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Aston Villa have made progress in their attempts to pip Arsenal to a deal for Norwich star Emiliano Buendia, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Buendia a part of Villa’s summer business?

According to The Athletic, Villa are looking to make two or three signings this summer.

Buendia has been a man mentioned regarding a possible move to the Midlands, alongside Burnley’s Dwight McNeil.

Extensive groundwork has already been done on both players over potential summer deals, and it seems as if there has been a development when it comes to Buendia.

The Latest: Progress made

Football Insider shared a story on Thursday evening, where they spoke with pundit Frank McAvennie regarding Villa’s interest in the Argentine.

In that report, a club source informed the site that progress has been made regarding a deal for Buendia over the last 24 hours (now 48 hours).

The 24-year-old contributed to 32 Championship goals last season and after Villa opened preliminary talks with the Canaries last week, it seems as if a deal is moving forward.

The Verdict: Villa to smash their record-signing?

Norwich would want £30m-plus for Buendia’s services, so, should a deal go through, it is likely that Villa will smash their club transfer record.

It currently stands at £30.6m in the deal which brought Ollie Watkins to the club, and Buendia’s possible move to Villa could benefit the forward massively.

Buendia created 83 chances in the top flight during the 2019/20 season – only Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jack Grealish and Kevin de Bruyne managed more.

On that basis, potentially having Buendia and Grealish in the same side could be a hugely exciting prospect in an attacking sense, and it appears as if a move has legs.

In other news: Danny Mills drops Tyrone Mings claim, find out more here. 

Former Premier League manager Lawrie Sanchez has exclusively told Football FanCast that David Moyes was in talks about returning to Everton back in 2019.

Moyes spent 11 years at Goodison Park before eventually leaving to become the Manchester United boss once Alex Ferguson retired back in 2013.

Six years later, however, Sanchez claims that the Scotsman came close making the switch back to Merseyside.

Having led West Ham to a 13th-place finish during his first spell at the London Stadium before getting the sack, Moyes had been out of management for around 18 months.

And with Everton sacking Marco Silva following their poor start to the 2019-2020, the ex-Northern Ireland boss said that Moyes was being considered to replace the Portuguese.

However, less than three weeks after Silva was removed from his position at Goodison Park, the Toffees appointed Carlo Ancelotti as his replacement following Duncan Ferguson’s unbeaten stint as caretaker.

As for Moyes, who’s been linked with a return to Everton in recent weeks, he went back to West Ham for his second spell later that month and guided the club to safety before bringing European football back to east London last season.

But it could have been so different for the 58-year-old manager, according to Sanchez.

He told Football FanCast:

“As I understand it, before Ancelotti went there, they were talking to him about going there.”

A number of Liverpool fans have been bemoaning an update regarding Nathaniel Phillips, with the club reportedly willing to listen to offers for him.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are enjoying a richly-deserved breather after a taxing season, following their impressive third-place finish in the Premier League.

At the start of the campaign, finishing in that position would have been considered a failure, but given the obstacles they had to hurdle, it was a great effort.

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One player who had a season to remember was Phillips, who was thrown into Liverpool’s defence in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip.

The 24-year-old performed admirably, despite his limitations, making 15 league starts and playing a big role in the Reds securing Champions League football.

According to ESPN, however, Liverpool are open to the idea of Phillips leaving this summer, with Klopp potentially not seeing him as a key part of his squad moving forward.

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Liverpool fans dislike Phillips update

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to provide their negative thoughts on the news, after it was shared by @AnfieldWatch.

“Please no”

Credit: @morganfxncom

“It will be crazy if we sell Nat Phillips, he will be a very good defender, why are we not listening to offers for Joel Matip instead?”

Credit: @xnix12

“Shut up”

Credit: @mmiliugo

“Come on keep Nat and get rid of Matip, he’s too injury prone”

Credit: @Cody3Smith

“Absolute disgrace after what they’ve done for the team”

Credit: @dan63571876

“If we let Phillips go I’ll never forgive them”

Credit: @MSWallace27

In other news, some Liverpool fans are unhappy about one player reportedly being offered a new deal. Find out who it is here.

Dele Alli dropped a disasterclass as Spurs’ hopes of qualifying for Europe were dealt a damaging blow on Wednesday evening.

The North London outfit were well beaten by Aston Villa after they came from behind to clinch a 2-1 victory in front of 10,000 supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

A lot of the talk will be surrounding Harry Kane’s future, given it may have been his last ever home Premier League match for Spurs, and there will also be plenty of chatter about who will take the vacant managerial role but this display may have just shown the size of the task at hand for whoever comes in.

The result was comically summed up by Sergio Reguilon’s disastrous own goal in the 20th minute as he sliced an attempted clearance past a helpless Hugo Lloris but Spurs deserved very little throughout the 90 minutes and the Spanish left-back is not the only man at fault for the overall result.

