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Djibril Sidibe has said that he wanted to make his Everton loan move permanent last summer.

Carlo Ancelotti apparently told the 28-year-old that he was keen to retain him after he joined the Blues on loan from AS Monaco in August 2019.

The 18-cap Frenchman would go on to make 25 Premier League appearances and 28 in total (via Transfermarkt). In that time, the £6.3m-rated full-back provided five assists, one of which came in a memorable 3-1 victory over Chelsea.

Liverpool Echo journalist Adam Jones wrote in April 2020 that there were ‘clear moments’ during the season when it looked like a ‘no-brainer’ for Everton sign him long-term, although he did raise concerns over Sidibe’s defending after he was ‘caught out… on a number of occasions’.

Sidibe’s ‘first wish’ to remain in the Premier League

With no agreement struck, the 28-year-old wound up returning to Monaco and has made 27 appearances in their push for Champions League qualification.

“My first wish was to continue in the Premier League,” he revealed to L’Equipe’s print edition, as quoted by Le10 Sport.

“When you play at Anfield or Old Trafford, you see the fans, the stadiums, it’s the best for a football fan.

“And Carlo Ancelotti wanted me to stay.”

Transfer Tavern verdict

Everton need a successor at right-back to Seamus Coleman, who turns 33 this year, and ultimately Sidibe didn’t do enough to suggest he had what it takes. Given Monaco’s success this season, you can’t imagine he’s filled with regret that it didn’t work out on Merseyside.

For the Toffees’ part, attention turns to Norwich City’s Max Aarons who, at 21, could be Everton’s right-back for a decade or more. The impressive Englishman is valued at £18m by Transfermarkt.

With Sidibe being one of their higher-ranked players by WhoScored last season, it is a pity that a permanent deal couldn’t be struck, but Everton must look to the future rather than pondering what might have been,

In other news, many Evertonians slammed this defender after they were beaten by Villa at the weekend.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 150 appearances for Newcastle United, believes even Steve Bruce would have thought he was about to be sacked after the Brighton defeat.

Newcastle suffered a 3-0 defeat against their relegation rivals last week and many players thought Bruce was about to be sacked that night or in the coming day, however, the next day Lee Charnley and Mike Ashley gave Bruce their full backing.

The Magpies registered just three shots as well as completing just 393 passes, compared to Brighton’s 751, and they were just one place and point better off than Newcastle.

Speaking on what Bruce must have been thinking after the game and what was more concerning than the result itself, Howey told FFC:

“Football is all about results. So even he would have thought he could be in trouble here unless he’s had prior conversations with the owner.

“I think every fan thought Bruce would be in trouble and as I’ve said, it wasn’t just necessarily the defeat that was the issue.

“I think it was the all-around performance and the lack anything really to try and turn it around.”

Newcastle find themselves still sitting outside of the bottom three which has been down to Fulham’s ability to capitalise since reducing the gap to three or less.

The Magpies have nine games left, with their final two games against Sheffield United and Fulham, two teams they failed to beat earlier this season.

Manchester City fans have been reacting to the news that Pep Guardiola will ask Sergio Aguero if he wants to stay at the club and, ultimately, it will be down to the player to decide whether he wants to stay or go.

The £31.5m-valued Argentina international (Transfermarkt) made the move to the Etihad Stadium in 2011, and has since gone on to become a club legend. With 257 goals for the Citizens in all competitions, he is their record goalscorer (bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk), and his strikes have helped the Manchester outfit win four Premier League titles.

However, his importance is dwindling at City. He has played just 32 league matches across this season and last (Transfermarkt), with a number of injuries keeping him out of the action for sustained spells. He is out of contract at the end of the season, and it is not clear whether he will stay with his current employers.

According to journalist Lu Martin, Guardiola will ask Aguero himself whether he wants to stay – it will be down to the 32-year-old himself to make the decision. The news, which was shared on Twitter account @City_Xtra, has delighted the City supporters, and they took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Aguero news below

“Aguero is our greatest legend ever! He will remain no1 in our hearts no matter what ! I’m happy pep is giving him a choice!”

