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Aston Villa striker Scott Hogan has reportedly returned to training quicker than imagined.

Villa’s players were back for pre-season at the start of the week but despite him being entitled to more time off, is back trying to ready himself for the new season.

Birmingham Live claim he reported to Bodymoor Heath on Wednesday morning for fitness testing.

And it was news that had Villa supporters praising him for his good attitude, despite the outcast struggling at the club after his £12m switch from Bristol City.

Fans took to Twitter to applaud his efforts as one said he was a top guy, hoping he got his chance to shine at some point. Another supporter offered similar sentiments, saying he should be given an opportunity next term.

A further fan applauded him for trying, hailing the fact he wasn’t just draining Villa of their resources.

Hogan’s time at the club has been far from impressive, scoring just seven goals since moving in 2017. He was previously one of the most potent forwards in the Championship, netting 14 in 25 before arriving at Villa Park.

However, following a loan spell at Sheffield United after being frozen out of the Villa team, he’s been linked with another temporary switch to QPR.

Here’s the best of the reaction.

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Liverpool fans are confident that the club do not need to make any signings in the summer transfer window after Jurgen Klopp claimed that the club’s youngsters could break into the first-team after a busy pre-season, per the club’s official Twitter account.

The club have signed 17-year-old defender Sepp van den Berg this summer and reports suggest they are closing in on the acquisition of Fulham youngster Harvey Elliott.

Last summer, of course, the Reds embarked on a spending spree, bringing in the likes of Fabinho and Alisson Becker as they prepared for a season in which they lost just once in the Premier League and won the Champions League.

The likes of Manchester City, who pipped the Reds to the title, and Tottenham Hotspur have already broken their transfer records to sign Rodri and Tanguy Ndombele respectively.

But Klopp is confident in the club’s production line, insisting that youngsters can make an impact as they head on a pre-season tour of America.

He said: “These boys, they are our future if they want to be our future. That’s how it is, and for that they need to take all the steps. But for them, this pre-season is, of course, exciting.

“So we need all of them, and it’s nice and using only as an example…Paul Glatzel and Bobby Duncan, wow. Our offensive line, that played most of last year, are coming pretty late to join us in the pre-season so there will be moments of course when they have to play and not only Tranmere or whatever but for sure in America as well.

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“When you are already in the club, then the door is always open for you to the first team, the only thing is you have to go through by yourself. We only open the door, we don’t push you through it.

“So I’m open, I’m very open for exciting football players and if the boys show up, good for them and good for us.”

And fans believe that the former Borussia Dortmund boss knows what he is doing with the club’s youngsters and trust him to mastermind yet another title challenge in 2019/20.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

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Friday’s Liverpool transfer roundup shed light on an enquiry made for a Dutch superstar, Bundesliga interest in a young striker and comments from Jurgen Klopp on the club’s transfer policy. Today’s edition shares an offer made for a former Anfield star, eyes on a Russian forward and a Championship club after a young Reds goalkeeper.

Liverpool lodge Coutinho bid

Calcio Mercato is reporting that Liverpool have made an offer to take Philippe Coutinho back to Merseyside. Klopp and co have tabled a two-year loan bid to FC Barcelona, with an option to then purchase the Brazilian for £88m. The 27-year-old has apparently accepted the proposal.

Reds eye Chalov

Liverpool have entered the race to sign CSKA Moscow’s Fedor Chalov according to The Mirror. They have a lot of competition for his signature, though, with Manchester City, Tottenham, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund also mentioned. The 21-year-old scored 17 goals for the Russian outfit last term.

Huddersfield favourites for Grabara

According to journalist Alan Nixon, Huddersfield Town are “red-hot favourites” to sign goalkeeper Kamil Grabara. The deal mentioned is of a loan variety. The 20-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan with Danish side Aarhus GF.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Expert Roundup feature, which provides three quotes from those in the know in order to illuminate fundamental strengths, weaknesses, quirks, stylistic comparisons and general observations of players, transfer targets and confirmed signings.

Sampdoria midfielder Dennis Praet is a wanted man this summer with Arsenal reportedly keen back in June only for the Gunners’ interest to be usurped by AC Milan’s intentions to keep the highly-rated Belgian in Serie A.

Now there is a new player in the game in the form of Leicester City who are said to have offered a double-your-money deal to Praet last month in an attempt to secure his services.

Yet despite all of this attention, Praet remains a somewhat unknown quantity on our shores and given it is a possibility, even likelihood, he will be parading his talents in the Premier League this term perhaps it’s time to put that right.

