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In-form Southampton attacker Nathan Redmond has opened up to The Daily Echo on his one-to-one meeting with manager Ralph Hasenhuttl during the squad’s training camp in Tenerife earlier this month, saying that the Austrian told him to stop ‘standing still’.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 51-year-old boss had a discussion with and provided feedback on every player in the squad that was present for the trip to the Canary Island, which included Redmond.

The 24-year-old has been in scintillating form since Hasenhuttl was appointed as Mark Hughes’ successor back in December, scoring six goals and providing a further two assists in all competitions.

However, despite being arguably the south coast outfit’s best player in the last couple of months, the former Norwich City man revealed to The Daily Echo that he wasn’t exempt from having things to work on and improve.

Redmond said: “In terms of the negatives, he told me to not stand still as much. He noticed at the start when he first came in that I stood still and that I was waiting for things to happen.

“He said I was still standing still a little bit, but not as much as before.

“There are a lot of things like decision making and stuff, but at the end of the day if I want to keep developing and performing in this team, then I have to take it on board.”

Is Hasenhuttl right?

He probably is, yes.

While Redmond has clearly stepped it up in terms of being a big threat in the final third for Southampton in recent times, there are still obviously more ways in which he can affect matches for his side.

Hasenhuttl clearly wants the one-cap England international to be more aware and on his toes, providing that movement to help his teammates out when they are looking for forward passes.

It is the sort of contructive criticism that can make the 24-year-old an even better player than the one he is showing he is right now, and that can only benefit Saints in their battle against relegation.

Leeds United have no new injury problems ahead of their trip to Manchester City on Tuesday night, according to reliable journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Leeds preparing for City clash

The Whites were beaten 3-2 away to Chelsea on Saturday, conceding a late penalty to lose in heartbreaking fashion at Stamford Bridge.

It doesn’t get any easier for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, with reigning Premier League champions City welcoming them to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.

Leeds also have numerous injury problems to contend with at the moment, but a fitness update from the manager at least indicated that the situation hasn’t worsened.

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The Latest: Hay gives injury update

Taking to Twitter on Monday afternoon, Hay confirmed that Bielsa doesn’t have any new injuries in his squad, but nor is he expecting anyone who is sidelined to return for the Manchester City clash.

The journalist tweeted: “From Bielsa’s pre-City presser: no fresh injuries ahead of tomorrow but none of the players who were absent at Chelsea are ready to return. That would mean Bamford, Phillips, Cooper, Struijk, Koch still unavailable.”

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The Verdict: Huge task ahead

This is arguably going to be Leeds’ toughest game of the season so far, as they look to take down a City side who have won their last six league matches in a row and currently sit top of the table.

It is difficult enough beating them when everyone is fit – the Whites famously triumphed at the Etihad last season – but seeing off Pep Guardiola’s star-studded team without the likes of Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips and Liam Cooper is even harder.

Anything other than a defeat would feel like a huge bonus for Leeds, although they have at least shown that they can cause the big teams problems since their return to the top flight, as highlighted by their valiant efforts at Chelsea on Saturday.

In other news, David Ornstein has provided an important update on one Leeds player. Find out who it is here.

West Brom are interested in signing Barnsley captain Cauley Woodrow in the January transfer window, according to a fresh transfer rumour.

The Lowdown: Woodrow impresses for Barnsley

The Baggies were held to a 0-0 draw on Friday as Valerien Ismael returned to Oakwell but failed to beat his former club.

One player who didn’t feature on the night was Woodrow, but the 27-year-old has been an important figure for the Tykes for some time.

The £7,400-per-week attacker has scored four times in the Championship this season – bettered only by Karlan Grant (nine) among West Brom’s squad – and he has found the net 53 times in 151 appearances for Barnsley, with 76 senior career goals to his name.

The Latest: West Brom keen on Woodrow

According to The Athletic, the Baggies are looking into the possibility of signing Woodrow next month in order to aid their promotion push.

The 27-year-old’s current deal expires in the summer of 2023, so a fee would be required to bring him to The Hawthorns.

The Verdict: Strong potential addition

Woodrow could be an ideal man for Albion to bring in next month, with the Barnsley hero possessing lots of Championship experience, making 180 appearances in the division.

There has been too much dependence on Grant to provide goals for West Brom but Woodrow would ease that burden, giving Ismael another strong option in the final third.

At 27, he is also at a good age in terms of being both experienced and in his prime, so he wouldn’t merely be a quick fix either.

In other news, one player is reportedly a transfer target for West Brom. Find out who it is here.

