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Daniel Levy could round off a perfect Tottenham Hotspur attack this summer…

What’s the word?

According to Tuttosport, Spurs are among the teams monitoring Sampdoria attacking midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard ahead of the next transfer window.

It’s claimed that Jose Mourinho has the 20-year-old on his shortlist, though he’ll face competition from Serie A giants Juventus.

As per the report, it is thought that the Dane’s value has increased from €6.4m (£5.6m) to €20m (£18m) thanks to his impressive form in Genoa this season.

Imagine him, Son & Kane

So far this season, Spurs have heavily relied on the goalscoring exploits of Heung-min Son and Harry Kane, both have scored 13 times apiece, meaning they account for 72.2% of their goals in the Premier League.

Tanguy Ndombele is next up with only three goals whilst between right-sided options – Gareth Bale, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn – just two goals have been scored. The latter two are suffering barren spells too.

The Brazilian has bagged just once in the top-flight since December 2019, whilst the Dutchman hasn’t found the net since football’s original return in June 2020.

Evidently, Mourinho could do with another option in his attack, and this is where Damsgaard fits the bill immensely.

Harry Kane is on course to become Tottenham’s all-time top goalscorer! Own a piece of historic memorabilia with a signed Harry Kane White Hart Lane street sign. Click here to view and buy!

Ranking among Sampdoria’s consistent performers with an average rating of 6.76, the Danish international has proven to be an industrious source of goals, scoring twice as well as providing four assists, per WhoScored.

For Claudio Ranieri’s men, Damsgaard tops the charts for dribbles, managing 4.7 per 90 minutes at a completion rate of 61.7% but his work-rate doesn’t stop there as he puts in the graft defensively too –  a bit like Bergwijn.

No attacking outlet attempts more than his 4.7 tackles per 90, and more often than not, he’s a hard man to defeat as he’s managing a success rate of 51% and this should be right up Mourinho’s street as he wants his players to track back and help out the team.

Not even Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (4.5 per 90) is attempting more tackles than his fellow Dane, which speaks volumes.

The former Leicester City hero has also earmarked his impressive talent for a “big future” whilst TV 2 SPORT’s football expert Martin Mikkelsen dubbed him “magical,” adding: “He is dynamic and can go both ways. He is creative but also so mature in his decisions. Was that something we dreamed of? It’s awesome.”

That merely reinforces his potential fit in Mourinho’s attack alongside Son and Kane – he’s certainly doing far better than the seasoned and illustrious Bale this season, which is costing an abomination with wages of £240k-per-week, all for 230 minutes of PL action.

Levy ought to forget Bale this summer and swoop for the Blucerchiati gem, just imagine him in that Spurs attack.

AND in other news, Spurs’ £20.25m-rated target who “shows no nerves” could be a perfect buy for Mourinho…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer believes the criticism that Gareth Bale has received this season has been fair.

Given the impact Bale made during his first spell at Tottenham and what he managed to achieve at Real Madrid, much was expected of him.

However, the 31-year-old has been unable to replicate the sort of form that made him such a popular figure at White Hart Lane first time round, failing to nail down a regular spot in Jose Mourinho’s starting XI, including being left on the bench and featuring for zero minutes in the win against Aston Villa on Sunday.

As a result, Bale has come under fire, though ex-Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards recently came out to defend him, believing the Welsh forward has been disrespected to a certain degree.

Palmer, however, is not too sure and feels Bale should be delivering more. Discussing the Wales international, who is on loan from Real Madrid, the retired Premier League footballer told FFC:

“I think everybody would have expected that Gareth would have done better than what he’s done. Of late, he’s started to show signs of the old Gareth Bale, but you can’t just go off what people have done in the past and say that you should give him respect.

“He’s not come over to Tottenham on a free transfer and on small wages. He’s come over on a huge salary. If he was honest and if Jose was honest, they would have both wanted his impact to be more.”

In recent weeks, Bale’s form has certainly picked up. He scored two goals in Tottenham’s 4-1 win against Crystal Palace at the start of the month and another two prior in a 4-0 win versus Burnley.

However, before that, he was having very little influence on the pitch, really struggling in front of goal when called upon, making the criticism he has faced this season unsurprising.

Leeds United defender Robin Koch limped off against Chelsea in the Whites’ 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday night but Bielsa could have a natural replacement in 17-year-old Nohan Kenneh.