With this in mind, here are the opinions of those in the know…

John Van den Brom, former Anderlecht coach

Before Van den Brom took charge of the Purple and Whites, Praet was 18-years-old and just a bit-part of the senior team. By the time the coach left two years later his prized asset was in possession of Belgian’s Golden Shoe.

You would expect him then to rave about his prodigy and as per Sport Magazine, the current Utrecht boss doesn’t disappoint.

“I am a big fan of Dennis. He is a future top player. He is technically perfect; has a good mentality; good changeover – that boy has a lot. He only gets better when he starts playing. Sensible boy too. Can you enjoy it as a coach? He does everything he does with an idea. I like that.”

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Tom De Sutter, ex-Anderlecht team-mate

The admiration is not reserved only for the touchline either. Forward De Sutter benefitted from Praet’s centre-circle scheming for two campaigns in the municipality and in total scored 36 goals for Anderlecht.

His take on the 25-year-old should be of particular interest to Jamie Vardy should Praet move to the King Power, as he was compared to one of the greats of the Spanish game. As per Sport Magazine, De Sutter said:

“Praet was a bit like Andrés Iniesta at the time. His style of play is very similar to that of the Barcelona player. Strong technique, good vision, keeps the ball very well and often looks for the simplest solution.”

Marco Giampaolo, former Sampdoria coach

Iniesta is a lofty comparison indeed but Giampaolo – the player’s manager at Sampdoria until this May – was happy earlier this year to pitch his assessment in the same exclusive ball-park.

It should be noted incidentally that the Swiss coach is now at Milan which surely explains their active interest.

As per Calcio Mercato, he commented:

“Praet can be the Modric or the Pjanic of tomorrow because he knows how to play, fight and has the right competitive spirit.”

If you think the rumoured £80m for Harry Maguire is too much, check out how much his potential replacement will cost in the video below…

Verdict

After concerns about Praet’s physical stature early in his career, the midfielder has grown in every sense, blossoming into a silky central midfielder who ticks over possession neatly and with no little intelligence.

He may not get onto the score-sheet often, nor is he an assist king but with an agreement in place between player and club that he can leave Sampdoria this summer – thus surely driving down his fee – the purchase of Praet amounts to a no-brainer.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

According to reports from Football Insider, Leeds United are in the running to sign Romaine Sawyers from Brentford.

The midfielder can operate in a number of different roles, as he featured as a number 10 at times last season while also taking up a more defensive role on occasions.

What’s the story?

The versatile 27-year-old has been targeted by Celtic during this transfer window, but now the Yorkshire club are also keeping tabs on him.

The Brentford ace has been capped 26 times for St Kitts and Nevis, and his performances over the last three Championship seasons have been mightily impressive.

He has provided 17 assists during that period, and numbers like that could ease the pressure on one of Leeds’ most important players.

Helps Klich

Mateusz Klich was undoubtedly one of Marcelo Bielsa’s most crucial players last term as he started every single league game during 2018/19.

With Bielsa’s high-intensity style of play, it was inevitable that Klich would have dips in form due to fatigue. The Pole scored ten and assisted nine, but he had a couple of barren spells where you could tell the amount of football he was playing was catching up to him.

He went ten games without a goal or assist from November to December, and he then went nine games with no goals and only one assist from March to April.

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When Klich is at his best he’s incredible but it’s hard to expect that from him every week, and that’s why the signing of Sawyers could be an inspired one.

The Brentford man could be a fantastic back-up for the Poland international and be able to step into the team when he is struggling, as well as preventing any complacency from the Bielsa favourite.

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Leigh Griffiths made his goal-scoring return to the Celtic starting XI on Wednesday and the fans are delirious with excitement.

The striker notched the third in the 5-0 demolition of Nomme Kalju in the second round of the Champions League qualifiers at Parkhead, and he did it in emphatic fashion.

His stunning free-kick was followed up by strikes from Callum McGregor and Ryan Christie, after Kristoffer Ajer and Christie had opened the scoring.

Griffiths spent the second half of the last campaign out of action, opting instead to take some time away from the never-ending intensity of professional football to focus on his mental health.

And the 28-year-old looks set for a fine season on his return, scoring goals aplenty in pre-season before bagging his first competitive strike of the campaign on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the former Hibs man partnered Odsonne Edouard up-front in a 3-5-2 formation for the Celts. This could be an intriguing tactical switch from Neil Lennon, who preferred a 4-2-3-1 in his temporary spell in charge of the club at the tail end of last season.

No one is focused on the tactical tweak at the moment though, as fans are simply ecstatic to see their goalscoring machine back in full flight…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Marco Silva wants him.

Loads of Everton fans want him.

