West Ham United are planning to hold talks with Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes regarding a potential move, according to The Mirror.
What’s the story?
Slaven Bilic is seemingly still keen to bring in some new players before the transfer window slams shut.
So far, the East London outfit have recruited five new faces, but the midfield still requires some improvement.
The Mirror reports that the Hammers are due to speak to representatives of Gomes, who is seen as an alternative to William Carvalho.
The Portugal international has been part of the Barcelona setup since last year when he joined from Valencia, but game time has been hard to come by.
The midfielder started just 17 matches in La Liga and came off the bench in a further 13.
Is Gomes a risk?
Struggling to get a game for Barcelona is not a huge red flag when it comes to a club that are vying for top-half finishes and Europa League spots in the Premier League.
However, the Hammers would be looking for an instant impact, and given Gomes’s lack of regular minutes, he may take time to find his stride.
Last season, the 24-year-old scored three goals and produced one assist, indicating that he has quality to offer.
In addition, he was part of the Portugal squad that won the European Championships last summer.
The transfer does present a risk, though, so it would make sense for West Ham to attempt a loan deal rather than a permanent arrangement.
Bilic recruited plenty of Premier League experience when Pablo Zabaleta, Joe Hart, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez came through the welcome gates, but the team are yet to pick up a win this season having lost to Manchester United and Southampton.
Manchester United failed to lift the UEFA Super Cup trophy after they were beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid in Skopje on Tuesday night, and Red Devils fans were particularly concerned by the performance of defender Victor Lindelof.
The 23-year-old moved to Old Trafford in a £31m deal from Benfica earlier in the summer, and he lined up alongside Chris Smalling and Matteo Darmian in a back three against the Champions League holders in Macedonia.
Goals either side of the break from Casemiro and Isco gave the La Liga giants a 2-0 advantage, with Lindelof coming under fire for the first goal.
Even though Romelu Lukaku pulled one back for Jose Mourinho’s men with just under half-an-hour to play, they couldn’t find an equaliser.
Man United supporters were quick to have their say on the performance of their Swedish centre-back via social media, and while some said that he made “Smalling look good”, one person even described him as the worst centre-half to play for the club in the last 20 years.
When the transfer window is in full flow, shock rumours can emerge, and given that the market is closed for business from this Thursday, the surprising stories are being churned out at a pace.
According to Spanish publication Don Balon, the European heavyweights are eyeing Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford as a star for the future.
The 19-year-old has already become a fully-fledged first-team player at Old Trafford, despite his young age.
Rashford made 32 appearances in the Premier League last season, 16 of which were starts, and he scored five goals and produced one assist.
In the current campaign, the forward has featured in all three of the club’s league games so far, creating an assist in the Red Devils 4-0 rout over West Ham United and scoring in Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Leicester City.
Don Balon claims that Barcelona are keen for Rashford to eventually replace Luis Suarez, but they may be forced to spend around £185m to prise him away from Old Trafford.
After the speculation emerged in the gossip pages, United fans took to Twitter to give their reactions.
Dele Alli has established himself as a key figure in Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur team, but he has not been as influential in the early stages of the season.Despite scoring three goals and creating one assist in seven appearances in all competitions, Alli has not been at his best.In midweek, Pochettino opted to play the England international against Barnsley in the EFL Cup in order to give the midfielder an opportunity to regain some form.The 21-year-old seemed to answer the critics by scoring the one and only goal in the third-round tie, but the fans were not convinced by his performance on Saturday afternoon.Tottenham ended up edging to victory in a 3-2 triumph over West Ham United at the London Stadium, with Harry Kane scoring twice and Christian Eriksen also getting on the scoresheet.Even though Alli provided an assist in the eventful match, which saw Serge Aurier sent off, some fans were disappointed with the player’s display.
According to Gambling Times football inside Graeme Bailey, West Ham United are one of three Premier League clubs interested in signing out-of-favour Arsenal attacker Theo Walcott during the January transfer window.
The Gambling Times says that the 28-year-old has been told that he could be sold in the New Year unless he proves that he still has a long-term future with the north London outfit over the course of the next three months, with the Irons, Southampton and Everton all said to be keen on the winger.
While the report adds that Walcott believes he can prove to Arsene Wenger that he can still play a big part in his manager’s plans going forward, he will also be considering moving on as he looks to reclaim his spot in the England squad ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Russia.
Meanwhile, Hammers boss Slaven Bilic is under huge pressure following a disappointing start to the campaign and while he may already be looking at players to strengthen his squad in 2018, the Arsenal forward is not what his side need right now.
Here are three reasons West Ham should steer clear of signing Walcott…
They’ve got Antonio
Soccer Football – Premier League – West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur – London Stadium, London, Britain – September 23, 2017 Tottenham’s Jan Vertonghen in action with West Ham United’s Michail Antonio REUTERS/Eddie Keogh EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact y
While Walcott had a brief flirt with playing as a centre-forward during his time with Arsenal, it is pretty clear to many that his strongest position is when he plays wide on the right.
That would certainly bring a problem if West Ham wanted to bring the 28-year-old to the London Stadium though, considering one of their best players and last season’s Hammer of the Year Michail Antonio also features on the same flank.
It would certainly be harsh to drop the wide man considering how influential he has been at points over the last 14 months especially, and it means that Bilic should steer clear of bringing Walcott to east London.
