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With Scott Parker’s side having scored just seven goals in their first eight Premier League fixtures, it seems as if the Cottagers may well be regretting not adding to their striker options in the summer transfer window, with them missing out on Liverpool striker Divock Origi.

Scott Parker’s side failed to bring in a single striker during the recent transfer window, with Transfermarkt suggesting that they have just Aleksandar Mitrovic and 17-year-old Jay Stansfield as natural centre-forwards in their squad.

The West London club were linked with a move for Liverpool striker Divock Origi by The Mirror, alongside the likes of Leeds, Aston Villa, Brighton and Newcastle but he ended up staying with the Merseyside club.

The Belgian forward will no doubt long be revered by Liverpool fans for his goal in their Champions League final win against Tottenham Hotspur in 2019 but with the recent arrival of Diogo Jota, it seems unlikely that he will ever be able to nail down a starting spot in Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The Belgian international hasn’t made a single appearance in the Premier League so far this season and has played just once in the Champions League, where he failed to have much impact in the Reds’ win against FC Midtjylland (per WhoScored).

Following the Champions League final, Alan Shearer was full of praise for the striker, saying:

“Origi produced an outstanding finish once again. I was at the semi-final against Barcelona at Anfield and he was immense. To produce another incredible finish in the final is massive credit to his drive and belief.

“When he was away on loan he couldn’t even get any game time — and he has it tough in this Liverpool team as that front three are impossible to budge.

“But what a two months it has been for him. He has written himself into the history books at Liverpool Football Club.” (per The Sun)

The former Lille man arrived at the Anfield outfit in the summer of 2014 and in his six years with the club, he has gone on to make 143 appearances, contributing 35 goals and 13 assists (per Transfermarkt).

Considering he is valued at £14.4 million and has 19 goals in the Premier League in his career, you can definitely argue that he would have been a sensible, affordable option for the Cottagers in the summer market.

However, a deal could not be done and now Parker’s side look painfully thin in the attacking department, with their reliance on Mitrovic to score goals in the top-flight not paying off so far, considering the Serbian has just two goals to his name this season, both of which came in the 4-3 defeat against Leeds United (per WhoScored).

Therefore, if the 25-year-old becomes available again in the January transfer window, we feel that the Cottagers should do everything they can to bring him to Craven Cottage.

Coventry City boss Mark Robins is interested in making a summer move for Manchester United midfielder James Garner, according to Football Insider.

After gaining automatic promotion to the Championship from League One, winning the league title, Mark Robins has already made big strides to improve his squad this summer.

The likes of Gustavo Hamer, Julien Dacosta and Callum O’Hare have all come in and it now looks like the Sky Blues boss is set to make a move for another talented young player.

Football Insider claim that Robins has joined Huddersfield Town in their interest for United’s Garner as both sides look to make a loan offer to the Red Devils’ for the 19-year-old.

The talented midfielder is viewed as one of the brightest talents at Old Trafford, write Football Insider, and he has made seven first-team appearances thus far.

A potential move for Garner would see Robins stretch his new arrivals to seven players after signing Leo Ostigard from Brighton and Hove Albion on loan earlier this week.

Can Mark Robins do anything wrong? Again, if this transfer link is anything to go by, the Coventry boss keeps going for the right players.

His additions so far this summer have bolstered his squad for the better and a move for Garner, a player seemingly highly though of by United, would be a brilliant move.

Indeed, valued at £2.43m this is a player who has not only impressed at youth level for his club, but who has also represented England at under-17, under-18 and under-19 level. So far he has made five appearances for the latter, even scoring three goals despite being a defensive midfielder (Transfermarkt).

Do you think Garner would do well at Coventry? Let us know in the comments section below…

Lots of Everton fans have been calling for Idrissa Gueye to come back to Goodison Park as Le10 Sport reported that he is the player most likely to leave Paris Saint Germain in the transfer window.

