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Arsenal’s search for a new playmaker has taken an interesting twist this week…

What’s the word?

According to Goal.com’s Charles Watts, Leicester City star James Maddison has emerged as a target, with the Gunners interested in his signature but his £60m price tag could prove troublesome.

It’s thought that bringing Martin Odegaard back from Real Madrid has always been a priority and whilst that still isn’t out of the question, Watts says that talks with parent club Real Madrid have left the North Londoners feeling that they will have to look elsewhere.

Forget Odegaard

If technical director Edu Gaspar and the rest of the Emirates Stadium hierarchy can find a way to make this deal happen, then they can forget about signing Odegaard.

Maddison has been one of the most consistent attacking midfielders in the Premier League in recent seasons, playing a big part in the Foxes’ monumental rise under Brendan Rodgers, in which they won the FA Cup this season.

Injury blighted a lot of his 2020/21 campaign but the one-cap England international still delivered 11 goals and ten assists across all competitions, including strikes against Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City.

These returns were better than every single Arsenal midfielder combined. And he missed several months of the season.

In his 29 appearances in North London, the Madrid wonderkid only provided four direct goal contributions, averaging a goal or assist every 288 minutes in the Premier League alone, via Transfermarkt.

The £60m-rated Leicester dynamo also averaged 0.2 more key passes each outing than the Norway international too, so it’s not at all a bad thing if Mikel Arteta’s attentions were to turn elsewhere.

His manager Brendan Rodgers has frequently lauded him during their time together at the King Power, dubbing him everything from having “immense quality” to being “sensational.”

Whilst The Times’ chief football writer Henry Winter believes the 24-year-old maestro “has a special talent”.

If the Gunners want to fill their creative void, then ultimately, they should look no further than Maddison.

Arteta is, according to Football London’s Chris Wheatley, said to be “a huge fan” of his and that should be enough for Edu and the club to pull the trigger to get a deal done.

AND in other news, Edu must sanction Arsenal swoop for “very talented” £40m monster who’s “like Ozil”…

Football Insider pundit Paddy Kenny has been having his say on Celtic’s reported decision to terminate Olivier Ntcham’s Hoops contract.

The Lowdown: Celtic source shares update

A Celtic source informed Football Insider over the weekend that the club doesn’t intend to welcome the midfielder back from his loan spell in Marseille and will let him go for nothing.

Marseille had the option to make Ntcham’s loan a permanent deal this summer for £4.5m, however, they have decided against doing just that following his struggles back in France where he made just six appearances.

The 25-year-old will reportedly become a free agent next month, with the Hoops exercising their option to terminate the last year of Ntcham’s deal without having to pay his outstanding wages.

The Latest: Kenny reacts

Kenny, 43, was asked about the update by Football Insider, with the former goalkeeper describing it as ‘very strange’.

“It’s a weird one.

“I find that very strange looking at it from the perspective of money. There must be something behind the scenes that’s gone wrong.

“It’s costing them on two counts because they are losing a player and losing out on a fee too. Something must have happened that we don’t know about.

“Have they all agreed to cut their losses and move on? It’s a really strange decision.”

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The Verdict: Surely the Hoops won’t terminate Ntcham’s deal?

These are just reports regarding Ntcham, with the club neither confirming nor denying the rumours on the central midfielder as of yet.

In our opinion, we don’t think this will actually happen. Yes, he is on £14,000-a-week, so the club could get his wages off the books should they terminate his contract.

However, Celtic were thought to be after a £7m fee for the player back in January, so we find it hard to believe they are now willing to receive nothing for his services.

He hasn’t had the best of seasons in Glasgow and Marseille, but if the club can receive anywhere in the region of his Transfermarkt valuation, £3.15m, then that could still prove to be an excellent piece of business.

In other news: Celtic set to sign 17-year-old with medical passed, find out more here. 

Chris Hughton is open to the idea of allowing Lyle Taylor to leave Nottingham Forest this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Football League World, who claim that the Garibaldi could make the 31-year-old centre-forward available for loan in the upcoming transfer window.

