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Aston Villa have entered the race for one of the Premier League’s most in-demand youngsters and if they can snag him from their rivals, it would be very smart business indeed…

What’s the word?

According to the ECHO, the Midlands outfit have inquired about Liverpool striker Rhian Brewster over a potential loan switch this season.

The likes of Newcastle United, Brighton, Crystal Palace and newly-promoted Fulham have also been mooted with interest in the 20-year-old following a sensational spell at Swansea City in the Championship this term.

It’s claimed that the Premier League champions would sanction a move to either a Premier League club or a top European outfit, but he could also remain amongst the first-team setup for the new campaign.

Shades of Abraham

If Villa can clinch Brewster this summer, then it would certainly bring shades of Tammy Abraham back to Villa Park and would be a fruitful move for all parties involved.

The young Reds talisman only joined the Swans in January but went on to find the net 11 times, averaging 2.5 shots and 1.9 aerial duels won per game. He even won his temporary side 1.8 free-kicks per appearance too, via WhoScored.

In a similar vein, Abraham enjoyed successful spells away from Chelsea at Bristol City and the aforementioned Welsh club before linking up with Dean Smith’s side.

He quickly became a hit in the west Midlands after his 26 goals spearheaded Villa’s return to the top-flight. He has since gone on to become a mainstay under Frank Lampard.

Brewster’s time at the Liberty Stadium has seen his boss Steve Cooper claim that he’s a “real threat” whilst teammate Andre Ayew believes the young forward “has it all”.

The “exceptional” Englishman would be very welcome at Villa and could well be more suited to the top-flight than both Wesley and Mbwana Samatta.

Johan Lange must push ahead with this loan swoop.

AND in other news, Aston Villa selling summer signing a cold reminder of Suso’s failings

نفى حازم الحديدي وكيل أعمال الثنائي عصام الحضري مدرب حراس منتخب مصر ومحمد الشناوي حارس مرمى الفراعنة، وجود أي أزمة بينهما في الفترة الأخيرة.

وقال الحديدي خلال تصريحات عبر برنامج “ملعب أون تايم” على قناة “أون تايم سبورت”: “لم يحدث أي شئ، الأمر طبيعي جدًا بين مدرب ولاعب، الشناوي تعرض لكدمة وأي لاعب وارد يتعرض لذلك، هل من الطبيعي عندما يحدث ذلك (الدنيا تتقلب)؟”.

وأضاف: “الحضري والشناوي لا ينقصهما تاريخ، الحضري أسطورة يريد أن يضع بصمته ويذهب إلى كأس العالم والشناوي يسعى أن يشارك في كأس العالم مرتين”.

وتابع: “استبعاد كيروش لـ أفشة وشريف لإظهار العين الحمراء للاعبي المنتخب؟، هذا غير صحيح تمامًا”.

طالع | الحضري يوجه رسالة لـ محمد الشناوي بعد فوز مصر على ليبيا

وأردف: “هل في المنتخبات الكبيرة في أوروبا الناس يتركون المنتخب ويركزون على علاقة مدرب الحراس بحارس المرمى! لا يمكن”.

وأتم: “محمد الشناوي نجم مصر مع تقديري لكل حراس المرمى، والحضري أسطورة، ونحن ننتظر مباراة هامة غدا ويجب أن نركز، ولا توجد أي مشاكل”.

ومن المقرر أن يلتقي منتخب مصر مع ليبيا، مساء اليوم الإثنين، ضمن منافسات الجولة الرابعة من التصفيات الإفريقية المؤهلة لكأس العالم 2022.

Arsenal are looking to bolster their squad for the 2020/21 season and Mikel Arteta is reportedly being talked into signing two players from a fellow London club in the Championship.

According to 90min, the Gunners are planning to raid Brentford for two of their players, namely winger Said Benrahma and goalkeeper David Raya.

The report suggests that Raya is being targeted as a potential replacement for Emiliano Martinez, who could leave if he is not guaranteed consistent football, while 25-year-old Benrahma has also been recommended after a prolific 2019/20 campaign for the Bees.

If Martinez leaves, then Raya would seem to be a good replacement as his statistics from last season suggest that he would be solid cover for Bernd Leno. The 24 year-old played in all 49 league games for Brentford, including the play-offs, and only conceded 42 goals, whilst also managing 16 clean sheets, per Transfermarkt.

Meanwhile, there is no doubting the quality that Benrahma has as last season he managed 17 goals and nine assists, per Transfermarkt, along with averaging 3.8 shots, 2.1 key passes and three successful dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

Even though they were playing in the Championship, the two would add more than useful squad depth to the Gunners and, if the north London side can get them for a good price, then a possible deal seems like a no-brainer.

