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As per Calciomercato, it appears that a new target as emerged for West Ham United as the club, and by extension their head of recruitment Rob Newman, eye a move for Napoli star Lorenzo Insigne.

The Lowdown: Newman set for first window…

The former chief Manchester City scout, credited with playing a role in some of their marquee signings such as Aymeric Laporte (The Athletic), is set for his first transfer window in his new role at West Ham.

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The Hammers confirmed his appointment at the beginning of October, with the 57-year-old brought in to help out manager David Moyes off the field.

There have been many names linked with the east London outfit since Newman’s arrival, especially forward options, with Calciomercato now lifting the lid on another new name reportedly attracting his and West Ham’s interest.

The Latest: West Ham make Insigne approach…

As per the Italian source, West Ham have entered the race to sign Insigne, whose current contract at Napoli set to expire at the end of this season. An extension at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium is ‘far away’ as the Hammers, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United all take interest.

It is believed that West Ham have already ‘probed the ground’ in an approach to sign him on a pre-contract, a move which would allow the Irons to bypass his estimated £43.2m fee (Transfermarkt) and land Insigne for nothing in 2022.

The Verdict: Get it done…

One of the stars of Euro 2020 and a mainstay under Roberto Mancini at international level with Italy, the forward would come as a magnificent option for West Ham.

Even though Moyes is arguably better placed prioritising an out-and-out striker or centre-back, the latter position to cover for an injured Angelo Ogbonna, signing Insigne on a free transfer would represent an astute bit of business.

Capable playing through the centre or out wide, the 30-year-old comes as an ideal alternative to known target Jesse Lingard going by his impressive WhoScored numbers.

Over 14 Serie A starts so far this season, Insigne has made more key passes per 90 (2.1) than any West Ham player whilst also averaging more attempts on goal (3.3) than the Irons’ top scorer Michail Antonio (WhoScored).

Ray Parlour is certainly a big fan, branding the Italian a ‘real livewire’ and ‘excellent little player’ during his exploits at Euro 2020 (talkSPORT via Football FanCast).

For no transfer fee, he would certainly be an ideal acquisition for Moyes and a masterstroke by Newman.

In other news: Newman also eyeing West Ham bid to sign 129-goal ‘big name’ striker in January, find out more here.

Liverpool defender Nathaniel Phillips showed the club’s fans that there is no need to be worried if Joe Gomez leaves in January during the 2-1 win over AC Milan.

The Reds made history when they made it six wins from six in the Champions League group stage, becoming the first English team to ever achieve the feat. Phillips was given the nod in central defence alongside summer signing Ibrahima Konate in a much-changed lineup, which once again didn’t feature Gomez.

The England international has been plagued with injury problems throughout his career and has just returned to training following another period out after recovering from a serious knee injury over the summer.

Gomez has managed just three starts in all competitions this season, including just 13 minutes in the Premier League. This lack of action has seen rumours of a potential transfer to Aston Villa in January for more regular game time as he looks to break back into the England squad ahead of next winter’s Qatar World Cup.

But while some Liverpool fans might be concerned about their depth following the injury crisis last year, Phillips has stepped up once again to show that there is no need to be worried.

The 24-year-old signed a new contract with the club in the summer worth £65k-per-week but has failed to break into the starting lineup despite his good performances last season in the absence of Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip and Gomez.

He made 17 appearances in the league last season, earning a WhoScored rating of 7.29 and three man of the match awards during the campaign. This year he has been restricted to just three appearances in all competitions and the game against Milan was his first start. He showed no rust though as he proved he was ready for the big occasion.

Dubbed “colossal” by journalist David Lynch, Phillips won four aerial duels, the most of anyone on the pitch, while also winning 100% of his tackles and making four clearances, behind only Konate for the most in a Liverpool shirt.

It was a performance that reminded Klopp and Liverpool fans that he was there and ready to step up when called upon, which means should Gomez leave the club for more regular game time a costly replacement isn’t needed. He’s already at the club and his name is Nat Phillips.

AND in other news, Divock Origi’s masterclass in Milan.

An update has emerged on Bournemouth centre-back Steve Cook, regarding interest from Newcastle United…

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun, Eddie Howe is considering a January swoop for the experienced defender to come in and bolster his defensive options.

The report claims that he could be an alternative option to Burnley duo James Tarkowski and Ben Mee, with the Cherries defender ‘creeping’ up the Magpies’ transfer wishlist.

