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Many Everton fans have been left buzzing over some transfer news that has emerged on Sean Longstaff.

As per The Athletic (via Everton Talks Nsno), a potential move to bring the central midfield player to Goodison Park has now collapsed after the sacking of Rafa Benitez.

The Spaniard reportedly wanted to sign Longstaff from his old club in last summer’s transfer window, and links continued into this month, but now talk of signing him seem over.

A lot of Toffees supporters seem very relieved to hear this, as one would have to question whether Longstaff would improve their team, as he is currently averaging  fewer clearances, key passes and dribbles per match in the Premier League than both Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan (WhoScored).

With just one goal and one assist to show for the Toon so far this term (Transfermarkt), the signing would not exactly have been inspiring.

Everton fans on Longstaff transfer news

These Blues buzzed as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that they were ‘made up’, while a couple of others called it ‘great’:

“GET IN!!! Great news”

Credit: @Hemms10

“Great to hear”

Credit: @AintreeBlues

“Made up”

Credit: @max_musco

“Yesssssss”

Credit: @johnocallagha11

“Lovely stuff”

Credit: @jackph21

“Praise the lord”

Credit: @JakeMartinMagee

In other news, find out what manager update has Evertonians raging here!

When Nuno Santo decided to leave Wolves at the back end of last season, the Molineux faithful understandably held a great deal of concern for the future of their club.

Although the Portuguese had guided the Old Gold to a lowly finish of 13th, far away from the European places, he had achieved a great deal in the Midlands.

This was the man who had steered Wolves to the Premier League, cemented their top-flight status and taken them to the Europa League.

Yet, Nuno had achieved everything he could and headed for the exit door after a rift over transfers with the club’s hierarchy.

Bruno Lage has since come in and transformed this Wolverhampton Wanderers side. They might have suffered a number of injuries this term and been without their Player of the Season from 2020/21 in Pedro Neto, but that hasn’t stopped them from flying high.

They head into Christmas in 8th place and stand a phenomenal chance of reaching European football again.

However, those aforementioned injuries could put a dent in their progress if it carries on throughout the entire campaign. Making use of the January transfer window, therefore, could be just the ticket.

One player who has been tipped with a move to Wolves is Dele Alli.

The Spurs playmaker has been in disastrous form over the last couple of campaigns and has gone from a genuine wonderkid and saviour of English football to someone who can barely get a look in at Tottenham.

The 25-year-old has only started seven times in the league this season and was blasted as a “disgrace” by Jamie O’Hara after the Lilywhites were defeated by minnows NS Mura in the UEFA Conference League.

That doesn’t exactly paint Dele in a positive light, but the fact of the matter is that he’s still a cracking player, one who is about to reach the prime of his career.

You sense that the England international needs a fresh start and he could gain exactly that with Wolves.

If he does move further north then he would surely be the missing piece that drags Lage’s side to a European finish.

After all, this is a talent who has scored more than eight goals in four top-flight campaigns in his career so far. Considering that Wolves’ top scorer last term was Neto with just five goals, that extra dose of magic in the final third from Dele could be game-changing.

The £100k-per-week earner has been described as a “freak” by Darren Anderton and has even been compared to two of the most technically gifted footballers to grace the game by Mauricio Pochettino.

He once commented: “You smell Maradona’s energy, his charisma is amazing.

“Ronaldinho at Paris Saint-Germain was similar. And it’s similar with Dele. People love him in this way. When you add the charisma to the talent, that’s what makes a special player. When he was scoring goals, kids loved him like he was Ronaldinho.”Kids feel this charisma, this energy, and with Dele it’s the same; he has this charisma that kids love and follow.”That’s quite the assessment to make and even if his form has tailed off in recent years – scoring just five times in the last 18 months – he is still a pure joy to watch.Seeing him revive himself at Wolves would be quite the sight so combine him with the likes of Raul Jimenez, Adama Traore and Neto, and you could have quite the front line.Lage has to bring the £27m-rated talent to the Midlands this winter.AND in other news, Wolves can sign the new Thomas Muller in £120k-p/w gem who can “unlock” defences…

Nick Hammond is reportedly now targeting a move for Diego Carlos in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Hammond busy

With the winter market open, Hammond is set to be a busy man at St. James’ Park over the next few weeks.

