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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

AS Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi has said during Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first press conference (via Calcio Mercato) that the Armenia international has “given up on lots of money” to join the Serie A outfit.

What did he say?

Mkhitaryan joined the Giallorossi on loan on the final day of the European transfer window from Arsenal with an option to buy at the end of the current campaign.

The player was presented to the press in his first press conference as a Roma player on Tuesday, with sporting director Petrachi also present.

Talking about the switch, the latter said: “The idea was to invest in important young people. In situations where we found ourselves at the end of the market, or we made investments in young people or operations like those for Micky.

“He is a top player with very high costs, the boy has given up on lots of money to come to Rome. Time will tell if we have the chance to keep players like that.”

How do football vloggers afford to watch their team week in, week out? Find out in the video below…

Refreshing in today’s footballing environment

The money involved in football at times is often obscene, particularly in the Premier League. Last year, the average player in England’s top tier earned £3.2m. Even in the Championship, players brought in an average of £25,000 a week, which is more than 46 times the salary of a worker in the United Kingdom over the same time period.

Players are often criticised for the money they chase. Former Chelsea midfielder Oscar, for example, was slammed for his move to the Chinese Super League, where he is said to be earning wages in the region of £400,000 every seven days.

Mkhitaryan does not earn that kind of money, but he is unlikely to have felt too hard done by as he picked up his £180,000 weekly salary with the Gunners. While it is not understood what kind of sums are involved at Roma, it is refreshing to hear that he has been willing to take a pay cut of some sort in his quest to find first-team football.

Contrary to popular opinion, perhaps not all footballers are just driven by the amount of cash in their bank accounts.

One can only hope that more players follow the 30-year-old’s lead by putting their careers first.

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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Celtic striker John Hartson has praised James Forrest for the big improvement he has made at Paradise, and believes he has a vital role to play for the club over the course of the next couple of months.

The 28-year-old has made an impressive start to the campaign for the Scottish giants, scoring seven goals and providing a further five assists in 13 appearances in all competitions, primarily from the right wing.

Two goals and one assist in two Europa League outings to date is certainly an impressive record ahead of the Bhoys’ opening group game away at Rennes on Thursday evening.

Prior to that clash in France, Hartson has made a big claim about Forrest when it comes to Neil Lennon selecting his starting XI, and the impact the Scotland international can have on the club’s European ventures.

“He’s doing tremendously well now for the national team and he’s the first name on Neil Lennon’s team-sheet. He will be vital now in the group stages.”

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18 goals and 20 assists in all competitions last term highlights the consistency the wide man has discovered in his game, which is something that hasn’t always been present, and Hartson is impressed with the giant strides forward the Prestwick-born player has made.

“Over the years he’s been somebody that has always had pace, has always been very direct. But now he’s getting his head up, he can see a pass, he makes the right ball when he’s wide.

“The decision-making has come on leaps and bounds and he’s added goals to his game.”

Hartson is spot on in his assessment of the ever-improving Forrest, whose performances have been described as “world-class” by teammate Fraser Forster.

Celtic could now do with some more of those from the winger to help lead them through the group stages of the Europa League.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Loan Watch series, which takes a closer look at those players who are aiming to galvanise their careers away from the spotlight of their parent club.

Rangers have a mini injury crisis on the wings with Ryan Kent joining Jordan Jones on the treatment table.

And that shortage of personnel has been heightened by Jake Hastie hitting the ground running after a loan move to Rotherham United.

A left winger, Hastie has scored three goals in three games already, including the equaliser against Sunderland at the weekend.

Watch Rangers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Warne has been delighted with his summer acquisition, calling him a “menace” after his performance against the Black Cats.

Hastie arrived at Rangers from Motherwell on a free transfer this summer after he shot to prominence in the second half of last season.

He scored six goals in just 12 league appearances in Scotland’s top flight last term. His form earned him a nomination for Young Player of the Year though he was, ironically, pipped to the award by Rangers’ Kent.

Hastie had been restricted to just one appearance this season for the Scottish giants, though, so a loan move was always going to be an option to continue his development.

Hastie only has 84 senior appearances in his career and at the age of 21, he needs a large volume of games to iron out the inconsistencies in his play.

Of course, it looks like a poor decision to send him out due to the club’s injuries, but he needs regular football and staying at Rotherham makes all the sense in the world.

He has outscored Jones and Scott Arfield so far this season; if he keeps this up, he could be given his opportunity next term.

