ASTON VILLA could move for Chelsea’s Joao Felix as Emi Buendia looks to be leaving the club.
Villa winger Buendia is close to agreeing a loan to Bayer Leverkusen, which includes an option to make the deal permanent for £17m.
Buendia, 28, signed a one-year contract extension until 2027 on Sunday.
Villa boss Unai Emery could move for 25-year-old Blues forward Joao Felix as a replacement.
He was Emery’s top summer target before the Portugal star’s £38.4m move from Atletico Madrid to Stamford Bridge.
The deal would have to be a permanent one if Axel Disasi goes to Villa Park as clubs can only have one loan player from each team.
Felix — who cost Atleti £112m in 2019 — has started just three Prem games this season.
Villa are battling Wolves in the pursuit to sign Chelsea centre-back Disasi.
Emery wants defensive reinforcements after selling Diego Carlos to Fenerbahce and seeing Tyrone Mings hit by a fresh injury during Sunday’s 1-1 draw against West Ham.
Wolves are considering Disasi with boss Vitor Pereira believing they are one centre-back short as they battle for Prem survival despite signing Emmanuel Agbadou from Reims, 27, for £16.6m this month.
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He has also launched a £16m bid for Lens ace Kevin Danso, 26, formerly of Southampton.
The Midlands clubs meet at Molineux on Saturday with both in desperate need of central defensive reinforcements.
Mings, who returned in October after 445 days out injured, fell to the turf in tears after injuring a knee again at the weekend.
But Mings eased fears of another long lay-off by posting on Instagram: “I’ve had some serious knee injuries, this isn’t one of them.”
Emery has also moved for Villarreal’s Juan Foyth, 27, who he worked with previously as boss of the Spanish club. Argentine Foyth plays centre-back and right-back which appeals to Emery.
Villa could push to land Foyth AND 26-year-old Disasi given that Ezri Konsa is the club’s only available senior centre-back — with Pau Torres facing another month out with a broken foot.
France international Disasi has started just three Premier League games all season.
Even with fellow centre-backs Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile sidelined by injuries, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has largely restricted the £39m signing from Monaco to Conference League and cup games.
IT was on a lads’ trip to Prague in 2019 that I first caught wind something had gone seriously wrong with my generation.
Here we were, in the European capital of boozing and stag dos, surrounded by clubs, beer halls, and partygoers from across the continent, for the big final blowout before uni.
But the clock had barely hit midnight when we called it a night, because the rest of them wanted to be up fresh to hit a local GYM in the morning.
That’s when it struck me — my generation is screwed.
Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) are gripped by a trend more terrifying than any that has come before. It is now cool to be boring.
We’ve replaced drinking, clubs and socialising with staying in, obsessing over health, and scrolling through mindless rubbish on our phones for hours on end.
Hunkered down in the bunkers of normality, a few of us GenZers hold out against the onslaught of this puritan “lifestyle” that is attacking from all sides.
Sometimes it is enough to make me think I am the one going crazy.
But the sinister truth is that this celebration of soulless living is the very reason the most social-media obsessed generation is also the loneliest generation.
Is it any wonder that studies show one in five of 18 to 24-year-olds have either one or no close friends?
And is it really any surprise my generation is battling record-high levels of depression and anxiety?
The online world has taken over real life with tragic consequences.
But Gen Z, foolishly, are lapping it up and have made it their new normal.
It has been well-reported how much other people my age have fallen out of love with booze.
Judged by peers
Only yesterday it was revealed that nearly half of 18 to 34-year-olds have given up on alcohol entirely.
And thousands more have massively cut down.
Clubs and pubs around the country are bearing the brunt of Gen Z’s teetotalism.
We’re supposed to be down the local, hitting the dancefloor, and stumbling on to our beds after getting a taxi we don’t even remember paying for.
But now the industry is in crisis, with about 11 clubs around the country closing every month between December 2023 and June 2024, according to the Night Time Industries Association.
It must be said that many clubs deserve their fate, charging extortionate prices for drinks while it costs £20 for entry to a half-empty room with a “DJ” playing a remix of Sweet Caroline that would make even the deaf cover their ears.
But go on a night that is busy, and everyone around you will be standing still as a statue.
