According to Sky Sports, Southampton are the favourites to sign Arsenal winger Theo Walcott, who is rated at £18m according to Transfermarkt, but his future is still yet to be decided by the north London outfit.
What’s the word, then?
Well, Sky Sports reports that Saints are leading the race to re-sign the 28-year-old if he leaves the Emirates Stadium this month, with his position likely to become clearer in the next week with talks between the club and his representatives due to take place.
Sky Sports says that the England international remains a popular figure at St Mary’s having left the south coast outfit to join Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2006, and he would be welcomed back in order to help Mauricio Pellegrino’s side get out of the trouble they currently find themselves in towards the bottom of the Premier League table.
The report adds that Southampton may struggle to match Walcott’s £120,000-a-week wage demands, but he could be willing to take a pay cut in order to play regularly and boost his chances of going to the World Cup in the second-half of the campaign.
How has Walcott done this season?
Despite scoring 19 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions for the Gunners last season, the winger has found first-team opportunities hard to come by in the Premier League this term.
While the 28-year-old has started five Europa League matches and three EFL Cup games, he is yet to start in the top flight and has been restricted to five brief substitute outings – including the 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Will Southampton sign him this month?
It’s difficult to say.
While the report from Sky Sports suggests that Walcott is happy to rejoin Saints, there are a number of factors that could affect a deal.
With Olivier Giroud injured and Alexis Sanchez potentially leaving the Emirates this month, Arsene Wenger may choose to hold on to the attacker, while the south coast outfit’s struggles – they currently lie outside of the relegation zone on goal difference – could put the 28-year-old off.
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His wages could also be an issue, but it is clear that Southampton need new additions to boost their squad, and if they are serious about staying away from the bottom three then they need to invest money in bringing experienced players like Walcott to the club this month.
Everton attacker Aaron Lennon has hailed Sam Allardyce for helping him find his form for the Toffees in recent weeks.
Lennon missed eight of Everton’s first nine Premier League matches of the 2017-18 campaign, but the 30-year-old has been a regular for the Toffees since Allardyce arrived at Goodison Park.
The former England international initially regained his spot in the team under David Unsworth, and Allardyce has kept faith with Lennon since his arrival as head coach.
Lennon has paid tribute to Allardyce for giving him the confidence to find his best form for the Toffees.
Lennon told evertontv:
“He [Allardyce] has been great and so have all the staff who have come in.
“They’ve been showing me clips on how to improve and the spaces to get in and where to run and so on. They’ve really helped me since they came in.
“I think my fitness is getting up there now. I feel sharper, I feel stronger in the games, personally I just feel a lot better in the games, and I think I’m playing well again.”
Lennon played a key role in Everton coming from behind to record a 3-1 win over Swansea City in the Premier League on Monday night.
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The attacker, who is valued at £4.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, is also expected to be involved when Everton welcome Chelsea to Goodison Park in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
According to reports by German media outlet Sport Bild, Tottenham Hotspur are leading Premier League rivals Arsenal and Manchester United in the race to sign Hoffenheim attacking midfielder Nadiem Amiri, who has a release clause set at €17m (approximately £15.1m) this summer, and Spurs fans have been quick to have their say on the rumour.
Sport Bild report that the 21-year-old is a long-term target for Mauricio Pochettino’s men after they failed in a bid to bring him to north London during the previous summer transfer window, but they remain in pole position to get him at the end of the season.
The Germany U21 international has scored four goals and provided a further two assists in 19 appearances in all competitions for the Bundesliga outfit this season, while he has 10 goals and 10 assists in 87 outings for them in total.
Tottenham supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on the story, and while one aimed a sly did at the club’s recruitmeny by saying “Google needed yet again”, another said “we don’t need another CAM”.
John Terry was one of the standout signings of the summer for Aston Villa when the Chelsea legend decided to drop into the Championship to play for the Midlands club in what is likely to be his last hurrah in football.
The centre-back arrived at Villa Park with plenty of pedigree having won 15 major trophies, including four Premier League titles and the Champions League, during almost two decades with the Blues.