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Jack Harrison’s Leeds career has headed sideways and backwards but unfortunately for him, it’s rarely been in an upward trajectory.

The winger was brought in with an exciting reputation last term after arriving from Manchester City on a season-long loan but managed just four goals.

Despite that, Leeds took another punt this season, knowing full well what they’d be receiving. They know all about the frustrating nature of the wide man but they are also aware of the qualities he possesses.

This is a player who has a golden first touch, one many in the Premier League would be proud of. Yet, when it comes to his delivery of the ball, there is a distinct lack of end product.

A damning statistic sums up just how underwhelming the 22-year-old has been in 2019/20. Of 31 attempted crosses in the Championship, only one of them has been accurate.

Harrison hasn’t scored since the opening weekend of the season while he’s also failed to register an assist. That is hardly unsurprising given his poor delivery but as the season now begins to ramp up, he’ll have to improve.

In some senses, his time at the club has already come full circle. During the opening stages of last term, he managed just one goal in his first 17 league outings.

This season, it’s looking as though a similar theme is developing. In eight games, he has just one strike to his name and there is a real lack of cutting edge when he gets in a promising area of the pitch.

There is no denying he has talent. After all, he’s a player that’s been hailed by Pep Guardiola in the past.

After his initial move to west Yorkshire in the summer of 2018, the Spaniard said: “He did so well in pre-season and I was really impressed.”

However, impressive showings in the white of Leeds have been few and far between.

This summer Leeds had a major decision to make, one which involved their transfer policy. Knowing of his abilities, one of the players Bielsa wanted to bring back was Harrison.

Appearing on episode 71 of the Talking Shutt Podcast, Angus Kinnear detailed the move:

This was some show of faith in a player who rarely contributed to goals in 2018/19.

His end to the season was quite strong, especially if you factor in his difficult start.

It wasn’t just an improvement in fortunes but it was also the teams he was scoring against and how vital the goals were.

One of his most important strikes came in a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday while he also netted what turned out to be the winner versus Swansea.

Harrison meanwhile bagged against Derby and claimed an assist in the playoffs, as well as laying on a strike versus West Brom.

It was a promising second half of the campaign but he hasn’t managed to follow that up in 2019/20.

He’s not creating sufficient chances and in his last three outings, he’s managed just a solitary key pass in each match.

Leeds fans have voiced their concerns over the fact Helder Costa isn’t playing and with a player of his quality waiting in the wings, a lot more needs to be done for Harrison to firstly keep his place, but also vindicate the faith shown.

As a result of his promising start to the campaign, finding the back of the net against Bristol City, Leeds decided they didn’t need a winger.

A fee had been agreed with Ryan Kent but he was swiftly forgotten about. Instead, they ended up with Eddie Nketiah.

The fact he’s scored four goals already dictates it was wise but the former New York City man has a huge amount of work to do to show Leeds were right to ditch their pursuit of Kent.

Harrison has quickly become a favourite under Bielsa, starting each Championship game in 2019/20 and Kinnear’s quotes only emphasise how highly the Argentine thinks of him.

Whether he should be in the side or not is up for debate but so far their summer decision on the winger has backfired.

Harrison is short of quality and he desperately needs to improve. That isn’t just for the sake of his Leeds career with Costa looking over his shoulder, but it’s also for the good of a team seeking promotion.

If he can find the form he produced in the second half of 2018/19, the decision may well pay off. Right now though, bringing Harrison back looks like a misguided call.

Barcelona fans have been comparing Frenkie de Jong to legendary midfielder Xavi in reaction to a recent club post on Twitter.

The Dutchman was signed from Ajax in the summer transfer window to become the Catalan club’s latest maestro, and in a recent tweet Barcelona made reference to his outstanding passing ability and love of doing it.

They captioned an image of De Jong laying on the floor and staring at the grass with: “Each individual blade of grass has the potential to affect passing accuracy.”

Many Barca fans have responded to this by likening the Netherlands international to their former player Xavi, who himself was noted for his love of passing the ball as well as being extremely gifted at it.

Whilst De Jong has a long way to go to reach the heights that Xavi did, there are certainly similarities in how they both play the game.

Xavi himself has previously commented on De Jong’s ability, saying: “De Jong is a footballer who can mark an era in Barcelona. He is able to dominate the game, he sees it easily and doesn’t lose the ball.”

