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The transfer window may be shut, but one West Brom star is being linked with an exit from the Hawthorns this week…

What’s the word?

According to Saudi Arabian outlet Okaz, Baggies centre-back Ahmed Hegazi is attracting the interest of Jeddah duo, Al-Ahli and Al-Ittihad, with the latter appearing to be the front-runners to land his signature.

Saudi Pro League teams are able to sign players until November 12th despite the English window closing earlier this month.

The 29-year-old joined Albion from Egyptian outfit Al Ahly in 2017 for £4m and is thought to be on wages of around £26.5k-per-week.

Unforgivable mistake

This would be one baffling move to make on Luke Dowling’s part.

The Baggies picked up their first clean sheet of the season on Monday evening as they held fellow top-flight strugglers Burnley to a 0-0 draw.

Slaven Bilic made the bold call to completely tinker with his backline, dropping his usual first-choice duo Kyle Bartley and Semi Ajayi for the experience of Premier League champion Branislav Ivanovic and Hegazi.

The Egypt international was quickly becoming a forgotten man at the Midlands club having not made a single matchday squad since the season-opener until now.

His first start and full 90 minutes on the pitch resulted in a rare clean sheet, so it would be inexcusable to let him go after that feat.

Per SofaScore, the veteran centre-back recorded seven clearances, won 71.4% of his aerial duels and also made one interception.

If he were to depart the Hawthorns, Bilic would be left limited in options with genuine experience at this level – to add to the four names already mentioned, both Cedric Kipre and Dara O’Shea are still very raw.

Ivanovic is certainly hoping that he and Hegazi can “build on that” performance, so Dowling must resist the urge to cash in on the 29-year-old just yet.

AND in other news, Pulis signing proving to be a TOTAL WASTE of money after latest snub…

According to The Athletic’s Greg O’Keeffe, Everton have “monitored” Espanyol’s Marc Roca as a potential alternative to their pursuit of Allan.

What did he say?

One of the big names to be linked to be with a move to Goodison Park this summer has been Napoli midfielder Allan, but a deal for the Brazilian has yet to materialise.

Now, O’Keeffe has suggested that if the Toffees can’t lure the 29-year-old away from Naples, they could turn their attentions to Roca, who was a mainstay for Espanyol with 44 appearances across all competitions last season.

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He said: “Ancelotti has also been interested in luring another Brazilian, his former Napoli charge Allan, to Merseyside. If not Allan, who at 29 would have no sell-on value, the remit for their new midfielder remains a dynamic, box-to-box player with leadership abilities; something Everton have visibly lacked.

“One who fits that bill, and has been monitored by Everton scouts, is Espanyol’s Marc Roca. The 23-year-old made 35 La Liga appearances for the Barcelona club last season and impressed despite their relegation after finishing bottom of La Liga. Again though, Arsenal are rumoured to be interested and, according to reports in Spain, so are Real Madrid.”

Better value than Allan

At 23, Roca is considerably younger than Allan, and would give Everton a better chance of recouping their money if they were to sell him down the line.

The Spaniard is also still a couple of years away from reaching his peak, and would be the kind of midfield talent that Carlo Ancelotti could really build around at Goodison Park.

The 6 foot ace is a midfield powerhouse, averaging 2.3 tackles per game in La Liga last season – to put that into context, only Djibril Sidibe managed more in Everton’s squad. Having a player like him to break up the play and protect the back-four will be crucial to ensuring the Toffees don’t concede cheap goals.

If Everton can’t secure Allan for Ancelotti, then Roca seems like a very decent alternative.

With the transfer window remaining open for another month, one saga is set to rumble on at Rangers Football Club, although the solution is firmly in Steven Gerrard’s hands already…

What’s the word?

Gers forward Alfredo Morelos has been linked with an exit for several months now; interest ranging from Lille to Bayer Leverkusen in Europe whilst West Brom have reportedly entered the race this week.

It’s claimed that the Scottish giants have paved the way for his exit by signing two strikers themselves this window but it remains to be seen if the Baggies will offer the mooted £17m that the Ligue 1 outfit were supposedly willing to pay.

