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According to The Guardian, Aston Villa are one of the clubs interested in QPR starlet Eberechi Eze this summer.

What’s the word?

Eze’s performances in the Championship this season have naturally attracted attention from numerous Premier League sides, with The Guardian claiming that the likes of Villa, West Ham, Crystal Palace and Newcastle, amongst others, all interested in securing a transfer.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

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The report claims that QPR are holding out for as much as £20m for the England youth international, and if Villa are to get their man, then they are likely going to have to beat stiff competition for his signature.

Potential successor to Jack Grealish

Having secured their Premier League safety on the final day of the season, their chances of keeping star man Grealish has risen considerably. In fact, according to Sky Sports, whilst clubs like Arsenal have registered their interest in him, Villa are now set to demand about £80m for the midfielder.

And whilst it seems unlikely, especially in these current circumstances, that a team will find the money to sign him this summer, it doesn’t take away from the fact Grealish is likely to move on eventually in order to win trophies.

That is exactly why a move for Eze this summer could prove to be such a shrewd signing. Described as “very special” by QPR manager Mark Warburton, the 22-year-old is very similar in profile to Grealish.

QPR’s former assistant manager Mark Bircham said: “In terms of his natural ability, he’s up there with one of the best I’ve seen. He’s exciting when he gets the ball. As he’s both footed, he can go both ways past people. He gets you off your seat. If he keeps getting the ball in dangerous areas, something will happen.”

Much like Grealish, Eze brings excitement, and his tally of 14 goals and eight assists in the Championship are testament to that. If Villa are on the look-out for a future successor to their talisman, then they could find him in the QPR prospect.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have been reacting in the masses to a tweet from Football.London reporter Alasdair Gold after he relayed an Instagram post from Tanguy Ndombele to Twitter.

The matter in question is actually over the future of the £55m club-record signing despite only joining the club in the summer, and Ndombele has taken steps to cool the reported interest in him by posting a highlights reel from his season so far with the translated caption – ‘nothing to report.’

Gold, a reliable Spurs journalist, has seen many a fan in his replies offering their opinions on the Frenchman, who has become a polarising figure amongst the north London support.

Ndombele has featured in 27 matches this season, scoring twice whilst also providing four assists in all competitions – and that’s even when averaging a mere 51 minutes per game, via Transfermarkt.

Money talks: How much did Levy pay for each of these Spurs stars?

Barcelona are the team courting his services, according to Sky Sports, but this message has certainly played down such links.

Here’s what supporters have been saying…

AND in other news, Spurs would be foolish to offer a new deal to Pochettino signing…

Sheffield Wednesday are looking to get back on track this afternoon as they face a trip south to face Charlton Athletic at The Valley.

The Owls have suffered a run of five straight matches without a victory having needed to salvage a point in midweek against Birmingham City.

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Meanwhile, the Addicks are having a patchy spell themselves due to the injuries manager Lee Bowyer faces at the club. He has over 12 first-team players missing for this one.

Garry Monk needs to make some changes in order to bring more success back to his side, here’s what we are predicting…

A change back to a 4-4-2 system could bear serious fruit for Wednesday.

Not too long ago, the 40-year-old opted for such a formation and they scored four goals inside half an hour against Middlesbrough. This should be enough inspiration to revert back to it this afternoon.

Such a decision would mean a striker spot is up for grabs and given Fernando Forestieri’s impact on Wednesday night, he should be handed an opportunity over Atdhe Nuhiu.

The only other change is an enforced one as Julian Borner faces suspension so skipper Tom Lees should come back into the starting line up – he came on at half-time against Birmingham so he should be good to go.

It means Moses Odubajo will continue at right-back while it is Kieran Lee that makes way for the system change in midfield.

Cameron Dawson is expected to remain between the sticks after veteran goalkeeper Keiren Westwood picked up an injury last weekend.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to a new exclusive report coming from talkSPORT, Tottenham Hotspur are keeping tabs on Schalke’s 23-year-old goalkeeper, Alexander Nubel.

But the Germans should make sure their talent doesn’t leave the club just yet.

What’s the word, then?

It seems that Jose Mourinho wants a new goalkeeper in his squad and Nubel, Schalke’s young, up and coming talent, certainly looks like a juicy target for them.

This is reinforced even more with the fact that they are in serious need of another reliable man between the sticks. Hugo Lloris has been struggling with injuries and while Paulo Gazzaniga has held his own between the sticks, he simply hasn’t been as good as they would have hoped, as was explained by talkSPORT in the same report.

