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Loads of Everton fans have been left to fume at the decision to by Gareth Southgate to pick Eric Dier ahead of Michael Keane for England for their qualifiers.

This comes after former West Ham United and England U21 central defender Anton Ferdinand claimed to talkSPORT that the decision was ‘ridiculous’.

Keane has averaged more interceptions and has a higher pass success rate than Dier in the Premier League so far in the 2020/21 term, while also boasting a much bigger threat from set pieces with three goals and one assist compared to no goal contributions for the Tottenham Hotspur man (Whoscored).

While Dier does have the added versatility of being able to play in the centre of midfield as well as in the defence, Keane has arguably had a better season, and is no doubt unlucky to miss out on the squad.

Everton fan reaction to Keane claim

These members of the Goodison Park faithful agreed with Ferdinand on Twitter and showed their fume, with one supporter of the Merseyside club claiming that Keane has been ‘brilliant’ so far this campaign:

“Keane been brilliant this season. So has Godfrey. Dier lol he’s awful”

Credit: @Efccol

“Spot on”

Credit: @GraemeFriday

“But to add… the question was why is Coady ahead of Michael Keane, Michael Keane has been superb this season and probably only has John Stones ahead of him for England. Coady, Maguire, Konsa are nowhere near his level this season.”

Credit: @mattyrei83

“Favourites”

Credit: @Richie_F26

“Joke”

Credit: @jake_valentino

“Dier. Waste of time picking him, there’s no fans in the ground to go chase.”

Credit: @Daniel_McA

In other news, find out what injury update has been lauded by Toffees here!

Speaking to Football Insider, a Tottenham Hotspur source has explained that there is a feeling ‘at the top of the club’ that chairman Daniel Levy could now sanction a discounted sale for big name Dele Alli at the end of the season – despite previously being prepared to ride out his poor patch.

Indeed, as per this report, Tottenham will more than likely work on a £25 million exit for the Englishman barring an upturn in form – coming after Levy apparently thought Spurs were well placed to keep faith due to the fact he is contracted until 2024 with his best years still ahead of him.

Tottenham U-turn on Alli

As explained by Football Insider, the Lilywhites chairman ‘upset’ manager Jose Mourinho by blocking Alli’s loan move to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain – with financial reasons touted as the reason Levy refused to agree a deal.

Extensive discussions were held with PSG over the switch, but no agreement came to pass, with the 24-year-old remaining at Tottenham.

Now, a source close to the club has told Football Insider there is a feeling at the very top Levy is prepared to sanction a near half-price £25m exit for him in the summer transfer window – coming down from his previous asking price of £45m.

If Alli does leave the club for that amount, it’s safe to say it wouldn’t exactly be the fairy tale ending for his north London career after a promising start to life.

Transfer Tavern take

He was heralded by previous boss Mauricio Pochettino, with the Argentine even calling him a ‘beast’ (Sky Sports), but he hasn’t earned the same favour from Mourinho.

Levy was apparently prepared to ride out his slump, however, feelings now coming out of the club may indicate the chairman is willing to perform a drastic U-turn.

In other news: Alasdair Gold drops claim on barely-seen Tottenham talent, find out more here.

Former Southampton midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that he would not sign Theo Walcott if he had the opportunity to.

This comes after reports claimed that Walcott is set to sign for the Saints permanently after initially joining the club on loan from Everton last October.

The 32-year-old has had his problems with injury this season, but he has been able to make a bit of an impact when fit. Earlier in the campaign, he managed to grab a goal for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men against former side Arsenal and provide an assist in an exciting 3-3 draw with Chelsea.

Nevertheless, Palmer has been left feeling underwhelmed by talk of Walcott extending his stay at St. Mary’s.

“I’m not a fan of Theo Walcott. I’m not a fan of him,” the retired England international told FFC.

“I think Theo is one of those players that burst on the scene with enormous talent and he’s still in that mode now. He’s coming into his early 30s; he’s still in that same boat – don’t know whether he’s a winger or a centre-forward.

“You’ll get a good game out of him. You know, he’s got blistering pace and always had blistering pace, doesn’t really know how to play the wide game, hence why he left Arsenal, hence why he’s had to leave Everton under [Carlo] Ancelotti. For me, he’s a player I wouldn’t be signing.”

While Southampton look like they could be bringing in Walcott permanently, the Saints may have to watch Danny Ings leave this summer.

The English striker, whose contract expires at the end of next season, continues to be linked with a move away from St. Mary’s.

Rangers could be set for a huge boost in the coming weeks after Steven Gerrard revealed (via Daily Record) that the club have tabled a contract offer to Allan McGregor in their hopes of keeping the experienced ‘keeper at Ibrox for another season.

