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For a man who is so often praised for his shrewd business in the transfer market for Liverpool, it looks as if Michael Edwards may have made a big mistake when allowing Marko Grujic to leave on loan.

The Serbian midfielder returned from two seasons on loan at Hertha Berlin this summer and looked to be establishing himself as a part of Jurgen Klopp’s first-team squad, playing 90 minutes in Liverpool’s League Cup ties against Arsenal and Lincoln City respectively (per WhoScored).

However, the 24-year-old, whose asking price was reportedly £20m in the previous window, was allowed to join FC Porto on loan during the summer transfer window and he has gone on to make four appearances for Sérgio Conceição’s side so far this season.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, they have since lost Fabinho to injury, and look to be lacking natural defensive-midfielders in their squad.

Grujic has played as a defensive-midfielder on 25 occasions in his career thus far and could’ve been the man to replace Fabinho in Klopp’s starting XI following his injury.

Even if he wasn’t considered ready to start regularly for Liverpool, he could’ve provided some much-needed squad depth in midfield, with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thiago having also struggled with injuries so far this season.

As we approach a busy Christmas period, you imagine that they won’t be the last players to pick up injuries in Klopp’s side and therefore they could have done with someone such as Grujic to be available as a fairly-experienced back-up.

The Reds have coped reasonably well with their injury concerns this season, as they sit third in the Premier League table going into the international break, however, they did lose Trent Alexander-Arnold to a muscle injury in the recent 1-1 draw with Manchester City.

His former coach Pal Dardai was certainly full of praise for Grujic during his time in Germany, saying:

“I’ve been at Hertha for 22 years, this isn’t meant as an insult to anyone else, but Marko is by far the best midfielder I’ve seen in my time at the club.

“I was a defensive-midfielder and managed to score 17 goals, which isn’t bad, but Marko carries much more of a goal threat, he’s got a sensational shot on him and is much better than I was… he can play anywhere in midfield.

“He’s got so much potential, and you can see that out on the pitch. He’s so robust in the middle of the park, but he can still play. He’s good in the air, he wins tackles and has got such a strong desire to win. I can only say: ‘respect’. He’s not even fully fit. Just imagine what he’ll be like when he is!”

It will be interesting to see if Liverpool consider recalling Grujic in January if their injury problems do not improve, as the Serbian international could definitely prove to be a strong back-up option for the Merseyside club when you consider his performances with Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga over the last two seasons, which were clearly enough to impress Dardai.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp could turn a negative into a positive this summer as Gini Wijnaldum’s contractual situation continues to rumble on…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mirror’s David Maddock, the Premier League champions continue to track the progress of Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar and have done so since he even broke into the senior set-up at the French club.

Speaking to the Blood Red Podcast, he claimed that Lyon would have been looking at over £60m for his signature this summer but the financial climate across Europe has changed things substantially, so there’s a chance he remains in Ligue 1.

He goes on to suggest that the Reds could be willing to pounce should the correct circumstances fall at their door.

Forget Gini

Meanwhile, Wijnaldum is entering the final year of his contract at Anfield with Barcelona hot on the 29-year-old’s tail now they have his former national team head coach and ex-Toffees man Ronald Koeman in charge.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed last month that the club were trying to extend his deal but it’s all gone quiet since.

Well, maybe it is now time to plan for life without the long-serving Dutchman and Michael Edwards should look no further than Aouar, who could prove to be a generational talent in midfield.

The 22-year-old has been likened to Christian Eriksen and it’s easy to see why – he’s a skilful attack-minded technical midfielder who is calm on the ball and can contribute with late runs into the penalty area.

Per WhoScored, the young French sensation delivered four goals and eight assists in the league and UCL – the latter of which saw him lead his side to victory over Manchester City – averaging 3.5 dribbles, 1.5 shots and 1.2 key passes per game.

BT Sport duo Rio Ferdinand and Owen Hargreaves were full of praise for Aouar recently, the former centre-back claimed he is a “fabulous player to watch” as he “has it all” whilst the latter described him as “gifted”.

Valued at just over £44.5m, Liverpool won’t find themselves a better replacement for Gini.

AND in other news, PSG could hijack Klopp’s NO. 1 transfer target this summer…

West Ham’s fortunes in front of goal were perhaps why they found themselves embroiled in a relegation battle last season, but their fortunes could be about to change if reports are to be believed…

What’s the word?

According to Foot Mercato, Amiens striker Serhou Guirassy is of interest to the Hammers but they face one major stumbling block.

