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Aston Villa could be facing a huge nightmare over Emiliano Martinez, with Manchester United said to be interested in making a move in this summer’s transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Argentine has been an absolute revelation for Dean Smith since joining from fellow Premier League side Arsenal last summer, keeping the second most clean sheets in the division with 14.

According to Football Insider, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have set their sights on Martinez after having been impressed with his performances in his first season at Villa.

The report claims that the 28-year-old is at the top of their target list as they look to strengthen the goalkeeping department, with the futures of David de Gea and Sergio Romero uncertain at this moment.

Dean Smith will be fuming

Described as a “phenomenon” and someone who “guarantees ten points per season” by Argentinian World Cup winner Daniel Bertoni, Martinez has been nothing short of outstanding for Villa since arriving from the Emirates in the summer.

It’s no surprise then that rival clubs have sat up and taken notice of his performances, and United’s interest is a massive compliment to just how well he has done.

While Villa have enjoyed a remarkable season thus far – they currently lie in the top half of the table – qualification into the Europa League or Champions League still isn’t a guarantee.

United meanwhile find themselves in second, and are into the quarter-finals of the Europa League, and look set to clinch Champions League football one way or the other, and that will no doubt be very appealing to Martinez.

The Argentine would fancy his chances of keeping out Dean Henderson as United’s number one goalkeeper, and the lure of competing for trophies and in European competition year in and year out may be too good to turn down.

It’s exactly why Smith will be very worried if United launch an official bid for the £22.5m-rated Martinez come the summer.

Meanwhile, Villa heading for unforgivable mistake over this £18m-rated flop…

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed that Scott McTominay has suffered a fresh injury setback ahead of facing Real Sociedad in the Europa League on Thursday night.

What’s the word?

Solskjaer also revealed the Red Devils will be without Donny van de Beek, Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba again for the return fixture against Imanol Alguacil’s side at Old Trafford tonight.

McTominay came off during the 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad in Turin, while both Cavani and Van de Beek have missed the past two games due to injury.

Pogba, on the other hand, is working his way back to fitness, but is not expected to be back until the beginning of March at the earliest before the Manchester derby later that week.

“No. They are still out,” Solskjaer said in his pre-match press conference.

“Still not trained enough or joined in, it will be more or less the same squad as Newcastle.”

Bad news for Solskjaer?

The update will come as a double-edged sword for Solskjaer, who faces the prospect of being without one of his star midfielders ahead of the trip to Manchester City in just over a week’s time.

On the one hand, it will allow McTominay to rest and recuperate to hopefully recover in time to face-off against Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad.

On the other, however, he faces a race against time in order to prove his match fitness before potentially facing their arch rivals.

The Scotsman was forced to limp off in the second half after being replaced by Nemanja Matic which left a sour note on an otherwise outstanding evening for the Red Devils.

McTominay, 24, has scored four goals, recording a further assist, in 21 top-flight appearances in the Premier League this season. For context, that’s more than Fred and Matic have scored between them across all competitions this season, per Transfermarkt.

Given United’s busy schedule – three games in the past seven days – he may very well have sat out against Sociedad anyway, but potentially losing the player for even longer would come as a huge blow for Solskjaer, given his fine vein of form.

AND in other news, Man Utd plotting Jarrad Branthwaite transfer with an eye on the future…

Journalist Liam Kennedy has discussed the chances of Newcastle being bought out if the club is relegated this season.

In the Shields Gazette, he wrote about multiple issues involving the Tyneside club, giving some updates about a potential takeover at St James’ Park in the event of a possible relegation.

Takeover becomes ‘obsolete’ in case of relegation

Kennedy stated that he asked the Premier League on Friday whether the takeover would happen and whether the arbitration process would hinder anything if the Magpies go down. The Premier League responded by saying ‘we don’t know’.

Kennedy added that, in case of relegation, a takeover would become ‘obsolete’ even though PCP are still interested in buying Newcastle. However, a Championship club may not be an attractive purchase for them, as the Premier League would be a better way to announce themselves.

The journalist said: “Interestingly, I asked the Premier League this question on Friday – what would happen to arbitration and the ODT tests, if Newcastle dropped and issues were unresolved? Their answer? ‘We don’t know’.

