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Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips is a long-term target for Aston Villa, according to The Athletic’s Gregg Evans.

The Lowdown: Midfielder wanted

Villa have enjoyed a fairly productive transfer window this month, bringing in four senior players with Calum Chambers the latest to arrive from Arsenal.

However, the club were looking to bolster their midfield ranks during the winter window, with bids made for Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Evans revealed at the beginning of the month that Villa still admire Phillips after attempting to sign the Whites star in 2019.

The Latest: Evans’ tweet

Evans took to Twitter on Sunday morning to provide an update on Villa’s pursuit of a midfielder.

He revealed that the club won’t pay Brighton’s asking price for Bissouma, while a deal couldn’t be agreed for Bentancur. The reliable reporter added that Phillips is ‘also’ a long-term target.

“Aston Villa have been after Yves Bissouma since the summer but won’t pay the price Brighton are asking. Kalvin Phillips is also a long-term target as reported last month. Bentancur scouted but couldn’t agree a deal. DM search may now go into next season…”

The Verdict: Ambitious…

Phillips, who shared his love for Steven Gerrard over the summer, has also been linked with a move to Liverpool and Manchester United in recent months, so you could argue that a possible move to Villa Park would be an ambitious one.

West Ham were quickly shut down in their late pursuit of both Phillips and Raphinha this weekend, so the 26-year-old could be a player in demand ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Should Villa and numerous other sides firm up their interest, that could spark a bidding war in excess of the £50m the Hammers were preparing to offer this month, meaning he could become Villa’s club-record signing by some distance.

In other news: ‘Oh my days’, ‘Are you joking?’ – Many Aston Villa fans erupt at late exit update. 

Aston Villa revealed on Tuesday that additional tickets for the home game against Manchester United next month are now on sale, and a number of Villa fans were quick to give their thoughts to the news on social media.

Villa’s clash with Burnley on Saturday was postponed just a couple of hours before the scheduled kick-off time due to an ongoing viral outbreak at Bodymoor Heath. The Premier League are set to continue playing through the festive period, though, after deciding against a circuit breaker on Monday.

Fans watching matches live at the stadium now need to provide NHS certification of either a double vaccination or a negative test prior to attending.

Villa shared details of tickets for the match against Manchester United on January 15, which comes just a few days after the clubs’ FA Cup third round clash at Old Trafford. Prices start at £29.50 for adults and go up to £55, with all the information available to view here.

Villa fans react

Here is what these Villa fans had to say in reply to the club’s official Twitter post regarding the ticket arrangements, with one labelling the prices as ‘absurd’ and others questioning why they are advertising it given the distinct possibility of the match being either postponed or playing behind closed doors.

“This is brave”

Credit: @DaleAC93

“Those prices are absurd”

Credit: @_Whittall

“Why? Someone explain, I’m confused lol”

Credit: @JoesVillaArmy

“Announcement on playing Boxing Day yet or not?? Some of us have lives to organise rather than getting cancelled 2 hours before due to depleted squad..”

Credit: @JohnGallett

“Why do this when it’s probably going to be behind closed doors?”

Credit: @k2_villa

“Lockdown by then”

Credit: @TSJ671

In other news: ‘Is he really’ – Many Villa fans erupt as journalist says £27k-p/w ‘carthorse’ may join Gerrard

An update has emerged on Newcastle United’s interest in Burnley centre-forward Chris Wood…

What’s the talk?

According to the Northern Echo, the Magpies have made contact with Burnley over a potential deal for the attacker this month.

The report claims that he is in the final 18 months of his contract but Sean Dyche does not want to lose any of his key players in the midst of a relegation battle, which could make it a difficult deal for the Toon.

New Andy Carroll

Eddie Howe can land Newcastle’s new Andy Carroll with a deal to sign Wood from the Clarets this month. He could come in to be the main focal point for the team at the top end of the pitch and serve as a foil for the likes of Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson to play off.

Carroll scored 36 goals and provided 26 assists in 134 games for the Magpies after coming up through the ranks. In his final campaign for the club, he produced a stunning 11 goals and ten assists in just 19 Premier League matches.

