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According to a recent report from The Daily Mail, Everton could face a fight to keep hold of Richarlison come the summer transfer window. The Brazil international only made the move to Goodison Park last year after impressing at fellow Premier League side Watford last season, and he has taken that form into his spell on Merseyside to further underline his credentials in the English top-flight.

And a recent report from The Daily Mail suggests that Chelsea are interested in a summer move for the 21-year-old as they prepare possible replacements for Eden Hazard, and were Marco Silva’s Toffees to indeed lose the talented forward this summer, another underwhelming season would be on the horizon for the Merseyside club.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, it has been a testing season so far for new manager Silva at Goodison Park, as while the Portuguese made an encouraging start to life on Merseyside, things have gone wrong recently to pile the pressure on his shoulders.

The Toffees were sat in sixth place in the Premier League table only back in December to underline the fine start the 41-year-old made at Goodison Park, with the former Watford and Hull City chief going some way to bringing the excitement back to Everton after last season’s dismal football under Sam Allardyce.

Yet things have since taken a turn for the worst given Silva’s side have won just three times in the league since their 1-0 success over Cardiff City at the end of November, losing on seven other occasions to slip to ninth place in the table – clearly, that is simply not good enough.

Yet one of their bright sparks this season has been 21-year-old Richarlison, who made the big money move to Goodison Park during the summer to once again link-up with Silva, having produced the goods under the Portuguese at Watford in the first half of last season.

And the Brazil international has once again proven his worth with ten goals and two assists in 24 Premier League matches for the Toffees, with all ten goals coming in matches that Everton have gone on to either win or draw – clearly, he delivers when it matters most.

In fact, his tally of 11 goals in all competitions sees him atop of the Toffees’ goal-scoring charts this term to further underline his significance, but most important of all he has given Silva another option in the number nine role given the struggles of the rest of Everton’s pool of strikers.

The likes of Cenk Tosun and Oumar Niasse simply haven’t been able to lead the line effectively when called upon during their respective times at Everton, with Richarlison the man Silva has shoe-horned into the main striker’s role on occasion this term – imagine the predicament they would have been in without the Brazilian ace.

And in a team that have invested heavily in recent years in a bid to bridge the gap to the Premier League’s top six, they simply cannot be in the business of selling their best and most important players – they won’t get anywhere if they do.

And in Richarlison, the Toffees have themselves an asset – an asset that can aid them in their quest up the Premier League table in the years to come.

Losing him is simply unthinkable this summer, as doing so would all but end their chances of moving up the division – in fact, an underwhelming campaign would beckon for Everton were they to sell the 21-year-old to Chelsea.

Everton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

While Tottenham Hotspur’s season is on hold for the time being, it would be wise to delve into the decisions facing manager Jose Mourinho this summer.

One big dilemma is the future of centre-back Juan Foyth as he’s featured only three times since the Portuguese chief took the reins in November and at one stage looked set on leaving during the winter transfer window.

Dan Kilpatrick of the Evening Standard reported back in October that the Argentine defender would consider his future if he was overlooked for the first-team, and evidently that has been the case over the last few months.

Jan Vertonghen looks likely to leave the club following the expiration of his contract, too, so Mourinho may be light on options going into next season, whenever that may begin.

Foyth was signed by ex-bos Mauricio Pochettino in the summer of 2017 and has a contract at the club until 2022.

So, is it possible for the 22-year-old to salvage a future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium? Here’s what our writers think…

Harry Sherlock

“Absolutely not. 

“Sources have told me previously that Spurs wanted to sell Foyth in the January transfer window, purely because Jose Mourinho doesn’t rate him. 

“A Mauricio Pochettino signing, he was often seen as the future of the backline under his Argentine compatriot but he is prone to the odd mistake and is remarkably unlikely to dislodge any of the centre-backs ahead of him in the pecking order. 

“Perhaps he hasn’t been given a fair crack of the whip – that can certainly be argued – but he isn’t very good. 

“He’ll be finding a new club in the summer; one can only hope he can resuscitate a career that is in grave danger of dying.”