“For me, the PCP Consortium deal becomes obsolete in the event of relegation. Yes, PCP still want to buy Newcastle, of that there is no doubt, but there would definitely be question marks about whether PIF would want in. A second division club is not the kind of sporting crown jewel to announce yourself on the world stage a Premier League one is. Remember the sportswashing arguments from last year? Yes, they still apply.”

Last year, the club’s takeover had failed as the Saudi-backed consortium had backed away from a deal. It was reported that they pulled out because fears of the fact that they would not be given the green light to complete the deal.

Relegation would be a huge blow

Steve Bruce’s men are currently 16th in the Premier League and only a single point ahead of Brighton and Fulham (BBC). The Magpies have won only twice in 2021 and a litany of poor results has seen them skirt dangerously close to the relegation zone.

Going down would lead to financial losses and, considering the fiscal impacts of the pandemic, that could be incredibly arduous for the club – a blow which would be compounded if the chances of the takeover fall away because of relegation.

In other news, find out why Newcastle were determined to keep one player at the club in January.

Tottenham Hotspur eased into the next round of the FA Cup with a 5-0 victory over non-league minnows Marine this evening, though for all of the positives, one player’s performance will have Jose Mourinho seething.

A first-half 13-minute hat-trick by Carlos Vinicius, a pinpoint free-kick from fellow Brazilian Lucas Moura and a debut strike from history-maker Alfie Devine settled the resounding rout at the Marine Travel Arena in Crosby.

Indeed, it was a routine win for against a side that competes in the eighth tier of English football, some 160 places below Spurs in the pyramid.

It gave Mourinho a chance to look at several of his fringe players with the likes of Eric Dier and Harry Kane not even making the trip north.

Benfica loanee Gedson Fernandes was one of many to be gifted a golden opportunity to impress, but he did anything but and was quite clearly the worst player on the pitch.

His performance looks even worse considering the opposition and many fans took fire at him on social media during and after the match.

Gedson was dubbed “absolute garbage” and “one of the worst signings” in Spurs history by one fan, another labelled him a “possession vacuum” as he often lost the ball and there were even members of the Hotspur faithful asking the club to send him back to Portugal.

It’s easy to see why so many were left fuming by his display – per SofaScore, the 22-year-old recorded more touches (117) than any other player but failed to provide much substance as he made 0% of crosses, had zero key passes and fired two shots off target.

The attacking midfielder also lost the ball more times (22) than any other Spurs player, which meant he handed possession back to Marine once every five touches.

Alasdair Gold at football.london wasn’t impressed by the £12.15m-rated Portugal international either, grading him as Spurs’ worst player with a 5/10 in his post-match ratings and claimed: “This won’t have done his case much good to get more minutes.”

Whilst Dan Kilpatrick at the Evening Standard teased that it could’ve been his final game for the club, he said: ” Quite possibly a farewell appearance.”

Sky Sports reported last week that the Primeira Liga outfit wanted to recall Gedson early and Spurs would be open into doing so, well, after that performance, Daniel Levy might as well pay for his plane ticket now.

The £55k-per-week flop’s career at Spurs is surely finished after that shocking and pathetic outing.

AND in other news, Spurs must land dream Lo Celso partner in £18m-rated gem, Jose dubbed him “phenomenal”…

Ben Jacobs has dropped a very promising claim on the proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

Writing in a thread on his Twitter page, the sports journalist confirmed that the Saudi Gulf Agency Company (GAC) have admitted that they are ‘reviewing’ their revoked beIN license, although it has not yet been restored in the KSA.

Jacobs went on to tweet that the fact that the GAC are at least confirming that they are going to relook the license situation is ‘very positive’ for the prospective deal between Mike Ashley and the KSA consortium even if beIN themselves remain in the dark about what they are planning to do.

He added that the fact that the GAC are talking about ‘Gulf solidarity’ certainly suggests that there may be some movement in terms of trying to get the bid back on track, although Jacobs claims that while the logical view would be that if beIN returns it may help speed up the takeover process, it could well turn out to be the other way around and the takeover would have to happen first of all.

