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Liam Kennedy has dropped some promising insight from Mike Ashley on the upcoming Newcastle United takeover case against the Premier League.

The Lowdown: Arbitration statement

Ashley has launched two separate claims against the top flight – the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) case over the decision-making process in the failing of the deal between him and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group; and the arbitration case, which is set to take place this month.

Earlier this week, Newcastle released a statement on their official website requesting for the forthcoming arbitration process to be made public, but this is only possible if the Premier League also agree to it as otherwise it will remain entirely confidential.

They also claimed in the statement that they have ‘nothing to hide’ with regards to the process, and even suggested that the Premier League should have ‘no reason to be afraid of the public spotlight’, providing that they have acted ‘lawfully and properly’.

The Latest: Ashley insight

Writing in his latest piece for The Shields Gazette, Kennedy – who has been following developments in the takeover saga – has shared that Ashley feels as if he has the ‘winning hand’ when it comes to both cases.

The owner of the Tyneside club is understood to be confident that he can still push through a deal with the consortium, and the call to make the arbitration process is not one over fear that he will lose.

The Verdict: Promising

It is certainly promising to hear how confident Ashley is of winning the case as it comes into fruition later this month. The statement released was a powerful one, and clearly shows his intent when it comes to the arbitration hearing.

If the Premier League are equally as or more confident than Ashley that they will win the case, then they should really be calling for publicity as they should have ‘nothing to hide’, just like the Tyneside club declared.

Nonetheless, it promises to be an intriguing case and should paint a much clearer picture over the direction of where the takeover is heading.

In other news, find out what prediction has been made about the arbitration result

West Ham United are interested in a deal to bring Arthur Cabral to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent report by Goal Brazil, who claim that David Moyes and his West Ham transfer team are set to make an offer for the FC Basel centre-forward this Thursday, with the Swiss Super League side believed to be commanding a figure in the region of €15m (£12.5m) in order to part with the 23-year-old this month.

The report goes on to state that the Brazil international is demanding a salary of €2.5m-per-year (£2m-per-year) in wages – roughly £40k-per-week – following a potential switch to East London, while it is also claimed that Barcelona and Newcastle United are two further clubs pursuing a deal for the forward in the current transfer window.

Cabral can finally replace Haller

Considering just how impressive Cabral has been in Switzerland so far this season, it would appear an extremely wise move for Moyes to do all he can to secure a deal for the FC Basel centre-forward this month.

Indeed, over his 18 Super League appearances in the current campaign, the £13.5m-rated striker has already scored a whopping 14 goals, registered four assists and created four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 4.2 shots and making 1.2 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the player who Jacek Kulig dubbed a “machine” average a quite extraordinary SofaScore match rating of 7.49, ranking the 23-year-old as the second-best player in the entirety of the Swiss top flight.

However, it is not only domestically that Cabral has been impressing, as the former Palmeiras hitman has bagged a further five goals over his six appearances in the Europa Conference League, in addition to averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.35 in the competition.

Further still, the Brazilian also scored eight goals and registered four assists over Basel’s six Europa Conference League qualifying fixtures – taking his total haul for the season to an astonishing 27 strikes and eight assists in just 31 appearances in all competitions.

As such, it is clear for all to see that Cabral is undoubtedly the man to finally replace Sebastien Haller as Michail Antonio’s primary competition for the centre-forward spot at the London Stadium, with the 23-year-old looking to be a contender for the bargain of the season if he is indeed available for just £12.5m this month, as has been reported.

In other news: “I doubt…”: ExWHUemployee reveals big transfer twist that will have WHU fans buzzing

Manchester United are attempting to hire their next manager to take control at Old Trafford this summer with Erik ten Hag the clear favourite for the challenging role, however a new update has emerged in another set-back for the club.

What’s the word?

According to Mail on Sunday’s Chief Writer, Rob Draper, Manchester United have now got some competition to secure the appointment of the Ajax boss.

In a report for the Daily Mail, Draper wrote that a leading Bundesliga club are also interested in hiring ten Hag this summer, and there are many issues that need to be resolved before he considers a move to Manchester at the end of the season.

Supporters will be fuming

Ten Hag has been the clear front runner and favourite to take over from Ralf Rangnick for weeks now, and losing the manager to another club this late in the process would be a devastating blow that would surely leave Man United supporters fuming and disappointed.

The Ajax boss was originally linked with the job leading up to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer being sacked, but the manager committed himself to see out the season with his Dutch side, so after a long wait for the appointment it will be a widely unpopular outcome if the United board and the Glazers don’t seal the deal.

