Leicester City’s Demarai Gray could only watch from the sidelines as England Under-21s were beaten on penalties by Germany in the European Championship on Tuesday.

The Foxes winger made 30 appearances in the Premier League last year but most were from the bench as Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton were preferred on the City flanks.

But that didn’t stop Gray, and Leicester teammate Ben Chilwell, forming part of Aidy Boothroyd’s squad for the Euros and the wideman started games against Poland and Germany.

And the 21-year-old midfielder offered his full support to Nathan Redmond who saw his crucial penalty saved as England were knocked out at the semi-final stage.

(Photo by Nils Petter Nilsson – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

“We created some chances and we are so disappointed not to go through. I’ll put my arm around his shoulder like he would do for me,” he said.

‘He has been great in the changing room. When the lads need waking up, he is the one that does it. We are devastated for him. It’s not nice to see what happened to him but we are there for him.

“I’ve looked up to him since our days together at Birmingham and he’s helped me a lot, even in this tournament when I have been down.”

Wilfried Bony may be the forgotten man at Manchester City but the striker wants to remind fans of what he can do after a failed loan spell at Stoke City.

The Ivory Coast international joined City from Swansea in January 2015 but failed to reach the same heights in Manchester and manager Pep Guardiola sent him out on loan to Stoke.

But two goals in 11 miserable appearances summed up his time at the bet365 Stadium, and his future at City looks bleak – with Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus both ahead of him in the pecking order and Guardiola likely to sign another forward this summer.

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However, the 28-year-old remains confident he can be a success at City and is desperate to prove his worth to supporters – who may have forgotten how good he is, during a difficult year.

“I love the club, the fans,” Bony said.

“I want to show that Wilfried Bony is still the same player. I’ve been through a difficult time.

“Leading the goalscoring two years ago, it’s still me, nothing has changed, just a difficult time. I just want to show them I can do more than that so I just need to get myself ready.”

He may have spent the last season on loan at Bournemouth but Jack Wilshere will certainly be offered a new contract at Arsenal, according to Martin Keown.

The midfielder was offloaded for the entire campaign to the Cherries after finding first team opportunities at the Emirates hard to come by.

But Wilshere largely failed to impress and his misery was compounded after suffering a hairline fracture to his left fibula at White Hart Lane to end his season early.

The England international has just one year left on his contract but Keown believes Arsene Wenger will put his faith in the 25-year-old.

“They certainly will offer him a new contract,” the Arsenal legend said.

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“We know Jack is a special talent. His injuries have marred his career. It must be tough for Arsene Wenger to watch. How many times has he broken ankles and had operations?

“His quality isn’t in doubt, it’s his health that’s the issue. There are some big decisions to be made but I would feel he is someone Wenger would try to keep. Somebody that he will try to support.

“Whether or not the player will get quite the lucrative contract he might have got in the past, or the length of the contract, may be an issue but he will try to support him because he’s a huge fan.

“Jack’s come through the youth system. He will try and protect him as best he can but what the player needs is luck.

“He’s gone from playing for England to not being first team selection at Bournemouth and that will hurt him. He may well have got injured but he sat and watched a lot of football last season when he was at Bournemouth. He needs to get fit again, but we’ve said that so many times.”

Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma is adamant that his eyes are not wandering away from Stamford Bridge, despite the French international’s lack of game time last season.

The 22-year-old broke into the Blues’ backline during the 2015-16 campaign, but a horror knee injury sustained back in February 2016 required surgery and an 11-month rehabilitation.

Chelsea’s back three – without Zouma involved – was one of the major success stories of last season for the champions, but rather than wanting out, the former Saint-Étienne man is determined play a bigger role when the Blues return to the Champions League next season.

And while taking his time during his recovery to make sure he was fully fit before returning to the Chelsea ranks may have put him down manager Antonio Conte’s pecking order, Zouma insists he has no regrets.

