Smith has been appointed ahead of Thierry Henry who been highly linked to the position in the past days.  Henry turned down the vacancy at Aston Villa to accept Monaco job.

Dean Smith has been appointed the new head coach of Aston Villa, succeeding Steve Bruce

Smith who developed a reputation for playing exciting, attacking football at Brentford City, is a Villa fan and will replace Steve Bruce who was sacked last week following the team’s side’s miserable start to the season.

Former Chelsea and England skipper Terry decided to hang up his playing boots on Sunday.He had been without a club since leaving Villa following their playoff defeat by Fulham at Wembley Stadium last season.

Villa have also appointed Jesus Garcia Pitarch as Sporting Director. During his time at Valencia, the club won the La Liga title and UEFA Cup and Atletico lifted the Europa League and the European Super Cup during his tenure.

“These three appointments represent the start of a new era and direction at Aston Villa and we are delighted to secure their services after an extensive search,” Villa CEO Christian Purslow said.

“Dean has a clear and successful coaching philosophy as well as a real understanding of Aston Villa Football Club. He is also knowledgeable about the Championship…

“John is one of the most decorated players in English football, has an affinity with the club and is ready to make the next step in his career working alongside Dean.”

Aston Villa are 15th in the Championship with three wins in their opening 12 games with 15 points.

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According to Nizaar Kinsella of Goal, new Blues manager Maurizio Sarri will be looking to add to his attacking ranks in the coming months as he settles in at Stamford Bridge, and Pulisic could be a key target. 

Chelsea reportedly remain interested in signing Borussia Dortmund’s Christian Pulisic

Chelsea endured a disrupted pre-season because many of their players were at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, while it took until July 14 for Sarri to be appointed as Antonio Conte‘s replacement.

Jorginho, Rob Green, Mateo Kovacic and Kepa Arrizabalaga were signed during the transfer window, but the most important attacking business Chelsea did was to keep Eden Hazard at the club.

The Belgium international is Chelsea’s most important attacking player, and he was heavily linked to Real Madrid, but the Spanish giants look to have dropped their interest because of Hazard’s huge price tag.

The United States international might find his way to Stamford bridge

Sarri is likely to take some time to implement his methods at Chelsea and work out what is needed for him to build a title-winning squad.

One of the Blues’ obvious deficiencies last term was in front of goal. They only managed to score 62 goals in the Premier League in 2017-18, 23 fewer than they netted while winning the title the season before. A player like Pulisic would be helpful in solving that problem as, despite only being 19, he is brilliantly creative.

The United States international is not himself that prolific just yet. In the past two Bundesliga seasons, during which he has been a key part of the Dortmund first team, he has netted seven goals and provided 11 assists in 61 appearances.

But he has the talent to develop that area of his game. And at Chelsea, he could also help unlock the goal scoring talent of Alvaro Morata, who managed only 11 goals in his debut Premier League season.

Chelsea will likely look to reassess their squad midway through the 2018-19 season when Sarri has had a few months in the job. And whether it be in the January transfer window or next summer, Pulisic looks set to be a prominent target for the west London club.

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The Blues agreed to make the Athletic Bilbao No 1 the most expensive shot-stopper in history on Tuesday as they look to replace Real Madrid-bound Thibaut Courtois.

And the stunning deal moved a step closer to completion on Wednesday morning as lawyers representing Kepa and Chelsea deposited the record fee at 9.22am.

Kepa Arrizabalaga was pictured at Madrid Airport on Tuesday ahead of his move to Chelsea

Lawyers Enric Ripoll Gonzalez and Paolo Torchetti, from De Ruiz-Huerta and Crespo lawyers in Valencia, represented the Premier League side, while the payment was made through the player’s lawyers and Margarita Garay, general director of Bahia Internacional. She was accompanied by lawyers Rodrigo Garcia and Alvaro Reig de Laffer. 

In keeping with the way release clauses work in Spain, Chelsea paid the giant £72m fee to Kepa, who then instructed his lawyers to deposit it with La Liga. The money will then be distributed to Athletic Bilbao when all paperwork is completed.

The Spanish club confirmed that Kepa had paid his release clause and thanked him for his contribution in a statement on their official website. 

Margarita Garay, general director of Bahia Internacional, arrives at La Liga’s headquarters to pay Kepa’s release clause on Wednesday morning

Kepa, who was pictured at Madrid Airport on Tuesday night, did not attend the meeting on Wednesday morning as he prepares to fly from Getafe to London.

