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West Ham could do no wrong in adding a new central midfielder to David Moyes’ armoury this summer and they may have landed on the perfect candidate…

What’s the word?

According to the Sheffield Star, the Irons are one of several Premier League teams interested in goal-scoring Blades midfielder John Lundstram with the 26-year-old entering the final year of his contract at Bramall Lane.

It’s claimed that Chris Wilder is resigned to letting him leave this summer should he not agree to new terms with Burnley and Brighton also keen on his services.

There’s also a belief that they are lining up Reading’s John Swift as a potential replacement despite activiating the one-year option on the Englishman’s contract.

The Hammers could land themselves a bargain.

Lampard-esque midfielder

Moyes has already secured the loveable Tomas Soucek on a permanent deal but with Carlos Sanchez out the door and Mark Noble entering the twilight years of his east London career, it can’t hurt to add further options.

The 5 foot 11 enforcer delivered five goals and three assists from 26 starts this season, averaging 1.4 tackles, 1.3 clearances and 1.3 shots per game, via WhoScored.

Whilst this isn’t as prolific as former Hammers graduate Frank Lampard, he does still bear some similarities as a ruthless box-to-box type.

The Liverpool-born man has captained Oxford and some of the England youth teams and has that ability to pick a pass but also be tenacious in the tackle.

His performances this season has led to Wilder waxing lyrical on more than one occasion – against Palace in February, he was lauded as “outstanding” and then a month later, Lundstram was described as a “fantastic example of a professional player”.

Blades teammate Billy Sharp believes he’s a “real menace to other teams” and this is the sort of player who’d do well at the London Stadium in a similar vein to Noble, Lampard and so on.

Valued at just £7.2m by Transfermarkt, the Irons must swoop for Lundstram this pre-season.

AND in other news, Moyes ready to part with £45m star to fund new transfers

According to The Daily Mail, Newcastle are interested in Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha.

What’s the word?

The Ivory Coast international has long been linked with a move away from Selhurst Park, with reports last year suggesting that Arsenal were very much interested in luring him to the Emirates.

But, a move failed to materialise before the end of the deadline, leaving Zaha stuck with Palace. Now, The Daily Mail claim that the winger is primed for another summer of uncertainty, with the likes of Newcastle, Everton, Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich all interested in securing his signature.

Can you name every one of the Magpies’ top goalscorers from the past 15 seasons? It’s a tricky one…

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The report further adds that Steve Bruce’s side in particular are “monitoring” the situation, “though any move would likely be dependent on their protracted takeover”.

Exciting

With Zaha’s ability to play on either flank and even through the middle, the Magpies could well have an incredibly exciting attack of the Ivorian, Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron – the kind of fluid front three that could terrify most Premier League defences with their pace and directness.

In fact, Zaha’s Palace teammate James McArthur waxed lyrical about his abilities back in 2018, saying: “He is just unplayable at times and I wouldn’t like to be a defender playing against him. For us, he is a great asset when you can give someone the ball and he can run 40 yards with it.” Essentially, Zaha would bring a lot of the same characteristics that Saint-Maximin has in his locker.

In fact, his average of 4.5 dribbles per game in the Premier League this season is only bettered by two players: Wolves’ Adama Traore, and Saint-Maximin himself. Their abilities to play across the front-line could see them interchange positions, and make for the kind of modern forward-line used by the likes of Liverpool and Barcelona of yesteryear.

Zaha has been the standard-bearer at Palace for a number of years now, playing a whopping 359 games for the Eagles and scoring 57 times. Newcastle of course have had their own inspirational figure before in Hatem Ben Arfa, and the 27-year-old could bring that too.

Ben Arfa had his fair share of magic moments at St James’ Park, not least that wonderful solo goal against Bolton. Zaha is capable of similar magic, netting a beauty in Ivory Coast’s win over Russia. That ability to pick the ball up, drive forward but then deliver a superb finish is something the duo have shown in abundance. And so if Newcastle needed someone to be the final piece of their attacking jigsaw, then the Palace star could very well be that man.

Romelu Lukaku is trying to convince Tottenham Hotspur star Jan Vertonghen to join him at Inter Milan, according to Gazzetta dello Sport via @RickSpur. 

Lukaku is attempting to persuade three of his Belgium international teammates to reunite with the striker at the San Siro Stadium this summer.

Dries Mertens is at the top of the list, but the former Manchester United forward is keen to bring Vertonghen to the Serie A to plug the gap in the Nerazzurri’s defence.

Antonio Conte’s side have let in 24 goals this season, joint with league leaders Juventus, although the Black and Blues have conceded 0.96 per match, which is fractionally higher than Maurizio Sarri’s team (FootyStats).

