According to reports in Spain (via SportWitness), Everton are lining up a summer swoop for Espanyol left back Aaron Martin.
What’s the story?
The Catalan press reported in January that Everton were interested in a €20million (£17.6m) move for Martin, but Espanyol wanted more for a January move.
According to Friday’s report though, the club is now considering letting the flying full back go this summer, and his agent is working hard to get a deal done.
The 21 year-old has a €40m release clause, but with his form fading in recent months and the club in financial trouble, he could be available for the original €20m offer.
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Martin to Merseyside?
Everton fans may be dubious of a move for a left back, as Leighton Baines has once again proved his importance to the team with some impressive form since returning from injury.
However, Baines will turn 34 this year, so bringing in a supremely talented 21 year-old would certainly be a wise move.
Martin was superb in the first half of the season for Espanyol, and is averaging 1.1 successful dribbles per game, one key pass and 1.1 successful crosses, impressive numbers for a team struggling towards the bottom of La Liga.
The young left back is great going forward and has great technical ability, but he will definitely need to iron out a few creases on the defensive side of things.
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Baines could be just the man to help him there, and there aren’t many who are better suited to teach the youngster how to be a Premier League full back.
Martin isn’t perfect, and for around €20m fans would expect production quickly, but he has a big future ahead of him and could easily be Baines’ long term successor.
Everton fans, would you back a summer swoop for Martin? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below…
For years, Arsenal have been regular competitors in the Champions League, but it was the Europa League that was made hugely important for the club this season.
With the North London outfit 13 points adrift of the top four, their only route to the elite competition was by winning the second-tiered version.
Arsenal had to get past Atletico Madrid to reach the final, but they shot themselves in the foot during the first leg when some poor defending resulted in an equaliser from the Spanish side.
Due to the away goal in the 1-1 draw at the Emirates, Arsenal knew that they needed to score on Thursday night in order to have any hope of progressing into the final.
However, despite spells of dominance in Spain, Arsene Wenger’s men were unable to find the breakthrough, and were later punished by former Chelsea striker Diego Costa, who scored the only goal of the game.
The elimination was made even worse by the fact that it is Wenger’s last season in charge of the North London outfit as he prepares to leave after a two-decade spell this summer.
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On Twitter, a number of Arsenal fans took aim at the Frenchman, claiming that he has now wrecked his legacy, despite the fact that during his tenure he guided the Gunners to three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.
The Champions League final is the most important fixture in the season for those involved, therefore injury problems are a club’s worst nightmare.
Liverpool have had a fair few fitness problems of late, and it seems that Emre Can will be unavailable for the showpiece against Real Madrid in Kiev on May 26.
Merseyside football reporter for The Telegraph, Chris Bascombe, has revealed that the midfielder is still nursing a back injury.
Can has not played for Liverpool since the club’s 5-0 rout over Watford on March 17.
Throughout his injury absence, there have ben rumblings about the midfielder’s future.
The 24-year-old, who has earned 20 caps for Germany, has been heavily linked with a move away from Anfield due to the fact that he has not signed a new contract.
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Can’s current terms expire this summer, and it seems that a large number of fans have accepted that he is heading out the exit door.
Following the latest news about the midfielder’s injury problems, Liverpool fans have tweeted their thoughts.
Arsenal are reportedly on the verge of appointing Mikel Arteta as their new manager – with former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso potentially arriving with him as a coach – and Gunners fans are excited to see what that could mean for Granit Xhaka, who earns £90,000-a-week according to The Sun.
The Switzerland international has been a regular in the north London outfit’s midfield under Arsene Wenger since he joined them in 2016, but he perhaps hasn’t made the big impact that some were expecting of him, with many of his own fans criticising his performances on Twitter at times this season.
However, there is no doubt that working alongside Arteta – and potentially Alonso – who were both brilliant midfielders at this level could certainly help the 25-year-old improve.
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Arsenal supporters, 71% of whom want to see Hector Bellerin replaced by a 26-year-old Frenchman at right-back next season, have been quick to have their say on the potential link-up between the trio via social media, and while one said “Xhaka will be truly world class under them”, another said “Xabi Alonso would help develop him”.
