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Blackburn Rovers have made an approach for Leeds United youngster Crysencio Summerville ahead of a potential January loan move, according to a fresh report.

The Lowdown: Summerville impressing at Leeds

The 20-year is one of the most exciting young players at Elland Road currently, having made seven first-team appearances so far this season.

Summerville has shone for the Under-23s in recent times, too, chipping in with a brilliant 17 goal involvements in 24 appearances – nine goals and eight assists – as well as being hailed as ‘lively and creative’ by Noel Whelan.

It could be that a temporary move away in the January transfer window makes sense in order to secure more regular playing time, however, and that could now be on the cards.

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The Latest: Blackburn make move

According to Football Insider, a recruitment source has claimed that Blackburn want to sign Summerville on loan as a replacement for fellow Whites youngster Ian Poveda, who is injured currently and has returned to Elland Road.

A decision to likely to be made after Leeds’ FA Cup third round clash with West Ham on Sunday.

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The Verdict: Ideal experience

While Leeds have been a little short of options this season because of injuries, allowing Summerville to enjoy more regular football elsewhere makes perfect sense.

It would give the winger an opportunity to test himself in the Championship, up against physical, senior footballers, proving to be invaluable experience further down the line.

That would be more beneficial to Summerville than the odd sporadic appearance for Leeds from the substitutes’ bench and he could return in the summer a more rounded player.

In other news, Leeds are reportedly eyeing up a move for a defender. Find out who it is here.

Many Wolves fans were left fuming over a claim made by Danny Murphy following their 1-0 loss at home to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday.

Speaking on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme (via Birmingham Live), the former Reds midfielder said of Bruno Lage’s side: “Their lack of willingness to try and run forward, or (show) any courage to win the game, to go and cause Liverpool problems, was disappointing. I’ve seen them much better than that.”

Jurgen Klopp’s team dominated the game, with 17 shots compared to just three for the home side, and had twice as much of the ball, but they only won courtesy of a Divock Origi goal deep into injury time (SofaScore).

Liverpool are the most dangerous attacking team in the Premier League at the moment, having scored the most goals (44) in the division, and Lage’s plan almost worked, so it is understandable to see a few Wolves supporters taking issue with Murphy over his analysis.

Wolves fans on Murphy claim

These Wanderers fans fumed as the claim was shared on Twitter:

“Thought Murphy was supposed to be knowledgeable about football”

Credit: @jonbriscs

“The worst pundit by a distance… ruined MGW’s career”

Credit: @BenWolves8

“Then there’s the real world”

Credit: @julianholigan

“What, so we can get beaten by 3 or 4 like everyone else….just roll over? Get real Murphy!”

Credit: @oldwulf1

“Clear as day that Danny Murphy had not watched the 90 minutes before commenting”

Credit: @molineuxmusings

“We’d have been torn apart if we’d have run at them. The only disappointment was that we didn’t try and do more when they took Henderson off for Origi.”

Credit: @lukebailey90

In other news, many Wolves fans enjoyed this official club update

David Moyes’ West Ham United side head into Wednesday evening’s Carabao Cup quarter-final clash in a relatively poor run of form, having won just one of their last six fixtures in all competitions.

On the other hand, Wednesday night’s opponents, Tottenham Hotspur, find themselves in much better form, having lost just one of their six outings under the management of Antonio Conte.

As such, should the Hammers have any chance of making it through to the semi-finals of the League Cup, Moyes will undoubtedly have to get his team selection spot on for the trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

And, with it being recently revealed by West Ham insider ExWHUemployee that 21-year-old Ben Johnson is in contention for a start following his recovery from injury, it would seem highly advisable for the 58-year-old manager to unleash the right-back against Spurs.

He’ll give Son nightmares

Indeed, with Vladimir Coufal suspended on Wednesday evening after the defender was sent off against Arsenal last time out, there is an obvious spot that needs filling on the right-hand side of the Hammers’ backline against Spurs.

However, this is not the only reason as to why Moyes must place his trust in Johnson, as, in the club’s 1-0 win over tonight’s opponents back in October, the academy graduate proved that he is more than capable of doing a stellar job up against the Tottenham Hotspur attack.

Over his 90 minutes on the pitch that day, the £2.7m-rated defender had Spurs’ left-winger Heung-Min Son in his pocket, making five tackles, one interception, one clearance and winning all seven of his attempted duels in the match.

The player who Moyes himself dubbed a “really important” part of the West Ham side also posed a threat going forwards, completing one dribble, one cross, four long balls and having one shot at the Tottenham goal.