According to the outlet, Gueye has several admirers in the Premier League, namely Crystal Palace, Manchester United, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

However, it seems as if some members of the Toffees faithful would love the Senegalese international to come back to the Blues.

Indeed, the £21.6m-valued ace ad played in 108 matches in three consecutive terms during his time with Everton, scoring four goals and supplying a further five assists, as per Transfermarkt.

With Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan and James Rodriguez already signed for the midfielder positions under Carlo Ancelotti, perhaps Gueye could also be brought in to complete a new-look four-man midfield.

These supporters would take the 30-year old back after reading the news on Twitter:

Evertonians, would you take Gueye back? Comment below with your views!

Tottenham Hotspur had reportedly emerged as the front-runners to sign Roma star Nicolo Zaniolo this summer, but that no longer appears to be the case. 

Recent reports have revealed that Jose Mourinho is very keen to sign the wonderkid when the transfer window opens. The Lilywhites had been linked to Zaniolo long before Mourinho took over from Mauricio Pochettino, although it seems they are no further forward in getting him.

According to Fabrizio Romano, as per @Daily_Hotspur, there is currently no chance of Tottenham signing him in the summer.

Spurs have been dealt a huge blow as the Serie A side are refusing to sell one of Mourinho’s top targets. AS Roma boss Paulo Fonseca has made it clear he does not want to sell Zaniolo this summer as he is a part of his plans for the future. While the Italian was on Tottenham’s radar last year, Roma now have no interest in letting him leave.

After arriving at the Stadio Olimpico from Inter Milan for £4m in 2018, he has been touted as one of the best players of his generation having broken through the ranks into the first team and proven to be one of their key players in the process.

The 21-year-old has played 22 games in Serie A this season, scoring five goals, supplying one assist, taking 1.7 shots, averaging one key pass and completing 1.9 dribbles per game on average so far (stats provided by WhoScored).

Roma have even gone so far as to slap a hefty £50m price tag on his head to ward off any potential suitors.

Although it looks as though the Lilywhites have been monitoring Zaniolo for a while, Daniel Levy has insisted that he will not be spending “rivers of money” in the summer.

He would certainly seem to be an ideal signing to make but it is unlikely that he will be anything more than that as Spurs simply cannot afford him at the moment.

Tottenham fans, do you think Levy should sign Zaniolo this summer? Let us know in the comments below!

Glasgow Rangers have had several USA internationals down the years, one of which was Carlos Bocanegra.

The now-retired former defender, who was capped by his country no less than 110 times, spent just under two years on the books of the Ibrox outfit after signing for £414,000 from Saint-Etienne in 2011. He actually joined during one of the worst periods in the 54-time Scottish champions’ history – just months after his arrival, the Gers went into administration.

All in all, he made 41 appearances for the club, scoring three goals. He may not have spent too long with the Glasgow outfit, but he is still a popular figure for the supporters if the responses to one of his latest retweets is anything to go by.

On Monday, the Gers shared a photo of when he and Alejandro Bedoya made the move to Ibrox, and Bocanegra then shared it himself with the caption: “Great memories. Loved my time there”.

This attracted the attention of the fans, as mentioned above, and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts. You can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Let us know what you think!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Unsurprisingly, a number of sides are reportedly interested in signing Hull City’s Jarrod Bowen, and Leeds United are one of the teams that are apparently chasing the winger’s signature.

It’d be easy to write this off as pure speculation as a Hull Live journalist has recently stated that he believes Hull wouldn’t sell him for any less than £20m, and if the 22-year-old is to move for a fee it will have to be in January as his contract is up at the end of the season.

Of course, Leeds’ current FFP situation means that they are unlikely to spend that much one player this winter, but there may be one way around it that they can consider.

A couple of weeks ago Phil Hay agreed that a potential FFP workaround could be used in order to free up some cash to be spent in January.

The workaround involves gambling on promotion this season and selling one of their prized assets if they don’t go up in order to recoup the cash that they’ve already spent.