Disaster

PIF could be heading for a Newcastle disaster with a deal for the English flop. They must avoid signing Cook in January as he would not be a good addition to the squad, given his struggles and lack of game time this season in the Championship.

He has played four games for Bournemouth in all competitions this season and averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.21 – with the side conceding 11 goals in that time. Six of those goals came in a hammering against Norwich in the League Cup, a game in which Cook was given an abysmal rating of 4.89.

The 30-year-old was managed by the Magpies boss at the Vitality Stadium and played 29 games as they were relegated together in the 2019/20 campaign.

Howe once reportedly locked Cook, and the rest of the Cherries squad, in the dressing room for 30 minutes after a 4-1 loss to, ironically, Newcastle. The defender, who blasted himself and his teammates as “embarrassing’ for their performances in the top-flight, claimed that the team played ‘like kids’. He said:

“Words have been said, players have stepped up and spoken but it is no good unless we do it on the pitch.

“We are men in the dressing room but played like kids.”

So, why should Newcastle be signing a player who previously struggled under Howe in the Premier League and is currently failing to perform in the second tier with Bournemouth?

He has only played three times in the Championship and his average rating of 6.64 in the division does not suggest that he is playing well enough to deserve a move to the top-flight.

Therefore, the £45k-per-week earner would be a disaster of a signing by PIF and Howe as his statistics suggest that he would be a nightmare in the Premier League, given that he is not standing out in a lower standard of football. Newcastle should avoid Cook and look elsewhere for defensive reinforcements.

AND in other news, “Seriously interested”: Romano drops fresh NUFC transfer claim which fans will love…

It’s safe to say that Leeds United are in a bit of a crisis period at the moment with the number of injured players they have and the fact that the team have lost their three previous league games, conceding 14 goals in the process.

With the January transfer window opening in a matter of days, this could give Leeds a good opportunity to do some business and add some players to their squad that could either fill in for some of their injured players or strengthen the team in general.

In terms of which players Leeds could target to sign next month, the Yorkshire club could look to reignite their interest in one figure that they were chasing during the previous summer transfer window – Huddersfield Town midfielder Lewis O’Brien.

Taking into account how Leeds have Kalvin Phillips and Jamie Shackleton out injured, this has left them somewhat light in midfield and could therefore push the club to do what they couldn’t in the summer and bring O’Brien to Elland Road.

After reportedly making two bids for the 23-year-old in the summer which were ultimately rejected by Huddersfield, O’Brien put pen to paper on a new deal, keeping him at the club until 2025, which could make it harder for Leeds to sign him in January or at least mean they would have to offer a lot more money than they offered in the summer.

Labelled as a “powerful” player with a “great engine” in him by former Huddersfield defender Calum Woods, who played with O’Brien at Bradford City, he could be a magnificent capture.

He has played the full 90 minutes in 20 of the 21 Championship games he’s played in and donned the captain’s armband on four occasions, showing just how much of an engine he has that Woods spoke about and how important he is to the team.

In those league appearances, O’Brien has managed to rack up an average of 2.9 tackles per game in the league, higher than any other Huddersfield player, which is also higher than any Leeds player has managed to get this season, including Phillips, demonstrating how useful he could be for Bielsa’s side to help them stop conceding so many goals.

Looking ahead to January, Leeds should definitely explore the possibility of signing O’Brien again to see if Huddersfield would budge on potentially letting him go to see if he can fix their current issues and help them get out of a potential relegation battle.

In other news: Leeds United rocked by yet another injury issue that’ll surely have fans fuming – opinion

Leeds United are among a host of Premier League clubs who could potentially sign Derby County youngster Jason Knight, according to Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Knight impresses for Derby

The 20-year-old has become a key performer for Derby despite his tender years, scoring twice and setting up another two goals in 15 Championship appearances this season. Knight has even been compared to Wayne Rooney by the man himself, with the Rams manager clearly impressed by the attitude of his player.

The midfielder’s performances have caught the eye of top-flight clubs, and Leeds would appear to be a potential destination.

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The Latest: Leeds in the race

That has been confirmed by O’Rourke, who told GIVEMESPORT that the Whites are considered as possible suitors for Knight in the January transfer window. He outlined:

“Jason Knight also, a good midfielder, Republic of Ireland international as well. Lots of clubs looking at him.

