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Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been reacting to the club’s plans to expand Villa Park on social media.

Birmingham Mail writer Ashley Preece picked up on the update within the club’s end of year financial accounts, and his Twitter post got plenty of supporters excited.

Within the club’s statement regarding their 2019/20 accounts, where they recorded a financial loss of £99.2m, plans were shared on the stadium.

As Preece updated, NSWE are looking to expand Villa Park with ‘preliminary designs and schemes now being formulated both to increase our capacity and modernise our commercial facilities.’

Villa’s current stadium capacity stands at 42,785, and it seems as if the club will look to increase that over the coming years. There were plans under previous owners back in 2017 to expand to 60,000, but it seems as if the Midlands outfit are now in a far better position to act.

Villa fans react

Preece posted the snippet on the club’s stadium plans on Friday afternoon. As to be expected, it received plenty of interaction, with these supporters sharing their excitement.

“I’m ready”

Credit: @GaryBolton91

“These guys definitely mean business and are rebuilding from the bottom up. This is also the reason why Jack won’t be leaving anytime soon “

Credit: @asdhaliwal

“Hugely exciting time to be an Aston Villa fan. Considering the club were failing to pay tax bills under three years ago, it’s been an amazing turnaround since.”

Credit: @VillaNoFiller

“FINALLY”

Credit: @jdaucott

“Amazing!! Leave the Holte End as it is and extend the North stand!”

Credit: @designs95

“Great news!”

Credit: @reel_villan

In other news: Many AVFC fans react to Steven Gerrard links, find out more here. 

Steve Bruce must block Jacob Murphy from leaving Newcastle United at the end of the season amid doubts about the winger’s long-term future.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, Murphy is not expected to become a free agent this June as he actually has another year reaming on his current contract.

But that is not a guarantee the 26-year-old will be at St. James’ Park next season, as Magpies chiefs are yet to decide on if he will stay at the club once the transfer window opens.

Murphy has been expected to become a free agent in June with it thought that his £25,000-per-week deal expires this summer.

Reports by Chronicle Live earlier this month also claimed that Newcastle are in active talks with Murphy over new terms, in an attempt to avoid losing the winger for no compensation.

Toon boss Steve Bruce has even remarked on Murphy’s impending status as a free agent, noting via quotes by The Shields Gazette: “I sincerely hope that we tie Jacob Murphy down.”

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Should Newcastle retain Murphy?

It seems unlikely that Murphy would be under contract at Newcastle through to 2022 rather this summer with Bruce openly discussing his desires for new terms, but the doubt over the forward’s long-term future would remain either way.

Bruce must therefore lobby the Magpies hierarchy to retain Murphy, as the £3m-rated dynamo has proven to be a crucial player at St. James’ Park this season despite rarely starting Premier League games.

Murphy has only opened 10 of his 19 top-flight appearances this term and been left on the bench (7) or omitted from the squad (5) more often than introduced as a substitute (9), but he has shown to be capable of delivering a game-changing impact.

Bruce hailed the former Norwich City forward for his dramatic equaliser and claimed “he was arguably our best player” against Wolverhampton Wanderers back in October, when Murphy fired home a late free-kick to snatch a point.

It failed to see Murphy become one of the first names on the teamsheet, yet Bruce acknowledges the “big part” he has played this season and praises the forward for ticking all he boxes as he’s “young, hungry [and] determined to do well.”

That hunger led to telling contributions from the bench when Wolves visited Tyneside in February, setting up the equaliser in stoppage-time against Aston Villa in March, running himself into the ground against Tottenham Hotspur and earning praise from Alan Shearer after scoring Newcastle’s first at Burnley last weekend.

His performances against Spurs and the Clarets this month each came at full-back while his displays against Wolves and Aston Villa showed the offensive creativity he can offer, and why Bruce must block Newcastle from letting Murphy leave this summer.

AND in other news, Newcastle land huge boost in race to sign “intelligent” teen with five goals this season…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Sheffield United striker Brian Deane expressed his surprise over the dismissal of Jose Mourinho as Tottenham manager.

The north London club announced on Monday morning that the 58-year-old had been relieved of his duties just days before their Carabao Cup final clash against Manchester City at Wembley.

It makes the timing of Mourinho’s exit strange but, with seventh-placed Tottenham likely to miss out on the top four this season and no longer in the Europa League, chairman Daniel Levy clearly felt he had to do something.

