayern Munich to join the Italian giants and it is still a mystery why United didn’t hijack the deal, instead pursuing Perisic fruitlessly.
The Brazilian has genuine pace and the ability to go past a man, as evidenced by his 7 dribbles against Real Madrid on Wednesday night. He terrified the hosts with his raw speed and was fouled twice as they couldn’t live with him.
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He also put over three crosses, and got one shot away so he is not a show pony with no end product. Further, his passing accuracy was decent for a player who plays in his position.
He is everything that Mourinho’s United lack and Ed Woodward should make an enquiry this summer.
According to a report in The Telegraph, Everton are considering a swoop to secure Arsene Wenger this summer.
What’s the story?
Arsene Wenger’s retirement announcement on Friday stunned the footballing world, but the report from the Telegraph claims the Frenchman does not plan on retiring.
According to the report, Monaco and Everton are the 68 year-old’s most likely destinations, and Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is a big admirer.
Sam Allardyce has insisted he plans to remain in charge at Goodison, but that decision could be out of his hands if Wenger decides to remain in the Premier League.
Good move to Merseyside?
It is yet to be seen whether Sam Allardyce will stay at Goodison Park this summer, but if Everton fans have anything to do with it he’ll be gone within minutes of the final game of the season.
With plenty of money invested in the transfer market and even more to come, the Toffees need a manager that is ready for a long-haul project. That is why Wenger would be a big mistake.
Arsene Wenger is a fantastic manager, there’s no question about it. In his worst years with Arsenal, the Gunners have still managed more silverware than most clubs and fans could dream of.
However, the arrival of Wenger wouldn’t inspire fans, and that is needed just as much as inspiration for the players.
Goodson Park has a feeling of unease around it at the moment, and the Toffees need a young, vibrant, revolutionary manager like Paulo Fonseca or Marco Silva to come in and shake things up.
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Wenger is a legend of the game, but he is not the right successor for Sam Allardyce.
Everton fans, would you like Wenger to replace Big Sam? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has made one change to the team that reached the FA Cup final by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Wembley last weekend for the visit of Spurs’ arch-rivals Arsenal to Old Trafford on Sunday, and Red Devils fans have been quick to have their say on the selection.
Victor Lindelof replaces Phil Jones in the starting XI in the only alteration, with Jesse Lingard, Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez once again deployed as the front three and Anthony Martial, whom the Old Trafford faithful on Twitter wanted in the team.
Mourinho’s men know they can move a step closer to ensuring they end the Premier League season in second with a win, after third-place Liverpool were held to a goalless draw by Stoke City at Anfield on Saturday.
Man United supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the Portuguese boss’ selection, and while one said “can’t blame if he wants to leave” regarding Martial’s absence from the side, another said “our defence is seriously weak today”.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…
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Newcastle United will look to put an end to four successive Premier League defeats when they host Chelsea on the final day of the season at St James’ Park on Sunday.
A run of four straight victories before the latest sequence of results had taken them past the magic 40-point mark and preserved their top flight spot for at least another 12 months, but they have struggled since.
The losses against West Bromwich Albion and Watford last Saturday were particularly disappointing, but the Tyneside outfit were much improved in their 1-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Wednesday night, and if they had a clinical striker they would have taken at least a point against Spurs – if not all three.
Rafa Benitez will be determined for his team to end what has been a generally positive campaign on a high against one of his former clubs, but it won’t be an easy task against the Blues seeing as they are still chasing a top-four spot and Champions League football – they lie two points behind Liverpool ahead of the weekend.
Benitez made two changes and switched formation from the reverse against the Hornets for the trip to the capital, with DeAndre Yedlin and Matt Ritchie coming back in for Javier Manquillo and Jacob Murphy, and while he has at least one enforced change this weekend with loanee Kenedy ineligible, he may well be considering making further alterations.
Here is how Newcastle must line up against Chelsea, ahead of Martin Dubravka in goal…
Benitez brought Yedlin back into the defence against Spurs after Manquillo failed to take his opportunity at Watford, and the American lined up in what has been a familiar back four of him, captain Jamaal Lascelles, Florian Lejeune and Paul Dummett in recent weeks.
The quartet did well enough against Spurs on Wednesday, but while the Spanish boss decided to switch things up at right-back last weekend, he should do the same at left-back this time around.
Massadio Haidara looks set to leave the club when his contract expires this summer, and having been on the substitutes’ bench in recent weeks he should start ahead of Dummett against Chelsea for his farewell appearance.
Benitez switched things up slightly in terms of formation at Wembley as he went with a 4-2-3-1 system instead of his usual 4-4-1-1 – even though really they are a variation of each other – with Jonjo Shelvey and Mo Diame sitting in front of the back four following some impressive performances in recent weeks.
The Spanish manager has Isaac Hayden and Mikel Merino champing at the bit to start however following limited minutes in recent weeks, and he should bring the former into the starting XI in place of Diame for the visit of Antonio Conte’s side, sitting in alongside Shelvey.
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With Islam Slimani suspended, Benitez has chosen to stick with Dwight Gayle up top in recent games, but his blank against Tottenham means that he has now gone nine Premier League games without a goal, and Toon fans on Twitter want him to be sold.
The Spanish boss should look to give Joselu what is a rare start in the last few months for the visit of Chelsea, with the in-form Ayoze Perez behind him and Matt Ritchie continuing on the right flank.
Blues loanee Kenedy is unavailable to face his parent club, and while Jacob Murphy struggled to make an impression from the start against Watford, he should be handed another opportunity to make a big impact.
Saturday’s FA Cup final saw two centre-backs who were dropped by Gareth Southgate for the March friendlies, Chris Smalling and Gary Cahill, go head to head.
