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Manchester City fans have taken to Twitter to state that they do not want to see Mikel Oyarzabal join the club after Leroy Sane was linked with a move to Bayern Munich.

According to TEAMtalk, City are prepared to let Sane leave the club to join the German giants, with Pep Guardiola lining up Oyarzabal as his replacement.

The report claims that club scouts see him as the perfect alternative, with his release clause just shy of £70m.

It seems that fans are massively against this move and it’s difficult to blame them given the standard of Sane’s performances since he joined the club from Schalke.

On the other hand, fans have called for the club to targets players such as Jadon Sancho instead, who was at the club’s youth academy before he moved to Borussia Dortmund.

Sane is currently sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury which he sustained in the Community Shield and will miss the majority of the season.

His potential replacement, Oyarzabel, has had a sensational start to this campaign, scoring four times and providing three assists.

However, this does not seem to be enough for the fans…

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

Some pretty major dilemmas have already occurred for Marcelo Bielsa at Leeds.

This season has seen fans call for Helder Costa and Eddie Nketiah to start as the form of Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford starts to subside.

The former has completed one accurate cross all term while Bamford hasn’t scored in his last three outings.

One of his selection headaches was solved because of Pablo Hernandez’s injury. That will see Costa finally earn a league start but it’s in midfield where, arguably, his greatest dilemma of 2019/20 has now come up.

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On the chalkboard

Two positions in Bielsa’s midfield are absolutely nailed down – Kalvin Phillips and Mateusz Klich.

However, who starts beside the Poland international is very much up for debate.

Adam Forshaw started the season in solid fashion and has so far completed over 90% of his passes as he’s kept a disciplined lid on proceedings.

He’s been better going forward this season, taking two shots per game compared to the 0.8 he averaged in 2018/19, via WhoScored.

But Jamie Shackleton proved he had what it takes against Barnsley, completing the same number of tackles as Phillips which was four, and also playing three key passes.

The youngster’s performance was a little more timid against Derby, failing to register a single shot or key pass on this occasion but that doesn’t stop him from being a feasible option.

The final name who could start in that role next to Klich is Tyler Roberts.

He has recently returned from an injury where he had fluid drained from his knee and after appearing for the U23s a couple of weeks ago, he has been on the bench for the senior side.

Whether he has the capability to start yet remains to be seen but there are a vast number of options at Bielsa’s disposal.

If the 64-year-old wants more influence in the final third he could opt for Roberts who was involved in eight goals last season. Forshaw hasn’t found the back of the net in the Championship since 2015/16 and Shackleton is yet to score a single senior goal.

That being said, the former Middlesbrough man is probably the most viable option given the fact he started the season in the side.

Who Bielsa opts to go with will be interesting to see. It’s certainly open for debate.

Lionel Messi has had a number of masterclass performances throughout his career.

In fact, it is probably easier to name the games in which he didn’t really perform up to his usual brilliant standards than the ones he did.

For that reason, Barcelona fans are very much used to him tearing their opposition to shreds practically every time he steps onto the pitch.

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But for one reason or the other, Messi is not as famous for his stints with Argentina as he is for the Blaugrana.

Still, even with moderate success with his national team, the little footballing magician still managed to drop quite a few memorable performances throughout his rich career.

One such game happened a couple of years ago when Argentina needed a victory in their qualification round in order to even make it to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Needless to say, Messi stepped up, took the stage by storm and decided the game by himself, taking his team to Russia and sending fans into a frenzy as he scored three times.

Now, they have taken to Twitter to once again revisit that moment.

You can see some of their replies down in the tweets below:

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The FIFA ratings have seemingly really gotten under the skin of players at the Merseyside clubs.

Earlier in the week, we saw Rhian Brewster moaning about his shooting stat, and this time we’ve got Richarlison throwing a tantrum over his rating.

The Brazillian posted on his Instagram story after his overall for the newest instalment of the EA Sports franchise was revealed, and he was seemingly far from happy.

The Everton man re-posted an image from a fan account on his story to show his frustrations with his in-game stats.

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He tagged EA Sports and shared his real-life stats from last season, which include 20 goals in all competitions for club and country as well as a Copa America win.

