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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

James Forrest is a target for Zenit St. Petersburg, as the Russians prepare a £12m bid for the winger, according to The Scottish Sun.

What’s the story?

Zenit are looking to bring Forrest to Russia for a £12m fee and a staggering £70,000 per-week deal for the player.

Per the report, those at Parkhead won’t welcome any bid for such an important player in the wake of losing another star man, with Kieran Tierney heading to Arsenal.

With Forrest stating how he happy he is at Celtic Park and having a contract until 2022, it’s unlikely that this deal will go ahead. Yet, given the money already splashed by the Russian side this summer, it would be no surprise if they at least try to test Celtic’s resolve with a bid.

Irreplaceable

Forrest has already shown his importance to the side the season, scoring a pivotal leveller against CFR Cluj in the Champions League qualifiers and the killer strike in Celtic’s topsy-turvy 5-2 win against Motherwell last weekend.

And this is no purple patch. The 28-year-old has been a key player for the Celts and was their player of the season last term, an incredible achievement when you consider the competition around him.

Not only has he developed into a match-winner in the past few years, but he’s been a manager’s dream too.

He’s shown he’s not afraid to sacrifice himself as a right-wing back if Neil Lennon looks to play three in defence. The boss has opted to use Forrest in this role a few times this season, and he’s done well each time.

The reason he’s had to play out of position is to help Lennon ease in new arrivals. Hatem Abd Elhamed has just begun to establish himself in the side, but for the opening few games of the season, Forrest was the only player trusted on the right-hand side.

Now though, he can help ease the Israeli into the side and revert back to his more dangerous role as an out-and-out winger.

In a period of great change this summer, keeping hold of the likes of Forrest and Callum McGregor is so important to a club on the cusp of history.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Everton were on the verge of signing Fikayo Tomori before Chelsea pulled out of the deal late on, Football Insider has revealed.

What’s the word?

The Toffees last season enjoyed the luxury of having Kurt Zouma on loan from Chelsea, and had hoped to replace him with another Blues centre-back this summer, and did agree on a loan move.

Tomori was willing to make the switch to Goodison Park before Arsenal’s approach for David Luiz scuppered the deal, with the London club unwilling to allow too many defenders to leave Stamford Bridge.

Everton had been looking to add another defender to their ranks for much of the summer, with Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo also on the radar, but it was the Chelsea man who seemed to be in pole position to join.

A failure to finalise the switch means the club is left with just three senior centre-backs to choose from, and whilst Michael Keane and Yerry Mina have started the season well, Marco Silva may well be taking a risk by solely relying on the relatively inexperienced Mason Holgate as a back-up option.

Lack of planning

Although it was an unexpected blow to miss out on the 21-year-old so late on, the Toffees had all summer to prepare transfer targets and make their move for them, so it is a sign of poor organisation that they were unable to complete a deal for a defender before the deadline.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Tomori gained many plaudits for his performances on loan at Derby last season and the Everton hierarchy would have been well aware of him heading into pre-season, so could have arranged a deal with Chelsea early in the summer.

They were able to complete seven deals in total and it is unforgivable that they have lost out on a player who could have proved very useful because of their delayed action.

The club has to learn from this incident moving forward and ensure Silva is able to strengthen in all the areas he wants to, otherwise they could suffer on the pitch.

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Losing to a fellow ‘big-six’ rival is never great news, but when Manchester United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal in May 2017, a silver lining seemed to emerge for the Red Devils.

Then only 19, Axel Tuanzebe was handed a surprise start in an unfamiliar right-back role and came up against the talismanic Alexis Sanchez. Despite not being able to prevent his side’s defeat, his performance was singled out for some glowing praise by Jose Mourinho.

The then United boss said: “I think he did an amazing job and I think Alexis knows his name because the kid played very well.”

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Two years later however, Tuanzebe hasn’t quite seen his United career kick on, and amidst the club’s big-money pursuit of Leicester centre-back Harry Maguire, this summer feels all the more pivotal for the young defender.

Make or break

Despite enjoying a rather impressive campaign on loan at Aston Villa last season, which culminated in the side earning promotion to the Premier League, there appears to be no guarantees that Tuanzebe will be plying his trade at Old Trafford for the upcoming year.

Indeed, The Telegraph claim that whilst the 21-year-old will be given a chance on the Red Devils’ pre-season tour, Villa are waiting in the wings to see if he will be made available for loan again.

If United are successful in their chase to sign Maguire, then Tuanzebe will likely fall even lower down the pecking order. The Englishman is already seemingly behind the likes of Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and even Marcos Rojo, and the arrival of another centre-back would be a massive blow.

