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Sheffield Wednesday boss Tony Pulis has offered new deals to three of their out-of-contract stars this week, though after the performance in midweek, he ought to consider making a U-turn on one player…

What’s the word?

According to the 62-year-old (via The Yorkshire Post), current skipper Barry Bannan, ex-captain Tom Lees and long-serving utility man Adam Reach have all been offered extensions to their current deals.

He said:

“Barry, Leesy and Reachy have all been offered new contracts. That’s something that the chairman is dealing with.”

The Owls suffered a fourth successive defeat on Tuesday night, losing 2-0 at Nottingham Forest, and are yet to win since Pulis took over from Garry Monk.

Lees was particularly shocking at the City Ground.

U-turn needed

Things haven’t gone to plan for the 30-year-old centre-back in recent times. He was stripped of the captaincy by Monk in the summer and found himself heavily out-of-favour – for good reason too.

Given he’s among the highest earners at Hillsborough – he’s thought to earn around £27.5k-per-week – his performances have just not reflected that.

Lees is averaging fewer tackles (one per game) and more fouls (1.3 per game) from last season and on Tuesday night, the former Leeds United man hardly covered himself in glory.

It was his mistake which allowed Forest to punish Pulis to yet another loss.

SofaScore graded the £2.25m-rated defender as Wednesday’s worst player with a 6.1 rating – he also committed one foul and one error, was dribbled past once, won just five duels all game, and made just 50% of his eight long ball attempts.

At times last term, Lees was described as a “liability” who was in “horrendous form” by supporters. Evidently, not much has changed this season either.

If Pulis has any sense, he’ll make a damning U-turn on the former Owls skipper, at least until he proves he deserves an extension to his massive wages.

Right now, he’s not fit to wear the shirt – even Monk could see that.

AND in other news, Sheff Weds monster who took 58 touches was Pulis’ only positive vs NFFC…

Since signing from Real Sociedad in the summer, it’s been a difficult start to life at Leeds United for Diego Llorente.

The Spain international has made just the one appearance in a Leeds shirt following his arrival, and that came in a 3-1 defeat away to Chelsea back at the start of this month.

But, ahead of his side’s Premier League side clash against Burnley, Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa confirmed that Liam Cooper has been ruled out of the game due to an abdominal strain, but that Llorente “is in condition to play again”.

And with Cooper injured, now is the perfect time for Bielsa to unleash his summer signing.

Following his signing, La Liga expert Guillem Balague waxed lyrical about the centre-back, calling him a “top player” and that as well as being “very athletic”, he is “quality with his feet” and “fantastic” on the ball.

Llorente just fits Bielsa’s mould to an absolute tee, and the £18m-rated ace could go on to establish himself as a key part of Leeds’ future if he can stay injury-free and is given a proper chance to shine.

With the Whites boss already showing he isn’t afraid to throw new players into the deep end – you only have to look at Robin Koch to see that – Llorente should be knocking on his manager’s door urging him to start him on Sunday.

Whilst a game against a physically dominant side like Burnley seems like a strange place for Bielsa to call on Llorente so early into his Leeds career, it could well prove to be the making of him.

The kind of test that toughens him up and shows him just how different the intensity is from the Premier League to La Liga. If he comes through it unscathed, then Bielsa could be onto a winner not just for the here and now, but for the future too.

Here we go! Fabrizio Romano has dropped a fresh transfer update on Wilfried Zaha’s future at Crystal Palace.

What’s the word?

Reports in recent weeks revealed European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan want to sign the Eagles winger in the January transfer window.

It’s claimed AC Milan are reportedly eyeing up a £50m bid for Zaha as they want to bolster their firepower as they seek to win their first Scudetto since the 2010-11 season.

However, speaking to GiveMeSport, Romano said: “No, he’s been offered to some Italian clubs by some intermediary and we had some rumours because of this.

“He has been offered but AC Milan are not interested, they are happy with their players. And they have Brahim Diaz on loan from Real Madrid. So they still want to go with him, to see his quality and to decide about signing him on a permanent deal next summer or not.

“So at the moment, Zaha is not a target for AC Milan.”

Huge boost for Roy Hodgson

With Zaha heavily linked with the Selhurst Park exit, Romano’s latest comments will come as music to manager Roy Hodgson’s ears.

The Palace boss finds himself under increased pressure after a mixed bag of results as the Eagles were dumped out of the FA Cup following a 1-0 defeat to Wolves at Molineux.

