Everton boss Sam Allardyce has revealed that Wayne Rooney will be available for Saturday’s Premier League clash with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Rooney has missed Everton’s last two matches against Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion through illness, and had been seen as a doubt for the trip to Bournemouth.
Allardyce, however, has revealed that his leading scorer is back with the squad.
Rooney re-joined Everton from Manchester United during the summer, and the 32-year-old, who is rated at £13.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, has scored 10 Premier League goals for the Toffees during the 2017-18 campaign.
The former England captain scored once and provided one assist in his last league appearance against Swansea City, and will be part of an Everton team that travels to Bournemouth before welcoming Man United to Goodison Park on New Year’s Day.
Allardyce told reporters:
“Wayne is back from illness. He has been stuck in bed for three days. Any quality player who gets fit and returns is a big boost.”
Allardyce also revealed that Yannick Bolasie would be available for the Bournemouth match, while James McCarthy is back in training following a long period on the sidelines.
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Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has joined Ipswich Town until the end of the season and we are all wondering what kind of impact he will make.
The former Plymouth striker has not come to Suffolk to warm the bench and he will be one of the higher paid players at the club. Once he is fully fit he should be able to hold down a starting position in the side with ease as he is a consistent goalscorer at Championship level. However, the question many are asking is; how will he fit into the side?
From what I have seen and heard of Ebanks-Blake I believe he needs the right type of striker alongside him to get the most out of him. I have my doubts as to whether a front two of Ebanks-Blake and David McGoldrick would work well, it seems far more likely that the new man would benefit from playing alongside Daryl Murphy.
If that is the case, then Mick McCarthy will have some very difficult decisions to make regarding his starting line-up. The Ipswich boss will need to decide whether he is better off dropping McGoldrick to the bench or playing two strikers that might not work well together. Another alternative will be to play all three strikers in a 4-3-3 or possibly rotate the strikers regularly depending on the opposition.
However, Ebanks-Blake won’t be fully fit until the end of January and the obvious decision will be to only use him as a substitute early on anyway.
It would be unfair to expect a lot from the clubs new man in January and February as he been out of action for so long. I am expecting the former Wolves striker to not be at his best until later on in the season.
Obviously it is difficult to know what to expect as a lot will depend on how the player has been looking after himself whilst injured. When a long-term injury hits, some players go off the rails and never get back to their best whilst others bounce back straight away.
Another issue worth addressing is that of the other strikers at the club and the wage structure. It is safe to assume that someone will have to leave the club in order to finance this deal and even if they did not need to, the club would struggle to give all their strikers enough playing time to keep them happy.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Jack Marriott went back out on loan in January and one of the clubs back-up strikers will probably leave permanently. Frank Nouble has been progressing well and has actually forced his way back into the starting line-up of late, so I can’t see him leaving.
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The likely option will be to sell Paul Taylor as the former Peterborough man will be on first team wages and has hardly featured at all when he has been available.
Despite any negatives, the great aspect of this deal is that Ebanks-Blake has only been signed until the end of the season. To me it seems like this puts the Tractor Boys in a good position to get the best out of the situation come the end of the season.
If Ebanks-Blake flops completely or gets another long-term injury then we only have to pay him until the end of the season. On the other hand if he hits some good form then the club are in a solid position to retain him for the following season. Everyone involved in this deal deserves a lot of credit because what ever happens it is a win win situation for the club.
Paul Scholes inspired Manchester United to victory on his 700th appearance for the club with the opening goal in the 4-0 thrashing of Wigan at Old Trafford.
After a goalless first half sent nerves jangling in the United camp it was the 37-year-old who calmed the 75,142 strong crowd as he broke the deadlock six minutes after the break to set United on course for a third win on the spin.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men had laboured to wins in their last two outings against Fulham and Southampton and looked set to struggle again against Roberto Martinez’s spirited Wigan side.
The Red Devils should have led after just five minutes but Javier Hernandez saw his penalty saved by Ali Al-Habsi after he was adjudged to have brought down Danny Welbeck. A series of spurned opportunities from Welbeck did little to reduce anxiety levels amongst the home support that would have gone through the roof had Ivan Ramis and Arouna Kone displayed composure in front of goal towards the end of the half.
