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Everton’s transfer window has been put on hold amid the ongoing drama with the search for the next manager becoming the priority for the club, however, with the latest injury update coming out of Finch Farm, signing a player could become an urgent priority for Farhad Moshiri and Duncan Ferguson.

What’s the word?

Everton released a statement last night about Abdoulaye Doucoure sustaining an injury during the 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa over the weekend.

The statement reads:

‘Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure sustained a groin injury in Saturday’s Premier League meeting with Aston Villa and will begin treatment under the care of the Club’s medical staff at USM Finch Farm.’

There has been no update on how long the midfielder will be out for, which leaves the question as to whether he will be available or not for Everton’s important FA Cup fourth-round tie on the 5th February against Brentford.

Time to sign Dele Alli

Everton have been linked to signing Tottenham Hotspur outcast, Dele Alli, and his lack of presence at the clash with Chelsea on Sunday evening seemingly only further suggests that the player is not in the future plans of Antonio Conte, which means a swoop for the £100k-per-week star could be an option for the Toffees.

With Doucoure injured and no clarity on his return as of yet, Moshiri should be seizing the opportunity to sign the 25-year-old who was once hailed a “machine” by Manchester United legend, Rio Ferdinand.

Alli has made 269 appearances for Spurs, scoring 67 goals and bagging 61 assists, with a goal involvement every 149 minutes he has played for the London club, a consistent output that Everton are desperate for right now, with the side scoring 11 fewer goals than they have conceded this term.

Even without the injury problems that Everton have faced this season, adding a player who can be a fresh attacking threat for the side could be exactly what they need to turn their season around and start picking up results to climb the table to escape a relegation battle in the final months of the season.

Moshiri is interviewing another manager today with Vitor Pereira reportedly flying into Merseyside to discuss the potential of becoming the new Everton manager, so with that priority soon to be resolved, the board must remain conscious that there is only a week left to go to sign players in the January transfer window to see out the rest of the Premier League season.

Either way, if Ferguson remains in charge for the foreseeable future, the Toffees hierarchy will need to hand him a better squad and in Dele, the interim boss could find his perfect man.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano reveals new update in manager search

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been lauding a goal scored by Tony Weston for the club’s B team on Saturday.

The striker opened the scoring for the young Gers away to East Kilbride in the Lowland League, but it was not enough as the hosts eventually won 2-1 in the end at K-Park.

Nonetheless, it was yet another goal for Weston, who had scored five goals in eight games across all competitions this season prior to his latest strike (Transfermarkt), as he really starts to hit top form.

If the 18-year-old keeps on scoring goals for Rangers B, then he will surely catch the eye of Giovanni van Bronckhorst, who may want to start thinking about promoting him to the first team sooner rather than later.

Rangers fans laud Weston goal

These Gers fans were left lauding Weston’s goal as news of it was shared by the club’s Academy channel on Twitter, despite the team’s loss:

“It’s that man again”

Credit: @JM5472

“What a season the kid is having.”

Credit: @RangersBanter17

“Main man doing main man things”

Credit: @HeartandHutts

“To the surprise of nobody, well in Tony”

Credit: @grumpyhaggissss

“Goal machine”

Credit: @LBeattie92

“Get in there Tony”

Credit: @harryhastings

In other news, find out what injury news has been bemoaned by many Gers fans

Manchester United have entered talks to sign Borussia Dortmund defender Dan-Axel Zagadou.

That’s according to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, and, as to be expected, a number of United fans have been reacting to the rumours on social media.

Zagadou is 22 years of age and is out of contract with Dortmund at the end of June. The French centre-back has made 80 appearances for the club, however, he has suffered from numerous injury issues, missing 77 games since 2017/18.

Despite that, it seems as if United are keen to take advantage of Zagadou’s contract situation, with Aouna revealing on Twitter that Ralf Rangnick has started discussions with the defender’s agent.

Dortmund want to extend Zagadou’s stay in Germany, but he is now free to pen pre-contract terms at Old Trafford.

United fans react

@utdreport shared Aouna’s claim on Twitter on Wednesday morning. This is what these United fans had to say in reply, with many not keen on a transfer and one describing his injury record as ‘awful’.

“A extremely injury prone CB? Please no”

Credit: @MrCampbell98

“This can’t be true.. Very laughable”

Credit: @Sir_Skippa

“awful injury record NEXTTTT”

Credit: @UtdRajj

“He’d be our worst centre back”

Credit: @JoleanMU

“Just had a look at his stats….. this man is never going to be fit”

Credit: @TotalUnited

“A midfielder is more important”

Credit: @ShawzzyUTD

In other news: ‘Wow’ – Many MUFC fans erupt at journalist’s swap transfer news. 