Kurt Zouma is quite rightly wanted at Goodison Park on a permanent basis after starring for the club on loan last season. The France international made 29 starts for the Toffees in 2018/19 whilst on loan from Chelsea, and definitely struck up an impressive partnership alongside Michael Keane.

Thogden challenged himself to DM 100 footballers on Instagram. Find out who replied in the video below…

However, after Chelsea were hit with a transfer ban, it may prove to be difficult to prise the 24-year-old away from Stamford Bridge, as the Blues will have no hope of bringing in a replacement.

It’s not all bad news though. The Merseysiders are reportedly in talks with Lille centre-back Adama Soumaoro, and he looks every bit as good as Zouma, if not a tiny bit better judging by the stats below.

As you can see, the 6 foot 2 Malian defender recorded better numbers in almost every department compared to Zouma last term.

Soumaoro had a higher pass success rate, which is made even more impressive by the fact that he actually completed more passes than Zouma per game, whilst his defensive figures are substantially better.

The Lille star – who helped the French side qualify for the Champions League last term – averages a whopping 0.6 more clearances per game in comparison to the former St Etienne defender.

Soumaoro also makes 0.5 more blocks per game – the only area where Zouma comes out on top is the tackling department, where he averages 0.3 more than the 27-year-old Malian.

The Everton faithful will know all about how good Zouma is having watched him throughout the entirety of last season, but you simply cannot ignore Soumaoro’s qualities – especially seeing as negotiations are reportedly taking place over a deal worth in the region of €12m-€15m (£10.8m-£13.5m).

This is definitely a deal worth pursuing for the Toffees as Chelsea look set to demand roughly double that figure – the Blues have asked for £30m from Everton if they want Zouma’s signature.

It would save them a lot of money, and they would appear to be getting a player who is better than Zouma anyway.

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Yesterday’s Bundesliga transfer roundup consisted of Everton’s interest in Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Bayer Leverkusen’s signature of Nadiem Amiri and the extension of Florian Kohfeldt’s contract at Werder Bremen. Today’s edition is comprised of Dodi Lukebakio’s impending move to Hertha Berlin, Chelsea’s pursuit of Bayern Munich youngster Torben Rhein and a duo’s desire to take Emile Smith-Rowe back to the Bundesliga.

Hertha close to Lukebakio

Report: As per L’Equipe, Hertha Berlin have made an offer of €20m (£18.2m) for Watford’s Dodi Lukebakio, which is said to be enough to satisfy the London outfit. The 21-year-old will sign a five-year contract with the German side and will have his medical on Thursday.

Verdict: L’Equipe added in their piece that Hertha moved ahead of Lille, who are competing in the Champions League next season, to get to Lukebakio. This shows the financial power that new investor Lars Windhorst can wield. The forward already spent last season on loan at Fortuna Dusseldorf and impressed – during the first half of the campaign, anyway. Before the winter break, the Belgium U21 international scored 11 goals, but he only added three more from January onwards. He clearly needs to be more consistent to prove he is worth such an abnormally big commitment from Die Alte Dame – if he signs for the reported fee, he would be the club’s most expensive signing ever by €12m (£10.9m) – but he has already proven that he can do it against the biggest sides, having netted a hat-trick against Bayern and a goal against Borussia Dortmund last year.

How likely is the deal? 9/10

Chelsea eye Rhein

Report: According to Sport1, Chelsea are interested in signing Bayern Munich youngster Torben Rhein. The Blues are said to have offered the 16-year-old a contract starting from 2020 as they cannot buy players currently due to their transfer ban.

Verdict: Frank Lampard and co are clearly planning ahead by trying to take Rhein to Stamford Bridge. The Germany U16 international moved to Munich from Hertha Berlin two years ago and has impressed in the Bavarian outfit’s U17 team, where he has scored 12 goals in 26 games from midfield. Making the move abroad at such a young age is a big step for any youngster, especially to a club like Chelsea where prodigies regularly fail to make the grade. But the performances of the likes of Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson in the Bundesliga should give other players like Rhein hope that it is possible to succeed outside of their birthplace at this stage in their careers. The transfer of teenagers is far more frequent than it used to be, so this is one worth keeping an eye on.

How likely is the deal? 7/10

Wolfsburg and Bremen want Smith-Rowe

Report: It is understood by The Telegraph that Wolfsburg are hoping to complete the season-long loan signing of Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe. However, Die Wölfe will face competition from Werder Bremen for his signature.

