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Aston Villa were recently labelled as the ‘early favourites’ to sign Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge this summer.

The 23-year-old looks likely to seal a move away from Chris Wilder’s side, with relegation to the Championship looking inevitable for the Yorkshire outfit.

Arsenal and Tottenham keen

According to website Jeunes Footeux, via Sport Witness, Arsenal and Tottenham are both now interested in the Blades ace and are on alert over a potential transfer.

The report claims that Berge, who has been out of action since December through injury, will be allowed to leave Bramall Lane for €26m (£22.3m).

Transfer Tavern take

Securing Berge’s services could turn out to be a shrewd piece of business by Villa, but it looks as if they’ll need to make him the club’s third biggest-signing in their history at £22.3m.

The Norwegian is capable of playing as a holding or central midfielder, so could provide Dean Smith with another strong option in the middle of the park.

On the other hand, Smith already has the likes of Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Marvelous Nakamba, Jacob Ramsey and January arrival Morgan Sanson as central options, so Smith may feel he is well-stocked in that department.

In other news: Gregg Evans believes £27k-a-week Villa ace could leave this summer, find out more here.

Lee Johnson has guided this Sunderland side to fourth in League One and the good times should carry on this weekend.

The Mackems are getting ready to face a Rochdale side who occupy a relegation place in the division. They have only won one of their last 15 outings, so it should be an uphill struggle for The Dale at the Stadium of Light.

That being said, the Black Cats did need a rescue act last weekend against Crewe in order to salvage a point.

It’s also hard to look past a number of injuries with which Johnson is having to contend. With a succession of players still on the sidelines, how could their XI look on Saturday afternoon?

The Mackems are likely to be without Grant Leadbitter this weekend as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder.

Tom Flanagan is looking stronger in his bid to return to fitness but will miss out this weekend. The same goes for Ross Stewart and Denver Hume. Bailey Wright will unfortunately also be absent on Saturday afternoon.

As a result, the makeshift pairing of Dion Sanderon and Luke O’Nien occupy the central roles in the defence.

With Sunderland taking on weaker opposition, it could give the manager a chance to go more attacking, something he did in the second half of their clashes with Crewe and Swindon.

That sees two changes made from Tuesday night, with Chris Maguire and Aiden O’Brien coming into the side. Maguire replaces Lynden Gooch in the number 10 role.

Gooch starred against Swindon but went off with a minor calf problem. Johnson wasn’t too worried at full-time but, given the number of injury problems they have, they can’t afford to take risks. That means the £5,000-per-week winger is dropped from the XI.

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The other change is on the left, where Jordan Jones comes out of the team for O’Brien, someone who has been an influential member of the team since Johnson was given the job.

The winger started on the bench in midweek but scored 11 days ago against Fleetwood. With his importance in mind, it’s not beyond the realms of fantasy to suggest he could start again.

After all, Jones still appears to be struggling for match fitness; he was hooked after just an hour on Tuesday night.

AND in other news, Sunderland must unleash “top player” who Johnson once dubbed “Championship-class”…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer faces a difficult decision over how he deals with Manchester United defender Phil Jones in the coming weeks and months – with the Red Devils reportedly open to selling him this summer.

What’s the word?

According to ESPN, United could look to sell Jones on one condition, with Solskjaer seeking to bolster his defensive options before the start of the new season.

Jones has long been linked with the Old Trafford exit, and several clubs have looked at him closely, including Premier League strugglers West Brom, who wanted him to shore up their leaky defence during the winter window.

The former England international is just the latest player tipped to be on the move in the next summer market as Solskjaer has already started to clear out the deadwood by selling Timothy Fosu-Mensah to Bayer Leverkusen for a mere £1.8m fee.

Time’s up

With the emergence of academy graduate Axel Tuanzebe, Jones has been relegated to fourth choice this season.

The 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £5m via Transfermarkt, has not played for United since January 2020 after a string of injuries and has spent the entire time up until now working his way back to fitness.

He had attracted interest from several clubs across the country in the hope of a possible move in January earlier this year, but in the end, nothing materialised, and on £75k-per-week, it might be hard to offload him without forcing him to take a drastic pay cut.

However, fitness issues aside, it’s become increasingly apparent that Jones simply isn’t up to the standards required at Old Trafford.

