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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Brahim Diaz has not really enjoyed his stay at Real Madrid.

After all, he’s barely ever been used and that’s not really likely to change in the future.

At the moment, it seems like he’s bound to become another victim of Los Blancos’ poor management.

On the chalkboard

The 20-year-old was a promising talent at Manchester City, his former club.

Back then when he was playing for the Citizens, he scored 11 goals and assisted ten for their U23 squad and then made 15 appearances for the senior team, netting twice in the process.

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But unfortunately for him, his luck seemed to run out when he joined Real Madrid.

He made 11 appearances for the Whites across all competitions in 2018/19 and that was practically the last we saw of the youngster who has only had eight minutes of game time in 2019/20, coming on as a substitute in Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Mallorca.

And now, he seems to be heading out the exit door.

Another one bites the dust

We have already discussed Real Madrid’s weird transfer choices and their poor management of some of the talented young players they have in the squad.

The case of Luka Jovic first comes to mind, as the Galacticos were on the hunt for new forwards despite having the young Serbian in the squad already.

AS recently came out with a story claiming that the club will be looking to ship Diaz out in the winter market so they can chase other targets and free up some of their budget.

And that decision, even though it may be good for the player himself since he might finally get a chance to play, is still rather weird and puts his whole initial transfer into question.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Why buy Diaz in the first place and snatch him away from City with the aim of landing yourself a prodigy if you’re going to freeze him out of the squad and then sell him a couple of seasons later?

AS don’t make it clear whether we’re talking about a permanent move or a loan deal of sorts but since they explicitly state that players need to be moved out so new ones can come in, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume we’re not talking about a temporary solution.

That deal sounds like the Galacticos are shooting themselves in the foot.

After all, they would be losing a talented player who was never given a shot to reach his potential.

They actually don’t have to look farther than their other loan players like Martin Odegaard and Dani Ceballos, both of whom have blossomed after being given a proper shot and some crucial game time.

With that in mind, maybe a loan would be ideal and they should be striving towards reaching that deal.

If not, Diaz might just end up as another failed project and a victim of their poor management.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Charlton have enjoyed an excellent start to life back in the Championship.

Lee Bowyer oversaw an unbeaten start to the campaign in which the Addicks won four and drew two of their first six games, and have won five and drawn three of their 11 Championship games in total.

The south Londoners sit just four points off the Championship summit, and everything seems to be going fairly well at The Valley.

There are, however, two players who should probably be doing a bit better…

Tomer Hemed

The Israel international is a player who knows where the back of the net is, having scored 17 goals in 38 games for his country.

In addition to that impressive record, the 32-year-old has scored a decent amount of goals at Championship level before, so why has he not netted for Charlton yet? It’s not like he can argue that he isn’t familiar with the division.

Hemed notched 17 goals for Brighton in the 2015/16 season, and went on to hit 11 the following year – he does know how to score goals in the Championship, and it is down to him to rediscover his goalscoring touch for the Addicks.

Chuks Aneke

Having scored 17 goals in League One last season, Charlton fans would’ve been forgiven for thinking they were getting a striker who knows where the goal is when Chuks Aneke arrived back in the summer.

Disappointingly, the 26-year-old has scored just once in eight appearances this term.

You might argue that we’re being harsh given the fact Aneke has moved up a division, but if Macauley Bonne – a player who Charlton signed from Non-League back in the summer – can deliver the goods with two goals in five appearances, then Aneke can step up a bit.

If these two players could turn it up a notch, Charlton could potentially fly up the table.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

In an interview with The Times, Andrea Radrizzani has delivered a potentially worrying statement about the club’s finances, claiming it’s not sustainable to maintain their salary at the level it’s at.

What’s he said?

Angus Kinnear has spoken in the past about the massive rise in the wage budget since Radrizzani walked through the door at Elland Road and in recent times that looks as though it’s caught up with them.

Profit and sustainability was a running theme throughout Leeds’ summer as the club had to balance the books.

It was a matter that played some part in Pontus Jansson leaving this summer.

Yet, despite claiming £10m for Jack Clarke and receiving fees for both Jansson and Kemar Roofe, things still don’t look overly positive.

Radrizzani told The Times:

“It’s financially not sustainable to keep this level of salary which is now over £30m, probably £33m with Marcelo and closer to £40m with the coaches.”

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Worrying signs

Leeds struggled to bring players through the door on a permanent basis in the summer and instead opted for a policy that saw six players arrive on loan.

