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The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has revealed that Aston Villa are “confident” of making two more new signings in this January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Steven Gerrard’s side have already enjoyed a successful first few weeks of the transfer window thus far, signing the likes of Lucas Digne and Philippe Coutinho and watching both of them deliver the goods in recent games in the Premier League.

Now, Evans has indicated that Villa’s work in the transfer market is not done just yet.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “Gerrard has identified defensive midfield as the priority and had Rodrigo Bentancur watched in person on Sunday night. #AVFC know the fee required to get him. Villa are confident of getting a DM in before the deadline + a back-up centre-half.”

Fans will be excited

Talk about the impact a couple of new signings can make.

Coutinho marked his debut for the club by netting the all-important equaliser against Manchester United a couple of weeks ago, before Digne got in on the action by supplying the assist for Emi Buendia’s winner against Everton at the weekend.

It’s all changed the mood at Villa Park, and set the club up for a very exciting end to the second-half of the Premier League season.

Evans’ update that Villa are still keen on bringing in two new signings, and that they are “confident” of bringing in a new holding midfielder – Bentancur being the man in the frame at the moment – is sure to have fans buzzing.

Gerrard has come in and lifted spirits since the disappointing end to Dean Smith’s tenure at the club, and the two marquee additions of Coutinho and Digne have just galvanised things.

Certainly, the Villa manager has a major pull when it comes to convincing potential new players to join, and the fans will be hoping he can work his magic once again with Bentancur.

Meanwhile, Villa are set to launch a move for this star…

West Ham have lost their last two games which will be a disappointment to the team, the fans and David Moyes as the side has dominated their position comfortably inside the top four for a while now.

Moyes will be frustrated with two poor results, as the Hammers are now equal on points with Arsenal and could have done with taking even just a point this weekend to give themselves the opportunity to keep the Gunners at arms length.

West Ham have been dealing with a few fitness problems throughout the squad, with Angelo Ogbonna’s ACL injury becoming the latest big blow to the side, with the player being expected to be out for the rest of the season after having surgery last week.

One player that gave West Ham quite the scare on Sunday during the game against Manchester City was Aaron Cresswell.

Creswell has had a great impact on the side’s success so far this season, with moments of defensive brilliance for the team, including an impressive and committed goal-line clearance early into the second half on Sunday afternoon that lead to the defender sliding into the goal post.

The nasty collision saw the full-back in a lot of pain after his back made a hard impact with the goalpost, and the defender was quickly substituted off the pitch for Vladimir Coufal.

West Ham fans flocked to Twitter in despair at the thought of another defender being ruled out of action for the foreseeable;

One wrote; “Cresswell now injured alongside Ogbonna. Hope it’s just a knock and he’s back for Wednesday. But the replacements aren’t good enough. That’s what happens when you don’t invest @ GSB.”

Despite the knock, David Moyes spoke out on Sunday evening to give an update on Cresswell’s condition;

“He is okay, his back is stiff after going into the goalpost. He was in a spasm really and couldn’t move his leg well at that point.”

Fans will surely be buzzing that the defender seems to be okay and there will be no further extended injuries added to the list, especially in the defence area.

It’s not known whether the defender will be available for the midweek Brighton fixture, but could be expected back for a challenging clash against Chelsea at the London Stadium this weekend, an eventuality that will represent a huge boost to everyone at the London Stadium given his importance.

In other news: West Ham are interested in Wout Weghorst

Flocking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans have erupted over what some have called ‘massive news’ as an off-field development comes to light.

Recently, Czech billionaire and part-Sparta Prague owner Daniel Kretinsky purchased a minority 27% stake in the club with the alleged option to buy West Ham outright at a later date.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-developments-2/” title=”West Ham developments” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

This prompted theories that Kretinsky’s new-found involvement with the club could eventually spell an end to GSB’s ownership and now, as per The Evening Standard, those murmurs may be proven correct.

According to their information, the 46-year-old has indeed agreed an option to buy the club outright at a set price and a deal could go through as early as 2023. This could see Kretinsky complete a full takeover of the club at that date even if he isn’t ‘obliged’ to take up that option.

West Ham fans buzzing…

Given the protests and turmoil surrounding GSB’s ownership in recent years, heighted by their unpopular decision to leave the Boleyn Ground, it’s little wonder so many Irons supporters are pleased with this update.