It is almost as if they are almost embarrassed to dance, too concerned about being judged by their peers for going against the flock.
They just don’t know how to loosen up, let go, and stop worrying about what other people think of them.
Ironically, everyone is too busy thinking about themselves to pay attention to anyone else.
Even when Gen Z go to the pub, they can’t help but turn it into some kind of trend — be that “Splitting the G” (downing a pint of Guinness until it hits the G printed on the glass) or setting up their phones to record themselves standing outside with a pint.
It’s just a bit of fun, they might say — but is it really that fun being so unable to live in the moment?
Much of Gen Z’s decision to turn their backs on partying comes from a new obsession with health.
It is always admirable to make an effort to go to the gym and “clean living”.
But the tragedy is that the cost for Gen Z is the ability to enjoy a normal social life.
We are obsessed with self-love, at the expense of loving each other.
It is little surprise mine is so boring when the new generation of celebrities don’t know how to party themselves.
It is certainly not hard to find a sober star in Hollywood who has made it out the other side of the sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.
But so many these days are not bothering to start one either.
Sydney Sweeney — while not completely sober — has said: “I just identify as just a water person.”
British actor John Boyega has spoken out about how he’s grateful not to be a party animal, and avoids alcohol.
Perhaps leading the beige charge is Molly-Mae Hague, who promotes “clean-living” on social media and whose life appears to be neat, polished and meticulously arranged.
And Coldplay — so woke, so green and so beloved of GenZers — are so boring I can’t even be bothered to talk about them.
But at least these stars are getting out there and doing something with their lives, unlike the brain-rotted, phone-addicted GenZers.
Health chiefs and other modern-day puritans will no doubt be celebrating the demise of fun.
But this celebration will be misplaced, because it is a symptom showing that a fundamental part of our society has gone seriously awry.
“Normalise cancelling plans” is a phrase often trending on TikTok, an affirmation that it is OK to tell your friends you can’t be bothered to see them.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting a quiet night in every now and then.
But why glorify it and post it online into an antisocial echo chamber, to get validation from a bunch of other people who also can’t be bothered to see their friends?
Most tragically, the fact so many my age feel the need to post these messages online to thousands proves how desperate they are to feel any sense of belonging.
But they have been tricked into thinking they will get that from strangers on their phones.
Not that they ever answer their phone, if, horror of horrors, someone calls them.
A survey last year revealed a quarter of people aged 18 to 34 never answer theirs.
Some 70 per cent prefer text to a call as they fear the latter means bad news.
What is even more dangerous is how the failure of Gen Z to live normal social lives sees them sucked into supporting extremist ideologies and twisted mad men like Andrew Tate.
Unquestioningly believing everything they see online, now more than half my generation think the UK would be better off with a dictator in charge.
Then there is the subject of sex. Gen Z, famously, are having it far less than any generation to come before them, as if this natural part of human instinct has been carved from our brains.
But watching porn has sky-rocketed while notorious OnlyFans favourites such as Bonnie Blue and Lily Phillips have turned sex into a grotesque stunt for “entertainment”.
And now most people my age can’t even remember how to date in real life, instead opting to become slaves to apps such as Tinder and Hinge that suck all the fun out of it.
You only need to see how obsessed Gen Z is with the Nineties sitcom Friends to realise how much — despite my naysaying — my generation craves normality and fun deep down.
Here is a group of six people in their twenties, hanging out in real life, and taking life as it comes without a care in the world.
It is a stark contrast to the boring, solitary lives of the young people watching it.
So it is time for my fellow GenZers to take a deep breath and live a little.
Before they paint the whole world their favourite shade of grey.
PUBS: Gone are the days of popping down to your local for a quick one – for Gen Z at least.
A whopping 43 per cent of 18 to 34-year-olds don’t drink alcohol, while a quarter of over-55s have given up booze entirely.
CLUBS: The UK’s nightlife is in a state of crisis.
Around 11 clubs close every month and if things carry on at the current rate, there won’t be any left by the decade’s end, according to the Night Time Industries Association.
DICTATOR-CRAVERS: A new study has revealed that more than half of Gen Z think the country would be better off with a strong leader who “didn’t have to bother with Parliament and elections”, while a third would prefer it if the Army was in charge.