Illan Meslier, Helder Costa and Jack Harrison can all become permanent additions in the future, something that would obviously be helped by returning to the Premier League.

The potential investment of QSI would also go a colossal way to ironing things out and making their level of salary sustainable.

However, that wouldn’t be particularly feasible until next season.

That means, judging by Radrizzani’s comments, that Leeds are under huge pressure to achieve promotion this season. It also suggests any permanent signings in January will likely have to be forgotten about.

That’s unless more players leave, which given their squad depth isn’t a realistic aim. They’ve used 19 players in the Championship this term, the fewest of anyone in the division while they’re also struggling in front of goal.

From the highest number of shots taken by teams in the second tier, they only sit joint-tenth for goals scored.

Bringing in a goalscorer might well be at the height of their priorities, therefore, but where they can get the finances from to fund that looks to be an issue.

Radrizzani’s comments should certainly come as a concern going into the next window.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

This Saturday, La Liga finally returns to the Santiago Bernabeu as Real Madrid host Levante on matchday four of the new 2019/20 campaign. And, by the looks of things, it’s set to be a real banger.

On the chalkboard

After the first three games of the new season, Real Madrid have only tallied one victory and are currently actually sitting one spot below their weekend opponents Levante. Apart from their opening day victory against Celta Vigo, Los Blancos haven’t been able to snatch all three points and have drawn both of the games in the build-up to this one.

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Levante, on the other hand, have been somewhat more successful, claiming the fourth spot by following up an opening day defeat with two consecutive victories. But what’s even more impressive is that they’ve scored four goals in their last two games, and they are looking to really cause some trouble to the Galacticos.

With that being said, Zinedine Zidane will be hoping one particular battle goes his way on Saturday.

Attack vs defence

Real Madrid will be without Gareth Bale this Saturday as the Welshman is serving a suspension for getting sent off in the game against Villarreal. This might cause a problem because Bale has actually scored two goals and assisted one for Los Blancos so far and has been a big presence on the pitch.

But with that in mind, that might also place more pressure on Karim Benzema, who will absolutely have to be at his best if Real Madrid want to win this game. Just like Bale, Benzema has also netted two goals and an assist so far and will go head to head with one of Levante’s outstanding performers this term, Ruben Vezo.

The Galacticos will be hoping that Benzema’s 3.7 shots per game edge out Vezo’s 1.7 tackles per game and that the Frenchman can utilise his passing against the Portuguese’s ability to intercept. Benzema has averaged 1.3 key passes per game while Vezo has two interceptions per game to his name so far.

And Benzema might have some trouble getting past Vezo with his one dribble per game as the 25-year-old defender has, so far, only been dribbled past 0.3 times per game.

Both men are, however, pretty good in the air and it will be interesting to see who exits that bout as the victor.

Benzema tallied 2.3 aerials won per game while Vezo registered 3.7 under his belt.

By all accounts, it seems that this battle just might decide the whole game on Saturday.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

When giving his predictions for this weekend’s round of Premier League fixtures, Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas had some strong opinions on what he thinks Ralph Hasenhuttl should do with misfiring striker Che Adams.

The 23-year-old – signed from Birmingham in a deal worth £15m – is yet to score a goal for his new club, and has also failed to even register an assist for the Saints in his six Premier League appearances so far.

Hasenhuttl may presumably be disappointed by his big-money signing’s impact so far, and Nicholas’ suggestion for what the Austrian should do with Adams is probably the right one.

What did he say?

When tipping Spurs for a 2-0 win, Nicholas said: “Che Adams is struggling and Ralph Hasenhuttl will want to play him, but I would leave him out and play Nathan Redmond higher up, flooding the midfield in the process.

“There will be moaning and groaning but Tottenham will get the result. They could do with a goal in the first 20 minutes to calm things down.”

Hasenhuttl probably should drop Adams

Similar to the way in which Jurgen Klopp opted to bed Fabinho and Andy Robertson in upon their moves to Liverpool – as The Times details – Adams may benefit from being taken out of the firing line by Hasenhuttl.

The striker – who scored 22 Championship goals last season – is playing Premier League football for the first time in his career with a lot of expectation on his shoulders following the £15m move.

If the former RB Leipzig boss had no other options, then fair enough: go ahead and play Adams.

However, Hasenhuttl has Danny Ings, Nathan Redmond, Shane Long and Michael Obafemi to choose from up top, so he should in no way be relying on Adams to deliver the goods just six games into his Premier League career.