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Arsenal have opened talks with Nice over a deal for midfielder Jean Michael Seri, according to The Sun.
What’s the story?
Now that the season is over for the Gunners, attention can switch to potential incomings this summer.
Arsene Wenger has bid his farewell as manager, but previous targets seem to have remerged.
The Sun claims that Arsenal’s head of football operations Raul Sanllehi has begun discussions with Nice regarding the possible signing of Seri.
The bigwig attempted to recruit the Ivory Coast international last summer while working for Barcelona, but he was unsuccessful.
The publication claims that Seri – valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt – has a £35m release clause that will be eligible to be met in the next few weeks.
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Would Seri improve Arsenal?
The North London outfit are certainly lacking a leader in the middle of the park, and Seri certainly has the ability to take control.
The 26-year-old has started 29 Ligue 1 appearances for Nice this season and has shown that he can also carry out defensive duties while slotted in a deeper role.
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Predominantly, though, Seri features in central midfield, where he can dictate play and set up various attacks for his teammates ahead of him.
The Ivorian is not the best tackler in the world, but he would provide a commanding presence in the middle of the park.
Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City have all been linked to Seri, so if Arsenal can scoop him up, it would make a statement to their rivals.
Manchester United’s full-backs for much of the season, a pair of converted wingers left over from the Sir Alex Ferguson era in Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young, are absolutely not fit for purpose for such an expensively-assembled side, with genuine Premier League title ambitions.
Across town, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola inherited four aging players in that position – Bacary Sagna, Alexandr Kolarov, Pablo Zabaleta and Gael Clichy – but shipped them all out last summer.
He replaced them with three men – Kyle Walker, Danilo and Benjamin Mendy, whose valuations blew the full-back market into the stratosphere but made a world of difference to the speed at which Guardiola’s side could attack.
Now Mourinho must be similarly ruthless, even though the market has been inflated by City and one man who has been linked with a move to Old Trafford to take Young’s left-back slot is Alex Sandro of Juventus.
We asked United fans if that would be a good idea and a huge 91 per cent of them said it would indeed…
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Arsenal fans are eager to bring Sevilla midfielder Steven N’Zonzi to the Emirates Stadium this summer, after he was linked with a move to the club earlier this week.
The Mirror reported that new manager Unai Emery was eager for a reunion with the player, who signed him to La Liga while he was boss at Sevilla.
The £27m-rated French international is a capable, composed and physical midfielder, arguably having the ability to add a bit of defensive steel to what was considered a lightweight Arsenal midfielder under former manager Arsene Wenger.
With Premier League and European experience, he ticks plenty of boxes for the Gunners.
Fans are certainly keen on doing a deal for him, with a massive 84% of respondents to a poll we published earlier this week believing that the club should make a move for him this summer.
Can the negotiators at the Emirates now get the deal done?
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England are used to going into major tournaments on a wave of negativity and despair.
Either they’ve been set up for an almighty fall by a media machine that seems to love nothing better than eating its young, or – as has been the case more recently – the team is written off as a bunch of no-hopers who will be devoured by the bigger names from around the world.
This time, expectations probably hit rock bottom after the Iceland debacle two years ago and the fact that Gareth Southgate – whose last senior managerial job was with Middlesbrough a decade ago – is now the manager. And yet, this Three Lions side is arguably the most exciting squad at the tournament.
It’s clear the squad doesn’t match up to Spain, Brazil, France or Germany. But star quality isn’t the point. England have a team full of young and hopeful talent, bags of pace and a couple of players on top form. They play with an interesting formation and like to control games. Whether they win the thing or not, they are worth watching.
One thing has helped with all of that: owning their own media coverage.
England haven’t left it up to the national press to cover this team. They’ve done it themselves. On social media they’ve led the way, showing off their players and creating videos. And instead of seeing the media as a foe to be jostled with, England have embraced the fact that their players are interesting to people. Instead of fighting it, they’ve gone with the flow.
So, ahead of the opening game with Tunisia on Monday night, this is a team who will excite more than just England fans. Because of the feel-good factor and the makeup of the side, this is the hipster team, the one everyone wants to see on social media. This is the side who create the buzz even if they don’t win. This is the AS Roma of World Cup 2018 – a thoroughly modern side who interest the neutrals.