The 39-year-old, who reportedly earns £11,000 per week at Rangers, has been a key player this season, making 23 appearances in the Premiership, in which he has conceded just seven goals and kept a hugely impressive 16 clean sheets.

Despite his age, the former Scotland international seems to be getting better and better, emphasising his class with an almost unbelievable save in the 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in midweek.

Following the game in the Czech Republic, Gerrard was full of praise for McGregor and revealed the latest in his contract talks, saying:

“I’ve spoken about it before, how much we rate Allan, how much we love him here, how much we want to carry on.

“At the same time, I’ve told you guys I will respect him. He knows what’s on the table. He’s in discussions with the club and from where I’m sitting, I hope we get it over the line and sign him up for another year because he is more than capable.

“I know that on a daily basis by working with him and watching him closely. The decision is going to be down to Allan, not us. Because we certainly want him.”

He also suggested that the save he made in that game was “another world-class save”, which emphasises just how much the manager values his first-choice ‘keeper and how much he wants him to stay for another season at least.

McGregor’s current contract is set to expire at the end of the season and, after his impressive performances this term, you would imagine that he wouldn’t be short of suitors if he did decide to leave the Gers this summer.

However, he is clearly held in high regard by Gerrard and would likely be guaranteed Champions League football next season, so hopefully the champions can convince him to stay and replicate his performances from this season in the next campaign.

And, in other news.. 80% duels won: Rangers beast was Gerrard’s star for more reasons than one vs Slavia

David Moyes may be able to allow Fabian Balbuena to leave West Ham United at the end of the season by beating competition from Besiktas for Vorskla Poltava defender Pape-Alioune Ndiaye.

What’s the word?

According to Foot Mercato, Besiktas are tracking Ndiaye’s situation with his Vorskla contract due to expire in June.

The towering 6 ft 7 centre-half is highly-regarded in Turkey and has previously been scouted by SC Braga and West Ham, plus Ligue 1 outfits including LOSC Lille.

Reports by Goal France in December claimed that Moyes had personally received reports on the 23-year-old, having started to monitor the Frenchman last summer after he begun establishing himself in Ukraine.

Ndiaye moved to the Premier Liga outfit in 2019 and started 15 of his 17 appearances during the defender’s debut campaign at the Butovsky Vorskla Stadium, and has missed just one of 15 possible fixtures across all competitions this term as a key aspect of the Zeleno-Bili side.

Vorskla boss Yuriy Maksymov is noted to have compared Ndiaye to Neymar, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo recently in saying, with his tongue firmly in cheek, that he is worth at least €100m (£88m) such is the level the FC Valenciennes product has been playing at.

Should West Ham sign Ndiaye?

Ndiaye is a very much unproven product among Europe’s top-five leagues, but is seemingly continually on the up in Ukraine after being named in the country’s team of the best up-and-coming talents last season.

It naturally remains to be seen if he is able to replicate his Premier Liga exploits in the Premier League, Ligue 1, Super Lig or the Liga NOS, yet that should not stop Moyes from exploring luring the 22-year-old to West Ham.

Few would have known who Tomas Soucek was before the midfielder arrived at the London Stadium from Slavia Prague last January, yet few will now struggle to not sing the Czech Republic international’s praises. Or those of his compatriot Vladimir Coufal.

Obviously, Ndiaye plays in a different position to Soucek and Coufal, but the path for coming to the Premier League from a lesser eastern European country and making a success of things under Moyes is clear as day.

Ndiaye being the next in line may even allow the Hammers to part with Fabian Balbuena at the end of the season, with reports surfacing on Deadline Day that the Paraguayan had been made available for a transfer with his £40,000-per-week contract up this summer.

Balbuena has clearly fallen down Moyes’ pecking order in recent months, with the 29-year-old brute overlooked at Manchester United despite Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop both being forced off through injuries during the FA Cup defeat on Tuesday night.

Moyes has now only called on Balbuena to feature once in the Hammers’ last 11 games across all competitions, after starting the season with 12 outings in 15 Premier League matches.

West Ham will be expected to look for alternatives to the £7m-rated centre-back over the coming months if Balbuena does not put pen to paper on new terms, and the heightening interest in Ndiaye would suggest the soon-to-be free-agent would be a smart replacement.

AND in other news, West Ham will have to pay in excess of £26.5m to land a prolific 18 goal striker in the summer…

Aston Villa are eyeing a summer transfer move for Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard, but are battling some Premier League rivals to land his signature.

What’s the story?