These returns saw the £19k-per-week right-back end the fixture with an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.8 – the joint second-highest of any player to feature in the game – while his counterpart Son received a rating of just 6.3 – the second-lowest of any player who started the match.

As such, if he is fit, the youngster who ExWHUemployee dubbed a “sensational” talent simply must start against Spurs this evening, as the defender is clearly more than capable of giving the north London side and their South Korean winger nightmares once again.

In other news: ExWHUemployee drops big injury update that will have West Ham fans buzzing

Despite managing to pick up a comfortable 4-0 win against Arsenal in their latest Premier League game, Liverpool suffered another potential injury issue with one of their key players.

What’s the news?

During the match against Mikel Arteta’s side, Liverpool attacker Diogo Jota had to receive treatment after a collision with Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale shortly before being replaced by Takumi Minamino.

Speaking after the game, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp revealed that Jota took “a proper knock against his knee.”

While there has been no confirmation on whether the injury is a serious one or not, Klopp and everyone else at the Merseyside club will undoubtedly be hoping that Jota will be able to make a quick recovery in time for Liverpool’s Champions League match against Porto to keep their winning streak going, especially with Roberto Firmino still out with a hamstring injury.

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As well as Firmino, Liverpool have a number of other senior players out injured at the moment such as Naby Keita, James Milner, Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez, Harvey Elliott and Andy Robertson, which makes it rather gutting timing for the supporters for Jota to pick up this knock.

Including his latest goal for the Reds against Arsenal, Jota has racked up a total of six strikes and two assists in 15 appearances across all competitions, showing how much of a useful attacking option he is for Klopp and the team.

In addition to that, the 24-year-old, who is currently valued at £40.5m via Transfermarkt, has managed to rack up an average of 2.2 shots per game and 1.5 key passes per game, highlighting how much of a threat he is on the pitch and why he could be such a loss if he sits out.

Moving forward, if the worst-case scenario were to come to fruition and Jota had to spend a period of time on the sidelines with the rest of his currently injured teammates, this would undoubtedly be a huge setback for the team, the fans, and Klopp, who would have to rely on the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah to keep scoring on a regular basis just a matter of weeks before they head to AFCON.

With the duo scoring 18 goals between them in the Premier League this term, it’s safe to say that it would be a real disaster if either of them were to pick up an injury anytime soon.

In other news: FSG could finally secure Wijnaldum heir at LFC with “extraordinary” £81m-rated star – opinion

Crystal Palace’s seven-game unbeaten run ended in disappointing fashion after they fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa this afternoon.

Patrick Vieira’s charges had the chance to take charge of their latest Premier League encounter when talisman Wilfried Zaha created an opening for himself in the early stages before dragging his effort wide of the post.

The Ivory Coast international was then punished for his miss just a few minutes later when Matt Targett fired Ashley Young’s corner past a helpless Vicente Guaita in the Palace net.

Villa had the better of the opening 45 minutes, with several players guilty of missing chances, but the tide turned following the interval.

However, the home side’s attacking options were unusually blunt. The likes of Zaha, Christian Benteke and Michael Olise could only muster three shots on target all game, and it was the latter who was particularly underwhelming.

He failed to have any impact over proceedings as John McGinn’s late effort meant that Marc Guehi’s second goal in as many weeks was a mere consolation, and the summer signing from Reading will have been disappointed not to take advantage of what was only his second top-flight start of the season.

As per SofaScore, Olise was awarded a match rating of just six out of 10, the joint-worst total received by any player to feature this afternoon.

Throughout his 87 minutes on the pitch, the former France under-18 international lost nine of his 11 duels, was unsuccessful with all five of his attempted dribbles and failed to pick out a teammate with any of his nine attempted crosses.

Olise was also very wasteful when in possession of the ball, gifting it to the opposition on a whopping 23 occasions, letting his manager Patrick Vieira down in the process.

The 19-year-old has largely impressed since moving to Palace in the summer, but this was certainly a performance to forget, and he’ll be hoping to move on from today’s poor showing as soon as possible.

In other news… Palace could unearth another gem in “really smart” 20 y/o wizard who Vieira loves

Tottenham Hotspur slumped to an embarrassing 1-0 loss at the hands of Vitesse in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday evening.

There were some very poor performances on the pitch for Nuno Espirito Santo’s team, and The Transfer Tavern have used statistical experts Sofascore to analyse the worst-three performing players (who played at least 45 minutes) based on statistics:

Ben Davies

Admittedly tied with Steven Bergwijn, Ben Davies was given the joint-third lowest rating out of any of his teammates by Sofascore, a mere 6.3.