Newcastle United had to settle for a point at home to Norwich City in the Premier League on Tuesday night after Ciaran Clark was sent off early on.

Callum Wilson actually put the hosts in front from the penalty spot before Teemu Pukki equalised as the score finished 1-1.

While there were some spirited performances from Eddie Howe’s team, a few seemed to struggle, as The Transfer Tavern uses statistical experts SofaScore to analyse who the three worst performers (to have played at least 45 minutes) were for the St. James’ Park faithful:

Joe Willock

Although Ciaran Clark (3.0) and Ryan Fraser (6.4) both ranked poorly by SofaScore, they did not play at least 45 minutes, and so Willock comes in third with a 6.4 rating.

The former Arsenal man was hauled off for Isaac Hayden in the 73rd minute, as he lost out on five of his duels, and also failed to record a single shot on goal from midfield, while he lost possession of the ball six times.

Javier Manquillo

Manquillo was also given a 6.4 rating by SofaScore, but comes in second place here because he played the full 90 minutes.

The Spaniard lost three duels, and recorded no successful dribbles, blocked shots, tackles, key passes, crosses or accurate long balls from right-back.

He was also guilty of losing the ball on no fewer than on 20 separate occasions in the match, the most out of any player on the pitch.

Jamal Lewis

Lewis was ranked as the worst player on the night for the North East club to have played at least 45 minutes, as SofaScore gave him a 6.3 rating.

The left-back lost seven of his duels in total, and also failed to record a successful dribble, key pass, accurate cross or long ball, losing possession 10 times.

In other news, find out who could be back for NUFC earlier than expected here!

Steven Gerrard has been consistently linked to making moves in the transfer window on many of his former players at Rangers since joining Premier League side, Aston Villa in November.

What’s the story?

Villa have suffered a devastating injury blow in their midfield with Marvelous Nakamba being sidelined for at least two months with a serious knee injury.

This will give the Villans boss a headache, as Nakamba has been a revelation under his new manager.

During Gerrard’s first game in charge against Brighton, he completed an impressive 94.2% of his passes and has consistently performed at that level all the way into his last home game at Villa Park before he got injured, completing 93% of his passes in the 2-1 victory over Leicester.

However, the Villa manager may have already identified his Nakamba replacement in a player he used to manage at Rangers.

Glen Kamara has been tearing it up at Ibrox over the last few years, playing an integral part in the SPFL Champion’s invincible season under Gerrard, with the midfielder adding two goals and two assists to the side’s success.

He has continued to be influential under his new manager, Gio van Bronckhorst, with 25 appearances, one goal and four assists for the title-challenging side from his defensive midfield role.

Gerrard has a clear vision for his Aston Villa future and will be looking to add players who fit his vision, with 90min reporting that Kamara is the prime target for the former Rangers boss.

Kamara was hailed a “special talent” by his former manager at Dundee, Neil McCann, who was full of praise for the 26-year-old in an interview with The Athletic.

There is no doubt that Kamara thrives under Gerrard’s management and coaching, so it would seem like a very easy transition for the midfielder to come to the Premier League and join his former boss at Villa Park.

The 41-year-old manager will be looking for a quick fix solution to the hole that Nakamba will leave in the midfield, especially with his aforementioned pass completion statistics that will surely be missed in builds of play coming from the middle of the pitch.

Kamara could be a great solution with his experience working under Gerrard successfully, and at a great price as the £21k-per-week earner could be reportedly available for Villa to move in with a good offer, relieving Gerrard of the worries and pressure over Nakamba’s return from injury. Based on that, it would ensure Villa start the January transfer window with a bang.

In other news: Gerrard must offload Wesley

An update has emerged on Manchester United gem Dean Henderson, regarding Newcastle’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun, the England international has been mentioned as a possible goalkeeper target for the Magpies.

The report claims that a loan deal for Henderson would be costly for Newcastle, with Lazio shot-stopper Thomas Strakosha among their alternative options.

Krul 2.0

Eddie Howe, who is reportedly close to taking over on Tyneside, could unearth Tim Krul 2.0 for Newcastle by signing Henderson in the January window.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/check-out-the-latest-newcastle-howe-ter-stegen” title= “Read the latest Newcastle news!”]

