West Bromwich Albion should consider taking a chance on Tottenham Hotspur winger Georges-Kevin N’Koudou.
What’s the word?
In order to cope with a gruelling Championship season, the Baggies need strength in depth.
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Darren Moore’s main, and probably only, objective will be to secure promotion to the Premier League following last season’s relegation.
The team are in need of some added zip in attacking areas, and there is one man at Tottenham who could potentially provide that.
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N’Koudou, who is valued at £6.3m by Transfermarkt, has struggled to get his chance at the North London outfit, but he possesses pace on the wing and he will have something to prove.
Is West Brom a good fit?
Since moving to Tottenham from Marseille in 2016, the Frenchman has failed to earn a regular spot in Mauricio Pochettino’s team.
N’Koudou was sent out on loan to Burnley for the second half of last season, but he struggled to impress.
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Even though his recent history is not ideal from the Baggies’ point of view, the winger does provide different options as he can play on the left or the right.
In addition, due to the fact that he has been given very little game time so far, N’Koudou may be determined to prove himself at a new club.
Plus, the attack-minded player is likely to be used regularly by the Midlands outfit, which can only bode well for his career.
Manchester United star Paul Pogba has been making headlines of late, but it has not been for the right reasons.
Questions have been asked about the way in which manager Jose Mourinho utilises him in the squad.
Many fans and pundits alike have claimed that the Portuguese coach is not getting the best out of Pogba when he is part of a two-man midfield.
Pogba’s best performances in his career have been when he is given freedom to create higher up the pitch, rather than deep, where he has been positioned on occasion at United.
A recent report in The Sun claimed that Real Madrid are considering a summer move for the midfielder, who is rumoured to be unhappy with the current situation.
There are no indications that Pogba wants to quit United, but things are far from rosy as he has failed to complete a full game in his last three outings.
On Saturday, the £89m man was left out of the squad that earned a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
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Mourinho confirmed prior to the game that the Frenchman would not feature at the John Smith’s Stadium due to illness.
Rival fans took this opportunity to poke fun at United.
When the Luis Suarez deal to Barcelona is confirmed, there should be little doubt left about Alexis Sanchez’s availability to Arsenal, with the club reportedly ready to pay £25 million for the Chilean international.
Liverpool understandably wanted Alexis as part of the deal that would send Suarez to Catalonia, but the player is said to favour a move to north London with Arsenal. The 25-year-old would very much be considered Arsene Wenger’s marquee forward signing of the summer.
In addition, the club are looking to tie up a deal for Newcastle’s Mathieu Debuchy as Bacary Sagna’s replacement at right-back.
The former Lille full-back has performed well since moving to the Premier League and has been France’s first choice at this World Cup.
Following Alexis and Debuchy’s signings at the Emirates, here are six players who could follow them to north London.
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Click on Sami Khedira to start the gallery
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Loic Remy
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It always looked to be either Carlos Vela or Loic Remy, and now with Arsenal having wiped their hands with the Mexican, Remy looks to be at the head of the list to join Arsenal later this summer.
The French international was heavily linked with a move to north London prior to the World Cup, and while talk hasn’t been as feverish as it once was, there haven’t been too many denials from the club or player, if any.
Remy, reportedly available for just under £10 million, would be a fine addition for Arsenal, though only if he is supported by another forward like Alexis Sanchez. In tandem, Remy and Alexis would considerably boost Arsenal’s chances at landing the Premier League title in the near future.
Sami Khedira
Football – Germany v Portugal – FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 – Group G – Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador, Brazil – 16/6/14Germany’s Sami Khedira in action with Portugal’s Raul Meireles (R)Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Paul ChildsLivepicEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
If Toni Kroos ends up at Real Madrid this summer, Sami Khedira will almost certainly be considered surplus to requirements. The German international has one year remaining on his current contract with the Spanish side and was previously said to be available for around £16 million.
