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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has claimed that the Baggies have a future star in Grady Diangana.

The 22-year-old made his loan move permanent in the summer for a whopping £18m, leaving behind his boyhood club West Ham United.

Last season during Albion’s promotion-winning campaign, the England U21 international provided eight goals and seven assists, per Transfermarkt.

And Palmer believes he could go onto become a player worth £40m to £50m but only on one condition, he told FFC:

“You can’t go and spend 60 or 70 million on a player.

“Still, for West Brom, you know, 12 million with add-ons I think it goes up to 18 million. It’s still a lot of money, but at least it’s a young player who’s only going to get better.

“And then at some point in the future, he might be worth £40m+ if he gets his head down and works hard.”

Diangana has found the adjustment to life in the Premier League a little bit tricky, scoring just the one goal in eight appearances.

On Sunday afternoon, manager Slaven Bilic dropped him from the starting XI for the very first time this season before he came on for a 23-minute cameo against Spurs.

His numbers across the board have regressed with the step up in quality too, averaging fewer dribbles (1.6), shots (1.1) and key passes (0.5) per game, via WhoScored.

That form earlier in the year earned him high praise indeed with Michael Brown telling Football Insider that the English talent was “unplayable at times” but we’re yet to truly see that in the big time.

He’s evidently got a long way to go and as Palmer suggests, he’s going to have to get his head down and work hard to do so.

But maybe in the future, the Baggies will have a mega-money star that they could well profit from having invested a considerable chunk of their budget on him this summer.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Chris Kirkland tips 66 y/o to replace Slaven Bilic…

£18 million. That’s how much Leeds United will be paying to make Michael Cuisance their newest summer signing if a deal comes to fruition.

It seems to be just a matter of time before the Bayern Munich man is announced as a Leeds player, and while it’s incredibly exciting to see such a highly-rated young midfielder sign for the Yorkshire outfit, it does leave a number of questions around Adam Forshaw’s future.

The 28-year-old hasn’t played much football over the past 12 months, with an injury keeping him out of action since United’s game against Charlton last October.

Forshaw is undoubtedly a Bielsa favourite, with the Argentine saying that he defends in a similar manner to Kalvin Phillips and attacks in a similar way to Mateusz Klich, and when you consider that those two have started every Premier League game so far, that is high praise.

However, with Forshaw still out with injury and Cuisance coming in, it’s hard to see how he gets back into the first-team picture.

Klich and Phillips are nigh on undroppable, with Klich starting all-but-one of Leeds’ league games since Bielsa took charge, while Phillips is arguably United’s best player, earning an England call-up before he even made his Premier League debut.

Of course, there is a third midfield role that is usually taken up by a more attacking player with Rodrigo, Pablo Hernandez and Tyler Roberts all playing that role in recent weeks, but there is sufficient strength in depth in that role to the point where Forshaw isn’t really an option.

A lot has changed at Elland Road since Forshaw went down injured, including new recruits coming in and taking his spot. Now, the 28-year-old is in something of a no man’s land at Leeds where he is a depth option in a position that doesn’t really get rotated all that much.

In other news, one Leeds loanee showed exactly what he can do last weekend.

Portsmouth boss Kenny Jackett has revealed that he is unsure of securing a return for Birmingham City’s Steve Seddon this summer.

The 22-year-old arrived at Fratton Park during the January transfer window, sealing a short term loan deal from the Championship side.

Helping Pompey to a play-off place, the left-back was involved in the League One play-off semi-final which ended in defeat against Oxford United, thus ending the club’s chances of gaining promotion to the Championship.

Making 12 appearances in England’s third tier with Portsmouth, Seddon made a good impression, netting two goals and gaining one assist despite being a defender by trade.

However, a potential permanent deal or second loan has become a difficult one with The News reporting that Jackett’s side are not in a position financially to pursue a move.

Valued at £135,000 by Transfermarkt, Seddon’s future has now been discussed by his former temporary boss.

He told The News: ‘We would need and do want a new left-back. We are working towards having two specialist left-backs for next season.

‘We haven’t got anyone else in the squad with the experience other than Lee.

‘Steve Seddon has obviously gone back and is a Birmingham player now.

‘I don’t know what the circumstances are with them, but there are a number of players we are working towards and considering.

‘By the start of the season, getting two specialist left-backs is something we will look to do.’

