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West Ham manager David Moyes has provided an update on the fitness of Aaron Cresswell, Ben Johnson and Ryan Fredericks as the east Londoners face a full-back crisis.

What’s the story?

Following the Hammers’ 2-0 defeat to Arsenal and ahead of their subsequently postponed fixture against Norwich City over the weekend, Moyes addressed the media and provided an update on the absent trio.

“I am hoping that maybe Ryan or Ben or Cressie [Cresswell] can get themselves available for us,” the Irons manager said. “It would help us in a period where we have some injuries and it looks like all the full-backs in the main are the ones getting injured or sent off.”

Right-back Vladimir Coufal has been included in the squad for West Ham’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against Tottenham but will miss the next Premier League match through suspension after being sent off at Arsenal on Wednesday night.

This leaves 28-year-old Arthur Masuaku as the Irons’ only available senior full-back. However, 20-year-old right-back Harrison Ashby came off the bench against Arsenal and impressed on his debut against Dinamo Zagreb in the Europa League, which could form a pathway into the side for the youngster.

West Ham need full-back options

With a hectic festive schedule still set to be played, Moyes will need as many available options as possible, particularly in the full-back areas.

Should the likes of Cresswell, Johnson and Fredericks return in the near future, it will get West Ham fans buzzing again after their team’s recent dip in form.

Fredericks hasn’t featured for David Moyes’ side since their 2-0 win at Rapid Vienna in the Europa League last month and has only managed two minutes in the Premier League all season. However, both Cresswell and Johnson are regular fixtures in the side, with the latter working hard to maintain his place in the starting XI.

The 21-year-old right-back has been impressive this season, managing a run of eight consecutive starts in the Premier League before missing the trips to Burnley and Arsenal, and he will hope that a brief spell on the sidelines won’t halt his progress.

Moyes’ hopeful comments about having some, or possibly all, of his injured full-backs available for upcoming fixtures will at least give West Ham supporters a shot in the arm after a testing couple of weeks.

In other news: West Ham could spark top-four push with move for £16.2m-rated beast likened to Ribery

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left reacting to the club’s tribute to the anniversary of the Ibrox disaster.

The tragedy happened on this day 51 years ago, and a documentary was made last year in order to commemorate its 50th anniversary.

This year, the club posted a video on their official Twitter channel in honour of those who tragically lost their lives during the event, and they have also shared a poem from the granddaughter of John Buchanan, who was one of the victims in 1971.

A number of Rangers gathered around the video in order to show their appreciation for the tribute, as they remember what happened on that tragic day in the club’s history, when 66 supporters were killed in a crush at the stadium.

Rangers fans on Ibrox disaster tribute

These Gers reacted to the video as it was shared on Twitter, with one supporter claiming that they were ’emotional’ after watching it, while another described it as a ‘class’ tribute from the club:

“Beautiful tribute”

Credit: @iplayfirrangers

“Honestly, a club like no other”

Credit: @_jmorrison90

“Class. Simply, the best club in the world.”

Credit: @DaCapoucho

“The perfect tribute”

Credit: @gavincook_66

“Can’t help but get emotional watching this so poignant and fitting, it’s a lovely tribute, my thoughts are with my own family and the other 65 families impacted that day and the wider Rangers family, they will always be remembered”

Credit: @lauraglasgow01

“What was that lament? I’ve goosebumps”

Credit: @scrumpox1

In other news, find out what transfer news has left these Gers fans buzzing

Newcastle United have now made contact with Arsenal for striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ahead of a potential move in this January transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to Italian journalist Rudy Galetti, the Magpies are “trying” for the Gabon international, and that “contact” has already been made with the Gunners for the maverick striker.

It’s added that a “possible loan is being discussed”, and that crucially, Aubameyang himself “would like the destination”.

Fans will be buzzing

While Aubameyang may not have covered himself in glory this season either on the pitch or off it – he’s netted just four goals in the Premier League and was recently stripped of the Arsenal captaincy by Mikel Arteta – he still remains a class player who could provide Newcastle with genuine quality up front.

It was only a couple of seasons ago that Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was waxing lyrical about the striker, and how good he is compared to the rest of the Premier League’s elite forwards.

He said: “Including me, we have stopped short of announcing Aubameyang as world class. We’re happy to go with (Sergio) Aguero, we’re happy to go with (Sadio) Mane and (Mohamed) Salah, (Roberto) Firmino, (Harry) Kane… all these players who have graced the Premier League in the last two or three seasons.

