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West Bromwich Albion could be set for a busy January transfer window.

Multiple reports have emerged over the international break, which concerns several members of Slaven Bilic’s Championship-leading side.

Nathan Ferguson is one who could be on his way out of the Hawthorns as the club will supposedly look to sell him if no agreement can be made over a new contract; Matheus Pereira has been linked to Manchester United; Grady Diangana continually faces uncertainty over his loan deal.

And now Chris Willock, who Bilic signed on deadline day and is yet to feature in a senior game, is being considered as a permanent addition in the winter window.

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The 21-year-old winger is on loan from Benfica B and has scored three goals and assisted four in seven Premier League 2 matches this term, per Transfermarkt.

Some of the Baggies faithful have been discussing the potential decision on social media.

A few were against such a deal with one supporter calling it a ‘waste of money’ as the starlet is yet to even make the bench for a Championship fixture while another pleaded the club to save money.

However, many were on board with it. A further member of the Albion crowd claimed Willock was a ‘class player’ with one more wondering if the former Arsenal graduate was the hidden goalscorer they have been missing.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

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…

Phil Hay has revealed that Leeds would be interested in Dwight Gayle but has addressed problems with trying to sign him and Matej Vydra in January.

The journalist was responding to a fan while answering questions for The Athletic after the Whites beat Luton 2-1 on Saturday afternoon.

What’s he said?

Leeds had to work hard for all three points as they were pegged back by the Hatters at Kenilworth Road this weekend.

With the game deadlocked at 0-0 at half-time, it took a cool finish from Patrick Bamford to open the scoring.

The home side then hit back but Bamford was on hand to win the game for Marcelo Bielsa’s men in the 90th minute, getting ahead of his man to prod home.

Before scoring against Blackburn last time out, the 26-year-old had gone ten games without finding the back of the net. However, he’s now scored three in two matches.

Bamford’s lack of goals has been well documented and with Eddie Nketiah failing to get much game time, the chances of adding another forward to their ranks in January has grown in possibility.

Last week they were linked with Burnley’s Vydra (The Mirror, 22/11, pg. 74) but Hay has suggested there could be a problem trying to sign both him and the £13.5m-rated Gayle. He said:

“They’d be interested in Gayle but he’s highly likely to go to Forest and his wage is seriously expensive. The problem with Vydra is the history there. The hierarchy at Leeds were not impressed with him when they tried to sign him last (Vydra basically admitted that he’d rather go to the Premier League). But if Nketiah was to go back, they would need someone else.”

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Trouble for Leeds?

Gayle has barely played for Newcastle this season, amassing just four minutes in the Premier League despite a stellar Championship campaign in 2018/19 where he notched 24 goals.

As for Vydra, he only has 58 minutes under his belt in England’s top-flight this season. The fact both of them could be seeking moves elsewhere would make plenty of sense on that basis.

However, it now appears as though trying to sign any of them could be problematic. West Brom struggled to bring Gayle back last summer because of his wages and that looks as though it could be an issue for Leeds who were bound to restrictions from profit and sustainability at a similar time.

Missing out on the Newcastle striker is a little more understandable if finances come in the way but Victor Orta and co can’t afford to let history get in the way of landing Vydra.

The Czech has scored 65 times in the Championship and would add some much-needed firepower to a Leeds frontline that hasn’t been consistent in 2019/20.

He may have wanted to remain in the Premier League in the summer but having struggled for minutes, circumstances do change. Leeds would be foolish to pass up the chance to bring in a player with that number of goals at this level.

Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp will have been frustrated with their 1-1 draw against Napoli in the Champions League on Wednesday.

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The Reds managed 71% possession, yet they only had Dejan Lovren’s powerful header to show for all their pressure. The result now leaves them needing to go to Austria to get something against RB Salzburg as Napoli will be favourites to beat Genk at home in their own last game of the group stages.

Check out footballers’ biggest fashion disasters in the video below…

There was more bad news for the Reds as well. Fabinho, who has played a part in all but one match both in the Premier League and in Europe, picked up an ankle injury against the Italian side in midweek and was forced off the pitch. It has now been confirmed he will be out until next year.