Since joining Villa, Terry has started 18 league matches, with only injury hampering the 37-year-old’s progress at the Midlands outfit.
Last week, manager Steve Bruce brought in a new defender in the form of Manchester United youngster Axel Tuanzebe, who has joined the Villans on loan for the rest of the season.
The 20-year-old has already made his presence known by launching a playful dig at Terry on Instagram.
Tuanzebe, who will be challenging the Chelsea veteran for game time, reportedly suggested in a post on Instagram that the experienced defender needs to watch his back.
According to the Metro, the United centre-back added a photo of himself in training, with Terry’s face blurred in the background.
The caption read:
“Front of the pack #keepupJT”
The former England captain responded to the light-hearted jibe with a lengthy list of trophy emojis, referring to his success in the game.
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Tuanzebe has since edited his post and reportedly removed the hashtag aimed at Terry.
West Ham United forward Javier Hernandez has lavished praise on teammate Marko Arnautovic after both players scored in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Watford.
Hernandez opened the scoring in the 38th minute, before Arnautovic netted 12 minutes from time as the Hammers picked up a much-needed three points in the Premier League.
Arnautovic was back in the team following a muscular problem, and the Austria international netted his seventh league goal of the season against the Hornets.
There were eyebrows raised when West Ham paid more than £20m to sign the 28-year-old from Stoke City during the summer transfer window.
Arnautovic, however, has quickly become a favourite with the West Ham fans, and now Hernandez has hailed the attacker’s ability on the football field.
Hernandez told West Ham’s official website:
“Marko is an unbelievable, all-around player and it gives you a lot of confidence when you play up front with a player like him. We have a good understanding with each other.”
Arnautovic started his professional career with Twente in the Netherlands before a short loan spell at Inter Milan.
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The attacker then spent four years with Werder Bremen before joining Stoke in the summer of 2013.
According to reports by ESPN FC, Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo is not a £30m summer target for Paris Saint-Germain at present, despite various stories to the contrary.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Sun reported over the weekend that PSG were lining up a £30m bid for the Argentina international at the end of the season after negotiations over a new contract broke done, but ESPN FC claim that it is not the case that the Ligue 1 outfit are ready to make their move.
ESPN FC says that the French giants aren’t targeting any new players at the moment with manager Unai Emery’s future up in the air, and he could go if they fail to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League – they currently trail Real Madrid 3-1 after the first leg of their last 16 knockout tie.
However, the report adds that a place in the semis would add another 12 months to Emery’s contract, with the club also potentially having to sell players to stay in line with UEFA’s financial fair play rules.
How has Rojo done this season?
The 27-year-old only returned from a cruciate ligament injury in November, and since then he has been in and out of the team under Jose Mourinho, making 10 appearances in all competitions.
The Argentina international currently looks to be behind the likes of Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly in the central defensive pecking order at Old Trafford, and he missed the 2-0 win against Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup on Saturday because of injury.
Would United listen to offers for him in the summer?
Considering he will only have a year left on his contract come June an offer of £30m may certainly be tempting for Mourinho and United, with the Portuguese boss almost certain to target a new centre-back and with him having plenty of options in that position.
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That said, the fact that the 27-year-old can play at the heart of the defence or as a left-back or wing-back certainly makes him a useful member of the squad, and one that Mourinho may not want to lose anytime soon.
Liverpool are interested in Lyon’s hotshot youngster Mohamed Bahlouli, according to France Football.
What’s the story?
As if a potential £45m deal with Arsenal for Nabil Fekir wasn’t enough to grease the Lyon coffers, the French side may now cash in on the rapid rise of the highly rated 18-year-old.
Lyon’s highly successful youth academy has already been frequented by Liverpool scouts eager to make a move for midfielder Houusem Aouar, but the Merseyside club appear now to be more tempted by his teammate.
According to the report, Lyon are concerned about keeping the young midfielder at the club, but they may struggle to dissuade Bahlouli from chasing the Anfield lights.