Whilst Eberechi Eze has burst onto the scene since the start of the season – with two goals and two assists in ten top-flight appearances – it’s hard to ignore Zaha’s importance to Palace.

Against Wolves, in the absence of Zaha, the Eagles failed to record a single shot on target. Zaha himself is currently averaging more shots (2.4) per game than any other Palace player, via WhoScored.

The 28-year-old tops the goal-scoring charts, as he has provided eight goals and two assists in 15 games in the Premier League, via Transfermarkt.

He was there when the Eagles came close to the relegation battle last season and is a large part of the reason why Palace are still in the top flight – having scored four goals and supplied five assists in total.

Now, Zaha has resumed his role as the club’s talisman, whilst he recently described himself as a “passionate” player in an interview with The Telegraph’s Jason Burt. He isn’t just a part of the furniture. He’s played a major part in keeping them in the top flight.

This is exactly why Steve Parish simply can’t afford to lose the £45m-rated ace. He means too much to supporters on and off the pitch.

Click here to see the full 30 minute video of Fabrizio Romano’s interview with Give Me Sport

AND in other news, Crystal Palace midfielder James McCarthy the only positive from Wolves defeat…

Everton see in the New Year at home to West Ham United on Friday night with a chance to move second in the Premier League standings with a 10th win of the season.

Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees go into the game well-rested after seeing Monday night’s clash with Manchester City postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak in the Sky Blues camp, having otherwise been forced to play twice in 48 hours with a threadbare squad.

West Ham were held to a goalless draw at Southampton on Tuesday night, and will now travel to Merseyside to face an Everton side which is due to welcome a clutch of key players back into the fold following injuries.

So, with changes on the cards from the Blues XI which beat Sheffield United on Boxing Day, here’s a potential line-up Ancelotti may name at home to David Moyes’ Hammers…

Jordan Pickford recorded his third clean sheet of the Premier League season at Bramall Lane last time out, and will be pushing to earn a 14th appearance of the campaign at home to West Ham.

Ancelotti is likely to favour retaining the core of the Everton line-up which edged a nervy win over Chris Wilder’s relegation-threatened Blades, yet may axe Mason Holgate to award Seamus Coleman a first top-flight start since early November after recovering from his persistent hamstring injuries.

Coleman returned to action during last month’s 2-1 win over Arsenal before featuring for the final 24 minutes at Sheffield United, and may have started alongside Michael Keane, Yerry Mina and Ben Godfrey at home to Manchester City had the game gone ahead.

Tom Davies, Abdoulaye Doucoure, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Alex Iwobi will expect to start on Friday night in West Ham’s visit to Goodison Park with Ancelotti confirming that Allan and James Rodriguez are once again ruled out through injury.

Richarlison, who reportedly earns £90,000-a-week, missed Boxing Day’s win at Sheffield United through the Premier League’s concussion protocols following his Carabao Cup quarter-final collision with Manchester United defender Eric Bailly, but has now served the required period in order to replace Anthony Gordon on the left-wing.

The Brazilian’s recall will come as a welcome relief for Ancelotti, who saw Gordon struggle at Bramall Lane, with Richarlison a player the Italian sees no like-for-like replacement for.

“It is impossible to replace Richarlison,” Ancelotti said earlier this season, via quotes by the Liverpool Echo.

“There is no player in the world like Richarlison, so we have to replace him with another player with different quality. We have to change a little bit our style of play without Richarlison.”

Ancelotti will hope the unexpected break between fixtures will afford Dominic Calvert-Lewin a chance to reset, with Everton’s top-scorer now without a Premier League goal since penning his 11th of the campaign five games ago.

AND in other news, a rarely-seen £11m Everton “luxury” may have played his final game at Goodison Park.

West Brom’s pursuit of a new defensive midfielder has taken them in a new direction if emerging reports this weekend are to be believed…

What’s the word?

According to the Mail on Sunday (17/01, page 150), the Baggies are eyeing a move for Real Betis powerhouse William Carvalho this transfer window.

Albion boss Sam Allardyce is thought to be determined to land a holding midfielder before the end of the month, having been linked with Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury in the past week, as per the Express & Star.

The 66-year-old also told reporters, via BirminghamLive, that three loan moves had fallen through, so reports linking the Midlands outfit with a move for the former Sporting Lisbon man is certainly intriguing, to say the least.

Big Sam’s next Nzonzi

It’s hardly a surprise that Allardyce is looking for a proper anchorman as the current West Brom side does not have one, aside from rarely-seen academy graduate Sam Field.