What is next for the potential Newcastle takeover?

While the potential unbanning of access to beIN for Saudi residents would not directly affect the takeover, it could certainly be a step forward in the right direction according to Jacobs.

It would ease the ongoing tensions between the KSA, Qatar and the Premier League, given the previous illegal streaming of games from the top flight, and may open up a path to reviving the original deal, providing that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) come back onto the table, which is expected to happen.

In other news, find out what bizarre Ashley claim has been dropped here!

Tottenham Hotspur appear to have missed out on an absolute bargain this summer as an interesting claim has emerged earlier this month…

What’s the word?

According to Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony on his podcast ‘The Hard Truth‘, Spurs were one of several teams eyeing a move for prolific goalscorer Ivan Toney.

He said:

“David [Pleat] thought Ivan was a relatively cheap option to boost the Spurs squad what with all Harry Kane’s injury problems.

“Levy might have been worried Spurs fans would laugh at him for signing a League One player but, in any case, the pandemic ruined any chance of the move going ahead.”

The 24-year-old, who failed to cut the mustard at Newcastle United, went onto sign for Championship promotion hopefuls Brentford for an initial £5m, though that could rise to £10m through add-ons, as per Sky Sports.

One that got away?

Indeed it seems the Spurs scout was onto something quite incredible with his suggestion to sign Toney on the cheap, he’s fast become an absolute deadly force to be reckoned with in the English second-flight.

He’s bagged a whopping 16 goals in just 19 starts, including a goal in six of his last seven outings, via Transfermarkt.

Whilst there was no chance he was usurping Harry Kane, he would have been an interesting candidate for the future, especially if you sent him out on loan to the Championship like the north Londoners have done with Troy Parrott.

Posh chief Barry Fry lambasted Celtic for not plotting a genuine bid to sign Toney in the summer, claiming he’d have been a “revelation” for the SPFL giants, whilst his former boss Steve Evans lauded the former Magpie as a “dream” to work with on the training pitch due to his “phenomenal” work rate.

Just imagine the sort of forward he could’ve become under the tutelage of someone like Kane, England’s no.9 and captain.

The confident talisman even likened himself to both Wilfried Zaha and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in an interview with The Sun last month.

Levy may have ultimately made a ghastly blunder with this one. A bargain was staring him straight in the eyes.

AND in other news, Spurs £70k-p/w wage thief continues to rob Daniel Levy blind…

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has compared a recent potential red card to the one that was shown to Wolves star Joao Moutinho’s a couple of weeks ago.

Nuno Santo’s Wolves side face Manchester United in the Premier League this evening and any potential sending off for Bruno Fernandes against Leicester City would have meant that the Portuguese star wouldn’t have been able to feature in tonight’s match. The midfielder, however, stayed on the pitch against Leicester after scoring and assisting in the 2-2 draw.

Fernandes had already been booked but the former Sporting man evaded a second yellow despite a clear foul on Jonny Evans near the touchline (as per BBC Sport).

Wolves will be ‘disappointed’ with the Fernandes decision

Halsey, talking exclusively with Transfer Tavern about Fernandes and the fact that he wasn’t sent off against Leicester. He compared the situation to that of Moutinho, who was shown a second yellow card against Aston Villa. Halsey believes that Moutinho got sent off for ‘nothing’ against Villa and Wolves fans would be ‘disappointed’ by the fact that Fernandes wasn’t dismissed – especially since both decisions were made by referee Mike Dean.

The former referee said:

“I think Wolves fans will be disappointed because when they go back to Wolves versus Aston Villa a couple of weeks ago, Moutinho got sent off for a second yellow for nothing and that was Mike Dean too. I suppose Wolves fans will have a bit of a grudge against Mike but this is one of those things that is subjective. I think that Mike got [the Fernandes] one right, I wouldn’t want to see a player sent off for a second yellow card like that.”

Moutinho had committed a foul on Villa’s young star Jacob Ramsey and that led to his sending off as Santo’s men lost the game 1-0 at home.

Fernandes’ presence could harm Wolves

In the current campaign, Fernandes has picked up the fourth-highest rating in the Premier League – 7.67. He has scored ten goals while picking up six assists as well (as per Whoscored).

