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According to a recent report from Football Insider, West Brom are interested in a January move for Alberth Elis. The 22-year-old currently plays his football in Major League Soccer with Houston Dynamo having made the permanent move to the club back in 2018, which came after enjoying a great stint on loan there the year before to seriously underline his goal-scoring pedigree.

And a report from Football Insider suggests that Darren Moore’s West Brom are eyeing up a move for the £2.25 million-rated sensation (as per Transfermarkt), as are Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic, although were the Baggies to seal a deal for the Honduras international, it would go some way to equipping them with the replacement they so desperately need for winger Harvey Barnes.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, 21-year-old Barnes made the temporary move to the Hawthorns from Premier League outfit Leicester City during the summer in a bid for the regular game time he was unlikely to get under Claude Puel, and the England Under-21 international proved to be an absolute revelation during his time with the Baggies.

The winger netted nine goals and laid on eight assists in just 28 appearances for Moore’s side to help fire them into promotion contention in the Championship, which is why his recall by Leicester earlier this month is sure to have seriously frustrated and disappointed several West Brom fans up and down the country.

And with drawing 1-1 at home to Norwich City in the aftermath of Barnes’ exit, alongside a routine if not overly convincing 2-0 success over struggling Bolton Wanderers earlier this week, one senses that the Baggies do need to replace the flair and impetus provided by the 21-year-old in the first half of the season – Elis could well be the man for the job.

The 22-year-old may well be little known to English football fans having played all his football in Hondurus, Mexico, and now the United States, but his recent form for Houston Dynamo in the MLS suggests that the forward is a star in waiting.

The Honduras international, already capped 31 times by his country at senior level, scored 11 goals and laid on three assists in his first season at Houston in 2017 to help them to fourth place in the Western Conference, prompting the MLS side to secure his services permanently come the end of the campaign.

And what an inspired decision that has proven to be given Elis was even more impressive in the final third in 2018, bagging 11 times and laying on 12 assists for Houston in their run to ninth place in the Western Conference, and indeed to victory in the US Open Cup.

Clearly then, it looks like Elis has an extremely bright future in the game and could be an asset for many sides in English football, not least a West Brom team that have lost one of their brightest sparks in Barnes in the last few weeks – yet Elis’ arrival could go some way to compensating for that.

And with the Baggies pushing for a return to the Premier League this season, and Barnes having played a key role in helping them into the top six when he left, a replacement is surely needed in a bid to maintain that promotion challenge until May.

And the highly-rated Elis could well be the man for the job at the Hawthorns.

West Brom fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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According to West Ham insider, ExWHUemployee, the East London outfit have been knocked back in their attempts to sign Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi – a deal is highly unlikely as the player has made it clear he doesn’t want to become a Hammer.

West Ham have surely been preparing contingency plans this month amid interest in star striker Marko Arnautovic – the club rejected a £35m bid from Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG earlier in the window (per BBC Sport) – but have yet to sign a new hitman.

The Irons, though, are close to signing Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez for a whopping £43.3m (per Sky Sports), but the Uruguayan would be loaned straight back to the La Liga outfit, meaning Manuel Pellegrini is still short of quality up front for now.

A move for Batshuayi, therefore, made sense as the Hammers look to finish the season strongly – Sky Sports reported earlier today that Chelsea had agreed a loan deal in principle with West Ham but the player doesn’t seem too keen.

Having tried to sign the Belgian forward while he was still at Marseille in 2016 (according to The Guardian), the London Stadium outfit were surely elated that they were being given the chance to sign their long-term target – the 25-year-old clearly has other plans though. Gutting.

Here’s how the West Ham faithful reacted to the news on Twitter…

Who is West Ham’s worst ever signing? Check out the video above for a pretty strong candidate for the dubious honour…

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Prior to the January 2018 arrival of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang to the Emirates Stadium, it could easily be argued that Arsenal had been without a truly world class striker since the 2011/12 campaign, when Robin van Persie struck 30 times in 38 Premier League games.

Of course, at the end of that season, the prolific Dutch hitman controversially joined the Gunners’ rivals Manchester United in a £24 million deal, before promptly firing the Red Devils to the title.