It’s claimed that the 24-year-old has his sights set on a move to Ligue 1 rivals Stade Rennes but they are yet to pay the €20m (£18m) asking price.

The likes of newly promoted West Brom and Crystal Palace have also been linked with a move for the 6 foot 2 colossus.

Husillos’ Haller blow

If the Irons can swoop in at the last minute and convince Guirassy to make the switch to the Premier League, something he’s previously stated that he wants, then those at the top of the club can lessen the impact of Mario Husillos’ blunder.

West Ham clinched Sebastian Haller for a club-record £45m fee from Frankfurt, paying him in the region of £100k-per-week. So far, he’s struggled to adapt to the physicality of the English top-flight, scoring just seven goals.

It means the Hammers have blown around £50.5m in total since his arrival last July, that won’t please the London Stadium faithful, who have been on the Frenchman’s back many times this term.

Guirassy is described as a “tall and powerful” classic target man with a “killer instinct” in front of goal and despite his “imposing” physical frame, he’s still got bags of pace.

After bagging nine goals in a side that faced relegation from Ligue 1, the Irons could get themselves a genuine option to show where Haller has been going wrong.

David Moyes can’t go into next season relying on Haller and Michail Antonio.

AND in other news, Hammers want to get rid of £100k-a-week flop to free up wage bill…

Glasgow Rangers have had some wonderful players down the years, but arguably none have been quite as good as Brian Laudrup.

The Denmark international had already had an illustrious career by the time he rocked up at Ibrox in 1994 for £2.5m, having appeared for the likes of AC Milan and Bayern Munich and having won the 1992 European Championships with Denmark. Across four years with the 54-time Scottish champions, Laudrup wrote himself into the club’s history books, scoring over 30 goals in more than 100 Scottish Premiership matches, and lighting up the whole of Scottish football along the way.

It appears he still has an affinity with the club as well. On Instagram, he shared a photo of himself with one of his old shirts with the caption: “Rumours say the no.11 is still vacant.”

This was shared on Twitter, and it has attracted the attention of the Gers supporters – as you can imagine, there have been plenty of comments that he could still do a job. They have taken to the social media platform to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best reactions below.

Let us know what you think!

West Ham boss David Moyes may have just found West Ham their next Jermain Defoe as he plots a move for one of his former players.

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports, the Irons have an interest in Josh Maja who has impressed since joining Bordeaux in January 2019 from Moyes’ old club, Sunderland.

It’s claimed that the Ligue 1 outfit could look to sell the 21-year-old striker as their finances have been implicated by the global pandemic.

Scottish giants Rangers are also keen on Maja as a potential replacement for Alfredo Morelos.

The Sun have previously mooted a £10m fee for his signature, but it remains to be seen exactly how much he could command this summer.

Defoe 2.0

Moyes was the man to give Maja his debut at the Black Cats back in 2016 before he went on to bag 17 goals in 49 senior appearances for the club.

Interestingly, former Hammers legend Defoe became a bit of a mentor for the young Nigerian during their time together in the northeast, helping improve his finishing and how to become a better player overall.

There will undoubtedly be similarities between the two as a result.

“Jermain Defoe was probably one of my biggest admirers because I think he just liked the fact that I was good at finishing.”

Maja on Defoe.

This campaign, Maja bagged eight goals in 24 appearances, though he only played a total of 894 minutes via Transfermarkt, which makes it all that more impressive.

The young striker’s head coach at the Girondins, Paolo Sousa, claims that he’s a goalscorer with both “sharp and strong qualities” whilst Chris Coleman, the successor to Moyes’ successor at the Stadium of Light, believed Maja offered his side a “different threat”.

It would make perfect sense for the Hammers to pull the trigger on Maja, particularly with Sebastian Haller’s struggles this campaign, and if they get half the player Defoe was, then Moyes is onto a huge winner.

AND in other news, 17-goal target can bring excitement back to the London Stadium

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…

It seems that the rumours of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang being on Real Madrid’s radar are here to stay.

Just recently, Los Blancos were linked with a swap deal for Freddie Ljungberg’s hitman in a transfer that would see James Rodriguez and some cash go the other way.

Needless to say, even that offer seemed like a foolish move for the Spanish giants, and now, Duncan Castles has reported that Zinedine Zidane is looking to sacrifice Luka Jovic in order to land his target.

He said so on The Transfer Window podcast, starting at 23:30, claiming that Aubameyang is still stalling on a new contract and the Galacticos would be ready to pounce on him with another offer for the Gunners.

Aubameyang’s contract is due to run out in the summer of 2021 so that leaves Ljungberg with some room to manoeuvre out of this position, but they are running out of time to make some real money from the player if separation truly is inevitable.

