Written by Jackson K

Written by Josh Dolan

Since Antonio Conte’s arrival in November 2021 Tottenham fans have seen his magical work on players like Eric Dier and Ben Davies. The Italian has created a stronger base to Tottenham’s back line which has been a struggle since losing Vertonghen and Alderweireld. 

Last summer Spurs signed Cristian Romero who has been breathtaking and very quickly become a fan’s favourite as his passion and aggressive is deeply loved at White Hart Lane. Romero perfectly compliments Eric Dier as Dier brings calm and composure as the the two players formed a great partnership last season. 

Spurs will certainly look to add more depth in the defence with rumours been flying around of Spurs wanting to sign the likes of Josko Gvardiol, Evan Ndicka, Clément Lenglet and Piero Hincapié. These players are the prefect fit for Spurs as they can cover left-centre-back and centre-back. Spurs will certainly need to sign one defender or potentially two due to the long season ahead. 

I personally think Tottenham should have a look at young French centre back Evan Ndicka or extremely highly rated Ecuadorian Piero Hincapié. These two players are young and are much cheaper alternatives to the likes of Gvardiol or Bastoni. Bastoni and Gvardiol look extremely expensive and seem happy playing at their current clubs hence why Spurs should look at Ndicka or Hincapié. 

Ndicka was amazing during Frankfurts Europa League winning campaign as the Frenchman consistently put in brilliant displays. Ndicka is strong, fast, technical and very good in the final third which is what Spurs require (a energetic progressive left centre back). Ndicka is coming into his last year on his contract meaning Frankfurt are willing to sell him for a lower asking price, something Spurs should certainly look at.  

Piero Hincapié is highly rated youngster in Germany playing his football for Bayern Leverkusen. The 20 year old has also attracted interest from AC Milan and any potential transfer this summer has been reported to be around £35 million which is a steal in this current market. 

Written by Luke Fenn

The 17/18 Shrewsbury side is one that I feel is not talked about enough as their was heaps of talent in that 3rd place finishing team from the likes of Shaun Whalley to current Everton Centre-back Ben Godfrey. One of the more notable player in that squad is Leeds winger Daniel James who was sent out to Shrewsbury on a season-long loan from Swansea but the loan was cancelled in less than a month on the 31st of August as he failed to make a single appearance for the league one side. Not the most notable player but Full back Max Lowe was on loan at Shrewsbury from Derby County and made 12 appearances for the Shrews. He has recently been promoted to the Premier League  with Nottingham Forest but is on loan from Sheffield United.

One of the bigger players on the list is defender/defensive midfielder Ben Godfrey who spent the season at Shrewsbury on loan from then championship club Norwich City. The deal was only meant to be 6 months but Shrewsbury extended it due to how well he played and he ended up being a key player in their play-off season making 40 league appearances scoring 1 goal. This helped him break into Norwich’s 1st team and played a key role in their promotion back to the top flight and that helped him take the next step up to Everton. He has also made 2 appearances for England and is not the only one to do so in this squad.

Finally probably the more well known player in this squad was Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Henderson was the number 1 for the Shrews and made 38 league appearances for the club. He quickly became a fan favourite after a positive start between the sticks. He said in September 2017 that playing regular football was great for his development. On the slightly darker side he was hit with a 3 game suspension in January after an altercation with a Blackburn fan but that did not halt his performances and Man United even considered recalling him. By the end of March 2018 he had kept 13 clean sheets in the season. Since his loan at Shrewsbury he’s enjoyed positive loan spells at Sheffield United achieving promotion to the Premier League and finishing top half of the table with Henderson between the sticks. This helped him get 13 appearances for Manchester United and 1 appearance for the England team but is looking to move this summer for regular football.

