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Everton director of football Marcel Brands made an honest admission about the squad during the club’s AGM on Tuesday night, and Toffees fans reacted directly after the club posted the quote on Twitter.

The Dutchman said that he believes the Toffees now have more quality and greater strength in depth than when he was appointed at the end of the 2017/18 season, and that they are working to build a winning environment.

The appointment of Carlo Ancelotti has certainly gone some way to doing that given the list of honours he has to his name, including three Champions Leagues and top-flight title wins in England, Italy, Germany and France.

However, the same probably can’t be said about on the pitch right now even if the Merseyside outfit have won three of the Italian’s opening five matches in charge in all competitions – they were in the relegation zone when Marco Silva was sacked last month though.

Brands has been responsible for bringing the likes of Richarlison, Lucas Digne and Andre Gomes to the club who you would have to say they have been success stories so far, but the jury is very much out on others like Moise Kean and Fabian Delph – the former has no goals in 20 appearances to date.

Some Everton supporters made it clear that they aren’t happy with the former PSV man amid the comments…

However, some supporters looked at things a little more objectively, with three below agreeing that they are in a better place in general despite some dreadful performances and results such as the one against a severely-weakened Liverpool side in the FA Cup earlier this month, where they were beaten 1-0.

Call yourself an Everton expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?

Others have fairly suggested that a squad rebuild can take time, and that more of that is needed for Brands to get things right – fair enough given he has been in the role little over 18 months.

He may not have done what is required yet, but patience is needed if Brands is to deliver for Everton in the long-term.

In other Everton news, Marcel Brands has dropped a hint at where the Toffees could look to strengthen their squad next…

It’s hard to keep track of what’s going on with the current Che Adams to Leeds transfer saga, but if anyone needs a refresher here’s where we’re at right now.

Leeds want Adams and the striker wants the move according to The Athletic.

Meanwhile, the Southampton board are willing to let him go if the Whites are ready to agree to a loan with an obligation to buy for at least £10m.

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However, Ralph Hasenhuttl wants to keep the player, and that could scupper the whole deal.

Unfortunately, Adams’ latest showing won’t have helped Hasenhuttl change his mind on his future as he showed exactly what he can offer the Saints with his late contribution.

Snapshot

Having beaten both Chelsea and Tottenham over the past few weeks you can understand why Hasenhuttl thought his team could go on and find a winner against Leicester when the game was 1-1 late in the day on Saturday.

Despite having lost 9-0 to the Foxes at St Mary’s he wanted to go on the offensive at the King Power Stadium, and he made a change in the 77th minute that paid off spectacularly.

Enter Che Adams.

Off the bench

Adams didn’t have much time to make his impact, but he did exactly what was required of him.

Four touches in 13 minutes isn’t the recipe for an incredible performance, but the former Birmingham City man did provide the assist for the game’s decisive goal.

Despite the ball being stuck under his feet, Adams managed to play Danny Ings in on goal, and as he has done so many times this term, the former Liverpool man applied the finish.

Hasenhuttl has stated that Adams is important to what he wants to do for the rest of the season, and his contribution here will have further reinforced that view, and that could affect Leeds’ chances of landing the striker.

In other news, our writers have been weighing up whether or not one of Leeds’ midfield targets would be a good signing.

After an impressive pre-season in which he even netted the winner against Bayern Munich, Eddie Nketiah admitted that he was “ready” to fight for a place in the Arsenal first-team for this season.

But the Gunners opted to send him out on a season-long loan to Championship side Leeds, and the England U21 international struggled to get significant game-time at Elland Road. The young striker managed just 495 minutes of football in the league, and Arsenal rather unsurprisingly recalled him earlier this month.

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Initial reports seemed to suggest that he would be sent out on loan again, with Bristol City named amongst the front-runners for his signature. But according to Goal, after impressing Mikel Arteta during training, the Gunners head coach has personally intervened and decided to keep him for the rest of the campaign.

Quickfire Quiz: How much do you know about Arsenal’s history in the January transfer window?

After hearing about the news, Arsenal fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the decision to keep the 20-year-old for now.

A couple of fans dreamed up how Nketiah could potentially fit into Arsenal’s line-up, with one supporter in particular claiming that a front three of the striker, Gabriel Martinelli and Reiss Nelson will win the club the Europa League.

A few supporters discussed Alexandre Lacazette in relation to the decision to keep Nketiah, claiming that the Frenchman could now be set for a summer exit from the Emirates.