“I feel that Aubameyang doesn’t get that same credit and maybe it’s something that comes from when he first entered into English football. I think he’s been absolutely sensational, and I think now’s the time for us all to start recognising the quality and the brilliance of this player. He fights for the team, he’s always there, and for me, he’s everything you would want in a football player.”

The man with 294 career goals to his name could be the perfect replacement for the injured Wilson for the remainder of this Premier League season.

Galetti’s update that the Magpies have now made contact for him, and that Aubameyang himself is interested in a move to St James’ Park is sure to have fans absolutely buzzing.

Meanwhile, Newcastle United have held talks with this director of football candidate…

Everton have now officially sold Lucas Digne to Aston Villa, and in return are set to take one of their players off their hands and a fresh update on the move has been revealed.

What’s the word?

Fabrizio Romano has revealed an update on Everton’s signing of Anwar El Ghazi.

The Italian transfer insider tweeted in the early hours of this morning:

“Anwar El Ghazi has signed his contract as new Everton player, deal sealed and here-we-go confirmed. Medical completed, official announcement will be today.

“El Ghazi joins on loan from Aston Villa. Buy option clause [not mandatory] is also included in the deal.”

Fans will be furious

The move for El Ghazi to Everton is one that will come tinged with negativity, as he is signing at the cost of fan favourite, Digne, and when you look at Everton’s team, the signing of a winger doesn’t seem to be a priority position to fill in the team.

After all, they already have the likes of Andros Townsend, Demarai Gray, Anthony Gordon and Alex Iwobi at their disposal in that area of the pitch.

Toffees fans have taken to social media to share their thoughts and their confusion on the signing of the Dutch attacker, with one fan exclaiming:

“We’re wasting money to replace players who don’t get a game then? El Ghazi to replace our 5th choice winger? Clearly the priority should have been a CDM/CM to replace Allan, one of our best players, essential to breaking up play, who Rafa seems determined to drive out next.”

Another furious fan tweeted:

“Gone from Carlo, James, Digne to Rafa, Rondon, El Ghazi. Biggest downgrade in history.”

Indeed, it’s easy to see why they’re so angry about proceedings. The club seems to have not learned their lesson about wasting money on players that they don’t need, with owner Farhad Moshiri making a large number of signings in his time as owner of the club.

He has spent over £500m without the Toffees progressing or winning any trophies in the process, and as a consequence, they now that they sit 15th in the Premier League, just six points off relegation.

Therefore, the idea of signing a player who isn’t even a regular at one of their league rivals is a puzzling one as it’s unlikely to take them to the next level at all.

It will be interesting to see how Benitez will fit the Villa man into his line-up and whether he will become a first-team player, replacing a starter already in the side.

In other news: Everton should land Dele Alli

Many Aston Villa fans slammed Tyrone Mings during their Premier League clash with Everton on Saturday afternoon. 

Villa travelled north on the back of a disappointing four-game winless run, though they did rally from two goals down to draw with Manchester United last weekend.

Skipper Mings started alongside Ezri Konsa in the heart of Steven Gerrard’s defence at Goodison Park. He’s started all but two league games for The Villans so far in 2021/22.

The story of Mings’ afternoon

Mings was guilty of losing possession 19 times during the game, with less than half (five) of his 13 long passes finding their intended target (via SofaScore).

Overall, he only completed 29 of his 45 passes, an accuracy of 64%. Mings also lost 60% of the ground duels he contested against The Toffees and picked up a yellow card.

Shortly before half time, the Englishman was guilty of gifting Everton a corner after passing the ball straight out of play. That prompted fansite 7500 to Holte to accuse the captain of being ‘lazy’.

Here’s what a selection of Villa fans on Twitter made of his display.

These Villa fans unhappy with Mings

“Solid and battled like we needed to first half, same second half please, bar Mings strolling around like he owns the place the football the stadium etc… I’m baffled by his demeanour today”

Credit: @horganrobert

“Tyrone Freakin’ Mings #avfc Grrrrrrr….”

Credit: @DigbyD

“Think there will be upgrades coming in for Watkins and Mings. Whether that’s in January or the summer. It’s glaringly obvious in this game that they’re our weak links!”

Credit: @ajhilton7

“No agenda here from me but let’s be honest, Mings has been absolutely appalling so far”

Credit: @TomL7AVFC

“I’ll tweet it again. Mings can’t do simple passes.”

Credit: @is_it_2021

“I love Mings but his passing today has been Sunday league standard”

Credit: @avfcpjr

In other news, fans flock to links with this forward.

Everton extended their dire run in the Premier League to one win in 14 matches with a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa in the early kick-off on Saturday.

