Sheffield United fans react as Hogan joins on loan

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Loads of Sheffield United fans have been reacting to their big deadline day signing, as Scott Hogan has joined the club on loan.

Hogan has joined the Blades on a temporary deal until the end of the season, the club confirmed on Thursday.

The 26 year-old has made just seven appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa this season, per Transfermarkt, due partly to the incredible goalscoring form of Tammy Abraham.

Who are the best away fans in the Championship? Pl>ymaker FC’s Thogden gives his top 10 in the video below…

While he hasn’t found the net in his limited playing time this season, Hogan’s work rate and versatility will be a huge boost for Chris Wilder.

The three-cap Irish international is of course primarily a centre forward, but he can play on the wings as well, and his tireless running down the channels and constant harrying of the opposition defenders will add another element to Wilder’s arsenal.

He will be an brilliantly shrewd signing if he can rediscover his Brentford form, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions to the signing down below…

Aston Villa set to land Rory Wilson

Aston Villa look set to pip Liverpool to the signing of Rangers forward Rory Wilson, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Academy additions at Villa

Despite winning a first FA Youth Cup since 2002 last year, Villa have continued to bolster their academy ranks with a number of signings.

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Kerr Smith, Finley Thorndike, Finn Azaz, Caleb Chukwuemeka, Declan Frith and Tim Iroegbunam have all made the move to Bodymoor Heath in the last 12 months.

Iroegbunam has been the standout youngster to catch Steven Gerrard’s eye, with the midfielder now regarded as a first-team player after signing a new deal.

The Latest: Wilson next for Villa?

The Scottish Sun shared a story on Monday morning, revealing that Villa look set to pip Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United in the race for Wilson’s services.

The 16-year-old has been labelled a goal machine, with Villa needing to pay a compensation fee to Rangers, believed to be in the region of £300,000.

The Verdict: Exciting move

Wilson looks like he could be a star in the making, going by the widespread interest that he is receiving from elite clibs.

Therefore, he looks set to be another exciting addition for Villa’s academy, with Rangers now resigned to losing the youngster despite offering him professional terms and Gerrard set to cause frustration for his former club Liverpool.

Hopefully a deal will go through soon and Wilson will settle into life in the Midlands relatively quickly, and over the coming years, we could see him break into the first-team squad.

In other news: ‘Monster’ – Source reveals Villa now want to hijack major Tottenham move; same agent as Pogba

West Ham plotting Lucas Ocampos swoop

West Ham United are reportedly interested in signing Sevilla winger Lucas Ocampos this summer as David Moyes plans to strengthen his squad during the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the latest?

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, the Hammers – alongside Premier League rivals Wolves – are keen to bring the 27-year-old to England.

The Argentine has two years left on his contract with the La Liga outfit and played the entire first leg of the two teams’ Europa League round of 16 tie last month, missing the trip to the London Stadium.

Valued by Transfermarkt at £27m, Ocampos has scored nine goals and registered four assists in 36 appearances across all competitions this season and could be an intriguing addition to the Irons’ squad.

Moyes should sign Ocampos

It’s no secret that, despite another successful season, West Ham need a reshape of their playing personnel this summer. The average age of Moyes’ squad is 28.8 and consists of just 24 players, a low tally considering that they’ve played in four different competitions this term.

Reinforcements in every position are likely to be needed, including in the wide attacking positions.

Although at 27 he wouldn’t bring the average squad age down considerably, Ocampos is at a prime age where he can still improve whilst already having huge experience, something which could potentially shift out the likes of Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals or Andriy Yarmolenko.

Most importantly, though, he’s certainly an improvement on some of the Hammers’ current options.

Bowen is arguably an exception, with the Englishman currently West Ham’s top scorer this season with 14 goals. However, the 25-year-old is the only Irons winger who has scored more than Ocampos in 2021/22, with Benrahma scoring nine and Pablo Fornals six, and the ex-Hull City star has been linked with a possible move to Newcastle in recent days.

Moreover, Yarmolenko is expected to depart this summer upon the expiration of his contract, further highlighting the necessity of a winger being on West Ham’s wishlist this summer.

Described as “electric” by journalist Fede Praml, the tricky Sevilla winger currently averages 1.9 shots per game whilst enjoying an 83% passing accuracy and 40% dribbling success. The 27-year-old’s defensive contribution is satisfactory too, with 1.4 tackles and 0.6 clearances per match.

