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Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock has confirmed his Championship side intend to revive their transfer interest in Everton outcast Yannick Bolasie in the upcoming January window.

What’s the word?

Warnock, via quotes by The Northern Echo, has admitted Boro remain interested in a potential deal to lure Bolasie to the Riverside Stadium, having fallen short of signing the DR Congo international this summer when negotiations with Everton broke down at the eleventh hour.

The North East outfit had hoped to sign Bolasie after he was deemed surplus to requirements at Goodison Park by Carlo Ancelotti, with the Italian open to the fact he saw no role for the 31-year-old to play in the Toffees’ Premier League squad.

Bolasie’s proposed move to Middlesbrough collapsed on Deadline Day through a serious of issues, one of which Warnock suggested was the former Crystal Palace forward having said he was “partly to blame” due to problems with Everton that they could not overcome.

Bolasie, who Everton paid £25million to sign in 2016, was disappointed to have seen his proposed move collapse, and is yet to play any senior football this term after being omitted from Ancelotti’s Premier League squad.

But Warnock has not ruled out reviving efforts to sign the 2021-free agent in January, stating when asked if Boro will look to sign Bolasie and West Brom’s Kamil Grosicki: “Absolutely, I’d have those two tomorrow. And a few others! They’re the type of players I think would benefit from coming with us.”

Brands must act

Bolasie will have six-months remaining on his £75,000-per-week contract come January, which likely held up Middlesbrough’s hope of a deal this summer as Patrick Roberts is currently the Championship side’s top-earner on a £39,000-p/w deal.

If Everton are to offload the outcast forward to Boro, then Director of Football Marcel Brands will have to act in a similar manner to how the Dutchman dealt with Sandro Ramirez and Shani Tarashaj’s situations by agreeing to mutually terminate their contracts earlier this year, likely with undisclosed compensation packages.

Boro also present Everton’s best chance of finding a suitor for Bolasie given Warnock’s on-the-record appreciation of the player, which goes back to the forward’s time with Crystal Palace when they worked together at Selhurst Park.

Warnock lauded Bolasie for his unpredictable nature following his goal away to Everton which sealed a 3-2 win over Roberto Martinez’s side, noting via quotes by ESPN: “I’ve seen Yannick for a long time now and he always contributes and is a threat.

“The problem with him is he doesn’t know what he’s going to do next, so the defenders have got no chance. He was very positive today and he covered a lot of ground.”

Everton will be hoping that the only ground he covers come the New Year is by heading to the North East, as his future is far from at Goodison Park.

AND in other news, Everton have a red carpet walk to sign an £18m target who “every coach wants to have”.

Scottish champions Celtic were dealt a firm reminder that a tenth title in a row may not be as easy as first thought as they were dealt a sucker-punch n the form of a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock on Sunday afternoon.

The statistics show that the Hoops were indeed dominant, notching 70% of the possession and a whopping 17 shots, but only two of those were on target and the performance on the eye was rather in favour of the home side.

Killie striker Nicke Kabamba ran riot with three shots, two successful dribbles and 15 duels won, via SofaScore, but the same can’t be said for much of Neil Lennon’s frontline.

Particularly out wide with Mohamed Elyounoussi dropping a stinker of a display – no wonder he didn’t last much past the hour mark.

Per SofaScore, the returning Saints man failed to record a single shot or accurate cross, managed just 14 passes and committed three fouls. It earned him the lowest rating of any player that started the match across both teams. Shocking.

The 26-year-old was restricted to just 621 minutes in the Scottish Premiership last term, yet those at the club felt inclined to keep him on at Parkhead for another year.

Whilst that’s not the issue nor is it a bad call, it should tell Nick Hammond and co one thing – another winger is needed.

A lot of the speculation in the press at the minute is surrounding the striker position. Alban Ajeti, Steven Fletcher, Lyle Taylor; you might as well forget them for the time being with further strength needed out wide.

Odsonne Eduoard appears to be sticking around for number ten, so get him the right service and he may well stay longer.

If Elyounassi’s latest performance is anything to go by, then Hammond should absolutely consider averting their transfer intentions elsewhere for the time being.

It simply wasn’t good enough.

AND in other news, Celtic could land an ideal Ajer successor…

According to The Athletic, Milan have pulled out of the race to sign Tottenham defender Serge Aurier this summer.

What’s the word?