Gunners fans, would you like to have Benrahma and Raya at Arsenal? Comment below with your views!

Tottenham Hotspur are firmly in the race to sign William Carvalho from Real Betis this summer, accoring to reports. 

Spurs manager Jose Mourinho wanted to sign Carvalho during his time in charge of Chelsea and Manchester United but it seems he could finally get his man.

The 59-cap Portugal international is widely expected to leave the Benito Villamarin Stadium in the summer. Carvalho’s current contract will run out in 2023 but Betis could be forced to offload some of their key players as they are facing financial pressures.

According to Transfer20, Spurs are closely monitoring the situation, despite maintaining their interest in Southampton’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.  However, they face stiff competition from Leeds United and Leicester City, who are also keeping tabs on the defensive midfielder.

Betis have slapped an asking price of €25m (£22m) on Carvalho’s head even though he is not pushing for an exit. Although Leicester are reportedly leading the race to sign the 28-year-old in the summer, they are not prepared to meet their valuation after missing out on Champions League qualification.

Spurs are considering signing the Portuguese midfielder as the Lilywhites are close to completing a deal with Inter Milan to sell Tanguy Ndombele.

While Daniel Levy has insisted that Tottenham’s record signing is not for sale, having the chance to sign someone as talented as Carvalho is too good an opportunity to ignore. If Ndombele leaves, Mourinho will need to find a suitable replacement, and his compatriot fits the type of player he is looking for.

After arriving in Spain from Sporting Lisbon on a five-year-deal in 2018, Carvalho played 30 games in La Liga last season, supplied five assists and averaged 1.5 tackles and one clearance per game (via WhoScored). He has struggled with injuries this season but still managed to make 13 appearances in the Spanish top flight.

Standing at 1,87m tall, Carvalho cuts an imposing figure in the middle of the park, and he could be a shrewd signing to make in the summer transfer window.

Tottenham fans, do you think Levy should sign Carvalho this summer? Let us know your views by commenting below!

Tottenham haven’t had the best of times as of late, but they finally had something to cheer on Sunday as they secured a precious win over their bitter rivals Arsenal, beating them 2-1 courtesy of goals from Heung-min Son and Toby Alderweireld.

While a win over the Gunners is always cause for celebration for Spurs supporters, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the white half of north London.

Indeed, the fanbase still had some grievances to air, namely about the performance of Serge Aurier.

Spurs’ 2017 signing had a day to forget, his pass accuracy was barely above 80 per cent, and of the five crosses he attempted, not a single one of them found their desired target.

On top of that, he had more unsuccessful touches than any other Tottenham player, so you can understand exactly where these complaints are coming from.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time Tottenham have been able to call right-back their problem position.

Last season it seemed as though Spurs supporters’ favourite activity was to bash Kieran Trippier, but some fans thought Aurier was that bad on Sunday that they actually started to miss the Atletico Madrid man.

One thing West Brom desperately needed in the summer was a striker.

The Baggies had just lost their two top goal scorers from the previous season after Dwight Gayle returned to Newcastle and Jay Rodriguez was signed by Burnley, and the Baggies needed to make up for losing the firepower that duo provided.

In the end, Albion ended up spending a combined £12m on Charlie Austin and Kenneth Zohore, and it’s fair to say that those two haven’t been great.

Indeed, despite the Midlands club sitting pretty in the automatic promotion spots their two summer striker arrivals have just 11 league goals between them.

Albion explored a number of options before settling on Austin and Zohore, and one man they reportedly wanted to bring in was Scott Hogan.

The Aston Villa misfit was heavily linked with Albion in the summer, and the supporters weren’t too keen on the idea of the former Brentford man joining their club.

The Hawthorns faithful were very clear and frank in their views, they didn’t want the striker to come in, but the striker has since gone on to prove them wrong.

Hogan clearly had his doubters at the start of the season, but their viewpoints may have been changed by his incredible form since joining Birmingham City in January.

The 27-year-old has shown himself to be one of the deadliest strikers at this level, netting seven goals in eight appearances for the Blues since his loan move, and that strike rate has to leave you wondering how he would have got on at Albion.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all of these obscure West Brom players…

The Baggies haven’t had a reliable goalscorer this season, with their top bagsman finding the net just 10 times, and if they had a striker of Hogan’s calibre they may have been lightyears clear at the top of the table.

It seems as though the fanbase were wrong to doubt the Villa man when they were linked with him in the summer.

In other news, this Steve Clarke signing has to be considered one of the most baffling West Brom have ever made.