It is a bit of a gamble, but with United currently sitting 13 points clear of third-place while conceding just 13 goals in 21 games, adding the division’s second top scorer to their ranks would massively boost their chances of going up this term.

It’s a trade-off that Victor Orta and co have to carefully consider, if signing Bowen helps Leeds go up then it’d be seen as a masterstroke, but if the Whites fail in their quest for promotion they’d be consigned to selling star players this summer, and that could set the club back years.

Meanwhile, one Leeds man has openly criticised a Championship referee on social media.

Tottenham might have halted a run of three home defeats on the bounce, but it was a familiar story for Jose Mourinho’s side as they were held in their Premier League comeback against Manchester United on Friday.

It was described as a ‘must-win’ game given Spurs’ position in the table and their need for Champions League football, but Bruno Fernandes’ second-half penalty denied Mourinho a victory against his former side, a result which leaves them six points adrift of fourth-place Chelsea.

Initially, it started well for the hosts after January signing Steven Bergwijn got the better of both Harry Maguire and David De Gea before thumping home his third goal in as many Premier League games at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but Fernandes’ late effort keeps United four points above Tottenham in the standings.

Despite being pegged back, there were plenty of positives for Mourinho, but according to a number of Spurs fans on Twitter, the man that created Bergwijn’s opener, Serge Aurier, wasn’t one of them.

The Ivory Coast defender’s assist was his fifth of the campaign in all competitions, but it’s at the other end of the pitch where Aurier often receives stick. And although it might have been Eric Dier’s clumsiness that led to United’s equaliser on this occasion, plenty of the Tottenham faithful, as well as neutrals, were less than impressed with the right-back’s performance against the Red Devils.

You can see some of their unimpressed tweets about Aurier below…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Expert Roundup feature, which provides three quotes from those in the know in order to illuminate fundamental strengths, weaknesses, quirks, stylistic comparisons and general observations of players, transfer targets and confirmed signings.

High-flying Leicester City are clearly not resting on their laurels if the numerous reports are to be believed that the Foxes are planning a January swoop for Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer.

Having arrived at Celtic Park in 2016 as a free-scoring attacking midfielder Ajer was successfully – and unconventionally – converted to centre-back and has subsequently flourished into an outstanding stopper who was recently ranked the best in his position across the SPFL by the Daily Record.

In his first full season the young star was a powerful presence as Celtic won a second consecutive treble under Brendan Rodgers while more recently the Norwegian’s formidable partnership at the back with Christopher Jullien has won acclaim and admiration.

Now, with a possible reunion between player and manager on the cards, the Premier League might soon discover what all the fuss is about.

With that in mind, let’s jump straight to the head of the queue and find out what those who know him best have had to say about his talent…

Brendan Rodgers, Leicester coach

It was the Rodgers who first ushered Ajer into the first team, developing him into the solid, ball-playing defender he is today so it stands to reason that he is keen to secure his services south of the border. Last year, shortly before he left for the King Power Stadium he made his appreciation of the player clear. As per the Daily Record:

“Kris has made some big steps. He’s only 20 but he’s really dominant. You think now that when everything comes through the middle of the pitch he gets his head on it. He’s a natural leader as a young guy and is improving all the time.”

“He’s got a lot of strength and is a quick learner. He’s a bright boy who takes information on very quickly. Every day in training he wants to win.”

“He’s a young central defender who can play but first and foremost you have to be able to defend. Kris doesn’t take many risks, which is a key point to his game.”

Neil Lennon, Celtic coach

With Rodgers Premier League bound Neil Lennon resumed his position in the Glasgow hot-seat and it didn’t take long before he too was publicly acknowledging the many merits of the 6ft 6 giant. As per the Scottish Sun:

“Kris is a fantastic player and has pretty much played every minute for me. We rested him in Estonia, but that’s the first football he has missed since last February.

“He has been outstanding, and we have high hopes for him. Kris wants to improve, he is a regular international now, and you have to remember how young he is. He is athletic, good on the ball, good in the air and is an intelligent boy. Kris has all the strings to his bow. He is a real specimen at 21.”

