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Sheffield United’s meteoric rise has been quite something. From being forced to reduce their wage bill towards the start of the last decade when in League One, they now sit in sixth place in the Premier League.

Promotion last season was something in itself, but the way the club have applied themselves among some of the very best in the country this term has been outstanding.

They have one of the best defensive records in the division, conceding just 21 times from 22 games and the possibility of achieving European football seems very much on the cards.

Avoiding relegation would have been the goal at the start of the season but Chris Wilder has ensured that won’t happen.

Call yourself a Premier League expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?

Their progression throughout the current campaign has all been overseen by Prince Abdullah, who only gained full control of the Blades back in September.

Speaking for the first time after that news, the Saudi Arabian owner laid out a clear and concise plan for the Yorkshire side. In quotes relayed by The Telegraph, he said the following:

In every sense of the word, Sheffield United are in a better position, just as the 54-year-old promised.

However, with the January window now open, it’s the desire to add ‘super’ players to the Blades’ armoury that can begin to become a reality.

This week, they were linked with a move for a World Cup finalist. The man in question was Croatian defender Domagoj Vida, someone who impressed hugely in Russia throughout the summer of 2018.

He contributed to two goals, as well as making on average 1.7 interceptions per game. One of the most noteworthy aspects was the aerial duels he won, making 2.3 on average during six games in the tournament. Vida also did a good job of keeping Lionel Messi quiet when he kept a clean sheet against Argentina.

The Besiktas man has 79 caps to boast of, gaining experience throughout Europe with the likes Bayer Leverkusen, Dinamo Zagreb and Dynamo Kiev too.

Given he’s now 30 years of age, it’s not the most exciting of propositions but the very fact Sheffield United are in the race for him is indicative of Prince Abdullah’s vision taking shape.

Better players are certainly out there, but in a January window where options are limited, the Blades are unlikely to find too many individuals with more pedigree who are available.

The only sticking point to any deal is the player’s wages. He earns €75.4k (£64.6k) a week at Besiktas, whereas the Blades’ highest earner is Phil Jagielka on £50k.

Even if it goes against one of the club’s principles of having their playing staff on low salaries, it would go a long way to helping long-term visions at Bramall Lane.

Meanwhile, Sheffield United are in the market for a player once wanted by Juventus…

Inter Milan are offering Christian Eriksen a yearly salary of €7.5m (£6.4m) as they attempt to sign him from Tottenham Hotspur, per Gazzetta dello Sport.

What’s the word?

Eriksen is wanted at the turn of the year by the Italian club, despite his contract expiring at the end of the season.

And the report states that they are prepared to pay him £6.4m a year, which works out at £123,743-per-week.

The big fat Tottenham quiz of 2019 – how much do you remember about the last year at Spurs?

Bonuses will be included on top of that and mark a severe reduction in the €10m (£8.5m) salary Eriksen was said to be seeking in the summer.

The Denmark international is said to have agreed terms with the Serie A giants and all that is left is for Inter to agree a fee with Spurs; €20m (£17.1m) is said to be the asking price.

A comedown

This is not great for Eriksen.

While it is a major increase on his current £75,000-per-week wages, per Spotrac, he has turned down a bigger offer from Spurs.

Football Insider previously reported that he was offered £230,000-per-week to stay in north London and is now set to earn just over half that in Italy.

His initial demands would have earned him £211,000-per-week if he was angling for a salary of £8.5m, but he has been forced to come down from that bracket because Inter are the only club interested at the turn of the year.

It could be seen as a humiliation for Eriksen, who initially set his sights on a move to either Real Madrid or Barcelona, per FFC sources.

Now, though, he will surely be heading to Italy, earning less than what he could have earned if he’d chosen to stay at Spurs.

Oh, dear.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans have hammered one man. 

What a season it has been for Liverpool up until now.

As it stands, they are miles clear at the summit of the Premier League table – with games in hand to boot – whilst they are still unbeaten in the top flight as well. After 22 matches, they have 64 points, which is the highest of any team in the history of the top five leagues in Europe up until this point.

Call yourself a Liverpool expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?

They are now within touching distance of a first league title in 30 years. In their next match on their quest to lift that trophy at the end of the campaign, they face Wolves at Molineux. They were only able to beat the Midlands outfit 1-0 at home in December, so this could be a tricky clash.

In the build-up to the match, the club’s supporters have been discussing who should line-up against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men. And it seems the return of Fabinho has caused plenty of debate.

It seems that many want the Brazil international back in the side.

The Brazil international was called the best defensive midfielder in the world by Gary Neville in September (Sky Sports via Metro), but they won all but one game – and even that was the 5-0 loss against Aston Villa in the League Cup, when the senior players were in Qatar – without him. They have also kept five clean sheets in their last seven games, too, so it could be difficult to bring him back in.

Others, meanwhile, want to see Takumi Minamino feature.

The Japan international has only started once since he joined from RB Salzburg, but Jurgen Klopp may look to hold him back before playing him against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup.

