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Leeds United fans have expressed their disappointment at not signing Daniel James from Swansea City after the winger’s virtuoso display for Wales on Saturday.

The 21-year-old was on the verge of moving to Elland Road in January.

Indeed, James even underwent a medical and appeared poised to secure a loan move, with the option for the deal to be made permanent in the summer if Leeds won promotion to the Premier League.

However, the deal died in the final hours of the window as Swansea, per the Yorkshire Evening Post, did not answer calls from United.

It hurt, then, as fans watched James score a brilliant winning goal for Wales against Slovakia in their opening Euro 2020 qualifier in Cardiff.

Ryan Giggs’ side won 1-0 thanks to James’ strike, with his pace and skill causing all sorts of problems for the Slovakian backline – a subtle reminder of an extra weapon Marcelo Bielsa could have had in the race for automatic promotion.

And Leeds fans understandably took to Twitter to vent their frustrations at the deal falling through.

كشف مدرب فريق مانشستر سيتي بيب جوارديولا موقف اللاعب سيرجيو أجويرو من المشاركة في التشكيل الأساسي أمام فريق آرسنال، غدًا، في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

ويلتقي الفريقان في إطار منافسات الجولة الخامسة من البريميرليج.

ولم يشارك أجويرو في أي مباراة منذ شهر يونيو الماضي، حيث تعرض لإصابة قوية في الركبة أجبرته على الخضوع لعملية جراحية.

وتحدث جوارديولا، صباح اليوم، في مؤتمر صحفي عن تطورات حالة أجويرو ومصابي مانشستر سيتي قبل مواجهة آرسنال غدًا (لمطالعة التفاصيل من هنا).

وعاد بيب للحديث مجددًا عن أجويرو، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “manchestereveningnews” الإنجليزية حيث قال: “لدينا تدريب في الصباح وسنقرر ما إذا كان لائقًا”.

وأضاف الإسباني: “لقد تدرب جيدًا في اليومين أو الثلاثة أيام الماضية، لكن لا يمكننا أن ننسى أنه كان غائبًا منذ أربعة أو خمسة أشهر”.

واستدرك: “لكن هذه أخبار جيدة، سنحاول تحديد عدد دقائق مشاركته إذا قررنا الدفع به، سنرى ما سيحدث”.

وتطرق جوارديولا للحديث كذلك عن رحيم ستيرلينج الذي لم يتواجد مع منتخب إنجلترا في فترة التتوقف الدولي هذا الشهر بداعِ الإصابة، حيث قال: “ستيرلينج تدرب بشكل أفضل في الأيام القليلة الماضية”.

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Leeds United fans’ were given a scare after Newell’s Old Boys English account posted a Marcelo Bielsa themed April Fool’s prank on Twitter to catch fans of the Yorkshire club off guard.

The tweet stated: “BREAKING | Marcelo Bielsa to return to Newell’s Old Boys as Director of Football for the 2019/2020 season to help save his first club from relegation to the Primera B Nacional.”

The account that is dedicated to covering Newell’s Old Boys in English added a link to the tweet that simply redirected to an image which says “Gotcha”, putting the minds of every Leeds fan at ease after the initial fear.

Bielsa was Newell’s manager from 1990-1992 guiding the team to a Copa Libertadores final before departing to manage Atlas in Mexico.

Leeds have been completely turned around by the appointment of Bielsa at the start of the season and the Whites now look likely to return to the Premier League for the first time since their relegation in 2004.

The prank caused panic amongst the fanbase as the Argentine has a history of leaving clubs after a short period of time with his longest spell in charge of a club team lasting just two years.

Here’s a look at how Leeds fans on Twitter reacted to the April Fool’s prank…

Crystal Palace look to right their wrongs after the M23 derby defeat last weekend. Indeed, there’s no better way to do that than by beating fellow Premier League club Watford in the FA Cup quarter-final later today. Clearly, it’s not quite as big a rivalry as the one with Brighton but there is a nasty recent history with the Hornets, so this one will have some bite 

After what turned out to be a baffling defeat to their biggest rivals, Roy Hodgson will be looking to push his team through into their second FA Cup semi-final in the last three years. If he can, it could be one of the club’s best seasons in recent memory, putting a marker down for next year.

So, after what looked a dominated game ending in defeat last time out, we look at how Roy Hodgson can avoid facing the same fate against Watford.

Drop James McArthur 

Despite being one of Palace’s more consistent players this season, it can be argued that with such an important cup game it may be time for a more youthful, creative player.

Fans would be more than happy to see the 31-year-old feature later on in the game, however starting with another attacking midfielder may just benefit the Eagles more than having two defensive-minded midfielders in McArthur and Luka Milivojevic.