The 23-year-old will undergo a medical and put pen to paper on a long-term deal, which will trigger Courtois’ departure to Real for a fee of around £35m. 

The deal for Kepa outstrips the £66.8m paid by Liverpool for Alisson last month. The Brazilian was Chelsea’s first choice to replace Courtois, but he was keen to work with Jurgen Klopp.

Courtois has angered Chelsea by staying away from training in recent days in a bid to push through his move to the European champions, who are expected to offer Mateo Kovacic on loan as part of the deal.

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Chelsea focused attention on Kepa with time running out in the window and concerns over their other options. Sevilla’s Sergio Rico and Stoke’s Jack Butland, while both considerably cheaper, had been more inconsistent.

Kepa almost joined Madrid himself in January only for the deal to fall through with his price at just £17.5m. Serie A side Napoli, then under the guidance of Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, also expressed an interest.

Chelsea are to pay a world record £72million fee for the talented Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper

Madrid instead decided to keep the door ajar for Courtois after he showed a willingness to join them. As a consequence, Kepa was rewarded with a new £60,000-a-week contract at Athletic but saw his buyout clause rise to £72m.

Though young and relatively raw, 6ft 3in Kepa is regarded as one of the best prospects to emerge from Spain and was named in his country’s World Cup squad.

The deal will trigger Thibaut Courtois’ departure to Real Madrid, who have made a £35m bid

He trained with Bilbao on Tuesday morning before getting the all-clear to travel to Madrid. He is expected to sign a five-year contract worth £5m a year after tax and be in contention to make his Premier League debut away at Huddersfield on Saturday.

Real Madrid midfielder Kovacic, 24, was identified by Chelsea as an alternative to Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey with Sarri looking to partner him with Jorginho and Kante in his new-look engine room.

Also watch all live games around the world on:

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L’Equipe claim the Catalan giants have finally landed their man following a summer-long chase.

The 20-year-old was one of the targets, along with Philippe Coutinho, Barca had identified as a potential replacement for Neymar following his world record move to Paris Saint-Germain.

But after giving up their pursuit of the Liverpool star, Barca have moved quickly to wrap up a deal for Dembele-talk sport

Manchester City are set to launch a third bid of more than £25m to sign West Brom defender Jonny Evans. 

Manchester City will launch a third bid, of more than £25 million, to sign Jonny Evans from West Bromwich Albion.

City’s latest offer, worth £18 million, was rejected last week but Pep Guardiola, the head coach, is determined to sign the former Manchester United centre back-The Times

Swansea have cooled their interest in 28-year-old midfielder Nacer Chadli after being quoted in excess of £25m by West Bromwich Albion-Daily Mail

Manchester City have given up hope of signing Monaco’s 18-year-old France striker Kylian Mbappe for £150m.

City are one of three clubs – Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are the others – fighting to sign the France forward this summer.

Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain admitted: “We are out of the race – it is impossible to do it with the time remaining.“It will not happen, it is impossible.”-The Sun

Arsenal could be ready to sell Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The England international looks set to turn down the Gunners’ final contract offer, with Chelsea and Liverpool on red alert-Daily Mirror

Arsenal close in on Virgil van Dijk as Shkodran Mustafi linked with Inter Milan

Arsenal are closing in on the signing of Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk, reports The Sun.

The Dutchman has attracted interest from several clubs this summer – most notably Liverpool and Chelsea – especially after handing in a transfer request.

The Sun says Saints remain resolute that Van Dijk will not be sold, despite signing defender Wesley Hoedt from Lazio-Daily Telegraph

Chelsea are said to be confident of signing the 24-year-old for £35m before the transfer deadline next Thursday-Daily Telegraph

Jack Wilshere could also be set to leave the Emirates Stadium, with Arsene Wengerprepared to sell him-The Guardian

Italian media are reporting that Chelsea target Antonio Candreva is keen on staying at Inter Milan. (Tutto Mercato)

The Blues are also trying to push through the £15m signing of Swansea striker Fernando Llorente, who played under Antonio Conte at Juventus-Daily Telegraph

RB Leipzig’s 20-year-old Scottish winger Oliver Burke is set for a medical at West Brom-Sky Sports

Leicester City youngster Demarai Gray has told his club to promise him more game time this season, or sell him before the transfer window shuts-Daily Mirror

Crystal Palace are interested in signing 33-year-old goalkeeper Michel Vormfrom Tottenham-Evening Standard

Meanwhile, Huddersfield Town are interested in signing former West Ham and England goalkeeper Robert Green – currently at Leeds United-Daily Mail

Birmingham boss Harry Redknapp is still hoping to sign Middlesbrough winger Stewart Downing-Birmingham Mail

Barcelona have told Turkey midfielder Arda Turan he can leave on a free transfer, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United linked with the 30-year-old-Sport

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Goals from Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and an Emre Can brace secured a famous victory for Liverpool, whilst Hoffenheim players Uth and Wagner grabbed the German side consolations either side of half time.

