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Marcel Brands could end Everton’s torrid record in the January transfer window by signing Felipe Caicedo after SS Lazio agreed to sell the former Carlo Ancelotti target this winter.

What’s the word?

According to Cittaceleste, Lazio President Claudio Lotito has assured Caicedo that he can leave the Stadio Olimpico in the upcoming transfer market, so long as his Serie A outfit receive offers worth €5million (£4.5m) for the Ecuadorian centre-forward.

Caicedo is adamant that he will leave the mid-table Italian top-flight side this winter, having failed to secure a move away in the summer after reaching an agreement with Al-Gharafa, who refused to match Lazio’s €6m (£5.4m) asking price at the time.

The striker did not take well to his route away from Rome being blocked, feeling that Lazio did not keep to their word after receiving guarantees that he could leave, but he reluctantly accepted the situation and got his head down to support head coach Simone Inzaghi.

Ye,t Caicedo only remains half happy as Inzaghi continues to favour Ciro Immobile, even when the striker excels, leaving the 32-year-old to start just two Serie A matches and one Champions League Group Stage fixture, while earning the remainder of his 394 minutes of game time through eight cameo displays, despite netting four goals.

Caicedo’s situation could be of interest to Everton heading into the January market, having been linked with the 68-cap forward earlier this year. The Toffees ultimately opted against signing a centre-forward, but are again thought to be interested in a deal for Arkadiusz Milik to bolster Ancelotti’s attacking arsenal.

End Everton’s torrid winter record

Everton putting plans in place to bring Caicedo to Goodison Park this winter could see their Director of Football Brands continue his trend of looking to end the Blues’ torrid winter record.

The Merseyside outfit have struggled to sign quality options in the January window in recent years, with the Toffees welcoming the likes of Oumar Niasse, Shani Tarashaj, Morgan Schneiderlin, Ademola Lookman, Cenk Tosun, Theo Walcott, Eliaquim Mangala and Jarrad Branthwaite to the club.

Niasse departed at the end of his £55,000-per-week contract this summer having started just 12 Premier League fixtures for Everton, while Tarashaj saw his contract terminated in October having never played a first-team game in royal blue.

Mangala barely fared any better than Tarashaj during his time on loan, either, with a knee injury restricting the defender to make only two Premier League appearances. Tosun, meanwhile, has been linked with a move away from Goodison Park since January 2019 – just a year on from being signed for £27m.

Brands finally seemed to have turned Everton’s fortunes around last winter with the arrival of Branthwaite, who Ancelotti lauded as a “fantastic” prospect after the teenager’s first-team breakthrough.

Everton’s transfer chief can continue that trend by signing Caicedo in January, as the experienced centre-forward would offer Ancelotti the depth in-behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin that he appears to crave at a supreme level.

Italian icon Christian Vieri is an adamant believer in what Caicedo can offer, even just from the bench, having touted the Lazio star as an ideal back-up option for Inter Milan last month.

“If I were an Inter director, I would immediately go and talk to Caicedo, as he’s perfect for the role of 12th man,” Vieri said, via quotes by Football Italia. “I’d tell him, you are the understudy to Romelu Lukaku, come and join us. He might not accept, but at least try, otherwise what on earth do those directors do all day?!”

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti must get ruthless and end a dud’s 14-year Everton association.

West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen repeating his 2018 masterclass will be key to David Moyes beating Leeds United in the Friday night Premier League kick-off.

The Irons visit Elland Road looking to move fifth in the standings with a win, while the hosts strive to put another three points on the board having tasted victory just once in their last five top-flight fixtures.

Bowen has faced Leeds on four occasions throughout his career but only deprived Marcelo Bielsa’s side of the win once, when his brace in December 2018 tormented the Argentine in a complete performance Moyes will need to see the 23-year-old replicate.

Bielsa has been a huge advocate of Bowen’s talents from facing the Leominster-born forward in the Championship, and will hope he will not be on the receiving end this week with the forward presently West Ham’s top scorer in the Premier League with four goals.

“You know how he plays. This season we can see a lot of good attackers in every team and in most of the teams, not just those at the top. This is a very good player who unbalances the team. And he scores because he has a good shot,” Bielsa said, via quotes by Leeds Live.

“We don’t underestimate inferior opponents, so we prepare ourselves for the worst situation. In this case, he’s a great attacker but we keep working in the same strategy and keep trying to improve this.”

