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West Ham United are reportedly eying the perfect January swoop in Olympique Lyonnais forward Moussa Dembele.

What’s the word?

According to The Sun, David Moyes’ London Stadium natives are on red alert to Dembele’s situation, as the former Celtic striker is growing frustrated at the Groupama Stadium where manager Rudi Garcia has often left him on the bench this season.

Moyes is a big admirer of the 24-year-old, and could be afforded the chance of presenting Dembele with a second crack at English football after emerging through Fulham’s academy before moving to Parkhead.

Lyon are considering cashing in on Dembele come the January market but are expected to demand at least £30million, while also insisting on substantial add-on clauses for the sought-after Manchester United target.

West Ham are claimed to have money to spend in the winter after failing to buy a striker this summer, and Moyes intends to utilise his war chest to find a replacement for Sebastien Haller having been opposed to fielding the Manuel Pellegrini signing this term.

Backed for greatness

Moyes has so far only felt fit to start Haller in two Premier League fixtures this season, with both coming since losing Michail Antonio to a hamstring injury. The West Ham boss would be able to move on from the Irons’ £45m record signing by acquiring Dembele, though.

The Lyon ace is yet to open his scoring for the term in Ligue 1, having been restricted to four starts from nine with five further appearances from the bench, but struck home 24 times in 46 games across all competitions last season – including netting a game-winning brace over Manchester City in the Champions League Quarter-Final.

Dembele would also suit Moyes’ tactics far better than Haller, who the Scot believes does not bring the same energy to the sole-striker position in his formation that Antonio can offer.

Eintracht Frankfurt extracted the most from Haller when the forward was fielded alongside Luka Jovic and Ante Rebic, leading to 20 goals and 12 assists in the 2018/19 season. Dembele, meanwhile, may not be not considered the next Kylian Mbappe or Neymar, but is rather seen as the next Olivier Giroud for France through his ability both on and off the ball.

“Moussa has always been a complete player,” Laurent Bonadei, who coached Dembele while he was a rising star of Paris Saint-Germain’s academy, told Goal.

“He’s not a player who will dribble three players in a phone booth, like Mbappe or Neymar, but he can become Giroud’s successor in the French team, because he doesn’t hesitate to go into duels and work for the collective.”

Bonadei’s praise for Dembele was perfectly reflected by his efforts against Manchester City in last season’s Champions League Quarter-Final, when he came off the bench to flip the tie in the Ligue 1 outfit’s favour with a brace from two shots while attempting four duels in 15 minutes, per SofaScore.

Moyes would undoubtedly adore having a player of Dembele’s ilk at the London Stadium, it just remains to be seen if David Sullivan is willing to match Lyon’s minimum £30m valuation for a player tipped to succeed France’s second-best goalscorer of all-time.

AND in other news, West Ham have entered the £8m race to sign an in-demand sensation who “can do anything”.

Former Coventry City striker Callum Wilson could leave Bournemouth this summer and that would see the Sky Blues receive a 10% sell-on figure.

With the Cherries suffering relegation to the Championship from the Premier League last season, a summer sale is expected to to develop at the Vitality stadium.

Wilson, who scored eight goals in 35 Premier League games last term, is said to be one of the players who could be sold to hand the club some much needed transfer funds this summer.

Joining Bournemouth in 2014, the England international formerly played for Coventry, starting his career with the Sky Blues.

Valued at £18m by website Transfermarkt, the 28-year-old has been told that he will not be allowed to leave the former Premier League club for less than £30m.

That news will delight Coventry having installed a sell-on clause on Wilson’s deal to Bournemouth of 10%, meaning they could recoup a sum of £3m if the striker moves on for said asking price.

Coventry LIVE claim that West Ham United and Everton are among the front runners to potentially make a summer move.

Great news for Coventry who would be able to utilise that potential amount on either a new signing or player wages.

Mark Robins has been excellent this summer in terms of bringing in some new faces and Wilson’s potential summer move could see him add to those.

Who do you think Callum Wilson will join? Let us know in the comments section below…

Glasgow Rangers goalkeeper Robby McCrorie has been called up to the Scotland squad for the first time, as per BBC.

The 22-year-old is currently on loan at Livingston, with him yet to make his professional bow for the ‘Gers. Last season, he spent the first half of the term on loan at Queen of the South before making the short-term move to Livingston for the second half of the campaign. All in all, he managed to keep seven clean sheets during the whole of the season.

It seems that his form has impressed Scotland manager Steve Clarke, who has decided to include him in the squad to face Israel and the Czech Republic at the start of September.

This a massive testament to McCrorie’s ability. Even without ever playing for the ‘Gers, his performances elsewhere have earned him recognition, and it is an indication to Steven Gerrard that this could be a player for the future. Allan McGregor and Jon McLaughlin are 38 and 32 respectively and the Ibrox club will need a fresh face between the sticks in the not-too-distant future.