Now Liverpool is unbeaten in 15 home games against German teams and will learn their group-stage opponents in the draw held in Monaco on 24^th, August, 2017 that will feature five English clubs for the first time.

The Merseyside Club will make their first appearance I the Champions League since the 2014/15 season and will  join Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, who qualified via the Premier League, and Manchester United, who earned Champions League return by winning the 2016/17 Europa League trophy.

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Sanchez, 28, picked up an abdominal injury in training ahead of Arsenal’s FA Community Shield victory against Chelsea at Wembley on 6th, August, 2017.

Wenger confirmed that the Chilean forward will now miss the Premier League opener against Leicester City on 11th, August and trip to Stoke City on 19th, August, 2017.

“He had a little abdominal strain that he caught on Sunday morning in training and he had a scan two days ago,” Wenger told a news conference. “He is out for a while, could be two weeks but he will not be available for Stoke.”

Sanchez, who was Arsenal’s top scorer in the league with 24 goals in the 2016/17 season and has been linked with a move to Paris St Germain with reports in the Independent claiming the French side is willing to bid  £80m and offer him up to £400,000 a week.

The Gunners boss, Arsene Wenger ,however insisted that the club have received no offer from PSG for Sanchez, claiming that Les Parisiens are instead focused on landing Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco.

When asked whether he has spoken to PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi,the French man answered “No, we have not. It’s a long time since I spoke to Nasser, because it’s certainly very busy to complete the transfer of Neymar and it’s a long time that I didn’t speak to him”.
The Chilean has 12 months remaining on his contract and Wenger is adamant that his star player will leave the Emirates Stadium.

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The 24-year-old will complete a move to Stamford Bridge after agreeing personal terms and passing a medical expected to be done on Thursday 20^th, July, 2017.

‘Chelsea Football Club and Real Madrid have agreed terms for the transfer of Alvaro Morata to Stamford Bridge.The move is now subject to him agreeing personal terms and passing a medical.’,reads a statement on Chelsea.com

We have agreed terms with Real Madrid for the transfer of Alvaro Morata…https://t.co/uuenBgcPH2

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 19, 2017

Morata will become Chelsea’s fourth signing of the summer, after goalkeeper Willy Caballero, defender Antonio Rudiger and midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko.

The Spanish international scored 20 goals in the 2016/17 season after rejoining Real from Juventus and went on to win the La Liga and the Champions League titles.

Morata could replace Spain team-mate Diego Costa, who says he has been told by manager Antonio Conte that he is no longer in Chelsea’s plans.

Manchester United had been interested in the spaniard prior to signing Everton striker Romelu Lukaku for an initial £75m who was believed to Chelsea’s number one striking target.

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Sanchez scored from Mesut Ozil’s pass in the 60th minute after a lovely dummy put the Saints defence out of his way and expertly finished with his left-foot.

The goal means the Chilean has now scored 20 goals in the League and his good form can inspire Arsenal to a top four finish.

Arsenal substitute Oliver Giroud ensured his team cruised to victory by heading in a second goal with seven minutes to play.

Southampton put up a good show after they had registered back to back scoreless draws in their previous two games though the Gunners proved too strong to avoid defeat.

Arsenal’s win moved them above Manchester United into fifth on 66 points, three adrift of fourth-placed Manchester City with both having played 35 games.

The Gunners have a glimmer of hope for a top four finish if Liverpool who have 70 points from 36 games, fail to get maximum wins against their two remaining fixtures.

The English Premier league will resume on 12th, May, 2017 with Chelsea away to West Bromwich Albion and Everton taking on Watford.

13th May: Premier League Fixtures

Manchester City Vs Leicester City

AFC Bournemouth Vs Burnely

Middlesbrough Vs Southampton

Sunderland Vs Swansea

Stoke Vs Arsenal

14th May Fixtures

Crystal Palace Vs Hull City

Westham United Vs Liverpool

Tottenham Hotspurs Vs Manchester United.

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Chelsea were in the running to become the first team to win 14 successive games within the same English top-flight season, but Alli’s goals, ended their hopes.

