According to reports in the Evening Standard, Chelsea have been dealt a blow in their attempts to sign Southampton right-back Cedric Soares, whom they are willing to spend up to £20m on him.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Evening Standard says that Blues boss Antonio Conte has lined up a move for the 25-year-old to provide competition for Victor Moses in the right wing-back spot, and that he was willing to pay between £15m-£20m to bring him to Stamford Bridge before the transfer window slams shut at the end of this month.

However, the Evening Standard says a potential deal is looking less likely with Saints only likely to consider selling the Portugal international if they receive a ‘silly offer’.

The report adds that Cedric is keen on the move, but only if an agreement can be reached between the two clubs.

Chelsea may have some hope though, with the Evening Standard suggesting that Mauricio Pellegrino may have to sell before he can buy at St Mary’s following the takeover by a Chinese consortium earlier this week.

Why do Chelsea want Cedric?

The right-back was a relatively unknown quantity when he joined Southampton from Sporting Lisbon two years ago, but he has quickly gone on to establish himself as one of the best in his position in the Premier League, as well as being Portugal’s first-choice there as the nation won the 2016 European Championships in France.

As well as being solid defensively – something that is important for Conte – Cedric also very much fits into the mould of a modern day full-back as he loves to get forward to cross and create chances for his teammates.

The 25-year-old made 29 of those in 19 Premier League appearances last season, while he successfully won 42 tackles, as well as making 65 clearances and 23 interceptions.

Is that the end of the matter?

It seems unlikely unless Chelsea are willing to submit a huge offer, because £20m certainly won’t be enough

Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger has once again been speaking this week about how captain Virgil van Dijk and their other stars won’t be leaving this summer as the south coast outfit looks to make a statement, and the Blues are likely to have to look elsewhere with less than a fortnight to go until the window slams shut.

Arsenal will look to avoid a third consecutive Premier League defeat when they welcome Bournemouth to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Head coach Arsene Wenger faced the media on Thursday ahead of the clash with the Cherries, and a number of topics were discussed.

The club’s failure to sign Kylian Mbappe from AS Monaco was one of the questions that Wenger faced, in addition to previewing this weekend’s clash with Bournemouth.

Arsenal’s supporters were unhappy with Wenger’s responses, however, claiming that the Frenchman always avoids the opportunity to answer honestly when it comes to transfers, or a potential crisis at the club.

Whether Wenger should have walked away from Arsenal last summer is a question for another day, but there is huge pressure on the Gunners in this weekend’s clash with Bournemouth.

Social media might well go into meltdown if Arsenal fail to return to winning ways on Saturday, but regardless of the result, it appears that Wenger will continue to take abuse from the club’s suffering supporters.

Young Aston Villa attacking midfielder Callum O’Hare was Aston Villa’s stand-out performer in the Under-23 side’s 4-0 thrashing of Southampton at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium on Monday night, and Villa fans want to see him involved in the first team on more occasions.

The 19-year-old started both of the Midlands outfit’s EFL Cup matches last month, but he hasn’t appeared for them in the Championship since a half-an-hour substitute outing in the 3-0 defeat against Cardiff City on August 12.

However, O’Hare may have staked his claim to be involved with Steve Bruce’s men in the near future following an outstanding display against a Saints side that included the returning Virgil van Dijk.

The teenager scored the fourth with a brilliant drive from just outside an area to cap off a fine individual performance.

Aston Villa supporters were quick to have their say on his showing via social media, with some saying it is “baffling” how he hasn’t been involved with the first team more considering they have taken just six points from their opening six Championship fixtures.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

West Ham United’s Under-23 side lost 3-0 to Villarreal in the Premier League International Cup on Wednesday having conceded the opening goal after just 15 seconds, and Irons fans were quick to have their say on the incident.

Nathan Holland and Toni Martinez were among those named in the starting XI for the clash against the Spanish side at the Chigwell Construction Stadium, but a mistake in the opening seconds of the match allowed Adrian Dalmau in to score.

The 23-year-old went on to net a hat-trick as the young Hammers failed to find a way back into the game, as the La Liga outfit took all three points in Group F.

West Ham supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on conceding a goal so early on and while some said that the club is “always good for a laugh”, others believe the younger players are making mistakes because they are “learning from the seniors”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Chelsea play host to Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, and Blues fans are divided on whether their captain Gary Cahill should start the game.

The Blues have recovered well from their opening day defeat at home to Burnley by going unbeaten in their last five Premier League games, including a 4-0 win against Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium last weekend.