The Ivory Coast international has been linked with a move away from north London all summer, with earlier reports claiming that the likes of Milan and Bayer Leverkusen were after his signature.

Is it Mido or Pedro Mendes? This Spurs quiz will separate the loyal from the fake…



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Now, with The Athletic confirming that Wolves right-back Matt Doherty is closing in on a switch to Spurs, it is also revealed that Milan have pulled out of negotiations for the right-back.

The news comes just after Milan’s sporting director, Frederic Massara, insisted that the “conditions” imposed on Aurier’s transfer were far too restrictive, and thus making it too difficult for them to continue their pursuit.

Unforgivable from Levy

Whilst Daniel Levy playing hardball and getting the best possible deal can reap some rewards – reports are even claiming that Spurs are set to sign Doherty for around £15m (£5m less than the original asking price) – it can also have some major consequences too.

Aurier has been a player Spurs have been looking to move on all summer, and just when things seemed like they were beginning to pick up pace and that the former PSG right-back could finally be on his way out of the clubs, Levy’s stubbornness has come back to haunt them.

With around a couple of weeks before the start of the new Premier League season, Levy’s penny-pinching over the £70k-a-week defender means Jose Mourinho could well have an unwanted player during first-team training. And if Leverkusen don’t follow up their own interest in Aurier, then Spurs may have to contend with the Ivorian simply staying put in north London.

So whilst Doherty’s signing may be a major plus point, Levy’s handling of Aurier’s exit is something unforgivable.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects Angel Gomes to leave Old Trafford.

Gomes, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, is out of contract this week. Solskjaer had hoped he would sign a new deal but his contract is set to expire on Tuesday, and the Red Devils have been unable to reach an agreement with his representatives, as they were “underwhelmed” by the improved terms on offer.

The manager told a press conference today, as relayed by ESPN: “I’ve got no news, nothing, so it doesn’t look like [he will stay]. I’ve not heard from them last night or this morning. It seems like they haven’t managed to agree so the answer is probably short and yes [he will leave].”

Last month the Premier League revealed that clubs can offer extensions to players with contracts expiring this month. The Red Devils were only interested in offering Gomes a long-term deal and their stance remains unchanged, amid interest from Chelsea and Barcelona.

Although Barca were keen to sign Gomes, the La Liga giants had no plans of offering him first team football, which is understood to have disappointed the teenager. The 19-year-old, who has been compared to Brazilian legend Ronaldinho in the past, has only played in eight games for Solskjaer so far and he will be available for free when his contract runs out at the end of June.

However, this will likely be a major blow for the Norwegian. Gomes, who turns 20 in August, is currently valued at £3m via Transfermarkt. The England U20 international has scored two goals in six appearances at that level and has the potential to become as good as Gerard Pique’s old teammate Andres Iniesta, according to his former coach.

Even though he is largely unproven, Manchester United may regret letting the youngster leave in the future, as ended up happening with Pique.

United fans, should the board let Angel Gomes leave? Let us know in the comments below!

Tottenham Hotspur could be eyeing up a reunion with one of their former players this summer – and it could actually prove to be smart business indeed.

What’s the word?

According to ESPN, the north Londoners see Fernando Llorente as an “option” to consider with the club looking to find a viable backup to leading talisman Harry Kane.

The same report claims that Spurs have also been offered Leicester’s Islam Slimani and that Victor Osimhen’s price tag was way too much than what they could afford.

Llorente was released by Mauricio Pochettino at the end of his contract last summer before joining Napoli on a free transfer.

Makes a ton of sense

Despite departing the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium a year ago, Llorente would make perfect sense amid Spurs’ pursuit to find someone willing to play second-fiddle to England skipper Kane.

The 35-year-old veteran clearly doesn’t mind playing a bit-part role as just like he did in north London, the Spaniard is Napoli’s ‘plan B’ – often brought on in the second-half against tiring opposition to cause a nuisance.

As such, Llorente has played just 666 minutes in all competitions this season, starting just three Serie A matches, via Transfermarkt.

His old teammate Harry Winks is clearly a fan having praised him last season for his perseverance, he said: “He’s someone who is fantastic at persevering. He’s perhaps had some difficult times here and there, but it just shows how far he’s come, how mentally strong he is because he’s been fantastic for us.”

Whilst former Juventus colleague Leonardo Bonucci dubbed the target man a really effective “weapon” back in 2013 and Spurs, of course, know his physical attributes all too well.