Bilic’s attacking conundrum
Soccer Football – Premier League – West Ham United vs Swansea City – London Stadium, London, Britain – September 30, 2017 West Ham United’s Andy Carroll reacts REUTERS/Hannah McKay EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or “live” services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
One of Bilic’s biggest issues this season has been finding a formation or system that can incorporate Michail Antonio, Andy Carroll and summer arrivals Javier Hernandez and Marko Arnautovic in it, and the former three only all started in the win against Swansea last weekend because the latter missed out through illness.
The previous week, Carroll started on the substitutes’ bench before replacing the injured Antonio in the first half, and right now it appears as though the old-fashioned 4-4-2 is the only suitable system.
With the Croatian boss already struggling to implement that quartet, it would probably be a mistake to target a player like Walcott who would be expecting to start every game for the Irons because of his previous reputation.
Price tag
During the summer Everton were linked with a £30m move for Walcott by The Mirror, and if that is the price that it will take to bring him to the London Stadium during the January transfer window then it could put the Irons off.
Their current club-record fee is the £20m – which could rise to £25m with add-ons – that they paid to sign Marko Arnautovic from Stoke City during the summer.
While they were willing to break that for Sporting Lisbon’s William Carvalho, it remains to be seen whether they would do the same for the Arsenal man considering he turns 29 years of age in March and has featured for just 46 minutes in the Premier League so far this season.
It is not hugely common for fans to praise a player that has chosen to leave their club, but on this occasion, Burnley supporters have expressed pride in Kieran Trippier.The right-back spent three years at Turf Moor before joining Tottenham Hotspur in 2015.Trippier struggled to hold down a regular place in the team at the North London outfit, but following Kyle Walker’s move to Manchester City last summer, the 27-year-old has received more opportunities.The full-back has made six Premier League appearances and one in the Champions League so far this season.On Sunday, England manager Gareth Southgate handed Trippier a place in the first XI for a 1-0 win over Lithuania.The Three Lions had already secured their place in next summer’s Russia World Cup with a 1-0 triumph over Slovenia in the first of two qualifiers, meaning that Southgate could afford to switch his team around.
Despite losing him two years ago, Burnley fans were happy to see Trippier perform for his country.
According to ESPN’s Manchester United correspondent Rob Dawson on his official Twitter account, Anthony Martial is set to start the huge Premier League clash against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, and Red Devils fans are delighted with the news.
While the Frenchman has scored five goals and provided a further six assists in nine appearances in all competitions for United this season, he has only started one of their seven top flight fixtures this term with Marcus Rashford often being preferred on the left-hand side.
However, it has now been suggested that will change against the Merseyside outfit with Martial not featuring for France during the international break like Rashford did for England.
Man United supporters were quick to have their say on the rumour via social media, and while some believe he will “be the difference”, others say he will make a big impact as he will be “nice and fresh”.
Antonio Conte’s future has been a talking point for some time, despite the fact that the Italian has only been in charge of Chelsea for just over a year.
The 48-year-old guided the Blues to the Premier League title in his first season, but difficulties in the transfer window led to rumours that he could walk out.
In the end, Conte signed a two-year deal, but the speculation continues to rumble, with a recent report in The Sun claiming that Chelsea do not expect the former Italy boss to see out his contract.
The publication states that Carlo Ancelotti, who coached the Blues between 2009 and 2011, is in line to replace the current manager now that he is a free agent after getting sacked by Bayern Munich.
When asked about rumours surrounding his future during a press conference on Friday, Conte described them as “bull****”, according to The Guardian.
It seems that Chelsea fans feel the same way as their boss.
Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday may have produced a scintillating performance but it only paved over the cracks. Something just hasn’t felt right at Stamford Bridge this season amid constant murmurings of strained relationships behind the scenes.
We’ve seen even more evidence of that over the last few days. David Luiz was unexpectedly dropped for the win over the Red Devils and much-maligned technical director Michael Emenalo, who has never quite seen eye-to-eye with Antonio Conte, has now left the west Londoners.
So perhaps the ultimate question at this point, considering Chelsea’s history of hastily parting with managers and the long-standing belief of there being too much power in the dressing room, is whether Conte will last the season. Manchester United legend Gary Neville has already suggested the Italian could be a dead man walking…
“Every manager who has taken on the players here has gone pretty quickly. It is a big call because if you take on these players in that dressing room, where David Luiz is a big influence, a big character, you can lose at this club. This is not the end of this — this is the start. Conte has won today, but in two or three weeks’ time if David Luiz is still sat on that bench, every time they concede a goal, the cameras will flip to David Luiz. It was the same with John Terry.”
He may be sacked if Chelsea don’t keep up in the title race, or may even resign of his own accord should those issues behind the scenes become too much to bear. So, Blues supporters, do you think Conte will last until the summer? Let us know by voting below…
After nearly three months of doom and gloom surrounding Everton, a small spark of hope appeared at their Finch Farm training ground on Wednesday.
Yannick Bolasie, who has been side lined for almost a year with a knee problem, returned to first team training.
The 28-year-old, who is valued at £18million by Transfermarkt, was one of the most promising players in the Everton squad at the start of last year. However, after just 13 games with his new club, Bolasie was cruelly injured and has faced a long struggle to return to full fitness.
The Congolese star has targeted the Christmas period as a realistic return date.
While Everton could certainly do with a player like Bolasie returning to the side now, his return to training his likely given the team a huge boost.
What the Toffees have been lacking in abundance this season is pace in attacking areas. While players like Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ademola Lookman have performed admirably trying to provide the team with an injection offensive speed, both are such inexperienced players and at times loo overwhelmed by the pressure.
Upon hearing the news of Bolasie’s return to training, Everton fans took to Twitter to express their delight…