Others, meanwhile, have suggested that the 52-year-old play the exact same team that defeated the Red Devils.

With many stars likely to be rested this weekend, they perhaps have a point.

It will be interesting to see what team is fielded this midweek.

Elsewhere, Neil Custis diminishes Liverpool’s achievements over the past 18 months.

According to Turkish-Football.com, Everton are reportedly lining up a summer move for AS Roma winger Cengiz Under.

What’s the word, then?

Well, according to Turkish-Football a source close to the 22-year-old, the Toffees remain interested in the attacker despite being rebuffed by the Serie A giants when they made an enquiry about him earlier this month, as per Bleacher Report’s Dean Jones on Twitter.

The report says Roma are unwilling to let the 20-cap Turkey international leave the Italian capital this month, but the Merseyside outfit haven’t been put off and are considering submitting an offer in the next transfer window.

Turkish-Football add that Under favours a move to the Premier League if he is to leave the Stadio Olimpico, and that he is valued at £34m.

Would he be a good addition?

He certainly would be.

Theo Walcott has been underperforming on the right-hand side for too long, and the fact he has two goal contributions – two assists and no goals – in 21 appearances in all competitions this season tells you all you need to know about the impact he is having.

To be fair the 22-year-old Roma star only has two goals and no assists in 16 appearances himself in 2019/20, although he has missed a large chunk of the campaign with a muscle injury.

Call yourself an Everton expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?

That said, the Turkey star showed exactly what he is all about in his side’s 1-1 draw with arch-rivals Lazio on Sunday, when he made two key passes and won nine of the 13 ground duels he faced, as per SofaScore.

Perhaps most impressive at all was the fact he successfully completed nine dribbles against Simone Inzaghi’s men – in comparison, Walcott has 0.6 per game in the Premier League this term according to WhoScored.

It is clear to see that while Under needs to improve in terms of actual goals and assists in the final third, he does have the ability to cause left-backs real problems in the Premier League.

£34m could prove to be a bargain price for the Toffees in the long run.

In other Everton news, reported transfer target Everton Soares has interacted with another club-related post on Instagram…

Crystal Palace are interested in a move for AFC Bournemouth winger Jordon Ibe, per Sky Sports News.

What’s the word?

Sky reported in their live blog on transfer deadline day (11:07am) that Palace had turned their attention to the 24-year-old after being pipped to Jarrod Bowen by West Ham United.

The Hammers are poised to sign the Hull City winger, per The Athletic’s David Ornstein, and Palace have been forced to look elsewhere.

Ibe’s contract expires in six months and manager Roy Hodgson has worked with him before, even giving him his debut at Liverpool when the two were both at Anfield.

The winger has struggled for game-time this season, playing just 47 minutes in the Premier League.

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What he knows

Hodgson is falling back on an old friend, here.

Ibe went on to make 58 appearances for Liverpool after making his debut and one has to feel that the former England boss is trying to do this deal because he knows the player and there is surely more chance of bringing him into the club because of his contract situation.

Calling all transfer experts! How much did each of these Deadline Day signings cost?

Sky do claim that the deal is not at an advanced stage but, after missing out on Bowen, this could be a decent alternative.

A fast, tricky winger, he has not set his career alight on the south coast, scoring just five goals and registering nine assists in 92 appearances; a move to Palace could be a chance to get back on track.

Meanwhile, Palace are facing “complications” in their bid to sign a Championship ace!

What Newcastle would give for a striker who could put the ball in the back of the net on a regular basis.

Scoring goals has been something of a struggle for the Toon so far this season, and the club’s strikers must shoulder the blame. Joelinton, the club’s record signing who was brought in from Hoffenheim in the summer, has managed just one goal in 25 Premier League matches, whilst Andy Carroll has not yet struck since returning to St. James’ Park on a free transfer last year.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all 25 of these obscure Newcastle signings…

The whole side, in fact, have managed just 24 goals in the English top flight – only five teams have less – and the failure to bring in a striker during the January transfer window means things are unlikely to get better any time soon.

If only they still had Joselu on their books.

The 30-year-old left the North East for £2.5m last summer after scoring just seven goals in 52 appearances. Now with Deportivo Alaves, he has scored nine times in La Liga – only Luis Suarez (11), Lionel Messi (13) and Karim Benzema (14) have been more prolific, whilst he has managed two more than Antoine Griezmann.

He has been a huge success even in just a short amount of time – he has won 8.3 aerial duels per match, the most in La Liga, whilst he has been Man of the Match eight times as per WhoScored. That has helped his team move six points clear of the relegation zone.

It seems that Mike Ashley and the Newcastle hierarchy may have been a little premature in moving Joselu on, and they certainly haven’t replaced him with any real quality.

As they look for goals in the Premier League, they are likely to be aware of their former player’s exploits in his homeland. Whilst he struggled in England, he has now moved on to bigger and better things.

The Magpies, meanwhile, must go back to the drawing board.