Credit: @BlissMcfc

“Good”

Credit: @FPL_Ben_

“Pls be true”

Credit: @DavidsQuests_

“you love to hear it, all I’m asking is for Agüero to surpass Rooney as the 2nd greatest goal scorer in EPL history. He only needs 28 between now and next season”

Credit: @secondImpact

“Best news ever”

Credit: @Libulele_

“I’ll tear up if he actually stays another season but If he wants to leave understandable”

Credit: @MCFCAG

In other news, Man City fans react to this £128m transfer claim.

Crystal Palace’s on-loan forward Michy Batshuayi has certainly not had the best of times since joining Chelsea from Marseille.

The Belgian has been farmed out on four separate loan deals away from Stamford Bridge, making a total of just 77 appearances for the Londoners since his arrival nearly five years ago.

Now, he has been encouraged to depart the club permanently by former Belgium hero and compatriot Erwin Vandenbergh.

However, having twice signed the 27-year-old on temporary deals twice in the past, Steve Parish and the Eagles should avoid making a permanent move.

It is fair to say that Batshuayi’s second loan spell at Selhurst Park has not gone as positively as the first. Having scored six goals in 13 appearances during the second-half of 2018/19, he has scored just once in 18 showings this time around.

This run of poor form is not entirely surprising considering that he has not managed to score double figures in a single season since the 2017/18 campaign, the second-half of which he spent with German giants Borussia Dortmund.

Batshuayi’s confidence in front of goal appears to have totally evaporated due to that barren run of form. He is now only averaging 0.7 shots per game in the Premier League this season according to WhoScored, a hugely disappointing record for a striker.

At the age of 27, Batshuayi is certainly not a young forward and he should be in his peak but this new low appears to have plunged his future in the Premier League into doubt.

Rated at £10.8m and out of contract at Stamford Bridge next summer, a move for the Belgian may not actually be too costly in the near future.

However, with a recent record as poor as his, Palace’s funds really should not be spent on securing a permanent deal for Batshuayi.

AND in more news, the Eagles should also avoid signing Sheffied United man John Lundstram…

Many Liverpool fans want to sign Ibrahima Konate following a recent report from AS on the RB Leipzig central defender.

As per the news outlet, he has a release clause of €45m (£38.5m), but the Bundesliga club may be willing to negotiate a transfer sum closer to around €25-30m (£21.4-25.6m), a fee that one fan called a ‘bargain’.

The Anfield faithful have been strongly linked with a move for Konate in the summer transfer window, as they hope to bring in another centre-back to potentially partner Virgil Van Dijk in the longer term or sufficiently cover for him if the Netherlands international sustains another bad injury in the future.

The 21-year-old still has a lot of potential at his age having played for one of Europe’s top clubs, and several supporters of the Merseyside club have been drooling at the possibility of him signing for them.

Liverpool fan reaction to Konate news

These Reds expressed their desire to sign Konate on Twitter after reading the latest report, with one Kopite even going as far as to call the Frenchman a ‘bargain’:

“Yes please”

Credit: @radzjeewa7

“Mr Edwards, make him sign da ting”

Credit: @ynwaMattH

“If this is true, we need to be all over it”

Credit: @LewYNWA

“GET MY ANIME WATCHING KING TO ANFIELD ASAP”

Credit: @AdemiElmaze

“Bargain man”
Credit: @eyetestfootball

“Buy nowwwww !!!!! #lfc”
Credit: @kardphrom1

In other news, find out which U18s talent has been lauded by LFC fans lately here!

Plenty of Leicester City fans have been reacting to a transfer update regarding Cengiz Under on social media.

According to the reliable John Percy of The Telegraph, the Foxes won’t exercise their option of making the 23-year-old’s deal at the King Power sTADIUM permanent in the summer.

Under, who arrived on loan from Roma last year, could have joined on a full-time basis for a fee in excess of £20m. However, his performances haven’t justified that price tag, and it seems as if the Turkish forward will return to Italy in the summer.

He has made 19 appearances under Brendan Rodgers this season, scoring twice and registering three assists. Under has been out through injury since March and has started just one Premier League game all season.

Leicester fans react to news about Under

Percy shared the news on Wednesday evening on Twitter, with the post receiving plenty of interaction. Here is what some Foxes fans had to say in reply to the update.