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Nubel, although young and very much at the beginning of his career, is already captaining his club but could be on his way out seeing how he hasn’t signed a new contract and his current one is slowly but surely running out.

And even though it makes sense for Mourinho to snatch the youngster away, for Schalke it could be disastrous.

An important piece

Needless to say, losing the captain of the ship is never really a good thing.

Schalke have been sturdy this season, having conceded just 15 goals in 12 games with Nubel between the sticks, and the 23-year-old has been a key figure in this development.

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Kevin Hatchard showered him with praise when talking to talkSPORT:

“He is the captain of Schalke and a goalkeeper in his early 20s. He is a very good goalkeeper with a [Manuel] Neuer vibe about him. He’s good with his feet, commanding, and he’s got a bit of arrogance about him which I don’t think is a terrible thing.”

Losing him now would definitely be a hugely disappointing blow for the club to take.

Schalke are currently sitting in fifth in the table, level with the team above them and just two points off second-placed Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig.

And while it’s difficult actually seeing them fully contest for the crown, Nubel could play a key part in them making a mark on the Bundesliga this season already.

TalkSPORT don’t make it clear when would Spurs be hoping to snatch him away but either way, the time is not right for him to leave just yet whichever way you look at it.

They’d be wise to make his contract juicier and convince the young goalie to stay.

Meanwhile, many Spurs fans haven’t really been impressed with the club’s recent links with a young defender already plying his trade in England.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In The Pipeline series, which takes a look at some of the most promising young talent either linked with clubs or emerging from their academies…

Sheffield Wednesday will be looking to get back on track with their promotion push when the international break comes to an end next week, and they can boost their chances by delving into the academy set up for an answer to one of their biggest problems.

Garry Monk’s side sit eighth in the league, three points outside of the playoff zone, having succumbed to the loss of points in back-to-back games.

Blackburn Rovers first came from behind to clinch a victory, then Swansea City salvaged a point in injury time just minutes after the Owls thought they had won it last time out.

One of the increasing problems facing the Wednesday chief is their frailty in front of goal.

Earlier in the season, it appeared as if the side had too much reliance on top goalscorer Steven Fletcher, but he’s been unable to find the net in six straight matches now, and a potential solution was found in Massimo Luongo, who netted twice in three games before he picked up an injury.

In the ten league games Monk has been in charge, the south Yorkshiremen have only scored 13 goals, and four of those came in a single game.

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This week, academy striker Omar Damba was called up to the Gambia U20 squad despite not yet featuring in a senior competitive game at the club.

Might he provide an answer?

The 20-year-old has only held a professional contract at the club for 11 months, but in the summer, he was handed an opportunity to train with the first-team, according to his Instagram post per Football League World.

Former Wednesday centre-back Rob Jones played a part in his move to Hillsborough as the youngster netted a hat-trick against their U23 squad when playing for the RIASA programme, which Jones runs.

Speaking about Damba, he said: “The sky is the limit for Omar. I believe that we have only scratched the surface of his potential. As time progresses in his new environment and his focus and drive remain the same, he will have a long and fruitful career ahead of him.”

Not one striker in the Owls ranks offers any kind of threat through pace and acceleration, bearing in mind the youngest striker is Sam Winnall, who turns 29 in the New Year.

The promising forward is well worth a chance alongside a presence like Steven Fletcher, and given the club are out of the Carabao Cup, the heightened risk could pay off in their quest for promotion in the league.

Monk will also be able to start eradicating the unwanted acclaim of being the ‘oldest’ squad in the division, per Transfermarkt.

Charlton fans have taken to Twitter to react after Manuel Pellegrini delivered an update on Josh Cullen’s loan spell at The Valley.

The West Ham boss dismissed the idea of recalling the Republic of Ireland international and Grady Diangana from their loan spells at Charlton and West Brom respectively, when asked the question in his press conference ahead of the weekend’s action.

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Cullen has been in fine form for the south Londoners once again this season having shone in their promotion campaign last term, with some fans even calling for his arrival on a permanent basis when in fact being asked about Jonathan Leko – that just shows how much he is valued by the supporters.

In Diangana’s case, the forward has shone for the Baggies with eight goal involvements in ten starts – Pellegrini’s update will presumably delight both West Brom and Charlton fans.

