According to a recent report from The Independent, Southampton are eyeing up a January move for midfielder Mohamed Elneny. The 26-year-old currently plays his football at Premier League giants Arsenal and has done so since leaving Basel back in January 2016, although struggles for regular game time at the Emirates Stadium this term has plunged his future at the club into doubt.

And a recent report from The Independent suggests that Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Southampton are seeking to lure him to the South Coast this month in a bid to end his Arsenal nightmare, with St Mary’s the ideal destination for the £9 million-rated outcast (as per Transfermarkt) to reignite his flailing Premier League career.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, things have never really got going properly for Elneny ever since swapping Switzerland for North London three years ago, with the Egypt international in that time only managing 40 league appearances for the Gunners, and just 81 in all competitions.

Injuries have certainly played a part in his struggles with issues to his calf, ankle, and hamstring very much disrupting his first team chances, but this term has seen him completely fall out of favour under new manager Unai Emery having appeared only twice in the Premier League for the North London heavyweights.

As such, his time at Arsenal very much appears to be up after just three years at the club, yet Hasenhuttl’s Southampton would surely provide him with the opportunity to resurrect his flagging career in English football.

Ultimately, the departure of Steven Davis to Scottish giants Rangers earlier this month has left the Saints slightly short of cover in the centre midfield area, especially in the more defensive-minded role given Mario Lemina and Oriol Romeu are the only men left in that particular department.

But such is the demand of Hasenhuttl’s dynamic and high-intensity pressing game, more options in that area of the field certainly wouldn’t go amiss, especially someone as solid on the ball but also with ability off it like Arsenal’s Elneny.

The 26-year-old may not have totally convinced in English football yet, but there have been signs that he has what it takes to succeed in the Premier League such has been his strength and overall reading of the game – he anticipates play well to help break up play and thwart oppositions going forward.

And with ability in getting on the ball and trying to pick a pass, the Egyptian ace would be a very accomplished addition to Hasenhuttl’s squad, not to mention the necessary quality needed to not only pull clear of Premier League danger this season, but also to help re-establish the club in the top ten in years to come.

As such, with the Saints reportedly (as per The Independent) keen on the midfielder, the South Coast does appear to be the ideal destination for Elneny to reignite his flailing career in English football.

Southampton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

أفادت تقارير صحفية فرنسية، أن الدولي السنغالي إدريسا جانا جاي، لاعب وسط فريق باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي، مطلوب في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

اللاعب السنغالي رحل عن إيفرتون في الصيف الماضي بعد تألقه في أمم أفريقيا مع أسود التيرانجا، لكنه لم يحصل على الفرصة كاملة تحت قيادة توماس توخيل.

إدريسا جاي شارك في الموسم الماضي خلال 34 مباراة وسجل هدفًا مع باريس سان جيرمان، لكنه لم يكن اللاعب الأساسي للمدرب توماس توخيل في معظم المباريات.

صحيفة “Le10Sport” الفرنسية، أفادت بأن كريستال بالاس ووست هام يرغبان في التعاقد مع لاعب الوسط السنغالي، خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية.

وشددت الصحيفة على أن إدريسا جاي يرغب في الرحيل عن باريس سان جيرمان، وكانت لديه اتصالات مع فريقه السابق إيفرتون.

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Leeds United’s title bid took a hit on Tuesday as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat to QPR at Loftus Road.

Despite having led the Championship for much of the campaign so far, a recent loss of form has caused Marcelo Bielsa’s side to slip into third place. Veteran Stoke City midfielder Charlie Adam believes there are two factors behind the Whites’ struggles.

What he said

Speaking on talkSPORT’s Alan Brazil Breakfast Show (27/02, 7am), as quoted by HITC, the 33-year-old said “earlier in the season they gave us a bit of a doing, but in the last match we played them they never really created much. They must be a good team to be up there all season, but I don’t think Spygate helped them as a club.”

Tensions boiled over between Leeds and Bolton at the weekend and our man Thogden was on the scene. Check out the video below…

The 26-cap Scotland international has blamed a lack of creativity and the fallout of the ‘Spygate’ scandal for the Elland Road club’s woes. However, Adam offers some solace for Leeds fans by saying “it’d be great to see them back in the Premier League but they need to steady the ship now and get over the line. Doesn’t matter how they do it, they just need to get the points they need somehow. It’s a tough league but they’ve got the balls to go score late goals so they’ve always got that going for them.”

Getting back in business

Leeds certainly do have a habit of scoring important late goals, and Adam is right, they do have the quality to claw their way back to the top of the pile.

All they’ve been missing in recent weeks has been the finishing touch. Defensively they’ve largely remained very solid and some of their build up play has been scintillating. All too often, though, the final pass or finish has been lacking.

25-year-old striker Patrick Bamford has the ability to be prolific at this level but looks to be struggling for confidence currently. If Bielsa can get the No. 9 firing soon then Leeds could quickly be back in business.

Gary Rowett has cast doubt over Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa’s ability to take the team back into the Premier League amidst their recent dip in form. 

