Especially in a World Cup year, sometimes it takes one big-money move to truly spring the transfer window into life, causing a chain reaction throughout Europe.

And amid talk of movement between two Premier League clubs and a giant of the Bundesliga, that’s exactly what could happen in the coming weeks. Involving Crystal Palace and West Ham, Football FanCast take a look at how this transfer triangle could quickly unfold…

West Ham sign Andriy Yarmolenko

Yarmolenko reportedly arrived at West Ham’s training camp in Switzerland on Monday for a medical, so that deal looks like it’s become a mere formality. London Evening Standard reckon the transfer fee will be £17.5million which seems like a decent sum for a winger who didn’t exactly set the Bundesliga alight, scoring just thrice during his single season in the German top flight, but boasts a preceeding reputation from his potent spell prior with Dynamo Kiev. It also frees up another player in West Ham’s squad for a summer departure, which we’ll come onto shortly.

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Dortmund sign Wilfried Zaha

Rumour has it Dortmund are already eyeing Zaha as Yarmolenko’s direct replacement, and it certainly makes sense in terms of style of play. Like the Ukrainian international, the Crystal Palace talisman is a powerful and physical forward who can play anywhere across the frontline.

With Zaha recently turning down an improved contract at Selhurst Park, a summer switch to one of Europe’s most illustrious clubs would surely appeal to the Ivory Coast star. But the only potential hitches are Palace’s valuation – a lofty £70million – and interest from rival clubs. Everton and Tottenham have both been linked, and the latter club are long-term admirers.

Crystal Palace sign Michail Antonio

Palace were strongly linked with Antonio earlier in the summer and the Yarmolenko-Zaha merry-go-round would naturally facilitate that move. Antonio isn’t quite at the same level as the Ukrainian or the Palace sensation but he’s a solid Premier League player who would seem to suit Roy Hodgson’s game-plan.

Like Zaha, he can carry the ball up the pitch on the counter-attack and he can score goals; in fact, he’s scored just two less Premier League strikes than the Eagles man in 53 less Premier League appearances.

Rated at just £13.5million by Transfermarkt, signing Antonio as Zaha’s replacement will leave plenty of funds for the south Londoners to strengthen elsewhere – but there’s no doubt he’s the lesser of the three players involved in this transfer triangle.

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According to the Daily Mirror, West Brom are preparing to approach Newcastle United about the signing of Rolando Aarons.

Aarons spent last season on loan with Hellas Verona in Serie A, where he was a solid, if unspectacular, performer.

Following some impressive showings for the Magpies in the 2015/16 Premier League season, Aarons has since struggled to make his mark at St James’ Park and looks set to move on from the club permanently this summer.

The Breakdown

It would be a gamble for Darren Moore to attempt to bring the 22-year-old to the Hawthorns, but one he might once to consider taking if he can get the former England under-20 international at a good price.

When young players’ progress plateaus or regresses it can be incredibly difficult to judge what may be a blip or what may be evidence that the player doesn’t have what it takes to make it at the highest level. In the case of Aarons, Moore appears to believe that it is the former.

If Darren Moore could pick up Aarons whilst his form is on this downward trajectory and somehow manage to turn it around then the Baggies will have a real game changer on their hands.

What’s more, Aarons will be a player with a point to prove. If the youngster does depart from Newcastle this summer he’ll be desperate to make his way back to the top. Doing so with West Brom could be his best bet if the Championship side decide to roll the dice on him.

After two relegation campaigns, Sunderland need to make some key signings to stop their slump down the leagues. 

New boss Jack Ross need to bring in some top recruits this summer if he is to have any chance of stopping Sunderland’s relegation slide.

The Black Cats have already brought in six players this summer including midfielder, Dylan McGeouch. While that’s a good start, with Didier Ndong likely to leave the club, Jack Ross needs more midfield reinforcements and according to the Chronicle Live, Sunderland are leading the race to sign Rangers midfielder, Greg Docherty on loan.

With Rangers bringing in a raft of new players this summer, the midfielder has been told to leave the club to gain some first-team experience.

The Breakdown

As it stands, there are only seven midfielders in the team for Ross to chose from. Moreover, with Lee Cattermole’s career on the downward slope, the side needs more midfield help.

Docherty is an energetic midfielder, who’s capable of playing in a box-to-box role and is also capable of picking open defences with his passes, however, while the midfielder is a good signing, Jack Ross must work hard to bring in some players.

During a tough and long League One season, Sunderland will need a raft of midfielder to call on.

In the middle of the park, Ethan Robson and Elliot Embleton are great young players who can develop next year but neither have any real experience.

Docherty’s deal isn’t going to cost much but if Sunderland want to get promoted, they might need to be a bit more extravagant.

Thoughts Sunderland fans? 