“I’m very happy at Chelsea. I hear the rumours, it’s flattering. It means I’m a player people are looking at, but I’m not going to stop there,” he said.

“My objective is to stay at Chelsea. Next season, we’ll start from scratch, there will be a lot of games. The cards will be on the table. It’s up to me to work hard.

“[I took such a long time to come back because] I wanted to be careful about relapsing.

“Often, people say it takes six months, but I wanted to be really certain I could come back, and to have the knowledge that I wouldn’t be stopped in my tracks again.

“It was the right thing to do.”

They may have only been in the Premier League for two seasons so far, but that hasn’t stopped Bournemouth putting in some dazzling displays in the top flight.

Whether coming from behind or delivering a tactical masterclass, Eddie Howe has been at the helm for all of the Cherries’ high-flying displays, as we pick out their five greatest moments of their higher echelon football.

Arriving in style

Bournemouth earned their first ever win in the top-flight with a memorable 4-3 win over West Ham in the opening month of the 2015-16 season.

Callum Wilson’s hat-trick downed the Hammers in a dramatic encounter, scoring twice in the first half with first-time finishes, before Marc Pugh cancelled out levellers from the fighting hosts at Upton Park.

(BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

Wilson was the star of the show with his first Premier League goal – emulating the form he showed in the Championship which steered Bournemouth towards promotion – netting 23 goals following his £3m move from Coventry City.

But it was his opening-win trio that really set the Cherries rocking, announcing themselves in style as a team far from content with just one season in the top flight.

Superb Stanislas makes it all-square

Who can ever forget the dazzling moment when Junior Stanislas scored a 98th-minute equaliser as Bournemouth came twice from behind to salvage a point in an astonishing game at the Vitality Stadium two seasons ago?

Everton looked set to take all three points after leading 2-0 at half time.

Despite a Bournemouth fightback, the Toffees still seemed odds to win the game when Ross Barkley swivelled on the turn to add a third in the fifth minute of extra time – following goals from Adam Smith and Stanislas in the 80^th and 87^th minute respectively.

But the Cherries’ fighting spirit was not to be abated, and Howe’s men secured a much-deserved draw after Stanislas headed home in a remarkable match on the south coast. 

Heroic comeback against The Reds

The Cherries completed one of the greatest comebacks in their history last December – treating fans to an early Christmas present by beating Liverpool for the first time in a sensational Premier League encounter.

Howe’s men found themselves two goals down twice during the match – 2-0 down at half-time and 3-1 behind with 15 minutes to go, but battled back on both occasions before Nathan Ake’s 93rd-minute winner sealed a famous 4-3 win.

(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Ryan Fraser was instrumental, the Scot being just one of a string of players who dramatically increased their place in fans’ estimations.

But none more so than Josh King, however – who netted 15 Premier League goals and continued to cement his status as one of the most potent Premier League strikers of the season.

Hitting Hull for Six

Bournemouth’s 2016-17 campaign will be remembered for the highs of a 6-1 win over Hull.

The manager said his side were “faultless” in their performance and they would have kept a clean sheet had it not been for an unfortunate deflection off Steve Cook to level the game up.

But the defender headed in moments later to restore Bournemouth’s lead, before Stanislas netted from the spot and then added a smart finish after the break.

Wilson and Dan Gosling joined in on the fun late on, but it was Bournemouth’s build-up play that impressed most, with a midfield trio of Jack Wilshere, Andrew Surman and Harry Arter all completing a passing accuracy well above 90%. 

Brilliant Boruc keeps United at bay

Bournemouth denied Manchester United the chance to put pressure on the top four last season in a dramatic encounter at Old Trafford which saw Zlatan Ibrahimovic miss from the spot, as the Cherries battled with one man down.

Keeper Artur Boruc was the hero, almost single-handedly keeping his side in the game and denying the big Swede, in a match which referee Kevin Friend had a tough day at the office.

