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After seeing both of his summer transfer targets disappear before his very eyes, Roy Hodgson must unleash Crystal Palace ace Eberechi Eze against Fulham.

What’s the word?

Recent reports had revealed that Hodgson’s side were targeting moves for Ismaila Sarr and Said Benrahma.

But the Brentford star joined West Ham instead, whilst Sarr ended up staying at Watford after the Hornets rejected a £25m bid from Palace for the 22-cap Senegal international.

Despite missing out on both their key targets, it may have a positive impact on one player who is already at the club.

Time to shine

Big things are expected from Eze after he arrived in the summer from Queens Park Rangers for a fee that could rise to £20m, becoming the club’s second arrival of the transfer window.

The highly-rated England U21 international – who is valued at £16m via Transfermarkt – made quite the impression at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium last season, as he started every game for Mark Warburton’s side in the English second division. scoring 14 goals and supplying 8 assists in the Championship, whilst he averaged 2.2 shots, 1.8 key passes and 3 dribbles per game, via WhoScored.

Despite the fact the 22-year-old has already made four appearances in the Premier League so far, including twice featuring from the bench, it’s safe to say that he would have been looking nervously over his shoulder amid Palace’s interest in both players.

In the end the Eagles failed to sign an attacking midfielder, which is what Hodgson will have wanted all along, as it’s an open secret that Wilfried Zaha is angling for a move away from Selhurst Park.

Once lauded as a “fantastic” player by QPR chief executive Lee Hoos, this has paved the way for Eze to stake his claim in the starting XI.

If the speedster can cement his place in the side, Hodgson could start to build a dream attack that Palace fans have been craving for so long. He just needs to be guaranteed game time, which is no easy task.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace make huge deadline call on Jack Butland which could pay off…

David Moyes’ hope of bringing Luka Jovic to West Ham United have been dealt a major setback with reports Real Madrid will not greenlight a January move for the outcast striker.

What’s the word?

According to Defensa Central, Jovic is enduring an unstable and uncomfortable time at the Santiago Bernabeu with Zinedine Zidane often overlooking his services, but the door to a mid-season move has been slammed shut.

Reports had surfaced suggesting the Irons were looking to rival Leicester City in pursuit of the Serbian centre-forward, with Moyes considering a loan bid that features an option to buy Los Blancos’ £52.4million signing next summer.

The Galacticos are currently opposed to allowing Jovic to leave the Spanish capital in the winter market, however, as they wish to afford the 22-year-old further opportunities to build on his mere two goals scored across all competitions since joining in 2019.

Real had considered offloading Jovic during the summer window and are said to have come very close to doing so, as the former Eintracht Frankfurt sensation is desperate to play more frequently and does not feel those opportunities will occur under Zidane’s watch.

The French icon has awarded Jovic just 201 minutes of first-team football this season, and opted to ignore the 8-cap international in his side’s last four fixtures as Real claimed victories over FC Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach, SD Huesca and Inter Milan.

Madrid’s stance could yet alter with it added that Los Blancos chiefs are offering a non-committal response when questioned over Jovic’s future, stating: “At the moment we do not contemplate any exit, but until January anything can happen.”

It remains to be seen if the door re-opens for Jovic to leave the Santiago Bernabeu, but for now Real are dealing a hammer blow to Moyes’ hopes of making the Serbian an Irons player.

Never give up

Real Madrid’s non-committal response to questions over Jovic’s future should see that Moyes does not give up on his hopes of adding the centre-forward to the squad in east London come the New Year, as the 22-year-old’s outcast role can easily see that he pushes for a move away.

Jovic joined Los Blancos with eyes of achieving success in Spain after lighting up the Bundesliga with 17 goals in 32 appearances, including a five-goal haul against Fortuna Dusseldorf plus braces against FC Schalke 04 and 1.FSV Mainz 05.

His efforts saw that Frankfurt CEO of Sport Fredi Bobic was far from surprised to see clubs lining up to sign the young sensation, stating via Bundesliga.com: “He’s been the talk of Europe. He’s explosive and a real threat in front of goal and will be a big miss.”

Jovic will clearly not be a big miss for Madrid given his form and lack of game time under Zidane, but Moyes’ need for offensive depth will ensure that opportunities are forthcoming with Sebastien Haller boasting just three Premier League goals in 2020.