Across his entire top-flight career, he scored 24 headers from his 54 goals. Wood, meanwhile, has scored 50 goals in the division and 17 with his head, showing that he is a similar type of striker to Carroll in the sense that he is a big target man who can be aimed for with crosses into the box.

The £72k-per-week beast was also previously compared to Toon legend Alan Shearer, with ex-Leeds man Ben Parker saying of a goal he scored a few years ago:

“It was a fantastic header. He’s kind of like Sheareresque and I don’t think there are many strikers in the division, especially in the Championship, even going to the Premier League, who would have scored with that header.

With 50 goals in 155 Premier League matches, Wood has proven that he can score goals at this level and, therefore, he could be an excellent addition to the team.

This is why Howe must work hard to ensure that he is able to snap up Carroll 2.0 in the coming weeks, as it would strengthen his own side whilst weakening Burnley by taking away a goalscorer from their XI.

AND in other news, “A lot of talk”: Journo drops big NUFC transfer claim that’ll leave fans excited…

A Newcastle United chief has now had a meeting over the potential signing of Darwin Nunez.

The Lowdown: On fire

Nunez is certainly on fire this season, with 11 goals and two assists in 18 games in total over all competitions for Benfica, including strikes against Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League (Transfermarkt).

His growing reputation has also seen the striker play six times for the Uruguay national team ahead of the likes of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, scoring two goals (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, the 22-year-old certainly has a bright future ahead of him, and may not be playing in Portugal much longer.

The Latest: Nickson meeting

As per Maisfutebol, Head of Recruitment at St. James’ Park, Steve Nickson, has now had a meeting with Benfica president Rui Costa over potentially signing Nunez, but the Portuguese giants do not want to let him go until the summer at least.

The player has a contract with them until June 2025, and has a whopping release clause worth €150m (£127.8m), although it is thought that the starting price for talks would be close to €50m (£42.6m).

The Verdict: Survival

The North East club must avoid relegation down to the Championship before they can even think about signing Nunez in the summer.

Described as an ‘incredible talent’ by sports journalist Maxi Angelo, there will no doubt be other suitors for him, especially given the fact that he has already shown his worth in the Champions League.

Nonetheless, if the Tyneside outfit can survive, then there is no reason that they cannot tempt him to move to the Premier League next summer, and he would certainly be a real signing of intent for their long-term project.

In other news, find out boost NUFC have now received in pursuit of this ‘extraordinary’ star here!

West Brom shared images of controlling shareholder Guochuan Lai at the club’s training ground on Wednesday afternoon.

And, as to be expected, a number of Baggies fans were quick to flock to social media to give their thoughts to the club’s official Twitter post.

Lai hasn’t been present in the Midlands over the past three years, leaving the day-to-day running of the club to chief executive Xu Ke and chairman Li Piyue.

However, he made a shock appearance on Wednesday to meet the first-team squad and hold meetings with head coach Valerien Ismael and other staff members on his plans to take the club forward.

It is reported that he spoke with Ismael for 45 minutes, with the January transfer window one topic that was discussed. Lai isn’t expected to be present for the Baggies’ trip to Barnsley on Friday evening, though, and his appearance at the club’s training ground left many surprised.

Baggies fans react

This is what these West Brom supporters had to say in reply to the four images of Lai, with one ‘shocked’ and another labelling it as ‘interesting’.

“He makes me want to cry”

Credit: @jordanebanks_

“Surely not?”

Credit: @CameronHarris07

“I’m shocked”

Credit: @LukeyP_wba

“Interesting”

Credit: @JoeTalbotWBA

“he still knows we exist?????”

Credit: @Adam_WBAFC

“Well, would you look at this? I for one, cannot believe my eyes.”

Credit: @alio2525

In other news: ‘Shameful’ – Lots of West Brom fans fume as club share ‘ridiculous’ news. 

Rumoured Liverpool transfer target Dusan Vlahovic will be available for ‘€70/75m’ in January, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Liverpool keen on signing Vlahovic

The Serbian is maturing into one of the most sought-after young attackers in Europe, scoring eight goals in 12 Serie A appearances this season.

Liverpool are one of the clubs who are reportedly keen on signing the 21-year-old as Jurgen Klopp looks to bolster his attacking options.