Khedira’s all-action style makes him an interesting target for Arsenal, who need someone to help protect the back four. Khedira has generally excelled playing alongside Xabi Alonso at the Bernabeu, while his lengthy injury layoff last season hasn’t altered opinion of the German – he’s still considered hugely important by national team coach Joachim Low.
Khedira may not be the out-and-out defensive midfielder that Arsenal need, but he’d nevertheless be a big help to the team. And for a fee that could very well be less than £20 million, it’s something the club should seriously consider this summer.
Morgan Schneiderlin
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Morgan Schneiderlin is one of a small handful of defensive midfielders Arsenal are looking at, and possibly the easiest to land this summer.
If reports are to be believed, Southampton are holding out for a fee of £20 million. For a 24-year-old full international who knows the Premier League well, Schneiderlin would easily justify that sum.
He’s been deemed the missing piece of the puzzle at Arsenal, who have suffered from a lack of defensive quality in midfield with heavy losses away to title rivals last season. Schneiderlin may not be enough to prevent defeats on his own, but he should put a stop to such damaging scorelines.
Victor Valdes
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The future looks extremely uncertain for Victor Valdes. The former Barcelona goalkeeper looked to be on his way to Monaco this summer after running down his contract at the Camp Nou, but the injury he suffered towards the end of last season has seen the Ligue 1 giants rescind their offer for the Spanish international.
Valdes certainly won’t be fit for the start of next season, such is the severity of his knee injury. But despite what some may think of him – that he had an easy ride as goalkeeper of one of the game’s most dominant teams – he’s a world-class ‘keeper that would immeasurably improve any side.
Arsenal may not want to disrupt the further development of Wojciech Szczesny, but the Polish international will benefit greatly from Valdes’ presence.
The Spanish international would come at a large price wage-wise, but he’d be a very good investment, and certain to be an incredible asset both on and off the pitch.
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Antoine Griezmann
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Antoine Griezmann has been in and out of the French side at the World Cup, often rotating with Olivier Giroud for a place on the left of the team’s attack. But Griezmann, following on from another good season with Real Sociedad, has played well whenever given time on the pitch in Brazil.
What has struck many is the forward’s ability in the air, despite being of stature that wouldn’t suggest he’d be comfortable with aerial duels. His scoring record in Spain last season, 16 goals, would make him a fine addition to the Arsenal team next term. He’s very much the natural winger the club are in need of.
Arturo Vidal
Football – Juventus v SL Benfica – UEFA Europa League Semi Final Second Leg – Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy – 13/14 – 1/5/14 Juventus’ Arturo Vidal (L) and Benfica’s Nicholas Gaitan in actionMandatory Credit: Action Images / Peter CziborraEDITORIAL USE ONLY.
Arturo Vidal has emerged as recent surprise target for Arsenal, with the club likely wanting to use the potential Alexis Sanchez deal to entice Vidal to north London.
It’s easy to see why the club would want to move for the Juventus midfielder: he’s one of Europe’s absolute best and can occupy a number of roles. The question is whether he and Aaron Ramsey are too similar? Both defensively very good and vital to their teams’ attacks.
It’s not to say Vidal wouldn’t be a sensational signing for Arsenal and a real signal of intent, but perhaps someone who is a specialist at defensive midfielder foremost would be a better target.
Steve Clarke has defended his decision to play Romelu Lukaku instead of Shane Long in West Brom’s defeat to Newcastle at the weekend.
Long, who has scored three goals in the Premier League for the Baggies so far this season, was left on the bench, much to the surprise of some onlookers.
This questioning of Clarke’s decision was heightened as Lukaku, who is playing for the club on loan from Chelsea, missed a host of chances before scoring West Brom’s only goal of the game.
In response, Clarke admitted that the Long did not deserve to get put on the bench, but reiterated that he has many good strikers at the club and thought it was the right time for a change.
“Romelu hasn’t played from the start for a number of weeks. I have a fantastic replacement in Shane Long. Shane has been fantastic for us and didn’t really deserve to be on the bench, but sometimes when you have so many good strikers, you have to make decisions,” he said.