It was left to Scholes to diffuse any tension as he tapped in from close range after Nani’s low cross was spilled into his path by Al-Habsi. Hernandez then atoned for his failure from 12-yards beating the offside trap to convert Alex Buttner’s cross to double United’s lead just after the hour.
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Buttner then made it a debut to remember as he bulldozed his way down the left flank before beating Al-Habsi with a brilliant strike from a seemingly impossible angle for his first goal since arriving at Old Trafford in the summer. That was followed by a fourth goal from teenager Nick Powell as he came off the bench to mark his introduction to the Premier League with a superb fourth goal as United move to second in the table.
Fulham booked their spot in the Championship playoff final with a 2-0 win over Derby County in the second leg of their semi-final on Monday night.
Derby took a 1-0 lead into the second leg of their last-four tie, but goals from Ryan Sessegnon and Denis Odoi at Craven Cottage saw the capital outfit record a 2-1 aggregate success.
Sessegnon’s goal and indeed performance took a lot of the attention once again, but there is no question that Tom Cairney’s display in the middle of the park was a key contributor in the Cottagers advancing to the final.
Cairney has been strongly linked with a move away from Fulham, with Newcastle United and Leicester City among the Premier League clubs believed to be interested.
Both would have been watching the 27-year-old closely on Monday night, and it proved to be another fine performance from the midfielder.
Cairney, who is valued at £13.5m by transfermarkt.co.uk, managed two shots and three dribbles during his time on the field, but it was his use of the ball that made the biggest impression on the night.
Indeed, a pass success rate of 93%, coupled with 87 accurate passes and 108 touches are very impressive numbers for a central midfielder in a match of such magnitude.
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Derby did not make it easy for Cairney to find space, but the former Leeds United youngster was so calm in possession, and a lot of Fulham’s good work went through the midfielder.
Fulham will now be bidding to win the Championship playoff final, and they will surely need to secure Premier League promotion this season to stand any chance of keeping one of the most talented players outside of the top flight.
The January transfer window is upon us and for Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, it’s a chance to refresh an already talented squad with some new talent, while also shipping out a few players surplus to requirement.
While the Hoops may not be quite hitting the heights of last term, they’re still in a dominant position in Scottish football and have plenty of resources to improve even further after banking another season’s worth of UEFA Champions League cash.
However, Brendan Rodgers has spoken at length previously about his desire not to have too bloated a squad and so moving on players currently not getting a game will be seen as just as important before January comes to a close.
Who should the Hoops be saying goodbye to this month?
These are the THREE players who don’t have a future at Celtic Park…
Erik Sviatchenko
Erik Sviatchenko initially looked like a smashing signing for the Hoops, when he joined from FC Midtjylland in January 2016. Initially one of the few decent performers in the second half of Ronny Deila’s last season, he was also a firm fixture in the Celtic side when Brendan Rodgers arrived at the club.
For the past 12 months though he’s struggled not just with injuries but also form when available and has made just two appearances for the Hoops all season.
Having been fit to play for a number of weeks now without being selected, there seems to be little scope for him to return to the starting eleven and become a reliable defender and so moving him on seems like the best option for all concerned.
Still just 26 years old and with caps for Denmark, he’d likely have some resale value, which could be the difference between Celtic signing a quality player and not before the end of the transfer window.
Cristian Gamboa
Cristian Gamboa is another player in Brendan Rodgers’ squad that has made just two appearances this season and appears to be struggling to find a future at Celtic Park.
The Costa Rican international has never been a first pick at the Hoops, with the experienced and popular Mikael Lustig holding down his first team place consistently, even through patches of a poor form.
He’s only made 23 appearances in total since joining from West Brom in 2016 and with 18 months left of his contract, now would be the right time to realise any transfer value in the player.
Rodgers has cover for Lustig in the form of youngster Anthony Ralston and arguably needs to bring in another right-back to compete for first team places. Gamboa isn’t and will likely never be that player.
