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West Bromwich Albion winger Matheus Pereira has secured a move away from The Hawthorns.

What’s the latest?

In a report for The Athletic on Thursday, Steve Madeley revealed that the 25-year-old was set to complete a move to Al-Hilal, with the Brazilian having undergone a medical with the Saudi Arabian side.

The journalist went on to claim that talks between the two clubs had progressed quickly after Al-Hilal significantly upped their original offer for the forward, and while the amount has not been disclosed, the final transfer fee is believed to have fallen some way short of Albion’s £25m to £30m asking price.

Shortly after Madeley’s report, West Brom’s official website confirmed Pereira’s departure in a brief statement, wishing the player well for his future in the game.

Ismael will be buzzing

While Pereira’s departure from West Brom was highly anticipated following the club’s relegation from the Premier League last season, things had initially appeared rather quiet regarding interest in the winger’s services. West Ham were tentatively linked with a move, although a deal never really seemed to be on the cards.

However, a war of words between the player and Valerien Ismael seemed to speed up the 25-year-old’s exit from The Hawthorns, with the Frenchman questioning the Brazilian’s application in training before freezing him out of the club’s pre-season plans.

Pereira then responded by publishing a statement on Twitter, in which he claimed he has always given his all for the club during his time in West Bromwich but admitted that he was keen to move on to pastures new this summer.

With his switch to Al-Hilal now complete, it will not only be Pereira who will have been buzzing to finalise his move away from the Championship side, but Ismael too.

Indeed, while Madeley’s report does not mention the fee the Saudi Arabian side paid West Brom for the winger, Transfermarkt have the figure down as £16.2m, with this reported sum being able to fund the 45-year-old Albion manager’s desired move for a new centre-forward this summer.

As such, while losing the services of a player who has undoubtedly been one of the Baggies’ stars over the last two years may well be upsetting for fans, the club can now fully move on from the transfer saga of the Brazilian. That is a positive for Ismael, who will already be scouring the market for a fresh signing with his newly-found transfer funds.

In other news: Lost possession 11x: Reckless £14k-p/w West Brom flop badly betrayed Ismael’s trust

Everton are back in action this evening with another home clash in the Premier League, this time against Leicester City.

Heading in off the back of their 1-0 victory over Manchester United earlier in the month, Frank Lampard and the Everton fans will undoubtedly be looking to see their team secure another win this time out to move further away from the relegation zone.

Looking ahead to tonight’s showdown and their remaining league games of the campaign, it seems as though the Merseyside club have been handed a major boost over one of their key players.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from journalist Patrick Boyland relaying news from Lampard’s latest press conference, Toffees defender Yerry Mina will be in the squad to take on the Foxes.

The centre-back has been out of action since February with a hamstring injury and has only made ten league appearances for his side due to previous issues.

Great news for Lampard

With the Toffees only losing four of the ten league games that the Colombian has played in and only two of the games he completed a full 90 minutes in, having him back in the squad as another option will be a great thing for Lampard going forward.

To highlight what a useful option he will be, the 27-year-old has won nine tackles and made 14 blocks and 36 clearances in the league this season.

If he can make a return to action and continue being a tough figure at the back for his side, he could end up being the difference between Everton staying up or going down.

In terms of tonight’s showdown, it seems unlikely that the Toffees boss will immediately throw Mina back into the team considering how long he’s been out of action for.

With that in mind, if Lampard wants to have the defender available for the rest of the season, the 43-year-old will have to manage Mina’s minutes, for the time being, so he doesn’t risk getting injured again.

Also, with the centre-back pairing of Ben Godfrey and Michael Keane managing to keep a clean sheet last time out against the Red Devils, it would make sense for Lampard to stick with those two on this occasion to see if they can do the same again against Leicester.

In other news: Insider drops behind-scenes Finch Farm update that’ll leave Everton supporters furious

Make no mistake about it, Leeds United’s 2-1 triumph against Manchester City in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon was one of their greatest results of the modern era.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have been involved in some eye-catching games against the Premier League’s elite this season, including the reverse fixture at Elland Road which ended 1-1.

After initially taking the lead through Stuart Dallas, and then seeing Liam Cooper sent off in controversial fashion, the Whites managed to seal all three points in the dying moments of the game thanks to their Northern Irish ace.

While Dallas will no doubt take the headlines for his match-winning brace, spare a thought for Gjanni Alioski, who put in a superb shift at left-back.

