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A fresh report has recently detailed how Eddie Howe secured the Newcastle United job and one claim will leave the St James’ Park faithful teeming with excitement…

What’s the word?

The 43-year-old, who had been out of work since leaving AFC Bournemouth in August 2020, was of interest to the Magpies’ new ownership but was only seen as a peripheral candidate until their first meeting over Zoom.

“It was the best interview by far,” a senior club source told the Telegraph’s Luke Edwards. “He had prepared meticulously, he knew the Newcastle players, what they were good at and where they needed to improve.

“He has studied the squad and done his research. He was fully prepared for every question and answered everything thrown at him. He also knew about the club, the fans and what is expected of a Newcastle manager if they are going to succeed here.

“Where other candidates talked in general about their principles, methods and philosophies, Eddie Howe was specific and tailored everything to what he would inherit at Newcastle. He had already identified where the strengths and weaknesses were, what the squad would need in January, as well as the type of players the club needed to improve.

“But he also talked about his training methods, the tactics that would work best with the players we have now. There was a vision for progress. How he wanted to play and why. It was just a really, really strong and persuasive presentation. We all agreed how good he could be.”

Exciting times ahead?

Those on Tyneside have suffered from mediocrity and disappointment for several seasons under Steve Bruce. As explained by the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope, his reign at Newcastle was ‘a joyless 27 months’, whilst ‘his attitude rendered progress impossible.’

Players rarely improved, a clear-cut system or identity was never really evident and fans were often wound up by his comments as the club seemingly settled for the bare minimum.

However, the aforementioned comments suggest that a different time is ahead – one that is full of hope, excitement and hopefully success.

Howe was responsible for the Cherries’ monumental rise through the English pyramid and then kept them in the big time for five successive seasons, often coming out on top in a relegation scrap, until that fateful 2019/20 season.

He racked up over 450 matches, earned three promotions in six years and took them as high as ninth in the Premier League. The Englishman was also known for bringing in young players, improving them and then selling them on for profit – again, another element that Bruce was lacking from his armoury.

The fact that the ex-Bournemouth stalwart has already arrived in the northeast with a major plan is certainly an inspiring prospect as he has already identified areas they need to improve and how he will do it, now and in the transfer window.

Edwards goes on to explain that Howe will have £50m available at his disposal at the turn of the year and given his meticulous preparation, you’d imagine he knows exactly who he wants and he must be trusted given his track record.

Overall, this massive claim should leave supporters and PIF absolutely buzzing for what lies ahead at St James’ Park.

AND in other news, PIF can revolutionise Newcastle United by hiring 56 y/o supremo in “huge coup”…

Aston Villa have seemingly joined Leeds United in the race to sign Marseille midfielder Boubacar Kamara, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Kamara profiled

Kamara is 22 years of age and is primarily a defensive midfielder who can also line out at centre-back. A France under-21 international, he has already made 145 appearances for his current employers and has even captained the club this season.

His contract is set to expire at the end of the campaign, though, and it seems as if Steven Gerrard could make a move, with Villa looking for midfield reinforcements following Marvelous Nakamba’s injury.

The Latest: Romano’s update

Romano took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon, confirming Villa’s links to Juventus midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.

However, he shared comments from Bianconeri manager Massimiliano Allegri, who claimed that the Italian giants won’t sanction any move for the Uruguayan this month.

Romano then added that Kamara is also on Johan Lange’s list when it comes to a new midfielder, tweeting: “Aston Villa are interested in Rodrigo Bentancur, confirmed as Tom Collomosse reported today. Juventus have not received any official bid yet – while Allegri today said they ‘won’t do any move in January’. Been told there’s also Boubacar Kamara in Aston Villa list.”

The Verdict: Shrewd move?

Kamara is valued at £22.5m, but due to his contract situation, you’d expect that Villa could land the versatile midfielder for a lot less than that in the final days of the January transfer window.

Should a move for Bentancur fail to materialise, Kamara could be an excellent alternative as he already has plenty of experience under his belt and is still in the early stages of his career. Also, he could improve Villa’s ball distribution, with his 90.7% passing success rate this season better than anyone to have started under Gerrard in the Premier League.

It seems as if the Uruguayan is Villa’s top midfield target, though, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next eight days.

In other news: ‘Crazy to sell’ – Lots of Villa fans flock to update as Newcastle swoop for Gerrard regular

Everton are on a dire run of form and Rafa Benitez has been not been dealt any favours when it comes to injuries at Goodison Park.

According to The Athletic, Richarlison is set to be out for a number of weeks with a calf tear after he was substituted in the second half of the defeat to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

The Toffees have lost seven of their last nine Premier League matches, having won just five of their 16 matches in the division this season.