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Liam Henderson
Liam Henderson has had an interesting career to this point, winning trophies with three clubs in two countries despite being still just 21 years of age.
However, his career has stalled at Celtic, failing to make a single start for Brendan Rodgers this season and appearing just once from the substitute’s bench.
A talented and packed Hoops midfield has meant the youngster has been frozen out of regular football and a once promising player at Celtic Park now looks like having to move elsewhere to reach his potential. There are five or six players ahead of him in the pecking order and he’s shown little sign of breaking that pack.
There is undoubtedly talent there, but perhaps not at the level Celtic require.
It has been a quiet summer on the transfer front for new man David Moyes at Manchester United. He has often been seen flirting with the possibility of a big name capture for the Premier League club, but as yet nothing appears to have materialised. By contrast, reports have been rife linking star forward Wayne Rooney with a potential move away from Old Trafford.
Is Moyes’ reluctance to sell borne out of a fear of an inevitable PR storm?
The Scot is definitely learning things the hard way on the transfer front. Used to a shoe-string budget under Bill Kenright at Everton, the abundance of riches at United must now have come as something as a shock.
He has been stung by a series of transfer snubs and poorly handled approaches that have undermined his managerial credibility already. Yes it is incredibly early to start criticising his regime, but the reality is time doesn’t stop for Moyes here and this summer has already been fraught with disappointment.
His suggestions that he would let Baines and Fellaini go if he was still Everton manager shows that the Scot has a lot to learn:
“I definitely do but I also know that if I’d been Everton manager and Sir Alex had come asking for Leighton Baines and Marouane Fellaini, I’d have found it very difficult to keep them because I always felt the right thing to do was what was right for the players.”
This was coupled with a derisory offer that was quickly laughed off by the ‘toffees’, a bid that was unlikely to secure one of their stars and clearly not two of them.
United fans have been showered by sponsorship announcements this summer, but left totally bereft of news regarding player acquisitions.
So was Moyes’ insistence on holding onto Wayne Rooney simply a means to retaining some of his credibility this summer?
The loss of Wayne Rooney to a Premier League rival would have been a fans worst nightmare. Whatever you think about Rooney, his goal scoring record at United speaks for itself and a few more years at the club and he is fast on the way to achieving something close to legendary status.
Mourinho has already blamed Moyes for the spiralling transfer debacle saying:
“We are trying to get a player that the manager told ‘you will be a second option’. We are not going for (Robin) van Persie.”
Clearly the blame for the loss of Rooney would fall most heavily on Moyes, something that he just cannot afford to bear at this current moment.
Gary Neville shared a similar view reflecting on Monday Night’s performance, having the following to say to Sky:
“Clubs like Liverpool and Manchester United have got to be strong. If they don’t stand strong then we’re done, finished and we might as well all pack in. I don’t think they’re going to sell Wayne Rooney in this next week because it will make them look weak – and they’re not weak.”
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In what has been a summer of intense transfer frustration for United, surely losing Rooney to a divisional rival would have not only made Moyes look weak but the club as a whole as well. This is something that an institution like Manchester United just will not let happen.
It may not seem desperate yet, but the coming weak could prove to be crucial for the success of Moyes’ tenure at United. The club have the same squad that won them the title last year, but for someone carving out a new era at the club this simply isn’t enough.
The need for a marquee signing is more a political statement now than it is a footballing one for Moyes. Whilst retaining Wayne Rooney saved his dignity in the short-term, the capture of a world-class name is paramount for Moyes’ reputation going forward.
Mesut Ozil was already a name touted, but today he has reasserted his desire to stay at Madrid. Who is next on the agenda for Moyes and United now? Whoever it is, Moyes definitely needs to firmly stamp his mark on playing personnel before the window shuts or the pressure on him will only ramp up.
Who should United make their marquee summer signing this week?
Clint Dempsey has spoken of his relief at moving to Tottenham but said he is “disappointed” over his treatment at fellow London-based club Fulham.
