Kellyman and Maatsen set to complete movespublished at 11:11 24 June
11:11 24 June
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter
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Chelsea and Aston Villa are set to complete their separate moves that see Villa midfielder Omari Kellyman and Blues defender Ian Maatsen switch clubs.
Kellyman, 19, will move to Stamford Bridge for £19m as he signs a six-year deal with an option for an extra season on Monday.
Meanwhile, Maatsen's move is worth £37.5m and, like Kellyman, he will complete his medical on Monday.
Southgate's selection dilemmas for Slovenia matchpublished at 10:49 24 June
10:49 24 June
Alex Howell Football news reporter
Image source, PA Media
England manager Gareth Southgate has a few selection headaches going into the final group match against Slovenia on Tuesday.
The performance in Thursday's 1-1 draw with Denmark in the second group game was criticised and Southgate described Trent Alexander-Arnold playing in midfield as an "experiment".
Should he be left out, that would mean one of Conor Gallagher, who has featured in both games so far, Kobbie Mainoo or Adam Wharton coming into midfield as Southgate looks to improve the level of control his side has during matches.
Kieran Trippier, who has been filling in at left-back for the injured Luke Shaw, missed nine games towards the end of the Premier League season and has played more during the tournament than was initially planned.
Trippier was seen to be drinking pickle juice during the first group game against Serbia as he went down with cramp and there had been hope that Shaw would be fit enough to have featured by now.
Shaw has not been on the training pitch with his team-mates for the past two sessions and has been following an individual programme, but was back on the pitch on Monday.
If Trippier is to be rested for the final group game, BBC Sport understands there is a strong possibility that Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa could come into that position.
Joe Gomez has also played in that position for his club side Liverpool and has played there in the matches leading up to the tournament for England.
Gossip: Forest interested in Villa's Bogardepublished at 07:29 24 June
Villa bring in Dobbin - what do you think?published at 15:41 23 June
15:41 23 June
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New forward Lewis Dobbin has described Aston Villa as "a huge club with big ambitions", adding that his move from Everton is "an incredible opportunity".
So where will he fit in to Unai Emery's plans? Are you happy with the signing and who should be targeted next?
Premier League stars help Argentina win Copa America openerpublished at 10:32 21 June
10:32 21 June
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Defending champions Argentina kicked off their Copa America campaign with a 2-0 win over Canada on Thursday night.
A number of Premier League stars featured in their line-up, Manchester City's Julian Alvarez opening the scoring from Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister's assist before Inter's Lautaro Martinez sealed the win late on.
Aston Villa's Emi Martinez kept a clean sheet with Cristian Romero of Tottenham and Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez in front of him.
Giovani Lo Celso also of Spurs came on for the last quarter but United's Alejandro Garnacho and Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez remained unused.
Everton close in on Villa's Iroegbunampublished at 16:16 20 June
16:16 20 June
Shamoon Hafez BBC Sport football news reporter
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Everton are closing in on a deal to sign midfielder Tim Iroegbunam from Aston Villa for a reported £9m fee.
England Under-20 international Iroegbunam made 15 appearances in all competitions for Villa last season and spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Championship side QPR.
In a separate deal, Villa are in talks to sign winger Lewis Dobbin from Everton.
Dobbin, 21, came through Everton's academy and has made 15 Premier League appearances, scoring his first senior goal against Chelsea in December.
Everton also remain in talks to sign winger Jack Harrison on another season-long loan from Leeds.
Meanwhile, the Toffees have received a number of enquiries for midfielder Amadou Onana from Premier League and Champions League clubs.
The Belgium international would cost more than £50m and, although Arsenal held an initial conversation with Everton regarding the player's availability, they are unlikely to follow-up their interest at this stage.
Juve talks progress over Luiz dealpublished at 14:45 20 June
14:45 20 June
Nick Mashiter BBC Sport football news reporter
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Aston Villa's talks with Juventus over the transfer of Douglas Luiz are progressing, with a deal close and now likely to include Enzo Barrenechea.
The 23-year-old midfielder is expected to be part of the cash-plus-players transfer with Samuel Iling-Junior.
Weston McKennie was initially involved but the USA international's wages became a stumbling block at the start of the week and it ultimately proved impossible to finalise a deal.
Villa are now discussing Barrenechea along with England Under-21 international Iling-Junior. Striker Matias Soule was valued too highly by Juventus to be included in any deal, despite being discussed.