Leeds kept Bowen quiet the last time the West Yorkshire outfit faced the former Hull City winger, who Tigers boss Grant McCann lauds as an “exceptional” talent, but are well aware of his threat from his dazzling display in December 2018.

Bowen was the standout player as Hull shocked Elland Road to record a 2-0 win, with the 23-year-old touching almost every blade of grass as he drifted from touchline to touchline imposing himself on players Bielsa will name to face West Ham on Friday night.

Bielsa has already confirmed that from the side which lost to Hull two years ago, Luke Ayling, Ezgjan Alioski, Kalvin Phillips, Mateusz Klich and Jack Harrison will feature while Illan Meslier, Stuart Dallas, Liam Cooper, Rodrigo Moreno, Patrick Bamford and Raphinha come in.

Bowen had his way with Leeds up against Harrison and Barry Douglas, forcing Bielsa to bench the pair in the second-half, having won six of eleven ground duels and one of two aerial contests whilst netting a brace from just two shots on target, per SofaScore.

The £96,154-per-week attacker turned creator to register a key ball and delivered one cross, too, while winning one of his two dribbles, took 39 touches and forced Leeds into three fouls.

He consistently thwarted the Whites’ attacks with three clearances, blocked one shot, made four interceptions and two successful tackles, and Moyes will need to see the man he signed for £22million deliver at a similar level if West Ham are to emerge victorious on Friday night.

AND in other news, David Moyes would throw an “outstanding” £30m West Ham star under the boss with his brave plan to beat Leeds United.

It has been suggested recently that if Liverpool wanted to sign Schalke centre-back Ozan Kabak in the January transfer window, the Bundesliga side would demand Divock Origi in return, which is a great opportunity for Jurgen Klopp to kill two birds with one stone at the Merseyside club.

The Reds are now without a single fit senior centre-back following the injury to Joel Matip in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with West Brom, whilst Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez remain sidelined, suggesting that a centre-back signing in January seems likely.

Considering the injury-proneness of the Cameroonian, Klopp will surely be forced to act next month, unless he wants to remain with Fabinho, Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams as his options there for the rest of the season.

Therefore, signing Kabak from Schalke would make a lot of sense, as the Reds have been regularly linked in the past, whilst the German side’s financial woes are perhaps one reason why they have set an asking price of just £22 million for the Turkish defender.

As well as this, Christian Gross’ side are reportedly taking an interest in Origi, which opens up the possibility of a swap deal in January, which could save Michael Edwards and Liverpool a lot of money on a centre-back.

It also means they can get rid of the Belgian striker, whose performances this season have been far from good enough, meaning a January exit was perhaps already on the cards for the former Wolfsburg man.

In three Champions League appearances he has averaged a shocking 6.29 rating with no goals to his name, whilst the £50k per week forward has been limited to just three substitute appearances in the Premier League.

Kabak has certainly shown in his performance in recent seasons that he could be an excellent addition to Liverpool’s side, and would arguably be an upgrade on Matip, who, whilst usually solid when he plays, is far too unreliable because of his regular injury issues.

Despite being just 20-years-old, the Turkish international has already made 49 appearances in the Bundesliga with Schalke and VFB Stuggart, contributing an impressive six goals and one assist.

Therefore, if Edwards can negotiate a deal which would see Origi join Schalke and Kabak make the move to Anfield, then it looks as if it would solve two problems at once for Klopp.

And, in other news… Liverpool can sign their next Michael Owen in teenage sensation available for free

If Nuno Santo had a headache over the festive period it’s likely it won’t have been from excessive drinking. Instead, it will have been from repeatedly banging his head against a wall.

For Wolves, they can’t seem to string two positive results together at the moment and despite how impressive their performance was against Manchester United, they still lost.

Nuno’s men held on for so long but in the 93rd minute, Marcus Rashford’s deflected effort found its way past Rui Patricio and into the back of the net.

At first glance, Wolves’ decision to ring the chances wasn’t the best of ideas. Against a United side who are gunning for the title, it looked foolish. The number of changes wasn’t exactly Mick McCarthy levels but in starting Vitinha and Ki-Jana Hoever, it was a gamble.