Revival

They are in desperate need of something to kickstart their revival under the Spaniard and Richarlison’s injury could open up the door for the spark they need to come in. Ellis Simms could be called up from the academy to come in and make his senior bow.

The 20-year-old is yet to make his first-team debut for Everton but his record in the youth teams and out on loan suggests that he has the potential to be a difference-maker for the Blues.

He scored 10 goals and provided two assists in 24 League One games for Blackpool last term and has scored 55 goals for the Toffees across the U18’s and U23’s, meaning he has 65 career strikes to his name at senior and youth level combined.

In the 2018/19 campaign, he scored a sensational 32 goals in 21 under-18 Premier League matches – scoring 41 times in 44 games at that age bracket overall. Since moving up to the 23’s, he has scored 17 in 37 outings – with his loan spell with the Tangerines coming last season.

Everton U23s Assistant John Ebbrell previously heaped praise on the young attacker, saying:

“What I do know with Ellis, if he ends up one-vs-one with the goalkeeper, he’s scoring.

“From experience, I know if you have time to think for that finish it can be difficult but Ellis is really calm and composed in those situations. He very rarely misses.”

His goalscoring statistics and Ebbrell’s comments on his finishing suggest that he could be able to make the grade in the first-team if he is given a chance by Benitez in the coming weeks. Richarlison’s injury could be the perfect opportunity to throw him in at the deep end to see if he is able to swim or not.

If Simms is able to come in and score goals at Premier League level then it could kickstart Everton’s revival and see them begin to move up to the part of the table where they want to be, rather than struggling in the bottom half.

AND in other news, “What I’m hearing…”: Greg O’Keeffe drops big Everton update, fans surely buzzing…

Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish has claimed that he doesn’t think “there are any doubts” over the Eagles looking to extend the contract of Wilfried Zaha.

What’s the story?

Speaking to the South London Press, Parish said: “We love Wilfried to bits, but that is a situation that we will discuss with him and his people. We will try and find the right answer for everybody at the right time.”

The Eagles star has enjoyed his best season in front of goal this term with 12 to his name, but the 29-year-old’s current deal is set to expire next summer.

Supporters will be ecstatic

With the Ivorian being a vital cog in the Palace set up for the best part of a decade, supporters will be delighted at the prospect of the club offering him a new contract.

Of course, from Parish’s perspective, attempting to extend the stay of one of the club’s best-ever players is a no brainer. Ultimately, it will come down to whether or not the 29-year-old will want to stay at Selhurst Park.

Zaha has attempted to force transfers away before, with the winger handing in a transfer request back in 2019 in an attempt to join Arsenal, having signed a five-year deal the year before.

However, the Ivory Coast international has since remained in the Palace setup and has seen manager Patrick Vieira enjoy the best of the winger in the Frenchman’s first season in charge at Selhurst Park.

This could well be a contributing factor to attempting to convince the forward to extend his stay.

Since graduating from the Crystal Palace youth set-up in 2010, Zaha has gone on to make 424 appearances for the south Londoners, with a brief spell at Manchester United ultimately proving unsuccessful before a return to Selhurst Park.

In that period, the winger has scored 80 goals for Palace alongside registering 73 assists, making him the Eagles’ 12th highest all-time goalscorer.

Besides the efforts of Zaha and Conor Gallagher, who is expected to return to Chelsea this summer, goals from other sources have been limited with the likes of Odsonne Edouard (six), Jean-Philippe Mateta (six), Christian Benteke (four) and Jordan Ayew (two) all scoring no more than half of the 29-year-old’s current tally for the campaign.

Therefore, the prospect of the Palace star signing a new deal will have supporters ecstatic.

AND in other news: CPFC plotting bid for “incredible” £9m-rated talent, he’s “extraordinary at his age”

Crystal Palace have the opportunity to finish in the top half this season, currently just two points behind Leicester City and Aston Villa, but with Patrick Vieira planning for his final push in the remaining Premier League fixtures to secure a top finish, he may have been delivered a huge setback.

What’s the word?

As reported by Daily Mail, Wilfried Zaha had to sit out of the international friendly against England last night after suffering a grade two hamstring injury in training with the Ivory Coast.

The Crystal Palace forward is now very unlikely to be available for selection in Monday’s clash at Selhurst Park against Arsenal, as he reportedly was given an X-ray that has revealed the extent of an injury causing problems.

The Ivory Coast manager, Patrice Beaumelle, revealed further that “if it gets worse it is maybe six weeks or two months out.”

If it is that bad, it may mean that Zaha doesn’t play again this term.

Vieira will be gutted

With only nine Premier League fixtures remaining for the Eagles, the French manager will surely be gutted to have potentially lost one of his most reliable and experienced attacking threats in the team.

