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Kevin Phillips has offered his thoughts on Liverpool’s potential interest in Watford winger Ismaila Sarr…

What’s the talk?

Former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips has suggested that Liverpool might go in for Watford winger Ismaila Sarr in the January window.

Phillips has said that the ‘top-quality’ Sarr would improve Liverpool’s attacking options, which is why they could swoop for him in the winter.

He told Football Insider:

“They might look at him again in January.

“Yes, Liverpool have players that can step in and do a job but do they have enough options at the top end of the pitch. [Divock] Origi and [Takumi] Minamino got amongst the goals in midweek and perhaps that can kickstart both of their seasons.

“Liverpool want to be challenging this season though and I fear they haven’t got the depth in their squad to cope with an injury to Mane or Salah. They might have to dip into the transfer market to bring someone in who is going to give them goals.

“Sarr is certainly a top-quality player and he would definitely be an upgrade on what Liverpool currently have in reserve.”

Fans would be gutted

Watford boss Xisco Munoz must avoid a January nightmare over Sarr following these comments from Phillips on potential interest from Liverpool. The Hornets cannot afford to sell one of their key players midway through the campaign as they bid to avoid relegation straight back down to the Championship, an eventuality that would leave fans gutted.

Norwich sold their Player of the Season Emi Buendia in the summer and are now bottom of the Premier League with six defeats in six games. This highlights the level of impact cashing in on your star player can have in a top-flight season, which should serve as a warning to Watford heading into January.

Sarr has already shown the level of quality he is able to produce at this level. The winger has scored four times in six Premier League matches with all of those strikes contributing to Watford’s seven points. This shows that he has the ability to win games for his side in the top-flight and that could be the difference between staying up and being relegated.

Therefore, fans would be gutted to see him leave in the January window. They would surely be furious if the club opted to sell such an important figure midway through the season, potentially increasing the chances of relegation due to the loss of his goalscoring powers. This is why Munoz must stand firm and refuse to part ways with the forward.

AND in other news, 10 duels won: Watford dynamo with three key passes stole the show vs Newcastle…

Leicester City have made a solid start to the new season, picking up six points from a possible nine in the Premier League after seeing off Manchester City in the Community Shield.

The Foxes are aiming to finally break into the top four this term following consecutive fifth-place finishes, and several high-profile acquisitions over the summer will certainly help them in their mission to do just that.

However, some of their regular stars have so far struggled to live up to their usual lofty heights in the opening weeks, with the likes of Caglar Soyuncu and Ayoze Perez making high-profile mistakes.

It’s arguably another one of Rodgers’ first-team gems who endured the worst August of the lot, though.

As per SofaScore, Harvey Barnes earned a rating of just 6.27 out of 10, the second-lowest amongst his Leicester colleagues. When examining the £60,000-per-week speed demons underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why he has accrued such a poor rating.

After starting all three of the Foxes opening top-flight games against Wolves, West Ham United and Norwich City, Barnes has failed to score or assist a single goal. The 23-year-old has also made just 13.7 accurate passes per game on average (41 in total), highlighting his lack of involvement in proceedings. [SofaScore]

He has also recorded just 0.3 shots on target, 0.3 key passes and 1.3 dribbles per game, while failing to create a single big chance for his teammates. [SofaScore]

In fairness to Barnes, he is currently returning from a serious knee injury which ended his 2020/21 season back in March and forced him to miss Euro 2020 over the summer, but he will be expecting to put in some much-improved performances following the current international break.

In other news… Report sheds light on Leicester’s deadline day development, Rodgers will be gutted 

Former Everton star Marcus Bent insists that the club still need to add depth up front despite the signing of Salomon Rondon in the summer transfer window.

The Toffees attempted to add new blood to support Calvert-Lewin, who has emerged as the club’s first-choice forward.

The England international was in sensational form last season and scored 16 goals in 33 games in the Premier League, and he has already netted three times in three games this term.

Everton brought Rondon into the club in the summer window, signing him on a free transfer on deadline day.

