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Nottingham Forest are lining up a move for Ayr United striker Lawrence Shankland, according to The Scottish Sun.

Shankland has been in prolific form in Scotland and is wanted by a number of clubs, with Martin O’Neill’s side one of many attempting to recruit the 23-year-old.

What’s the word?

Shankland has been turning in some genuinely amazing performances north of the border this season and has netted 30 goals in as many games in all competitions.

His contract, however, expires at the end of the campaign and he is set to leave the club.

Ayr are in the second-tier in Scotland and Shankland has been spearheading their hunt for promotion – they are currently second, two points behind leaders Ross County.

Shankland has scored 20 goals in 22 outings in the league, including four in one game in a 5-0 thrashing of Dundee United in November.

The Scottish Sun report that Forest are among a number of clubs, including Hull City and Swansea City, keeping tabs on the striker.

Swansea, they claim, saw a bid worth £200,000 for the forward rejected in January.

A major punt

Shankland would be something of a gamble for Forest.

He appears to be too good for Ayr and he also has a pedigree of scoring across the Scottish leagues.

Across 85 games in the Championship, Shankland scored 34 goals and laid on 10 assists, while he has 33 goals and 13 assists in 43 games in League One.

It remains to be seen, however, if he would take to English football as he has to the Scottish game.

He is a Scotland Under-21 international and may be worth the risk if he is willing to move on a free transfer this summer, but Forest would be wise to hold some reservations.

Nevertheless, the club’s top scorer this season is Lewis Grabban, with 16 goals, while Matthew Cash, with eight, is second.

It is not difficult to see the attraction, then, of bringing in such a prolific young player, but he cannot be expected to immediately start scoring in every game he plays.

فاز وادي دجلة على منافسه أسوان بهدف نظيف في المباراة التي أقيمت اليوم السبت ضمن منافسات الدوري المصري الممتاز.

والتقى وادي دجلة مع أسوان في إطار مواجهات الجولة 31 من الدوري.

وسجل رفيق كابو لاعب وادي دجلة الهدف في الدقيقة 80، بتسديدة من داخل منطقة الجزاء، احتسبها الحكم محمد عادل بعد الاحتكام لتقنية الفيديو.

وارتقى دجلة للمركز الثالث عشر برصيد 34 نقطة، في حين يتفوق عليه أسوان بمركز وحيد بفارق الأهداف.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested that he would rather Tottenham Hotspur win the Premier League than Manchester City and Liverpool, according to the Daily Star.

Spurs are third in the table, five points behind both the Blues and the Reds, who are separated only on goal difference.

What’s the word?

United sit fourth and play Liverpool this weekend, with the opportunity to issue a serious blow to Jurgen Klopp’s hopes of lifting the trophy in May.

However, they are seemingly out of the reckoning in the title race – they are nine points behind Spurs and 14 behind City.

It would take a significant collapse from the top three clubs for United to have any hope of being champions again and Solskjaer was asked on Friday who he would like to be crowned at the end of the season.

“I’ve not really focused on the [other] teams and what they’re doing,” Solskjaer said, per the Daily Star.

“I’m focusing on us and what we have to do to get to where we want to be.

“It’s a three horse race for the title and fourth that’s my focus.”

However, when asked if he would prefer that Spurs are the ones celebrating, he added: “I don’t get myself involved in that but maybe.”

An understandable long shot

Solskjaer is perhaps the personification of the United Way and this question will surely have riled him.

It is understandable, then, that he chose Spurs over his club’s eternal rivals City and Liverpool.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have been in fine form this season but it is a long shot at best.

Spurs still have to play both Liverpool and City away from home but they will surely have to win every game between now and the end of the season if they are to have any chance of being champions.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

It is not beyond the realms of possibility but it is incredibly unlikely.

Solskjaer, though, knows all about incredibly unlikely triumphs, having scored the winning goal in the last minute of the famed 1999 Champions League final.

Perhaps history will repeat itself and he will again get his wish.