Taking to Twitter, reliable club insider ExWHUemployee has backed a development in West Ham United’s pursuit of Manchester United star and top target Jesse Lingard.

The Lowdown: West Ham ready to pay fee…

It is no secret that the 29-year-old is on manager David Moyes’ radar as he seeks to bolster his side’s options and give them a fighting chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season.

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After his sensational spell on loan in east London over the second half of 2020/2021, West Ham, Moyes and recruitment chief Rob Newman have been targeting Lingard as his current deal at Old Trafford looks set to expire at the end of this season.

The England international, as a result, can either wait until the summer and leave for free or opt to join a new club in January if any suitors table a bid before deadline day.

Recent reports say West Ham are indeed willing to do just that with the Irons now apparently ready to pay a £3million fee to seal Lingard’s signing.

The Latest: ExWHUemployee backs Lingard development…

Taking to social media, reliable Hammers source Ex backed this development in the Lingard transfer saga.

Whilst stating ‘yes’ in reply to a supporter who asked if there is any truth to the £3m bid rumours, the insider did also provide a degree of caution – going on to claim West Ham’s willingness to pay doesn’t necessarily mean the player wants to make the move.

The Verdict: Get it done…

While the £75,000-per-week ace’s current stance on a move to West Ham remains the last major hurdle, if his mind is swayed, signing him would be a big boost for Moyes.

Scoring nine goals and assisting four others in 16 Premier League starts last season on a temporary spell, Lingard is a proven player under the Irons boss and could gift the club a different dimension going forward.

Taking into account his 2021 numbers at West Ham, with talkSPORT pundit Adrian Durham calling him ‘absolutely phenomenal’, £3m seems like a real bargain.

Hammers supporters may be hoping that there is a development on Lingard’s side that favours him joining West Ham permanently before January 31.

In other news: ‘Please please please’, ‘Baller’, ‘Perfect’ – Many West Ham fans rave as GSB eye ‘fantastic signing’…find out more here.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is sleepwalking into another Rafa Benitez-esque howler amid reports linking the club with Steve Hitchen.

What’s the story?

Following Hitchen’s exit from his scouting and recruitment role at Spurs, The Guardian have claimed that the Toffees are interested in giving him a similar position at Goodison Park.

The report claims that the Premier League club are embarking on this new restructure along with Frank Lampard as their new manager, with Everton having been working “without a director of football, head of recruitment and manager of scouting after the respective departures of Marcel Brands, Grétar Steinsson and Dan Purdy were announced in early December.”

Would be an expensive nightmare for Everton

While this previous summer might have seen Everton keep the purse-strings shut at Goodison Park, that has been the major exception to the rule since Moshiri’s arrival at the club.

The Toffees have been very big spenders in the transfer market, but have had very little to show for it, and it’s no surprise that journalist Alan Myers delivered this verdict on the club’s recruitment strategy.

He said: “Wow. I heard in the radio earlier, only Man City, Man Utd, Barcelona, PSG and Inter Milan had a bigger net spend than Everton across Europe over previous 10 windows (before this summer).

“Even the richest owner of any football club must surely look at the return for that investment and ask the question, why has this happened? Can it be just a string of failed managerial appointments or is it far more than that?”

In Hitchen, Moshiri would be making another Benitez-esque mistake, with his track record at his most recent club very unconvincing, if not down-right woeful.

After being appointed as Spurs’ chief scout back in February 2017, only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Lucas Moura remain with the north London side’s first-team under Antonio Conte as regular fixtures, while a far bigger number are either on the peripheries of the squad, or have already left.

In fact, the 2019 summer arrivals of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso – both for a combined fee of around £115m – have actually both just left the Lilywhites in the January transfer window just gone by, a real indication of the kind of shocking misses that Hitchen has made at Spurs.

The last thing Everton need now is for another appointment from Moshiri that leads to yet more years of suffering in the transfer market.

Hitchen’s record at Spurs in recent seasons has been underwhelming to say the least, and would just be an expensive nightmare at Goodison Park.

Meanwhile, Lampard could bring the best out of this man…

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has enjoyed a sensational start to life at Ibrox with a string of wins in charge of Rangers since taking over from Steven Gerrard.

The Dutchman has won eight of his nine matches since arriving in Glasgow, with the Gers conceding just two goals in that time.

He has done this with the help of the squad Steven Gerrard sculpted during his time in Scotland, with the likes of Ryan Kent, Joe Aribo and Ianis Hagi all coming in under the ex-Liverpool man.

