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Aston Villa have had a very busy January transfer window, having brought in the likes of Robin Olsen, Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho earlier in the month followed by their recent signing of Calum Chambers on a permanent deal from fellow Premier League club Arsenal.

With deadline day approaching, it seems as though the Midlands club could be looking at getting yet another new player through the door before the end of the month.

What’s the talk?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, journalist Pete O’Rourke had his say about Villa’s reported interest in Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur and the possibility of Steven Gerrard’s side signing him before the end of the month.

He said: “It’s a deal Villa are trying to do. I think the player is quite interested in a move to Villa as well, so this one could go right down to the wire.”

Since joining the Italian club back in 2017 from Boca Juniors, the 24-year-old – who is currently picking up £74k-per-week according to Salary Sport – has gone on to make 181 appearances for Max Allegri’s side across all competitions, scoring three goals and providing 18 assists along the way.

Fans would be ecstatic

Having seen the club strengthen their squad in almost every area of the pitch except central midfield this month, Villa fans would surely be over the moon if Bentancur is keen on joining and eventually makes the move in the coming days, especially with his experience of playing for a top club like Juventus, where he has won seven trophies and played in the Champions League.

With Villa having the lure of offering a player such as Bentancur the opportunity to play in the Premier League, they can also grant him the experience of playing and learning under the management of one of the league’s greatest midfielders in Gerrard, which could be a factor as to why the Uruguayan is apparently keen on the move.

Moving forward, if Villa can secure a deal for the Juventus ace before Monday’s transfer deadline, they could end the month with a flourish in what has been a very productive window for the club in terms of their recruitment.

In other news: Gerrard could unearth the next Michael Carrick at Villa with move for 20 y/o “diamond”

West Ham United are interested in a deal to bring Sven Botman to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by ExWHUemployee, who revealed in a recent post on The West Ham Way that David Moyes’ side have made an enquiry with LOSC Lille ahead of a potential move for the centre-back in the winter window.

The Hammers insider went on to claim that the French market is one that West Ham will be looking to take advantage of in January, as a number of Ligue 1 sides are suffering from considerable financial difficulties this season.

In his post, ExWHUemployee said: “We have made an enquiry [to] Lille [for] 21-year-old centre back Sven Botman. As revealed previously we are very much looking at the French market as there are a number of clubs suffering financial difficulties.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering the sheer amount of potential Botman quite clearly possesses, in addition to the fact that both Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna look set to spend a considerable amount of time sidelined due to injury, the news that West Ham are interested in a move for the 21-year-old defender is sure to have left fans of the club buzzing.

Indeed, over his 37 Ligue 1 appearances last season, the £27m-rated centre-back helped his side keep a whopping 20 clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.5 interceptions, 0.8 tackles, 60.6 passes and winning 68% of his duels per game.

These returns saw the Netherlands U21 international who Kevin Phillips dubbed a “Van Dijk-like signing” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.08, ranking him as Lille’s joint third-best player in the top flight of French football on their way to securing the Ligue 1 title.

As such, should West Ham be able to get a deal for the £18k-per-week defender over the line this January, it would undoubtedly be a major coup for the Hammers, as well as a signing who would greatly increase the club’s chances of securing a top-four finish in the league come next May.

However, with it being reported that Lille are demanding a figure of around £40m in order to part with the youngster this January, whether or not the West Ham board cough up the funds very much remains to be seen.

In other news: Forget Ogbonna: WHU must seal swoop for £65k-p/w “monster” who’s “absolutely insane”

A number of Liverpool fans have been showing their love for Sadio Mane after his stoppage-time penalty earned Senegal a win at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

The Reds will have to battle their way through January without the 29-year-old, who is one of their three players away on AFCON duty along with Mohamed Salah and Naby Keita.

On Monday, Mane got his campaign up and running for much-fancied Senegal, as they took on Zimbabwe in the tournament in Cameroon.

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It looked as though the Lions were going to suffer a frustrating afternoon, only for the Reds winger to win a penalty deep into added time before dispatching the spot-kick in nerveless fashion to seal a 1-0 victory.

After the match, Liverpool’s official Twitter channel shared footage of the goal on a memorable day for Mane, as he became an even greater hero in his homeland.

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Liverpool fans laud Mane after last-gasp winner

These Reds fans reacted to the club’s footage of the match-winning penalty, showing their admiration for their number 10, who one Kopite hailed as “class”.