The American striker had been expected to move to Liverpool on the final day of the transfer window, only for Spurs to seal a £6m deal. The 29-year-old expressed his feelings on matters in an interview with The Guardian:
“I’m very relieved and looking forward to getting back to playing. I think the team is a perfect fit. They qualified for a place last season for the Champions League but missed out on a technicality. But it’s still in London. My family doesn’t have to move far. My daughter, she can go to another international school and be on the same curriculum. It couldn’t have worked out any better in that regard.”
Dempsey led Fulham with 23 goals last season and has long spoken of his desire to play at the highest level – the Champions League. Tottenham finished fourth in the Premier League but missed out on getting into the competition after Chelsea won the title and the last qualifying spot.
“I’m disappointed in the way I was portrayed in the end with Fulham. I always wanted to play at the highest level possible. That was never a secret. That’s something I always said. It would be a dream of mine to play Champions League and you want to play on the best team possible to try to get there. That’s definitely a team with a lot of quality in it but now it’s all about the team that I’m with.”
The saga started over the summer, when Dempsey was linked with Liverpool with Reds boss Brendan Rodgers inquiring about his availability. The Fulham manager, Martin Jol, said Dempsey had refused to play for the club, one of the salvos from both parties that led to Dempsey tweeting that there were two sides to the story. Dempsey said he was simply relieved to look ahead.
“There were some things that were said that weren’t true. That’s in the past. It’s about looking towards the future. I’m looking forward to playing with Tottenham. It’s a great team, a great club.”
As reported by The Sun, Callum McGregor has emerged as a summer transfer target for two English Premier League sides.
What’s the story?
McGregor has emerged as one of the most important players at the Hoops in recent years, rising from bit part fringe player to a trusted member of Brendan Rodgers squad.
Inevitable then that he would be linked with a move away from Glasgow ahead of the summer transfer window.
The Sun report he is a £10m target for both Bournemouth and Watford this summer.
The paper reckon Cherries boss Eddie Howe is a big fan while the Hornets have been scouting him through former Hoops striker Tommy Johnson.
With three years left on his contract at Celtic Park though, is he likely to be leaving his boyhood heroes anytime soon?
Will he move to the Premier League?
With 11 goals and eight assists this season, McGregor has played a massive part in securing the club’s seventh successive Scottish Premiership title.
With competition for midfield fierce at the Hoops, the Scotland international holds his own with regular starts and appearances, showing huge improvement under the guidance of Brendan Rodgers over the last two seasons.
Fair to say then that he’s likely good enough to play Premier League football for a lower to mid-table side and at the age of 24, has plenty of room to improve even further.
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The problem for buying clubs is that he seems immensely happy at the Hoops, who in turn appear hugely pleased with his progress too. It’s important for the club to keep a Scottish core to their side and McGregor is likely to be a central part of that for years to come, especially with players like Scott Brown at the tail-end of their careers.
This summer seems far too early to entertain a move away and we’re likely to see the hard-working player stay at the club for now.
Earlier this week, Inter Milan agreed a £25million deal for Monaco midfielder Geoffery Kondogbia, as confirmed by BBC Sport, which should be of huge disappointment to Arsenal fans.
The Gunners midfield is calling out for a physical, defensive presence and the 6 foot 2 France international seemed like the perfect candidate through his strength, height and positional awareness.
Adding physicality to the engine room should still be one of Arsene Wenger’s leading priorities in the transfer market this summer, however, with it’s current lack of seemingly one of the biggest differences between the north London outfit and Premier League title holders Chelsea.
So being the ever-helpful bunch we are at Football Fancast, we’ve listed the FIVE midfielders the Emirates gaffer MUST target during the transfer window if the Gunners are to claim the English crown in the coming campaign.
Would signing one of these FIVE bring Arsenal closer to claiming next season’s Premier League title?
MORGAN SCHNIEDERLIN
He’s the go-to suggestion with good reason; through his mixture of height, strength, defensive awareness and consistency on the ball, Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin seems like the perfect remedy to Arsenal’s deficiencies in midfield.
