Tottenham Hotspur’s hopes of mounting a title challenge this season have already been dented by Manchester City’s ominous start and a further delay to their stadium move, but a recent report from the Daily Express suggests their biggest blow could yet be on the horizon.
Indeed, the end of the transfer window has not fully guaranteed that Mauricio Pochettino will be able to keep all of his best players this season. Although summer business is over for the Premier League, plenty of clubs across Europe can still dip into the English top-flight in order to bolster their options, and that’s exactly what Paris Saint-Germain are planning on doing according to the Daily Express.
According to the report, PSG are interested in signing Christian Eriksen before August 31st in a deal which could be worth a whopping £100 million.
The fee which has been quoted is certainly representative of Eriksen’s true value, and that notion is a testament to how rapidly he has developed since arriving in north London from Ajax for just £12.15 million in 2013.
During his career with the club he has established himself as one of the first, if not the first name on the team sheet, as the creative quality he provides is unrivalled within the Tottenham squad.
With that to consider, it’s absolutely imperative that Daniel Levy does not jump at the chance to make a fantastic return on his investment if the French giants eventually table an offer of £100 million.
Eriksen (valued at £72 million by Transfermarkt) is an irreplaceable cog in a machine which has taken years to slowly mould together under Pochettino’s watchful eye, and taking him out at this stage in the club’s development could have extremely negative consequences for their long-term development.
The likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane who have thrived under Pochettino owe a great deal of credit to the incisive passing and creative flair which the Denmark international has consistently provided, so allowing him to leave would serve to single-handedly destroy their title ambitions and could even leave them struggling for a place in the top-four.
According to a report by French media outlet France Football, Southampton saw a €14m (£12.5m) bid for Lille winger Nicolas Pepe rejected towards the end of the summer transfer window in England, and they must now make the in-demand 23-year-old their top January target should he fail to move elsewhere.
What’s the word, then?
Well, France Football say there is plenty of interest in the Ivory Coast international from top clubs across Europe including Sevilla and AS Roma, who are both still able to buy new players as the respective transfer windows in their countries are still open.
That is, of course, not the case for the Premier League, with the deadline on August 9 – prior to the start of the new top flight campaign.
France Football report that Saints failed with a bid to bring Pepe to St Mary’s, and seeing as he primarily plays out wide it appears unlikely that new boy Danny Ings would have been an alternative.
Why should Saints make Pepe their top January target?
If the attacker fails to move elsewhere this month then Mark Hughes, who has provided a huge injury boost ahead of the trip to Everton on Saturday, must move to bring the wide man to St Mary’s in the New Year as he has shown the qualities he has since signing for Lille in 2017.
In his debut season for them last term, he scored 13 goals and provided a further five assists in 36 Ligue 1 appearances for a side that finished just one point above the bottom three in the French top flight.
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That is no mean feat, and the 23-year-old would add some much-needed pace and trickery – which perhaps only Nathan Redmond and the young Josh Sims can offer right now – and his presence on the right would ensure opposition defenders have more to think about and should give Redmond more time and space to finally fulfill his potential.
According to a recent report from The Daily Mirror, Loris Karius looks set to be on his way out of Liverpool this month. The 25-year-old goalkeeper made the move to Anfield back in 2016 after a five-year stint at Mainz but has struggled to completely convince of his capabilities between the sticks at the Merseyside giants, culminating in a shambolic display in the Champions League final back in May.
And it appears that manager Jurgen Klopp is willing to offload the £10.8 million-rated outcast (as per Transfermarkt) this month, an option the German shot-stopper must take up to finally leave his Liverpool nightmare behind him.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the goalkeeping ranks at Anfield have been something of a concern for a while given the struggles of fellow shot-stopper Simon Mignolet, with Karius brought to the club back in 2016 as the long-term replacement for the Belgium international.
And although the 25-year-old did get the nod at the start of 2018 to suggest that he was now Klopp’s number one, his two errors in May’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid appear to have been the final straw, with Klopp since spending big to bring Brazil international Alisson to Anfield.
And while Klopp has always shown genuine loyalty to Karius, even during the toughest of times, that display in Kiev appears to have shown him that the former Germany Under-21 international simply isn’t up to scratch, which was further highlighted given his errors in pre-season for the Merseysiders.
And while the Liverpool faithful applauded him onto the field during their 3-1 pre-season win over Torino a few weeks ago, the damage has surely already been done, and a fresh start away from Liverpool and away from the spotlight will surely be of great benefit to the 25-year-old.
At 25 years of age, Karius still has a long career ahead of him, and while he hasn’t always convinced at Liverpool, there have been glimpses that he could go on and become a very accomplished and reliable goalkeeper – but that isn’t now going to happen at Anfield anytime soon.
Thus, with Klopp reportedly willing to let the goalkeeper go, Karius must take that option up by ending his Liverpool nightmare this month.