Palace have to go for it and believe, after all.

Start Max Meyer 

Max Meyer may just come in and be Palace’s saving grace, as he was in their last FA Cup tie against Doncaster Rovers.

With the inclusion of Meyer, it would add that extra attacking player, leading to discomfort within the Watford defence. Indeed, wouldn’t it be pleasing to see the Eagles really have a go at Watford and push for that semi-final?

Scoring in the last FA Cup game, and bagging himself a goal and three assists when actually used in games, the German international will feel that he can add that extra spark to an already dangerous attack of Andros Townsend, Wilfried Zaha and Michy Batshuayi.

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Aston Villa attacker Keinan Davis made his first Championship appearance of the season in his team’s 3-0 win over Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon.

Ahead of the weekend, Davis’ only first-team football this season arrived when he was handed 18 minutes against Swansea City in the third round of the FA Cup back in January.

It has been a frustrating campaign due to injury, but the 21-year-old now seems ready to play his part for Dean Smith’s side between now and the end of the season.

Davis has played on 38 occasions for Villa’s first team – scoring three times – and is not exactly a newbie, but the team have been unable to call upon his services for the majority of this campaign.

The Villa fans are certainly excited to have the attacker back in action, however, with many taking to social media to reveal their views on the former England Under-20 international.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Arsenal are reportedly in the race to sign Christopher Nkunku, a PSG youngster who was given his first break in Paris by none other than Unai Emery.

What’s the story?

Well, according to Le Parisien, as reported by Sport Witness, the Gunners are “in the running” to sign Nkunku this summer.

And there’s more good news as well, as the report states that Rennes, who were linked with the youngster just a few days ago, have denied any contact.

Sport Witness even go as far as to say the player is “counting on a transfer this summer”, so few are his opportunities in Paris.

There is some bad news though, as PSG sporting director Antero Henrique plans to extend the 21 year-old’s contract even if only to secure a higher transfer fee.

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No-brainer

Valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, a value that will likely double if the Parisiens do indeed extend his contract even despite the player’s clear desperation to leave, Nkunku is a versatile attacker with bags of pace and skill.

He is best in the number ten position, but he can also play on either wing. In fact, you could go as far as to say the French starlet is basically a winger playing as a playmaker, part of this new generation of rapid, aggressive dribblers like Kylian Mbappe and Jadon Sancho.

Nkunku is excellent on the half-turn, his first touch, composure on the ball and ability to ghost past players with electric acceleration are all sensational, and above all else he truly has an eye for a pass.

According to Transfermarkt’s stats, he averages a goal or assist roughly every two-and-a-half games based on minutes, hardly a terrible rate for a 21 year-old midfielder who is usually introduced late in matches that are already decided.

Nkunku may not be ready to arrive at Arsenal and walk into the first XI, but playing for a manager who clearly believes in him at a club with a history of developing French players would surely do wonders for his confidence.

So long as Henrique and PSG don’t go crazy with their transfer demands, this one should be a no-brainer for the Gunners.

With survival not quite guaranteed yet for the Eagles, a few changes need to be made to ensure that future years will hold a lot more stability. Indeed, there can’t be a relegation battle every year can there? Palace fans reading this will be sick of the sight of them, considering some of the quality in their side. 

Despite looking better in recent weeks, Palace still find themselves only five points off the drop zone, and yet again it will be another season with nothing to get excited about, after crashing out the FA Cup last weekend. Right now, Roy Hodgson doesn’t look the most inspiring of bosses, but with the right backing, he might be.

So, fans will obviously now focus on making sure that they remain in the Premier League next season. If Palace were to go down however they would surely deserve it as that would have to be a HUGE slip up to find themselves drop from this position. No one will count their chickens yet of course, but it’s hard to see it.

So, with that in mind, we are taking a look at a couple of requests Hodgson must make in order to ensure that next season isn’t so close.

Find another Zaha 

Time and time again you see Wilfried Zaha carrying Palace through games pretty much all by himself.

Surely Palace know that they can’t rely on one man forever?

It is imperative that Roy Hodgson finds someone else with the quality of Zaha to come into the side. It has been seen before: once Zaha drops out of the team through injury, they struggle to even hold the ball. That can’t go on – no Premier League side could be a one-man team.

The board must look to find at least one possibly two other players that can bear the weight of the club on their shoulders like Zaha. Allow the Ivorian to flourish, not merely function.

Start a modern-day dynasty 

With his contract running out in 2020, Roy Hodgson should look to become a history maker and become the oldest manager in the Premier League. Obviously, at his age and the nature of modern-day football, a dynasty is by no means possible any more, but he can certainly build for the future.

