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After being benched for Aston Villa’s clash against Southampton last time out, Trezeguet no doubt would have wondered if he was going to have to watch Bertrand Traore establish himself as the side’s starting right winger.But after Villa’s summer signing was forced off with an injury in the first-half, the Egyptian responded with the kind of performance from a substitute that would have left his manager grinning from ear to ear.And after watching him help rip Arsenal to shreds on Sunday night in the Premier League, Dean Smith will be waking up very satisfied at seeing Trezeguet repay his faith with a dynamic performance.

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Whilst he may not have gotten himself on the score-sheet thanks to Bukayo Saka being the one to turn the ball into his own net for Villa’s opening goal, the winger showcased everything that is good about him.

Hard work, relentless running, and that knack for getting himself on the end of crosses at the far post. Villa podcaster Ty Bracey described his workrate as “unreal” and that he was “defensively brilliant”, and it really showed in the stats.

As per Sofascore, he made a team-high of six tackles (double that of the man in second Matty Cash), and won nine of his 15 total duels too. In fact, nobody on the Villa team contested more duels than Trezeguet on the night.

But he wasn’t just helping to shackle Arsenal danger man Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, instead, always making sure he was a threat on the break and when his team had possession, having two attempts on goal and providing two crosses too.

After capping off a fine performance last time against the Gunners with the winning goal at the back end of last season, Trezeguet stepped up to haunt Arsenal once more. The north Londoners weren’t ready again for the Egyptian king.

Everton seem to be closing in on their first signing of the summer transfer window, that’s if latest reports are to be believed…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, the Toffees are in advanced talks with Atletico Madrid over the transfer of right-back Santiago Arias.

It is claimed that Carlo Ancelotti is determined to make significant changes to his playing squad before the start of the new season, and competition for skipper Seamus Coleman is one area he’s targeting.

Returning loan star Jonjoe Kenny is thought to be in his plans, but it won’t stop him moving for a player that director of football Marcel Brands knows all too well.

Brands influence

Arias would be an interesting signing as he featured at the 2018 World Cup for Colombia, playing in that euphoric round of 16 match against Gareth Southgate’s England squad.

The 28-year-old was signed by Brands back in 2013 at PSV Eindhoven where he went on to clinch three Eredivisie titles as well as picking up the division’s player of the year in 2017.

Everton’s chief clearly is a huge fan of his, so it’s no surprise to see him push for the signing to bolster Ancelotti’s backline. Back in 2015, Brands called him the “perfect” defender, he said:

“He is the perfect model of the modern defender: pacy, powerful and attack-minded. There are not many players with such qualities.”

Whilst Dutch journalist Rik Elfrink believed at the time that Arias was “one of the best full-backs in the Netherlands” and deserved a move to the Premier League.

Despite only starting 11 matches for Diego Simeone this season, the Colombian defender recorded his best season in terms of tackles (2.6 per game) since the 2015/16 campaign. He even averaged 0.8 key passes and 1.4 interceptions, via WhoScored.

Arias, who is valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, would be a very safe option at Goodison Park so perhaps Brands should be trusted to bring in a player who he clearly adores.

The Toffees faithful may well want Max Aarons in the door this summer, but Arias would surely come at a cheaper rate with him being a foreign export rather than a homegrown talent.

AND in other news, Everton could land their own Pogba for just £25m…

Even though Greg Taylor is certainly one of the players for the future, the 22-year-old full-back has been criticised quite a lot as of late due to his underwhelming performances.

Of course, this might be a bit too harsh on a player that young but Frank McAvennie, a Celtic icon himself, seems to believe he’s struggling because he’s not being pushed enough.

Here’s what he said exclusively for Football Insider: “Celtic like to play free and open football but sometimes I see him by Edouard and I think, ‘Really?’ I like free-flowing football as a centre-forward but I never played with defenders who came past the strikers. Sometimes you have got to hold, I know he has energy and wants a goal but first and foremost you are a defender. Take a leaf out of Kieran Tierney’s book.

“Taylor is still young but he does not have anyone to push him. Barry Douglas would give him competition. That is what it is all about, getting pushed. When Patrick Roberts came in, my god, all of a sudden Forrest was one of the best players on the park. Psychologically when somebody comes in you get a wee kick up the backside and maybe he needs that to step up a gear.”

Essentially, McAvennie believes that by adding Leeds United’s Barry Douglas into the mix, Taylor would suddenly get a slight push and be more motivated to improve.

At the moment, he seems too comfortable and that’s impacting his performances. Douglas, of course, has previously been linked with a move to the Scottish Premier League as Neil Lennon wanted to bolster his defensive line.

Of course, with 30 years already on his back and him entering the final year of his deal at Elland Road, Douglas could be available at bargain price as well.