The 29-year-old has scored ten goals in all competitions for Palace already this season, with some of his strikes making an important impact on points won for the side. For example, there was a crucial second half goal scored against Norwich that pulled back a point, and a penalty scored against Wolves to seal a comfortable victory recently away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Palace also have a hugely important clash in the FA Cup coming up at Wembley against Chelsea in just over three weeks, and losing the attacker for the monumental clash that has taken Palace to their first FA Cup semi-final since 2016, could be a disaster for Vieira.

There will surely more clarity on the seriousness of the injury when Zaha returns to his club and is further assessed later this week, and the Eagles boss will likely call upon his other attacking players to complete the difficult challenge against the Gunners at Selhurst Park this weekend, no matter the outcome.

In other news: Vieira set for huge howler as CPFC plot bid for “terrible” £91k-p/w dud who’s “so bad”

Reliable Aston Villa reporter Ashley Preece is expecting Dean Smith to unleash Emiliano Buendia against Wolves this weekend.

The Lowdown: Buendia’s struggles

Buendia, who joined from Norwich City in a club-record deal over the summer, hasn’t started a Premier League game since the end of August.

He’s made six appearances in all competitions under Smith, scoring his first goal against Brentford but has had to make do with substitute cameos against Manchester United and Tottenham prior to the international break.

However, with Jacob Ramsey recently playing 90 minutes for England Under-21’s in the week, Preece feels it could be time for Buendia to return from the off.

The Latest: Preece’s predicted XI

Preece shared his predicted XI on Birmingham Live for the Villa Park meeting against Wolves.

When it came to naming three central midfielders in a 3-5-2 system, Preece went with Marvelous Nakamba, John McGinn and Buendia, with the latter picked ahead of Ramsey due to his international run out.

He went on to admit it would be a bold move knowing Buendia has struggled centrally in a Villa shirt.

The Verdict: Correct

Gregg Evans also picked out Buendia as a player who should be getting more minutes, and this weekend feels like the perfect chance to give him another go.

The former Canaries playmaker, who Daniel Farke called ‘fantastic’, wasn’t selected for Argentina duty this time around, so he should be chomping at the bit and ready to go.

Smith has had success in September with a 3-5-2 system, so Buendia needs to fit that mould, as it doesn’t look like that will be changing anytime soon.

In other news: Ashley Preece shares big under-the-radar Villa update on Leon Bailey.

Flocking to Twitter, some West Ham United fans have slammed the performance of Tomas Soucek after his first half display against Leeds United.

David Moyes’ men travelled to Elland Road this afternoon with the aim of getting all three points and maintaining what has been a solid start to the season.

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The Irons have secured impressive victories against the likes of Leicester City and Newcastle United this term but lost for the first time this season against Manchester United six days ago.

While it is only half-time, Moyes’ men have been up against it in Yorkshire so far and fell behind when Tomas Soucek got caught out in possession. Rodrigo then got the ball to Klich, who squared it to Raphinha, with the attacker then burying Leeds’ opening goal.

As a result, these West Ham fans have slammed Soucek for his “poor” and “shocking” error. Here’s a flavour of the Twitter verdict from the Irons faithful.

West Ham fans slam Soucek…

“Soucek’s passing in previous games has been shocking”

Credit: @sjmanderfield

“Soucek been a complete shadow of himself this season”

Credit: @AdamGordonnn

“That was absolutely dreadful from Tomas Soucek, so careless and sloppy on the ball.”

Credit: @AzamWHUFC

“Poor from Soucek….”

Credit: @kevinlowe12345

“Awful from Soucek”

Credit: @willearle_

“That is criminal from Soucek”

Credit: @1bbyWHU

In other news: ‘I’ve heard’…Insider drops ‘boardroom level’ claim in boost for Moyes, find out more here.

As per a report in the paper edition of Mundo Deportivo, via Sport Witness, there has been an update on Tottenham Hotspur’s pursuit of Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele.

The Lowdown: Dembele contract winding down…

The Frenchman’s current deal in Catalonia is set to expire in 2022 as things stand with his club running out of time to secure the player to fresh terms.

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Dembele is free to negotiate pre-contract summer moves with Spurs managing director Fabio Paratici having long been linked with a swoop.

It has been claimed that the Tottenham transfer chief is eyeing ‘quality players at zero cost’ for Lilywhites boss Antonio Conte with Barca’s ace firmly on the agenda (Mundo Deportivo via Sport Witness).

The Latest: Spurs ‘push hard’…

In an update on Dembele’s situation, Mundo (via SW) have made a claim involving Spurs – going on to state that they are trying to ‘push hard’ for the 24-year-old.

Despite interest from European heavyweights Paris-Saint Germain and Bayern Munich, ‘everything indicates’ a move to England for the attacker.

As well as this, Paratici is a personal admirer of Dembele and it is believed that the Italian ‘already tempted’ Barca’s player to join Juventus during his tenure at the Allianz Stadium.

