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David Moyes could sign West Ham United’s next Jermain Defoe with a late January swoop for FC Girondins de Bordeaux striker Josh Maja amid rumoured negotiations with his Ligue 1 side.

What’s the word?

According to L’Equipe, via GFFN, the Hammers have reached out to Bordeaux chiefs to sound out the possibility of Maja leaving the Matmut Atlantique in the final days of the winter market.

The 22-year-old has fallen out of favour under Jean Louis Gasset with Hwang Ui Jo now seen as the Girondins’ undoubted first-choice, sparking a keen awareness to his situation at West Ham and West Bromwich Albion as Moyes and Sam Allardyce strive to bolster their options.

West Ham’s interest in Maja’s situation has also previously been touted by talkSPORT, who claimed the London Stadium natives turned their attention to the Sunderland product after seeing a £27m bid for Sevilla star Youssef En-Nesyri turned down.

Maja is noted to be a much cheaper option and may be keen to explore a return to England by reuniting with Moyes, after the Scot gifted the £6m-rated striker his Black Cats debut in an EFL Cup tie with Queens Park Rangers in 2016.

His cameo appearance in the 2-1 win proved to be his only outing under Moyes for the Stadium of Light natives, while going on to score 17 goals in 48 further first-team appearances before sealing a £1.5m move to Bordeaux in January 2019.

The London-born, Nigeria international has started 11 of his 17 Ligue 1 appearances this term, scoring twice, after a potential move to Rangers in the previous transfer window failed to materialise.

West Ham’s next Defoe

Moyes urging the GSB ownership to do whatever it takes to sign Maja in the final days of the January transfer window, amid his search for a Sebastien Haller replacement, could see the former Manchester United boss secure the Irons their next Defoe.

Defoe is known to be a big admirer of Maja following his time playing with the 5 ft 11 striker at Sunderland, and often offered the £13,000-per-week forward advice in training to help the Black Cats product improve his finishing and ability to deceive goalkeepers.

Defoe further backed Maja to be the future of the Stadium of Light natives beside fellow up-and-comer Joel Asoro, now owned by Swansea City, as Maja was proving to be rare breed for his ability to make an impact despite not being blessed with blistering speed.

“Josh is a quick thinker and if you’re that fast upstairs you don’t need anything else,” Defoe told SAFC.com. “When he trained with the first-team, he showed such great awareness – he knew when to pass it, had a great touch – and although he’s not got electric pace, he’s two steps ahead of everyone, which means he’s got an immediate advantage.

“Just look at [Andrea] Pirlo, has anyone ever seen him sprint? No, but he doesn’t lose the ball. The gift Josh has is rare and if he builds on it, the sky’s the limit.”

So far, Maja has been met with a ceiling to his potential at Bordeaux, scoring 11 goals in 48 games across all competitions since joining, but his untapped skill could see the one-time Nigeria international prove to be West Ham’s next Defoe.

The England icon joined West Ham in his youth, but the 5 ft 7 marksman’s tender age did not stop Defoe from scoring 10 goals in his first full Premier League season and going on to make 102 appearances for the east London outfit.

No doubt his words of wisdom helped Maja to develop, and a homecoming to the capital for the former Fulham, Crystal Palace and Manchester City trainee could provide West Ham with just what they are looking for in the January transfer window.

AND in other news, West Ham are working on a deal to sign a £13.5m-rated striker on loan…

يواصل نادي برشلونة الإسباني العمل من أجل سوق الانتقالات الشتوي لتعزيز هجوم الفريق، للمنافسة تحت قيادة المدير الفني تشافي هيرنانديز.

برشلونة خسر الأرجنتيني سيرجيو أجويرو الذي يعاني من عدم انتظام في ضربات القلب، وهناك جدل حول اقتراب اعتزاله لكرة القدم.

وارتبط برشلونة بالعديد من الأسماء خاصة من الدوري الإنجليزي، لكن وفقًا لصحيفة “سبورت” الإسبانية، هناك اسمان جديدان على طاولة الفريق الكتالوني.