His injury has led to Liverpool fans speculating as to who will take his place, and it seems that many feel that man should be £45m-valued Naby Keita – as per Transfermarkt. They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

In other news, Liverpool fans slam one man’s performance against Napoli.

Former Aston Villa defender Alan Hutton has admitted that he would love to see Keinan Davis sign a new deal with the West Midlands club.

The 22-year-old striker is out of contract at Villa Park at the end of the 2019/20 season and with no agreement to extend that currently in place, he looks likely to become a free agent.

He has barely featured at all for Dean Smith this season, making just eight substitute appearances in the Premier League (Transfermarkt) although that is largely down to a couple of injury problems (Express & Star).

However, it seems that Hutton believes that Davis has lots of potential and therefore the club should look to tie him down longer-term even though he hasn’t made much of an impact of late.

Speaking about potentially offering fresh terms to the former Biggleswade Town man, Hutton told Football Insider: “There’s other boys, like Keinan Davis, I think he’s out of contract. He’s one I would be desperate to tie down even though he’s had his injury problems this season.

“I think he’s got everything to be a top centre-forward. It’s just as a club where you see them in the future.”

Whilst Davis has struggled for goals so far during his time at Aston Villa, he has just four in total (Transfermarkt), Hutton’s argument that the player should be given a new contract does have some merit.

Indeed, of his 48 league appearances for the club only 17 have been starts (WhoScored) so it could be said that he has never had a proper crack of the whip at Villa Park. Added to that, he is still only 22-years-old and therefore could make significant improvements to his game as he is nowhere near his peak years yet.

Perhaps a better option would be for Villa to offer him fresh terms, before allowing him to move away on loan for a few months in order for him to get more minutes under his belt and hopefully discover a goalscoring touch.

Missing football!? There’s still plenty of Villa discussion going on in the Vital Villa Forum! Click here to get involved!

Tottenham Hotspur uploaded a humorous video on Twitter of Harry Redknapp getting drenched as the club marked 10 years to the day since one of the most iconic moments in their Premier League history. 

Spurs famously beat Manchester City to qualify for the Champions League for the first time back in 2010, and emotions were running high among some of their players afterwards.

David Bentley and a number of Lilywhites players decided to give Redknapp a cool-down during his interview after the game as they emptied a bucket of cold water over the unsuspecting manager’s head.

The former boss tried to laugh it off but later revealed he wasn’t best pleased about the hilarious incident in his autobiography ‘Always Managing’. Redknapp wrote: “On camera I had to laugh it off, but privately I was furious. I thought it was disrespectful, frankly, and totally out of keeping with our relationship.

“I was talking, proudly, about the quality of my backroom staff — Joe Jordan, Kevin Bond and the rest — when Bentley invaded the screen with a crowd of jeering players and dumped a full, large container of water over me.”

He concluded “I thought Bentley and the other players — all the ones who couldn’t get in the team, incidentally — took a liberty. It didn’t just make me look bad, it made the club look bad, too. It undermined us when we had just taken a giant step to join the elite.”

After being appointed in October 2008, Redknapp went on to take charge of 198 matches for the North London club, winning 98 games, drawing 48, and losing just 52. His final game at White Hart Lane came in the form of a 2-0 win over derby rivals Fulham in May 2012. [via TransferMarkt]

Predictably, plenty of Spurs supporters still have lots of fond memories about Redknapp’s reign, as many waxed lyrical about the “great man.” One fan added his team were “amazing,” while another simply said he is “proper Spurs.”

Scroll down through some of the best reactions to Redknapp and his players below…

Tottenham fans, who is your favourite manager of the Daniel Levy era? Let us know in the comments section!

Heading into Jose Mourinho’s first summer in charge of Tottenham, the Portuguese man will no doubt be hoping to bring in some more of his own players to help rebuild the squad in his image.

Steven Bergwijn of course was the only permanent signing made by the Lilywhites back in the January transfer window, and now according to Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, Spurs are now the front-runners in the race to sign Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

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

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

The report reveals that the Croatian has been linked with a move away from the Catalan giants after failing to agree a new contract with the club.