Verdict

Going for Douglas does seem like a win-win scenario for Celtic. Not only would they get an experienced defender for the short-term project but would also have someone to push Taylor to improve for the future.

For that reason, McAvennie’s advice seems quite solid.

Former Brighton defender George Cox has completed a permanent transfer to Fortuna Sittard, where he had been on loan during the 2019/20 season.

Brighton & Hove Independent reported that the 22-year-old has ended his time with the Seagulls to make a permanent switch to the Eredivisie outfit, with the English club’s technical director Dan Ashworth wishing the youngster well upon his Amex Stadium exit.

That Cox should decide to leave Brighton permanently comes as no great surprise – despite featuring 59 times for the Seagulls’ under-23 side, he never made a senior appearance or even featured in a matchday squad. By contrast, he had been given 21 Eredivisie starts by Fortuna Sittard in the most recent campaign, scoring his first senior goal.

The 22-year-old was unable to displace ex-Brighton player Gaetan Bong, or current Amex Stadium defenders Bernardo and Dan Burn, in the left-back slot in recent seasons. Indeed, the latter has played mainly as a centre-back during his career and began the season in that role before Graham Potter moved him to the left, where he has played the vast majority of this campaign.

Cox has posted some impressive defensive statistics in Netherlands this season, with match averages of 1.9 successful tackles, 2.2 interceptions and two clearances. By way of comparison, Burn has averaged two successful tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 3.3 clearances per game in 2019/20. Meanwhile, Bernardo has won 2.2 tackles per game but averaged a paltry 0.4 interceptions and just 1.3 clearances.

Cox’s defensive averages suggest that he should have been given a fairer chance by Brighton, with his favourable interceptions per game figure over Burn standing out.

However, that he never even made the bench for a first team game, and that Potter has preferred a long-time centre-back as his first-choice left-back this season, indicated that the Fortuna Sittard defender would likely have struggled to make any headway in his career had he remained in Sussex. Therefore, it was a decision which makes perfect sense from his point of view.

Brighton fans, are you disappointed that Cox was sold without ever making a breakthrough at the Amex? Have your say by commenting below!

After a season of immense struggle, West Ham rounded off a rather forgettable Premier League season with a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

David Moyes will no doubt be keen for new faces to be brought into the team ahead of the next campaign which starts in next September, and that means making sure their recruitment is up and running.

One of the big talking points for the Hammers will be whether they can keep hold of star man Declan Rice, with reports in recent weeks and months claiming that the likes of Chelsea are interested in luring him away from the London Stadium.

If the England international does depart, then West Ham may actually already have the perfect successor to the midfielder in Tomas Soucek.

The Czech Republic international initially joined the Hammers on a loan deal in January, but was signed permanently for around £19.1m a few days ago.

And if his performances in recent weeks are to go by, then it’s clear that they have made quite the smart signing.

Against Villa on Sunday, Soucek was at his absolute powerful best, challenging for everything and making sure he held down the engine room with Rice.

As per Sofascore, he contested 15 total duels (the most of any Hammers player) and won a remarkable 12 of them too. Soucek also won an impressive four tackles, again a team-high, and made another three clearances as well.

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The past few games have seen him develop into a goal threat, particularly from set-pieces, but against Villa, he shone from a more defensive point of view.

Losing Rice would be a bitter blow for Moyes, but Soucek is beginning to show he could more than handle the spotlight of being the dominant Hammers ace in the middle of the park.

Tottenham Hotspur’s latest bout in the Premier League ended with an explosive and rather impressive 5-0 victory over Burnley.

Of course, that triumph was a collective effort and Jose Mourinho’s troops recovered well from a bitter defeat at the hands of Manchester United just days prior to that.

But the spotlight of the evening definitely went to Son Heung-min, whose incredible goal could very well be a true contender for the goal of the season.

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Son started his unreal run in his own half and then proceeded to beat multiple Burnley defenders before slotting the ball past the goalkeeper, a strike that induced a thunderous roar of the crowd.

Soon after that, Spurs’ official Twitter account posted a video of that goal, only this time, they edited it to look like a video-game in which the player collects coins and gets boosts that allow him to sprint past his markers.

Needless to say, the fans absolutely loved it…

And now it seems like they want to see more content like this in the future, with many of them showering their club’s account or rather, their admin and editor, with lots of praise.

Forever a Spurs legend: Honour Pochettino by getting 100% on this all-Poch quiz…

They were saying how this is exactly what they want to see on Twitter in the future.

It seems like their players will simply have to produce more goals like that one and then everyone should be happy.

Let’s see if they can continue the good trend moving forward.

