As reported by The Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Watford attacker Richarlison this summer, should they fail in their attempts to sign Wilfried Zaha.
What’s the story?
After signing a new long-term contract at Spurs, Mauricio Pochettino has given the club the stability they need to push on and challenge the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for major silverware in England over the next few seasons.
To do that though, they need strong summer recruitment and fans are expecting the club to back Pochettino in the transfer market over the next couple of months.
One player on the club’s radar is Watford attacker Richarlison.
That’s according to The Mirror, who say the club could make a move for him if they are unable to convince Crystal Palace and Wilfried Zaha of a transfer this summer.
The paper say that Watford rate the Brazilian youth international at £40m.
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Would he be a good signing?
At just 21 years of age, there is no doubt that Richarlison holds significant potential and at Tottenham Hotspur under Pochettino his game could improve massively.
The inconsistency of youth was apparent in his 2017/18 season however, showing incredible form in the first half of the season before struggling alongside his teammates from January onward.
The left-sided forward scored five goals and assisted four times between August and mid-December for the Hornets before failing to record another direct goal contribution for the rest of the season.
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At the reported £40m, it would be something of a risk for Spurs to invest so heavily in a fairly unproven talent, although his powerful physicality and eye for goal would add a different dimension to their attack next term.
Fulham starlet Ryan Sessegnon’s brilliant season continued as he scored a brace in his team’s 3-1 win against Barnsley at Oakwell on Saturday, and Liverpool fans have urged their club to buy the talented 17-year-old.
The versatile left-sided player, who could cost £50m according to The Times, has already made 62 first-team appearances for the Championship outfit despite his tender years, and his two goals against the Tykes were his 10th and 11th of the season in just 29 league games.
The England U19 international has already been heavily linked with the Reds’ Premier League rivals Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, which is no surprise given the level of performances he has been giving and the huge potential that he has.
Liverpool supporters were quick to have their say on his latest display via social media, and while one said he is the “new Gareth Bale”, another said “sign this Ryan Sessegnon up”.
With 20 games gone in the Premier League season, Sunderland were at the very bottom of the table after a turbulent opening half of the campaign.
Much was expected of Paolo Di Canio, who had come in and helped to drag the Black Cats kicking and screaming away from the drop zone last term, with the controversial Italian having had a full summer to draft in players more suited to his playing style.
But just a matter of weeks into the campaign another jarring turn halted their progress, as Di Canio was sacked and replaced by Gus Poyet. The Uruguayan had impressed at Brighton in the Championship, but was completely unproven at the highest level. When a new boss comes in, teams usually see a spike in fortunes, with the feel-good factor frequently yielding points.
However, Poyet’s reign began in underwhelming fashion, and it looked to all intents and purposes as if Sunderland were slowly drifting towards the trap door, and a spot in the second tier of English football.
But a heavy 4-1 away win at Fulham has proven to be the turning point in their fortunes, with a good run of results having catapulted them almost out of the drop zone with games in hand. All of this has coincided with an excellent Capital One Cup run, which now has the potential to cement a completely different atmosphere at the Stadium of Light.
Having eased into the last four, few predicted that a spot in the Final could be on the cards for the North East side as they prepared to face Manchester United over two legs. After all, despite their woes, David Moyes’ men had the edge in big tournament experience and winning silverware.
Yet, a shock 3-3 aggregate scoreline after extra time in the second encounter set up a penalty shoot-out, which the strugglers took full advantage of.
Now the problems that threated their status as a top tier side seem a distant memory for Sunderland, who face the prospect of lifting a major trophy after rising from the relegation zone. Confidence plays a big role in the game, and lifting the Capital One Cup at the home of English football could provide the springboard for Sunderland to really kick on.
Manchester City are undoubtedly favourites, but anything can happen in a one-off game, so the Wearsiders will travel to the capital in buoyant mood, and in full knowledge that their side could be about to play a season-defining game.