Ahead of the game, there were serious doubts about just how well he would do coming up against Pep Guardiola’s much-vaunted City side, and even here on Football FanCast, there were calls for him to be dropped from the starting line-up.

However, to his immense credit, the £15,000-a-week earning stuck to his task diligently and produced the kind of impressive display which will have sent Bielsa huge message about whether he could still be a decent performer at this level. His contract at Elland Road comes to an end this summer, and reports have even suggested that Turkish giants Galatasaray have him offered him a deal.

Alioski was at his best today, showing some defensive discipline to try and handle City’s outstanding right-flank of Ferran Torres and Joao Cancelo – the latter being one of the top full-backs of this season with two goals and five assists to his name.

Stopping them was no easy task, but Alioski was strong in the tackle and didn’t take too many unnecessary risks with the ball. As per Sofascore, his tally of three tackles were the second-most of any Leeds player on the day, while his five clearances were the highest bar none.

The left-back didn’t shirk any of the 50/50s either, winning nine of his 17 total duels – that figure was the highest of any player on both sides.

Alioski was also crucial in Dallas’ winner of course, providing a superb pass for the 29-year-old to run onto and fire home past Ederson in the City net.

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While one game certainly doesn’t make a player, Alioski’s superb performance away at the Premier League’s runaway leaders has surely given Bielsa some food for thought about his future at Elland Road.

Meanwhile, Leeds could reach a new level by signing this Premier League star…

Rafa Benitez is reportedly keeping a ‘close eye’ on Gabriel Barbosa ahead of a potential move to Everton in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Barbosa catching the eye

Barbosa is only 24 years of age but already has 116 senior goals to his name combined for both club and country, having broke into the Brazil national side (Transfermarkt).

Brazilian legend Adriano has recently been singing his praises, dubbing him as a ‘decisive’ striker, which will surely interest the Goodison Park faithful.

The Latest: Benitez interested

As per football journalist and transfer expert Ekrem Konur, Benitez is keeping a ‘close eye’ on Barbosa ahead of a potential move.

The Spaniard clearly wants more competition up top for Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and feels as if ‘Gabigol’ would fit the bill.

The Verdict: Sign

The Merseyside club certainly need a player who can ease the goal-scoring burden off of Calvert-Lewin, and Barbosa has proven throughout his career so far that he knows where the back of the net is.

A potentially mouth-watering link-up with Brazilian teammate Richarlison could well be on the cards too, as he could really help bring some real South American flair to the Toffees, considering that they also have the likes of James Rodriguez, Allan and Yerry Mina already on their books.

Nonetheless, the Flamengo star would certainly be an exciting new addition for the Blues, providing that they can get a deal over the line.

In other news, find out what club update has Evertonians buzzing here!

An update has emerged on Aston Villa target Arnaut Danjuma, regarding Liverpool’s interest in his services. 

What’s the talk?

According to Marca, via the Daily Star, Liverpool are keen on signing Bournemouth winger Arnaut Danjuma before the end of the transfer window.

Aston Villa reportedly enquired about a potential swoop for the attacker earlier this summer, but will now have to beat the Reds in order to bring him to Villa Park.

Watkins 2.0

Dean Smith could land another Ollie Watkins type signing by bringing Danjuma to the club this summer. The ex-Brentford coach has had huge success in bringing talent from the second tier to the Premier League, with Watkins arriving in the Midlands last summer and enjoying a terrific season in the top-flight.

In 37 Premier League starts, the forward provided Villa with 14 goals and five assists whilst averaging a superb WhoScored rating of 7.18. This came after he scored 26 and assisted three in 49 Championship starts (including play-offs) for Brentford the previous year. Smith was able to bring him in and help him flourish at a higher level, which is exactly what he could with Danjuma.

The Bournemouth attacker racked up 17 goals and seven assists in 31 starts in the Championship, averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.21. This means that he came up with a goal contribution every 1.3 starts for the Cherries, compared to Watkins’ goal contribution every 1.7 starts for Brentford.

Clinton Morrison lauded the excellent Dutchman last year when speaking about him on Quest, via Football League World:

“Danjuma is an excellent player. Whatever happens, he will be playing Premier League football next year, whether it’s with Bournemouth or without them. He’s an exceptional talent.”

These comments from Morrison and the aforementioned statistics between Watkins and Danjuma suggest that he could be the next star out of the EFL. He has proven that he has the quality to stand out in the Championship and Smith has already shown that he has the coaching ability to help players like that make the step up to the Premier League, Watkins being the case-in-point.