Whilst it could be argued that injuries have meant he has never been able to reach his full potential, having been tipped for greatness by Sir Alex Ferguson himself.

In his last season alone, the versatile defender, who has played in the centre, in the midfield and on the right in his career so far, averaged just one tackle and one interception per 90 in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

By comparison, Tuanzebe is averaging 1.2 tackles per game in six top-flight appearances this season, suggesting that he is already a  significant upgrade on his injured teammate.

Solskjaer will also be well aware that Jones needs to be playing regularly to attract any potential suitors in the summer, which could prove to be a stumbling block unless he can make a full recovery from injury.

Should he recover from injury, there will be a dilemma over giving him any game time at all and whether that’s a good idea right now still remains to be seen with the Red Devils in hot pursuit of both domestic and European success.

There’s nothing to suggest that the unseen Englishman could bolster their current defensive issues.

AND in other news, Manchester United face stiff competition in pursuit of Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic…

According to reports in Spain, West Brom failed in a late attempt to secure a La Liga striker during the January transfer window, though they can count their lucky stars that a deal didn’t come to fruition.

Mundo Deportivo claim that the Baggies were keen to secure former Middlesbrough frontman, Martin Braithwaite, in a loan-to-buy deal which would have included a €15m (£14m) option.

It’s thought that the 29-year-old rejected the opportunity as he had no desire to swap the Nou Camp for the Hawthorns, which is obviously understandable.

But what isn’t understandable is Albion’s interest in the 5 foot 10 forward as he’s failed in England before.

Somehow, the former Boro flop has found himself playing alongside Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann, albeit in a bit-part role at the Spanish giants.

During his time in the Championship with the north-east outfit, the 46-time Denmark international only managed to score eight goals in 36 appearances for the club, via Transfermarkt.

By comparison, even Charlie Austin and Hal Robson-Kanu both hit ten apiece last term with neither starting 24 or more matches, which speaks volumes as the former is no longer at the club, and the latter is merely a bench option right now.

Braithwaite also caused a bit of controversy that had former Baggies boss Tony Pulis reeling. After speaking to the Danish press about his future at the Riverside, the then-Boro manager launched a scathing attack on the striker.

He said, via GazetteLive:

“The biggest disappointment for me is he’s the highest-paid player I’ve ever worked with in the Championship,” before adding: “To show the disrespect he’s shown to this club by saying he’s not coming back, to Steve Gibson, who’s made him a multi-millionaire, let’s make no bones about it, the wages and what he’s earning are astonishing. I’ve dealt with players all my life, some can make your hair curl – not mine. But for him to come out and say that, it just puts him up there as such an ungrateful person.”

Pulis is probably the last person the Hawthorns faithful want to hear from, but these comments, along with Braithwaite’s disappointing record in England, make for appalling reading.

Albion are among the lowest scorers in the Premier League, and Braithwaite would not have been the answer to their issues. He’d have only been another big-money striker signing to fail in the Midlands, like Brown Ideye, who was signed for a then club-record £10m in 2014, he only delivered four Premier League goals before being shipped away after just one campaign.

Kenneth Zohore, Oliver Burke, Yuning Zhang, Stephane Sessegnon, Rickie Lambert are others to name just a few.

Luke Dowling and co may have just dodged an almighty £14m bullet this January.

AND in other news, West Brom just made a foolish mistake over £50k-per-week FLOP…

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Brighton midfielder Yves Bissouma this month by Duncan Castles on The Transfer Window Podcast, and the Mali international’s stats suggest that he would be a great addition to Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Since joining the Seagulls from LOSC Lille in 2018, the 24-year-old has gone on to make 76 appearances, in which he has contributed four goals and one assist.

This season has seen the midfielder average a solid 6.83 rating for his performances in the Premier League, whilst he has demonstrated his long-range shooting quality with superb goals against Everton and Blackpool so far this campaign.

With Fabinho having played centre-back for much of the season, Liverpool have arguably lacked some bite in midfield at times this campaign, which Bissouma could add if he were to make the move to Anfield.

The Brazilian has averaged 2.1 tackles per game, which is the most of any Reds player. Bissouma, meanwhile, has averaged 2.9 tackles per game in the top-flight, which suggests he would fit well into Klopp’s midfield.

