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Liverpool will only strengthen in central defence if Jurgen Klopp finds the 'right player' to fit his vision, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

Who are Liverpool signing in 2023?

Liverpool have been busy making inroads in the summer transfer market and have confirmed two signings in the form of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Reds' manager Klopp has his eye on bolstering his midfield further and Southampton youngster Romeo Lavia has emerged as another potential addition at Anfield, as per Football Insider.

The report states that Lavia is keen to join Liverpool over any other prospective suitors that are keen to secure his signature, which include the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Barcelona.

Intriguingly, Liverpool have also been linked with an ambitious swoop for Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde and even submitted an enquiry to the Spanish giants before being rebuffed, as per 90min.

Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester City also made approaches to Real Madrid; however, it is believed that Valverde is completely against the idea of leaving the Santiago Bernebau.

Nice midfielder Khephren Thuram had been linked to Liverpool earlier in the window and was even thought to have verbally agreed personal terms with the club, as per FootballTransfers.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, transfer guru Romano has indicated that midfield signings will take precedence and thinks that Liverpool will only enter the market for a central defender if Klopp thinks they are the correct fit at Anfield.

Romano said: “But let me say that Liverpool will only do that if they find the right player. They don’t want to put money in a player who is not 100% their important target, so this is the idea. But again, now the focus is on completing the midfielder and then moving to the new centre-back.”

Who are Liverpool looking at with regards to defensive additions?

Even though midfield reinforcements look likely to be the focus of recruitment for Liverpool just now, they have still been linked with plenty of defensive targets.

As per The Evening Standard, Chelsea defender Levi Colwill is one name that continues to be mentioned in connection with a surprise potential move to Anfield, though Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City are also in contention to sign the England Under-21 international.

The Times have shared quotes from Colwill talking about where his future may lie, as the 20-year-old stated: “I’ll speak to my family, speak to everyone I need to and make a decision. I’ve got to play at the end of the day to hopefully get there and go to the next camp.”

Football Insider claim that Torino defender Perr Schuurs is a 'top target' for Klopp and could be a cheaper alternative to some of the high-profile names being floated this summer as recruits to slot into the Reds backline.

Sporting Lisbon ace Goncalo Inacio and Wolfsburg young star Micky van de Ven are also admired by Liverpool and appear on a shortlist of names identified by the club.

In the coming weeks we will likely find out more about who may pitch up on the red half of Merseyside as the 2023/24 campaign edges closer to kick-off.

The former West Indies captain, who joined the Kings XI Punjab squad on the eve of their clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad, could be a like-for-like replacement for the out-of-form Marcus Stoinis

The Preview by Deivarayan Muthu27-Apr-2017Match factsKings XI Punjab v Sunrisers Hyderabad
Mohali, April 28, 2017
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)
3:31

Bangar: Would like to see Henry play and test batsmen with the short ball

Form guide

Kings XI Punjab (third) : defeated Gujarat Lions by 26 runs, lost to Mumbai Indians by eight wickets, lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad by five runs
Sunrisers Hyderabad (fifth) : lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by six wickets, defeated Delhi Daredevils by 15 runs, defeated Kings XI Punjab by five runs