Viji Jeevathayalan

“With all the uncertainty surrounding Spurs’ other centre-backs, Mourinho would be wise to give Foyth another chance. Jan Vertonghen appears set to leave on a free transfer this summer, whilst the likes of Toby Alderweireld and Davinson Sanchez (reports in Spain via Sports Mole) have seen speculation linking their names with a move away too.

“Whilst it’s difficult to see the north Londoners let go of all three of their starting centre-backs, just one or two departures could see Foyth come in from the shadows. Mauricio Pochettino clearly saw something in him to bring him to the club in the first place, and considering his still young age, it’s up to Mourinho try and get the best out of him.

“But make no mistake about it, this would be last chance saloon for the Argentine.”

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James Beavis

“Serge Aurier may have been one of Spurs’ better players in recent months, but there must still be some regret at letting now Champions League quarter-finalist Kieran Trippier leave for Atletico Madrid last summer.

“It has left Tottenham with a real lack of depth and quality in the right-back position, and it could be a similar situation if they allow Juan Foyth to go.

“The Argentine defender has shown his versatility by playing as both a full-back and a centre-back for the north London outfit in the past, and at 22 years of age and with nine caps for his country to his name, he clearly has the potential to get better.

“Potentially missing out on Champions League football – should the 2019/20 season resume – could affect the club’s summer transfer budget, and therefore they would be better off keeping someone like Foyth who can cover at least two different positions.

“Levy can’t afford a Trippier 2.0 situation with this Spurs defender.”

Lewis Blain

“Given the lack of faith put in Foyth in Mourinho since his appointment, it would only be wise to part ways this summer. He’s featured only seven times this season for a total of 262 minutes and only three of which have come under the Portuguese, per Transfermarkt.

“It’s awfully telling as Spurs possess the joint-worst defensive record of any side in the top ten in the Premier League so far this season. He clearly feels that the £13.5m-rated 22-year-old offers nothing of value to their leaky backline.

“This one is certainly looking like a disaster signing on Mauricio Pochettino’s side, perhaps a rare error from the ex-Spurs magician.”

Money talks: How much did Levy pay for each of these Spurs stars?

And in other news, Julian Nagelsmann backed to be Spurs manager when Mourinho leaves…

West Bromwich Albion’s season has hit a bumpy patch in recent weeks, although, the fact that they have lost just once will provide some encouragement.

The Baggies sit second to Leeds United by goal difference with the pair holding a nine-point advantage to those outside of the automatic promotion spots.

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Their season could well hinge on the activity they do this month as there is still plenty of room for improvement at the Hawthorns.

On the Chalkboard

Much of the talk ahead of the January transfer window has been surrounding potential additions in the striking department with the likes of Dwight Gayle, Jarrod Bowen and even Che Adams but Slaven Bilic must avert his attention elsewhere for the time being.

Yes, they have suffered in the absence of loan ace Grady Diangana, in fact, the side are yet to win without him – the 22-year-old has directly contributed to ten goals this campaign.

But it is in defence where their major problems lie.

Albion have kept a clean sheet in just 19% of their 26 league games, which is the lowest of any team inside the top eight and is worse than both Middlesbrough and Derby County, who are closer to the relegation zone than the playoffs.

At the Hawthorns it is an even worse situation as they have leaked 68% of their goals this season on their own patch.

Something has got to change here as the pressure is currently on the forwards to outscore the opposition.

Bilic’s most significant problem could lie at left-back, and it may get worse as the month goes on.

Kieran Gibbs just can’t stay fit, he’s played nine times in the Championship this term and was forced off early against Leeds on New Year’s Day once again.

It’s the dawn of a new decade in the Premier League, but how much do you know about the last 10 years?

Nathan Ferguson could be sold this month amidst interest from an array of European heavyweights, that’s if he doesn’t sign the lucrative contract offered to him.

And then there is Conor Townsend, who has been a bit-part player, making ten appearances, half of which being starts. It remains to be seen whether he’s up to the standard that a promotion push entails.

This is an area that must be strengthened if Albion are to keep their challenge up for the rest of the campaign.

Meanwhile, West Brom have potentially received a season-defining boost this month…

After failing to work his way into Manuel Pellegrini’s thinking at Manchester City following his transfer from Fulham back in the summer of 2015, Patrick Roberts decided his development would be best served elsewhere heading into the second half of the 2015/16 season. 