(OLI SCARFF/AFP/Getty Images)

The first-half ended in an ugly mix-up between Tyrone Mings and Ibrahimovic, with the former appearing to stamp on the Swede while he was on the ground, before the striker retaliated by elbowing the defender in the face.

TV replays suggested both were lucky not to be sent off.

Newcastle United midfielder Isaac Hayden insists he cannot wait to get started on the 2017-18 Premier League campaign as he prepares to make his first appearance in the English top flight.

Having helped the Magpies to Premier League promotion last season, the 22-year-old insists that his side can make a positive impact once they get their campaign underway against Spurs on August 12.

Hayden did not travel with the England under-21 squad to Poland for the European Championship after taking a blow to the head on the final day of last season.

And having overcome several niggling injuries, the youngster is leaving no stone unturned in his bid for a first-team place in the Magpies’ starting 11.

“I was looking at the fixtures the day they came out, and Spurs at home is a massive fixture to start with,” Hayden said.

“I’m sure everybody wants to get back in and will be looking forward to that one.

“But it’s the whole Premier League experience – it’s not just the one game, you’ve got 38 games against a lot of good teams, so it’s exciting times.

“It’s about everyone pulling in the right direction – the players that are already here, the players that will come – and everyone working together to make sure that the club goes in the right direction.

“I feel really good, I’ve been doing my exercises, my gym work and my running, so I feel ready and raring to go.”

Ben Davies insists Tottenham must not underestimate the importance of their summer tour to America if they are to enjoy a strong start to the new season.

Spurs head stateside on July 19 to take part in the International Champions Cup, with Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Manchester City their opponents before the month is up.

Welsh international Davies and his teammates have been enjoying some well-earned time off after the North London side finished the campaign second behind champions Chelsea.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

But with the new season beginning again in earnest on August 12 with Spurs travelling to newly-promoted Newcastle United, Davies knows his side must make sure they hit the ground running.

“We’ve got some good fixtures out there (in America) and it’s up to us to keep ourselves fit and get fully ready for them,” he said.

“We don’t want to come back in and have a slow start to the season – we want to come in raring to go and pick up as many points as we can early-doors. A good pre-season will help us to do that.

“We’re really determined to win games and I think the way we go into every single match, we don’t have any fear, whoever we’re against.

“Even if our backs are against the wall, we’ve turned games around and performed well in those matches and it’s the sign of a good side when you can pick up points when sometimes you don’t play so well. I think we’ve done that in a couple of games over the last year and it’s important that we’re fully focused at all times again next season.”

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish admitted it was Frank de Boer’s preparation and plans for drastic change at Selhurst Park that made him the main contender for the top job from the first minute he met him.

Former Dutch international de Boer has managed European giants Ajax and Internazionale in recent seasons, and Parish could not hide his delight at securing such a high profile manager for the Eagles.

Palace ultimately avoided relegation comfortably last term after appointing Sam Allardyce as manager – who promptly resigned as the season finished.

But with de Boer now in place and the 47-year-old having grand plans for a revolution in south-east London, Parish is adamant he won’t be seeing his side in such dire straits this term.

“Seven years ago when I arrived here you would never have imagined that we would be announcing Frank de Boer as our new manager,” he said.

“Now the hard work starts at the beginning of exciting times for the club, we have left the pressure of last year behind us and we move on all very excited at the prospect of him being here.

“Frank was really engaging and had put a lot of work into getting ready for our meeting to cover his playing and management career.

“We both spoke about a revolution that we need here and how we can change from the pattern of this club over the last two seasons.

“We want to look at a way of getting the best out of our players and also look at how we can get through some players from our academy and get some youth in the team.

“As we know that is something Frank is all about and I must say that was part of a really engaging meeting with him.

“We went into our meeting thinking it would be 50/50 that he was a possibility and came out with Frank very much top of the pile.”

After the disappointment of losing in the play-offs to Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton’s main focus for the 2016-17 season was earning a place in the Premier League.

