Football transfer news

Brighton & Hove Albion are aiming to extend their five-game winning streak on Saturday when they host Fulham in the Premier League.

The Seagulls have responded admirably to their 7-0 thrashing at Nottingham Forest and have gone an impressive run of victories, including FA Cup triumphs over Chelsea and Newcastle United that have booked their place in the last eight of the competition.

Three of said triumphs have come on home soil but Brighton have actually struggled at the Amex Stadium this term. They have accumulated more points on the road in the Premier League, something Fulham will be aiming to exploit this weekend.

The Cottagers will be floating on cloud nine after grabbing their ticket to the FA Cup quarter-finals last weekend, beating struggling Manchester United on penalties at Old Trafford. Fulham have also managed more away points than home in the Premier League this term and can leapfrog Brighton in the standings with victory on the south coast.

Here is 90min’s guide to an intriguing clash.

Brighton vs Fulham head-to-head record (last five games)

Current form (all competitions)

Brighton have been sweating over the fitness of Kaoru Mitoma after the winger appeared to suffer a knee injury in last weekend’s FA Cup win over Newcastle. However, Fabian Hurzeler has confirmed he was merely suffering with cramp and will therefore be available on Saturday.

The Seagulls are certain to be without Tariq Lamptey, though. The defender was sent off in the FA Cup last Sunday, with his suspension carrying over to the Premier League.

Lamptey’s ban adds to Brighton’s defensive absentees, with Jason Steele, Lewis Dunk, Igor and Ferdi Kadioglu all guaranteed to miss out. Joel Veltman is a major doubt having been injured for the last three outings.

James Milner continues his recovery from a long-term hamstring injury that has ruled him out since August.

Brighton predicted lineup vs Fulham (4-2-3-1): Verbruggen; Hinshelwood, Van Hecke, Webster, Estupinan; Baleba, Gomez; Minteh, Rutter, Mitoma; Pedro.

Sasa Lukic has rather impressively accumulated ten yellow cards this season and will miss the next two Premier League matches as a result. Andreas Pereira could drop into a deeper role alongside Sander Berge to cover him, or Harrison Reed could come into the lineup.

Adama Traore is doubtful to feature at the Amex Stadium after twisting his ankle in last weekend’s win at Old Trafford. The Spaniard will be assessed closer to kick off and could be replaced by Willian if deemed unfit.

Harry Wilson would have ordinarily stepped in for Traore but the Wales international is currently sidelined, joining Kenny Tete and Reiss Nelson in the treatment room.

Fulham predicted lineup vs Brighton (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Bassey, Robinson; Pereira, Berge; Willian, Smith Rowe, Iwobi; Muniz.

Brighton have an awful recent record against the Cottagers, failing to win any of their last ten meetings and losing four of the last five – including a 3-1 defeat earlier this term.

However, they are full of confidence right now and will want to continue their purple patch against tricky opposition. They have been eye-catching going forward in recent matches, even if their threadbare defence has been less assured.

Fulham have been strong travellers this term and will also be full of belief after last weekend’s win at Old Trafford. The Cottagers rarely fail to find the net, but clean sheets have been hard to come by, with none in their last seven outings.

Prediction: Brighton 2-2 Fulham

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90min rounds up the latest transfer news, rumours and gossip circulating around the world…

In their continued search for a striker, Manchester United have surprisingly singled out Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta as a prime candidate. (The Sun)

Chelsea are willing to do “whatever it takes” to sign Bayer Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface despite competition from Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle. (CaughtOffside)

Incoming sporting director Andrea Berti has already identified Inter’s Lautaro Martinez as Arsenal‘s leading summer striker target. (Football Insider)

In the event that a deal for Lautaro cannot be struck, Arsenal are preparing a formal offer in the region of €30m (£25m) for Juventus striker Dusan Vlahovic. (TuttoJuve – Italy)

Manchester City face competition from Liverpool and Manchester United in the race to sign Atalanta’s highly rated midfielder Ederson this summer. (CaughtOffside)

