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Aston Villa will consider loaning out exciting 18-year-old Aaron Ramsey in January, according to The Athletic’s Gregg Evans. 

The lowdown

Two developments this week underlined Ramsey’s potential. First, he was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for August, having netted two goals in their first three matches (via avfc.co.uk).

He has now been directly involved in 18 goals (scoring 12 and setting up six) in just 24 appearances for Mark Delaney’s youth side (via Transfermarkt).

He then earned a call-up to the England under-21 squad, jumping up from the under-19s following injuries to Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott and Tottenham Hotspur’s Ryan Sessegnon.

The latest

According to Evans for The Athletic, Villa thought about loaning Ramsey out during the summer window, but with some ‘key senior players’ either injured or ill, they decided against such a move. However, the possibility is expected to be revisited during the next transfer window.

Villa are ‘carefully mapping out a pathway’ to the first team for the attacking midfielder, who has been ‘highly thought of for years’.

The verdict

Ramsey is a serious talent, and his record at under-23 level suggests that he’s more than ready to make the step-up to the men’s game.

You’d imagine that he’ll be sent to the Championship, but it’s about finding the right team, the right manager and the right style of play to ensure that it’s a productive loan spell.

Look at Elliott, whose injury led to Ramsey’s England promotion. He has now made his breakthrough at Liverpool after a move to Blackburn Rovers last season proved to be a perfect fit, making 18 goal contributions in 42 appearances at Ewood Park. His is an obvious case study for the Villa starlet to try and emulate if he is loaned out in the winter.

In other news, many Villa fans were left fuming by this news.

Selling key players at the right time for the right price is a fundamental part of life as a mid-table Premier League club aspiring to climb up the standings.

The likes of Leicester City have continually punched above their weight after becoming masters at doing just that, but others have only been able to do so on a handful of occasions.

Crystal Palace are one of those. The Eagles have offloaded a few gems during their nine-season stay in England’s top-flight, with the club receiving a record fee for academy graduate Aaron Wan-Bissaka when he joined Manchester United for £50m back in 2019.

However, it’s another high-profile departure who has really helped to earn Selhurst Park chairman Steve Parish a reputation as a smooth operator in the transfer market.

Five years ago, Palace received a whopping £26m fee from Premier League rivals Everton for skillful winger Yannick Bolasie.

Although the Democratic Republic of Congo international showed flashes of brilliance – especially during 2014/15 as he provided 11 Premier League assists – and had the potential to become a more efficient forward, he had only scored 13 goals in 144 appearances for Palace prior to his sale.

The now 32-year-old made a fast start to life on Merseyside, scoring one goal and laying on four assists for his teammates in his first 15 outings for the Toffees in all competitions.

However, he then suffered a devastating cruciate ligament injury which heavily impacted the future fortunes of his career. Bolasie only scored once more for Everton before embarking on a series of loan spells with varying degrees of success.

Short-term stints at the likes of Sporting Lisbon, Middlesbrough and Anderlecht failed to reignite his career, and he’s now plying his trade with Turkish outfit Caykur Rizespor.

Bolasie’s dramatic drop-off in form and fitness struggles have seen his market value plummet to just £1.35m, proving that Parish was right to cash in on the attacker when he did.

In other news… Parish made big Palace mistake over £6.3m-rated wizard, he’s excelling this season 

Luke Ayling and Robin Koch are both still absent for Leeds United through injury, with journalist Phil Hay providing an update on the pair.

The Lowdown: Leeds set for Saints trip

The Whites return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon, making the trip south to face Southampton at St Mary’s.

Leeds won 1-0 at home to Watford in their last outing and three more points this weekend would further suggest that Marcelo Bielsa’s men have turned a corner after a disappointing start to the season.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375277″]

The Latest: More trouble…

Patrick Bamford is out, and two more players who won’t be available for the game are Ayling and Koch, with a further update revealing the latter actually needs surgery as well.

Hay confirmed as much on Twitter on Thursday, but did also say that Adam Forshaw and Crysencio Summerville are in contention:

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-news-20/” title=”Latest Leeds United news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Big blow

It is a big blow not having Ayling and Koch available, but it does at least give Jamie Shackleton another chance to impress in the former’s absence.

The 22-year-old played all 90 minutes in the aforementioned win over Watford, while Diego Llorente and Liam Cooper should continue at centre-back.

That said, the Whites’ troubling start to the season was largely down to injuries disrupting the squad, so the news that Koch and Ayling have both required surgery is certainly not what Bielsa would have wanted.

In other news, Leeds have been linked with a move for a defender – find out who it is here.

With Mark Warburton having seen his Queens Park Rangers side get their Championship campaign off to a very impressive start, the 58-year-old manager has now been presented with the opportunity to try out a few of his first-team fringe players, as well as a number of the club’s up and coming starlets, in the Carabao Cup second-round clash against Oxford United on Tuesday evening.

Indeed, two wins and two draws over the Rs’ opening four fixtures of the Championship season have left the club sitting in fifth place in the second tier table, while a penalty shootout victory over Leyton Orient in the first round of the EFL Cup has set up the second-round tie against the U’s.