Arsenal still hold the record for consecutive Premier League wins although their streak included 13 at the end of 2001-02 and one more at the beginning of the following campaign.

“We knew that defeat could happen before the game but I think today I saw a game with a good balance and they scored a goal at the end of the first-half and the second goal in our best moment,” Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said.

“It is a pity to stop this run, but Tottenham is a good team, a really strong team and I think is for sure one of the teams that can fight for the title until the end.”

Tottenham manager, Mauricio Pochettino was pleased by the performance of his team labeling it solid but also pointed out Chelsea as one of the best teams in Europe.
“We were competitive against a team in very good form, one of the best in Europe, and we feel very proud and pleased because the performance was very solid,” said Pochettino.

Chelsea still leads Liverpool by five points but Tottenham is now only seven points behind in third after a fifth successive victory with Manchester City and Arsenal  fourth and fifth respectively.

With Agency inputs

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Meanwhile, Chelsea had to settle for a 0-0 draw away to Dynamo Kiev but reigning European champions Barcelona won in Belarus and Bayer Leverkusen played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with Roma in Germany.

Arsenal striker Oliver Giroud celebrates after scoring his team’s opener in the second-half against Bayern Munich at the Emirates (Picture: Getty)

Bayern arrived in London having won every game this season and they dominated possession for much of an absorbing Group F encounter.

However, they only remained on level terms at the break thanks to a stunning save by Manuel Neuer to keep out a header from point-blank range by the unmarked Theo Walcott.

But Arsenal, in desperate need of a win after defeats to Dinamo Zagreb and Olympiakos in their first two games, took advantage of a howler by Neuer to get the crucial breakthrough with 13 minutes remaining.

The Germany goalkeeper came and missed a free-kick, allowing substitute Giroud to bundle the ball into the net.

Arsenal then secured the points that keep alive their chances of progressing to the last 16 when Ozil’s finish from Hector Bellerin’s assist crossed the line despite Neuer’s best efforts to keep it out.

The Gunners remain bottom of the group with a trip to Bayern to come next, but the four sides are separated by just three points after Olympiakos won 1-0 in Croatia in the night’s other game thanks to a late Brown Ideye goal.

“We had an absolute necessity to win the game and we did it in a disciplined way,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

“Bayern had more possession than us, but we decided to make it tight in our final third and catch them on the break.”

Mourinho targets officials

Chelsea remain in a precarious position in Group G after a 0-0 draw with Dynamo Kiev in chilly Ukraine as the recalled Eden Hazard and Willian both hit the woodwork for the visitors.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho also felt that his side should have been given a penalty after Cesc Fabregas went down in the Dynamo box during the first half and later told UK television that the referee had been “weak and naive”.

The Premier League champions are third in the group, a point behind Dynamo and three points adrift of Porto, who beat Maccabi Tel Aviv 2-0 in Portugal thanks to goals by Vincent Aboubakar and Yacine Brahimi.

But with home games against Dynamo and Porto to come, as well as a trip to Israel, Mourinho remains confident his side will go through.

“We have the destiny in our hands,” he said. “We play two matches at home and one in Israel, so the qualification depends clearly on us.”

Barcelona strengthened their position atop Group E with a 2-0 victory away to BATE, secured by two fine second-half goals from substitute Ivan Rakitic, both set up Neymar.

“It was a very good game overall from the team. We pressed well and I don’t think BATE had a single chance,” said Rakitic.

The other match in the group was without doubt the game of the evening, with Leverkusen taking a two-goal lead and then falling 4-2 down before fighting back to snatch a precious point against Roma.

Javier Hernandez opened the scoring from the penalty spot for the Bundesliga side and increased their lead in the 19th minute, but Daniele De Rossi replied with a double for Roma before the break.

A tremendous Miralem Pjanic free-kick put the visitors in front and Iago Falque appeared to have secured a first win of the campaign for the Italians in the 73rd minute.

But Kevin Kampl reduced the deficit and substitute Admir Mehmedi rounded off a breathtaking game by making it 4-4 four minutes from time to keep Leverkusen in second place and leave Roma bottom of the group.

Zenit St Petersburg closed in on a quarter-final place with a third straight win in Group H as Artem Dzyuba, Hulk and Danny netted in a 3-1 victory over Lyon, for whom Alexandre Lacazette had equalised.

Valencia are three points back in second place after beating Gent 2-1 in Spain thanks to a Sofiane Feghouli shot that went in off Lasse Nielsen and a Stefan Mitrovic own goal either side of a Thomas Foket strike for the Belgians.

AFP

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