As a result, the Fulham youth product ended up joining Celtic in February on an 18-month loan deal, much to the delight of supporters.

And once he took to the Celtic Park pitch, it was not hard to see why. A versatile attacker capable of playing on the right and just behind the striker, Roberts brought pace, a low centre of gravity and overall directness to Ronny Deila’s side.

He scored six goals in 11 league appearances for his Norwegian boss as Celtic went on to comfortably win the 2015/16 SPL title before going up another level the following season under Deila’s successor Brendan Rodgers.

With Rodgers at the helm, Roberts played exceptionally well, scoring nine SPL goals while creating a further 10 along the way, making Celtic’s decision to bring the 21-year-old in on loan for 18 months a brilliant one.

Unfortunately for Roberts, though, he was unable to have the same sort of impact in his second loan spell with the Scottish giants due to a serious hamstring injury. But overall, his time at Celtic Park can only be described as a success and one that really benefited the team.

Every so often a young player bursts onto the scene in an exciting whirlwind of hype, promise and potential that gets fans salivating over the world-beating feats to come from the starlet. Sometimes they even live up to that lofty early billing too. Yet, far more often, it doesn’t pan out like that at all.

For every Lionel Messi, there are fifty Freddy Adus.

In England we have a habit of getting terribly over-excited about emerging young talents. In many cases it’s harmless enough. Stewart Downing never was the saviour of English football after all, but he’s carved out a perfectly decent career for himself and that’s fine.

On other occasions though, the fall from the lofty perch of superstar-to-be to failed prospect is a long and often undignified one.

Breakthrough moment

In athletic terms, Pennant had it all. Fast, powerful and technically gifted. When he joined Arsenal for £2 million as a 15-year-old in 1999 he looked set to be one of the stars of the new Millennium. 

Despite becoming the Gunners’ then-youngest-ever player when he made his League Cup bow a few months after his arrival, he wouldn’t start his first league fixture until 2003 – when he scored a hat-trick against Southampton. That would be as good as it got though, and would prove to be the first of only five league starts for Arsenal in seven years at the club.

What went wrong?

The greatest challenge that faced Pennant’s career was being Pennant. His lack of discipline, behavioural issues and aversion to working hard in training forced a string of managers to lose patience with the winger.

In a career that spanned spells (both loan deals and permanent moves) with 15 different clubs before Pennant finally called it a day in 2017 following a four-month stint with Billericay Town, he never made it beyond under-21 level for the Three Lions.

Where are they now?

Pennant is currently appearing on Channel 5’s Celebrity Big Brother and has recently published an autobiography. 

Breakthrough moment

Arsenal academy product David Bentley was a Premier League regular for Norwich City during a loan spell in the 2004/05 season. However, it proved insufficient for the ‘new David Beckham’ to force his way into Arsene Wenger’s plans at Highbury. Bentley eventually got his move away from the North London club to get regular first team football at Blackburn Rovers.

The best form of his career came whilst he was with the Lancashire club, and he earned all seven of his senior England caps before moving on to Spurs.

What went wrong?

Bentley’s career was plagued with injuries, confidence issues and a gambling addiction. He lost his place to Aaron Lennon at White Hart Lane and his career never really recovered, and left having scored two goals in 42 appearances. Loan stints with Birmingham City, West Ham United, FC Rostov and Blackburn Rovers failed to reignite Bentley’s form before he was released by Spurs in 2013. Months later he retired from professional football aged 29 claiming to have fallen out of love with the game, as reported by the BBC. 

Where are they now?

Since retiring, Bentley has invested his football fortune into various businesses, including bars and restaurants, a cleaning company and an accounting firm.

Breakthrough moment

Francis Jeffers was a goalscoring teenage sensation for his boyhood club Everton, finding the net 18 times in 49 league outings for the Toffees. The youngster’s form was so great that when he made his move away from Goodison Park, the Merseyside club received a whopping £8 million for the striker (big money in 2001 for such a young player).

The club who paid it? Arsenal (there’s a pattern emerging here).

What went wrong?