Haller and Jovic enjoyed a strong relationship in Germany, too, as the Frenchman assisted three of the Serbian’s Bundesliga goals in 2018/19, as he ended the campaign with a hand in 24 goals (15 scored, nine assisted) – something Moyes desperately needs from Manuel Pellegrini’s £45m capture.

AND in other news, a Manuel Pellegrini flop has been dubbed a “big disappointment” in a further blow to West Ham.

Mohamed Elyounoussi’s impressive form at Celtic could give Southampton Ralph Hasenhuttl a big decision to make over his future next season.

The Norwegian joined Neil Lennon’s side on loan for the second successive season earlier in the summer and he has enjoyed a superb start to the 2020/21 campaign with the Scottish side.

In 18 appearances in all competitions so far this season, the 26-year-old has contributed an impressive 10 goals and four assists, including a hat-trick in the Bhoys’ most recent fixture against Motherwell (per Transfermarkt).

His performances in the Scottish Premiership have seen him average a solid 6.92 rating, whilst his superb displays in the Europa League have earned him a 7.52 average across his three appearances (per WhoScored).

Southampton signed the winger from FC Basel in 2018 for a fee of £16.2 million but he has never really been able to establish himself as a first-team regular at the South Coast club.

In 19 appearances for the Saints, Elyounoussi was unable to contribute a single goal or assist, so you can perhaps understand why he was sent on loan to Celtic to improve his confidence.

The Norway international has done just that, showing his quality with the Celtic Park outfit, having contributed 17 goals and 10 assists in just 38 appearances for the club (per Transfermarkt).

Therefore, we feel that he deserves another chance to show what he can do under Hasenhuttl at Southampton when he returns from his loan spell at Celtic.

The winger was heavily criticised by Celtic legend Chris Sutton after he was caught using his phone after being taken off in their recent defeat against Sparta Prague, but he bounced back with an excellent hat-trick at Fir Park, which Sutton labelled as “brilliant” on Twitter (per talkSPORT).

The 26-year-old has clearly shown his quality in his time with Celtic, and whilst playing for Southampton in the Premier League would be a step up for Elyounoussi, his impressive form shows that he deserves another shot at playing in the top-flight.

David Sullivan can right his summer blunder by reviving West Ham United’s interest in Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori amid doubt over his Stamford Bridge future.

What’s the word?

According to ESPN, Chelsea are expected to listen to offers for Tomori and fellow outcast Antonio Rudiger in the mid-season market as Frank Lampard strives to streamline his defensive options.

The Blues currently boast five centre-halves following the summer arrival of Thiago Silva, joining Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen in competing for minutes in south west London under the former England international.

Chelsea were open to allowing Tomori to leave during the off-season but saw the 22-year-old reject a loan move to West Ham at the eleventh hour, having decided late on Deadline Day that he would improve more if he were to stay at Stamford Bridge.

The Irons had agreed a deal in principle with Chelsea for the one-time England international, featuring a £50,000 penalty clause that would have been triggered every time Tomori did not play under David Moyes.

West Ham remain interested in the centre-half’s availability and could revive their efforts in January, with Lampard keen to see the Blues product secure a loan move as he recognises the need for him to earn regular game time after awarding just 44 minutes in the Premier League this season.

Forget Dawson

Chelsea hoping to see Tomori leave on loan in January will offer West Ham co-owner and Chairman Sullivan the perfect opportunity to right his summer blunder and land the Lampard outcast, having seen Craig Dawson fail to make an impact at the London Stadium.

Sullivan acquired Dawson for Moyes’ plans following the closure of the international transfer market, bringing the 30-year-old in on a season-long loan featuring a £2m option to buy.

However, Moyes is yet to trust the Watford loanee, who is yet to make his Irons debut and played his only minutes of the campaign thus far during the Hornets’ EFL Cup Third Round defeat to League Two side Newport County in September.

Moyes is yet to even name Dawson in one of his 18-man Premier League matchday squads, instead favouring Issa Diop as his back-up centre-half since the Frenchman’s return from coronavirus.

Tomori has vastly more potential to rival Diop than Dawson can even imagine, and helped Chelsea to keep four clean sheets over 15 Premier League starts last term with 1.9 successful tackles, 1.5 interceptions, 2.8 clearances, 2.9 ground duels won, 2.3 aerial duels won and 67.1 accurate passes a game, per SofaScore.

The 22-year-old’s efforts at Stamford Bridge and time together at Derby County the season prior saw Lampard praise Tomori as a “great talent”, one which Moyes could benefit from in January.

