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West Ham have been offered the chance to sign an available striker in a late and desperate deadline day twist…

What’s the word?

According to beIN Sports correspondent Tancredi Palmeri, former Chelsea striker Diego Costa is an option for David Moyes’ side, he tweeted:

It comes several hours after transfer analyst Kristian Stuart mooted the London Stadium as the ‘most likely’ destination for the out-of-contract veteran.

And given he’s not under contract anywhere, the Hammers do not have to get this over the line before tonight’s 11pm deadline, though it would still signal an act of desperation on the Irons’ part as they have had all month to secure a new striker.

Much-needed addition

Indeed, the east Londoners have been looking to replace Sebastian Haller after the club-record £45m signing left for Ajax in a £20m deal at the start of the month.

Right now, Moyes is living rather precariously as he only has Michail Antonio to call upon in attack. If the 30-year-old were to pick up an injury, it could certainly derail the good form that’s seen them rise into fifth place.

He has already missed eight league outings this term, so there’s always a risk he could miss more given his history.

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Costa would be an interesting solution at this stage as there cannot be many other options out there this late – or after the window. The 32-year-old powerhouse has bags of experience in the top-flight.

He made 120 appearances for Chelsea, of which 89 were in the Premier League, where he bagged 52 goals – a rate of a goal every 1.7 matches in the competition, via Transfermarkt.

Earlier in the window, when Costa was initially linked, Paul Merson delivered his verdict on the potential move, claiming that he’d be “perfect for West Ham, absolutely perfect” to Sky Sports News [1:03 pm, January 2nd, 2021].

At this stage of the window, it is a case of getting someone in regardless of the quality, so in some ways Merson is right. Costa is the only ‘perfect’ option out there right now.

At least he valuable experience in the English top-flight, unlike several of their other mooted targets this month.

AND in other news,ÂWest Ham must strike as “top target” receives transfer blow…

Having suffered heartache against Sheffield United, Manchester United stumbled again against a well-drilled Arsenal in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have now dropped three points in their past four Premier League fixtures and now find themselves three points adrift of their arch-rivals Manchester City after Edinson Cavani squandered a couple of chances in the closing stages of the game.

The Gunners came closest to breaking the deadlock after Alexandre Lacazette hit the bar from a direct free-kick before Emile Smith Rowe and Nicolas Pepe forced fine saves from David de Gea.

Whilst the Red Devils enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, they lacked the quality in the final third to win the game, with centre-forward Cavani the main culprit.

The summer recruit from Paris Saint-Germain endured a night to forget at the Emirates as he was kept at bay by the combined efforts of David Luiz and Rob Holding, with the pair teaming up to prevent him from finding the back of the net.

Cavani, who has scored four goals in 14 top-flight appearances, bizarrely missed two big chances over the course of the game, which was the most of any player from either side on the pitch, including Paul Pogba.

The £10m-rated 33-year-old lost four of his six duels overall (66%) as he was outmuscled by the likes of Luiz and Holding, and failed to complete a successful dribble from his solitary attempt.

He was also largely anonymous as he struggled to earn a foothold in the game, taking just 30 touches of the ball, the fewest out of any United player barring his teammates Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and Scott McTominay.

However, his lack of control will be the least of Solskjaer’s concern, as he seems to have lost his finishing touch, earning himself a low rating of 6.0 in the process, per SofaScore, which was the lowest out of every United player on the pitch, and everyone in total.

It was a rare blemish on what has otherwise been an impressive first season in English football – his average SofaScore match rating in the Premier League is 6.86 – but he badly let Solskjaer down as they have now lost ground to Pep Guardiola’s side in the title race at the top of the table.

AND in other news, Manchester United must avoid signing Edin Dzeko in January…

Some Liverpool fans reacted to reports that backup goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher could be offered a new contract.

According to the Irish Examiner, manager Jurgen Klopp is keen to have the 22-year-old stay at the club for the near future having had an impressive season so far.

Kelleher leapfrogged teammate Adrian to the number two spot and put in a sensational performance during his side’s 1-0 win over Ajax during the Champions League Group Stage – he finished with the highest match rating of any player on the pitch with an 8.1, having made four total saves.

From four appearances in all competitions, the Irish youngster has accumulated an average match rating of 7.17, with 3.8 saves per game and 3.5 of those being inside the penalty area (Whoscored).