He’s clearly annoyed by the fact that despite having one of the best seasons of his career his rating has been downgraded by one from last year’s edition of the game.

Indeed, it’s harsh for Richarlison to be downgraded on FIFA after such a good year, but as a Premier League footballer earning thousands of pounds a week you’d think he wouldn’t care so much.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Dani Alves recently spoke to Business Insider and spoke about his career.

One of the topics discussed was his former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain teammate, Neymar Junior, and he claimed the Brazilian believes the 27-year-old superstar is bound to return to Catalonia.

What did he say?

Alves is a figure well known in the whole Barcelona community and the footballing world in general.

He spent eight years at the Camp Nou and after a stint with Paris Saint-Germain, where he was reunited with his compatriot Neymar, he returned back home to Brazil, where he currently plays his football.

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At the age of 36, Alves has a well-decorated career behind him, having won practically everything with the Blaugrana and actually being dubbed the most decorated player in the world.

When speaking to Business Insider, however, Neymar was at the centre of the interview.

Whenever Neymar is concerned, so too are Barcelona.

Alves believes that his good friend and ex-teammate will definitely return to the Camp Nou because, after all, that’s exactly where his happiness is.

Here’s what he said in full:

“I believe he’d find happiness in continuing the success he had there a couple of years ago. When you are happy somewhere you try to go back to the place you were happy, and I think that’s what he tried to do.”, Alves said and continued: “I’m sure if in the future he wishes to go back he will be able to.”

A transfer bound to happen

Barcelona’s attempts and desires to get Neymar back to the club in the summer were hardly a secret.

After all, their club CEO Oscar Grau said so himself in a recent interview in which he stated Barcelona did everything they could to make the transfer happen.

Unfortunately for Neymar and the Catalans, it wasn’t to be, but Alves still believes Neymar will eventually end up at the Camp Nou, one way or the other.

Seeing how he’s pretty close to the 27-year-old superstar himself, Alves’ words just might have some truth to them.

If that is truly the case, another transfer saga is bound to happen once the upcoming windows open.

Will Barcelona get their man this time around?

We’ll have to wait and see.

According to respected journalist Alan Nixon on Twitter, Che Adams could be available for just £12 million in the last knockings of the January transfer window. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Championship outfit Birmingham City and has done so since leaving Sheffield United back in 2016, with his fine goal-scoring exploits seemingly attracting interest from clubs in the Premier League.

And that’s because a recent report from Sky Sports suggests that Burnley have failed with a Deadline Day move for the striker, although Nixon on Twitter suggests that the young Englishman could be available for just £12 million.

And with Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham reportedly (as per The Sun’s Live Transfer Blog at 10.53am) eyeing up a last-gasp move for Stoke City’s Mame Biram Diouf, the Hammers simply must end their somewhat strange interest in the forward to instead target a late move for 22-year-old Adams.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, Stoke striker Diouf has found first team football hard to come by at the bet365 Stadium this season with only seven Championship appearances to his name so far, in which time the Senegal international has failed to net to underline his difficulties at the Staffordshire-based outfit.

And with no appearances for Nathan Jones’ side since the middle of November, it’s pretty clear that the former Manchester United forward is some way down the pecking order at the Potters, which makes West Ham’s reported (as per The Sun) interest somewhat strange – he can’t get into a Championship team, let alone one in mid-table in the Premier League.

Ultimately, the Hammers are likely looking for strikers that can hit the ground running were they to move to the London Stadium this month, and while Diouf performed solidly last term in the top-flight with six goals for Stoke, his lack of regular football suggests that he simply isn’t the answer – and at the age of 31, he’d hardly be a nod to the long-term either.

Whereas 22-year-old Adams has not only shone and thus out-performed the Potters striker this season, but the Birmingham sensation looks set for an extremely bright future in the game to suggest that £12 million could prove to be an absolute bargain.

The Englishman has enjoyed his best season in front of goal this term since moving to St Andrew’s back in 2016, with the 22-year-old having bagged 15 goals in just 29 appearances for Garry Monk’s side – in fact, only four players have netted more than Adams in the Championship this term.

And this campaign doesn’t appear to be a complete one-off either given the 22-year-old scored seven times in his first season at Birmingham in 2016/17 before adding nine for the Blues last time round – he has been threatening to go on and exceed double figures, which is exactly what he’s done this season.