“Can’t believe it”

Credit: @_JoBeanCash_

“Devastated”

Credit: @liamlcfc88

“We used all our right winger luck on Mahrez. 20 years of pain from now on”

Credit: @DT1884

“The Replacing Mahrez show lives on”

Credit: @hm_Ixfc

“A cursed position for us.”

Credit: @lcfcsanny

“Bye Chunder, another right winger that couldn’t get anywhere near the level of replacing Mahrez. Hopefully the next one will.”

Credit: @SamLCFC98

In other news, Leicester are keeping tabs on this Premier League-winning midfielder.

When it rains, it pours.

That’s what Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg quickly found out on Wednesday evening after the north London outfit were dumped out of the FA Cup by Everton in extra time.

And uncharacteristically, the Danish powerhouse was way off it at Goodison Park.

As Football FanCast outlined last month, the 25-year-old dubbed a ‘captain without the armband’ has arguably been Tottenham’s signing of the season so far but last night he was shocking in every sense.

Only Hugo Lloris (6.0) received a worse rating than Hojbjerg (6.1) as per SofaScore ratings, and it’s easy to see why.

The £27m-rated midfielder endured an absolute horror show – he was sloppy in possession for the Toffees’ opener as he gave the ball away in a dangerous position only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to slot home and then he committed the all too familiar sin of conceding a penalty by clumsily tripping up the talismanic striker.

Hojbjerg was also dribbled past a whopping five times, more than anyone else on the pitch. He’s usually a hard man to bypass in that engine room having averaged 2.7 tackles per game as well as only being dribbled past 1.8 times per match in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

He was even careless with the ball, losing possession 20 times, which was the second-most of any Spurs player on the night. Again, this is awfully unlike the Denmark international as that’s double his average (10.8) for the top-flight campaign so far.

It’s no wonder the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick graded his performance a 4/10 in his post-match ratings column, and he dubbed him ‘sloppy and uncharacteristic.’

Everything usually runs through Hojbjerg in the middle of the pitch – his match-high 135 touches would certainly reinforce that – but he was far too weak as he also won only 58% of his duels, often losing out to the Toffees’ playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson and his supporting cast, Tom Davies and Abdoulaye Doucoure, whom all graded 6.8 or better as per SofaScore ratings.

As evident above, it was quite a nightmare for Hojbjerg – rare, but totally unneeded.

AND in other news, this £18m-rated liability badly let Mourinho down…

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks continues to be linked with a loan move to Valencia this month and Jose Mourinho must now consider promoting Harvey White to his first-team to replace him.

According to Sky Sports, the La Liga side are interested in signing the England international on loan this month, including an option to buy.

The 24-year-old has struggled for game time in Mourinho’s first-team so far this season, having made just seven appearances in the top-flight for the Lilywhites, in which he has averaged a disappointing 6.34 rating.

During his time with Spurs, Winks has made 159 first-team appearances but has only managed to contribute three goals and three assists.

The summer arrival of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, combined with Tanguy Ndombele establishing himself as a regular, was perhaps always likely to mean the academy graduate was going to struggle for minutes this season, so Mourinho should consider letting him join Valencia this month.

After all, the Lilywhites have a plethora of talent coming through their academy and they may well go on to eclipse Winks in the future, so the North London club can afford to let the 24-year-old go.

One academy talent who could replace the midfielder is Harvey White. The 19-year-old made his first-team debut in the Europa League earlier in the season before playing 90 minutes in their 5-0 win against Marine in the FA Cup last weekend.

The midfielder has been in superb form with the U’23 side this season, having contributed three goals and seven assists in just 11 appearances in the Premier League 2, suggesting that he is ready to be promoted to the first-team on a more regular basis.

The youngster could also be compared with Frank Lampard, who Mourinho managed during his time with Chelsea, as like White, he was a serious goal threat from midfield, contributing 70 goals and 61 assists in 215 appearances under Mourinho for the Blues.

When White was rewarded with a new contract in 2020, Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold was full of praise for the youngster, saying:

“Really good to see Harvey White getting a three-year deal. Shows how much the club rate the teenager. Very versatile midfielder, very good tactically and takes a terrific set-piece. He’s got a bright future ahead of him.”

Therefore, it seems as if the 19-year-old is very highly rated at Spurs and like Lampard, he is also renowned as a set-piece specialist, so if Winks does leave the club this month, White should be the one to replace him in Mourinho’s first-team.