A couple of fans of the north London side praised Arteta’s decision-making, with one supporter saying this is the first move that has convinced them of his intelligence.

Having an extra striker on their books for the rest of the season will go a long way to easing the goal-scoring burden on the likes of Lacazette and Aubameyang. And whilst it can boost the Gunners in the short-term, it also has the added long-term advantage of Nketiah being able to get tuned into Arteta’s demands as a head coach.

These next few months will set him up nicely for him to stake a much bigger claim next season, and it seems like a very logical decision for the north London side to keep hold of their academy product for the time being.

Meanwhile, The Athletic journalist David Ornstein provides a major update on Arsenal’s transfer plans for January.

Paul Robinson has been speaking about West Bromwich Albion keeping Grady Diangana on loan from West Ham United, as reported by Football Insider.

What did he say?

Slaven Bilic confirmed to BBC Sport that the 21-year-old will be staying with the Baggies for the rest of the season.

With the club currently sitting top of the Championship table, they will be looking for every boost that they can get for their efforts to earn promotion to the Premier League.

Robinson has suggested that this is certainly classed as one of those: “I’d say it’s like a new signing. The confirmation of him staying, in their league position, it’s a massive boost to them.

“He’s been one of the best players this season, and to have him until the end of the season in that promotion push is probably key.”

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A massive boost

When looking at the way Diangana has performed since his temporary move to the Hawthorns started, it is easy to see why this news is seen as such a boost for their promotion chances.

So far this campaign, the England youth international has made 17 starts in the Championship, adding four appearances off the bench, amassing five goals and five assists during that time.

There have been certain games where the 21-year-old has really stood out, such as the 2-1 win against Luton Town in which he came off the bench to bag a brace, as well as his goal and assist that secured victory against Cardiff City.

Who the heck is that?! Can you name all of these obscure West Brom players…

He has been a very direct threat with the ball at his feet, making 1.3 key passes and 2.3 dribbles per outing, while being fouled 1.4 times on average.

This sees Diangana make the most dribbles of any West Brom player so far, while Matheus Pereira and Matt Phillips are the only ones to average more key passes.

With that in mind, having Diangana as part of their attack for the rest of the campaign can only be a good thing for the Baggies’ promotion hopes.

Meanwhile, a West Brom player has been lauded by fans for their contribution to the FA Cup win against West Ham.

Some Nottingham Forest fans took to Twitter to slam Adama Diakhaby after witnessing his 30-minute cameo against Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon.

The Tricky Trees have been in fine fettle recently when it comes down to Championship football, with Sabri Lamouchi firmly in contention of achieving promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season. However, those plans would have taken a major dent following the poor result they had away from home.

In fact, things could not have gone any better for the visitors as Tiago Silva got Forest off to a flyer when he netted inside the first 20 minutes but Scott Hogan pulled Birmingham level just before half-time. Things then went downhill as Kristian Pedersen gave the Blues all three points.

Fans will have likely been disappointed Lamouchi’s side could not take at least a point – let alone all three – however it seems many were extremely critical of Diakhaby’s efforts.

The 23-year-old, who joined the City Ground outfit on loan from fellow Championship club Huddersfield Town last month (BBC), had just 19 touches of the ball in his 30-minute cameo and took just one shot, which failed to hit the target (WhoScored).

Indeed, many slammed the Frenchman for his showing with some just simply stating how bad they felt he was.

Here are just some of the Nottingham Forest faithful’s reactions to Diakhaby’s display…

Nottingham Forest fans, what did you make of Diakhaby’s performance? Let us know below!

Pedro Chirivella has told The Liverpool Echo he feels he is “getting there” at Liverpool.

What did he say?

The 22-year-old has been talking following the Reds FA Cup fourth-round replay 1-0 victory against Shrewsbury, a game in which he started.

Can you name the result these iconic Liverpool images belong to? Give it a go now…

He said: “I came (into the first team) very early, when I was only 17, and maybe I was not ready yet.

“Now I feel I am getting there. I am getting very good feedback from the players. My mentality has changed and hopefully I can carry on.”

Big help

It has been a good season for Chirivella so far, especially considering his previous lack of experience at Anfield. Before this campaign, the Spaniard had made just five appearances in all competitions for the club, but he has already appeared in six so far this campaign. He was even given the captain’s armband against Aston Villa in the League Cup quarter-final, while it has now been said that he could receive a new contract with the Merseyside outfit.

Playing with those who are now at Liverpool certainly helps. The Reds are the best team in the world at the moment – as their victory in the Club World Cup in December shows – and as such, some of the best footballers play there too. The quality and experience at the highest level can only rub off on the likes of Chirivella – the team have come a long way since 2015 when he joined.