Argentine Barrenechea was relegated from Serie A last season while on loan at Frosinone and has made five appearances for Juventus while Iling-Junior, who came through Chelsea's academy, played 27 times for Juve last term.
Elsewhere at Villa, Everton are close to taking 20-year-old midfielder Tim Iroegbunam, who played 15 times for Villa last season, to Goodison Park.
Charlton loan to Champions League final - Maatsen's career to datepublished at 14:43 20 June
14:43 20 June
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Aston Villa have agreed a fee of between £35m and £40m with Chelsea for versatile Dutch left-back Ian Maatsen, although personal terms are still to be agreed and a medical is yet to be completed.
The past two seasons have been breakthrough campaigns for the 22-year-old, who joined Chelsea aged 16 and made his senior debut in a League Cup win over Grimsby Town in September 2019.
Season-long loans at Charlton Athletic and Coventry City followed, but it was at Burnley, as part of Vincent Kompany's 2022-23 Championship-winning side, where he truly excelled - scoring four times in 39 league appearances and being named in the EFL's Championship team of the season.
Maatsen impressed then-Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino playing in more attacking roles on the Blues' tour of the United States last summer and he rejected the chance to join the Clarets on a full-time basis, choosing instead to stay at Stamford Bridge.
However, he started only one Premier League game for Chelsea in the first half of last season and joined Borussia Dortmund on loan in January.
There, he was a major part in the German club's run to the Champions League final. He scored in the quarter-final win over Atletico Madrid and, such was his impact in the knockout stage, he was named as the left-back in Uefa's Champions League team of the season.
Maatsen, who played the full 90 minutes of Dortmund's 2-0 loss to Real Madrid at Wembley, is on duty with the Netherlands at Euro 2024. Yet to earn a senior cap, he was originally left out of Ronald Koeman's final squad for the tournament but then added later as cover for injuries.
'Tense few days' for Villa in Maatsen pursuitpublished at 10:32 20 June
10:32 20 June
Nizaar Kinsella BBC Sport football news reporter
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Following Wednesday's big news about Aston Villa agreeing a £35m- £40m fee for Chelsea defender Ian Maatsen, there have been discussions on personal terms.
The 22-year-old is open to the move given Villa's status and their qualification for this season's Champions League.
However, it is not a given that he will sign at Villa Park, given Maatsen last year turned down a move to Burnley.
He had been hoping for a move to Borussia Dortmund but they could not agree a fee below their £35m option to buy and have ultimately been priced out of the market.
It will be a tense few days for Villa as Maatsen decides his future while having a huge match on the horizon - Netherlands v France at Euro 2024.
If he agrees personal terms, he would then complete a medical after the tournament in Germany.
Gossip: Villa face competition for McKenniepublished at 07:23 20 June
Athletic Bilbao's Spain winger Nico Williams, 21, continues to hold out for a move to Barcelona, despite having talks with Aston Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United. (HITC), external
Where will Villa be after 10 games?published at 11:56 19 June
11:56 19 June
The fixtures for the new Premier League season are out and we asked you for your predictions on where Aston Villa will be after 10 games.
Here is a selection of your comments:
Mark: We should have 20 points from the form we have showed and the first 10 games listed. Probably puts us in the top five or six and sets us up for another good league season. Will be hard to replicate fourth again, but the top six is a real target if we can keep the team intact and do a couple of decent trades.
Mike: Anything less than 17 points will be a disappointing start.
Suzy: I confidently predict we will be top after 10 games - but eighth at the end of the season.
John: First 10 games should yield about 22 points, I reckon.
Paul: The opening fixtures are full of winnable games and should put Villa with a reasonable start, but once again the first game is inevitably away. No doubt the team starting line-up will be totally different from last season.
Damien: First 10 are reasonable. We have no truly awful runs in the season as it currently stands. The first five or six games should see us pick up a good number of points. But then you look at where we dropped points last season and it isn't always the 'top teams'. We lost twice to teams just below us (Manchester United and Newcastle) and lost to Nottingham Forest.
'I was still unsure whether I deserved to be there'published at 11:00 19 June
11:00 19 June
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Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins feels he may have been "underestimated" but is now in a "really good place" after overcoming his own self-doubts.
The striker is currently in Germany, having been called up for his first major tournament with England at Euro 2024.
His selection came off the back of his best season yet, scoring 19 Premier League goals and providing a competition-high 13 assists.
