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According to The Birmingham Mail, Liverpool are showing an interest in Bayern Munich midfielder James Rodriguez. 

The Colombian is currently on a two-year loan at the German giants from Champions League winners Real Madrid, but the deal is up at the end of the season, and it is unclear as to whether he will return to the Santiago Bernabéu.

The 27-year-old is currently out-of-favour at Munich, and struggling to get a start at the Allianz Arena. That is not too dissimilar to his position at Madrid as well, where he was also not a favourite of then-manager Zinedine Zidane.

The question that many Liverpool fans will be asking is whether he would show a different attitude at Anfield. He notoriously loses enthusiasm and motivation if he finds himself on the bench, which is a vicious cycle as the manager is no longer going to play a player that has no desire to work for his place back in the team.

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However, importantly, it seems hard to believe that Rodriguez would ever suit Jürgen Klopp’s style of play for The Reds. The German deploys a fierce and energetic press from his attacking midfielders, which requires absolute commitment. Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah and Sadio Mané are marvellous exponents of this style, which brings a great amount of success. However, with such a perfunctory attitude off the pitch, Rodriguez isn’t going to be too different on the pitch either.

This could be a problematic transfer which could do much more harm than good at Liverpool, and they should surely look elsewhere in the summer than this divisive figure.

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Loads of Sunderland fans have been reacting to the latest news on the future of Josh Maja, as reports claim the striker will join Ligue 1 outfit Bordeaux this month.

After French journalist Emery Taisne claimed Maja was all set for a move across the channel on Wednesday afternoon, Sunderland fans’ worst fears were realised when Sky Sports confirmed the news hours later.

According to Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie, the youngster will join Bordeaux in a deal that will rise as high as £3.5m.

The Black Cats are expected to include a sell-on clause as part of the deal, though Downie also reports that manager Jack Ross and owner Stewart Donald are both gutted to lose the youngster.

The young striker of course is out of contract in the summer, meaning the club was effectively left to choose between selling him now or losing him for free come the end of the season.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Maja is only 20, but has been one of Ross’ most influential figures in the first half of the season, firing in 15 League One goals in pursuit of promotion.

While £3.5m for a young talent with just six months left on his contract isn’t exactly bad business, it sure hurts not to have Maja available for what will undoubtedly be an intense promotion race.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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Leeds United fans have been voicing their concerns on social media amid news of Swansea City’s asking price for Daniel James, according to The Sun on Sunday per HITC.

The 21-year-old has been linked with a move to Elland Road throughout the January window, as the Whites look to add more creative midfielders to their roster in order to maintain their promotion push – and Yorkshire Evening Post have recently labelled him as Marcelo Bielsa’s preferred target for that position.

Figures of around £3million, per Yorkshire Evening Post, and £5m, according to TeamTalk, have been bandied around, although no official bid has been placed.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

Despite that, the Welsh outfit now want £12million for their in-demand winger, according to The Sun on Sunday.

Leeds will have to seriously consider if meeting that valuation would be worthwhile, as it would signal a sizeable increase on previous figures touted by the aforementioned sources.

£12million is also a rather hefty fee to pay for a 21-year-old who is still in his breakthrough season, and has only started 12 of his 17 senior appearances for the Liberty Stadium outfit.

Clearly these Leeds fans would rather their side now walk away from any negotiations…

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Everton have been in dire form in recent weeks.

Marco Silva is under pressure. The Times report that his job is safe, but the club have won just three games since the end of November – and it appears that they are ready to slide down the table.

The talent in the team is there, though. Silva is relatively young – he is 41 – and is seen as a progressive manager, but how can he stop the rot?

Football FanCast outline our suggested solutions for how Everton can instantly return to top form…

Learn to defend set-pieces

This is relatively basic and, really, it should go without saying. But Everton have been absolutely dire at defending free-kicks and corners.

A report from the Belfast Telegraph outlined just how bad the numbers are: Aymeric Laporte’s headed goal for Manchester City in their 2-0 win at Goodison Park in midweek was the 12th league goal Everton have conceded from a set-piece, and their 17th in all competitions. That number does not include penalties, either.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Silva needs to stop this, and one obvious way to do so would be to ditch zonal marking and start going man-to-man at free-kicks and corners in a bid to stem a tide that is threatening to drown the Toffees.