“Let’s goooooo, I’m 1/46th Senegalese btw”

Credit: @Sayef__

“Go Sadio, that’s under a hella amount of pressure!”

Credit: @HernandezBro01

“Man I love him so much”

Credit: @GoatSzN1400

“So happy for Mane, loves playing for his country”

Credit: @_SmithChris

“Form is temporary, class is permanent”

Credit: @LFCxZxyn

“GOOD LAD”

Credit: @LFCJosh23

In other news, some Liverpool fans are fuming at a Klopp injury update. Read more here.

Newcastle United are reportedly eyeing up a shock move for their former player Gini Wijnaldum.

The Lowdown: Developing story…

TEAMtalk reported last month that the St James’ Park oufit are eyeing a shock return for the Dutchman and are ‘keeping tabs’ on his situation at Paris Saint-Germain.

The Magpies have ‘made it clear’ that they would be interested in signing him, should he be made available in the January transfer window.

It would be a sensational swoop for a player who had a remarkable sole season on Tyneside, with 11 goals and a further five assists from midfield as he played in every single match of their 2015/16 Premier League campaign (Transfermarkt).

Unfortunately, the Netherlands international could not do enough to help his team avoid relegation to the Championship, which is ultimately a big reason why he left to join Liverpool after just one year in the northeast.

The Latest: Contact made

As per AS, Newcastle are the first club to have shown interest in signing Wijnaldum, who wants to leave Paris already, and he has made known his desire to return to the Premier League.

According to sources close to the 31-year-old, there has already been contact made with the Magpies over a potential move, meaning that the ball could already be rolling come January.

The Verdict: No-brainer

Wijnaldum has already shown what he can do in front of the Toon Army, so a deal to bring him back is surely a no-brainer.

Since moving on from Newcastle, he became a won both the Premier League and Champions League, showing that he can perform on the big stage. Indeed, Geordie legend Alan Shearer dubbed him an ‘absolutely sensational’ player back in 2018.

Signing him would be one way for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium to get the fans on their side straight away, as he would certainly be a popular addition among many at St James’ Park, and he would give Eddie Howe that extra bit of experience and quality to give his Newcastle side the best possible chance of avoiding relegation.

In other news, Howe is also lining up this ‘brilliant’ EFL maestro for Newcastle

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left slamming the display of Scott Arfield in their 1-0 victory at home to Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership.

The central midfield player certainly did not have the best game by his standards, as he was hauled off for Giovanni van Bronckhorst midway through the second half for Joe Aribo.

He was largely anonymous in truth, recording fewer touches than his own goalkeeper Allan McGregor, and when he did have the ball, he struggled to make any sort of real impact.

Arfield did not have any shots on goal, and failed to make a single dribble, cross or long ball in the game, while he also lost out on five of his duels and gave the ball away twice (SofaScore).

Nonetheless, he will be hoping to put in a better performance in their next fixture.

Rangers fans slam Arfield

These members of the Ibrox faithful slammed his performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he was ‘shocking’:

“Ngl I forgot Arfield was even playing”

Credit: @RampantRyanJack

“Arfield gives away 2-3 of those stupid fouls every game, slows the game down and allows opposition to get back into shape”

Credit: @GilmertonLoyal

“Hagi off. Kamara off. Arfield off. Shocking.”

Credit: @dbr1872

“41 minutes in and Hagi is off it today and just noticed Arfield on the park”

Credit: @greeni12

“I’d be looking to Arfield and Hagi off ASAP. They’re offering nothing to this game. Patterson is hoaching in that LB position too.”

Credit: @ThatBoyFergie

“Forgot Arfield was playing as well… Come on man”

Credit: @m31_ja

In other news, find out what early Old Firm news has Gers buzzing here!

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing as international news emerged involving Fashion Sakala.

As shared by the club’s official Twitter channel, the striker helped himself to a hat-trick for Zambia in their World Cup qualifying match against Mauritania on Saturday afternoon.

It adds to the treble that he scored in the 6-1 win at Motherwell in the Premiership a fortnight ago, continuing his rich vein of recent form.

Sakala was a summer arrival from KV Oostende and has so far managed to score four goals and provide one assist in nine Premiership matches (Transfermarkt).

