Chelsea misfit agrees personal terms over transfer move to Premier League rivals

Nicolas Jackson is deemed surplus to requirements at Xabi Alonso’s Chelsea (Picture: Getty)

Atletico Madrid have given up hope of signing Nicolas Jackson, with the out-of-favour Chelsea forward reportedly on the cusp of a big-money move to Aston Villa.

Jackson joined up with Chelsea again this summer following a season-long loan spell with Bayern Munich, but played no part in the Blues’ 3-2 victory over Fulham on Monday night.

Bundesliga champions Bayern confirmed back in April that they had no intention of signing Jackson on a permanent basis, leaving the 25-year-old in a state of limbo ahead of the new season.

Aston Villa have been keeping close tabs on Jackson’s situation for well over 12 months and have stepped up their pursuit of the attacker over the last few days, with Ollie Watkins expected to depart for Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal.

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According to Spanish newspaper AS, a proposed move to Atleti appears ‘increasingly unlikely’ and Jackson looks set to become Unai Emery’s newest addition at Villa Park.

Jackson had been identified as a potential replacement for wantaway Atleti forward Julian Alvarez at the Metropolitano Stadium, but the La Liga giants must now consider alternative options if they are to reinforce their frontline.

It’s claimed Jackson has agreed personal terms with Villa and Emery’s side also have a verbal deal in place over a fee believed to in the region of £60-65million.

Jackson’s days with Chelsea are seemingly numbered (Picture: Venron Yuen/Nexpher via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)

The Senegal forward has been left in limbo this summer (Picture: Getty)

Jackson is expected to put pen to paper on a six-year contract with Villa, tying him to the club until 2032.

Villa are said to have been keen on Jackson ‘for several summers’ and Watkins’ impending departure has only intensified their interest heading the final week of the transfer window.

Emery has been left upset and frustrated by the recent departures of Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans and Ezri Konsa for Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, and is desperate to bring in an attacker with Premier League experience before Tuesday’s deadline.

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The possible sale of Emiliano Martinez would help fund Villa’s move for Jackson, with Chelsea offered the chance to sign the Argentina goalkeeper in the last few hours.

Jackson has racked up 30 goals and 12 assists in 81 appearances for Chelsea since arriving at Stamford Bridge from Villarreal at the start of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign back in 2023.

The Senegal international enjoyed an encouraging debut season in west London, netting 14 times in the Premier League, but struggled for form the following campaign before being sent to Germany on loan.

He still has seven years remaining on his current contract with Chelsea.

Emery wants a player with Premier League experience to replace Watkins (Picture: Getty)

Facing the media ahead of Villa’s thumping 4-0 defeat to Brighton, Emery made no secret of the fact star striker Watkins could soon be set for the exit door.

‘We have an issue with him, it’s clear. He is another player, we have had offers for him,’ the Spaniard told reporters.

‘He is our player, I don’t want to sell him. It can change because if it is a good option for him, good option for the club and I can replace him in the squad.

Watkins is expected to depart Villa Park for the Saudi Pro League (Picture: PA)

‘This is the routine we have and we did before with the players they are losing. With Ollie, he is here, and he has always been up and down in his performance.

‘He is a fantastic striker, we always believe in him and we supported him and he did it. Now he is our player and there is ten days more or less to finish the transfer window.

‘We will see what happens. He is our player, I am happy with him and in case he stays with us, he is going to continue playing his level.

‘If he is leaving it will be for the best three ways. One is him, another is the club and another is the team.’

On Martinez’s future, Emery added: ‘He transmitted to us the possibility to have another challenge in his career.

‘Not now, even last year, he was thinking in case he can have one possibility to change and he didn’t do last year, and he performed fantastic with us.

‘This year again, he transmitted us the possibility to have another challenge, and we decided to sign [Zion] Suzuki because I think he’s a fantastic goalkeeper in case Martínez is leaving.’

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UK comedy icon will be secret standout star of Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice

Emma Corrin (left) plays Elizabeth in the new version of Pride and Prejudice (Picture: Netflix/Ludovic Robert)

Who else can’t wait for the season of yearning to begin?

I am, of course, referring to the imminent release of Netflix’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice this autumn. More than 20 years after Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen bewitched us, body and soul, the streamer is bringing a new spin to Jane Austen’s romance, helmed by author Dolly Alderton.

This week is the Edinburgh TV Festival, an annual event celebrating its 50th anniversary where several of the biggest companies in television reveal the biggest projects that they have in the pipeline.

On Wednesday, Metro attended as Netflix gave a sneak peek at its six-episode Pride and Prejudice, revealing more footage of Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy, as well as a first glimpse of Jamie Demetriou as the infamous Mr Collins.