Big Sam has had many a top player in the role throughout his long managerial career – at Bolton, there was Fernando Hierro and Ivan Campo, whilst in charge of West Ham, he had Mo Diame and Mark Noble.

Although the most interesting comparison has to be made to Steven Nzonzi, who he signed at Blackburn Rovers in 2009.

The pair are both rangy, imposing 6 foot 2 plus monsters and most importantly, are out-and-out holding midfielders. Both have even been likened to Patrick Vieira, so it’s a fair assessment to suggest they are cut from the same cloth in terms of playing style and for their physicality.

“You can see [Carvalho] as a mix between Yaya Touré and the classical Patrick Vieira,” wrote the Guardian before the 2014 World Cup.

Indeed, his figures throughout the course of his career reinforce this perspective – as per WhoScored, the 28-year-old enforcer has averaged 1.6 tackles, 1.4 aerial duels won, 1.3 dribbles and one interception per game over 172 appearances.

This shows that defensively, he’s a brute as he’s making tackles on a very consistent basis, whilst the fact that he can hold onto the ball makes those Vieira comparisons all that more true.

Such dribbling numbers would rank him alongside the dynamic Matheus Pereira whilst no other Baggies central midfielder wins as many duels in the air, also per WhoScored.

The Baggies have leaked more goals than any other team in the top-flight this season, so the addition of an anchorman could help shore up a leaky backline and as evident above, Carvalho, who has been capped 63-times for Portugal, would be an ideal candidate to bolster the position.

“He’s an amazing player with fantastic passing ability for such a strong holding midfielder,” once lauded international teammate Tiago.

Whilst his performances at Euro 2016 drew glowing praise from Rio Ferdinand too, he told BBC Sport (via the Metro): “He’s a giant, he’s huge. What is most impressive was his calmness and he’s secure with the ball.”

He’s won the European Championships and the UEFA Nations League, so perhaps the £18m-rated brute is an even better option than the aforementioned Choudhury.

It’s on Luke Dowling and co to sanction this move.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Button: £9m-rated lightweight will have Big Sam fuming…

Carlo Ancelotti must tempt Bernard into quitting Goodison Park amid rumoured interest from AS Roma and United Arab Emirates side Al Nasr in the Everton midfielder.

What’s the word?

According to The Telegraph, Toffees chiefs have slapped a £9m asking price on the Brazilian as they look to trim the ranks and, more specifically, their wage bill during the January transfer window.

Bernard is the joint-highest earner in Ancelotti’s first-team fold on a £120,000-per-week deal, after penning a vastly lucrative contract upon his arrival as a free agent in 2018.

Everton are eager to offload players in order to reinvest in Ancelotti’s squad, and consider Bernard to be a saleable asset after starting just two of his six Premier League appearances this term.

The Goodison Park outfit are yet to receive any official approaches wishing to discuss a deal for Bernard this month, though the 28-year-old is considered to be Paulo Fonseca’s prime target at Roma.

That’s according to Il Tempo, via Sport Witness, who reported earlier this week that Fonseca has already contacted Bernard to discuss a potential move to the Serie A, where he would reunite with his former head coach from Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Italian publication, as also noted by The Telegraph, add that Everton are not willing to offer any discounts to offload Bernard this month, while Roma are not appearing ready to forge any official negotiations approaching the final week of the January market.

Should Everton sell Bernard?

Ancelotti will no doubt be loath to lose any player he considers to be a key aspect of his squad with Everton competing for Champions League qualification this season, but Bernard is clearly a player the Italian tactician can do without if a deal can be struck this month.

Ancelotti was claimed to have told Bernard that he was a valued part of his squad at the close of the last transfer window after snubbing a potential move to Roma, but that faith has not been reflected on the pitch with the midfielder left an unused substitute in 11 of Everton’s 17 Premier League fixtures to date this term.

That’s also despite Bernard snubbing a move to Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Hilal in the summer, who marked him as their priority target after a £6m bid, as the 14-cap international wished to continue his career in the English top-flight.

But since that decision, Bernard has only continued to bleed majority owner Farhad Moshiri dry on his mammoth contract that has seen the midfielder earn in excess of £9m over the past two-and-a-half-years, and Ancelotti needs to do all he can to prove he has reached the end of the line.

Bernard’s output would barely be missed in Everton’s push for European football, should he leave, as the 28-year-old has only taken four shots on goal over his mere six Premier League outings thus far. He’s also only offered six key passes – Michael Keane has created half that from centre-half, per WhoScored.