Paris Saint-Germain have tabled a surprise offer of between €20-25m for Atletico Madrid‘s star forward Antoine Griezmann. (Fichajes – Spain)

Barcelona sporting director Deco is said to “prefer” Atalanta’s Ademola Lookman over Milan star forward Rafael Leao. (El Nacional – Spain)

Multiple Saudi Pro League clubs have shown a willingness to offer as much as €100m in a bid to sign Barcelona forward Raphinha. (El Nacional – Spain)

Manchester City have lined up Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga as the “ideal successor” to Bernardo Silva this summer. (Football Transfers)

Pep Guardiola is also keep on signing Aston Villa’s Jacob Ramsey. City would have to pay more than £50m for the English midfielder. (TBR Football)

Arsenal‘s pursuit of Real Sociedad midfielder Martin Zubimendi has been boosted by Manchester United‘s decision to step away from the negotiating table. (TeamTalk)

Harvey Elliott is said to be “unhappy” with his limited playing time at Liverpool. The club could be willing to loan the midfielder out next season but are reluctant to let him leave permanently. (Football Insider)

Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin has piqued the interest of Manchester City, who are planning for life after Ederson. Lille’s Lucas Chevalier and Zion Suzuki of Parma are also under consideration. (TBR Football)

City would have to outwit Barcelona if they are to pursue Chevalier, with the Catalan giants also looking for a long-term successor between the posts. (Fichajes – Spain)

If Barcelona don’t followthrough on their interest in Neymar, Galatasaray are willing to offer the Brazilian a route back into Europe. (El Nacional – Spain)

Southampton are demanding £20m for their centre-back Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who has attracted admiring glances from West Ham and Crystal Palace despite lining up for a side with the worst defensive record in Europe’s top five league. (Football Insider)

READ THE TRANSFER RUMOURS OF THE PAST FEW DAYS HERE

Real Betis winger Jesus Rodriguez has attracted transfer interest from Chelsea and Liverpool, according to a report.

Alongside the surprisingly swift adaptation of Manchester United loanee Antony, the fleet-footed 19-year-old has been a bright spark in a largely underwhelming season for Betis. The Seville-born forward made his senior debut last Halloween, teeing up a goal in a Copa del Rey rout of non-league CD Gevora within 20 minutes of his arrival. Rodriguez’s rise over the subsequent four months has been scary.

Manuel Pellegrini has trusted the teenager to start Betis’ last seven La Liga matches, watching his prodigious forward score his first goal for the club against Alaves and win the penalty which Isco converted in a deserved victory over Real Madrid last weekend.

Rodriguez’s old school approach of taking on his man at each and every opportunity has prompted admiring glances from Chelsea and Liverpool, according to the Daily Mail. The teen extended his contract as recently as September, putting pen to paper on a five-year deal which includes a €50m (£42m) release clause.

When asked about his future in an interview with El Desmarque earlier this year, Rodriguez warned: “Right now I feel like I’m doing well at the club, I have a contract until 2029 and I hope it’s many more years. I’m happy here at Betis, I’m working day by day and whatever has to happen, happens. While I’m here I’ll give everything for the team.”

It took three trials for Betis to spot Rodriguez’s innate footballing gifts, eventually ushering him into the club’s youth team in the summer of 2021. The deceptively tall, right-footed winger caught Pellegrini’s eye with his persistent wriggling on the ball. As Rodriguez himself noted, the two qualities which characterise his strengths are “dribbling and speed”.

“If I go up to a team or go to another team I can’t lose that,” the Spain under-19 international insisted, “because at the end of the day it’s my identity. If I go to the first team and now I stop facing up or change my football, which is why I was promoted, at the end of the day I’m throwing dirt on myself. So I can’t stop doing those things to please other people.”

Rodriguez has emphatically stuck to his principles, attempting an outrageous 8.4 take-ons per 90 this season. Only one La Liga regular can better that staggering productivity; Barcelona’s 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal.

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Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is “hopeful” that Dominic Solanke will be available for Sunday’s Premier League clash against Bournemouth and had plenty more positive injury news to deliver ahead of a decisive week for the club.