AND in other news, David Sullivan is heading for another blunder in West Ham’s chase of an underwhelming £18m target.

Peter Lawwell would be heading for disaster by hiring Hibernian manager Jack Ross to replace Neil Lennon as pressure builds on the Irishman at Celtic.

What’s the word?

According to The Scottish Sun, Lennon stood on the brink of being fired following last weekend’s humbling League Cup defeat to Ross County, which saw the Hoops’ 35-game domestic cup-winning run come to a disappointing end.

Fans revolted against Lennon in the aftermath of the loss, with hundreds of supporters tearing down fencing after descending on Parkhead, from where the under-fire coach could hear the shouts for him to go.

Lennon stood firm in front of the media, claiming “I think I should get more time”, but it is thought that Ross could be one of several options for Lawwell and majority owner Dermot Desmond to consider should the axe fall.

Ross took charge of Hibernian in 2019 following an ill-fated spell with Sunderland, where he was relieved of command for failing to meet the owner’s expectations after being handed the English third-tier’s largest wage budget.

The 44-year-old has somewhat got his career back on track since returning to Scotland, with Hibernian sat third in the Premiership after 16 games, while claiming 25 points over his 18 games in charge during the prematurely concluded 2019/20 campaign.

Only Celtic (49) and Rangers (36) secured a substantial return of points greater than Hibernian’s record following Ross’ appointment last season, with Livingston and St. Johnstone claiming 26 points each.

Ten-in-a-row hopes finished

With pressure from supporters mounting on Lennon to leave Celtic, the Hoops hierarchy may be forced into a change of plans having not been expected to fire the Irishman before January’s Glasgow Derby clash with Rangers at the earliest.

But appointing Ross would only serve to see Lawwell set a course for disaster at Parkhead and finish the Lennoxtown outfit’s hope of a record tenth Premiership title in a row, as the Hibernian boss will not be the one to overturn the mammoth margin separating Celtic from their bitter rivals Celtic.

The Hoops are making heavy work of their title defence and could end Sunday 14-points behind Steven Gerrard’s Gers, albeit with two games in hand, and are showing no signs of mounting a turnaround,  with just two wins in 11 matches across all competitions.

When Sunderland’s fortunes faltered last year and the Black Cats sat sixth in League One having contended for promotion the season before, the axe swung on Ross as owner Stewart Donald had freed the funds he felt would have gotten the Stadium of Light natives over the line.

Sunderland had only lost twice all season when Ross was fired, and it should spark fear in Lawwell that Donald believed the coach could not turn things around, while his Hibernian tenure has not been without fault either.

Defeats to Ross County, Livingston, Hearts and Aberdeen sit like a stain on Ross’ record, that boasts just 15 wins in 34 Premiership fixtures while conceding 42 goals and scoring just 50.

AND in other news, Peter Lawwell can deliver Celtic’s next Virgil van Dijk by signing an “unbelievable” enforcer.

Leeds United were heavily linked with a move for Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez during the summer transfer window and it seems as if they made an error in not bringing him to Elland Road.

According to Italian news outlet Centotrentuno, both Leeds and West Ham made offers for the Uruguayan in the summer but saw their bids for the 24-year-old rejected.

It was previously reported that Marcelo Bielsa saw him as the ‘perfect’ option for his midfield ahead of their Premier League campaign but the Yorkshire club were seemingly unwilling to pay Cagliari his release clause, which reportedly stands at €36 million (£32.5 million).

Since joining the Serie A club from Boca Juniors in August 2019, he has gone on to make 46 appearances for Isolani, in which he has contributed three goals and five assists (per Transfermarkt).

So far this season, Nandez, who is valued at £20.7 million by Transfermarkt, has made seven appearances in the Italian top-flight, scoring one goal, which has seen him average a solid 6.88 rating.

Despite being just 24, the midfielder has already earned 34 caps for his country and he is also capable of playing in a number of positions across midfield, suggesting that he would have been a solid addition to Bielsa’s squad.

Nandez’s agent Pablo Bentancur was full of praise for the midfielder last year after it was reported he was attracting interest from Inter, as he told CalcioMercato:

“I had no doubts about him adapting to Italian football, it’s a perfect league for his characteristics. Nandez is certainly a great player. The fans always like him because he leaves the last drop of sweat on the pitch.”

This sounds like exactly the sort of player that would do well with Leeds United, considering the amount of running Bielsa encourages his players to do in every game, so it seems as if the Yorkshire club missed out on a really strong potential addition.

