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Serie A expert Conor Clancy believes that Joakim Maehle would cost over £20 million if a Premier League club wanted to sign him this summer.

Maehle currently plays for Atalanta and has been with the club since January, when he joined from Belgian club Genk.

Since then, he has gone on to make 25 appearances for the Italian side, providing two assists from right-back.

The Denmark international also enjoyed an exceptional tournament at Euro 2020, playing in every game as they reached the semi-finals, where they were ultimately beaten by England at Wembley.

Maehle scored twice in the tournament, against Russia and Wales, and laid on an assist against the Czech Republic.

Southampton have been linked with a swoop to bring the full-back, who is also capable of playing on the left side of midfield, to the Premier League.

And Clancy believes they would have to pay over £20m to acquire his signature.

The editor in chief of Forza Italian Football said: “To a Premier League club, anything above 20 million, you never know, but if he were to join another club in Europe, 10 to 15, it’s that Premier League inflation.

“Atalanta only sell if it works for them so he’s not going to be sold for 15 million because there’s no reason for Atalanta to do that six months after signing him.”

Aston Villa are reportedly interested in a big money swoop for Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge, as claimed by Birmingham Live.

The Lowdown: Aston Villa gear up for 2021/22

As the Villans gear up for the 2021/22 Premier League season, much attention will be paid to how Dean Smith’s men improve upon their impressive 11th-placed finish last time out. Already active in the transfer market, Villa have acquired Emiliano Buendia from Norwich for a club record fee, along with a return for Ashley Young on a free transfer from Inter Milan [Transfermarkt].

One crucial element of the Buendia deal was Villa fending off interest from Arsenal for his signature [Mirror]. Could the same thing happen regarding their pursuit of Berge?

The Latest: Villa said to be monitoring Berge

Aston Villa are said to be monitoring Norway international Berge as they prepare for the new season [Birmingham Live].

Familiar foes Arsenal are also said to be courting his services, but have recently flinched at his price tag of £35m, which could leave the Gunners susceptible to counter-bids [Sheffield Star].

Although it is not clear how much Aston Villa would be willing to pay, they could well challenge their divisional rivals for the 23-year-old as they strive to build a team capable of challenging for continental qualification [Birmingham Live].

The Verdict: Berge would be a good addition

Undoubtedly, Berge would add quality and energy to an already well-stocked Aston Villa midfield. He suffered an injury-hit 2020/21 campaign for the Blades, only making 16 appearances as he scored once and set up another goal [Transfermarkt].

Once labelled as having a ‘brilliant attitude’ by former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder [Sheffield Star], there is every chance that he could become an established Premier League midfielder for years to come should any move materialize.

Berge has already featured 24 times for the Norwegian international side, scoring on one occasion [Transfermarkt]. Having already proven capable of holding his own at an elite level, Villa should do everything in their power to get this deal over the line, especially with Arsenal baulking at his valuation.

In other news, these Aston Villa fans react to one player’s exit from the club.

Liverpool could secure the man who can return them to the summit of English football after it was reported that Lautaro Martinez has been put up for sale by Inter.

What’s the story?

The Italian giants desperately need to raise a significant sum of cash through player sales this summer due to off-field issues, and the 23-year-old is one of the stars available for transfer over the coming months, according to The Guardian.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Martinez in the past as Jurgen Klopp looked to add more firepower to his stuttering attack, meaning a move for the deadly striker could still be on the cards.

Klopp needs him

Martinez has been sensational since arriving at San Siro, scoring 49 goals and providing 20 assists in 132 appearances for the Nerazzurri.

The Argentina international played a pivotal part in Inter’s first Serie A title for 11 years in 2020/21 as the youngster formed an unstoppable strike partnership with Romelu Lukaku.

However, due to the Milanese outfit’s owners incurring financial trouble, the South American’s time in Italian football appears to be drawing to a close.

Martinez’s exploits at Inter haven’t gone unnoticed, though, with his impressing performances attracting the attention from the continent’s biggest clubs, as well as his international teammate Lionel Messi.

“He’s spectacular. He has impressive qualities. You could tell he was going to be a great player, and he is showing that,” said Messi.

“He’s very strong, really good one on one, scores a lot of goals, and in the area he fights with anyone, holds it up, he can turn, scrap to win it all on his own. He has a lot of quality. He’s very complete.”

Any player receiving such praise from arguably the world’s greatest ever footballer must be extremely talented, and that is definitely the case with Martinez.

Liverpool struggled in several areas of the pitch throughout the recently concluded campaign, although perhaps most surprisingly of all, the Reds’ attack suffered a severe drop-off in productivity.