With the Colombian seemingly set on leaving Ibrox, perhaps it’s time for Steven Gerrard to sell up.

Time to cash-in?

The Rangers boss appears to have also been preparing for life without Morelos with the 24-year-old being dropped in the last two SPFL outings – he hasn’t even featured for a single minute either.

That’s quite the bold call considering the prolific talisman bagged 29 goals and provided ten assists in 47 appearances last season, per Transfermarkt.

But some smart pieces of business this summer could allow the club to cash-in and move on from this troublesome saga at long last.

Ex-Leeds forward Kemar Roofe joined in a €5m (£4.5m) deal from Anderlecht earlier this summer and after he gets fully up to speed with match fitness, he seems the ideal candidate to fill the void left behind.

The 27-year-old scored in his first start for the club against Kilmarnock and in his 231 minutes of action, he’s averaged 1.8 shots per game via WhoScored, so he could have had a couple more to his name on a different day.

His former teammate Barry Douglas thinks he’ll be a hit at Ibrox, claiming that “he knows where the back of the net is” which is backed up by Chris Maguire who believes Roofe has “real potential” to score hatfuls for Gerrard’s side.

This could all prove to be a masterstroke from Ross Wilson. It’s time to end the Morelos saga and put full faith into Roofe as well as fellow arrival Cedric Itten.

AND in other news, Gers could land their own Gerrard with £7.2m-rated “real menace”…

Manchester United have been handed a major boost in their pursuit of Jude Bellingham this summer. 

Bellingham has received plenty of attention from a number of European clubs after an impressive debut season in the Championship.

Reports emerged last week that the teenager has decided to join Borussia Dortmund instead of Man United. However, according to The Sun, as relayed by The Evening Standard, Dortmund are struggling to afford Birmingham City’s £31m valuation.

This could be the perfect opportunity for the Red Devils to gain an advantage. Understandably, this latest development spells bad news for Nemanja Matic.

After breaking into the first team, Bellingham has made quite a name for himself at St Andrew’s, as he has played in 32 games in the Championship for the Blues, scoring four goals and providing two assists as well as averaging 1.2 shots per game and making 2.3 tackles on average (WhoScored).

Former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant has previously described him as a “young Steven Gerrard,” amid interest from United, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Dortmund – to name but a few.

Meanwhile, Nemanja Matic, who was a favourite of old boss Jose Mourinho, has had quite a dramatic fall from grace.

While the Serbian has struggled with injury, he has made 12 appearances in the Premier League under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, producing one assist, registering 2 tackles per game, and attempting fewer than 1 shot on average (WhoScored).

At 31-years-old, Matic isn’t getting any younger, and although his performances improved prior to the nationwide lockdown, he is arguably entering the twilight of his career.

It is fair to say United have pulled out all the stops to try to persuade Bellingham to move to Old Trafford. Indeed, the club rolled out the red carpet by giving the 16-year-old a private tour of Carrington, led by none other than Sir Alex Ferguson himself.

Moreover, the Serbia international is the team’s only recognised defensive midfielder, which means the two players would be competing for game time if the transfer goes through.

If the youngster decides to join the Red Devils, it is the former Chelsea player who will probably miss out the most, as Solskjaer has given the youth plenty of chances so far.

United fans, do you think Ed Woodward should sign Jude Bellingham in the summer? Let us know down below!

Having clinched the Premier League title in stunning fashion, all eyes will be on how Liverpool treat the upcoming summer transfer window.

The Reds were very much quiet on the transfer front last year, but it didn’t seem to affect them one bit. Despite the current financial situation impacting clubs across Europe, this may be a window in which Jurgen Klopp’s side do need to make a statement in order to being pulled back by the chasing pack.

Can you spot your Xabi Alonso from your Bruno Cheyrou? This Liverpool quiz will have you questioning your knowledge…

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And according to The Daily Mirror, the Merseyside club have lined up Leicester winger Harvey Barnes as a potential summer target, having been impressed by his “energy and forceful running”.

The report further claims that Klopp sees a lot of potential in him to grow and develop, and that they have turned to the Foxes ace after being rebuffed in their interest for Wolves speedster Adama Traore.