And after hearing about the update on their swoop for the play-maker, fans of the north London side took to Twitter to voice their thoughts about their latest transfer target.

A couple of Spurs fans insisted that Rakitic is better than current midfielder Harry Winks even at his age.

Despite being 32-years-old, Rakitic would bring a wealth of experience to Mourinho’s side, and give them someone who has been a cornerstone of a Barcelona midfield for the past few years.

He has played 299 times for the Catalan outfit, scoring 34 times and providing 41 assists, and has of course played Champions League football year-in and year-out.

A move for the Croatian could be a shrewd move by Spurs this summer.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans discuss an update on their swoop for this goalkeeper.

Newcastle United’s prospective £300m takeover has taken a new path this week after reports emerged firing doubt over its completion.

The Guardian revealed exclusively that the Saudi Arabian-funded deal is in major doubt following the World Trade Organisation’s ruling that pirate satellite TV and streaming service beoutQ was indeed coming from the Middle Eastern state.

It’s claimed that the final report will not be published until mid-June but it will expose the Saudi government being behind the illegal streaming of sports events across the globe.

As a result of the WTO’s conclusions, the Magpies’ takeover is on the ropes with the threat of those involved committing a ‘breach of international law’.

Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and governor of the public investment fund Yasir Al-Rumayyan are both involved in consortium willing to purchase the north east outfit from controversial owner Mike Ashley – but the WTO report suggests there is a clear link between the pair and the beoutQ service.

Although it is thought that this has been strongly denied by United’s prospective owners.

Think you’re a big Magpies fan? Can you name these former players by looking at their careers? Go on, give it a go…

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

It’s quickly approaching two months since the Premier League were asked for approval by the aforementioned parties – a process that should have taken around 30 days.

But the whole process has been made all that more complicated by these allegations, which has caused the delay to any official decision on the PL’s part.

This one could well continue to rumble on especially with the top-flight entering the next phase of ‘Project Restart’ which would see teams return to normal training – a decision that could be made today.

AND in other news, Newcastle fans react over players wanting Bruce post-takeover…

Name: Michael Obafemi

Club: Southampton

Date of Birth: 6 July 2000

Position: Centre-forward/Winger (Right)/Second-striker

Michael Obafemi – his career so far

Michael Obafemi is now already a fully-fledged senior team member at Southampton and given his pedigree and success at youth level, that statement doesn’t really come as a big surprise at this point. But the Irish centre-forward is not exactly a product of the Saints’ academy but has had quite a colourful path towards it.

Before joining Southampton’s own development squads, Obafemi spent some time in revered academies at Chelsea, Arsenal and even Watford as he progressed through the ranks, impressing the right people and turning some heads along the way as well. Still, he would have one more stop after all those spells before he could join his current team.

The now 19-year-old talent played for Leyton Orient for a while before he was scouted and scooped up by the Saints in the summer of 2016, first joining up their U18 squad in the U18 Premier League and FA Youth Cup during the 2016/17 campaign.

But he was quick to impress his new club as well and the following season brought more success his way with Obafemi splitting his time between the U18 and U23 squads and even getting his first senior team exposure as well.

As a whole, however, the now 19-year-old centre-forward would tally a total of 32 appearances for Southampton’s U18s, scoring 15 goals and assisting further two and then recording 21 appearances for the U23s with eight goals and five assists under his belt in the process as well.

Needless to say, his stay in the academy and the development squads was quite successful and was rewarded with his professional debut as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in January 2018, aged just 17 years and 199 days.

Since then, he’s made a total of 27 senior team appearances, scoring four goals and assisting two on the side as well. Interestingly enough, his first goal meant he would become the club’s youngest scorer in the Premier League to date, at 18 years and 169 days old.

Even though he’s already reached the heights of the first-team squad, there is more to come from this talented young centre-forward.

Transfer latest

At the moment, there don’t seem to be any transfer rumours or transfer news surrounding Obafemi and the young player is likely to stay at Southampton at least for the time being. Seeing how his contract is still valid until 2022, the 19-year-old could be looking to impress even further once football finally resumes.