It may take time for the Argentine to adapt to the Premier League and West Ham’s style of play if he moves to east London, but it is crucial that the Hammers finish the next transfer window with a bigger squad than what Moyes current has, especially if they succeed in qualifying for Europe and if Bowen is tempted to Tyneside.

In other news – Imagine him & Zouma: Moyes could unearth West Ham’s next Rio Ferdinand in “clever” £12k-p/w gem

Villa could meet £33.4m Coutinho option

Spanish outlet Sport have provided an update regarding Aston Villa loanee Philippe Coutinho.

The Lowdown: Phillips and Saint-Maximin links

Steven Gerrard is gearing up for his first full season in charge at Villa Park, with a summer shake-up seemingly on the cards.

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Reports over recent days have claimed that Villa are set to offload both Morgan Sanson and Anwar El Ghazi in the summer, and there have also been plenty of rumours when it comes to incomings.

Villa are believed to be readying a £60m offer for Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips and also have their eye on Newcastle United forward Allan Saint-Maximin, who is valued at around £50m.

NSWE may well splash the cash over the coming months, including on Coutinho, who joined from Barcelona in January with an option to make the move permanently this summer.

The Latest: Coutinho update

Sport Witness relayed an update from Sport regarding the 29-year-old on Tuesday morning.

They claimed that Villa are ‘very satisfied’ when it comes to the Brazilian, and that financially the Midlands club will have no problems in meeting the €40m (£33.4m) option agreement.

The Verdict: Now for a salary agreement…

There had been talk that Newcastle were looking to land Coutinho, but it’s good to know that Villa chiefs are happy over paying a big-money fee.

All that needs to happen now is for there to be an agreement when it comes to a full-time Villa contract. The playmaker has proven his quality back in the Premier League with seven goal involvements in 11 Villa appearances, but the elephant in the room could be his salary.

Coutinho is currently on 65% of his £300,000-a-week contract, so you’d expect that he may need to take a pay cut in order to sign permanently in the Midlands.

In other news: Newcastle now keen on signing another Villa player as advanced update emerges

Everton set for disaster with Michael Keane

Everton have found themselves in a Premier League relegation battle this season with Frank Lampard desperately trying to save them from a drop into the Championship next season, but he could be heading for disaster if reports are to be believed on Michael Keane’s future at the club.

What’s the word?

According to journalist Paul Brown, Everton will keep hold of Keane this summer due to a potential lack of interest in the player and a contract that runs until 2025.

Brown told GIVEMESPORT;

“Michael Keane and Ben Godfrey are both under contract until 2025, so I can’t see that either of those two will be moved.

“There probably wouldn’t be much of a market for Keane anyway; he’s not playing well this season.”

Major Everton nightmare

It is no secret that the Everton centre-back has had an abysmal season, with a number of serious blunders in his performances that have ultimately cost the team crucial points in their pursuit for safety in top flight football.

Keane tops the list for Premier League own goals this season with two instances where the defender has opened up the scoring for his opponents, with one goal scored against Norwich City at Carrow Road in a 2-1 defeat, and then scoring the first goal again a few weeks later for Tottenham Hotspur in the 5-0 thrashing.

The £65k-p/w centre-back, who was dubbed a “liability” by Trevor Sinclair, then proceeded to get red carded against West Ham United which saw Everton concede another defeat, proving that the player has let his team down time and time again this season with extremely poor decision making in the last few months during the most vulnerable time for the club.

If Lampard manages to secure safety for Everton this season there is no doubt that he will need to strengthen his team to ensure that they don’t find themselves in a similar position next season, and with Keane’s aforementioned mistakes hindering the team’s progress, the manager could be sleepwalking into a major nightmare by not encouraging the club to move him on this summer.

With that being said, the former Chelsea boss must do everything he can to either demote the defender to a squad player by signing a replacement or put Keane on the transfer market in an effort to sell ahead of next season as improving the squad should be the top priority this summer.

In other news: Lampard can unearth the new Terry as Everton plot bid for 19 y/o heading for “the top”

Aston Villa must complete Gomez transfer

With a loan move for Philippe Coutinho and a permanent deal for Lucas Digne already secured this month, Aston Villa and Steven Gerrard have been making no qualms in terms of flexing their finances and ability to attract players.

Looking ahead to the remainder of the window, one player that the Villans have been linked with in recent weeks that would certainly be an attractive prospect for Gerrard to have in his team and improve them is Liverpool centre-back Joe Gomez.

Gomez joined Liverpool back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Charlton Athletic in a deal worth a reported fee of £3.5m.