The German international looked to be struggling in the opening stages of the game against Frank Lampard’s side and was replaced after less than 10 minutes after he had gone down clutching his knee.

He was replaced by Spanish centre-back Diego Llorente, who made his first start for the club after missing the first two months of the season with a groin injury.

This leaves Bielsa with just Llorente, Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk as fit senior centre-backs in this side, and as we approach a busy Christmas period, you worry that if the Argentinian manager doesn’t rotate his side, then he will suffer more injuries in his defence.

Fortunately, he also has 17-year-old Kenneh available to him, with the academy graduate having trained with the first-team in recent weeks, so he is clearly knocking on the door for a start in Bielsa’s side.

Therefore Koch’s injury, whilst unfortunate, gives the Leeds manager the perfect opportunity to unleash Kenneh and show fans what the young academy sensation is capable of.

The England U17 starlet is yet to make a senior appearance for the Elland Road outfit but has made seven appearances for the academy sides so far this season.

[freshpress-quiz id=“562145″]

Leeds have five more Premier League games between now and the new year, so surely Bielsa will be tempted to make some changes to his squad to try and avoid his senior players being overexerted, which could lead to Kenneh being an opportunity to shine.

The 17-year-old can play as both a centre-back and a defensive-midfielder too, which gives Bielsa some more freedom in where he wants to play him if he decides that he isn’t ready to feature as a centre-back in the Premier League.

Either way, Koch’s injury is a blow for Leeds, so it will be interesting to see if Bielsa trusts Kenneh, or any other youngster, to replace him in the upcoming fixtures.

And, in other news… Forget Rodrigo: “Brilliant” £7.2m-rated beast is proving himself to be Leeds’ signing of the summer

David Moyes’ decision to field West Ham United winger Jarrod Bowen as a makeshift centre-forward against Brighton and Hove Albion backfired horrifically on Sunday.

Bowen was fielded in a central role to serve as the middleman between striker Sebastien Haller and captain Mark Noble, with an emphasis on pushing high up the field at the London Stadium.

Instead, most of the work Bowen could muster at home to the Seagulls saw the former Hull City maestro backtrack into Irons territory, before seeing his reputation spared any further damage when replaced by Andriy Yarmolenko at half-time looking absolutely knackered.

West Ham’s inability to dictate the flow of proceedings in the opening 45 minutes hindered Bowen’s hopes of making a move into a central role work, with the £25m-rated playmaker unable to find the needed space to create or the end product when openings developed.

Brighton’s buoyant start left Haller isolated without his attacking partner able to get close, while even Bowen’s deliveries from set-pieces was woeful with the 24-year-old failing to find a teammate with 50 per cent of his four corners taken.

His SofaScore heatmap from the Seagulls affair even showed the right-hand corner flag to be where a majority of Bowen’s 25 touches were taken, as he laboured to a mere seven successful passes, misplaced his two open-play crosses, offered zero key balls and missed the target with his sole shot before being hooked.

The £96,000-per-week forward further lost possession 10 times, though won three of his four ground duels, and will be desperate for the hectic festive schedule to end in order to earn a welcome rest having started all 15 of the Hammers’ Premier League fixtures this term.

Moyes will now be forced to go back to the drawing board ahead of West Ham’s trip to Southampton on Tuesday night looking to resolve his creativity crisis, that left the Hammers forced to come from behind twice to snatch a point at home to Brighton.

Yarmolenko is unlikely to be Moyes’ answer having endured a frustrating cameo against Brighton, as the Ukraine international’s direct runs caused the Seagulls problems but often without a decisive end product.

AND in other news, a West Ham gem who’s “not been at the races” betrayed David Moyes vs Brighton.

Haris Seferovic is the latest striker to be linked with a move to the Hawthorns this week…

What’s the word?

According to Express & Star reporter Joseph Masi, West Brom are keen on the 6 foot 2 Benfica frontman as manager Sam Allardyce is keen to bolster his attack before the transfer deadline on February 1st.

He claims that the Primeira Liga outfit need to sell players this month, but the Baggies would only be able to bring him to the Midlands on a loan move with a view to making it permanent.

Which means a deal is currently looking unlikely, though talks remain ongoing.

