After being relegated for the first time in 29 years, Aston Villa spent three years in England’s second tier before winning the Championship play-off against Derby County and booking their ticket to the Premier League. Eager to avoid the mistakes of 2015/16, Villa spent nearly £140 million on transfers as they looked to reinforce their…

The fact that Gabriel Martinelli is set to return from injury well ahead of schedule is no surprise to those who know the young Brazilian. The São Paulo-born forward has fought for everything he’s got in the game, working his way from amateur football in Brazil to the dizzying heights of the Premier League in…

Inside the Grote Kerk church in Haarlem lies one of the world’s most famous organs. It is renowned for its decoration and has been played through the centuries by celebrated musicians such as Mozart. This city in the western Netherlands has a history of producing works of art and, in Orkun Kökçü, looks to have…

One of the shining lights from England’s November Internationals was Jack Grealish’s prevalence as an important player for England manager Gareth Southgate. Previously, Grealish was very much on the fringes for the Three Lions after taking what felt like an eternity for him to get his first senior call-up.   Over the last few years,…

From Giovanni Reyna to Christian Pulisic to Weston McKennie to Tyler Adams, the United States currently boasts an unprecedented amount of young talents playing in Europe’s top 5 leagues, and it appears as though the next American prospect could be on the horizon. At 17 years of age, Yunus Musah finds himself entrenched in a…

When Filip Djuričić arrived at southern Italian club Benevento in January 2018, it seemed that his career was at the crossroads.   It wasn’t long ago that Djuričić was on the cusp of signing for Manchester United, only for work permit issues to scupper the deal as the young Serb would have been forced to…

International breaks can be a mundane experience for many fans who yearn for the return of club football and who dread the thought of one of their players picking up an injury while on national team duty. But for the players who make their international debuts, it’s nothing short of a dream come true.  …

Since taking charge in the summer of 2019, Marco Rose has taken Borussia Mönchengladbach to extraordinary heights, with the German club competing in the UEFA Champions League this season for the first time in four years.   Rose has implemented a system similar to that of his former manager at Mainz, Jürgen Klopp. Rose’s side…

“Show me who your holding midfielder is and I’ll tell you what kind of team you’ve got.” Those words of Juanma Lillo, who mentored Pep Guardiola during his time at Dorados de Sinaloa and who currently works as the Catalan’s assistant at Manchester City, still ring true today. The midfielder — be it a holding…

On October 2, 2020, Leicester City completed the purchase of Wesley Fofana from Saint-Étienne. In doing so, they filled a hole in their squad and concluded a transfer saga that had been brewing since Fofana gave a jaw-dropping interview with L’Équipe three weeks prior, claiming “I would be crazy to reject Leicester.”   Leicester City…