Meanwhile, Newcastle fans react to Steve Bruces’ latest comments.

On Tuesday, Leeds United revealed that their Championship clash with Fulham next month has been selected for live broadcast on Sky Sports.

The fixture is due to take place on March 18th at Elland Road, and it is shaping up to a huge clash between the two promotion hopefuls.

As it stands, the Whites are second in the Championship table, three points ahead of third-placed Fulham.

A run of just one win from their last five in the league has seen Leeds’ comfortable gap to third evaporate, and some of the club’s supporters feel that Sky Sports are desperate to capture what could be another collapse from their team.

Indeed, Marcelo Bielsa’s side ultimately fell short in the race for promotion last season despite being fancied for much of the campaign to secure a return to the Premier League.

Can you get full marks on the Ultimate Leeds Quiz? Test your knowledge below…

A number of other fans also took to social media to react to the news, and there were a lot of mixed opinions on the subject, with the majority seemingly not too surprised that the fixture had been picked out.

Meanwhile, a number of Leeds fans have reacted to the performance of one player for the club’s Under-23 side earlier this week.

Liverpool look destined to win the league and are currently on course to set a record points tally if they can maintain the form that has seen them collect 24 wins from 25 league games.

The Reds have enjoyed amazing success and have shown adaptability to beat teams throughout the season in a variety of ways, often dominating matches (as shown by their average possession, per WhoScored) but also finding last-gasp winners, with two late goals to beat Aston Villa a fine example of that.

Manchester City, by contrast, have been far from their best and defeat last time out to Tottenham summarised their efforts this term – that was their sixth league loss of the campaign. Bernardo Silva’s comments, therefore, seem a little out of place.

The Portugal international told Sky Sports that “everything went their way” in regard to Liverpool’s luck, stating that statistically his side have had the most chances and scored the most goals. However, there is a massive 22-point gap between the two sides and the Reds have conceded by far the least amount of goals with 15, so the winger’s perspective is a little skewed.

Liverpool fans have certainly taken that point of view and criticised Silva as a result, with accusations that he is just being “bitter”.

What do you make of Bernardo Silva’s comments Liverpool fans? Feel free to share your views below…

Jean-Kevin Augustin hasn’t been the attacking saviour that many had hoped he’d be.

The Frenchman is yet to start a league game since joining the Whites towards the back end of January, despite the fact that United have played five times since his arrival.

However, he has appeared in three of those games coming off the bench late on as a sub against Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Bristol City.

The problem is that he’s made very little impact.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Indeed, he’s failed to score or assist in any of these outings, however, to be fair to him he has played just 49 minutes.

However, if the forward is coming on as a late sub to play against fatigued legs you’d expect Augustin to have at least a little bit of an impact, but the fact of the matter is he’s been nothing short of woeful when appearing for Leeds.

A look at his stats tells the whole story.

Failing to score or assist in 49 minutes of football isn’t the end of the world, but his overall play just hasn’t been good enough from what we’ve seen.

Every shot he’s had has been off target, and despite Phil Hay saying he can play as a more creative player he’s not played a single key pass.

On top of that, the 22-year-old’s WhoScored average rating is just 5.96, enough to make him the 22nd worst player in the Championship in terms of average rating.

While Leeds fans have previously complained about him not getting chances in the team, it may be time to admit that Marcelo Bielsa was right about him not being ready.

Two weeks ago, he said: “Augustin in a player who can make a lot of impact. He has a lot of skills. You realise that from how much he cost and the teams he played for. But in the last 8 months he played 3 full matches. When this happens, the conclusions about his fitness levels are clear.”

The young striker could yet be a success at Elland Road, but as it stands he doesn’t seem up to the task of playing in the Championship, but we can’t say Bielsa didn’t warn us.

In other news, Leeds’ new boys have both been commenting on the same Instagram post.

West Bromwich Albion made it five wins from their last six Championship matches with a 2-0 victory over Preston North End on Tuesday night.

Hal Robson-Kanu made the breakthrough in the sixth minute of the contest, before Jake Livermore doubled the home side’s advance just before the interval.

Preston had Darnell Fisher sent off as they attempted to respond in the second period, but the Baggies triumphed to move seven points clear at the top of the table.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

And a lot of the club’s fans were delighted with Livermore’s performance.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all of these obscure West Brom players…

Others, meanwhile, lavished praise on the team’s captain when he found the back of the net in the latter stages of the first period.

Livermore has now contributed two goals and four assists in 33 Championship appearances for Slaven Bilic’s side during the 2019/20 campaign.

Next up for the league leaders is a home game against Wigan Athletic on Saturday afternoon before facing Swansea City at the Liberty Stadium on March 7.

The Baggies are also still in the FA Cup, meanwhile, and will welcome Premier League opposition in the shape of Newcastle United to the Hawthorns on March 3.

The league is the bread and butter for the team this term, though, and they are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Championship table.

Meanwhile, a number of WBA fans had this to say on a recent Livermore omission.