“There’s the likes of Brighton, Newcastle, Leeds all interested in him, as well as West Ham. So, I think it could be a real battle on for his signature in January.”

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The Verdict: Exciting one for the future

Knight mightn’t necessarily be viewed as an immediate option for Marcelo Bielsa but he possesses the long-term potential to be a key figure for Leeds in the future.

It is vital that the Whites continue to plan ahead rather than solely focusing on the here-and-now, with someone like Kalvin Phillips eventually needing to be replaced, especially if the abundance of transfer rumours regarding the 25-year-old continue into 2022.

It should be stressed that Knight has already won eight caps for the Republic of Ireland, so he has shown that he can compete at a high level, and judging by Rooney’s endorsement of the player, he could significantly strengthen Bielsa’s squad depth at a crucial point in the season.

In other news, one Leeds signing reportedly won’t come cheap. Find out who it is here.

Celtic are ‘days’ away from completing the signing of striker Johnny Kenny from Sligo Rovers, according to The Sligo Champion (via The Irish Independent).

The lowdown: Celtic busy

Celtic have already made three signings this month, recruiting Daizen Maeda, Yosuke Ideguchi and Reo Hatate from the J1 League.

Kenny, who’s scored three goals in as many appearances for the Republic of Ireland at Under-19 level, looks set to be the fourth.

The 18-year-old frontman has caught the eye after bagging 12 goals in his 34 senior outings for Rovers.

There could also be outgoings at Parkhead in a busy January window, with Vasilis Barkas and Conor Hazard some of those expected to depart.

The latest: Hoops win the race

According to the report, Celtic look to have won the battle with Scottish Premiership rivals Hibernian for Kenny’s signature.

Hibs made a ‘huge’ effort to land Kenny, inviting him to a game at Easter Road last month.

But he appears to have opted for Celtic, who will duly pay his €150,000 release clause as well as add-ons.

The verdict: Exciting long-term addition

Kenny may be part of the reserve set-up initially. He’s still very young, and the step-up in quality is considerable – the Scottish Premiership is the ninth-best league in Europe, while the top flight in Ireland ranks 40th, so it’s hard to envisage the teenager making the immediate step up into Ange Postecoglou’s senior options.

Celtic fans, then, may need to show patience – he’s not being signed to make an immediate impact like the J1 League trio – but the club are clearly convinced of his potential having raced in front of Hibs to secure a deal.

Indeed, there’s apparently been ‘massive interest’ in Kenny ever since last season, when he made his first-team debut for Rovers, so perhaps the Hoops’ recruitment team are onto a winner in the long run.

In other news, Celtic apparently want this deal ‘wrapped up’.

Kevin Phillips has tipped Robert Snodgrass to leave The Hawthorns in the January transfer window.

What’s been said?

In a recent interview with West Brom News, the former Premier League centre-forward stated his belief that, due to the versatile midfielder’s high wages and lack of first-team minutes under the management of Valerien Ismael, the Scotland international could be set for a move away from West Brom this month.

Speaking about the 34-year-old’s future, Phillips said: “From all parties concerned, Snodgrass might go. It’s been made clear he’s not in the plans. I’m pretty sure he’s on a decent wage there so if they can get him through the door and free that up, that might be the option to bring a couple of players in on his salary alone. It makes sense. Snodgrass will just want to go play football somewhere.”

Ismael must axe Snodgrass

While Snodgrass’ impressive positional versatility and experience in the game would both appear to make him well suited to Ismael’s setup at West Brom, the fact that the midfielder is reported to be earning a hefty £24k-per-week at the Championship side means that, if he really isn’t part of the 46-year-old manager’s plans, then the Frenchman simply must axe the Scot this winter.

This would seem to be the case, as, so far this season, the £720k-rated man has made just six Championship appearances with only four of these coming as starts.

Over those outings the 34-year-old has averaged a SofaScore match rating of 6.83, ranking him as the Baggies’ 13th-best performer in the second tier of English football.

And, while his displays for Albion have been far from disastrous in the current campaign, with it being reported recently that Ismael will have to sell before he is able to bring in any further January additions, it would indeed appear as if the sale of the club’s third-highest earner in Snodgrass would be a very wise move this month.

In other news: West Brom dealt big transfer setback as new development emerges, Ismael will be fuming

A number of Liverpool supporters have slammed James Milner’s ineffective performance in the Reds’ 0-0 draw at home to Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.

