Man City 'close' to signing Bournemouth's Nathan Ake

Manchester City are close to agreeing a deal for Bournemouth centre-back Nathan Aké.

As per iSports football API, the 25-year-old is expected to becoming Pep Guardiola’s first signing of the summer transfer window, according to The Guardian.

Guardiola is believed to be keen on strengthening his defence after a poor showing this season, and has been linked with a move for Aké repeatedly in the past.

The report states that City will pay a fee in the region of £35m for the former Chelsea defender.

Bournemouth’s relegation to the Championship was all but sealed following the 2-0 defeat to Southampton on Sunday, and will now find it almost impossible to keep hold of the Dutch international, according to iSports API football data.

Aké arrived at the Vitality Stadium for £20m in 2017 and has made 121 appearances for Eddie Howe’s side.

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Barcelona offer Coutinho in swap deal for Guendouzi

FC Barcelona are offering Philippe Coutinho in a swap deal for Matteo Guendouzi, with both club hierarchies seemingly keen on the idea.

French outlet Foot Mercato claim Barcelona are discussing a swap deal with Arsenal between Philippe Coutinho and Matteo Guendouzi. The two clubs are talking about the deal ‘in a concrete way’, according to the report from iSports football API.

Coutinho is keen on a return to England, whilst Guendouzi is an outcast in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side. A mixture of off-field behavioural problems, the on-field incident with Neal Maupay and his inability to make amends leave him out of the squad completely.

Edu Gaspar is reportedly a big fan of Coutinho, and Arsenal established contact with his advisers over a move many months ago. Meanwhile, the Barcelona hierarchy are long-term admirers of Guendouzi, so it seems like a decent match.

Guendouzi himself is still unsure of his next step, and he’s prioritising the ‘sporting project’ of any potential new club.

Some Arsenal fans have already shown hesitance to the deal as well. The idea of losing a young talent for a player entering his prime may have short-term benefits, but it could also look like bad business a few years down the line.

According to iSports football API, Coutinho scored nine goals and assisted eight in 34 games this season. That’s certainly a big upgrade on any current Arsenal midfielder’s output. We know he can produce those kinds of numbers in the Premier League too.

For now, it’s just a rumour. Most of the recent reports lean more towards a loan move for Coutinho, if Arsenal even hold an interest at all. But it’s an interesting one to consider.

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Tammy Abraham has put contract talks with Chelsea on hold

Transfer expert Ian McGarry has claimed that Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham has put contract talks on hold, until he gets a clarity on his situation from manager Frank Lampard.

Abraham, a product of the Chelsea youth academy, has had to wait for long to break into the first-team. As per iSports football API, after several loan spells away at Bristol City, Swansea City and Aston Villa, the Englishman got his big break in 2019/20.

And he grasped it with both hands, establishing himself as the club’s lead striker in the first half of the season. However, injuries and dip in form since the turn of the year have seen Abraham lose his starting spot to Olivier Giroud.



With the Frenchman signing a new one-year contract and Chelsea also recruiting Timo Werner from RB Leipzig, Abraham now finds himself questioning his standing at the club. And, as a result, he has put contract talks on hold, claims McGarry.

Although Abraham activated an extra year on his current five-year deal owing to appearances and goals scored recently, this is certainly an interesting development, as per iSports API football data.

Given Giroud’s current form, he deserves to be in the starting XI. And when Werner arrives, he is going to assume the first-choice role. So, how Lampard handes the Abraham situation remains to be seen.

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Watford sack Nigel Pearson with only two PL games remaining

Watford have taken the remarkable decision to sack Nigel Pearson with just two games of the Premier League season to go, as per iSports API football data.

A statement from the Vicarage Road club said: “Watford FC confirms that Nigel Pearson has left the club with immediate effect.

“Hayden Mullins, with Graham Stack as his assistant, will take up the position of interim head coach for the Hornets’ final two Premier League fixtures of the 2019/20 season.”

Pearson replaced Quique Sanchez Flores in December – who had in turn replaced Javi Gracia a few months earlier – and had revived their season after a dreadful start.

But now, with the club three points above the relegation zone with a pair of games remaining, the board have parted ways with Pearson.

According to iSports football API, the former Leicester manager’s last game in charge was Friday’s 3-1 defeat to West Ham.

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AS Monaco appoint Niko Kovac as their new head coach

AS Monaco have confirmed the appointment of Niko Kovac as their new head coach on a three-year contract with the option for a possible extension.

According to iSports API football data, one of Monaco’s prime concerns last term was their poor defensive record and they conceded the joint-fourth most goals (44) during the course of the league season.

That is something which the club will have to improve upon, if they are to make the push for the European places and most particularly, for the top three positions which offer a route to the Champions League.

The Croatian, who was previously with Bayern Munich, has taken over the hot seat from Robert Moreno, who was dismissed from the managerial role shortly after Monaco’s 2-0 win over Cercle Brugge in a pre-season friendly.

The Principality outfit have been unable to compete against Ligue 1’s best over the past two seasons and they finished a lowly ninth during the 2019/2020 campaign which was curtailed after 28 games because of the coronavirus outbreak, as per iSports football API.

“AS Monaco are pleased to announce the arrival of Niko Kovac as head coach. The Croatian has signed on a 3 year contract with an option to extend,” a statement on the club’s official website read.

Monaco have already started their preparations ahead of the new league season and Kovac has around a month’s time before the club’s opening clash against Reims at home.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sets new post-Ferguson record

Manchester United’s 2-0 win against Crystal Palace this evening extended the side’s unbeaten run to 19 games.

It is a significant run, not just because of the timing, as the Red Devils push to win a top four place in the Premier League, but also because it is the longest unbeaten run since Sir Alex Ferguson retired seven years ago.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tenure as United manager has seen a number of good runs and bad runs, but the team seems to have finally found consistency since the arrival of Bruno Fernandes in the January transfer window.

According to iSports football API, the Norwegian has some catching up to do to match Sir Alex’s best, though, as he led the side to two 29 game unbeaten runs, once in the treble winning season of 1999 and the other in 2010-11.

United won the Premiership on that occasion as well, with Dimitar Berbatov ending the season as the league’s top scorer along with former Red, Carlos Tevez, who was playing for Manchester City. Both scored 20 goals, as per iSports API football data.

Solskjaer’s new record came as a result of incredible forward play from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial and some steely defending, in particular from Harry Maguire and David de Gea.

It was not a performance for the connoisseur but United ground out a win when it mattered, something they have also not always been able to do since Sir Alex retired.

United will hope to extend the run to 20 on Sunday when they face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final.

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Leeds on the brink of Premier League promotion

A fourth win on the bounce means Leeds United are now just one point away from promotion to the Premier League，as per iSports football data.

The Yorkshire giants beat rivals Barnsley on Thursday to edge ever closer to a top flight return.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side were dominant throughout the first-half and took a deserved lead when Barnsley defender Michael Sollbauer turned a dangerous low cross into his own net.



The Tykes were much improved after the break and a nervy Leeds, who lost Hélder Costa to injury, failed to keep control of proceedings but held on to their narrow lead.

One of the biggest clubs in England, Leeds have been absent from the top flight since relegation 16 years ago, according to iSports football API.

Last season they were desperately close to promotion under Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, and he has once again led the team superbly this campaign.

With two games remaining, the Whites sit five points clear of West Brom and six ahead of third-placed Brentford.

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