Clearly then, Adams appears to be improving and very much on the upward curve, which at the age of 22 suggests that he could be destined for big things in the game – big things that could happen at West Ham.

The Hammers are seemingly in the market for a forward on Deadline Day hence their reported interest (as per The Sun) in Stoke’s Diouf, which isn’t overly suprising given strikers Javier Hernandez, Lucas Perez, and Andy Carroll have bagged just 11 times between them in all competitions this term – for what it’s worth, Marko Arnautovic has eight himself.

Yet Stoke’s Diouf simply hasn’t done enough this term to suggest that he could be the man for Pellegrini’s side going forward, yet Birmingham’s Adams certainly appears to be given his form, but also the fact that, at 22, he is only likely to improve.

And for just £12 million, it’s a move the East London outfit simply must make before this evening’s 11pm deadline.

West Ham fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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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…

Giovani Lo Celso could be in action for Argentina when they take on Chile in an international friendly on Friday morning.

Tottenham’s Hotspur’s summer signing has yet to make his full Premier League debut for the club but he enjoyed an excellent cameo in the north London derby against Arsenal at the weekend.

Replacing Son Heung-min for the latter stages of the game, the attacking midfielder was a picture of calm in the derby chaos, even flummoxing Gunners star Dani Ceballos with an excellent piece of skill.

He could be included in Lionel Scaloni’s team for the upcoming friendly, having been named in the squad alongside the likes of Manuel Lanzini and Paulo Dybala.

Lo Celso has already won a total of 18 caps for his country, scoring two goals, and was included in the 2018 World Cup squad; he didn’t play a single minute in the tournament, however.

He was ever-present in the Copa America, though, playing six games, in a variety of positions; he was deployed on both flanks and in central midfield. Lo Celso scored in the 2-0 win over Venezuela in the quarter-finals and laid on an assist in the 2-1 win over Chile in the third-place play-off; Argentina lost their semi-final clash with Brazil 2-0.

It remains to be seen where he will be played by Scaloni, but he is most regularly played as an attacking midfielder and Spurs fans can hope to catch a glimpse of what he will bring to the club when he is fully fit.

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Indeed, he has thus far played a total of 44 minutes for Spurs, with his most notable display coming in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle United, in which he played 28 minutes.

While the signs have been promising, he has yet to really make an impact, purely because he hasn’t had the chance to.

At international level, though, he has already shown what he can do and will be out to do the same again when Argentina take on first Chile and then Mexico.

Spurs fans will want to keep their eyes peeled.

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Over recent years, Aston Villa have not been shy when it comes to spending money on new players to help strengthen their squad.

They signed the trio of Danny Ings, Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia in the previous summer transfer window for a combined total of £89.84m according to Transfermarkt, and followed that by splashing £25m on Lucas Digne this month.

With that in mind, there’s no doubt that the Midlands club is capable of paying vast sums of cash in the transfer market when they think they need to.

Looking ahead to the remainder of this current window or even towards the summer window, one figure that Villa could look to bring in that would certainly add an extra attacking dynamic to Steven Gerrard’s team is Bayer Leverkusen’s 18-year-old attacking-midfielder Florian Wirtz, who Villa have been linked with in the past.

Despite his young age, the teenager, who is currently valued at a whopping £63m by Transfermarkt, has made 70 senior appearances for Leverkusen across all competitions, managing to score 17 goals and provide 20 assists along the way, highlighting the attacking talents he has.

Labelled as the “total package” by Germany head coach Hansi Flick in terms of his ability on the pitch, Wirtz has managed to rack up five goals and nine assists in 17 Bundesliga appearances this season.

Furthermore, he’s earned an overall performance rating of 7.41/10, making him Leverkusen’s second-highest rated player according to WhoScored, which would also comfortably make him Villa’s highest-rated player by the same metric.

With previous reports claiming that Villa’s current teenage attacking-midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka will not be signing a new deal at the Midlands club due to his lack of game time, his potential exit from Villa Park could pave the way for the club to launch a move for Wirtz to see if he would have a better chance of competing for a place in Gerrard’s side than Chukwuemeka.