Nicholas is right – Adams should be dropped.

He is still relatively young, finds himself in unfamiliar surroundings and just isn’t getting that slice of luck some strikers need – his thumping effort that came off the post against Sheffield United reinforces this.

Some time out of the firing line would do him good.

The focus will be on West Ham United’s Felipe Anderson and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah on Monday night when the Hammers welcome the Reds to the London Stadium in an important league clash for both sides.

Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping his team can put in a more disciplined performance against the league leaders following a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.

This will require a better showing from Pellegrini’s main players, like Anderson, who has been a standout performer for the East London club this campaign.

Three defeats in as many games have seen West Ham struggling for consistency and despite the commitment from Marko Arnautovic to remain at the club for the remainder of the season, at least, a player like Anderson has failed to take responsibility when the team has had its back against the wall.

But, the quality of the 25-year-old will have any team in the competition a bit worried and Liverpool will need to be at their defensive best to keep him quiet come kick-off.

Anderson could particularly be dangerous to the Liverpool defence who are currently without Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez and if Jurgen Klopp decides to play Jordan Henderson at right-back again, Anderson could really fancy himself on the left-wing to cause them trouble.

With Manchester City breathing down Liverpool’s neck, following their 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday,  Klopp will be ever reliant on the brilliance of Salah from now on to guide Liverpool through this challenging part of the season and maybe the Premier League crown.

Liverpool struggled to get going against Leicester City last week and will need the likes of Salah and Roberto Firmino to step-up and put West Ham to the sword.

However, it could be Anderson who has the last laugh.

[ad_pod ]Oh, Robin van Persie.What do you think about when someone mentions Manchester? Football? Oasis and Stone Roses? How it’s criminal it isn’t officially the second city? Or the weather? The oh-so-miserable weather.Clearly, for former Manchester United ace Van Persie, the answer is most definitely the final item on that list.Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The flying Dutchman really was a very special character at Old Trafford. Having left rivals Arsenal in search of trophies, which in itself is the kind of snaky behaviour we love to hate, he spearheaded Sir Alex Ferguson’s attack in the final year of his managerial career and helped himself to an impressive haul of 26 goals and 15 assists.

His ground-breaking 2012/13 campaign was the last time United won the title and birthed one of the most iconic moments in Premier League history – the Emirates guard of honour.

Van Persie’s legacy has since been eternalised by groups of drunken youths singing “oh, Robin van Persie†to the tune of Seven Nation Army at the end of club nights, but what we’re sure people from the red side of Manchester have really been craving is another look at his celestial left foot in action.

Fortunately, that’s exactly what the public has been given, thanks to Vincent Kompany’s upcoming testimonial match.

Van Persie took to Twitter upon his arrival, summing up everything he loves and hates about the city in one brilliant message…

Goalkeeping icon Edwin van der Sar wasn’t too far behind as well.

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West Ham United could sign a perfect upgrade on Michail Antonio in Bayer Leverkusen sensation Patrik Schick.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent days and weeks have suggested that the Hammers are interested in the Czech Republic international as David Moyes looks to strengthen his attacking options.

And, after hearing about the London side’s links to the striker, Carlton Palmer delivered his backing behind a potential move.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, he said: “He’s a top player. He’s second to Lewandowski in the goalscoring charts. I think he’s the right age at 25, £40 million is good money for him.

“When I say it’s not massive money, he’s not like your £200,000, £300,000-per-week player, he’ll fall into their budget. They need some backup for Michail Antonio, they’re too heavily reliant on Michail. When Michail’s out the side, they tend to struggle a little bit.”

Upgrade on Antonio

Schick is no doubt best known for his exploits at Euro 2020 last summer, with his incredible long-range strike against Scotland in the group stage actually being the furthest distance from which a goal has been scored on record in the tournament.

This season in the Bundesliga with Leverkusen, he has simply been in stunning goal-scoring form, smashing in 18 goals in just 16 Bundesliga games and provided another three assists too, including scoring against the likes of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich too.

The Czech ace is as clinical as they come, having a superb 32% goal conversation rate this campaign in the German top flight – to put that into context, Antonio’s is far down at just 14%.

Therefore, it’s hardly a surprise that new Leverkusen boss Gerardo Seoane described the 25-year-old as a player with “incredible finishing qualities”.

The £34m-rated star would be a more than adequate cover for Antonio and even be an upgrade on him in the starting line-up too.

Meanwhile, West Ham are interested in this Premier League defender…it’s not Nat Phillips.