And it was a campaign to remember for the Seagulls, as they gained promotion to the top flight for the first time in 34 years.

But Chris Houghton’s men would be denied the title after conceding a late equaliser to Aston Villa to hand Newcastle United the league.

Signing Steve Sidwell

After securing his services for the end of the 2015-16 season, it was crucial Brighton inked experienced midfielder Steve Sidwell on a permanent basis.

And the former Villa man opted to join the Seagulls from Stoke on a free transfer, a pivotal signing which left Houghton delighted.

“He knows exactly what the Championship is all about and what it takes to get promoted,” said Houghton of Sidwell.

“He was excellent for us in the run-in, and was a key figure on and off the pitch as one of the senior members of the squad.”

Photo credit: Getty Images

Newcastle hammer blow

Newcastle and Brighton would battle it out all season for the right to be called Championship winners and it was the Magpies that struck the first blow with a dominant 2-0 victory. Houghton demanded a response.

“Newcastle were very efficient but it feels like a missed opportunity. They scored from two set-pieces and although they hit the bar, we had the better chances.

“We are disappointed because we felt we had a good chance today and we didn’t pose as much of a threat as we should have.”

Going top of the table in December

And what a response he got, Brighton would lose just two more games before the end of January and went top of the table in December with a 2-0 victory over promotion rivals Leeds United.

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“We’ll talk no more about the following week or where we are in the table, but we have to be delighted.

“Not only with the table, but with the performances and consistency from this group of lads.”

Finally back in the big time

Brighton kept up their consistency and secured promotion to the Premier League for the first time with a victory over Wigan Athletic at the Amex Stadium, thrilling Houghton.

“It had something to do with how the season ended last season, but I think it was more the fact that the players enjoyed being up that end of the table, competing, getting into the play-offs.

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“I think it was a conscious decision that they wanted that again, and the signs were there early in the season.

“We recruited well early in the season, in the summer, but it was a real steely determination from the group of players that wanted to do it again.”

Late drama costs Brighton the title

But despite needing just three points from their remaining three games to win the title, Brighton would pick up just one point and had to settle for second after a David Stockdale blunder handed Villa a draw and Newcastle the title.

“Today is a negative day, it’s difficult, but there are far more pluses. What these lads have achieved this season has been magnificent,” a despondent Houghton said after the match.

“David [Stockdale] has been excellent for us all season and he had made two very good saves from free-kicks before. There’s never any portion of blame. We have to accept it as a team.”

The likes of Tom Heaton and Michael Keane may have taken most of the credit for Burnley’s defensive performances but there were other heroes in the Clarets backline.

Ben Mee and Matt Lowton’s praises were sung but nobody epitomised Burnley’s industry and true grit like Stephen Ward.

The Irishman missed just a solitary league match in Sean Dyche’s side’s Premier League survival and the consistency he gave helped keep Burnley above the drop zone.

The 31-year-old even popped up with a crucial goal for the Clarets in their 3-2 victory over Bournemouth in December.

Ward’s top flight career seemed to have come to an end after he played just nine Premier League matches in the 2014-15 season for Burnley.

But the former Wolves man has come back with a vengeance and after Mee was pushed into centre-half, Ward took his chance at left-back and hasn’t looked back.

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After completing a solid campaign helping Burnley bounce straight back to the top flight, the industrious full-back held down his spot in the starting XI.

And his experience helped Burnley keep nine clean sheets and concede just 55 goals as they came 16^th in the Premier League.

He may have gone under the radar for praise by many but his manager always had faith in the Irishman, who hailed his consistency.

“Ward played ever so well, a number of them are, who probably go under the radar a little bit,” said Dyche.

“Wardy is in a really good place, it bodes well, but you can’t take it for granted.

“I really like the shape we have got at the back. They have got good industry and I like the demand of the back five – the way the accept responsibility.

“They have got good players in front of them who work ever so hard for the team. that has helped us in a defensive sense.”