Given the goals and assists he’s managed to deliver for Leverkusen so far in his short career, it wouldn’t be too difficult to see Wirtz getting regular playing time if he can have a similar sort of attacking impact in the Midlands.

In other news: Sky Sports drop fresh Aston Villa transfer update, Lange could be making a big mistake – opinion

Rangers have not been shy when it comes to signing players from other clubs’ youth ranks, either on loan deals or a permanent basus.

However, as tends to be the case with almost all clubs, not all transfers end up being particularly successful, either for the club, the player or both.

One example of Rangers taking a punt on a young player which didn’t end up being worthwhile for any parties involved is their 2019 deal for winger Brandon Barker.

Brought in from Manchester City’s U23 side that year in a deal worth a reported £300k, the Englishman made just 13 appearances across all competitions in his debut season at Ibrox, scoring just one goal and providing no assists for his team-mates.

The 2020/21 season saw the 25-year-old make another 13 appearances across all competitions, this time doubling his goal record from the previous year with two scored this time around, once again with no assists, before joining Oxford United on loan in the winter transfer window.

After scoring three goals and providing four assists in 19 League One games, the former Man City youth prospect returned to Ibrox. However, he had just one more outing in a Rangers shirt before being released by the club in January, ending his spell with the Gers with just three goals in 27 appearances.

Once dubbed an “unbelievable” player by former Ibrox team-mate Andy Halliday, Barker now finds himself with English Championship side Reading – who picked him up as a free agent in February – where he has since played just 13 minutes across two matches.

Rangers may not have needed to break the bank from a financial point of view in order to sign him, but with the benefit of hindsight, it now seems like they ended up pretty much wasting the £8.5k-per-week wages that he was earning during his stint at Ibrox.

Taking all this into account, it’s safe to say that Mark Allen had a nightmare by bringing Barker to Ibrox, as he clearly couldn’t hit the ground running or kick up any momentum during his spell in Glasgow.

In other news – Wilson nightmare: Rangers dropped the ball on 23-year-old gem who “looks beyond his years”

A major update has emerged on Newcastle United’s pursuit of Burnley central defender James Tarkowski…

What’s the talk?

Telegraph reporter Luke Edwards has claimed that the defender is keen on a switch to the club, but there is still a stumbling block in the club’s path.

He Tweeted: “I wouldn’t get Trippier printed on the back of any #nufc shirts just yet but this looks like a goodbye to me. As for Tarkowski, he’a not exactly playing his best games for Burnley at the moment. I’m told he also wants to come to #nufc but Burnley very reluctant to sell.”

Buzzing

Newcastle fans will surely be buzzing with this claim from Edwards irrespective of the Clarets’ desire to keep him this month.

The news that he is keen to join the Magpies will get the fans excited as it shows that there is an interest from the player and he is out of contract in the summer, which means that he could join on a free if he does not arrive in the next few weeks for a transfer fee.

They will also be delighted as he could be an excellent signing for the side. In the past four full Premier League seasons, he has averaged a WhoScored rating of 7.02 or higher, showing that he has performed to a high standard in the top-flight over a long period of time.

Meanwhile, no Newcastle centre-back has averaged a score higher than 6.42. This suggests that Tarkowski could vastly improve the standard of Eddie Howe’s options in that position.

His teammate Ben Mee previously lauded his professionalism, saying:

“Obviously there was a lot of talk around Tarky. I’ve said to him, ‘I’m glad you’ve stayed.’ He focused really well and he showed that on Saturday.

“He had the attitude of what will be, will be. He never once stepped out of line. You see other players at other clubs, you hear about something and they can go a bit off the rails. He’s stuck to it and trained really well and stuck with the group. He’s fully focused on playing for us.”

This suggests that he is a player who is able to cope with the speculation over his future, which is good news for Newcastle as it means that he could have a seamless transition into playing for the Magpies. He will not allow a big move to get to his head and will be able to come straight in and perform well.

The key question is whether or not he will join now or at the end of the season. Either way, Edwards’ update provides the exciting prospect of him joining the club and fans will be buzzing with it, regardless of when it happens.

AND in other news, Contact made: NUFC can kickstart PIF era with a bang in £20m deal for “phenomenal” gem…