Liverpool are expected to add to their squad depth in the attacking areas of the pitch this summer, even after signing Luis Diaz in January for £37.5m from Porto.

With Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah all currently set to be out of contract at the end of next season, it seems likely that Jurgen Klopp will be on the lookout for potential replacements, with Ismaila Sarr being the latest name linked with the Anfield club.

What’s the news?

The 24-year-oldhas become hot property once again after his agent Thierno Seydi told Afrique Sports: “It’s clear there are chances he leaves this year from Watford.”

According to Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, Liverpool have since reignited their pursuit of the Watford winger, after Goal reported earlier in the season that the Merseyside club didn’t follow up on their interest last summer.

The report added that the Reds could face competition from Serie A giants AC Milan, who are also keen on the Senegalese attacker with a price tag of £41m.

Liverpool’s future match-winner?

The 24-year-old has scored five Premier League goals in 16 appearances this season, having struggled with injuries and missing part of the campaign due to the Africa Cup of Nations, which left the likes of Watford goalkeeper Ben Foster wishing for his return.

The English veteran said of Sarr’s ability earlier this year: “It’s scary, isn’t it, really? It’s almost like everything seems to just be off the cuff. Every single time he gets the ball, even he doesn’t know what he’s going to do, but it will end up being good either way.

“Once he can start to really drill down on what he knows he can do, yeah, the world is his oyster. Honestly, like I say, the speed and the awareness, the touch, the precision, he’s got all of it. He just now needs all of it to connect and be in control of it too.”

“It’s great to have him back, he’s a game-winner, it’s as simple as that. He’ll win us games, but it puts the opposition on the backfoot as well and I think that’s the important part.”

Having scored important goals against the likes of Manchester United and Aston Villa, along with a brace in a 3-2 victory against Norwich earlier in the season, it’s understandable why Foster views the 24-year-old as a match-winner; and in a Liverpool side who create plenty of chances per game and excel with pacey attackers, Sarr could thrive.

In the 2019/20 season, he single-handedly ended the Reds’ incredible unbeaten run with the performance of his career, scoring two goals and setting up another in a shock 3-0 win over the runaway league leaders, also completing two dribbles and winning more than half of his duels.

Klopp probably still has that performance from February 2020 in the back of his mind ahead of the summer, and FSG must try to ensure that Sarr does the damage for Liverpool rather than to them by bringing him to Anfield as a long-term successor to their current attacking behemoths.

In other news: Klopp could unearth the “new Zlatan” as Liverpool make bid to sign £58.7m star

Despite signing three attacking players during the previous summer transfer window in the shape of Danny Ings, Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia after selling Jack Grealish to Manchester City in a deal worth a reported fee of £100m, it seems as though the Midlands club have their eye on adding another attacking talent to their squad this month.

According to a recent report from 90min, Villa are one of the Premier League clubs that have made contact to sign striker Gabriel Barbosa, also known as Gabigol, from Brazilian club Flamengo alongside Chelsea, Wolves, West Ham United and Newcastle United.

It’s understood he could be available for a fee in the region of £30m.

With a total of 284 senior club appearances across all competitions so far in his career, the 25-year-old has managed to score 129 goals, showing that he has a pretty good knack for finding the back of the net, which goes to show why so many clubs in the Premier League are reportedly interested in him.

In the 18 games he played for Flamengo in the latest Brazilian league season, Barbosa managed to rack up an average of 3.6 shots at goal per game with an average of 1.8 of them being on target, showing how deadly he is in front of goal.

In terms of a potential move to Villa this month, with Ings having scored his fourth league goal of the season for Steven Gerrard’s side in their recent 2-1 defeat against Brentford, a move for Barbosa this month could give the team a potentially very dangerous strike duo between the two players and fire the club towards the top half of the table.

Labelled as a player that “has everything to be the greatest striker in Flamengo’s history” according to Brazil legend Zico, Barbosa could be a brilliant signing for Villa this month if they’re able to beat the other Premier League clubs interested in securing his signature given his clear goalscoring talents.

Villa should definitely do all they can to bring Barbosa to the club so he can add a bit of extra firepower to Gerrard’s side and potentially push them towards a European place, especially if he can form a deadly partnership with Ings up front.

It’s a potential duo that would scare top-flight defences up and down the country; it has to become a reality for the Villans.

In other news: Lange could seal Gerrard’s dream AVFC deal with move for “magical” £16.2m-rated dynamo – opinion