Here are the latest Premier League headlines on Thursday, March 24.
Struijk’s van Dijk wish
Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk has labelled Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk as the centre-back he would most like to play alongside. Van Dijk has propelled himself to arguably the best in his position in the world since his move to Anfield, winning the Premier League, Champions League and Carabao Cup.
Like van Dijk, Struijk is also Dutch and with time very much on the Leeds man’s side, there is potential for them to line up alongside each other for Netherlands. And in a question and answer session with Leeds supporters on Twitter, Struijk picked out van Dijk as the centre back he dreams of lining up next to.
Walker-Peters told to emulate Trippier
Southampton full-back Kyle Walker-Peters was told to follow the example of Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier in order to break through to the England squad. Walker-Peters received his maiden Three Lions call-up for the upcoming March international fixtures after enjoying a very impressive season for the Saints.
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The 24-year-old has played on both the left and right-hand side of defence at times this season, something which Trippier did excellently for England at EURO 2020. This is an attribute particularly useful to Gareth Southgate’s squad given their shortage of left-backs and via quotes from Hampshire Live, Walker-Peters revealed the advice he was given before the start of the season.
He said: “The manager at Southampton [Ralph Hasenhuttl] brought this up with me at the beginning of the season. He said if I want to play for England, it is important to show I can play on the left as well. He actually brought up [Kieran] Trippier's name and said like him, he played at left-back in the Euros. So I think it is definitely a quality that Gareth [Southgate] appreciates, but there is a long way to go until that [World Cup] squad is announced and I just have to keep performing as best as I can.”
Bissouma future
Yves Bissouma has reportedly told Brighton & Hove Albion he would like to leave the club amid ongoing speculation about his future. That is according to 90min.com, who claim that a number of clubs including Aston Villa, AS Monaco, Arsenal and Manchester United have all shown interest in the past and could rekindle it this summer.
Bissouma will have just 12 months to run on his contract at the Amex Stadium and has established himself as a quality centre midfield player since his arrival from Lille in 2018. Villa went in strongly for his signature during the January transfer window, however the Seagulls rejected their advances.