If they continue to concede sloppy goals they will forever be on the back foot.

Stop playing Dominic Calvert-Lewin

Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been a beneficiary of Silva’s reign, and has made 24 appearances in all competitions, but he is not really good enough.

He has scored four goals in the top-flight, but he does not offer the presence of a proper target man nor the pace of a lithe No.9.

Against City, he offered precious little in his role up front; per WhoScored, he had a pass success rate of just 58%, was dispossessed three times and committed four fouls, the most of any player on the pitch.

The experiment of playing the 21-year-old must come to an end – Silva would be well advised to restore Richarlison to a centre-forward role where the Brazilian continually thrives, and place Calvert-Lewin back on the bench.

Get Jagielka back in the team

Phil Jagielka may be 36 but the Toffees could certainly use some experience and natural leadership right about now.

Silva confirmed, per HITC, before their FA Cup game against Millwall that the veteran centre-back was not yet fit to play but claimed that he could be in “one or two more weeks”.

Everton need to make sure that, as soon as he is fit, he is back in the team.

He has played twice for the club this season and they took points from both of those games, against Wolves – though he was sent off in that fixture – and Chelsea.

Restoring him into the XI could also facilitate a change to a five-at-the-back system that would allow Jagielka to slot in beside Kurt Zouma and Michael Keane, thus giving more freedom to the full-backs and adding an extra dimension to the club’s attack.

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Leicester City fans’ frustrations with manager Claude Puel seem to have increased at an exponential rate throughout this season. He has been booed on multiple occasions at the King Power Stadium, and banners calling for the sacking of the Frenchman have been seen in the stands.

Of course, the Foxes have had a few disappointing results, especially in the domestic cup competitions. What’s more, their home form has also been poor. On top of that, no manager ought to be above criticism from the supporters who pay to see the team play. However, given the context of where Leicester are as a club right now, these attacks on Puel seem misguided and largely unfair. 

Leicester are currently 12th in the table, with 26 games played. They are only one point behind 9th placed Everton though, and are five points clear of Crystal Palace directly below them. Relegation is no threat whatsoever, whilst a top half finish is very much still on the cards. Realistically, this is about where the Foxes should be. A really good season might see them pushing for the Europa League, but otherwise, being safely ensconced in mid-table is their level.

Beyond results, though, many of the criticisms that have been levelled at Puel revolve around his style of play. However, Leicester took the game positively and aggressively to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley last time out and have played some very attractive football on occasions this season.

They may lack a defined footballing identity or playing philosophy, but that is a symptom of the great overhaul of the squad that Puel is currently having to manage. With this giant task facing the manager, it is especially impressive that he has maintained the club’s healthy league position with such little fuss.

The great task facing Puel is the dismantling of Leicester’s iconic 2015/16 Premier League title-winning squad. Of the group that shocked world football to lift that momentous crown, only one started for the Foxes against Spurs – goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The likes of club-captain Wes Morgan, fan favourite Shinji Okazaki and prolific goalscorer Jamie Vardy were all on the bench.

These club legends are currently being phased out. If you’ve seen the 35-year-old Morgan play at all this season you’ll understand why that process is so necessary. Likewise, Vardy and Okazaki are both 32, as are fellow title-winners Danny Simpson and Christian Fuchs. 

Whilst these players are icons, and hold a special place in the hearts of the Leicester faithful, their time has passed. However, it could be this systematic procession of club greats out of the limelight that is fuelling some of the animosity towards Puel. He is conducting and overseeing this great passing on of the baton after all.

He may not have found the perfect tactical balance yet, or his best starting XI, or even a style of play that suits all of his squad, but the former Monaco manager is doing a fine job of bringing the next generation of Leicester stars through.

Many youngsters, several of which have been signed during Puel’s tenure, are currently impressing for the club. The likes of Demarai Gray, Hamza Choudhury, Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison are amongst this contingent. Kelechi Iheanacho, Caglar Soyuncu and Harvey Barnes all also offer great promise for the future too, even if they haven’t quite delivered yet.

His huge project may not yet be complete, but Puel is taking this club in the right direction, and Leicester fans should recognise that by affording him the patience he deserves.

Leeds have been fantastic in defence all season so it was very uncharacteristic of the team to not only throw away a big lead, but to concede as many as three goals in one match.