Jurgen Klopp’s side were in semi-final first leg action on Thursday evening, hosting a Gunners side that had just been dumped out of the FA Cup by Nottingham Forest.

It proved to be an extremely frustrating night for Liverpool, who performed badly throughout, failing to break down an Arsenal side who had Granit Xhaka sent-off in the first half.

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The Reds mustered a single attempt on target and now have plenty of work to do in the second leg at the Emirates next Thursday if they want to make it into next month’s final against Chelsea.

One player who struggled more than most was Milner, who offered little in the middle of the park, losing possession 13 times and playing no key passes, according to Sofascore, with that lack of creativity summing up the team’s overall display.

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Liverpool fans slaughter Milner performance

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to criticise the veteran’s display, with one supporter calling it a ‘disgrace’.

“I’m sorry but Milner and Henderson in the same midfield actually breaks me”

Credit: @ilab1612

“Honestly, I’ve had enough of Milner. He’s washed, it’s a bit of a disgrace he still gets minutes for us”

Credit: @TDJS_92

“Milner and Hendo were woeful yet again”

Credit: @_umairg

“Love Milner done lots for us but surely he has to go”

Credit: @sam76803802

“Milner is one of the worst players in the Prem”

Credit: @UnbiasedLiverp1

“Announce Milner as part of the coaching staff @LFC”

Credit: @KingAfo

In other news, some Liverpool fans have flocked to one transfer update. Read more here.

Newcastle United are reportedly now in talks to sign Benoit Badiashile in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Carlos closer?

News broke out on Tuesday evening that Diego Carlos has now handed in an official transfer request to Sevilla to try and force a move through to St. James’ Park.

However, a transfer fee has not been agreed between the two clubs yet, meaning that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium may still be looking at other targets in the centre-back position given their desperation in that area.

One of those could well be Badiashile, of whom they have been strongly linked to this month.

The Latest: Badiashile talks

As per L’Equipe (via Sport Witness), talks between the North East side and AS Monaco have continued ‘in recent hours’, and the former have already made an offer worth €40m (£33.3m), which has since been rejected.

Monaco have ‘no intention’ of letting Badiashile leave in this window, unless the Tyneside outfit can come up with a much improved offer.

He is also injured and expected to be out for ‘three to four weeks’, which may complicate the deal further.

The Verdict: Pay the money!

Whatever sum of money it would take to bring in Badiashile this window, the Magpies should simply pay it.

They currently have the second-worst defensive record in the Premier League, and the Frenchman would certainly help improve that.

Dubbed as a ‘tenacious‘, ‘strong‘ and ‘fast‘ player by Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, Badiashile has everything that a modern central defender needs in the top flight, and at just 20 years of age, has so much potential.

He would be a great alternative to Carlos should that deal fall through, as he actually averages more tackles and interceptions than him in their respective domestic leagues so far this season (WhoScored), and so this is one that the new owners should not be sleeping on.

In other news, find out which former Prem star NUFC are now interested in here!

Lots of Everton fans have been left gushing over some off-field news that has emerged.

As per 90min, the Goodison Park faithful are now ‘keen’ on Brighton and Hove Albion technical director Dan Ashworth, who has previously been linked with a job at Newcastle United.

He already has plenty of pedigree, having been a key figure as his work at the Football Association (FA) helped lead to England winning the U20 and U17 World Cups, in addition to the U19 European Championships, back in 2017.

In 2019, Ashworth became the technical director with the Seagulls, and thus oversaw the appointment of Graham Potter, who has become a great success in guiding them to the top half of the Premier League table, and has since been touted for the Manchester United job.

Nonetheless, he seems to be an appointment that would be very popular among Merseyside club supporters.

Everton fans on Ashworth news

These Toffees gushed as the Ashworth news was shared on Twitter:

“Now we’re talking.”

Credit: @PeterFearns

“YES!!!”

Credit: @PortlandToffee

“Please. Oh my god”

Credit: @jlgg94

“That’s more like it”

Credit: @AlwaysBlue7

“IN MY DREAMSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS”

Credit: @Cryptys

“If this happened, this would be the best thing to happen to Everton Football club in literally the last 6 or 7 years.”

Credit: @RyanSoccerAA

In other news, find out what manager update has Blues buzzing here!