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That feedback, too, will only push him on to bigger and better things. That may come at Liverpool, or elsewhere, but the opportunity to share a pitch – and indeed a training complex – with players of that quality will be invaluable moving forward, and direct talks with them on where he can improve are worth their weight in gold. This term, it is clearly working – the fans have been singing his praises when he has appeared. As he says himself, hopefully it can continue moving forward.

Meanwhile, one Atletico Madrid man could miss their Champions League clash with Liverpool.

Sheffield Wednesday enjoyed a busy end to January but a sign of their problems were seen in the Owls’ first outing of the new month after a 0-0 stalemate to Millwall.

Garry Monk bolstered his attacking armoury with a trio of loan players – Connor Wickham from Crystal Palace, Alessio Da Cruz from Parma, and Wigan Athletic’s Josh Windass.

Only one of the aforementioned three were registered in time to face the Lions at Hillsborough, but that’s a different story this weekend when they head to Barnsley.

The Owls have suffered in the absence of top goalscorer Steven Fletcher having won just once in their last seven league games, but they have been handed an encouraging sign this week after the striker was spotted in training, leaving some supporters going absolutely nuts on social media.

Here’s what they have been saying…

[him and wickham]

A pair of supporters were eager for the 32-year-old to strike up a new partnership with their new frontman Wickham in the attack; Monk has been prone to a 4-4-2 system often this campaign.

It’s the 26-year-old’s third loan spell at Hillsborough and his record at the club bodes well if he can repeat such exploits this time around. Wickham has scored nine goals in 17 appearances in south Yorkshire.

While no player in the squad is anywhere close to matching Fletcher’s 12 for the season with Jacob Murphy next best with four, per WhoScored.

Others were just enthralled by the prospect of seeing their number nine back in action earlier than expected – he had been ruled out until March at the earliest, but seeing him in training has to be a very positive sign.

“Need him back ASAP” and “missed him massively” are just two comments that emphasise how crucial he is to the Owls’ success this campaign whilst one labelled him the “GOAT” by using an emoji.

Some supporters even took the opportunity to have a joke, referencing his full set of hair and beard combination that looked blacker than usual.

Calling all EFL experts: Can you get full marks on this stadiums quiz?

And in other news, Sheffield Wednesday should move this Carvalhal signing on this summer amidst transfer interest…

Heading into the New Year Billy Sharp was left at a crossroads.

Does he leave his boyhood club in search of regular football? Does he find a side where his dwindling abilities may suit him better?

The striker wasn’t short of suitors throughout the winter window. Leeds were one of the outfits keeping an eye on the 34-year-old while Sunderland was also a possible destination.

Sheffield United’s stance and indeed Sharp’s were abundantly clear. He wanted to stay and the club would let him decide whether he would remain at Bramall Lane.

Manager Chris Wilder made Sharp aware of calls he was fielding for the forward throughout the month but he eventually decided to stick around.

Before the 21st January, Sharp had started just the solitary game in the Premier League, making 12 appearances from the bench.

It was the sign of a player who was being somewhat phased out by his manager. £20m signing Oliver McBurnie, along with Lys Mousset, seemed to be preferred but that didn’t put Sharp off.

A man who has always believed in his own abilities, he fired the Blades to promotion last term by scoring 23 goals. He also earned a nomination for the PFA Championship Player of the Year.

Calling all FA Cup experts: Name the season these historic giant-killings took place…

Given the rise in quality, it was unsurprising that United brought in added fire-power over the summer but the role Sharp would go onto play was far too irregular.

However, since swatting away offers from other teams, he’s now started two games in a row following the conclusion of the window. In all competitions, the veteran has played four consecutive matches from the off.

Though, if there were still question marks over whether he has what it takes in the top-flight, he banished those last Sunday.

In vindication of his desires to stay in Yorkshire, Sharp bagged the equalising goal for the Blades, wheeling away in delight as he capped off one of his best performances of the season.

He established a brilliant partnership with McBurnie as between the pair of them; they won 15 aerial duels throughout the match.

Sharp showed fantastic energy to perform two dribbles while he was a constant threat – registering three attempts at goal.

It was this type of display that we saw so regularly from the £1.8m-rated man in the Championship. If he can now do it at this level, it’ll be quite the achievement.

His gamble to stay and fight for his place has so far been worthwhile.

In other Blades news, Chris Sutton has passed judgement on the Pickford vs Henderson debate…

Wolves’ transfer activity can be taken two ways – on the one hand, a step in the right direction but on the other, pretty underwhelming.

Only one senior player was signed as the west Midlanders splashed £16.9m on Olympiacos winger Daniel Podence, who is likely to provide vital backup to Adama Traore on the right flank whilst there were an array of U23 additions as Fosun continues to invest in the youth setup.

Luke Matheson, Leonardo Campana and Enzo Loiodice are just three of the new additions that could be fast-tracked through under Nuno Santo in the next 18 months or so.

However, they failed to sign a new striker after Patrick Cutrone ended his Wolverhampton nightmare just five months after joining from AC Milan in the summer.

The Athletic reported that Wolves wanted two attacking additions in January, while The Daily Mail claimed Nuno was hoping for his side to land a striker.

Ultimately, only Podence – a player to support the attack rather than spearhead it – arrived, but it might not be the end of the world.

Wolves were linked to AEK Athens striker Nelson Oliveira, hardly an inspiring choice given his pretty drab record in English football with the likes of Norwich City and Reading.

Via Transfermarkt, he’s scored just once in ten Premier League appearances, whilst 31 goals in 103 games in the second-tier is hardly encouraging towards the prospects of improving his PL numbers.

Although this standard – or quality if you like – of transfer target seemed to be the norm across the top-flight, even for bigger teams than Wolves themselves.

Manchester United defeated Tottenham Hotspur for a player that Aston Villa knocked back the night before in former Watford man Odeon Ighalo, the 30-year-old that sold his career to the Chinese Super League (Sky Sports via The Sun).

Spurs were also trying to secure any one of Olivier Giroud, Eran Zahavi (yeah, who?), Islam Slimani and Willian Jose.

Even Chelsea struggled to attain a new forward, hence the out-of-favour aforementioned Frenchman sticking around at Stamford Bridge.

Obviously, if Wolves’ only senior striker, Raul Jimenez, picks up a serious injury this season they will be left in the mire, but are any of the realistic names above going to be much better than U23 option Campana?

Is Oliveira going to lead a line in the top-flight any better?

It’s doubtful.

Calling Premier League experts ONLY: Which year were these top-flight clubs formed?

Nuno might’ve not gotten his striker in January, but it is a notoriously hard market to manoeuvre as seen with the struggles above.

It gives them time to look ahead to the summer and plan more strategically for an ideal addition – thus, this one could prove to be a blessing in disguise come the start of the 2020/21 campaign.

While in other news, Wolves have played a blinder over £15m man after his latest showing…

According to The Sun, Crystal Palace are interested in Norwich City’s Jamal Lewis.

What’s the story?

With Norwich struggling at the bottom of the Premier League table – they have just 21 points and are still six from safety despite their 1-0 win over Leicester City this weekend – it is rumoured that there will be an exodus at Carrow Road if the Canaries drop back down to the second tier.

The Sun is reporting that Max Aarons, Emi Buendia, Todd Cantwell, Ben Godfrey and Lewis could be all be out of the door in the summer. In terms of Lewis, Palace are said to be showing the most interest – he would cost around £20m.

No need

Lewis was actually the goalscorer for Daniel Farke’s side against the Foxes, illustrating his offensive abilities. With 0.4 key passes and 0.2 crosses per game, he is not the most dangerous in terms of passing, but he has averaged 1.4 dribbles and 1.8 tackles per match, showing that he does have certain skills in his locker.

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There is no doubt that the Eagles could do with some investment in the summer – they have parted with just £17.78m across this season and last – but left-back is hardly a position they need to strengthen. In that role, they already have Patrick van Aanholt, who is one of Roy Hodgson’s most attacking outlets.

Only Jordan Ayew (7) has scored more than his three Premier League goals, whilst he is in the top three and top six amongst his teammates in terms of key passes and shots per game as well.

As if to display his importance amidst this latest rumour, the Netherlands international was in good form in Palace’s 1-0 victory against Brighton – only goalkeeper Vicente Guaita (8.6) bettered his 7.8 SofaScore rating.

Given their spending habits across the last two windows, the London outfit are not one of the wealthiest sides in the top tier. To see Palace progress, Dougie Freedman has a big summer ahead of him, and he should be looking to bring in new recruits. However, spending £20m on a player who would unlikely be a guaranteed starter just seems to be a bit of a waste. The 45-year-old should look elsewhere.

Meanwhile, there have been rave reviews for Crystal Palace’s transfer target who “plays football like no other”.