Head-to-headThis season: Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 5 for 19 eclipsed Manan Vohra’s 50-ball 95 and helped Sunrisers defend 159 at home.
Overall: Sunrisers have an enviable 7-2 win record.In the newsWest Indies allrounder Darren Sammy, who missed the first three weeks of this IPL due to injury, joined the squad on the eve of the first match in Mohali this season. Sammy could be a like-for-like replacement for Marcus Stoinis who hasn’t fired with bat or ball. The Australian allrounder has limped to 17 runs off 24 balls in three innings, and has taken only two wickets at an economy rate of 10.47.Sunrisers fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman was set to join the Bangladesh squad on Tuesday for a preparatory camp ahead of the tri-series in Ireland, and the subsequent Champions Trophy, but will now be available until May 4.However, there is uncertainty over Yuvraj Singh’s availability. It remains to be seen if he has recovered from the flu, which forced him out of Sunrisers’ previous match against Rising Pune Supergiant last week.The likely XIsKings XI Punjab: 1 Manan Vohra, 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell (capt), 5 Marcus Stoinis/Darren Sammy, 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Axar Patel, 8 KC Cariappa, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 T NatarajanSunrisers Hyderabad 1 David Warner (capt), 2 Shikhar Dhawan, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Moises Henriques, 5 Yuvraj Singh/Deepak Hooda, 6 Naman Ojha (wk), 7 Bipul Sharma, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Mohammed Siraj/Ashish Nehra, 11 Siddarth KaulStrategy puntSince Sunrisers have two left-hand batsmen at the top, there is, perhaps, a case for Kings XI to open the bowling with an offspinner in Glenn Maxwell and attack the stumps. Mumbai Indians offspinner Harbhajan Singh maintained a stump-to-stump line with the new ball and kept Warner and Dhawan to only 22 runs off 18 balls while also dismissing Warner earlier in the league. More recently, Rising Pune Supergiant offspinner Washington Sundar stifled Sunrisers’ openers in the Powerplay.Stats that matter Warner has excellent numbers against Kings XI in the IPL: 617 runs in 14 innings at a strike-rate of 143.15, including fifty-plus scores in his last five innings. Maxwell has scored 78% of his runs this season in boundaries. He has hit 150 of his 193 runs in fours and sixes. The average runs per wicket at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in IPL 2016 was 31.36, in seven matches, the third highest behind the MCA Stadium in Pune and the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Sunrisers have the second-lowest run rate – 7.38 – in the first six overs this season. They try to make up for the slow start by going big in the middle overs. Sunrisers’ run rate of 8.87 during this period is the second best in the league this season. Kings XI have been the worst team in the slog overs this season, leaking 11.62 an over and picking up only eight wickets. Sunrisers have fared much better in this phase, conceding 9.54 runs an over while picking up 19 wickets. Shikhar Dhawan continues to be troubled by left-arm quicks in the IPL. Four bowlers have dismissed him three or more times. Of the four, three – James Faulkner, Zaheer Khan and Mitchell Johnson – are left-arm seamers. Dhawan v T Natarajan, who has the best economy among Kings XI’s seamers, might be an interesting contest.

Liverpool have wasted no time at all in getting their business done in the summer transfer window and have already made the signing of two exciting young midfielders with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai joining the squad for next season.

The Reds failed to maintain their high standards both in the Premier League and on the European stage last season which left many supporters hoping that the club would look to iron out the issues and uninspiring performances by acquiring fresh talent.

Indeed, the Anfield faithful will be thrilled with the signing of the two attacking-minded midfielders, however, there is still plenty of work to be done to bring the team back to life and deliver on the expectations that have been set over Jurgen Klopp's tenure so far.

The Athletic's Liverpool reporter James Pearce claimed in an article this week that the club are no longer making the signing of a third midfielder a priority and instead are more likely to focus on bringing in a centre-back who can inject some youth into the defensive set-up.

Both Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip are well into their 30s at this point with the latter set to be out of contract at the end of next season, so there is a real opportunity to strengthen the personnel and provide Ibrahima Konate with another young prospect to work alongside as part of the long-term future of the team.

One player who has been linked with a move to Merseyside this week is Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.

How much is Marc Guehi?

A talented centre-back who has been going from strength to strength over the last two seasons, the Englishman has become a huge asset to the South London club.

Football Insider report that Liverpool are interested in signing Guehi this summer, however, Palace will command a whopping £60m fee to part ways with their defensive prodigy.

How good is Marc Guehi?

Owing to his expensive price tag it would seem unlikely that FSG would sanction the funds to snap up the services of Guehi this summer, however, this will depend on just how urgent the need is felt to strengthen the centre-back role and whether Klopp can trust his current crop of players.

Should Matip be allowed to leave on a free next summer, it would leave Klopp's options limited to Konate, Van Dijk, Nat Phillips and Joe Gomez, unless of course, the club decide to invest in the 2024 transfer windows.

This would also be without taking into consideration potential injury issues, something that plagued Konate's ability to be a consistent presence over last season with only 18 appearances and 17 starts in the Premier League last season.

