It is always helpful for football fans when their club’s owner interacts on social media, particularly when transfer rumours roll around.On this occasion, Aston Villa chairman Tony Xia used Twitter to shoot down a report linking the Championship club with a move for Stoke City striker Peter Crouch.Over the weekend,ÂThe SunÂclaimed that the Midlands outfit are interested in signing the 6ft7in man, who previously played for Villa between 2002 and 2004.However, Xia has dismissed the report in a reply to a fan on the social networking website.
During his time at Villa Park, Crouch scored just six Premier League goals in 37 appearances.
He has never been a one-man club, but his longest spell has been at his current club Stoke, who signed him six years ago from Tottenham Hotspur.
Since becoming a Potter, Crouch has scored 39 top-flight goals and netted his 100th in February, making him only the 26th player to reach the feat.
According to Leo Noticias, Leeds are in talks to sign Real Valladolid midfielder Toni Villa.
What’s the Story?
For a Leeds fan, this transfer window has been a constant source of entertainment, joy and confusion as to some of the new signings. Fourteen players have arrived at Elland Road this summer, some of whom are permanent signings after loan spells, while others are relative unknowns from the very depths of the most random European leagues. And with Cameron Borthwick-Jackson also set to sign for the club in the next 48 hours, it could be a fascinating season for the Yorkshire side.
And according to reports, yet another European talent could be making his way to Elland Road. Toni Villa, and attacking midfielder from Real Valladolid is reportedly in talks with Leeds regarding a move that could be worth up to £4million.
How good was Toni Villa last season?
On loan at Leonesa last season, Toni, who is just 22-years-old impressed immeasurably and guided the club to promotion to the Segunda Division.
Coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, Leeds’ latest signing Ouasim Bouy has been sent out on Loan to Leonesa for the upcoming season; a possible peace offering as Leeds look to prize Toni away from a return to the recently promoted club.
Would Toni be a good signing for Leeds?
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Young, raw and inexperienced, Toni is certainly a talent but may find it hard to adapt to the full throttle pace of the Championship. However, if he can hone his skills and make himself time on the ball, he could be a genuine revelation this season.
According to reports from The Daily Mail, West Ham are preparing a £25million transfer bid for Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder William Carvalho.
The 37-cap Portugal international, who was victorious with his country at last summer’s European Championship, has been targeted by Premier League clubs countless times before without a move to England materialising, and the Hammers appear to be the latest club eyeing up his services.
It seems like the right signing as well; the arrivals of Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez, Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta have exposed the central midfield area as a sudden weak link in the Hammers’ starting line-up.
But it’s certainly curious that so many top Premier League clubs essentially decided Carvalho wasn’t worth his £39.5million release clause, so are the Hammers on the verge of swooping for a transfer dud?
Let us know if you’d back a £25million bid for the 6 foot 1 midfielder by voting below…
Celtic face Astana in Champions League qualifying knowing anything but a heavy defeat to the Kazakhstan outfit without scoring an away goal will take them through to the group stages of Europe’s top tournament.Indeed, Brendan Rodgers’ side culminated an impressive five-goal lead in the first leg in a convincing display that suggests the Bhoys shouldn’t have too much to fear from this afternoon’s clash, even if it is being hosted on the other side of Europe.The Celtic boss did have a key decision to make at the heart of defence with a number of players out injured, however, so we asked supporters earlier today who should partner Jozo Simunovic at the back.
Although it turns out Simunovic hasbeen rested, the majority of Celtic fans who took partÂour poll will be pleased to see Kristoffer Ajer take a place in the starting XI, having received 63% of the vote.
The 19-year-old defender made 16 top flight appearances on loan at Kilmarnock last season and will relish the chance to represent his parent club in a competitive fixture.
According to an interview on the official Aston Villa website, the club’s CEO Keith Wyness says the Midlands outfit are looking to expand their current Villa Park home up to a 60,000 capacity, but Villa fans have been left unimpressed by the plans.
The current capacity of the famous stadium is just under 43,000, but while the Championship side are clearly looking to show some ambition, the Villa faithful perhaps feel they should be concentrating on what is happening on the pitch instead following a disappointing 13th-placed finish in England’s second tier last season.
Wyness said: “We would be looking to take the stadium up to a 60,000 capacity. We are in initial discussions about how that could possibly be done. We are in the very early stages at present.”
Villa supporters were quick to have their say on Wyness’ comments via social media, but many feel that it would be “pointless” until the club is back in the top flight, while others believe they would struggle to fill the ground based on the attendances over the course of the last few years.
Manchester United got their return to the Champions League group stages off to the perfect start as they recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory against FC Basel at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, but Red Devils fans remain unconvinced by new boy Victor Lindelof.
The Swedish centre-back was handed only his second start of the season – the other came against Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup – by Jose Mourinho following his summer move from Benfica, and he lined up alongside Chris Smalling at the heart of the defence for the visit of the Swiss champions.