The Toffees were headed towards the contest being goalless at half-time before Emi Buendia rose highest to head in Lucas Digne’s corner, scoring the only goal of the game.

The defeat also kicked off Duncan Ferguson’s spell as caretaker manager in the worst possible way after Rafael Benitez was sacked earlier this week, with the Merseyside club 16th in the Premier League.

Once again for Everton, a handful of players failed to live up to their quality, with the likes of Mason Holgate, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jonjoe Kenny all struggling. However, midfielder André Gomes was particularly disappointing at Goodison Park.

Will Everton now get sucked into a relegation battle?  If you are looking for the odds, it is obviously crucial to pick a reputable site. Mikael at  the Swedish betting comparison site spelbolagutansvensklicens

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Gomes cost Everton today

With Allan on the bench, this was an opportunity for Gomes to ignite a run of regular starts in the team, having been on from the first whistle in just three league games this season prior to today. However, the Portuguese midfielder failed to offer significant influence in the middle of the park as Everton lost their third consecutive league game.

According to SofaScore, the 28-year-old only had 26 touches all afternoon, a ridiculously low tally for a midfielder, whilst attempting just 16 passes and completing a mere 12.

The midfielder also failed to make a notable contribution in both the offensive and defensive aspects of his game, failing to contribute a single shot, key pass, interception or block, while not attempting a single dribble either and making just one tackle. Gomes also lost 62% of his duels and was dribbled past on four occasions prior to being withdrawn after just 51 minutes (SofaScore), an insipid performance which went a long way to costing his team this afternoon.

What will make the performance particularly frustrating for the 28-year-old is that it was an opportunity to shine in front of Ferguson, who is set to take charge of the next few games while the club look for a permanent successor to Benitez.

Allan has been a regular for the Toffees this season, starting 16 Premier League matches, whilst Abdoulaye Doucouré was statistically Everton’s joint-best player against Steven Gerrard’s side, with a 7.4 ranking from SofaScore.

With a new manager set to come into the dugout at Goodison Park soon, the next few games will be an opportunity for players to make an impression, whether they are looking to keep their place or get into the team, and Saturday’s performance wouldn’t have helped Gomes’ claims.

Granted, a calf injury kept him out of action earlier in the campaign, but the 28-year-old is now fully fit, and chances could prove limited if he performs at a similar standard to what he provided against Aston Villa today.

In other news: Everton must avoid another manager disaster with “arrogant” 58 y/o, he’d be Rafa 2.0

Graeme Bailey has revealed that Newcastle United are now ‘looking to finalise’ a Deadline Day deal for Jesse Lingard.

The Lowdown: Burn almost done…

According to Keith Downie, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium have now agreed a transfer fee of £13m to take Dan Burn from Brighton and Hove Albion, with him due to have a medical on Tyneside ahead of finalising the move.

He would likely become their fourth signing this January after Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes, and after the deal is confirmed, the new owners can then move on to any other fresh faces that they would like to bring in before the deadline hits.

The Latest: Late Lingard swoop

As per 90min journalist Graeme Bailey, the St. James’ Park faithful are now ‘looking to finalise’ a swoop for Lingard on Transfer Deadline Day, as talks between them and Manchester United continue:

“Understand that Newcastle are looking to finalise deadline day deal for Jesse Lingard.

“Dialogue between both Uniteds has remained, whilst Lingard’s terms were already agreed.

“Lingard ready to bring down the curtain on his Man United career.”

The Verdict: Exciting

With four signings already seemingly in the bag, potentially adding Lingard as a fifth makes deadline day even more exciting for the Toon Army.

He already showed the Premier League what he is still capable of while on loan at West Ham United last season,  scoring nine goals and supplying a further five assists for them in the top flight, ensuring that the Hammers impressively qualified for the UEFA Europa League ahead of the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

Nonetheless, with just six months left on his current deal at Old Trafford, he could come pretty cheap, and so would represent a bargain for the Magpies.

In other news, find out who NUFC have made enquiries to sign here!

Leeds United have big plans for the summer transfer window…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Eurosport transfer insider Dean Jones, who delivered a pretty big bombshell to GIVEMESPORT this week, where he revealed:

“They have huge ambition and they’re going to be big hitters – they feel – in the transfer market, maybe from the summer.

“They certainly will be by this time next year.

“They think they can be going for some big names, but they couldn’t really buy those players in January.”

Time will tell

It remains to be seen exactly who the Yorkshire giants could target heading into next season, especially with uncertainty in the dugout. Marcelo Bielsa’s contract is set to expire and there is yet to be any indication whether he will stay or leave.

That makes recruitment somewhat harder for Victor Orta as he’ll need to sign the right players for whoever is in charge of the Whites.