Ever since he arrived at White Hart Lane from Ajax for £11.25m all the way back in 2012, the 33-year-old has formed a formidable partnership with fellow veteran Toby Alderweireld, making more than 300 appearances for Spurs, scoring 14 goals and producing seven assists in all competitions.

Vertoghen became a firm favourite under Mauricio Pochettino, playing in over 200 games for the Argentine, and has starred in 19 matches in the Premier League this season, making 2.1 tackles per game, averaging 1.6 interceptions, and completing a staggering 5 clearances on average (WhoScored).

It is unlikely the interest will bother Jose Mourinho, as the Belgian defender’s contract is set to expire in June, and he is expected to look for an exit in the upcoming transfer window.

As expected, lots of Spurs fans have been discussing Vertonghen’s transfer update, with one supporter tweeting they “hate this” as it “breaks my heart,” in reference to the image used alongside the news of the defender looking sad and like a man accepting his time at the club is over.

Take a look at some of the mixed reactions down below…

Tottenham fans, do you think the board should allow Jan Vertonghen to leave in the summer? Let us know in the comments section!

West Ham United haven’t had the best start to the season. The east London club are currently 16th in the Premier League after 12 games, just five points clear of the drop-zone. 

It has led to speculation surrounding manager Manuel Pellegrini, and whether or not he is the correct man to take the Hammers forward this term, with the manager even feeling the need to respond directly to the uncertainty around his future.

Considering the amount of investment that West Ham put into their side during the summer – spending over £70m on signings such as Sebastien Haller (£36m), Pablo Fornals for (£27m) and Albian Ajeti (£7.8m) per Transfermarkt, the club would have expected to be in a much better position than they are at the moment.

In a recent podcast recorded by fans of the club, potential replacements for Pellegrini were mentioned. Among them was current Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa, who had previously been linked with the managerial role in east London before the club appointed Slaven Bilic back in 2015.

Here’s what Hammers fans had to say about the situation on Twitter:

West Ham fans, who would you like to see in charge at the London Stadium? Comment below…

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

Southampton welcome fellow strugglers Watford to St Mary’s this Saturday for the Premier League’s late kick-off, and there is plenty on the line for both sides.

The Saints and the Hornets currently occupy 19th and 20th place in the Premier League respectively, with just a single point separating the pair – both teams have an unflattering goal difference of -18.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have conceded the most goals in the Premier League this term with 31, whereas Watford have scored the least goals with just eight strikes to their name – this Saturday’s game will be a basement slug-out in every sense.

However, the Hornets do have some quality players – let’s take a look at two who could hurt the Saints..

Abdoulaye Doucoure

In midfield, Watford have a true powerhouse with the stamina to run all day long, while also possessing the quality to make opponents pay for their inability to deal with him – Abdoulaye Doucoure.

The Frenchman – who scored five goals and recorded six assists last term – has netted just once this season, although his presence at both ends of the pitch is undoubted.

Doucoure records an impressive 2.4 tackles per game in the Premier League this season, as well as 1.2 interceptions.

At the other end of the field, the 26-year-old makes 1.2 key passes, takes 1.8 shots and registers 1.5 dribbles per game.

Get French Football News once described the former Rennes man as a “midfield dynamo” and you can certainly see why.

Hasenhuttl’s midfield options in Stuart Armstrong, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu and James Ward-Prowse need to produce an effective showing collectively to contain Doucoure.

Gerard Deulofeu 

The tricky Spaniard can often blow hot and cold, but he is steadily finding a way to consistently pose the opponent some difficulty.

Deulofeu registered an impressive 15 Premier League goal involvements last term, and has already scored twice and assisted twice this term.

Furthermore, the 25-year-old take a significant 2.5 shots per game, while also completing 2.2 dribbles – the former Barcelona prospect also makes 1.8 key passes per 90 minutes.

Former Hornets boss Javi Gracia stated that the Spaniard had a “high quality” when discussing the forward back in May, and it’s hard to argue with that sentiment.

“But the most important thing is the quality of the player. Deulofeu, you know, has a high quality.”

His versatility is also a key feature. Deulofeu pops up all over the frontline, making six appearances as a centre-forward this term as well as two on the left and one on the right.

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Southampton must ensure that their leaky backline – the worst in the league – is switched on against these two stars.

In other news, this Southampton man is taking full advantage of his ‘last chance’…

Real Madrid thrashed Leganes 5-0 in La Liga last night, retaining pressure on current leaders Barcelona, who sit just a point above them following their 5-1 victory over Valladolid on Tuesday evening.

There were goals for summer signing Rodrygo Goes, Sergio Ramos, Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema, though one player who did manage to finally get his name on the scoresheet was Luka Jovic.