And with the exception of Chelsea’s Nemanja Matic, there hasn’t been a more consistent enforcer in the Premier League over the last three campaigns, with the France international amassing a rather incredible 274 tackles and 270 interceptions in 95 top flight outings. That equates to 5.7 ball-winning actions per match.
The 6 foot 2 former Strasburg youngster is also tidy in possession, however, this term averaging the most passes per match – with a completion rate of 89% – of any player in the Southampton squad, suggesting he won’t look too out of place in a Gunners midfield that passes teams to death on a regular basis.
After almost forcing his way out of St. Mary’s last summer, Schneiderlin is near-certain to leave the south coast in the current transfer window. The Saints allegedly value him at £25million – but according to The Daily Mail, Arsene Wenger is reluctant to pay up.
WILLIAM CARVALHO
Arsenal have already launched a £28.5million bid for William Carvalho according to The Sun and it’s not hard to see why.
The Portugal international is rated as one of the most promising holding midfielders in Europe, measuring in at 6 foot 2, weighing in excess of 14 stone and famed for his simple-yet-effective playbreaking style.
The Sporting Lisbon star was a pivotal performer as the Portugal U21’s recorded a 1-0 victory over the Junior Lions at the European Championship last week and he’s clearly well above that level. He impressed in the Champions League earlier this season too, averaging 2.2 tackles, 1.8 interceptions and 1.8 successful aerial duels per match from six outings.
In terms of physicality, he represents exactly what the Gunners currently lack at the base of midfield. But if there’s one notable criticism, it’s that the 23 year-old limited technical ability could see him struggle in a Gunners side enthused by a tiki-taka philosophy.
Grzegorz Krychowiak
Grzegorz Krychowiak is already a notable fixture on the Arsenal radar with Arsene Wenger allegedly viewing him as a cheaper alternative to Morgan Schneiderlin.
The Poland international has been in sensational form since joining Sevilla from Reims via a €4.5million deal last summer, going on to average 3.3 tackles, 3 interceptions, 2.1 clearances and 3.4 successful aerial duels per match in La Liga in addition to helping Los Rojiblancos claim a second consecutive Europa League title.
He’s an old-fashioned screener – almost a third centre-back in front of the back four through his defensive qualities and physicality – and should plug up those gaps on the counter-attack that continually plagued Arsenal at the start of last season.
Krychowiak’s untested in the Premier League and the Champions League, but the rapidity in which the 25 year-old has upped his game for Sevilla suggests he could well adapt to the standards at Arsenal with relative ease.
His release clause is reported to stand at £23.5million.
Arturo Vidal
Due to the sudden rise of Francis Coquelin, the physical addition to Arsenal’s engine room doesn’t necessarily have to be a holding player. Juventus star Arturo Vidal – a classic goalscoring box-to-box – would also add some much-needed athleticism to the north London outfit’s midfield.
He’s emerged as one of the most complete centre-mids in world football since joining the Old Lady from Bayer Leverkusen in summer 2011, boasting power, pace, goals and that uniquely South American blend of trickery and tenacity.
Last season he bagged seven goals and four assists in 28 Serie A appearances whilst averaging 3.1 tackles per match and the Chile international has brought that form to the Copa America – barring his drink-driving scandal – claiming three strikes in three outings.
After winning four consecutive Serie A titles with Juve and reaching the 2015 Champions League final, the 28 year-old might be ready for a new challenge ahead of next season. Incidentally, he’s now into the final two terms of his Turin contract.
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Earlier this month, however, club director Giuseppe Marotta claimed he expects Real Madrid to launch a bid for the former Colo-Colo youngster.
JAVI MARTINEZ
I’ve argued it before and I will do so again; Javi Martinez is a potential signing who could change everything for Arsenal, propelling them back to the promised land of regular Premier League titles.
That might seem a little overzealous but the Bayern Munich enforcer represents everything they lack in the middle of the park through his 6 foot 3 frame, bullish style and defensive qualities so almighty he’s often filled in at centre-back for both club and country.
Furthermore, the 26 year-old blessed with all the technical ability you’d expect from a Spain international plying his trade in a Pep Guardiola side – so in my opinion, there’s no doubt he can adapt to Arsenal’s definitive style of play.