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Arsenal fans have taken to Twitter to discuss Carl Jenkinson’s performance against Bournemouth, as the former Charlton man put in an inspired display.

The 27-year-old played every minute of the resounding 5-1 win over Eddie Howe’s men on Wednesday evening in what was his first start for the Gunners in 830 days, last appearing from the first whistle in a draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford in 2016.

Staggeringly, his last start at the Emirates came 1,907 days ago, way back in December 2013 against Everton.

Boss Unai Emery has deployed all of Hector Bellerin, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Ainsley Maitland-Niles at right-back this season, but after the former suffered a serious injury, the latter pair have failed to impress, opening the door for Jenkinson.

The Englishman excelled against the Cherries, and seems to have worked his way back into the Arsenal fans’ goodbooks after knuckling down and trying hard to get himself back in the team, if their reactions on Twitter are anything to go by…

West Ham will be looking to build on their recent 2-0 Premier League win over Newcastle United and finish the season strongly as the 2018/19 campaign draws closer to its conclusion. 

And the return of numerous absentees including Andriy Yarmolenko could help the Hammers to do just that.

The Breakdown

Football.London reports the Ukrainian winger has a slim chance of returning before the end of the season following the Achilles injury he picked up last October in a development that could be massive for West Ham.

After a slow start to life at the London Stadium, Yarmolenko really started to make an impact down that right-hand side.

He was devastating in wins against Everton and Manchester United with his ability to cut in from there with his left foot before firing away, showing everyone why Manuel Pellegrini was desperate for his signature.

During that period, the 29-year-old was arguably West Ham’s best player, even above the likes of Marko Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson.

Yarmolenko was outperforming the latter, who has been in excellent form since the festive part of the season, giving evidence of just how much technical ability he has.

If the east London club can get the Ukraine international up and running again before the end of the campaign, it could prove to go a long way as they look to secure a seventh place finish in the Premier League.

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Crystal Palace visit Watford this weekend for their FA Cup quarter-final game and Eagles fans will be hoping that their players are far more fired up for the occasion than they were in the loss to Brighton last week.

Palace were pretty poor from back to front and the fans will want a far better performance this week – if that wasn’t obvious enough, though, the infamous Holmesdale Fanatics have made a statement ahead of the clash, as follows:

The HF contribute heavily to Selhurst Park’s atmosphere and are surely the most impassioned of the Palace fans – they have shown their power both during and away from match days this campaign.

Which player with “no potential” has just been named Crystal Palace’s worst ever January signing? Find out in the video below…

Their unflappable support wills the team on until the final whistle and then, having boycotted the earlier games of the season after requests to create a ‘central singing section’ were initially denied, the club took huge strides to meet their demands.

Whether or not their message reaches the players, they will definitely make themselves heard on Saturday at Vicarage Road – here’s what the rest of the Palace faithful had to say in response…

Football is finally coming home for Tottenham fans. After almost two full seasons at Wembley Stadium, the Lilywhites will be returning to N17. The first game at the new stadium has been confirmed by the club for April 3rd against Crystal Palace, and Tottenham fans are already fearing the worst for the clash.

Whilst Tottenham fans may be quietly panicking that they’re set to be embarrassed in front of the watching world when their stadium is finally opened for business, the news that they’re set to leave Wembley is fantastic. With every home game at the national stadium the unrest around their homelessness grew, and as they return the fans cannot wait to get their identity back.

In the Lilywhites’ final season at the old White Hart Lane, they went throughout the entire Premier League campaign unbeaten at home. That is the kind of record that they want to be able to boast at the new place too, and with a tough run-in between now and the end of the season there really is no reason why moving back home can’t be the momentum boost they needed in the race for the top four. However, the fans lack of confidence could be taken as a worrying sign from the tweets below.

You can see what the Lilywhites’ have been saying after the news broke here:

Despite the positive news that the fans have been waiting ages for, the Lilywhites have still managed to put a negative spin on things and don’t look confident of grabbing a win in their grand opening.

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Tottenham fans are missing Mousa Dembele after the Lilywhites suffered yet another setback that could well be the nail in the coffin of their title challenge.