Fiorentina are understandably reluctant to let their prized asset go cheaply but his contract expires in the summer of 2023, so they are running out of time to get big money for him.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

The Latest: Romano provides fresh update

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Romano claimed that the Serie A club are willing to let Vlahovic leave for €70m-€75m (£59.9m-£64.1m) in the January transfer window, should a bid for that amount come their way.

His tweet is aimed towards Arsenal, who are thought to be interested, but it is also stated that ‘many clubs’ are in the running.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-11/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: January move seems unlikely

Vlahovic looks like a special young talent with a huge future – Serie A expert Conor Clancy has hailed him as ‘incredible’ – so the idea of seeing him in a Liverpool shirt is exciting.

It is hard to envisage the Reds spending that much on a player midway through the season, though, at a time when Klopp has four top-class attacking players already, and considering the club’s relative frugality in recent transfer windows.

Next summer would feel more likely for a move to happen, but by that point, someone else may have swooped in for him.

In other news, some Liverpool fans have flocked to another Romano update on one player. Find out who it is here.

A big twist has emerged on Rangers’ search for a new manager, regarding former Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman

What’s the talk?

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Dutchman is ‘one step’ away from taking over at Ibrox to replace Steven Gerrard in the dugout.

The report claims that he is the favourite for the position, following Sky Sports’ claim that Gio van Bronckhorst has held positive talks with the club.

This marks a remarkable twist in the saga with a new coach suddenly leapfrogging previous candidates to become the favourite.

Elation

Rangers fans will surely be over the moon with this update as it suggests that Koeman could be Gerrard’s replacement at Ibrox. The experienced Dutch coach recently left Barcelona and is available as a free agent, with this report now claiming that he is on the verge of accepting the job to compete for the Premiership title this season.

Supporters would surely love to see him in the dugout as he has an impressive C.V spanning a number of years, whereas van Bronckhorst is still in the early stages of his own coaching career.

The 46-year-old won an Eredivisie title with Feyenoord and averaged 2.03 points per game across 136 league matches for the Dutch club in four seasons, whilst he also spent a short spell in China.

Koeman, meanwhile, has managed 342 Eredivisie games and averaged 2.06 points per match. This included time with Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV and Vitesse and he won three league titles in that time. He has won nine trophies in his career as a head coach, showing that he knows what it takes to win silverware – with more experience in the game than van Bronckhorst.

The ex-Barca man has also experienced coaching in Britain. He finished seventh, sixth and seventh in three full seasons with Southampton and Everton earlier in his career which shows that the 58-year-old has proven himself in multiple countries with several clubs. Van Bronckhorst’s C.V, however, is based on his four years at Feyenoord in his home country.

Therefore, fans will surely be over the moon with the prospect of Koeman becoming the club’s new manager. With all due respect to van Bronckhorst, Koeman has a better background, as shown by his managerial statistics, and could be a terrific appointment for the club as he has a track record of success over a prolonged period of time. It is now down to Ross Wilson to ensure that he can get a deal over the line that would surely elate supporters.

AND in other news, Time’s up: GVB could become an instant hit at Rangers by axing £1.8m-rated dud…

Leeds journalist Phil Hay has made a big Andrea Radrizzani transfer claim ahead of the 2022 summer window…

What’s the talk?

The Athletic reporter has claimed that the window could be a busy one for Leeds as owner Andrea Radrizzani wants to take the club into Europe.

Replying to a fan questioning the lack of money spent in the summer, Hay said: “What I’m starting to feel now is that if this season is going to be a slog (and it looks like it will be) now is the time to start seriously thinking about what to do next summer.

“Investment in the squad will definitely be needed because Radrizzani is the one who keeps talking about Europe. It seems like next summer should be so much more active than this one.”

Leeds fans could be buzzing

Leeds fans will surely be left buzzing by this claim from Hay as it suggests that they are in for an exciting summer next year. The Whites added only two senior players to their squad in the window just gone, with Junior Firpo and Dan James arriving from Barcelona and Manchester United respectively for a combined fee of £39.69m.

Young goalkeeper Kristoffer Klaesson was also brought in and Jack Harrison’s loan from Manchester City was finally converted into a permanent deal. Their spending totalled £53.01m as they made nothing from outgoings, which shows that Radrizzani did invest a fair amount in the squad despite the relatively low number of new faces.