Rowett, who’s perhaps most qualified to make these comments, following a host of failed attempts to secure Premier League promotion, recently applied his expert knowledge claiming that Leeds United will be unable to maintain their high-intensity style  and ultimately have to endure the uncertainty of the playoffs come the end of the campaign.

“I’m not sure they [Norwich and Leeds] will be [finishing in the automatic spots],” Rowett revealed to Sky Sports’ EFL Matters . “But I think those two have been fantastic and very, very impressive this season.”

He added: “What do you do now? Do you start to change that? Do you start to comprise? He [Bielsa] doesn’t look like the type of character that would.”

“And that’s just a question I think, it doesn’t mean that they’re not going to [win promotion].

“But if I look at the experience of some of those teams below, I think they’re certainly going to give Leeds – and Norwich – a run for their money.”

We’re sure football fans would probably heed Rowett’s advice had he not been sacked by Stoke City after only eight months in charge after his paltry efforts to bounce them back into the top-flight of English football left them in the bottom half of the table. Not forgetting his capitulation at Derby County, either; or his time at Birmingham for that matter.

Rowett still awaits his next job in management. With judgements like that, it’s not hard to see why.

Marcelo Bielsa knows what he’s doing at Leeds United and the sheer nature of the Championship campaign is always likely to throw these kind of obstacles at any team chasing promotion. The future is bright at Elland Road. Maybe not so much for Rowett.

Leeds United are preparing for the future after the club pinned down 19-year-old starlets Robbie Gotts and Clarke Oduor on new long-term contracts.

The club announced on Saturday that Gotts had signed a new three-and-a-half-year deal, which would keep the defender at Elland Road until 2022, before confirming on Sunday that winger Oduor had extended his current deal to the summer of 2020.

The new contracts are coming at a big and important time for the club, who are hoping to be competing in the Premier League next season, should they earn promotion.

Despite suffering a dip in performances and results lately, Leeds have been superb this season and manager Marcelo Bielsa has relied on quite a few of the youngsters to step up at crucial stages to help the team get over the line.

Gotts and Oduor have been regulars in Carlos Corberan’s u-23 side and have been key to the team’s success this season.

So much so that they have both been in Bielsa’s matchday squads at times this season.

Gotts has been on the bench for a number of games this campaign, while Oduor made his debut for the Whites in their FA Cup defeat at Queens Park Rangers at the start of the year.

The penning down of these two exciting young talents shows that the club is already trying to strengthen Bielsa’s squad if they are going to play top-flight football next season.

Corberan’s u-23 team has been in excellent form this season and is currently on top of the Professional Development League North, offering Bielsa a lot of depth for the first-team squad.

Should Leeds indeed play in the Premier League next season, then the club’s administration will be adamant on keeping their younger players at the club to help them compete with the big clubs.

In one of the more interesting Premier League clashes this weekend, Everton will be hosting Wolves at Goodison Park. The visitors sit in 7th, just one spot above their hosts by a margin of only two points. In this battle, we’ll be looking at two key men from each side in Andre Gomes and Ruben Neves to see how they might influence the crunch match.

The reverse fixture was one that took place early in the Premier League season when Everton travelled to Molineux. Ruben Neves was key that day as he scored a sublime free-kick to level the scores at 1-1 before the game eventually finished 2-2. However, a lot has changed since then and it will be interesting to see how Gomes and Neves compare in a game that could ultimately decide who finishes 7th.

RUBEN NEVES

You can ask any Wolves fan who their most influential player is and the chances are they’ll all come back with the same answer. Ruben Neves has become an icon at Molineux and at the age of just 21, it looks like he has a massive future ahead of him for both the West Midland’s club and with his national side, who will be competing with Andre Gomes for a spot in over the next few years.

Neves’ ability to score and create goals with his incredible technique and vision make him a player who is sure to be hotly coveted by a number of Europe’s top clubs if he keeps going the way he is. From central midfield, the ex-Porto man has scored nine goals and registered three assists in his 66 games for Wolves so far, and it’s fair to say that he never scores a dull goal, with his nine strikes already enough to make a pretty ludicrous high-light reel.

TT GRADE: A

ANDRE GOMES

Everton fans were all delighted, and rightfully so, when their club managed to pull off the loan signing of Andre Gomes from Barcelona on deadline day of the summer window. The Portuguese midfielder has all the talent and ability to succeed in the Premier League, even if he was poor and struggled for minutes whilst at the Nou Camp in his time with the Catalan giants.

At international level, Gomes has been a key staple of the Portugal side of the recent era. The midfielder has won 29 caps and is the current European Champion having been apart of the successful Portuguese squad from the 2016 competition. However, over the last few weeks, the 25-year-old has struggled as Everton’s form has been indifferent with losses to Millwall, Southampton, Leicester and Brighton marring their record.

TT GRADE: C+

TT VERDICT:

Whilst Gomes has got the experience of playing at a top club in Barcelona, his influence on this Everton side hasn’t been quite what the fans thought it would be. The 25-year-old has certainly been impressive, but he’s not a scratch on the sublime Ruben Nevez, who is destined to become one of the world’s very best. For those reasons, Neves simply has to win this battle.