Of course, losing a leadership figure who’s managed to bag 12 goals in 19 games in 2019/20 is never easy but getting someone as young and as talented as Jovic in return is something that could potentially sweeten the deal just enough.

But for Real Madrid and Zidane, this would be a rather foolish move.

Quicfire Quiz: Premier League experts will get 100%…

Karim Benzema is also on the wrong side of his 30s and Jovic was brought in for a reported fee of about £58m to one day replace the Frenchman.

But so far, he has only tallied 11 games under his name for the Galacticos, bagging one goal in the process. Even though that is definitely not a brilliant return, Jovic hardly ever plays and the 319 minutes he’s managed to accumulate so far can attest to that.

Adding Aubameyang, who’s 30 already, into the squad makes little sense given that would leave Real Madrid with two ageing forwards.

Add in the fact they’d be sacrificing a young player with the potential to be a long-term option at centre-forward and it’s fair to say the deal looks catastrophic.

Jovic has quality, that much we’ve seen during his Eintracht Frankfurt days when he scored 36 goals and assisted further nine in 75 games.

Zidane should just be a bit more patient with his talent.

He’s bound to grow with time.

In other news, with their transfer ban cut short, Chelsea should reignite their interest in one of Real Madrid’s out-of-favour stars…

Newcastle United’s takeover is going to go through, according to former Palace chairman Simon Jordan.

The owner-turned-pundit was appearing on Tuesday’s edition of ‘White and Sawyer‘ on talkSPORT where he was asked about the situation and emerging reports surrounding pirate streaming service beoutQ.

Jordan suggests it would be a very big surprise to see the Premier League block the deal and that they are merely trying to gain some leverage over the illegal broadcast of their matches in Saudi Arabia.

It comes after the Guardian’s revelation into a World Trade Organisation report which had found the Saudi government to be involved with beoutQ, but that doesn’t necessarily mean those involved in the Magpies’ takeover are involved too.

In response to the situation, Jordan offered an encouraging verdict on the prospects of it being approved, he said:

“I just feel that the Premier League will use it as leverage to try and get some reigning in of that, but I will be very, very, very, very surprised – you [Jim White] talk to Amanda Staveley, you get the gist of it as well – I’d be very surprised if they block this and are able to block it because there are other people that own football clubs that one could question the veracity or the advocacy of their ownership and I think this is going to be a very difficult situation.

“The Premier League, if it blocks this move, is pretty much saying – to some extent – that club’s only to their approval, owners only to their approval, irrespective of the conditionality of that and then you move the bar and move the bar down, and you’ll have this argument raging in Newcastle more than anywhere else that this only retains the status quo for those that it suits.

“I’d be very surprised if it’s blocked, Jim. Very surprised.”

Jordan emphasises his thoughts that it would be a massive surprise to see the PL reject United’s takeover by a Saudi-backed consortium.

He also raises an interesting point that would call into question their decisions to approve other deals in the past, and whilst it remains to be seen who he’s talking about, it’s fair to suggest that Manchester City may come into the equation given they are owned by the UAE.

Cameo Clubs: Which obscure teams did these football legends play for?

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

The 52-year-old’s words perhaps ring truer than most speaking about the situation, particularly from those looking in from the outside as Jordan was in charge of Crystal Palace for ten years.

AND in other news, George Caulkin delivers update over Newcastle takeover…

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…

Harry Kane has to leave Tottenham Hotspur to win trophies.

This is a truth almost universally acknowledged by those outside of Tottenham Hotspur.

Even Tim Sherwood, the club’s former manager, said this week that the England international would give it until the end of next season before packing his bag and leaving, provided the club’s trophy drought continued.

They last lifted silverware in 2008, winning the League Cup at Wembley at Chelsea’s expense. That is despite reaching a Champions League final and another League Cup final under the management of Mauricio Pochettino. Two title challenges also came, ultimately, to nothing.

And isn’t that what this game is about, really; glory; trophies; medals; baubles that can go in a cabinet, to be reminisced over when a player is retired?

Well, no. Not really.

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This game is about love, really, and when one examines the best one-club men in history, a common thread appears – a lack of trophies.

Francesco Totti, perhaps the greatest Italian footballer of his generation, won one Serie A title during his time at Roma. Matt Le Tissier, a hero even of Barcelona icon Xavi, never won a single medal at Southampton. Think too of the likes of Ledley King at Spurs – that solitary League Cup is his only medal yet he was perhaps one of the finest centre-backs in Premier League history – and Bill Nicholson, the legendary manager of the club, who won the First Division just once as a player but was the mastermind behind the team that won the double.