Who knows, if Sunderland can defy the odds and take the Capital One Cup back home with them, it could be the remedy to right the wrongs of a difficult start to the season.
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Manchester United are reportedly interested in signing Juventus midfielder, Arturo Vidal. talkSPORT reports.
The Chile international scored in Juve’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and was part of the side which won Serie A at a canter last season.
He first established himself in Germany, spending four years playing for Bayer Leverkusen and helped the side finish second-place in the 2010/11 Bundesliga season.
Vidal has apparently attracted the interest of those at Old Trafford, who believe the midfielder could add a cutting edge in the centre of the park and be someone that could be a long-term replacement for Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.
As United missed out on Lucas Moura- who will join Paris St Germain in January instead, a move for Vidal appears even more likely, but Sir Alex Ferguson will have to dig deep as a deal could be worth a staggering £40million.
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This is due to the fact that the player is under contract with the Turin club until 2016.
25-year-old left-back Juan Bernat is one of four Bayern Munich players for whom the German champions are willing to listen to offers this summer, according to the Daily Mail, and he would be a perfect replacement for Danny Rose at Tottenham.
What’s the story, then?
The report claims that the German champions are willing to sell the Spaniard as they seek to trim the squad ahead of Niko Kovac’s first season in charge at the Allianz Arena.
Along with countryman Thiago, fellow defender Jerome Boateng and box-to-box midfielder Arturo Vidal, Bernat is one of a quartet of players the Bavarians are willing to let go in the transfer window.
The former Valencia man is valued at just £10.8m by Transfermarkt and Tottenham left-back Danny Rose has been linked with a move away this summer so the deals could marry up well.
Bernat would replace Rose and save Spurs money
If a deal can be done for around Bernat’s market value, and Rose goes to Manchester United for a similar amount of money Daniel Levy managed to get out of their city rivals for Kyle Walker, then it could be a very profitable summer in North London.
In a similar way to how Serge Aurier came in to give title-winning experience at a cheaper price than the one Walker left for, Bernat – who is a much more reliable defender than Aurier – would be a profitable and shrewd replacement for Rose.
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According to reports in The Mirror, Manchester United are leading a four-way chase to bring £35m-rated Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri, who is seen as long-term replacement for Michael Carrick by Jose Mourinho, to the Premier League this summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, The Mirror says that United are in pole position ahead of Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City to land the Ivory Coast international at the end of the season.
The Mirror reports that the 26-year-old has a release clause set at €40m (£35.3m) in his contract, which is due to run out in the summer of 2019, and there is set to be a big scramble for his signature in the summer.
The report adds that sources close to the player says that he would prefer a move to England, which would rule out interest from the likes of Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
How has Seri done this season?
He certainly hasn’t been as effective as he was during the previous campaign – his success saw him come close to joining Barcelona last summer – but he has still impressed.
The 26-year-old has scored one goal and provided a further five assists in 25 appearances in all competitions – compared to last term when he netted seven times and picked up 10 assists in 39 outings in total – although he has been playing in a more defensive role in the middle of the park.
According to WhoScored.com, his main strengths are his passing and ability to make key passes, and he has an overall passing accuracy of 91% in 18 appearances in Ligue 1 and the Europa League for Nice this season.
He has also made 41 key passes, which is an impressive total given he has primarily been playing as a defensive midfielder – he managed 80 in 38 games last term.
Would he be a good signing for United?
He certainly would be.
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If Mourinho is looking for a long-term successor to Michael Carrick than Seri has shown that he can be the answer with his ability on the ball and to play as a defensive midfielder, but he also has the ability to play further forward too.
The 26-year-old is probably more suited to the box-to-box role in reality though – he would be most effective alongside Nemanja Matic – and it remains to be seen whether Mourinho would be happy to have a player that stands at 5ft 6in tall playing in a defensive role given the Portuguese manager’s usual preference of tall and strong players.