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Celtic moved to sign West Bromwich Albion’s Oliver Burke on loan for the rest of the season during the January transfer window, as per BBC, and so far that decision has paid dividends with another goal in his side’s 2-0 win against Hibernian on Wednesday night.

The Bhoys faithful may well have been sporting a raised eyebrow for more reasons than one when Brendan Rodgers brought the winger to the club, but right now they will be nodding their heads in polite agreement over the deal.

Burke’s history in the game suggested that something wasn’t quite right. Indeed, for all his ability and hype his career has paled into relative insignificance so far.

But he has started life in Scotland with a bang, scoring three goals from his first five SPFL appearances, including the killer second against Hibs last time out.

His performance further enhanced his rapidly rising reputation, and the extent of his impact has encouraged plenty of supporters to call for Rodgers to sign him permanently in the summer.

West Bromwich Albion may well be reluctant to offload him after watching his development at Celtic, and the fact he cost them £15 million in August 2017 suggests it would be a major coup for the Hoops if they were able to secure a deal.

Either way it’s fair to say the fans are firmly in favour of turning his loan deal into a permanent one at the end of the season.

Here’s what some of the Celtic fans have had to say about Burke’s future:

لا يزال ممفيس ديباي على قائمة أمنيات نادي برشلونة لكن أنصار ليون يأملون أكثر في بقاء قائدهم.

ويعترف رونالد كومان، المدير الفني للبارسا بأنه يريد ديباي في برشلونة لكن نقص الأموال أوقف الصفقة.

وأعلن نادي ليون عبر حسابه الرسمي على “تويتر”، منح القميص رقم 10 لديباي، وحصل تينو كاديوير على القميص رقم 11.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سيلتا فيجو يتمسك بـ رافينيا ومطلب برشلونة يعرقل التفاوض

القميص 10 في ليون كان يرتديه في السابق ألكسندر لاكازيت وفلوري دي نالو، وبرتراند تراوري، لكنه على وشك الخروج من ليون أيضًا.

ويرى مشجعو ليون هذا كعلامة على أن ديباي قد يرفض الانتقال إلى برشلونة ويوقع عقد جديد النادي، وأشارت صحيفة “سبورت” الإسبانية إلى أن مشجعي ليون يجدون صعوبة في تصديق أن اللاعب سيطلب رقمًا جديدًا إذا كان يخطط للمغادرة.

Dans le vestiaire avant #OLNO ! 🔴🔵

Changement de numéros pour @Memphis et Tino Kadewere ☑️ pic.twitter.com/frEbq3hKzO

— Olympique Lyonnais (@OL) September 18, 2020

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New Bradford City boss Gary Bowyer is set to take charge of his first match on Saturday, when Peterborough United travel to Valley Parade.

Bowyer could do with a winning start as the Bantams are currently in relegation trouble and he doesn’t have long to get their season back on track and steer them clear of danger. Posh, though, arrive in good form, having beaten Wycombe Wanderers 4-2 last time out.

Bowyer is aware that he faces a tough task and that changes need to be made at Bradford. He has already been clear that fans can expect to see something different from his side this weekend.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

What he said

As quoted by the Bantams’ official website, Bowyer said: “I want the team to be playing and passing with a bit of style on the ball while working hard off of it. The football needs to be easy on the eye and we want to make the fans proud to support this team. 

The 47-year-old continued, explaining that he has already begun the process of introducing his ideas to the squad:

“We have had meetings with every player, individually, emphasising what we want from them but also what they can expect from me. They need to know the door is always open because we are here to help. We have to ensure we do the basics well. There is no secret formula to success, other than working very, very hard.”

Recipe for success

The football at Valley Parade has been stale for far too long, so fans will be delighted to hear that Bowyer is committed to bringing attractive, stylish play to the fore. With these words, the manager has sent a message to the supporters in an attempt inspire some much-needed passion and atmosphere in the stadium on Saturday.

Bowyer has also sent a message to his players. Given the tough time Bradford have had this season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he arrived to a dressing room desperately low on confidence and morale. By being open, and taking the time to speak to each player individually, the coach may have succeeded in giving them a welcome boost.

On top of that, he has revealed the central pillars of his plan to revitalise the Bantams: a back to basics approach, aiming to instil an attacking, attractive footballing philosophy, based on hard work and communication. 

Fans will be hoping it’s a recipe for success.

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Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after Wilfried Zaha was handed a one-game ban and fined £10,000 for improper conduct, after sarcastically applauding referee Andre Marriner in the 1-1 draw with Southampton according to the Eagles’ official Twitter account.

The Ivory Coast international accepted a charge for the offence for his actions, having been given his marching orders by Marriner at St Mary’s Stadium towards the end of January.

Interestingly, the suspension will not come into effect immediately as the 26-year-old considers his right of appeal.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Zaha has decided to appeal, so he will be available for the fixture against West Ham at Selhurst Park in what should be an exciting London derby.

However, given the fact that some fans of the south London-based club feel the initial dismissal by Marriner was unfair given the context of the situation, they have let their feelings about the decision be known on Twitter…