Earlier this month, it was reported that Leeds United were on the verge of pulling out of a deal for Derby County’s Matej Vydra due to the forward’s wage demands.

Leeds were said to be prepared to meet Derby’s £11m valuation, and it had been suggested that a deal was close to going through.

However, Vydra is believed to be stalling on a move to Marcelo Bielsa’s team as he feels that offers from the Premier League could arrive.

The forward has scored 65 times in 187 Championship appearances during his career, and netted 21 times in 40 league games for Derby last term.

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Derby are said to be close to securing a deal for Ipswich Town attacker Martyn Waghorn, however, and a number of Leeds fans feel that the move would see Vydra leave.

A lot would still have to happen for Vydra – rated at £7.2m by Transfermarket – to make the move to Elland Road ahead of the new season, but there are some Leeds supporters feeling pretty good about the latest developments.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

According to a recent report from The Daily Mirror, Tottenham target Anthony Martial won’t be allowed to leave Manchester United unless a replacement is found. The 22-year-old endured a testing campaign under Jose Mourinho last time round to plunge his future at the North West giants into doubt, doubt Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs are reportedly seeking to exploit. 

And with United reportedly eyeing up a move for Ivan Perisic in a bid to let Martial go, it appears that the deal for the 29-year-old could well hold the key to a potential Spurs title challenge, as the North Londoners could well be in the running if they land Martial.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Pochettino’s men deserve great credit for again securing a top four finish in the Premier League, but they finished a sizable 23 points adrift of champions Manchester City to suggest that a title challenge still remains a way away.

And based on some of their shortcomings against the top teams last season, it appears that Spurs need further reinforcements in certain areas of the squad, not least in the attacking ranks given the likes of Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura simply didn’t deliver the goods last term.

Significantly though, they are in need of someone with greater pace and trickery than the current options to really make a difference in those big matches – Martial could well be that man.

The 22-year-old may have struggled last term under Mourinho, but one mustn’t forget that the France international bagged 17 goals in his first season in English football, at which time the forward was full of confidence and willing to take defenders on with his aforementioned pace and trickery.

And there were occasions last season in which Tottenham were crying out for someone like that to help bring them back into a match, most notably against United in the semi-finals of the FA Cup in which Pochettino’s side failed to ask any testing questions of Mourinho’s backline when they went 2-1 down.

Yet having someone like Martial in the squad would have surely helped as he would have made life uncomfortable for the United defenders and put them into positions from which to exploit – having someone like that would certainly boost their title chances.

But for any move for Martial to happen, Tottenham are reliant on United getting a deal done for Croatia international Perisic, who enjoyed an excellent World Cup with his country to thus attract interest from Mourinho’s Red Devils.

As such, a deal for the 29-year-old, and thus whether or not Spurs can land Martial, could well hold the key to a potential Tottenham title challenge this season.

Tottenham fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Arsenal have enjoyed a relatively good pre-season thus far, with a number of players standing out as looking capable for the season ahead. 

It’s been all change for the Gunners and new boss Unai Emery as the former PSG man hopes to bring success back to the Emirates Stadium. An array of new talent has been brought in as Emery and the fans hope he is starting to build a team that’s ready once more to challenge for the top four. 

Despite all the new signings, a winger is still a position identified that needs to be improved. Arsenal still have power in the transfer market and they should use all of it to try and bring Anthony Martial to the club this summer. 

The Frenchman and manager Jose Mourinho aren’t exactly on the best of terms and the Gunners could be the team to take advantage of that disagreement. Martial, who is valued at £58.5 million on Transfermarkt, has already produced moments of brilliance whilst in the red of Man United but with game-time not as frequent as he would like, Arsenal can be the team to provide that for him.

The 22-year-old scored 11 goals and provided 9 assists in all competitions last season but with only 18 starts in the Premier League, Martial and a player of his ability would be disappointed to have only been used that much.

Arsenal haven’t really filled the void Alexis Sanchez left when moving to Manchester United this summer and that can definitely be done if they manage to recruit Anthony Martial during this window. It would take some doing seeing as United paid a lot for the youngster back in 2015 but Arsenal could be the team to allow his full potential to be reached.

Thoughts… Let us know!

Liverpool fans are drooling over the performance of Naby Keita, after their big summer signing dazzled on his Premier League debut against West Ham.

There were plenty of talking points from Liverpool’s 4-0 win over West Ham on Sunday.

Sadio Mane looks like he’s going to give Mohamed Salah a run for his money in the golden boot race, James Milner doesn’t seem to age and Daniel Sturridge redefined the term “super-sub”.

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No one was more impressive than Keita though, who was absolutely everywhere in the Reds’ rampant 4-0 win.

The £57m summer signing drove forward from midfield in a manner deserving of the iconic number eight shirt, and it was his run and through ball that set up the opening goal.