Since then, the Englishman has made a total of 131 appearances across all competitions for the Merseyside club, winning the Premier League and Champions League along the way.

Labelled as an “unbelievable” player by fellow Reds defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gomez has found regular game time hard to come by this season, particularly in the Premier League with just three substitute appearances under his belt.

This suggests that should Villa make an approach to Gomez and his representatives this month over a potential deal, perhaps the promise of regular playing time under Gerrard’s guidance would be tempting for the defender.

From Villa’s point of view, they have a space in their squad for a player like the England international given how they recently said goodbye to Axel Tuanzebe after his loan deal was cut short by Manchester United.

Someone of Gomez’s calibre could well rival the likes of Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause for a place in the starting XI, thus sealing Gerrard a dream deal. He has already sealed one player who used to be at his former employers and bringing in another individual well known to him would surely be ideal, especially when it comes to building a working relationship.

Speaking of Mings, in a recent poll ran by Football FanCast, 66% of Villa fans think the England international is a liability for the team after his shaky performance in their 3-1 defeat against Chelsea, where he was at fault for Romelu Lukaku’s goal, further highlighting the need for a new defender to come in this month.

As for Gerrard, someone with obvious connections at Liverpool, it would undoubtedly be a dream move for him to have someone like Gomez in his side that has experience of playing at the top level under a manager such as Jurgen Klopp to potentially improve him even further.

Before the window closes, Villa should definitely test the waters to see if Gomez would be willing to make the move to the Midlands and if the Anfield outfit would be willing to let their £22.5m-rated centre-half go halfway through the season.

In other news: Imagine him & Coutinho: Gerrard can form scary AVFC duo with “clever” £43k-p/w gem – opinion

Leeds: Phillips starts vs Crystal Palace

Kalvin Phillips will return to Leeds United’s starting XI for Monday night’s trip to Crystal Palace. 

The lowdown

Leeds travel to Selhurst Park for the 20.00 kick-off looking to make it four wins in five matches.

They weren’t in action last weekend, with their game against Chelsea postponed due to the Blues’ FA Cup semi-final commitments.

The Whites are still in need of points to ensure survival after 18th-place Burnley beat Southampton on Thursday night to close the gap to five.

£38,000-per-week midfielder Phillips hasn’t started a Premier League match since the 2-2 draw with Brentford way back at the start of December.

After a four-month spell on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, he returned for the final 24 minutes of the 1-1 draw with Southampton on 2 April and got another 31 minutes under his belt as Leeds beat Watford 3-0 last time out.

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The latest

Leeds Live writer Beren Cross reported on Saturday morning from Jesse Marsch’s press conference at Thorp Arch that Phillips is ‘confirmed to start’ already.

The verdict

Phillips has demonstrated in his two recent substitute cameos that he’s ready to return.

At Vicarage Road, he won two of the three ground duels he contested after coming on, regaining possession three times, and completed nine out of 12 passes (via SofaScore).

You wonder if Leeds would have been able to avoid relegation trouble entirely had Phillips, England’s 2021 Player of the Year, been fit for the whole campaign.

In even better news for Marsch, two of his forward options are now on the comeback trail. Patrick Bamford is due to be back on the grass next week, while Tyler Roberts is ‘getting close’ to a return.

In other news, Leeds are targeting this Spurs ace.  

Saints must complete Adamu transfer

Even though Southampton have managed to rack up a respectable total of 25 goals scored in 21 Premier League games so far this season with the likes of Che Adams, Adam Armstrong and Armando Broja all contributing, the future of one of those players has been the centre of attention in recent weeks.

Despite only being on loan at Southampton for the season from fellow Premier League club Chelsea, there have been suggestions that Broja could look to stay at St. Mary’s beyond his current deal on a permanent basis.

Should the south coast club be unable to sign him permanently from Chelsea, one other player the Saints could look at that they have been linked with in the past that could be their next version of Broja as a young prospect being given the chance to announce himself on the big stage in the Premier League is RB Salzburg’s 20-year-old striker Chukwubuike Adamu.

With a total of 94 senior club appearances under his belt for Salzburg, FC Liefering and FC St. Gallen 1879, the youngster has managed to rack up a total of 38 goals and 16 assists along the way, highlighting his attacking capabilities.

This season has seen Adamu score three goals and provide two assists in 16 appearances in the Austrian Bundesliga as well as making an appearance in all of Salzburg’s Champions League group games, showing that the £3.6m-rated gem has experience of playing in a top competition against tough opposition.

