Gossip: Rams back in for Johnston
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Daily Mail
11 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Aston Villa given fitness boost for key man ahead of Premier League opener against Newcastle
Aston Villa are increasingly hopeful that Morgan Rogers will be fit for Saturday's Premier League opener against Newcastle. The forward, a contender for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, damaged his ankle in a pre-season friendly against Roma on August 6 and did not feature in the preparation games against Marseille and Villarreal. But Rogers has been involved in training this week and confidence is growing that he will be ready for the clash with Eddie Howe 's team at Villa Park. Rogers, 23, was one of the breakout stars of the last Premier League campaign, hitting double figures for goals and assists in all competitions, and breaking into the senior England squad. Aston Villa are hopeful Morgan Rogers will be fit for Saturday's Premier League opener against Newcastle He signed a new deal with Villa less than a year ago but his progress has been so rapid that the club are expected to offer him improved terms in the coming weeks, as first revealed by Daily Mail Sport on July 21. Villa have been relatively quiet in the market this summer, though they remain in talks to sell homegrown midfielder Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle for about £40million, after Villa brought in Evann Guessand from Nice for about £28m to bolster their attack. Instead, the focus has been on securing the futures of their key players, with Boubacar Kamara and Lucas Digne signing new deals and others, including Youri Tielemans and John McGinn, expected to follow. Villa are also looking at a deal to bring back Marco Asensio, who spent the second half of last season at the club on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
BreakingNews.ie
11 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Thomas Frank proud of Spurs players as ‘special operation' fails against PSG
Thomas Frank acknowledged his 'special operation' failed but felt pride in his players after Tottenham surrendered a two-goal lead to lose the Super Cup on penalties to Paris St Germain. Set-piece goals by Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero had Spurs halfway towards another trophy – only three months on from Frank's predecessor Ange Postecoglou clinching Europa League success in May. Advertisement Champions League winners PSG, who only returned to pre-season last week following their Club World Cup exploits in July, fought back impressively – with substitute Kang-in Lee pulling one back with five minutes left before Goncalo Ramos grabbed an equaliser in the fourth-minute of stoppage-time. It was initially advantage Tottenham in the shoot-out when Vitinha missed PSG's first kick and Rodrigo Bentancur put the Premier League club two up, but it was followed by Van de Ven and Mathys Tel failing to score as Frank's competitive debut ended in a 4-3 shoot-out defeat after a 2-2 draw. The Danish coach paid tribute to his squad after he lined them up in a back-three formation to largely good effect, in a fixture where they constantly looked a threat at set-pieces. 'Very, very proud of the players, the team, the club, the fans,' Frank reflected. Advertisement Tottenham lost out on penalties. Photo: Adam Davy/PA. 'I think the players gave everything, playing against one of the best teams in the world, maybe the best at the moment and I think we were 75, 80 minutes perfect. Almost giving nothing away. 'I knew we had to do something a little bit different against PSG. It was a special operation. In medical terms, the operation succeeded but the patient died, so not that good in the end. 'But we worked on a gameplan that was a little bit different and very close to succeeding. 'First and foremost I'm extremely proud of the team, the players, the fans, the Club.' Thomas Frank's reaction 🗣️ — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 13, 2025 'It was a little bit of special operation because it clearly went in spells a little bit more direct, because we knew that we could hurt them there. Big, big focus on the set pieces, from all areas of the pitch, but we will have focus on set pieces no matter what.' Advertisement Frank's game-plan had worked perfectly until the 85th minute – with Van de Ven's opener just reward for a disciplined and dynamic Tottenham first-half display. Romero's header from Pedro Porro's free kick three minutes after the break had Spurs fans in dreamland, which remained the case as they put bodies on the line to thwart PSG until a raft of substitutes by Luis Enrique helped tip the scales. New Tottenham boss Frank promised to swiftly lift morale before Saturday's Premier League opener at home to Burnley, adding: 'Every game matters. 'I think if you look on the face of the players and all of us, we are hugely disappointed and I have my rule for 24 hours. I can be disappointed for 24 hours. Advertisement LET'S GO GUYS! 🏆❤️💙 — Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) August 13, 2025 'We want to compete in a lot of different tournaments and if you want to do that, you need to be ready to do a quick turnaround and go again. I'll make sure the players are ready and come flying out on Saturday.' Luis Enrique was honest in his assessment of PSG, who competed in the Club World Cup final exactly a month ago. 'To be honest, I'm not sure we deserved this trophy,' the Spanish coach admitted. 'The difference was stark between Tottenham. They've had six weeks of preparation and we've had six days. Advertisement 'It was huge and we were trying to play our football and just couldn't for the first 80 minutes. We had a lot of poor passes and maybe we were lucky. Lady Luck was smiling on us.'
Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
Liverpool bolster defence with Leoni deal before Premier League opener
LIVERPOOL, England, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Liverpool manager Arne Slot continued to reinforce his squad on the eve of their Premier League season opener, confirming on Thursday that the club had agreed a deal to sign 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni from Parma. While no financial details were disclosed, British media reported the fee for the Serie A player at 26 million euros ($30.34 million). Slot's men kick off the defence of their title when they host Bournemouth on Friday on what is sure to be an emotional night at Anfield following the death of Portugal forward Diogo Jota and his brother in a car crash in July. Leoni is expected to have a medical later on Thursday and will immediately join the first team, with the club ruling out any possibility of a loan move. The teenager will join Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez -- who is a doubt for Friday having recently returned from an Achilles injury -- among Slot's centre-back options and shore up a back line that showed frailties during pre-season. "There are reasons for it," Slot said, citing injuries, mixed lineups, and the integration of new players. "The standard here is 10/10, we are doing everything well but 'well' is not good enough. We have to go a step up. "Come (Friday) evening against Bournemouth, there are no excuses." Slot is cautiously optimistic Liverpool can retain their title. "The main reason that it's so difficult is because there are so many competitors who can win the league. It's unbelievable if you are able to do it in this league," the Dutchman said. "This year will be even harder than before. Every season and pre-season has its challenges. We have lost many starters. "It's not always yourself but the teams you face. We've lost five to six players who played quite a lot of minutes last season, and brought in four, so it's normal there's adaptation." Liverpool have a tough start to the campaign, with games away to Newcastle United and at home to last season's runners-up Arsenal among their first three fixtures. "We start with Bournemouth, probably the most intense team in the league last season, in running and playing style," Slot said. There is plenty of anticipation around Liverpool's new attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz after the Reds shattered their transfer record to sign the 22-year-old German international from Bayer Leverkusen in June. They paid 100 million pounds ($135.66 million), with a further maximum of 16 million in potential bonuses. Slot was full of praise for Wirtz, but cautioned he might need time to adjust to the intensity of England's top tier. "Good players always find a way of playing in a good team - he is a good player and he plays in a good team," Slot said. "Factually we can see him as a young player, but I don't see him as one. He won the cup and league in Germany (in 2024), and his mentality is his biggest strength. "That says a lot, because when you see him play he is so creative. He is mentally strong, he doesn't get distracted by a transfer fee or anything else." ($1 = 0.7371 pounds) ($1 = 0.8568 euros)