However, Bent believes that the club need to bring in more depth in the final third, be that up front or on the wing.

He says that boss Rafael Benitez is likely to have as many as five targets ahead of next summer’s window, although he does hold some doubts over whether they will be attainable.

Speaking to The Transfer Tavern, Bent said: “Everton are a big club, a new stadium, and going forward, and DCL hopefully he stays but he needs support, so we need to bring those players in to help him to score goals. Going forward, Benitez probably has five players he wants to get in.

“Whether he can get them with the budget, we don’t know, but what it will be, it will be moving players across with the January window coming in, but all in all, Everton need to be consistent, and they weren’t consistent last season.”

David Norris has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that he doesn’t think Leeds need to sign someone like Gary Cahill.

Whilst Marcelo Bielsa currently has a squad that are short on Premier League experience, he has no less than five players that can play centre-back at his disposal.

Liam Cooper and Pascal Struijk were Bielsa’s preferred pairing for much of last season, but mainly because big money signings Diego Llorente and Robin Kock spent big spells on the sidelines through injury.

Leeds could add another central defender to their ranks in 6 ft 4 Cahill, who’s now available on a free transfer having recently announced that he won’t be returning to Crystal Palace despite recent talks.

Cahill was out of contract this summer and turned down Palace’s new offer meaning the 35-year-old defender, who’s racked up almost 400 Premier League appearances in his career, is now unattached.

Asked whether the former Chelsea and England defender is someone that Bielsa might consider, Norris told The Transfer Tavern:

“I’d say that he’s on the way down. I think he could still do a job, but it wouldn’t inspire me at this stage to bring a Gary Cahill in, they’ve got Liam Cooper, who’s got bags of experience, so I would be looking elsewhere.”

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly trying to sign a new midfielder this summer, with Tanguy Ndombele’s future in doubt…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Star, the North London outfit have drawn up a shortlist of targets to reinforce a key area of Nuno Santo’s squad, in which Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisso is mooted.

The 27-year-old has entered the final 11 months of his current contract and could be available for as little as £10m.

However, Spurs are not the only side to have been linked with a move for the France international in the past week. Premier League rivals West Ham, Manchester United and Arsenal, as well as Italian giants Juventus, are said to be keen, as per L’Equipe (via GFFN).

Paratici masterclass

Tolisso’s recent injury record is certainly a cause for concern but it is rather telling that he was still called up to Didier Deschamps’ Euro 2020 squad, where he featured in three of their four games, whilst there are some huge names mooted with interest, as seen above.

The £18m-rated midfielder started only 14 times for the Bundesliga champions last season, playing a total of 779 minutes in the league, via Transfermarkt.

He cost around €40m (£34m) back in 2017, so to get him for a fraction of the price is certainly a masterstroke move from Fabio Paratici.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-team-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, gossip and much more!”]

During his time at Juventus in a similar role, the Italian supremo made a name for himself by securing some outrageous bargains. Paul Pogba, Kingsley Coman and Andrea Pirlo were snapped up on free transfers, players like Arturo Vidal and Carlos Tevez cost under £10m, and he was the man to prise Cristiano Ronaldo away from Real Madrid, as per football.london.

If he feels Tolisso has something to offer, despite his lack of game time, then he should absolutely be trusted.

When fit, he’s evidently a phenomenal player – one that has won a World Cup, four Bundesliga titles and a Champions League.

The France international is a mix of Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, having modelled his game on the legendary England duo, whilst he has even been likened to fellow World Cup winner Toni Kroos.

That box-to-box nature has been described as “dangerous” by former Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, as Tolisso can get forward to provide goals, as well as do the defensive work, too.

Across 233 career appearances, the Bayern dynamo has found the net 41 times and has an average of 1.6 tackles, 1.5 shots and 0.9 key passes per game, via WhoScored, which only reinforces his ability at both ends of the pitch.

If Paratici can land him for just £10m, then he’ll have delivered another one of his transfer masterclasses, and Spurs would be getting an absolute steal.

