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The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has tipped Aston Villa to enjoy a massive summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

Dean Smith’s side are enjoying a very impressive second season back in the top-flight, finding themselves in the top ten in the Premier League. And, Preece has now revealed that he expects the Midlands club to have a “big summer”, with the owners ready to back to the manager with a spending spree.

In a conversation with The Birmingham Mail, he said: “Aston Villa want European football, they might not get it this season, but they really want to kick on. I am expecting a big summer in that regard, and Johan Lange is working away behind the scenes to identify a list of players to sign to bolster the squad.

“Villa need to make a statement this summer and make that statement to Jack Grealish to say that they mean business, it could be a very exciting window. They have gone big the last two summers, I think £200m combined with £88m last summer on five players. They have gone for quality over quantity, and I can that same mantra again.

“There will 2-4 players and it will mirror last summer, upgrading key positions. The owners mean business, we know that. They will go big again and they will be working on the transfer priorities now. I can see £80-100m being spent on improving the squad.”

Dean Smith will be buzzing

Given how Villa have had an impressive campaign after a summer of significant squad strengthening, the latest news that the likes of Lange is already “working away behind the scenes” will no doubt be music to the ears of Smith.

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The Villa boss has worked miracles in getting a side that just narrowly avoided relegation back to the Championship last season, to genuinely battling it out for European football this campaign.

Smith deserves to be rewarded for his work in turning Villa into a truly competitive Premier League side, and Preece’s update on the club’s transfer stance will have him absolutely buzzing.

Meanwhile, Villa could strike gold by signing this Championship sensation…

It somewhat goes without saying that Wilfried Zaha is Crystal Palace’s talisman.

The Ivorian winger, who made his return to the Eagles starting line-up in the slender 1-0 win against West Bromwich Albion last time out, has constantly been a source of inspiration for the London club.

However, in an exclusive interview with Football Fan Cast, Steve Howey has suggested that chairman Steve Parish could be tempted to “cash in” on the winger this summer.

If that is indeed the case, they would be making a huge mistake.

In his time with Palace, Zaha has made a total of 384 appearances for the Eagles, scoring 66 goals and providing 72 assists.

Since Zaha returned to Selhurst Park from Manchester United, only Christian Benteke is the next most prolific player in the current squad with just 28 goals and 11 assists.

When looking at the winger this season, he has been even better. So far, he has scored nine goals and provided two assists in the Premier League.

His goals alone have been worth approximately nine points to Roy Hodgson’s men throughout the campaign. Without him, the Eagles could be stuck on 28 points and firmly in the picture for relegation to the Championship.

It’s no surprise then that without him, the Eagles struggle. Their record without the £45m-rated forward is truly abysmal.

Since the start of the 2015/16 season, Palace have played 28 matches without Zaha. They have won just five.

Averaged over a 38-game season, this would give the club only seven victories, a haul that would surely see them destined for the drop in any campaign.

With Palace boss Roy Hodgson saying that Zaha is “hard to stop” when he is on top form, it seems inconceivable that Palace would even consider selling their one spark of inspiration for any price but if they do, they’ll need to get a massive fee for him, but even then, they might find it tough to replace their talismatic forward.

AND in more news, have a closer look at Luka Milivojevic’s excellent performance in Palace’s 1-0 win against West Bromwich Albion…

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane faces a choice between becoming a legend at the club or trying to move on to win trophies, former Premier League ace Rob Lee has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview.

Lee spent a decade at Newcastle United, playing alongside Alan Shearer, who became an icon in the north east.

Shearer now has a statue outside St James’ Park, but he failed to win a trophy during his time at the club.

He did win the Premier League during his time at Blackburn Rovers but Shearer went on to score 198 goals in 391 games for Newcastle, ultimately ending his career as the all-time leading goalscorer in Premier League history, with 260.

Kane has already scored more goals for Spurs than Shearer did for the Magpies, netting 212 in 323 appearances.

He is often linked away from the club, but Lee believes that if he does choose to stay, he can end up with his own statue in north London, just like Shearer’s in Newcastle.

He told FFC: “That’s entirely down to how Harry Kane feels about Tottenham, about trophies, we had Alan Shearer at our place for 10, 11 years, in his prime, he didn’t win anything, but as he said himself, wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

“If Harry feels that way about Tottenham… he doesn’t need the money. If he says ‘look, I want to be a Tottenham legend, I want to have a statue of myself outside Spurs, that’s how I feel about Spurs’, or he might feel, ‘I want to try something different, I want to try abroad, I want to try a bigger club than Spurs, a Man City or a Man United’, that’s entirely down to him.