As a result, the signing of Guehi – dubbed "composed" by Patrick Vieira – could be the perfect opportunity to bolster the centre-back options with a Premier League-proven defender who could not only maintain the quality needed when others are injured but would be a great upgrade on Gomez.

When comparing the positional peers' output in the league last season, Guehi comfortably outperformed the Liverpool centre-back in a number of attributes including percentage of dribblers tackled (61.9% v 57.9%), aerial duels won (55.7% v 54.8%), interceptions (45 v 25) and ball recoveries (241 v 126), as per FBref.

The 22-year-old has been the recipient of high praise over his career so far, with Club Brugge 'keeper Josef Bursik naming Guehi when asked to pick the strongest player in England's U21 squad a few seasons ago:

"Marc Guehi. He’s an absolute tank, It’s like having a brick wall in front of you, he’s massive."

With that being said, it would be a no-brainer for Liverpool to sign Guehi this summer as it could well be a move that facilities an exit for Gomez.

Bangladesh have drafted in Sunzamul Islam and Shuvagata Hom and have left out Mehedi Hasan and Tanbir Hayder for the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka later this month

Mohammad Isam13-Mar-2017Bangladesh have drafted in uncapped left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam and recalled allrounder Shuvagata Hom to the 16-man ODI squad for the three match series against Sri Lanka starting on March 25. Mahmudullah remained in the ODI squad after the BCB president Nazmul Hassan insisted he wouldn’t be dropped from the format.There were reports in some Bangla newspapers on Monday that Mahmudullah would be dropped from the ODI and T20 squads. From the squad that played against New Zealand in December, Bangladesh have axed Mehedi Hasan and Tanbir Hayder, both spinning allrounders.Ins and outs

In: Sunzamul Islam, Shuvagata Hom
Out: Mehedi Hasan, Tanbir Hayder

Sunzamul’s inclusion comes on the back of his exceptional form in domestic cricket in the last five seasons. In the recently-concluded domestic first-class competition, he took 25 wickets, including his first 9-wicket haul in an innings. He is also a handy batsman down the order.Shuvagata has also been in decent form in the domestic first-class tournament. He made 265 runs with one century, and took 25 wickets. However, he last played an ODI in 2011.Wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan has been retained in the squad. He had played the last two ODIs in New Zealand after Mushfiqur Rahim was injured in the first game.Bangladesh ODI squad: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Nurul Hasan

A round-up of the Group D matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy held on March 6, 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Mar-2017A batting meltdown at Eden Gardens cost Hyderabad dear as they were pipped for a knockout berth by Jharkhand on net run rate.Services’ pace trio of Suraj Yadav (3 for 36), Diwesh Pathania (4 for 21) and Sachidanand Pandey (3 for 22) skittled Hyderabad for 88, before the batsman wobbled and eventually got home by five wickets. Hyderabad ended their campaign with four wins in six matches.A stand of 39 runs for the sixth wicket between Tanmay Agarwal (16) and Chama Milind (32) saved some of Hyderabad’s blushes after they lost their first five wickets inside 11 overs. They were struggling at 25 for 5 when the duo added the only significant stand. Hyderabad’s bowlers, led by spinner Mohammed Siraj (2 for 31), made the Services chase difficult, but useful knocks from Gaurav Kochar (24) and G Rahul Singh (22) were enough to complete a consolation win.Karnataka completed their sixth-straight win to finish as Group D toppers after beating Chhattisgarh by three wickets . Captain Vinay Kumar snared three wickets while opener Mayank Agarwal slammed a half-century (66 off 76 balls) to help complete the chase of 200 at Kolkata’s Jadavpur University Ground.Vinay struck early after Chhatisgarh chose to bat; they slumped to 60 for 4 before Abhimanyu Chauhan (58 off 102 balls) and Mohammad Kaif (43* off 52 balls) put on a 75 for the fifth-wicket. Chauhan was the fifth man to go with the team on 135. They would lose their last four wickets for 12 to finish with 199.Karnataka’s started strongly after a 52-run opening partnership between Agarwal and Robin Uthappa (23). That was followed up by useful contributions from captain Manish Pandey (34 of 40 balls) and Stuart Binny (25 off 34 balls). Shubham Thakur’s three wickets kept Chhattisgarh in the hunt, but a batting collapse would eventually mean they didn’t have enough to defend in the end.Jharkhand qualified to the next round after Shahbaz Nadeem’s second List A fifth-wicket haul set up their five-wicket win over Jammu & Kashmir.A patient 78 from Kumar Deobrat led Jharkhand’s 185 chase. They got past the line with 90 balls to spare. MS Dhoni, who hit two fours and a six, was unbeaten on 19 when the winning run were scored. J&K got off to a strong start courtesy a 66-run third wicket partnership between Owais Shah (59) and Parvez Rasool (45 off 40 balls) but Nadeem’s introduction to the attack turned the game. He took four wickets off his last three overs to set up a comfortable second-innings chase.

