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David Gold, David Sullivan and Karren Brady appear to have acknowledged their failings in the summer transfer market through West Ham United’s rumoured defence of signing Craig Dawson on loan from Watford.

What’s the word?

According to Irons insider ExWHUemployee, while speaking on the West Ham Way Podcast, the Hammers ownership were reluctant to commit to Dawson long-term this summer as they do not consider the Watford defender to be a first-choice option in David Moyes’ plans.

The east London outfit acquired Dawson following the closure of the international transfer market on a season-long deal, which is rumoured to include an option to buy next summer for around £2million.

West Ham were linked with a myriad of defensive options this summer but saw their efforts fail to result in done deals, with Burnley opposed to accepting bids worth up to £30m for James Tarkowski as the Clarets valued the England international at £50m, while Bayer Leverkusen were approached too late in the market to sell Jonathan Tah and Olympique de Marseille ace Deja Caleta-Car did not wish to leave the Ligue 1 outfit.

Dawson is yet to feature for West Ham since joining the London Stadium natives on loan, but could make his debut against Manchester City on Saturday with the 30-year-old in contention for a place in Moyes’ matchday squad.

If Moyes does include the Hornets loanee, it will likely only be among the substitutes, and come as his first chance to change opinions in east London with ExWHUemployee noting that fan unrest also played a key part in GSB’s reluctance to sanction a long-term deal.

“We ended up signing Craig Dawson, he is a Will Salthouse player as I’ve clarified before,” ExWHUemployee noted. “We were going to sign him on a permanent deal for around £2m. But we were only going to offer him a one or two-year contract and I think he had a three-year contract at Watford.

“And it proved quite hard to get him to sign when he knew he wouldn’t get a contract the same length as the one he had. Also, because there was quite a lot of negativity from the West Ham fans, the club erred on the side of caution and thought: ‘right we’ll get him on loan, he’s probably only going to be a back-up anyway’.”

GSB acknowledged their failings

Having failed in so many attempted swoops this summer, Gold, Sullivan and Brady could easily have opted to award Dawson a contract matching the length of his Watford terms in order to add depth to Moyes’ backline.

However, they appear to have acknowledged their failings in securing a first-choice option and decided best to only acquire Dawson on a temporary deal as the move offers the east London outfit an easy out in 2021 should the Watford loanee fail to establish himself.

The decision also prevented GSB from facing greater fan unrest following the protests seen outside of the London Stadium on the opening day, as they did not commit to keeping a player supporters were opposed to signing but without leaving Moyes weak in defence.

Had Dawson been signed permanently, West Ham may have found themselves in a position next summer where they need to sell the 30-year-old in order to sign the first-choice option they hoped to land this year, as the Watford man would be taking up wages and a squad place he may not deserve – a situation which would surely have angered the Irons faithful.

AND in other news, West Ham risk a Jack Wilshere 2.0 scenario by signing a once-£42.4m-valued outcast backed by a club legend.

Michael Dawson believes Aston Villa ace Jack Grealish can be the man to finally replace Christian Eriksen at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer.

Grealish has been one of the few bright sparks in an otherwise dismal season for Villa, who find themselves locked in a relegation battle in the Premier League. The 24-year-old has scored seven goals and supplied six assists in the English top flight this season.

Former Spurs star Darren Bent has backed his old club to sign Grealish this summer, amid interest from Manchester United.

The Lilywhites have arguably struggled to replace Eriksen ever since he left for Inter Milan, as Jose Mourinho has moaned about the lack of creativity in the midfield.

Speaking exclusively to talkSPORT, Dawson insists he could be the missing ingredient Mourinho needs to challenge for silverware.

The Nottingham Forest defender told talkSPORT (via The Boot Room): “Yeah, Jack is a fantastic player. When they let Eriksen go, his head had been turned but 18 months ago he was incredible, different class, they haven’t replaced him, I love Lo Celso, he is incredible.

“Dele Alli is incredible too – but Harry Kane misses Eriksen. He made opportunities for Harry, it gave Harry goal after goal. We are being critical of Spurs, but those heights aren’t being hit.”

It is hard to argue with Dawson on this one, as Grealish has been in stunning form for Villa despite the fact they lie nineteenth in the Premier League.

The Englishman has been involved in 15 goals in the competition so far, taking 1.9 shots per game, averaging 2.6 key passes and making 2 dribbles on average (via WhoScored).

Harry Kane and Eriksen combined for a total of 32 goals between them overall, so Grealish will have his work cut out if he moves to north London in the summer.

However, Daniel Levy will face stiff competition from Man United, who have been linked to the playmaker for a number of months.