While Mohamed Salah continued to put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis, the same can’t be said about Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino.

Klopp was able to call upon the impressive Diogo Jota on several occasions to relieve the strain on Mane, but a lack of strength in depth up-front meant Firmino was rarely allowed a rest.

Therefore, the German manager needs a player like the £63 million rated Martinez this summer as the Anfield outfit aim to regain their Premier League crown, meaning director of football Michael Edwards must sanction a swoop for the highly sort after hitman.

And, in other news…Get rid: Klopp must ruthlessly axe £120k-p/w Liverpool flop, he’s not good enough 

Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa must make a ruthless call on Poland international Mateusz Klich ahead of the new Premier League season after David Norris’ latest transfer claim.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have linked the Whites with moves for the likes of Cagliari’s Nahitan Nandez and Udinese’s Rodrigo De Paul, and Norris has now suggested that Klich could be the fall guy for a potential move for one of those midfielders.

When asked if Klich should be worried about his game-time next season in the Premier League, he said: “Yeah, I think Klich might be because he hasn’t set it on fire and it hasn’t gone well for him. So I think potentially, it could be a bit more difficult for him.”

Bielsa should axe him

While four goals and five assists in the Premier League last season is hardly anything to be sniffed at, Klich endured a rather disappointing campaign overall for the Whites – in fact, as per Whoscored, out of those players who started more than ten games, the Polish ace was the third-worst ranked player in the entire squad, with only Tyler Roberts and Helder Costa below him.

He averaged just 1.1 tackles (even Raphinha managed the same), and only 0.3 interceptions per game (Tyler Roberts had the same). And offensively, he wasn’t much of a threat either, averaging the sixth-most shots, and the 12th most dribbles – in fact, centre-back Diego Llorente averaged the same amount of dribbles as Klich did.

De Paul, however, seems to be the perfect fit for what Bielsa wants at Elland Road, with his ability to score goals and also be a defensive menace, making him a superb box-to-box option – he bagged an impressive nine goals and provided a further 11 assists in all competitions last season.

That completeness is something Udinese’s technical director, Pier Paolo Marino, has praised the £26m-rated star for, saying: “Rodrigo is animated by a profound love of football. It’s one of the attributes all top players must have. He’s a tireless worker who mixes quantity with quality, training as hard as he plays. In a nutshell, he’s the ideal player.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

If Leeds want to take that next step, then making those ruthless calls on players who have been almost stalwarts at the club simply have to be made.

And while the £3.6m-rated Klich has been a first-team regular for so long now, De Paul would be a major upgrade on him, and that’s exactly why the 31-year-old simply isn’t good enough to be a Leeds starter anymore.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Bielsa is eyeing this star who he wanted back in 2018…

West Ham United remain interested in Youssef En-Nesyri this summer…

What’s the word?

That’s according to El Desmarque, who claim the Irons are willing to pay beyond the €40m (£36m) mark to sign the 24-year-old Sevilla talisman this transfer window.

It’s believed that the Morrocan international is among their priorities before the start of the new season, having attempted to bring him to the London Stadium in January following the departure of Sebastian Haller.

The Hammers are also said to have promised that En-Nesyri would be amongst their top earners should he agree to a move, though that may prove hard as it seems as though he doesn’t want to leave the La Liga outfit.

Sign him up!

With that in mind, West Ham’s hierarchy must be prepared to break the bank for someone who scored 24 times during the 2020/21 season as he’d be a dangerous addition to David Moyes’ barren frontline.

Right now, the East Londoners will be heading into a Europa League campaign with just one recognised striker, an injury-prone Michail Antonio.

At 6 foot 2, En-Nesyri would offer a different dimension to the 31-year-old, allowing the Scotsman to either play two up top, with the Sevilla star being the perfect foil for the shorter, more explosive forward or even deployed by himself, where he has quickly emerged as someone who can create chances for himself.

Speaking about his qualities to This is Futbol, La Liga expert Euan McTear waxed lyrical, also making a lofty comparison to one of the game’s current greats.

“He’s not someone that will move out wide and create a chance, he’s very much a centre-forward, if he’s moving out of the box to create something, it’s usually for his own good – a bit like Benzema, but he does that well and scores a lot of goals.”

Indeed, En-Nesyri has failed to provide a single assist at Sevilla but has found the net 30 times across 78 appearances, as per Transfermarkt.

An average of 2.5 aerial duels won per game suggests he’s more than capable to the physical demands of the Premier League, whilst an average of 2.1 shots per match would see him sit third in the current Hammers squad.