Masterstroke

Aribo, in particular, has been excellent this term and the club pulled off a masterstroke when they landed him in the summer of 2019. Gerrard brought him to Ibrox from Charlton on a free transfer, a few months before current sporting director Ross Wilson came in.

This season, Aribo has averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.39 in the Premiership across 20 appearances. In that time, the midfield wizard has produced six goals and three assists, which proves that he can perform to a high level consistently whilst also chipping in with vital contributions in the final third.

Last term, he averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.40 as he managed six goals and four assists in 26 Premiership outings. This highlights how remarkably consistent he has has been over the past 18 months and why he is a crucial member of the side.

His former Charlton teammate Ezri Konsa once was effusive in his praise of the gem, saying: “Having Gerrard as his manager at Rangers, that has made him go up another level.

“Joe’s style is unique. When I was with him at Charlton he did remind me for a while of a left-footed Yaya Toure. But you don’t get a lot of midfielders like Joe, there aren’t many around.

“Like Toure, for a tall guy he’s got such great feet. But that languid style he’s got is actually fairly unique in the game.”

At the time of writing (29/12/21), Transfermarkt value him at £5.85m. This suggests that the Gers could make a hefty profit on him if they do decide to cash in, whether that is in January or next summer.

Therefore, former Gers chief Mark Allen pulled off a masterstroke with his deal to sign him in 2019.

He brought in a player capable of being outstanding for the club in the Premiership, with the potential to be a valuable asset in the future to sell on for profit-making it a win-win in both the footballing and financial aspects of the move.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Goldson: Rangers can seal dream replacement with “proven” 6 ft 3 powerhouse…

Many Wolves fans have been slamming the performance of Adama Traore in their 0-0 draw at home to Burnley in the Premier League tonight.

It was a frustrating night for the Spaniard, who showed moments of brilliance at times when dribbling through the Clarets’ defence, but his end product often let him down.

Traore failed to score with all four of his goal attempts, while he was also inaccurate with five of his crosses, and lost the ball on no fewer than 17 occasions in total (SofaScore).

The winger also lost out on six of his duels and misplaced six of his passes (SofaScore) as the Molineux faithful grew more tiresome with him as the game went on.

He could not make the difference in the final third of the pitch as Bruno Lage’s team had to settle for just a point in the end.

Wolves fans slam Traore

These Wolves supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one fan going as far as to claim that Traore was a ‘liability’ tonight:

“Traore is the most frustrating player in world football”

Credit: @Scouse_Wolf

“Traore is a liability.”

Credit: @SwanWolf10

“Time to sell Traore. Useless!”

Credit: @jayaldridge50

“Yeah what was Adama Traore doing, that was embarrassing”

Credit: @Wolvesf42654430

“I just don’t see what Traore brings to this club. Selfish, arrogant and clearly doesn’t want to stay so get him out the squad. He doesn’t deserve that shirt.”

Credit: @ShaineRafferty8

“Traore couldn’t finish if there was no goalie”

Credit: @Ang5982

In other news, many Wolves fans have flocked to this transfer news!

Sharing an update on Tottenham Hotspur’s January plans, journalist Sami Mokbel of The Daily Mail has made a transfer claim involving Paris-Saint Germain midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

The Lowdown: Alli and Ndombele nearing exit?

As reliably reported, Spurs stars Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele are two big names who could leave north London by deadline day as transfer chief Fabio Paratici works on both incomings and outgoings (Sky Sports).

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The former has seen his market value plummet in recent seasons and a move away may be best for all parties. The latter, Spurs’ club-record signing, is reportedly eager to join PSG after being left out in the cold by manager Antonio Conte.

Potential swap deals have been touted in the press, with journalist Jason Burt of The Telegraph stating recently that Spurs were ‘offered’ Argentina international Leandro Paredes in such a potential deal.

Sharing news on Tottenham’s possible exits this month, another reporter in Mokbel has now made a claim involving former Liverpool star Wijnaldum.

The Latest: Wijnaldum ‘open’ to signing for Spurs…

Indeed, The Daily Mail journalist claimed that the 31-year-old is ‘open’ to a PSG/Spurs swap deal which would see the Netherlands international join Spurs on loan for the remainder of the current campaign.

This could result in either Ndombele or Alli moving in the opposite direction as chairman Daniel Levy aims to back Conte in the transfer market and kickstart the Tottenham rebuild.

The Verdict: Get it done?

We believe that signing Wijnaldum on a temporary basis is certainly something Conte should consider, especially going by the midfielder’s pedigree in the Premier League and threat going forward.