Turkish giants Fenerbache have denied reported interest in Tottenham Hotspur misfit Moussa Sissoko, Sky Sports reports.
What’s the word?
After being absent from the Tottenham squad for Monday night’s 3-0 victory over Manchester United, widespread speculation in the press in both England and France claimed that Moussa Sissoko was closing in on a switch to Fenerbache.
The France international was tipped to be moving to the Turkish side on loan but they have since issued a statement to deny interest in the 29-year-old, as reported by Sky Sports, which leaves the £30m man in limbo.
Following the rise of Lucas Moura’s form this season and the importance of Son Heung-Min in recent seasons, Sissoko has become a bit-part player of the squad and is likely to remain in that standing for the remainder of the season.
Blow for Spurs?
Since moving to Tottenham from Newcastle United in 2016, costing a whopping £30m, Sissoko has struggled to find form and is widely regarded to be one of the biggest transfer mistakes in the club’s history.
In two years the France ace has started just 25 matches for Mauricio Pochettino’s side, largely being limited to appearances off the bench – where he has accumulated another 35 Premier League appearances for the Lilywhites.
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The biggest issue, however, is the fact that Sissoko has three years remaining on his deal with Spurs and the agreement with Newcastle sees them pay instalments of £6m-a-year, which means that Pochettino’s side still have to pay a further £18m for their flop addition.
Offloading Sissoko to Fenerbache would have eased that financial burden, which is important given the ongoing delays to the rejuvenated and costly White Hart Lane.
West Ham fans showed last season how powerful a force they can be, even if it was in a way that reflected poorly on the east London club. Having grown insufferably frustrated with the direction the club has taken since the move to the London Stadium and then been denied the right to protest as a pre-match march was suspiciously called off, tempers infamously boiled over and a 3-0 defeat to Burnley was marred with pitch invasions followed by a late storm on the director’s box.
Ugly, ugly scenes that only made the loss more inevitable, but scenes that demonstrated the impact supporters can still have – even in football’s increasingly corporate and commercial era. There’s no doubt the owners responded to the sheer anger shown towards them during the summer transfer window; David Sullivan took a step back, a talented manager in Manuel Pellegrini was appointed and his choice of Director of Football, Mario Husillos, was given around £94million to spend on new recruits.
You certainly can’t accuse the owners of trying to take shortcuts or refusing to invest in the first-team squad, at least not in the context of 2018/19.
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The revolution, of course, is yet to get truly underway. Sullivan may stand in the box wearing a coat befitting of a Soviet leader but his new general, Pellegrini, is still coming to terms with the mission at hand. West Ham have failed to take a point from their opening four Premier League games or keep a clean sheet from five across all competitions, and while the Irons can be excused for losing to Liverpool and Arsenal on the road, home defeats to Bournemouth and Wolves – the calibre of club West Ham should be competing with for a solid midtable finish this season – no doubt represent six obtainable points dropped.
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More than anything else, West Ham are suffering from the sheer scale of change at the club since the end of last season. The style of football alone is being dragged from one side of the philosophical spectrum to the other, but with that shift comes a completely new manager, Director of Football and subsequent coaching staff, a different formation and nine summer arrivals – only two of which have played in the Premier League before – in an attempt to almost entirely rebuild the defence while adding to other departments. It will take time for all those different components to truly settle and gel together – four games just isn’t enough.
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The problem though, is that the fixture list just isn’t on West Ham’s side – and that’s where the fans really come into the equation. By the end of November, West Ham will have faced all of last season’s top nine with seven more still to come, while Brighton and Huddersfield hardly represent the most accommodating of away games.
It’s quite conceivable then, that the Irons could enter the hectic Christmas period at the bottom of the league, with just a handful of points to their name. Accordingly, the fear of relegation is already lingering in the east London air; reports earlier this week opened the debate on Pellegrini’s abrupt departure, detailing how much it would cost the Hammers to get rid – a lofty £15million.
In the next few months, the pressure will only increase on West Ham but particularly Pellegrini, and then it becomes a question of perceptions. If West Ham feel and act like they’re in a relegation battle, that’s exactly what they’ll be; if, however, they act like only a few points have been dropped in real terms because of the quality of their opposition, then the demand for abrupt, panicked decisions like sacking the manager is greatly reduced. After all, Palace didn’t score during their first seven games of last term, let alone pick up a point, but still ended up finishing higher than the Hammers, so there is always time to recover.
But whether West Ham fall to the psyche of a relegation battle will largely rest on the mood and the atmosphere in the stadium and amongst the supporters – whether the fans view the situation with grave concern, or keep their faith in Pellegrini and fully support the new manager. With vultures in the British media already circling, that will be an intrinsic aspect of Pellegrini’s mandate to rule over the next few months when positive results will be even tougher to find.
