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Former Everton striker Marcus Bent has exclusively told Football FanCast that Danny Ings would be a good addition for the Toffees.

Ings still hasn’t signed fresh terms at Southampton, and with his St Mary’s contract expiring in just over 12 months, a summer move away from the South Coast is becoming a real possibility.

Manchester City, Leicester and Tottenham have all been strongly linked with the striker, whilst January reports included Everton in the chase for Ings.

Ings has been one of the most lethal Premier League frontmen in recent seasons, although an injury-hit campaign this time around has seen him fail to hit the heights of previous years.

Despite Ings’ stop-start season, his opener at Spurs last Wednesday was his tenth in the league, allowing him to reach double figures in consecutive seasons for the first time at this level.

While none of those 10 came in the 2-0 win against Everton at St Mary’s back in October, Ings did assist both of the goals on the day for Che Adams and James Ward-Prowse as he gave Carlo Ancelotti and his side nightmares.

“He’s 29 in the summer, he’s had a few injuries, but has been scoring goals and you want someone to come in and hit the ground running,” Bent told Football FanCast.

“I think it would be a good move for him and a good move for the club, but it would be down to the price tag.”

Norwich are set to appoint Dean Smith as their new head coach at Carrow Road imminently.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to explore the possible starting eleven that the former Villa boss will set up with in his first fixture when the Canaries host Southampton next Saturday afternoon.

Daniel Farke lost his job at Norwich after the side gained their first three-pointer against Brentford last weekend, with pressure mounting on the German coach after an abysmal start to the season that has left the side sitting at the bottom of the table.

Possibly the most notable and unpopular decision that Farke made when setting up his Norwich side this season, was the snub of two young and promising players that have been destined for greatness in their careers – Todd Cantwell and Billy Gilmour.

Norwich loan player, Gilmour, has been hailed “world-class” by former Rangers boss Mark Warburton whilst Cantwell has been on the radar of top Premier League clubs like Arsenal and Liverpool for some time now.

Smith is sure to have his eyes on both promising players to place into his starting eleven, as both possess qualities that emulate those of Smith’s Aston Villa prodigy, Jack Grealish.

This would see the likes of Kieran Dowell and Kenny McLean potentially axed from the side if Smith did decide to go with the two popular youngsters, however, it may be the right move considering the lack of presence and possession Norwich have displayed in their Premier League campaign so far. Heading into the latest international break, they’d enjoyed just 43.3% of the ball in the top-flight.

With that in mind, this is how Football Fancast predicts Smith’s best starting XI could be once he’s settled in at Carrow Road…

With a typical Norwich 4-3-3 formation, we predict that Smith will line up in a similar, if not identical, set up as his 11th place finishing Aston Villa side of last season.

The ex-Villa boss has never really played with ball-playing defenders with his first choice at Villa being Mings and Konsa, which as a result, we predict that he will drop Ozan Kabak out of his team.

Instead, their incoming boss may opt to play a pairing of Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson who offer more experience and defensive qualities than the young Turkish centre back, especially in a regulation dog fight.

The 50-year-old ex-Brentford boss is yet to confirm his acceptance of the new role but is expected to become head coach in a matter of days with a rumoured two and a half year contract on the table.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Smith: NCFC can save their season with 58 y/o who’s been “top marks”…

With 17 games played, West Brom have racked up a rather mixed bag of results in the Championship so far this season, despite being fairly close to the top of the league table with nine wins, five draws and three defeats under their belt.

One player that has featured fairly regularly for the Baggies so far this season that we feel has let Valerien Ismael down somewhat in regards to what he has delivered on the pitch is winger Grady Diangana.

Despite appearing in all but two of West Brom’s 17 league games, Diangana has only managed to score one goal, which came during their recent 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough and provide one assist which came back in their 4-0 win over Cardiff City back in September.

In addition to his lack of goals and assists, despite playing on both wings and as an attacking-midfielder at times this season, Diangana has also only managed to rack up an average of 0.3 shots on target per game and 0.7 key passes per game (a total of ten), highlighting his lack of consistency as an attacking threat for the Baggies.

