Lazio defender Gila targeted by Bournemouth as Huijsen replacement
There are reports that Lazio defender Mario Gila has been targeted by Bournemouth as a replacement for Dean Huijsen after the €59.5m move to Real Madrid.
The Cherries made a huge profit on Huijsen, who they had signed from Juventus only a year ago for €20m plus a cut of the future transfer fee.
Dean Huijsen of AFC Bournemouth during the Premier League match between AFC Bournemouth and Everton FC at Vitality Stadium on January 04, 2025 in Bournemouth, England. (Photo by)
They now need a new centre-back, so Tuttomercatoweb and Mundo Deportivo suggest that Bournemouth are again looking towards Serie A, this time for Gila.
Advertisement
The Lazio defender turns 25 in August and was a product of the Real Madrid youth academy, making the move to the Stadio Olimpico for €6m in 2022.
Bournemouth look towards Gila
ROME, ITALY – JANUARY 23: Mario Gila of SS Lazio celebrates a opening goal during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 League Phase MD7 match between S.S. Lazio and Real Sociedad de Futbol at Stadio Olimpico on January 23, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Marco Rosi –)
Gila scored two goals this season in his 42 competitive appearances between Serie A, the Europa League and Coppa Italia.
His contract with Lazio runs to June 2027, but there have already been reports he could be tempted back to Real Madrid back in January.
There were also links with Manchester City amongst others in recent months for the Spaniard.
He received a call-up for the Spain national team in March along with Huijsen.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


New York Times
11 minutes ago
- New York Times
Manchester United fans' survey results: Concerns about INEOS but players to blame for terrible season
We asked, and you answered. The Athletic would like to thank all of its subscribers who took part in our Manchester United end-of-season survey. Thousands of you contributed, creating an interesting temperature check on one of the world's most significant — and newsworthy — football clubs. After United's worst season of the Premier League era, we wanted to know how fans are feeling about life in and around Old Trafford. Here are the results… Talk of the Devils listeners may be familiar with 'The Andy Mitten Standard of Quality', whereby a good United season requires a top-four league finish and a piece of silverware. Erik ten Hag was the last manager to achieve the seal of approval, finishing third in the 2022-23 season and winning the League Cup. Advertisement The majority of United subscribers believe the minimum for a successful 2025-26 would be Ruben Amorim's team qualifying for the Europa League — a position best secured with a sixth-place league finish, but which can be achieved through winning a domestic trophy. Thirty-six per cent of survey takers would like Amorim's men to do one better, saying that Champions League qualification counts as the minimum level of success. United finished 15th in the Premier League last season, 24 points off Newcastle United in fifth, the lowest Champions League spot. Amorim will be heartened to learn that The Athletic subscribers believe he might one day bring the Premier League title back to Old Trafford. Thirty-eight per cent of survey entrants have faith that the head coach may one day deliver the club's 21st title, while nearly 31.6 per cent believe him capable of turning the team into Champions League competitors. And 11.5 per cent of you believe Amorim's talent ceiling stops at Europa League competition, while 11.1 per cent of subscribers believe he might one day win a cup competition. 'Six months ago, after my first three games in charge with two victories and one draw, I said to you: 'The storm is coming'. Today, after this disastrous season, I want to tell you the good days are coming,' said Amorim following the final Premier League game of 2024-25. 'If there is one club in the world that has proven in the past that it can overcome any situation, any disaster, it is our club… It is Manchester United Football Club.' Apologies to Tyrell Malacia, who enjoyed a successful six-month loan at Dutch side PSV, but The Athletic wanted to know if United fans saw a future in three of their headline loanees from 2024-25. The answer was a resounding no: 64 per cent of respondents would prefer it if Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Antony pursued futures away from Old Trafford. Rashford is pursuing a move to Barcelona this summer. Following some impressive performances for Real Betis, Antony prefers to continue his career in La Liga. Only three per cent of respondents wanted Sancho to continue his United career. The 25-year-old will be returning to the club — however briefly — after an agreement could not be reached over personal terms with Chelsea to make his loan move permanent. The most straightforward question of our survey got our most straightforward answer: Bruno Fernandes was voted as United's most important player in our survey. The 30-year-old was awarded a litany of individual accolades for his performances this season. Fernandes won four consecutive Player of the Month awards between February and May in 2024-25 for United. He also won United's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year (an award voted by those within the dressing room) prizes. This week, the captain explained he was happy to stay at Old Trafford, despite a lucrative offer to leave from Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal. Fernandes is the rare, consistent shining light at United. Amorim and others will look to build around him in the summer. Outgoings will be a major point of conversation for the club this summer, and 38.5 per cent of survey respondents said they were most comfortable selling Rashford. Rasmus Hojlund endured a difficult second season at Old Trafford, leading to 21.4 per cent of subscribers being open to the striker being sold. Advertisement Amorim informed his players that he intends to remain at the club for next season following defeat in the Europa League final. He also told Alejandro Garnacho to find a new club in front of those assembled — 18.1 per cent of respondents would be open to selling the 20-year-old. Rashford and Garnacho's status as academy graduates means their potential sales would be registered as 'pure profit' in club accounts. There is more to United than on-field