Leeds United have confirmed the signing of United States international Tyler Adams from RB Leipzig, with the 23-year-old penning a five-year deal at Elland Road.
Adams, who has 30 caps for his country, joins for a reported fee of around £20million after Leeds sold Kalvin Phillips to Manchester City on Monday.
He represents Leeds' fifth signing of the transfer window, after Brenden Aaronson, Rasmus Kristensen, Marc Roca and Darko Gyabi, as Jesse Marsch's side look to build on securing Premier League survival on the final day of last season.
Speaking to the club's website, Adams said he was excited to link up with several familiar faces at the Yorkshire club, having played under Marsch at Leipzig and New York Red Bulls.
"I am super excited," he said. "So far what I have heard is that it's electric here.
"Talking to my friends who have played in the Premier League, they say it’s one of the best atmospheres they have ever played in. Now to have those fans supporting me, it's going to be something special.
"Jesse was a huge influence on my career so far, he's given me a lot of experiences as a young player that other players may not have received.
"So, he was definitely a big influence and so was [director of football] Victor Orta, he played a big role for me. There wasn't much convincing he needed to do for me to come here, but he had a great plan in place for me to develop as a person and a player.
"Then Brenden Aaronson, we play together for the national team; Jack Harrison I've had the opportunity to play against him a bunch of times, and he's a great player, so they made me really comfortable on my first day."
Adams made 24 appearances as Leipzig finished fourth in the Bundesliga last season and will be expected to replace the ball-winning qualities of Phillips, who recovered possession an average of 10.2 times per 90 minutes in the Premier League last season, the highest average of any player with 900+ minutes played in the competition.
Real Salt Lake v Seattle Sounders: Schmetzer enjoying playoff pressure
Seattle Sounders visit Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake in midweek and Brian Schmetzer is enjoying the challenges of chasing an MLS playoff spot.
The visiting Sounders have two wins and a draw in their last three outings after defeating Portland Timbers 2-1 on the road.
Seattle sit 10th in the West, just three points shy of St. Louis City above them, and Schmetzer knows the pressure is there to chase a postseason position.
"We're three points from the playoff line, that pressure is still there," said Schmetzer.
"We're still too far down the standings for our liking. But you go to Philly and get points, you come here [to Portland] and get points.
"You have 120 minutes of kids gritting it out [in the U.S. Open Cup]. I can sense that the group is finding its form."
Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan added: "We feel we definitely have a good enough team to compete for trophies this year."
The hosts are unbeaten in their last eight league matches, sitting top of the West standings by two points heading into this midweek clash.
Pablo Mastroeni's side were held to a 2-2 draw with LA Galaxy in their last outing, with this now the chance to respond on home turf.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango
Cristian Arango scored both of Real Salt Lake’s goals on Saturday to take his total to 11 for the season.
Only five players have scored more than 11 goals in a season for RSL, including just one, Damir Kreilach (twice), since 2015.
Seattle Sounders – Raul Ruidiaz
Raul Ruidiaz scored the winning goal for Seattle against Portland on Sunday, his seventh goal of the season, and the fifth different game he's scored in.
The Sounders have collected 10 points (W3 D1 L1) in the five games in which Ruidiaz has scored compared to three points (W0 D3 L4) in the seven he hasn't.
MATCH PREDICTION – REAL SALT LAKE WIN
Salt Lake are unbeaten in 13 straight regular-season home matches against Seattle (W10 D3) with the Sounders' only ever league win at RSL coming in 2011.
RSL has had just one longer home unbeaten run against a single opponent, going 18 in a row at home against the Colorado Rapids without losing from 2007—19, making them the favourites for this clash.
Yet Seattle have won consecutive away matches for the first time since March-April last season.
The Sounders scored five times in those matches after scoring just four in their first five on the road this season, suggesting goals are on the cards here.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Real Salt Lake win – 40.3%
Seattle Sounders win – 30.1%
Draw – 29.6%
Girona 0-1 Villarreal: Traore strike lifts Yellow Submarine
Bertrand Traore's goal gave Villarreal a 1-0 win at Girona on Tuesday that prevented the hosts from reclaiming second spot in LaLiga.
Girona, who have enjoyed a superb campaign, are third with 75 points, trailing Barcelona, who moved a point clear with a 2-0 home win over Real Sociedad on Monday.
Alexander Sorloth and Goncalo Guedes went close for Villarreal in the first half, but Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga was in fine form.
Traore broke the deadlock in the 59th minute after latching on to a superb pass from Guedes, however.
Viktor Tsyhankov, Savio and Artem Dovbyk all went close for Girona, but could not find the back of Filip Jorgensen's net.
Villarreal were reduced to 10 men in the 95th minute after Kiko Femenia was sent off for a second yellow card after a push on Aleix Garcia.
Data Debrief: Rare home loss for Girona
Girona have suffered only their second defeat at Montilivi in LaLiga this season, following a 0-3 loss to Real Madrid in September.
The home side attempted 749 passes in this game, their highest total in a single match in LaLiga this season.
Postecoglou rues missed chances against City as Son squanders decisive opportunity
Ange Postecoglou was left to rue missed chances as Tottenham's Champions League hopes were ended after Tuesday's 2-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Spurs needed three points to take the Premier League's top-four race to the final day but were undone by Pep Guardiola's side, who moved within touching distance of another top-flight title.
Erling Haaland's routine tap-in from Kevin De Bruyne's brilliance after 51 minutes proved a cruel blow before the City striker's stoppage-time penalty sealed a decisive three points.
It could have been a different story, though, if Stefan Ortega – on as a second-half substitute for Ederson – did not deny Heung-min Son's gilt-edged chance following Manuel Akanji's error.
The City goalkeeper denied the onrushing Spurs forward when one-on-one with the visitors 1-0 up, and Postecoglou acknowledged his side failed to seize their opportunities.
"We lost the game so it was a missed chance for three points," the frustrated Tottenham manager told Sky Sports.
"We had the opportunities and we had to punish them. It was a tight game and in the big moments we were not able to capitalise and they were.
"I thought we were in the game the whole time, even at 1-0 we had a great chance to go level.
"In the second half we were chasing the game so they got a little more space but I thought we were well in it up until that point [the second goal]."
Spurs' loss proved Aston Villa's gain as Unai Emery's side qualified for the Champions League for the first time in their history, ending a 41-year absence after last featuring in the European Cup in 1982-83.
Postecoglou found it hard to seek the immediate positives, having watched Tottenham fall short and inadvertently damage rivals Arsenal's title hopes in the process.
"We lost the game so I am disappointed," the Australian added, before responding to whether any pride could be taken.
"Not right now because we have lost. We will assess the season, still one more game to go, one more game against Sheffield United and we need to make sure we win.
"I think wherever you finish is a fair reflection of where you are at."
Tottenham will finish outside the top four for the fourth time in the last five seasons, after finishing in the Champions League spots in Mauricio Pochettino’s final four full campaigns in charge (2015-16 to 2018-19).
Postecoglou acknowledged there is still work to do to catch up with England's perennial champions City.
Asked how his side measure up to Guardiola's men, he said: Nothing earth-shattering that I didn't know before the game. We still have some work to do. We need to do some work to catch up."
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