Not many players have featured as little under Ancelotti this term than Bernard, too, with the Brazilian earning a combined 273 minutes of top-flight action compared to Fabian Delph (212), Robin Olsen (180), Anthony Gordon (88), Jonjoe Kenny (79), Niels Nkounkou (69) and Cenk Tosun (44).

If Roma are not willing to come calling this month, Ancelotti and Everton should sing the praises of a payday in the Middle East and free themselves of an outcast earning more than Dominic Calvert-Lewin, with the Toffees’ top-scorer’s deal worth £100k-p/w.

AND in other news, Everton have been dealt a huge blow in their pursuit of a £13.5m beast…

Everton full-back Lucas Digne let Carlo Ancelotti down by producing a performance that was as bad, if not worse, than Robin Olsen’s against Manchester United in Saturday night’s 3-3 draw.

The Toffees salvaged a point in the dying embers at Old Trafford when Dominic Calvert-Lewin slotted home his 17th goal of the season in all competitions, to record strikes in back-to-back Premier League fixtures for the first time since October.

Scott McTominay had appeared to seal the win for the Red Devils when Olsen seemed to slip when scurrying a couple of yards across his line to deal with the midfielder’s header.

McTominay’s goal was not the only time that Olsen struggled, either, with the Sweden international unable to replicate his midweek excellence against Leeds United.

Instead, Olsen was rooted to the spot when Bruno Fernandes’ perfectly placed strike sailed over his head in first-half stoppage-time, caught unaware by the dipping nature of the Portuguese maestro’s shot.

The AS Roma loanee’s blushes were spared thanks to Calvert-Lewin’s late equaliser, poking home Michael Keane’s flick-on following Digne’s deep free-kick into David de Gea’s box.

Digne had come close to causing the home side trouble with his deliveries moments earlier, only to find Marcus Rashford back defending. And while a shot from the £30m-rated gem rattled the woodwork in the final stages, De Gea would argue that he always had that covered.

Yet scoring a first goal of the season would only have seen Digne atone for a difficult performance, having struggled to match his eye for a cross with any real accuracy or defensive support against Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Mason Greenwood’s adventurous runs.

Digne ended the Old Trafford affair with SofaScore’s fourth-lowest match rating by any player who started for either side at 6.3 out of 10, marking his worst performance in a Premier League fixture since 10-man Everton lost 2-0 at Southampton in October.

His influence waned in the second-half, and he ended the day having only managed to find a teammate with one of his eight attempted crosses. On average this season, Digne has found a royal blue shirt with 1.8 deliveries into the box a game and with a 24% success rate.

The Frenchman further performed below his usual standards defensively having offered no successful tackles, interceptions or blocked any shots. He was also dribbled past once and made only one clearance, compared to his seasonal scores of 2.1 tackles, 1.0 interceptions and 2.5 clearances while being dribbled past 1.3 times a game.

Again below his usual standards, Digne won just 20% of his ground duels having lost four of his five contests compared to an average 47% success rate, while Wan-Bissaka won five of his seven, McTominay won four of his six and Greenwood won five of nine as the trio locked down United’s right-hand side.

With Digne enjoying little success on Everton’s left-wing both offensively and defensively, he ultimately let Ancelotti down on a night where the Toffees could have moved to within five points of their opponents with two games in hand. Yet, instead, they now trail by eight points and have lost pace in the race for the top-four.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti faces a key Everton call to unlock an £18m-rated gem’s max potential…

Liverpool’s form in recent weeks has seen their title hopes take a serious hit, with Sunday’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City leading Jurgen Klopp to suggest that the aim for the Reds is now to finish in the top four.

The German manager has, of course, had a number of injuries to contend with throughout the season which have seen the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip ruled out for much of the campaign.

This has led to Fabinho moving to centre-back to cover for the lack of available players in that position, and whilst he impressed at first, he has struggled in recent performances at the back.

The Reds are also arguably lacking his presence in midfield, especially with Jordan Henderson having also featured at the back in recent fixtures, meaning that they are arguably without a defensive-minded player in the midfield three.

However, the Merseyside outfit brought in Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak as centre-back options during the winter transfer window, which hopefully could see Fabinho return to midfield in the near future.

The Brazilian international has averaged a solid 6.84 rating for his performances in the Premier League this season, averaging 2.1 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game.

Last season saw the former Monaco man earn a slightly more impressive 6.89 rating, with 2.2 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game.

Whilst his defensive stats are similar, his passing stats have suffered as a result of him moving to centre-back, as this season he has averaged just 0.2 key passes per game, compared to the 0.7 he averaged last season.