performance, and that was made clear by our survey. INEOS's 18 months in charge of footballing operations have seen several concerns raised about the club via fan protests and other means. In our survey, 45 per cent of respondents were concerned about the redundancies made under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his leadership group. United confirmed in February that they were set to make 150 to 200 redundancies as part of wider cost-cutting measures, following the 250 layoffs made the previous summer. It is understood that 450 members of staff have left since Ratcliffe completed his minority purchase in February 2024. Just over 19 per cent of participants expressed discomfort over INEOS's decision-making over head coaches: £21million ($28.4m) has been spent on renewing and dismissing Ten Hag, before hiring Amorim. Just over 15 per cent of you are concerned by INEOS's dealings in the transfer market. This summer will represent another opportunity for player trading, this time with Jason Wilcox operating as the club's director of football. And 14.8 per cent of you expressed 'Other' as your leading concern under INEOS. Please inform and elaborate on that topic through the comment section below, especially if the topic is ticket prices. There were split opinions over INEOS's running of the club within our survey, but the majority of answers voiced displeasure at INEOS's handling of Manchester United: 18.2 per cent of correspondents believe the minority investors to be performing at a five out of 10 level. A combined 62.9 per cent of respondents graded Ratcliffe and his executive group at a four out of 10 level or below. Advertisement A disappointing league campaign, defeat in the Europa League final will have played a role in INEOS's changed perspective in the public eye. Frustration over rising ticket prices, and the reception to the proposed new 100,000-seater stadium illustrate the difficult needle Ratcliffe and others are trying to thread. The Athletic's 2024-25 season review gave Amorim a three out of 10 grade for his 42 matches in charge. Our survey was a bit more charitable. Just over 24 per cent of respondents have the head coach a five out of 10 rating for his work from November to May. He strikes a confident and charismatic tone in press conferences and one-on-one interviews, but his adherence to a bespoke 3-4-3 tactical shape has caused frustration within some sections of the fanbase. Despite the low scoring, United fans would ideally like to give Amorim time to reshape the squad to his liking, rather than call for his immediate dismissal. Amorim himself will hope for a positive summer and start to 2025-26 to win any naysayers back onside. Nearly 50 per cent of subscribers believed the biggest issue affecting United came from player performance. One can look into how the current squad came to be and whether they are playing a style of football best suited for them. One can also look at the Premier League table and come to the much shorter conclusion that the team underperformed. Something that is reiterated by our final question. Close to 90 per cent of respondents believed the side performed 'way below expectations', with only 1.6 per cent believing United performed as expected. 'The reflection of the coach is the league,' said Amorim to TNT Sports following United's Europa League comeback victory over Lyon at Old Trafford. 'You can be good in European games, but your reflection as a team is the league. We are underperforming, but then you have to see the context. You can see that we lack a lot of characteristics in our team.' Advertisement Everyone involved in Manchester United will have to work hard to address the missing characteristics. One survey cannot encapsulate the totality of a club as huge as United, but the overall message from our respondents is clear: things need to improve. And quickly.


New York Times
21 minutes ago
- New York Times
Ange Postecoglou restored belief at Spurs — but they are right not to see him as a long-term solution
Increasingly, it feels like there are two separate spells to a managerial tenure. There's the 'personality' period, and the 'philosophy' period. One's a short-term blast, the other's a long-term slog. Ange Postecoglou's tenure at Tottenham Hotspur was somewhat unusual. He was cast almost purely as the latter; a manager who was all about the technical and tactical side of the game, and it seemed clear that Tottenham's path to glory was about understanding and perfecting 'Angeball'. Advertisement But Postecoglou was really the former, in two separate spells. He provided a brilliant quick-fire confidence boost at the start of 2023-24: the classic new manager bounce. He dragged Tottenham over the line in the Europa League at the end of 2024-25: the back-to-basics interim boss. In-between? The 'real' Postecoglou? That part was considerably less convincing. It shouldn't be forgotten that Postecoglou walked into a situation that was completely unenviable. The sale of Harry Kane was arguably the biggest loss any club had felt in the Premier League era. He was the symbol of the club, and their record goalscorer. The 2023-24 season seemed set to be a campaign of: 'Well, Kane would have tucked that one away…' But it wasn't. And it wasn't largely because of Postecoglou, who brought a freshness and a positivity that owed as much to his persona as his tactics. He was a good old-fashioned motivator. He had presence. He spoke with conviction. He breezily dismissed daft questions in press conferences. He believed in what he was saying. What was he saying? It didn't necessarily matter. He had conviction. Sparked by the good early form of James Maddison, Tottenham briefly looked like title contenders, with an incredibly uncompromising form of football. They were top of the league going into that memorable encounter with Chelsea, where they remained committed to a high line despite being down to nine men, lost 4-1, and that prompted a run of one point from five games, after which they found themselves fifth, which is eventually where they finished. Many defended the tactics, largely because Postecoglou explained his rationale so convincingly. Tottenham would play like that every week. The irony in Postecoglou's second season was that, despite such a consistent brand of football, Postecoglou struggled to put together a consistent XI. None of his players started more than 28 of Tottenham's 