وبحسب التقرير يدرس برشلونة فرص التعاقد مع المغربي حكيم زياش والألماني تيمو فيرنر من صفوف تشيلسي، خلال انتقالات يناير.

وكان تشيلسي منفتحًا تمامًا للحديث عن رحيل فيرنر وزياش في ظل ظروف مالية مقبولة لبرشلونة، وتعتبر المفاوضات مفتوحة حال قرر البلوجرانا شراء أي من الثنائي.

اقرأ أيضًا.. برشلونة يرفع عرضه لضم أديمي والتفوق على دورتموند

اتصل برشلونة بتشيلسي بالفعل خلال شهر أكتوبر لاختبار خيارات فيرنر وزياش، وكان الثاني هو الخيار الأنسب للطرفين، ولكن تم ترك الباب مفتوحًا أيضًا لفيرنر.

في هذا الوقت، اتصل برشلونة بوكلاء اللاعبين المتاحين لمغادرة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز لأنهم يريدون الحصول على مزيد من الدقائق ويشعرون بأنهم أبطال.

كل من فيرنر وزياش ليسا أساسيين للمدير الفني توماس توخيل، لكن الغريب أنهما لعبا كلاعبين أساسيين ضد مانشستر في الأسبوع الماضي.

لا يزال تشيلسي منفتحًا للحديث عن رحيل زياش وفيرنر ويبدو أنهما في وضع يسمح لهما بالمساعدة، حتى في دفع جزء من الراتب.

وسيكون من الضروري معرفة أي لاعب يناسب الجهاز التدريبي أكثر، زياش يلعب كجناح، بينما فيرنر مهاجم أكثر تنوعًا.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt one “devastating” blow this week, according to club legend Gary Mabbutt.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, the former central defender claimed that Spurs may suffer in the absence of Toby Alderweireld after sustaining an injury during their 2-0 win over Manchester City at the weekend.

The 31-year-old came off in the 81st minute with a muscular problem, which left manager Jose Mourinho rather anxious post-game as he described it as “bad.”

During his Europa League press conference, the Portuguese boss confirmed that the centre-back would be out for between two and four weeks, meaning he will definitely be unavailable for crucial games against Ludogorets and Chelsea.

And Mabbutt knows how huge a miss he will be, he told FFC:

“It would be a massive blow. I think he’s been outstanding this season.

“If you look at Toby over the last few years, when him and Jan [Vertonghen] were the partnership at the back, they were probably one of the best partnerships in the world. You know, fantastic, the way they worked together. And of course, losing him is going to be devastating.”

Alderweireld has started ten games in all competitions and has been key to Spurs keeping three clean sheets in their last four Premier League fixtures, as per Transfermarkt.

It means the ‘Special One’ will be left with only Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez in the Europa League tonight with Joe Rodon ineligible for selection.

In December 2019, the Belgian international signed a contract extension to 2023, which was one of Mourinho’s first pieces of business after replacing Mauricio Pochettino.

CIES Football Observatory currently value the veteran defender at €30m (£26.5m). He will indeed be a huge miss for Spurs heading into the festive period.

AND in other news, Spurs can unlock Giovani Lo Celso with swoop for £62m-rated “huge talent”…

تحدث مصطفى شوبير حارس مرمى فريق النادي الأهلي عن علاقته برمضان صبحي وشريف إكرامي، وتعرضه للانتقادت بسبب والده أحمد شوبير، مؤكدًا أنه لن يشارك أساسيًا في القلعة الحمراء لمجرد كونه نجل قائد الفريق الأسبق.

وقال مصطفى في تصريحات عبر برنامج “الماتش” على فضائية “صدى البلد”: “لم أتواصل مع رمضان صبحي منذ رحيله عن الأهلي، وهذا طبيعي، هو تواصل معي مرة وكان غاضبًا مني بسبب موقف مرتبط بالأحداث وأوضحت له وجهة نظري، وبعد ذلك أصبح التواصل بيني وبينه في المناسبات، وانزعجت جدًا من فكرة رحيله عن الأهلي”.