“I thought it was the right change. We were the best team going forward, and we only lost because of a late deflection. We didn’t deserve it. If he’d scored the other two, he’d have put me even more right.”
“When you have a squad of players you can’t keep disappointing them all of the time. Romelu has been a good sub for us, and every now and again, he’ll get a chance to play. Yesterday he got that chance. Shane usually gets the nod and he’s normally the one coming off – because playing as a lone striker is a difficult shift – but I felt yesterday I wanted to reverse it.”
Clarke says that he thought that how the side played and the team’s performance was positive adding, “Because of the result it’ll be looked at as a negative, but I thought in terms of the performance and the way we played it was a positive.”
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West Ham are going in to this summer with a new sense of optimism after two extremely underwhelming seasons since switching to London Stadium from the Boleyn Ground.
Their relocation has been nothing short of catastrophic but this pre-season fans will be hoping new Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini can put some promising foundations in place to ensure they do not suffer a third consecutive battle against relegation.
Last term, the Hammers were forced to play their opening four games of the season away from Stratford due to a pre-arranged athletics tournament taking place in the summer – the time it takes to convert London Stadium from athletics to football mode takes longer than initially thought.
That won’t be the case this season, though, and the Hammers will be keen to continue what was a strong end to the season with a strong start to the 2018/19 campaign. They ended 17/18 with a run of three games unbeaten and just two defeats in eight, including impressive victories over Leicester City at King Power Stadium and Everton at home on the final day.
With a number of exciting players being linked with moves to East London this summer, the coming season promises to be an interesting one for West Ham.
Their opening fixtures of the 2018/19 Premier League season, now officially confirmed, will give Hammers fans an indication of how likely that is…
11th August – Liverpool (A)
18th August – Bournemouth (H)
25th August – Arsenal (A)
1st September – Wolverhampton (H)
15th September – Everton (A)
22nd September – Chelsea (H)
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Verdict
Pellegrini’s West Ham spell faces a tricky start. The Hammers have won at Anfield just once during the last half century, while Goodison Park is never an easy away day either.
Throw in two London derbies with Arsenal and Chelsea and there are certainly challenges for the Irons new boss to overcome – ones that will test his commitment to attacking football and his ability to implement it quickly enough on the training pitch to ensure the east Londoners are effective enough at it to really have a go at the bigger teams.
They should get some joy out of Bournemouth though during Pellegrini’s first home game, while Wolves may still be adapting to Premier League life by the time the Hammers host them on September 1st.
Christian Eriksen came up with Tottenham Hotspur’s equaliser in their 2-2 draw with Juventus in the Champions League on Tuesday night.The Premier League club fell 2-0 behind to Juve courtesy of a double from Gonzalo Higuain, and it did appear that Spurs were effectively heading out of the competition at that point as the home side looked to secure a comfortable first-leg advantage.Tottenham had other ideas, however, with Harry Kane striking back before Eriksen, who is valued at £63m by transfermarkt.co.uk, eventually made it 2-2 in the latter stages.https://video.footballfancast.com/video-2015/harry-kane-100.mp4Eriksen’s overall performance was brilliant, and the 26-year-old has now established himself as one of the best attacking midfielders in world football.It was actually the Dane’s birthday on Wednesday, and as expected, the Spurs supporters were out in force to lavish praise on a player that has scored nine times and registered eight assists in 33 appearances in all competitions this season.A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be seen below:
Whether it is an official account or not, a tweet posted this afternoon under the handle @SolCampbell_74 receive a less than kind response from many Tottenham Hotspur fans, much to the delight of Arsenal supporters.
Rather than skirt around the topic of the England defender’s controversial switch from White Harte Lane to Highbury on a free transfer in 2001, the account posted a rather inflammatory comment.