This is why Villa fans would love to see Danjuma join the club. Supporters love to see goals and the Dutchman’s statistics for Bournemouth suggest that he could be able to provide them for the Villans in the top-flight.

It is now down to Johan Lange to strike a deal with the south coast club and then Smith would need to work with him on the training pitch to turn him into Watkins 2.0.

AND in other news, The Athletic journalist drops update on £50m midfielder, Villa fans will be relieved…

Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy must look to offload Serge Aurier this summer amid interest in his signature.

In the past few days, several clubs have emerged as a potential destination for the divisive £18m-rated right-back.

According to RMC Sport (via Get French Football News), Spurs are keen to move him on for around €10m (£9m), with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Atletico Madrid keeping tabs on his situation, whilst Foot Mercato have surprisingly claimed that even Real Madrid have enquired about a move.

If he leaves for that sort of money, then Levy would have lost around £14m on the Ivorian in the four years that he has been at the club, having originally joined from PSG for around £23m in August 2017.

Aurier will enter the final year of his current £120,000-per-week contract at the end of the season but, even if he had several years to go, Spurs should be seeking to push him out the door at all costs.

Saturday’s defeat to Leeds United was another small reminder that he costs the north London giants more than helps them, and perhaps it’s now a step too far to rely on him for much longer.

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During the game, former Lilywhites player Jamie O’Hara, now a pundit at talkSPORT, blasted the 28-year-old for his performance. “Aurier is just an absolute liability,” the 34-year-old wrote on Twitter just half an hour into the match.

That comment is merely just one of many we’ve seen in recent weeks, and perhaps throughout the entire time that Aurier has been a regular for Spurs.

After their Carabao Cup final defeat to Manchester City only two weeks ago, Sky Sports analyst Jamie Carragher piled into the 66-cap Ivory Coast international (via talkSPORT) and said: “Aurier is maybe one of the biggest liabilities in Premier League football and is a player who would possibly put you off management with the amount of crazy decisions he makes.”

Despite all of these scathing verdicts of the right-back, he has still started 19 times in the Premier League this season and even usurped Matt Doherty to be Jose Mourinho’s, and now Ryan Mason’s, first-choice option in the role.

However, with defensive mistakes being the defining theme of Spurs’ turbulent season, it would be wise for Levy to cash in on the 28-year-old before the next manager arrives to give him one less headache to worry about.

If any bids come in for Aurier, then Spurs must take what they can get for him.

AND in other news, Levy could repeat his fatal Hoddle mistake if Spurs appoint “intelligent” 40 y/o…

Aston Villa look set to be one of the busiest sides in the transfer window with the Midlands club already signing Emiliano Buendia.

They followed that up with approaches for both Emile Smith Rowe and James Ward-Prowse with Steve Howey claiming that the latter would be a fantastic signing for Dean Smith’s side.

Ward-Prowse is so often the integral cog that keeps Southampton ticking over and his set pieces are in a bracket of their own with Pep Guardiola even labelling him as “the best” set-piece taker in the Premier League. So, if Villa could follow up their interest in him with a solid offer, Smith’s side could make a serious push for the top seven next season.

In the midfield, Villa already have the likes of Douglas Luiz and John McGinn but Ward-Prowse would bring a swagger on the pitch and something a little bit different on the pitch – especially with Jack Grealish around to win free-kicks in dangerous areas.

It would certainly not be a simple deal to get done as the midfielder has been at Southampton his whole career and he is also club captain, but if Villa could bring him to the Midlands then he would certainly be a fantastic acquisition, that’s according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to Transfer Tavern:

“I’m not sure what you could do to prise Ward-Prowse away from Southampton because he’s been there so long and he’s also captain and pretty much their main man.

“I’ve always liked him so for a team like Aston Villa to get him, I think it would be fantastic.”

Villa appeared to be making a surprising push for a European spot last season before Jack Grealish’s shin injury ruined their end to the season as they won just three of the 12 Premier League games that their captain missed.

It would be a huge disaster for the Saints this summer if they ended the transfer window without both Ward-Prowse and star striker Danny Ings, who has also been linked with a move away as his contract is set to expire in 2022.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been slamming the display of Alfredo Morelos in their game at home to Hearts in the Premiership this afternoon.

It was not the Colombia international’s best day as he was guilty of missing several decent chances to make the match more comfortable for Steven Gerrard’s men, after John Lundstram had given his team the lead late in the first half at Ibrox.

The striker was also guilty of giving the ball away far too cheaply and far too often throughout the match in an overall performance which would have disappointed his manager considering what Morelos can produce.