On the defensive side of things, even though he is more of an attack-minded player, Diangana has only managed to rack up an average of 0.1 interceptions per game and 0.4 tackles per game, making it hard to pinpoint what his strengths have been for the team this season.

Taking all of this into account, it’s safe to say Diangana has let Ismael down somewhat this season, especially with the faith that the Baggies boss has put in him and the opportunities he’s been given to play, rather than the likes of Jordan Hugill who has only started five league games this season.

Given the points gap between West Brom and league leaders AFC Bournemouth and the amount of games that they have left to play this season, Ismael and the Baggies fans will certainly be hoping that Diangana, who is currently valued at £9m according to Transfermarkt, can turn his form around and become the player that was previously described as a “total nightmare” to defend against, throughout the remainder of the campaign and push the Baggies to promotion.

In other news: West Brom handed major injury boost over “massive” 26 y/o beast, fans will be buzzing – opinion

Tottenham Hotspur technical director Steve Hitchen reportedly faces being sidelined by Antonio Conte, who has taken aim behind the scenes.

The Lowdown: Poor recruitment

As per Football Insider, Hitchen was the most senior member of the recruitment team between the summer of 2019 and January 2020, a period in which they signed Tanguy Ndombele, Steven Bergwijn, Ryan Sessegnon, Giovani Lo Celso and Jack Clarke for combined transfer fees of over £150m.

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However, none of them have emerged as regular starters, with Lo Celso playing the most out of all those so far this season with 14 outings, but Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg tops the appearances chart with 20 matches under his belt (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, Hitchen has to take some of the blame for Spurs’ poor recruitment over the last couple of years.

The Latest: Frozen out?

According to Football Insider, Conte now wants to take full control of the recruitment process in the upcoming January transfer window with managing director Fabio Paratici, as Hitchen faces being sidelined by the manager.

The 52-year-old Italian has dropped public hints that he is ‘not too happy’ with the squad he has inherited, and behind the scenes, he is said to have been ‘very critical’ to Tottenham’s hierarchy of the signings that they have made in recent years.

However, a source from the Lilywhites has told the news outlet that Hitchen is ‘likely’ to keep his job in any potential cull, as he is ‘close’ to Daniel Levy.

The Verdict: Give Conte control

By signing the likes of N’Golo Kante and Antonio Rudiger, who are still in the Chelsea squad, Conte has already shown that he can be trusted with recruitment.

The changes that he made at Stamford Bridge earned them a Premier League title as well as an FA Cup (Transfermarkt), highlighting the success that he can bring when he is allowed to bring in his own players.

Therefore, Tottenham should allow him to collaborate with Paratici, with whom he has worked before and Juventus and therefore knows well, to take charge of their recruitment strategy in January.

In other news, a Tottenham insider expects this starlet to sign for Spurs soon

According to a recent report, West Ham United are the club in pole position to sign Rico Browne this summer, despite an offer from the Hammers’ London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.

The report by Football Insider claims that, despite impressing on a trial with Spurs last month, Jose Mourinho’s side failed to offer Browne a written contract offer, with the 17-year-old subsequently taking up West Ham’s offer of a trial.

However, it is also reported that, despite Tottenham eventually offering the Birmingham City youngster a deal, the north London side have now fallen behind West Ham in the race to land the centre-back, whose future in the midlands appears uncertain as Birmingham consider ditching their current youth set-up.

Transfer Tavern Take

With The Athletic describing Browne as a ‘highly-rated’ youngster within the Birmingham academy, landing the 17-year-old would indeed appear, if David Moyes’ side do end up beating Spurs to the signing the defender, quite a coup for the Hammers.

However, with the player still currently under contract at Birmingham, an offer will still have to be made to the midlands side, and, with Tottenham undoubtedly waiting in the wings, this is by no means a done deal just yet, and is certainly something for Hammers fans to keep an eye on over the coming weeks.

In other West Ham United news, many fans wanted this Premier League ace after a contract claim – find out more here!

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, ex-Southampton player Carlton Palmer gave his opinion on the style of football his former side are playing.