In terms of a potential move to Southampton in the future, even though Adamu’s current contract at Salzburg isn’t set to expire until the summer of 2025, he could well be a good option for the Saints’ new owner Dragan Solak to target if they don’t end up securing Broja on a permanent deal.

Taking his young age into account, Adamu certainly has the time ahead of him to grow and develop his game to potentially turn into an exciting and useful squad option for Ralph Hasenhuttl in the Premier League.

Moving forward, with some time still left before the January transfer window closes and Broja’s future still undecided, Southampton could make an initial approach to Salzburg to see what the situation is with Adamu and if they’d be willing to make a potential deal for him in the future just in case.

In other news: Sky Sports journalist drops exciting Saints transfer update, Ralph would be delighted – opinion

Leeds still ‘pressing’ for Ola Aina signing

Leeds United are still ‘pressing’ to seal the signing of Torino right-back Ola Aina in the January transfer window, according to a fresh transfer rumour.

The Lowdown: Aina linked with Leeds move

It has been a quiet start to the month at Elland Road but it would be a surprise if no new faces arrived in the coming weeks, given the horrendous injury crisis Marcelo Bielsa is currently contending with.

One player who has been linked with a move to Leeds is Aina, who has made 13 Serie A appearances for Torino this season, continuing to impress after graduating from Chelsea’s youth academy.

Despite this, the Italian club don’t appear to be against the idea of letting the 25-year-old leave this month, no doubt giving the Whites hope that a deal can be struck.

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The Latest: Whites still ‘pressing’

According to Corriere Granata [via Sport Witness], Leeds are still hoping to get a deal sorted imminently and the two clubs will ‘continue to negotiate’.

It is stated that there is ‘no agreement’ in place yet for the former Chelsea man, though.

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The Verdict: Good news

Given the number of stories emerging, it does look as though Leeds see Aina as a genuine option and he could be a shrewd signing for Bielsa.

At 25, he is five years younger than Luke Ayling and could represent a long-term replacement for him, having made an impressive six tackles and four clearances for Nigeria in their Africa Cup of Nations opener against Egypt earlier this week, earning him Whoscored’s Man of the Match award.

On the contrary, Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah was completely shut down by Aina and his Super Eagles teammates, as he mustered the second-lowest rating of the 22 starters while the Serie A man thrived.

Aina’s current Torino deal expires in the summer of 2o23, highlighting the fact that they are running out of time to receive a fee for him, which arguably makes a move even more likely.

In other news, a journalist has claimed that Leeds won’t be signing one player. Find out who it is here.

Liverpool: Danjuma can replace Salah & Mane

Liverpool are set to launch a big-money move for Villareal star Arnaut Danjuma in this January transfer window as they look to try and cover for Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish publication Fichajes, Jurgen Klopp’s side are preparing a £37.5m bid for the Netherlands international this month as they look to try and cover for their two AFCON-bound superstars.

The report adds that there is doubt over whether Villareal would be willing to sanction a sale for the winger, but such a deal would represent a significant amount of profit from when they signed him from Bournemouth.

He can replace Salah and Mane

Speaking to This is Futbol about Danjuma, former Leeds man Carlton Palmer simply said: “He’s an exciting player. He’s got flair, he’s got pace and he scores goals” – exactly what he showcased in his time with Bournemouth.

The former Cherries speedster netted 17 goals and provided another eight assists in all competitions last season, and it was no surprise that his performances earned rave reviews.

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Speaking on The Official EFL Podcast, former Bournemouth boss Jonathan Woodgate said: “He’s an exceptional player, in a really good place at the minute, Arnie. He’s another one who I’ve always done a lot of work on him at his previous clubs, so I knew all about him coming into this role, I knew what type of player he was.

“He made an unbelievable run for one of the goals, I showed him that, but then I showed him what he did winning the ball back, when he had to sprint 50 yards and get the ball back. That’s what makes a really good player, for me, getting that work rate in because we know, with the ball his feet, he’s a top player. Can he do the rest going the other way? And he’s starting to show that now, so yeah, he’s doing well.”

His debut campaign at Villareal has seen him hit the ground running, scoring nine goals in just 18 games in all competitions, proving he is the kind of goal-scoring winger that could try and fill the boots of Liverpool’s much-vaunted wide-men.

The Villareal star is exactly what Liverpool need given that the likes of Salah and Mane are off to AFCON, and can help ensure they don’t miss the sheer number of goals and assists they produce.

Meanwhile, Liverpool must make a swoop for this Bundesliga midfielder…

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