An update has emerged on Manchester United and their pursuit of a deal to sign Mason Mount during the summer transfer window…

What’s the latest on Mason Mount to Manchester United?

CBS journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that the Red Devils are set for discussions with Chelsea over a possible deal to sign the England international in the coming days.

The reporter told Caught Offside:

"Manchester United haven’t yet walked away from pursuing Mason Mount and there will be further club-to-club talks this week.

"Their latest £50+5m offer, despite being officially rejected, remains on the table. There is frustration from Manchester United that it wasn’t accepted given Mount only has a year left on current his Chelsea deal.

"Manchester United still want to get a deal done, so this could yet prove a big week, but they refuse to accept Chelsea’s £58+7m counter. This should come as no surprise. Manchester United have never been willing to pay more than £60m for Mount."

Would Mount be a good signing for Manchester United?

The 24-year-old maestro has the potential to be an exceptional addition to Erik ten Hag’s side as his previous form indicates that he could be the manager’s own version of Manchester City superstar Kevin De Bruyne.

Mount is coming off the back of a disappointing Premier League season.

He averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.05 across 24 league outings and contributed with three goals and two assists for the Blues.

The Chelsea academy graduate did not make a big impact in the final third on a regular basis and would not be a worthwhile signing for the Red Devils based on that form, as at least five United players managed more goals or assists last term.

However, Mount's exceptional performances during the 2021/22 season would indicate that he is worth taking a gamble on.

The 5 foot 11 dynamo averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.43 – a score that would place him second in Ten Hag's squad in 2022/23 – across 32 league appearances and chipped in with an outstanding 11 goals and ten assists from his midfield position.

FBref have listed De Bruyne as one of the most similar players to the English whiz based on their respective displays that term, as the Belgian phenomenon scored 15 goals and assisted eight in 30 top-flight matches for City, and they both ranked in the top 7% of players in their position for progressive passes per 90 in the Premier League that season.

This shows that both players are creative playmakers that have the quality to deliver goals and assists on a regular basis while also being able to progress the play at an outstanding rate with their passing ability to get their teammates into positions higher up the pitch in order to give them a greater chance of being able to make things happen in the final third.

No United player, aside from Marcus Rashford, scored more than eight league goals during the 2022/23 season, and no one produced more than eight assists.

Therefore, the potential is there for the Blues magician, who was once hailed as "outstanding" by ex-Arsenal attacker Paul Merson, to be a De Bruyne-esque player in midfield for Ten Hag with his goal contributions and progressive play, if the manager can help him back to his best.