The Verdict: Right move?

As the international’s future in Spain remains a point of contention with many clubs apparently interested (90min), we believe he actually wouldn’t be the most ideal capture for Conte at N17.

Even though Spurs would be signing him on a free transfer, Dembele’s reported salary demands in excess of around £200,000-per-week could be too much financially – especially considering his worrying fitness record.

The former Borussia Dortmund sensation’s long history of hamstring problems should certainly be taken into consideration with pundit Carlton Palmer perhaps best summing it up.

Speaking to This is Futbol, the former England international warned Spurs against a move for Dembele – citing his possible wages and extensive injury history as reasons why he would be a ‘crazy signing’ for the club.

Indeed, taking these factors into consideration, Tottenham are perhaps best looking elsewhere for low cost upgrades in the winter window.

In other news: ‘Absolute no-brainer’…Sky Sports pundit thrilled by ‘exciting’ transfer news out of Spurs, find out more here.

Lots of Everton fans have been lauding a transfer link to former Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum.

As per a report from earlier in the week by 90min, which has since been shared by EFC Daily on their Twitter feed, Rafael Benitez is now ready to battle his former club Newcastle United to sign the Paris Saint-Germain player, of whom he is a ‘big fan’.

Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United, Leicester City and Aston Villa are other Premier League clubs believed to be interested in signing Wijnaldum in the January transfer window, should he be made available by the Ligue 1 leaders.

Even though he is a former Liverpool player, the Netherlands international would likely improve Benitez’s team given his pedigree in the game, having won both the Premier League and Champions League with the Reds and earned 85 caps for his country.

He has shown that he is more than capable of adding goals and assists from midfield in the English top flight, with 43 such contributions in 217 games in the division (Transfermarkt), and he could be a very shrewd addition at Goodison Park.

Everton fans on Wijnaldum transfer news

These Everton supporters lauded the transfer news as it was shared on Twitter, with one of them hailing the Dutchman as a “proper player”:

“DU DU DU DU DU DU GINI WIJNALDUM”

Credit: @EFC_Martin1

“He would be perfect for Everton tbh. A shame he played for Big Red but his legs and energy with Doucoure would be class”

Credit: @gregofallgregs

“Who knows, I think he would be a good signing if the interest is genuine”

Credit: @AidyDews

“He’s quality mate, it’s a no-brainer on loan”

Credit: @Richlloyd1984

“Finally, a proper player to add to the team”

Credit: @chefmainia

“Job for the boys”

Credit: @askEvertonian08

In other news, find out which official club post has left these Toffees fans buzzing

When West Bromwich Albion resigned Romaine Sawyers for around £2.88m back in 2019, hopes at The Hawthorns were extremely high for the Baggies academy product.

Indeed, the 29-year-old had just enjoyed an impressive season with Brentford, providing six assists, creating two big chances and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.89 over his 42 Championship appearances for the Bees.

This initially appeared to be form that Sawyers would continue for Albion, with the midfielder turning in a number of solid performances during his first season back in the West Midlands, scoring one goal, registering one assist and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.80 over his 42 Championship fixtures in 2019/20.

The Saint Kitts and Nevis international’s partner in the middle of the pitch, Jake Livermore, also seemed to be extremely impressed with the ability of Sawyers, with the West Brom captain stating back in 2019: “He is fantastic. I love the boy as a kid and I love him as a player. I love playing alongside him. He is a nice calming influence. I think we bounce off each other quite well.

“He was at West Brom as a kid and credit to them because he has been fantastic since he has come back. I back him to be a real, real top player and I have played with a few. But I back him to be as good as anyone I have played with, to be honest. And I mean that.”

However, upon the Baggies’ promotion to the top flight, things started to take a turn for the worst for the £1.8m-rated midfielder.

Indeed, over his 19 Premier League appearances the following season, Sawyers failed to have any real impact for Albion, scoring no goals, registering no assists and earning an extremely disappointing seasonal SofaScore match rating of just 6.47 – ranking him as the club’s joint-worst performer in the league.

This is a trend that has continued for the £10k-per-week man in the current campaign, as, after being bombed out of the Albion side by Valerien Ismael this summer, the 29-year-old has failed to impress over his eight Championship appearances while on loan at Stoke City, scoring no goals, registering just one assist and averaging an extremely shoddy SofaScore match rating of 6.58.

As such, despite signs of early promise upon his return to West Bromwich a little over two years ago, Sawyers’ poor displays at the bet365 Stadium, coupled with the fact that his contract at The Hawthorns expires next summer, could well indicate that the academy product has played his final game for the club.

In other news: Forget Bartley: WBA’s £36k-p/w “leader” who made just 4 passes failed Ismael once more