Levy has made it clear he will not be spending “rivers of money” in the transfer window, so Spurs could miss out on Grealish, as it is unlikely he will be available for a cheap price.

Players like Grealish will be desperate to play European football, as they will want to define their legacy.

Unfortunately, Manchester City’s ban has been overturned, which will make Tottenham’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League even more difficult than they already are.

Tottenham fans, should Daniel Levy sign Jack Grealish? Let us know down below!

Name: Ivan Perisic

Club: On loan at Bayern Munich from Inter Milan

Date of Birth: 2 February 1989

Position: Winger (left, right)

IVAN PERISIC – HIS CAREER SO FAR

Born in Split, Croatia, Ivan Perisic was always a big fan of Hajduk Split, a local giant and one of the biggest clubs in the country. It doesn’t surprise then that his first steps into the world of football were done exactly in their youth setups. But it also wouldn’t take long for other European teams to take notice of the young, up and coming forward as the likes of Anderlecht, PSV, Ajax and Hamburger SV showed interest. In the end, however, the Croat would ultimately choose the French club Sochaux.

Despite his talent, Perisic would fail to tally a single appearance for the team’s first-team, spending his time in the B side before going out on loan to a Belgian team Roeselare for six months. There, he obviously picked up a number of admirers and it came down to a tussle between Anderlecht and Club Brugge for the forward’s coveted signature.

At the end of the day, the latter team emerged as victors and Perisic was officially signed on 26 August 2009. And this is where his qualities started to shine the brightest. The beginning of his career at the new club was brilliant, to say the least, and the Croat would tally goal after goal and pair them up with some big assists as well. In the end, he would go on to score 35 goals and provide 23 assists in a total of 89 games for Club Brugge, leaving a good legacy and eventually departing for Borussia Dortmund for the 2011/12 campaign.

Despite a promising start to his venture in Germany and some decisive goals that followed, Perisic found his first-team opportunities quite limited in Dortmund and that would eventually lead to his departure to Wolfsburg, having only recorded 64 appearances in front of the Yellow Wall, bagging 12 goals and seven assists along the way.

Staying in Germany, Perisic would add to his overall Bundesliga tally with his new team but he also wouldn’t stay for too long, eventually signing with Inter Milan in the summer of 2015. His spell with Wolfsburg was good, as evidenced by 21 goals and 17 assists in 88 games, but some niggling injuries and a big opportunity in Italy meant he would swap clubs once more.

The Nerazzurri treated him well and he would stay at Inter for longer than at any other club throughout his career. The Croat also has quite a resume with the Italians as well, bagging 40 goals and 35 assists across 163 games but ultimately with no silverware to show for. In fact, the first titles he claimed on club level came with Borussia Dortmund as the team managed to win Bundesliga and the German Cup in 2011/12 and then follow it up with a German Supercup triumph the next season.

That would, however, change with his loan spell at Bayern Munich that lasted throughout the 2019/20 campaign as the Bavarians claimed the Bundesliga title in the process as well. Perisic himself scored six goals and assisted ten in 31 games, proving that he’s still got a lot left in the tank.

It has to be said that he’s been an instrumental part of Croatia’s national team as well, participating in the last two Euros and the last two World Cups for his country. And he was an instrumental part of Croatia’s run to the final in Russia back in 2018, even scoring a goal in an eventual defeat to France, becoming the first-ever Croat to do so.

TRANSFER LATEST

Perisic’s loan deal at Bayern Munich is set to end in the coming month and there are already various transfer rumours and transfer news connecting the Croat with a plethora of different teams. Currently, however, Tottenham Hotspur seem to be among the most interested squads out there and a move to the Premier League could indeed be on the cards.

First, of course, Perisic will return to Italy and then we’ll see what happens next. Still, with the market on the island now officially opened, we could see all kinds of Tottenham Hotspur transfer news popping up in the coming weeks.

PLAYER PROFILE

Perisic is a winger by nature but has been played all across the park throughout his career due to his sheer versatility and adaptability. Even though his main task is always to score goals, the 31-year-old is a keen creator as well, often combining well with his teammates and both exploiting and creating space along the way.

His great dribbling skills also mean that he can wreak havoc across the final third and despite often staying wide, Perisic can also cut inside and advance through the half-space. We can also see him engage in 1v1s close to the opposition’s box and that can lead to dangerous cut-backs or low crosses towards his teammates.

Despite being 31 years of age, he rarely runs out of steam.

Manchester City are believed to be among three Premier League clubs vying for the signature of Wolves winger Adama Traore, according to reports from French media.

Le10 Sport claimed that Pep Guardiola’s side, along with Liverpool and Manchester United, are in the hunt for the 24-year-old, who has enjoyed a very impressive season at Molineux.