If Daniel Levy can snatch Llorente back from Napoli, then Mourinho would certainly have a more than adequate solution to one of his biggest squad issues.

Without Kane, they crashed out of the Champions League and FA Cup, and very nearly out of contention for European football next season.

AND in other news, Spurs can upgrade Lamela with “fantastic” £13.5m target…

Sheffield Wednesday were denied a chance of three points and a return to playoff contention as they succumbed to a draw at Derby County last night.

The Owls took the lead in the first half when Barry Bannan capitalised on a defensive mistake to slot in top goalscorer Steven Fletcher, who hit it first time around the home goalkeeper.

Garry Monk’s side looked good for their lead until a series of errors late in the second half – Rams striker Jack Marriott was first brought down inside the penalty area after a tangle with Moses Odubajo, resulting in Chris Martin converting the spot-kick.

Then the right-back received his marching orders after picking up a second yellow card less than ten minutes later.

Several of the travelling support have taken to social media to blast the 26-year-old’s performance with one word a recurring theme…

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Other phrases of choice were ‘clumsy,’ ‘criminal’ and ‘car crash’ while one supporter went as far as hoping that Odubajo never plays for the club ever again.

There was even a comment for former manager Steve Bruce as one member of the Owls faithful believed signing the former Hull City man was the worst thing he did for the club – that’s including his acrimonious exit on the eve of pre-season.

Another supporter even joked that if Odubajo was a footballer, then there’s hope for us all that one day we could make it into the professional ranks.

Wednesday now slip to eighth in the Championship standings but given the nature of the league this season, there’s every chance they are still in the promotion hunt – EFL punishments pending – as just four points separate third place to 12th.

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In other news, Garry Monk’s stance on this Owls regular is very much the correct one…

Many Sunderland fans have been tweeting about the League One vote on how the 2019/20 season will come to an end.

Clubs from League One have voted to end the season after regulations about how to end the campaign were approved, with the final table decided on a points-per-game (PPG) basis. Today’s decision sees Coventry and Rotherham promoted, with Oxford, Portsmouth, Fleetwood and Wycombe going into the play-offs and Sunderland consigned to another season in the third tier.

Along with Pompey and Ipswich Town, the Black Cats had previously voiced their opposition to the use of PPG, although their wishes have ultimately fallen on deaf ears.

Football in England has been suspended since March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and whilst the Premier League and Championship are set to return, England’s third and fourth tier were today brought to a premature end.

In order for a campaign to be curtailed, 51% of sides in any given EFL division had to agree to it and, now that the decision has been taken to end the season, many Black Cats fans have taken to Twitter to voice their disgust at the outcome.

Following this afternoon’s huge blow, these Sunderland fans hit out at the club’s owner Stewart Donald, results and the season in general…

How do you think the League One season should be ended? Let us know in the comments section below…

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after Monday’s U23 game against Millwall, and it seems as if they have one wish.

A first-team chance for Brandon Pierrick.

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The 17-year-old netted a hat-trick against Palace’s south London rivals in the 4-2 win, a match which saw first-team members Mamadou Sakho, Connor Wickham and Jairo Riedewald all get valuable minutes under their belts.

Arguably the pick of Pierrick’s three goals was his final strike, in which he moved the ball on nicely with a deft flick before latching on to a through ball and firing home with confidence.

His first came after some clever work from Wickham in the box, while Pierrick’s second effort came courtesy of a rebound from Wickham’s saved penalty.

Pierrick has recently drawn praise from first-team ace Andros Townsend, who named the 17-year-old as the youngster who is exciting him the most in SE25 this term.

“Quite a few of the players have caught my eye and come up and done themselves justice. But the main player I like at the moment is Brandon. I think that’s because he’s a tricky winger, he’s trained with no fear and he’s been looking to take on senior defenders and that reminds me of when I was a youngster.”

One fan said “please Roy, give this lad a chance” after watching Pierrick bag a treble, whereas another said that the teenager is on fire through the use of an emoji.

Let’s take a look at some more of the Twitter reaction…

In other news, take a look at how some more Crystal Palace fans reacted to one notable absentee from this U23 game against Millwall…

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

Carles Alena could end up at Tottenham Hotspur, per AS.

On the chalkboard

The Barcelona midfielder has not played a game for the club since the first day of La Liga and is now reportedly keen to leave the Camp Nou.

And AS reports that Spurs are an option for the 21-year-old.

But how would he do in north London?