It was one that so nearly paid off though as Wolves’ youngsters did themselves no harm. Although those two individuals didn’t look out of place, it was the performance of Max Kilman that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

The 23-year-old was poor against Burnley and was caught out of position on a regular basis. However, he made up for it with a resounding display at Old Trafford.

Kilman has been inconsistent this season and now has to build on this outing, one that saw him win 83.3% of the duels he contested. He was a titan in ground battles, winning four out of five against a free-flowing attack full of world-class talent.

The young defender held his own and in the words of Birmingham Live correspondent Alex Dicken, he “handled everything.”

To add to Kilman’s eye-catching performance, he completed 81% of his passes and provided plenty of cover for Rayan Ait-Nouri. The left wing-back was allowed the freedom to bomb forward because of how well his teammate was defending.

Although he conceded late on, the centre-back deserves enormous credit for the way he went about his business, especially after looking out of place against the Clarets.

The challenge for Kilman now is finding that sort of level on a regular basis.

AND in other news, Wolves must swoop for “magical” £166k-p/w gem with “outstanding timing”…

According to reports, Tottenham are open to selling Paulo Gazzaniga in the January transfer window if a “suitable offer” comes in for the goalkeeper.

What’s the story?

The Argentina international had been the club’s number two goalkeeper over the years behind Hugo Lloris, but Joe Hart’s arrival in the summer has seen him slip further down the pecking order at Jose Mourinho’s side.

Now, Football.London claim that Gazzaniga’s future will be a “talking point this month”, and that “he may be allowed to move on if a suitable offer comes in given they are well stocked in the goalkeeping department”.

Robbing Daniel Levy blind

Earning around £20k-a-week, Gazzaniga has been picking up a pay-cheque at Spurs this season for doing absolutely nothing at all.

Speaking after omitting him from the Europa League squad for this season, Mourinho said: “It is very difficult, to leave a player out is like to stop the player to fight for something he wants, that is always is very, very hard.

“The good thing is in January you can change, so if you have a different view you change. The Gazzaniga situation, with Hugo and Joe we believe that for the next couple of months we can do it with an academy goalkeeper, with a young English kid.”

Barring a miraculous set of circumstances, a third-choice goalkeeper at a club like Spurs is highly unlikely to play, which is why bringing in an academy player into the fold a) saves a lot of money and b) gives them exposure to the first-team too.

At 28, Gazzaniga isn’t going to develop into a world-class goalkeeper capable of ousting Lloris, whilst the fact Hart has overtaken him in the pecking order after being let go by Burnley says it all.

He’s robbing Spurs chairman Daniel Levy blind at the moment, and it’s exactly why Spurs just have to make a ruthless decision to sell the man Mourinho once dubbed as “magic”.

Tottenham Hotspur looked to be getting the band back together less than a month ago, though Daniel Levy ought to reconsider after this weekend.

Having sensationally brought Gareth Bale back to the club on loan in the summer, the north Londoners were linked with a swoop for fellow Real Madrid star Luka Modric, who also swapped N17 for the Spanish capital several years ago.

He cost Los Galacticos in the region of £30m in 2012, as per the BBC.

And according to journalist Eduardo Inda on El Chiringuito TV three weeks ago, Jose Mourinho had called the Croatian midfielder in a bid to bring him to Spurs as he enters the final six months of his current contract.

Well, after Madrid’s no-show against Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday, they may want to think again.

The 35-year-old displayed signs of his advancing years, lasting only 75 minutes before being hooked by Zinedine Zidane and in reality, it was the correct call as Modric was completely underwhelming.

Per SofaScore, the 2018 Ballon d’Or winner won just one of six duels (16%), lost possession 16 times, and was dribbled past on one occasion. No other Madrid player scored lower than his 6.6 rating either.

Indeed, Modric lost the ball once every five touches, so it’s no wonder that the Spanish giants struggled to find a way to break down a resolute Osasuna side.

That’ll hardly please Mourinho. In fact, he could well be reeling as Levy won’t want to sign him based on that pathetic outing.

Now valued at just £9m by Transfermarkt, the former Spurs sensation will be 36 by the time the 2021/22 Premier League season gets underway, which merely raises question marks over whether or not Mourinho and Levy should continue to pursue this deal.

Former top-flight striker Dean Windass told Football FanCast that it would be “unbelievable” move to make. Still, it seems a complete waste of time if he’s unable to rip apart a team of Los Rojillos’ quality – they are second from bottom, after all.