The Red Devils have had an abysmal season by their standards considering they finished second in the Premier League last season. They have crashed out of all competitions and will enter their longest trophy drought in 40 years, so the addition of a manager like ten Hag with a winning mentality is essential for bringing back trophies to the club.

He has won two Eredivisie titles and impressively took Ajax to a Champions League semi-final in 2019 to name just a few of ten Hag’s achievements at his current club, and the supporters of Man United will surely be desperate for him to emulate his success with their side too.

The powers at Old Trafford must do everything they can to keep the deal on the table with the 52-year-old manager as it would be a disaster to lose him to another club and go back to square one in their manager search.

In other news: Journo reveals what he’s heard from senior figures at MUFC on Ronaldo, it’s bad news

With the return of the Premier League this weekend, Southampton make the trip to face Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday to see if they can continue their solid run of form from before the international break.

During the break, there were some concerns over the fitness of certain Saints players and whether or not they would be able to take part against the Canaries, who are currently sitting at the bottom of the league table with just five points on the board from 11 games.

Fortunately for Southampton, it seems as though one of their key players will be available for the clash.

What’s the news?

After being forced to drop out of the England squad at the start of the international break through illness, it has been revealed by Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl that club captain James Ward-Prowse will be available to play against Norwich after recovering from a bug rather than anything serious.

Given how Ward-Prowse has started nine out of Southampton’s 11 league games so far this season and scored two goals in the process, this shows how important he is to Hasenhuttl and the team.

As well as the number of appearances he’s made this season, the midfielder has also shown just how useful he is with his performances in an attacking and defensive sense.

In the Premier League, Ward-Prowse has racked up an average of 1.2 shots and 1.7 key passes per game, showing that he is a big part of Southampton’s attacking force. Indeed, only Nathan Redmond can better the captain’s average for the latter metric among Hasenhuttl’s squad.

The 27-year-old skipper, who is currently valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt, has also shown that he isn’t one to ignore his defensive duties, with an average of 1.2 tackles and 1.1 clearances per game this season.

With this in mind, it’s safe to say that Southampton fans will be buzzing to hear that Ward-Prowse will be available to play against Norwich this weekend.

Taking into account that Norwich have only won one game all season, scoring fewer goals (five) and conceding more (26) than any other side in the Premier League, this could be a great opportunity for Southampton to pick up another victory after winning three of their four previous matches prior to the November international break.

In other news: Hasenhuttl must unleash “confident” £53k-p/w Saints gem v Norwich, he’d give Smith nightmares

It would be ‘huge’ if Leeds United’s Ian Poveda returns to the fold at Blackburn Rovers during the run-in, former Whites attacker Noel Whelan says. 

The lowdown

Back in August, Leeds winger Poveda sealed a season-long loan move to Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

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But only eight games into his spell at Ewood Park, he suffered an ankle injury and had to undergo surgery.

Having returned to his parent club, he’s only been able to get back on the grass and step up his rehabilitation in the past few weeks.

But Graham Smyth of the Yorkshire Evening Post reports that he’s now ready to return to Blackburn ahead of their final three matches.

Manager Tony Mowbray will run the rule over Poveda and decide whether he can be of assistance in the short time that remains.

The latest

Whelan says it would be a ‘massive boost’ for the player, in terms of his mood and his physical condition, if he’s able to re-enter the fray at Blackburn.

“The fact that he could come back and finish the season – it’s such a huge thing,” he told Football Insider.

“Both for his confidence and his fitness, to finish the season strongly will be a massive boost.”

The verdict

Come the summer, Jesse Marsch and Leeds will decide if Poveda has what it takes to be a member of the first-team squad next season.

He’d scored one goal and provided two assists in four Championship starts pre-injury, and all parties would have been frustrated to see his progress curtailed.

Indeed, Mowbray had raved about the ‘wonderful talent’ before his long-term lay-off.

It could wind up being a shoot-out at Elland Road between Poveda and fellow youngster Crysencio Summerville, who’s also a right winger.

Should Marsch favour the former, then Summerville could seal a move to Rangers or Hamburg, both credited with interest.

In other news, read this journalist’s Sergino Dest claim.

Football is a sport based around constant progression and that means that squads are constantly changing and evolving, and Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has overseen plenty of development on the pitch in his time at Ibrox.

He has brought in the likes of Ryan Kent, Ianis Hagi and Connor Goldson to Ibrox from other teams in the transfer market, but buying ready-made stars is not the only way to go about improving your team. Utilising the academy set-up can be a profitable and worthwhile method of acquiring talented players and Gerrard has been able to bring through young defender Nathan Patterson.

The 20-year-old has emerged as a first-team player over the past 18 months and is currently competing for the first-choice right-back spot with captain James Tavernier.

