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Everton could be on the verge of repeating their disastrous deal for Alex Iwobi after being linked with a transfer move for Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe.

What’s the story?

According to French outlet Jeunes Footeux (as relayed by SportWitness), the Toffees are one of several Premier League clubs interested in securing the 26-year-old’s signature, with Newcastle United and Crystal Palace also listed as potential suitors.

The report claims that the trio are hoping to conclude a short-term loan move including an option to buy Pepe at the end of the season rather than a direct transfer given his recent struggles and that the Gunners may not have any other choice than to accept those terms.

Marcel Brands must avoid

After arriving at Arsenal for a club-record £72m fee in the summer of 2019, Pepe has failed to live up to the expectations that his astronomical price tag understandably brought.

He made 31 Premier League appearances in his maiden campaign, featuring from the off on only 22 occasions and scoring just five goals along the way.

The Ivory Coast international did show shines of improvement last term, though. A healthy return of 16 goals and five assists in all competitions provided hope that Pepe could finally fulfil his potential, yet consistently impressive performances still eluded him.

One particularly frustrating display against Chelsea towards the end of 2020/21 earned criticism from BT Sport pundit Joe Cole, who lamented his work rate compared to teammate Bukayo Saka.

“He plays in fits and starts Pepe,” Cole said. “We’ve got a great angle up here and we were watching him, and he was so lacklustre. Compare him to Saka on the other side who was full of energy and was vibrant.

“Pepe was wandering, after 30 minutes we were questioning what he was on the pitch for, but he has got the quality and that’s why you pay £70m for him because he can do things like that. You just need to see it more often.”

And it appears Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was equally incensed with the versatile forward’s inconsistent showings.

In recent weeks, Pepe has found himself on the substitutes bench on a regular basis as the north London outfit have hit some good form, receiving just five minutes of top-flight action in their last three fixtures.

Therefore, it appears as though his days at the Emirates Stadium are numbered, but Everton’s hierarchy would be wise to stay away from the infuriating if talented £140,000-per-week Ivorian.

Marcel Brands has already been embarrassed by Arsenal in two previous transfer dealings with the capital club, first when he paid £20m for an ageing Theo Walcott, and then when he splashed big money to bring Iwobi to Goodison Park.

The two wingers both failed to have the desired impact following their switch to Merseyside, and Brands must avoid making the same mistake for a third time in just three years.

And, in other news…Signed for £7.1m, sold for £30m: Brands pulled off EFC masterclass with 32 y/o monster

Adama Traore could be a huge success for Liverpool if he leaves Wolves to join the Reds, according to BBC pundit Noel Whelan.

The Lowdown: Traore linked with Wolves exit

The 25-year-old has been linked with a move to Anfield in the January transfer window, which would provide Jurgen Klopp with extra attacking depth.

Traore’s current Wolves deal expires in the summer of 2023 and there is little sign of him extending his stay at Molineux as things stand.

The Latest: Tipped to shine to Liverpool

Whelan believes that the Spain winger could excel in a Reds shirt, telling Football Insider that the 25-year-old could be similarly influential to superstar Liverpool pair Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

The BBC pundit said:

“He’s a player who can be crucial to winning football matches.

“His pace, his aggression, his direct running – and now his end product, which he’s brushed up after his early days in the Premier League.

“He’s a more complete player now, he can get a cross into the box or a shot off on goal. If you think about it, would he fit into Liverpool’s style of play? Absolutely.

“He can be just as destructive as Salah and Mane in that side.”

The Verdict: Keep hold of him

Losing Traore would be a big blow for Wolves at a time when he is still maturing as a player and should have his best years ahead of him.

As Whelan suggested, the winger is becoming a more polished footballer, winning four Man of the Match awards from WhoScored in just seven Premier League appearances this season. He also has more dribbles per game than any other player in Europe’s major leagues, with a remarkable match average of seven (WhoScored).

That highlights how important he is to Bruno Lage, with his pace arguably the most frightening in the league, giving him a potentially match-winning attribute which Wolves cannot afford to sacrifice too readily.

In other news, Wolves have received a potential boost in their efforts to sign one player. Find out who it is here.

Since Marcelo Bielsa took charge at Leeds United, the Argentine has taken the club back to the Premier League after a 16-year absence and got them to a top-half finish in their first season back in the top flight.

One figure that has played a massive part in Leeds’ rise from the Championship to the Premier League is Luke Ayling, who has made a total of 200 appearances for the Yorkshire club across all competitions in which he has managed to score seven goals and provide 17 assists along the way.