Arsenal attempted to prize him away from the Allianz Arena last summer, according to The Telegraph, but they could find better luck in the current transfer window.
After all, Martinez has spent the majority of last season out injured and the Bavarians hardly struggled in his absence – in fact, they signed Mehdi Benatia and Xabi Alonso last summer precisely to fill his void.
Highly-rated throughout world football, however, Bayern could still command top dollar for the former Athletic Bilbao star.
This is already setting itself up to be one of those tedious transfer sagas that span the entirety of the summer window. This time, however, Arsenal won’t mind the seemingly endless wait if the end result is Cesc Fabregas back at the club.
Arsenal tried to justify the sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United as “football reasons.” They still haven’t really cleared that one up. They’re fortunate, and quite clever, that they managed to land on a conclusion that leaves so many people bewildered that they could quietly slip out the door while their “football reasons” stewed among supporters.
I can’t really fathom the idea that too many good players can be detrimental. To add to that, it’s even more baffling why clubs wouldn’t acquire players with a specific skill set in order to properly execute a style of play.
Let’s be honest, Arsenal haven’t played that brand of football for a long time. It’s the style that Arsene Wenger introduced to Highbury and carried over to the Emirates that brought about so much admiration from supporters and neutrals. Yet it’s been back to basics for Arsenal this past season, relying on their defence to get them over the line and more or less abandoning the brand of football that was associated with Fabregas.
Can there really be a danger in bringing Fabregas back to Arsenal? Well, yes. The hope from supporters, naturally, would be that the player would just continue where he left off from the last time. The facts are that this current Arsenal squad – and let’s not forget those marquee signings the supporters have been promised – is vastly different from the one Fabregas left in 2011. The weight of importance has been shifted elsewhere in the team and compatriot Santi Cazorla takes up much of the creative responsibility on the pitch. Furthermore, following that round of contract renewals midway through this past season, it’s a club that have found their new flag bearer for the long-term future.
So why even bother to bring in Fabregas when the club look well-stocked for midfielders in that mould? Well again, you don’t pass up an opportunity to sign a player like Fabregas when he becomes available. It’s not too far off to say that the former Arsenal captain is a once-in-a-lifetime player. In fact that’s quite accurate.
Throwing Fabregas into the mix at the Emirates offers that depth of quality that the club have been lacking since the days at Highbury. For the first time, a matured Fabregas would have the supporting (or surrounding) cast that he’s been deserving of at Arsenal. It doesn’t matter what’s gone on at Barcelona: at Arsenal he could and should once again become the focal point of the team, with or without the armband.
But why is there so much questioning of this potential signing? If we’re going down this route with Fabregas and asking whether it could be detrimental to the other players in the team, isn’t that question equally valid for any other potential signing the club make? Oddly, it seems to take on that frustrating stance Wenger used to hold, the “I’d end up killing Denilson if I bought in another player,” approach. You don’t need that it sports. It’s completely counterproductive and makes no sense.
What should be explored here is the impact Fabregas would have on Wilshere. We’ve seen small glimpses at how well Wilshere, Cazorla and Mikel Arteta combine in the Arsenal midfield. It’s slight hints of the football that should be on display at the Emirates, not just because of the ticket prices but because it’s become an overwhelming trait of the football club. Barcelona buy players that fit into their ethos and complement their traditions, so why shouldn’t Arsenal do the same?
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There’s a sense of continuity, irony and ignorance at those who seek to question the possibility of Fabregas back at Arsenal. It’s the same questioning that warred against his move to Barcelona in 2011, fuelled mostly by bitterness. The fact that much of what was expected eventually came to pass isn’t enough to merit a pat on the back; even with those questions as to where Fabregas would fit in at Barcelona, surely no one believed that what they were saying would actually play out.
But just like Barcelona, and just like Arsenal in 2003, there’s a reason why the north London club are looking at the same player 10 years on. It doesn’t need immediate vindication, it just needs a small group to believe that it’s right for the football club; the rest will follow.