Under Ralph Hasenhuttl, the Saints have gained a reputation for pressing, something the Austrian has discussed in the past. Earlier in the season, while acknowledging that pressing is part of their game, Hasenhuttl was quick to make it clear that there was more to this Southampton team than just running around.

Since then, the south coast club have been under the microscope for a dreadful run of form, which has included a 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United, and Palmer believes this pressing approach to matches is playing a part.

Discussing the subject in an exclusive interview with FFC, Palmer said:

“Maybe they’ve looked at the way that they’re playing the pressing game and whether they can actually play the pressing game for 90 minutes. It’s very difficult to play that pressing game for 90 minutes.

“If you look at the way Man City do it, to be fair, Man City have 90% of the ball, but the way Man City do it, it’s not a full-court press for 90 minutes and it’s more of a pushing people into areas to intercept the ball. It’s a much more educated and structured way of doing it at Man City.”

Heading into their clash against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, Southampton have lost eight of their last nine Premier League fixtures. Whatever the issue is, Hasenhuttl must address it quickly before the south coast club end up getting dragged into a relegation battle.

And with games against teams around them, such as Brighton, Burnley, West Brom and Crystal Palace, there is not a better time than now for the former RB Leipzig manager to get the team going again.

It’s fair to say that Rangers have had a disappointing second half of the season, despite the Europa League triumphs, the side’s Scottish Premiership form has been poor.

Coming into January with a six-point lead was the ideal scenario for Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his men, then the winter break happened, and Rangers lost arguably their best player of the season, Joe Aribo, to the Africa Cup of Nations and the wheels fell off slightly.

The onus was on van Bronckhorst to strengthen, especially in the midfield areas following Aribo’s brief departure and the sale of Juninho Bacuna, however, the club missed out on an excellent opportunity.

During the summer and January windows, the Gers were constantly linked with Dutch midfielder Joey Veerman, who was playing at Heerenveen. A deal couldn’t be struck and as van Bronckhorst moved into his first transfer window with the team during January, there were hopes of a chance to secure him.

Yet again, Rangers were slack, and PSV Eindhoven eventually signed the midfielder for £5m as he joined his boyhood club.

Former Rangers striker Michael Mols lavished “perfect” praise on his fellow Dutchman and it’s not hard to see why.

Since his arrival at PSV, Veerman has scored six and notched six assists in only 21 matches, a fabulous return.

If we compare this to Aribo in the same period, two goals and five assists, it proves that the Ibrox side should have splashed the cash in January and the club may have been heading into the last four matches in the league with their six-point advantage still intact.

As the summer transfer window looms on the horizon, Ross Wilson can’t afford to let similar players of that class escape their grasp again. After all, with Aribo touted with an exit, 23-year-old Veerman would very much have been the perfect heir.

AND in other news, Van Bronckhorst can brutally axe “shaky” Rangers dud in deal for “annoyingly brilliant” £0 machine

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Sheffield United striker Dean Windass has dropped a bombshell over the future of Chris Wilder at Bramall Lane.

This afternoon, the Blades looked on course to achieve their first win of the season against Brighton & Hove Albion despite going down to ten men before Danny Welbeck came off the bench to score a late equaliser.

It means the Yorkshiremen remain rock-bottom having picked up two points from their opening 14 matches – the worst start of any top-flight English team in history.

Windass has urged the hierarchy at United to stick with him through the troubles, even though he claims that they will get relegated this season.

The ex-EFL talisman has backed the 53-year-old to bring them straight back up.

He told FFC:

“Sheffield United are finding it tough at the minute. Chris is finding it tough.

“What’s the point of sacking Chrissy Wilder? He’s done an unbelievable job, he’s a local lad, you know he’s played for the football club. There’s no point. There is no point sacking him. Who is going to come in and change it?

“I hope they keep hold of him. Yes, I think they’ll get relegated, and then hopefully next year he can bring them back up again but there’s no point sacking him now.”

Wilder has been in charge of the Blades since May 2016 having started his playing career as a right-back at the club in the late eighties.

In 209 matches, he’s guided United to 99 wins (47.3%) and has averaged an impressive 1.63 points per game, as per Transfermarkt.

It remains to be seen whether the long-serving manager is on the hot seat at all, although last month, he did admit he was feeling the pressure.