It is reported that a number of Championship clubs, including the likes of Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers and Barnsley, are keeping a close eye on the situation of the £900k-rated Montserrat international ahead of a potential summer move.

Taylor must go

After signing for Sabri Lamouchi’s Forest side on a £5k-per-week three-year deal back in August of last year, Taylor did not enjoy the finest of debut seasons at The City Ground this term.

With Evangelos Marinakis sacking the manager who signed the striker just four games into the club’s 2020/21 campaign, before subsequently appointing Chris Hughton, it soon became clear that Taylor was not the 62-year-old’s first-choice centre-forward.

However, the 31-year-old still went on to make a total of 39 Championship appearances for Forest this year – although only 15 came as starts – over which the former Charlton Athletic hitman scored a mere four goals, registered no assists and created just one big chance for his teammates.

Taylor also hit the target an average of just 0.4 times per game, as well as missing eight big chances over the course of the season, with these metrics seeing the striker earn an extremely disappointing seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.64 – ranking him as Hughton’s joint-ninth worst performer in the second tier.

These lacklustre displays largely contributed to Nottingham Forest’s worst league finish since Mark Warburton was in charge of the club in the 2016/17 Championship season, with the Garibaldi scoring a mere 37 goals over their 45 league fixtures this season – with the only side scoring fewer than the Reds being Derby County, who hit the net just 36 times this term.

As such, it would appear highly advisable for Hughton to move Taylor on this summer, be that on a loan or even a permanent deal, as the former Wimbledon forward – whom Neal Ardley previously dubbed an “outstanding” player – does not appear to be compatible whatsoever with the 62-year-old’s style of play at Forest.

In other news: Transfer update emerges on “hit and miss” 24 y/o dynamo that could divide Forest fans

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Tottenham Hotspur legend, Paul Stewart, has claimed that Harry Kane is very likely to leave this summer as he is an ambitious player.

Kane has been heavily linked with a move away this summer as Tottenham continue to fall behind their rivals and after another season of not winning any silverware, Spurs’ number nine could look for pastures new.

After bursting on the scene in 2014 with 21 goals in 34 games back in 2014, Kane has managed to score 164 Premier League goals but has still not won a trophy with his boyhood club despite making two finals in the last two years.

Speaking on what Kane’s future may look like beyond this season and how he has ambitions that Tottenham may not be able to match, Stewart exclusively told FFC:

“‘I’m not sure whether Harry Kane will be there next season because he’s one of the best strikers in the world and he’s not winning trophies.

“You’ve got to say he’s been loyal to the club but he’s ambitious and he’s not getting any younger. So, I think we’ll see him move on in the summer.”

Tottenham signed Carlos Vinicius last summer on loan as a back up to Kane but the Brazillian has only scored one goal in the Premier League this season as the club continues to struggle to find a suitable backup option.

They’re still without a permanent manager but Ryan Mason, who is in temporary charge, has managed to oversee two wins and one loss in the league since he got the job.

Newcastle United will be ‘locked in purgatory’ if the club is defeated in its arbitration proceedings against the Premier League, according to the Chronicle Live’s Mark Douglas.

The lowdown

Last year, Mike Ashley agreed a £305million deal to sell Newcastle to a consortium led by Amanda Staveley.

But the buyers ostensibly pulled out of the deal having grown frustrated with the Premier League’s lengthy owners’ and directors’ test (via BBC Sport).

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would have taken over an 80 percent stake, and there were concerns over alleged human rights abuses and TV piracy (via The Athletic).

In a bid to resurrect the deal, Ashley has taken the matter to arbitration – an independent panel will assess the validity of the Premier League’s concerns this summer.

The latest

Douglas was asked in a fan Q&A what is currently happening with the proposed takeover.

He admitted ‘the future of the club’ is at stake when arbitration commences in July.

If Newcastle, who have a ‘heavyweight legal team’ at their disposal, win the case, then the takeover will be ‘unlocked’.

But if they don’t, the club remains in limbo as it awaits a further competition appeal tribunal case come the end of the year.

However, he did offer reassurances that there’s ‘no sign’ of PIF or PCP Capital Partners abandoning the deal and looking to another club.