He has been hired as a transfer consultant on a short-term deal, and will oversee who comes in and who goes out in the North East this month (Sky Sports), with Kieran Trippier already looking like one player who is coming through the door.

Nonetheless, with the Tyneside outfit currently in the relegation zone, the spending will surely not stop there, as they bid to survive in the Premier League come the end of the season.

The Latest: Carlos targeted

As per The Daily Telegraph, Carlos is now being targeted by Hammond for the Magpies, as a potential alternative to Sven Botman.

They have reportedly already had one bid pushed back for the Netherlands international, and so Carlos may be seen as an easier player to get.

The Verdict: Do it now

With just a few weeks of the window to come, and the fact that they are in the drop zone, the Toon simply cannot afford to wait around.

Thus, if a deal can be done for Carlos now, then they need to act upon it.

Nicknamed ‘The Beast’, the 28-year-old is a no-nonsense central defender that would certainly be up for a relegation dogfight.

He even famously rattled Lionel Messi in a draw between Sevilla and FC Barcelona last season, showing the kind of character that will be needed if Eddie Howe’s team are to pick up the points that they need to stay up.

Currently rated at £40.5m by Transfermarkt, Carlos would likely not come cheap, but if Botman becomes unattainable, then he is certainly not a bad alternative for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium.

In other news, find out which ‘quality’ colossus NUFC are now eyeing here!

With Ange Postecoglou knowing that his Celtic side simply must pick up all three points on Thursday evening if they were to keep the pace in the Premiership title race, the 56-year-old Bhoys boss will have undoubtedly been delighted with the 1-0 win at Parkhead.

Indeed, over the course of the 90 minutes, Celtic dominated Robbie Neilson’s third-placed Hearts side, enjoying 69% possession of the ball, taking a total of 25 shots at goal compared to the visitor’s nine, creating three big chances and completing 363 more passes than the Jambos.

And, while a great many of the Hoops starting XI deserve high praise for their own respective performances in the match, there is one player in particular who stood out against Hearts – in the shape of centre-back Carl Starfelt.

95 passes completed

Having not featured for Celtic since October due to a hamstring injury, Starfelt was something of a surprise inclusion in Postecoglou’s starting XI on Thursday evening, however, the defender’s commanding display against the Jambos proved that his manager was right to throw him right back into the thick of the action.

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch, the £2.7m-rated centre-back made one interception, two tackles, five clearances, blocked one shot and won seven of his nine duels – a success rate of 78%.

The £17k-per-week Sweden international also enjoyed a whopping 117 touches of the ball, completed 95 passes, found his target with eight of his nine attempted long balls and made one key pass.

These returns saw the man who 67hailhail’s John McGinley dubbed a “colossus” earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.8 for his efforts, with no player from either side receiving a higher rating than the 26-year-old defender.

As such, with Starfelt very much running the show against Hearts, the centre-back more than proved that his manager’s decision to throw him straight back into the side was the correct call, while the defender’s impressive return to action is undoubtedly something that would appear to bode extremely well for Celtic over the upcoming hectic Christmas period.

In other news: Celtic handed big transfer boost ahead of January, fans will be elated

Tottenham Hotspur have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of their upcoming Premier League clash.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report by Football.London, Giovani Lo Celso will be available for selection for Spurs’ trip to Leicester City on Thursday evening, as the midfielder has finally recovered from a knee injury sustained while with Argentina during the last international break back in November.

Speaking about the 25-year-old’s current condition, Antonio Conte recently said: “Good news is that Giovani Lo Celso is available and he started to train with us from Sunday.”