Reports last summer suggested that Dean Smith’s side were very much keen on signing the Frenchman, but a deal failed to materialise before the end of the deadline.

Now, The Scottish Daily Mail (26/02, back page) via HITC, claim that Villa remain keen on luring Edouard away from Celtic Park, but are likely to face significant competition from the likes of Arsenal and Leicester.

The report adds that it’s the Foxes, and Serie A giants AS Roma, who are currently leading the race for his signing.

Dean Smith surely buzzing

Amid a Premier League season in which Smith has had to sit in the dugout hoping Ollie Watkins can stay injury-free, news of a renewed attempt at signing Edouard will surely have the Villa boss buzzing.

To his credit, Watkins has been a revelation since joining from Championship side Brentford, bagging 12 goals in all competitions in his debut campaign in the top-flight.

The one problem for Smith has been the lack of genuine options to replace him, with Watkins having not missed a single minute of Premier League football all season. That’s been down to Wesley still working his way back from a knee injury, and Keinan Davis clearly not deemed as someone worth playing regularly – after all, he’s managed just five goals in 75 club games.

In Edouard, Villa would land themselves someone who’s been incredibly prolific in his fledgeling career. As well as bagging 20 goals in just 32 games this season – and that too for a Celtic side in turmoil and way off the pace behind Rangers – he’s scored 82 goals in 177 senior games in total.

His former boss at Celtic, Neil Lennon, said earlier in 2020: “He’s hugely important (to us), he’s an outstanding footballer, talismanic almost, he’s so talented, so cool and he had two great finishes. He’s up there with some of the best we’ve had over the last 20 odd years.”

It’s no surprise Johan Lange is targeting Edouard again, and it will surely be music to the ears of Smith.

For once, there is a beacon of light shining down upon Sunderland. They are trophy winners again and they are edging ever closer to that elusive promotion.

They have faced plenty of tests over the last few weeks, but none bigger than the one they’ll encounter on Saturday afternoon.

On the chalkboard

With seven wins from their last eight league games, the Mackems have generated some fantastic momentum.

That being said, they cannot seem to escape their injury nightmare. Bailey Wright and Jordan Willis are still out while they could be without both Aiden O’Brien and Jordan Jones when they play fellow promotion hopefuls Lincoln on Saturday.

Johnson specified this week than O’Brien would be one of the first to return but he didn’t give a time frame on his potential comeback. The forward has been out since limping off on the hour mark against Portsmouth ten days ago.

The solution

The manager chose to go with Jack Diamond ahead of the injured O’Brien and Jones against Accrington in midweek.

However, he was lumped off at half time after making just three passes of the ball. With that in mind, it would be rather surprising if Johnson selected him from the off again.

That means the 39-year-old should consider handing a first start in a Sunderland shirt to Ross Stewart.

The Scotsman was signed in the winter transfer window but arrived with an injury and thus, didn’t earn his debut until the win over Accrington.

He appeared on the bench in the EFL Trophy win at Wembley and then popped up with a debut goal on Wednesday. It capped off a wonderful week for a player who is continuing to impressing Johnson with his attitude.

The Black Cats didn’t spend much in January but Stewart did arrive for a fee. It was a gamble but it’s immediately paying dividends. Both player and manager have had to wait patiently but, as his soaring header a few days ago tells us, he’s more of a threat to the goal than Diamond.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-sunderland-news-and-gossip” title=” Latest Sunderland news and gossip!”]

As such, this could be the time to unleash him for good. Like Wyke, he is a tall striker, and if you combine the pair they could wreak havoc on the Imps.

It’s not just his football that’s so impressive, however; it’s his relentless mentality. Stewart’s former manager Stuart Kettlewell once said: “He’s an intelligent guy, which is rare in football and he takes on messages well because he has a burning desire to reach the next level.”

Indeed, by helping the Black Cats to promotion, he could well reach that next level. Johnson has to give him the keys to Sunderland’s attack.

AND in other news, Forget Diamond: Johnson should unleash rarely-seen SAFC starlet with “clear ability”…

Whilst John Stones might steal the headlines after his impressive display in the 4-0 win against Crystal Palace, it was perhaps Kevin De Bruyne who should pick up the plaudits after another dominant midfield performance.

Pep Guardiola’s side scored some beautiful goals on Sunday evening, with screamers from Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling, but there is no doubt that De Bruyne played the pass of the night, as his outside-of-the-foot cross was perfect for Stones to head home the opener.

As per SofaScore, the Belgian international picked up an 8.1 rating for his display against Palace, which was only bettered by the English centre-back, or the ‘Barnsley Beckenbauer’ as he often dubbed by City fans online.