Instead, there were players like Alli, who were hiding when it really counted. His abysmal performance in the no.10 role certainly contributed towards their profligacy in front of goal.

Spurs could only muster up ten shots all game, whilst the visitors doubled that with ease.

The 25-year-old midfielder had just one of those attempts and when in possession, did very little to warrant his presence on the pitch throughout the entire encounter.

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As per SofaScore, Alli pulled off just one of five dribbling attempts, struggling to combat the tough-tackling Marvelous Nakamba and the industrious John McGinn in the engine room.

The £26m-rated dynamo also lost the ball more than any other player, losing possession a whopping 21 times, meaning every four minutes he gave the ball back to Villa – or once every 3.6 touches.

Furthermore, Alli’s struggles were further seen by him winning just five of his 19 battles (26%), whilst he was also dribbled past five times – two more times than anyone else on the pitch, which speaks volumes on how lightweight and weak he was.

The Evening Standard described the £100k-per-week star as “rusty” and football.london’s Alasdair Gold suggested that he failed to deliver when they needed him most.

You can forget the poor performances from Reguilon, as well as Kane. Alli may have just badly betrayed the trust of interim boss Ryan Mason, who selected his former teammate to start his fourth successive league game for the very first time this campaign and Alli did not repay his manager’s faith by putting in an all-action performance.

He’ll be lucky to start their season-ending and crucial encounter against Champions League-chasing Leicester City on Sunday, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Levy could secure Spurs their own Ramos by signing “formidable” £31.5m-rated “leader”…

Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that he’s been reliably informed that Carlo Ancelotti won’t be tempted by the Tottenham job.

Spurs remain in search for someone to replace Jose Mourinho following his departure last month, and the Italian’s name has been ambitiously thrown into the ring.

Reports earlier this year suggested that Ancelotti has admirers at Tottenham but Bent squashed any rumours of the former Chelsea manager taking over in north London.

The 61-year-old has only been in the Goodison Park hot seat for around 18 months, and has improved the squad quite considerably, although Everton’s dreadful home form is likely to cost them a place in Europe next season.

The Toffees have produced some excellent results on the road at Arsenal and West Ham, but their struggles at Goodison Park, most notably the defeat to Sheffield United, have left their destiny out of their own hands heading into the final few fixtures.

But regardless of whether Everton qualify for Europe, Bent told Football FanCast that he’s confident that Ancelotti will be sticking around:

“I spoke to my contacts at Everton, and they said he doesn’t seem the type to walk away from a contract.

“The money he is going to get to spend and the new stadium… I don’t think he will be going to Tottenham.”

Charlton Athletic midfielder Liam Millar endured a disappointing afternoon as the Addicks’ hopes of reaching the League One play-offs were ended – despite their 1-0 win.

Heading into the fixture against Hull City, Nigel Adkins’ side knew that nothing but a win, coupled with a number of results elsewhere going their way, would give them a chance of securing a place in the play-offs come the final whistle.

And, despite the southeast London side holding up their end of the bargain, defeating Grant McCann’s table-toppers 1-0 at the Valley, as well as one of the required results going their way as Accrington Stanley shocked Portsmouth, Oxford United’s 4-0 win over Burton Albion ultimately meant that the Addicks missed out on a top-six finish on goal difference.

However, in the fixture against Hull itself, despite a number of Charlton players turning in impressive displays, Liam Millar will undoubtedly be looking to put his performance behind him as soon as possible.

Over the course of the 90 minutes, the game appeared to pass the 21-year-old by, with Millar having the ball taken past him by an opponent on three separate occasions, while he failed with all four of his own attempted dribbles.

The Canada international was also extremely wasteful with the ball, as the midfielder lost possession 13 times in the match, a figure only topped by Ian Maatsen in terms of every Charlton player on the day.

Furthermore, the £3,000-per-week man won just two of his 10 ground duels against Hull, a success rate of a mere 20%, while his total number of 43 touches in the fixture was less than that of the Addicks’ goalkeeper Ben Amos, who had 49.

Indeed, the 21-year-old’s overall SofaScore match rating of 6.7 was reflective of these metrics, with the midfielder ranking as Charlton’s second-worst player in the fixture of those who started the match.

As such, despite the fact that Charlton held up their end of the bargain in their push for the play-offs, it is undeniable that Millar’s performance let Adkins down on Sunday, and, if the former Liverpool man remains at the club beyond the summer, he will have to up his game considerably if he wishes to keep his spot in the Addicks starting XI next season.

Fans of Manchester City have been reacting to a post on Twitter, which relayed an update regarding the fitness of City centre-back, Aymeric Laporte.

Having been ruled out of Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Leeds United last weekend due to a hip injury, Pep Guardiola confirmed that Laporte would be assessed ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund to determine whether the 26-year-old would be available for the fixture.