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Would Lyon’s loss be Liverpool’s gain?
Liverpool have a fine history of producing midfield talent from their youth academy, and with perhaps their finest graduate of the last 25 years Steven Gerrard now involved with Liverpool’s youth setup, no time seems better than the present for the Reds to be nurturing their talent in the middle of the park.
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If Bahlouli turns out to be anything like his idol Philippe Coutinho, whose five-year tenure at Anfield ended with him being sold for a record £142m to Barcelona in January, then Liverpool would be crazy not to swoop for him.
As reported by The Mirror, Manchester United are set to cash in on Daley Blind this summer despite recently extending his contract by another year.
What’s the story?
Blind has struggled to find regular first team football at United this season, either because he wasn’t in Jose Mourinho’s plans or more recently because of an ankle injury.
The Red Devils though chose to take up the option of a year’s extension on his current contract.
The Mirror report however that the extension was only so they could recoup some of the £14m fee spent on him when he joined in 2014 and will listen to offers for him when the transfer window opens this summer.
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Will they miss him?
It’s clear that Mourinho doesn’t need Blind to achieve his aims at United and while he’s proven to be a useful squad player this season, he’s only made five Premier League appearances.
Unlikely then that they’ll miss him too much but at 27 years of age, he has plenty to offer other Premier League sides or even top continental clubs.
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Rated at £18m by Transfermarkt, he would be a bargain in today’s inflated market. With 139 appearances for United and 143 more for Ajax, he has extensive experience of both domestic and European football.
His hard working displays have won plaudits from supporters and his ability to carry the ball from defence into midfield and deliver dangerous crosses would benefit many clubs, as would his versatility to play a number of positions.
Rangers are drawing 2-2 with arch-rivals Celtic at half-time in the latest edition of the Old Firm derby at Ibrox on Sunday, and Gers fans have been quick to destroy defender Fabio Cardoso, rated at €900,000 (£800,000) by Transfermarkt, for his display in the opening 45 minutes.
The Portuguese defender started the match on the substitutes’ bench, but he was introduced in the in the 15th minute after David Bates picked up an injury when Tom Rogic equalised for the visitors.
Daniel Candeias gave the hosts the lead again but then Cardoso, who fans haven’t wanted to start previously this season, should have done better when he came up against Moussa Dembele on the stroke of half-time, with the striker bringing Brendan Rodgers’ side level.
Rangers supporters were quick to have their say on Cardoso’s display via social media, and while one said “Cardoso is terrible”, another said “knew when he came on we would concede”.
With the most league goals of any player involved in Europe’s five leading top flights this season and now just four strikes away from setting a new record for goals scored by a single player in a 38-game Premier League campaign, Mohamed Salah’s incredible potency in attack this term has made the debate over whether he qualifies as world-class an increasingly unavoidable one.
Of course, that term means different things to different people and comes with a wide variety of interpretations. But if we take it as meaning belonging to an elite bracket of the very best around, Salah’s output this season is unquestionably up there. When assists are added to the equation, he’s contributed to more league goals than Cristano Ronaldo, Neymar and Eden Hazard this season and the same number, 37, as Lionel Messi.
However, there is a subtle yet significance difference between a world-class player and a player enjoying world-class form, and at this moment of Salah’s career, not even a full season into his affluent spell at Liverpool, it’s still unclear which category the Egyptian attacker truly belongs to – whether his current levels are sustainable or have been created by a perfect storm of Liverpool’s relentless attacking impetus, the eagerness to impress during his first campaign at a new club and the manner in which he’s caught so many English teams off-guard following an underwhelming previous stint in the Premier League with Chelsea.
There is another key question at the heart of this debate as well; sometimes strikers are enjoying such a rich vein of confidence and fortune that they simply can’t miss in front of goal, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re world-class goalscorers, let alone world-class players. Then-Sunderland’s Kevin Phillips once won Europe’s Golden Boot award, while back in 1997/98 the Premier League Golden Boot was split between Dion Dublin, Chris Sutton and Michael Owen. Only the latter of those four can claim to have been widely considered a truly world-class player for a substantial period of his career.