During his time on the pitch, De Bruyne had 70 touches of the ball and completed 36/40 of his passes, resulting in an impressive pass success rate of 95%.

The 29-year-old has averaged an 81.5% success rate in the Premier League so far this season, emphasising that he was a level above his usual high standards on Sunday evening.

The former Chelsea man also played three key passes, which was more than all of the Crystal Palace players combined, with the midfielder once again demonstrating his immense quality.

It was not just his passing and creative play that was impressive, however, as he also made four tackles and two interceptions, whilst he was successful in six of his duels, suggesting that he had the better of the Palace midfielders, who all earned poor ratings for their performances.

Considering the Belgian usually averages 0.4 interceptions and 1.7 tackles per game, it was clear that, even from a defensive point of view, he was at the top of his game against Hodgson’s side.

Earlier this year, Roy Keane was full of praise for the 29-year-old, saying:

“World-class. Football intelligence. His decision making”

“He affects games. He’s great to watch. He’s always in control.”

WhoScored rated the midfielder as the man-of-the-match against the Eagles, so it seems as if they agree that, despite Stones’ brace, De Bruyne was. once again, the standout player for Guardiola’s side at the Etihad.

And, in other news… Gundogan heir apparent: Txiki must swoop for £30m beast who “dreams of playing in the CL”

Manchester City ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against Marseille in their final Champions League group stage game on Wednesday night but Guardiola may well be frustrated with the performance of Riyad Mahrez.

The Algerian struggled to have much impact on the game throughout his time on the pitch and was substituted by the Spanish manager with just over 20 minutes remaining, with the Citizens managing to make the game safe ten minutes later through the winger’s replacement, Sergio Aguero.

As per SofaScore, Mahrez picked up a 6.6 rating for his display against Andre Villas-Boas’ side, which saw him ranked as the Citizens’ worst player on the pitch.

Although he had a big part to play in City’s opening goal, with his driving run finding Ferran Torres for the equaliser, the former Leicester City man was certainly not at his best on Wednesday night.

During his time on the pitch, he completed 31/40 of his passes, resulting in a solid, if unspectacular, 78% pass accuracy.

The winger also struggled when expected to create opportunities for the home side, as none of his three crosses were accurate, and none of his two attempted long balls found their mark.

Mahrez also failed to win any of his three ground duels during the fixture, suggesting that the Marseille defenders often had the better of the 29-year-old during the game.

Fortunately for the Algerian international, he has enjoyed a superb start to the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, having contributed four goals and one assist in eight top-flight appearances, resulting in an excellent 7.48 average rating (per WhoScored).

Guardiola was full of praise for the winger last year, saying:

“It was so important for him. From the beginning, he arrived with an incredible mentality, positive and the way he plays.

“He has the feeling when he gets that ball in that position, the 18-yard box close to the area, something is going to happen. It’s a feeling and I think all the spectators can have that feeling and that is because he has a gift. He has something special.”

Therefore, despite his arguably disappointing display against Marseille on Wednesday, it might not be a surprise to see him restored to Guardiola’s starting lineup to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Saturday.

And, in other news… Garcia heir apparent: Guardiola must promote “exceptional” teenager to his first-team

Celtic are one match away from making history by winning the ‘quadruple treble’. To achieve this, they must see off Hearts in what promises to be a heated Scottish Premiership final on Sunday. The Hoops will take on Hearts, who are currently leading the table in the Championship.

Whilst Celtic have the better team on paper, they must not underestimate their opponents. Neil Lennon’s side have fallen short in some shock losses this season and look fragile in certain areas on the pitch.

However, one positive that the manager can takeaway recently is that his attack is one to be feared. Mohamed Elyounoussi has been frightening in front of goal and is currently the club’s leading scorer for the season. The next player behind him is Odsonne Edouard, but he has hit a dip in from recently.

With summer signing David Turnbull breaking into the starting lineup and contributing a goal and two assists in his last two appearances, Lennon can afford to switch up his strike options. He may choose to bench Edouard and rest him whilst he deploys Leigh Griffiths.

The £15,000 per week forward is far from favoured by the manager and he could be looking at seeing out the remainder of his contract on the bench. But the long-time serving striker would be a good option to start against Hearts.

After suffering a calf injury Griffiths hasn’t started a single Premiership match for the Bhoys this term. He is still devoted to his team though, after recently admitting that he wishes to break into the top 20 highest goal-scorers at Celtic.

If Lennon also plans to drop him from the squad permanently, the least he can do to repay the 30-year-old’s hard work is let him play a part in a potentially historic result.

In other news, Signing Bright Osayi-Samuel will fill huge gap in Lennon’s squad…