He has become a fan favourite at Ibrox already already, as Gers supporters have created a new song for him, and many were certainly pleased with the news of his latest hat-trick.

Rangers fans on Sakala’s hat-trick

These Rangers fans buzzed as the news of Sakala’s hat-trick was shared on Twitter:

“Things you love to see”

Credit: @ArgyllWarrior

“Our boy is ripping it up”

Credit: @Made_In_Ulster

“He’s on fire”

Credit: @KyleMcQuade93

“This cheered me up a bit”

Credit: @Dn3Rover

“Best tweet of the day so far Mr Rangers, but there’s still time for something really really special”

Credit: @Valerie33087475

“Love it”

Credit: @Mikey1872786

In other news, find out which Gers star is attracting Premier League interest

Antonio Conte could be dealt a major injury blow ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s clash with Leeds United this afternoon…

What’s the latest?

The Italian head coach will be sweating on the fitness of Giovani Lo Celso after the Argentina midfielder returned from international duty a little worse for wear.

“Giovani Lo Celso did not come back perfect physically,” revealed the Italian to reporters (via football.london).

“I do not know about him if he will be available. For sure [Cristian] Romero is not available, Lo Celso I don’t know. The rest of the team, we have all the players.”

Huge blow?

If the 25-year-old maestro is missing, then Conte will be hugely concerned heading into kickoff as he is already without Oliver Skipp, who is suspended for this clash, whilst fellow engine room enforcer Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg missed Denmark’s matches through injury.

To be without another middle man would be a massive blow as it leaves the 52-year-old with a plethora of out-of-favour stars in Harry Winks and Dele Alli to choose from.

[snack-amp-story url = “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-news-updates-transfers-antonio-conte-thfc” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer updates and much, much more!”]

Lo Celso, who is valued at €30m (£25m) by CIES Football Observatory, has only appeared from the bench in the two games under Conte, playing a total of 22 minutes but he could emerge as a key player for him in the future.

Not only is he capable of playing that inside-forward role behind Harry Kane but he is also one of the more creative players in the squad, even if he’s a little frustrating with his end product at times, having managed only eight goals and five assists since his arrival in summer 2019.

As per WhoScored, he leads the way for key passes per 90 (2.1), which is more than Heung-min Son (1.9), Lucas Moura (1.3) and last season’s assist king, Kane (0.9), too.

The Argentine playmaker was once dubbed “phenomenal” and backed to prove his worth to the team by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho.

Having him available would make Conte’s team selection a whole lot easier, so if he is indeed absent, then the Italian could well be left gutted, even more so after already suffering a huge blow to Cristian Romero as well.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano drops huge Dele Alli claim at Spurs…

Having joined Wolverhampton Wanderers’ youth setup back in 2018, Theo Corbeanu is a player who very quickly began to catch the eye at the Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground.

Indeed, after a rather quiet first season with Wolves U18s, scoring one goal and registering one assist over 14 Premier League U18 appearances in 2018/19, the versatile centre-forward really started to find his feet in the following campaign, bagging six goals and providing one assist over 17 fixtures for the U18 side, as well as making his first appearance for the U23s.

This form led to the Canada international being promoted to the U23 side on a permanent basis last season, during which the £900k-rated man scored seven goals and registered two assists over 21 Premier League 2 appearances, in addition to making his Premier League debut for the first team – coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in May.

Perhaps unsurprisingly considering his impressive rise through the Wolves youth ranks, the opinion of Corbeanu is extremely high at Molineux, particularly in the eyes of U23 head coach James Collins.

Speaking about the potential of the 19-year-old, Collins said: “He’s athletic, tall, can head it, can defend, can dribble past people and score, he can shoot, he can pass, he’s both footed, he’s got a bit of everything.”

The boss continued: “Theo can be anything he wants to be. He’s an outstanding prospect.”

This assessment of the youngster’s ability is sure to excite Wolves fans, as Collins’ description could also quite easily fit the club’s current first-choice centre-forward, Raul Jimenez – of whom Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan said: “For a striker, he is so mobile, but also physically so good and talented technically on the ball.”

However, despite his obvious promise, after being sent on loan to Sheffield Wednesday this summer, Corbeanu’s rise appears to have slowed somewhat, as the striker has so far made just four appearances for Darren Moore’s side – all of which have come from the bench.