Discussing Levy’s decision to act, Deane told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“You’ve just got to wonder whether or not it’s got something to do with this announcement [European Super League] that’s been made and they want to go in a less pragmatic direction when it comes to Tottenham as a product.

“I think with the owners down there, they’re not going to sack somebody unless they’ve got somebody lined up. It is a surprise to me but, you know, managing players, managing expectations is changing all the time. I think that what we’re starting to see is that people want instant gratification everywhere.”

Tottenham may very well have their Mourinho successor in mind, with RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann the strong favourite for the job.

According to The Telegraph, the German is currently Levy’s preferred option to take over. The Premier League outfit, however, could face competition from Bayern Munich as they draw up their own managerial succession plan to replace the outgoing Hansi Flick.

If Odsonne Edouard doesn’t leave Celtic this summer and finally walk through the Parkhead exit door, it will be a serious surprise.

The Frenchman has been a wonderful servant to the Bhoys throughout the years but as the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

Edouard has scored 81 goals in 165 outings for the Hoops and crucially, has been a part of three league triumphs.

He’s still bagged on 20 occasions this term but for a plethora of reasons, his performances have started to dwindle.

The short end of the stick is that Edouard isn’t bothered anymore. He looks disinterested and he lacks the same potency we’ve seen in the penalty area on so many occasions in the last three campaigns.

The forward is sluggish in possession and can be found guilty of trying far too much. His touch is lackadaisical and he’s now struggling to score.

Edouard has now only scored once in his last seven outings and didn’t even find the net against Livingston in the 6-0 rout.

Arguably, though, he has saved his worst performances of the season for the last two games. He is getting in the right areas to score but lacks any sense of ruthlessness when he gets played the ball.

In the Old Firm, Edouard fired off target from just a matter of yards out before seeing a rather tame spot-kick saved by Allan McGregor in the second period.

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The French youth striker then missed a succession of chances in the 1-1 draw with Aberdeen on Wednesday evening. Celtic’s number 22 was dragged off just after the hour mark having fired three shots off target.

He missed a glaring opportunity after being rolled in by Jonjoe Kenny, only to put the ball wide, before he fired two chances at Aberdeen stopper Gary Woods.

It was a torrid evening as the attacker made just 15 passes in the entire game. For context, goalkeeper Scott Bain made three more.

Edouard has had a tendency to coast through games and then pop up with a moment of magic. Unfortunately, that isn’t happening for him right now.

Kenny may have been at fault for Lewis Ferguson’s goal but had Edouard taken his chances, they’d have walked away from Pittodrie with all three points.

With interest from the Premier League so rife, his Paradise career is surely done and dusted.

AND in other news, Exciting twist emerges in Celtic manager hunt, Desmond could now perform a big U-turn…

Norwich City will have to sell players in order to strengthen their squad this summer, according to Daniel Farke.

What’s the word?

Speaking recently to the Eastern Daily Press, the Norwich City boss claimed that he would like to “keep all the best players” at the club, however, he went on to reveal that he couldn’t confirm that all of City’s players “will stay” in Norfolk this summer.

The 44-year-old then suggested that, in order to “add some quality” to his side, “there will be also some outgoings”, before adding that he feels it is “important to keep the core of the team” together ahead of their Premier League campaign.

Indispensable trio

Norwich City fans will undoubtedly be hoping that the core of indispensable players Farke refers to includes the likes of Max Aarons, Todd Cantwell and Emi Buendia – all three of whom are believed to be attracting significant interest ahead of the summer transfer window.

Indeed, it would seem as if these three players, in particular, are crucial to the Canaries’ chances of retaining their top-flight status next term.

So far this season, Buendia has proven a remarkable attacking force in the Championship, bagging 14 goals and registering 16 assists over his 37 appearances, with the Argentine averaging an astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.68 – ranking him as the club’s best performer in the second tier.

Meanwhile, Cantwell has scored six goals and provided four assists over his 31 league fixtures, earning himself an average SofaScore match rating of 7.16, while Aarons has helped his side to keep a whopping 17 Championship clean sheets, as well as personally averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.98.

As such, it would appear essential that Norwich keep hold of all three of the aforementioned stars this summer, or else risk losing either a significant amount of goals, creativity or defensive security – something that would not bode well whatsoever for their chances of top-flight survival.

In other news: Forget Zimmermann: Webber must land “outstanding” £12m ace ahead of NCFC’s PL campaign – opinion

Southampton battled to a 1-1 draw against Leicester City on Friday night despite Jannik Vestergaard’s early red card, with Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side more than deserving of a point against the Foxes.