“When you look at his attributes, he’s as good in the air as anyone now. Not only is he tall, [but] he’s got that athletic ability to leap as well. He seems to really enjoy aerial challenges,” claims Sky Sports’ Spanish football commentator Terry Gibson, who also deemed him a “world-beater” at times.

If Moyes is to truly keep the Hammers competitive next season, then GSB needs to be making signings like this one. The £36m-rated machine must be secured this summer.

AND in other news, Moyes could take West Ham to next level by signing “dangerous” £18m-rated goal machine…

Midfielder Ruben Neves is expected to leave Wolverhampton Wanderers this summer, according to a report from The Athletic.

Wolves apparently need to ‘sell big’ this summer if they want to ‘buy big’ – the Midlands outfit finished 13th in the Premier League, six places down on their 2019/20 effort.

And they could fetch around £35million for 24-year-old Neves. The report adds that goalkeeper Rui Patricio is also being targeted by Roma.

Meanwhile, the future of Adama Traore, regarded as a ‘very saleable asset’, remains uncertain.

Neves was set to bring 200 Wolves appearances in 2021/22

Wolves shelled out a Championship record fee to recruit Neves from FC Porto ahead of the 2017/18 season. He’s gone on to rack up 176 appearances for the club, scoring 20 goals.

This season, he featured in all but two of Wolves’ matches.

Intriguingly, the club’s reported price tag is considerably lower than Transfermarkt’s £45million valuation – he still has two years left on his contract, so it is perhaps no surprise to see fans bewildered by this latest report.

Fan feed Talking Wolves relayed the update, and here’s how supporters reacted.

Wolves fans fume at Neves exit link

“Absolute joke potentially selling one of our best players and 35 million is nowhere near what we should be selling him for”

Credit: @Andrew_Hingley

“Ridiculous, would need 3 new midfielders then with Moutinho also going back to Portugal, and only 35 mil to spend? Laughable”

Credit: @AJReade

“And so it begins. Jota V2.0 Be world class again next season somewhere else and valued 60m +”

Credit: @jhuttyb7

“No Jota, Neves or Nuno. That will be the heartbreaker.”

Credit: @Callumcocking1

“This is it, the downfall, Fosun has seriously made us weaker now with all these sellings, and it looks like selling to raise funds is actually true.”

Credit: @CPJ93070

“This would be criminal.”

Credit: @c_southan

In other news, Henry Winter has run the rule over three managerial candidates.

Leicester City are seemingly edging closer to the summer signing of Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Foxes are still “leading the race” to sign the midfielder amidst competition.

Whilst the 22-year-old would be an excellent addition to the Foxes’ squad, the latest development could potentially be bad news for current Leicester midfielder Hamza Choudhury.

Competing with the likes of Wilfred Ndidi and Nampalys Mendy for a starting berth as a defensive midfielder at the King Power Stadium, the Foxes academy graduate has made 20 appearances in all competitions this season – with just ten of those being starts.

The addition of Soumare this summer then would certainly see that competition intensify and likely lead to the 23-year-old Choudhury falling even further down the pecking order, despite Brendan Rodgers labelling him as “outstanding” in the past.

It is certainly easy to see why that would occur with Soumare outperforming Choudhury in tackles, interceptions, aerial duels and blocks per game this season, whilst he also racks up more passes, key passes and dribbles than the current Leicester man according to WhoScored.

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So it is easy to suggest that the arrival of the Frenchman would hugely limit Choudhury’s chances of first-team football at the King Power Stadium. However, it could even signal the end of his Leicester career altogether.

Choudhury has been linked with a departure on numerous occasions in the past, the most recent being a potential loan switch to Newcastle United during the January transfer window.

A move never came to fruition but reports have resurfaced in recent days suggesting that the Magpies are once again eyeing the Leicester man, alongside recently promoted Norwich City in the summer window.

Should Soumare arrive at the King Power Stadium, this would certainly allow Choudhury to depart – bringing to an end a Leicester career that he started as a youngster.

AND in more news, take a look at which transfer target Leicester simply must sign this summer…

Noel Whelan has given his reaction to the news that James Rodriguez may be able to play for Everton against Sheffield United on Sunday evening.

The Lowdown: Rodriguez may be fit

As per the Toffees’ official website, Carlo Ancelotti has claimed that the Colombian is set to be fit and available to play against the Blades this weekend.

The former Real Madrid star has missed the Merseyside club’s last three games in the Premier League, and so it will come as a welcome relief to have him back as they chase European qualification.