Verdict: The 19-year-old has already spent time in the Bundesliga, but it did not go his way at RB Leipzig during the second half of last season. Due to abductor and groin injuries, the midfielder was only able to make three appearances for the club, which was not exactly what either Arsenal or Leipzig will have had in mind when they agreed the deal. However, he now looks to have a second chance at getting some vital first-team experience and Wolfsburg should be able to offer that. With the Gunners wanting the England U19 international to get more first-team minutes, a loan move is the best option, but Wolfsburg will have to be wary of Bremen’s pursuit as well.

How likely is the deal? 8/10

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أعدت صحيفة “ميرور” الإنجليزية تقريرًا للحديث عن اللاعبين الذين قد يرحلون عن صفوف فريق ليفربول نهاية الموسم الحالي، وأولئك الذين سيشاركون في الموسم المقبل بنسبة كبيرة.

وتوقعت الصحيفة الشهيرة بقاء النجم المصري محمد صلاح في صفوف ليفربول وعدم رحيله في موسم الانتقالات الصيفية المقبل.

وأثار صلاح التكهنات بقوة حول مستقبله مع حامل لقب الدوري الإنجليزي بعد الحوار الذي أجراه مع صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية نهاية العام الماضي.

وترك صلاح باب الرحيل عن ليفربول مفتوحًا بتلميحه لإمكانية رحيله إلى برشلونة أو ريال مدريد.

اقرأ أيضًا.. تقارير: كوليبالي يثير غضب كلوب من إدارة ليفربول

ورغم ذلك، فإن “ميرور” توقعت بقاء صلاح، حيث قالت: “قد يتلقى ليفربول عرضًا يدفع الإدارة للحصول على فترة من أجل التفكير، ولكن في الوقت الحالي من الصعب التفكير في أن الفريق سيكون أفضل حال السماح برحيل هداف الدوري الإنجليزي”.

وأضاف: “قد تكون مفاوضات تجديد عقد صلاح مثيرة للاهتمام بالرغم من ذلك، ونتوقع بقاءه في ليفربول”.

وتحدثت “ميرور” كذلك عن حال باقي لاعبي ليفربول على النحو التالي: لاعبو ليفربول المتوقع بيعهم في الصيف

خط الدفاع: نات فليبيس.

خط الوسط: تشامبرلين، شاكيري.

خط الهجوم: أوريجي. لاعبو ليفربول المتوقع بقائهم في الصيف

حراسة المرمى: أليسون، كيليهر.

خط الدفاع: فان دايك، جوميز، كاباك، تسيميكاس، روبرتسون، بن ديفيز، ماتيب، أرنولد.

خط الوسط: فابينيو، تياجو ألكانتارا، ميلنر، كيتا، هندرسون، جونز.

خط الهجوم: فيرمينو، ماني، محمد صلاح، جوتا. لاعبو ليفربول المتوقع رحيلهم إعارة في الصيف

ريس ويليامز، نيكو ويليامز. لاعبو ليفربول المتوقع رحيلهم مجانًا في الصيف

أدريان، فينالدوم. لاعبو ليفربول المعارون

مينامينو، هارفي إليوت (بقاء).

جروييتش، هاري ويلسون، كاريوس، شيي أوجو (رحيل).

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Italian outlet Calcio Mercato, an intermediary acting on behalf of Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren met with Serie A giants Milan to discuss a potential move this summer.

What’s the word?

Amid speculation that the Croatia international could be set to depart Anfield this summer, reports in recent weeks had suggested that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was quite insistent on keeping the 30-year-old at the club.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

However, according to Calcio Mercato, Lovren remains at the top of Milan’s shopping list and that the reported meeting between the agent and the club lasted over an hour; which according to the publication, is a potential sign that “good progress” had been made.

Much-needed squad depth

First and foremost, why would you want to sell “one of the best defenders in the world”? Perhaps Lovren isn’t quite as good as he thinks himself to be, but there is undeniably a Premier League level centre-back in there. The 30-year-old may have slipped down the pecking order last season, but he still has plenty of top-flight experience that Klopp will no doubt have to call upon over the course of a campaign.

Indeed, in his limited 13 Premier League appearances last season, Lovren averaged 1.2 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 3.9 clearances per game. Compare that to fan favourite and highly-rated Joe Gomez’s numbers of 1.1 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 2.4 clearances per game. Statistically the numbers appear to back up the Croatian maintaining his stay at Anfield next season, and he offers such a reliable option for Klopp.

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Gomez’s injury history is also a cause for concern and is perhaps another huge reason as to why the Reds have so far been reluctant to engage in active talks over Lovren’s exit. As the Reds look to have another crack at the league title next season, the Merseyside club will have to make use of all their resources, and the Croatian is certainly one that they can’t afford to lose at this stage.