Traore has stood out at Wolves this season with six goals and 10 assists in 43 appearances in all competitions. Remarkably, half of that goals tally has come at the expense of Manchester City, with the Spaniard scoring twice in his team’s 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium and on target again in their eventful 3-2 victory over the Premier League champions at Molineux. [via TransferMarkt]

Little more than a year ago, he was admitting to the Express & Star that his end product needed to be far better. His figures this season show that he has improved greatly in that respect, while the 24-year-old possesses pace to burn. Indeed, as reported by Birmingham Live, his prime sprint speed has been clocked at just under 23 miles per hour, the fastest in England’s top flight and on a par with world champion sprinter Usain Bolt.

Traore regularly occupies a right winger role at Wolves and, should he make the switch to Manchester City, he would have Bernardo Silva and Riyad Mahrez as competition in that area.

The Algerian has been excellent this season, contributing nine goals and 14 assists from the right flank, while the Portugal winger has a broadly similar strike rate to Traore, scoring seven times in 40 appearances. Interestingly, his most productive position this term has been on the left wing, with three of his goals coming from that side.

While Traore’s possible arrival could leave Guardiola with an abundance of right wingers, transfer reports linking Leroy Sane with Bayern Munich may raise questions about the depth on the left flank, where the German is joined by Raheem Sterling in the current Manchester City squad.

The England winger began the season in scintillating form but then endured a prolonged scoring drought since the end of 2019, last finding the net against Traore’s Wolves nearly five months ago (as per TransferMarkt).

As Guardiola knows all too well, the Molineux winger has the ability and potency to make defences suffer and he should offer a strong boost to City’s attacking options were he to come to the Etihad. In turn, the manager may use Bernardo primarily as a left winger, which could well put Sterling’s place in the team under threat.

The champions’ reported pursuit of Traore could be the warning spark for the England winger to awake from his slumber and get back to the form he showed early in the season. Otherwise, he might find himself playing backup to Bernardo.

Man City fans, do you think Traore would get into Guardiola’s first XI if he came to the Etihad? Whose place do you think he could threaten? Comment below with your views!

Tottenham’s Eric Dier has been banned for four games after confronting a spectator during the FA Cup defeat to Norwich in March and he will now miss the clash with Arsenal at the weekend as a result.

According to ESPN, the Football Association have handed him a four-match ban after he leapt into the stands and started a fracas with a Spurs supporter who had directed insults at his brother, with security guards trying to break up the midfielder and spectator.

The Lilywhites will face the Gunners at home when one of the biggest rivalries in the country plays out again on Sunday. However, Spurs will have to go into the game without the services of Dier following his suspension, dealing a significant blow for Jose Mourinho’s plans.

The 26-year-old has played in every single minute since the Premier League restart as Tottenham bounced back from a disappointing defeat at Sheffield United by edging past Everton at home on Monday night.

After he conceded a penalty against Manchester United three weeks ago, Dier helped the defence to keep a clean sheet in the subsequent 2-0 win over West Ham and again on Monday night.

The England international, who was a favourite of Mauricio Pochettino, has played 18 Premier League games this season, supplying two assists, winning 1.2 tackles, averaging 1.1 interceptions and completing 3.1 clearances per game on average (via WhoScored).

Dier has never had it easy at Spurs, as he has been beset by multiple injuries, illness and mixed form over the years. However, he has established himself as a regular starter under Mourinho in recent weeks and has received high praise from the manager. He is currently valued at £18m via Transfermarkt.

The Lilywhites have leaked goals for fun all season long and now they will be without one of their most trusted players when they face the Gunners at home.

Mourinho will be well aware of the dangers posed by Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Dier’s absence could be sorely felt as they prepare for the derby on Sunday.

Tottenham fans, will Dier be missed against Arsenal? Let us know your views in the comments below!

Wolverhampton Wanderers captain Conor Coady has revealed all in a recent appearance on The Athletic’s ‘The Molineux View’ podcast this week, including the one thing that winds his manager Nuno Santo up…

What’s he said?

There has been no action on the pitch for three weeks now, and it could be several more before fans get to see the Old Gold back once again.

The west Midlanders still have the Premier League’s top six and the Europa League to compete for, so any future return will make for serious intrigue.

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Coady took time away from his family and the rigorous training regime the club have got him on to speak to both Tim Spiers and Jacqui Oatley on Tuesday.

The duo asked the Wolves skipper if there was any one thing that annoyed his chief-in-command, he responded with this:

“I’ll say something little which I noticed with the first couple of weeks that he was in. When we’re on the training pitch- it’s a bit mad out there and no one will really know it – but it’s just us as players that know it.