More importantly, though, this is a team who could genuinely go far. But despite some of the omens, not all the way.
Back in 2010, a Spain side made up of a core of players who starred for Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona brought home the country’s first World Cup. And despite defeat in their opening game against Switzerland, it never really felt in doubt.
In 2014, a Germany team again featuring a core of Guardiola’s boys – this time from Bayern Munich – were the winners after the Mannschaft dominated the tournament. Their squad was a machine where all the parts just seemed to fit together, and that was in no small part down to the Catalan coach.
This year…. It’s a little bit too easy and probably very wrong to proclaim that the same thing will happen again. Guardiola’s Manchester City side was again stunning on their way to ultimate victory in the Premier League last season. England might have a fair few Citizens in their squad, but few of them make up the core of Southgate’s team in the same way that Barcelona and Bayern Munich dominated the central positions in the last two World Cup winning squads.
Indeed, whilst 2010 and 2014 saw the triumph of a collective style of football over individual brilliance, 2018 might see the balance tip. The last three Champions Leagues have been won by a Real Madrid side who really just showed that they were a collection of irresistibly brilliant talents and that proved unbeatable.
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The Guardiola mould – or, worrying for England, even the Mauricio Pochettino one – may no longer be the dominant trait. This season’s PFA Player of the Year for the Premier League wasn’t a representative of the best team, and one who broke almost every record available to them. Such is the modern trend towards individual brilliance that it was a players from a team who finished fourth who won the accolade, even if Mohamed Salah was inarguably scintillating.
Those are the omens and it will probably be another team who lift the golden trophy this July. The fates of Manchester City, Liverpool and Real Madrid might show that the world of football has moved into a new era since Pep Guardiola’s club sides reigned supreme over the World Cup, too.
But despite that, there’s still one cause for optimism: it’s not about winning or losing that will define England’s tournament. This time, the Three Lions are worth watching. And that’s a victory in itself.
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According to reports in Dutch media outlet De Telegraaf on Thursday, Southampton midfielder Dusan Tadic is closing in on a summer move to Ajax as he looks for a return to the Netherlands, and Saints fans know two players who shouldn’t replace the Serbia international.
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After four years at St Mary’s it seems that the 29-year-old could be on his way out, and while he hasn’t been at his best over the course of the last two seasons he has still been one of the south coast outfit’s most influential players in the final third – as he showed with three goals in their final six Premier League fixtures last season as they narrowly avoided the drop.
It has been mooted that youngsters Josh Sims and Jake Hesketh could step up and replace Tadic in the first team on a regular basis, but some fans don’t agree and believe a quality player needs to be brought in to fill the void the attacker will undoubtedly leave.
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Southampton supporters, who have reacted to a link with a 55-cap international with one saying “please announce the departure of Mark Hughes”, were quick to have their say on the potential of Sims or Hesketh replacing the Serbian star, and while one said “wake up people”, another described the idea as “madness”.
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Spain were as fancied as any side going into the week before the World Cup began, but then their preparations began to unravel.
Julen Lopetegui agreed to join Real Madrid at the conclusion of the tournament but the Spanish FA were so affronted that the process had bypassed them that they fired him just two days before their opening match of the tournament.
Fernando Hierro has been left to oversee a tournament that has seen the 2010 winners struggle to find their best form, but still contrive to win Group B on goals scored thanks to a 2-2 draw with Morocco.
What do you think of the World Cup so far? Let us know and win any World Cup shirt of your choice.
That game yet again saw Real Madrid playmaker Isco – valued at £67.5m by Transfermarkt – stand out above nervous teammates making six key passes and scoring his side’s first equaliser after Khalid Boutaib’s shock opener.
On this form, it is staggering that the Champions League winners cannot always find space for the playmaker in their starting eleven, and Manchester United have been linked with a summer move.
That prospect could be raised again amid rumours that Juan Mata is very much on Barcelona’s radar and there can be little doubt that Isco has the star quality that United are sorely lacking in forward areas.
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