Jess Naz feels FA Cup semi-finalists Tottenham are ready to win a trophy
A trip to Wembley is within touching distance for Tottenham and Jess Naz, but the forward knows better than most not to take anything for granted.
Spurs host Women’s Super League rivals Leicester at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday in the Women’s FA Cup semi-final and the winner will play at the national stadium for the first time on May 12.
Tottenham won last month’s league meeting between the sides, but the long-serving Naz is determined to ensure the squad’s unwavering belief does not turn into complacency.
“The excitement was there when we got through, but we’ve got to hone down and make sure we turn up on the day,” London-born Naz told the PA news agency.
“It’s one more step to the final. Playing at the stadium will be great. In front of the fans, it will give us another source of energy to go out there, play our football and hopefully win.
“We have got the quality to win a trophy this season. The FA Cup would be a great way to start and then we’ll grow in the league.”
It has been a dramatic cup journey for Spurs, which mirrors the career of Naz given she recently made her 97th appearance for the club but has also fought back from a serious knee injury in 2019.
Tottenham were two down to Sheffield United in round four before scoring a stoppage-time winner. Charlton, another Championship opponent, were narrowly negotiated next before they faced title-chasing Manchester City for a fourth time this season.
After three previous losses by a 10-0 aggregate score, the odds were stacked against Spurs, but captain Bethany England hit a stoppage-time leveller before Becky Spencer’s penalty shootout heroics secured a semi-final berth.
It means Tottenham are one win away from playing at Wembley, something that has always been a dream for Naz – although one that has felt far away at times.
Born into a football-mad family, some of the earliest memories Naz has of the sport are being forced to watch her brothers play from the touchline after she was denied the chance to join in with their team.
Everything changed aged eight when she caught the eye of Tottenham scouts before she spent her teenage years in Arsenal’s academy.
The decision to return to Spurs paid off when she scored the goal to fire them into the WSL in 2019, but disaster struck when she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament and missed the whole of the 2019-20 campaign.
“At the time, I didn’t even know what ACL or MCLs were until I did it,” Naz said.
“I had just come back from the Under-19 Euros so was on a high. It was pre-season, we had just got promoted and it was a dream come true but then it came crashing down.
“It was a long, long recovery but the belief I had – and with the staff helping – got me through.
“There has been ups and downs along the way still with injuries, but I think this season I’ve been in a really good place.
“I feel confident, which is the best thing for me because when I feel confident I play my best.”
Naz has eight goal involvements from 25 appearances this season, form which puts her in contention for an England call-up.
She added: “Going through the age groups from under-15s all the way through to under-23s, it would be a great honour to represent England.
“I’ll just keep pushing and hopefully it comes.
“When you are younger, going to FA Cup games or watching England play, it is definitely a dream place to play. It would be great to play there one day.”
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Arsenal, Chelsea & Man Utd handed boost in pursuit of £42m Benjamin Sesko
RB Leipzig prepared to sell Sesko this summer
Bundesliga side open to deal without triggering release clause
Arsenal, Chelsea & Man Utd all interested in Sesko, while PSG are main suitor from mainland Europe
By Sean Walsh, Ben Jacobs
10:00 AM GMT+1
Sesko could leave Leipzig
Sesko could leave Leipzig / Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
RB Leipzig are open to selling Benjamin Sesko this summer for a deal that might not require triggering his €50m (£42m) release clause, 90min understands.
The 20-year-old is one of Europe's most sought after young strikers having enjoyed a fine debut season with Leipzig, whom he has scored 12 goals for in 36 games across all competitions.
Sesko joined up with Leipzig's first-team squad last summer after agreeing to join them from fellow Red Bull club Salzburg a year prior. Upon arrival in Germany, he had offers to immediately leave, but thought he'd be better off staying in the Red Bull system for the time being.
After one year in the Bundesliga though, sources have told 90min Sesko is open to a new challenge, and Leipzig would be willing to facilitate an exit.
The €50m (£42m) release clause in Sesko's current contract may not need to be activated in order for him to leave, with Leipzig open-minded about the structure of any deal providing that ballpark valuation is met.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd all want new strikers
Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd all want new strikers / Shaun Botterill/Getty Images, James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images, Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Sesko's most likely destination is the Premier League - Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are all on the hunt for new strikers and have an interest in the Slovenia international. PSG are the main suitor as of now outside of the Premier League.
