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23-year-old Angelino joined Julian Nagelsmann’s RB Leipzig side on loan during the summer transfer window and worryingly for Manchester City, they have an option to buy him for as little as £16.3 million (per Sky Sports).

The former PSV Eindhoven man has three goals in seven Bundesliga appearances so far this season, which has seen him average a superb 7.50 rating (per WhoScored).

He also has another two goals, plus an assist, in just three Champions League appearances for Die Roten Bullen, resulting in a strong 7.11 rating in that competition (per WhoScored).

This is significantly better than the average ratings offered by Benjamin Mendy and Oleksandr Zinchenko for City so far this season, with the Frenchman having earned a terrible 5.89 rating across his three top-flight appearances, whilst the Ukrainian has averaged a 6.86 rating in his two Champions League performances and is yet to start a game in the Premier League.

This begs the question, why was Angelino sent out on loan, when his performances this season suggest that he would have been a much better option in Guardiola’s side?

The 23-year-old has featured for City’s first-team on just 15 occasions in his career, in which he contributed three assists, so you could definitely argue that he was never given much of a chance with the Citizens.

Nagelsmann was full of praise for the defender after his performance in the Champions League win against Istanbul Basaksehir recently, saying:

“Angelino is only unpleasant when he doesn’t play, which only happened twice this year. That pretty much describes his character.” (per Goal)

He also described one of the goals the Spaniard scored as “world-class”, suggesting that he rates Angelino highly and it is perhaps likely that Leipzig will make his loan move permanent.

Therefore, it looks as if City will lose out on Angelino to the German club in the near future, which is perhaps a shame, as he was never given a run of games to prove himself in Guardiola’s side and he could have been the solution to their left-back problem this season.

There is however a catch, which could see City rectify their error and offer him an Etihad future. Indeed, as per Sky Sports, Leipzig can only activate their option-to-buy after 12 matches across the season, with five of those matches coming in the second half of the campaign.

So if City can recall him before his move is made permanent in the January window, they should do so given his excellent form.

Watford’s Ismaila Sarr has said he “would love to play” for the Reds according to the Mirror. He has also admitted that he has had many offers to leave Watford after facing relegation from the top flight.

The Senegal international winger has “yet to make a choice” about his future, and the Premier League champions are thought to be leading the race for the 22-year-old. The Reds face tough competition for Sarr however, with Manchester United also interested in the winger with Jadon Sancho’s move to Old Trafford now in doubt.

Watford have valued Sarr at around £40m.

“Liverpool are a really great team – everyone would love to play there,” Sarr told Les Echos in his homeland.

Sarr also went on to admit that ‘there are also other great teams in the English league, and I have yet to make a choice – at the moment, there are only guesses’.

Liverpool’s main man Sadio Mane has commonly referred to the Watford winger as his “little brother”, and the Reds know what he is capable of after suffering their first Premier League defeat of last season to Watford, earlier in February – Sarr scoring twice.

Sarr moved to Vicarage Road from Rennes last summer, for £30m, and he still has another four years left on his Watford contract. Crystal Palace and Wolves are also said to have Sarr on their radars.

Until there is concrete interest in Sarr, he would happily remain in the Championship with Watford, and his departure depends on them as he is their star man.

Verdict

One lesson learned after winning the Premier League this season was that the Reds certainly need a bigger squad to keep up in all competitions. Adding Sarr to the picture would be a dream for Liverpool as he can provide cover on both wings, as well as up top.

He would become their biggest threat coming off the bench, and there is no reason as to why he could not push for a start ahead of their prolific front three.

The talks linking Chelsea to Kai Havertz continue to tease fans as an official move could be around any corner.

Frank Lampard is expected to finally get his hands on the 21-year-old amid months of speculation. Antonio Rudiger could also be a part of the move, as revealed by SportBild’s Christian Falk.

The German defender played a role in the recruitment of international teammate Timo Werner, who joined the club back in June. In an interview with the club, Rudiger admitted he helped coax the former RB Leipzig man over to West London.