The 24-year-old also scores highly with his pass accuracy rate (86.2%) and dribbles per game (1.6), which again suggests that he could adapt to Liverpool’s style of play, as we have often seen the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum and Thiago use their dribbling qualities in order to make space for the front three.

Bissouma may well be likely to depart Brighton in the near future given he is attracting interest from sides across the Premier League, with manager Graham Potter also full of praise for him earlier this season, saying:

“He’s got that quality (to play in the Champions League), he’s got those attributes that you need at that level.”

With Wijnaldum looking likely to join Barcelona at the end of the season, Bissouma could prove to be the ideal replacement if Michael Edwards is able to bring the £11.7 million-rated midfielder to Anfield during the summer.

And, in other news… “I think they’ll try and get it done this window” – Exclusive: Pundit tips LFC to target “perfect” 28 y/o

When Arsenal signed Pablo Mari back in January earlier this year, there may have been some eyebrows raised as to why Raul Sanllehi and co had decided to loan in a 27-year-old defender who had failed to make the grade in European football.Things were then made even more questionable when despite going down with injury, the Gunners signed the Spaniard on a permanent basis, seemingly convinced by the few times that he actually took to the pitch.

Cameo Clubs: Which obscure teams did these football legends play for?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

Having made his return to fitness a few weeks ago, Arsenal have tried to slowly ease Mari back into first-team action, and he delivered arguably his most assured performance against Dundalk on Thursday night in the Europa League.

As per Sofascore, he won 100% of his duels on the night, and made two interceptions and tackles a piece too. And aside from being defensively disciplined, he also looked extremely assured on the ball too, boasting an impressive 95% pass accuracy and even providing one key pass too.

With Arsenal already boasting an impressive left-footed central defender in Gabriel, they don’t need Mari to be a regular starter for them. But they do know that if they have to call on him, they can completely rely on him to hold his own.

He may not be one of the more glamorous signings Arsenal have made in recent years, but he is one of the more shrewd ones.

Liverpool put in a hard shift at Anfield to keep their unbeaten home streak alive last night. Despite conceding through an early Pablo Fornals goal, the Reds were resilient enough to keep their heads and grab the win.

A VAR decision against Diogo Jota looked like it could paint the rest of game’s dynamic but the Portuguese target man was on song yet again with a goal to mark his third in five league appearances. Jurgen Klopp’s newest signing was undoubtedly the man of the hour, but the whole team rallied together to produce a solid performance.

One man especially who went under the radar was Gini Wijnaldum in the middle of the park. Despite being without playmakers Naby Keita and Thiago, the Dutchman was able to fill in and pull the strings from midfield.

Gini Wijnaldum stats vs West Ham

Starting the match alongside Jordan Henderson and Curtis Jones, the 29-year-old did well to trouble West Ham and create chances for the Reds.

According to Sofascore, Wijnaldum maintained a 97% passing rate, won 8/10 of his attempted duels and was successful in 100% of his dribbles and long balls. He was also the most fouled player in the game, highlighting how much the Irons struggled to deal with him in the engine room.

The £75,000-a-week midfielder is into the last 12 months of his current deal with Liverpool, but he is showing no signs of lowering his form. Despite the fact he could be leaving the club for free next year, Wijnaldum continues to give his all to the club and he is proving crucial to the Reds in their hour of need.

He recently received praise from Danny Murphy over his performances for the Anfield outfit. Speaking to Sky Sports, the pundit lauded him as an “absolutely sensational” player despite going “under the radar” (via Tribal Football).

Klopp currently has a huge defensive crisis on his hands, so knowing he is solid in midfield will alleviate a bit of pressure from him. The next fixture will see the Reds take on Atalanta in the Champions League and Liverpool will need a strong performance to push forwards and they can rely on Wijnaldum to deliver.

In the meantime, perhaps it’s time for Michael Edwards to get that tempting contract offer over to the Dutchman.

In other news, shock wage revelation could be Liverpool deal-breaker in David Alaba interest…

Liverpool fans may have been handed a huge boost ahead of their lunchtime clash at Goodison Park. Thiago Alcantara has tweeted a match day image, featuring a picture of himself as the Reds prepare to visit their neighbours in a bid to resurrect their winning form.