South Africa’s AB de Villiers has displaced Australia’s David Warner at the top of the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Mar-2017South Africa’s AB de Villiers has displaced Australia’s David Warner at the top of the ICC rankings for ODI batsmen. This the tenth time de Villiers has climbed to the top since 2010 – when he first went to No. 1 – and this latest stint comes after he top scored in the recently concluded series in New Zealand.De Villiers had scored 262 runs in the five-match series at 87.33, including two fifties. As per an ICC release, he has never been ranked outside the top-five ODI batsmen since September 2009.India’s Virat Kohli remains at No. 3 behind de Villiers and Warner, while England’s Joe Root has jumped four places to No. 4. following scores of 4, 90 not out and 101 in the Caribbean.De Villiers’ team-mate, fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, broke into the top five of the ODI bowling rankings for the first time, slotting in behind Imran Tahir, Sunil Narine, Mitchell Starc and Trent Boult. Following his haul of 10 at 11.50 with an economy rate of 3.57 in the five-match series in Zimbabwe, Afghanistan offspinner Mohammad Nabi has climbed three spots to reach a career-best No. 7. England pacer Chris Woakes has jumped nine placed to No. 9 – the first time he is in the top 10 – courtesy his successes against West Indies.

Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe has dismissed the perception that he has a poor relationship with manager Mikel Arteta.

How much did Arsenal pay for Nicolas Pepe?

Back in August 2019, the player completed a move to the Gunners, arriving from Ligue 1 outfit Lille for a club-record transfer fee of £72m.

It's safe to say Pepe never managed to live up to his hefty price tag, and while still delivering a respectable 27 goals and 21 assists in 112 games, you got the sense that Arteta struggled to truly trust the winger as he much preferred to put his faith in an emerging Bukayo Saka.

Adding to this was the fact that he was allowed to leave on loan to Nice for the entirety of last season where he scored just six goals in Ligue 1 and claimed one assist too.

With all that in mind, some may assume that Arteta didn't have much confidence in the 28-year-old winger, but when speaking exclusively with Colinterview (via Get Football News France), Pepe has since revealed the truth.

What did Pepe say about Arteta?

He explained: “People say that he identified me as a player that wasn’t up to the level in his team, in his philosophy. It’s completely false."

Before continuing: "When he spoke to me, he said he counted on me, he wanted me to do this or that, and you have to focus on that. He improved me in every way. He spoke to me the whole time, I watched videos with his assistants all the time. He really believed in me. He said I had incredible potential, so we need to extract that potential."

However, it appears that the relationship became a bit strained during the second campaign.

“At the end of the first season, he spoke with me and told me to do this or that," Pepe began. "The second season comes along, I was a substitute. I was going mad. How could I be a substitute when he said he counted on me? Everything is spinning in your head. I was a substitute for [what felt like] 10 matches. It was at the time when they signed Willian. He is a number 10 or a winger. But he plays on the wing for like 11 or 12 matches in a row. My head turned, knowing that I had spoken with the coach and it wasn’t like that.”

“But that improved in the sense that he gave me a chance, I scored against Sheffield United at the Emirates. The confidence started to come back. I started to speak better, but it was a bit cold. I started to speak to agents, but we didn’t see each other like before. But it improved.

He concluded: "It’s not true that he labelled me. Not true at all. He helped me in every way, on a tactical level, in terms of game intelligence because his philosophy requires a lot of intelligence.

"He knew my style of play wasn’t waiting in possession, it was cutting inside, it wasn’t waiting out on the right. Before, I was a bit freer. I had to wait in my zone, and I wasn’t like that before. These are parts of my game that he tried to improve. He always wanted to help me with all of that."

Shakib Al Hasan said he felt satisfied “overcoming different situations” to finish with a record-breaking 217 in Wellington