Krul played 185 times for the Magpies after coming through the ranks as a young goalkeeper and kept 53 clean sheets for the club. He established himself as a regular in the Premier League and Henderson could be the newest long-term number one at St. James’ Park.

The 24-year-old has 49 Premier League appearances under his belt to date for Manchester United and Sheffield United and has kept 18 clean sheets in that time. He has played 27 times for the Red Devils in all competitions and kept an impressive 13 clean sheets.

Former United boss Jose Mourinho once hailed the shot-stopper and praised his arrogance. He told talkSPORT:

“I am a Henderson fan. When I was at United he was a kid, and I tell this story because it shows his nature.

“He came to my office asking for a loan, he went to Shrewsbury, but this kid said to me then, ‘When I come back, I want to be number one’. We looked at each other because we had De Gea and this kid never played one game, but he has had incredible development.

“The loans were all very successful. The way United organised them I think United did amazing for him and he did amazing for himself. He has this arrogance in him, this trust and belief which I think an England goalkeeper needs.”

This, along with his statistics in the top-flight to date, highlights the potential the £120k-per-week gem has heading into the rest of his career. 24 is incredibly young for a goalkeeper and Howe could bring in the club’s number one for years to come if he signs him, as he has shown that he has the quality to keep clean sheets in the Premier League.

Therefore, he has the potential to be a top-tier goalkeeper for a number of years and could be the next Tim Krul at St. James’ Park as he could come in and solidify his place in the starting XI if he is able to fulfil his potential and remain consistent.

AND in other news, Forget Hayden: Newcastle gem with 9 duels won was Jones’ real hero vs Brighton…

While much of the excitement at Aston Villa at the moment will naturally surround Steven Gerrard and how he can get the club firing again, NSWE will be absolutely delighted at securing the services of another man: Michael Beale.

The 41-year-old arrived at Villa Park as Gerrard’s first-team coach from his time at Rangers, and has been widely hailed by numerous people for the role he has played.

Indeed, Gerrard himself told The Robbie Fowler Podcast: “What I’ll never do is try to do someone else’s job when they are better than me at doing it It would take me 15 to 20 years to become as good as Michael Beale as an on-pitch coach, delivering sessions on a daily basis, so I let Mick be Mick because he’s the expert.”

That sentiment is echoed by journalist Stuart Hodge who exclusively revealed to GIVEMESPORT the kind of role Beale has played, and will play at Villa Park over the coming months and years.

Hodge said: “Beale is the man behind him that’s doing things and looking at things from a different perspective. He’ll be the one doing a lot of the drills on the training pitch.”

He added: “Gerrard is the manager and Beale’s the coach, essentially. Beale is the brains behind the operation, whereas Gerrard is very much the face and the front of it.”

Having that respected coach who can really dig into the finer details on the training ground and really improve players will be particularly key for a young Villa side brimming with exciting talents coming through the academy – not least the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and Cameron Archer.

And, speaking to BBC Scotland, former Gers star Peter Lovenkrands outlined just how Beale goes about things with individual players: “What he does with the players on the pitch is phenomenal. I remember he was giving me sessions to take down because I was doing the reserves; he wanted us to copy it. I was loving it. I actually wanted to take part in the training.

“He’s so on the ball. He’s so good at what he does. The players love it. His preparation for each game is fantastic to watch, and Gerrard is very lucky to have him.”

While Villa fans will surely be very pleased with appointing Gerrard, the arrival of the 41-year-old Beale in tandem could be the real masterstroke that really ignites things behind-the-scenes.

Meanwhile, Ashley Preece has revealed what Gerrard has “transformed” at Villa Park…

If Thursday night was a trial, then mooted West Ham target Paul Onachu would have hardly passed with flying colours.

In fact, his performance may be enough to put new Irons head of recruitment Rob Newman completely off making a move as the 27-year-old struggled against the east London outfit in the Europa League.

The Hammers dominated Belgian outfit Genk and came out on top with a 3-0 victory at the London Stadium to maintain their 100% record in the competition.

According to the Daily Mail, West Ham are among many clubs interested in a move for the Nigeria international, who is thought to be valued at around £20m.

There is said to be competition from Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton, whilst Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid have also been linked by the report.

Well, luckily for David Moyes and co, they got to witness his credentials firsthand, and on that basis alone, he could struggle to have much of an impact in England as the Irons absolutely silenced him with their two backup central defenders.