Captain for the day, the Wales international lost out on eight of his duels, and failed to record a single successful dribble, tackle or accurate cross from left-back.

He also lost possession of the ball on no fewer than on 14 separate occasions, the joint-fourth most out of any of his teammates.

Dane Scarlett

Young Scarlett did not take his chance to impress, as Sofascore gave him a measly six overall rating.

The striker lost out on a whopping 19 duels, more than double the next closest player, perhaps suggesting he is struggling to adapt physically to senior first-team football.

He did not manage to have a shot or successful dribble, while losing possession 16 times, the second-most out of any Spurs player.

Dele Alli

Oh how far Alli has fallen. The once England regular was given an alarming 5.8 rating by Sofascore, which does not even tell half of the story.

Alli list eight of his duels, and had no shots on target, successful dribbles or key passes, while he too was also guilty of giving the ball away on far too many occasions, 14 in total.

In other news, find out which Lilywhite has suffered another injury setback here…

There hasn’t been much you can criticise about Jurgen Klopp’s rampant Liverpool charges this season.

Going forward they have been at their mesmeric best, scoring goals at will as they possess one of the most destructive footballers in world football at the moment; Mohamed Salah.

However, the club’s German tactician still has room to improve the Reds’ midfield with a vast number of injuries hampering their progress in that regard.

Thiago, Curtis Jones, Fabinho and Harvey Elliott have all spent periods out this term, but the Merseyside outfit have now been rocked by another blow.

Liverpool are set to face Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday evening but will do so without one of their most important players of the last few weeks.

Naby Keita hobbled off in the draw with Brighton last weekend and speaking yesterday, Klopp confirmed he would not only miss the game with Atleti, but also a period following that.

He said: “Naby has a hamstring injury so will be out for a while.”

This news is likely to have left Klopp gutted, especially when you consider how the Guinea international has fared in recent weeks.

The midfielder found the net and also assisted a goal in the 5-0 romp of Manchester United, while also adding goals in the win over Palace and in their last outing with Atletico.

It looked as though the 26-year-old had finally brushed off the injury concerns that had plagued his Liverpool career this season.

He’s endured 14 separate spells on the sidelines due to fitness problems, missing 54 matches in the process.

That kind of wretched record is another reason for the German manager to be gutted by this latest development.

After all, it was he who helped sanction a £48m move for Keita back in 2017. Since then, he’s failed to justify his price tag, spending most of his time on the treatment table, rather than coming up with the goods on the pitch.

The last few months had proven the Guinean to be in good form but his chance to really cement a place in the middle of the park has now been taken away from him.

This is not good news for anyone associated with the club.

AND in other news, Klopp must unleash “incredible” £40.5m-rated Liverpool machine, he could haunt Atleti…

Flocking to Twitter, many West Ham United fans have erupted over big news on Vladimir Coufal.

As well as benefitting from the arrival of recruitment chief Rob Newman in a new Hammers transfer era, manager David Moyes is also eyeing a number of new contracts for his first team stars.

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Indeed, as explained by Claret & Hugh, West Ham have fresh deals for some key players in the pipeline, with Coufal, Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice linked to being offered fresh terms.

According to sources in Italy, Angelo Ogbonna could also sign a contract extension, but now some big news has emerged on Coufal’s situation specifically.

According to reporter Roshane Thomas of The Athletic, the Czech Republic star has put pen to paper on a new three-year deal with the option to extend it by a further year.

The 29-year-old was crucial to Moyes last season, averaging the joint-most tackles per game for West Ham in the Premier League and marking himself out as a real fan favourite.

Taking this into account, it’s little wonder that numerous Irons supporters have absolutely erupted on social media upon hearing of his contract extension – one even called it the “best news ever”.

Check out some of their best verdicts below.

West Ham fans erupt over big Coufal news…

“Best news of the week!”

Credit: @_samhowell

“SIUUUUUUUUUU”

Credit: @alex_cvb

“Absolutely MASSIVE news!!”

Credit: @dave_lapointe

“YESSSSSS”

Credit: @morgzwhu

“This is absolutely superb news, well done Moyes and the board 👏🏻🔥⚒ Another step in the right direction”

Credit: @MartynHobbs12

“That’s big”

Credit: @conwhufc03

“Best news you’ll see today #GSBOUT irons irons irons”

Credit: @joehalford1990

“This is the best news ever”

Credit: @StefGoodridge

In other news: Reliable reporter says West Ham fans ‘should be excited’ by another development, find out more here.