At the start of the year, Transfermarkt valued him at a measly £225k. This was after he made a couple of cameo appearances in the first-half of the 2020/21 campaign, with Gerrard easing him into the first-team picture slowly.

The Gers coach has been able to pull off a masterclass with the full-back by integrating him into the team bit by bit in 2021. Patterson has now made 20 first-team appearances in the Premiership, cup and Europa League to date and recently started and picked up an assist in a crucial 2-1 win over Hibernian in the Scottish Premiership. This has also led to him being capped five times by Scotland at international level.

Head of academy Craig Mulholland once heaped praise on the young full-back, saying: “Nathan has been fantastic for us this year.

“Again, we started the project five, six, years ago to get a level of player that we felt could go and compete in the Europa League, could go and compete in Old Firm games.

“And if you go and look at Nathan in the last 16 of the Europa League, if you look at him in the Old Firm game, it’s a great example for all the young players in here of what we’re trying to achieve.”

At the time of writing (18/10/2021), Transfermarkt value Patterson at £1.17m. This is a 420% increase from his initial £225k valuation back in January, perfectly illustrating his meteoric rise over the course of the year whilst working with Gerrard at Ibrox.

Therefore, the ex-Liverpool player and coach has pulled off a masterclass with Patterson. He has turned a talented young player into a serious first-team option and someone who could either earn the club a healthy payday, with Manchester United one of the clubs reportedly interested in the 20-year-old.

It is down to the Scottish international to keep working hard and ensure that he is constantly putting pressure on Tavernier. If he can earn a regular starting position in the team then his development could accelerate with the experience gained from minutes week-in-week-out.

AND in other news, Major update emerges on key Rangers figure that’ll leave fans worried…

Sunderland return to competitive action on Wednesday night as they host Manchester United’s under-23 side at the Stadium of Light in the EFL Trophy.

The Black Cats won their opening match in the group last time out, beating fellow League One outfit Lincoln 2-1 away from home last week. Meanwhile, United have won one and lost one of their two matches in the competition, with Sunderland able to move above the Red Devils in their group with a win on Wednesday.

One player who Lee Johnson must unleash against the under-23 Premier League side is young forward Stephen Wearne.

The 20-year-old whizz kid made his senior bow against Lincoln as he came off the bench and scored the crucial second goal for the Black Cats. He came on for Ellis Taylor and played out wide on the right, marking his debut with a special goal which will surely live in his memory for a long time.

Speaking after the game, Wearne explained how much the goal meant to him. He said: “I was delighted to make my debut, it was a good team performance and obviously I’m happy to get the goal and with my family being here as well – my mum, my dad, my sister, and girlfriend – it was a special moment. I was delighted to score in front of the fans and it was a great feeling.

“I found out I was going to be in the squad the other day. The U23s had a game on Monday and I was told I was only going to play 45 minutes and then be on the bench on Tuesday. There was a possibility I might come on so I was just raring to go and excited to play and even more happy to get the goal.”

Taylor, who Wearne replaced, endured a difficult night against Lincoln as he lost half of his duels and gave away possession of the ball 11 times from just 28 touches. He also failed with both of his attempted crosses and did not attempt a single dribble, which is why Johnson must now unleash Wearne from the start against Manchester United’s under-23s.

In just 28 minutes, Wearne completed 10 of his 12 attempted passes and scored a goal to showcase his quality in the final third. This shows that he has the quality to be a game-changer for Sunderland, as he was able to find the back of the net at senior level, which means that he could score important goals to help Johnson’s side secure valuable points in the league and the EFL Trophy.

Therefore, the Black Cats boss should select him from the start on Wednesday night to see if he can replicate his Lincoln performance over the course of 90 minutes.

According to Eurosport, West Ham are now ‘considering turning their attention’ to Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic amid their desperate hunt for a new forward – with the Galacticos prepared to let him leave this summer.

The Lowdown: West Ham in long, arduous striker hunt…

Manager David Moyes has been looking to add a new striker to his ranks since the start of the January transfer window.

The Scotsman himself even confirmed that bids had been lodged in an attempt to sign a new forward – revealing that an offer had been made for Youssef En-Nesyri of Sevilla.

They have had little luck in signing a striker this window, either, with Eurosport now bringing the latest as West Ham attempt to cast their net wide and finally put an end to the search.

The Latest: West Ham now weighing Jovic swoop…

As per the outlet, Madrid are prepared to let out-of-favour forward Jovic leave this summer and West Ham are now considering a swoop for him.

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The 23-year-old spent the second half of last season on loan at former club Eintracht Frankfurt, where he managed four goals in eight starts.