وأضاف: “قبل أن أصعد للدرجة الأولى كان شريف إكرامي يدعمني، ويقول لي أنا أشعر إنك نجلي، كان يحبني وطبيعي أن أبادله نفس الشعور”.

وأردف: “مواجهة بيراميدز مثلها مثل أي مباراة، لم أشعر قبل ذلك أن لاعبي الأهلي يكونون في حالة تركيز شديدة ومختلفة في هذه المباراة عن أي مواجهة أخرى”.

طالع | مصطفى شوبير: ثنائي الأهلي توقعا الفوز على الزمالك بنتيجة كبيرة

وتابع: “محمد الشناوي يجب أن يكون مثل أعلى لأي لاعب بسبب ما حققه في مشواره، هو شخص جيد جدًا”

وواصل: “رينيه فايلر وميشيل يانكون نصحاني قبل أول مشاركة لي مع الأهلي بأنهما من يحددان مستواي وليس مواقع التواصل الإجتماعي”.

واستكمل: “شهرة والد أى لاعب تزيد من حجم الضغوطات في التقييم، لكن يتم انتقادي حتى من قبل أن أشارك أو أحصل على فرصة”.

واستطرد: “انتقدوا الأهلي لقيد 4 حراس مرمى في إفريقيا واتهموا النادي بالمجاملة رغم أن قائمة الزمالك ضمت 4 حراس أيضًا في نفس الموسم”.

وأتم: “لست مظلومًا بسبب والدي وكل الفضل يحسب له بعد ربنا، وتم شن حملة ضدي وأنا في سن الـ16 عامًا، بسبب خطأ مع المنتخب، وبكيت حينما رأيت حجم الانتقادات”.

واختتم: “لا يوجد مدرب سيفضلني على حارس في الأهلي لأنني نجل شوبير، وأتمنى أن أصبح حارس مصر الأول في الفترة القادمة، وهذا حلم مشروع”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Desde o início do atual mandato, a oposição do Vasco sabia que o trabalho seria difícil. Afinal, com aliados do presidente em número tão maior, é muito difícil fazer-se ouvir. Julio Brant representava a chapa “Sempre Vasco”, que ficou na segunda posição na última eleição, e acredita que, para o clube poder evoluir, o estatuto precisa ser alterado.

– Temos que trabalhar para dar mais voz à oposição. O Conselho Deliberativo precisa ser mais democrático. Hoje, há muito desequilíbrio. A primeira coisa é a reforma do estatuto. A segunda é aumentar participação dos sócios. O Vasco se fecha em meia dúzias de pessoas desde o Roberto (Dinamite, ex-presidente nos últimos dois mandatos) e, na atual gestão, o Eurico domina muitos – analisa ao LANCE!.

Diego Henrique Carvalho, membro da Cruzada Vascaína e do Conselho Fiscal, também pede mais diálogo.

– Neste cenário nada animador, precisamos de muita conversa. Os problemas devem ser digeridos um a um com a ajuda de todos os vascaínos capazes de contribuir com ideias e soluções, sejam eles da situação ou da oposição – entende.

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Sheffield Wednesday got back to winning ways on Saturday afternoon and in the process, one key Owls decision was fully vindicated.The Hillsborough outfit received a shock £1m bid from Championship rivals Brentford for talismanic midfielder Barry Bannan in the final week of the domestic transfer window.And during deadline day on Friday, Sky Sports’ Keith Downie reported that the Bees remained interested in the veteran, whose contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

It would have maybe been an easy decision to cash in on a 30-year-old who would be free to leave in less than 12 months, but their call to keep hold of him has already been vindicated.

The Owls defeated Garry Monk’s former club Birmingham City 1-0 at St Andrew’s Stadium with Bannan delivering a ‘Man of the Match’ display.

Per SofaScore, the Scotsman not only scored the only goal of the game but also recorded two key passes, two dribbles and two interceptions. He even won 83% of his ground duels and lost possession 17 times.

Sheffield Star reporter Alex Miller dubbed the skipper’s second-half showing “classy” and also suggested that he “deserved the headlines.”