“When we’re out on the training pitch and he’s obviously speaking in the middle, it gets to him a little bit when your hands are on your hips because you’re not ready.

“He’ll say to ya ‘you’re not ready, get your hands off your hips, make sure you’re ready’. I’ve been done for it when he first come in. That has always been something that has frustrated him in terms of being on the training pitch.”

Management style

It’s no surprise to see that this sort of thing annoys the Portuguese boss, after all, he was once likened to Premier League great Sir Alex Ferguson by Spiers himself – the man who deployed the infamous ‘hairdryer’ tactic regularly in the dressing room.

In some sense, such a niche thing on the training ground is Nuno’s own form of the hairdryer treatment as he clearly demands a certain level from all of his players no matter the occasion and it is no wonder that Wolves have been doing so well under his leadership.

A Championship trophy and qualification to the Europa League inside two seasons is a phenomenal achievement and is precisely why his management style shouldn’t be questioned.

It’s also merely the start of the journey with ownership group Fosun having loft ambitions to one day challenge for the Premier League title.

AND in other news, Wolves’ Jonny posts update to Instagram…

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City almost certainly won’t win the Premier League title this season.

Nevertheless, they remain one of the most celebrated and critically-acclaimed teams of the last generation.

They did, after all, break the 100-point barrier in the top-flight and pipped a Liverpool team that lost just one league game all season to the title in 2019-20.

There was, of course, scrutiny on Guardiola when he arrived in 2016. He had managed one of the most beloved club sides of all time in Barcelona, and won a ridiculous amount of trophies while doing it. He had unlocked Lionel Messi’s potential and made him the greatest player in the world. He had taken tiki-taka to unfathomable heights.

Would it work in England? It was a question that needed answering.

Whenever he did fall at the hands of typical, frantic, explosive English football, the response was almost gleeful. Guardiola refused to lavish too much praise on the Premier League but defeats at the hands of rapid counter-attacking sides left nothing more to say, in the eyes of some.

The first such example came in December 2016, when Leicester tore them apart on the counter-attack. The Foxes’ 4-2 win was inspired by a Jamie Vardy hat-trick but Claudio Bravo and Aleksandar Kolarov in particular provided shambolic resistance.

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The vultures had started to circle at that stage and Pep’s admission that he doesn’t get his players to work on tackling was held up as further proof that he just didn’t ‘get’ English football.

Yet, Leicester were still reigning champions and still in the Champions League, which allowed Guardiola and City a small amount of grace.

So, just over a month later, the Spaniard’s Etihad reign reached its nadir and this time, there was no place to hide.

Back in January 2017, his fifth-placed City side travelled to Merseyside to face Ronald Koeman’s Everton looking to go within seven points of leaders Chelsea. Bravo was still between the sticks but Kolarov had been dropped in favour of Gael Clichy.

Ageing duo Yaya Toure – who had recently patched up his differences with Pep – and Pablo Zabaleta were in midfield.

As you would expect, City dominated the ball but Everton were tenacious, energetic and clinical. They were everything their visitors weren’t and the struggles of Bravo gave Guardiola’s side no chance of masking the cracks.

Everton scored with their first shot of the game, through Romelu Lukaku, and then with every shot on target thereafter as Kevin Mirallas netted just after half-time to puncture any City hopes of a revival – before two young English starlets took over.

Tom Davies had desire and energy that City’s creaking midfield could not match all afternoon and when he burst between the lines on 79 minutes, it became clear that their defence couldn’t live with him either.

The academy prospect produced a sumptuous chip, his first goal for the club, to provide the moment of the match and send Goodison wild. There was still time for Ademola Lookman to add a fourth and City had been roundly beaten. They were now surely out of the title race.

Throughout his entire time in this country, never has Guardiola looked more ill at ease with the demands of English football.

City were punch-drunk and shell-shocked, and so was Pep.

Guardiola’s critics have never been louder than they were after City’s last visit to Goodison. They have been quiet for quite some time, however.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Football Insider, West Bromwich Albion youth prospect Jovan Malcolm is wanted by Premier League leaders Liverpool.

But it appears as if a pattern is emerging at the Hawthorns, which probably spells more bad things than good in terms of their long-term future.

What’s the word?

The Baggies’ U18 striker netted four past the Champions League finalists last week as they won 6-3, a game in which Rico Richards featured in before also being linked with a move to the top-flight, per The Sun.

It appears that Liverpool were impressed with what they saw while the same report suggests that other Premier League clubs hold some interest.

Football Insider also claim that Malcolm’s future in the west Midlands is now in doubt despite only being 16 years of age.