‘Gers fans, are you glad to see McCrorie getting the call-up to the Scotland senior squad? Let us know what you think by commenting below!

Tottenham returned to Premier League action against Manchester United on Friday night – but some of their fans were left flabbergasted about one player who didn’t feature in their 1-1 draw against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Spurs went into their first game for more than three months trailing the top-four rivals by four points, although Jose Mourinho’s men looked on course to end a six-match winless run in all competitions when January signing Steven Bergwijn fired them into an early lead.

However, with just nine minutes remaining, Paul Pogba won United a penalty that Bruno Fernandes duly dispatched past Hugo Lloris to ensure a share of the spoils in north London.

Tottenham looked leggy in the latter stages, but Mourinho opted to use just two of his five substitutes – keeping record-signing Tanguy Ndombele on the bench, much to the displeasure of a number of Spurs fans on Twitter.

Some were angry, whilst others demanded the Portuguese to start the French midfielder against West Ham on Tuesday.

Check the best tweets below…

Burnley are reportedly among the favourites to sign Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki in the summer transfer window.

According to Lancashire Live, the Clarets are second favourites with some bookmakers to lure the 80-cap Finland international from Carrow Road following the Canaries’ relegation from the Premier League, with Besiktas currently touted as the front-runners for his signature.

Pukki found the net 11 times for Norwich in their dismal Premier League campaign, although six of those came in the first five matches of the season, including a hat-trick against Newcastle. The 30-year-old netted just twice since New Year’s Day, with both of those goals coming in January. [via TransferMarkt]

His subsequent struggles in front of goal mirrored those of the Canaries in general – in the 14 league games that Norwich played since the start of February, they scored the grand total of two goals. Meanwhile, in eight league games after the season restarted in mid-June, the Finland striker managed just six shots in total (as per WhoScored).

Pukki’s season haul of 11 goals in all competitions was matched by Jay Rodriguez at Burnley and three fewer than Chris Wood. The other two senior centre-forwards at Turf Moor, Ashley Barnes and Matej Vydra, struck eight goals between them in 2019/20. [via TransferMarkt]

Burnley already have a decent selection of potent striking options and therefore aren’t in great need of reinforcement in this department, while they certainly don’t need to invest in a 30-year-old and out of form Pukki.

Furthermore, there are other positions in Sean Dyche’s squad which require more urgent attention – they only have three natural wingers, while neither of the two goalkeeping backups to Chelsea transfer target Nick Pope played for the Clarets in 2019/20.

Burnley will likely need to be more frugal and clever than before in what is set to be a constrained financial climate in the transfer window, so the purchase of Pukki would make very little sense.

Burnley fans, are you surprised that the Clarets are considered among the favourites for Pukki? Share your views in the comments section below!

One of the brightest prospects in German football, Kai Havertz has been lighting up the Bundesliga for a couple of seasons now. The 20-year-old struck an impressive 20 times in 42 games across all competitions last season, and has seen his name linked with a whole host of clubs, including Manchester United.

According to Sport Bild (via Sport Witness), the Red Devils are said to be very interested in securing his signature, but will face stiff competition from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Liverpool, amongst others.

And following the report, fans of the Manchester side flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the supposed interest in the attacking midfielder, with a couple of supporters urging Ed Woodward to pull off a deal.

A few fans were quick to bring in their opinions about how the transfer window should go for United, with one supporter in particular claiming that Havertz would be a “better option” than another reported target James Maddison.

The fact that some of European football’s biggest sides are interested in signing the German, really goes to show how highly-rated he is. If the Red Devils can get a deal done, then it would be a major statement of intent.

Meanwhile, Manchester United fans don’t want this reported transfer target after his disappointing display in the Champions League.

As per the CIES Football Observatory, Glasgow Rangers have had more penalties than any other side in the Scottish Premiership during the last three seasons.

The study covered a number of Europe’s top-tier divisions, with complete stats provided for the entirety of the Premiership. The study revealed that the ‘Gers have had 23 penalties during the past three campaigns, which is three more than the next most rewarded club Hamilton Academical, whilst it is nine more than their fierce Glasgow rivals Celtic.

They don’t quite lead the way in terms of success rate, though, with Aberdeen having netted 88.9% of their spot-kicks compared to the Light Blues’ 87%, but that is still a strong completion rate.

Of course, given that Celtic have won the last nine league titles, this clearly doesn’t have too much of an effect on proceedings north of the border, but there is certainly some solace that Steven Gerrard can take. The large number of penalties at least shows that the ‘Gers are taking the game to their opponents and are putting sides under pressure in the final third.

As Gerrard looks to finally wrestle the Premiership title away from the Bhoys, this is a stat he can certainly build upon next season.