The Serbian forward, signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer, has found it difficult to adapt to his new surroundings in the Spanish capital and had not scored prior to last night’s injury-time finish.

Jovic has seen consistent game-time difficult to come by due to the promising form of serial goalscorer Karim Benzema, who has led the line for Los Blancos during the most-part of the campaign, scoring seven times for the club in La Liga (per Transfermarkt).

However, the 21-year-old will now be relieved to have gotten off the mark for his new employers having found the net after being introduced from the substitutes’ bench at the Bernabeu.

These Madrid fans were certainly delighted for the Serbia international, too:

Madrid fans, do you think Jovic will kick on and score more goals after his finish last night? Comment below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

West Bromwich Albion boss Slaven Bilic has hailed Matheus Pereira as a bargain, and he could well secure him on a permanent deal as soon as January.

That’s even despite not yet meeting certain clauses within his loan deal, which comes as a major boost to the Baggies’ promotion hopes.

What’s he said?

Previous reports have stated that the club can make the Brazilian one of their own if they either return to the promised land of the Premier League or if he makes a certain number of appearances before the end of the season.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But BirminghamLive now believe Albion can secure the enigmatic attacking midfielder regardless of those clauses.

The Croatian boss would need to stump up a further £8.25m to do so, but that seems somewhat likely given his comments this weekend.

Speaking about his deadline day signing, Bilic said:

“Pereira is a bargain anyway. I don’t know if it is £9m – I’m only head coach here, you know.

“But still it’s early days. He has to stay focused and set the standards for him, to lift the bar up. He sometimes likes too much sexy things. But is he good? Yes, he’s good. Very good, I love him, but he has to be even more ruthless.

“Pereira is in the gym every day after the training on a bike.

“Nobody would expect that from a Brazilian No.10. He does it every day in the gym. Every day.”

Major boost

Pereira has made a stunning impact since arriving at the eleventh hour in the summer.

So far this season he has scored three times while laying on five assists, per WhoScored.

At £8.25m, he would quite rightly be a bargain, which is only put in perspective when you compare him to Oliver Burke.

The Scot joined the Hawthorns for £15m back in 2017, and in return, Albion have received just the one goal from 24 appearances before shipping him out on loan again this campaign.

West Brom are getting over double the returns for just over half the price.

Keeping hold of him permanently will also, of course, bolster their chances of returning to the top-flight as he’s clearly a massive part of their attacking prowess as seen by the figures mentioned above.

It seems increasingly likely that Pereira will be secured permanently in the near future.

So many incredible players have graced the England shirt over the years and also some not-so-incredible players and it’s the latter that we’re going to be focussing on today.

When some stars make their Three Lions debuts, it’s easy to predict that you’re going to see plenty more from them on the international stage and that often turns out to be the case.

However, there are also many that show enough form at club level to get into the England international set-up and make their promising bow, before falling off the face of the Earth.

But equally, you know with many England international debutants that this could well be the only time you see them with three lions on the shirt, whilst you wonder how the hell they got into the team.

So with Gareth Southgate’s men’s 1000th international match against Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday 14 November fast approaching, we’re going to look at 20 one-cap wonders you forgot ever had an England call-up…

Michael Ball

Like many on this list, former Manchester City left-back Michael Ball was called up by and received his one and only England cap under Sven-Goran Eriksson.

Ball’s big night came in an impressive 3-0 friendly victory over Spain at Villa Park in late February 2001 but he was clearly not cut out for the regular international stage and finished his career with Leicester City in 2012.

David Dunn

What? David Dunn played for England? That bloke who used to play in central midfield for Blackburn Rovers? Yes, Eriksson strikes again.

This time he was looking to shake up the squad following crashing out of the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and Dunn’s only minutes with the three lions on his chest at senior level would come in the second half of a friendly draw with Portugal in September 2002.

Jon Flanagan

Copyright: MirrorPix

If you would have told a young Jon Flanagan when he made his England debut in the run-up to the 2014 World Cup that just five years later he would be struggling for game time in the Scottish Premiership and swamped in off-field controversy, he probably wouldn’t have believed you.

But his career has spiralled downwards after what appears likely to be his only ever Three Lions appearance and he’s got a lot of work to do if he wants to shake off the dreaded one-cap wonder tag.

Chris Kirkland

If ex-goalkeeper Chris Kirkland wasn’t good enough for Liverpool, he was never going to be good enough for the Three Lions and so it proved.

But this didn’t stop the former Wigan Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday shot-stopper from winning at least one cap, replacing Paul Robinson at half-time in the summer 2006 home friendly thrashing of Greece.