After hearing about the links to Barnes, Liverpool fans took to Twitter to share their reactions.

A couple of Liverpool fans simply said that Barnes is just not good enough, with one supporter even calling his finishing “abysmal”.

Another couple of supporters pointed to the likes of Rhian Brewster as reason why they should steer clear of Barnes, with one fan even claiming they would rather keep the “rubbish” Harry Wilson.

With seven goals and nine assists across all competitions this season, Barnes has certainly shown signs of potential with Leicester.

But whether he is ready for the step-up to a side like Liverpool remains to be seen. In fact, aside from one goal and one assist against Chelsea and Manchester City respectively, Barnes has not contributed at all against the Premier League’s big six.

The level of pressure and expectation is far bigger at Anfield, and it’s no surprise to see some Liverpool fans not being too excited by the prospect of him joining.

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

Charlie Wyke has been missing through injury for almost all of Phil Parkinson’s reign and the 26-year-old’s absence has limited the Black Cats in multiple ways.

On the chalkboard

Having only two senior strikers in the squad meant Parkinson’s hands have been tied in terms of the style and formation he can try and implement, and that’s perhaps why he looked to continue Jack Ross’ 4-2-3-1 style early on in his tenure.

That brought limited success, as without a target man like Wyke to play off, attacks broke down and Sunderland were unable to build pressure in the opponents half.

Will Grigg has been expected to hold the ball up and act as a complete striker when that simply isn’t his game, and he has suffered on the goal front as a result with one league strike all season.

There could be good news soon however with Wyke’s return to fitness thought to be close, and it will be interesting to see how Parkinson responds to his availability.

Multiple options

Having Wyke to call upon would allow Sunderland a focal point to their attack, and that means Parkinson could get the wingers to play close to him to either link play or race onto the end of flick-ons.

A similar strategy could be implemented with two strikers up-front, too, and if Grigg had a partner to do the dirty work and create space by dragging defenders out of position then he could begin to flourish.

Wyke only has two goals to his name this year but the Black Cats lost just three of the nine league games in which he has appeared, one of which he was only on the pitch for 45 minutes before injury.

Sunderland only drew a blank in three of those games too, and since that is currently an issue plaguing Parkinson his return would be most welcome.

If Parkinson is able to experiment thanks to having more options then he could find a winning system for the team, and Sunderland may be able to get up and running without relying on the gamble of the transfer market.

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Phil Parkinson has come under heavy fire for his disastrous start to life as Sunderland boss, with some fans calling for Kevin Phillips to come in and replace the failing manager.However, they seem unlikely to get their wish given Stewart Donald’s backing of Parkinson, and with the transfer window looming it may not be a good idea to part company despite the negative results.That is one of the arguments made by Roker Report’s Damian Brown, who also argues that the Black Cats boss has the ability to change the club’s fortunes – a suggestion some fans simply can’t agree with.Watch Sunderland Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

The idea that this may just be a sticky patch, or a steep early learning curve, has been suggested, but the early signs are not good with just two wins so far and looking at the other side of the coin, it would perhaps be an even bigger risk to trust Parkinson with new signings – a prospect that doesn’t fill some supporters with much hope.

While it may be unfair to judge his recruitment since he is yet to sign a player, there has been cause for pessimism under Parkinson.

He has continued Jack Ross’ uninspiring and insipid style of play but the Black Cats are now much easier to roll over and score goals against, demonstrated by the fact Sunderland have kept just two clean sheets in 13 games under Parkinson.

Calling all Premier League experts: Who do these unique statistics belong to? Find out below….

As a result, not many share Brown’s view that the Sunderland manager can bring about positive change, as so far he has only made things worse since his arrival.

With two games remaining until the transfer window the suspension of George Dobson has created a headache for Parkinson which could hinder Sunderland’s chances of returning to winning ways.

Everton fans are begging that rarely-seen man Moise Kean starts on Saturday against Norwich City.

This comes after the forward netted twice for Italy U21s and registered an incredible 9.0 rating on Tuesday against Armenia U21s.

It is the first time the 19-year-old has hit any sort of form since he moved to Merseyside for £25.1m, as he has yet to score for his new club.

