According to TEAMtalk, Crystal Palace are one of a number of Premier League clubs who have been keeping a close eye on Brentford’s Said Benrahma in recent weeks.
Teamtalk understands that the Bees value the Algerian, who has been in sensational form in the Championship this season, at an incredible £30m – they only signed him from Nice in the summer.
The winger has chalked up nine goals and 12 assists in 32 league appearances this campaign and, at the tender age of 23, has plenty of room to develop into a top star.
Was Darren Moore’s sacking unfair? The Pl>ymaker FC squad name which EPL bosses should have gone instead in the video below…
If the stunning price tag wasn’t enough of an obstacle for the Eagles in any potential attempt to sign him, though, the Selhurst Park outfit could have any or all of Arsenal, Spurs,West Ham, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan to compete with for a player many are likening to Riyad Mahrez.
If Palace’s frugal dealings in recent windows are anything to go by, it would surely take a miracle for them to stump up eight-figures for the second tier ace, although they have splashed the cash in such a way before.
Here’s what the Palace faithful had to say about the stunning reports on Twitter…
Tottenham Hotspur fans are incandescent after being told that season ticket holders will have to pay for their own ticket for the upcoming Champions League clash with Manchester City.
Spurs will host Pep Guardiola’s side in their new stadium on April 9th.
That game will be the first leg of a quarter-final tie after Spurs beat Borussia Dortmund 4-0 on aggregate in the last-16.
However, Spurs have announced that season ticket holders will have to buy their own ticket for the game.
The cheapest ticket for the game for an adult is £52, with the highest coming in at £98. The most expensive season ticket, of course, is £1,995, while the cheapest is £795.
And supporters have expressed genuine disbelief that their loyalty is not being rewarded by chairman Daniel Levy, and that they are instead being asked to buy their own seat for one of the most important games of the club’s season.
Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!
Zinedine Zidane has demanded that Real Madrid complete the signing of Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Christian Eriksen this summer, according to El Confidencial.
The Frenchman returned to the Santiago Bernabeu hotseat earlier this month and is already beginning to plan for the summer.
What’s the word?
Eriksen has thus far spurned Tottenham’s advances to pin him down to a new contract.
His current deal expires at the end of next season, with Mauricio Pochettino’s men running the risk of potentially losing him on a free once the 2019-20 campaign draws to a close.
The London Evening Standard reported in January that the Denmark international was stalling in contract negotiations; he is said to have been offered at least £150,000-per-week, a significant increase on his current £70,000-per-week wages.
El Confidencial state that Los Blancos are keen to sign a playmaker this summer, with Eriksen the target.
Indeed, they claim that “if nothing changes” he will move to the Spanish capital, having been hand-picked by Zidane as a potential reinforcement.
The 27-year-old has scored seven goals and laid on 12 assists thus far this season.
Move Winks forward
It appears inevitable that Eriksen will leave Spurs this summer.
He has thus far shown no signs of wanting to extend his stay at the club and it is not every day that Real come knocking.
Manager Pochettino has the perfect opportunity, then, to put in place a succession plan this season involving Harry Winks.
Winks has regularly played as a deeper central midfield player but has the attributes required to play more advanced; he is deceptively strong, a fine passer of the ball and offers the vision to split defences. Perhaps his one flaw is his lack of goals but that can come with time.
Former Southampton and England star Matt Le Tissier has expressed his doubts that Winks could play in a forward role, writing on Twitter: “(Winks) does the simple things well but too often when he attempts something with a larger degree of difficulty he can’t do it, plenty of time to improve on that tho (sic) as still very young and inexperienced.
Asked to pin down what he struggles with, he added: “Long-range passing and shots at goal. As I said he’s young and got time to improve on those things, not being disingenuous at all.”
The 23-year-old will need to make some tweaks to his game and he will never be a carbon copy of Eriksen. But in terms of orchestrating play and creating chances, he has the potential to fill the void.