Last season saw Ayling start all 38 of Leeds’ Premier League games as well as Stuart Dallas, showing how vital he is for Bielsa’s side.

Having now hit the age of 30 and with his current contract at Elland Road set to expire in the summer of 2023, there’s every chance that the club will be looking at who could be their potential long-term replacement for the long-serving Englishman.

With that in mind, it seems as though Bielsa could already have the perfect long-term heir for Ayling that could save Victor Orta millions in potential future transfer fees.

Since joining Leeds’ U23 side from Fulham’s U23 squad back in August last year, 20-year-old right-back Cody Drameh has made 33 appearances for Leeds’ youth side, scoring one goal and providing four assists along the way.

Drameh has also made two appearances for Leeds’ senior side, showing that Bielsa has enough confidence in him already to perform to a high standard in the first team alongside the senior players at Leeds.

This season has seen Drameh be involved in Leeds’ senior matchday squad on eight occasions in the league with one 19-minute cameo appearance in their 2-1 win away at Norwich City.

Labelled as a “revelation” in the past by Tom Hill and as a player that “loves defending” by Ben Parker, Drameh won Leeds’ U23s Player of the Year award last year, highlighting the quality he has.

Given how Ayling managed to rack up an average of 2.8 tackles per game in the league last season as well as winning 61% of the duels he was involved in, these are the sort of defensive numbers that Drameh will have to match if he wants to be recognised as Ayling’s long-term heir at Leeds.

However, with the praise he’s garnered since joining the Yorkshire club, it seems as though that Drameh is more than capable of doing that in the next few years given his apparent love for defending.

In other news: Exciting 4-word January transfer claim emerges that will have Leeds fans buzzing – opinion

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who made over 250 Premier League appearances for Newcastle United and Derby County, doesn’t understand why Jose Mourinho hasn’t played Gareth Bale more often this season.

Bale has four goals and two assists in his last four games for Spurs having started against Burnley, Fulham and Crystal Palace, with Tottenham winning all three.

The on-loan Real Madrid winger has struggled for game time and fitness this season having started just five games in the Premier League.

Lee has found it strange as to why Mourinho has neglected the winger for so long but does not doubt his ability and judgement on his players considering his track record of success during his managerial career.

Lee spoke of his confusion of Bale’s expulsion from the starting line up this season, telling FFC:

“If a fully fit Gareth Bale is fully fit, and his head’s right and he’s raring to go you have to play him.

“Mourinho’s not stupid so there must be something going on with his fitness or his attitude. It’s surprised me how long it’s taken him to get fit.

“Mourinho’s a very, very good coach. Whether he didn’t want to play Bale because he plays more defensive, but he’s not stupid.

“He scored two goals the other night and dragged him off after 70 minutes and you think ‘well is there a reason he’s doing that?’. I certainly hope he starts playing some more because he’s exciting to watch.”

Bale has always had undoubted talent, however, since his return to Spurs in the summer his fitness has appeared to be lacking.

If Mourinho has a fully fit Bale at his disposal for the business end of the season it could see Spurs make a late push for the top four.

Many Liverpool fans have been flocking to a piece co-written by James Pearce for The Athletic.

The article focuses on what not qualifying for the Champions League at the end of the 2020/21 campaign would mean for the Merseyside club, and that two consecutive seasons out of Europe’s elite competition would bring “consequences” for the Anfield outfit.

Pearce also touches on how the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) were reluctant to spend the money on a few key transfer targets as they felt they did not give good value to the club.

With the long-term injuries to Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, as well as Joel Matip for large parts of the campaign, Jurgen Klopp’s men were in desperate need to bring in an experienced central defender in the January window, but only ended up signing Ozan Kabak on a loan deal and Ben Davies from the Championship for a mere £1.6m on deadline day, in what seemed like two panic buys at the time given how late in the window they arrived.

The owners’ reluctance to go out and spend big in order to try and defend their Premier League title could ultimately come back to cost the club, and several Reds supporters have been left far from happy.

Liverpool fan reaction to Pearce update

These Kopites turned on FSG on Twitter after reading the update from Pearce:

“The owners have to take some responsibility for wherever we end up this season due to their mishandling of the January transfer window. £4m investment since 2019, in the same time City have invested £150m in their squad, it was obviously going to catch up to us”

Credit: @nabydeco08

“Not just last season, it’s been year’s of FSG not investing in the team and the ultimate price is being paid now.”