Arsenal's shortlist of centre forwards also includes Sporting CP's Viktor Gyokeres and Brighton & Hove Albion's Evan Ferguson, while they have cooled their interest in Brentford's Ivan Toney regarding a move this summer.
But Sesko is an attractive option for the Gunners due to his comparatively cheap fee to other targets - Gyokeres' release clause is worth €100m (£86m) and Sporting are likely to demand this to be paid in full, while Brighton and Brentford have already intimated it would take significant sums to part ways with their star strikers.
Chelsea, meanwhile, view Sesko as a cheaper alternative to Victor Osimhen, whose Napoli contract contains a release clause worth at least €120m (£103m).
United remain in the market for another striker, but they are now more willing to bring in a younger option like Sesko as opposed to a veteran due to the improved form of Rasmus Hojlund in the second half of this season. They may, however, be tempted by Toney with his contract up in 2025.
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Talking Transfers
Aubameyang could be the man to drive Marseille forward in Europe
FotMob - April 11, 2024, 9:04 AM
It took Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang until October to score his first Ligue 1 goal for Marseille having joined the club in the summer. His second didn’t come until December. Shortly after, Gennaro Gattuso was sacked by Marseille and many assumed Aubameyang would similarly end up on the Stade Velodrome scrapheap. Instead, the 34-year-old has been rejuvenated.
By Graham Ruthven
Aubameyang has scored nine goals in the nine games he has played since Gattuso’s departure. Only Kylian Mbappé, Jonathan David and Alexandre Lacazette have scored more goals in Ligue 1 this season than the former Arsenal, Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund centre forward who is enjoying an unexpected resurgence.
Jean-Louis Gasset has helped to get the best out of Aubameyang. The appointment of the 70-year-old who was infamously sacked as Ivory Coast boss during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations – which The Elephants sensationally went on to win – looked to be a desperate move by Marseille, but his arrival at Stade Velodrome has pointed the south coast club in the right direction again.
Sitting eighth in Ligue 1, it might be too late for Marseille to mount a top four challenge, but Europa League success remains a target with the French side drawn against Benfica in the competition’s quarter-finals. If Marseille are to get their hands on a European trophy for the first time in over three decades, Aubameyang will be a driving force.
At Chelsea last season, Aubameyang looked washed up. He was disinterested and was omitted by Graham Potter from the Blues’ Champions League squad. This came after a successful spell at Barcelona where the Gabonese forward netted 11 goals in 17 games in LaLiga, but Aubameyang netted just three times in 21 appearances in a Chelsea shirt.
Now, though, he is back in form, and not just as a finisher. Indeed, Aubameyang is being harnessed as a creative force – Ousmane Dembélé is the only player to have registered more assists in Ligue 1 this season. Marseille are playing into – and playing through – Aubameyang as the focal point of their attack.
“He’s the player,” said Gasset about Aubameyang after a particularly eye-catching display by the 34-year-old against Nantes last month. “In any team, you have the player. You play him where he loves to be and then you build the team around him. He scores goals and drops back to work if he must, and even shows a measure of generosity.”
The appreciation between Aubameyang and Gasset is mutual. “He has brought serenity to the team. That is key,” said Aubameyang about the impact the veteran French coach has made at Stade Velodrome. “He arrived in a tricky context. He is calm and experienced and that’s what we needed.
“As for our relationship, it goes beyond words. He read me and made me comfortable from the moment we met. [There was] no need to speak. He put me in my favourite position. I have the freedom of a striker while playing on the left wing, which I am used to. It makes a big difference.”
To win this season’s Europa League, Marseille will have to topple some big clubs. Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen are firm favourites to lift the trophy with both teams among the strongest in European football right now. AC Milan also have a team of attacking difference-makers while Roma are resurgent following the sacking of José Mourinho – and the arrival of Daniele De Rossi.
Nonetheless, momentum is a powerful thing in football and Marseille have already seen off Shakhtar Donetsk and Villarreal in the Europa League knockout rounds after emerging from a difficult group that included Ajax and Brighton. They have won four of the five continental matches at Stade Velodrome this season. Home advantage will be key against Benfica.
Talent has never been a problem for Aubameyang. There’s a reason he has played for clubs of the stature of Arsenal, Barcelona and Dortmund over the course of his career. Environment, however, is key for Aubameyang. Only in the right circumstances will the Gabonese striker thrive and he appears to have found those circumstances at Marseille. The club has embraced him. His career renaissance could still end in European glory.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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