AROUND ENGLAND
HAIL MARY SPENDING
Aston Villa recorded a higher net spend than Barcelona
and Manchester United in the last two transfer windows
with only Real Madrid losing more money overall. The
relegation threatened Midlands side spent a whopping
£145million on new signings and only recouped a measly
£3m from player sales. The CIES Football Observatory
found the only team worse off than Villa were Real Madrid- who paid Chelsea an initial reported £84m plus add-ons
for Eden Hazard last summer. Los Blancos were £153m in
negative balance overall.
A CLOSE
SHAVE
Jose Mourinho
memorably told his
players that shaving his
head meant they were
"ready to go to war." But
this time the Portuguese
found himself in a follicle
battle of his own after
falling ASLEEP at the
barbers. The Special
One shocked fans by
revealing that he had
opted for a three crew-
cut that had proved so
successful at Chelsea.
But Mourinho admitted
it was a failure to stop
himself drifting off in
the hairdressers as the
reason for his new look.PHEW, FREE AT LAST
Three-time Premier League title-winner Robert Huth
has revealed his pleasure at retiring from football after
becoming disillusioned with the game. With his entire
career spent in England, the towering centre-back hung
up his boots in January of last year after leaving 2015/16
champions Leicester. While some players find that
moment extremely difficult, Huth has stated that he felt a
sweet release from what was once an obsession.NO CAN DO
Liverpool will not be
exploring the option of
bringing Steven Gerrard
back to the club so that he
can claim a Premier League
winners’ medal, says the
club’s chief executive Peter
Moore. Many supporters
at Anfield have called for
the legendary figure to
be re-signed so that he
can claim the prize which
eluded him throughout a
distinguished playing career.
Moore pointed out a current
member of Jurgen Klopp’s
squad will have to step
aside to accommodate the
39-year-old, which eliminates
any probability of the current
Rangers manager returning
to his roots as a player.GOOD BUDDIES
Mikel Arteta has remained in regular contact with Pep
Guardiola despite walking out on Manchester City to take
the Arsenal job. The Citizens were unhappy with Arteta
when he quit as assistant coach at the Etihad to replace
Unai Emery just before Christmas. But Arteta insists his
relationship with Guardiola remains as strong as ever in
spite of their new managerial rivalry.PHONE ALARM
Arsenal midfielder Joe
Willock didn't take kindly
to David Luiz's amusing
prank on the team bus
as he whacked his phone
after being woken up. The
former Chelsea centre-back
filmed himself waking up
sleeping members team
by squeezing their noses,
with most left confused.
Eddie Nketiah, Bukayo
Saka, Nicolas Pepe and Rob
Holding all fell victims to
the lurking Luiz, but none
took it as serious as Willock.MAGIC COOKING
Arsenal wonderkid Gabriel
Martinelli has cooked up a storm in
his debut season at the Emirates -
fuelled by his mum's meals. Moving
to a new country could have been
a daunting challenge at just 18 but
his mother's culinary skills have
kept the Brazilian feeling right
at home. The talented forward's
parents have moved with him to
London, and he has gushed over
how much they have helped him.POSTER FUN
Tottenham have released some
fantastic Oscars-inspired film
posters ahead of the 92nd
Academy Awards. The North London club flooded their
social media with some hilarious mock-ups of famous
Hollywood film posters with a twist. The names of the
renowned blockbusters have been altered to include some
of Spurs' most recognizable stars. One example included
the 2000 film Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nicolas Cage
which became "Son in 60 Seconds" in a nod to Spurs'
South Korean star Son Heung-min.NO SENSE
OF HUMOUR
West Ham co-
owner David Gold's
daughter Jacqueline
was hammered
on social media
for tweeting good
wishes to West Ham
at Manchester City -
long after the game
had been called off
due to Storm Ciara.
With David Moyes'
Hammers lying on
the relegation zone
ahead of the tie,
fans were in no mood to let successful businesswoman
Jacqueline off the hook for her howler.GET OVER IT
Kepa Arrizabalaga’s dodgy displays in front of the
Chelsea goalpost have been blamed on splitting from
his childhood sweetheart. Kepa's friends and family
reportedly believe the Spain star is "suffering quite badly"
from the "recent" break-up with his glamorous girlfriend of
nine years, Andrea Perez. Stats for January outed Kepa as
the least successful stopper in the Premier League when it
comes to his overall save percentage.“When I won six titles in a row in
Barcelona and won trebles, I never felt
that. I won because I had extraordinary
players at big clubs. There are incredible
managers, they don't have these players,
they don't have these big clubs. I'm a
good manager but not the best. Give me
a team that is not like Manchester City, I
am not going to win.” - Manchester City
manager Pep Guardiola says he never of
thought of himself as the best manager in
the world.“He's is a 23-year-old boy who is single,
he's been given a week free. We try to
educate them in many ways, but this is
something I'm not too bothered about” –
Leicester City manager Brendon Rodgers
isn’t worried to see his midfield ace James
Maddison partying at nightclubs during
holidays.“They are the two best coaches
in the world. It is a privilege that I
trained under both. I think there are
a lot of footballers who are jealous
of me are because they didn't have
that opportunity” – Manchester City
midfielder Ilkay Gundogan feels that a
number of footballers are jealous of the
fact that he has played under both Pep
Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp.DID YOU
KNOW?
- Christian
Benteke’s goal
against Everton
was his first
Premier League
goal since April
2019, ending a
run of 17 games
and 765 minutes
without finding
the net in the
competition. - In his entire club
career, the team
Wayne Rooney
has faced the
most without
scoring against
is Manchester
United (six
games), ending
on the losing
side in all six
meetings with
the Red Devils. - Newcastle have
reached the fifth
round of the
FA Cup for the
first time since
the 2005-06
season, when
they were
eventually
knocked out
at the quarter-
final stage by
Chelsea.. - Shrewsbury
have scored
two own
goals against
Liverpool in
the FA Cup this
season, the first
time the Reds
have benefited
from two own
goals by the
same opponent
in an FA Cup
campaign
since Brighton
scored three
in a 1-6 defeat
at Anfield in
February 2012.