In recent years, it’s seemed that you should only be playing for England if you were exciting. Players must have pace, flair and the ability to repeatedly score ‘wondergoals’. Otherwise, they weren’t deemed worthy of wearing the Three Lions badge on the international stage.
Ahead of the upcoming World Cup, Hodgson must decide which midfielders he takes to Brazil, and who gets left behind. The press are handing in their suggestions, with players new to the international scene such as Ross Barkley, Jack Wilshere and Adam Lallana, all being tipped for great things in South America.
All three have had great seasons, showing their ability to skip past defenders and turn to attack their opponents’ goal. But are other candidates being overlooked, purely down to having a ‘boring’ reputation? James Milner has been a useful utility player for Manchester City over the last four years. Able to play out wide or in the middle, the 27-year-old has committed to fighting against City’s star signings to get any sort of game time. While he has made 14 Premier League appearances this season, only five of them have been starts, with only two of his five Champions League appearances not to be from off the substitutes bench.
Milner comes under a lot of criticism on social network sites such as Twitter, often being the butt of jokes about his ability and his lack of ‘entertaining football’. But is the midfielder actually doing an undervalued, unnoticed job? The former Aston Villa midfielder has often come off the bench for star attackers such as David Silva or Samir Nasri, in an attempt to sure up City’s lead, and keep the midfield tight. Milner’s work rate means that he can go forward, while also making sure that his full-back is protected. But he also takes fewer risks. Instead of repeatedly attempting to trick his way past players, Milner’s ‘boring’ style of keeping possession and working teams down has ensured Manuel Pellegrini’s side are competing near the top of the Premier League, and have qualified from the Champions League group stage for the first time. The 27-year-old popped up at the right place to score City’s winner in their surprising comeback win at Bayern Munich last week, showing that he can still score important goals despite focusing more on defence than some of his team mates.
And he’s not the only English midfielder to take criticism despite strong performances. Gareth Barry has entered his last contracted season at Manchester City, and has spent it on loan at Everton, where he has converted many of his critics in just a few months. A ‘new’ Barry has appeared at Goodison Park, helping the Toffees to have the joint best defensive record in the league. Everton have kept 8 clean sheets, two before Barry made his move to Merseyside. The former Villa midfielder has played the full 90 minutes in the other six, playing a key role.
Barry’s happiness to sit back and defend the Everton back line has worked wonders for Robert Martinez. The Englishman has consistently stopped opposition counter attacks, broken up the play and in return fed fellow midfielder Ross Barkley, who has been on sensational form for the Toffees. Barkley has danced forward searching for goals, in the knowledge that Barry will sit back and protect Jagielka and Distin. This system for Martinez has led to the Blues sitting just 4 points off the top of the table, with only one loss on their record.
He was a hit at Everton from the first minute of his debut, being the star performer in Everton’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in September. The Englishman was a step ahead of the game, repeatedly intercepting the play and launching Everton on the front foot. His goal-line block from a Samuel Eto’o shot guaranteed the 3 points for Martinez, and Barry has been replicating these performances all season long.
Both Milner and Barry have been somewhat forgotten when it comes to England’s World Cup Squad. On the Daily Telegraph website, only Michael Own and Paul Hayward selected Milner, whilst Alan Smith, Alan Hansen and Henry Winter all left the pair at home for flair players such as Barkley, Ravel Morrison or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But could they do a job for Hodgson? Both provide security and defensive balance. Whilst Walcott, Townsend, or whoever Hodgson starts, is attacking, Milner and Barry would be wary of the gaps left waiting to be exposed by Luis Suarez, Edinson Cavani or Mario Balotelli.
To bring either of the two might be an unpopular choice, especially considering the midfield options Hodgson has. There’s a long list of players that will be looking to get picked ahead of the two, and possibly rightly so. But there is still an argument to suggest that Barry and Milner shouldn’t be completely written off, especially after the 4 months they have had so far this season. While flair and attacking threat are exciting and entertaining, sometimes games can be won with security and defensive work rate.
