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Joe Powell scored a spectacular long-range effort as West Ham United’s U23 side recorded a 4-0 win over their Stoke City counterparts on Monday night.

A number of the London club’s fans took to social media both during and after the affair to comment on the performance of Nathan Holland, who netted twice.

And now the supporters have been reacting to Powell’s effort, with many calling for the 20-year-old to be handed the chance to impress for the first team.

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The midfielder has been with the Hammers since the age of eight – signing his first professional contact with the club in the early stages of 2015.

Powell made his debut for West Ham in September 2018 before ending last season on loan with Northampton Town in League Two.

The academy product is yet to feature for the first team this season but has been a key player for the club’s U23 outfit in the Premier League 2.

It remains to be seen whether Manuel Pellegrini hands Powell the opportunity to impress at first-team level but that is exactly what a number of the fans want to happen.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Sean Longstaff may be one of Newcastle’s own, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune from getting criticism for his performances like the rest of his teammates.

The 21-year-old enjoyed somewhat of a break-through campaign last season for his hometown club, making nine Premier League appearances and scoring once.

His start to the current campaign however has been rather more low-key, with his display in the 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Leicester simply underlining that.

The central midfielder lost possession 22 times over the course of the game, and it led to him getting a measly 5.9 rating from Sofascore.

After seeing Longstaff’s poor performance, Newcastle fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts about the 21-year-old.

Many supporters of the Tyneside club appeared to point the finger at his fitness and conditioning, with one fan in particular suggesting he “looked like he was towing around a caravan”.

Some Magpies fans compared his current form to last season, and insisted he looked a “shadow of the player he was under Rafa”.

Check out some of the reaction of Newcastle fans below:

Borussia Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke recently took a swipe at former marksman Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.Bizarrely, Watzke’s main qualms with last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner seem to be that he isn’t playing Champions League football, instead plying his trade in the not-so revered Europa League.He said: “Aubameyang, who plays great at Arsenal, will probably be warm-hearted when he looks at his bank account, but on Wednesdays, will be saddened when he has to watch the Champions League on television,” Watzke told Suddeutsche Zeitung (via Metro).Aubameyang responded accordingly…

Bundesliga clubs are making a bit of a name for themselves at the moment, with Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness threatening a Germany boycott if Joachim Low drops Manuel Neuer for Marc-Andre ter Stegen. That’s right, a grown adult throwing his toys out of the pram because he’s not getting his own way.

Arsenal cruised past Belgian side Standard Liege tonight in the second round of Europa League fixtures, and by the looks of things, Aubameyang doesn’t look like he’s going to lose any sleep over playing in the competition.

In the meantime, we’re eagerly awaiting the ‘real’ reason he left. Come on Pierre, just one more tweet.

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West Brom continued their unbeaten run and became the only side remaining with an unscathed record in the Championship.

However, they did have to come from behind to salvage another point as Anthony Knockaert’s cross-cum-shot had deceived Sam Johnstone in the Baggies’ goal.

But Semi Ajayi managed to eventually head home from a Matheus Pereira corner with ten minutes to go despite Marcus Bettinelli’s protests for a foul by striker Charlie Austin.

The Baggies now occupy the final playoff spot in sixth after this latest draw.

Just before the hour mark, Bilic made a couple of substitutions which saw Filip Krovinovic and Kyle Edwards introduced, with the latter picking up the captain’s armband in place of Jake Livermore.

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It’s clear to see that the 21-year-old made an impression on several of the Hawthorns faithful.

One supporter hailed the winger’s impact from the bench while another said he was some player, using a flame emoji for added emphasis.

Edwards has picked up one goal, and one Man of the Match award in just four Championship starts so far this season, per WhoScored.

‘Brilliant’ and ‘big’ were just two other words used to describe the academy graduate’s display.

You can read more of the reaction below:

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Wednesday night was a huge for both Eden Hazard and Real Madrid.

The former Chelsea man started his first Champions League game for Los Blancos following his summer switch from Stamford Bridge against PSG at Parc des Princes.

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However, it will be a game he’ll soon want to forget, given that the Galacticos were beaten 3-0 on the night by a superior side.

And Hazard was a major contributing factor to the defeat, turning in a rather underwhelming performance.

He had just one shot during the game, deployed one key pass and had four dribbles to his name. When we also factor in that he registered only 54 touches, 36 passes and just 80.6% passing accuracy, the picture becomes that much clearer.

Perhaps it’s not the worst performance of the Champions League proper’s opening round, but Real needed more from the Belgium international.

After all, if you pay £89m for a player, a Galactico, for that matter, he has to perform instantly and become the talisman.