Thiago was full of praise for Fabinho earlier this season and suggested that he is better in the defensive-midfield role, saying:

“Fabi [Fabinho] is an amazing player as a centre-back and he’s even better as a number six. I think with him at the back he gives us the security as a number six, eight or 10 to make the team play a bit more.”

Whilst the Spanish midfielder has filled the void somewhat with his tackles and interceptions in midfield, he doesn’t offer the physicality of Fabinho, so Klopp should definitely try and restore the 27-year-old to his natural position in the near future, as it could restore him to his former self, after some disappointing recent displays.

And, in other news… LFC missed ideal opportunity to axe £80k-p/w dud following James Pearce claim

Although Leeds didn’t make much use of the January transfer window, they are still being linked to plenty of potential targets. One man they have found their name involved with is Tommaso Pobega, who has attracted a lot of attention with his rising performances.

According to Tuttosport, the Whites are in the running to sign the 21-year-old along with Leicester City, who are also looking to bolster their options in midfield (via Sport Witness).

Should Andrea Radrizzani look to loosen the purse strings in the summer, he will be spending upwards of €10million (£8.6m) on bringing Pobega to Elland Road.

Look out, Jamie Shackleton

Leeds will benefit from signing some more midfield options, as they currently field the same four in the engine room each game. Mateusz Klich is a leading performer in Marcelo Bielsa’s side, but having options to pivot is key.

The 2020 Championship winners have plenty of options out wide, but are short on central and attacking midfielders. Along with Klich, Leeds have just Pablo Hernandez, the injured Adam Forshaw and Jamie Shackleton on the roster. The latter has struggled for game time over the past two seasons, despite pushing to establish his place in the starting lineup.

As per Transfermarkt, Shackleton has featured just ten times in the Premier League this campaign. Only two of those appearances came as starts – he has been dropped since he was unable to make an impact in Leeds’ 4-1 loss to Leicester back in November.

Should the Whites choose to bring in a new up and coming youngster of similar age to Shackleton, he could come under a lot of pressure in his fight for game time.

When comparing the two midfielders, Pobega already has the better statistics for this reason. According to WhoScored, the AC Milan loanee has averaged more passes and shots towards goal than Shackleton this season. Not only has he also banked more minutes in action, but he made easy work of netting three goals for loan side Spezia Calcio.

However, whilst Pobega looks a good and promising player from the outside looking in, Victor Orta will have a job on his hands to snap him up. The 21-year-old signed a hefty contract extension with AC Milan last summer, penning a new deal to keep him in Italy until 2025.

If Leeds are serious about bringing the playmaker to Yorkshire, they will have to drive a hard bargain to see the move through.

In other news, Leeds must look to cut their losses on Helder Costa…

Many Liverpool fans have been left to fume at a report from the Daily Mirror that Steven Gerrard is being lined up to replace Jurgen Klopp.

As per the news outlet, there are increasing doubts over the future of the German boss at the Anfield faithful, as there is an apparent growing belief that he would accept the job of succeeding Joachim Low as the Germany international manager.

Klopp is under pressure already to get the Reds to finish in the UEFA Champions League spots come the end of the 2020/21 term, with the Premier League title looking like it is going to go back to Manchester City.

Meanwhile, Gerrard is currently doing very well at Rangers at the moment as they are in the next stage of the UEFA Europa League and look pretty much nailed on to win the Scottish Premiership title off of the hands of Celtic.

An LFC legend, it may be very hard for him to turn down the job if it was offered to him in the future.

Liverpool fan reaction to Klopp report

These Kopites fumed upon learning of the report on Twitter, as they feel as if Klopp should be given more time given he has won both the Premier League and the Champions League for the Merseyside club:

“Way too early, don’t make the same mistake Lampard made.”

Credit: @fxqial

“Delete this post. What is wrong with the English media? Kloppo literally is just going through a rough phase on and off. this is very disrespectful from such a big media outlet to even mention this.”

Credit: @theKloppEnd2

“Don’t go the way of Chelsea with Frank Lampard. Let Klopp be”

Credit: @RealOtmac

“Too soon! I don’t want a situation like Lampard at Chelsea.”

Credit: @benr1892

“Absolute disrespect of this story. The things Klopp has done for #LFC and could anyone cope with the injuries and the death of his mother. Hope and expect Klopp to be our manager for at least a few more seasons.”

Credit: @LFC6Times2019

“I’ll stop supporting Liverpool if this happens then”

Credit: @EltxnFtbl

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by Liverpool fans here!