Injuries struck, Thierry Henry was too brilliant to displace, and it turned out that Jeffers simply wasn’t as good as everyone thought he might be. In this most glorious period of the Gunners’ history, Jeffers barely got a kick. He was loaned back to Everton for the duration of Arsenal’s historic Invincible season but failed to score a single league goal in his second spell with the club.

When he left Arsenal for good in 2004 he had one England cap and 30 career goals to his name in all competitions. 9 seasons and 10 clubs later, with only a further 22 goals under his belt, Jeffers was released by Accrington Stanley and failed to find a new club.

Where are they now?

Jeffers has been part of the under-23s coaching staff at Everton since 2016.

Danny Rose has admitted that he is getting fed up with rumours that he has fallen out with Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Since the left-back made some explosives claims about the North London club prior to the start of the season, rumours have been rife about tension between the pair.

Rose was questioned about his relationship with Pochettino after Wednesday night’s 3-0 victory over Champions League opponents APOEL.

After being substituted with around 20 minutes left in the game, the England international, who had earlier suffered a deep cut on his face, had words with Pochettino before heading down the tunnel at Wembley.

Rose has since admitted that he did not want to be taken off before the final whistle, but has insisted that he has no issues with the manager.

The London Evening Standard quotes the full-back as saying:

“This is getting silly now. The manager said it was best I came off and I didn’t want to come off. That was it. I’ve seen that people are saying we exchanged words. There is no issue between me and the manager.

“There has never been an issue, and people trying to put stuff in the media is not welcome. For the last three-and-a-half to four years, the manager has been my biggest fan. He’s given me nothing but love and respect. There is no issue. People need to stop this because it’s not welcome.”

A recent report in the Daily Mail claimed that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is confident of signing Rose in a £50m deal, either in January or at the end of the season.

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As reported by The Daily Record, Celtic are interested in signing Jonny Hayes this summer as they look to strengthen in their wide attacking areas.

With Patrick Roberts returning, at least for now, to Manchester City and the likes of Gary Mackay-Steven barely featuring this season, Brendan Rodgers needs to add numbers in the wide areas in order to maintain his unbeaten treble winning squad’s consistency next season.

Hayes has been arguably the top performer in the Scottish Premiership this season outside of the Hoops themselves, contributing 11 goals and 12 assists to the Derek McInnes’ Dons.

At 29 years of age, he doesn’t quite fit the normal profile of a Celtic signing, especially one from the Scottish leagues but on his day has shown he can punish teams this season, including the Hoops.

He was of course on the scoresheet in Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final, giving Aberdeen the lead before Rodgers’ team won in dramatic circumstances right at the death of the match.

Celtic supporters don’t appear to be too enamoured with the speculation, many taking to Twitter to share their thoughts on his potential arrival…

Chelsea’s resounding 4-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday vindicated the club’s decision to sack United manager Jose Mourinho after 16 matches last season, revealing that his poor campaign with Chelsea may have been more indicative of a full decline rather than temporary blip.

“You’re not special anymore,” sang the Chelsea fans at Stamford Bridge, a reminder not only of Mourinho’s current poor run of form but, more tragically, of his once-magic aura that has been lost after a second successive season of coaching mediocrity. Mourinho’s Chelsea mustered only 11 points after nine games last season, with three wins, two draws and four defeats. His Manchester United side is not that much better this time around after the same number of games, with 14 points.

Until the 15/16 season, Mourinho averaged 2.35 points per game over his career in domestic league competition. Last year, that number was at 0.94, and he was sacked after 16 matches. After nine matches so far in charge of Manchester United this season, Mourinho’s domestic points per game are 1.56, an improvement from his last season as Chelsea, but long way off his earlier impressive average.

These minor improvements in point averages come after the world record signing of midfielder Paul Pogba in the summer and investments in new signings Eric Bailly and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, as well taking on the wages of free transfer Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The CIES football observatory reports that Mourinho’s United is the most expensive side ever assembled when taking into account transfer fees and wages, at over €718m (over £600m).

Such large investment would be expected to correlate with a similarly sizeable rise in form, but that has not been the case. Newly-appointed Chelsea manager Antonio Conte spent nearly £120m this summer, but with only around £80m in net spend. Mourinho spent over £150m, without recouping too much money in outgoing transfers. Despite coming behind in investment, Conte’s side looked far superior and made Mourinho’s United look more ineffective than expensive.

