{"id":241328,"date":"2026-05-01T16:41:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/aston-villa-set-to-hijack-tottenham-move-if-spurs-go-down-with-offer-now-submitted\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T16:41:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T16:41:13","slug":"aston-villa-set-to-hijack-tottenham-move-if-spurs-go-down-with-offer-now-submitted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/01\/aston-villa-set-to-hijack-tottenham-move-if-spurs-go-down-with-offer-now-submitted\/","title":{"rendered":"Aston Villa set to hijack Tottenham move if Spurs go down with offer now submitted"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Aston Villa<\/a> boss Unai Emery said it was \u201ccrazy\u201d that Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson avoided a red card in the Europa League semi-final first leg.<\/p>\n

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Forest seized the advantage after Chris Wood\u2019s second-half penalty earned a 1-0 win at the City Ground, coming after VAR intervened to rule the ball had not gone out before Lucas Digne<\/a> handled.<\/p>\n

But Emery was fuming that the technology did not get used for Anderson\u2019s first-half tackle on Ollie Watkins, which looked to have caught his England team-mate on the ankle with his studs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watched the action of Anderson on Watkins, and the referee did a fantastic job,\u201d Emery said. \u201cI was so, so feeling comfortable with how he managed the game in 90 minutes, but after watching it again, it is the VAR responsibility.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is a huge mistake, a huge mistake. Ollie Watkins was close to breaking his ankle. The VAR has a huge responsibility and he must give us an explanation. It is crazy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ref can\u2019t watch it like me. One action like that can break his ankle. The VAR makes sense if they are fair. What is your opinion? Wow.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn football I work 20 years as a coach, sometimes decisions are tight. I am 100 per cent with VAR, but we must manage it good and in the right way. One action like that, there is no doubt. Where is VAR?\u201d<\/p>\n

Had Forest been down to 10 men it might have been a different story as Vitor Pereira\u2019s men put themselves 90 minutes away from a first European final since the glory days of Brian Clough.<\/p>\n

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\n \"Aston<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tWorse than Digne: Emery must drop Aston Villa flop who lost the ball every 4 touches
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Aston Villa have fallen to a narrow first leg defeat against Nottingham Forest in the Europa League semi-finals. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

It was an even contest in the late April sunshine, with both goalkeepers making fine saves to keep the score level.<\/p>\n

The decisive moment came in the 70th minute when Omari Hutchinson kept the ball in and Digne handled, with Wood dispatching the penalty in style.<\/p>\n

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\n Aston Villa eyeing move for Serie A midfielder
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According to a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport<\/a>, Villa are set to do battle with Tottenham for the signing of AC Milan midfielder Youssouf Fofana.<\/p>\n

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\n \"France's\n <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

A 25-cap France international, Fofana is expected to leave Milan this summer due to their own interest in Leon Goretzka.<\/p>\n

Both Villa and Spurs have submitted offers to the 27 year-old’s representatives, but Tottenham’s is on the condition that they stay up, leaving Emery in the driver’s seat to seal a deal.<\/p>\n

Fofana has featured 29 times in Serie A this season, scoring twice and providing three assists, and has two years remaining on his contract.<\/p>\n

Known for his physicality, defensive contributions and ball progression, he could be seen as a replacement for Amadou Onana if the Belgium star were to leave Villa Park.<\/p>\n

Read next: Aston Villa have been linked with a move for Newcastle manager Eddie Howe<\/a><\/p>\n

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\n \"Newcastle<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tNewcastle boss Eddie Howe set for crunch PIF talks this week as Aston Villa claim emerges
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Villa face a battle to keep Unai Emery.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said it was \u201ccrazy\u201d that Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson avoided a red card in the Europa League semi-final first leg. Forest seized the advantage after Chris Wood\u2019s second-half penalty earned a 1-0 win at the City Ground, coming after VAR intervened to rule the ball had not gone out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":241329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6808],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-241328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}