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Antonio Conte has a massive decision to make as Tottenham Hotspur return to Premier League action this weekend…

Big blow

Spurs are likely to be without star centre-back Cristian Romero after he picked up a suspected hamstring problem during Argentina’s 0-0 draw with Brazil on Tuesday evening.

The Italian will be sweating on his fitness heading into kickoff but as transfer expert Fabrizio Romano tweeted, it looks like “bad news for Tottenham”, whilst Dr Rajpal Brar, who specialises in physical therapy, believes he could be out for any time between one to six or more weeks, depending on the severity.

It seems hugely improbable that the 23-year-old colossus is involved in their clash against Leeds United on Sunday.

Rodon redemption

As Conte deploys a back-three, he is short on alternatives in the role.

One-time club-record signing Davinson Sanchez would be the obvious option as the most senior of those available, especially as he started four of their opening six games in the Premier League, keeping three clean sheets in the process.

However, he has often been dubbed a “liability” and it’s clear that something in Nuno Santo’s mind changed as he hasn’t started any of their last five league matches, and Conte has not started him in either of his two games in charge yet either.

Then there is the versatile Japhet Tanganga, who has largely featured at full-back rather than in the middle. The 22-year-old, just like Sanchez, is yet to play for the Italian, and he has a history of not trusting or breeding through youngsters.

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It, therefore, leaves Joe Rodon, who can build a solid case for more game time in north London with a start against the Whites.

Since joining Spurs in an initial £11m deal from Championship side Swansea City last year, the Wales international has struggled for game time, playing only 19 times in all competitions.

In fact, he’s started as many times for Wales (11) in 2021 as he has for Spurs (11).

He has never let the Lilywhites down whenever trusted and he continues to make an impression on the international stage, and that can’t have gone unnoticed by Conte, especially after receiving the blow to Romero.

Despite rarely featuring for the Lilywhites in 2020/21, the 24-year-old was one of the more productive defensive options as he averaged a squad-high 2.6 interceptions per 90 minutes, as well as having the best passing accuracy (88.1%) of anyone besides midfield orchestrator Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, via WhoScored.

“You look at Rio Ferdinand and John Terry and there are elements of both in Rodon’s game,” once claimed Sky Sports pundit Andy Hinchcliffe.

Whilst the 6 foot 4 colossus has been described as a “pure” defender and a “real asset” by his former Swans boss Steve Cooper.

It’s time for Conte to turn to Rodon in his time of need this weekend. He’s struck up a good partnership alongside Ben Davies for his national side and for a temporary stop-gap alongside Eric Dier, this is probably the best solution.

AND in other news, Conte may already be repeating Nuno Santo’s fatal Spurs mistake…

Newcastle United suffered a third successive Premier League defeat on Sunday, going down 5-1 away to Tottenham Hotspur.

Fabian Schar had put the visitors in front on 39 minutes, but goals from Ben Davies, Matt Doherty, Son Heung-min, Emerson Royal and Steven Bergwijn ultimately made it an emphatic victory for Antonio Conte’s side.

The result leaves Newcastle 15th in the table, still nine points clear of the relegation zone.

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Here at The Transfer Tavern, we delve into the three worst-rated starting outfielders for the Magpies as per statistical specialists SofaScore, with players required to feature for at least 45 minutes to feature. Collectively, this trio lost 71% of their ground duels and mustered a crossing accuracy of just 17%.

Joelinton – 5.8/10

Joelinton made his second consecutive start after missing a couple of games with a knock last month, but he only lasted 59 minutes before Eddie Howe took him off.

The manager may not have been impressed with a performance which saw the Brazilian lose six out of his seven ground duels, commit two fouls and pick up a yellow card.

Joelinton lost possession nine times overall, failing to complete the single cross and dribble that he attempted.

Dan Burn – 5.9/10

On a run of eight successive starts, the towering defender was also cautioned yesterday and didn’t fare much better than his Brazilian team-mate.

The 29-year-old lost all three of his ground duels and was also penalised for fouls on two occasions. In addition, he turned the ball over eight times and couldn’t find a team-mate with either of his long passes.

Matt Targett – 6/10

Targett has been selected every time that he has been available since making a loan switch from Aston Villa in January, but he completes the below-par trio of Newcastle players from Sunday’s defeat in north London.

He performed better than the aforementioned duo when it came to ground duels, winning three out of four, but he failed to enhance his team’s attacking threat, with four of his five crosses going astray on a less than stellar afternoon for him or his team. He was also guilty of losing the ball on seven occasions.

In other news, Keith Downie drops an update on Jonjo Shelvey

Leeds United and Tottenham are interested in Scottish teenager Calvin Ramsay, according to The Daily Record’s Scott Burns.

The Lowdown: Ramsay profiled

Ramsay is just 18 years of age and is primarily a right-back who can also play as a right midfielder.

Contracted until 2024 with Aberdeen, Ramsay is claimed to be “in the elite upper bracket” of his position by Dons chairman Dave Cormack.