Ultimately, the uncertainty will continue ‘for a bit longer’, but Douglas confirms the groups involved in the potential takeover are not going anywhere at the moment.

The verdict

It’s encouraging for Newcastle that Mike Ashley is willing to fight tooth-and-nail to get this deal through, regardless of his ulterior motives.

Of course, Ashley’s desires to sell won’t matter one iota if PIF and PCP grow frustrated and walk away, so Douglas’ latest comment should count as massively reassuring to the Toon Army.

In the short-term, though, there’s probably another season of lower mid-table mediocrity in the offing, with Ashley surely unlikely to commit significant funds for transfers this summer when he’s so keen to sell.

In other news, find out the financial value of Newcastle’s strong finish to the Premier League season. 

Many Wolves fans have been fuming over the performance of Daniel Podence despite their 1-0 win over Sheffield United in the Premier League on Saturday night.

Willian Jose grabbed his first league goal for the Midlands club and the only goal of the match after some nice work by Adama Traore on the wing, confirming Blades’ relegation from the top flight with six matches still to play.

Podence did not have his best game in an Old Gold shirt, losing out on 12 of his duels, the most of any player to have set foot on the pitch. He also failed to record a single shot on target, key pass, cross or accurate long ball, all while losing possession on 19 different occasions in the match, the second-most of any of his teammates (Sofascore).

Wolves fans slam Podence’s display

These members of the Molineux faithful slammed his performance on Twitter, with one Wolves supporter even claiming that the Portugal international is a ‘liability’:

“Podence away from his skills is a liability !! Temperament is questionable #wwfc”

Credit: @Pukkawolf

“Thank god Podence has gone off. Awful #wolves #wwfc”

Credit: @wdt17

“Please take Podence off he’s been awful!!! #wwfc”

Credit: @Goughy_WWFC

“Podence is so anonymous it’s untrue #wwfc #WOLSHU”

Credit: @FarenheitDP9

“Semedo has been the only player looking to move forward, Podence may as well be sat in the stands tweeting about Olympiacos #wwfc”

Credit: @BKristianmarcus

“Podence has been poor. #wwfc”

Credit: @cruyffwulf

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by numerous Wolves fans!

Swansea City’s automatic promotion hopes are all but over after a 1-0 defeat against QPR at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.

The late concession, combined with Watford’s 1-0 win against Norwich City, means that Steve Cooper’s side have to win all three of their remaining games, and hope that the Hornets lose all three of theirs if they want to finish in second place.

The Swans were second best for much of the game, with QPR hitting the woodwork twice before finally taking the lead with 89 minutes gone, with Lyndon Dykes smashing home from Albert Adomah’s clever through ball.

One man who particularly disappointed for Swansea at the Liberty Stadium was Wayne Routledge.

As per SofaScore, the 36-year-old veteran would earn a 6.8/10 rating for his performance, with only Ryan Bennett (6.6) and Kyle Naughton (6.6) rated lower of the players who started the game.

The winger, who was featuring up front in the absence of Andre Ayew, blew a great opportunity to give Swansea the lead in the first half when he hit the post, whilst he was extremely wasteful when played through on goal by Jamal Lowe, as his heavy touch allowed the goalkeeper to snatch the ball when he was one-on-one.

During the game, the veteran attacker would have just 28 touches of the ball and would only manage to complete 7/13 of his passes, resulting in a less than impressive 54% pass accuracy rate.

Not only is this far below the 64% rate he has averaged in the Championship this season, but it was also the fewest passes played by anyone on the pitch, with both goalkeepers completing twice as many.

Routledge was caught offside on three occasions which highlighted his lack of attacking positioning, whilst the fact that he managed to lose possession on nine occasions, despite being involved so little, will surely frustrate Cooper.

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To compound a miserable display, Routledge would win just 4/11 of his duels during the game and failed to hit the target with any of his shots, so you could definitely argue that he let Cooper down when the manager was relying on his experience to help see his side through what was a must-win game for the Swans.

And, in other news… Winter could sign Swansea their ideal Ayew heir in £225k-rated beast, Cooper would love him

Many Everton fans have been left to bemoan an injury update on Tyler Onyango as David Unsworth confirmed that the Toffees think he has fractured his leg.