Because of this, supporters were heavily in favour of Kelleher being offered a new deal in light of his current contract coming to an end in June next year.

Kelleher set for lucrative reward

“Boy does this kid deserve it”

Credit: @PhilPhenom

“Nice! Our future young lad”

Credit: @muhdkhairulnidz

“Deserved”

Credit: @danyoung91

“Good fantastic talent… Hopefully, he gets more games”

Credit: @lathamphil1

“Good he’s a good back up and if he leaves FSG would probably go get Andy Lonergan as back up again”

Credit: @tartanmarvel89

“Could well end up as No.1 in the future”

Credit: @johnsimmonds13

In other news, Liverpool fans react as FSG refuse to sanction £35m fee for January deadline day deal.

According to a recent report, West Ham United could be presented the opportunity to sign Jesse Lingard permanently this summer, as the attacking midfielder may be used as a makeweight in a move for Declan Rice.

The report by Eurosport claims that West Ham originally attempted to include a £15m purchase clause in their loan deal for the Manchester United midfielder in January, but the Red Devils rejected the proposal.

The report added that, should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side allow the sale of Lingard this summer, they would be looking for around £20m to part with the 28-year-old.

However, it is also claimed that Manchester United could attempt to use the £9m-rated man as a makeweight in their pursuit of Declan Rice, who would cost ‘at least £50 million’.

Transfer Tavern Take

While Lingard has certainly impressed in his short time at West Ham – scoring three goals and providing one assist over his five Premier League appearances for David Moyes’ side thus far, as well as being dubbed as “outstanding” by Paul Merson – whether the east London club would sign the midfielder permanently at the expense of parting with Rice is extremely debatable.

However, with Lingard believed to be enjoying his time at the London Stadium, perhaps the midfielder, along with West Ham, could convince Manchester United to allow a permanent move to the club without the caveat of Rice being involved in any potential deal.

In other West Ham United news, many fans wanted this Premier League ace after a contract claim – find out more here!

With March now upon us, you could quite easily argue that Wolves’ season is done. Barring a major catastrophe, they will be safe from relegation, but it will now take quite something for them to achieve European football.

With that in mind, Jeff Shi can comfortably start preparing for next term.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, Wolves are planning on letting one of their young players leave in the summer; Max Kilman.

The defender only signed a new five-year contract a matter of months ago, in October, so the timing is bizarre.

However, it’s reported that the 23-year-old is not the calibre of defender that manager Nuno Santo wants in his squad. As a result, they’re hoping to either offload him on a temporary or permanent basis in a few months time.

Kilman was enjoying a breakthrough season at Molineux but this will no doubt dampen his campaign.

Replacement needed

Wolves have an extremely thin first-team squad and if they sanction Kilman’s exit, they will surely have to recruit a replacement.

Of course, they could look to their academy but if they are willing to spend money they could do far worse than targeting Club Brugge centre-back Odilon Kossounou.

The 20-year-old was linked with a move to Molineux last month in a deal that could cost them £20m. The problem for Wolves, however, is that clubs in Italy are also pursuing his signature.

Although he’s less experienced than Kilman, it’s hard to deny that Kossounou wouldn’t be a good addition to the side.

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The Ivorian is a monster in the tackle and so far this season has won 87% of his battles on the ground. When faced with an attacker, very rarely does he let them past.

You only need to look at words from agent Patrick Mork. He said last month: “He is a special player. For me, he is a complete defender, very fast as he showed last year in the Champions League against a certain (Kylian) Mbappe.”

If you can maintain speed with a player of that ilk then it bodes incredibly well. Kilman isn’t the fastest player in the Wolves team by any stretch of the imagination so not only could they sign a more bullish player here, but they could also land a more athletic individual.

Watching the Wolves centre-back walk through the exit door wouldn’t be disastrous. Certainly, if it frees up funds to sign a player like Kossounou, there’d be plenty of positives.

He is quick, strong and has a high ceiling. What’s not to like?

AND in other news, Worse than Dendoncker: Wolves liability who lost possession 16x badly let Nuno down…

Writing on Twitter, Liverpool correspondent James Pearce of the Athletic has pointed out that Fabinho’s return to his usual midfield spot has offered hope for the Reds to potentially salvage something from their season – prompting plenty of discussion in reply. 