Barcelona fans will likely be hoping that De Jong can go on and achieve close to what Xavi did in his time at the Nou Camp. Here is how some of responded to the post on Twitter, with most comparing the Dutchman to the great Spaniard…

Do you think De Jong could go on to emulate Xavi as a Barcelona player? Let us know your views in the comments section below!

Loads of Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter have reacted after reported target Paulo Dybala produced a ‘wow’ moment against Inter Milan on Sunday.

Spurs looked to be close to bringing the Juventus attacker to north London on the final day of the summer transfer window, before a deal eventually collapsed due to image rights issues, as reported by Goal.

The 25-year-old, rated at £76.5m by Transfermarkt, found first-team starts hard to come by under Maurizio Sarri right at the beginning of the season, while he has only been a substitute for both of their Champions League fixtures to date.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, he made his fourth successive Serie A start at the San Siro at the weekend, and made an almost instant impact with a brilliant drilled effort from the corner of the penalty area in the early stages of the clash in Milan.

It was a strike that didn’t go unnoticed by Tottenham supporters on the popular social media platform, and it is no surprise they are watching how the forward is getting on given how badly their own team is faring right now.

One individual summed it up when he said “Paulo Dybala reminding Daniel Levy what Tottenham Hotspur are missing out on”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Birmingham Live have revealed that Wolves winger Jordan Graham is currently on loan at Lokomotiv Plovdiv in the Bulgarian top-flight.

What’s the word?

The 24-year-old hasn’t featured for Wolves in over two years when he started in their 2-0 win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup.

This weekend that same fixture plays out in the Premier League while Graham is hoping to make his debut for his new club against CSKA Sofia in front of a mere 10,000 spectators.

The winger joined Wolves from Midlands rivals Aston Villa with a fine reputation having played in the continental youth tournament, the NextGen Series, and winning the Algarve Cup with England U17s.

Are Gareth Southgate’s Aston Villa roots the reason behind the Wolves player in the video below being overlooked?…

Labelled a ‘starlet’, he has also featured for England at U16 level too.

Under Kenny Jackett, Graham did manage to break into the first team until a year-long injury stalled his progress, and as a result, he was forced out on loan to Fulham and Ipswich Town.

He struggled to feature, playing a total of just 265 minutes in the Championship.

Last season, a stint at League One outfit Oxford United wasn’t enough to garner much interest, resulting in this surprise move across Europe.

Cut ties

Given the recent incidents involving Bulgaria supporters on the international stage, this move perhaps shows just how badly the 24-year-old wants to get his career back on track.

The England national team were subject to shameful acts of racism during their toxic 6-0 win over Bulgaria on Monday night.

Since then, the Daily Mail has revealed that the bulk of the home crowd are members of the ‘Lauta Army,’ a group of ultras linked to Lokomotiv Plovdiv, who have a history of violence and racism.

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He is so out of favour in England that he’s been forced to move to such an environment in order to simply play football competitively.

Graham’s career has headed in a sad direction but he could benefit from a fresh start elsewhere.

With his contract set to expire at the end of the season, Nuno Santo should just cut ties with him as he’s clearly not going to be in his plans.

It might have been wiser to come to a mutual agreement in terminating his contract instead of a loan move that will ultimately bring no benefits to Nuno or his Wolves side now or in the long-term future.

At 24, there is still plenty of time to salvage a way back, but if we’re being honest, it’s never going to be in the west Midlands.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

The international break is now behind us and that means that the club football is finally making a return. Real Madrid will travel to Mallorca this weekend but if the latest reports coming out of AS are true, Gareth Bale won’t be included in the squad. This could open the door for Rodrygo to feature again.

On the chalkboard

By this point, we all know about Bale and his uncanny injury history.

Throughout the years, apart from showcasing his obvious qualities from time to time, the 30-year-old Welshman has also become quite notorious for his unlucky injury woes.

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Just last season, he suffered from five different issues and was sidelined for a total of nine games. But even though that doesn’t sound like a lot, what’s more concerning is the fact that Bale gets injured almost every single season.

Still, despite that being mostly bad news for Los Blancos, a certain 18-year-old prodigy might get another taste of some first-team action due to Bale’s most recent problem, suffered during the international break.

A silver lining

Rodrygo is one of those talents that we know has the potential for big things but he just hasn’t been able to demonstrate it on the big stage yet.

But when he has played, the 18-year-old Brazilian has impressed.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

He made his season debut against Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu and managed to score a brilliant goal in the 19 minutes he spent on the pitch for the Galacticos.

