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Just what must Louie Barry do to get a shot of first-team football at Aston Villa?

The 17-year-old was the talk of the town earlier this year when he scored the club’s only goal in Villa’s FA Cup defeat to Liverpool, when Dean Smith’s side was chock full of academy talents.

But that break-out moment has yet to result in any action for the senior side, with Barry even yet to make the match-day squad in the Premier League this season.

That has led to former Villa man Lee Hendrie to question why Barry has yet to be given a real opportunity in the first-team, insisting that he could have plenty to offer even as a second-half substitute for Smith.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: “I’m really disappointed that he hasn’t featured, not even really on the bench since that Liverpool game with the fabulous goal that he scored. He reminds me of a young Michael Owen in the fact that he’s very slight, small, but he’s very quick, and I’m surprised that he hasn’t been given a bit more of a chance since that game.”

“I just feel that he should now be getting into the first-team squad, being on the bench and getting thrown on for the last 20 minutes, relieving a bit of pressure, just because he’s got that pace that he can burn off.”

On Wednesday, the teenager staked his claim once again, smashing in a superb hat-trick for Villa in their FA Youth Cup clash against Burton Albion, whom they thrashed 9-0.

Barry appears to have all the tools in his locker to be a real sensation for Villa, with club’s academy manager, Mark Harrison, saying: “He is still a very young man but as he’s developed, he’s always been one player that you always recognise as having outstanding attributes. He’s got a fantastic mentality, he’s desperate to do well for this football club.”

Barry’s style of play is something that Villa fans will surely be excited about too, with Harrison adding: “As a player, his real strength is his work rate, he’s constantly pressurising the opposition when they are on the ball, looking to create opportunities for himself to nick the ball high up the pitch.

“He is quick, and looks to play off the shoulders of the defenders, always looking for space behind them to be able to run into. He’s good in 1v1s and scores a lot of goals from balls in behind that he can run onto. He’s very much in the mould of a Jamie Vardy.”

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All he needs is an opportunity, and Wednesday’s hat-trick should send a huge message to Smith about why he deserves it sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, this fresh report has exposed a worrying Dean Smith mistake…

As confirmed by the club, Manchester City star Kevin De Bruyne has penned a two-year contract extension at the Etihad Stadium – with the Belgian’s new and improved deal lasting until 2025.

De Bruyne, who has been a revelation for City since signing from Wolfsburg in the summer of 2015, has now committed his long term future to the club in a big announcement.

The Belgian has been a crucial player under Pep Guardiola in particular, winning the PFA Player of the Year award last season after a phenomenal 2019/2020 campaign where he bagged 20 assists and 13 goals from midfield in the Premier League alone (WhoScored).

As this news emerges, it’s little wonder one Sky Blues supporter called the announcement ‘amazing’ – with De Bruyne also playing a key role this campaign as City remain in contention for an unprecedented quadruple.

Find all for their best verdicts on the star midfielder signing a new and improved deal down below.

Man City fans go wild for De Bruyne news

“This is genuinely massive!

Yes it was never in doubt & he’s the key to which Manchester City are based around, but having Kevin De Bruyne basically finish his career here? Just amazing news for us all”

Credit: @olicoulsxn

“Maaaaaaaaate! This is massive! We are massive!”

Credit: @KonigFred_

“YESSSSSSS”

Credit: @la_tarrant

“HOLD ME”

Credit: @KDBseason

“OMG YOU WAITED TO ANNOUNCE IT AFTER HE DROPPED A MASTERCLASS IN THE UCL”

Credit: @SilkyCyrus_74

“AMAZING. LOVE YOU

@DeBruyneKev”

Credit: @StevenMcinerney

“This is wonderful news to us. You ginger beauty. Keep going.”

Credit: @Esther78278157

“Wonderful!, brilliant!, marvellous!, fantastic news!!!!!!!! Ohhhhh Kevin De Bruyne”

Credit: @BJ04089586

In other news: Man City fans also want this ‘amazing signing’ after reports, find out more here.