AND in other news, Nuno Santo handed big Spurs boost ahead of Man City clash…

An update has emerged on Southampton striker Danny Ings, regarding Tottenham’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to Dean Jones of Eurosport, Tottenham are preparing to make their opening offer for Southampton number nine Danny Ings.

Spurs are said to have made him a priority target and are now on the cusp of submitting their first bid for his services. However, they are planning to offer below Southampton’s £20m valuation before negotiating with them further.

Fans would be livid

Martin Semmens must avoid a Southampton nightmare by rejecting Tottenham’s offer for Ings. He cannot allow the club’s star forward to leave the club, especially for a fee that is said to be below the £20m valuation set by the Saints this summer.

Speaking of which, the £20m fee mentioned in this report is a concerning one.

Southampton reportedly paid £20m to sign Ings on a permanent deal from Liverpool and has been prolific over the past two seasons. He has scored 34 goals since the start of the 2019/20 campaign, which shows that he can find the back of the net consistently at Premier League level – a rare commodity.

Therefore, his value should have increased because he has proven himself at the top level.

His contract is up at the end of next season, but the cost of being relegated far exceeds the £20m loss Southampton would seemingly take if they allow him to leave on a free transfer.

A report in 2018 explained that relegation can cost a club at least £50m, which emphasises the point that £20m is too cheap to sell your best goalscorer. Losing his goals could increase the chances of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side going down, simply because the fewer goals you score the fewer points you are likely to rack up.

Former Premier League forward Clinton Morrison once called Ings “first-class” and compared him to Spurs legend Robbie Keane.

He said:

“Yes, I would say Danny Ings is top-four quality, most definitely. The season he’s had at Southampton, if you put him in one of the teams at the top four, he’d easily score goals like that.

“I used to play with a striker who used to play like Danny Ings – Robbie Keane.

“I look at the way Ings plays at the moment, his movement is first class and I used to say to Robbie Keane, ‘how do you get in behind defenders when you’re not rapid?’ His movement was first-class and Danny Ings is like that.”

So, why should Southampton sell a player who is top-four quality and has proven that with his goal record for £20m, let alone under £20m?

Semmens must avoid making a major error with Ings this summer by either upping his price tag or doing everything he can to keep hold of the England international.

AND in other news, Semmens could find Mane 2.0 in £35m “exceptional talent”, Saints fans would adore him…

This has been an extremely busy week for Celtic in the transfer market.

The Hoops needed new bodies and Ange Postecoglou has achieved that by welcoming Joe Hart and James McCarthy to Parkhead.

On the chalkboard

Those two additions are incredibly important to Celtic with problems emerging in both areas.

Ismaila Soro has endured a poor start to the season so McCarthy now stands a brilliant chance of becoming the club’s heir to Scott Brown in the middle of the park.

As for the goalkeeping position, both Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas have already made mistakes in the opening three competitive matches of the new campaign.

In fact, defensive errors as a whole have been rife as the Bhoys pick up the mantle from how they closed out the 2020/21 term.

Nir Bitton was sent off in the Champions League and then put in a torturous performance against Hearts last weekend. That said, debutant Carl Starfelt didn’t escape the negative headlines either.

A lack of match action may attribute to his poor performance, but there was no excuse for playing a dangerous back pass in the second half that nearly had shades of Jonjoe Kenny in his first Old Firm game last season.

Defenders needed

With such a disastrous start to the campaign from a defensive point of view in mind, Postecoglou desperately needs to sign Hart’s ex-teammate Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Reports in June claimed that Celtic were interested in signing the Tottenham defender.

Talks got underway and now according to the Record, the Hoops have ramped up their plans to sign the centre-back.

That being said, with 12 months remaining on his deal in north London, Celtic will need to stump up a £5m fee rather than signing him on loan.

If Postecoglou does bring him to Paradise then it would be an excellent piece of business, even at the asking price touted.