Mohammad Isam at Basin Reserve13-Jan-2017Shakib Al Hasan registered his top score in Test cricket on day two in Wellington. The best part of his 217, he said later, was that he “overcame different situations” to get there.The first of those situations involved dealing with being offered a life late on day one: he was dropped on 4 by Mitchell Santner, and went to stumps unbeaten on 5. The mis-hit that caused that drop – an uncontrolled pull – made Shakib contemplative, and he had a chat with his wife about it back at the team hotel.”Yesterday when [Santner] dropped my catch, I started talking to my wife who is understanding cricket these days,” Shakib said with a smile. “I told her that maybe I can go on to get a good score, since big players make use of these chances. I was just thinking about it.”That he had been thinking about his batting was obvious in his demeanour on the second day. He hardly showed any emotion, focusing all his energy on his batting, making his way to a maiden double-century, becoming only the sixth batsman from the subcontinent to hit a two-hundred in New Zealand.He overcame several hairy moments – more of those “different situations” – on his way there: he was pinged on the thigh by Tim Southee; he was struck by a throw while completing a single; Ross Taylor dropped him at backward point on 189. But he just kept on going, piling up the biggest partnership in Bangladesh’s Test history, with Mushfiqur Rahim for company.It wasn’t a scrappy effort though, and the innings had all the hallmarks of a typical Shakib effort. The 75 singles he ran were spread evenly throughout the 276 balls he faced, but he also struck enough boundaries to smother the New Zealand bowling attack. His 31 fours was another record for Bangladesh, beating Mominul Haque’s 27 during his 181 against New Zealand in Chittagong in 2013. He also tackled the short ball very well, particularly when ducking under or weaving away from the line of the bouncer.Speaking on facing up to the short stuff, Shakib said his aim was to not get stuck on the back foot. “What if he slipped in a yorker?,” Shakib asked. “We follow the rule of always pressing forward to a short ball. It is not easy when you have one bouncer after the other being aimed at you; you go backwards automatically. [But] this mindset makes it easier to play bouncers.”Shakib said he enjoyed breaking the records he did today. He was caught off guard, though, when he saw Tamim Iqbal applaud him from the dressing room after he had crossed 206, which was the previous best score by a Bangladesh batsman in Test cricket.”It was great to hear about all the records we were breaking [on the PA system]. It inspired us to make the partnership bigger. [But] I thought Tamim’s score was 214 not 206; when I ran that single, I saw Tamim was clapping and I thought, oh, this is the highest score.”Mushfiqur, who made 159 and at times looked to be the more dominant partner, noticed that Shakib had reined in his emotions today. When Shakib reached 100 and 200 it was Mushfiqur who started celebrating first, from the non-striker’s end, before Shakib raised his bat.”I never thought he was too troubled during his innings; he coped with everything and survived everything,” Mushfiqur said. “But there is no emotion. He didn’t even want to raise his bat and it didn’t seem like he was scoring a hundred or 200.”Still, Mushfiqur said he enjoyed the partnership immensely. “I love to bat with him. He doesn’t talk too much, just gives little hints and that helps me all the time. There were a couple of hiccups in our running between the wickets today, but that can happen. We did well for our nation.”

Aston Villa are believed to be interested in signing Manchester City centre-back Aymeric Laporte during the summer transfer window.

Has Laporte struggled for playing time?

The £120,000-a-week Spaniard has been part of a side City who have etched their name into history of late, winning a treble in 2022/23 that consisted of the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

That being said, Laporte struggled to be an absolute key man for Pep Guardiola's side during the campaign, with the form of the likes of John Stones and Ruben Dias seeing him slip down the pecking order. He only started 11 league games in total, highlighting his lack of playing time, and his future at the Etihad could be in doubt this summer.

The 29-year-old is contracted with City until the end of the 2024/25 season, meaning they could see this as the best time to receive the highest possible amount for him, should Guardiola consider him an expendable player moving forward.

Villa have been linked with a move for Laporte recently, as they look to make some significant summer signings, and it is a rumour that is refusing to go away.

Could Villa snap up Laporte this summer?

According to Football Insider, Villa are "considering a move" for the City centre-back before the new season gets underway, as Unai Emery looks to bolster his defensive options.

The report also states that "Villa are in the market for another centre-back and Laporte ticks a lot of boxes for Unai Emery due to his Premier League experience and ability to play on the left-side of a partnership", admittedly adding that "it is a difficult deal to get over the line and Laporte wants to play Champions League football next season."

Laporte, who has a 100% win record against Villa during his career, could be a superb signing for Villa if Emery manages to entice him to the club, considering he has arguably been one of the Premier League's standout centre-backs over the past five years or so. He has been lauded as "incredible" by Guardiola in the past, as well as the "best left central defender in the world", and he would bring with him a wealth of experience and a winning mentality that comes with enjoying so much trophy success.

It could be a real statement signing by Villa, further suggesting that they are really going places under Emery, and being an undisputed key starter could be enough to persuade the Spain international that a move makes sense.