Bannan was certainly in the thick of it all game and was evidently vital as the Owls’ ticking metronome with Wednesday picking up their first win in four in all competitions.

Now, it is expected that the long-serving midfielder will sign a new contract extension with Monk claiming that he’s an “integral part” of his plans moving forward, even despite his advancing years.

Bannan hasn’t just impressed those of an Owls persuasion, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola called him an “incredible player” after their FA Cup fifth-round clash last season.

Clearly, he’s ever so vital to Wednesday and their fortunes, so the decision to gamble on him entering the final six to eight months of his £27k-per-week contract has already been fully justified.

Owls chairman Dejphon Chansiri now must make things even better by giving him the deal he deserves.

AND in other news,Âhere is some fantasy football wildcard advice…

After suffering a disastrous early exit in the Champions League in mid-week, Celtic got back to winning ways with a routine 3-0 victory over Motherwell on Sunday afternoon.

Neil Lennon’s side took the lead thanks to a late first-half strike from James Forrest, before Albian Ajeti and Christopher Jullien wrapped things up in the closing stages of the contest.

How’s your Celtic knowledge? Always been a loyal fan? Well can you spot Stilian Petrov from John Hartson? Give it a go if you’re brave enough …

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And after the game, it was Jullien’s performance who Celtic fans seemed to be very impressed by. Aside from his well-taken finish in injury time, the centre-back also made two tackles, two interceptions and completed seven of his ten attempted long balls.

The Frenchman didn’t looked too troubled on Saturday by the Motherwell strikers, and after helping to keep another clean sheet in the Scottish Premiership, Celtic supporters took to Twitter to hail the 27-year-old.

Some fans even claimed that the centre-back is a better finisher than Patryk Klimala, who missed two official big chances according to Sofascore before eventually being hooked for Mohamed Elyounoussi.

Coming up against a side rooted at the bottom of the table always seemed like a home banker for the Hoops, and that turned out to be the case.

With Odsonne Edouard again missing from the starting line-up, it was up to the rest of his Celtic teammates to step up, and whilst they may have let the club down on Wednesday night against Ferencvaros, they clawed back some pride with their performance at the weekend.

The race for the title promises to be a good one.

Leeds United’s short term future is set to be very exciting after their return to the Premier League, but that doesn’t mean the men in charge at Elland Road have stopped looking further afield.

The Whites have been very active when it comes to purchasing young talents in recent years with the likes of Rafa Mujica and Guille Amor coming from Barcelona, while Tyler Roberts was poached from West Brom at a young age prior to becoming a first-teamer in Yorkshire.

Watch Leeds United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

While promotion to the Premier League has brought about links to high-profile players such as Edinson Cavani and Said Benrahma, Leeds are still quietly looking at young talents, and they’ve been linked with a very exciting 16-year-old this week.

What’s the story then?

The Daily Mail are reporting that Manchester United are set to make a move for Manchester City youngster Charlie McNeill, but Leeds and Wolves are also monitoring the situation.

It seems as though McNeil is leaving City this summer, posting what seemed to be a farewell on his Instagram account last month, and Leeds are seemingly looking to snap him up.

Future star

It’s no surprise that big clubs are looking to swoop for McNeill.

The striker has reportedly scored 110 goals in 72 games while playing at U15 level and 600 goals overall as a youth player, and although those goals won’t mean much when all is said and done in his career, that’s still a mind-blowing figure, especially when you consider he’ll have been playing against other academies.

You’d struggle to find many players at that level producing numbers at that rate, and with these prodigies seemingly emerging earlier and earlier these days, it may not be long until we see him playing in the Premier League.

The sky is seemingly the limit for this future star, and if Leeds land his signature they could have an absolute gem on their hands.

Many Sunderland fans have reacted with outrage after a statement from the club over season tickets refunds for the games missed due to the 2019/2020 season being curtailed.

The Wearside club saw their season come to an abrupt end as the League One season was ended via a points-per-game system.