Indeed, Tim Spiers recently stated in an article for The Athletic that, with both Lincoln City and Crewe Alexandra thought to have been interested in signing the forward this summer, should the 19-year-old still not be receiving regular game time at Hillsborough by the time January comes around, Wolves could well look to move the youngster to a new club for the second half of the season.

And, should Bruno Lage wish to give Corbeanu the best possible chance of going on to fulfil his undoubted potential, this would appear an extremely wise move. The 19-year-old certainly has the potential to not only become Jimenez’s long-term successor at Wolves, but he could also save Fosun millions of pounds in transfer fees as a result.

In other news: Nixon drops worrying claim on “authoritative” £62k-p/w ace, Wolves fans will be gutted

With 11 games played in the Premier League season, Everton have racked up a rather mixed bag of results so far under the reign of Rafa Benitez with four won, four lost and three drawn.

One player that has heavily featured in those 11 games for the Merseyside club is midfielder Allan who has made an appearance in each of their 11 league games, starting all of them, leaving only defender Michael Keane (990) having played more minutes than the Brazilian midfielder (964).

This shows just how important the 30-year-old has been for the Toffees this season. However, taking into account his age and the fact that his current contract at Goodison Park is set to expire in the summer of 2023, it’s safe to say that he could well end up leaving the club at that point.

With that in mind, we feel the Merseyside club could already have their perfect replacement for Allan with 18-year-old midfielder Isaac Price.

As a product of Everton’s youth academy, Price has made 16 appearances for their U18 side and 23 appearances for their U23 side.

So far this season, Price has started in all of the Everton U23 games across all competitions, playing the full 90 minutes in the majority of them, which goes to show just how important he is for them in midfield.

Back in April, Everton U23s manager David Unsworth said that Price has “got a bit of everything” in his game, showing how much of a well-rounded midfielder he is after the youngster got his first taste of training with Everton’s first-team players.

This also shows how he could well be Everton’s next version of Allan who has been described as being a “defender’s dream” by Toffees teammate Keane and that he “does a lot of running” and “puts in a lot of tackles.”

Looking ahead to the future, we feel that if Price continues to play regularly for the U23s this season at a decent level, that he certainly has what it takes to start knocking on Benitez’s door to get some first-team minutes under his belt and potentially become the club’s tough-tackling midfield heir.

He’s undoubtedly one to watch as the campaign plays out.

In other news: Forget Holgate: £90k-p/w Everton dud with fewer touches than Pickford let Rafa down – opinion

With Mark Warburton’s Queens Park Rangers side having suffered a rather dramatic dip in form in recent weeks, with the Rs falling to three consecutive Championship defeats in their last three fixtures, the 59-year-old manager will certainly be hoping to get back to winning ways at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium on Tuesday evening.

However, with Birmingham City looking a much-improved outfit under the guidance of Lee Bowyer this season, with the Blues currently sitting in 12th place on 12 points in the league standings, behind QPR on goal difference alone, Warburton will have to ensure he gets his team selection spot on in order to have any chance of picking up three points in the fixture.

So, will the Rs’ boss make any changes to the team that started last time out against West Bromwich Albion? Here’s how we think QPR could line up against Birmingham, along with the latest team and injury news…

With Warburton recently confirming that Sam McCallum looks set to remain sidelined for a number of weeks as a result of a hamstring injury, as well as suggesting that both Stefan Johansen and Jordy de Wijs are both doubts for Tuesday evening’s fixture due to fitness concerns, we predict that the 59-year-old will make two changes to the side that started against West Brom last time out.

In defence, Yoann Barbet drops into the back three having started at left wing-back against the Baggies, in order to accommodate for the absence of the 26-year-old De Wijs, while Jimmy Dunne retains his place in the backline.

On the left, with both McCallum and Lee Wallace currently sidelined, Warburton has not been left with much choice other than to once again field the £720k-rated Albert Adomah at wing-back, however, the 33-year-old has proven in recent fixtures that he is more than a capable option in the position.

In the middle of the park, Ilias Chair drops back from attacking midfield to sit alongside Dominic Ball in order to replace Johansen, while Charlie Austin comes in up top alongside Andre Gray, which leads to a slight tweak in formation from a 3-4-2-1 to a 3-4-1-2.

In other news: Warburton must unleash £13k-p/w QPR beast tonight, he would cause BCFC “real trouble”