Despite signing a new and improved contract this summer, Solskjaer’s comments left little to believe Tuanzebe might be given a legitimate chance at playing in the first-team next year.

The Norwegian simply said: “He had a successful time on loan with Aston Villa and has gained a lot of experience from that spell, which ended in promotion to the Premier League. He will come on the pre-season tour with us which will help his development further.”

So whilst he might only be 21, Tuanzebe will likely need to produce some exemplary performances over the course of the summer in order to force himself into his manager’s thinking. If not, another year on loan would see him be out of sight and out of mind. And in this cut-throat world of instant success, his time at United may already be over.

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Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Moussa Sissoko has been quoted in The South China Morning Post claiming that his side deserved to win the 2019 Champions League final instead of Liverpool.

Neither Spurs nor Liverpool performed at their best in the final last month, but Jurgen Klopp’s side triumphed courtesy of goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi.

Sissoko, though, has insisted that the Reds were fortunate to lift the trophy.

As expected, the midfielder’s words have brought a fairly strong reaction from the Liverpool fans on social media.

Indeed, after catching wind of the comments, a number of the club’s supporters responded to a Tottenham fan account poking fun at the capital outfit.

And it’s difficult to blame the Liverpool fans in this situation as the bragging rights are firmly in their grasp.

Sissoko should have known he was asking for trouble…

Check out James Milner’s, Olivier Grioud’s and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s hilarious attempts at the bottle cap challenge in the video below…

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Liverpool supporters, who have plenty to be happy about at the moment, can be seen below:

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Hector Bellerin, part-time footballer, full-time fashion model. Every time this 24-year-old Arsenal ace posts something on social media, everyone knows it’s going to be an absolute hit.

And the Spaniard’s latest

/By79vLnlBjV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram snap was no different as it depicted Bellerin in a daring pink suit, doing a catwalk at the Louis Vuitton show in Paris Fashion Week.

This latest fashion extravaganza in the French capital provoked a number of different reactions on social media and many of his fellow teammates and rivals replied with their messages of support and love for Bellerin, stating how bold and adventurous he actually is.

Alexandre Lacazette was one of the first people there and his series of heart emojis were quite a clear statement for Bellerin.

But he wasn’t the only one, not nearly so. The likes of Nathaniel Chalobah, Jordon Ibe and Adama Traore were also impressed by the Spaniard’s snap.

Soon enough, his comment section was littered with replies of support and love. Some were of course banter, but people were mostly in unison about it – it was bold and it was totally Bellerin-like.

As for his footballing campaign, Bellerin is still recovering from a serious ligament rupture that sidelined him from 20 January until the end of the season. His expected return is still unknown and will depend on how well he responds to treatment and training.

Last season, however, he managed 19 appearances, netting five assists in the process.

Aston Villa potentially signing Anwar El Ghazi for £8million represents a fine bit of business on their part.

According to The Guardian, Aston Villa will complete the signing of El Ghazi from Ligue 1 side Lille after triggering the option to buy the winger following his successful loan last season. The deal will reportedly cost around £8million, as agreed when he was taken on loan last August, which is fairly good going when you consider some the prices bandied around these days.

Just about any prodigy who emerges from De Toekomstis is tipped to great things, but an Outside of the Boot report from 2015 clearly identifies El Ghazi as one of the brightest talents Ajax had produced in recent years, paying particular attention to his ability to run at players and create problems and his “spectacular dribbling technique” – which has become obvious over the course of the campaign, with El Ghazi averaging 1.2 dribbles per game (the third most in Villa’s promotion-winning squad).

It’s absolutely paramount that Dean Smith finds the right balance when signing players this summer and nourishing already established ones, on Villa’s Premier League return. We’ve already seen Fulham fall victim to an overzealous transfer policy, which saw them recruit twelve new faces last summer to little effect, and evidently, that perhaps isn’t the way to go for teams aiming to survive.

That being said, El Ghazi really is a step in the right direction. Clearly a talent for the reasons we’ve already mentioned, he’s established himself as a key player under Smith, scoring six goals for Villa last term, including the priceless first in the 2-1 Championship play-off final victory over Derby County.

Following the arrival of Jota from arch-rivals Birmingham City, preparation for the Premier League has clearly started nice and early for the Midlands giants.

Villa fans, how pleased are you at the idea of welcoming back El Ghazi? Do you think you’ve seen the best of him yet? Let us know in the comments below…

سجل فريق برشلونة هدف التعادل في المباراة الجارية حاليًا أمام فريق قادش في بطولة الدوري الإسباني.

ويلتقي الفريقان في معقل قادش، في الجولة الثانية عشر من منافسات الليجا.

وأحرز بيدرو أكالا هدف التعادل لصالح برشلونة بالخطأ في مرمى فريقه، في الدقيقة 57.