Matt Jarvis

Ex-winger Matt Jarvis is a one-cap wonder in every sense of the word and one of the many examples of players on this list who failed to live up to their potential.

The current 33-year-old free agent struggled after a big move from Wolverhampton Wanderers to West Ham United in 2012, just over a year after his Three Lions berth in a Wembley friendly against Ghana, and amid injuries faded away.

Carl Jenkinson

Copyright: MirrorPix

As Carl Jenkinson once again fights injuries at his new club Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship, the time he was considered the future of England’s right-back position seems like a very distant memory.

The Arsenal academy product was given 15 minutes by Roy Hodgson in a friendly defeat at Sweden in November 2012, replacing Glen Johnson in a match that’s remembered by most for Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s mesmerising 30-yard overhead kick.

John Ruddy

Perhaps bad luck is to blame for John Ruddy going down in the history books as an England one-cap wonder, after all, he was due to be in the squad for EURO 2012 before a broken finger ruled him out of the tournament.

His only taste of senior Three Lions football arrived a couple of months later in a friendly with Italy in Switzerland, keeping out the Italians for the whole second period.

Although, he could never fight his way back onto the pitch at international level amid of strong crop of shot-stoppers coming through the ranks at that time.

Ryan Shawcross

Copyright: MirrorPix

If you asked the percentage of football fans, we’re sure they’d claim Ryan Shawcross should never have been anywhere the England squad and some wouldn’t even remember that he ever was.

But the long-time Stoke City centre-back was too given his one and only international cap at the opening of the Friends Arena in Stockholm seven years ago, replacing another member of this list Steven Caulker in the 75th minute.

Jay Rodriguez

Copyright: MirrorPix

Jay Rodriguez’s tale is similar to that of Ruddy, oh how different his international career could have been had he not picked up an injury just before an international tournament he could have played in and just after his debut against Chile.

The then Southampton hitman was poised for Hodgson’s squad for Brazil 2014 before doing his ACL in the spring and hasn’t been able to return to the fold since and likely never will currently struggling for minutes at Burnley. There’s little to suggest he would have made it big on the international stage anyway though.

Jay Bothroyd

It’s hard to remember the fact that current Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo striker Jay Bothroyd ever played at the top level in England, let alone for the Three Lions – that’s Fabio Capello selection for you.

The 37-year-old spent most of his career either abroad or in the Football League and to be still playing in Japan at his age is some achievement but his England career was something of a flash in the pan, limited to a cameo at home to France in winter 2010.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Arsenal striker John Hartson says he is confused with Dele Alli’s situation at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

The England international used to regularly hit double figures for goals and assists in a season for Spurs, but it was a different story last term as he scored seven times and set up eight more – albeit injury did affect him.

That was something that also kept him out at the very beginning of the current campaign, although he has found first-team minutes – especially in the Premier League – hard to come by on his return, playing just 30 – all of which came against Arsenal – so far in 2019/20.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Speaking exclusively to FFC, Hartson believes the summer arrival of Tanguy Ndombele has had an effect too, with Mauricio Pochettino sometimes selecting the Frenchman alongside Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko in a central midfield three or a diamond.

The Welshman said: “Dele Alli’s on the bench. He’s one of Spurs’ best players. I know he’s been out injured but you look at him sitting on the bench at the weekend and he looked sick as a parrot and thinking ‘what am I doing on the bench here?'”

While it wasn’t exactly surprising to see the 23-year-old dropped to the bench at the Amex after he started in the humiliating 7-2 defeat against Bayern Munich, to not even come on to try and change the game in the 3-0 defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday must have raised a few eyebrows.

The Mirror reported this week that he has hired a nutritionist and scaled back his commercial work in order to get in the right physical condition having suffered four hamstring problems in the previous 18 months.

That is exactly what the former MK Dons man needed to do, and he will hope that it leads to him regaining his spot in the starting XI on a regular basis, and firing consistently again.

Having let both Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera leave this calendar year, Manchester United appear to be light on central midfield options.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had to make do with just Scott McTominay, Fred, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba as some of his first-team options for that deeper midfield role, and there is no doubting they could do with some additional numbers in that position.

According to German publication Bild, Borussia Monchengladbach powerhouse Denis Zakaria is of interest to the Red Devils, but that Solskjaer’s side will face significant interest both domestically and abroad. The 22-year-old has averaged 2.3 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 0.9 shots per game in the Bundesliga this season.

After hearing the transfer news, United fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the reported target.

Many supporters of the Manchester side urged their club to make a swoop for the Switzerland international, and insisted he would offer a lot to the team.

Some Red Devils fans insisted the 6 ft 2 midfielder is already better than Fred, whilst one fan in particular suggested he is the “big type of N’Golo Kante”.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below: