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West Ham are among the teams linked with a move for Belgium wonderkid Charles De Ketelaere…

What’s the word?

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, the Irons are monitoring the 20-year-old attacker ahead of a potential move, though they are not the only ones, with Premier League rivals Everton also keen.

Serie A giants AC Milan and Napoli are also courted with interest in the Club Brugge sensation.

Earlier in the summer, Football Transfers suggested that the Belgian outfit would only be prepared to part with him for a fee in the region of €25m (£22m).

He has since picked up his second cap and first goal for his national side, whilst his form has continued domestically, so it remains to be seen if there has been an increase on that figure.

Star of the future

The £22.5m-rated dynamo is an intriguing prospect and one that is certainly going to have a big career in the game, going by what those have said around him.

Standing at a towering 6 foot 4 inches, De Ketelaere is capable of playing upfront, out on the flanks, in the no.10 and much deeper in midfield. It’s this sort of versatility and physical presence that should have David Moyes and co drooling.

“His versatility is a huge asset. He is complete, with a mix of physical and technical qualities,” legendary Club Brugge midfielder Gert Verheyen explained to Het Nieuwsblad (via Goal).

Despite being a titan, he has been likened to Roberto Firmino as a potential ‘false nine’ as he continues to search for his best position on the pitch but given the Hammers’ need for a new striker, it’s that role where he could find his feet.

Last season saw him find the net only five times in all competitions but he also provided eight assists, and he’s well on course to surpass such returns this time around, having delivered four goals and three assists, as per Transfermarkt.

He may only be 20 but the Brugge star is already nearing 100 senior appearances in Belgium, where he has been backed to stay by talkSPORT’s European football expert Andy Brassell.

“He’s got loads of potential,” Brassell said on Hawksbee and Jacobs. “I’m really interested to see what he can do for the rest of the Champions League. The move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs is too soon. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, of course.”

Well, if a move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs is too soon, then perhaps a move to the London Stadium would make sense, with the Hammers on the way up after qualifying for the Europa League this term.

West Ham’s new head of recruitment Rob Newman could really strike gold with the 20-year-old, so he must consider a swoop for him in January.

AND in other news, Big injury update emerges on West Ham’s £18m-rated “machine”, Moyes is surely buzzing…

VVV-Venlo director of football Stan Valckx believes Celtic forward Giorgos Giakoumakis can score between 15 and 20 goals this season.

The Lowdown: Giakoumakis’ struggles

Giakoumakis arrived at Celtic on deadline day in the summer window, coming in after Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths sealed Parkhead exits.

The Hoops paid £2.25m for the 26-year-old, who netted 26 times in the Eredivisie last season.

He’s yet to get off the mark for Celtic though and has made just one appearance, with Kieran Devlin claiming last month that he was ‘quite far off it’ at Lennoxtown.

However, Valckx who signed him for VVV-Venlo, feels the Dutch striker will come good for Ange Postecoglou.

The Latest: Valckx’s comments

Talking to The Herald, relayed by 67 Hail Hail, Valckx believes Giakoumakis can score up to 20 times before the season comes to an end and called him ‘very effective’.

“I don’t think it is unrealistic to say that between now and the end of the season he can score between 15 and 20 goals in Scotland.

“That should be realistic.

“Celtic is a big club of course in an interesting league. It’s a physical league, but normally I would expect him to be in the box more than he was with Venlo. We’re a small club and we have to defend more.

“He scored from all sorts of angles, with his left foot, right foot, bicycle kicks, quite a lot of headers. He had a real diversity in the ways he was able to finish. In the box, he is very good, very effective.”

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The Verdict: Next few months key…

It’s safe to say that Giakoumakis hasn’t had the start to life at Parkhead he’d have been hoping for, so 15-20 goals could be too much to ask for.

However, if Valckx’s prediction proves to be accurate, you’d expect the striker will need to find some form before the New Year.

He may well have the chance in five games before October comes to an end, so hopefully, for everyone associated with the Hoops, Valckx’s comments are spot on.

In other news: Celtic source now shares positive Christopher Jullien update after Sunday news. 

Leeds United are reportedly interested in signing Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley, with the Englishman falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge.

The Lowdown: Barkley out of favour

The 27-year-old spent last season on loan at Aston Villa, but since returning, he has struggled to impress Blues manager Thomas Tuchel.

Barkley has played just seven minutes of Premier League action this season and hasn’t made a single start in any competition to date.

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The Latest: Leeds eye up move

According to 90min, Leeds are one of several clubs eyeing up a move for Barkley, with a potential January exit on the cards, and Marcelo Bielsa actually wanted him last year too.