‘Gers fans, were you surprised to learn that the Light Blues have won more penalties than any other Premiership club since 2017? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Helder Costa hasn’t been brilliant for Leeds since joining the Whites this summer.

The Wolves loanee has yet to score in the league, but after grabbing his second assist of the season against Reading on Tuesday many fans felt as if he was turning a corner.

Fortunately for the winger, he’s got a great opportunity to have a real breakout performance this Saturday.

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Looks set to start

Costa was brought into proceedings on Tuesday after an injury to Tyler Roberts saw Marcelo Bielsa forced to reshuffle his side a little bit.

With the Boro game coming just four days after Roberts picked up that problem, it’s been confirmed that the Welshman won’t play any part this weekend.

The most likely scenario is that the Argentine lines up against Jonathan Woodgate’s side with a similar team to the one that ended the game at the Madejski Stadium with Costa on the right and Hernandez in the middle.

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Real chance

The Wolves loanee has a real chance against Middlesbrough to show the Elland Road faithful exactly what he’s got.

Boro have been lining up with a back three in recent weeks, and with their left-sided centre-back Dael Fry lacking pace, Costa could easily get at him.

Middlesbrough’s WhoScored page makes great reading as well. One of their weaknesses is listed as struggling to defend against skilful players, and that certainly plays right into Costa’s hands.

The wide man manages 1.3 dribbles per game across his career while he’s also fouled the same number of times on average each outing.

The 25-year-old could get the better of Boro’s defence this weekend, and if his final ball is as good as it was on Tuesday then this could be the turning point for the Wolves loanee at Elland Road.

With Roberts out, he simply has to grab the opportunity with both hands.

In other news, one Leeds star has been praising Marcelo Bielsa’s “carnage” training strategy…

Southampton fans have taken to Twitter following the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday afternoon, and they are not happy with one man’s performance – Alex McCarthy.

The England international didn’t do a lot wrong throughout the 90 minutes, although it was his mistake in the 87th minute that allowed Federico Fernandez to slam the ball home and steal all three points for the Magpies.

McCarthy – formerly of Reading, QPR and Crystal Palace – spilled Sean Longstaff’s long-range strike into the path of the former Swansea centre-back to hand the Saints a ninth defeat of the Premier League season.

The loss leaves Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men languishing in the bottom three on 15 points, and the Southampton fans on Twitter have been pointing the finger at the 30-year-old glovesman.

One supporter said that McCarthy is “rubbish”, whereas another said that the shot-stopper had a “shocker” alongside Ryan Bertrand – the latter of whom missed an open goal in the second half.

Another fan said that he is no longer sure on his previous belief that McCarthy was a better shot-stopper than Angus Gunn.

Elsewhere, one said that it appears as if Palace, QPR and Reading were right to move McCarthy on as he might not actually be that good.

Lastly, two more supporters added to the hate aimed towards the glovesman.

One said that if Gunn had made the same error as McCarthy did, the former Manchester City man would’ve been “crucified”, while another fan simply said that Hasenhuttl’s No.1 was “shocking” for Newcastle’s second goal.

In other news, Southampton fans were not happy to see this man named in Hasenhuttl’s starting XI before the game against Newcastle…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Tom Davies has become an integral part of Aidy Boothroyd’s England U21s over the past year. The Everton man wore the captain’s armband for the Young Lions back in September and he now has 16 appearances and one goal for them.

Now, with the Boothroyd putting together another star-studded squad – one which Davies has been included in – the Everton academy product has the chance to catch the eye of Gareth Southgate. The likes of Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden are just a few names on the list who the England boss will surely be watching.

However, with 95 appearances for Everton under his belt now, Davies is the one Southgate should be keeping a close eye on. The 21-year-old has an opportunity to enjoy a long spell in the Everton team after the injury to Andre Gomes.

Plus, despite the club’s poor form, the Toffees man has a chance to prove his worth to both the England boss and Marco Silva over the coming months.

Over the past few years, England youngsters have flourished and made the step up from U21 to senior level, with Fikayo Tomori, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham some recent examples of players who have stepped up in class.

Those players all graduated from Boothroyd’s squad and it’s fair to assume that the youth team manager is constantly in communication with Southgate regarding players he believes have the potential to play at the elite level.

Should Davies, who is valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, put in a shift and impress with the Young Lions, he could put his name into the back of Southgate’s mind.

Now, he also his chance to take the opportunity to become Everton’s main man in the absence of Gomes and that will only bolster his international aspirations.

And a string of fine performances could well put himself into contention for Euro 2020, even if he is an outside shout at this stage in the season.

The midfield spot has become an area for England where the coaching staff have chopped and changed. Harry Winks, Jordan Henderson, Ross Barkley and Declan Rice are just a few who have stepped into the centre lately.

Now, with Fabian Delph also receiving a call-up, there is no reason why Davies cannot make his stamp on the squad as well.