Having scored just 16 times in their opening 12 Premier League games this season, it has been little surprise to see Manchester United reportedly target a new striker in the upcoming January transfer window.

The Red Devils have been criticised by former legends like Paul Scholes for making a “mistake” in letting Romelu Lukaku go in the summer, and it appears they are intent on addressing that issue as soon as they can.

In the latest report from ESPN, it is suggested United are keen on taking AS Roma striker Edin Dzeko to Old Trafford, and that his previous experience in the Premier League with Manchester City is a particularly attractive proposition.

It further adds the Bosnian has moved ahead of Mario Mandzukic in the short-list of striker options, and that Ed Woodward is ready to “sanction the signing of a seasoned forward”.

After hearing their links to the 33-year-old, United fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their rumoured target.

Many supporters of the Manchester side insisted that he would be a poor signing for the club, and that he would be a significant step down from some of the other names that have recently been linked like Erling Braut Haaland for example.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

Everton star Richarlison has taken a lot of heat this season over diving claim.

Against Tottenham Hotspur last week, the Brazilian was seen to take a tumble from a tackle from Serge Aurier late on. However, angles showed that there was no contact from the Spurs man, as he only intercepted the ball.

This was also not the first time this has happened. On the opening weekend, Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas hit out at Richarlison for diving from a challenge with van Aanholt. In this circumstance, the 22-year-old was not booked, and he wasn’t during the Spurs fixture either.

In fact, as shown by The Athletic’s Patrick Boyland, Richarlison has not received one yellow card for simulation in English football.

In fact, Sadio Mane, Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli all have three, whilst Wilfred Zaha leads the way with four cautions for diving.

After the revelation of the eye-opening statistic, Everton fans have taken to Twitter to offer their thoughts.

Here’s what the Toffees faithful have had to say…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

There’s a space waiting for him.

Matty James has had a number of injuries that have kept him from flourishing at the King Power Stadium in recent years. So much so that he failed to appear in the league at all last term.

Speaking in his press conference yesterday, Brendan Rodgers gave an update on the 28-year-old and said that although he hasn’t been able to see much of the pitch this season, that doesn’t mean he’s completely out of Rodgers’ plans:

“He is a miss, Matty, he’s just been so unfortunate. In terms of how I want to work and my ideas for the team, he gets it 100 per cent. He’s just been really unfortunate with injuries and that’s affected his physicality.”

So whilst it looks like he’s got a chance to make an impact at some point in the near future, do the numbers give him a chance?

On the chalkboard

As a central midfielder, his biggest competition for places is going to be Youri Tielemans and James Maddison, both of whom have more or less established themselves as the first-choice central midfielders this season (all stats provided by WhoScored).

Let’s first look at his passing numbers, and he manages to split his two main competitors almost right down the middle, with a completion percentage of 82.1, compared to Maddison’s 82.6 and Tielemans 81.8.

He does trail them significantly when it comes to his average number of passes per game though, coming in at 36.6, compared to 54.5 and 47.1 of Tielemans and Maddison respectively, but hopefully, he’ll be able to get those numbers up once he’s more integrated to a Rodgers system.

The only saving grace for him would be his defensive capabilities, where he again has the edge over Tielemans, averaging 1.7 tackles and 1.5 interceptions compared to 1.2 and 0.6 for the Belgian.

However, with Maddison averaging 2 tackles per game and 0.5 interceptions, he gives him a run for his money on that side of the ball.

So it’s really going to come down to how Rodgers intends to play him, will he be helping the attack going forward, or the likes of Wilfred Ndidi at the back?

Perhaps it will dictate what kind of game Rodgers wants to play on a given day. Either way, it would be harsh to say that his Leicester career is over just yet.

تمكن الدولي الفرنسي أنطوان جريزمان، مُهاجم فريق برشلونة، هدف التعادل في مرمى فياريال بالدوري الإسباني.

برشلونة يواجه فياريال، على ملعب “لا سيراميكا”، ضمن لقاءات الجولة الثانية والثلاثين من الليجا (طالع المباراة مباشرةٍ لحظة بلحظة).

اقرأ أيضًا.. فيديو | تشوكويزي يسجل الهدف الأول لـ فياريال وجريزمان يسجل التعادل بعد دقيقتين

الهدف جاء في الدقيقة 35، بعد خطأ فادح من خوان فويث، مدافع فياريال، حيث كان يعيد الكرة إلى حارس المرمى سيرجيو أسينخو، ولكن جريزمان حصل على الكرة من قبله وسددها في الشباك. شاهد هدف جريزمان الثاني في مرمي فياريال