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In a recent interview, Kevin Phillips suggested that West Ham United could make a summer move for Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard.

According to a recent report by the Daily Mail, former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes his Leicester City side have “won the race” to sign Edouard this summer, with the £13.5m-rated 23-year-old said to be keen on a reunion with the Northern Irishman, as well as a fee of around £15m “close to being agreed” between the Hoops and the Foxes.

However, speaking recently to Football Insider, Phillips stated his belief that, although Rodgers’ influence could sway the striker towards Leicester, should West Ham finish in a European spot at the end of the season, they too could be a contender for the Frenchman’s signature.

He said: “If Edouard is set to leave this summer I think West Ham and a few others would be looking at him. It will ultimately be down to the player but where West Ham and Leicester finish in the league could determine where the player goes. Having worked under Rodgers though, and knowing his style of football, I think he would opt for Leicester.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Having scored a quite remarkable 81 goals over his 161 appearances for the Bhoys, including 20 across his 33 fixtures in all competitions so far this season, it would be a difficult argument to make that Edouard would not be an inspired signing for West Ham.

Considering that David Moyes only has Michail Antonio as an out-and-out centre-forward in his current first team squad, a summer move for a player in Edouard’s position would indeed appear to be a priority for the Hammers. If the Celtic striker is available for a mere £15m as reported, he would not be far off representing the ideal candidate for Moyes given his value and goal return.

In other news: Many West Ham fans responded to this club update, find out more here!

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has revealed that Jaden Philogene-Bidace’s situation is “complicated” at Aston Villa.

What’s the story?

After the impressive performance that Villa’s youngsters delivered in the FA Cup third round defeat to Liverpool earlier this year, the spotlight has grown on the club’s blossoming academy.

But in the case of Philogene-Bidace, Evans has suggested that despite the 19-year-old wanting to stay at Villa Park, his contract situation has left things uncertain.

In a Q&A for The Athletic, he wrote: “It’s a little more complicated with Philogene-Bidace, who is 19 now and out of contract at the end of this season. It’s down to Villa to sort it out, but I understand he wants to stay despite the speculation linking him elsewhere.

“What I would also say is that in recent years, Villa have a good history of keeping the players they want. There was a lot of interest in Carney Chukwuemeka, for example, but Villa tied him down to a professional contract.”

Lange must act now

With rumours swirling in recent weeks that Bundesliga side RB Leipzig are interested in luring him to Germany, the onus is really on Johan Lange to ensure that Villa don’t lose one of their most promising starlets.

The 19-year-old is enjoying a stellar season with the club’s U23s, scoring five goals and providing another two assists in just 11 games at Premier League 2 level.

The left-winger is showing exactly why he’s one for the future, and it appears he’s got all the tools in his locker to become a really dangerous player for Villa’s senior side.

Speaking to The Birmingham Mail, one of his former coaches, Ahmed Abdulla, said: “He’s a right footer but he plays off the left. He can come inside or go on the outside. The model winger.

“He hugs the touchline and can beat his man. (He’s) Very confident and very light on his feet and skips past tackles, not one of them that gets hit and goes down. He bounces off tackles. He’s very strong and outstanding in one-v-ones.”

Evans’ update that things are “complicated” with the teenager is concerning, and it’s up to Lange to kick things into motion over a new contract.

Meanwhile, Villa are facing transfer disaster over yet another academy starlet…

كشفت إذاعة “كوبي” الإسبانية، أن خوان لابورتا، رئيس مجلس إدارة نادي برشلونة، قضى أمس الخميس يومًا صعبًا بسبب قرار الفرنسي عثمان ديمبلي، بعدم التجديد للنادي الكتالوني.

وينتهي عقد ديمبلي مع برشلونة في يونيو 2022، ولم تتوصل إدارة النادي الحالية حتى الآن لاتفاق مع وكيل اللاعب الفرنسي للاستمرار والتوقيع على العقد الجديد.

تقارير صحفية ذكرت أن ديمبلي قد وافق على التجديد لمدة أربعة أعوام، وكل الدلائل كانت تُشير إلى أن برشلونة سيُلعن مطلع العام تجديد عقد الجناح الفرنسي، ولكن في اللحظات الأخيرة تراجع عن التجديد ليتخذ النادي قرارًا ببيعه في يناير 2022.

اقرأ أيضًا.. أزبيلكويتا يحدد موعد حسم مستقبله بعد اهتمام برشلونة بضمه

وقالت الإذاعة في تقريرها، أمس الخميس، إنه كان يومًا صعبًا للغاية على خوان لابورتا، حيث دخل في صدمة حقيقية.