وكان قادش قد تقدم بهدف ألفارو خيمينيز في الدقيقة 5 من عمر الشوط الأول. هدف برشلونة أمام قادش

كشف المدرب الألماني، هانز فليك، المدير الفني لنادي بايرن ميونخ، عن التشخيص المبدئي، للإصابة التي تعرض لها كورينتين توليسو، في مباراة شتوتجارت بالبوندزليجا.

وتعرض توليسو لإصابة قوية في الدقيقة 80، لم يتمكن بسببها من إكمال المباراة، وخرج في الدقيقة 83، وحل خافي مارتينيز بدلًا منه؛ وخرج توليسو من المباراة وهو يبكي.

بايرن ميونخ كان فاز على شتوتجارت، بثلاثة أهداف مقابل هدف، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما، مساء اليوم، على ملعب “مرسيدس بنز أرينا”، ضمن لقاءات الجولة التاسعة من الدوري الألماني (طالع تقرير المباراة).

وقال فليك في تصريحات صحفية عقب نهاية المباراة: “توليسو يُعاني من إصابة عضلية، ولا أعرف مدى خطورة الإصابة”.

وأضاف: ” توليسو سوف يخضع غدًا لفحوصات طبية، وسنعرف المزيد عنه غدًا، نأمل ألا يكون شيئًا خطيرًا”.

وأتم تصريحاته كاشفًا عن إصابتين جديدتين قائلًا: “بواتينج عاني من مشكلة أيضًا وعلينا الانتظار غدًا، بينما خافي مارتينيز اشتكى من مُشكلة عضلية أيضًا!”.

Manchester City overcame a tough fixture at Burnley this weekend to move within two wins of retaining their title.

A goal from Sergio Aguero was enough for Pep Guardiola’s men to see off the Clarets at Turf Moor, and it’s looking ever likely that City will indeed make it two on the bounce despite the best efforts of Liverpool.

City have been superb and deserve all the credit for maintaining their form, but manager Guardiola is is clearly already keeping an eye on things with regards to the club’s future, with it being reported this weekend that he could target a move for Leicester City defender Harry Maguire.

The big centre half has once again been in fine form for the Foxes and has seen his reputation and staure within the game grow even further.

Maguire would be a superb signing for City too if they can indeed part with the big money needed to prize him away from the King Power Stadium, and despite having the likes of John Stones and Aymeric Laporte, you would assume Maguire would slot in as a first choice pick.

His ability with the ball makes him ideal for Guardiola to blend into his system, and his height, presence, and age are all factors which again make him a perfect signing.

Maguire has shown for England that he can play at the highest level, and with Vincent Kompany not getting any younger, he could be the ideal man to step into the void the Belgian is going to eventually leave.

City will always be contenders in the market for the best players, and the signing of a player like Maguire would be yet another statement of intent from the Manchester club.

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Samir Nasri is set to reject the opportunity to stay at West Ham United, per Claret&Hugh.

What’s the word?

Nasri, who is valued at £5.4million by Transfermarkt, joined the club at the end of December on a free transfer after the expiration of a doping ban.

The former Arsenal star has struggled under Manuel Pellegrini, however, playing just five times in the Premier League and registering two assists.

The aforementioned report states that, with his current contract set to expire in June, the Hammers had been keen for him to sign a pay-as-you-play deal.

However, he is now reportedly poised to reject that offer, with Nasri and his advisers looking to receive a wage of £70,000-per-week, an increase of £20,000 on his current £50,000-per-week pay packet.

Exit is a blessing

Nasri’s signing has been an unmitigated disaster.

It was clear upon signing the Frenchman that he was rusty after his doping ban, and there was precious little chance of him ever becoming the player that he was at both Arsenal and Manchester City in east London.

But, still, the club have committed to paying him a salary befitting a major Premier League star; since his signing at the end of December, West Ham have paid him a total of 19 wage slips, which amounts to £950,000.

This is a prime example of why their current transfer policy is so flawed, and why this deal was always destined to fail – there was no chance of him ever paying that money back with his on-pitch performances.

West Ham, then, should use this as a catalyst and change their ways; they will lose nothing by sacking off the older, more injury-prone stars and targeting young, hungry talent that can develop and become saleable assets.

As it is, Nasri is likely to leave and head off into the wilderness, or perhaps to China.

No other Premier League club are likely to take him and that, in isolation, speaks volumes.

But all is not lost; getting Nasri off the wage bill is a boost, and the money will be freed up for investment elsewhere.

The Hammers can spend it wisely and they should start by scouring the continent for the best young talent they can find – those players will be a fair bit cheaper than Nasri, that’s for sure.