Conte will be buzzing

Considering the fact that, since his arrival at the club at the start of last month, Lo Celso has played just 19 minutes of Premier League football under the 52-year-old manager, the news that the midfielder finally looks to be available for selection once again is sure to have left the Tottenham boss buzzing.

Indeed, the club have been plagued by the viral pandemic in recent weeks, with their Europa Conference League fixture against Rennes and their Premier League clash with Brighton & Hove Albion both being called off due to a number of Spurs’ first-team becoming infected with the virus – something which has left Conte short of match-fit players for the visit to Leicester on Thursday.

As such, the return of Lo Celso is undoubtedly a huge boost for Tottenham, and could not have come at a better time for the Italian manager – who will undoubtedly be hoping his side can secure all three points at the King Power Stadium this evening, despite Spurs not having kicked a ball in 11 days.

Considering he’s the fifth-best creator in the squad for key passes per game, his inclusion among a squad who may not be match fit will be imperative, especially as Harry Kane strives to rediscover his form, bagging just once this term. The extra creativity and penetration could be just the spark the striker needs.

In other news: Paratici must avoid THFC disaster on £100k-p/w colossus who Conte dubbed “world-class”

Leeds picked up their second win of the Premier League season to move out of the relegation zone on Sunday as they beat Norwich 2-1 at Carrow Road.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side are now on ten points after as many games, as they bid to stay up in their second season in the top-flight after promotion in 2020.

The Argentine is in his fourth campaign in charge of the club and has achieved great success at Elland Road, with a Championship title and a top-half Premier League finish in the first three terms.

Bielsa masterclass

Bielsa arrived at Leeds after they finished mid-table in the Championship and inherited a squad lacking in Premier League experience, but has been able to bring a number of players along for the journey with his excellent coaching – one of them being Poland international Mateusz Klich.

The ex-Lille manager has produced a masterclass with the central midfielder over the last three years. Klich joined Leeds from FC Twente in 2017 and played a measly five Championship games before being sent out on loan to Utrecht in January 2018

At the end of his loan spell, which coincided with Bielsa’s arrival, Klich was valued at just £1.58m by Transfermarkt. Instead of heading away from Elland Road again, he remained in Yorkshire and quickly became an influential member of the squad.

He played 91 of Leeds’ 92 Championship regular-season matches under the Argentine, scoring 16 goals and providing 13 assists. His form earned high praise from Bielsa, who has held him in high esteem. He said: “Klich for me is a player that can play in all the best teams in the world.”

The central midfielder then played 35 of the club’s 38 Premier League games last term, chipping in with four goals and five assists. This shows that the manager relied upon him week-in-week-out in the top-flight, which highlights the immense progress he has made since failing to make the grade in England in the second tier in his first year at the club.

To that point, David Prutton called him the ‘epitome’ of Bielsa’s work with the club in terms of improving players whilst moving up the football ladder. Prutton told the Yorkshire Evening Press:

“You can look at what Leeds have got out of maybe an unsung hero in Mateusz Klich which has been wonderful.

“Klich has been a player who has been the very epitome of what Marcelo has done with Leeds United in making him better.”

At the time of writing (02/11/21), Transfermarkt value Klich at £3.5m. This means that his price has rocketed 127.8% from when Bielsa was appointed in 2018 and illustrates the development he has undergone under the 66-year-old’s coaching. Therefore, it has been a masterclass in management and, hopefully, more players will follow in Klich’s footsteps in the coming years.

AND in other news, Viduka 2.0: Leeds could land new goalscoring sensation with “technically-gifted” beast…

Everton will be hoping to end a four-game winless run when the Premier League resumes this weekend, but they’re set to face a tricky test in the shape of reigning champions Manchester City.

Rafa Benitez’s charges have already experienced a season of two halves in the opening weeks of 2021/22, losing just one of their opening seven top-flight fixtures before picking up a single point from a possible 12.