Sunday’s match proved that Chelsea were right to appoint Conte over maintaining Mourinho on a tactical level, as the latter’s once-lauded set-ups have not adapted to more recent innovations in the game.

Chelsea’s 3-5-2 formation embraces modernity, with more flexible positions, attacking fullbacks (wingbacks, in Chelsea’s case), midfield control, and fluid passing, as well as countering the now-ubiquitous single striker systems. Mourinho’s preferred 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 set-ups seem to be showing their age, as such positional rigidity appears to limit his players creatively and noticeably squashes Paul Pogba’s potential influence. United’s squad does not appear tactically equipped to control a game defensively. As Sunday’s game showed, the Red Devils lack positional awareness, and as a result, they are highly susceptible to Conte’s fluid formation.

The Italian arrived at Stamford Bridge with recent history of success that perhaps makes him the successor Mourinho’s “Special One” moniker. Conte averaged 2.28 points per game as the manager of Juventus, winning Serie A in all three of his season in charge from 2011/12 to 2013/14. He then revitalised an Italian national team that had been knocked out of the group stages of the 2014 World Cup, as his steered his side to a Euro 2016 quarter final, losing to reigning World Champions Germany on penalties.

With Chelsea currently standing in fourth place and only one point off top spot, Conte looks set to expand on his increasingly impressive career. Mourinho is six points off, having fallen to seventh in the table. It remains to be seen if Mourinho’s side will continue to drop points, but this weekend’s fixture made clear that Chelsea made the correct choice in choosing Conte to steer the club forward.

The fans weren’t wrong when they told Mourinho he was no longer special, but they can be pleased that their new manager, while not necessarily the Special One, is more than a worthy successor.

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PSG ultras are not about to forgive and forget when it comes to Lionel Messi, with a “finally rid of the rude” banner unveiled in Miami.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Argentine icon spent two season in France
• Failed to win over a demanding fan base
• Has rediscovered his spark in the States

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Ligue 1 giants thought that they had pulled off quite the coup when luring seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi to Parc des Princes in the summer of 2021 – as he reached the end of his contract at Barcelona. The Argentine superstar did, however, struggle to make the desired impact in France.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Messi did register 32 goals and 35 assists for Paris Saint-Germain through 75 appearances, helping them to two Ligue 1 titles, but Champions League glory proved elusive and disgruntled supporters questioned his commitment to the cause during a testing two-year stint in the French capital.

• AND WHAT'S MORE

  PSG fans staged protests against Messi during his time on their books – before seeing him leave as a free agent – and have now taken those grievances to the United States. A banner sporting the slogan “MESSI: FINALLY RID OF THE RUDE” has appeared outside Inter Miami’s DRV PNK Stadium home.

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• WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

  PSG ultras unveiled a similar banner at their own ground ahead of a 3-1 win over Lens – with Brazilian forward Neymar, who has left for Saudi outfit Al-Hilal, the target of that project. Messi has admitted to enduring a tough time in France, but has rediscovered his spark in the States – helping Inter Miami to Leagues Cup glory – and was among the goals again on his MLS debut against the New York Red Bulls.

MatériaMais Notícias

Se as autoridades responsáveis pelo futebol no Rio de Janeiro pretendem voltar com as atividades, o Botafogo tem uma posição forte em relação a isto. A Ferj (Federaçãode Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro), internamente, já procura maneiras de retomar o Campeonato Carioca.

Carlos Augusto Montenegro, membro do Comitê Executivo de Futebol do Alvinegro, contudo, afirma que o Botafogo não vai entrar em campo até as instituições de saúde colocarem um fim à quarentena diante da pandemia do coronavírus.

– É a coisa mais simples do mundo. Só vamos voltar quando as autoridades liberarem pessoas para trabalhar. Não terá nada de especial com jogador. “Se a federação quiser antes”? O Botafogo não vai jogar. Querem fazer protocolo, não tem protocolo. Estamos tendo atitudes responsáveis e não há nada mais importante que vidas humanas – afirmou o dirigente em entrevista ao “UOL”.

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