وأشارت الإذاعة إلى أن لابورتا والإدارة الرياضية، لم يعتقدوا أن ديمبلي سيكون ناكرًا للجميل بعد مساندة النادي له في لحظات الإصابة التي تعرض لها.

وأكدت الإذاعة أن الإدارة لن تجعل ديمبلي يدمر اقتصاد برشلونة، وإذا جاء عرض في الشتاء وحدث اتفاق سيقوم النادي ببيعه.

West Bromwich Albion fans have slammed Kieran Gibbs after it was revealed that he will miss this weekend’s match against Burnley through injury.

The Baggies will face the Clarets on Saturday in a match that could have huge consequences in the battle for survival in the Premier League. A win for Sam Allardyce’s men would close the gap to nine points of 17th place Newcastle, giving them a chance of staying up. A defeat, though, would be another nail in their proverbial coffin.

So far this term, Gibbs has been in and out of the team, playing just 10 times in the league (Transfermarkt). Now, it has been revealed he will be unavailable against Burnley due to a shoulder/neck issue.

The update, which was shared by journalist Joseph Masi on Twitter, attracted plenty of attention from the club’s supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Gibbs below

“Of course Gibbs is injured”

Credit: @glennthompson85

“Gibbs injured and water is wet”

Credit: @danwba_

“Gibbs is more fragile than a poppadom ! #wba”

Credit: @mark34780918

“When isn’t gibbs out. Get him gone.”

Credit: @Blackjack42B

“Unless we only have ten players, Gibbs isn’t going to play for us again.”

Credit: @TheMapReader

“Gibbs got to go. Had enough of him being injured every other month. Need to bring in a left back for next season to challenge Townsend”

Credit: @JDWBA2

In other news, West Brom fans want to sign this former Champions League winner.

David Sullivan must sanction a January swoop for Burnley defender James Tarkowski amid renewed links to West Ham United.

What’s the word?

According to Eurosport, Premier League interest in Tarkowski is beginning to grow ahead of the mid-season window as the 28-year-old continues to overlook a new contract at Turf Moor.

Tarkowski has entered into the final 18-months of his current £50,000-per-week deal, but he is yet to put pen to paper, saying that the terms presented thus far have been “nowhere near what I was going to sign”.

Recent discussions between Tarkowski and the Clarets have moved the two parties closer to reaching an agreement as they strive to secure continuity to protect the club’s Premier League stability amid a potential takeover of the Lancashire outfit.

But West Ham, who saw a £30m offer turned down in the summer, and Leicester City, who also bid £30m, are now said to be joined by growing top-flight interest in the star centre-back who Burnley valued at £50m ahead of the current season.

Manchester United were understood to have also assessed the merits of a move for Tarkowski, who Irons legend Frank McAvennie believed would have been “perfect” for his former side in the summer.

Tarkowski ultimately remained at Turf Moor and has started all 11 of his Premier League outings, helping Sean Dyche’s side to keep five clean sheets as they battle to avoid relegation.

Winter rescue

West Ham will head into Christmas sat middle of the pack having held one of the top-flight’s better defensive records thus far, with Moyes’ men allowing the same number of goals (19) over 14 games as title-holders Liverpool and European chasers Everton.

Moyes has rarely sought to make changes to his backline with Angelo Ogbonna starting all of the Hammers’ Premier League fixtures to date, while Fabian Balbuena has missed just one of his side’s last 12 through a groin injury.

Issa Diop returned to the XI to replace Balbuena, yet he has seemingly lost Moyes’ full support with the 23-year-old returning to the bench at Chelsea, where he had watched the action for all bar 27 minutes since testing positive for coronavirus in September before facing Crystal Palace.

Moyes seemingly has a lack of belief in Craig Dawson too, who is yet to make his West Ham debut, but any concerns over a lack of depth can be removed entirely with a winter raid on Burnley for Tarkowski, who the former Man United boss would adore.

The 6ft brute is registering 2.1 successful tackles per Premier League appearance this term – only Vladimir Coufal (3.0) is winning more at the London Stadium – while penning 1.2 interceptions, 4.4 clearances and winning a mammoth 7.2 duels, with success in 70% of his aerial contests, per SofaScore.

Tarkowski is only dribbled past 0.4 times a game, too, while offering a threat in the opponent’s box with 1.8 shots and 0.4 key balls, allowing for West Ham to improve their already-stellar record for scoring from set-pieces with only Chelsea, Southampton and Everton netting more often.