Credit: @AhijahB

“FSG reaped what they sowed, spending £20m per season sell to top the kitty attitude – has well and truly imploded this season.”

Credit: @yeungster79

“The owners think about the club? That’s new, James.”

Credit: @klopposophy_

“Penny pinching to not spend big on a CB on 1st Jan will cost FSG so much more without CL football so it’s completely and utterly their own fault but we’ll all suffer. Players won’t want to come to @LFC, more poor results will cause more pressure on Klopp, it’s a vicious circle!”

Credit: @dmcd19

“FSG get out of Liverpool Football Club”Credit: @Anfield951In other news, find out what early team news before Wolves has left some LFC fans fuming!

Celtic still have some important games left to play in the SPFL before the season draws to an end and the next summer transfer window opens for business.

However, it seems as though one potential deal has emerged as something the Bhoys could look to complete before their next campaign gets underway.

What’s the news?

According to the Daily Mail (via Daily Record), Bodo/Glimt star Ola Solbakken is a potential summer transfer target for the Hoops if they are unable to strike a permanent deal for current loan star Jota.

Since joining the Norwegian club back in the 2020 January transfer window, the 23-year-old has gone on to make 71 appearances for his side across all competitions.

In those appearances, the winger has managed to score 17 goals and provide 18 assists along the way.

This highlights just how much of an attacking threat he can be.

Postecoglou would love him

Throughout his career, the attacker has been deployed on the left and right wings, delivering goal contributions from both sides, showing just how versatile he is on the pitch.

In comparison to Solbakken, the Portuguese attacker has scored 11 goals and provided 12 assists in 35 appearances for the Bhoys across all competitions since his arrival from Benfica on loan last summer.

The Hoops will be very familiar with what sort of player Solbakken is, as he scored a goal and provided an assist during the two meetings between the clubs in the UEFA Europa Conference League earlier this season.

Currently valued at £1.8m according to Transfermarkt, the Norway international has been likened to former Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Real Madrid winger Arjen Robben in terms of his attacking moves on the pitch. Moreover, he’s been likened to a certain Norwegian forward too with BT Sport describing one of his goals in Europe as having “serious Haaland vibes.”

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to suggest that Postecoglou would be delighted to have a player like the Norwegian in his squad that is capable of scoring and creating goals as well as playing in numerous positions.

Moving forward, while securing a permanent deal for Jota should undeniably be their first port of call for the summer, having Solbakken as a potential backup option is not a bad one to have given his attacking talents.

In other news: Sold for £2.5m, now worth £8.1m: 27 y/o could’ve been Celtic’s “player of the season”

Mike Ashley will be heading for his biggest mistake at Newcastle United if he decides against firing Steve Bruce following Tuesday night’s shameful 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

The Toon earned themselves the discomfiting honour of becoming the first Premier League side to lose to Chris Wilder’s Blades this season thanks to a second-half penalty converted by Billy Sharp, after Federico Fernandez was adjudged to have handled the ball inside Karl Darlow’s box.

Defeat at Bramall Lane left the Magpies just eight points above the drop zone, while having played two games more than 18th-placed Fulham and one more than 16th-placed Burnley, with the result also extending the North East giant’s top-flight winless run to six games.

Pressure is now mounting on Ashley to part company with Bruce a year-and-a-half on from his arrival as Rafa Benitez’s successor, with some fans demanding the 60-year-old is fired, having seen the Magpies bow out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in the space of just 18 days.

With a second trip to Arsenal in the space of less than two weeks to come on Monday night, Bruce will be returning to the Emirates with his back up against the wall, knowing the howls of angst from supporters will only grow with yet another defeat in north London.

The Toon boss is not prepared to walk away, however, as the boyhood Magpies fan has vowed to fight for his position after the disappointing defeat.

“I’ll never ever walk away from a challenge,” he said, via quotes by Sky Sports. “I’ve been in it long enough to have that respect, but I understand – especially watching the first-half – we weren’t good enough and I take the responsibility for that, because I picked the team.

“I think we’ve had, apart from the last month which we knew would be difficult with the run of fixtures we’ve had, we’ve given ourselves a decent start to the season.”

Newcastle barely laid a hand on Sheffield United during their awful night in South Yorkshire, with a five-at-the-back system far too defensive and without any clear cohesion in the engine room, with Ryan Fraser and Sean Longstaff initially fielded as two false number 10s.