Zidane has continued to keep the faith in the veteran no.10, but from 17 appearances, he is averaging a little over 75 minutes per match, so clearly, there are doubts over his ability to play the full duration of games.

The Premier League’s intensity is way above that of La Liga, so Levy will need to think twice before bringing him back even if it leaves Mourinho fuming – we’ve also seen that the Bale experiment is yet to hit the ground running either.

AND in other news, Spurs interest in £27m gem likened to Maradona spells HUGE trouble for Erik Lamela…

West Brom have been linked with a move for Jesse Lingard ahead of deadline day, according to reports…

What’s the word?

Sky Sports claim the Baggies have enquired to Manchester United over a potential loan move for the 28-year-old as Sam Allardyce is attracted by the quality he could bring to the Hawthorns.

It’s thought that a loan fee and Lingard’s wages (£75k-per-week) could be a problem unless the Red Devils are willing to subsidise the deal, though that may prove difficult with West Ham also keen on his services.

Shades of Greening

Albion have had some decent success when signing former United players, ranging from Ronnie Wallwork, who won the Player of the Year award for 2004/05, to Jonny Evans, who featured 96 times across three campaigns.

But given Lingard’s versatility and ability, he could become West Brom’s next Jonathan Greening.

The former Baggies attacking midfielder won a Champions League medal with United before enjoying five seasons as a key player across Premier League and Championship campaigns.

Greening was capable of operating anywhere behind the striker before eventually dropping deeper into midfield as he entered the twilight of his career, in which he was dubbed a “quarterback” by former teammate Dean Kiely as well as a player who was “technically unbelievable” by James Morrison.

Lingard is cut from the same cloth – primarily a right-winger, who is equally adept at playing the no.10 role. His past comparisons to Andres Iniesta only adds weight to the argument that he can be a creative presence in this current Baggies team.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-west-brom-news-and-rumours-copy” title=”Read the latest West Brom news, transfer rumours and more!”]

“The difference with Jesse is that he was always the English version of Iniesta. He can play in the pockets, he’s very mobile and very agile,” said former United coach Rene Meulensteen.

The 24-time England international hasn’t featured in the Premier League this term but proved his creative ability in 22 appearances last season, where he averaged 1.9 key passes per 90 minutes, via WhoScored.

By comparison, this is better than every single player in Allardyce’s squad apart from Matheus Pereira (2.2 key passes per 90). That means out wide, Lingard could be a massive upgrade – for example, £18m summer signing Grady Diangana is only managing 0.3 key passes per 90, which is quite frankly, not good enough.

The £9m-rated Lingard has a pretty decent record against the Baggies too. Indeed, he must’ve given Alan Pardew nightmares in 2017 when, as a no.10 he ran the show at the Hawthorns, managing an impressive 91% passing accuracy as well as a goal and a key pass, per SofaScore.

Not to mention, his work-rate would likely be something that pleases Big Sam. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer once claimed: “There’s no-one who runs as much as Jess, he’s a great trigger in the pressing.”

A “unique” player for sure, as Michael Carrick said in 2018, Lingard would be a mightily fine option to have at West Brom as they are among the league’s lowest scorers and given his ability, he could well fill that right-wing void whilst also having the ability to slot in anywhere else in attack.

Just like Greening, Lingard could be the fruit of another successful signing from their Manchester rivals. He must be signed as Albion’s final domestic loan option this month.

AND in other news, West Brom lightweight who lost 86% of his duels just betrayed Big Sam…

Gary Cahill and Tyrick Mitchell could return to the starting line-up later this afternoon as Crystal Palace take on Newcastle at St James’ Park.

While most of the attention of the general footballing public will likely be on Old Trafford on Tuesday as Southampton travel to Manchester United, Palace could create some space between themselves and the chasing pack at the bottom of the table, depending on the result on Tyneside.

However, in order to do that, they will have to pick up all three points against a team who have caused Roy Hodgson’s side problems in the past. Palace suffered a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at Selhurst Park back in November.

With that in mind, here’s Football FanCast’s predicted line-up for today’s trip to Newcastle.

The Eagles have started the new year with a renewed sense of optimism after bringing in a new striker in the form of Jean-Philippe Mateta.

Nevertheless, the Palace boss will probably play it safe as it’s unlikely he is taking anything for granted, meaning Michy Batshuayi will be back upfront after his solid shift against Wolves and he will play alongside the in-form Wilfried Zaha.