And, after images were shared of the defender back in first-team training on Monday, a report by the Manchester Evening News suggests that Laporte would indeed appear to be available for selection for the trip to Dortmund.

After City Xtra then relayed this news on Twitter, fans of Manchester City flocked to have their say on the matter, with many appearing delighted at the prospect of the £45 million-rated man making his return to the side in the Champions League quarter-final second leg.

So, what exactly did these Manchester City fans have to say in reaction to the injury update regarding Aymeric Laporte?

“Yessssssss.”

@SilkyCyrus_74

“Yes!”

@KDBMerchant

“Big.”

@LeroyXDavid

“WOOOOOOO.”

@Waporte_

“Great news.”

@AdamKDB123

“Perfect. Now sign Stanciu.”

@mcfcBogdan

In other news: ‘He can rot’, ‘Don’t want him’ – Lots of MCFC fans unleash at ‘fraud’ as transfer news emerges – find out more here!

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 150 appearances for Newcastle United, claims he thought the takeover was going to go through last summer, however he still has confidence it can eventually get done.

Mike Ashley had finally found a party in PCP Capital Partners who were willing to meet his asking price for the Magpies, and after seeing their proof of funds the deal was passed onto the Premier League for them to complete the Owners and Directors tests.

However, after months of silence from the Premier League, PIF withdrew their offer with both sides giving different accounts of what they were told and what happened, which has seen the takeover now go to arbitration after Ashley launched a complaint.

Speaking on when he thought it had finally happened that Ashley had left, and why he still hopes it can go through, Howey told FFC:

“I thought that the takeover was going to go through before it fell at the last hurdle to everybody’s devastation.

“I’d seen it flash up on Sky Sports saying breaking news about Newcastle’s takeover and I thought ‘oh brilliant’, but then I saw it had collapsed and you just couldn’t believe it.

“Let’s just hope that it can be resurrected and I see things on social media which I try not to get too involved with because you just think ‘what’s the point?’ We’ve been down this road so many times before about the club being taken over.”

Newcastle have struggled this season despite seemingly spending smart last summer when they brought in Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser, Jamal Lewis and Jeff Hendrick, all players with Premier League experience.

The Magpies will be relying on that experience in their final nine games which includes a final day trip to London as they face Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Some Rangers fans have called for Scott Wright to start in their Scottish Cup clash at home to Cove Rangers on Sunday evening.

Speaking in a pre-game press conference ahead of the match, the 23-year-old said: “It is great to get the title won but we are not going to stop, we want to win every game and now we are focused on the Scottish Cup.”

His great attitude toward the tie prompted a lot of Gers supporters to call for Steven Gerrard to start him at Ibrox.

Wright has played in seven games in total over all competitions so far for the Glasgow club, making one assist (Transfermarkt), and will surely be hoping for another start to try and get his team into the next round of the competition.

Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see whether Gerrard will decide to rotate his squad a bit, especially after the latest round of international fixtures.

Rangers fans on Wright comments

These RFC fans have called for Wright to start after reading his comments on Twitter, with one Ger claiming that he is a ‘quality’ player:

“Buzzing for him to start. Such a quality little player.”

Credit: @AGRFC55

“He’s got to start”

Credit: @mbrfc72

“He has to start what else does he need to do?”

Credit: @Nikokaticthego2

“You need a start young fella. You’ve more than proved yourself capable. You’re going to be a big player for us next season, I can feel it in my blue bones”

Credit: @HuttonMonaghan

“Deserves a start at the weekend”

Credit: @cameron56689617

“Really hope he gets a start at the weekend he has looked great whenever he’s came on”

Credit: @RossDouglas4

In other news, find out which pundit has mocked one Rangers achievement here!

Newcastle United have posted a big double injury boost on their official Twitter page with a photo of both Allan Saint-Maximin and Callum Wilson in training.

The former has missed the last six with a hamstring problem, as the North East club have failed to win any of those matches in which they have been absent.

While it is not clear whether they will both be ready for Tottenham, that match is still nine days away, so they will surely be in with a chance.

Newcastle boosted by Saint-Maximin and Wilson return

The Tyneside club will almost certainly be boosted by the return of two of if not their two most important players to Steve Bruce’s squad, especially with that tough game at home to Spurs coming up.

Wilson tops the Magpies charts in terms of goals and assists in the top flight so far in the 2020/21 term (10 and five respectively), while Saint-Maximin leads the way with regards to successful dribbles (3.3) per match (Whoscored).

With the Toon at a serious risk of being relegated down to the EFL Championship, there is no doubt that both players will need to be firing on all cylinders if they have a chance of surviving, with some crucial fixtures coming up that may define the rest of their season at the bottom of the table.

In other news, find out which former EPL manager has been claimed could go to NUFC here!