Meanwhile, Spurs really missed a golden opportunity during the summer when they failed to sign a man who could’ve solved a lot of their issues…

Tottenham have borrowed £175m from the Bank of England to ease financial pressure amid the COVID-19 crisis, via The Athletic. 

According to David Ornstein, Spurs have been forced to borrow the huge sum as the coronavirus pandemic has cost them severely. Indeed, the club fear they could lose more than £200m in terms of revenue as they face the prospect of paying for their new stadium whilst games are played behind closed doors (Daily Mail).

Spurs recently confirmed that they have qualified for the government’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, often referred to as ‘CCFF’. The Lilywhites have been given an unsecured loan which will be fully repayable at a 0.5% interest rate. Moreover, Jose Mourinho will be unable to use the money to fund his squad overhaul in the summer.

It is also worth mentioning the fact that Tottenham’s billionaire owner Daniel Levy is currently listed as the 427th richest man in the world, with a personal fortune worth £3.9bn, according to football.london. Supporters will have to wait and see if this latest gamble will pay off in the future.

Unsurprisingly, many Spurs fans are still unconvinced and they slammed “Don Levy” on social media, with one fan tweeting that the news is “embarrassing” and another gloomily adding “our club is a joke”.

Scroll through some of the scathing reactions so far…

Tottenham fans, do you think Daniel Levy has made the right decision in this case? Let us know by commenting below!

Southampton fans have taken to Twitter to react after Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Sofiane Boufal is a major doubt for the Watford game this Saturday.What’s wrong with the Moroccan?

He hasn’t trained for three days after stubbing his toe in the kitchen at home. Seriously.

Along with the Boufal news, Hasenhuttl also confirmed that Stuart Armstrong would miss the trip to Vicarage Road and may be out for around two weeks after having a few problems with his hamstring.

However, much of the focus has been on Boufal’s bizarre injury, which has left him with a swollen toe.

One fan said that they thought the news was a “wind-up” until they saw that it had been tweeted by the reliable Adam Blackmore of BBC Radio Solent.

Another supporter called Boufal “clumsy” and questioned whether the former Lille man wants to succeed.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

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In other news, Southampton needn’t worry about being rejected by this transfer target who is no better than Cedric…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa has revealed it is unlikely that club captain Liam Cooper is fit enough to play Hull City at Elland Road on Tuesday night.

What’s he said?

The 28-year-old was a key absentee alongside Kalvin Phillips against Huddersfield Town on Saturday afternoon as the Whites secured a 2-0 victory away from home.

It was their sixth successive win and 11th clean sheet of the season, per WhoScored, meaning they regained temporary control at the top of the Championship table with nearest challengers West Bromwich Albion playing later this afternoon.

In his post-match press conference, Bielsa was asked if he believed they struggled to cope in the absence of the influential duo and whether or not his skipper would be returning anytime soon, he said:

“No. It wasn’t about the lack of players. Berardi had to replay Cooper and he had a good game. Alioski did well too. White was in the function of Phillips and the rest of the team was the same players. We resolved the absence.

“Today it could have been a risk if he played. I don’t think this situation will change for Tuesday so we will see for next Saturday.”

Defensive troubles rumble on

Given this update, it seems likely that Leeds’ backline is going to be somewhat makeshift once again.

Phillips will no doubt walk back into the starting line up having served his one-match suspension so that will allow Brighton loanee Ben White back into the heart of the defence.

However, the position next to him will surely go to one of Gaetano Berardi or Luke Ayling as the pair managed to keep a clean sheet against the Terriers.

Both players are full-backs by trade so it is far from ideal with Bielsa practically writing off Cooper’s return until next Saturday’s game against Cardiff City.

One option could be youngster Oliver Casey after he was handed his first-team debut with a five-minute cameo at the end of the match, fans have certainly been hyping him up since then.

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In other news, could Leeds be in trouble if Phil Hay’s prediction comes to fruition?

Aston Villa progressed to the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup after overcoming Wolves in a 2-1 victory, and ahead of the Premier League clash between the West Midlands’ opponents, these Villa fans have been loving a throwback to a league encounter between the two teams from 2012.

Villa, then under the management of Alex McLeish, battled to a 3-2 victory over their rivals after a brace from Robbie Keane and a converted penalty from Darren Bent.

Although the 2011/12 season saw the club finish 16th in the table, whilst proceeding to battle against relegation for three seasons before finally succumbing to the pressure in 2016, these Villa supporters were certainly pleased to be living the impressive victory over Wolves, with some praising the performance of Keane in particular. 

Villa would love another day like this, especially with Smith looking to return to winning ways in the league after consecutive to defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City when they visit Molineux on Sunday.

Here are some of the best reactions to Villa’s official tweet reliving the victory from 2012.