To the left of the Belgian in attack will be Eberechi Eze, who scored the only goal of the game against Wolves, while Andros Townsend will most likely replace Jordan Ayew on the right flank.

In defence, Tyrick Mitchell could come in for Patrick van Aanholt, the latter being heavily linked with the Selhurst Park exit on deadline day, with Gary Cahill back as one of two centre-back options with Cheikhou Kouyate.

Elsewhere, Vicente Guaita is a mainstay in Hodgson’s side, which leaves Jack Butland still waiting for his Premier League debut for the club.

Meanwhile, Jairo Riedewald will be the only other change in midfield, with James McCarthy dropping to the bench as a result.

AND in other news, Vicente Guaita’s new contract could be bad news for Jack Butland…

Celtic’s transfer deadline day is beginning to get rather exciting. The club are chasing numerous deals for defenders as Neil Lennon aims to get his side back on track.

What’s the word?

The Hoops are set to sign Jonjoe Kenny on loan from Everton while a temporary switch for Tottenham’s Japhet Tanganga could take place before the window slams shut.

However, someone the Bhoys were interested in earlier in the window is now catching the attention of suitors elsewhere.

According to Football League World, Derby would like to sign the player on loan on deadline day, which in turn, would see Manchester City recall him from Middlesbrough before sending him off to the Rams.

It was thought earlier in the window that City might recall him which had initially alerted Celtic to his availability.

Get it done

Whether or not the Hoops are still interested in a move for Roberts remains to be seen but judging by their current plight, he would surely be beneficial to Lennon and co.

Celtic are currently in real strife and are sitting 23 points behind their fierce rivals in a bid to win the SPFL. Add the fact that the manager has very few options out wide and things become even more troublesome.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-celtic-transfer-news” title=”Read this week’s Celtic transfer news!”]

Ryan Christie was dropped against Hamilton and with David Turnbull shifting into a wide area, it proved they do have another player capable of featuring on the flanks.

Yet, with James Forrest still missing through injury, adding a further winger should be of utmost importance.

Roberts has already had a stint at Parkhead where he featured 78 times. It was a spell that caught the eye of former manager Brendan Rodgers who reserved very special praise for the 23-year-old.

He once said: “Patrick is more a David Silva type, more on the inside. He looks like he has an eye for goal. He’s very young and he looks a talent.”

Celtic supporters won’t need telling just how good an eye for talent Rodgers has and they already know what he’s capable of in the famous green and white.

A winger by trade, he’d be particularly useful in the back half of the season.

AND in other news, Forget Duffy: Celtic must swoop for £25k-p/w gem “with pace” who “sees things quickly”…

Many West Ham United fans were left slamming the display of Vladimir Coufal in their side’s 1-0 away loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup on Tuesday night.

The Czech Republic international did not have his best game for the London Stadium faithful as a Scott McTominay goal in the first half of extra time made sure that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team went through to the next stage of the competition at Old Trafford, at the expense of the Hammers.

Coufal never really managed to get going in the match and he had a poor game by his usually high standards. The 28-year-old lost out on no fewer than five of his duels and only managed to achieve a 71% pass accuracy, the second-lowest out of any of his teammates to have started the game (Sofascore).

Coufal also failed to make a single key pass or accurate cross, and lost possession of the ball no fewer than 26 times in the match, the most out of any outfield player to have set foot on the pitch (Sofascore).

West Ham fan reaction to Coufal display

These Irons slammed his performance on Twitter, with one WHU supporter even going as far as to claim that the right-back was ‘very poor’:

“Let’s be real, Coufal has been very poor”

Credit: @WesthamMitchell

“What’s Coufal doing?!”

Credit: @lukejessop16

“Worst game I’ve seen Coufal have”

Credit: @Dom_A_King

“Coufal needs to learn to pass a bit better”

Credit: @AnthonyMelman

“Mate you just said Coufal had a better game than Benrahma, he was the worst player on the pitch, take your agenda somewhere else”

Credit: @WestHam_Way

“Noble looked like he had more left in him than Rice. Rice was visibly knackered Noble still was pressing well the game. Coufal, yeah, you could tell he was gone, shows the thin squad we have”

Credit: @LingardinhoSzn

In other news, find out what David Moyes revelation has got fans talking here!