Arsenal are facing competition over mooted transfer target Luka Jovic…

What’s the word?

Earlier this week, Spanish outlet Defensa Central reported that the Gunners were considering the Real Madrid striker as a potential replacement for Alexandre Lacazette, who seems likely to depart the Emirates Stadium at the end of his current contract.

The Frenchman is free to leave in the summer and it’s thought that manager Mikel Arteta is ‘very interested’ in the 23-year-old.

But now, according to Italian publication Calciomercato.it, Serie A champions Inter Milan have entered the equation ahead of the January transfer window.

Neither report mentions what sort of price it’ll take to secure the Serbian this winter, though Transfermarkt value him at just £18m, despite costing the La Liga side around €60m (£50.5m) in June 2019.

Alexis 2.0

The 6-foot forward would certainly be an interesting candidate to replace Lacazette in the attack, even if he’s struggled for game time at the Bernabeu, managing only 84 minutes across all competitions.

It’s easy to forget he bagged 27 goals in 48 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt during the 2018/19 campaign, form that earned him that big-money move. But the pressure and need to instantly deliver is much bigger at a club like Madrid. It’s especially tricky when you’re the back up to Ballon d’Or contender Karim Benzema.

During his time in the Bundesliga, Jovic earned a pretty remarkable comparison to former Premier League talisman Luis Suarez, who Arsenal were once keen on signing.

“He’s a classic goal-getter with great control of the ball and a good understanding of the game. I’d probably compare him to Luis Suarez,” Serbia coach Mladen Krstajic stated in an interview with T-Online (via Bundesliga.com).

“He’s courageous and dangerous at any moment because he’s always lying in wait for his chance or any inattention from the opponent.”

That sort of description could be said for Alexis Sanchez, too, particularly after Arsene Wenger once likened the Chilean dynamo to the ex-Liverpool striker.

In Jovic, Gunners chief Edu Gaspar could find another Sanchez and one that could fill a likely void in Mikel Arteta’s attack.

Furthermore, the 18-cap Serbia international has previously been lauded as a complete centre-forward by former teammate Kevin-Prince Boateng.

“He has everything to become [a world-class striker]. You see that in training. He has football in his genes, he’s a street footballer, and he has a nose for goal,” he said. “He scores with his head, right or left foot. He is technically good and can shoot well with both feet. He just has everything a striker needs.”

Meanwhile, Jovic talks himself up to be a “fox in the box”, which is certainly an encouraging sign as a striker will need that confidence when adapting to a new league.

With Lacazette on his way out, the north London giants must mull over a bid for the Madrid outcast. If he can rediscover his goalscoring boots, then he could well excite many around the Emirates Stadium.

Just like Sanchez joining from Barcelona back in 2014, this is a move that would add a lot of threat to Arteta and his squad.

AND in other news, Forget Pepe: £36m-rated Arsenal lightweight who lost 83% duels badly let Arteta down vs Palace…

Tottenham Hotspur legend Glenn Hoddle has slammed the form of Sergio Reguilon following Spurs’ 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.

The Lowdown: Reguilon struggling

Reguilon started against the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium at the weekend, with the opening goal coming from down his flank.

He was one of a number of players who struggled against Spurs’ fierce local rivals, losing possession 17 times and completing just two crosses, hardly ideal for an attacking full-back.

The Latest: Hoddle slams Reguilon

Speaking to Optus Sport after the match, Hoddle slammed Region’s form compared to his impressive start to life in north London. He said (via HITC):

“Reguilon came in, did very well, he competes well, gets forward, gets crosses in, he has gone off the boil.

“There are a lot of players at Tottenham at the moment who have just gone off the boil completely.”

The Verdict: Capable of better

Given £22.5m-valued Reguilon (Transfermarkt) provided the assist for Heung-Min Son’s consolation against Spurs, it was far from his worst performance, but he is capable of much more. After all, he comes from Real Madrid’s youth academy, and was signed for a fee that could rise up to £32m (Sky Sports).

The issue is, he is not the only player not at his best currently at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Three defeats in a row in the Premier League, with nine goals conceded during that time, illustrates just how poor Spurs have been, and the lack of confidence and form has seemed to spread through the team like a disease.

Even star striker Harry Kane remains without a goal after five league outings (Transfermarkt). Nuno Espirito Santo must do all he can to get the best out of his star talents once more, and hopefully Reguilon will be one of the first to kick start back to his prior showings.

In other news, Gary Neville took aim at these two Spurs talents.