AND in other news, West Ham are monitoring a £20k-p/w talent to resolve David Moyes’ “big” blow.

Many Wolves fans couldn’t get enough of attacker Adama Traore after their 1-0 victory against Crystal Palace last night.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side advanced to the next round of the FA Cup for the first time in two seasons in what was a professional performance by the hosts at Molineux, and the 24-year-old made the difference on the night thanks to his first-half strike.

Traore was the second-highest rated Wolves player on the night and played a key part in Wolves’ success.

Per Sofascore, Traore completed 100% of his dribbles, completed all of his long balls and accumulated a pass success rate of 87%.

With this in mind, supporters were delighted to see the Spaniard back amongst the goals, who are looking to see what else he can produce during the rest of the 2020/21 campaign.

Fans laud Traore

“Adama is unstoppable, fantastic and key player to anyone particularly to Wolves that really need a stronger ST to take advantage of all his power!”

Credit: @Chris_dreamX

“Love the passion”

Credit: @04kibra

“Back with a bang”

Credit: @bashenga3334

“Thunderbolt and lightning”

Credit: @bowen_07

“Fantastic shot”

Credit: @gorgon205

“Gorgeous goal”

Credit: @ChudPhoto

In other news, ‘Unplayable’ Wolves star wants Molineux exit with interest coming from a familiar face.

With Dele Alli out of favour at Spurs, now is the perfect time for Jose Mourinho to reinvent his midfield. The club are still yet to replace clinical creator Christian Eriksen after he left for Inter Milan at the start of the year.

The Dane enjoyed seven years in north London and produced some stunning performances for the Lilywhites. His first season after joining from Ajax saw him bag 12 goals and 16 assists across all competitions, a tally he would go on to smash with a 23-assist campaign in 2016/17 (via Transfermarkt).

A player Spurs would do well to poach is previously-linked target Jack Grealish. The Englishman’s performances for Aston Villa have attracted a lot of attention from top clubs and he currently has an £80million price tag to warrant his exceptional influence. Ex-Lilywhite Paul Robinson recently admitted that he would love his former club to snap up the rising talent as he tips him to soon leave Aston Villa in search of silverware (via Football Insider).

Should Spurs sign Jack Grealish?

Despite playing primarily on the wing, Grealish’s versatility has seen him perform well in the heart of the midfield as well. Not only would he fill a gap in Tottenham’s engine room, but he could be deployed out wide in order to cover injury as well.

The 25-year-old has contributed to ten goals in just seven appearances this season, making up more than half of Villa’s entire goal tally so far. Grealish is already on track to bettering last campaign’s stats, where he finished the term with eight goals and six assists in the Premier League.

He has also shone during the international break, already rapidly establishing himself as a vital part of Gareth Southgate’s team. The Villa captain bagged an assist for England against the Republic of Ireland and was awarded Man of the Match in their Nations League fixture against Iceland. His influential performances have sparked a lot of conversation, with Jamie Redknapp recently branding Grealish as the “real deal”.

It’s to be expected that the Midlands outfit will lose their beloved skipper and goalscorer, hence the mammoth asking price they have put out there. However, Daniel Levy has shown that he isn’t afraid to put his hand in his pocket when required. The signing of Tanguy Ndombele broke the club’s record transfer fee after they forked out a handsome £53million. Whilst Grealish would command a lot more, the longevity of his career and blistering form speaks for itself.

Selling Alli would also put a large wedge of the transfer money in the pot too. The midfielder is currently valued at £46million, but Spurs would be able to charge much higher than this, considering the fact he still has four years left on his current contract.

However they find the money, signing Grealish would be a massive move for Spurs who are looking to assert their dominance in the Premier League. Bringing a natural goalscorer and leader like the Villa icon would be the perfect successor to Eriksen.

In other news, Marlon Harewood highlights this Chelsea ace as ideal Tottenham signing…

Crystal Palace seem to have come unstuck under Roy Hodgson once again.

Fifteenth in the Premier League, 13 points from a possible 30, just one win in their last four games. Not exactly the stuff of dreams, especially for a club who are trying to push towards the top half of the table.

Hodgson’s hands have been somewhat tied as injuries have taken their toll but this doesn’t excuse the fact that Palace have dropped points in back-to-back defeats away at Burnley and at home to Newcastle.

Hodgson has battled serious adversity with James McCarthy being out injured as well as club captain Luka Milivojevic being suspended for all of November after an appeal against his red card at Wolves was rejected by the FA.