They followed that success up with an impressive 2-1 victory against Atletico Madrid in the Spanish capital in the Champions League during the week, and even though Cahill performed brilliantly he continues to come under scrutiny from the Stamford Bridge faithful.

Meanwhile, City go into the weekend top of the table and having netted 21 goals in their six top flight games, although they will be missing Sergio Aguero after he broke a rib in a car accident in the Netherlands on Thursday.

Chelsea supporters were quick to have their say on whether Cahill should be included in the starting XI via social media, and while some said they ‘don’t think he should start’, others believe the side will “need” him.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

There is a lifelong Liverpool fan named Callum Campbell who propriates the most unique of places in Premier League history. While he never made it onto the pitch himself, something he threw in October 2009 certainly did – an inflatable beach ball that soon played a pivotal role in perhaps the most bizarre, ridiculous and illegitimate goal the Premier League has witnessed throughout its 25 years in existence.

A young 16-year-old travelling to Sunderland on an exciting away day, when a beach ball bounced into his path amid a crowd of feisty Scousers ready to cheer on their beloved Reds, Campbell innocently and jubilantly flung his arm at it, as any teenager eager to impress his terrace peers inevitably would. The wind carried the beach ball onto the pitch and then into the goal, which is exactly where it stayed until the match started.

As Liverpool struggled to gain a foothold on the match in the absence of Xabi Alonso (sold), Steven Gerrard (injured), Fernando Torres (injured) and Javier Mascherano (benched) – the four players most pivotal to their runner-up finish the season prior – few probably noticed as the ball started to creep back out of the net and into Pepe Reina’s six-yard box.

Just five minutes into play, though, the beach ball was the centre of everybody’s attention – and the new centre of Campbell’s universe. Darren Bent, enjoying the form of his career after a club-record move to the Stadium of Light, scuffed his connection with a Steed Malbranque cross. But as Reina leant down in preparation for a save, Bent’s effort bounced off the beach ball, spinning it into the opposite direction and leaving the Liverpool goalkeeper in a painful combination of helplessness and confusion.

That was the only goal in a disappointing performance at the Stadium of Light, which actually saw Sunderland leapfrog Liverpool in the Premier League table, and the backlash against Campbell was huge. He recounts death threats from all over the world; some told him to leave town, others advised him to buy a coffin and one particular troller declared he’d turn him into a curry.

“I’m the one who did it. I’m the one caught on camera. I’m so, so sorry. This is my worst, worst nightmare. When I got home I went into the garden and threw up. I was physically sick – and that’s before the death threats started appearing on the internet the next day.

“When I looked closer these people were from America and Australia and all over the world – so-called fans who never come to Liverpool. So after that, I just ignored them. I knew the true fans wouldn’t threaten me like that – they would know I was more cut up about what happened than anyone else.”

But in truth, the last person at fault for the goal or the result was a Liverpool-loving teenager who’d flailed an arm at a crowd-pleasing prop that was brought to Wearside to have arms flailed at it. For starters, as several leading former referees immediately protested, the goal should never have stood. The official rule is that play must stop if the ball makes contact with a foreign object and restart with a drop ball. Referee Mike Jones should have known that, and he was demoted to the Championship the following weekend.

Arguably more significantly, though, the goal glossed over a poor performance from Liverpool in a match they had little right to win. Bent also hit the post and the bar while team-mates saw efforts cleared off the line as Benitez’s attempt to curtail the early form Sunderland had shown that season by lining up Liverpool in a 5-4-1 backfired spectacularly. Bad results against theoretically lesser teams were a recurring theme throughout Liverpool’s 2009/10, which ended with them finishing in seventh place and Benitez receiving his marching orders.

The beach ball, for all its mischief, was a minute part in that. But in many ways, it epitomises exactly what we love about the Premier League; crowd participation, albeit somewhat more direct and inadvertent than usual, sheer ridiculousness finding a way to have equal influence as top-class talent, controversial refereeing decisions and the dash of unpredictability that makes English football so special. It was as if the footballing gods decided fate would deal Liverpool a cruel blow at the Stadium of Light, and accordingly prevent them recovering from it.

As much shame as Campbell felt at the time, as the internet produced a typically malicious backlash, he should be proud for providing the Premier League with one of its most bizarre and unforgettable moments that, in its own strange way, captured the idiosyncrasies which make English football so uniquely special.

Tottenham Hotspur will have to take on Juventus for the signature of Barcelona midfielder Andre Gomes, according to Mundo Deportivo.

What’s the word?

The North London outfit have been linked to the Portugal international before, and it is likely that his name will remerge in the gossip pages as we edge closer to the January transfer window.