Cahill, valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, is the one who has been recalled to the setup for the World Cup, where he will link up with another Manchester United centre-half in Phil Jones.
In Chelsea’s resilient 1-0 win, Cahill showed why he got the nod over Smalling and why he should now be above Jones in the pecking order for the tournament in Russia this summer.
Cahill was authoritative where Jones was nervous, allowing Eden Hazard – whom England will face with Belgium in their final group game – to jet ahead of him and win the penalty that ended up deciding the day.
Antonio Conte was prepared to soak up pressure and Cahill delivered with eight clearances, three headers won and two tackles as United failed to transform their dominance of possession into clear chances to score.
Southgate has left Smalling out because of his inferior passing but Cahill also showed that there should be no concerns on that score with him, offering up a 91% pass success rate and even getting involved with a shot on the rare occasions Chelsea were able to get up the pitch.
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Cahill was at least as good as Antonio Rudiger, who was awarded man of the match, and should have leapfrogged Jones in the England pecking order after their contrasting Wembley showings.
As reported by The Daily Mail, Celtic have set their asking price for defender Kieran Tierney at £30m, should clubs like Manchester United come calling for him this summer or beyond.
What’s the story?
The Hoops 20-year-old has emerged as one of the brightest defensive prospects in British football and speculation rumbles on, on a near continuous basis that clubs are ready to pay money to convince Celtic to part with him.
One of those interested teams is Manchester United, according to The Daily Mail, who are joined by the likes of Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur in seeking his services.
The paper reckon though that Celtic are willing to hold out for £30m for his transfer.
Should Man United pursue his signature anyway?
Is he worth that kind of money?
Tierney has already accomplished a fair bit despite his young age. He’s captained his club and country, he’s won multiple trophies and he plays regularly in European football, on occasion shining in the UEFA Champions League.
If he were emerging in Spain or Italy, the hype surrounding him would be enormous.
He has excellent determination, stamina, pace and leadership skills that really suit the full-back position at the elite level, also possessing just enough attacking flair to be a threat on the left flank, as demonstrated by his four goals and 11 assists this season.
£30m isn’t a completely absurd valuation and it’s not a price tag that should put United off. He’s shown a character and hunger so far in his career that is absent in many of the more pampered youngsters emerging from the big five leagues.
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If United are serious about him becoming a first team star at Old Trafford, then they should pay the money.
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Gareth Southgate clearly has a strong idea of the England team he wants to field in Russia this summer. While most international managers selected a preliminary 29-man cohort for the round of warmup friendlies, Southgate choose a 23-man squad only – putting the remaining six players on standby.
That suggests Southgate’s mind is pretty much set in terms of team selection, but as well as ensuring the Three Lions are prepared for the coming tournament, the friendlies against Nigeria and Costa Rica also represent a chance for a few players on the fringes of his plans to make the England gaffer think twice.
With that in mind, we take a look at five players who could force their way into England’s World Cup starting XI…
Trent Alexander-Arnold
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Could Trent Alexander-Arnold’s fairy tale season, becoming a first-team regular just in time to start Liverpool’s Champions League final showdown against Real Madrid, end with a starring role at the World Cup? In terms of energy and mobility, the 19-year-old certainly suits the identity of this England team, which is built around it’s ability to launch counter-attacks from all areas of the pitch.
The Reds prospect is glaringly inexperienced – he’s yet to receive an England cap – but with that in mind, making the squad was in itself a statement of how highly Southgate rates him. Kieran Trippier is a solid option for England, but Alexander-Arnold feels like a special talent and the wing-back roles are vital to the efficiency of Southgate’s 3-1-4-2 setup.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s unfortunate injury has left a hole in England’s midfield that Ruben Loftus-Cheek appears naturally equipped to fill. The Chelsea youngster shares that ability to be direct and dynamic from midfield, which is exactly what Southgate’s looking for in the dual roaming roles just in front of Jordan Henderson.
The England gaffer knows Loftus-Cheek well from his U21 days too, but the level of competition for those positions represents a significant challenge for the 22-year-old, who has only really come to the end of his first full season as a regular at senior level.
As things stand, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard will likely be Southgate’s first picks for the lung-busters from midfield.
Ashley Young
On paper, Danny Rose remains the standout candidate for England’s left wing-back berth, so it’s down to Ashley Young to prove being battle-hardened by a long season with Manchester United has him better prepared for the tournament than the Tottenham defender, who missed much of last term through injury and eventually made just ten Premier League appearances.
Rose has looked much more like his old self in the final few weeks of the season, but Young’s wicked delivery from set pieces could be a key differential should he prove to Southgate that it really adds something to England’s armoury.
Nick Pope
The No.1 jersey feels like Jordan Pickford’s to lose after England’s previous batch of friendlies but the debate rumbles on over who should be England’s World Cup glovesman and Nick Pope boasts a pretty strong case.
He’s conceded the fewest goals of any English goalkeeper in the Premier League and the fact he started the season as Tom Heaton’s understudy is testament to the strength of the Burnley shot-stopper’s mentality.
With Jack Butland and Pickford seemingly a little ahead of him in the queue though, it’s vital Pope impresses in training enough to actually get some game-time against England and Costa Rica.
Phil Jones
With Kyle Walker impressing at centre-half during the last batch of friendlies, Phil Jones’ role in this England side has come under threat – especially after his catastrophic attempt to contain Eden Hazard in the FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea.
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Back in September, Southgate dubbed him England’s best defender, but the way England have evolved since then, focusing so heavily on playing out of the back, has almost eradicated the need for an out-and-out defender. That being said, John Stones is probably the most vulnerable to being edged out of England’s starting XI.
While he encapsulates everything Southgate wants from his back three, the Manchester City defender struggled for game-time towards the end of last season, losing his place to Vincent Kompany and January signing Aymeric Laporte.