He’s made 20 appearances in 2021/22 and has racked up an impressive eight assists, and it seems as if he is a player now on Victor Orta’s radar.

The Latest: Burns’ claim

Reliable reporter Burns shared a story late on Wednesday evening, leading with a title that Leeds and Spurs ‘ramp up interest’ in Ramsay.

It is believed that scouts from both sides were at Pittodrie on Tuesday to watch Ramsay against Rangers, joining officials from Leicester City, Manchester United and Southampton.

The Verdict: Drameh replacement?

Leeds youngster Cody Drameh has recently moved to Cardiff City for the second half of the season, a decision Marcelo Bielsa wasn’t exactly thrilled about.

The youngster pushed for a loan to the Championship side, and should Bielsa remain in charge next season, there may well be no place for the youngster following his recent decision.

So, bringing in Ramsay, who is clearly a future star and is already impressing on the first-team stage, could be a wise move. Leeds could find that difficult, though, with a number of top Premier League sides also keen.

In other news: Leeds now want ‘lively’ speedster as well as Aaronson; he wants a Ballon d’Or within 3 years. 

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

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.

With the January transfer window opening in a matter of days, Everton could do with splashing the cash and bringing some new players in given how they’ve only managed to win one of their 11 previous Premier League games.

However, one piece of business that the Merseyside club should be doing would be to get rid of one of their current players – Lucas Digne.

The left-back was left out of the squad for Everton’s 2-1 win over Arsenal at Goodison Park earlier this month as a result of a reported falling out with manager Rafa Benitez behind the scenes.

Digne hasn’t appeared for Everton since playing the full 90 minutes in their 4-1 home defeat against Liverpool.

Prior to his falling out with Benitez, the 28-year-old, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £110k-per-week according to Salary Sport, had played in all but one of Everton’s Premier League games, donning the captain’s armband on three occasions, showing how important he is to the team. That’s despite being slammed by commentator Andy Hinchcliffe for having a “nightmare” period in their 3-0 defeat against Aston Villa.

Everton signed Digne from Barcelona back in August 2018 in a deal worth a reported fee of £18m. Since then, the defender, who is currently valued at £31.5m according to Transfermarkt, has made 127 appearances for the Toffees across all competitions, scoring six goals and providing 20 assists in the process.

That said, looking ahead to January, Everton must bite the bullet with Digne and get him out of the club if his relationship with Benitez is beyond repair, which would be a shame to see him throw his career at Goodison Park away.

However, with Everton reportedly close to securing a deal for Dynamo Kyiv left-back Vitaliy Mykolenko for a fee of £17.9m, this could spell the end of the Frenchman’s time at the club anyway, especially with Ben Godfrey playing in the left-back position in recent weeks.

With the likes of Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leicester City reportedly interested in signing the full-back, there’s every possibility that Everton could be facing him in the Premier League at some point this season after being such a regular for them at the start of the campaign.

In other news: James 2.0: Moshiri could spark fury at Everton with swoop for “lazy” £380k-p/w flop – opinion

If Celtic fans have been casting their eye across the pond at the MLS in recent times, then they might have seen a very familiar face in Victor Wanyama.

The Kenya international was of course on the books at Parkhead for a number of seasons having been signed by Neil Lennon back in 2011.

The then 20-year-old almost immediately endeared himself into the hearts of Celtic supporters when he paid tribute to the Lisbon Lions at his unveiling, saying: “It has always been a dream of mine to play for a club like Celtic. After reading the club’s history, I have chosen 67 as my squad number to show appreciation to the 1967 squad.”

Wanyama would make 91 appearances in total for the Hoops during his spell in Scotland, scoring 13 goals and providing nine assists too – his most famous strike of course being the one against Barcelona in the Champions League when Celtic pulled off the unthinkable in beating the European giants.

The Kenyan’s tough-tackling nature and ability to drive forward from box-to-box saw him nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award in 2012/13, and it was no surprise to see him attract admiring glances from south of the border.

Sold to Premier League side Southampton for a fee around £12m, Wanyama went on to make 97 appearances in all competitions for the Saints, netting four goals in total and helping the club achieve three top-eight finishes in the Premier League.

That then earned him a move to Tottenham where he would make the exact same amount of outings, but his time in north London ended rather acrimoniously.

He would then later say: “I was frustrated and when I came back from injury I didn’t get enough chances to play and enjoy my football.When I came back, the club should have trusted me and given me more chances to play again.

“I was fit and training well. I never argued with Pochettino but I wanted to speak to him. I went to his office but he was busy. I saw his assistant Jesus (Perez). He told me be to be patient, that my chance would come blah, blah, blah. I didn’t go to see them again. That’s why I left the club. I’m a football player and I wanted to play football.”

Since arriving in the MLS on a free transfer back in March 2020, things haven’t quite worked out for the Kenya international.

Montreal lost in the play-in round in his first year at the club, having finished ninth in the Eastern Conference (out of 14), and 18th overall (out of 28).