Shades of Rickie Lambert

Whilst the need for a new forward is paramount to Albion’s survival chances, a swoop for Seferovic fails to make much sense. In fact, it’s bordering on being a panic buy.

Allardyce told reporters (via the BBC) that he will make “250 enquiries” before hopefully signing “three or four good players”, so there’s no need to settle for the 28-year-old just yet.

The 66-cap Swiss international has hardly been consistent at the top level over the course of his career, a 23-goal haul for the Eagles in 2018/19 is the one main outlier as he failed to notch more than three league goals in back-to-back seasons at Frankfurt as well as only managing a pair of league goals whilst at Real Sociedad.

That lucrative season for Benfica is the only time he’s surpassed seven for the club so far in three-and-a-half seasons, so there’s an argument over him being a one-season wonder, or at least there’s only been two campaigns of encouraging returns since joining on a free transfer in 2017.

In some ways, this is very similar to that of former Baggies striker Rickie Lambert. His record in the top-flight wasn’t great aside from hitting 13 and then 15 goals in successive seasons for Southampton.

The target man’s form earned him a move to Liverpool, where he would go onto score just three times before ending up at the Hawthorns, which drew an even worse tally of one goal from 24 appearances, per Transfermarkt.

According to FourFourTwo, Seferovic models his game on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whilst they also claim he’s ‘more [Alan] Shearer than [Thierry] Henry.’

Despite being dubbed “full-blooded” by former national team boss Ottmar Hitzfeld, something that makes the towering colossus seem fit for a relegation battle, his overall and long-term goalscoring record is far from ideal.

If he was unable to score regularly in the Champions and Europa League for any of this former clubs, then there’s nothing to suggest he’d be able to do it in what is a very competitive Premier League this season.

Sporting and technical director Luke Dowling must avoid this move for the time being.

AND in other news, 14% of duels won: this Baggies flop has just given Big Sam a major dilemma…

Loads of Everton fans were left fuming over the possible exit of Dominic Calvert-Lewin to play under Ronald Koeman at Barcelona.

According to Spanish news outlet Mundo Deportivo (via The Toffee Blues), the former Everton manager is interested in reuniting with the 23-year old in Spain.

Incidentally, Calvert-Lewin did not have the best of times playing under Koeman, as he only managed to score four goals and provide three assists in 28 games in all competitions at Goodison Park, as per Transfermarkt.

However, the striker has been much-improved so far this term, scoring no fewer than nine goals in just six matches over all competitions, including scoring a hat-trick in two separate games (per Transfermarkt).

Therefore, it is perhaps not a surprise that Koeman is interested in signing him, and the Dutchman may well make his move in the January transfer window.

Everton fan reaction to possible Calvert-Lewin exit

These Everton supporters on Twitter were raging over the possibility of Calvert-Lewin leaving the Toffees:

Evertonians, would you sell Calvert-Lewin for the right price? Comment below with your views!

Leeds United haven’t had the easiest of starts to their first Premier League campaign in 16 years.

Just three weeks after a trip to defending champions Liverpool, the Whites are tasked with hosting Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at Elland Road.

Guardiola’s side have been one of the dominant forces in English football in recent years, but despite City’s brilliance, Leeds are catching them at just the right time.

The Manchester outfit arrive in Yorkshire in the midst of an injury crisis with no fewer than eight first-team players at risk of missing out on Saturday’s clash. This spate of problems has understandably coincided with poor form, with the Citizens being beaten 5-2 by Leicester last week.

So, what XI will Marcelo Bielsa field against Guardiola on Saturday? We’ve had a go at predicting United’s starting eleven this weekend with one change from the line-up against Sheffield United.

There aren’t too many changes to report ahead of this one, with the back five remaining exactly the same as it did against the Blades.

Illan Meslier starts between the sticks, while Luke Ayling and Stuart Dallas hold down the full-back roles.

There’s no room for £18m signing Diego Llorente this week as Robin Koch and Liam Cooper keep their spots after last week’s clean sheet, with the ex-Real Sociedad man having to make do with a place on the bench.

The midfield is largely the same as we’ve seen for the past 12 months with the cohort of Kalvin Phillips, Mateusz Klich,  and Helder Costa keeping their spots, but there is a change in the attacking midfield role with Rodrigo coming in for Tyler Roberts. Indeed, the Spaniard impressed from the bench at Bramall Lane, taking 41 touches, playing two accurate long balls and taking one shot on target in a 44 minute cameo (SofaScore).