The prospect of a potential full takeover as early as 2023 certainly has supporters excited, as you can see from the Twitter reaction below:

“Tears”

Credit: @dthomson123

“Massive news”

Credit: @statoblue

“GSB GONEEEEE”

Credit: @TalkinWestHam

“Jheeeeee big things coming”

Credit: @SeanLiggett96

“SIUUUU”

Credit: @westham_hub

“wow”

Credit: @whujoe

“Best news in West Ham history”

Credit: @NathWHU_

In other news: ‘Love this club so much’, ‘Makes me happy’ – Many West Ham fans erupt over ‘beautiful’ club post

The previous summer transfer window ended up being a rather busy one for West Brom after being relegated from the Premier League last season, followed by Sam Allardyce leaving the club.

As well as securing the appointment of Valerien Ismael as their new manager, Albion also brought in a handful of new players such as Alex Mowatt, Adam Reach, Matt Clarke and Jayson Molumby among others.

Jordan Hugill was also brought in during the summer to strengthen Ismael’s squad and help them secure promotion back to the Premier League this season, but so far his signature hasn’t proved to be a particularly good piece of business from club owner Guochuan Lai.

Signed from Norwich City on a loan deal until the end of the season, the striker has only netted one goal so far during his time with the Baggies.

Having made 20 league appearances and seven starts in a West Brom shirt this season, it’s not as if the 29-year-old hasn’t had the chance to show what he can do either, proving why Kevin Phillips has said that Hugill has not “stepped up to the plate” for the club this term.

As well as his lack of assists and regular goals, his overall performances have not been good enough either, with WhoScored giving him a season rating of 6.31/10, making him the lowest-rated West Brom player to have started more than one league game in the current campaign.

Taking all this into account, it’s safe to say that Lai may have dropped a clanger by securing a move for Hugill in the summer, even though it’s just a loan deal and they don’t have to keep him on a permanent basis.

With this in mind, it seems unlikely at this moment in time that the 29-year-old will be staying at West Brom after his loan deal ends.

However, there is still enough time left in the season for Hugill to step up and push the Baggies towards promotion if he can find a consistent run of goalscoring form.

His appearance for the Baggies during the final 27 minutes of their 1-0 defeat against Derby yesterday earned him an overall match rating of 7.1/10, making him West Brom’s joint-third highest rated player on the day according to SofaScore. That illustrates that he is capable of playing well, but he just needs to find the back of the net more regularly.

In other news: Ismael should axe “dreadful” £13k-p/w “stinker” who must never play for WBA again

An arbitrator has dropped an inside claim on Michael Beloff amid the pending takeover court case between Newcastle United and the Premier League.

Beloff is in line to chair the three-man arbitration panel that will attempt to sort out the ongoing legal disputes between the two parties over the failed takeover of the St. James’ Park faithful by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

Jeffrey Benz, who is an arbitrator and has sat on a number of different CAS arbitration panels with Beloff, has since dropped some interesting insight to The Chronicle on what can be expected of him:

“In cases, Michael comes to a conclusion pretty quickly. He will consider all the evidence before reaching that conclusion and he is not afraid of sharing his views with his fellow arbitrators.

“At the same time, if people disagree with him, he will listen and has been known to be persuaded and change his position. He has copious experience running successful arbitration proceedings.”

Newcastle takeover hope?

Despite the best efforts of the North East club in trying to remove Beloff from the panel due to suspected bias, what can be gathered from Benz’s comments is that the case may not be prolonged but also that he is very careful when it comes to his final decision.

The Tyneside club will want a decision as quick as possible so that it can give them enough time to prepare for what may or may not be a takeover at the Magpies.

However, they will also want that decision to be the right one and will of course hope that Beloff and his panel rule in their favour come the end of the hearing.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to hear how he goes about his business and certainly a positive that those fears of bias may have been quashed.

In other news, find out who Lee Ryder has confirmed the Toon are close to signing here!

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Peterborough director of football Barry Fry has suggested that Eddie Howe would be a brilliant replacement for Ralph Hasenhuttl if Southampton decide to make a change.

While the Saints are having an excellent FA Cup campaign, making it to the semi-finals following their 3-0 win against Howe’s former side Bournemouth, they have been extremely disappointing in the Premier League of late.

Southampton currently sit in 14th place, previously going on a run where even a point was hard to come by.

Despite this, there are no reports that suggest Hasenhuttl’s job is in danger. Should that change, however, and the Austrian coach does end up departing St. Mary’s in the near future, for Fry, Howe is one man that the south coast club should be looking at.