With Eriksen seemingly certain to move on, he has the perfect opportunity to prove Le Tissier wrong and ensure that Pochettino does not need to dip into the transfer market to replace the Dane.
If there was a time in the season not to lose, last night would have been it.
A win against mid-table Bromley would have given Orient the perfect opportunity to go four points clear of second place Salford with a game in hand, but now the O’s remain a point behind Graham Alexander’s side after a 2-1 loss, and dropping points on Saturday could lead to the east London side giving up the title after leading the chase for so long.
Orient still have an advantage with that game in hand, but with games coming thick and fast and Justin Edinburgh’s side with an objectively harder run-in going into the final few matches of the season than their northern league rivals, and the O’s must remain focused on trying to claim top spot at the end of the season.
Saturday’s game against Halifax Town now has greater importance, and winning it is the only outcome Orient can hope for.
Champions are forged from coming back at their lowest point, and with Orient being one of the best teams this season in the division, now is the time for the O’s to step up and give the fans what they want and what the club needs after two long seasons in the National League.
The club must focus on starting a new winning run in their final six games of the season, otherwise, it will be Salford getting promotion to League Two as National League champions instead of the team football fans all wants to see back in the Football League.
Orient fans, can the club recover from this mini dip in form? Let us know!
A wobble in form has highlighted the need for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to spend over the summer and, if entrusted with a big budget, who knows how far Manchester United could go next season?
For all the spirit and good feeling the Norweigan legend has installed around Old Trafford, he now needs serious backing from the owners to bring his dream to life.
As a player, he was influential for United and if he is to do the same as manager, then in the modern era, money is usually the way to go about doing that.
Having failed to sign anyone of real note last summer, Man United fans are expecting big things this summer as they’re all hungry for success. If reports from ESPN last month are to be believed, due to the potential departures of the likes of Ander Herrera and Juan Mata, Atletico Madrid’s Saul maybe rocking up to Old Trafford.
Saul Niguez, (who is valued at £81 million on Transfermarkt) is a midfielder that would safely rank as one of the world’s best and what a coup that could be for Ed Woodward and Manchester United.
In all competitions this season, the 24-year-old has six goals to his name, along with three assists. With great assets that would surely be of interest to Man United, Saul must be signed at all costs, whether they have to battle against rivals Man City or not.
He has a great engine that helps his get around the pitch with ease whilst also having the magnificent quality to deliver a killer final ball or stride forward and score himself. Indeed, a midfield trio of Paul Pogba, Saul Niguez and Nemanja Matic would take some stopping and so long as United strengthen other areas as well, there is no reason why they couldn’t challenge for the title.
Manchester United fans, would you love to see Saul called? Join the discussion by commenting below…
Tottenham fans have lost all trust in Kieran Trippier after his poor recent run of form.
Spurs face Manchester City on Tuesday night in the Champions League and fans aren’t looking forward to the prospect of their full-back coming up against arguably the most talented wingers in the competition.
Trippier was run ragged by Leroy Sane when the sides met earlier in the season and fans aren’t optimistic about his chances of containing the German this time.
The 16-cap Englishman has put in poor defensive performances on almost a weekly basis, meaning that Spurs fans now see his presence on the pitch as detrimental.
Tottenham’s other right-back option Serge Aurier is unavailable for the Champions League clash with City.
In Aurier’s absence, certain sections of the fanbase were calling for either Moussa Sissoko or Kyle Walker-Peters to start against City whilst others have already accepted that Trippier will start and are resigned to a poor performance.
Daniel Levy has established himself as the epitome of tight-fistedness in a modern footballing world which is defined by extravagant and often gratuitous spending.
The vast majority of Tottenham supporters have never met Levy but almost all of them have constructed an identity for their chairman based off a combination of media reports, Spurs’ sparse transfer activity and an almost satirical will for him to be the league’s most cunning negotiator.
The immaculately presented bald-headed businessman looks like any old paper-chasing schmuck, but on the negotiating table this ordinary man morphs into a beast, forcing those who dare to join him to succumb to his demands regardless of how ridiculous they may seem.