Look at the job he did with England. Despite the infamous loss to Iceland at Euro 2016, many of the building blocks he put in place have allowed Gareth Southgate to flourish.

A couple more seasons before a more dynamic option arrives would be good long-term planning.

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Wolves’ wing backs have been key to the success they’ve achieved this season with the displays of Jonny and Matt Doherty playing a major role at both ends of the pitch.

However, the past week has shown that Nuno Santo has a selection dilemma at right wing-back with Adama Traore and Doherty both performing well in that position.

What’s the issue?

Back in October, Watford inflicted a rare home defeat on Wolves who lost 2-0 to the Hornets at Molineux. On that day, both Doherty and Jonny failed to impress and were completely undone by the likes of Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu.

It’s something that should prompt a change this weekend, especially after Traore’s excellent display against Burnley last time out. He was one of few players to actually play well as they lost 2-0.

The Spaniard then didn’t play against Manchester United in midweek as Doherty was preferred.

But, taking into consideration the Wembley pitch and the defeat against Watford, Traore is the man who must start ahead of his Irish teammate on Sunday.

Attacking quality

The former Barcelona man isn’t a wing back by trade but provided evidence that he can thrive in that role at Turf Moor. With the pace he possesses, the 23-year-old would have the ability to stretch Watford’s back line and ultimately cause more trouble in the final third.

The pitch at Wembley is incredibly big, with dimensions of 105m x 68m. The Molineux pitch is meanwhile only 100m x 64m. The extra length and width at the national stadium could massively benefit Traore and Wolves would be confident of being able to expose Watford with him in the side.

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Traore has already starred at Wembley this season too. Albeit in a more advanced position, he was able to complete five out of five dribbles against Tottenham when the club beat them 3-1 in December.

He therefore simply has to start ahead of Doherty this weekend.

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Icelandic international Birkir Bjarnason turned down the chance to leave Aston Villa in the last transfer window in a bid to stay and fight for his place, according to Birmingham Live.

It was thought that Villa were trying to move him on because of fears over financial fair play with the midfielder on a wage of £30k a week. However, despite interest from Fenerbahce he wanted to stay.

Reacting to the news on Twitter, supporters of the Villans shared a mixture of views on the out of favour star.

Some praised him, explaining it was good to have players with that sort of attitude in the team, but at the same time claimed it would be difficult to get in ahead of the likes of John McGinn and Jack Grealish.

One came to the conclusion that he’ll likely leave in the summer, with competition for places in midfield healthy.

The 30-year-old has been out of favour with manager Dean Smith and has started just 11 times in the Championship this term. The last of those starts came back in January.

Here’s what Villa fans have been saying about the experienced international.

Champions League football is on the line, Europa League success is looking promising, Arsenal could be going into the summer transfer window on a high.

Unai Emery has done well to turn what looked like a team not ready to challenge for top four into the promised land of Champions League qualification as well as set them up for a potential shock win against Napoli in Europe, but there’s still no doubt the north London side need improving on over the summer.

Wingers are needed, a backup goalkeeper has to be signed, and most importantly, a centre-back has to be signed, and one name who has stuck out from the pile that has got Arsenal fans excited.

According to TuttoMercatoWeb, Arsenal are in pole position to sign Barcelona defender Samuel Umtiti ahead of the likes of Manchester United, and if the Gunners are to pull off bringing in the French international, it would be a club-changing signing. He’s the type of player who could make the Emirates erupt as arguably one of the best defenders in the whole of world football, with plenty of experience under his belt.

Barcelona signed the defender for £22.5 million (as per Transfermarkt), which has proven to be an absolute bargain.

Arsenal have struggled defensively this season, with Shkodran Mustafi yet again proving to be a horror-show every other game and Laurent Koscielny looking way past his prime. In Umtiti, though, the Gunners will have a player who can solve their problems in their weakest area of the pitch. Not many players in world football have been able to knock the defensive beast off the ball as his incredible strength makes him impossible to tackle and get past.

Partnered with Sokratis or Rob Holding when he returns from injury, the Frenchman would solidify the Arsenal defence immensely and add the quality the club have lacked at the back for years.

His reported £60 million transfer fee is pricey for a player who has not featured a lot for Barca this season, largely due to injuries and the emergence of fellow countryman Clement Lenglet, but what Arsenal will be getting in return is something Emery will deem priceless, and something that can take the Gunners to the next level in their long-term goal to return to Europe’s elite.

Arsenal fans, would you take Umtiit this summer? Let us know!