The recent Anfield signing has made just one appearance for his new club so far. He was recently reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 and missed the Aston Villa match along with Sadio Mane. Liverpool were handed a huge defeat and were left to mull over their 7-2 spanking on the journey back to Merseyside.

Merseyside boost for Liverpool

After returning to training, Thiago is available for selection this afternoon and could make his return against the club’s bitter rivals. As it stands, Everton top the Premier League table after their perfect start to the season. Liverpool’s recent loss sees them three points behind, but they could pull level with a win at Goodison Park. Jurgen Klopp will need all hands on deck to snub the Toffees in their neck of the woods.

The versatile midfielder played just 45 minutes against Chelsea last month but could be called upon to start the match. Naby Keita is not available for selection meaning Thiago could play alongside skipper Jordan Henderson, who has been impressing in his recent England performances.

The two-time Champions League winner maintained 90% passing accuracy in Liverpool’s win over Frank Lampard’s side. He also made one key pass and was successful in ten of his 12 attempted long balls (via Sofascore).

With Mane back and a strong midfield equipped, the Reds will be eager to get themselves onto the front foot at Goodison. Everton, who know their neighbours’ threat on the counter-attack, may play a more reserved game this afternoon. If this is the case, Thiago’s creative passes and long balls could be the answer to unlocking a tight Carlo Ancelotti defence and chipping away for three points.

In other news, Predicted XI: Liverpool to field strong lineup in mission to upset Everton…

Celtic’s run of poor form continued after they failed to come away with a result in their most recent Europa League fixture. The Hoops were dealt another loss on home soil after AC Milan hit them for three following another disappointing defensive display.

With the news of Christopher Jullien’s back injury proving to be worse than expected, Neil Lennon will be without the centre-back for their trip to Aberdeen this afternoon. After losing two games on the bounce and shipping five goals in that time, it’s imperative that the 49-year-old pulls off a masterclass in order to get his side back to winning ways.

Football FanCast has predicted how Celtic might line up to face the Dons…

After concerns were raised over Vasilis Barkas’ recent performances, Lennon may have his hand forced when it comes to this afternoon’s selection. Scott Bain has made just one appearance in Celtic colours this season but it came during their 5-1 win over Hamilton in their opening fixture. With a lot of pressure on his shoulders to rectify his side’s form, the 28-year-old could put in a solid display between the posts.

After a lacklustre performance from Leigh Griffiths as Lennon’s lone striker against Ajax, it’ll be very unlikely if he starts against Aberdeen. Both he and Albian Ajeti earned poor Sofascore ratings and can be expected to be dropped in place of Mohamed Elyounoussi and Patryk Klimala.

The Saints loanee came on and immediately made an impact, scoring Celtic’s only goal of the game. Fellow substitute Ryan Christie provided the assist, and should therefore be placed in the starting lineup instead of Olivier Ntcham in the midfield.

It will be a tough ask for the Hoops to restore their winning streak, especially against Aberdeen who are just three points behind them in the league. Thanks to their Old Firm loss, bitter rivals Rangers have extended their lead at the top of the table and are now four points clear. Three points will be the only thing on Lennon’s mind, as they look to show the Gers who should be at the top.

In other news, Celtic suffer blow ahead of Aberdeen as Odsonne Edouard not likely to feature…

According to a report by Daily Mail journalist Jack Gaughan, via Man City Xtra, the Sky Blues have offloaded promising young defender Tosin Adarabioyo for a meagre £2 million plus 20% sell-on clause – prompting plenty of supporters to blast Txiki Begiristain’s latest move on social media.Â

Tosin, who had a stellar season for Blackburn last season, signed for Fulham in the final minutes of deadline day on a permanent deal – but the fee will reportedly be around £2m despite the fact he possesses bags of potential.

Over 2019/2020, the 23-year-old started the vast majority of Championship matches for Rovers last term, averaging an 80.3% pass accuracy out from the back whilst making 4.7 clearances per 90 – clearly displaying that fine blend of composure and robustness in the middle (WhoScored).

Standing at a towering 6ft 4, Tosin is also quite the physical presence, with their being many reasons why City could have negotiated a much higher fee.

As a result, Sky Blues are definitely not impressed with the deal – find all of their best comments down below.

City fans, how much should have Tosin been sold for? Have your say in the comment section down below…