Trend emerging

Albion have an impressive reputation for producing emerging talents, but rarely have they been able to keep hold of them.

In the summer, promising striker Louie Barry rejected a contract to sign for La Liga giants Barcelona, and West Brom were powerless in stopping Morgan Rogers join Manchester City for £4m.

They did manage to keep hold of Rekeem Harper despite interest from Juventus and Liverpool, but that decision appears to be a mistake considering he has only managed six minutes in the league all season.

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As mentioned above, they risk losing Richards and even Nathan Ferguson, who broke into first-team stardom this campaign.

His performances under Slaven Bilic have warranted interest from some elite names in Europe, and with his contract set to expire at the end of the season, they’ll be sweating over whether or not they can keep hold of the versatile defender.

Luke Dowling has claimed in the past that the club’s academy is ‘enviable’ and he isn’t far off being wrong, but over the past year, it’s quickly become a talent conveyor belt for other teams to pluck from rather than an opportunity to build from within.

If it continues at this rate, the Baggies are likely flirting with their future ability to develop their own.

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…

Former Manchester United player Alan Brazil has spoken to talkSPORT on their Sports Breakfast and has proclaimed that Paul Pogba will never play for the club again.

Needless to say, this has probably made Zinedine Zidane’s day.

What did he say?

Pogba to Real Madrid is far from a fresh link.

TalkSPORT acknowledge Los Blancos have been strongly linked with the signing of the Frenchman and Brazil’s revelation suggestions the former Juventus star could be on his way out of United in the January transfer window.

Pogba has only tallied 540 minutes of playing time across all competitions this season.

Granted, injuries have also taken a toll on the midfielder, but Brazil’s latest verdict strongly suggests his Manchester United adventure seems all but over.

Here’s what the former Red Devil had to say to talkSPORT:

“Someone has just told me, and it’s not just a random text, I know this guy and he does know a lot about United and what has gone on. He says: ‘From a very strong source – Pogba will NEVER play for United again’. Now, take that the way you want it, I don’t know who has told him but that is what he is saying.

“Because I was thinking the other night, ‘What has happened to him, where is he?’ Pogba posted a video of himself playing basketball last week, despite the injury, drawing criticism from fans. Look that’s the source; he has told me he will never play for United again.”

Matter of time

At this point, and especially after Brazil’s verdict on the whole situation, this transfer seems all but inevitable.

Zidane was reportedly so eager to sign Pogba – valued at £90m by Transfermarkt – during the summer that he discarded the potential signings of the likes of Christian Eriksen and Donny van de Beek, two huge names in world football.

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And now, he might finally get his wish, for better or worse, come January.

Signing Pogba, however, doesn’t necessarily look like the best course of action for the Galacticos as there seem to be more reasons to abandon the cause than to chase it, as we have already discussed.

But Zidane seems to have already made up his mind and for that reason it feels like it’s only a matter of time before we actually see the big Frenchman don the royal white of Real Madrid.

For the sake of both Zidane and the player in question, hopefully it fits him perfectly.

If not, this would prove to be a rather costly exercise for the Spanish capital outfit.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid have also made a big decision on Willian and it may play a key role in their young players’ development.

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

Did he pass his third audition?

With Michael Dawson out injured, Sabri Lamouchi has been giving other players their chance to prove if they can keep the captain out of the team not just now but potentially for the future.

Tobias Figueiredo played against Blackburn Rovers and Wigan Athletic, but now it was time for Chema to be given another opportunity, having previously started against Brentford earlier in the month and replaced Dawson when he was injured against Stoke City.

Having been brought to the City Ground in the summer from Levante, his opportunities have been limited thus far, so how did he do in his latest outing and has he done enough to cement his place for the long term?

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On the chalkboard

It was certainly a bit of a mixed night for the Spaniard.

Whilst he put in a relatively comfortable performance for the majority of the game, he played huge parts in both of the goals that the visitors conceded.

For the first strike, not only did he lose his runner in Josh Magennis, but also played him onside when he turned in Jon Toral’s shot. Then for the second he was caught out of position and was forced to play catch up as the Spanish midfielder squared the ball to Jarred Bowen.

If you take a look at his statistics from the game (taken from WhoScored), he completed 85% of his passes which was above the team average (84%), won eight aerial duels (double that of Joe Worrall in second) and made three tackles (joint-most of all in the team).

If he can replicate this sort of form going forward, then there shouldn’t be a question as to whether or not he can be the long term replacement for Dawson.

However, he just needs to work on his concentration, because whilst the statistics might be impressive, if he’s at fault for the goals they concede then his usefulness won’t last long.