A draw against Tottenham Hotspur last time out halted a streak of three consecutive losses, but a much-needed win will be hard to come by when they visit the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The two sides faced off three times in all competitions last season after they were pitted against each other in the FA Cup, with the Citizens comfortably winning all three encounters with an aggregate score of 10-1.

One player who started every game in the one-sided trilogy was Gabriel Jesus, and the £90,000-per-week beast played a pivotal part in the Manchester side’s success, grabbing a goal and an assist against the Toffees.

His 14th-minute strike in the 5-0 thrashing in the last game of the season extended his impressive record against Everton, taking his tally to eight strikes in nine appearances when lining up to take on the Blues.

For context, only 12 players have scored more against the Toffees than Jesus in the entire club’s history.

With City’s plethora of attacking options cutting opposition’s defences open at will this term, Benitez faces a near-impossible task of keeping the likes of Phil Foden, Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva at bay, but perhaps it’s Jesus who he should be most concerned about.

This season, the 24-year-old has almost been exclusively used out wide rather than in his typical centre-forward position, making him more elusive and harder to mark.

Jesus’ unwavering work ethic also makes him a nightmare for full-backs and opponents looking to push forward, an attribute that Pep Guardiola holds in high regard.

“He is exceptional and he has a key role for us for many years and been a big part of the huge success we’ve had every season,” the Spanish tactician remarked.

“Sergio was injured and played a few games last season. Always when Sergio was fit he was an important part of the team. He was incredibly recognised by me.

“He was a proper striker and Gabriel is a proper striker.

Football has a quirky habit of repeating itself and producing patterns over a number of years, and Everton are going to have to be on their best form to prevent Jesus from becoming their new nemesis.

And, in other news…EFC may repeat Iwobi disaster by signing “lacklustre” £140k-p/w dud, Brands must avoid

With Southampton having scored just six goals in their opening eight Premier League games of the season, it’s safe to say Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have not been in the best attacking form so far in this campaign.

One attacking player that is making a difference away from Southampton is 20-year-old left-midfielder Will Ferry, who is currently on a loan deal from the Saints with League Two club Crawley Town.

Ferry joined Southampton’s U18 side from Bury’s U18s back in the 2017 summer transfer window for an undisclosed fee.

Since then, Ferry has featured in 23 matches for Southampton U18s where he has managed to score seven goals and provide nine assists along the way.

The player has also managed to make 33 appearances for Southampton’s B team, netting five and assisting on seven occasions but has yet to make his senior debut for the Saints.

During his time with Crawley, Ferry has managed to score one goal and provide three assists in ten outings for the club so far this season across all competitions, getting plenty of minutes under his belt which should be very pleasing for Hasenhuttl and the supporters.

In addition to this, Ferry has racked up an average of 1.4 shots per game in League Two as well as 1.3 key passes per game, showing just how much of an attacking threat he has been for the club since his arrival at Crawley.

He’s certainly delivering on the immense promise that made Crawley pounce on his temporary signature with their CEO, Erdem Konyar, saying in August: “Will is an exciting young player.”

Moving forward, if Ferry can keep playing regularly for Crawley until the end of his loan spell and keep adding some more goals and assists to his tally, we feel he could definitely be in contention to eventually make his senior debut for the Saints when he returns at some point.

Given the age of some of Southampton’s current wingers such as Theo Walcott (32) and Nathan Redmond (27), there’s every possibility that Ferry could well be a regular first-team player for the Saints in the future alongside the likes of Nathan Tella and Moussa Djenepo. With that many options on the flanks, however, the boss would have an undoubted dilemma as to who to select.

The Irishman is some way off being Premier League ready but his potential and star qualities lower down the leagues is standing him in good stead.