Heading into the summer transfer window, there are reportedly a few candidates on Manchester United’s right-wing shortlist.

Amongst the inevitable links to Borussia Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho sits rumours surrounding Pedro Neto of Wolverhampton Wanderers and interestingly Leeds United’s Raphinha.

Of the Premier League duo, the Brazilian would be the better signing. However, a new name is in the offing with The Express suggesting that Ismaila Sarr is now on the Red Devils shortlist.

The Senegalese would certainly be a fantastic addition to the Man United squad.

Now in the Championship, the Watford man is enjoying an electric season for the Hornets. Rated at £18m, he already has nine goals and nine assists in all competitions.

No player in the entire Hornets’ squad has more goal contributions than the former Rennes man this season.

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It certainly seems that Sarr is proving club captain Troy Deeney right, with the striker predicting that the winger was going to be “big” for Watford following his exhilarating performance in the famous 3-0 win over Liverpool under Nigel Pearson.

Sarr’s fantastic form this season also comes off the back of an impressive debut season in the Premier League in which he netted six times and notched as many assists.

Whilst Raphinha is averaging better statistics according to WhoScored, Sarr should be the better option simply because of his age and affordability.

The 23-year-old is rated at just £18m, lower than Raphinha’s £22.5m.

Should Watford fail to get promoted come the end of the campaign, then that asking price could drop even further, meaning he could well be a bargain for the Red Devils.

So with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ed Woodward on the lookout for a right-winger and many names being talked-up, Sarr should certainly be right at the top of the club’s list.

AND in more news, take a look at which Red Devils’ defender has seen his transfer valuation take a nosedive…

As West Ham United fell to a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United, coming as a potential bump in the race for a Champions League qualifying spot, many Hammers fans weren’t impressed with the performance of striker Michail Antonio – with one supporter going as far as to label him a ‘donkey’.

The Englishman debatably looked isolated up front and failed to have any meaningful impact on the game going forward as some West Ham fans refused to shy away from the critiquing their usual favourite.

Craig Dawson’s own goal cemented defeat for David Moyes’ men, and despite still having a game in hand on fourth-placed Chelsea, they next host London rivals Arsenal in what could be a difficult encounter.

Antonio’s performance in particular left these supporters unimpressed, with SofaScore revealing that he lost the ball 19 times and was among the lowest rated players in the squad. Just 13 of his 25 passes found a team-mate, while his only shot all night was blocked down.

Making their feelings known on social media, here’s what these Hammers fans had to say.

West Ham fans blast Antonio

“Antonio is the worst footballer I’ve ever seen play. West ham fans who think he’s slightly good don’t know anything about football”

Credit: @Zayd_Beitar

“Antonio thinking he’s Messi dropping deep to pick the ball up and do nothing with.

Confidence of CR7 ability of a donkey”

Credit: @Aaron_Parris

“I hope Maguire lets Antonio out of his pocket to get on the bus home”

Credit: @paulf6466

“Antonio hasn’t had a good game since the Villa away game! His work rate has been non existent, his hold up play been rubbish! He just hasn’t been a threat to anyone lately”

Credit: @joegreene2

“He’s had a terrible game. Agreed.”

Credit: @goose_jz

“Michail Antonio is not a good football player”

Credit: @DavidMoyes__

“Antonio’s hold up is terrible”

Credit: @westhamtransfer

“Antonio has been poor for a while, his performances at the start of the season seem to of made him invincible”

Credit: @ParlourPD

In other news: West Ham are eyeing this 19-goal ‘phenomenon’, find out more here.

Heading into the final stretch of an excitingÂfirst campaign back in the Premier League, the principal objective for Leeds United was always to secure their position amongst the English elite. Another couple of wins would probably be enoughÂas the club starts to look ahead, weighing up how to build upon solid foundations, ready to continue making progress next season.One area planned for reinforcement is the defensive unit, both in terms of manpower available to Marcelo Bielsa, and to afford him additional tactical options. With this in mind, sources in Spain inform that Leeds United have been monitoring the situation of Domingos Duarte, the Portuguese international centre-back at Granada CF.26-year-old Duarte has been a revelationÂover the last two seasons atÂGranada, as they continue to defy the 2021 Europa League betting odds, having now reached the quarter-finals of the competition. The consistency and reliability of his form has been a key contributing factor, which has inevitably caught the attention of bigger clubs in Spain and around Europe.