HEALTH CRAZE: Over 80 per cent of Gen Z exercise or go to the gym – up from 64 per cent in 2021.
But it is a trend that both fuels – and is fuelled by – an increasing anxiety about the way young people look, prompting concerns the trend might not be so healthy after all.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Gen Z are the first generation to grow up with a smartphone in their pocket all the time – and many think they are to blame for the fact that a shocking one in three Gen Zers have reported mental health symptoms.
NETFLIX is officially more popular than TV channels.
Earlier this month, figures revealed that the popular streaming platform superseded the BBC for the first time ever with 43.2million viewers during the last few months of 2024, compared to BBC1’s 42.3million.
And it’s not just viewing figures that are shining a light on Netflix, the films and TV shows have inspired travellers to jet-set all over the globe.
That’s why we’ve gathered up a selection of your favourite Netflix shows and films, all shot in the US. Here, Sophie Swietochowski shares some holiday packages that will let you live out your TV fiction fantasies.
Things got a little spicy on the island of Nantucket, the sun-soaked, laidback setting for The Perfect Couple.
Aside from the unfolding tragedy, the characters looked like they were soaking up the best of what the island has to offer from relaxed beach clubs to swanky bars – and you can too on this 11-day adventure.
The Best of Cape Cod & the Islands package with Wexas ticks off not just Nantucket, but the island of Martha’s Vineyard and Cape Cod too.
You’ll start in the city of Boston, with a couple of days to soak up the history before venturing to Cap Cod for whale watching (the waters are home to humpbacks, minke, finback and pilot whales).
Day six will take you to Nantucket islands to explore the empty beaches, before venturing across to Martha’s Vineyard and back to Boston for a couple of days.
The 11-day package costs from £2,245pp including flights from the UK, accommodation, car hire and ferry trips. See wexas.com.
The Big Apple has been the setting for many hit shows and films on Netflix, but one of the most watched has to be Don’t Look Up featuring an all-star cast of Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and Jonah Hill.
We can’t guarantee that there won’t be any meteor showers while you’re there but we can guarantee the action-packed streets and impressive shopping districts seen in the film.
British Airways has some great and affordable packages, but you’ll have to be quick.
Spend three nights at the plush Paramount Hotel Times Square, in the beating heart of the city with bright lights and thumping music just one block away.
All the major attractions are within walking distance, too, like the Rockefeller Centre (a nine minute walk) and Central Park (less than 20 minutes), while popular restaurants like Stardust Diner and Mexican joint, Los Tacos No.1, are round the corner.
Three nights’ room-only costs from £594.50pp including flights from Heathrow on February 24. Book by midnight tonight. See ba.com.
When Gilmore Girls landed on Netflix back in 2016 it became an easy-watching binge-series.
Wholesome scenes of mum, Lorelai, and daughter Rory in the fictional town of Stars Hollow in the state of Connecticut make for perfect for Sunday watching.
Although Stars Hollow doesn’t exist, you can still visit the place that inspired it: Washington – not the country’s capital but the tiny town about an hour’s drive north of New Haven).
Stay in Connecticut’s capital city, Hartford, an hour away with excellent restaurants and nightlife on your doorstep and make your way to Washington for a day trip.
Five nights’ B&B at the 4* Residence Inn by Marriott Hartford Downtown is from £877pp including flights from London on February 6. See expedia.co.uk.
Rumours are circulating that one of Netflix’s most popular shows, Stranger Things, is returning to the streaming site for season 5 later this year.
If you’re keen to visit the fictional town of Hawkins, then Atlanta is the place to head. Many of the scenes you’ve watched on screen were filmed in this buzzy city in Georgia.
You’ll be able to tick off several popular locations, including the home of the Creel family, which features heavily in the most recent series, and Hopper’s cabin – there’s even The Stranger Things: The Experience for mega fans.
Spend one week in the well-located 4* Hilton Atlanta, which is a stones’ throw from excellent restaurants in the Downtown region – hotel guests also get discounted entry to Georgia Aquarium.
Seven nights’ room-only costs from £1,439pp, including flights from Heathrow on May 22. See virginatlantic.com.