Let’s take a look at how the Addicks supporters on Twitter reacted to the news…

صرّح ناصر الخليفي، رئيس نادي باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي، أن نجمي فريقه كيليان مبابي ونيمار دا سيلفا، ليس لديهما أعذار لترك النادي والرحيل لفريق آخر.

وجاءت تصريحات الخليفي بعدما نجح باريس سان جيرمان في إقصاء بايرن ميونخ بطل أوروبا، والتأهل لدور نصف النهائي لدوري أبطال أوروبا.

وقال الخليفي لـ “RMC sport” الفرنسية: “اتفق في أننا لقد استثمرنا الكثير في هذا النادي للفوز بدوري أبطال أوروبا وجميع الألقاب على المحك”.

اقرأ أيضًا.. الخليفي: الفوز على برشلونة وبايرن ميونخ يعني الكثير.. وهدفنا لقب دوري الأبطال

وأضاف: “نيمار وكيليان (مبابي) ليس لديهما أعذار للمغادرة، لدينا حقًا كل شيء للفوز بالبطولات، نحن فريق رائع أظهرنا ذلك اليوم”.

وأتم الخليفي: “نحترم الآخرين لكننا هناك معهم (الفرق الكبرى)، نعمل ولم ينته الأمر، نحتاج أن نستمر ونحافظ على هدوئنا، نحتاج إلى العمل أكثر كل يوم، الثقة موجودة، السر هو العمل والتفاصيل تصنع الفارق أيضًا”.

جدير بالذكر أن نيمار يرتبط بالعودة لفريقه السابق برشلونة، ومبابي محل اهتمام لنادي ريال مدريد.

Rangers continue their Europa League campaign with a trip to Switzerland tonight and will hope to beat Young Boys in an attempt to overtake Porto as leaders of group B.

Other than a 2-0 loss to Celtic the Gers have started the season in good form, remaining undefeated in their other 17 matches, dating back to July for the Europa League qualifiers.

Steven Gerrard is rightly in a confident mood, and believes his side can “hurt Young Boys”, a comment which brought much amusement on social media.

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The team should be buoyed by the fact they have already equalled the amount of wins they picked up in last year’s group stage – one – with an assured performance over Feyenoord in which they had 20 shots, suggesting they are better-placed to qualify this time around.

However, a key factor in their early exit last term was their poor away form, failing to pick up a win in visits to Villareal, Spartak Moscow and Rapid Vienna – so tonight could prove troublesome.

Here is our predicted line-up for the visit to Young Boys.

Consistency has been key for the Glasgow outfit this season, and that is reflected by the fact eleven players have made 12 or more appearances so far, despite the often quick turnaround in matches.

With that in mind, it is unlikely Gerrard will make too many changes to the side which demolished Aberdeen 5-0 last weekend, although Glen Kamara could come back into the side after featuring in their last European fixture.

The 23-year-old should provide greater defensive cover in midfield than what Greg Stewart offers. From his 11 games this season he has averaged 2.7 tackles per game and 7.5 recoveries in the opposition half.

That highlights the energy he provides in midfield, which will be essential to combating Young Boys’ threat, particularly Jean-Pierre Nsame who has 12 goals in 14 appearances this term.

Going forward, the front three have been effective in most of the matches they have played this season, with 20 goals and nine assists between them.

Morelos will typically have the responsibility of putting away chances, but after his stunning winner against Feyenoord at Ibrox, Sheyi Ojo could have another key role to play.

If the winger can find his best form he should prove tricky to deal with, as his record of 4.2 successful dribbles attests to, and should he combine with Morelos to get Rangers firing, then they have a good chance of taking something from the match.

[ad_pod ]There is a screen grab that often does the rounds whenever a defensive mistake occurs at Arsenal. Funnily enough, that happens to be on a regular occasion.That image, however, is one that shows Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny’s record alongside each other at the Gunners.

At one stage during the 2013/14 season, the pairing were unbeaten when completing 90 minutes next to each other. They’d played 27 matches and conceded just 0.5 goals per game, a total that saw them keep 16 clean sheets in that time.

Like Unai Emery’s arrival after Arsene Wenger, you don’t always know what you’re going to miss until it’s gone.

Mertesacker was never a pillar of solidity and a reckless challenge on Diego Costa a few years after those stats came about sums that up.

Koscielny, though, was formerly a club captain and arguably one of their most consistent defenders.

During his time in the capital, he only dipped below an average match rating for a whole season of 7, according to WhoScored, on one occasion – that happened to be his last term.