The 23-year-old has yet to feature in the Premier League for the Red Devils with Eric Bailly and Phil Jones being preferred, and while he kept a clean sheet and looked solid enough in the win against Basel, there is certainly still room for improvement following a couple of shaky moments.
Man United supporters were quick to have their say on Lindelof’s performance via social media, and while some described him as “average at best”, others say the ‘jury is still out’ on the summer addition.
Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction….
Alan Shearer is a Newcastle United legend, but he does not shy away from the brutal truth when it comes to his beloved club.Rafael Benitez’s side were always expected to have a difficult time of it in the Premier League following last season’s promotion from the Championship.So far, there have been positives and negatives from the Magpies’ first six matches and they currently reside ninth in the standings.It was a lacklustre start for Newcastle as they suffered back-to-back defeats in their opening two matches against Tottenham Hotspur and fellow promoted side Huddersfield Town.Benitez and his team managed to turn their fortunes around with wins over West Ham United, Swansea City and Stoke City, but their positive run ended on Sunday.Last season, Newcastle and Brighton battled it out for first place in the second tier, with the North-East outfit just edging it.At the weekend, though, it was Chris Hughton’s team who came out on top with a 1-0 win at the Amex Stadium.Shearer, who spent 10 years at Newcastle during his playing career, gave a frank assessment of the result on Twitter.
According to Italian media outlet Tuttomercatoweb, via talkSPORT, Newcastle United are one of three Premier League clubs tracking Inter Milan left-back Yugo Nagatomo.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Tuttomercatoweb says that the Serie A giants have recently offered the 31-year-old a new contract to stay at the San Siro with his current deal due to run out in 2019, but the Japan international is said to be considering trying a new challenge elsewhere.
Nagatomo certainly doesn’t appear to be short of options if he did want to move the Premier League, with the Magpies, Burnley and West Bromwich Albion all said to be keen on the full-back.
Why would Newcastle want to sign Nagatomo?
With 99 Japan caps to his name and having made 202 appearances in all competitions for Inter since joining them in 2011, there is no doubt that the 31-year-old is a hugely experienced and reliable left-back.
Football Soccer – Inter Milan v Frosinone – San Siro stadium, Milan, Italy- 22/11/15 Inter Milan’s Yuto Nagatomo (L) in action against Danilo Soddimo of Frosinone. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo Picture Supplied by Action Images
Despite his age he has appeared in five of his side’s seven Serie A fixtures this term, and as well as showing his defensive qualities over the years Nagatomo has also been a threat at the other end of the pitch by scoring 11 goals and assisting a further 18 in those 202 outings.
With Newcastle losing Paul Dummett to injury it has meant that the likes of Chancel Mbemba, Javier Manquillo and Jesus Gamez have filled in at left-back recently, but with the position not being any of those players’ preferred one Rafa Benitez could look to bring in someone like Nagatomo in the New Year or even next summer.
What happens next?
While a move to the Premier League is of course an attractive option, you would still expect Nagatomo to stay with Inter if he has been offered a new contract because they are such a big club.
Of course his decision could depend on whether he will be a first team regular at the San Siro, but the fact that he has started four of their seven Serie A matches so far this season would currently suggest that he is.
If that were to change in the coming weeks and months however and they were able to get him in January, Newcastle should certainly look to sign the 31-year-old to provide some quality and pace in the full-back areas.
Tottenham Hotspur have a huge game looming next week when they face Champions League holders Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men were handed arguably the toughest group of the lot having been drawn against the Spanish giants, as well as Borussia Dortmund and APOEL.
However, the North London outfit have not balked at the challenge, instead securing back-to-back wins.
Taking on Los Blancos will be their hardest test yet in the competition, but judging from Spurs’ social media activity, it is a battle that they are certainly excited about.
Not all of the Tottenham following shared the sentiments of the club, mainly because they would rather get this weekend’s Premier League match against Bournemouth out of the way.
Last season’s runners-up will welcome the Cherries to Wembley in the hope of stretching their unbeaten run in the top flight to six.
The Bernabeu tweet has got some fans worried about complacency.
Others, though, are feeling confident ahead of the showdown in Madrid.
Jose Mourinho isn’t exactly known for experimenting with the formula. He’s trusted flat back fours for the vast majority of his managerial career, including since taking the reins at Manchester United in summer 2016.
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But the Premier League has become a hot bed of tactical innovation in recent seasons and it’s incredibly telling that last term’s top three – Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester City – all utilised 3-4-3 for portions of the campaign.
The system seems to create a mismatch with formations still using four at the back, which will undoubtedly be on Mourinho’s mind this weekend as he prepares to host the Lilywhites at Old Trafford.
With that in mind, we asked United fans earlier this week whether Mourinho should stick with his trusted 4-2-3-1 against Tottenham, or opt for the 3-4-3 setup he used on Tuesday night against Swansea City in the Carabao Cup.
And according to our poll, a slim majority of Red Devils supporters think Mourinho should line up his side in a 3-4-3 during Saturday’s 12.30pm kickoff. How do you fancy your side’s chances of beating Tottenham, United fans? Let us know by commenting below…