The injury was suffered in an FA Youth Cup game over Manchester City, in which the Goodison Park outfit eventually won 1-0 with a late goal.

Nonetheless, Onyango looked to have suffered a bad injury, which has not gone down well with numerous supporters of the Merseyside club.

The central midfielder made his senior debut for Carlo Ancelotti’s team in the FA Cup fourth round win over Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the season, and at just 18 years of age, he is certainly an exciting prospect that the Toffees have on their hands.

Nonetheless, the club will hope that it is not serious and wish the teenager a speedy recovery.

Everton fans on Onyango injury update

These Everton supporters bemoaned the injury update on Twitter, with one fan describing it as ‘horrible’:

“Absolutely gutted for the lad. Fingers crossed for a speedy and full recovery.”

Credit: @NTylerVI

“Very sad! been good seeing him on the bench recently, get well soon @OnyangoTyler”

Credit: @karlriley_1997

“So cruel. Lad looks a player and was so close to the first team.”

Credit: @PaulEFC86

“Oh my… Get well soon lad”

Credit: @IndoEvertonian

“Serious… we are absolutely cursed! Just got Gbamin back and now Onyango has a career threatening injury. Feel like our long term injury chain goes back to Oviedo. Our physio team must never get a day off.”

Credit: @evertonian6

“That’s horrible”

Credit: @Matt_S_1982

In other news, find out what injury update before Crystal Palace has left these Toffees fuming!

Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively told Football FanCast that he believes West Ham’s owners will go all out in their attempts to sign Jesse Lingard permanently this summer.

The on-loan Manchester United forward has been in scintillating form following his move to the London Stadium back in January, although his recent purple patch is attracting the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

West Ham have already been strongly linked with signing Lingard on a permanent basis, but face stiff competition from the likes of Real Madrid, PSG and Inter Milan, who’ve all been monitoring the England international recently.

Lingard, whose contract at Old Trafford expires next summer, continued his goalscoring form by netting twice in West Ham’s victory over Leicester on Sunday to take his own tally to eight in nine matches and move the Hammers back into the top four.

Despite his interest from elsewhere, Fry told Football FanCast that co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold will be doing all they can to ensure Lingard’s a West Ham player next season:

“Knowing the West Ham owners, I think they will try their best if David Moyes wants Lingard permanently. I think they do everything in their power to get him at West Ham.

“He’s obviously got a relationship with David Moyes otherwise he wouldn’t have gone there in the first place.

“He’s been absolutely fantastic. He’s got back in the England squad and showed his worth and he’s been outstanding for West Ham. Lingard’s special.”

Writing for the Daily Express, journalist Gareth Bicknell has touted available manager Rafael Benitez as a potential option for Tottenham Hotspur if current coach Jose Mourinho is sacked – with the Spaniard standing out among four other possible candidates.

Benitez touted as potential option for Tottenham

Alongside the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Eddie Howe and Max Allegri, Benitez is touted by the Express as one man chairman Daniel Levy could turn to given his availability after leaving Chinese Super League side Dalian Pro.

Indeed, Bicknell believes that the 60-year-old would surely relish the chance to manage in the Premier League again, with Tottenham a potential destination should Levy opt to part ways with Mourinho.

Having won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, fondly remembered among the Reds fanbase, has has also clinched the Europa League at London rivals Chelsea.

Most recently, he guided Newcastle United back into the Premier League but left following a dispute with Magpies owner Mike Ashley.

Transfer Tavern take

Given his availability, Benitez could indeed be a fruitful outside option amid the consistent links to Rodgers and Nagelsmann – with the ex-Inter Milan boss having earned special praise from Paul Gascoigne.

In a candid interview with the BBC, the former Tottenham star heralded him as an ‘unbelievable manager’ – and it’s hard to argue with his assessment given Benitez’ silverware collection.

Time will tell whether Spurs could turn to him as an option, but that possibility has now been touted by the media.

In other news: Tottenham are eyeing this ‘elite’ boss, find out more here.