“Very few players get that choice of whether they want to stay and be a legend or whether they want to go and do something else. He’s that good, he can decide himself, it’s entirely down to Harry.”

Indeed, Spurs do have the chance of winning trophies this season.

They remain in the Europa League, where they will play Dinamo Zagreb in the last-16, and are in the Carabao Cup final too, as a meeting with Manchester City looms.

And Lee believes that Jose Mourinho could be just the man to give Kane the medals he deserves.

He added: “If he wanted silverware, he’d probably have to leave Spurs, but Mourinho always seems to win stuff. Whether you like the way he plays or whether you don’t, he always seems to win stuff.”

According to Sport BILD, Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho hopes to beat a number of European rivals to sign Marcel Sabitzer from RB Leipzig.

What’s the word?

The 26-year-old is expected to leave RB Leipzig in the summer and has attracted plenty of interest from the Premier League.

Leipzig sporting director Markus Krosche recently said: “He has made a great development. It goes without saying that other clubs also notice this.

“I don’t like singling out anyone individually. But Marcel Sabitzer has really developed well.

“I also deal with him outside of the field. He accepts the role of captain extremely well and has matured even further as an individual.”

Several English clubs have watched Sabitzer, 26, including bitter rivals Arsenal.

But Spurs boss Mourinho is reportedly in pole position to win the race for his services and he may be able to offer the midfielder Europa League, or even Champions League football, next season.

Get it done

They may be braced for disappointment, however, as there remains a lot of work for Daniel Levy to do between now and the end of the season, even though the player has previously suggested that he would like to play in the Premier League.

Spurs’ interest in Sabitzer is one of the worst-kept secrets in football, and the fierce speculation linking him to a move away from Leipzig has previously been addressed by the Austrian himself.

“I have been able to play in England a few times, including with the national team. I was thrilled by the atmosphere in the stadium. How the spectators read the game and celebrate the individual scenes, the fans really know about football.

“There was sometimes a tackle celebrated, sometimes a diagonal ball. I like to watch the Premier League and imagine that playing there is fun.”

Sabitzer has scored six goals, and recorded the same number of assists, across his 27 appearances in all competitions this season.

The Leipzig midfield dynamo has averaged an impressive 1.8 shots and 1.1 key passes per game in the Bundesliga, which ranks him favourably when you compare him to Mourinho’s current options in the Premier League. Of them all, only Erik Lamela comes close to matching his efforts with 1.1 shots per 90, while only Son Heung-min betters his key passing ratio out of the entire Spurs squad.

Former Leipzig coach Ralf Rangnick has hailed Sabitzer’s development as a “leader” as truly “remarkable.”

Spurs have often been criticised for having a soft underbelly but his fine positional sense of awareness means Sabitzer boasts a WhoScored strength of ‘defensive contribution’ to go with his strong ability to hold onto the ball, which could help address this issue.

With his wide range of passes, coupled with his defensive strengths, and his versatility being an added bonus, he seems exactly like the type of player who Mourinho would absolutely love to get his hands on.

Mourinho, therefore, must push Levy to sanction a swoop for Sabitzer in the summer. It’s too good an opportunity to miss.

AND in other news, Giovani Lo Celso injury blow confirmed by Jose Mourinho before West Ham clash…

Manchester City have been linked with a move for Atalanta left-back Robin Gosens recently and, if he were to join Pep Guardiola’s side in the summer, he could be the ideal successor to Benjamin Mendy.

According to Italian journalist Marco Conterio, Atalanta are certain that the German will leave the club this summer, with Manchester City interested in bringing him in.

He also suggests that it will cost the Citizens around €40m (£34.4m) to bring him to the Etihad Stadium ahead of next season.

If Gosens were to join, you imagine that he would challenge Oleksandr Zinchenko for the starting spot at left-back, with the Ukrainian having worked hard to establish himself as a regular there this season, despite suggestions that he was likely to leave during recent transfer windows.

Although the 24-year-old does a solid job in that position, he doesn’t offer too much going forward, as he has no goals or assists in 18 appearances for the Citizens so far this season.

Gosens, meanwhile, has registered a superb nine goals and four assists in 21 Serie A appearances for Atalanta, which has seen him average a superb 7.46 WhoScored rating.

Mendy’s injury issues have meant that City haven’t had a regular at left-back since the days of Gael Clichy and Alexander Kolarov, as the Frenchman has spent the majority of his time with the club on the sidelines.

However, he did show glimpses of how dangerous City can be with an attack-minded left-back, as he contributed five assists in 10 games in the 2018/19 season, resulting in a superb 7.29 WhoScored average rating.

