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Lots of Manchester United fans have been slamming the news that Amad Diallo still needs a work permit in order to play for the club.

According to Manchester Evening News, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team are still very much in the process of securing a work permit for the 18 year-old ahead of his scheduled move to the Old Trafford faithful in the January transfer window.

Diallo has shown the Man United fans what he is all about in training footage while on loan at Atalanta, and it seems as if he could be an exciting addition to the side for the rest of the 2020/21 term.

However, if a work permit is not sorted for him in time, then the winger will likely not be able to play for his new club this season.

Manchester United fan reaction to Diallo news

These Red Devils slammed the news about Diallo after reading about it on Twitter, with one Man Utd supporter even claiming that it is a ‘joke’:

In other news, find out which global star MUFC are interested in signing here!

Liverpool’s summer chase of Bayern Munich’s Thiago Alcantara has stalled a bit as of late. The main reason behind that is money. Of course, it’s not that the Reds don’t want the Spaniard but despite his contract slowly but surely running down, the Bavarians are still demanding a respectable sum of money.

The player may very well be worth it but Jurgen Klopp believes that €30m (£27.3m) is not what he can offer right now for the Spanish midfielder. However, there is one thing that just might help him raise the necessary funds to get that deal over the line.

According to a report from Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad, the new Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has placed Liverpool’s Georginio Wijnaldum ‘very high’ on his transfer wishlist.

Klopp’s midfielder has only a year left on his contract and it seems his compatriot is urging him not to extend and rather make a switch to the Camp Nou. Of course, the Reds wouldn’t exactly get a lot of money for the 29-year-old but it could still be a boost in their chase of Thiago.

Wijnaldum and Koeman also have a good relationship since they have worked together at the Dutch national team. Koeman feels like Gini could be a good partner for Frenkie de Jong in the middle of the park, making this transfer a real possibility.

Verdict

Wijnaldum has grown immensely in the last seasons at Anfield. Now, he’s a more well-rounded midfielder and definitely a big asset for Klopp. However, with only a year left on his contract and 29 already on his back, now would be the time to cash in.

Besides, that transfer could very well give the Premier League champions the funds they are currently missing to sign Thiago. It’s a win-win scenario for all parties involved.

Let’s see if the German coach decides to pull the trigger.

Gareth Bale, Sergio Reguillon, Matt Doherty and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. It’s not been a quiet window for Tottenham Hotspur and they appear to not be finished yet as the club eye another exciting addition…

What’s the word?

According to Dan Kilpatrick at the Evening Standard, Spurs are interested in signing Benfica colossus Ruben Dias to bolster Jose Mourinho’s backline, though they face several obstacles.

It’s claimed that the north Londoners need to sell a couple of players on before they can clinch a new centre-back with the likes of Danny Rose and Juan Foyth on the chopping block this summer.

Football.London’s Rob Guest believes Mourinho is a “big fan” of the 23-year-old whilst his €100m (£91.5m) release clause is thought to be ‘negotiable’ as per reports in Portugal.

He’s valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt.

Masterclass?

With Jan Vertonghen leaving Spurs for the Primeira Liga giants, a move for his current teammate Dias could make a lot of sense, though they’ll have to come to an agreement over a fee.

If they can, then this could be an absolute masterclass by chief scout Steve Hitchen as the 19-cap Portugal international is everything Mourinho needs in defence.

His side ranked second-worst in the Premier League for goals conceded last season and both Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez cannot find any consistency when given the opportunity.

Dias is thought to be in a similar mould to Juventus’ Matthijs de Ligt as well as fellow transfer target Milan Skriniar, so if Spurs can’t secure the Inter Milan star, then he’s surely the perfect alternative.

The 23-year-old is described as an “impressively robust” defender with “significant potential” and that much has been seen with his performances in Portugal.

Per WhoScored, the 6 foot 2 powerhouse averaged 3.1 clearances, 2.6 aerials won and 1.3 tackles per game, and even contributed to four goals in 33 starts, via WhoScored.

Daniel Levy can secure the final piece of the defensive puzzle after some expert scouting from Hitchen. Dias must be signed at all costs this summer.

AND in other news, Spurs to meet with wantaway Serie A star as Levy eyes £18m swoop…

Key Information about St. Andrew’s Stadium

St. Andrew’s Stadium, officially known as St. Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium since the summer of 2018 due to sponsorship reasons, has been the home of West Midlands side Birmingham City since it was opened in 1906. It replaced the Blues old ground of Muntz Street which no longer met the club’s needs playing at a higher level.