As long as they continue to believe in his project, Pellegrini – a fantastic manager with a well-stocked squad – has every chance of turning this poor start to the season around. It’s just a matter of faith and full-blooded backing in spite of the pressure that will now be placed on the club.
George Saville was one of Middlesbrough’s late signings in the transfer window.
The midfielder finalised a switch to the Riverside from Millwall on the final day of the loan window.
Saville has agreed a loan deal that will become a permanent one in January next year.
Due to the international break, the 25-year-old has been unable to make his debut, but he could feature for Boro against Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday.
Saville’s switch to Middlesbrough was a controversial one from Millwall’s point of view as he had already played four games for the club before he made the switch.
Tony Pulis’s side have had a positive start to the season as they currently sit second in the Championship table on level points with Leeds United following four wins, two draws and zero defeats.
On Twitter, Saville expressed his excitement in getting his Middlesbrough career off the ground, and he received some positive comments from supporters.
Leeds United look set for disappointment in the hunt for Yasin Ben El-Mhanni’s services as Belgian side Royal Antwerp close in on a move, according to The Sun.
What’s the word?
After being released by Premier League side Newcastle United in the summer after his stint turned sour, accusing U23 coach Peter Beardsley of bullying and racism – with an independent panel ruling that the 22-year-old was treated unfairly.
Ben El-Mhanni is keen to follow in the footsteps of other British talents by moving abroad and The Sun states that Belgian side Royal Antwerp are in talks regarding a deal, although Standard Liege have also entered the running.
Goal reported at the end of August that El-Mhanni was a target for Championship high-flyers Leeds but the latest reports suggest that Marcelo Bielsa’s side will miss out in the hunt, with the likes of St. Etienne, Groningen and Heerenveen all eyeing a move.
Blow for Bielsa?
El-Mhanni could have certainly been an asset for Leeds, particularly in the long-term, but missing out on a player who did not make a single league appearance for Newcastle is unlikely to lead to sleepless nights for Marcelo Bielsa.
Naturally a right-winger, El-Mhanni would have faced a stern task earning first-team opportunities ahead of the likes of Kemar Roofe, Ezgjan Alioski and Jack Harrison at Elland Road – and it is clear that regular starting action is what the 22-year-old is looking for at this stage of his career.
In fact, signing El-Mhanni could have led to problems for Bielsa further down the line if he regularly stated his desire for first-team action, and could have disrupted the tight relationship of his impressive squad.
Loads of Tottenham fans have been reacting to a worry transfer rumour, as reports claim Bayern Munich will try to sign Son Heung-min.
According to a report from Calcio Mercato, the German champions have set their sights on Tottenham’s electric winger.
The German giants have their fair share of world class players, but the likes of Frank Ribery, Arjen Robbn and Robert Lewandowski are all in their thirties, so it is perhaps no surprise that they are chasing a younger, versatile attacker.
Son has become a crowd favourite in North London for his direct style of play, dazzling skill, clinical finishing and tireless work rate, so fans would absolutely hate to lose him.
The 26 year-old has just returned from winning the Asian Games, which has exempted him from military duty.
Needless to say, Bayern’s interest emerging once the winger has been avoided military duty is a bit cheeky, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…
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Manchester United fans are hoping they’ll see 19-year-old Diogo Dalot in action when they host Frank Lampard’s Derby County at Old Trafford on Tuesday evening.
Dalot made his debut for United last week when he started in the club’s opening round Champions League match against Young Boys, which United comfortably won 3-0. The fans however were not impressed with Antonio Valencia’s performance over the weekend that saw José Mourinho’s men held to a 1-1 draw by Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The half-hearted performance has angered United fans after the club went into the match on the back of three consecutive victories, but Wolves showed again that they are in the Premier League to compete.
The match against Derby will give Mourinho a good opportunity to explore some options to get his team back on track ahead of Saturday’s trip to West Ham United in the Premier League.
Here are some of the Twitter reactions by United fans ahead of Tuesday night’s match:
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Manchester United fans aren’t too convinced with manager José Mourinho’s comments on Friday, with the Portuguese suggesting that their is no trouble between himself and midfielder Paul Pogba.
The duo were seen having a heated exchange of words in training on Wednesday but Mourinho confirmed that the Frenchman had a successful week of preparation ahead of their trip to West Ham United on Saturday.
United fans, however, are blaming Mourinho and Pogba for their recent poor run of form due to the ongoing troubles in their relationship. The boss stripped Pogba of his vice-captaincy ahead of the Red Devils’ Carabao Cup defeat to Derby County on Wednesday, saying the 25-year-old will never captain the team again.
Some United fans have indicated that one or the other should leave the club for progress to be seen, with most of them calling for the manager to resign.
Here are some of the Twitter reactions by United fans to Mourinho’s comments…
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