Of course, with the summer transfer window rapidly approaching, no one is really exempt from transfer rumours but so far, it’s been quiet on that front in regards to Southampton news on possible exits from the club.

But that should be a blessing for the Saints since Obafemi certainly has a lot more to offer in the near future and they should do what they can to ensure he stays at St. Mary’s Stadium.

Player profile

Obafemi is clearly far from a finished product but he’s been showing glimpses of his brilliance throughout the stay at Southampton. The youngster’s natural fitness is certainly what immediately catches the eye and his raw pace, agility and strength are definitely one of the highlights of his player profile.

Despite not having a very big frame, the Irish striker has the power to engage and win duels but will mostly use his acceleration to blaze past defenders and get into favourable positions. While he also has a great mentality, the technical side of his player profile could still be improved.

He is decent on the ball but is still far away from a modern striker who regularly links up with his teammates and supports the build-up phase of their attack. But seeing how he’s only 19, there is still time for him to polish some of the traits and keep progressing even further.

Liverpool continued their remarkable recent record in Merseyside derbies – but were thankful for some excellence from their goalkeeper Alisson Becker to ensure they made it 22 matches unbeaten against Everton.

Jurgen Klopp’s men knew that a first league double over their arch-rivals since the 2016-2017 campaign would put them just one victory away from securing their first Premier League title, but were frustrated by a stubborn Toffees defence and had to settle for a point across Stanley Park in their first game since the resumption of English football.

Striker Roberto Firmino had the Reds’ best opportunity of the evening, but failed to hit the target – and after controlling the majority of the game, were nearly hit by a late sucker-punch from Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

And Liverpool owed a great debt to Alisson Becker to ensuring they left Goodison Park with something to show for their efforts. With just 10 minutes remaining, the Brazilian made a sharp stop to deny Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s improvised flick – before Tom Davies struck a post – and then the Reds shotstopper showed excellent reflexes to keep out his international colleague Richarlison from point-blank range.

Becker has been an outstanding signing since joining from Roma at the beginning of last season, and the goalkeeper is clearly a popular figure amongst the Liverpool faithful.

We’ve dug out the best tweets about him after his performance against Everton on Sunday afternoon.

West Brom could go top of the Championship overnight if they can extend their winning run to three matches against Derby this evening.

With current pace-setters Leeds not in action until tomorrow, the Baggies will also take over at the top even if they draw against the Rams given that they are a point behind Marcelo Bielsa’s side and have a superior goal difference. [via Sky Sports]

Derby have promotion aspirations of their own, however, as they sit just outside the play-off positions with the season approaching its climax.

Slaven Bilic will be forced into a couple of changes for this evening’s clash at The Hawthorns, with Ahmed Hegazi suspended following his red card against Hull and Kieran Gibbs set to miss out after going off in that game due to a hamstring problem (as per Birmingham Live).

Our predicted West Brom line-up for the game against Derby shows three changes from the team which started the 4-2 win over the Tigers on Sunday:

Sam Johnstone will continue between the sticks as per usual, although there will be changes to the back four ahead of him. Conor Townsend came on for the injured Gibbs on Sunday and is likely to start at left-back, while Semi Ajayi should come into the side in place of the suspended Hegazi. The other two defensive positions are likely to be unchanged, with Kyle Bartley and Dara O’Shea in the starting line-up again.

Bilic has gone with a defensive midfield duo of Romaine Sawyers and Rekeem Harper in the last couple of games and could preserve that partnership again, although there is a possibility that Jake Livermore may be restored to the team.

While Charlie Austin should keep his place at centre-forward after scoring in both of Albion’s last two matches, there could be a different composition to the attacking midfield trio behind him. Kamil Grosicki scored on his first Baggies start on Sunday and that may be enough to keep him in the side, while Matheus Pereira is sure to start after a hat-trick of assists against Hull.

He could revert to a central role, though, to make way for Grady Diangana on the right after the on-loan winger came off the bench to score at the weekend. That goal might persuade Bilic to put him in from the start this evening, with Filip Krovinovic making way as a result.

West Brom fans, is this the line-up that you expect to see against Derby this evening? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below!