Fabinho has often been deployed as a centre-half by manager Jurgen Klopp with defensive injuries having ravaged his squad, with the likes of Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez out for extended periods. 

Absences for key men at the back prompted an emergency January transfer mission by Liverpool to cope, as both Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies were signed on deadline day. 

One of the symptoms surrounding Klopp’s lack of options in defence has been Fabinho having to assume a makeshift centre-back role this season, with Pearce shedding light on how the Brazilian’s return to his usual midfield slot can now bolster Liverpool’s hopes of a strong finish to the campaign.

Flocking to debate the journalist’s insight, many Reds had their say on the 27-year-old – find all of their verdicts down below.

Liverpool fans flock to Pearce tweet

“Fabinho was absolutely fantastic last night. His presence brought a better balance in midfield and allowed us to see the potential of what Thiago could achieve.”

Credit: @MartinMcCourt8

“Scandalously underrated signing. Alison and van dijk get all the plaudits but he was just as important. Missed him all season”

Credit: @Jamesy34766993

“I’ll take a midfield to the end of the season of Fabinho, Thiago and Wijnaldum.”

Credit: @vincent_paver

“He is every bit as important as Virgil and Alisson.”

Credit: @marco_polol

“Klopp as usual was stubborn in bringing Fab back to midfield. Glad he’s learnt his lesson. Great to see the team perfect performance. Front 3 must be clinical hence forth and we’re good.”

Credit: @ericzubair

“It took him 3 months to put Fabinho back in midfield. Ridiculous.”

Credit: @LFC_000

“Counting on him being a cb replacement in the summer was a massive mistake, Not replacing Lovren instead.”

Credit: @ScruffylookingP

“Wow James have you just worked that out”

Credit: @pauljred

In other news: Liverpool fans also had their say on an emerged transfer claim, find out more here.

Speaking to the press, via football.london, West Ham United boss David Moyes has dropped a promising transfer hint that loanee Craig Dawson could soon become a permanent Irons player – with the Scotsman confirming that the club are ‘very close’ fulfilling the obligation to buy clause.

Dawson, who has been a revelation for the Hammers since signing on loan from Watford in the summer, could soon become a permanent Hammers man as the club near the amount of games needed to trigger a deal.

When asked how likely it is that the defender becomes a fully fledged Iron, Moyes responded by saying that there is indeed a ‘good chance’ – going on to say that the club are indeed approaching that outcome.

David Moyes drops enticing hint in West Ham transfer message

“There is a good chance although we are not quite there yet,” explained the West Ham manager.

“But there is a clause in it after a certain amount of games and we are getting very close to that number.

“His performances, his attitude and determination are certainly worthy of that anyway.

“We brought him in, it took him a while until the Southampton game I think it was before he got a start but that was because of the form of Fabian Balbuena and Angelo Ogbonna but he has come in and added goals to us as well and his experience has been really important and he is playing really well this season.”

Transfer Tavern take

Given how much he has shone as a centre-back partner to both Ogbonna and, more recently, with Issa Diop – Dawson signing permanently at the London Stadium could come as another boost to the club as they chase European football for this season and beyond.

Time will tell exactly when he becomes a permanent West Ham man, but it almost appears inevitable judging by this Moyes message.

In other news: A West Ham source lifted the lid on this GSB plan, find out more here.

Swansea earned a hard-fought three points in their push for promotion on Saturday, as they defeated Luton Town 1-0 in the early kick-off in the Championship.

Connor Hourihane’s early goal was enough to see off the Hatters, who had a number of chances to equalise but couldn’t find a way past Freddie Woodman in the Swans goal.

The result briefly put Steve Cooper’s side in the top-two of the Championship, before Watford’s 2-1 win at Cardiff saw them jump back above the Swans into the automatic spots.

Although it was an important result, some of the performances from Swansea players were below par on Saturday, with Andre Ayew, in particular, disappointing.

As per SofaScore, the experienced striker would earn a 6.4 rating for his display, which was the joint-lowest rating, with Korey Smith, of any Swansea player who started the game.

During his 90 minutes on the pitch, the former Marseille man would have 41 touches of the ball and would complete just 18 passes, which suggests that he was rarely involved, as he has averaged 27.3 passes per game in the Championship so far this season.