After all, even that Derby County side started their season better than this.

AND in other news, Chris Wilder admits ex-West Ham target could leave Sheffield United…

West Ham are set for a huge boost ahead of their final five matches of the Premier League season…

What’s the latest?

According to the Evening Standard’s Jack Rosser, Irons midfielder Declan Rice has returned to training this week and there is even optimism that he could be involved for their trip to Burnley on Monday evening.

The 22-year-old was also pictured back on the grass, which was shared by popular fan account WestHamViews, though it remains to be seen to what extent he was involved.

Rice, now capped 15 times by England, had picked up a worrying knee injury during the last international break, and it was even thought that it was going to put his place at this summer’s European Championships at risk, as a result.

Huge boost

The Hammers’ impressive and surprising season has taken a turn for the worst in the absence of Rice, having suffered back-to-back defeats against Newcastle United and Chelsea.

David Moyes’ side now sit in fifth, three points behind their aforementioned London rivals, whilst the likes of defending champions Liverpool and Spurs are hot on their tail.

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By the time West Ham kick-off at Turf Moor in under a week’s time, they could’ve sunk to seventh place, results dependent, and that would be a massive blow to their lofty European ambitions.

However, having Rice back will be a monumental boost, as he’s not only been one of West Ham’s best players but one of the best in the Premier League this season, too.

Just this week, former top-flight striker Marcus Bent told Football FanCast exclusively that the 22-year-old “will be one of the world’s best” soon, whilst only three other Irons stars have bettered his average WhoScored rating of 7.02.

The £54m-rated star is also the best at reading the game in Moyes’ squad, having averaged two interceptions per game, on top of 1.9 tackles and 0.7 key passes, via WhoScored.

Rice, who is now thought to earn around £60k-per-week at the London Stadium, has also been hailed as “exceptional” by Keith Gillespie and “outstanding” by Moyes, so clearly having him back around will benefit their season tenfold.

The 58-year-old Glaswegian will undoubtedly be buzzing to see his “special talent” back in training this week.

AND in other news, GSB could deal Moyes another big blow with West Ham swoop for “special” £18m-rated gem…

Manchester City are once again being heavily linked with a move for Inter striker Romelu Lukaku and the Belgian could prove to be a dream heir for Sergio Aguero in Pep Guardiola’s side.

What’s the word?

According to Italian news outlet Calcio Mercato, Guardiola wants the Belgian international at the Etihad next season and even sees similarities between the former Manchester United striker and Aguero, who is leaving City in the summer when his contract expires.

The report suggests that Guardiola believes Lukaku and Aguero share the same goalscoring instincts, whilst they are both effective at linking up play, which would obviously suit the way City play.

Would he be a good signing?

Although Lukaku perhaps wouldn’t be the most popular choice for a lot of City fans due to his time at Manchester United, which many see as a failure, his form in the Premier League with the Red Devils wasn’t exactly poor and you feel that issues behind the scenes at that club played a huge part in him struggling to perform at his best.

In 96 appearances for the Old Trafford outfit, the powerful striker contributed 42 goals and 13 assists, whilst he also impressed in his other Premier League spells with West Brom and Everton.

There were questions over his commitment at times at United but former manager Jose Mourinho was quick to rule that out, saying:

“So when I say to a striker, ‘Go there and do that job for me’, then he is a sergeant. He is a guy that you can trust. His attitude is phenomenal.”

Since his move to Inter, however, he has proven himself to be a truly world-class striker, scoring 61 goals and providing 15 assists in 92 appearances for I Nerazzurri.

This season,n he has managed 21 goals and 10 assists in 33 league appearances, averaging a superb 7.48 rating, which has put Antonio Conte’s side on the brink of the Serie A title, so it seems clear that he has the ability to score goals should he make the move to the Etihad this summer.

If Guardiola desperately wants Lukaku as his replacement for Aguero this summer then City’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain should do everything he can to bring him in, as he could prove to be a huge success in the Spanish manager’s side next season.

And, in other news… Forget Torres: £63m-rated Man City beast who played 109 passes stole the show vs Palace