^ ^ Tottenham respond after Chelsea fail with approach to sign Lucas Bergvall

Lucas Bergvall attracted interest from Chelsea and Aston Villa in January (PA Wire)

Chelsea made an approach to sign Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall in the January transfer window, according to reports.

Bergvall, who is currently sidelined after undergoing ankle surgery last month, is in his second season with Spurs after joining in an £8.5 million deal from Swedish side Djurgarden in 2024.

The 20-year-old was named as Tottenham’s Player of the Season last term as he helped the club win the Europa League under Ange Postecoglou.

According to The Athletic, Chelsea and Aston Villa both made an approach to Spurs over a deal for Bergvall in the January window.

However, Spurs are said to have ‘made it clear’ that the Sweden international is not for sale.

Villa went on to sign Douglas Luiz for a second time on loan from Juventus, while they have the option to make that deal permanent for €25m (£23.4m) this summer.

Lucas Bergvall was named as Tottenham’s Player of the Season last term (Getty)

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Chelsea had also made an approach for Douglas Luiz before he returned to Villa.

Speaking this week, Postecoglou crticised Spurs for failing to recruit more experienced Premier League players after his first season in charge.

Instead, Spurs opted to sign Dominic Solanke alongside three teenagers in Bergvall, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert.

‘At the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, for me, OK, how do you go from fifth to really challenging? Well, we had to sign Premier League-leading players,’ Postecoglou said on The Overlap.

‘But finishing fifth that year didn’t get us Champions League, we didn’t have the money. So we ended up signing Dom Solanke… I was really keen on him, I really liked him, then three teenagers.

‘I was looking at Pedro Neto, [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo at the time, Marc Guehi, because I said we need… if we’re going to go from fifth to there, that’s what the other big clubs would do in that moment.

‘And those three teenagers are outstanding young players, brilliant young players. I think they’ll be great players for Tottenham but they’re not going to get you from fifth to fourth.’

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^ ^ Pep Guardiola sends message to Arsenal after Brentford draw

Pep Guardiola says Arsenal should ‘not be relaxed’ despite their four-point lead at the top of the Premier League

Pep Guardiola insists he would prefer Manchester City to be in Arsenal’s position in the Premier League table.

City maintained the pressure on Arsenal with a 3-0 win at home to Fulham this week before Mikel Arteta’s side were held to a 1-1 draw by Brentford.

The stalemate still leaves Arsenal at the top of the Premier League but their lead is now just four points.

Arteta’s men have registered just two wins in their last six Premier League games and doubts have been raised over whether the Gunners can last the pace.

Guardiola is adamant that Arsenal should ‘not be relaxed’ but believes Arteta and his team still have the advantage.

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‘I would prefer to be in the position Arsenal are in than our position,’ Guardiola said.

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‘If I would be in the position with four points in front of second, with 12 games left, I would not be relaxed. Imagine being four points behind, I am less relaxed.

‘I would still prefer to be in the position Arsenal are in than we are.’

When asked about the title race after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Brentford on Thursday night, Arteta said: ‘I understand [the gap could be bigger], but that’s ‘if, if, if’.

‘If we’d lost at Newcastle, we’d have been eight points behind Liverpool in October. So, ‘if, if’, there are a lot of ‘ifs’ over 10 months in this competition. You can only focus on what you have to do, and try to do that in the best possible way.’

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^ ^ Roberto Martinez - The Football Interview

In this week’s edition of the Football Interview, Kelly Somers speaks to Portugal Manager Roberto Martinez. They discuss his journey into football, from becoming a player at Real Zaragoza and moving over to play in the UK not knowing a word of English, to managing Wigan Athletic to their historic FA Cup win against Manchester City in 2013. They also get into what it's like managing at an international level with the golden generation of Belgium and how he takes Portugal into the World Cup this summer with a legend in Cristiano Ronaldo.

5 Live / BBC Sounds commentaries: Sat 1215 Burton v West Ham, Sat 1745 Villa v Newcastle, Sat 2000 Liverpool v Brighton, Sun 1200 Birmingham v Leeds, Sun 1330 Grimsby v Wolves, Sun 1630 Rangers v Hearts, Mon 1930 Macclesfield v Brentford.

^ ^ Newcastle United dealt major Bruno Guimaraes injury blow

Bruno Guimaraes is set to be sidelined for at least two months (Shutterstock)

Newcastle United are set to be without Bruno Guimaraes for at least two months due to a hamstring injury.

Bruno suffered the injury during Newcastle’s 3-0 win against PSV in the Champions League last month.

The Brazil international did not feature in Newcastle’s next four games before returning for the 3-2 defeat at home to Brentford last weekend.

Bruno also played in the 2-1 win away to Tottenham on Tuesday night and was substituted in the closing stages of the game.

According to ESPN Brasil, Bruno will now be sidelined for at least two months with his hamstring injury.

Bruno is now set to miss Champions League play-off tie against FK Qarabag, as well as Premier League games against Manchester City, Everton, Manchester United, Chelsea, Sunderland and Crystal Palace.

The games Bruno is set to miss for Newcastle

Aston Villa (A) | FA Cup | February 14

FK Qarabag (A) | Champions League | February 18

Man City (A) | Premier League | February 21

FK Qarabag (H) | Champions League | February 24

Everton (H) | Premier League | February 28

Man Utd (H) | Premier League | March 4

FA Cup fifth-round | March 7/8

Champions League last-16 first leg | March 10/11

Chelsea (A) | Premier League | March 14

Champions League last-16 second leg | March 17/18

Sunderland (H) | Premier League | March 22

Crystal Palace (A) | Premier League | April 11

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The midfielder will also miss Brazil’s friendlies against France and Croatia but he will meet with the national team’s doctor, Rodrigo Lasmar, to receive treatment.

When asked about Bruno’s injury at his press conference on Friday, Howe said: ‘With Bruno, we are awaiting the full extent of his hamstring injury.’

Bruno has been a key figure for Newcastle this season with nine goals and seven assists in all competitions this season.

Newcastle have failed to register a win in 12 Premier League matches without Bruno since he joined the club in a £40 million deal from Lyon in 2022.

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