This shows the impact that the midfielder has had in the Premier League and his presence could harm Wolves since he wasn’t sent off for his challenge on Evans.

Halsey has previously said that Moutinho didn’t deserve a second yellow against Villa and while Fernandes wasn’t sent off anyway, it is understandable why Wolves fans would feel undone by Dean because of rather inconsistent decision-making from the official meaning that one of United’s best players will be free to play this evening.

In other news, Wolves have been linked with a move for Luka Jovic – read more about it here.

Everton dodged a bullet by not signing Club Brugge forward Emmanuel Dennis this summer, after the Toffees emerged as one of several top European clubs said to be battling it out to land the Nigeria international’s services.

What’s the word?

According to CaughtOffside, the Goodison Park natives strove to bolster Carlo Ancelotti’s offensive weaponry this year with a raid on the Belgian top-flight for Dennis after he struck nine goals in 33 games across all competitions last season.

Dennis stole the headlines at the Santiago Bernabeu in October 2019 after his brace saw Brugge earn a shock 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in the Champions League Group Stage, as Philippe Clement‘s side went on to end the round winless.

Brugge continued their European adventures in the Europa League but fell at the first hurdle when matched with Manchester United in the intermediate stage, losing 5-0 without Dennis in the second-leg as the 22-year-old was forced to sit out through an ankle injury.

The forward’s versatility and expected future accomplishments saw that Dennis was eventually courted by an array of clubs this summer, including Arsenal, Leeds United and Everton plus Bayer Leverkusen, RB Leipzig and Inter Milan.

Manchester United were also monitoring the two-time international’s availability at one stage, but cooled their interest whilst Brugge rebuffed several offers from around Europe as they held firm in their €40million (£36.1m) asking price.

Everton would have faced a major obstacle in acquiring Dennis, too, as the centre-forward’s preference was to join a Champions League outfit, yet appear to have dodged a bullet by his struggles in the 2020/21 campaign thus far.

Lucky escape

Dennis has previously been heralded by former Nigeria international and 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner Sunday Oliseh for his imposing presence at the top of the Brugge attack, with the 46-year-old noting on Twitter: “He is extremely talented, fast, technical, strong and scores goals!”

Goals have not been easy to come by in the current campaign however, as Dennis has managed to strike just once in eight appearances across all competitions, coming in a 2-1 Champions League Group Stage victory over Zenit St. Petersburg earlier this month.

Brugge boss Clement has even been open to benching the Nigeria attacker for Jupiler Pro League fixtures, too, with Dennis missing four of a possible 10 matches and left to watch on as an unused substitute whilst his teammates succumbed to a 2-1 loss at Oud-Heverlee Leuven last Saturday.

It was the second time this season that Clement has not seen reason to utilise Dennis’ talents when Brugge are trailing in league games this term, giving Everton plenty of reasons why they should be glad they opted against pursuing a deal for the 22-year-old.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti must take care as a £40.6m ace once dubbed a “weak-link” is wanted at Everton.

Olivier Giroud has sent Jose Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur a message amid reports the Chelsea striker wishes to leave Stamford Bridge this January.

What’s the word?

According to Calciomercato, Inter Milan have moved into pole position ahead of clubs like Spurs in the emerging race to lure Giroud away from south west London in the winter market.

Giroud’s future at Stamford Bridge has become increasingly uncertain after the 34-year-old conceded he may have to seek a move away after falling down the pecking order, with the arrival of Timo Werner and form of Tammy Abraham threatening his place in Didier Deschamps’s France squad for next summer’s postponed UEFA European Championship.

Inter were keen to strike a deal with Chelsea this summer after Giroud struggled to establish himself during Frank Lampard’s maiden campaign at the helm, but the attacker ultimately stayed only to enjoy similar struggles with just 178 minutes played across all competitions this term.

Antonio Conte is now considering reviving the Nerazzurri’s advances with his side ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami, West Ham and Spurs in the emerging race for Giroud’s signature.

Giroud is concerned by his outcast status at Stamford Bridge and has accepted that he may have to search for a new side when the market opens in the New Year.