Of course, he could take some time to get going, but his reputation has gone against him here – his display not befitting his price tag.

With Real slipping to a disappointing defeat, it has become clear that he will have to start delivering sooner rather than later.

According to The Sunderland Echo, Jack Ross has said that he is planning on keeping 18-year-old Benjamin Kimpioka at the Stadium of Light for the rest of the season. 

The striker could have gone out on loan for the rest of the season, but the manager has decided to keep hold of him, believing he could be an asset in The Black Cats’ promotion push.

With the departures of both Josh Maja and Jerome Sinclair this month, Sunderland currently look slightly thin on the ground when it comes to strikers.

Ross’ team have been linked with Championship striker Will Grigg, as well as League One duo Tom Eaves and John Marquis, but nothing has come to fruition so far. At this moment in time Kimpioka is a fail-safe, in case Sunderland cannot land anyone else.

However, while it will be beneficial for Sunderland to give the Sweden under-19 international some game time as the season goes on, particularly in a promotion run-in, Ross will certainly not want to depend on him too much. But by keeping hold of Kimpioka, Ross may be revealing more than he wishes to about the likelihood of their other targets arriving.

This would be calamitous if The Black Cats cannot land at least two of their three targets, and it could seriously dent their promotion chances. They will not want to be reliant on a player like Kimpioka, who, so far, has only made two league appearances. This is not the sort of figure a team wants in a title race.

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Former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas has revealed that he could have been a Real Madrid player and even had talks with Florentino Perez and Ramon Calderon when he was 18, but he felt he “belonged” with the Gunners.

What did he say?

The current Monaco man spent eight seasons with the north London outfit, but it appears he could have been a Los Merengues player well before he finally left Catalan club Barcelona.

However, whilst a move to one of the biggest clubs in the world would have been too good for many to turn down, the 110-time Spain international chose to continue his development with the Emirates outfit.

In an interview with AS, Fabregas talked about the potential transfer, saying:

“There were a lot of talks with Florentino, and with [Ramón] Calderón.

“If I had been, I’d have been a Madrid player. They called me more than once or twice. The first time I was very young. I was 18 and they offered me a big salary, but I felt like I belonged at Arsenal. Wenger had bet the farm on me. I couldn’t leave.”

“They have the bigger mentality” – Spurs fans come to blows after the North London Derby in the video below…

Deserves to be cut some slack

The Arsenal fans have not reacted too well to the comments and many have taunted Fabregas, accusing him of being a snake and even dubbing him Judas. It is not the first time that the club’s supporters have shown their dislike of the 32-year-old either.

Whilst the supporters are clearly aggrieved their one-time captain went on to switch London allegiances by way of Barcelona, they should remember his service to the club. He made 309 appearances in that famous red and white shirt, scoring 59 times. He was even named in the PFA Team of the Year on two separate occasions.

And what they seem to have conveniently forgotten is that Arsene Wenger turned down the chance to re-sign him when it became clear he would be leaving La Liga. What was Fabregas meant to do at that point?

Chelsea were one of the leading sides in the Premier League at the time, having just finished in third place in the table, and they were putting together a team capable of winning the title – which they ended up doing with the Spaniard in the side. Twice.

After the many years of service and the fantastic performances he put in, Arsenal fans really should cut him more slack. That, though, seems increasingly unlikely if this latest reaction is anything to go by.

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Taking to Twitter, reliable ESPN reporter Moises Llorens has shared a big update on Barcelona attacker and Tottenham Hotspur target Ousmane Dembele amid his contract stand-off.

The Lowdown: Spurs table offer…

As reported in recent months, the France international is a target for Spurs and manager Antonio Conte as Lilywhites chief Fabio Paratici takes to the 2022 free agent market.

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According to Mundo Deportivo, Tottenham’s managing director is eyeing ‘quality players at zero cost’ for his countryman at N17 – including Dembele, whose deal runs out at the end of this season.

Spurs have also allegedly made an offer to sign the 24-year-old on a pre-contract, promising ‘a lot of money’ and the guarantee of being a key player (Mundo Deportivo).

After recent claims Tottenham will ‘push hard’ for his signing this month, ESPN journalist Llorens has shared a significant update.

The Latest: Spurs gifted possible boost,,,

According to his information, sharing news late Tuesday night, Dembele is set for a crunch ‘meeting’ today amid his contract stand-off at the Camp Nou.

However, it is now apparently very unlikely that the player signs an extension, with the difference in negotiations ‘practically insurmountable’.

Indeed, the La Liga giants would apparently see Dembele penning fresh terms as a ‘miracle’ in what could be a boost for Paratici and Spurs.