And, while a win against the League One side will undoubtedly be the aim of the QPR boss, the fixture, nevertheless, provides Warburton with the opportunity to field some of the club’s lesser-seen gems – one of whom is summer signing, Jimmy Dunne.

Indeed, following his move from Burnley to west London back in July, the centre-back has made two Championship appearances for the Rs, both of which came from the bench, with the 23-year-old spending an average of 30 minutes on the pitch over these fixtures.

However, considering how impressive the centre-back’s performances were over his three Premier League appearances for Burnley last season, over which the £540k-rated defender made an average of two interceptions, one tackle, 5.3 clearances and won a whopping 10 duels per game, it would very much appear as if the Republic of Ireland U21 international is more than capable of doing a job for QPR from the off.

Indeed, his returns for the Clarets last term saw the £3.1k-per-week man earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.10, enough to rank him as Sean Dyche’s best performer in the top flight – although, admittedly, this was achieved with a limited sample size of games.

Nevertheless, it would appear to be a very wise move indeed for Warburton to select the man the QPR manager himself dubbed a “talented” player in his starting XI to face Oxford on Tuesday evening, as a solid performance could well see the 23-year-old keep his place in the Rs team heading into their Championship clash with Coventry City this weekend.

In other news: QPR development confirmed on “excellent” £270k-rated gem, Warburton will be delighted

Former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer can still see Dan James leaving Manchester United this summer despite Marcus Rashford undergoing surgery on his shoulder.

The England forward is now set for a spell on the sidelines, meaning Ole Gunnar Solskjaer may need James to play a bigger role at the start of the season.

James is the subject of long-term interest from Leeds, with The Athletic’s Phil Hay claiming that Marcelo Bielsa tried to bring him to Elland Road before the capture of Raphinha.

The Argentine is said to still have an interest in the player, and Palmer is refusing to rule out a transfer to Leeds this summer.

Asked by FFC if Rashford’s shoulder surgery had scuppered the Whites’ chances of landing James in this transfer window, the retired England international said:

“I don’t think so. I don’t think it’s a problem for him to let him go. He’s made a lot of signings this summer, so he’s been pushed down the pecking order.

“I did my shoulder on the last day of the season, dislocated. I had it pinned and I was back for the first game of the season, so I don’t think Rashford is going to be out for months and months on end.”

It remains to be seen whether Leeds’ interest materialises into anything in this transfer window. But if they got James, they would obviously be signing a winger who would bring so much pace to the side.

“I’d put myself top,” the Wales international said earlier this year when discussing who the fastest player at Old Trafford is.

A report from Italian newspaper Il Messaggero (via Sport Witness) has expressed confidence that Newcastle United will seal a near-€40million (£33.8million) deal for Boubacar Kamara.

The lowdown

21 year-old Kamara plays for Ligue 1 outfit Marseille and can operate as a centre-back, left-back and a defensive midfielder.

He made 35 league appearances last season, averaging 2.5 tackles, 1.9 successful aerial duels and three accurate long balls per 90 minutes (via WhoScored).

One of his former team-mates, Rolando, has labelled him a ‘phenomenon’ who will become a long-term fixture of the France national side.

On Monday, Shields Gazette journalist Liam Kennedy predicted that Newcastle would look to sign another central defender before the end of the window.

The latest

The report states that Marseille will be able to use the proceeds of Kamara’s big-money sale to Newcastle to fund a move for Lazio’s Gonzalo Escalante.

The youngster has entered the final year of his contract at the Stade Velodrome and played the full 90 minutes last weekend as his side came from two goals down to beat Montpellier 3-2.

The verdict

There’s no doubt this would be a magnificent signing for Newcastle, but it would also come as a pretty huge surprise.

As football finance expert Kieran Maguire explains, Mike Ashley is looking to ‘sell his house’ and appears to have little interest in ‘doing up the kitchen first’.

Newcastle could be about to invest more than £20million in the signing of Joe Willock. Surely Ashley won’t sanction a £33.8million swoop for Kamara as well?

In other news, Mark Douglas issued this prediction after the Willock fee was agreed.

Aston Villa were drawn against Chelsea in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening.

And a number of Villa supporters were quick to give their thoughts to the news on social media.

Dean Smith’s side brushed away League Two side Barrow on Tuesday, with youngster Cameron Archer scoring a hat-trick on his first start for the club.

Anwar El Ghazi netted a brace and Frederic Guilbert also netted in a 6-0 win, with the reward a trip to take on Thomas Tuchel’s side in the last 32.

Villa took four points off the Champions League winners last season, with their last visit to Stamford Bridge ending in a 1-1 draw.

The tie is scheduled to take place the week commencing September 20th, either side of games with Everton and Manchester United.

Villa fans react

Villa shared the news of the draw on their official Twitter page. This is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with one describing it as ‘awful’.

“Spain without the S”

Credit: @TheAydenMurphy

“awful draw”

Credit: @avfcdom2

“sos send help”

Credit: @victoriaabigail

“Dear god”

Credit: @iLukaMagic

“Cheers sons crying nice one”

Credit: @AstonVillanB6

“Pain.”