City’s tactics this season have regularly seen Joao Cancelo move into midfield from right-back or left-back, which suggests that Gosens could be an ideal candidate to do this in Guardiola’s side, as the 26-year-old has regularly played in midfield during his time with Atalanta.

He would also be a more natural option in that position than both Cancelo and Zinchenko, so sporting director Txiki Begiristain should definitely look at bringing him to the Etihad this summer, as he could be a superb addition to Guardiola’s side and an excellent replacement for Mendy.

And, in other news… City signing 20 y/o “beast” could force Txiki’s hand with club legend

David Moyes can hand Ryan Fredericks a fresh lease of life at West Ham United after the defender produced an impressive performance in midfield against Aston Villa.

The ex-Fulham right-back was drafted in to help provide Vladimir Coufal with additional cover against Jack Grealish, with Aston Villa’s £100m talisman once again thriving in the Premier League this season.

No player in the division has created as many goalscoring opportunities than Grealish (72), while only Manchester United’s much-admired Bruno Fernandes (15) has carved out a greater volume of clear-cut chances than the England international (14), per SofaScore.

Villa’s performance was ultimately a one-man show through Grealish on Wednesday, who saw a lot of the ball to take his tally for key passes to 72 for the season with four on the night – no player for either side created as many, per WhoScored.

Yet Fredericks and Coufal doubled up to force Grealish in off the left-flank frequently and into the congested engine room, to see that the Villa skipper was far from at his usual high standards.

The pair were never likely to silence the 25-year-old for the full 90 minutes, with Harry Kane the only player across the Premier League with more assists than Grealish and Manchester City £108m-rated maestro Kevin de Bruyne (10).

Yet Moyes ought to be more than happy with Fredericks’ efforts, having done exactly what the Irons boss will have asked of him by putting pressure on Grealish and providing Coufal with cover.

But Fredericks could see his time in midfield deliver the £3.5m-rated outcast a new lease of life at West Ham, as he coupled his defensive efforts with a real threat going forward thanks to his pace.

Moyes had only started Fredericks in one Premier League fixture since September before unleashing the 28-year-old on Aston Villa, having seen Coufal come in after a £5.5m summer transfer from Slavia Prague and dominate the right-back position in east London.

Despite it not being his natural position, Fredericks looked at home in the advanced role on the right-flank, completing 18 of his passes and providing two key balls – only Moyes’ unsung hero Said Benrahma (3) recorded more for the Hammers, per WhoScored.

Jarrod Bowen, who usually starts at right-midfield for the Irons, averages 0.9 key passes a game in the top-flight, and delivers fewer accurate crosses (1.1 from 4.2) than Fredericks provided at Villa Park (3 from 4). The rarely-seen defender further offered as many successful dribbles (1) as his £96,000-per-week teammate averages a game (1.1).

So, given Moyes’ preference to play Coufal at full-back over the Manuel Pellegrini signing, Fredericks could find life in midfield after his fresh West Ham start, having remained at the London Stadium following an uncertain January transfer window.

AND in other news, West Ham eye future swoop for prolific £30m striker with “absolutely superb” movement…

Chelsea have sacked club legend Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge following a mixed bag of results. His final game was the Sunday’s fourth-round win over Luton in the FA Cup.

Roman Abramovich has never been one for hanging around as former Paris St-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel has been named as Lampard’s immediate successor and he will be in charge when they play host to Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Here at Football FanCast, here’s what we think the starting XI will look like for the big game.

We’re backing Edouard Mendy to keep his place in goal for the Blues this evening, having played most Premier League games this season.

In terms of defence, things look rather straightforward, with much of Lampard’s former side remaining intact. Tuchel will most likely stick with the tried-and-tested partnership of Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva, who played under the German at Paris Saint-Germain.

Reece James will probably keep his place at right-back while Cesar Azpilicueta will be forced to settle for a place on the bench, and Ben Chilwell will almost certainly replace Emerson Palmieri at left-back.

The new coach knows he needs to get Timo Werner and Kai Havertz firing again, with the dup having initially struggled for form since the start of this season, which partly led to Lampard’s sacking.

Using Havertz as a No.10 makes most sense, so he’ll probably resort to using Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic as the holding midfielders whilst N’Golo Kante recovers from injury.

Out wide, the options pretty much pick themselves, as Tuchel is set for a reunion with his former charge Christian Pulisic, with Callum Hudson-Odoi on the opposite flank. Don’t be surprised to see Hakim Ziyech feature at some point in the second half, though.

Whilst Aston Villa might have found a superb new striker in Ollie Watkins, bringing in Callum Wilson too could have been the icing on the cake.