Mundo Deportivo claims that Spurs may consider making a move for Gomes in the next few months, but Juventus are believed to be willing to sign the midfielder on loan with a view to a permanent move.

Reports have stated that Tottenham have enquired about a straight-cash deal, which could cost them in the region of €30m (£26.3m).

Can Spurs compete with Juve?

A lot will depend upon how Barcelona want to proceed with Gomes and if they still see him as a player that can thrive at the Camp Nou.

The 24-year-old signed from Valencia in 2016, but struggled for regular game time, starting 17 La Liga games.

This season, the midfielder has failed to impress head coach Ernesto Valverde as he has managed to make it in the first XI for just two league games.

If Gomes does not figure in Barcelona’s future plans, then they would arguably lean more towards a permanent deal, which is what Tottenham reportedly want.

However, if the Spanish giants feel that the Portuguese star can improve elsewhere and then return a better player, the club may look for a loan option.

Wilfried Zaha’s already shown how instrumental he’ll be to Crystal Palace’s survival hopes this season, returning from injury to net a huge winner against reigning champions Chelsea before bagging a last-second equaliser in a 1-1 draw with West Ham – providing the Eagles with all four of the points they’ve won so far under Roy Hodgson.

Perhaps inevitably then, the Ivory Coast international is already being linked with a move away from Selhurst Park, The Sun claiming Arsenal are eyeing a £35million swoop as they look to replace Alexis Sanchez either in January or at the end of the season.

The obvious gulf between the two wide men lays in their potency. While Sanchez has scored 54 goals in the Premier League, averaging just shy of one every two appearances, Zaha has mustered up just 38 (including international goals) throughout his entire career.

But there’s another side to Zaha’s game that often slips under the radar, and could make him such an invaluable addition for Arsenal compared to their current attacking cohort. It’s no secret Arsenal struggle to match the rest of the top six in terms of physicality, energy and aggression, especially from forward players like Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette.

Zaha, though, is exceptionally quick and strong and produced the third-most tackles, 56, of any wide man in the Premier League last season – he’s tried to keep that rate up this season too, with five successful challenges in as many appearances.

Winning the ball from the front is often infectious throughout the team and having someone like Zaha closing down the opposition could transform the mindset of an Arsenal side often accused of shirking their responsibilities off the ball. More than individual ability, that change in perspective could be what truly awakens the Gunners from their current dormancy.

So, Arsenal fans, should Wenger swoop for the seven-cap international in January? Let us know by voting below…

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that Alexandre Lacazette will miss this weekend’s Premier League contest against Manchester United, reports BBC Sport.

What’s happened?

On Wednesday night, the Gunners celebrated a 5-0 victory over Huddersfield Town, who only a few days ago gave Manchester City a difficult game.

The downside of the evening’s activity, though, was that Lacazette was struck down with a suspected groin injury.

The striker had to be replaced by Olivier Giroud at half time and will play no part in Saturday’s showdown against United at the Emirates.

To make matters worse, the Frenchman could face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

After the win over Huddersfield, Wenger told reporters:

“He’s definitely out for [Manchester United] this weekend. It looked like a groin injury. He could be out for a while.”

Could this blow affect the game?

The £52m club-record signing has scored seven Premier League goals and registered one assist in 14 appearances in the top flight.

Recently, the forward has been providing threat up top for the Gunners having netted three times in his last five outings.

Lacazette’s absence could be detrimental to Arsenal’s chances of beating United, particularly as Jose Mourinho’s side have been defending well of late.

Interestingly, though, the Gunners hitman has played a full 90 minutes just once this season, suggesting that Wenger thinks he has good enough players to get the job done without him.

[ad_pod ]

Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has claimed that Mario Lemina’s inclusion in this weekend’s Premier League game against Everton is uncertain.

An ankle injury has kept the midfielder on the sidelines for the past three games, but is now back in training with the coastal club.

The 24-year-old arrived at the club in the summer with big promise having been signed for a club-record £17m from Juventus.

So far, Lemina has started seven of the Saints’ 12 Premier League games, his last of which was the 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion on October 21.

With Oriol Romeu suspended for Sunday’s match at St Mary’s, Lemina’s return would be very much welcomed.

However, it seems that fans will only find out on match day whether or not the midfielder will feature.

While holding a pre-match news conference, Pellegrino told reporters:

“It’s too soon right now to decide how he would be because when you get injured, three days is a lot of time, no? We will decide tomorrow or maybe before the game.”

Supporters have been giving their thoughts on the news ahead of another weekend of top-flight action.

[ad_pod ]