However, the young striker will not be in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans this season and West Ham may now revisit his situation as a result.

As explained, though, West Ham will face stiff competition for Jovic with three clubs in Germany also eager to sign him.

The Verdict: Last gamble?

Jovic was once tipped to become ‘the best striker in Europe’ (The Guardian), and even though things haven’t gone to plan for him at the Bernabeu, he could feasibly turn his career back around at West Ham.

Still young, the Serbian has already amassed an impressive 59 career goals whilst being described as ‘world class’ by former Frankfurt boss Adi Hutter as recently as January (realmadridlatestnews.com).

Depending on the potential transfer fee, with no mention of a valuation in Eurosport’s update, Jovic could be the ideal striker signing for Moyes.

In other news: ‘Yesssss’, ‘Incredible’, ‘We are blessed’…West Ham fans erupt over official club announcement, find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur are in line for a game-changing boost if behind-the-scenes claims are to be believed…

What’s the word?

According to Lilywhites insider John Wenham, who was speaking to Football Insider, the north Londoners are holding out for a mega deal over their stadium naming rights which could earn them in excess of £400m and would certainly be a major financial boost for the club.

Spurs are yet to find a sponsor since opening their new ground in April 2019 and they recently posted a pre-tax loss of £80.2m.

“We are still waiting on the stadium naming rights deal. That’s massive. We are holding out for a super-deal of something like £20million over 20 years,” Wenham revealed.

“There is £400million straight away. Let’s just keep an eye on that one. I know the stadium naming rights thing is going on in the background.

“The club could accept a deal tomorrow, they want this massive deal. When it gets sorted and is announced, it will be significant. We have been waiting on it for years.”

Game-changing boost

This latest development should raise excitement levels around N17 as it could massively help elevate the club to where they need to be if they are to truly contend again.

Their facilities are definitely up there with the best in the world right now, but with no top-four finish in two seasons and on the cusp of being knocked out of UEFA’s third-rate competition, the Europa Conference League, they are streets off reaching this standard on the pitch.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/tottenham-hotspur-latest-team-injury-team-news-updates-transfers-gossip-rumours-antonio-conte-thfc” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

A major financial injection like this could help sporting director Fabio Paratici to seriously bolster Antonio Conte’s squad, so many will be encouraged by this prospect as it’s evident that the current crop of players just isn’t good enough.

As the club insider states, this would be ‘significant’ for the club and it is something they are working very hard on behind the scenes – as such, it would hand them a game-changing financial boost on and off the pitch.

Back in 2011, league rivals Manchester City sealed a similar deal, raking in £400m from Etihad to rename their stadium, and you only have to look at what they have achieved since to know how big a move like this can be.

The defending champions are the barometer and Spurs must do all in their power to head towards that, starting with finding their own suitable sponsor for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Gollini: Spurs disaster who lost 80% of his duels betrayed Conte v Mura…

Sunderland have been handed a boost to their chances of keeping Elliot Embleton at the Stadium of Light this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Alan Nixon, with The Sun journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that Blackpool have not, at present, made a second bid for the Black Cats midfielder.

It was previously reported that Neil Critchley had instructed his transfer team to do all they can to secure the services of the 22-year-old in the summer market, although the Seasiders appear to have seen an initial offer for the former England U20 international rejected.

Meanwhile, Sunderland are thought to be desperate to keep hold of Embleton, with Lee Johnson claiming that he will look to give the youngster plenty of game time in the club’s upcoming campaign.

And, after a fan asked Nixon whether or not Blackpool had returned with an improved offer for the midfielder, the journalist said: “Not yet.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Embleton was while on loan at Blackpool last season, the fact that it appears the 22-year-old could remain at the Stadium of Light beyond the summer is sure to have left fans of the club buzzing.

Indeed, over his 30 League One appearances for Critchley’s team last term, the £4.3k-per-week man scored two goals, registered four assists and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.7 shots and making 1.2 key passes per game.

The midfielder also turned in impressive numbers more typical of his position, making an average of 1.1 tackles, winning possession 0.5 times and triumphing in 2.3 duels per match.

These returns saw the man Max Power dubbed as “technically one of the best players I’ve seen” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.90, ranking him as the Seasiders’ 12th-best performer in the third tier of English football – playing a key role in the club securing promotion to the Championship.

As such, with Johnson hoping to mastermind a promotion of his own with Sunderland next season, the return of a player who boasts as much potential as Embleton, as well as one who managed the feat while on loan last term, would certainly appear to give the 40-year-old’s chances of achieving his target a huge boost.

In other news: Get it done: KLD must seal swoop for “important” £1.2k-p/w gem, SAFC have opened talks