Tottenham lost their eighth league match of the season on Wednesday night, falling to a 2-0 defeat at Stamford Bridge to a revitalised Chelsea side, and they are now eight points behind Manchester City.

While the Blues deserve a lot of credit for bouncing back from their cup final defeat, Mauricio Pochettino will not be happy with his side, as they were poor in all three phases.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals he would have snubbed Tottenham for Arsenal if they’d come knocking in 2005…

Harry Kane and Son Heung-min looked out of sorts up front, while Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier and Hugo Lloris all had difficult evenings at the back.

The midfield might just be the biggest problem of all the three though, where Pochettino has just two players to pick from on a regular basis in Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko.

Neither of them covered themselves in glory on Wednesday night, and fans are bashing the decision to sell Dembele.

The Belgian international departed in January for a fee of around £11m, as the 31 year-old was set to be out of contract this summer.

Despite his contract situation, £11m is pocket change for a player who always delivered in the biggest matches, and the Twitter reactions down below are regretting the club’s decision to move him on…

Sunderland fans will be delighted with their side’s recent form as they’ve consistently produced positive results. But, one slight disappointment will be the fact that they couldn’t secure all three points against Barnsley, as that would have been huge for their promotion push. 

The Black Cats won’t accept anything less than automatic promotion to the Championship in the current campaign having come so far under Jack Ross. Indeed they could soon find themselves in second position as they can move above the Tykes if things stay the same by securing all three points in their game in hand.

Of course, with promotion in the Black Cats’ sights it would make sense for Ross to start looking at bringing in reinforcements. Although, it appears as if the Wearside club currently have their eye on building for the future, as according to TEAMtalk, Sunderland have been looking at former Hartlepool youngster Luca Murphy.

The 19-year-old is a very mature central defender who is arguably one of the hottest prospects in English football. And, His recent decision to leave Hartlepool United has heightened the hype around him, as a number of teams including the likes of Manchester United, Spurs, Leeds United and Wolves have taken an interest.

Indeed, the Black Cats have produced a number of special talents over the years with Josh Maja being one of the latest players to make the step up to the first-team after joining from Manchester City back in 2015.

The Wearside club can surprise everyone by landing the impressive youngster as Man United and Spurs would be the obvious possible destinations for Murphy, as he’d receive a lot of exposure and would be at a Premier League club. So, Jack Ross really could pull off a masterstroke by luring him to the Stadium of Light as he would have pipped a number of big clubs and he has all the ingredients to become a future star.

Sunderland fans, how big of a signing would Murphy be in terms of the future? Join the discussion by commenting down below!

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Sky Sports pundit Danny Higginbotham has criticised Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore’s end product on Sky Sports News (10am on March 7), as per This is Futbol.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Higginbotham was speaking on Sky Sports News prior to the west Midlands outfit’s Premier League trip to Chelsea on Sunday, and he was asked about the 23-year-old attacker.

The summer signing from Middlesbrough has found regular first-team starts hard to come by for Wolves so far this term, but he impressed in a wing-back and then a wing role when handed a spot in the XI by Nuno Santo for the 2-0 win against Cardiff City last weekend.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, via This is Futbol, the 40-year-old said: “It’s his end product, that’s the biggest thing with Traore. I’ve not seen a player quicker than him – he’s so direct, so strong – but a lot of the time it is his end ball.

“That final decision-making, whether he be going for goal, whether it be a pass.”

We’ve found Raul Jimenez’s No. 1 fan and… it’s a little scary. Check out the video below to see for yourself…

Is he right?

He certainly is.

In terms of sheer pace and trickery the former Barcelona starlet has the world at his feet, and if he can start to add more goals and assists to his game – as he did at times for Boro in the Championship – then there is no doubt that he can go on to bigger and better things.

He has the speed to frighten opposition defenders and get the better of them, and now he needs to show that on a more consistent basis under Nuno Santo.

Following his most recent display and with the club having little to play for in the Premier League, he may be given that opportunity in the coming weeks.