I have no qualms with saying that Stath Lets Flats actor Jamie could end up being the secret standout star of this entire series.

He had big shoes to fill when he first took on the role of the Bennets’ dreaded cousin, who’s set to inherit everything when Mr Bennet dies, hence Mrs Bennet’s even greater desperation to find wealthy husbands for her daughters. 

Get ready for Jamie to make you cringe like hell as Mr Collins (Picture: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

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The most recent Pride and Prejudice adaptation that often comes to mind (aside from other spin-offs like Austenland and the Bridget Jones franchise) is the 2005 movie. 

The film was steeped in romanticism, wistful looks, gentle hand grazes, and a declaration of love so powerful it still pops up regularly when I’m scrolling through Instagram reels. But the leads, Keira and Matthew, weren’t the only ones who gave scene-stealing performances.

There are many actors in the stellar ensemble who deserve shoutouts, but no one could have been as infuriating, as boring, as inadvertently hilarious as Tom Hollander was playing Mr Collins in the 2005 movie. His admiration for the Bennets’ boiled potatoes has become a cult classic quote, and you can find it embossed on T-shirts, cards and tote bags on Etsy.

So who could follow in Tom’s footsteps, to make audiences cringe with secondhand embarrassment as Mr Collins demonstrates his complete lack of social awareness? Enter comedy icon Jamie.

Without giving away spoilers before the trailer is widely released, the snippet that we saw of the Fleabag actor as the Bennet family’s cousin made my toes curl up with discomfort. So yes, it seems that he’s nailed Mr Collins’ mortifying manners spot on. 

Mr Collins (Tom Hollander) tries to win the affections of his cousin Elizabeth in Jane Austen’s story (Picture: Working Title/Kobal/Shutterstock)

Not only does Elizabeth not appreciate Mr Collins’ advances, her heart is elsewhere (Picture: Alex Bailey/Working Title/Kobal/Rex/Shutterstock)

There will be so much attention placed on the leads Emma, as Elizabeth, and Jack, as Mr Darcy, particularly given the latter is being touted as a frontrunner to play James Bond. But I hope that Jamie receives the adulation that he deserves if his entire performance is as awkwardly amusing as the clip we were given the opportunity to watch early.

Earlier this year, the 38-year-old admitted how ‘surprised’ he was when he was cast as Mr Collins in the series, but relished taking on a role different to ones he’d done in the past.

‘There’s so many ways to skin that character. And that challenge freaked me out. I was really, really, genuinely surprised when I got the part,’ he told NME.

‘I really do feel like I’ve taken part in something that doesn’t resemble anything I’ve done before.’

Fans celebrated his casting, with one called Past-Ad-2282 writing on Reddit: ‘Jamie is perfect for Mr Collins. PERFECT.’

‘Straight up made me want to watch this now, I love the Demetriou siblings!’ vensie remarked, while another added: ‘Oh my god I am such a big fan of his and I KNOW he will do it right.’

Pride and Prejudice is due to premiere on Netflix this year.

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Kat Slater left sobbing in EastEnders as Alfie worries about what is wrong

Alfie was left very worried about Kat (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)

EastEnders spoilers follow for Tuesday’s (August 25) episode, which can now be streamed on BBC iPlayer. The episode in question will air at 7:30pm.

Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace) was seen sobbing in the loos at the Queen Vic during the latest visit to the Square, leaving husband Alfie Moon (Shane Richie) worried.

It’s been quite a year for the landlady of Walford’s signature boozer, following the long-awaited comeback of daughter Zoe (Michelle Ryan), plus the discovery that she has two grandkids she didn’t know about.

After a tense few months at the tail end of last year and the beginning of this one, things have been somewhat quieter for the Slaters in recent months – but it seems there’s more going on than meets the eye.

Alfie, as viewers know, was helping sons Bert and Ernie with a school project in which they were tasked with capturing a day in the life of their hero.

After racking their brains over who exactly they should film, the kids witnessed Kat slinging a troublemaking punter out of the Vic and resolved to make their mum the focus of the project.

Kat has had a lot on her plate lately (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)

Kat was overwhelmed to be thought of as the boys’ hero and agreed to take part, with Tuesday’s (August 25) edition of the BBC One soap seeing Alfie tape a camera to her as she set about her day.

Throughout the afternoon in question, Kat served punters at the bar, with Alfie using a second camera to capture her every move so that the boys would have alternate takes for their project if needed.

Upon returning home from an afternoon out with Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman), the pub landlord headed to the laptop to check out some of the footage the camera had obtained.