Back at the Emirates Stadium, Arsene Wenger toiled to replace van Persie. Ultimately, Olivier Giroud did a very decent job for the north London club for a number of years, but he never hit the heights van Persie had. The likes of Marouane Chamakh, Park Chu Young and Yaya Sanogo all flopped.

To make things worse for the Arsenal faithful, in 2014, Harry Kane burst onto the scene at Tottenham Hotspur. The England captain has since struck 122 Premier League goals in just 175 appearances. He spent a year in the Arsenal academy as a young boy, but was let go in the early 2000s – a decision that could be considered catastrophic now.

Football FanCast’s Harry Sherlock and Will Jones have debated whether or not the Gunners’ post-van Persie woes could have been averted had Kane been kept in the red half of north London.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

Sherlock: For

Harry Kane could have filled a Robin van Persie-sized hole very nicely indeed for Arsenal.

Arsenal have lurched from one disaster to the next when it comes to buying strikers, bringing in the likes of Yaya Sanogo and Lucas Perez in an attempt to fill the gap left by the Dutchman.

It must be noted that the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud, plus Theo Walcott, have done their bit to help carry the goalscoring burden but none have begun to approach the levels Kane has reached in recent seasons.

Indeed, since 2012-13, the top scorer at Arsenal in the Premier League has topped 20 goals once – Alexis in 2016-17 scored 24 times.

Kane has netted over 20 in each of the past four seasons, and has actually outscored Arsenal’s top scorers since Van Persie’s departure. When added together, Arsenal’s combined top scorers netted 100 goals exactly (not counting this season). Kane has scored 108 by himself.

He is a goalscoring phenomenon and would have eased the burden on Arsene Wenger, too, who could not find a 20-goal-a-season striker for the life of him.

Unai Emery appears to have two, now, with Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but Arsenal fans are right to wonder what might have been whenever they see that famed picture of Kane in an Arsenal shirt.

Jones: Against

Kane’s emergence at White Hart Lane came as a result of a serendipitous series of events. Had, for instance, Roberto Soldado lived up to his £26 million price tag, Kane may never have been called upon.

Certainly, the English forward’s exploits across his numerous loan spells did not suggest he was on the cusp of becoming one of the top flight’s finest goalscorers. In spells with Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City, he was never able to reach double figures in terms of goals.

As it happened, Kane got a break in the first team and emphatically took that opportunity with both hands and hasn’t looked back since. It could so easily have been very different, and had he stayed at Arsenal it almost certainly would have been as Giroud would not have been so easily displaced.

Arsenal fans may well be jealous of their neighbours’ talisman but the idea that his career path would have followed the same remarkable trajectory at the Emirates Stadium is fanciful.

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Newcastle fans have taken to Twitter to react after Martin Dubravka made a significant error in the last minute of the game to hand Wolves a point on Monday night.

The Slovakian international attempted to catch a hoisted cross from Adama Traore when he perhaps should have punched the ball clear, and Willy Boly was there to capitalise on his poor decision to nod the ball into the net after it had slipped through Dubravka’s hands.

Given the fact that the clock had overrun by more than 60 seconds of the allocated four additional minutes, the Magpies can feel slightly hard done by as Rafa Benitez came extremely close to executing the perfect game-plan.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

However, at the end of the day, question marks were raised over Dubravka, with Benitez even admitting that he feels his goalkeeper should have been stronger.

With the margin so slender down at the bottom of the table, Newcastle fans on Twitter were gutted after two vital points were dropped, and wasted no time in letting their feelings be known…

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The January transfer window has come and gone and Rangers added five new faces over the course of the month, so what is now Steven Gerrard’s best XI?

Rangers cruised past Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup on Wednesday evening, winning 5-0 courtesy of a whopping four-goal haul from front man Alfredo Morelos.

The Colombian international has of course been the subject of much controversy since picking up his fourth red card of the season, but it’s easy to see why Rangers fans believe he is the best player in the league.

So with the no. 20’s spot pretty much nailed on, who takes the other ten places in Gerrard’s side? What is Rangers’ best starting XI?

Haven’t seen Paul Pogba’s latest strange photoshoot? You need to check out the video below…

The defence

Just like with Morelos, there are a few stars in defence who are nailed on to start whenever fit.