“It’s worrying. I thought I still had a role to play at Chelsea, but my playing time is getting reduced a lot. It’s going to have to change or a decision must be made,” Giroud told Telefoot, via Goal.

“I am clear-headed about my situation: I will have to make a decision in January. I hope to make the right one, as I have always done.”

Giroud sent Jose a message

With Tottenham said to be interested in a deal for Giroud this winter, Mourinho and the Spurs hierarchy will have been buoyed to see the Frenchman send them a message during Chelsea’s Champions League victory over Stade Rennais on Tuesday night.

The 105-cap international came off the bench to prove he is still capable of delivering a vital impact in games, despite being restricted to only one start this season, as he netted a 91st-minute winner to seal Chelsea’s progression through to the knockout stages.

Lampard, who has previously lauded Giroud for being a “big character”, was mightily impressed by the striker’s impactful cameo at Rennes, telling reporters after the game how his strike underlines why Chelsea wish to retain him.

“Yes, it does, and I’ve felt it first-hand, last year it was him or Tammy fighting for the number nine spot. Tammy had a great first half of the season, and then Oli in restart was fantastic,” Lampard said, via quotes by talkSPORT.

“And the things behind the scenes, everybody kind of feels from the outside what a great professional he is and how highly-regarded he is by his teammates and myself. He’s getting better with age, if anything, in terms of how he looks after himself.”

But with Giroud uncertain over to what extent he can expect to feature at Chelsea, his performance sent a message to Spurs – and the other clutch of interested sides – that he can still offer value and end product at a time Mourinho has only seen two of his players net more than once in the Premier League this term.

AND in other news, an £80k-p/w Spurs man’s struggles may have re-opened the door for a “perfect” outcast to return.

West Ham United’s transfer window brimmed with failed swoops for defensive targets is unlikely to end with a successful bid to bring Olympique de Marseille’s Duje Caleta-Car to the London Stadium.

What’s the word?

According to The Sun, the Irons are readying a £25million bid for Croatia international Caleta-Car as boss David Moyes strives to end the window with the arrival of a towering centre-half in east London.

Moyes believes Caleta-Car would be the ideal man to strengthen the Hammers’ backline and could award the defender a £150,000-per-week contract in the hopes of convincing the 24-year-old of the move.

Middle-men for both sides are thought to be thrashing out negotiations in London as Marseille are inclined to sell at the right price as this summer may be their best opportunity to cash-in, despite drawing Manchester City and FC Porto as their Champions League Group Stage opponents.

West Ham’s interest in Caleta-Car has also been supported by the Daily Mail, who proposed that talks with Marseille were opened over a £20m deal after seeing a string of offers rejected by clubs from around Europe.

It is also put forward that Marseille are likely to sell the 6 ft 4 colossal in order to meet Financial Fair Play regulations, but West Ham remain attentive to Craig Dawson’s situation with Watford in case negotiations peter out.

Football.london tally the number of defenders targeted in the two weeks before bidding for Caleta-Car to be as high as 16, having courted the likes of Daniele Rugani, Guillermo Maripan, Nikola Milenkovic, Jonathan Tah and Antonio Rudiger among many others.

Will West Ham finally sign a centre-back?

The summer of 2020 has been a window of untold failure for West Ham in terms of their search for a new centre-half, and things may yet go astray with Caleta-Car with a deal still unlikely at this stage.

The Sun include in their report that the 6-cap defender is due to connect with the Croatian national side for their upcoming Nations League fixtures, making West Ham’s plans for a medical a sizable challenge.

The Daily Mail also mention that the former Red Bull Salzburg ace would prefer to remain with Marseille for at least the next year, as he’s been reluctant to leave the Stade Velodrome all summer through wishes of competing in the Champions League this season.

If West Ham are to get a deal done, it would appear heavily dependent on the Irons’ contract offer appealing more to the 24-year-old than of competing in UEFA’s top club competition – with a £150k-p/w contract enough to make him by far the Hammers’ top-earner.

AND in other news, West Ham have been dealt a setback in the club’s efforts to land the missing spark of David Moyes’ midfield.