That was during a season where the Frenchman returned from a horrendous Achilles problem that ruled him out of the World Cup.

Those two defenders are now in the past and even if they don’t rank up alongside some of the great partnerships the Gunners have produced, they were comfortably better than what they have now.

The new defensive partnership has seen the rather comical David Luiz line up next to the bad-tempered Sokratis.

Both of them are north of 30 years of age but have so far produced glaring schoolboy mistakes. Should we really be surprised? Not really. This is Arsenal, of course.

Defensive errors seem entwined with the club – you only need to ask Shkodran Mustafi that. He has made countless in the past, whether that be pushing Harry Kane in the north London derby or allowing Wilfried Zaha to steal in against Crystal Palace. Howlers seem to follow him.

But even with the German out of the team, Arsenal’s defence is still a catastrophic mess and it’s now rubbing off on Sokratis.

The Greek somehow fell below Mustafi in terms of average match ratings last term but that doesn’t tell the full story. The key stat is the number of errors leading to a goal.

Arsenal’s enigmatic number 20 has made three during his time in the Premier League while their number five has only made one.

That one has come this season and it’s only since being included next to Luiz that things have rather fallen apart for the former Dortmund man.

The Brazilian has conceded two penalties and Sokratis has arguably been at fault for two goals too.

He strangely went up for a header alongside Granit Xhaka which then culminated in Spurs’ opening goal in the derby and then his lacklustre pass out from the back against Watford led to another ball finding the back of the net.

It’s a sorry tale but one that rather sums up the Islington club. When it comes to defending they can’t do it consistently, and at the moment it doesn’t appear as though it matters who is in charge.

The errors are so basic that it’s almost dumbfounding they can even make them in the first place.

But that is the nature of Arsenal. Errors occur and simply keep happening.

Sokratis has never been a defender to shy away from a challenge, claiming 12 yellow cards last term, but the centre-back seems to have lost his head since playing next to Luiz.

What’s indicative of that is that the Gunners’ only clean sheet in 2019/20 came when he was playing next to Calum Chambers at Newcastle. The pair regularly played in defence together throughout pre-season so it’s bizarre they’ve been split up.

The 31-year-old’s numbers are down from last season too, something that clearly hasn’t helped Arsenal’s cause.

He’s made fewer tackles, interceptions and clearances in the Premier League per game and is currently on an average match rating of 6.55 despite having more defending to do. Arsenal conceded 31 shots when they took on the Hornets – not a pretty sight.

Luiz, on the other hand, sits on a 6.37 in the top-flight. Blatantly, it needs to get better.

That being said, the reintroduction of Rob Holding should definitely help.

The central defender has been out since rupturing his ACL against Manchester United last campaign but he has a big future ahead of him. This is a player who Emery spoke about when considering an English captain in pre-season.

His return is timely and it may just be the catalyst Sokratis needs to improve – that’s if he isn’t dropped for the Englishman.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

There’s a number of things that Sheffield Wednesday will have to be patient with as Garry Monk looks to find his best XI at the earliest opportunity.

It won’t be aided by the fact that captain Tom Lees faces time on the sideline through injury. However, we got a glimpse of how the 40-year-old plans to set up his side last weekend as he got off to winning ways with a 2-0 win at local rivals Huddersfield Town.

Monk’s adaptability to working with the cards he’s been dealt with was probably one key factor in his appointment, and he will have to prove that as the season rumbles on.

One big dilemma he faces is where he should play Adam Reach – he’s a winger that can also play the number ten role as well as left-back.

On the Chalkboard

The 26-year-old started his first game under Monk playing behind the striker in attacking midfield and he put in his best performance of the season, scoring a rating of 7.35 and having four attempts at goal, per WhoScored.

Though, the new Owls boss revealed after the game that Reach will “primarily be a wide player” because that is where he is “most effective.”

But that doesn’t appear to be the case meaning he should probably remain central if Monk wants to get the best out of him.

In the last three seasons he has only averaged one cross or less per game as a Wednesday player in the Championship – that’s one key attribute you want your winger to have, and it appears that Reach falls short.

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His best year for assists was in 2017/18, recording 11 in 46 appearances where he also averaged 2.3 long balls per game as well as 1.6 key passes.

These are the sort of figures you would associate with a number ten playmaker rather than a winger.

His best performance in this current campaign came in a central role, so why change it? Monk would be rather foolish if he didn’t retract his comments.