And, in other news… Spurs can replace Poch favourite with “insane” £18m-rated beast who Jose loves

According to Football Insider, Leeds United are keen on signing Derby County starlet Louie Sibley.

What’s the story?

With the January transfer window now open, Marcelo Bielsa’s side will no doubt be on the lookout for some reinforcements as they bid to end their first season back in the Premier League on a high.

And as per Football Insider, the Whites are looking at bringing in 19-year-old midfielder Sibley, who has been in and out of the side at Championship side Derby this campaign, making 17 senior appearances.

The report claims that both Sibley, and his teammate Jason Knight, are both on the radar for Leeds for this month, but that summer moves may be more likely.

Imagine him and Shackleton

Incredibly versatile, Sibley’s arrival at Elland Road would give Leeds another injection of youth and energy, especially in that engine room where they already have Jamie Shackleton.

Kalvin Phillips of course has been linked with a move away in the past, whilst Mateusz Klich will turn 31 later this year. So Bielsa will surely be looking at potential ways of rejuvenating his midfield, and one way he could do that is partnering Shackleton with Sibley in the middle of the park.

Speaking after a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United, then Derby boss Philip Cocu remarked: “He played a great game. He’s a great character — he has a good mentality, he has the desire to win, to play, to find his positioning between the lines. He’s not scared of anybody. It was a pleasure to see him play.”

Leeds are already proving this season that they are one of the most fearless sides in the Premier League, going after teams right at the top of the table and not even thinking twice about it.

Sibley’s fearlessness would fit in perfectly at Elland Road, and give Leeds one of England’s up-and-coming young talents.

David Sullivan will not solve David Moyes’ offensive woes by luring Montpellier HSC striker Gaetan Laborde to West Ham United in the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to L’Equipe, the Irons have been handed a huge boost in their efforts to sign Laborde as the financial implications of the global pandemic has left the Ligue 1 outfit chasing income this winter.

President Laurent Nicollin has confirmed the Stade de la Mosson natives are facing debts of €20m to €25million (£18.2m to £22.8m) after failing to make any sales in the summer, while playing games behind closed doors is causing further losses of €500,000 (£456.4k) a match.

As such, Nicollin may have to accept cut-priced offers for some of manager Michel Der Zakarian favoured players, including Laborde, who is now said to be available for €12million (£10.95m) amid interest from both West Ham and Newcastle United.

Both Premier League sides are understood to have scouted Laborde throughout the current Ligue 1 campaign after showing an interest in the summer, with the 26-year-old striking three goals and five assists in 13 top-flight fixtures.

Not the answer

While Laborde has brought a creative touch to Zakarian’s offence this term, the former France U20 international has only struck once in his last 11 league appearances and boasts just 21 goals in 84 games across all competitions for Montpellier since signing in 2018.

Moyes is in need of offensive reinforcements in the winter market with Michail Antonio sidelined again with a hamstring injury, while doubt lingers over Sebastien Haller’s future at the London Stadium after reportedly leaving the Scot underwhelmed.

The West Ham boss was at his wits end following Saturday’s defeat at home to Manchester United with his players being so wasteful in the final third, believing the Irons let the game slip away after enjoying a period of dominance throughout the first half.

“I thought the biggest thing tonight was that we had a great chance to go two or three up, maybe even more. We played really well but we didn’t kill it off when we had the chance to do so, show a clinical edge to our finishing or our final pass which was needed. I think that was what cost us tonight,” said Moyes after the game, via football.london.

Laborde would not be the answer to Moyes’ woes as while he could be available for little at £10.95m, the 5 ft 11 centre-forward is relentlessly wasteful with his chances.

Across his 13 Ligue 1 appearances this season, of which he has started each, Laborde has averaged 2.4 shots a game yet has scored just 0.2 times a game while missing three big chances to find the back of the net, per SofaScore.

He only offers 10.9 accurate passes in the opponent’s half of the pitch per game, too, while losing possession 12.2 times, committing 1.8 fouls and losing 66% of his ground duels and 48% of his aerial contests.

Laborde may be cheap, but West Ham would be better served to focus their efforts away from the Stade de la Mosson this winter.

AND in other news, a “powerful” West Ham dud has given David Moyes all the evidence in the world to why he will never be trusted.