Real Madrid ended up winning that game 2-0 but Rodrygo has since been left out of the first-team mix, spending time either on the bench or with the B team.

However, Bale’s reported injury means there’s a free slot on that right side, and the Brazilian, although he’s primarily a left-winger, can slot into that position when needed as well.

After all, Transfermarkt do have him marked down as a right-winger in four games in their database and he even managed to bag one assist in one of those games too.

Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Zinedine Zidane to give the kid a chance considering rotation would be advisable with a tough week ahead – Barcelona await next weekend – and Mallorca’s poor run of form so far in the season.

Who knows, maybe he can surprise everyone once again and help Real find a silver lining to Bale’s latest injury.

It’s definitely worth a shot.

Everton fans have taken to Twitter to once again express their frustration at Marco Silva ahead of the visit of West Ham United on Saturday, following his attempted rallying cry.

It seems that fans have not let Silva off the hook over the international break, and with his comments of late, the supporters have done anything but get behind his recent rally cry.

Silva told Everton’s website: “When you have tough moments as a football team – and this is a tough moment for us as a club and our fans – we have to do even more and then we will see [results] on the matchday.

“As a team we have to show more, that strong character and personality that will have us playing to our best level again – and achieving what we want in every single match.

“In the tough moments, you can see the strong character… the strong personality. And how we can be strong as a team.”

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The former Watford boss has had a dismal start to this season, as the club sit inside the relegation zone on just seven points from eight games. Across the pitch, it has been a nightmare scenario for the Portuguese, conceding 13 goals in the league and scoring just six of their own.

On top of this, Silva has failed to register a single point since the club defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers almost seven weeks ago, losing to Bournemouth, Sheffield United, Manchester City and Burnley in that time.

The manager has come under much scrutiny throughout this campaign in areas such as poor tactical decisions and lack of change in the squad, and letting players like Jonjoe Kenny, who has gone onto have a fabulous season elsewhere, leave.

Here’s what the fans have had to say this time…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

The prospect of coming up against Sadio Mane and Mo Salah as full-backs is always going to be a daunting prospect, and that is exactly what could lie ahead for Serge Aurier and Danny Rose when Tottenham Hotspur travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday.

Salah returned to the starting XI against Genk in midweek having missed the trip to Manchester United previously, and he marked the occasion with one goal and one assist.

On the opposite flank, Mane netted once meaning he now has nine goals and two assists in 13 appearances for the Reds this term, with his African teammate also having 11 goal involvements over the same number of games.

As well as their threat in those terms in the final third, the fact that Salah and his Senegal teammate have successfully completed 1.6 and 1.3 dribbles per game respectively in the top flight in 2019/20 only enhances the threat that they pose.

Pochettino has something of a conundrum then, with Spurs hardly looking convincing away from home this season when it comes to keeping the ball out of the net.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Indeed, they have conceded twice on their travels against Arsenal, Manchester City, Olympiacos and Leicester City, while in their previous trip they went down 3-0 at Brighton and Hove Albion.

The duo also started in the 7-2 humiliation against Bayern Munich and struggled to deal with the threat of Serge Gnabry – who netted four times – and Kingsley Coman, and perhaps they need that extra support on Merseyside this weekend, especially with two attacking full-backs in Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, too.

Aurier started against Red Star Belgrade in midweek, and unless Pochettino is willing to blood Foyth there then he is likely to remain, while Danny Rose was rested against the Serbian outfit, suggesting he will be back in contention for a start.

If the pair do get the nod, there is a potential solution that could make their life a lot easier – a 3-5-2 formation.

Letting Rose and Aurier play as wing-backs already puts an extra body in defence, while a midfield trio inbetween them means they can also be covered if they do venture forward in search of goals.

Whether Pochettino would be willing to take Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld out of the starting XI against Jurgen Klopp’s men remains to be seen, but a back three of Ben Davies, Davinson Sanchez and Juan Foyth could potentially work.

Davies started as a centre-back three times for Spurs last term and they all ended in wins and clean sheets, and he would of course provide that full-back know-how against Salah on that flank, while Foyth is in a similar situation himself having played as a right-back and centre-back in his career to date.

With the likes on Winks and Sissoko able to cover in wide areas too, it could just be the genius solution to ensure that Rose and Aurier aren’t overworked and become possible liabilities on what is likely to be a tough afternoon.