Duarte offers power and precision

Tall and powerful, standing at 6 feet 4 inches, Domingos Duarte combines an impressive physical presence with superb technical ability, which is underpinned by sound tactical and positional awareness. Often seen making perfectly timed challenges and quickly recycling possession, Duarte is also confident with the ball at his feet, able to distribute passes of any range with great accuracy.

Such a multi-faceted centre-back would be a hugely attractive addition for Bielsa, ideally suited to his coaching methodology and tactical ideas. Duarte is also capable of adapting quickly to those concepts and to English football, although Leeds would face tough negotiations to get their man.

According to current Transfermarkt estimates, Duarte has a market value of around €12 million. However, Spanish sources informÂthat Granada would be unwilling to let him go at that price. The existing contract of Duarte runs until June 2023, including a minimum release clause valuationÂof €30 million, and that will beÂthe starting point of any haggling over price.

Possible cash plus Casilla option

Some hard bargaining could reduce the price-tag for Duarte, while there’s also the possibility that Leeds could offer one of their players in part-exchange. Granada will have to replace their excellent goalkeeper Rui Silva this summer, who turned down a new deal and will head to Real Betis next season.

This means that Granada are in the market for a new shot-stopper, making 34-year-old Kiko Casilla the ideal makeweight in any potential move for Duarte. Despite being first choice in the Championship last season, Casilla has only appeared once in the Premier League and once in the FA Cup this term, both of which came in January.

However, the key stumbling block in such a scenario would be contract negotiations. Casilla is currently on a deal worth £1.67 million per season at Elland Road, which lasts until 2023. This would leave him faced with a tough choice to make, whether to remain at Leeds United or join Granada as their first choice keeper, albeit on roughly half the annual salary.

Speaking to Mundo Deportivo, via Sport Witness, intermediary and football agent Josep Maria Minguella Jr has dropped a transfer admission surrounding Brazilian forward Malcom and his move from Bordeaux to Barcelona in 2018 – with the intermediary revealing a €62 million (£53.7 million) offer from Tottenham at the time.

Minguella Jr, in an interview with the Spanish outlet, was asked about his role in the Malcom transfer to Barcelona – coming after Cadena SER (via Sport Witness) claimed that he received €10 million (£8.6m) commission for facilitating the move.

Tottenham transfer admission emerges

Rubbishing this report, Minguella Jr states his ‘real commission’ was ‘just over one million euro’  – going on to drop a revelation involving Tottenham.

He says that Spurs lodged an offer for Malcom worth £53.7m before he completed a move to Barcelona in 2018.

“Barça hired me to make possible an operation that initially cost about €62m, which was the offer that Bordeaux had from Tottenham, and we managed to get him to stop going to Roma, get off the plane and change course to Barcelona,” Minguella Jr said.

“The operation was closed for €41m plus the 8 of intermediation that could make this operation possible.”

Transfer Tavern take

An interesting claim, it lifts the lid on Levy’s attempted coup for ex-Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino during a time when there were few transfer dealings in north London.

Indeed, Tottenham did not make a single signing, free or otherwise, in the summer of 2018 – but Minguella Jr’s admission has shed light on an attempt at the very least.

In other news: Julian Nagelsmann claim emerges in news for Tottenham, find out more here.

While Raphinha has developed into a superstar on the right-hand side for Leeds United, Marcelo Bielsa has had more trouble on the opposite flank.

Jack Harrison had that position nailed down for the majority of this Premier League season, and delivered some fine performances, racking up six goals and providing four assists in the top-flight alone.

But recently, his form has dropped off considerably, so much so that he was taken off at half-time in two out of the last three games, before being dropped to the bench against Aston Villa. Helder Costa came in and took his place, but looked woefully out of place, and Bielsa must make a ruthless call on him.