The 31-year-old has racked up 26 goals over 85 caps at international level and can operate as an advanced playmaker, potentially coming as the unlikely but long-awaited replacement for Christian Eriksen if Spurs decide to move for him.

During his last season at Anfield, the tidy £165,000-per-week ace averaged a higher pass accuracy (92.7%) than any Liverpool player under Jurgen Klopp (WhoScored), so it’s little wonder why the Reds boss described him as a ‘legend’ and the ‘architect’ of their success in recent years (The Daily Mail).

At the very least, it’s certainly a swap deal which must get Paratici thinking, with Wijnadlum’s stance crystal clear.

In other news: Personal terms agreed: Conte edges closer to signing ‘world-beater’ for Tottenham, find out more here.

Newcastle United have reportedly now ‘made’ a club-record ‘offer’ to sign Darwin Nunez in the summer.

The Lowdown: ‘Marquee’ signing

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) reportedly want to make a ‘marquee’ signing this summer, and Nunez tops that list.

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Described as an ‘absolute beast’ by Liverpool podcaster Hari Sethi after an impressive performance in the UEFA Champions League against the Reds, the six-foot-two starlet has notched up no fewer than 32 goals in just 37 games in total over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt), and will no doubt be on a lot of club’s radars come the transfer window.

The Latest: Offer made

As per transfer insider Santi Aouna, the St. James’ Park faithful have now ‘made an offer’ for Nunez ‘in recent weeks’, but ‘several’ clubs in Europe are ‘trying’ to sign him from Benfica.

He expanded in his article for Foot Mercato that the North East club have offered ‘more than’ €60m (£49.6m) for his signature, but face competition from PSG, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.

The Verdict: Unlikely

Given the calibre of clubs interested, and off of the back of the season that he is having, it seems highly unlikely that the Magpies would be able to persuade Nunez to move to Tyneside.

They would not be able to offer him any European football, and so it is too early in their project to be going for names currently being chased by what seems like half of the big teams in Europe.

However, he is only 22 years of age, and so the Uruguay international could be one that they look to target in the future, once the PIF project is fully firing.

In other news, find out which Van Dijk-like colossus NUFC have now sent scouts to watch here!

Under-fire Everton boss Frank Lampard faces a tough battle in his quest to renew the Toffees’ Premier League status for next season. It’s a battle that is made even more difficult as he returns to the club where it all started in West Ham United.

The Hammers will certainly not consider their opponents’ position in the table this season and will be out to fight for their own cause, as they look to bustle their way into the Champions League places in what, albeit, looks like a very unlikely ambition.

Two wins from their last six games in all competitions is not the kind of form that will elevate David Moyes’ side to that next level and todays fixture at the London Stadium represents a high stakes fixture for both sides.

West Ham seem to have lost momentum at the worst possible time of the season and will need a win against this season’s Premier League strugglers Everton in order to bounce back from what was a disappointing 3-1 loss against Antonio Conte’s Spurs side last time out.

Everton are in a similar vein of form, with the Toffees also registering two wins from six in all competitions, though one of their two wins came against National League outfit Boreham Wood during their FA Cup tie, so make of that what you will.

During that span of six games, Lampard’s side have shipped an unbelievable 11 goals and scored just three with both stats pointing towards serious downfall for the Merseyside outfit.

In terms of injury news, Lampard is optimistic over the return of the 6 foot 5 Colombian giant Yerry Mina and believes he will return to action in “the next couple of weeks.”

The Everton boss also revealed that Fabian Delph’s return could be “in another week or so” whilst the “long-term injury” to Andros Townsend will be a disappointing one to take for the Toffees faithful.

This is how we believe the Toffees XI will line up against an ambitious West Ham side:

Everton XI: Pickford, Holgate, Keane, Godfrey, Coleman, Doucouré, de Beek, Kenny, Gordon, Calvert-Lewin, Gray

Our prediction sees Richarlison, who was dubbed a “top” player by journalist Carl Markham, miss out after failing to score since the middle of January.

As a result, the £37.8m-rated Dominic Calvert-Lewin returns in what will be just his third start since early March.

His inclusion in the side will come as a huge boost with the Toffees in need of goals. Calvert-Lewin should certainly bring more of a goal threat considering his 21 strikes in 2020/21.

Townsend will miss out through injury, with Demarai Gray coming in to replace him and Andre Gomes will be axed for the inclusion of on-loan United midfielder Donny Van de Beek in the third and final change to the side.

In other news – Everton must finally unleash £19.8m-rated “freak of a talent” who has been “destroyed”