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When a player manages to break into the Barclays Premier League under the provisions of any suspecting radar, it feels as if we are often very quick to douse them in a blaze of uncertainty. Today’s modern age dictates that every next big thing is usually well publicized within the realms of the footballing community- be it through the column inches of a dedicated blog or the YouTube montages of a fan boy’s creation.
This isn’t to say that Moussa Dembele’s talents have never been clear for all to see, but such is his ability, it feels truly remarkable that it’s taken till the age of 25 for him to really burst into public consciousness. But it’s not how you get there, more as long as you do. And make no mistake, Tottenham Hotspur have picked up one hell of a player in the Belgian.
The final game of last season’s Premier League calendar saw White Hart Lane encompassed in one of the more bizarre atmosphere’s you’re ever likely to witness in N17. Supporters were paying as much attention to the select few who had brought in personal radios, as they were to what was going on in the field of play, such was the situation regarding Champions League qualification.
But in between seeking out the West Brom v Arsenal score and hopelessly trying to attain any form of mobile phone signal, fans were left aghast as the authoritative number 30 from the other team, began running their midfield amok.
Spurs ran out 2-0 winner on the day, but all that left Spurs’ hallowed old ground that day were in no doubt as to who the best player on the pitch was – not that too many particularly cared. Fulham’s number 30 danced around the edge of Spurs’ penalty area at times, playing cute little balls through at angle, attracting the ball like a magnet and causing Harry Redknapp’s team all sorts of problems. Moussa Dembele’s performance may have been a surprise for some of the home fans but for the away support, it was simply another day in the life of the talented Belgian.
The beginning of this season saw Dembele continue from where left off from that day at White Hart Lane but this time, no one was under any illusions as to what he was capable of. Yet no one seemed able to stop him. After pulling the strings in Fulham’s devastating opening day 5-0 win over Norwich City, he then put in another virtuoso display at the Theatre of Dreams, causing Manchester United all sorts of problems as Martin Jol’s side succumbed to an unfortunate 3-2 defeat. By now, Dembele wasn’t so much hot property but a transfer market supernova- moves to both United and also Real Madrid were widely touted in the gossip columns.
But it was Andre Villas-Boas’ side who managed to capture his signature and Dembele signed for Spurs in a deal worth near on £15million. Most supporters have been pleased as punch with the 25-year-old’s acquisition, but there are a small minority who remain unconvinced. After all, if Dembele was so good, why has it taken him this long to get such a high-profile transfer? The boots of Luka Modric’s are massive ones to fill and although he isn’t a direct replacement, fans are well within their right to have the odd reservation. But the truth is that Dembele has always had the talent; it’s just that finding the right way to channel it has taken a little longer.
His goal scoring record might suggest that it was hardly ever rocket science, but Moussa Dembele was originally something of a conventional striker during his beginnings back in the Netherlands. Indeed. When Mark Hughes snapped him up from AZ Alkmaar in the August of 2010, the talk was that The Cottagers has signed another frontman or ‘attacking option’. Sparky said at the time:
“Moussa is strong and quick and will add another dimension.”
You were hardly expecting the Shakespearian but Hughes was being rather basic in his assessment of Dembele to say the least.
The Belgian’s career has gone from strength to strength in the last few years and it’s no coincidence that it’s prospered as he’s worked his way deeper down the pitch. During Alkmaar’s 2009-10 Eredivisie winning season, Dembele chipped in with an impressive 10 goals in 23 games but that represents something of an anomaly during his career. He is, as Spurs fans saw first hand against Norwich on Saturday, capable of putting the ball in the back of the net, but it isn’t primarily where his strengths lie.