It’s rare that a player so seamlessly performs in a new club with a new system, and Liverpool fans can’t quite believe how good the 23 year-old was on his first competitive start.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Loads of Newcastle fans are bashing Aleksandar Mitrovic, after the towering striker appeared to blame Newcastle’s style of play for his failures on Tyneside.

Newcastle fans were split on Mitrovic when the summer transfer window opened. On one hand, the 23 year-old has the potential to be a truly great goalscorer, and his power and aerial ability seems to fit the exact profile of what Rafael Benitez wants up front.

However, the Serbian striker’s work rate, or lack thereof, and poor discipline led Rafa to opt for Salomon Rondon instead, and if there were any fans on Mitrovic’s side there certainly aren’t now.

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“In England, this [at Fulham] is the first time that I really feel comfortable in the system and in the way we play,” the striker said.

“I think the manager and my team-mates, they all know my strengths and try to use them in the best way that they can. The result was that I scored a lot of goals and we won games.”

To say he never felt comfortable in Newcastle’s system does seem rather bizarre, as the reason he was not relied upon by Benitez was due to his failure to work for the system.

The striker grabbed a huge £22m fee for the Magpies, but fans aren’t impressed by his comments, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Leeds United outcast Eunan O’Kane could be handed an escape route from Elland Road by Charlton Athletic, according to reports.

What’s the word?

Frozen out of the first-team frame by Marcelo Bielsa, Eunan O’Kane looks likely to leave the Yorkshire giants before the loan window closes on August 31st and a move to League One stands as the most likely destination for the 28-year-old.

Speculation of Charlton Athletic’s interest in the midfielder has risen following comments from Addicks boss Lee Bowyer, who confirmed to Football.London he remains in the market for an addition in the heart of midfield.

This follows claims from The Yorkshire Evening Post that first stated Charlton’s interest in O’Kane, who was brought to Elland Road in 2016 under Garry Monk but has struggled for consistency at the club since and it now seems his time is coming to an end.

Should he go?

Given the fact that Leeds have far better options in the middle of the field and Bielsa clearly doesn’t rate O’Kane, it makes sense for the Peacocks to push to offload the 28-year-old this month – although it remains to be seen whether he’ll accept a drop down to League One.

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O’Kane was a regular last season, making 32 Championship appearances, but the Republic of Ireland international has never netted a league goal for the Peacocks and has tumbled down the pecking order since Bielsa’s arrival.

With the likes of Mateusz Klich, Pablo Hernandez, Kalvin Phillips, Samuel Saiz and Lewis Baker to consider for a central role, it is clear that O’Kane is expendable.

As per the club’s official website, Rangers winger Jamie Murphy has been ruled out of the rest of the season due to injury. The 28-year-old initially joined the Gers on loan back in January but performed so impressively that he turned his temporary move into a permanent one during the summer, only for an injury sustained at the weekend in their Scottish League Cup win over Kilmarnock to bring his season to a premature end.

And this is sure to come as a big blow to manager Steven Gerrard, who now must seek to replace the Scotland international ahead of the rest of the season, with £6.3 million-rated Premier League flop Georges-Kevin N’Koudou (as per Transfermarkt) the perfect replacement for the Rangers ace.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, 28-year-old Murphy has been a hugely influential part of the Gers side since his move from Brighton back in January, what with the winger netting five goals and laying on ten assists last term to help the Scottish giants finish third in the Scottish Premiership.

And the two-times Scotland international started this season reasonably well as well in scoring once and laying on three assists for Gerrard’s side, thus underlining just how important he was likely to be for the club this time round prior to injury at the weekend.

As such, it’s clear that Gerrard will need to replace Murphy in the last knockings of the summer window, and Tottenham’s N’Koudou could prove be the ideal man to come in and fill the void.

The 23-year-old has struggled for regular football in North London ever since making the move to Spurs back in the summer of 2016, earning just 23 senior appearances for Mauricio Pochettino’s side in that time, of which only three have been starts.

In fact, the winger was so low down in the pecking order last term that he was shipped out on loan to fellow Premier League side Burnley in the second half of the season, yet his struggles there suggest that maybe he isn’t quite ready for regular football in English football’s top-flight.

Yet a move to the Scottish Premiership and Rangers could be ideal for the Frenchman in seeking to get back to his best form, the sort of form that earned him a move to Tottenham little over two years ago.

N’Koudou shone in his homeland for Ligue 1 giants Marseille in the 2015/16 season in netting ten goals and laying on five assists for the French outfit – thus, he’s clearly got ability in the final third of the pitch.

And he could re-discover that form were he to make the move to Rangers this month, and with the Gers themselves having suffered a blow following the injury to Murphy, the 23-year-old could well be the perfect man to replace the Scottish winger in Gerrard’s team.

Rangers fans… what do you think? Let us know!