[freshpress-quiz id=“562145″]

Therefore, with his release clause still active, perhaps we will see Leeds return for Nandez in the January transfer window, as it could definitely be argued that they missed out by not signing him during the summer.

And, in other news… Bielsa will be fuming with 28-year-old’s abject display against Chelsea

Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has compared a recent potential red card to the one that was shown to Wolves star Joao Moutinho’s a couple of weeks ago.

Nuno Santo’s Wolves side face Manchester United in the Premier League this evening and any potential sending off for Bruno Fernandes against Leicester City would have meant that the Portuguese star wouldn’t have been able to feature in tonight’s match. The midfielder, however, stayed on the pitch against Leicester after scoring and assisting in the 2-2 draw.

Fernandes had already been booked but the former Sporting man evaded a second yellow despite a clear foul on Jonny Evans near the touchline (as per BBC Sport).

Wolves will be ‘disappointed’ with the Fernandes decision

Halsey, talking exclusively with Transfer Tavern about Fernandes and the fact that he wasn’t sent off against Leicester. He compared the situation to that of Moutinho, who was shown a second yellow card against Aston Villa. Halsey believes that Moutinho got sent off for ‘nothing’ against Villa and Wolves fans would be ‘disappointed’ by the fact that Fernandes wasn’t dismissed – especially since both decisions were made by referee Mike Dean.

The former referee said:

“I think Wolves fans will be disappointed because when they go back to Wolves versus Aston Villa a couple of weeks ago, Moutinho got sent off for a second yellow for nothing and that was Mike Dean too. I suppose Wolves fans will have a bit of a grudge against Mike but this is one of those things that is subjective. I think that Mike got [the Fernandes] one right, I wouldn’t want to see a player sent off for a second yellow card like that.”

Moutinho had committed a foul on Villa’s young star Jacob Ramsey and that led to his sending off as Santo’s men lost the game 1-0 at home.

Fernandes’ presence could harm Wolves

In the current campaign, Fernandes has picked up the fourth-highest rating in the Premier League – 7.67. He has scored ten goals while picking up six assists as well (as per Whoscored).

This shows the impact that the midfielder has had in the Premier League and his presence could harm Wolves since he wasn’t sent off for his challenge on Evans.

Halsey has previously said that Moutinho didn’t deserve a second yellow against Villa and while Fernandes wasn’t sent off anyway, it is understandable why Wolves fans would feel undone by Dean because of rather inconsistent decision-making from the official meaning that one of United’s best players will be free to play this evening.

In other news, Wolves have been linked with a move for Luka Jovic – read more about it here.

Chelsea will look to kickstart 2021 in style when they play host to Manchester City in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

After tasting defeat at Arsenal, the Blues bounced back with a hard-fought draw at home to Aston Villa and Frank Lampard’s side will want to get back to winning ways when they take on the Citizens in a crunch clash in the top half of the table.

Lampard has confirmed Reece James has been ruled out due to injury. However, the Blues boss is hopeful Hakim Ziyech will be in contention to start on Sunday after working his way back to fitness.

Here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up for this afternoon’s action, which sees Lampard make four changes to the team that drew with Dean Smith’s side.

Lampard faces some tough decisions as he’ll be desperate to start the year with a bang and will not want to let the disappointment from the defeat to Arsenal fester for any longer.

It’s hard to tell exactly where the changes will be made, but what’s certain is he’ll likely bring first-team regular starters Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma back into the fold after Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger were noticeably poor at the back.

Despite the fact he has failed to keep a clean sheet in his past two appearances, new summer recruit Edouard Mendy will keep his place in goal at the Bridge behind a back four of Ben Chilwell, Cesar Azpilicueta, Silva and Zouma.

Lampard will probably deploy a midfield three consisting of Mason Mount, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.

Maybe Ziyech could come back in, but Callum Hudson-Odoi has been in such fine form in recent weeks, we’ve given the Blues academy graduate our backing, with the ever-reliable Christian Pulisic keeping his place on the left wing.

Upfront, things get a little more interesting, as Tammy Abraham is likely to lead the line, which means there is no room for Olivier Giroud despite the Frenchman getting on the scoresheet against Villa. Both Giroud and Timo Werner will have to settle for a spot on the bench, such is the strength in Lampard’s squad.

