Will Aston Villa qualify for Champions League this season?
Aston Villa moved up to third place in Premier League table after 2-1 win in the local derby against West Bromwhich Albion this afternoon.
Aston Villa are now one point behind Chelsea and three above Manchester United but with more games played. This is the 9th unbeaten game for Villa and with a little luck they could finish top four.
Usually the Champions League places were occupied each year by the Manchester, Chelsea, Arsenal And Liverpool.
Last time when a different team occupied the Champions League place was in 2002-2003 season when Newcastle finished third. Since then only Everton had the chance once to play in Champions League but unfortunately for them Liverpool got the chance to defend the title and they finally played in Uefa Cup.
Now Villa could take advantage on the numerous injuries and the bad form that Arsenal is showing. The Gunners were saved by Nicklas Bendtner late strike in the match against Bolton Wanderers.
Manager Martin O’Neill’s contribution since he arrived at Villa Park is the most important factor in team evolution. The team started to trust in their chances and is playing better and better.
The team is young and if the key players are staying for a couple of years then they will surely succeed.
Even if they won’t qualify for Champions League this year they will be a difficult opponent for any team.
Who will be the next transfer for Manchester City?
Manchester City became one of the clubs with the biggest budgets in the World after being taken over by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan.
Manchester City is trying to copy Chelsea’s model, who managed to dominate Premier League after only two years from club takeover by Abramovic. And the first move was Robinho, which they manage to steal from Real Madrid in front of Chelsea. The board promised at that time that it was only the beginning and the real transfers will be done this year.
There shortlist includes players from the best clubs in Europe but until now only Wayne Bridge from Chelsea was signed. The transfer amount has not been made public but it was probably around € 20 million.
There are also reports that there were offers, all rejected, for Buffon and Trezeguet from Juventus, Yaya Toure from Barcelona, Santa Cruz from Blackburn and lately for Zarate from Lazio.
Probably players like Buffon, Trezeguet or Toure, which are playing every year in Champions League, are difficult targets but for the rest the temptation is big.
But every man has a price, and there are players that would choose more money to the detriment of glory like it was the case for Robinho.
It remains to be seen which will be the next targets for Manchester City. The transfer window is just at the beginning and they have all the time to strengthen their team.