Prior to the visit of Cardiff the Whites had taken nine previous matches to concede three goals, and though some supporters feel the absence of Liam Cooper was crucial to the decline, it is worth considering that he hasn’t been missed much since picking up his latest injury.

The skipper has missed the last three Leeds matches, and in that time the side kept two clean sheets, with Gaetano Berardi filling in very well alongside Ben White.

A true test for any Leeds fan: Can you match these iconic images with the right results?

In fact, it wasn’t until the Swiss was substituted that Leeds’ collapse against Cardiff took place, and therefore the reactions below may be a little misguided in terms of which defender was missed most against the Bluebirds.

Marcelo Bielsa made the wrong call to bring on youngster Pascal Struijk. His mistake allowed the visitors to claim their equaliser, which would likely not have occurred with Berardi or Cooper on the pitch.

While Cooper wasn’t missed prior to the Cardiff match, some fans raise a good point about his leadership qualities, and Bielsa’s side could certainly have done with a composed figure to calm things down and reassure the rest of the players on Saturday, especially as the 28-year-old has been playing well recently.

In that sense he was needed, with one supporter suggesting the problems that led to the surrendering of the lead will be fixed upon his return to the side.

Other fans share a similar sentiment, hoping that he makes a return sooner rather than later, particularly as Fulham and Aleksandar Mitrovic – who has 16 Championship goals this season – are the next opponents for Leeds.

Elsewhere, Leeds supporters have also been discussing what else led to the capitulation, and Marcelo Bielsa is being criticised for his role in throwing the game away.

Having spent the majority of last season on loan in Germany, Emile Smith Rowe didn’t quite have the impact he may have hoped for. His spell with RB Leipzig was a fairly forgettable one, with niggling injuries restricting him to just three appearances in the Bundesliga totalling 26 minutes of football.

This summer saw him remain at the Emirates, and having fully recovered from lingering injury problems, he made the starting line-up against Standard Liege in the Europa League on Thursday night. And the 19-year-old duly took his chance to shine.

As per Sofascore, the starlet’s 7.0 match rating was only bettered by goal-scorers Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette, and when looking at his underlying numbers it is easy to see why. The teenager had 57 touches of the ball, completed all three of his attempted dribbles, and showed his defensive tenacity too by winning five ground duels. And after watching his display, Arsenal fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the academy gradate.

A couple of fans even compared Smith Rowe to some of Arsenal’s former stars like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, both of whom were key performers in the Gunners’ midfield over the past few seasons.

A few supporters of the north London side urged for him to be given a chance in the first-team in the near future, with a couple even suggesting that he could take over from Mesut Ozil.

If Smith Rowe can keep the injuries at bay, then he stands a real chance of really nailing down a place in the Arsenal team. With Ozil not getting any younger, the chance is there for one of Arsenal’s abundance of young talents to state their claims to becoming the side’s new number ten. And based on his performance against Liege, the 19-year-old has the talent to do so.

Meanwhile, Arsenal fans are buzzing with David Ornstein’s update on the club’s search for a new manager.

Liverpool have confirmed the signing of Takumi Minamino from RB Salzburg.

What’s the story?

The first rumours linking the Japan international with a move to Anfield seemed to appear after the Reds’ clash with the Austrian outfit in the Champions League last week.

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The negotiations have clearly moved on very quickly, as his transfer has now been completed. He has cost the European champions £7.25m.

The end of Shaqiri?

In the long run, Minamino could end up being a successor to Roberto Firmino. For now, though, he is still a right winger, and that is where he has predominantly played so far this season. With nine goals and 11 assists in 22 matches, he brings plenty of creativity and danger in front of goal, and should prove to be a more than useful addition to a squad already full of talent.

Watch Leicester vs Liverpool Free Live and Free with Amazon Prime on Boxing Day

His arrival, though, could mean the end of the road for one player currently at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal: Xherdan Shaqiri. The Switzerland international has done well since joining from Stoke City last term, with him picking up six goals and five assists in 30 matches last term. However, he has been linked with a move to Galatasaray in the Super Lig recently due to his lack of playing time, and that is surely only going to be reduced with the 24-year-old coming in.