There were plenty of impressive performances from the Saints at St Mary’s, particularly from a defensive point of view, as they restricted Leicester to very few chances after going down to 10 men.

One man who impressed with his performance was Mohammed Salisu, as he replaced Nathan Tella after the sending off and was superb at the back throughout.

As per SofaScore, the defender earned an impressive 7.3/10 rating for his display, with only James Ward-Prowse (7.4) and Alex McCarthy rated higher (7.8) of the Southampton players who featured.

The 22-year-old had limited opportunities earlier in the season due to injury and fitness issues but has established himself as a regular in Hasenhuttl’s side in recent weeks.

Of the 11 appearances he has made for Southampton in all competitions this season, this was comfortably his best performance, with WhoScored rating him a 7.43/10 against Brendan Rodgers’ side.

It is seemingly a common consensus that the young centre-back, who joined from Real Valladolid in the summer, had an excellent game as Hampshire Live journalist Tom Leach also sang the 22-year-old’s praises in his match ratings for the game, saying: “He was heroic tonight. He steps up explosively, getting out and to the ball with unrivaled enthusiasm. He is a monster in one-on-one situations and is, in all honesty, one of the fastest defenders ever to wear Southampton colours.”

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During the game, the £9m-rated Salisu made 11 clearances, two interceptions and two tackles, which is even more impressive when you consider he has averaged 2.9 clearances, 2.8 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game in the Premier League this season.

It was an excellent defensive display from the Ghanaian, as he also won five of his eight duels during the game and wasn’t dribbled past once, despite the threat of Jamie Vardy and Kelechi Iheanacho in Leicester’s attack.

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Therefore, with Vestergaard now set to be suspended, Hasenhuttl will surely be delighted that Salisu did so well as a substitute, and it would not be a surprise to see him start alongside Jan Bednarek against Liverpool next weekend.

In other news… Saints handed golden chance to axe “outstanding” flop, Gao surely delighted

Celtic’s hunt for a new manager is currently in its tenth week but a successor for Neil Lennon has yet to be announced.

The Hoops have considered a number of appointments but Dermot Desmond has been struck with plenty of sticking points.

What’s the word?

Eddie Howe has been linked with the job on a regular basis over the last month but a deal is thought to be reaching a conclusion.

That being said, Celtic may be forced to think again after a surprising piece of news emerged this week.

That’s because a new name has now emerged in their chase for Lennon’s replacement. That’s the word of Duncan Castles who shared the latest information that he’d been given on the Transfer Window podcast.

He said: “With Roma parting with their current coach Paulo Fonseca, obviously, a Portuguese legend in terms of his career, he has been offered to both Celtic and Tottenham Hotspur as replacements for Neil Lennon and Jose Mourinho.”

A twist on the cards

With Celtic flirting with Howe for so long, it would be an almighty surprise if they suddenly changed their plan.

That said, extraordinary circumstances appear in football that are sometimes simply too hard to refuse.

In terms of improving their status in Europe, Fonseca would certainly be a valuable hire for Dermot Desmond and co.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/celtic-manager-transfers-eddie-howe-jesse-marsch-ryan-christie-siriki-dembele” title=”Read the latest Celtic managerial updates, transfer news, rumours and gossip!”]

He is set to be replaced by Jose Mourinho at Roma once the season comes to a conclusion but it’s been a successful one as far as Europe is concerned.

Fonseca has guided his side to the semi-finals of the Europa League and has shown himself to be a serial winner.

The 48-year-old took Shakhtar Donetsk to three league titles in a row, amassing a win success rate of 74%.

Used to dominating a domestic league and then adapting well in Europe, this could be a crucial skill for a Hoops side striving to do the same.

They have been usurped by Rangers domestically while their continental campaign this term was nothing short of a disaster.

Celtic were knocked out of the Champions League in the qualifying stages and then finished rock bottom of their Europa League group after conceding 19 goals in six outings.

Fonseca may have seen his team decimated 6-2 by Manchester United in the Europa League semi-finals a week ago but he has proved to be adaptable before that.

With Howe possessing no experience in Europe at all, perhaps the Celtic boardroom needs to look towards Fonseca instead. Nobody was really expecting Fonseca to be an option, but now he seemingly is, he could be an excellent selection for the Hoops.

It would not be a shock at all if Celtic decided to take a bit of time to assess Fonseca before they commit to Howe, or indeed any other candidate, so this information that Castles has passed along could very well lead to a further delay whilst the Hoops consider their options again.