Dubbed “incredible” by his manager Graeme Jones during a loan spell with Luton, the United States international has qualities that would suit the coaching department in Glasgow.

First and foremost, his ability to play out from the back will be vitally important. Carter-Vickers completed 91.6% of his passes in the English second tier during a stay with Swansea, the best tally of any player in the entire division.

With that kind of passing in mind, he could form quite the partnership with Carl Starfelt, another composed ball-playing defender.

Furthermore, Carter-Vickers prevailed in 2.8 aerial battles per game last season, a number that was slightly down from the 3.8 he won with Luton Town in 2019/20.

It’s evident that he’d be a fantastic addition to the Celtic ranks; Postecoglou must make him the club’s latest signing.

AND in other news, Celtic must do everything to sign 24-cap “animal” who Rodgers dubbed “outstanding”…

Tammy Abraham will be left with no option but to leave Chelsea if Thomas Tuchel signs another striker, according to football.london reporter Sam Inkersole.

Abraham has fallen out of favour under Tuchel, who replaced Frank Lampard as the Blues’ boss in January.

The striker has made just six Premier League appearances since the appointment of Tuchel, which has put other Premier League sides on high alert.

West Ham United are interested in signing the striker – and are thought to be in pole position should he decide to leave Stamford Bridge – ahead of their Europa League campaign, while Aston Villa are keen to sign Abraham having seen him play such a key role in their promotion from the Championship in 2019.

Abraham scored 26 goals in just 40 appearances as Villa returned to the Premier League via the play-offs.

The 23-year-old only has one year remaining on his Chelsea deal, but Inkersole insists Abraham’s departure is not a forgone conclusion.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, he said: “I wouldn’t say it’s a dead cert that he will leave because there’s not a lot of depth in the attacking talent at the football club.

“Abraham only played 17 Premier League minutes since February.

“It depends if Chelsea bring in another frontman. If they do, then the writing might be on the wall for Abraham. But if they don’t, then I still think he might have a role to play.”

Former Leeds United midfielder David Norris has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that he cannot see Kalvin Phillips leaving Elland Road this summer.

Amid an impressive Euros, where he set up England’s winner against Croatia at the beginning of the tournament, talk has emerged about a potential Leeds exit.

According to TuttoJuve, Juventus are one club currently interested in signing the 25-year-old this transfer window as they look to strengthen their midfield.

Norris, however, is confident Phillips will remain at Elland Road, stressing the England international’s love for the club as he spoke to FFC:

“I can’t see it, you know, from inside the club as well,” the ex-Leeds player said. “He loves the club, he’s come from the youth team there as well, he’s developing all the time and is a massive player now, key player at Leeds.

“For me, he won’t want to leave I don’t think, the love he has for that club.”

Phillips certainly is a key player for Leeds, featuring in just under 30 Premier League games last season.

He also managed to average 2.6 tackles per match, the third-highest average in Marcelo Bielsa’s squad (via WhoScored), showing his importance to the side when it comes to regaining possession.

So, even if Phillips did want to join a side like Juventus this summer, you would expect Leeds to put up a real fight to keep hold of the midfielder.

Dean Windass can’t see Jesse Lingard returning to West Ham this summer as he expects him to fight for a place at parent club Manchester United.

Lingard’s Old Trafford career looked bleak as recently as January when he failed to make a single Premier League appearance for the Red Devils during the first half of last season.

However, following an impressive return to form whilst on loan with the Hammers, Windass believes that he could now  challenge for a spot in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Lingard contributed to 14 goals in 16 appearances during his short stay with West Ham, but whilst David Moyes will undoubtedly be hoping to have him back next season, according to the Daily Star, United are set to offer the attacker an improved three-year contract to convince him to stay at the club.

That comes despite United being on the verge of signing Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund, which would surely decrease Lingard’s chances of becoming a regular.

Windass exclusively told Football FanCast:

“I can’t see him going back to West Ham, I just can’t. He’ll want to go back to Man U and he will want to get back into Manchester United’s team.”