Credit: @aaronavfc4

“Was nice while it lasted”

Credit: @mat_stringer

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Come on’, ‘Pay it’ – Many AVFC fans flock to Fabrizio Romano’s transfer news. 

Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles will not start ahead of the likes of Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi at the King Power, former Leicester City defender Steve Howey has told The Transfer Tavern.

After a loan spell with West Brom last season, Maitland-Niles could again be heading for the Emirates exit door.

According to The Sun, Leicester, Southampton and Burnley are all interested in signing the 23-year-old in this transfer window.

Out of the Premier League trio, Leicester look like the most attractive destination, with the Foxes playing in Europe and proving they can compete for trophies following their FA Cup triumph back in May.

Howey has warned, though, that Maitland-Niles will struggle for game time at the King Power if he is looking to play in midfield.

“I mean, he obviously started off at Arsenal as kind of a full-back,” the ex-Leicester man said. “Big Sam brought him in at West Brom; ultimately, it didn’t pay off because they got relegated.

“I think he’s a decent player, but he’s not getting ahead of Ndidi and Tielemans.”

Tielemans and Ndidi, when fit, were two of Leicester’s best players last season. Only James Maddison produced more key passes per league game than Tielemans, while no one in Brendan Rodgers’ squad managed to win more tackles on average than Ndidi (via WhoScored).

Taking that into account, it is hard to see where Maitland-Niles would fit if he does want a regular midfield role.

Fulham look on course to secure a deal that would bring Ethan Horvath to Craven Cottage this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook, who revealed in a post on Twitter that Marco Silva’s side look to have won the race for the former Club Brugge KV goalkeeper.

Crook goes on to state that Tottenham Hotspur, as well as a host of Championship clubs, had been linked with a move for the USA international this summer, however, the 26-year-old now looks set to join the Coattgers in the coming days.

Silva will be buzzing

Aside from Fulham appearing to have pipped Spurs to the signing of Horvath, the fact that the club look on course to land a ‘keeper who has highly impressed during his time in Belgium, both domestically and in European competition, is sure to have left Silva buzzing.

Arguably the American’s best season for Brugge came back in 2018/19, with the £1.08m-rated man keeping 11 clean sheets and conceding 30 goals over his 28 Jupiler Pro League appearances, playing a key role in helping his side secure a second-place finish in the top flight of Belgian football.

The man Edwin van der Sar dubbed an “ambitious” player also impressed over his three appearances in the Champions League that year, making an average of 3.7 saves per game and keeping three clean sheets in the competition, seeing him earn an average WhoScored match rating of 7.34.

As such, with a wealth of both top flight and European experience behind him, the £6.3k-per-week 26-year-old would very much appear to make an impressive addition to Silva’s options between the sticks at Craven Cottage next season.

And, with it being reported that the Portuguese manager looks set to offload the £45k-per-week Fabricio Agosto this summer, bringing in Horvath as his replacement would be the holy trinity. He’s an upgrade on the ability of Fabri, a much cheaper option than the Spaniard and a player with a far greater resale value than the veteran shot-stopper.

In other news: Fulham dealt transfer blow over “quality” £6.3m-rated dynamo, Silva will be gutted

Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane is attracting interest from both Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion as he enters the final 12 months of his contract in the Midlands, according to The Athletic.

Spending the second half of the 2020/21 campaign on loan at Swansea City, the Republic of Ireland international registered seven goal contributions in 24 appearances, with five goals and two assists for Steve Cooper’s side [Transfermarkt].

He could now be set for a further loan spell at either Bramall Lane or The Hawthorns, with The Athletic claiming that the relegated duo have taken an interest in him.

Villa have not yet made their demands known for the 30-year-old, with many Championship clubs struggling for funds this summer, but he is seen as an attractive proposition for the Blades and the Baggies due to his previous promotion experience with Villa in 2018/19 [The Athletic].

In light of this news, plenty of Aston Villa diehards took to Twitter to express their opinion on these latest developments surrounding Hourihane, who struggled for Premier League game-time in the opening months of last season.

Aston Villa fans react:

Replying to popular Aston Villa fan outlet @villareport, here is how some fans summarised their opinions on a potential exit for the Irish midfielder. Many were clamouring for him to be included in a potential swap deal with either Sander Berge or Matheus Pereira, both of whom have been strongly linked with Premier League clubs this summer:

“Would be a good move for him tbh, can’t see him getting much game time with us this season”

Credit: @GW_94″Conor+money for either Berge or Pereira”Credit: @tom_avfc1″If he’s leaving to them, include a swap deal for Berge or Pereira. Conor has provided special moments for us, he’ll leave highly regarded. One of my favourite players of the previous few years”Credit: @AdamLeen4″If West Brom gives us Pereira for Hourihane or similar with Sheff Utd for Berge, then good deal”Credit: @MilanRnic1″Swap deal for Berge or Pereira? Yes please”Credit: @ViIlaI_”Get him gaaaarrnnnnn”Credit: @OllyAVFC_In other news, many Aston Villa fans react to comments on this transfer target.