Southampton are continuing to be linked with a loan move for Manchester United left-back Brandon Williams this month, with the latest reports suggesting that the South Coast club are ‘in the driving seat’ to sign the 20-year-old and if he were to join, it could lead to Ryan Bertrand departing the club this summer.

Eurosport claim that Southampton are currently leading the race to sign the England U21 international this month, although Sheffield United are also showing an interest in the young defender.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has suggested that any deals Southampton do this month will be in a similar vein to the one that saw Kyle Walker-Peters join in the summer, where a loan deal becomes a permanent one should the player do enough to impress the Austrian manager and his coaching staff.

Therefore, they are clearly contemplating the idea of Williams joining on a permanent deal in the summer if he is able to perform well in his loan spell, which could be bad news for the future of Bertrand.

The former Chelsea man is out of contract this summer and whilst Southampton are said to be keen to extend his deal, the signing of another left-back is unlikely to help them to convince the 31-year-old to stay.

In December, the experienced defender did suggest that he was keen to stay with Southampton for the long haul whilst also hinting that a new deal was potentially not too far away.

However, it is nearly a month later and there has not been any official announcement of a new contract for Bertrand, with foreign clubs now free to negotiate with the Englishman with the view to signing him on a Bosman transfer in the summer.

Certainly, Bertrand’s attacking returns have dipped in recent seasons, whilst no goals or assists in 16 top-flight appearances this season, whilst Williams has managed one goal and three assists in his 42 senior appearances for Manchester United, whilst also regularly providing assists with the academy sides.

Therefore, if Hasenhuttl wants to add some more attacking gusto on his left-hand side, he may well favour Williams over Bertrand if he arrives on loan from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side this month, which could, as a result, lead to Bertrand departing the South Coast club for nothing this summer.

And, in other news… Southampton signing 29 y/o beast will be bad news for Saints gem with “a lot of potential”

For Celtic, not even a sensational transfer window would likely allow them to be able to bridge the gap to Rangers.

The Gers are currently 21 points ahead of Neil Lennon’s team who are seemingly sinking without a trace.

The late goal that Celtic conceded to Hibernian on Monday evening just about summed things up. With 13 players and Neil Lennon self-isolating as a precautionary measure following a positive test, they, once again, dropped points.

This season has been a disastrous one for the Hoops, and Peter Lawwell could inflict further misery on the club by sanctioning a transfer for Adam Reach.

Reach, who currently plays for Sheffield Wednesday, is available on a free transfer with his contract expiring this summer. As alluded to earlier this week on FFC, he’d represent a bargain, but there are negatives to this potential deal going through.

Celtic and Rangers are reportedly both monitoring his situation with a view to offering Reach a contract. However, it’s difficult to suggest for one moment that this would be a good signing for The Hoops.

All you need to do is look at the stats. The winger may have contributed to four goals this campaign but beyond that, there is a lack of consistent threat and penetration in the final third.

As a winger, your primary job should be to create opportunities and beat your marker, but Reach regularly fails to do either of those on a regular basis. For the Owls this season, he’s managed just 0.5 key passes per match and only 0.5 dribbles per game.

For context, those tallies are both below both Scott Brown, a midfielder, and Kristoffer Ajer, a centre-back, in the Celtic side. That’s incredibly damning when you consider they both play in defensive roles. Furthermore, the number of dribbles he manages per game is identical to the aforementioned Celtic players.

Now, with that in mind, we needn’t say much more. Reach is a winger but he lacks consistency and at times, it looks like he can’t even manage the basic fundamentals of someone that plays on the flanks.

Yes, the Hoops enjoy more possession in the SPFL than Sheff Wed do in the Championships but it speaks volumes about how average the Wednesday winger is as an attacking force when his stats equate to those of Brown and Ajer.

Reach did score against Exeter in the FA Cup last weekend but his performance beyond that was pretty poor, especially against a League Two side. He lost possession an inexcusable 21 times – the fourth highest on his team – and completed just 73% of his passes. Not exactly great numbers against a League Two club.

Even though he’d cost Lawwell absolutely nothing, this would still be a poor acquisition. Reach, who earns £23k-per-week, isn’t good enough and he has done little this term to convince us that he’d be consistent enough to deliver the goods at Parkhead.

If Celtic want to close the gap at the top and rediscover their dominance, they must forget about the Wednesday attacker and look at better options.

AND in other news, “Huge disappointment” – Exclusive: Pundit reacts to massive Celtic injury blow for Neil Lennon…