Despite their obvious struggles, Jairo Riedewald has been the real standout in recent weeks, as he is quite possibly their most in-form player at the moment, besides Wilfried Zaha.

The Dutch midfielder, who can also play in the centre of the defence or on the left, has scored one goal in eight games in the Premier League so far this season, whilst he is averaging 1.6 tackles per game, via WhoScored.

Riedewald also has the highest pass success rate (a whopping 91.8%) out of any other Palace player, forming a key part of the supply chain in the midfield for the likes of Zaha and Eberechi Eze, whilst shielding the defence as well.

It’s this kind of contribution that cannot be ignored for much longer as he is arguably one of the hardest-working players on the pitch in every game.

The 24-year-old has been somewhat of a Marmite figure at Selhurst Park, with some Palace fans claiming that he has proven people wrong after he was named the Player of the Month for October.

His redemption arc seemed to have taken another twist in recent weeks following reports from The Athletic that Riedewald was ready to renew his contract with the club. However, there has been no official confirmation since then, which has raised further questions over his future at the club.

He is clearly highly rated by the Palace boss, who described the Dutchman as an “intelligent player” who is a “superb professional” after he was recalled for his first appearance in the Premier League since April 2018 last season.

Riedewald’s contract will run out in 2022, which means Steve Parish will have to act soon to secure his future at the south London club as he has established himself as a first-team regular starter under Hodgson.

He has been in such fine form since the start of the season, and if he can continue his hot streak, other clubs may start to circle, as his contract is coming to an end.

Parish must reward him with a new contract once and for all, otherwise, he may live to regret his indecision.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace simply can’t afford to lose James McCarthy to Celtic…

With just a couple of weeks to go in the transfer window, Leeds United still have work to do.

The Whites may have won two of their opening three Premier League games, but there are areas the club still want reinforcements in, with one of those being a new winger.

The Yorkshire outfit have been linked with a number of wide players this window, with their pursuit of Ryan Kent being highly publicised, but the most recent player they’ve reportedly been tailing is an old target, Daniel James.

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Leeds famously failed to sign the winger in January 2019, but The Sun claimed last week that they were planning to go back in for him.

However, it seems as though that deal won’t come off as Sky Sports are now stating that the youngster has told Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he wants to stay and fight for his spot in the team.

The report also states that Leeds have made a loan offer for the former Swansea City man, and while a move doesn’t look likely at the moment, Sky state that the situation could change depending on whether or not Man United make any more signings in the coming weeks.

With United apparently still chasing Jadon Sancho, the situation may end up changing on that front, but as of right now, James wants to stay at Old Trafford.

Former England international centre-back Steve Howey has been sharing his thoughts on Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, the recent injury he sustained against Everton and how the club will cope without him in the team for the foreseeable future.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, the 48-year-old had this to say on van Dijk and how the club can move on without him in the team.

He said: “You’ve got to look for [Joe] Gomez and the likes of [Joel] Matip and people like that to step up to the plate. You’re hearing calls now that possibly Jurgen Klopp might have to go into the transfer market to buy and replace him [Van Dijk]. Not that you can replace Virgil van Dijk, but these are the opportunities, this is what happens in football, this is what happens in life.

“Sometimes somebody’s misfortune is your chance to actually shine and grab your chance, so now it’s up to the likes of Gomez and Matip [to step up].

“It’ll be interesting to see how they cope because not only is Van Dijk a fantastic player, he marshalls that back four very well, he is a captain really so it’ll be interesting to see how they cope without him. I think Matip and Gomez are good players  but where would they go really if they get another injury in that position?”

The Dutchman was forced off the pitch in the early stages of Liverpool’s match against Everton after being on the receiving end of a bad tackle from Jordan Pickford, damaging his knee in the process.

Later, the official Liverpool club website revealed that Van Dijk will have to undergo knee surgery and then begin a “rehabilitation programme with the club’s medical team to enable him to reach full fitness as soon as possible.”

Before suffering this injury, Van Dijk was having a pretty underwhelming season for the Reds with WhoScored giving him a season rating of 6.45/10 for his performances in the five Premier League appearances he’s made.

Liverpool’s first game since Van Dijk picked up this injury saw them beat Dutch side Ajax 1-0 away from home in the Champions League.

Although, the club would undoubtedly want the Dutchman back fit and ready for action as soon as possible, this match against Ajax showed that they can perform well defensively and keep a clean sheet without him playing.