The Verdict: Time to strike?

The forward looks almost certain to leave as things stand, but does that mean Spurs should continue their alleged pursuit and sink the final blow?

Lauded as ‘exciting’ and ‘almost unplayable’ at times by Premier League legend Rio Ferdinand, Dembele’s ability is clearly rated and there is a reason Barca paid an initial £97 million to sign him from Borussia Dortmund back in 2017.

However, the winger also has a troubling history of hamstring problems and could command a hefty salary – with his current wages believed to be around £210,000-per-week.

An offer around this amount or over would make him the highest paid star at Hotspur Way, even above the likes of Harry Kane, and it would arguably be a gamble to invest that much in a player prone to absences.

Coming with plus and negative points, a move for Dembele before January 31 could prove potentially fruitful but with a big element of risk.

In other news: Conte green-lights move for £220,000-per-week ‘jewel’ as he lays out transfer demand for Spurs chiefs, find out more here.

Aston Villa have been busier than most teams across the whole of Europe in this January transfer window when it comes to bringing new players to the Midlands club such as Philippe Coutinho, Lucas Digne, Robin Olsen and Calum Chambers.

With that in mind and the fact that the Villans still have some time left to make yet another late swoop after bringing Chambers in from Arsenal just a couple of days ago.

One player that they could try and make a deal for before Monday is Manchester City youngster James McAtee, who has been mentioned to have caught the eye of Villa in recent days thanks to his performances for City’s U23 side.

As a young, English attacking-midfielder, the City prospect could be seen as Steven Gerrard’s own version of former Villa star Jack Grealish, who joined the reigning Premier League champions and current league leaders back in the previous summer transfer window in a deal worth a reported fee of £100m.

Also, with the 19-year-old sharing similar qualities to the former Villa captain in terms of being able to score goals and provide assists with 42 goals and 26 assists under his belt in 84 appearances for City’s youth and senior sides, he could be an exciting talent for Gerrard to have at his disposal.

In terms of a potential late move to Villa, with the teenager, who has been labelled as one of the club’s “exceptional” young talents by Pep Guardiola, only having appeared in three senior games for City so far, he may feel that he would be better off at a Premier League club where he’d be more likely to get some first-team minutes under his belt, which could be at Villa Park should Gerrard see enough potential in him.

In addition to that, with current Villa youngster Carney Chukwuemeka apparently not keen on signing a new deal at the Midlands club due to a lack of regular game time, if he were set to leave Villa, this could pave the way for McAtee to get a shot at impressing in the first team.

Moving forward, before the window closes, Villa should definitely make an approach to City to see what the situation is surrounding the young prospect and if they would be willing to negotiate a deal for him.

If not, McAtee is definitely a player that Villa should keep their eyes on for the future in case his situation at the Manchester club does change.

In other news: Journalist claims £74k-p/w beast is “interested” in Villa move, fans would be ecstatic – opinion

A number of Manchester United fans have urged out-of-favour Anthony Martial to leave the club, following an update on his future by Fabrizio Romano.

The Frenchman’s Old Trafford career has never quite taken off in the manner that many predicted back in 2015 when he made a big-money move from Monaco. Martial famously scored on his debut against Liverpool but he has flattered to deceive too often since, despite his tally of 79 goals in 268 appearances for the club.

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The 26-year-old has fallen increasingly out of favour at United, starting just two Premier League games this season, and a January exit could be on the cards.

According to Romano on Twitter on Monday, Sevilla are keen on signing Martial after he informed Ralf Rangnick that he wants to leave next month, although his salary is proving to be an issue. The Red Devils interim boss has reportedly said: “I understand him but it should not only be in the interest of the player, it should also be in the interest of the club”.

Man United fans call for Martial to leave

These United fans reacted to the update on Twitter, with many keen to see the back of the enigmatic 26-year-old, who has netted just eight times in all competitions since the start of last season.

“It’s definitely in the interest of the club if he clears off”

Credit: @TomPatrick_

“Let him go… Same as Pogba if their head is not at 100% at United then their performances won’t be 100% and we only want and need players that give that week in and week out”

Credit: @Acro_ManUtd

“Quite sad but he’s flopped hard here. He’ll smash it in La Liga”

Credit: @FredFC__

“Martial is deadwood and he should stop talking about leaving like he will be missed, he’s been bad for a while now”

Credit: @easyrouge

“Martial has done gegenpressing in one training session and he can’t take it no more”

Credit: @JakeIntrovert

“Martial is finished, based on facts only”

Credit: @UTDGrey11

In other news, Romano has also provided an update on another rumoured United target. Find out who it is here.