Burnley and Newcastle United are also credited with showing an interest in the 33-time capped England international, who wants to leave Chelsea.

The Magpies may be one to watch with their new found riches, especially as Callum Wilson hailed Barkley as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘unreal’ earlier this year.

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The Verdict: Risky

Barkley has outstanding natural ability – he has ‘magic’, according to Clinton Morrison – but he has never reached his potential as a player, enjoying promising runs of form but ultimately never making the grade at Chelsea.

He could be a superb signing for Leeds, bringing drive and unpredictability in midfield areas, but Bielsa would have a tough job getting consistently strong performances out of him if his recent form is anything to go by.

Given the price the Blues would likely want for what is an English talent entering his prime at 27, we believe this is one the Whites should avoid.

In other news, Gary Neville has mocked Leeds for one key reason. Read more here.

It’s time for Nuno Santo to be bold and axe Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur’s starting XI, beginning with tonight’s Carabao Cup Round of 16 clash with Burnley.

The Lilywhites succumbed to defeat against West Ham United on Sunday afternoon, where they failed to register a single shot at goal throughout the entire second half.

To make matters worse, the north Londoners were left chasing the game from the 72nd minute and the England international never once looked threatening, nor did he seem like he wanted to. In fact, it was Kane who put in a lazy attempt to try and defend goalscorer Michail Antonio from the corner.

After scoring just once in seven successive league starts, there must now be a major cause for concern as the 28-year-old’s head just doesn’t look in it right now.

That could perhaps be a direct consequence of his failed move to Manchester City in the summer, so there’s no point trusting a player who doesn’t want to be at the club – it’s only damaging the rest of the squad.

‘Harry Kane like a disinterested passenger at times’ is how the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick led after the defeat.

At this stage last season, the Spurs talisman had found the net seven times, and even then he’s known for starting seasons slowly, but no one could’ve predicted this.

As per The Sun, Kane has taken far fewer shots – with just 18 all season, compared to 38 at the same point last term – and a shocking conversion rate of just 5.6%, down from 18.4% a year ago.

Similarly, the £60m-rated star has just one assist and seven key chances created so far this year, compared to eight assists and 18 key chances at the same stage last season.

On that evidence, he’s more of a hindrance than a help to his side. Maybe some time on the bench would do him the world of good, almost a warning shot to spark a reaction. After all, he’s still contracted to Spurs until 2024, so he better get used to it.

Once dubbed a “monster” by teammate Heung-min Son, the England skipper must be ruthlessly axed from Nuno’s starting XI, as he’s massively holding them back in the final third.

AND in other news, Nuno must offload “average” £18m-rated Spurs passenger, he “looks a shadow of himself”…

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Paul Brown of The Daily Star has revealed what chairman Daniel Levy has personally ‘promised’ Antonio Conte at Tottenham.

The Lowdown: Conte takes charge…

The 52-year-old’s tenure has officially begun and it’s a new era which comes with plenty of promise and excitement.

Calciomercato.it recently claimed that the former Chelsea boss has demanded a €280 million (£239.6m) transfer war chest as he eyes a plethora of Serie A stars and a major Tottenham rebuild.

Meanwhile, The Sun believe Conte will be given a big budget to play with, though not quite as extravagant, with Levy apparently set to grant him a £150m budget to bring in his desired talent.

Now, backing somewhat backing these claims, Brown has shared what he believes to GMS.

The Latest: Brown makes Levy claim…

Speaking to the outlet, Brown has now shared what Levy has personally ‘promised’ Conte at Spurs and it’s quite an intriguing claim which could entice some Spurs supporters.

“He has been promised a fairly big whack, and a good go at things.” said the journalist.

The Verdict: Promising…

If Conte does indeed get the backing required to make Tottenham a force again, perhaps akin to the latter stage of Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure, they could have all the ingredients to become a European powerhouse once again.

Since reaching the Champions League final in 2019, the club have seen Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo sacked whilst also delaying the rebuild process of a squad in need of a big overhaul.

Pochettino himself candidly admitted that his side needed a ‘painful rebuild’ long before he was shown the door and Conte’s arrival could finally mark the beginning of the process.

He will need help from managing director Fabio Paratici as the Italian duo seek to turn Tottenham’s fortunes around.

In other news: Conte personally plotting to sell ‘very talented’ Spurs player who Nuno called ‘unique’, find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur have a major problem in attack.

Heading into the international break, Antonio Conte’s side have failed to register a shot on target in nearly four hours of Premier League football, with their last goal coming over five hours ago.

Whilst no other team in the division is averaging fewer shots per game (10.1) than Spurs. Not even rock-bottom Norwich City (10.2) or either of the other two teams in the relegation zone.