So, with Leeds’ wide options on the left currently in a bit of a rough patch, Bielsa must turn towards another exciting talent to potentially step into the gap: Ian Poveda.

The 21-year-old has played ten times in the Premier League this season, but that has only amounted to a total of 243 minutes of football, instead spending more time playing for the club’s U23s.

But, there’s no questioning the kind of talent and ability he’s got, and with him being able to play on both flanks, could offer Bielsa another option down the left side.

Talking about Poveda earlier this campaign, Noel Whelan said: “You can see now when you talk about people changing games and bringing a different dimension, he’s very, very quick, got great feet, very tricky, likes to run at players. Very much like Raphinha as well.

“He just looks a lot stronger this season, body-wise, mentality wise. He looks like he’s there to push people rather than just take up a bench place.”

Paul Robinson added to the winger’s list of admirers, insisting last March: “I think we’re going to see Poveda come through next season. Leeds have signed him for a reason, Bielsa knows he’s a top, top player.”

With both Harrison and Costa short on form in recent weeks, bringing the £10k-a-week earning Poveda into the fold could help Leeds set up a new and exciting wide duo with Raphinha.

Given Whelan’s comments on how Poveda plays makes him sound very similar to the Brazilian too, that makes for a mouth-watering combo.

Meanwhile, Leeds could hire Bielsa’s dream successor in this 36 y/o…

Celtic suffered heartbreak in the January transfer window when the tale of Ben Davies took a dramatic last-minute turn.

The defender looked certain to be making the move to Scotland as talks between the two parties reached an agreement. However, some late negotiations from Liverpool coaxed Davies to join the Premier League champions on deadline day.

It looked like a massive loss for Celtic at the time as they have been struggling immensely across their backline this season, leaking 22 goals, some 14 more than the league leaders.

However, Davies is currently out of action due to injury, just weeks after signing for his new club. Liverpool are suffering a similar defensive crisis and this news will have infuriated the fanbase.

In the last two seasons, the 25-year-old has had three recurring hamstring injuries which resulted in him missing a total of 94 days with Preston North End.

For Peter Lawwell, he can feel glad that he didn’t reach into his pocket and splash £1.6million on the centre-half.

The Hoops are limited in their defensive options, especially at centre-back. Shane Duffy has disappointed with his loan spell from Brighton and Christopher Jullien has been injured for a total of 29 matches so far this season, playing next to no role in their holding Premiership campaign, according to Transfermarkt.

Celtic have recruited Jonjoe Kenny on a temporary basis to plug some of their backline leaks.

But it’s not been enough to see the Bhoys to a tenth consecutive title win this season. They have shipped plenty of goals in the league this season as mentioned, which is already more than the 19 they conceded throughout the 2019/20 campaign.

The Glaswegians can return to the transfer market in the summer to hopefully bring in a new defender, but for now, the peace of mind that they didn’t sign the injury-prone Davies will be a weight off Lawwell’s conscience.

In other news, Lennon must prioritise starting Ismaila Soro over Scott Brown…

West Ham United would be throwing money away if David Sullivan were to sanction a mid-season loan for FC Barcelona outcast Junior Firpo.

What’s the word?

According to Calcio Napoli 24, Firpo’s representatives have been in contact with a clutch of potential suitors to sound out their interest in signing the left-back in the January transfer window.

West Ham have reportedly not responded to the approach as of yet, but if they do want to sign the player, they will face competition from SSC Napoli, who Gianluca Di Marzio adds have asked for further information on the terms of any temporary deal for the £38,000-per-week defender.

Firpo is believed to favour a move to the Premier League if he is to leave the Camp Nou this winter, but Napoli remain in the hunt in case they manage to offload one of Kevin Malcuit, Elseid Hysaj or Faouzi Ghoulam.

West Ham were credited with an interest in signing Firpo last month following Arthur Masuaku undergoing career-saving knee surgery, with it noted at the time that Barcelona were eager to offload the defender as they strive to reduce their enormous wage bill.