His talents are far, far more influential in the engine room of a team, more centrally in midfield. His technical ability and close control are as good as any but he perhaps lacks a little bit of quicksilver to really make a case as a regular forward. This isn’t to say he couldn’t do a great job there, but he needs to be playing deeper- especially in this Tottenham Hotspur side.
As no one is under any illusions to how much the side are crying out for an injection of creativity within the heart of the team. Luka Modric is an outstanding footballer and as we are perhaps already seeing at Real Madrid, perhaps one of the best in the business at what he does. A player like that is in some respects, always going to be irreplaceable. But that doesn’t mean that Dembele can’t have as big an influence as the mercurial Croatian.
He has that similar ability to redistribute as Modric but perhaps in an alternate way. Maybe he doesn’t have the outstanding agility or metronome like quality as the Croatian does, but he certainly has a far more imposing physique and an authoritative level of power that Modric lacked. The combination of technical excellence and physicality is a rare one, but Dembele has it. No one is saying he is necessarily a better footballer than Spurs’ old number 14. But he has the ability to be just as important.
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And that is all that matters for Andre Villas-Boas and Tottenham Hotspur. Like his journey to the top, Dembele’s game is cut from a different cloth from many of his peers. He is as equally unique as he is exquisite and there can be no doubt that he has the skill in his locker to perform the deep lying role that the Portuguese wishes him to play. The challenge now for him is to come into an under-pressure side and produce the goods from the off.
And if Dembele the man is anything like Dembele the footballer, then expect him to take it all in his strider. Harder tests will lay ahead but the stage is set for him to finally kick-start his new team’s season into life.
How do you feel about Moussa Dembele’s White Hart Lane prospects this season? An inspired purchase or do you remain unconvinced? Let me know how you see it all playing out on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and bat me all your Spurs chat.
Mauricio Pochettino will step up his attempts to sign wonderkid Ryan Sessegnon from Fulham after signing a new five-year contract at Tottenham, according to the Daily Mirror.
Pochettino is the best manager in the country at nurturing young talent, especially players from England, and Sessegnon – who has also attracted interest from PSG – is good enough to take Tottenham’s bid for silverware to another level.
What’s the story, then?
The Mirror report that Pochettino signed his new deal after being satisfied with assurances from Spurs over a summer of spending and has set his sights on three players.
They say Sessegnon – valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt – is among that trio, alongside Ajax prodigy Matthijs de Ligt and Manchester United forward Anthony Martial.
The report also says that Pochettino is ready to make major surgery on a squad that has as yet failed to end Tottenham’s ten-year wait for major silverware.
Sessegnon is good enough to shine now
It remains to be seen whether Pochettino sees Sessegnon as a left-back, where he broke into the Fulham team, or as a winger, where he has shone this season, elevating his game to another level.
With Danny Rose reportedly close to the exit door, the temptation may be to use Sessegnon as a direct replacement at full-back but the reason PSG reportedly want him isn’t his defensive ability.
The French giants know he is a superstar going forward, thanks to his remarkable efficiency and maturity in attacking areas, reminiscent of Gareth Bale.
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Tottenham need greater depth in order to challenge on multiple fronts and Sessegnon is capable of coming in right now and making a major impact in the Premier League as Pochettino chases that elusive trophy.
We’re not even halfway through the season just yet, but Javier Hernandez has already become something of a forgotten man at the London Stadium. The former Bayer Leverkusen and Manchester United striker was arguably West Ham’s most promising summer signing, but he’s not made a start for the east London club since the very start of November.
There’s little disputing Chicharito’s talents, however, so tonight’s League Cup clash with Arsenal could be the perfect time to bring him back into the fold – a chance for the Mexico international to remind everybody of what he can do against top-quality opposition.
With that in mind, we asked West Ham fans earlier today whether the striker, who Transfermarkt value at £16.2million, should be part of the Irons’ starting XI this evening and according to our poll, a whopping 90% of those who voted think he should.
How would you line up David Moyes’ side tonight, Irons fans? Let us know by commenting below…
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