Seddon made a good impression at Portsmouth and he would be a superb permanent signing this summer, but finances and the salary cap introduction from the English Football League are making deals like this one very hard to pull off.

Whether or not a loan deal could be agreed does not seem to be mentioned in the reports over the last few weeks, but you would have to think that would be put forward.

Do you think Seddon could return to Portsmouth? Let us know in the comments section below…

West Ham head into the Premier League’s final matchday of the 2019/20 season knowing that they are safe and secure for next year.

However, the Irons welcome a side battling relegation in Aston Villa, who come to east London on the back of an impressive victory over Arsenal last week.

Meanwhile, David Moyes’ side come into this one in decent form having won two and drawn one of their last three matches with the stalemate being against free-scoring Man United on Wednesday.

The 57-year-old has some decisions to make with team selection, so here’s what we are predicting this afternoon…

The Hammers could make as many as three changes with the Scotsman balancing injuries across the pitch.

Lucas Fabianski is sure to finish the term between the sticks, but the back four in front of him will be slightly different from midweek.

Left-back Aaron Cresswell came off injured early and is a serious doubt for this one, so Arthur Masuaku takes his place alongside centre-back pairing Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop whilst Ben Johnson continues on the right.

In a small tweak to the formation, Declan Rice heralds the backline with Thomas Soucek and Mark Noble slightly more advanced in Moyes’ engine room.

Pablo Fornals also keeps his place but switches to the right-flank as the impressive Jarrod Bowen is also a doubt like Cresswell.

Felipe Anderson could be handed a chance in his absence, starting on the other side – it would be the £28.8m-rated Brazilian’s first start since a defeat to Liverpool in February.

Whilst the final change comes in the attack.

Moyes could grant Sebastien Haller an opportunity to impress ahead of the summer, he may replace Michail Antonio upfront with the 30-year-old performing like a workhorse in recent weeks.

AND in other news, West Ham can finally replace Zabaleta with £18m summer raid…

Plenty of Everton fans have been reacting to some comments made by Carlo Ancelotti as he revealed the three players at the Merseyside club that he feels have what it takes to become managers and therefore could possibly succeed him at Goodison Park one day.

Speaking via the Liverpool Echo, the Italian boss named Leighton Baines, Seamus Coleman and Gylfi Sigurdsson to have the same traits as what he identified in current Chelsea coach Frank Lampard before he became manager of at Stamford Bridge and implied that they could possibly succeed him at the Toffees when he eventually leaves his post.

“Leighton Baines and Seamus Coleman have all the qualities to be good managers, Sigurdsson could also be a good manager,” Ancelotti said. “They all have strong football knowledge and good tactical understanding.”

Coleman is the current captain of the football club and so a leader on the pitch, so it is perhaps not a surprise that Ancelotti has named the 31-year old to be a future boss one day.

Baines has a wealth of experience to his name being 35 years of age and has shown great loyalty to the Blues, having made a rather impressive 418 appearances in 13 consecutive seasons in his EFC career so far, according to Transfermarkt.

Sigurdsson is arguably the most left-field option of Ancelotti’s, but the attacking midfield player has at times led by example on the pitch with his 22 goals and 14 assists in 105 games in all competitions over the past three campaigns for Everton, as the Icelandic international has also played in 74 senior matches for his country, as per the website.

These supporters reacted to Ancelotti’s comments:

Evertonians, how long will Ancelotti stay at the club? Comment below!

Glasgow Rangers and the other 41 clubs in Scotland’s top four tiers now have the opportunity to vote on whether they want to see the footballing pyramid north of the border reconstructed.

Ann Budge, the Hearts owner, has come to the table with a plan to switch up the system in Scotland, and it now looks that, after talks with the SPFL, a 14-10-10-10 structure is on the table. The governing body has now given the clubs the chance to say whether they back this potential new set-up or not.

SPFL chief Neil Doncaster appears to believe that is could well go through, but according to journalist Tom English, that is not the case. On Friday, he took to Twitter to say that there is genuine incredulity amongst several chairmen and chief executives that Doncaster actually believes this proposal could get voted through.

This has led to plenty of Gers fans reacting – Doncaster, after all, is not a popular figure amongst that particular fanbase. They have taken to the social media platform to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments below.

Let us know what you think!

Lots of Newcastle United fans are loving the news about the prospective takeover in the North East which has been provided by Keith Downie.