“I did speak to him before because we have known each other for a long time,” Rudiger told chelseafc.com. “We spoke a lot during the lockdown and he told me he was interested in coming to England. Of course then I did my bit, what I had to do.”

The Blues will be an exciting team to watch as they field Werner along with fellow new signing Hakim Ziyech. Kai Havertz seems to be the final piece of Lampard’s attacking puzzle.

“I made my contribution to Timo. I hope that it will happen with Kai too,” Falk reports Rudiger saying.

Signing Havertz will cost Roman Abramovich a hefty £90million in total, which will take Chelsea’s overall spending to more than £200million.

If Rudiger helps get the deal over the line, he could be leaving the club with a huge gift as recent talks could spell out a Stamford Bridge exit for the German.

Lampard has been ruthless in his tactics this window, offering up four senior defenders on the market in order to raise funds for further spending. Rudiger has also been dangled in front of opposition teams and Liverpool are reportedly interested in making a swoop for him.

It’s unclear for now whether the 27-year-old will be packing his bags, but with weeks still left of the transfer window, anything could happen.

Do you think Chelsea should sell Antonio Rudiger this window? Have your say in the comments below!

Tottenham’s summer signings have struggled to make the most of their first season in the Premier League. 

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has a strained relationship with Tanguy Ndombele, who is the club’s record signing, and their dispute has been well documented in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, Jack Clarke has largely failed to get many minutes under his belt at Leeds United and QPR, and Ryan Sessegnon has struggled for consistency this season.

Sessegnon seemed destined for greatness two years ago, but his career has taken a downturn ever since he arrived at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

He suffered a hamstring injury while away on international duty with the England U-21 squad and barely featured under Mauricio Pochettino and Mourinho as a result.

The former Fulham starlet has only made six appearances in the Premier League all season.

According to Alasdair Gold, Mourinho sees some similarities with Ashley Cole, although he is reluctant to rely upon him in the defence.

To compound his problems even further, he was dropped in favour of young left-back Dennis Cirkin, who was on the bench at home to Everton.

Gold revealed that the Portuguese  admires the 18-year-old, which could be bad news for Sessegnon in the long-term.

With only five games left to play in the league, his chances of starting are looking even more remote, as Ben Davies has started every game since football returned last month, which means he will have to take every opportunity he gets to prove his worth.

Competition for places is always healthy and he is surely too talented to go to waste at Tottenham. But the emergence of Cirkin could mean he is now third choice left-back.

However, it is worth remembering Mourinho sold Adnan Januzaj as he failed to live up to his full potential during his time in charge of Manchester United.

While Sessegnon signed a six-year-deal when he moved to north London last summer, he will not want to suffer a similar fate next season.

Tottenham fans, do you think Mourinho should give Sessegnon another shot? Let us know down below!

The future of Jack Grealish has been discussed for a long time now in various ‘will he, won’t he’ transfer rumours that were simply overwhelming Aston Villa and their fanbase. But according to Darren Bent, who talked to Football Insider, there are simply not many teams out there who could actually need the talented midfielder in their squad.

In fact, if Grealish was to move to a different club, Bent can only see him go to Tottenham Hotspur and nowhere else. But the problem is, they are also unlikely to splash the cash on him: “So the only club I can see him at is Tottenham – now they didn’t want to pay the £25million years ago so are they going to pay £60-70million? I can’t see it.”

Bent argues that none of the other top Premier League teams actually have a need of such a player. Manchester United have Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, Manchester City have Phil Foden and a stacked team, Liverpool’s front three and midfield are all set and Leicester City have James Maddison.

That leaves Spurs as the only viable option for the young midfielder but seeing how he’d likely be quite expensive, that door is already half-shut. But maybe that’s a good thing. Grealish can always choose to stay at Villa, Bent says, and there, he would be a god: “Honestly, at the minute he needs to weigh up and think about where he’s going to go – he could stay at Villa where he’s the captain, the main man and his boyhood club and he knows he’d be a god if he was to stay.”