And while an analysis of Salah belonging to that bracket shouldn’t hinge on statistics alone, there is certainly something telling about the Liverpool attacker’s returns this season compared to likeminded forwards of world-class calibre – Neymar, Ronaldo, Messi and Hazard. Out of the five, Salah ranks in the bottom two for successful dribbles, chances created and shots per game this season, and the percentages also hint at a worrying inconsistency that has been evident at times too.
Salah ranks bottom for pass completion and dribble success rate while only Ronaldo has hit the target with less frequency this term. That’s not a huge surprise either; particularly at the start of the season, the 25-year-old was needing four or five chances to hit the net, albeit creating the vast majority of them himself. Compare that to someone like Hazard for example, a forward who finds the net less frequently but has performed at least 7% better than Salah on those three fronts.
It could be argued that Hazard is therefore the better player, because he achieves what he attempts on the pitch with a greater consistency.
Goals are, of course, worth invaluably more than any collection of chances created, dribbles and shots combined, but it does force the consideration of whether Salah – who Transfermarkt value at £72million – would be considered such a devastating player if he were finding the net with slightly less regularity this season. Would we be quite as impressed with a forward who doesn’t even rank in the Premier League’s top ten for dribbles per match, and is currently surpassed in terms of chance creation by Pascal Gross and Ben Davies?
Ashley Young’s dominance over Salah a fortnight ago in the Northwest derby too, creates some doubts over his world-class credentials, highlighting a crucial factor.
The England international has been fantastic at left-back for Manchester United all season, but this is still a converted winger we’re talking about, one who has been dribbled past the most times, 19, of any player to feature at No.3 in the Premier League throughout 2017/18.
Salah should’ve had a field day at Old Trafford, especially during a second half Liverpool dominated, but the 56-cap international constantly found his path blocked as he continuously cut inside onto Young’s stronger foot.
And that’s perhaps the key with Salah right now – he’s still enjoying the luxury of opposition defenders not quite yet working him out, the best way to stifle his very specific game.
Using a right-footer at left-back may well be the solution – he also struggled against Serge Aurier in the 4-1 defeat to Tottenham earlier this season – but the wider issue is how every team in the Premier League will have their own ideas for containing him next term. His performances this season have simply been too potent, relentless and frenetic for anybody to work out an obvious antidote.
In some senses though, that’s only testament to how clever, inventive and modern a player Salah actually is. We’ve become well acquainted with wingers drifting inside in the Premier League, but what the Liverpool star does is markedly different – those recurring, penetrative central runs between the centre-backs are certainly unorthodox, and at times give the aura of a ground-breaking ploy that will become commonplace across Europe in the years to come.
Unfortunately, statistical analysis of the beautiful game is yet to reach a point where it adequately acknowledges decisive movement, let alone determine its effectiveness.
And yet, there is still a feeling that Salah’s unique inside runs are just another aspect of his game that elite defenders could soon come to master, a process which could drastically change how the Reds ace is perceived. Right now, there’s no question Salah is scoring goals on reputation as much as ability – the sight of four Watford defenders flailing to the floor last Saturday as the former Roma star squeezed a shot between all of them was testament to that – and so perhaps the ultimate question is what happens when Salah doesn’t have that same fear factor, when defenders have worked out ploys to contain his threat, when everybody in the Premier League knows precisely what to expect from him.
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That is why, for all the incredible performances Salah has put in this season, and for all the goalscoring records he may break come the summer, judgement of his world-class credentials must be reserved for another year, once the ever-problematic follow-up campaign is proven to be a success or failure.
His Liverpool form hasn’t taken place in a vacuum – he was one of the top performers in Serie A for two-and-a-half years before moving to Anfield – but this remains the only season of his career in which he’s scored more than 19 goals across all competitions, and it’s that extra firepower which has pushed the debate to this point.
Right now, he still feels like a player enjoying world-class form, rather than a truly world-class player.