As per Sky Sports, the journalist was speaking on a podcast with Steve Howey, as the two men discussed what exactly is going on at St. James’ Park.

However, it was one comment made by Downie in particular that certainly caught the eye of several members of the Toon faithful as it was relayed by NUFC 360 on their Twitter page.

The reporter claimed that the proposed deal is ‘at the final knockings’ in terms of whether it will go through or not. He also added that ‘a lot of spade work has been done’ in terms of making sure that everything can be finalised before the bid can be fully accepted.

Downie hinted that this has been a long process, and whilst some Magpies are becoming increasingly frustrated that it has not gone through, it seems as if these NUFC supporters at least loved the update:

Geordies, what do you make of the news? Comment below!

Attempts to make up for dismal first innings come to naught as home side blown away

David Hopps01-Sep-2021Nottinghamshire 448 (Patterson-White 101, Clarke 59, Fletcher 51) beat Somerset 107 (Fletcher 4-21) and 181 (Paterson 4-46) by an innings and 160 runsNot enough character, not enough discipline. Tom Abell was distraught over Somerset’s first-innings collapse. If he was that blunt to the media, what did he say in the dressing room? The message was abundantly clear: it was time to regain some respect, to show some discipline, to dig in.The temptation to imagine Somerset’s young thrusters looking in bewilderment at Abell’s instructions was irresistible.”Well, I’ve got this shot where I swivel yards outside off stump and slam it behind square leg for six,” Tom Lammonby might have ventured.”That’s nothing,” Tom Banton might have answered in turn. “I can slog-sweep the quicks over midwicket as well as anyone, if you like.””That’s just too high risk,” says Abell. “I want percentage shots.””Maybe I could swivel, but not so far?” offers Lammonby.”I never really understood percentages,” mutters Banton.More seasoned professionals, who have seen it all before, nod in acquiescence at such moments and privately tell themselves they will bat with serious intent. But while the older players will merely recalibrate slightly for the matches to follow, or just accept it as one of those things, Somerset’s younger pros have a greater challenge to find a workable Championship tempo.Banton and Lammonby have two half-centuries in 28 Championship starts. Banton averages around 21, Lammonby around 15. Banton’s Championship approach looks a bit shot; in fact, even in the shorter formats, the daring with which he burst on to the scene is now tinged with doubt. Lammonby just looks strokeless. Lewis Goldsworthy, too – a third talented young buck, although as yet not so highly feted – has a similar return.Banton and Lammonby are quite rightly regarded as two of the most thrilling white-ball batters to come out of Somerset for many a year. But you could feel their growing pains. Take chances, push the boundaries and make mistakes is the creed that has carried them so far, but bowlers are learning more about their games and, anyway, in the Championship there are deeper truths and they have yet to find them. Certainly, both need more get-out shots, workaday solutions that keep risk to a minimum. But when four-day cricket is not their first love – and no matter how much they keep up appearances it probably isn’t – finding solutions is psychologically even harder. They literally have run before they can walk.It was shortly after 5 o’clock when Somerset were beaten by an innings and 160 runs, dismissed second time around for 181 to follow up their 107 in the first innings. Everybody tried to dig in, nobody succeeded. They lasted 28 overs longer, but the irony was inescapable that their two highest-scoring batters, Jack Leach and Marchant de Lange, got there by accepting the inevitability of defeat and having a bit of a swing after tea.”We could have done that,” one could fancy that Banton and Lammonby mused in unison.For Nottinghamshire, the first phase in this four-game Division One climax could not have been more fruitful. Their first win at Taunton since 1985 was also their biggest victory margin in history against Somerset. Luke Fletcher and Dane Paterson bowled splendidly throughout, both taking seven wickets in the match as they outdid their Somerset counterparts. They began the season without a Championship win for nearly three years and are now very much in the title shake-up.For Somerset, the manner of defeat questioned their Championship credentials in the absence of two key seam-bowling allrounders, Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory. Leach needs a pitch offering some turn, but he is unlikely to get that against Yorkshire at Scarborough next week and when Lancashire come to Taunton the week after they will carry the legspin threat of Matt Parkinson in return.Somerset’s first three wickets fell to excellent deliveries – Steve Davies, edging one from Fletcher that seamed away; Abell, after 11 in 56 balls, edging one from Paterson that this time did not swing in but held its line; James Hildreth leaving Fletcher’s inswinger, his off stump rattled.For a long period on either side of lunch, Paterson to Lammonby was on repeat. Paterson, sensing that Lammonby had eschewed all temptation, repeatedly offered up deliveries wide outside off stump and Lammonby, a tall man crouching forward, let them pass. When Paterson took a breather, he had figures of 9-6-4-1 and Lammonby had failed to score off 23 balls from him, or the same ball, 23 times.Lammonby found some release when Notts skipper, Steven Mullaney, filled in with a few overs of medium pace – he swung it, too – and he also hooked Brett Hutton down to long leg. But on 34, from 95 balls, he pushed at a good ball from Hutton and was caught at first slip.Banton’s demise came when Paterson squared him up to be lbw. It put him out of his misery and that misery must not be allowed to fester. By the end of the over, only a single from Leach had prevented Paterson taking a triple-wicket maiden. Roelof van der Merwe clipped his first ball to square leg and Goldsworthy, another figure of undying responsibility, lost his off stump.Somerset were 86 for 7 after 48.5 overs, a penitent innings that had achieved nothing.Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, was left to reflect upon it all. “We were in game on the first day, but Liam Patterson-White’s century took it away from us and since then we have been totally outplayed,” he said. “We came into the game with high expectations, but respect to Notts for how they went about things and we can certainly learn a few lessons from that. There were no redeeming features in our performance. We expect better individually and collectively from Somerset players.”