Both of the latter are revered to this day at Spurs, with King’s famous quote, “This is my club, my one and only club”, etched into the club’s stadium signage.

Kane could have that.

Of course, he’s world-class and a striker that would walk into pretty much any team in world football. He has scored 177 goals in 270 appearances. He is England’s captain and perhaps the best forward this country has produced since Alan Shearer. He could even break the Newcastle United legend’s Premier League goalscoring record.

Back in 2015, after Kane had burst onto the scene by scoring 21 league goals in his first full season at the club, Telegraph journalist Jason Burt asked him why he had chosen to take the No.10 shirt.

“I want to become a club legend”, was the reply.

He is well on course.

If he can help Spurs win some silverware along the way, then that will be all the better but the truth of the matter is this: It doesn’t really matter.

What does matter is staying power, is proving to a fanbase that you and they are the same, that you share the same hopes and the same dreams and that you share some magical moments along the way.

Le Tissier did that at Southampton. Totti did it at Roma. King did it at Spurs.

Kane could be the next in line, regardless of whether or not a winners’ medal is draped around his neck.

Meanwhile, the future of one Spurs star may have been decided.

West Ham United will take on Gillingham in the third round of the FA Cup.

The Hammers bowed out of the EFL Cup towards the end of September after suffering a shock 4-0 loss at Oxford United.

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And it would be fair to say that some of the club’s supporters are concerned that their team could exit this particular cup competition to another side operating in League One.

A number of fans have also urged their manager to take the competition seriously by naming his best XI rather than a shadow side due to the importance of the league.

West Ham have won the FA Cup on three occasions, their last success coming in 1980.

The capital giants did reach the final of the 2005/06 competition, though, and it could well be an open tournament this term with a lot of the so-called bigger clubs invested in the league, whilst the EFL Cup will also run until the end of February.

West Ham fans will be feeling a lot better about themselves at the moment as their side overcame a poor recent run by recording a 1-0 win at Chelsea on Saturday afternoon.

Next up for the Hammers is a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Wednesday night before the small matter of a London derby at home to Arsenal on December 9.

Meanwhile, a number of the club’s supporters were particularly pleased with the performance of one of their players against Chelsea.

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…

Ben Davies was given the captain’s armband for Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Everton at the weekend.

That’s the Ben Davies who had made three Premier League appearances prior to the game, with two of those adding up to 16 minutes of action.

Of course, one can argue that Mauricio Pochettino’s hands were tied. Hugo Lloris is injured and ruled out until 2020 while Harry Kane suffered from a virus that ruled him out of the game at Goodison Park.

Nevertheless, Davies’ pick shines a rather unfortunate light on the depth at the club and the lack of alternative leaders.

Paulo Gazzaniga has only just come into the team; Serge Aurier would have been a disgrace of a selection due to his spate of Spurs calamities; Davinson Sanchez is perhaps too young while Toby Alderweireld’s contract expires in the summer and handing him the armband could have been seen as a message of acquiescence; Tanguy Ndombele is a new signing; Moussa Sissoko is excellent but perhaps too erratic; Christian Eriksen hasn’t been at the races this term with just one goal and one assist to his name in the Premier League.

That leaves Heung-Min Son, Dele Alli and Lucas Moura. Son is the captain of South Korea and even wore the armband as his country beat Germany in the 2018 World Cup. He has worn that armband on 16 occasions, most recently in the 0-0 draw with bitter rivals North Korea.

Alli is an excellent player and has a mature head on his shoulders so he could well have worn the armband; so too could Lucas, who is 27 and has won multiple trophies throughout a storied career.

To pick Davies, though, is almost a dereliction of Pochettino’s duty. The armband is symbolic, of course, and this is not to say that a different selection could have changed the result as Spurs again dropped points on the road. They haven’t won away from home since January.

But picking Davies, a player who has never once captained either Spurs or Wales, ahead of someone like Son, a leader, a player who is also a game-changer, corrodes the meaning of the captaincy by suggesting anyone within the squad can wear the armband.

That could be seen as a meritocratic message but really, Pochettino has given the responsibility to a player who was woefully unequipped for it and it is little surprise that, as soon as Son was sent off after that horrendous injury to Andre Gomes, Spurs wilted.

Per WhoScored, Davies had 60 touches of the ball, had a pass success rate of just 50%, failed to win a tackle and was dispossessed on three occasions.

Spurs simply didn’t have a leader on the pitch; least of all Davies.