Onuachu may have bagged 11 goals in 15 appearances beforehand, providing a total of 56 goals in only 85 games for the Jupiler Pro League outfit, but there is a vast difference in the quality of opposition.

The £19.8m-rated forward, who was once dubbed a “goal king” by former Wimbledon star John Fashanu, looked rather poor against the Irons.

Both Issa Diop and Craig Dawson dealt with his 6 foot 7 stature and usually impressive aerial ability (he has won 3.6 aerial duels per league game this term) with aplomb.

Onuachu was hooked after 73 minutes, having failed to make any sort of impact. As per SofaScore, his two attempts on goal were fired off target, with one of those a particularly weak effort with what was a golden chance for the visitors, whilst the towering striker also won only 50% of his battles in the air and managed just one successful dribble from three attempts.

It’s no secret that Moyes needs another frontline addition to help provide backup to Michail Antonio, who was not even in the squad on Thursday night, but on that midweek showing, the answer may not be the Genk talisman.

Newman must steer West Ham clear of the 27-year-old or else risk making a major transfer blunder.

AND in other news, Moyes handed fresh injury blow to key West Ham star ahead of Spurs…

Some Everton fans have been left buzzing as some international news emerged involving Richarlison.

As per The Athletic journalist Patrick Boyland, the former Watford ace has not been named in Brazil’s latest squad for their upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers, as he is not considered 100 per cent fit.

There is a desire to manage his fitness carefully, so that he can return to the squad fully firing in the continued absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Richarlison only just returned to the team in their 5-2 loss to Watford at Goodison Park (Transfermarkt).

Unfortunately for the Merseyside club, the games that he has missed have been detrimental ones, as they have lost two and drawn one of the four matches that he has missed in the Premier League, and went out of the Carabao Cup to EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers (Transfermarkt).

It is clear just how important he is to Rafa Benitez, and him not going away on international duty allows him to work on his fitness, getting back to his very best for the Toffees while also avoiding any quarantining difficulties upon his return.

Everton fans on Richarlison international news

These Blues buzzed as the news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it is ‘great’:

“Great news”

Credit: @THT1878

“Well done Rafa”

Credit: @FactsRafa

“A good sign that we can concentrate to getting him back to full fitness.”

Credit: @MacdoonJnr

“<taps noise> well in RB”

Credit: @NubiBlue

“We need him more than ever to save us from Rondon”

Credit: @richythepigeon

“Fantastic news, really glad the Eve/Brazil bond is so strong.”

Credit: @Ianfindmybrew

In other news, find out what team news before Wolves has Evertonians fuming here!

Nuno Santo’s latest Tottenham Hotspur starting XI was quite damning.

Once again, his former Wolverhampton Wanderers star Matt Doherty did not feature as the pair made their returns to Molineux on Wednesday evening.

Instead, the Portuguese head coach opted for young academy graduate Japhet Tanganga, who appeared to be the first-choice at right-back until the deadline day arrival of Emerson Royal from Barcelona.

It now essentially leaves the 29-year-old as third-choice in north London.

Many could be forgiven in thinking that the arrival of Nuno would’ve given the Northern Ireland international the boost he needed to truly kickstart his Spurs career, particularly after he made 142 appearances under him in the old gold.

But that couldn’t be further from the truth as his future at the club looks as far away as it’s ever been, even under Jose Mourinho.

Back in February, ESPN reported that Doherty’s future was in doubt under the ‘Special One’ despite signing him for £15m earlier in the summer. He struggled to impress the former Spurs boss, who was even seen berating him from the sideline during one defeat to Liverpool – his red card against Leeds didn’t help either.

But with Mourinho gone, things have not changed for the £14.4m-rated dud whatsoever.

Under his former boss, Doherty has played only 277 minutes across all competitions so far this campaign, in which none of his appearances have been starts domestically, as per Transfermarkt.

He now has two other players ahead of him in the pecking order, so when January swings around, it would hardly be a surprise to see him moved on, especially as he’s reportedly earning wages of around £65k-per-week.

talkSPORT’s transfer expert Alex Crook even claimed in the summer that Doherty was surplus to requirements, so that only reinforces the potential of him leaving come the turn of the year.

Last season, the vastly-experienced defender was described as a “weak link” by BBC Sport contributor Premier League Panel.

After his latest snub, Doherty’s days are surely numbered at Tottenham Hotspur.

AND in other news, Paratici could make his biggest Spurs mistake yet as January transfer report emerges…