However, he stumbled upon clip of Kat from earlier in the day heading to the pub toilets. The camera captured her reflection in the mirror and she could be seen crying, leaving Alfie worried.

Kat is touched by Alfie’s efforts to help (Picture: BBC / Jack Barnes / Kieron McCarron)

The question is: just what has upset Kat?

That remains to be seen but, in a bid to cheer his soulmate love up, tomorrow’s episode will see Alfie attempt to plan a Benidorm-themed party, which is inspired by a happy memory.

His loved ones ask him why he’s not quizzed Kat about what he saw in the footage but his big plan distracts them. Kat, meanwhile, is genuinely taken aback by Alfie’s efforts to cheer her up.

But things soon go very wrong!

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One or stream from 6am on BBC iPlayer.

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Why Moises Caicedo missed Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Fulham

Moises Caicedo missed Chelsea’s Premier League opener (Picture: Getty)

Moises Caicedo was missing from Chelsea’s matchday squad for their Premier League opener against Fulham on Monday night.

Xabi Alonso’s reign as Chelsea manager began with a west London derby at Craven Cottage.

The former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder was without influential midfielder Caicedo for Chelsea’s opening Premier League fixture due to a ‘setback’ suffered in training.

In Caicedo’s absence, Reece James partnered Romeo Lavia in midfield, with Enzo Fernandez only named on the bench amid ongoing speculation over a late move to Manchester City before the end of the summer transfer window.

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Explaining the absence of Caicedo and Chelsea summer signing Marco Palestra in his pre-match interview, Alonso said: ‘During the week they had a few setbacks.

‘With Moi – and with any [player] – we don’t want to take too much risk. They weren’t ready to play tonight. We need to go week-by-week but for tonight they were not ready.’

New Fulham boss Alvaro Arbeloa admitted he was surprised by Alonso’s first Chelsea team, saying: ‘You’ll have to ask Xabi about that!

New Chelsea boss Xabi Alonso (Picture: Getty)

‘I think maybe they have some injured or some problems. I will ask him later. We expected another XI for starting, for sure.’

Discussing his expectations for Chelsea for the new season, Jamie Carragher said on Sky Sports: ‘We’re looking at Chelsea doing okay on the fact Alonso has come in – it feels they’ve done really well to get a manager of that calibre.

‘Given how poor last season was – and the fact they have no European football, and they’ve been in the transfer market.

Chelsea’s dressing room at Craven Cottage (Picture: Getty)

‘There’s definitely a shift there. They’ve realised mistakes they’ve made in the past.

‘Chelsea have got five or six really top players. Morgan Rogers and Maxence Lacroix could add to that. They’re the two signings I really look at.

‘If you add them to those five or six players and they perform well and settle in, that’s why we think they could have a really good season.’

Asked whether Chelsea could rival title favourites Arsenal for the Premier League trophy, Gary Neville added: ‘It’s a big ask.

‘With the quality Arsenal have, the strength they have, the confidence… it will be a big ask to challenge Arsenal.

‘But I think Chelsea, looking at the rest of [the contenders], and what Chelsea have done in this transfer window, I think they’re in a good place.  They could push for second.’

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Gary Neville makes Arsenal and Chelsea title claim after Liverpool draw with Newcastle

Man Utd legend and ex-England defender Gary Neville (Picture: Getty)

Gary Neville has ‘never been so sure’ Arsenal will retain the Premier League trophy and says Chelsea could be their biggest rivals as neither Manchester City or Liverpool look like title-winning teams.

The Gunners began their title defence with a routine 3-0 win over newly-promoted Coventry City on Friday night.

Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka scored first-half goals for Mikel Arteta’s side before Martin Odegaard added a third after the break.

Man City and Liverpool, who could be two of Arsenal’s biggest rivals for the title, were both in action on Sunday, with Enzo Maresca’s team coming from behind to beat Bournemouth and Andoni Iraola’s side scoring a last-minute equaliser at Newcastle United.

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Maresca’s first Premier League game in charge of Man City looked set to end in defeat as Bournemouth led for almost an hour following Marcus Tavernier’s first-half opener.

But Marc Guehi headed home a late equaliser before Josko Gvardiol scored an injury-time winner for Manchester City, who finished seven points behind Arsenal last season.

Liverpool trailed twice at St James’ Park but Dominik Szoboszlai’s penalty with virtually the lack kick of the game earned the Reds a point at much-changed Newcastle.

Arsenal brushed aside Coventry City (Picture: Getty)

Neville cannot see Liverpool mounting a title challenge after their opening draw with Newcastle and says there are also ‘lots of questions’ over Man City in their first season without Pep Guardiola.