Nonetheless, he must now put this performance behind him and try to make amends in the Europa League in midweek.

Rangers fans on Morelos display

These Rangers fans slammed Morelos’ performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he was ‘rotten’:

“Morelos looks miles off it. Again.”

Credit: @BMCRangersRants

“Not alone. Morelos has been rotten”

Credit: @Grove1969

“Announce the 2019/20 Morelos please”

Credit: @johnbucky81

“Get that Morelos off!!!!”

Credit: @RFC5572

“Hook Morelos. Please”

Credit: @FinlayV3

“If Morelos could finish game would be over”

Credit: @Dp1973Dp

In other news, find out what Michael Stewart comments have left these Gers fans raging

Reliable Aston Villa reporter Ashley Preece is expecting Dean Smith to unleash Emiliano Buendia against Wolves this weekend.

The Lowdown: Buendia’s struggles

Buendia, who joined from Norwich City in a club-record deal over the summer, hasn’t started a Premier League game since the end of August.

He’s made six appearances in all competitions under Smith, scoring his first goal against Brentford but has had to make do with substitute cameos against Manchester United and Tottenham prior to the international break.

However, with Jacob Ramsey recently playing 90 minutes for England Under-21’s in the week, Preece feels it could be time for Buendia to return from the off.

The Latest: Preece’s predicted XI

Preece shared his predicted XI on Birmingham Live for the Villa Park meeting against Wolves.

When it came to naming three central midfielders in a 3-5-2 system, Preece went with Marvelous Nakamba, John McGinn and Buendia, with the latter picked ahead of Ramsey due to his international run out.

He went on to admit it would be a bold move knowing Buendia has struggled centrally in a Villa shirt.

The Verdict: Correct

Gregg Evans also picked out Buendia as a player who should be getting more minutes, and this weekend feels like the perfect chance to give him another go.

The former Canaries playmaker, who Daniel Farke called ‘fantastic’, wasn’t selected for Argentina duty this time around, so he should be chomping at the bit and ready to go.

Smith has had success in September with a 3-5-2 system, so Buendia needs to fit that mould, as it doesn’t look like that will be changing anytime soon.

In other news: Ashley Preece shares big under-the-radar Villa update on Leon Bailey.

Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on the race to land Leeds target and Cagliari gem Nahitan Nandez…

What’s the talk?

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Inter have opened talks with Cagliari over a deal to sign Leeds United target Nahitan Nandez on loan this summer. Cagliari are said to be keen on signing Radja Nainggolan from the Milan giants, which could play a part in the negotiations.

Leeds have been linked with a swoop for the midfielder this summer, who is reportedly valued at £26m (€30m) by Cagliari. Victor Orta travelled to Italy earlier this month to discuss a potential deal for the Uruguayan.

Bielsa will be gutted

Marcelo Bielsa and Leeds will be gutted reading this latest update. Whilst it is not suggested that a deal is done, or even close, Inter appear to be the favourites given that they have already opened talks over a loan for the ace.

Cagliari wanting Naingollan also hands them a key boost over Leeds, as they could offer the former Roma man in exchange to bolster their chances of getting a move over the line in the coming weeks.

The Leeds coach will be frustrated because Nandez could have been a smart addition to his squad. Mateusz Klich struggled for consistency in the Premier League last season, with an average WhoScored rating of 6.51, and that suggests that a central midfielder is required at Elland Road before the end of the window.

Nandez caught the eye in Italy with his performances across the park, which means that he could have the potential to make the grade in the English top-flight. Serie A journalist Conor Clancy was effusive in his praise of the “machine” and pointed to his versatility on the pitch as one of his main attributes.

He said: “Anywhere Bielsa wants to play him, he’d do a job. I like him a lot.

“I think he’s only about five foot seven, but you wouldn’t know it if you just watched clips of him, he is a little bit of a machine. He’s so powerful but at the same time, has really, really good ball control.”

The 25-year-old showed off his tactical flexibility for Cagliari last season,  playing in eight separate positions across the defence and midfield whilst averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.72. This shows that he has the quality to provide consistent, solid, displays in a multitude of roles at the top level.

Therefore, Bielsa would love him at Elland Road as he could utilise him in a number of positions across his team and have the option to change formations in-game. This is why he will be gutted by the prospect of Inter potentially snapping him up on loan.

AND in other news, Orta must act swiftly to sign “unbelievable” £5.5k-p/w beast, Bielsa needs him at LUFC…