The team as a whole looked very good in preseason losing just 2 out of 8 games winning the rest and got off to a great start in the season and didn’t suffer defeat until late October going on a 15 match unbeaten streak. Their positive form carried through into 2018 and most people predicted then for potentially automatic promotion but they had some tough opposition in their way as they would have had to break down Blackburn, Wigan and Rotherham to achieve that. They eventually finished the season in 3rd place missing out on automatic promotion by 9 points. This put them in the playoffs and they had to fight for that final spot at promotion as they faced Charlton Athletic in what was predicted to be a tough encounter as the Shrews had lost to them 2-0 just a month before. But they sailed past the London club winning 1-0 in both legs (2-0 on aggregate) with Jon Nolan and Carlton Morris with the goals. This would book them a place in the Wembley final.

A lot was at stake to achieve promotion to the Championship and another chance for Shrewsbury to get out of the this league wouldn’t come anytime time soon staffer this match. They faced one of the favourites for promotion in Rotherham United and knew they would be in for a tough match. Dean Henderson saved a David Ball penalty in the first half but a Richard Wood header beat Henderson and got the goals underway. Alex Rodman equalised for Shrewsbury in the second half and took the match to extra time. Unfortunately for Shrewsbury it was not to be and Richard Wood got his second of the match and made it 2-1 to Rotherham and left Shrewsbury heart broken. Overall I thought this Shrewsbury squad was highly talented and were so unfortunate to miss out on promotion. They have since declined in league positions but at least their players loaned to them have achieved success and have good careers thus far.

Written by Josh Wilson

Fernandinho was born in Londrina, Brazil on 4th May 1985. In a playing career which spanned 19 years from 2003 to 2022, the Brazilian made 573 appearances for his clubs and country, registering 67 goals in the process.

Written by Sam Hardy

With Gabriel Jesus’ transfer to Arsenal looking fairly imminent, subject to the agreement of his contract in North London, what can Arsenal fans realistically expect from their new Number 9? Well, you’re in the right place to find out.

Gabriel Jesus has almost won it all since joining Manchester City, back in the January transfer window of 2017, apart from that all elusive Champions League Trophy, with 4 Premier League titles to his name, as well as scoring 95 goals during his time as a Cityzen. Jesus has also provided his teammates with 46 assists, playing in almost every attacking position in Pep Guardiola’s system, with the majority of his time working in the False 9 role but has also operated on the Left and Right wing. Due to growing up in Sao Paulo, Jesus naturally brings the South American flair to the team, which suits Arsenal perfectly. The likes of Martin Odegaard playing in the 10 behind him as well as Saka and Smith-Rowe on the wings means he will fit in nicely after the loss of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang to Barcelona because of an issue that may not ever be fully known by the general media between him and Mikel Arteta.

Jesus won’t be the only Brazilian in Arsenal’s forward line next season, with wonderkid Gabriel Martinelli gearing up for another season in North London as well as Leeds United winger Raphinha touted to make the move in a switch that could cost Arsenal a fee in the region of £70M but face competition from North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Spanish giants Barcelona who may not be able to afford a deal due to such heavy debts. Jesus will be competing with youngster Eddie Nketiah for that central striker role if the move is completed. Nketiah was set to move away from North London this summer with the expiration of his contract, however that was recently renewed due to a spark in form at the end of the season. The English forward has taken the famous Number 14 shirt, worn by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, which has undoubtably caused a lot of discussion on social media.

City’s number 9 has made centre stage for his country, winning over 50 caps and scoring 19 goals. He has played in the 2018 World cup alongside appearances in the 2019 and 2021 Copa America, and he will be hoping that a move to Arsenal will boost his chances of making Brazil’s World Cup squad in Qatar come November.