Verdict

At the moment, Bent seems to be right. Despite his talent and obvious qualities, Grealish might not be so spoiled for choice as many initially thought he would be. If the price was right, however, maybe Spurs could put in a bid and see what happens. After all, Jose Mourinho could use such a creative player in the middle of the park to give them a little push.

But we all know that Daniel Levy isn’t just going to open the warchest and start splashing the cash and as ever, that might be Spurs’ biggest hurdle towards world-class reinforcements.

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

According to The Daily Mirror, Liverpool are interested in signing RB Salzburg’s Takumi Minamino in January.

What’s the story?

The 24-year-old has played twice against the Reds already this season, and even scored at Anfield earlier in the campaign.

Now, it is being said that the Merseyside outfit’s hierarchy are pursuing the Japan international. Apparently, he has a release clause of just £7.75m in his contract.

Firmino successor

Minamino has been in fantastic form so far this season. In 22 games in all competitions, he has nine goals and 11 assists, and he has played just one game up front during that time. As part of a young and vibrant Salzburg side, he has arguably been one of their stand-out players.

Can you name the result these iconic Liverpool images belong to? Give it a go now…

In Europe, he has played most of his games in attacking midfield, just as he did against Liverpool. In that position, he has picked up a WhoScored rating of 7.31, which is not to be sniffed at. That has allowed him to pick up one goal and two assists as well.

In Salzburg’s 4-3-1-2 formation which we saw against the Reds, Minamino almost took up a deep-lying centre-forward role as part of an attacking trio, as you can see in the heat-map below. Much like Roberto Firmino does at Liverpool, as a matter of fact.

The similarities between the two do not stop there, either. Both provide more for their teammates than they score themselves – the Brazil international has just four goals but has provided nine assists this term, whilst also contributing 1.8 key passes per match in the continental competition – and, perhaps most importantly, they are both defensive forces as part of their respective teams.

Minamino has 1.2 tackles per match, which is clearly more than both Erling Haaland and Hwang Hee-Chan, whilst Firmino has made 1.7 himself. Yes, that may be less than Sadio Mane’s 1.8, but in his case, we are talking about a player who finished fourth in the Ballon d’Or rankings – he is something of an anomaly.

As we saw on Tuesday in the Red Bull Arena, Minamino works incredibly hard, which is something the former Hoffenheim man has been praised for. Liverpool currently have Divock Origi as the back-up option for Firmino and, although he has done well, scoring five times this term, he is not the same kind of player as the 28-year-old. For just £7.75m, Minamino would represent a bargain that could slot seamlessly into Klopp’s XI.

In other news, this 24-year-old could be the man Liverpool fans wanted Georginio Wijnaldum to be.

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered yet another setback after Gabriel Magalhaes rejected a last-minute approach and joined Napoli instead. 

According to FootMercato, Magalhaes has moved to Naples for £20m, despite Tottenham launching a late attempt to sign the Lille defender.

It has become rather apparent Spurs have problems at the back, as they have conceded nearly double the amount of goals as Premier League leaders Liverpool this season.

Jose Mourinho is desperate to add to his defensive options, as Jan Vertonghen is seemingly on his way out the door, while Japhet Tanganga will miss the clash with Manchester United on Friday night.

Why it took so long for the Lilywhites to make a move at the eleventh hour will leave many fans scratching their heads in bewilderment.

The Brazilian, who was once hailed as “one of the top five central defenders in Europe” by Lille president Gerard Lopez, has played 24 games in Ligue 1 this season, scoring 1 goal, making 1.7 tackles and averaging 3.3 clearances per game via WhoScored.

However, the 22-year-old has now rejected Spurs and Everton in favour of a move to the Stadio Sao Paolo.

This will no doubt be a bitter blow for Mourinho, who has been beset by constant setbacks over the course of his brief tenure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium so far.

Indeed, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Steven Bergwijn and Moussa Sissoko have all recovered from injury, only for Tanganga and Troy Parrott to be ruled out for a number of weeks.

To make matters even worse, Dele Alli has been suspended for the home game against the Red Devils for a post on social media about coronavirus.