In other news: Forget JWP: Saints must unleash “aggressive” 22 y/o on Sat, he could terrify Burnley – opinion

Crystal Palace have been linked with a move for Manchester United forward Anthony Martial as manager Patrick Vieira looks to add more firepower to his forward line.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish outlet Fichajes, the Eagles are eager to secure the services of the 25-year-old as speculation grows over his potentially imminent Old Trafford exit.

Martial’s days at United appear to be numbered after a disappointing 18 months for the France international, with Newcastle United also credited with an interest in his signature following their recent Saudi-backed takeover.

The report from Fichajes claimed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s charges are set to demand a £40m fee for their unwanted striker, so Palace may need to fork out a record transfer fee in order to bring him to south London.

Imagine him and Wilfried Zaha

The versatile forward appeared to have made a significant step up in his progress during the 2019/20 season when he bagged 23 goals and provided a further 12 assists in 48 appearances for the Red Devils in all competitions.

His outstanding displays caught the eye of several impressed onlookers, including former United title-winner Robin van Persie, who claimed that Martial is a “world-class” player.

“Martial always have an eye for his teammates and that’s what sets him apart from the others. That’s why I think he’s a world-class player,” said the Dutchman.

Dormer Bayern Munich and United midfielder Owen Hargreaves was equally complimentary following an impressive showing against Copenhagen in the Europa League, saying: “Everyone’s got an opinion on Martial. He’s a Ferrari. He just looked like a £100million player.”

However, Martial was unable to build on that impressive 2019/20 showing last term. Injuries and a lack of form saw the former Monaco ace start just 17 Premier League matches and produce only 16 goal contributions in his 36 outings altogether.

After missing out on France’s squad for Euro 2020, it was hoped that the attacker would return to United refreshed and back firing once again this season, but he has struggled to make a positive impression on proceedings so far in 2021/22.

Martial has started just three games in the current campaign, finding the back of the net once after the arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho pushed him further down the club’s pecking order.

Nevertheless, the prospect of him linking up with Wilfried Zaha at Selhurst Park would still be a daunting prospect for any top-flight defence, so the Palace hierarchy must sanction a move over the coming months.

In other news… Journalist claims “technical” CPFC gem is a “great option” for Vieira, fans will love him

With Mark Warburton’s Queens Park Rangers side heading into Tuesday night’s Championship clash on a run of three straight defeats in the league, the 59-year-old Rs manager would have undoubtedly been hoping for a much-improved display against Birmingham City at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

And, with two goals from Ilias Chair either side of half-time securing all three points in a 2-0 win for the west London side, it would certainly appear this is exactly what Warburton’s side managed to achieve against the Blues.

As is to be expected after such a result, a number of the QPR players turned in impressive performances over the course of the 90 minutes, with Robert Dickie, Yoann Barbet and Christopher Willock all receiving a SofaScore match rating of 7.5 or above, however, it was undeniably the double goalscorer who stole the show against Lee Bowyer’s side.

Two key passes

Having already been one of QPR’s more impressive players prior to the Birmingham fixture, Chair only furthered his reputation as one of the Championship’s most exciting starlets with yet another dominant performance on Tuesday night.

Indeed, the £3.6m-rated attacking midfielder scored two goals, took a total of five shots, made two key passes and created one big chance for his teammates against the Blues.

The player Warburton dubbed a “bright” talent also completed three long balls, 29 passes, won three duels and drew one foul over the course of his time on the pitch.

These returns saw the 23-year-old receive a rather remarkable SofaScore match rating of 9.1, with no player, from either side, earning a higher score than the Morocco international.

As such, while QPR’s promotion credentials have been slightly reinforced in the win over Birmingham – as the result takes the Rs up to eighth place in the league, one point behind Blackburn Rovers in sixth – should Warburton’s side have any chance of securing a top-six finish this season, Chair will undoubtedly have to keep this level of performance up going forwards.

In other news: Huge blow: Warburton confirms double QPR injury setback which will leave fans gutted