“Eddie Howe would be a brilliant option,” Fry told FFC. “He lives in the area and he does what Southampton love. He develops young players in his teams. He’s another one that’s worked a miracle at Bournemouth, getting them in the Premier League, retaining their Premier League status for so many years on a shoestring budget at a ground that holds 12,000 people.”

While Southampton’s league form under Hasenhuttl has certainly been disappointing, there could still be much to smile about come the end of the season.

After that triumph over Bournemouth, Leicester City are now the only thing standing in the way of the FA Cup final and a chance to win silverware this campaign. And while facing the Foxes will by no means be an easy task, the Saints will surely be glad to have dodged Manchester City and Thomas Tuchel’s new and improved Chelsea side.

Manchester United journalist Samuel Luckhurst has taken a swipe at three Manchester United defenders for their role in Arsenal’s opener on Saturday. 

The lowdown

United travelled to The Emirates Stadium for the lunchtime clash knowing that they could boost their chances of a top-four finish with victory against their rivals.

But it was a disastrous start as they fell behind within three minutes courtesy of a goal from Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares.

Granit Xhaka crossed the ball into the United penalty area, and neither Raphael Varane nor Alex Telles were able to clear the danger. Bukayo Saka gathered at the back post and looked to bend a shot into the far corner, with Tavares on hand to turn home the rebound after David de Gea’s save.

The Portuguese full-back was able to beat compatriot Diogo Dalot to the ball. Arsenal would ultimately win the game 3-1, with Bukayo Saka and Granit Xhaka scoring either side of a Cristiano Ronaldo effort and a Bruno Fernandes penalty miss.

The latest

Luckhurst, chief United writer for the Manchester Evening News, lamented the ‘feeble defending across the back four’ for Tavares’ goal.

He thought it was ‘bad’ from Varane and even ‘worse’ from left-back Telles.

Dalot also came in for criticism, with Luckhurst describing him as a ‘hologram’.

The verdict

Luckhurst wasn’t the only one to criticise Dalot. At half time, BT Sport pundit Martin Keown said the 23-year-old ‘completely switched off’ by allowing Tavares to ‘ghost in’ and score.

Ralf Rangnick had handed the £16.2million-rated right-back a third consecutive start, and fifth in the last six Premier League matches.

But will his apparent loss of concentration cost him his place with Aaron Wan-Bissaka, benched on Saturday, waiting in the wings?

In other news, Manchester United already have an Ajax target. 

Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed Everton will be without Alex Iwobi against Sheffield Wednesday after ruling a string of players out of the FA Cup fourth round tie.

The Toffees welcome Neil Thompson’s Championship strugglers to Goodison Park on Sunday night looking to reach the fifth round of the competition for the first time in five seasons.

The Owls are 23rd in the second-tier and only four points above basement boys Wycombe Wanderers, though are enjoying their best run of form since September with four wins and a draw across all competitions.

Top-scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed Everton’s third round win over Rotherham United with a hamstring injury but is likely to start against Sheffield Wednesday, after a 12-day break between fixtures gifted the England international a prolonged period of rest.

But Ancelotti had sombre news to share on Iwobi and a crew of his Blues teammates while speaking ahead of Sunday night’s FA Cup showdown.

“We have Dominic available for the game,” the Italian tactician said. “Unfortunately, we have some players out like [Jean-Philippe] Gbamin, Allan, [Fabian] Delph, [Lucas] Digne, Iwobi and [Niels] Nkounkou.

“Iwobi and Digne will be unavailable for only this game – they will be available for the game against Leicester. The other players are in good condition and are ready to play this game and to compete. This competition is really important for us.”

Iwobi scored his second goal of the season in all competitions during Everton’s 2-1 Premier League win at Wolverhampton Wanderers last time out, ending the 24-year-old’s 499-day drought in the top-flight.

Ancelotti ruling Iwobi out of the FA Cup will likely now see the Italian forced to go for broke in hopes of beating Sheffield Wednesday, with the Italian having to rely on players he may have rather seen rested ahead of hosting Leicester City on Wednesday night.

The Foxes affair will be crucial for the Toffees’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League by the end of the season, with Brendan Rodgers’ side currently third in the Premier League standings but having played two games more than the Goodison Park natives.

But if Ancelotti wishes to prove the FA Cup’s importance, he will now be expected to rely on either James Rodriguez or Richarlison to bring the width and creativity from the right-wing, which saw Iwobi prove to be the true hero of the Blues’ 2-1 win over Wolves earlier this month.