Speaking about what has been key to his improvement, the 28-year-old said: "Mindset is huge. You train every day physically and you can be really good technically, but it takes a lot.
"As a striker, you might not score for three games and then there'll be self-doubt creeping in, in previous seasons.
"Now I'll be calm because I know I'm going to get opportunities and then I'll back myself to score - whereas before I might have been down on myself a bit more."
When put to him that sounded like imposter syndrome, Watkins added: "Even when I first went to Villa, I'd just been bought for £30m and I was still unsure whether I deserved to be there. I hadn't done it in the Premier League, so I would say there was a bit of that before. But now I'm in a really good place."
In the build-up to the tournament, much of the selection questions centred on who would be the back-up forward behind captain Harry Kane between himself and Brentford's Ivan Toney.
"I had a really good year, got the most assists in the league, scored a lot of goals and people still weren't including me in their squads to come to the Euros," said Watkins.
"Everyone has their own opinion, but I don't feel like I have that big profile where I'm talked about. Or where if I was left out of the squad, people would be like: 'Oh, I can't believe they didn't pick Ollie Watkins.'
"I'm happy I'm here now."
Gossip: Iroegbunam's move to Everton advancespublished at 07:44 19 June
England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 24, has told Chelsea he will not be forced out of the club this summer, amid interest from Villa Tottenham and Atletico Madrid. (HITC), external
West Ham v Aston Villa - did you know?published at 15:11 18 June
15:11 18 June
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West Ham and Aston Villa will open their Premier League campaigns with a meeting at London Stadium on Saturday, 17 August.
Julen Lopetegui's new side have lost just one of their past 12 Premier League games against Villa (W6 D5), which was a 4-1 loss at Villa Park last season.
Villa are winless in their past nine Premier League away games against West Ham (D5 L4) since a 2-1 victory at Upton Park in April 2011.
The Hammers have won their opening Premier League match in just one of the past eight seasons (D1 L6), beating Newcastle 4-2 in 2021-22. They have lost their opening game in the Premier League more often than any other side (15).
Villa have lost their opening Premier League match in each of the past three seasons, conceding 10 goals in these games. They also lost the last time they faced West Ham in their first game, losing 1-0 at Upton Park in 2012-13.
How will Villa's first 10 games go?published at 11:54 18 June
11:54 18 June
Now the fixtures for the new Premier League season are out, it is time to start looking ahead to your club's 2024-25 campaign and all the key matches.
So, where do you think Aston Villa will be after the first 10 games?
Last season 'an education' as Champions League beckonspublished at 10:29 18 June
10:29 18 June
Nick Mashiter BBC Sport football news reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Aston Villa will need to learn to compete with the Champions League elite but they have already proved how to adapt under Unai Emery.
Domestically, and in the Europa Conference League last season, they understood the demands quickly under a manager who has more European experience than most of his squad.
It has at least given them an education before competing in Europe's premier competition and managing the workload in the Premier League.
Villa, in the Champions League after last season's fourth-place finish, open their European campaign between 17-19 September. Immediately afterwards, they host Wolves on the weekend of 21-22 September.
They have to contend with the extended Champions League competition - the group stage not finishing until the end of January - and face league games against Manchester United, Bournemouth, Liverpool, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and West Ham before the return trip to Wolves after European fixtures.
Emery has previously refused to criticise the TV schedule. Even when at Arsenal, he said it was "no problem" playing in the Premier League just days after big European fixtures and that fatigue was not an excuse.
It also makes sense to have a bigger, more experienced squad, with moves for Ross Barkley and the player-plus-cash deal with Juventus for Douglas Luiz - which should see Weston McKennie and Samuel Iling-Junior move to Villa - giving Emery further options.
And in the race to maintain their Champions League status, Villa face Newcastle United, Manchester City, Tottenham and Manchester United in their final six games.
Given the fight for fourth last season, Emery will hope another spot will be wrapped up by then.
Key fixtures in Aston Villa's seasonpublished at 09:50 18 June
09:50 18 June
Aston Villa's Premier League fixtures for the 2024-25 season have arrived and if you haven't seen them yet you can find them here.
The Villans have early home games against Arsenal and Everton, while they are set to host champions Manchester City in their final fixture before Christmas.
On Boxing Day, it's set to be Newcastle United at St James’ Park and their first game of 2025 will be newly promoted Leicester City.
Image source, Getty Images