But for how much longer can a man as unique as Levy survive in this modern world? Spurs are mixing amongst the heavyweights now and they sure want to stay exactly where they are.
Even though miracle-working Mauricio Pochettino has proven that there are exceptions to the rule in football, the club cannot continue to operate at the top level without an injection of significant investment.
The 2017 summer transfer window saw the club break their transfer record for Davinson Sanchez, who joined from Ajax in a deal worth £42 million, and if Spurs want to sign one of the most compelling talents in European football they will almost certainly have to obliterate that record.
The talent being alluded to is Fiorentina star Federico Chiesa. Tottenham were credited with interest in the flying winger back in December 2017 and reports have continued to persist ever since, with a report last month suggesting that interest is still at large.
Chiesa, 21, has established himself as one of the most coveted talents on the continent since breaking into the first-team at Fiorentina, stunning Serie A audiences with his multitude of technical qualities.
It’s no surprise, then, that he is the club’s most valuable player at €68 million (£58.7 million), per a recent financial report from CIES Football observatory.
On paper that valuation may seem beyond what Levy is willing to splash out but some context is needed here. This is a player who is already performing to an immense standard in one of Europe’s top five leagues, despite being just 21-years-of-age.
Attacking players typically command the biggest valuations in football due to their match-winning capabilities. That Levy was willing to pay £42 million for a central defender of the same age almost two years ago suggests the extra £16.7 million cost for a proven attacker is actually within the realms of possibility.
Of course, it must be considered that Spurs have other areas to prioritise in the transfer market but Chiesa is the type of talent who has stark credentials to become a key player at the club, and he could even rise to a level akin to that which Son Heung-min currently stands proudly on.
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Like the South Korea international, Chiesa is a dynamic attacking winger who loves to dribble at his opponent with verve and purpose. But that desire is not merely a vanity exercise and his return of 20 goals and 22 assists from 106 appearances for Fiorentina underlines the excellence of his end product.
Statistically the players are similar too. Chiesa has had 3.8 shots per Serie A game this season, played 1.5 key passes, completed 2.3 dribbles and been fouled 1.7 times, per Whoscored.
Son, meanwhile, has made 2.3 shots per Premier League game, played 1 key pass, completed 1.5 dribbles and won 0.7 fouls, per Whoscored. Looking at the statistics, Chiesa actually looks like the more dangerous talent on paper with the ball at his feet, although Son’s emphatic return of 12 goals and 6 assists compared to the Italian’s 6 goals and 3 assists says otherwise.
Evidently, Chiesa has another level to rise before he can be considered on a par with Son, but that will come with time and experience in the coming years.
Would the majority of Spurs fans take a Son-esque wizard at £58.7 million? You bet they would.
Whisper it quietly but Barnsley are now within touching distance of an immediate return to the Championship.
A fantastic Easter weekend for the Tykes saw them grind out a crucial 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury Town on Friday before they sent out a signal of intent to the rest of League One by dispatching Plymouth Argyle 3-0 on Monday.
Six points from a possible six saw Daniel Stendel’s side move further clear of Sunderland with their nearest challenge for a top-two finish now coming from Portsmouth who matched their results. Although Barnsley currently have an advantage of two points over Pompey, their rivals still have one more game to play between now and the end of the season.
However, when you considered that Kenny Jackett’s men still have to face the Black Cats and Peterborough United, it is clear that if the Tykes can extend their current winning run to five, they will be in a superb position to secure automatic promotion.
One of the biggest positives that the club’s supporters can take from Barnsley’s recent performances is that they have seemingly fully recovered from their defeat at Burton Albion at the start of the month and are showing no signs of letting the pressure get to them. Whereas Sunderland have floundered in recent weeks under the weight of expectations, Stendel has kept his players grounded and focused on the task in hand which has in turn produced positive results.
Indeed, the race for the top-two is far from over and there is still time for the Tykes to slip-up yet if they can take their recent form into their clashes against Blackpool and Bristol Rovers, they should have more than enough to take their tally for season to 94 points, a total which has guaranteed promotion for the last 20 years in the third tier.