Of course, it is difficult to examine his stats from this season given that he has played a grand total of 46 minutes in the top-flight.

But last season is instructive when he made six starts and a total of 17 appearances in La Liga.

Per WhoScored, he netted two goals last season but made just 0.4 tackles per game, 0.1 interceptions and 0 clearances.

Offensively, he averaged 0.8 shots per game, 0.5 key passes, and just 0.7 dribbles, though he did have a pass completion rate of 92.1%.

Mourinho’s produced some incredible footballing stars – how much do you know about them?

All frills, no substance

This is a classic case of a player who doesn’t know his best position.

Quite clearly, he isn’t a defensive midfielder, nor is he a No.10, so where does that leave him?

Spurs have a number of excellent ball-carrying midfielders already in the likes of Tanguy Ndombele and Moussa Sissoko, while Harry Winks offers a similar style of play to Alena with more substance to it.

Winks outstrips Alena in every single defensive stat on WhoScored and also averages more key passes per game.

At the end of the day, Spurs don’t need Alena, and it is little surprise that he has not found his way into a Barca team that are currently top of La Liga.

Daniel Levy and Jose Mourinho can do better than the Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to a new claim about Mauricio Pochettino. 

Late in a game against Manchester City recently the hosts Crystal Palace gained a corner and on came Christian Benteke from the bench to do what he used to do better than most.

Striding purposely among the melee of players inside the penalty area he mimed to the corner-taker exactly where he wanted it – right on his forehead – and the delivery was duly inch perfect.

The Belgian rose like a salmon and planted the firmest of headers powerfully towards the far corner of the goal only to see Ederson stretch out an arm and palm the ball onto the crossbar and out to safety.

Benteke crumpled to the ground in sheer dismay and he did so because he knew it would continue: the barbs, the chuckling. He knew he would still be regarded by the cruellest of contradictions: a goal-scorer who couldn’t score.

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Harshly put this is akin to a heart surgeon incapable of performing heart surgery but it wasn’t always the case for the 28-year-old. At Aston Villa he averaged just shy of a goal every two games scoring 49 in 101 appearances. He was also, for what it’s worth, unplayable on his day. In a single season with Liverpool the expensively-purchased forward was hardly prolific but nine Premier League goals is still a semi-acceptable number considering the abrupt arrival of Jurgen Klopp suddenly plummeted him down the pecking order.

In late April Benteke opened the scoring against Arsenal and the relief etched onto his face was understandable because his header ended a remarkable drought that has lasted 358 days. If he believed that was a turning point to his woes however he was very much mistaken because ever since that sunny spring day another drought has emerged, one that persists to this day.

It’s hard to imagine how a proud international forward deals with that but there is just a tiniest sliver of consolation it is this: within the annals of the Premier League he is not alone.

Paul Stewart (Liverpool)

A handful of others went longer without finding the net but Stewart is included here due to the strange quirk of scoring on his Premier League debut for the Reds then managing to draw a complete blank for the rest of his disappointing spell there.

A solitary strike in 32 games is a pitiful return for a player who pulled up proverbial trees for Manchester City which prompted Graeme Souness to shell out £2.3m for him (a lot of money in 1992). A series of loan spells ensued, featuring none other than Palace, before Stewart ended a once glistening career with Workington.

Richard Cresswell (Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City and Stoke City)

How much more difficult is it to score in the top flight compared to the lower leagues? Ask the former England under-21 man because he knows better than anyone.

In the Championship, Cresswell averaged roughly one goal per three full ninety minutes, a solid if largely unspectacular return.

Whenever he was called upon to trouble elite defences however the goals would disappear faster than an ice cube in the desert. A woeful run of 45 fruitless games stands out for all the wrong reasons, and his overall Premier League record finished at just two in 66 outings, both of which were scored in the 1999/2000 season.

Can Crystal Palace finish in the top 7 or even higher this season? Their chances of doing so are rated in the video below…

Luis Boa Morte (West Ham United)

The Portuguese international’s goal-shy spell in East London is well worth gawping at in disbelief even if technically he was a wide attacking threat rather than an outright front man.

In five seasons and 109 games with the Hammers, Boa Morte scored precisely twice and if the total blank drawn from his final campaign startles that is nothing compared to the combined efforts of 2007/08 and 2008/09. Games played = 56. Goals – nought. Shots = quite a lot, probably.

A far cry from his nine Fulham goals during the 2003/04 campaign.