Tottenham Hotspur continue to be strongly linked with a move for Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish – as recently covered by The Mirror – but the London club should drop their interest to pursue a possible deal for Manchester United’s Juan Mata.
What’s the story?
Tottenham are one of a number of clubs believed to be interested in a move for Grealish, who is widely expected to leave Villa Park in this summer’s transfer window.
Villa would have found it difficult to keep the 22-year-old regardless of their financial problems, having failed to secure a return to the Premier League.
Villa reportedly value Grealish in the region of £40m, but according to The Mirror, Spurs are in no rush to complete a deal as they look to take advantage of the Championship club’s issues.
Liverpool have also been credited with an interest in a player who scored three times and registered five assists in 27 Championship appearances last season.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257236″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five things we learned from England 21 Tunisia”]
Mauricio Pochettino’s side, however, should be looking at a potential deal for United attacker Mata, who may well become available in this summer’s transfer window.
Why would Mata suit Tottenham?
There are currently no indications that United boss Jose Mourinho would be prepared to sell Mata this summer, with the Spaniard a regular last term.
Indeed, the former Valencia attacker, who is valued at £27m by transfermarkt.co.uk, made 40 appearances in all competitions during the 2017-18 campaign, but he actually only managed three goals.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Fred’s arrival at Old Trafford means that Mourinho will more than likely switch to a 4-3-3 formation next season, and Mata will find it difficult to gain one of the wide positions, with Alexis Sanchez’s January arrival providing more competition.
At the age of 30, Mata will want first-team football, and his football brain and ability to work the ball in tight areas would be perfect for Tottenham.
Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane would all benefit operating alongside a player of Mata’s ilk and experience, and Tottenham should test the water with a bid for the 41-time Spain international in this summer’s transfer window.
Celtic laboured to a draw at home to St Johnstone in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, failing to continue where they left off from Thursday’s impressive win over FC Zenit in the UEFA Europa League.
On a day that Brendan Rodgers rotated heavily, perhaps with one eye on Thursday’s return leg in Russia, Celtic were well below their best, struggling to create opportunities and taking none in a dismal 0-0 draw.
The fixture was an opportunity for players like Cristian Gamboa and Calvin Miller to impress, getting rare starts with established performers Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney rested.
It was 20-year-old Miller’s first start for the club since August and he struggled to cope with the occasion for the most part, looking well below the standards set by Tierney.
While important to remember he is still young and inexperienced, it will be difficult for him to play more regularly if he doesn’t take his opportunities.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Celtic fans were disappointed with his performance, with some even already coming to a judgement that he isn’t good enough to make it at the club.
The summer transfer window has finally drawn to Âclose and now it’s time to reflect. WhichÂPremier LeagueÂside did the best business? Who did the worst? And what glaring transfer opportunities were surprisingly missed out on?Well, this article takes a look at Tottenham Hotspur. The Lilywhites were by no means anonymous in the transfer market this summer, but to label it a stellar transfer window would be an equal fallacy.In truth, there were several opportunities in the market that the north London side failed to capitalise on. And being the know-it-all bunch we are at Football Fancast, we’ve decided to list FIVE of them.
[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON MAURICIO POCHETTINO TO REVEAL
[/ffc-gallery]
WILFRIED BONY
If there’s one obvious gap in the squad that Tottenham failed to address this summer, it’s undoubtedly the absence of a dependable centre-forward.
Harry Kane, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado have found just 21 Premier League goals between them since the start of last season and the Lilywhites were resultantly expected to invest heavily in a new striker during the summer window.
Arguably the best option available to the north London side was Swansea City front-man Wilfried Bony.
Since joining the Welsh outfit last summer from Vitesse Arnhem, where he netted 37 times in his ultimate season, the Ivory Coast international has claimed 16 goals in just 34 top flight appearances. Here’s some of the highlights from his inaugural Premier League campaign:
A powerful, aggressive, aerially-combative centre-forward, Bony fits Mauricio Pochettino’s philosophy, sharing many of the old-fashioned characteristics with former Saints front-line Rickie Lambert and Dani Osvaldo.
Furthermore, although Gary Monk continually denied rumours that the 25 year-old had been put up for sale, his £19million release clause is well known and represents great value for money.
DANNY WELBECK
A failed transfer pursuit that may cost Franco Baldini his job – the Sporting Director let Danny Welbeck slip through his grasp on deadline day and is now allegedly in the firing line:
It’s known Mauricio Pochettino wanted to bring Southampton star Jay Rodriguez with him to White Hart Lane this summer. But as Southampton refused to sell the injured forward, Welbeck was seen as an effective surrogate, with the left side of Tottenham’s attack in need of added quality.
The 23 year-old is the flavour of the month after netting a brace against Switzerland earlier this week, including this composed finish:
Signing a Three Lions regular in his prime would have come with a host of benefits for the north London side and Manchester United’s £16million price-tag was more than affordable, but they eventually lost Welbeck to local rivals Arsenal . Here’s another look at the forward in action:
WINSTON REID
Football – West Ham United v Sampdoria – Pre Season Friendly – Upton Park – 14/15 – 9/8/14Winston Reid – West Ham UnitedMandatory Credit: Action Images / Tony O’BrienEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Tottenham eventually sourced a new centre-back on deadline day after saying goodbye to former captain Michael Dawson earlier in the summer, with Federico Fazio arriving from Sevilla.
The Argentine defender represents fantastic value for money but in my opinion, a better option would have been West Ham’s Winston Reid.
The 26 year-old may be no world-beater but he’s been incredibly consistent since the East Londoners returned to the Premier League in summer 2012, claiming the Hammer of the Year award the twelve months later.
He was in prominent form at the start of last season too before the New Zealand skipper was sidelined with an ankle injury – here’s a look at his stats from the campaign:
By no great coincidence, West Ham’s league form plummeted in his absence. Fazio remains an impressive addition but still comes with a risk; Reid, on the other, has proved himself in the Premier League as an impeccable athlete who fits its requisites perfectly.
Furthermore, the All Whites international’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, suggesting he could have been lured to White Hart Lane on the cheap and likely even less than Fazio.
FABIAN SCHAR
Another centre-back that emerged on Tottenham’s transfer radar this summer was FC Basel prodigy Fabian Schar:
But a formal bid never materialised – which I find incredibly surprising because the 22 year-old has the potential to become one of the best defenders in Europe.
As viewable below, statistically he was the best defender in the Champions League last season:
And the Swiss international’s World Cup performances weren’t too bad either, making eight interceptions during two outings at Brazil 2014.
Schar comes with an interesting knack of scoring goals, such as this incredible strike as a youngster at FC Wil…
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Admittedly, Barcelona, Lazio, Manchester United and Arsenal were also linked, so Spurs would’ve had to fight off huge competition for his signature.
But as previously stated, the Basel stopper looks like a great prospect for the future and the Lilywhites have most likely now missed their chance to sign him.
EVER BANEGA
Tottenham already boast great quality and depth in central midfield, but in my opinion, they struggled to move the ball quickly and effectively enough through the middle of the park last season.
A more fluid, deep-lying playmaker was in order and in that regard, former Valencia star Ever Banega represented a fantastic, realistically-available option for Spurs this summer.
The 26 year-old, previously linked to the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid, offers greater mobility, creativity and technical quality than Spurs’ other central midfielders, as detailed below:
Furthermore, having been sent out on loan to Newell’s Old Boys in January 2014 after plummeting down the pecking order at the Mestalla, it was no secret that Valencia were looking to offload the Argentina international this summer.
Banega joined up with Europa League champions Sevilla instead for an incredibly miserly €2.5million fee.
The midfielder could have been a real coup for the Lilywhites – here’s a look at Banega in action:
Theo Walcott believes Arsenal are prepared for their busy schedule ahead.
The Gunners have been struggling for form, with defeats to teams including Manchester United and Schalke.
Arsenal now face tests like Tottenham, Everton, Montpelier and Aston Villa in the same period.
However, Theo Walcott thinks Arsenal feel ready.
He said to Arsenal Player on the official website for Arsenal: “Schalke came at us in the second half and we found it difficult to be honest. But we dug deep and before the game we probably would have taken a point. When you come to a difficult place with a difficult atmosphere, against a good team who beat us at home, [it was great] to get the two early goals. It is just a shame we couldn’t kill it off, but it was a good point in the end. It is going to be a tough month for us now. It is going to test us all, not just physically but mentally as well, and I think we are ready for it.”
Walcott was pleased to be able to fight illness to take part in the Schalke game.
He said: “I didn’t wake up feeling great [on Monday]. My voice is coming back now but I didn’t have one then at all. But it was nice to be back playing with the guys, that is all I want to be doing now.”
Defender Laurent Koscielny believes Arsenal got “a good point” from the Schalke game.
“We are away so it’s a good point against a difficult team. When we went 2-0 (up), I thought we could keep this result. We tried to come back but Schalke are a very good side.”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
[ad_pod id=’tv’ align=’center’]
Arsenal drew 2-2 with Schalke, which puts them second in their Champions League group with seven points.
Nottingham Forest failed in their quest for promotion to the Premier League last season, but they will have another chance come August.
Aitor Karanka took over as manager in January, which means that the 2018-19 campaign will be his first full season in charge.
On Thursday, Forest announced their fixtures, and first up will be an away trip to take on Bristol City on August 4.
The Reds will return to the City Ground for their opening home match of the campaign on Tuesday, August 7 when they will go head to head with newly-demoted side West Bromwich Albion.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”257236″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Five things we learned from England 21 Tunisia”]
Reading, Wigan Athletic and Birmingham City will make up the fixtures in August, as well as a Carabao Cup tie against Bury at home.
Over the festive period, Queens Park Rangers and Leeds United will visit the City Ground, while Karanka’s side will travel to take on Norwich City and Millwall.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
On the final day of the season, Forest will go head to head with Bolton Wanderers, who managed to come from behind to beat the Reds 3-2 to save themselves from relegation to League One last season.
Forest fans have been tweeting their thoughts on the fixture schedule.
On Thursday afternoon, Newcastle announced that defender Paul Dummett had signed a contract extension, keeping him at St James’ Park until 2022.
The defender, who is valued at £3.15 million by Transfermarkt, has been one of the most consistent performances on Tyneside this season and has established himself as a mainstay in Rafael Benitez’ team.
Dummett has been with his hometown club since the age of nine and is currently the only player in the first team squad that is a product of the Newcastle’s youth system.
The 26-year-old has played in over 120 league games for the Toon Army, who are currently occupying 13th place in the Premier League table. However, in his five years of first team action, Dummett is arguably in the middle of his most impressive campaign.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Upon hearing the news that Dummett had signed a contract extension with their club, Newcastle fans took to Twitter to express their delight…
English fans will doubtless be more excited to see the likes of Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley grace the world stage when England square up against Italy tonight. But Arsenal fans, in particular, should keep a watchful eye out for the five-foot-five Italian who could be buzzing around energetically alongside the great Andrea Pirlo in the Italian engine room.
Rumours have circulated that Arsene Wenger sees PSG’s Marco Verratti as a like-for-like replacement for the ageing Mikel Arteta. On occasions this season, signs emerged suggesting the effects of being the wrong side of 30 may just be taking their toll on Arteta, and Verratti could provide that mix of tactical and technical nous that has been central to the Spaniard’s role in the Arsenal side in his three years at the Emirates.
Verratti is seen as Pirlo’s natural successor in the heart of the Italian midfield. At his best, he can dictate the pace of the game in a similar fashion to Pirlo, pulling strings in front of the back four and distributing the ball to all areas of the field. And despite his diminutive stature, Verratti possesses a nasty streak, and is fully prepared to get stuck in for the sake of his side, no matter how big or intimidating the opponent.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The fact that he has secured a starting role in one of Europe’s best sides at such a young age demonstrates a maturity beyond his tender age. And while his game still lacks the grace and poise of Pirlo’s – he has a willingness to take unnecessary risks in front of his own goal – he is malleable. While risk-taking is an essential part of the excitement Verratti gives, he is at an age where faults are commonplace, and creases can still be ironed out.
When Arsenal do come to replace Arteta in their starting line-up, it will likely be for a player of Verratti’s style. His ability to control the tempo of the game, whilst providing a tenacious and effective screen in front of, would make him an ideal replacement in the Arsenal side. Suggestions are that Verratti is worth in the region of £20 million, and Wenger is keen. Arsenal fans should be too.
West Brom welcome Manchester City to the Hawthorns on Saturday, currently enjoying their best ever start to a league season.
Roberto Mancini’s men have yet to hit their best form, but currently sit third in the table, four points behind early pace setters Chelsea. They managed their first clean sheet of the season last time out, following their 3-0 home victory over Sunderland.
Steve Clarke will be sweating on the fitness of on-loan-striker Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian striker has been struggling with an ankle injury for a couple of weeks, but still looks likely to feature against the champions.
Also back in contention for the Baggies are Chris Brunt (hamstring) and Liam Ridgewell (calf).
Roberto Mancini has no new injury concerns, other than David Silva who is doubtful with a muscular injury. Jack Rodwell, Javi Garcia and Maicon all remain sidelined for the champions.
Prediction: West Brom 2-3 Manchester City
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Aston Villa’s poor financial situation has been well-documented and the Mirror report that they will demand £40m from Tottenham for their star man Jack Grealish this summer.
Squad depth has been a prolonged issue for Mauricio Pochettino during his time in North London and notoriously tough negotiator Daniel Levy has clearly spied an opportunity to engineer a cheap deal with Tony Xia desperately battling to balance the books at Villa Park.
Nevertheless, there is generally a disconnect between what makes sense from a financial point of view and what a football manager is after in order to bolster his team so it is worth looking at the potential consequences of any deal to take the promising English playmaker to Spurs.
That’s exactly what we’ve done; examined the deal from all angles to look at the practical considerations for Pochettino and Tottenham if Grealish does pitch up this summer…
Spurs have the choice to go 4-3-3
Grealish’s improvement this season has been in part brought about by an adjustment in his position as Steve Bruce settled on a 4-3-3 at Villa Park.
He has moved to a deeper role, playing in a similar style to Kevin de Bruyne at Manchester City, as a playmaker with licence to drive from midfield.
Therefore, while Grealish could operate in one of the three advanced roles behind Harry Kane in Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1, he would also give the Argentine the option to go to 4-3-3, potentially with himself and Dele Alli bursting forward from that deeper area.
Aston Villa miss out on promotion again
Soccer Football – Championship Play-Off Final – Fulham vs Aston Villa – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – May 26, 2018 Aston Villa manager Steve Bruce gestures Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative fo
There were many outstanding performers for Villa last season as Bruce moulded them into an effective side but Grealish was the man who sprinkled the stardust on.
Lewis Grabban and Robert Snodgrass were loanees who have now returned to their Premier League clubs, while John Terry has departed.
With precious little funds available, the apple of the Holte End’s eye departing his boyhood club could well spell the end of Villa’s promotion hopes before the 2018/19 has even started.
Christian Eriksen is allowed to leave
After Antoine Griezmann committed his future to Atletico Madrid, the Daily Mail reported that Barcelona have turned their attention to Spurs playmaker Eriksen as a transfer target this summer.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
As much as Tottenham are ambitious, Levy may well be tempted to cash in on the Dane if he can engineer a cut-price deal for a young Englishman to replace his creativity.
Yet, as we touched on above, Grealish is a slightly different type of creator to Eriksen, although the former Ajax man has the hallmarks of a player who may move slightly deeper to add more guile to Spurs build-up.
[brid autoplay=”true” video=”255896″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Tottenham’s opening fixtures for the 201819 Premier League season”]
Southampton will look to build upon their first Premier League win since November when they host Liverpool at St Mary’s on Sunday.
The Saints had gone 12 top flight matches without a victory before they came from a goal down to beat West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at the Hawthorns last weekend – a result that moved them out of the relegation zone.
Manager Mauricio Pellegrino will be keen to pick up more points when they welcome Jurgen Klopp’s men to the south coast, with the Reds potentially having five former Southampton players in their squad in Sadio Mane, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren and Virgil van Dijk.
The Merseyside outfit have the top goalscorer in the English top flight in their ranks in Mo Salah, who scored twice in the 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield last weekend to take his tally to the season to a remarkable 21, while only Manchester City have bettered their total of 59 goals in 26 Premier League matches.
Pellegrino played a front four of Shane Long, Nathan Redmond, Dusan Tadic and Sofiane Boufal in his side’s 3-0 defeat against the Reds at Anfield in November, and he is unlikely to be so gung-ho this time around.
Here is how Southampton must line up against Liverpool on Sunday, ahead of Alex McCarthy in goal…
Defence
While Pellegrino will surely have been tempted to play with three central defenders and Ryan Bertand and Cedric as wing-backs at times this season, he has usually stuck with a back four and it would be a huge surprise if he made any changes to the quarter that started the win at West Brom.
Bertrand, Cedric, Wesley Hoedt and Jack Stephens all performed well, and despite the fact the latter lost Ahmed Hegazi for the Baggies’ opener, he made amends by scoring his third goal in his last three appearances at the other end.
Stephens and Hoedt need to be strong in the air against the familiar figure of Van Dijk from set-pieces, which is a part of their games that both have struggled with in recent times.
Midfield
Southampton fans have been left confused that Mario Lemina has only been used sparingly in recent weeks – and not at all in the 1-1 draw at home to Brighton – but he returned to the starting XI in place of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and made a huge impact.
The 24-year-old put in a man of the match display and rounded it off with a brilliant 25-yard strike, and he must be one of the first names on the team-sheet on Sunday.
With Liverpool coming to town Pellegrino could choose to line up with three central midfielders, and Hojbjerg could get the nod ahead of Tadic to give the hosts a little more defensive stability.
The Argentine boss could then have the option to switch between 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 systems depending on whether his team are defending or attacking, with Lemina showing at the Hawthorns that he can play a more advanced role if Oriol Romeu and Hojbjerg are sitting.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Attack
It hasn’t been said too often during his Southampton career, but James Ward-Prowse is currently undroppable and like Lemina, he must be one of the first names on the team-sheet on Sunday.
The 23-year-old has been in outstanding form in 2018 and will start on the right-hand side, while Boufal deserves a spot on the opposite flank given the good link up he has with Ryan Bertrand on the left.
Pellegrino then has a decision to make up top as to whether new boy Guido Carrillo keeps his place in the team or he uses Shane Long to try and stretch the Liverpool defence, but you would expect him to keep the faith with the south coast outfit’s club-record buy.