The all-seater stadium holds a capacity of 29,409 and comprises four famous stands; The Garrison Lane Main Stand, the Tilton Road End, The Spion Kop Stand, and The Gil Merrick Stand.

A history of St. Andrew’s Stadium

Club director, Harry Morris identified a site for a new ground in Bordesley, and in February 1906 the club took on the land on a 21-year lease while beginning construction. St. Andrew’s Stadium was officially opened by Sir John Holder on Boxing Day in 1906, as Birmingham hosted Middlesbrough in a First Division fixture. The game went on to finish as a 0-0 draw, witnessed by 32,000 fans.

The following year, the Football Association decided to host the FA Cup semi-finals at St. Andrew’s. 15 years later in 1921, Birmingham decided to purchase the freehold of the ground for around £7,000, and during the 1930s, the club installed roofs over the Kop and Railway End terraces just in time for the FA Cup Fifth Round tie against Everton in 1939 which achieved the grounds record attendance of over 66,000.

In the early 1950s, the Main Stand was replaced to include a cantilever roof and the removal of pillars which blocked the views of many spectators. Floodlights were also installed in 1956 which meant the club could now play night time fixtures in darker conditions. To conclude major developments to St. Andrew’s Stadium during the 1950s, the Railway End was redeveloped in the same way as the new Main Stand, and a new roof was erected over the Kop and Tilton Road end for the first time.

In response to the Taylor Report in 1990, Birmingham made sure to cut the capacity of St. Andrew’s to 26,000 as it was brought up to modern standards. Albeit, Birmingham were relegated to the Third Division during the same season which meant the club was no longer bound by the Taylor Report’s four-year deadline to convert St. Andrew’s Stadium into an all-seater ground. The most recent improvement to the stadium was in 2017 when the previous under-soil heated grass was replaced with SISGrass hybrid grass.

Tickets to Watch Birmingham City at St. Andrew’s Stadium

Adults can purchase season tickets to St. Andrew’s from £240 which works out to be less than £11 per game, and under-11s go free with a full paying adult. Single matchday tickets are available through Ticketmaster who are accessible through the club’s official site – prices are currently unavailable due to the pandemic. You must be a site member to purchase tickets.

Related Links

https://www.bcfc.com/ – Official website of Birmingham City

https://www.bcfc.com/tickets/ – Birmingham City Ticket Office

Glasgow Rangers are set to settle for a fee between £12m and £15m for Alfredo Morelos as a late-window sale becomes increasingly likely, according to Football Insider.

The Colombia international was thought to be close to a move to Lille, with the two parties reportedly agreeing personal terms.

However, their interest has diminished following the capture of Jonathan David, and it now seems that a deal could be done later on in the window. As such, the Ibrox outfit may be willing to settle for a fee below what they were previously asking for.

There was a time when the 54-time Scottish champions’ asking price was said to be at £20m, but the figure continues to decrease as time goes by. A fee of £12m would be someway off what they were originally looking for, and it would be a blow to the club to lose him for such a fee – given he has a record of 79 goals in 141 matches for the club, and with a Transfermarkt value of £13.5m, he is surely worth more than that.

Worryingly, it seems that the Gers are panicking, and may be concerned that he does not leave at all. Indeed according to the report from Football Insider the Ibrox club need to make a big sale to balance their books, otherwise they risk a financial black hole.

The double signing of Cedric Itten and Kemar Roofe indicates that Steven Gerrard is prepared for the eventuality that Morelos does depart, but of course the boss will not be too eager to lose his star player. Quite frankly, unless the 24-year-old makes the situation difficult and demands to leave, they may be better off waiting another year and making a real tilt at the Premiership title rather than underselling themselves.

Let us know what you think below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Off the Bench series, which places in-game managerial decisions and squad selections under FFC’s microscope.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were defeated for the first time in 11 matches on Sunday afternoon as Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur side came away from Molineux with all three points.

Snapshot

Lucas Moura opened the scoring with a fine solo effort after just eight minutes before Adama Traore’s strike from the edge of the box pegged them back to square one.

It looked to have been enough to secure a point against a resurgent Spurs side until Jan Vertonghen popped up with the winner in injury time to condemn Wolves to eighth in the table.

For yet another match, however, manager Nuno Santo failed to make any substitutions.

Off the Bench

It’s a bizarre move that might have cost them the match, in the grand scheme of things.

Wolves were the more dominant side throughout averaging 58% possession and 18 shots at goal, per SofaScore, so it would be fair to suggest that the scoreline was a little unfair.