Written by Luke Fenn

Burnley’s 6 year stay in the Premier League has come to an end as they prepare for the championship for the first time since the 15/16 season when they won the league under Sean Dyche. Dyche managed Burnley for 10 years between 2012-2022. Burnley took the option to sack Dyche in April of this year after a 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Norwich and it was at that point the Burnley board thought it would be best to let the club legend go. Under Dyche Burnley had adopted this ‘Brexit’ style of play as some people called which, to sum it up, kick it long and get it in the box. This helped Burnley achieve their highest finish in the top flight since 1974 in the 17/18 season as they finished 7th and were to participate in Europa League qualifiers the following season. Unfortunately however, they didn’t make it through to the group stage. In their first round of qualifying they faced Scottish side Aberdeen and won 4-1 on aggregate winning at home 3-1 after extra time with Jack Cork and Ashley Barnes seeing them through to the next round. In their next match they faced Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir and drew the first leg 0-0 before winning the second leg in extra time again and Jack Cork also scoring again (which is a rare moment for him) to put them through to the final match to qualify. Burnley were drawn against a tough opponent in the final match to qualify as they faced Greek side Olympiacos. The first leg set them up for failure as they were defeated 3-1 and went down to ten men in the second half when current Norwich defender, Ben Gibson, saw red. The second leg didn’t spark anything for Burnley at home and drew 1-1 with Matej Vydra scoring their last goal in Europe for potentially some time. What followed for the Clarets wasn’t much to shout about as their form from the previous season slumped after Europe failure and were without goalkeeper Nick Pope for the majority of the season.

They eventually finished on 40 points just 6 above Cardiff in the relegation zone but at least they up for another season. The 19/20 season saw Burnley find some form again as they finished 10th in the season disrupted by COVID 19. Burnley achieved 15 wins with 9 draws including a 2-0 away win at Manchester United. The 20/21 season was of course played behind closed doors so Turf Moor was nothing of its former self which could’ve contributed in Burnley’s poor season as they finished 17th but were 11 points of 18th placed Fulham so they survived fairly comfortably in the end but some Burnley fans were a bit anxious for the 21/22 season and how it would pan out for their club. Fans were finally allowed back into grounds for the 21/22 season and Turf Moor was packed for the first time in 2 years. However, they had nothing to cheer about as they failed to win any of their first 9 games before finally beating Brentford 3-1 on the 30th of October. It was then followed up by a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and Clarets fans were thinking their form was changing until they went on a 10 match losing streak before winning 2 in a row including a 1-0 against Tottenham to keep their survival hopes alive.

What then followed was dismal as after a 1-1 draw with Palace they lost 4 in a row and fans feared the worst but a 3-2 win against fellow strugglers Everton gave fans a confidence boost and went into the match against Norwich expecting a result… but the East Anglian side delivered one their best performances of the season and defeated Burnley by 2 goals to 0. This is when the Burnley board decided to sack Dyche and replaced him with former under 23s coach Mike Jackson until the end of the season. This could’ve been one of Burnley’s best decisions letting Dyche go as Jackson steered them to 3 wins in a row and were out of the relegation zone relegating Norwich and Watford in the process. But then picking up just 1 point in 4 saw them going into the final match of the season needing a win against Newcastle to stay up as they battled it out with Everton for 17th. Everton lost heavily to Arsenal but Burnley lost 2-1 with Callum Wilson relegating the Clarets as he scored a brace so whatever happened in Everton’s match didn’t matter as Burnley were down.

Since that match Burnley have made their choice on players letting a lot of long serving players depart. Captain Ben Mee departs after making 332 league appearances for the club in 10 seasons lasting all the way through Sean Dyches reign. His centre back partner, James Tarkowski, also departs as he has expressed a desire to leave the club last summer. He featured in 198 league games for the Clarets in a 6 year span. Former Stoke full-backs Phil Bardsley and Erik Pieters will also depart having made 113 league appearances between them. Dale Stephens will also depart as his contract runs out along with Aaron Lennon. 8 others (including some under 23s) will be leaving as well due to contract with expirations. Burnley will also be heading in a new direction in the dug out as Vincent Kompany was announced as the new manager this week as he makes his England return hoping to take Burnley back to the top flight.