Football fans on Twitter have been debating the authenticity of account with many understandably believing it to be a fake. Without the “blue tick”, they are more than likely correct. But that didn’t stop Spurs fans responding less than favourably.
Obviously the above tweets are a selection of the more “mild” replies. Whilst one half of North London was fuming, the other was delighted. Gunners fans revelled in the jealousy and hostility of their Tottenham counterparts.
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Even if it is a fake, the episode should leave Sol Campbell in no doubt about his status amongst the Spurs fans. A visit to White Hart Lane in the near future may not be advisable.
Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has distanced himself from any transfer talk as he was once again left on the bench by Paul Lambert yesterday, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Bent came on as a sub as Villa snatched a point at home to Lambert’s former club Norwich City, but despite being a regular passenger this season at Villa Park, Bent doesn’t feel a move is imminent:
“It won’t come from my side. I won’t ask for a transfer, of course I wouldn’t do that,
“Villa are a massive club and I always want to play for huge clubs.
“For me to ask for a move would be silly, especially at this stage of the season when there’s still a long way to go.
“Everyone would like an explanation about why things happen, but that’s not the manager’s style and I respect that.
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“I’m not going to go in and say I want to leave. I’m more than happy at Villa and to play my football here. The attraction is the size of the club, the history and a massive fan base. I’m prepared to give it as long as it takes.”
Newcastle fans have been debating a summer swoop for Martin Skrtel, as reports in Turkey claimed the Magpies could sign the former Liverpool man.
According to Turkish outlet Fotomac, Newcastle have been offered the chance to sign Skrtel this summer.
The former Liverpool hard man joined Fenerbahce in 2016, but with his contract running down is looking to move back to the Premier League.
The report from Turkey claimed new Rangers boss Steven Gerrard would like to bring his former teammate up North, but the Slovakian’s wage demands are “four or five times” what Rangers could offer, according to his agent.
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Newcastle fans are desperate for the club to break their transfer record this summer, but it seems they would be okay with the cheap option at the back, as they already have an established partnership in the heart of defence.
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Skrtel, 33, has Premier League experience, but would not dislodge Jamaal Lascelles or the impressive Florian Lejeune. He would however provide excellent cover for the pair, and may even teach them a trick or two.
Despite fans on Twitter going against the links last week, 68 per cent of Newcastle fans said the 97-cap defender would be a shrewd a acquisition, and you can find the full poll results down below…
According to reports in The Times, Tottenham Hotspur are still in discussions to sign £45m-rated Bordeaux winger Malcom even though they are closing in on a £25m deal to bring Lucas Moura to Wembley from Paris Saint-Germain.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Times says that Spurs are confident of completing a move for the 25-year-old before the January transfer window slams shut on Wednesday, with the north London outfit willing to give the Brazilian a four-and-a-half year contract.
However, Mauricio Pochettino’s men are also in talks to bring another wide player in Malcom to the club, as they look to win the race to sign the in demand 20-year-old, valued at £45m by his club according to the Daily Mail.
How has Malcom done this season?
He has been excellent.
The Brazilian has scored seven goals and provided a further five assists in 21 Ligue 1 appearances so far this term, and he has become renowned for cutting in from the right and scoring from long range with his left foot.
According to WhoScored.com, the winger has successfully completed 56 of the 84 dribbles he has attempted in the French top flight during the current campaign, while he has made 50 key passes.
Would he be a good signing for Tottenham?
He certainly would be.
The 20-year-old looks to have a massive future ahead of him, and his style should mean that he is ideally suited to the Premier League.
Spurs are lacking pace and decent wide options right now, and if they could bring Lucas Moura and his Brazilian compatriot to the north London either this month or in the summer, Pochettino would be very pleased.
Will they get him?
A summer deal is looking more likely, but with former Tottenham midfielder Gus Poyet now in charge of Bordeaux, the north London outfit may hope to agree a deal that sees them buy the Brazilian before loaning him back to the Ligue 1 outfit for the rest of the campaign.
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