Perhaps most disappointingly, the Ghana international struggled to hold the ball up for Swansea in his role as a lone striker, with the Luton defenders, particularly Kai Naismith, having the better of him during the game.

Ayew would win just 4/14 ground duels and just 3/11 of his aerial duels during the game, resulting in an overall tally of 7/25 – which saw him register a disappointing success rate of just 28%.

Naismith meanwhile, would win 15/17 of his duels during the game and earned an impressive 8.3 rating for his display, which definitely suggests that he won the battle between himself and Ayew.

Despite being rarely involved, the 31-year-old striker would also lose possession on 16 occasions, suggesting that his link-up play was nowhere near his usual standards at Kenilworth Road.

The £3.6 million-rated forward was also successful with just 2/7 of his dribbles against Nathan Jones’ side, whilst he failed to register a single shot on target, so he is perhaps fortunate that Swansea were able to come away with a win, as it is clear that he was nowhere near his best against the Hatters as he let Cooper down with an anonymous display.

It would be fair to say that not many Manchester United players came out of Sunday’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Leicester City with much credit.

The Red Devils produced an utterly abject performance at the King Power Stadium, with a brace from Kelechi Iheanacho and another from Youri Tielemans ending their journey in the competition.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made a number of changes for the tie, a gamble that did not pay off, with one of those introduced to the starting line up, Donny van de Beek, turning in a particularly passive showing.

Making just his 12th start in all competitions for United since joining from Ajax, the 23-year-old did not do his chances of getting more opportunities any favours.

According to WhoScored, the Dutchman had just 33 touches of the ball throughout the entire game. On first glance, that isn’t too bad of a contribution, but it takes on a completely different complexion when it is noted that van de Beek’s replacement, Bruno Fernandes, had 41 touches, despite getting far fewer minutes on the pitch.

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Even when the former Ajax man did receive the ball, he could not do much with it. He only completed 24 passes throughout his time on the pitch, whilst also not contributing a single shot or key pass.

He did play a key role in United’s only goal of the game as his clever dummy fell kindly for Mason Greenwood to smash home but that did not mask what was otherwise an utterly shocking showing.

Van de Beek continued to struggle against a Leicester midfield full of quality and determination, only completing one tackle and zero interceptions.

His awful evening was eventually brought to an end as he was substituted by Solskjaer in the 64th minute of the tie.

The Norwegian will likely feel that Van de Beek did nothing to earn his £120k per-week wages at the King Power Stadium.

AND in more news, take a look at which midfielder Manchester United should bring in this summer…

With zero appearances to his name this season in the Premier League, it’s fair to say things haven’t quite worked out for Bjorn Engels at Aston Villa.

The big Belgian has really struggled with injuries, and in his absence, Dean Smith has found a formidable central defensive partnership in Ezri Konsa and Tyrone Mings – the duo have been part of a back-line that have conceded just 30 goals this season in the top-flight (only two other teams, Manchester City and Chelsea, have let in less).

Earning a reported £55k-a-week, Engels is just picking up a pay-cheque while sitting on the side-lines, with the closest he’s been to any kind of action being as an unused substitute.

It’s been no surprise then that former Villa man Gabriel Agbonlahor simply claimed that Engels’ career at the Midlands club is over, and insisted that he just doesn’t have the right qualities needed to succeed at Premier League level.

He said earlier this year: “It’s time for him to move on. The problem with the Premier League now is you have to have pace in defence. Unless you’re an unbelievable defender and you can read the game unbelievably you need to have the pace at the back.

“That’s what Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause allow you. If they make a mistake they’ve got the pace to make up for it. If they’re left one-on-one they’ve got the pace to stop the attacker.

“The problem with Engels is that if he’s left one-on-one he hasn’t got that pace so he’s going to get found out a bit. That’s what it is, it’s one of those things.”

Given he cost around £9m to sign back in the summer of 2019 and has been pocketing £55k-a-week, Engels has cost an eye-watering total sum of £13.8m since he arrived at Villa Park.

When you factor in the fact he’s only played 19 competitive games for Smith’s side, then there can be no questioning that he’s been really stealing a living and is someone who Villa simply have to offload this summer.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa played a blinder in signing this star…