As a result the Manchester United legend and former England defender expects Arsenal to storm to back-to-back Premier League titles.

‘Last week when we were previewing the season all I kept thinking was this is going to be the most unpredictable season and it’s going to be intriguing,’ Neville said on his Sky Sports podcast.

Man City survived a scare against Bournemouth (Picture: Getty)

‘We’ve got new managers, lots of new players and so much change at the top. Arsenal should win this league by a street.

‘We’ve seen Tottenham get beaten, Man United lose, Liverpool nearly lose, Man City scrambling for a win at home…

‘The unpredictable nature we thought we’d see at the top we have seen on this opening weekend. It’s played out pretty much how I thought it would do.

Arsenal are bidding to retain the Premier League trophy (Picture: Getty)

‘Arsenal are going to be feeling really confident right now. It’s the most sure I’ve ever been – and look, I could have egg on my face come the end of the season – but it’s the most sure I’ve ever been after game one that we’re going to see a team be Premier League champions.

‘I think Chelsea will finish second because of the squad and the lack of European competition and they’ve got a great manager.

‘I do think Chelsea have a great chance to push Arsenal this year and finish second.’

Liverpool avoided defeat at Newcastle United (Picture: Getty)

On Manchester City’s opening win over Bournemouth, Neville added: ‘They deserved to win the game if you look at some of the chances they missed.

‘I thought they were really bright early on but the shock for me was the formation with Nico O’Reilly at left-back and Marc Guehi in midfield. It was a bit of a surprise and didn’t look quite right.

‘It was really important for Man City and Enzo Maresca to get that win because there’s pressure on him there.

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‘They deserved to win but it wasn’t plain-sailing, there’s still a lot of questions there. We’re measuring Man City and Liverpool by he standards they’ve previously set and they’re nowhere near those standards.

‘You can’t say Liverpool didn’t deserve a point out of the game because they created a lot of chances.

‘I think Liverpool will be happy with the point and the way the game ended but deep down, when you’re measuring yourself against the teams they’ve had recently that have won titles, I think they’ll be thinking “we’ve got a lot of work to do”. They’re nowhere near a title-winning team, I don’t think.

‘If you’re going to play those two full-backs, you better have two amazing centre-backs and two very good defensive midfielders who are going to stop counter-attacks.

‘You need to compensate for that. Their midfielders aren’t really holding players, quite often they empty the midfield by running forward, so I think that’s a real problem for the balance for Liverpool.

‘The other big thing for Liverpool is they’ve got Isak and Wirtz who are going to have to start playing soon. We’ve been kind on them two.

‘They need to start delivering and they need to improve. There were some positives for Liverpool but there’s a big question over Isak and Wirtz still, those two need to deliver.’

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‘Madness!’ – Jamie Carragher makes worrying Liverpool claim after Newcastle draw

Jamie Carragher was not impressed with Liverpool against Newcastle (Photo: Getty)

Jamie Carragher slammed Andoni Iraola’s tactics as Liverpool scraped a 2-2 draw at Newcastle United in their opening Premier League clash.

Following emotional pre-match tributes to the late Kevin Keegan, Newcastle were the better side at St. James’ Park on Sunday, taking an early lead through Anthony Elanga.

Cody Gakpo equalised after the break, only for the home side to hit back immediately with Joe Willock scoring just seconds after coming off the bench.

The Magpies were on course for victory until the 96th minute when Lewis Hall fouled Victor Munoz in the box, with Dominik Szoboszlai scoring the resulting penalty to share the points.

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The Reds looked incredibly vulnerable in Iraola’s first game since replacing Arne Slot in the dugout, with Newcastle consistently overrunning their midfield of Ryan Gravenberch, Szoboszlai and Florian Wirtz.

Liverpool legend Carragher was left incensed by Elanga’s goal on the counter-attack, immediately posting on Twitter: ‘LFC Midfield all bombing forward happened all pre-season, madness!’

And after Willock’s goal occurred in similar circumstances, Carragher posted: ‘Again! This midfield cannot work, I said it before a competitive ball was kicked.’

Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool aren’t off to a great start (Photo: Getty)

Former Liverpool forward Daniel Sturridge concurred with the former defender, urging Iraola to sign a new No.6 before the transfer window closes on September 1.

‘I think the team needs a defensive midfielder personally,’ the former Chelsea and Manchester City star told Sky Sports. ‘We’ve been talking about the defensive midfielder at Liverpool for the past three years.

‘Gravenberch coming into the team, playing consistently and Liverpool winning the Premier League changed that philosophy. But if you actually analyse the midfield, they’re all naturally more attacking players.