Lars Lagerback, Norway coach

Mention there of Ajer’s international ascent brings us to Lagerback who typically is measured in his assessment when speaking in 2018. It’s worth noting that for the veteran tactician this is positively high praise indeed. As per The Herald:

“We have picked Kristoffer for the upcoming friendlies. That tells you we are very much aware of him and what he has done. What he has done since he started to play regularly for Celtic before Christmas has been impressive. He has shown that he’s a very promising player.”

Verdict

Composed, commanding and a player who always relishes a personal battle, Ajer has been consistently magnificent for two years now in a side whose dominance is such that it only requires competence from its defenders.

It’s time for the colossus to truly test himself at the top level.

A number of Liverpool fans have been on social media discussing their star performer in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Red Bull Salzburg.

The Reds secured their spot in the last-16 stage of the competition as Group E winners courtesy of a 2-0 success in Austria, with Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah both scoring.

After the match, the fans were asked to choose between Alisson Becker, Jordan Henderson, Sadio Mane and Keita for the MOTM award.

And there were a lot of differing opinions on who deserved it.

One player not mentioned was Virgil van Dijk, and a number of the Liverpool fans could not believe that they were not given the option to choose the Dutchman.

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According to WhoScored, the 28-year-old won two headers and boasted an 84% pass success rate from the middle of the back four.

Much has been made of Liverpool’s perceived lack of squad depth in recent months, but head coach Jurgen Klopp has made regular changes in recent weeks, and the team have continued to pick up impressive results.

Indeed, the Merseyside giants are still yet to lose in the Premier League this season, whilst four wins out of six have seen them book their spot in the last-16 stage of the competition they won last term.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have been warned by a former Leicester City striker that the Foxes are still in the Premier League title race.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

West Bromwich Albion enter the third international break of the season in a strong position, occupying that top spot in the Championship with a two-point cushion over the chasing pack of Preston North End and Leeds United.

Last time out, Slaven Bilic’s men secured a resolute 1-0 victory over Hull City to maintain their promotion push this season.

However, after this two-week hiatus, they will be hit with a devastating blow as both Jake Livermore, the goalscorer against his former club, and Romaine Sawyers will serve a one-game suspension when they host Sheffield Wednesday, who too are chasing a berth in the promised land, at the Hawthorns on the 23rd.

It leaves the Croatian with a colossal dilemma considering the lack of depth and options behind the midfield duo – they both had started every single game this campaign.

On the Chalkboard

One option has to be Chris Brunt, who over the last few years, has made a slow transition from being a winger into a central option as he approaches his 35th birthday next month.

The Baggies stalwart played 31 games in the role, per Transfermarkt’s recorded matches, last term.

However, there’s still another spot up for grabs, and it’s that sparse that Bilic might as well pull a name out of the hat.

There is promising starlet Rekeem Harper, who has featured for just six minutes this season, but he hasn’t even been named in a matchday squad since August.

Benfica loanee Filip Krovinovic offers up another potential solution, but he’s mainly been preferred in the number ten role when Matheus Pereira hasn’t featured.

Had this occurred in a few weeks or even in a month, then Gareth Barry would be a more than viable temporary option, but the 38-year-old has only just re-signed for the club following an injury that nearly put pay to his career – he needs game time, quickly.

And then there’s the possibility of bringing Semi Ajayi out of defence as he has played in midfield for his old club Rotherham United, but that may not be the best decision considering Albion have picked up back-to-back clean sheets for the first time this season.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

But with an eventuality like this, Bilic must surely be rueing the decision to allow Sam Field to depart the club on loan this season as he would have been the most apparent backup behind these two this campaign.

He may be currently injured at Charlton Athletic, but that may not have necessarily happened if he stayed in the west Midlands.

The 21-year-old has featured in the Premier League for the club and is undoubtedly one of their most promising academy graduates, having been capped 12 times for the England U20 squad.

Oh, how West Brom could do with him right about now.