Dean Smith’s side have enjoyed a fine start to the new Premier League season, lying just six points behind fourth-placed Leicester and with a couple of games in hand too.

And one of the key reasons behind that has been Watkins’ start to life at Villa Park. He’s bagged eight goals in 12 games, including netting a hat-trick in the 7-2 thrashing of Liverpool, and scoring a brace in a 3-0 win at Arsenal too.

But imagine the kind of firepower Villa could have at the top of the pitch had they also managed to land Wilson, who reports suggested the club were looking to sign back in September. The England international ended up joining Newcastle from relegated Bournemouth for a fee of around £20m, and he like Watkins, has been in inspired form this season.

Described as a “natural goal-scorer” by Premier League legend Les Ferdinand, Wilson has scored seven times in just nine top-flight games, and those goals haven’t been ‘token’ strikes either.

He scored the equaliser against Tottenham, scored a decisive brace in a 3-1 win over Burnley, bagged both goals in the 2-1 victory over Everton, and had a hand in both of Newcastle’s goals in a 2-0 triumph against Crystal Palace.

Whilst Smith has opted to go with a 4-2-3-1 this season, the arrival of Wilson could potentially have seen him unleash an unstoppable strike force harking back to the old days of the Premier League.

Goals win you games after all. And Villa would have had two strikers who could guarantee you it.

Meanwhile, Villa made a criminal blunder with this former starlet’s career.

According to Football Insider, Aston Villa are prepared to send Frederic Guilbert out on loan in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Frenchman has been out-of-favour this season at Villa Park, with the arrival of Matty Cash in the summer from Nottingham Forest further sending him down the pecking order.

It’s meant that Guilbert has yet to play a single minute in the Premier League, with his only competitive appearances for the club coming in the EFL Cup.

Despite the lack of first-team action, Football Insider claim that Villa are not prepared to sell him on a permanent basis either in January or in the summer, and are instead keen on loaning him so he can get some first-team football before returning to compete for a starting spot next season.

Sawiris & Edens will be fuming

Just what must the Villa owners be thinking?

Guilbert is about as out of the picture as you can get at a football club, and it’s quite telling that a 33-year-old Ahmed Elmohamady was keeping him out of a place in the match-day squad let alone in the starting eleven.

Cash’s arrival from Forest has given Villa a full-back that could well hold down his position for the next few years to come, so it’s difficult to see where Guilbert fits into the picture, other than as a potential fall-back if he gets injured.

But even then, Elmohamady seems to be the man Dean Smith is keen to rely upon. Earning around £40k-a-week, Guilbert is just a drain on the wages at Villa Park, and the sooner they permanently get rid of him the better.

Johan Lange is making an inexcusable blunder by refusing to make a ruthless call.

After all the contract uncertainty that surrounded Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s future last season, Arsenal’s talisman eventually ‘signed the ting’.

The Gabon international had come off his most influential campaign in a Gunners shirt since arriving from Borussia Dortmund a couple of years ago, scoring braces in both the FA Cup semi-final and final, and lifting the trophy as captain. Not to mention that he would also notch in the north London side’s Community Shield triumph too.

So when he put pen to paper on a new three-year deal at the club, things were beginning to look up for Arsenal. But fast forward a couple of months, and Aubameyang is in the midst of his most ineffective spell for the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta’s continued use of him out on the left wing hasn’t worked out as it did last season, whilst on the rare occasion he has been deployed through the middle, like against Leeds United on Sunday, he failed miserably too.

All in all, he has managed just four goals in 11 games, and only two in nine in the Premier League. In fact, with him netting from the spot in the win over Manchester United, Aubameyang hasn’t scored from open play in the top-flight since he bagged against Fulham on the opening day.

Whilst Arteta’s structured tactics and focus on shape and patterns may have curbed the Gabonese star’s natural attacking instincts, Aubameyang himself must shoulder some of the responsibility for his poor form.

He has been guilty of either disappearing in games, or missing chances that he normally would have gobbled up. And even though it’s such a simple thing to throw at a player, he just hasn’t been himself since signing his new contract. Former Premier League striker Darren Bent admitted that the Gunners talisman has seen a “massive drop-off” in his performances.

Arsenal of course have already experienced something similar with Mesut Ozil. The gifted play-maker was outstanding in the months building up to signing his bumper new deal in 2018, and has since fallen so far out of the reckoning, that he didn’t even make the Premier League squad for the Gunners.

Whether it’s potentially giving Aubameyang a complete rest to allow him to recharge his batteries, or maybe dropping him to the bench and seeing if he can take advantage of a tiring defence and getting his confidence back with a goal in that way, Arsenal must make a decisive call on the £45m-rated star.