Raul Jimenez had five of those shots to himself and failed to score. Likewise, Diogo Jota had four attempts and failed to score.

Yet, none of their attacking options were called upon throughout the match at all. You’ve got Patrick Cutrone sat on the bench, a £16m summer addition, who could have provided a different option for either of the aforementioned duo.

By continuing to snub him in these situations, Nuno is playing with fire as he’s surely shattering the Italian’s confidence into pieces.

Cutrone scored the winner against West Ham, yet since then, he’s only played five minutes in the Premier League – he must be wondering what he has to do to win his manager over.

Both Jota and Jimenez have played that many games this year, Wolves’ attack would have been given a huge boost late on with any sort of introduction of fresh legs.

It’s something Nuno needs to change going forward, especially with more and more games soon on the horizon.

Best of the decade: Quickfire Quiz on the last 10 years of Premier League football

In other news, Wolves must cut ties with this contracted ace after a disappointing spell in England…

Tottenham Hotspur are confident of completing a deal for Southampton star Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg this summer, according to The Athletic, as per @Daily_Hotspur. 

Last month, Foot Mercato claimed Tottenham have already made an approach for Hojbjerg, as he was stripped of the captaincy by Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Spurs have been chasing the Dane for several months now after Jose Mourinho indicated he is at the top of his list of transfer targets, via Sky Sports.

Southampton are demanding £35m for their former captain, although Spurs are convinced a deal is close, even though they had privately hoped he would be available for £20m.

While Daniel Levy has developed an unsavoury reputation for being notoriously tight-fisted, the club are confident they can reach an agreement with the Saints in a matter of weeks.

Tottenham have borrowed heavily from the Bank of England, as Levy took out a loan of £175m through a government scheme to cover the costs of the pandemic.

Regardless, Spurs are in discussions with the player’s agent Pini Zahavi to sort out terms ahead of a potential move.

Hojbjerg’s shifts on the South Coast over the past few seasons have brought him to Mourinho’s attention. The 24-year-old, who has played for Bayern Munich, has made 30 appearances for the Saints this season, supplying one assist, winning 2.6 tackles per game, averaging 1.5 interceptions and successfully completing 1.6 clearances on average (WhoScored).

Zahavi has a strong relationship with Mourinho, which may make Levy’s job a lot easier. He has also been involved in some of the biggest transfers in the world, as he helped to orchestrate Neymar’s world-record transfer from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain.

The Portuguese is acutely aware his budget has been severely restricted in response to the COVID-19 crisis as Levy tries to reduce the financial repercussions.

In theory, the Saints’ asking price should be more than affordable for Spurs, as they broke the bank to sign Tanguy Ndombele last year. However, clubs are operating in uncertain times, and it remains to be seen what deals can be made before the transfer window shuts.

Tottenham fans, should Daniel Levy sign Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the summer? Let us know down below!

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

There are several Sunderland players underperforming currently but it is fair to suggest that the left flank is one of the areas most in need of improvement.

On the chalkboard

Sunderland have looked toothless up-front for much of Phil Parkinson’s reign but one man who has shown a bit of invention – although far too rarely – is Aiden McGeady.

He may be 33-years-old now but he is still capable of winning games for the Black Cats, his performance in the FA Cup against Gillingham a few weeks ago showing the quality he brings to the side.

The problem Parkinson has is that he doesn’t display such attributes often enough, but the Irishman isn’t solely to blame, and would benefit significantly from a full-back who was more adept in attack than Denver Hume.

The youngster has done well at times considering his lack of experience but a pass accuracy of 64% simply isn’t good enough for a team aiming for promotion, and too often it means he lets down McGeady.

Laurens De Bock is the alternative choice in that position, and though he is yet to be given a regular run in the side he has certain attributes which could serve Sunderland well, and is, therefore, an option Parkinson should give serious consideration to.

More attacking ambition

The Belgian has played in just two league games so far but averaged 1.5 key passes from those matches, and it is that kind of cutting edge in the attacking final third which is exactly what Sunderland need.

They have only scored three goals in the previous five matches and that means the likes of Will Grigg and Chris Maguire need to receive the ball in goalscoring positions more often.

Hume doesn’t possess the same kind of threat from out wide, averaging just 0.8 key passes per game, and often there is too much responsibility on McGeady to provide service or a moment of magic to get a goal.

Instead, he needs support from his teammates, either players providing an option on the overlap or underlap or getting closer to him in order to drag defenders away and create space for him to move into.