Allan McGregor, Connor Goldson and James Tavernier will all start when available, leaving just two spots to pick. Borna Barisic’s delivery makes him the most likely choice at left-back, but the other centre back is a little harder to choose.

None of Nikola Katic, Gareth McAuley or Joe Worrall have really impressed this season, but we here at Football FanCast believe Katic should get the nod, as the young Croatian has the highest ceiling, and could forge a long-term pairing with Goldson if given the chance.

Men in the middle

In midfield, Ross McCrorie deserves to start. The 20 year-old has had an inconsistent season, but at his best he is one of the country’s finest defensive enforcers, at least according to Scott Arfield, and his presence would afford the ever-reliable Ryan Jack more freedom to explore further up the pitch.

If McCrorie and Jack are playing in the middle, then January signing Glen Kamara must take the number ten spot, as his low centre of gravity, vision and incisiveness will inevitably create chances and space for the forwards.

Ferocious front three

Finally, the forward lines pretty much picks itself, with Morelos flanked by Ryan Kent and Daniel Candeias, a front three packed with speed, creativity, skill and a little bit of a nasty streak.

4-2-3-1: McGregor, Tavernier, Goldson, Katic, Barisic, McCrorie, Jack, Candieas, Kamara, Kent, Morelos. Rangers fans, is this your best XI?

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Following last week’s Special Episode with former Watford and Brentford goalkeeper Richard Lee, the Fixture In Focus Podcast returns to Premier League matters for the latest instalment.

James Jones returns to the host’s chair while the usual #FIFpod suspects Chris McMullan and Christy Malyan – guilty as charged – join him in the studio, quickly running the rule over Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Chelsea in the Fifth Round of the FA Cup on Monday night before delving into all matters Northwest Derby.

Indeed, title-chasing Liverpool head to Old Trafford this weekend, knowing the clash with their bitter, historic rivals could well have a decisive impact in the race for the English crown. Helping the Fixture In Focus team on all matters Reds is Owen Maers from Anfield Edition, who joined Christy for an exclusive chat.

This week’s agenda includes whether Chelsea’s boardroom culture is to blame for the fans turning on Maurizio Sarri too quickly, explaining Alexis Sanchez’s incredible downturn in form over the last 18 months and whether criticism of Sadio Mane after Liverpool’s draw with Bayern Munich has got out of hand.

If you love what we do and don’t want to miss another episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your preferred podcast platform by clicking here.

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On Tuesday Roy Hodgson provided an injury update on his squad and revealed that Mamadou Sakho will miss the clash against Manchester United on Wednesday as his struggles continue – the Frenchman limped off in the first half of the win over Leicester at the weekend.

What’s the update?

Hodgson had been hopeful of the 29-year-old’s availability for the midweek battle with the Red Devils, saying after their emphatic 4-1 victory on Saturday:

“He [Sakho] missed a lot of training and didn’t play against Doncaster Rovers as a result of feeling the knee in the West Ham game so he was out for a week having treatment, but he trained all of this week in the lead up to this game.

“But obviously he felt the knee again today.

“So we will have to reassess it on Monday and hope for the best.”

However, far from ‘the best’ news awaited the Premier League’s oldest-ever manager, who has now confirmed that assessment of the defender’s knee is ongoing and that he will not be in contention for the visit of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and co.

Sakho isn’t the only one

Fortunately for the Selhurst Park outfit, United’s injury woes are far greater than theirs and the 13-time Premier League champions will be without up to ten players for the game, including Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial.

The lightning-quick duo have become crucial to Norwegian Solskjaer’s style of play but he will likely be forced, now, to deploy the considerably less mobile Romelu Lukaku up front – this will surely be of huge relief to Scott Dann, who would have been totally mismatched against the aforementioned duo’s pace.

The veteran centre-back replaced 29-year-old Sakho at the heart of defence against Leicester and will likely continue to deputise next time out.  The former Blackburn man will fancy himself far more in a physical battle than one of speed – he is surely one of the division’s slowest players.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

The 32-year-old might not be as quality a defender as Sakho, but he is a force to be reckoned with in the air – United have scored 11 goals from set-pieces this season and Palace have conceded 10, so Dann’s heading ability in defence of corners will be crucial.