Liverpool’s midfield struggled to cope with Newcastle’s pressing and counter-attacks (Photo: Getty)

‘If you look at Brentford, they bring in [Mamadou] Sangare and you look at his stats, they jump out. Third in interceptions, third in tackles, third in possession recovered.

‘£39million, that’s not a load of money for someone like Liverpool. I’m not suggesting he was the man [they should’ve signed] but the stats jump out and Liverpool don’t have that profile of player right now.

‘Trey Nyoni, I really, really like him as a player, I think he’s brilliant. He’s more of a ball playing six or eight, he’s not a destroyer, he’s not someone who’s going to strike fear into the opposition like a Sangare or an N’Golo Kante can.’

Liverpool have not been heavily linked with a new defensive midfielder, with the club instead focusing on a new winger to replace Mohamed Salah.

The Reds have seen two bids for Yankuba Minteh rejected, with Brighton reportedly seeking £70m for the Gambia international.

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EastEnders boss confirms major new story for Suki and Eve after quiet spell

‘There’s something big coming up.’ (Picture: BBC)

Eve and Suki Panesar-Unwin (Heather Peace and Balvinder Sopal) have had a bit of a quieter period in EastEnders recently. According to executive producer Ben Wadey, that’s about to end in a big way.

‘Suki and Eve have something big coming up.’ Ben teased during a recent EastEnders press event.

‘We deliberately played out the adoption story very slowly and very realistically because it’s a real world issue that lots of people go through and we wanted to get that right.’

‘Suki has been a little bit quiet for a while and we wanted to track that. Suki and Eve have something quite major coming up and we are going to do a little announcement in the coming weeks to tease that a little bit more.’

The couple have suffered a long, hard fight in their journey to start a family, with more than their fare share of obstacles on the road to adoption.

It all started when Suki discovered her step-granddaughter Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) was pregnant. Overcome with desperation to be a mum, Suki acted out of character and pressured Avani to continue with a pregnancy that she was clearly terrified of carrying to term.

Fortunately, Eve learned that Avani was not at all on board and intervened, supporting her wish to have a termination even if it meant exploding her relationship with Suki.

Boy, did things explode.

The couple’s adoption journey has not been plain sailing. (Picture:BBC)

When Avani’s parents, Priya Nandra-Hart (Sophie Khan Levy) and Ravi Gulati (Aaron Thiara) found out, the fallout was so bad that Suki and Eve ended up finding separate living arrangements.

#Sukeve was joyously reunited after Eve was subjected to a disgusting homophobic attack. Their love reaffirmed, Eve warmed up to getting onboard the baby train and declared that she wanted them to consider adoption.

Sadly, this was just the start of the Panesar-Unwins’ problems.

First there was Eve’s bigoted mother Norma (Jessica Turner), who did all the meddling she could to put the kybosh on the couples’ adoption dreams. Then their social worker got ring that Ravi and Priya’s family life wasn’t exactly healthy and happy due to the fact that he’d been running a drug ring.

But the cherry on top was the day the couple met with the adoption panel, which unfortunately also happened to be the anniversary of Jags Panesar’s (Amar Adatia) death, leading to a furious clash between Suki and Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota).

This led to a near hysterical Suki fleeing the panel meeting Suki and having a drunken, violent confrontation with Nicola Mitchell (Laura Doddington), something that Nicola got on CCTV and was more than happy to use to blackmail the hopeful parents.

Against all odds, Suki and Eve’s dreams came true when the panel accepted them, and soon the couple welcomed Ria Virdi (Aaria Sharma) into their home. They were even able to – sort of – bury the hatchet with Nicola.

The only drama Suki and Eve have struggled through recently in their difficulty in bonding with Ria, who misses her real mum. Eve, who has borne the brunt of this, got some much needed parental advice from an unlikely source – Nicola.

Viewers have seen a thawing between Nicola and Eve. (Picture: BBC)

Now that their beef is on ice for now, it’s safe to say that whatever Eve and Suki’s next big story is, Nicola won’t be the cause of the drama. Or is it?

Actress Laura Doddington, who plays Nicola certainly hopes so, as she shared in a recent exclusive interview with Metro.

‘To come out of that blackmail, shall we say that Nicola performed, to move forward and put it behind them. To have two women of a certain age,able to sit down and chat and be there for each other, I think is really lovely. I hope it continues.’

But will it? Or is there a chance that Nicola could cause further problems for Eve and Suki?

‘Who knows?’ admits Laura Doddington. ‘Six months down the line, has she deleted the footage? Has she not? I don’t know!’

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