In fact, Kean has averaged just one shot per game and averaged 2.1 unsuccessful touches per game, per Whoscored.

Now, however, after his impressive night with his country, it seems the fans are desperate for him to start.

One supporter said “show Marco this and tell him to start him on Saturday”, whilst other fans have begged him to start as a centre-forward.

As a centre-forward, the Italian bagged seven goals in 14 games, as shown by games recorded by Transfermarkt. Marco Silva, has occasionally deployed him as a winger and not in his preferred position, which naturally has impacted on his form.

It does seem as if Everton fans are all saying the same thing after his Tuesday night performance.

Here’s what some of them have had to say…

Celtic fans have taken to Twitter to react after seeing that their talisman Odsonne Edouard was only fit enough to make the bench for the Betfred Cup final against Rangers.

Edouard – who has been linked with a January move to Premier League side Crystal Palace – has scored 13 goals while also recording 12 assists in all competitions so far this season, leading the line admirably for Neil Lennon in terms of creating and scoring.

However, despite Lennon revealing that the Frenchman had trained and that the decision to play against Rangers from the first whistle rested with the 21-year-old striker, Edouard was nowhere to be seen in the starting XI.

In his place, the former Bolton manager opted to hand a start to 23-year-old forward Lewis Morgan, who has scored just two goals in all competitions this season.

One supporter said that Edouard’s absence was a “big blow”, and that the Bhoys’ style of play very much revolves around the young forward.

Another supporter echoed the belief that the 13-goal striker’s absence was a blow, this time deciding that it was a “massive” one rather than just “big”.

Another bunch of supporters on Twitter also reacted to Edouard’s situation.

One simply emphasised their confusion at the decision to bench Edouard, whereas another said that they would’ve started the 6 foot 2 forward even if he had no legs instead over Morgan in a Glasgow Derby.

Another fan made reference to Lennon stating that there was a “very good chance” Edouard could start the Betfred Cup final, laughing at the forward’s presence amongst the substitutes despite the encouraging comments.

Lastly, this supporter said that Edouard’s absence is a massive thing for the club, and highlights the need for a new striker in the January window.

These supporters needn’t have worried, however, as Christopher Jullien scored to secure a 1-0 win for the Bhoys.

In other Celtic news, see what Scott Brown had to say about teenage sensation Jeremie Frimpong…

Charlton welcome Preston to The Valley on Sunday in what should be an exciting game given the form of both sides.

Preston, under former Norwich boss Alex Neil’s guidance, has his Preston side sat 2nd in the Championship table having won seven of their 14 league games so far – they are just two points off 1st-place West Brom.

In the Addicks’ case, they have also won seven games, and are just three points off their opponents for this Sunday – the south Londoners would go above Preston if they manage to win by four goals.

Lee Bowyer has a few injuries to deal with. Jonny Williams looks set for at least two months on the sidelines, while Lyle Taylor is still yet to return from a knee injury.

Let’s take a look at the XI Bowyer should put out for this top-nine Championship clash…

We think that Bowyer should start with the same formation that he went with last time out against West Brom.

In that 2-2 draw against the Championship leaders, Bowyer set his side up in a 5-3-1-1 formation, focusing on a tightly-packed defence and a goal threat in Conor Gallagher and Macauley Bonne – the pair of them have ten league goals combined.

It worked against one of the division’s high-flying sides in West Brom, and with Preston just a couple of points behind them, it would be sensible to keep the same shape for Sunday’s game.

There are, however, a few changes. Gallagher started as a central midfielder at the Hawthorns last time out, but we feel that he would be better suited to attacking midfield against Preston with Beram Kayal replacing summer signing Erhun Oztumer in the side – the Chelsea loanee is too deadly in front of goal to be kept in a deeper role.

Bowyer must focus on packing his midfield and ensuring they screen the backline effectively, as Preston have a few dangerous players who may feel confident given their form so far this term – we outlined two potential danger-men who Charlton must keep an eye on this weekend.

A point against the league leaders is admirable, so we aren’t changing too much about the lineup from that game. But Gallagher’s goalscoring threat must be moved closer to the final third with a less attack-minded option in Kayal coming in to offset that.