There is another change on the wing as Ezgjan Alioski replaces Jack Harrison, with the former NYCFC man being ineligible due to Leeds’ opponents being his parent club.

There are no surprises up top as Patrick Bamford keeps his place after scoring in three consecutive matches.

In other news, one Leeds loanee showed exactly what he can do last weekend.

Romanian journalist Emanuel Rosu, who regularly provides updates on Glasgow Rangers midfielder Ianis Hagi, has been on the end of some poor treatment from an unnamed representative of a Scottish newspaper.

Rosu was a constant source of knowledge for ‘Gers fans when Hagi moved on loan to Ibrox earlier this year and has provided updates on the 22-year-old ever since. Given his valuable position as an expert on all things Romanian football, you can understand why Scottish journalists would be eager to have him as a source.

However, it seems that one unnamed writer has taken advantage of Rosu. The latter was asked to provide some information on Hagi and his family, with the promise of payment. In the end, although he did provide what he promised, he did not receive any money for his work.

He shared a Twitter conversation with the journalist on the social media platform and it attracted plenty of attention from ‘Gers supporters. It is fair to say that many were far from happy – they have had plenty of problems with that they call the “mainstream media”.

Let’s see what they had to say about the treatment of Rosu below

In other news, Rangers fans slam this star who had a “touch like an elephant” against Standard Liege. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Leicester are reportedly favourites to sign Adam Lallana from Liverpool this summer.

According to Dominic King (via Sportslens), the Foxes are keen on bringing the former England international to the King Power to reunite him with former boss Brendan Rodgers. Lallana will be available as a free agent at the end of the season and will be able to join the club of his choice.

It was recently confirmed by Jurgen Klopp that Lallana would play no further part in Liverpool’s 2019/20 season. King has reported that this is so the 32-year-old doesn’t risk any unexpected injuries squandering his chance of a top move.

The midfielder has dedicated six years to the Merseyside outfit after joining from Southampton in the summer of 2014 (via BBC Sport). Despite long-term injuries affecting a lot of his career in red, Lallana has made a total of 178 appearances, scoring 22 goals and assisting another 22 (via Transfermarkt).

Lallana would bring experience in abundance to Leicester’s midfield if they were to sign him up. With a Champions League and Premier League medal to his name, the 32-year-old could be what the Foxes need to challenge in Europe next season.

As it stands, Rodgers’ side are fourth in the league table, having slipped down a place following their recent draw against Arsenal. Both Chelsea and Manchester United are eager for a top four spot, so Leicester need to keep hold of their current position.

Should they qualify, Lallana could be a key figure in their Champions League run as well as pivotal player in the middle of the park. Especially as a free signing, the Foxes would be foolish not to bring the Englishman to the club.

Would you like to see Leicester sign Adam Lallana this summer? Join the discussion in the comments below…

Everton’s season has come to an end in disappointing fashion as they were thumped by relegated AFC Bournemouth at Goodison Park.

You could tell that it was a battle between a team already on their holidays against one with everything to play for.

A rare start for Moise Kean paid off as he equalised in the first half following Josh King’s early penalty, but the Cherries fought back thanks to strikes from Dominic Solanke and Junior Stanislas – though it wasn’t enough to keep them in the top-flight due to Villa’s draw at West Ham.

Plenty of the Toffees faithful were left fuming by the performance of Theo Walcott, who was withdrawn before the hour mark by Carlo Ancelotti.

He was blasted for being a passenger as well as a disgrace with one supporter claiming the veteran winger wasn’t fit to wear the shirt.

Lots of other fans pin-pointed some of the former Arsenal man’s faults, ranging from his crosses to his inability to keep hold of the ball.

Per SofaScore, Walcott managed a dire 69% passing accuracy, provided no accurate crosses, lost possession 13 times and missed one big chance.

So maybe these supporters are onto something.

It’s led to many others suggesting that he should be offloaded this summer – some were even praying that it was the last time they see the 31-year-old in a Blues shirt.

Walcott joined Everton in January 2018 for £20m and it appears plenty in Merseyside are hoping that 2020 is the final time he features.

AND in other news, Everton facing another Brands disasterclass if they sign Serie A star…