The Latest: Whelan gives Rodriguez reaction

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan – who is now a pundit after playing as a striker for the likes of Leeds United and Coventry City in the past – highlighted just how important Rodriguez is to Everton and admitted that he did not think the 29-year-old would play again this season. He said:

“They’re a weaker side without him in.

“He’s the one that can open the door, it’s a brilliant news to have him back. He can be that go to man when you need something to happen. When he’s not in the side, they lose a little bit of creativity.

“That’s known, it’s seen. When he’s in the side, a lot goes through him. You’re looking for him all the time. Those cross-field passes, that eye, that something that other players don’t have in the side.

“That’s why Ancelotti brought him to Everton, for that little bit of brilliance that can change the momentum in a game. They need him fit, they need him back. I thought next season would be the next time we’d see him.”

The Verdict: Rodriguez comeback vital

The comeback of Rodriguez could well be vital if the Toffees are to achieve European qualification this year. In his recent absence, Everton have dropped five points in two meetings against Aston Villa.

The Colombia international has scored six goals and supplied a further nine assists in 25 matches over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt), offering a creative spark in midfield to help make chances for his attacking team-mates.

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As Whelan has hinted, Rodriguez may be crucial in unlocking the door for Everton against a stubborn Blades team who lost narrowly to the Toffees back at Christmas.

In other news, find out what Aston Villa image has left these Everton fans fuming

Southampton have been linked with a move for exit-bound Burnley winger Robbie Brady recently and the Republic of Ireland international could be an excellent addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side this summer.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mirror (15:27 in live blog), the Saints, Crystal Palace, Celtic and Watford are all considering a move for the 29-year-old, who is set to leave the Clarets this summer when his contract expires.

The left winger has plenty of Premier League experience with both Norwich City and Burnley and has earned 56 caps for his country, although he has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, preventing him from being a regular in Sean Dyche’s side.

Would he be a good signing?

If Brady can prove his fitness, he could definitely prove to be a solid addition to Hasenhuttl’s side this summer, as his performances in the three seasons between 2015/16 and 2017/18 emphasise that he can be a real threat in any team when he is on form.

The Irish winger is quite versatile, as he can play on either flank and also as a left-back. That immediately marks him out as someone who Hasenhuttl would love to have in his squad, especially with the dearth of left-backs currently available to the Austrian ahead of next season following Ryan Bertrand’s decision to leave the club.

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Former Ireland teammate Stephen Quinn was full of praise for Brady back in 2014, saying: “He is just an exceptionally talented footballer and I think that left wing-back position suits him because he is coming into plays, he will always attack and he gets goals like that.”

The 29-year-old could rediscover his best form if he was afforded a run of games, so given that he is available on a free transfer, you could argue that his signing would be something of a no-brainer for the Saints this summer.

Hasenhuttl has suggested in recent months that he will consider more experienced signings after being won over by Theo Walcott this season, and considering that Brady is younger and more versatile than the former Arsenal man, there seems little reason for Saints CEO Martin Semmens not to sign the Irishman this summer should he prove his fitness.

In other news… Ralph handed golden opportunity to axe £11.7m Saints flop, Gao surely buzzing

Aston Villa are reportedly scouting Fenerbahce goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, who has also drawn the interest of the likes of Napoli and Ajax.

While recent reports have linked Emiliano Martinez with an Aston Villa exit and a move to Manchester United, it seems as if Villa are already lining up a goalkeeper signing of their own.

Bayindir has impressed this season

Turkish outlet Takvim reports that Villa had sent scouts to watch Fenerbahce take on Super Lig side Gaziantep on Monday, as they had people in the stands to watch the 22-year-old.

It has been stated that the goalkeeper has previously been linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur in the past, while Rino Gattuso’s Napoli and Dutch giants Ajax are also keeping an eye on Bayindir. Not just them, but Premier League duo Crystal Palace and Newcastle United have also been credited with interest in the goalkeeper, who is valued at £12.15m (Transfermarkt).

The report has ushered praise on the goalkeeper, saying that his performances have been rewarded with a call-up to the Turkish national team last year.

Bayindir could be a smart move for Villa

Bayindir has made 32 appearances in the league this season, having kept a total of ten clean sheets. He’s also played twice in the cup, keeping two clean sheets in that competition as well (as per Transfermarkt).

He has picked up a rating of 6.71 in the league, which shows that he’s had a decent but not remarkable campaign. He’s still 22 however, so can improve in the future, meaning it could be a smart move for Villa seeing as their current top two ‘keepers, Martinez and Tom Heaton, are 28 and 34 respectively.

In other news, ‘Should have had him last summer’ – Many Aston Villa fans fume as transfer comments emerge