That will be something the Italian needs to work on with the players he has left at Hotspur Way over the next ten days.

Perhaps it would be a wise decision to promote the Lilywhites’ U23 goal machine Dilan Markanday to the first-team set-up as he could be a surprise fix to their woes – or at least he’ll put the pressure on the likes of Harry Kane, Tanguy Ndombele and Dele Alli under pressure to perform.

Earlier this week, the 20-year-old gem was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for the third time in seven months after continuing his fine form in the competition.

Meanwhile, last week, he bagged his tenth goal of the season – in just as many games – as Spurs’ youngsters drew with Brighton and Hove Albion’s U23 side.

Despite this form, Markanday has only been given a 15-minute cameo in the Europa Conference League but he is deserving of much more than that.

The Barnet-born youngster also became a history-maker as the first British-Asian to play for the north Londoners and he’s targeting a long and successful career at the club.

“The dream is to play for Tottenham for the next 15 years, playing every game, but obviously I know things might not work out and there are going to be ups and downs,” he told journalist Jonathan Veal.

Back in 2019, football.london reporter Alasdair Gold made a comparison to former youth product Marcus Edwards, who Mauricio Pochettino once likened to Lionel Messi.

“Markanday has looked bright today. Have always felt he has a very similar running and dribbling style to Marcus Edwards,” he tweeted.

Indeed, the youngster has been “scoring plenty” this campaign, so it’s only right to promote him into the first-team and see if he can emerge as a secret weapon in the coming weeks and months.

Spurs’ problems in the final third are evident and given the form he’s in, it’s worth a punt.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano reveals Conte’s plans for January…

Celtic have been tipped to make a move for David Marshall in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

In recent comments made on The Go Radio Football Show, Barry Ferguson stated his belief that Ange Postecoglou should take a closer look at the Derby County goalkeeper this winter, as the crisis-hit Rams would be more than happy to get the 36-year-old off of their books.

After being asked whether he’d fit in at Celtic, Ferguson said: “Must be worrying for big Marshy, obviously out the picture at Derby. I don’t know why – is it a contract situation? I find that strange because he was number one at Derby. Obviously, [he’s been] brilliant for Scotland. It must be financial.

“He’s still a top keeper, big Marsh. I don’t think he’s going to cost anything. Derby would let him go on a free. He’s too good to be sitting about doing nothing. He needs to play and he needs to get back into the Scotland squad.”

Postecoglou must move

With the recent news that Celtic’s current backup shot-stopper Vasilios Barkas looks set to depart Parkhead in the January transfer window, Postecoglou could well be in need of a new option in the position for the second half of the season.

And, while it is true that Marshall appears to be out of the picture at Derby, with Wayne Rooney yet to hand the 36-year-old a single appearance this term, the Scotland international is nevertheless a goalkeeper who still has much to offer in his career.

Indeed, over his 33 Championship appearances for the Rams last season, the £225k-rated man kept nine clean sheets, as well as making an impressive average of 2.3 saves per game.

These returns saw the player who Malky Mackay dubbed an “immense” ‘keeper average a SofaScore match rating of 6.79, ranking the veteran as Derby’s 11th-best performer in the second tier of English football – an extremely impressive feat considering the Rams only secured survival on the final day of the season.

As such, despite being well into the twilight of his footballing career, the £8.4k-per-week Marshall would nevertheless appear to make a fantastic backup to Joe Hart between the Celtic sticks, meaning it would indeed look to be an extremely wise move for Postecoglou to sanction a swoop for the shot-stopper this winter, particularly if he wouldn’t cost the Bhoys a penny.

In other news: Signed for peanuts, sold for £13m: Celtic struck gold on “outstanding” 30 y/o monster

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left reacting to who Giovanni van Bronckhorst will now be bringing with him to Ibrox.

As per The Athletic journalist Jordan Campbell, the new manager will be bringing Roy Makaay as first-team coach, Arno Philips, who is a physio with the Netherlands and a former coach at Feyenoord,  and Yori Bosschaart, who was his main video analyst at both Feyenoord and in Shanghai.

There will be more staff to come, although there is not a local coach on the cards at the moment.

Given GvB’s past success as manager at Feyenoord, where he won the Dutch Cup in his first full season and their first league title in 18 years in 2017 (Rangers), bringing some of the people in that worked with him during that period is very exciting.

However, some Light Blues supporters have questioned whether other names will be coming in, like Jermain Defoe for example, who helped lead the first team while the recruitment process was still going on.