The India ODI captain has asked for consistency from openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma

Annesha Ghosh21-Sep-20211:34

Mithali Raj: ‘We have a lot to do in terms of our bowling’

Mithali Raj, India’s ODI captain, has called for greater accountability from the opening pair of Smriti Mandhana, especially, and Shafali Verma after the two fell for low scores in India’s nine-wicket loss in the first ODI in Mackay. While a better start – the pair fell in quick succession after adding 31 – might have helped India put up more than the 225 for 8 they managed, better bowling could have made things tough for Australia in their chase. They eventually got to their target in just 41 overs, and Raj was unhappy about the performance of the spinners as well.Related

• Batting coach Das backs 'world-class' Mandhana to come good

• Will Mithali bat at No. 3? Can Shafali slay her demons?

• Australia's test of endurance begins in bid for Grand Slam

“The opening partnership – if they can give us a good start, clearly the middle order can take the momentum from there,” Raj told reporters after the match. “But if you lose wickets, you actually have to build an innings in the first ten overs. Smriti [16 in 18 balls] has been on the international circuit for a while, so we would expect some runs from her.”When you know the sort of batting line-up the Australians have, anything closer to 250 is what we were looking at, but losing two wickets, especially batters like Smriti and Shafali [8 in 10 balls], in the powerplay itself, it was important the middle order starts to compensate for that and build a partnership there. And that’s what we did with Yastika [Bhatia, the debutant, who scored a 51-ball 35], but then again, we didn’t get enough partnerships in the lower-middle order.”You always bat according to the situation. Of course, the players need to play shots, but it doesn’t mean you be reckless. We need to now actually have partnerships rather than thinking about fearless cricket. The girls need to get down to developing some partnerships in the middle and that will definitely give them confidence at some point to play fearlessly.”Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma fell in quick succession after putting on 31•Getty Images