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Against Coventry he almost equalised with a shot from outside the box after cutting in onto his right foot. That is a typical method of play from the left-winger and if he is able to do it more often he will likely find the back of the net with greater consistency.

It also allows him to link up more effectively with Will Grigg, and if Sunderland manage to get him scoring, it’ll be a huge lift for their chances of success this year.

In other Sunderland news, fans have been critical of Maguire after a string of uninspiring performances.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Mark Noble will go down in West Ham United history, having played his 500th game for the club against Arsenal.

To reach that number is an incredible achievement for the 32-year-old, who has been there through it all for the club.

Listing off just a few things Noble has played a part in, there has been relegation, promotion, Europa League qualifiers and the Great Escape.

The biggest event he will have been involved in is undoubtedly the final game at Upton Park, in which he became the last man to ever captain West Ham at their true home.

The effort put in by the local boy and his teammates was heroic, as they came back from 2-1 down to beat Manchester United 3-2.

However, there was one admission Noble made after that emotionally-charged game that now seems pretty foolish:

“This club isn’t run like a circus anymore, it’s run like a proper football club and we thank them [the board] for that.”

Since moving to London Stadium, there have been plenty of times where West Ham have come to look nothing short of shambolic.

After little more than a season in the new stadium, Slaven Bilic was sacked as Hammers manager, which was followed by a statement from David Gold and Sullivan that read: “We see this as an exciting opportunity to appoint a quality manager to the position to inject fresh ideas, organisation and enthusiasm into a very talented squad.”

It is safe to say they didn’t quite hit the brief they set themselves, as David Moyes was brought in and only lasted around six months.

The biggest moment of the circus came in 2018 when there were protests on the pitch against Burnley, which included one fan lifting the corner flag up in the air, while there was also crowd trouble at the game, as reported by The Guardian at the time.

Even now, there is a feeling of calamity that verges on embarrassment at times, with Roberto having had his shocking spell in goal, Mario Husillos threatening to resign because of the criticism he has faced and Manuel Pellegrini on the brink of being sacked.

A football legend: How much do you know about the late, great Bobby Moore? Test your knowledge below…

All of this doesn’t really scream of a club being run in the “proper” way and getting the best out of their potential.

Noble will go down in club history and is fully deserving of his place in West Ham hearts, but as captain, he is also currently the ringleader of the London Stadium circus under Gold, Sullivan and Karren Brady.

In other news, Manuel Pellegrini’s quote should be concerning for West Ham fans. 

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

It has now been ten games since Garry Monk was appointed as manager at Sheffield Wednesday – that’s nine league matches and a Carabao Cup exit to Premier League outfit Everton to be precise.

The trip to Blackburn Rovers saw him succumb to just his second Championship defeat of the season as the home side fought from behind with a late three-minute double, even despite substitute Jacob Murphy heading home what looked likely to be a winner seven minutes from time.

Wednesday now sit outside the playoff zone, but with the league being so tight, they remain just one point off regaining their place.

Watch Sheffield Wednesday Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Last weekend’s game highlighted a number of concerns but none more so than what lies ahead for the 40-year-old in January.

In the past, Football FanCast have stated the reliance the team has on top goalscorer Steven Fletcher, and that’s not really changed at all over recent matches.

The 32-year-old hasn’t scored for five games now, but that’s because he’s simply given too much to do as he’s often playing on his own in attack – someone like Atdhe Nuhiu should have partnered him against Blackburn.

During this barren run, Massimo Luongo has stepped up to the plate to provide two match-winning goals – both coming in 1-0 victories, over Wigan Athletic and Stoke City respectively.

And just as goals were beginning to be shared around the squad, he gets injured.

The Owls are yet to win since his absence.

Then there is Barry Bannan, who was a surprise scratch for the trip to Lancashire, his presence was sorely missed the most as he’s one of the only creative members of the squad – he averages more key passes per game (2.2) than anyone else, and has notched up three assists this campaign.

It feels like Wednesday are becoming increasingly reliant on these three aforementioned players, which isn’t a great trait to have, and it only highlights just how many signings Monk may need to make in January.

While in comparison, people have consistently stepped up to the plate in defence – Dominic Iorfa has been a revelation in captain Tom Lees’ absence, and when Julian Borner went down in the warm-up against Leeds, Sam Hutchinson deputised ever so naturally.

The Owls chief must be tossing and turning at night when he realises that it’s Joey Pelupessy trying to fill in for Bannan, while the less said about Fletcher’s back-ups, the better. Anonymous.