Firpo has continued to live life on the fringes under Ronald Koeman since the Irons’ interest was previously claimed, playing just nine minutes of La Liga football in 2021 to bring his record over 10 appearances to 351 minutes across all competitions.

The last of his league outings even came at right-back as a late substitute for Sergino Dest, to continue a trend of playing out of position with no appearances in his natural left-back role during a La Liga game thus far this season.

Throwing money away

West Ham moving to sign Firpo on loan in the January transfer window would likely only serve to see Sullivan throw his money away by taking on the Barcelona outcast’s wages, as David Moyes already has options at full-back who warrant minutes.

Koeman was willing to field Firpo in his natural left-back role during stages of Barcelona’s Champions League Group Stage campaign, which saw the 24-year-old offer just 0.2 key passes and 0.4 shots while completing a mere 0.6 dribbles and making 0.6 successful tackles, per SofaScore.

Moyes would struggle to see those type of numbers match up and better those of Aaron Creswell at the London Stadium, who has put his initial rustiness to the side to begin shining at full-back once more in place of the injured Masuaku.

Cresswell has continually been defensively solid over the festive period and strong going forward, particularly from set-pieces with his ferocious power, and helped West Ham to begin setting their own tone at Chelsea after the Blues started the stronger of the two sides.

The £6m-rated star’s efforts have helped him to deliver seven crosses a game in the Premier League when fielded at left-back, with Cresswell finding a West Ham player with two of his efforts, per WhoScored. Comparably, Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson – considered as one of the best left-backs in the world – offers 2.2 accurate crosses from 9.4 deliveries a game.

Cresswell also produces 0.7 shots and the joint-most key passes per league game (1.4) by an Irons player with Tomas Soucek, among those who have played more than five times under Moyes this term.

Defensively, Cresswell is further successful with half of his 1.4 tackles a game, offers 1.3 interceptions – more than Masuaku had (0.5) – and makes 1.9 blocks, while offering at least twice as many assists (4) so far this season than anyone else in the Hammers squad.

Moyes also has Ben Johnson who can provide cover for Cresswell, and he did little wrong when fielded in the FA Cup earlier this month with a solid defensive showing from the 20-year-old.

West Ham might be eyeing new additions this month but a cast-off left-back isn’t needed at this time.

AND in other news, a £4.5m-rated brute was West Ham’s true star of the show vs Burnley.

Chelsea will look to kickstart 2021 in style when they play host to Manchester City in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

After tasting defeat at Arsenal, the Blues bounced back with a hard-fought draw at home to Aston Villa and Frank Lampard’s side will want to get back to winning ways when they take on the Citizens in a crunch clash in the top half of the table.

Lampard has confirmed Reece James has been ruled out due to injury. However, the Blues boss is hopeful Hakim Ziyech will be in contention to start on Sunday after working his way back to fitness.

Here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up for this afternoon’s action, which sees Lampard make four changes to the team that drew with Dean Smith’s side.

Lampard faces some tough decisions as he’ll be desperate to start the year with a bang and will not want to let the disappointment from the defeat to Arsenal fester for any longer.

It’s hard to tell exactly where the changes will be made, but what’s certain is he’ll likely bring first-team regular starters Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma back into the fold after Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger were noticeably poor at the back.

Despite the fact he has failed to keep a clean sheet in his past two appearances, new summer recruit Edouard Mendy will keep his place in goal at the Bridge behind a back four of Ben Chilwell, Cesar Azpilicueta, Silva and Zouma.

Lampard will probably deploy a midfield three consisting of Mason Mount, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.

Maybe Ziyech could come back in, but Callum Hudson-Odoi has been in such fine form in recent weeks, we’ve given the Blues academy graduate our backing, with the ever-reliable Christian Pulisic keeping his place on the left wing.

Upfront, things get a little more interesting, as Tammy Abraham is likely to lead the line, which means there is no room for Olivier Giroud despite the Frenchman getting on the scoresheet against Villa. Both Giroud and Timo Werner will have to settle for a spot on the bench, such is the strength in Lampard’s squad.