Both Mandhana and Verma fell to the 18-year-old quick Darcie Brown after India were asked to bat on a pitch with bounce, pace and carry. The two have opened together in 25 T20Is, but only three times before this in ODIs, adding 23, 56 and 46, all in England in June.The relative inexperience of the 17-year-old Shafali means the team management would like to give her “breathing space”, but Mandhana, who has over 140 India caps, has struggled for consistency in limited-overs cricket since 2020. In nine ODI innings this year, against South Africa at home and in England before the latest outing, Mandhana has only one fifty and seven scores under 30 in a total of 244 runs at an average of 30.50.In a post-match interview with the host broadcaster on Tuesday, Raj made it clear that “when you’re put in to bat, you expect an opening partnership of minimum 50 runs.” Against a well-rounded Australia attack, India had just one 50-plus stand, between Bhatia and Raj, who added 77 for the third wicket, with the captain continuing to play the anchor as she went on to score her fifth straight fifty in the format.”Yastika – she had a very good [preparatory] camp in Bangalore. She was among runs and she continued that even in the practice game, whatever little she scored she was quite impressive and that is why without a doubt we picked her today in place of Harman [Harmanpreet Kaur] because Harman was injured,” Raj said. “The order we sent her [in] she was quite positive out there to score runs.”On her own performance – a 59th ODI fifty but at a sedate scoring rate (she took 12 balls to get off the mark and 92 deliveries to reach her half-century) – Raj said, “It is always in my mind to improve on that [strike rate] aspect. I wouldn’t say I definitely don’t think about it, but it’s not something that crosses my mind when I walk in to bat.”I’ve always felt no matter how many runs I score there’s always some room for improvement. I want to evolve as a player, too. I know I’ve been scoring runs but it isn’t enough for the team to win, so there’s always room for improvement.”As there is on the strike-rotation front. “As far as running between the wickets is concerned, there’s still a lot to be achieved in that aspect,” Raj agreed. “This is not just about the running between the wickets, but overall the batting department needs to work hard because just not running, but even in batting [because] as batters you need to play and score runs.”With just 225 on the board, India needed a lot from the three-pronged spin contingent of Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana and Poonam Yadav. Given how seamlessly Australia blunted India’s attack, with their top three of Alyssa Healy, Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning blitzing solid half-centuries and putting on century stands for the first two wickets, Raj admitted that there was a concern.Mithali Raj scored her fifth straight half-century in ODIs, but it was yet another sedate innings•Getty Images

“Yes, we do have a lot to work in terms of our bowling department because predominantly we are spinners, a spin attack, and spinners are getting hit everywhere, so that’s something we need to work on,” she said. “The wicket is good for batters as well as fast bowlers. Having said that, the bowlers need to be a little more tighter in their line and length on a wicket like this, which we did get to see with the Australian fast bowlers but not really with the Indian seamers.”Though Raj said she was unlikely to tinker much with the starting XI, she kept the possibility open for “maybe one or two changes” for the second ODI, on Friday at the same venue.Complimenting the debutants Bhatia, wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and pacer Meghna Singh for doing “really well”, Raj did hint at a possible promotion to No. 3 for Ghosh.”We definitely are looking into all that,” she said. “But because it is her first game, you also want players to have some confidence in the role they’ve already played; Richa has already been part of the T20I squad and scored runs there at a particular order.”So, when she’s making her debut, you want to give a comfort level to a player get into the same role they’ve played and experienced. That is why she went in the order she did. But, yes, she was very impressive today and, clearly, it does put thoughts in our head that we could promote her up the order.”

While things very much appear to be on the up for Tottenham Hotspur at present – with Antonio Conte having clawed Champions League qualification back into Spurs’ hands going into the final day of the season, Fabio Paratici having secured several extremely impressive signings in the transfer market and Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski having formed a breathtakingly deadly attacking trio – there are still remnants of the old Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Indeed, with the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Harry Winks, Joe Rodon, Emerson Royal, Sergio Reguilon, Steven Bergwijn, Jack Clarke and Lucas Moura all looking as if they could be moved on at the end of the current campaign, it is clear to see that there is a great deal of deadwood that must be shifted in order for to Tottenham to truly progress under the management of Conte in 2022/23.

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

This is largely down to Daniel Levy failing to implement a long-term transfer strategy at Spurs in years gone by, something that has also cost the club dearly in the targets they ended up choosing not to pursue – arguably the most notable of which was when the chairman backed out of a deal to bring then-Southampton forward Sadio Mane to Spurs in the summer of 2016.

Indeed, The Times reported back in 2017 that the Senegal international came so close to joining Spurs that he visited Hotspur Way to discuss a transfer from the South Coast side, only for Mauricio Pochettino to fail to convince Levy to meet the 24-year-old’s wage demands – with Mane ultimately sealing a £34m switch to Liverpool.

Since then, the £72m-rated winger has developed into one of the top forwards in world football, having scored 119 goals and registered 48 assists over his 267 appearances for the Reds.

That’s helped Jurgen Klopp’s side lift almost every trophy the club game has to offer, including the Premier League, the Champions League, the FIFA Club World Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup, as well as winning the 2018/19 Premier League Golden Boot.

As such, it is clear for all to see that Levy had a nightmare when deciding against a move for the £100k-per-week man who Jamie Carragher dubbed “underrated” back in 2016.

AND in other news: Paratici must brutally axe “unnecessary” £12.5m Spurs flop, he’s “damaging” for Conte