What do you think Barnsley fans? Are you confident that your side now have what it takes to seal automatic promotion in May? How impressed have you been with Stendel’s impact since the German joined the club last summer? Get in touch below.
It looks as though Aston Villa could be set for another transfer saga regarding their star man Jack Grealish this summer after The Daily Mail revealed that Crystal Palace were lining him up as a possible Wilfried Zaha replacement.
Last year, Grealish was the subject of interest from Tottenham who bid £25m for the player. However, the Villans responded by standing firm and refusing to budge on the fact he was not for sale at any price.
Spurs still maintain a watchful eye over the midfielder, though, who was once again at the centre of interest from the Lilywhites last month when The Mirror said they were looking to revive their interest.
Grealish has played a huge part in Villa’s success this season and has helped guide Dean Smith’s side into the play-offs.
With all of this in mind, is the 23-year-old someone they can afford to lose? Football FanCast’s writers have their say.
Jack Saville:
“It all comes down to Villa’s promotion bid. The financial bonus of winning promotion to the Premier League and a hefty fee for Grealish should give Dean Smith a decent kitty to build a squad capable of holding its own in the top-flight. But if Villa fail to clinch promotion and also lose Grealish they will be in huge trouble, and it’s difficult to see him staying under those circumstances. Either way, it would be a massive, massive blow for Villa to lose their talisman.”
Luke Glanville:
“In my opinion, Aston Villa are doomed either way if they can’t keep hold of Jack Grealish. If they are promoted and are unable to hold onto a homegrown player who’s now captaining the side, a star they’ve kept their faith in allowing him to mature and become the man he is today – there are serious problems at that football club. Not getting promoted would undoubtedly mean his exit, I’m still not sure how it didn’t last summer to be honest. That would be two monumental blows in quick succession that may take the club a very long time to recover from.”
Harry Sherlock:
“Grealish is a Premier League player in waiting. It remains to be seen, of course, if he will be doing that with Villa or not. As it stands, he is the man driving their promotion charge and we all saw how terrible the club’s form was with him on the treatment table. If he leaves after promotion, fans would be right to be disappointed – he has often professed his love for the club – and they would surely struggle to stay up. If they’re in the Championship next season, mid-table beckons.”
Matt Dawson:
“Losing Jack Grealish would be absolutely huge for Villa. They’ve invested so much time in him and he’s now really starting to come into his own. If the club go up surely they’ll have enough to hold onto him. However, the cash brought in from any potential sale could also go a long way. If they did decide to sell then it might pave the way for permanent deals for Tammy Abraham and Tyrone Mings should the club decide they want to try and keep them.”
Under Ralph Hasenhuttl, Nathan Redmond is finally fulfilling his potential at Southampton.
With the Austrian at the helm, the 25-year-old has gone from strength to strength and is now being tipped for a big move by his manager.
“I think when you look at the last games a few players showed up that they can be an option for a bigger club. You never know,” Hasenhuttl was recently quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
“At the moment I am not afraid somebody is knocking on my door and saying they want to leave. If this moment will come everybody knows they have a good value and they cost a lot of money but so far we have nothing to hurry.”
As good as Redmond has been since Hasenhuttl took the reins at St. Mary’s, though, a move to one of the Premier League big boys now is still a bit premature.
The England international probably has the tools to play in a top team in the future. You could definitely see him doing well in a side like Tottenham under Mauricio Pochettino or making an impact off the bench for an outfit such as Liverpool.
But before even thinking about making such a jump, Redmond needs to find more consistency and better his end product.
And at Southampton, under Hasenhuttl’s tutelage, the former Norwich City man has the opportunity to do just that.
No, rather than take a massive career gamble, Redmond should stay at St. Mary’s for the time being and continue to improve his game under a coach who is finally getting the best out of him.
Southampton fans, do you expect the club to keep hold of Redmond? Join the discussion by commenting below.