Fraser’s reckless two yellow cards in the space of three minutes threw Bruce’s plans out of the window just before half-time, and things failed to improve much after that with the Toon taking just four shots, enjoying a measly 28.4% of the possession and completing a dismal 58% of their mere 106 total passes in the second period, per WhoScored.

Their performance was hardly out of the norm, either, as Newcastle rank second-last for total shots taken per game (8.8) last for average possession (41.4%), 18th for pass success (75.1%). However, it can’t really be argued that these poor attacking stats are the case of the Magpies being extra solid at the back, as the numbers prove that they are anything but sold.

Thus season, they’ve allowed, on averages the second-most amount of opposition shots on goal (15), only West Brom (16.2) allow more. Furthermore, Newcastle have conceded the fourth-most goals from open play (16), per WhoScored, despite Karl Darlow’s often excellent performances in goal.

So, Bruce’s side don’t attack well and they aren’t exactly solid at the back either, so, what exactly is the manager bringing to the table? His side not being able to attack is one reason to sack him and the fact they don’t really defend well is definitely another.

If Ashley does not take decisive action on Bruce’s position soon, he will be setting the course for another big mistake at Newcastle by allowing United to sleepwalk toward yet another relegation.

AND in other news, forget Ryan Fraser: a £46k-p/w Newcastle man who lost 63% duels seriously betrayed Steve Bruce vs Sheffield United.

Former Tottenham captain Graham Roberts has exclusively told Football FanCast that he doesn’t expect Hans-Dieter Flick to be the next Tottenham manager.

Flick recently announced that he’ll be leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season and has been strongly linked with the Germany job, with Joachim Low stepping down after this summer’s European Championships.

But with Jose Mourinho leaving Tottenham last month, Flick’s name has been thrown about as a potential replacement in north London.

And reports believe Flick is interested in the vacancy despite the Germany job being on the table.

Flick has worked wonders with the German giants, leading them to the treble in his first season, and is on the verge of leading Munich to their ninth Bundesliga title on the bounce, which would be a remarkable seventh trophy during his time at the Allianz Arena.

Despite Flick’s impressive record with Bayern, Graham Roberts has highlighted the Germany role as his most likely next job when asked if he was the standout candidate available to Spurs.

He told Football FanCast:

“I would have thought so, but I think he will be Germany’s manager. I think he’s saying he wants to speak to Tottenham just to hurry up the Germany job.

“When he left, I think everybody knew we wanted Nagelsmann, and we didn’t act quickly enough, and he’s gone to Bayern. That is an upgrade.”

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa must make a ruthless decision and drop Tyler Roberts from the starting line-up for the clash against Burnley in the Premier League.

While the Whites may have gotten back to winning ways last week by securing a 3-1 victory over Spurs, Roberts once again endured a disappointing afternoon, eventually being replaced just before the hour mark.

The Wales international appeared to be heading for the exit door a couple of months ago, with reports suggesting that clubs from the Championship were looking to lure him away from Elland Road.

Since – and actually even before – then,  Roberts just hasn’t shown anywhere near enough to warrant being picked continuously in this Leeds side, with no goals at all in the 24 Premier League games that he has played.

Former Leeds striker Noel Whelan simply insisted that the £4.5m-rated forward just may not be cut out for this level, saying: “Is he good enough? In my opinion he isn’t. I would love him to go out there and prove me wrong because I want everyone to succeed. I need him to show me more. He needs to show more fight and desire. I just do not see that.

Whelan has also previously called for the Leeds manager to drop Roberts from the starting line-up, saying: “I’m just not seeing enough from him. There’s glimpses there but he’s not hurting teams with his performances and his creativity. Now number 10, you’ve got to be that special player. You’ve got to be that player that can open up teams and really take the game by the scruff of the neck. I just don’t think Tyler Roberts does that for Leeds.”

As per WhoScored, his lowly averages of one shot and 0.5 key passes per game in the Premier League are even worse than the likes of Stuart Dallas, who until recent weeks has played in a number of different roles, including both full-back positions.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-leeds-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

With Rodrigo having returned from injury and coming off the bench in the last couple of games, scoring against Tottenham last week, Bielsa now has the perfect opportunity to drop Roberts and start his £27m signing.

Roberts has simply held Leeds back for too long with his ineffective displays.

Meanwhile, Leeds source drops exciting update on club’s transfer plans…