The Portuguese will now have to look elsewhere when the transfer window opens, with the knowledge that his budget has been severely slashed as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.

Tottenham fans, could Mourinho’s luck get any worse? Let us know in the comments below!

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

According to The Daily Mail, the fact that Sporting Lisbon attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes recently signed a new contract hasn’t changed his desire to leave, and Tottenham Hotspur owner Daniel Levy must break the bank to sign the north London outfit’s transfer target.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Spurs may have thought their chances of signing the 25-year-old had become more difficult when he extended his deal with the Portuguese giants until 2023, but that might not be the case.

The Daily Mail report that while his release clause now stands at €100m (£85m), there is an agreement between the player and the club that he will be allowed to go if an offer of €70m (£60m) is received before next summer.

That said, the report adds that while the Portugal international would be willing to leave as early as January, Sporting want to keep their captain in their ranks at least until the summer, with a clause meaning they would be able to demand the full £85m amount.

Get the deal done, Levy

The Daily Mail says that not only is there an interest from Mourinho in bringing the attacker to north London, but that the former Manchester United and Chelsea manager ‘is a real motivating factor’ for the 25-year-old, which suggests he craves working under his compatriot.

£60m may be a lot of money for Spurs to splash out on one player – although it is something they agreed in the summer when they brought Tanguy Ndombele in – but he is a player that is consistently proving that he is at a similar level to the Frenchman.

Two goals and two assists in the 4-0 win against PSV Eindhoven on Thursday night took his tally to 11 goals and eight assists in 18 appearances for Sporting this term, adding to the remarkable 32 goals and 18 assists he produced in 53 outings in 2018/19.

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That more than suggests Fernandes is already an elite player, and at his age he still has plenty of room to improve before he reaches his prime.

A no-brainer for Levy then, if Mourinho wants him at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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On Monday, it was revealed that Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold had been placed 19th in the rankings for the Ballon d’Or.

The 21-year-old has developed into some player.

Indeed, he played a key role in Liverpool winning last season’s Champions League title, providing four assists in 11 European outings during the 2018/19 campaign.

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The England international managed 12 assists in 29 Premier League appearances, meanwhile, as Liverpool went awfully close to landing the crown.

A number of Liverpool fans paid tribute to Alexander-Arnold’s placing on Monday.

However, a number of the club’s supporters were left disappointed by the announcement as they felt that the right-back should have been placed much higher due to his stunning form for much of 2019.

Some fans even claimed that the Englishman should have been included in the top 10, which would have been some turn up when considering the competition.

Alexander-Arnold has also been in impressive form for Jurgen Klopp’s side during the early stages of the 2019/20 campaign, contributing one goal and six assists in 20 appearances with the Reds looking set to enjoy another successful year.

Meanwhile, a number of the club’s fans have been reacting to the latest developments surrounding Borussia Dortmund attacker Jadon Sancho.

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after The Athletic’s Dominic Fifield posted a transfer report outlining the club’s plans for the January window.The former Guardian journalist revealed that moves are ‘afoot’ in the winter window to amend for a quiet summer of business, in which the Eagles spent less than £5m and failed to replace last term’s Player of the Season Aaron Wan-Bissaka, as well as loan star Michy Batshuayi.

Fifield revealed that progress is believed to have been made over three additions based in England and abroad, and that there is optimism that the signings can be made.

“They have received encouraging noises, and there is optimism the additions can be made. Now comes the difficult bit: negotiations over the finer details of deals with clubs and prospective signings.”

Roy Hodgson’s side are the second-lowest scorers in the Premier League with ten goals in 12 games, and had just a single shot on target last time out against Chelsea – the south Londoners are looking devoid of any creativity.

Furthermore, the Eagles’ only senior right-back – Joel Ward – went off injured against the Blues, which shone the spotlight on the fact that Wan-Bissaka wasn’t replaced even more.

Fifield’s report, at the very least, should offer supporters some optimism that signings will be made.

Let’s see how the Palace fans on Twitter reacted to Fifield’s update…