38-game season. This was partly down to the focus on the Europa League, and partly down to injury, which is traditionally an area where one has sympathy for a manager. Advertisement But there are reasonable suspicions that Postecoglou's approach hasn't helped; not only has the intensive style placed demands on players, but Postecoglou himself admitted that he played things wrongly at the start of this season, throwing players into action too soon after they'd returned from international duty. He deserves credit for admitting that, in a world where football managers instinctively deflect criticism by blaming others. But equally, physical conditioning is one of the most important elements of management, and it's difficult not to consider Postecoglou's inexperience with top footballers. Postecoglou had previously worked at a huge club, Celtic. But it's also worth clarifying that he'd previously only worked in leagues that were ranked — according to one football data company that attempts to work out these things — the 17th (Japan), 33rd (Scotland) and 60th (Australia) best leagues in the world. Now, huge respect should be afforded to those who have worked their way up to the Premier League through less prominent divisions, rather than been parachuted in because of their reputation as a player. But does his approach work in the Premier League? Two seasons in, it's difficult to be sure. Even with the focus on the Europa, for Tottenham to finish 17th is a staggering underachievement, almost without question the worst performance in the Premier League era for a manager who has been in charge for the whole campaign. Postecoglou's style of football is invariably described as 'brave', and it certainly takes technical and positional bravery from the players. But whether it's actually 'brave' to manage in such a fashion is a different question. After all, when his team fails to get results, the manager can always point to entertainment value, or explain that it's part of a long-term plan; there's always something other than the result to use as cover. If anything, it's surely braver to manage in a purely results-oriented fashion, where there's no hiding place. And that brings us to the second aspect of the short-term job. In European competition, Postecoglou softened his principles and played functional football. The victory over Eintracht Frankfurt was the kind of backs-to-the-wall display you associate with Chelsea in 2011-12. The final performance against Manchester United was about circumstance as much as design — without any serious midfield creativity, and leading for half the game — but Tottenham defended their box very well and, in truth, created almost no chances. Advertisement After the final, Postecoglou was still speaking in terms of long-term philosophy. 'I don't feel like I've completed the job here,' he said. 'We're still building.' But building towards what? It's difficult to work out what another season of Postecoglou would have looked like. Perhaps the most stubborn ideologue the Premier League has witnessed, he produced underwhelming results with 'his' style, but recorded a historic success with the complete opposite. There's every reason to respect what he's done. But there's little logical argument for keeping him on. In life, when something starts well and ends brilliantly, we tend to overlook the underwhelming bit in the middle: Xabi Alonso's spell at Liverpool, the various series of Alan Partridge, eating a Cornetto, the discography of David Bowie. Postecoglou has restored belief at Tottenham, but Tottenham were right not to believe in him as a long-term solution. (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Yahoo
After 6-year absence, Isco returns to Spain's squad for Nations League semifinal. Rodri still out
MADRID (AP) — Isco is back with Spain's national team after a six-year absence, while Rodri remains out after a long injury layoff. Coach Luis de la Fuente on Monday named 26 players for the Nations League semifinal against France on June 5 in Stuttgart. Germany and Portugal will play in the other semifinal on June 4 in Munich. Advertisement The 33-year-old Isco, the former Real Madrid player who is now with Real Betis, hadn't been called up for Spain since 2019. His solid performances for Betis in the Spanish league earned him a spot in the national team again. 'I've never paid attention to how long they've been away," De la Fuente said. "It was the right time for Isco to return, he'll be there and he'll contribute, because if I had thought otherwise, he wouldn't have been there.' Rodri recently returned for Manchester City after a long layoff because of a serious knee injury, but De la Fuente felt it was too soon to bring him back to the national team. 'He's very important but has been out for eight months and played only 10 minutes," De la Fuente said. 'I've spoken with him and we thought it wasn't the time to take any risks.' Advertisement The coach did select midfielder Gavi, who also sustained a serious knee injury but played often for Barcelona this year. 'He's at a high level and has room for improvement,' De la Fuente said. 'He has to keep working to maintain the level he was at a little over a year ago.' Included in the list, as expected, were Barcelona players Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Dani Olmo. Athletic's Nico Williams also was called up. Some of those missing were defenders Iñigo Martínez of Barcelona and Raúl Asencio of Real Madrid. ___ Squad: Goalkeepers: David Raya (Arsenal), Álex Remiro (Real Sociedad), Unai Simón (Athletic Bilbao) Advertisement Defenders: Marc Cucurella (Chelsea), Óscar Mingueza (Celta Vigo), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Pau Cubarsí (Barcelona), Pedro Porro (Tottenham), Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Dean Huijsen (Real Madrid), Robin Le Normand (Atletico Madrid) Midfielders: Martín Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Gavi (Barcelona), Alex Baena (Villarreal), Fabián Ruiz (Paris Saint-Germain), Aleix García (Bayer Leverkusen), Pedri (Barcelona), Isco (Real Betis). Forwards: Álvaro Morata (Galatasaray), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona), Samu Omorodion (Porto), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Yeremy Pino (Villarreal), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Dani Olmo (Barcelona). ___ AP soccer: Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press