Finishing eighth in the table, the Black Cats missed out on the chance to gain promotion to the Championship, the second successive year in which they have fallen short in that aim.

Stadium of Light season ticket holders missed a total of three home games due to the curtailment of the season and a recent announcement by the club has seemingly upset those fans.

The latest announcement made by Sunderland revealed that those fans with season ticket cards for the 2019/20 campaign will not be refunded until August at the earliest. The Black Cats outlined the process for supporters who were looking to gain refunds for the games missed against Shrewsbury Town, Accrington Stanley and Peterborough United.

“Sunderland AFC would like to thank supporters for their continued patience and advise them of the following details relating to the 2019-20 refund process,” the club statement read.“As previously announced, all season card holders are entitled to a pro-rata refund for the club’s cancelled home fixtures against Shrewsbury Town, Accrington Stanley and Peterborough United.“And supporters that purchased single match tickets for the club’s remaining games – home and away – are entitled to a full refund.“The refund process will take place via the following phases:“PHASE ONE: Home match tickets – 6 July ‘til 17 July“PHASE TWO: Away match tickets – 27 July ‘til 7 August“PHASE THREE: Season cards – 17 August ‘til 28 August“If a supporter is eligible for a refund, a credit balance will be applied to the ‘Account Cashback’ section within their online ticketing account in line with the dates above.“This process applies to all ticket purchases, including those made in person, by cash payment and via Direct Debit.“After logging in, supporters must enter the bank details they wish to use for the refund transaction before the expiry of each phase, after which point all cashback refunds will be processed.“Meanwhile, our commercial team are currently in the process of contacting our commercial clients in order to talk through the options available to them.“The Stadium of Light Box Office remains closed to the public and further information regarding its re-opening will be announced in due course.“We would like to once again thank supporters for their continued patience and understanding throughout what remains an incredibly challenging time for us all.”Sunderland Echo reported the view of fans following the announcement which saw a large number of season ticket holders take to social media to criticise the club statement.

This is another kick in the teeth for Sunderland fans from the club, who simply cannot seem to get anything right at the moment. One must wonder how hard it could be for the club to refund season ticket holders now rather than making them wait until August, a further blow to supporters who have been deprived of three home matches.

Unfortunately, reimbursing those would hurt Sunderland financially but there is also the trade-off of the loss of goodwill from what seems an excessively prudent approach by the club.

What do you make of Sunderland’s latest season ticket decision? Let us know in the comments section below…

Chelsea could be looking at an extremely successful transfer window as a figure is revealed as their summer budget.

No Premier League side has had a window quite like the Blues. We are only a few days in and Roman Abramovich has already signed off on two new signings and is willing to splurge on more big names as they continue to be linked. According to ESPN, the Russian businessman is set to fork out huge sums to give Frank Lampard the best possible chance at success next season with a reported sum of £120million.

Chelsea are undergoing a full refurbishment ahead of what promises to be an exciting 2020/21 season. The figure quoted by ESPN does not include signings already made, which would take Abramovich’s spending to more than £200million for this window alone.

Marquee signing Timo Werner is a very important purchase as the West London outfit look to re-establish themselves in the Premier League. Hakim Ziyech will also bolster Lampard’s attacking options along with potential big money transfer Kai Havertz, who is all but sporting the Chelsea crest, according to recent reports.

The Blues are further linked to the likes of Declan Rice and Jan Oblak, who will complete a well-rounded summer window. The Atletico Madrid goalkeeper has a £110m release clause which the club are sticking by, so the deep transfer fund will come in handy if Chelsea are serious about bringing him to England.

Chelsea have struggled over the last few seasons, looking a shadow of their former selves. Now, under Lampard, they look as threatening as ever and a healthy summer haul will only make them more terrifying to the opposition.

They have secured Champions League football for next term after finishing on level points with Manchester United and bagging a top four spot. The promise of Europe, a decent Premier League title run and money in the bank will undoubtedly attract players to the club. Now the real question boils down to who will the Blues snap up next?

Who can you see Chelsea signing next, Blues? Join the discussion in the comments below!