Can you name the result these iconic Liverpool images belong to? Give it a go now…

Harry Wilson’s form on the south coast could also be a reason why the 28-year-old could be out of the door. The Wales international is having a good campaign on loan at Bournemouth – he is their top scorer with six goals – and he may be one that Klopp wants to look at for the future considering he is just 22 years of age, and primarily plays on the right-hand side.

Therefore, with two other players fighting Mohamed Salah for a sport in the first team, there seems to be little need for Shaqiri. Having cost £13m in 2018, the former Inter Milan forward’s days at Anfield look to be numbered. It seems slightly unfortunate – he has not done particularly badly recently – but it seems that Klopp may want to go in a different direction. Given his track record so far, you’d be a brave man to bet against him being proved right if that is the case.

In other news, this praise from a footballing legend is as good as it gets for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp.

According to Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge, Crystal Palace are looking to spend around £55m this January on reinforcements at centre-forward, right-back and left-back.

What’s the word?

Well, the report states that the south Londoners will look to spend around £25m on a ‘mobile’ centre-forward, while the Eagles have also allocated around £15m for each full-back position.

Bridge adds that Palace will focus on securing players who are under the age of 23, while interest in CSKA Moscow striker Fedor Chalov will be renewed. Genk full-back Joakim Maehle has also been scouted, while another move for Brentford’s Ollie Watkins will be made if Wilfried Zaha leaves this month.

Would see an unprecedented amount of spending in the Roy Hodgson era

If Steve Parish does actually allow Hodgson to spend around £55m this month, it would signal something that we have not yet seen happen under the former England manager at Selhurst Park.

Since the 72-year-old stepped into the hotseat to replace Frank de Boer, he has seen Parish maintain a tight grip on the purse-strings.

Hodgson has spent just £11m and £9m on Cheikhou Kouyate and Alexander Sorloth respectively, while less than £5m was spent in the most recent window before this current one when Jordan Ayew and James McCarthy signed for peanuts – Gary Cahill’s arrival was on a free transfer.

So, given how thrifty Hodgson has had to be since he arrived at Palace in September 2017, it would represent an unprecedented moment under the experienced manager at Selhurst Park, for Parish has never given the former Liverpool boss anywhere near that much to spend on just three players – if around £55m has been set aside for a centre-forward, right-back and left-back, it would average out to £18.3m spent on each signing, which is £7.3m more than Hodgson’s current most expensive capture in Kouyate.

In other news, take a look at the XI that we think Hodgson should deploy against Norwich on New Year’s Day…

Southampton prospect Jake Vokins has revealed that he looked up to Gareth Bale while growing up.

The 19-year-old left-back netted his first competitive goal for the Saints in a recent 2-0 win over Huddersfield in the FA Cup, rifling a deflected effort in off the crossbar.

It came after Vokins had recorded three assists in nine Premier League 2 appearances for Southampton’s U23 side, showcasing his attacking prowess, and the teenager has now revealed that he idolises the Real Madrid forward.

What did he say?

Vokins said: “Bale is a big name to live up to but all I can do is work hard and see where it gets me.

“He was definitely someone I looked up to and look at him now – he is one of the best players in the world and was definitely a role model for me as I was growing up here.”

Could be a successor for Nathan Redmond rather than Ryan Bertrand

Given his current status as a left-back, you might feel that Vokins would eventually replace Ryan Bertrand if he does end up becoming a first-team regular at Southampton.

However, his comments about idolising Bale – who famously started out as a left-back before becoming one of Europe’s best forwards – could suggest that he might instead be a long-term successor for Nathan Redmond on the left-wing.

While that might be somewhat of a stretch on its own, Ralph Hasenhuttl recently set Vokins the challenge of improving his defending, with the Austrian stating that he is “not always clinical and strong enough” in defensive duels.

“Jake’s very, very forward oriented but the reverse gear sometimes takes a bit longer, especially the duels in defence are not always clinical and strong enough.”

However, the former RB Leipzig boss did reveal that he thinks Vokins is “very, very forward oriented” – given his love of attacking, but weakness in defence, could we see the teenager move further up the field if Hasenhuttl cannot coach the defensive side of the game into him?

How much do you remember about football in 2019? Our quiz will test your knowledge…

That much remains to be seen, although if the Southampton academy graduate does follow in his idol’s footsteps and move into an attacking role, he could well become Redmond’s heir rather than Bertrand’s.

In other news, these Southampton fans loved this tweet from the club’s official Twitter account…