Sakho’s injury is hardly a blessing in disguise for Palace but there is at least one positive to be taken from Dann replacing the former Liverpool man at centre-half.

Leeds are interested in signing Liverpool prodigy Harry Wilson if they achieve promotion to the Premier League this season, as reported by Alan Nixon of The Sun.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Reds’ young sensation has spent the current campaign out on loan at Derby, where he has scored 12 goals and recorded two assists to cement himself as one of the Championship’s most eye-catching attackers – his dead ball expertise has also been noticeable this season.

Wilson may personally feel he has done enough to be drafted into Jurgen Klopp’s plans for next season, but Leeds are keen to test the Reds’ resolve with a move for their young asset having missed out on Swansea winger Dan James in January.

The Wales forward has also starred under Ryan Giggs at international level, scoring twice in eight appearances for his country.

Dan James move abandoned?

Leeds came extremely close to securing the signing of Swansea winger Dan James back in January, before the Swans pulled the plug on the deal at the eleventh hour.

The move was reportedly set to cost the club a fee of around £10m in total, which would’ve been a real statement of intent but perhaps a risky move given the fact that the 21-year-old is currently embarking on just his first season in senior football.

A move for Wilson would be a much cheaper option, and in fact, one that comes with less question marks surrounding it given Wilson is the more proven player out of the two – the on-loan Derby star has now impressed in consecutive Championship campaigns, scoring seven and assisting three in just 11 starts with Hull last season.

It has recently been reported that Swansea are now in talks with James over a new contract, so perhaps Leeds’ move for Wilson signals that any chances of a deal for James could now be dead in the water.

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Arsenal fans on Twitter have been raving about the performance of young utility man Ainsley Maitland-Niles in their club’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Unai Emery’s Gunners went ahead early on after David De Gea failed to keep out a relatively tame long-range effort from Granit Xhaka, before Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang sealed the deal in the second half from the penalty spot after Fred’s foul on Alexandre Lacazette.

And Maitland-Niles’ display played a huge part in Arsenal’s ninth successive home league win.

The 21-year-old was starting in a right wing-back role in the match and caught the eye with his pace, determination and excellent attacking and defensive contribution. Some of Maitland-Niles’ impressive individual stats included four successful tackles and over 75% pass success.

Supporters were delighted with the 5 foot 10 youngster’s showing, with some even rating his afternoon eleven-out-of-ten in response to a tweet from Arsenal’s official Twitter account.

Check out a list of some of the best reactive Tweets, below…

A stunning victory to get back on winning terms has once again should just how good a manager Rafa Benitez is. While the Everton game alone isn’t the only reason the Geordies reading this will want him to stay, the fact he gave St. James’s Park one of its best days in years only adds to his burgeoning legend. 

It’s certainly obvious that Newcastle are lucky to have the Spaniard and could still progress further up the league if they maintain a good performance level.

And with a strong group of players, there is optimism a top-half finish can be achieved. Consistency has been an issue for many teams in the Premier League this season, including the Magpies, however with the right intensity to their game, the players can do the rest.

Next season and then the season after are likely to get progressively harder, with the spending of teams around them sky-rocketing.

With that in mind, although they would have to pay his substantial contract, West Ham’s Andy Carroll should return back where he belongs.

Carroll, (who is valued at £7.2 million on Transfermarkt) although he has had numerous problems, could be revived with a move to Newcastle.

The big striker has yet to hear from West Ham as to whether he will earn a new contract next season but with yet another injury always around the corner, it seems that the Hammers may just have had enough.

So if injuries have been so persistent, why would the club bother offering him a contract? Well, it must be remembered that Carroll, on his day, is one of England’s deadliest strikers and constantly puts himself about in order to create chances for himself or team-mates around him.

Benitez and the Newcastle faithful all love the idea of having a big number nine to turn to and with Andy Carroll in their squad, that dream could turn into a reality. We’ve seen just how much the Geordie faithful love Salomón Rondon, imagine if he was a Geordie!

Would you want Carroll back at St James’ Park? If not, why not? Join the discussion by commenting below…