Rangers fans on van Bronckhorst news

These Teddy Bears reacted to the news as it was shared on Twitter:

“Yori Bosschaart is excellent at tactics boards”

Credit: @bobvoyage

“The future is oranje”

Credit: @BenBaker___

“Absolute scenes and limbs”

Credit: @Richard56830486

“Hopefully a place for Defoe”

Credit: @woodygers

“John Eustace would be ideal.”

Credit: @Official_ColinW

“Could this spell the end of Jermain’s coaching? Hope not.”

Credit: @BodrumJoey

In other news, find out what official club post had Gers buzzing here!

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Leeds United loanee Ian Poveda is set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines after picking up a serious leg injury.

The Lowdown: Poveda on loan at Blackburn

The 21-year-old was sent out on loan to the Championship club during the summer in order to enjoy more regular football, but it has not quite gone to plan.

Poveda, who has been described as ‘incredible’ by Pep Guardiola after his spell at Manchester City, has been limited to just four league starts so far at Ewood Park.

On Saturday, the youngster unfortunately left the field injured in his side’s 1-1 draw away to Bristol City with what looked like a serious issue.

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The Latest: Serious injury confirmed

On Tuesday, Blackburn’s official Twitter channel confirmed the news using quotes from Mowbray, who said that the midfielder looks set for a lengthy spell out of the team. The Rovers boss outlined: “The news isn’t particularly good, he’s broken his fibula and has some ligament damage.”

As per Blackburn’s official website, Mowbray added: “It’s a fracture and it’s not good news for him or us. We’ve been in touch with Leeds United and it looks as if he’ll have an operation to insert a plate. We’ll see what Leeds want to do because he’s their player, but he will be out for a significant period of time.”

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The Verdict: Big blow for Poveda

It is a cruel blow for Poveda, especially as he tries to force his way into Mowbray’s starting line-up more regularly, and he now faces a mental challenge to overcome following such a huge personal setback.

The hope is that the Leeds youngster can make a swift enough recovery to get some more game-time at Blackburn before the season is out, ideally returning to Elland Road more rounded player next summer.

At 21, he still has a long future ahead of him, so this will hopefully be a minor speed bump in his career rather than a prolonged setback like the one suffered by Adam Forshaw.

In other news, Phil Hay has discussed Leeds’ potential January transfer business. Read more here.

Lurking within Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is an inner child. He is happy when at his most playful but stroppy and dejected when he doesn’t get what he wants.

At the moment, all the Gunners skipper wants is a goal, something that has failed to elude him for the vast majority of his career.

The Gabon international is a ruthless finisher, well so we thought he was anyway. He has found the net on 92 occasions in 162 outings for Arsenal, a record that many will rightfully stand and applaud.

Yet, throughout the current campaign, his level of finishing has been average at best.

He got his account up and running by scoring a hat-trick against West Brom in the Carabao Cup but we’ve not seen the best of him since.

Aubemeyang missed a gilt-edged opportunity from just a matter of yards out in the win over Newcastle last weekend and on Thursday night in the defeat to Manchester United, he was sloppy again.

The striker was fortunate to find himself offside at one moment in the second half, having his blushes spared after missing a tame opportunity when one-on-one with David De Gea following a cross into the area.

There was a sheer lack of conviction to his game and that was typified late on in the match. Gabriel Martinelli drove forward with youthful enthusiasm, taking several United players out of the equation.

However, after finding the club captain and making a darting run into the penalty box, Aubameyang ignored the young Brazilian and instead struck a tame effort right at the goalkeeper.

We are so used to seeing a ruthless finisher inside the 32-year-old but it’s got to a point where if Arsenal are going to have any chance of finishing in the top four, they need to sign a goal scorer. Dusan Vlahovic anyone?

The Fiorentina livewire has been sensational this term and while being linked with a move to the Premier League, has scored 14 goals already in 2021/22.

A devastating finisher like the Serbian would surely go down a treat at the Emirates, especially when you consider the elusive nature of Aubameyang.

He was the very definition of enigmatic on Thursday evening, not only squandering chances to score but failing to press or hold the ball up in a pretty lethargic performance. It was Martin Odegaard who gave away the decisive penalty but it may not have been so crucial had his colleague leading the line turned up at Old Trafford.

Come full time, the attacker had registered just 28 touches of the football, which was 19 fewer than goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

Furthermore, the Gunners talisman only registered 14 passes and won a mere 33% of his physical battles as he was bullied by Harry Maguire and co.

On this evidence, Arsenal need an upgrade, and they need it quick if they are to have a successful season. Aubameyang has offered plenty to this team down the years; he’s won them an FA Cup final and scored some devastating goals but it might just be time to move on.

At the moment, Arteta is clearly being let down by his main man.