AND in other news, Dominic McKay is already on the verge of his first major Celtic mistake…

Queens Park Rangers have been handed a massive boost to their hopes of keeping Ilias Chair at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Belgian outlet Voetbal 24, who claim that both Club Brugge and Anderlecht are now unlikely to make a move for the attacking midfielder in the upcoming transfer window, as they cannot afford QPR’s reported asking price of €15m (£13m).

However, it has also been reported that all three of Watford, Bologna and Genoa are keen on the 23-year-old, who is under contract with the Hoops until the summer of 2025.

Massive boost

While a significant amount of interest remains in Chair ahead of the summer transfer window, the fact that the two sides from the midfielder’s home country now look out of the race for his signature is a massive boost for Mark Warburton, and is likely to delight QPR fans.

Indeed, keeping the £3.6m-rated youngster in west London ahead of next season would appear crucial for Warburton’s hopes of mounting a promotion push, as the 23-year-old was one of the stars of QPR’s 2020/21 campaign.

Over his 45 Championship appearances last term, Chair bagged eight goals, provided four assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.6 key passes and taking 1.9 shots per game – culminating in a highly impressive average SofaScore match rating of 7.04 – ranking him as the club’s joint fourth-best performer in the second tier.

As such, it would very much seem as if the midfielder – whom Ryan Dilks dubbed a “quality” player – could play a huge role in helping the Rs improve on their eighth-place finish in the Championship as of next season, meaning that Warburton should be doing everything in his power to ensure that the 23-year-old is not tempted away from the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this summer.

In other news: Get it done: Bhatia must sanction QPR swoop for 23 G/A beast who’s “something special” – opinion

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting to an update on social media regarding the future of manager Roy Hodgson.

According to the Evening Standard, the Eagles are prepared to announce the 73-year-old’s departure earlier than expected so that fans can pay tribute to the manager at their final home game against Arsenal next week.

Hodgson, who has been in charge at Selhurst Park since 2017, has met with chairman Steve Parish over a potential new deal, but a fresh contract is yet to be agreed, making his departure seem likely.

The report namechecks three managers who could possibly take over from Hodgson. Former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard is thought to be keen on a return to the dugout, with Burnley’s Sean Dyche and Swansea City’s Steve Cooper the others who were mentioned.

Palace fans react

@cpfc_xtra shared the news on social media on Friday morning, and it didn’t take long for a number of Eagles supporters to share their thoughts.

These fans all seemed pleased, with one describing the news as ‘sensational’.

“Amazing”

Credit: @CPFCMax03

“What a good day if true”

Credit: @SwannyBoy_17

“I beg the ones that go are respectful and give him a nice send off, the man has done well for us overall. Criticise his football all you want, but he is a gentleman and a good man.”

Credit: @JacobMozz

“Thought this would happen and it makes perfect sense. Has stayed longer than he should from a fans happiness perspective but I hope he gets a great send off”

Credit: @Phillyconcarne

“S E N S A T I O N A L”

Credit: @LewisAdams17

“Love this”

Credit: @CPFCH10

In other news: Palace keen on £72,500-a-week defender; fans react, find out more here.

Raheem Sterling has seen his first-team chances limited recently, especially in the bigger games and Paul Stewart, who jumped from the Third to the First Division when he joined Man City in 1987, exclusively spoke to Football FanCast about the possibility of Sterling leaving this summer.

Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez were both trusted to start against PSG as Sterling was handed just eight minutes over both legs, which has led to reports suggesting there has been a bust-up between Pep Guardiola and the winger.

It has been a less than fruitful season for Sterling at Man City as the England international has managed to score just 10 goals in the Premier League, despite having an xG of 11.7 for the campaign.

Speaking on how Sterling could have to leave the club if he has fallen out with Guardiola but how he offers so much to City, Stewart exclusively told FFC:

“What even are these reports because I’ve heard them myself and you have to wonder if they are just rumours or not. I’m of the opinion that they’ve had a falling out over something, but Raheem just offers so much at City.

“It’s a tough one because if it isn’t true, then I can see him still having a future at City. The one thing I know about Pep though, if he has fallen out with somebody then the door is open for them to leave. So if there has been a fall-out then I think Raheem will be leaving.”

The £300,000 per week winger was signed for £49 million when he left Liverpool to join Man City in 2015 and since then he has won an impressive 11 trophies which includes three Premier League titles.

Man City have already won their second league title in three seasons and they are set to play in their first-ever Champions League final when they face Chelsea at the end of the month.