Then just last season, Wanyama’s side fared even worse, finishing tenth in the conference and thereby missing even the play-in bracket, let alone finding themselves in the play-off proper or even making a run for the MLS title.

To think that just a few years ago, Wanyama was shining on the global stage by helping to beat Barcelona, then playing Premier League football with the likes of Southampton and Tottenham.

Now, Transfermarkt see his value down at just £4.5m, and it paints a real picture of how his career has panned out.

Things have gone downhill for the 6 foot midfield machine, and it’s safe to say Celtic played a blinder by cashing in on him at the right time.

AND in other news – £4.7m down the drain: £12k-p/w Celtic liability rinsed Peter Lawwell for 140 weeks

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been gushing over some recent news involving their B team.

As per the club’s official website, the team managed to win the first leg of their UEFA Youth League tie away at Septemvri Sofia 4-2 on Wednesday afternoon, thanks to a hat-trick from Tony Weston and another goal from Cole McKinnon.

The Bears had to come back from 2-1 down, levelling the score at 2-2 before the half-time break, and then going on to clinch victory ahead of the second leg at home.

It was a result which brought a lot of joy to Light Blues supporters after the disappointment of the first team losing their Scottish League Cup semi-final 3-1 at home to Hibernian on Sunday.

New manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst would have kept a close eye on what happened during the game to see if any young Gers are ready to make the step up to his first team squad.

Rangers fans on B team’s win

These Rangers fans gushed as the result was shared on Twitter, with one describing it as ‘outstanding’:

“Fantastic stuff!!!”

Credit: @zander_staff

“Sensational result.”

Credit: @Wilf1872

“Outstanding”

Credit: @GazBernard02

“Wow. Some effort that from the young”

Credit: @waynefawcett

“Brilliant, looking forward to the home leg.”

Credit: @thechosenfew12

“Cracking result Rangers!!!”

Credit: @speedy430

In other news, find out whose performance in particular had lots of Gers fans buzzing

Arsenal will definitely sign a midfielder before the end of the month…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, who delivered a major update on the Gunners’ transfer plans on Twitter this week.

“Arsenal will definitely go for a new midfielder,” he said.

“Arthur has been discussed internally as reported here days ago, he’s in board/Arteta list together with 2 more candidates – but it’s not advanced with Juventus yet.

“Bruno Guimarães in January, more than difficult.”

Exciting news

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta is in desperate need of bolstering his engine room this month, otherwise, the north London giants run the risk of ruining the Spaniard’s good work this season.

Indeed, the club finds itself back in the race for a top-four finish. Sat in fourth place with only a four-point advantage to seventh, the Gunners cannot afford any slip-ups in the coming weeks.

However, the 39-year-old is light on options in the middle – that’s because first-choice midfielder Thomas Partey and Mo Elneny are at the Africa Cup of Nations and the rarely-seen Ainsley Maitland-Niles has joined AS Roma on loan.

It really leaves him with just summer signing Albert Sambi Lokonga to partner Granit Xhaka, with players like Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard of the more attacking nature.

One injury or suspension to either of these names could cause Arteta plenty of problems.

Whether Arthur is the answer or not very much remains to be seen but it’s clear the club need reinforcements and it’s certainly hugely encouraging that they “will” find a solution, as Romano states.

Therefore, this latest development should leave the Emirates Stadium faithful absolutely buzzing heading into the rest of the month. It seems as if Arteta will be backed and that will only bolster their chances of securing a place in Europe next season.

AND in other news, David Ornstein drops huge transfer update on Arsenal’s striker search…

Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore could be on his way out of Molineux this January.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Luke Hatfield, with the Express & Star journalist stating in a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT that, with contract talks between the 25-year-old and Jeff Shi remaining at a stalemate, the Spain international looks as if he could be a player Wolves decide to cash in on in the upcoming transfer window.

Speaking about the future of Traore, Hatfield said: “For me, I think it’s one where, in the summer, we probably look and wonder whether he’s going to be off. January might be an option as well.”

Shi must act

While it is undeniable that Traore has been a crucially important player for Wolves as they re-established themselves as a Premier League side, with the forward’s contract set to expire at the end of next season, as well as interest reported to be high in his services this January, now would appear to be the perfect time for Shi to make a decision on the 25-year-old.

Indeed, while the £27m-rated man is yet to contribute to a single goal this season, he has nevertheless impressed over his 14 Premier League appearances for Bruno Lage’s side, taking an average of 1.5 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing a whopping five dribbles per game – by far and away the most of any player in the top flight.

These metrics have seen the £43k-per-week winger average a SofaScore match rating of 7.11, ranking him as Wolves’ second-best performer in the league.

As such, while it may seem slightly unusual to suggest that a team who are pushing for European qualification in the league should sell one of their star players in January, the 25-year-old’s impressive form means that now is very much the optimal moment for Shi to cash in on Traore, as his value is only going to go down as the end of his contract gets closer.

In other news: Lage could transform Wolves with “superb” 21 y/o beast who has “the world at his feet”