It also highlights why Leeds fans may now be excited about what could be to come next summer. Hay believes that the club could be in for a busy transfer window in comparison to the one just gone, which suggests that more than £53m could be spent. Fans will surely be delighted as it means that big money could be invested in some exciting talent to add to the squad, particularly if the rest of this season continues to be a “slog”, as Hay put it.

They will also be buzzing with the club’s ambition to qualify for Europe in the coming seasons. Imagine a European night at Elland Road after so long without one to enjoy… it sends chills down the spine. If Radrizzani can give Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta the funds to go and build a squad capable of challenging for the top six, then fans could start to believe that the glory days will return to Yorkshire.

Manchester United have suffered a major blow ahead of the derby against Manchester City after star defender Raphael Varane was ruled out of action with a hamstring injury.

What’s the word?

The 28-year-old had only recently returned from a fitness concern when he had to be substituted in United’s Champions League clash against Atalanta last time out.

And now, it’s been revealed that Varane faces up to a month on the sidelines, meaning he’ll be absent for Saturday’s clash against City and potentially the Red Devils’ next four fixtures after the international break – against Watford, Villarreal, Chelsea and Arsenal.

“The club confirms that Raphael sustained a hamstring injury, which is expected to keep him out of action for around a month,” a United statement read on Wednesday. “We’d like to wish Raphael all the best as he works on his recovery.”

With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s struggling charges set to face a formidable City side without their most in-form defender over the weekend, it’s likely to be an extremely tough test at Old Trafford for the home side.

Solskjaer will be absolutely devastated

News that Varane will be absent for a month will leave Solskjaer feeling absolutely devastated, given the importance of the centre-back to the 20-time English champions.

United have been woefully below their best in the opening weeks of the current campaign, losing five matches in all competitions. However, Varane has only started one of those defeats, highlighting the influence he has over proceedings.

And the World Cup winner’s underlying numbers also illustrate the impact that the France international has when he’s on the pitch.

As per WhoScored, Varane has averaged a whopping four clearances per league game this season – the highest tally amongst his teammates – and 1.5 tackles, the third-highest total compared to his colleagues.

Therefore, the experienced campaigners’ enforced absence could hugely affect United’s results and performances as their tricky run of fixtures is set to continue.

And, in other news…Murtough can finally replace Roy Keane in Man Utd swoop for “magnificent” £62k-p/w ace

Leeds United picked up their first win of the Premier League season as they beat Watford 1-0 at Elland Road on Saturday.

Diego Llorente’s first half strike was enough to secure the three points for the Whites as they worked hard to earn a win against the Hornets. The result takes Leeds up to 16th as it stands and three points off the top half of the table in this early stage of the season.

Despite the positives to come from winning the game, one player for Marcelo Bielsa’s team struggled to perform. Summer signing Dan James put in a worryingly ineffective display out wide, which will surely have left his manager feeling let down.

The 23-year-old has now played four Premier League games for Leeds and is yet to record a SofaScore rating of higher than 6.6 for the club. His rating against Watford on Saturday was a measly 6.2 as he failed to show what he can do in general play and in the final third.

In terms of his general play, James was a lightweight. As per SofaScore, he lost six of his 10 duels and made zero tackles in the game. He also gave the ball away 18 times and only completed 64% of his attempted passes, having 35 touches overall throughout the 90 minutes.

This suggests that he was too weak to deal with the strength of the Watford defenders, who eased him out of the way most of the time. Bielsa could be worried by this when Leeds come up against other teams who use their physical attributes to impose themselves on the Whites, as James may not be suited to such opponents based on this performance.

The Wales international did not redeem himself in the final third, either. As per SofaScore, James had a dribble success rate of 0% from four attempts and completed none of his attempted crosses. This led to him providing zero key passes in the match, whilst his only two shots were blocked by Watford defenders before they could reach Ben Foster’s goal.

Bielsa will surely have been feeling let down by James’ overall performance. The winger struggled both in his build-up play and in his execution of skill in key moments, leading to an all-round disappointing performance from the winger. Hopefully he will be able to repay Bielsa’s faith by coming back after the international break and improving the standard of his displays.

In other news: Leeds take major step as Thorp Arch news emerges, fans will be buzzing