One name that seems certain to join is RB Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson as the club looks to tap into the American market with a hugely promising midfielder. TEAMtalk believe Leeds are confident of tying up a deal despite having two bids rejected in January.

That influence from across the pond from the San Francisco 49ers Enterprises could play a big part in the aforementioned transfer plans as they have the financial clout to make substantial moves in the transfer market, whereas current chairman Andrea Radrizzani doesn’t.

As of November 2021, the group have increased their share of the club to 44%, so it’s only a matter of time before they take over fully from the Italian supremo.

Either way, you’d have to say it’s an exciting time to be a Leeds supporter right now and this “huge” claim from Jones is only going to raise expectations and enthusiasm heading into the rest of 2022.

The Elland Road faithful must be thrilled by this update.

AND in other news, Lifeline: Bielsa’s £34k-p/w Leeds passenger a big winner from January transfer window…

Tottenham are set to join the summer race for Lille defender Sven Botman, according to a report by Tuttomercato (via the Express).

The Lowdown: Botman’s hectic January window

It is well documented that Newcastle United were extremely keen on signing the Dutchman in January.

The 22-year-old was the Magpies’ first-choice centre-back target and it was believed that the player would have been open to the move. However, the Ligue 1 side remained firm, refusing to a sanction a transfer for the defender during the winter transfer window.

Calciomercato journalist Daniele Longo claimed that Newcastle made a last-ditch attempt at signing Botman with a £33million bid, but the youngster had decided that he now wanted to wait until the summer before making a decision regarding his future.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-2/” title=”Tottenham latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Spurs join race for Botman

According to a report by Tuttomercato (relayed by the Express), Tottenham are set to enter the running for Botman in the summer, alongside the Magpies again.

Fabrizio Romano recently revealed that the player’s agents were in Milan last weekend, and this latest report seems to imply the Serie A outfit are indeed the favourites, but Fabio Paratici apparently ‘wants to give at least one’ international level centre-back to Antonio Conte.

The Verdict: A strong addition

This follows heavy praise from Milan’s technical director and club legend Paolo Maldini, who exclaimed that Botman is a “great player”. Lille teammate Jose Fonte reinforced this message, saying “he has all the ingredients to succeed” at the highest level.

Therefore, it is easy to see why Paratici is interested in Botman. His 6 foot 4 stature means he could prove to be a fantastic asset in both boxes for Conte, with Whoscored listing his strengths as aerial duels, passing and concentration.

The central defender leads his side in clearances made per game in the French top-flight, averaging a mighty 4.7. He also throws himself in front of everything, averaging an important blocked shot per game in Ligue 1.

Paratici couldn’t do much better than Botman if he’s hunting for a superstar centre-back in the making.

In other news: Yaya Toure may make Spurs role official

Southampton ‘know who’ their potential next manager is and the club have spoken to Ralph Hasenhuttl about the situation, says chief executive Martin Semmens on BBC 5 Live Sport.

The Lowdown: Hasenhuttl set to leave?

The Athletic’s Southampton reporter Dan Sheldon previously reported that manager Ralph Hasenhuttl will consider retiring once his current contract expires in 2024.

The Austrian joined the club in December 2018 and has since taken charge of 142 matches, averaging 1.33 points per game.

If he sees out the remainder of his contract, the 54-year-old will become Southampton’s longest-serving manager since Chris Nicholl.

However, that will be the expected end for Hasenhuttl’s tenure, as he was quoted in an interview with Kicker (relayed by The Athletic) saying: “I want to put Southampton on a very healthy footing by 2024, but then that is it.”

The Latest: Saints know Hasenhuttl successor

During an interview with BBC 5 Live Sport, Southampton chief executive Semmens claimed that the club know who their potential next manager will be and that this has been discussed with the current boss.

With the interview being shared on Twitter, Semmens said: “We do know who our potential next manager is and Ralph Hasenhuttl knows this, it’s not something to be scared of!”

The Verdict: Potential worry?

Whilst it may seem great that Saints are moving early in their search of a new manager, this could prove to be a worrying sign for fans.

Hasenhuttl is contracted to the club until the end of the 2024 season. Therefore, with over two years left on his current deal, this seems incredibly far in advance to already be selecting a specific replacement – could the 54-year-old be moving on sooner than expected?

Some scouting around the market is of course expected, but the news that a new manager is already in the pipeline could suggest that an unexpected switch is around the corner, which is certainly cause for concern given how well Hasenhuttl’s side have been playing recently.

In other news: talkSPORT journalist makes Armando Broja permanent deal claim