Richarlison was only deemed fit enough for a place on the bench at Molineux, while Rodriguez played 86 minutes in his first top-flight start since returning from a calf injury.

The £90,000-per-week Colombian also played 95 minutes in Everton’s third round win over Rotherham, of which Richarlison played no part after the £90k-p/w Brazilian was ruled unfit.

Ancelotti must now back one of the high-earning duo to guide Everton through to the fifth round, even if the former Chelsea boss would rather have kept them both fighting fit ready for the Foxes’ visit.

AND in other news, Everton are demanding no less than £9m to sell a Carlo Ancelotti outcast this month.

Speaking to Football Insider, a Tottenham Hotspur source has explained that there is a feeling ‘at the top of the club’ that chairman Daniel Levy could now sanction a discounted sale for big name Dele Alli at the end of the season – despite previously being prepared to ride out his poor patch.

Indeed, as per this report, Tottenham will more than likely work on a £25 million exit for the Englishman barring an upturn in form – coming after Levy apparently thought Spurs were well placed to keep faith due to the fact he is contracted until 2024 with his best years still ahead of him.

Tottenham U-turn on Alli

As explained by Football Insider, the Lilywhites chairman ‘upset’ manager Jose Mourinho by blocking Alli’s loan move to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain – with financial reasons touted as the reason Levy refused to agree a deal.

Extensive discussions were held with PSG over the switch, but no agreement came to pass, with the 24-year-old remaining at Tottenham.

Now, a source close to the club has told Football Insider there is a feeling at the very top Levy is prepared to sanction a near half-price £25m exit for him in the summer transfer window – coming down from his previous asking price of £45m.

If Alli does leave the club for that amount, it’s safe to say it wouldn’t exactly be the fairy tale ending for his north London career after a promising start to life.

Transfer Tavern take

He was heralded by previous boss Mauricio Pochettino, with the Argentine even calling him a ‘beast’ (Sky Sports), but he hasn’t earned the same favour from Mourinho.

Levy was apparently prepared to ride out his slump, however, feelings now coming out of the club may indicate the chairman is willing to perform a drastic U-turn.

In other news: Alasdair Gold drops claim on barely-seen Tottenham talent, find out more here.

Crystal Palace were unable to make Roy Hodgson’s last ever game in charge of the Eagles a Selhurst Park a memorable once, losing 3-1 to Arsenal.

The former England boss announced his decision to leave the capital club earlier in the week and would have been desperate to have a fond farewell in front of the 6,500 Palace fans in attendance.

However, it wasn’t to be for Hodgson, who witnessed Nicolas Pepe and Gabrielle Martinelli slot home injury time efforts to secure all three points for the Gunners.

It’s been a commendable, if not enthralling, four years in south London for the 73-year-old, but he’ll have been disappointed to not go out with a bang in front of the club’s loyal supporters.

One man who notably let Hodgson, and himself. down was goalkeeper Vicente Guaita. The experienced shot-stopper found himself back in the starting XI after being dropped to the bench against Aston Villa, but he certainly didn’t take his chance to shine.

As per SofaScore, the 34-year-old recorded a meagre rating of just 5.8/10, the lowest score recorded by anyone on the Selhurst Park pitch.

The Spaniard had a terrible passing accuracy of 45% as he kept giving the ball back to the Gunners. He also completed just six of his 17 long balls, and failed to make a single save throughout the 90 minutes.

It’s been a below-par campaign for Guaita, with WhoScored awarded his efforts throughout 2020/21 with a seriously low 6.46/10, and it represents quite the capitulation following his previous efforts between the Palace sticks.

After an incredible performance against Tottenham Hotspur, Hodgson showered the keeper in praise, lauding his efforts as Palace clung onto a draw.

“Of course, in the last five minutes in particular Vicente showed his true class. We gave away a couple of free kicks which I wasn’t too happy to have given away. When the ball can be delivered in our penalty area, and that led to corner kicks, that’s when Vicente showed his true class with two magnificent saves.” said the former Liverpool boss.

“The goalkeeper is a very important part of every team, and we’re very fortunate to have a good one.”

But, with Hodgson set to leave and Jack Butland pushing for a place in the starting line-up, Guaita needs to prove himself and rediscover his best form if he wants to maintain his place in the Palace first-team next year as a new manager will want every player to earn a place in his line up.

And, in other news…Parish masterstroke: Palace must appoint history-making manager with 12 major honours