Solanke limped off in the closing stages of Tottenham’s limp 1-0 loss to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday night. The club’s marquee summer arrival was making his first appearance in seven weeks after nursing a knee injury, yet lasted just 18 minutes before colliding with the Dutch goalkeeper Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro.

Postecoglou warned that it was “too early to tell” the extent of the damage sustained by his striker, but struck a positive tone when he added: “It is a knock so hopefully it will settle down pretty quickly.”

The Australian coach was uncharacteristically brimming with encouraging fitness news during his press conference ahead of Bournemouth’s visit on Sunday. “There is a chance” that defender Ben Davies plays some role in the league encounter after returning to training in recent weeks, the often gruff head coach beamed.

Even more crucially, the first-choice centre-back duo of Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven will “both be in line to feature” this weekend. The pairing is instrumental to the style of football Postecoglou strives for at Spurs, offering a unique blend of tactical awareness, aggression and raw pace which ensures that the team can play with a high defensive line.

Romero and Van de Ven have started and finished just 30 of Tottenham’s 65 Premier League games since the start of last season. Yet, with his first-choice partnership at the back, Postecoglou’s side concede an average of 1.4 goals compared to 1.7 and collect 1.8 points as opposed to 1.3 without the partnership in tact.

However, it hasn’t been all sunshine and light for Spurs on the injury front of late. Dejan Kulusevski picked up a foot problem earlier this week which ensures that it is “unlikely” he will feature again before April.

Tottenham not only face an upwardly mobile Bournemouth on Sunday but have a potentially season-defining Europa League tie against AZ next Thursday. If Spurs are unable to overturn the single-goal deficit when the Dutch side arrive in north London, Postecoglou will surely fail to fulfil his prediction of winning a trophy this season.

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Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor insists he and his players are only looking at their next game, despite an unprecedented sequence of four straight matches against all-conquering Chelsea.

This weekend, the Manchester club are in FA Cup quarter-final action against Aston Villa, with a place in next month’s semi-finals on the line. However, they go into Sunday’s clash on the back of a disappointing draw against West Ham in the WSL.

The Villa tie marks the beginning of a crucial few weeks for City as they are set to face rivals Chelsea in four consecutive matches across three different competitions in the space of 12 days. This unholy quirk of the calendar starts with next weekend’s League Cup final.

Despite the undoubtedly decisive nature of this month for City’s season, Taylor emphasised they are not looking beyond their next game and full focus is on their meeting with Villa. “For me, I think it’s really easy,” he told the media in a press conference on Friday. “As a head coach, we’re so focused on this [Sunday’s game].

“We know what an opportunity it is for us to be in the hat for the semi-finals. We’re not looking beyond this game at all.

“Managing this week has been one of the most challenging parts of the season as we’ve had two tough away games on difficult surfaces, and where we’ve not been able to play our strongest teams [due to fitness and availability]. We had one eye on this game as being the ideal scenario where we could try to be as strong as we possibly can. 

“I think, when you do that, it goes to show we’re not actually focusing on the cup final next week, or the Champions League after that. For us, it’s an easy one. For the players, it’s making sure they’re focused on the next game and the next challenge.”

Although Villa are in poor form, having lost their last two games against Everton and Leicester City, while they also sit just four points clear of the relegation zone in the WSL, Taylor is not underestimating Sunday’s opponent. This fixture has produced some memorable results over the years, including at this stage of the same competition in 2023 when Villa – then coached by Carla Ward – secured a narrow 2-1 win over City to reach the semi-finals.

“It’s a tie where the winner takes all and progresses into the semi-finals,” Taylor added. “We are completely aware of Villa’s threats and we need to make sure we’re focused both with and without the ball.

“Particularly when we’re attacking, I think that’s going to be the real moments. They’ve pretty much always been set up, with the pace they have up front, playing a counter-attacking game.

“We need to make sure we’re smart with that and control counter-attacks. Also when we have the ball around their area, for sure.”

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