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

West Ham United are struggling to shift Jordan Hugill in this transfer window, per journalist Alan Nixon.

What’s the word?

Hugill is one of three senior strikers at the club after the signing of Sebastian Haller and joins Javier Hernandez in providing back-up to the Frenchman.

Nixon has previously reported that Wigan Athletic hold an interest in the forward but now claims that he is waiting on the Hammers agreeing to pay part of his wages before he leaves the club.

Writing on Twitter in relation to a question about him moving to the Latics, he said: “Hugill has to get a lot of the money from the deal from West Ham. That’s not happened so far.”

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A damning indictment

Why did West Ham sign Hugill?

He’s played a mere three Premier League games for the club after being signed for £10m under the management of David Moyes and is seemingly for sale.

Yet, for a deal to happen, he needs a golden handshake, and that speaks appallingly to the transfer record of the club.

They brought in a Championship striker who was not particularly prolific at that level – he scored 29 goals in 137 appearances in the second-tier – and now can’t shift him.

Indeed, his contract does not expire until 2022 and he has no real reason to leave.

He could easily continue to collect his wages and sit on the bench.

West Ham have backed themselves into a rather difficult corner here.

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

Speaking after Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Bradford in pre-season, Jurgen Klopp confirmed that the club have not ruled out signing a potential back-up left-back this summer.

What’s the word?

Following the departure of Spain international Alberto Moreno on a free transfer, reports in recent weeks have suggested that the Reds could be targeting a move to sign a replacement left-back.

The Anfield side’s only senior option for the position at the moment remains Andy Robertson, and in the club’s opening two pre-season games, Klopp has handed chances to academy stars Adam Lewis and Yasser Larouci.

Now, speaking after the Bradford clash, the German admitted a new arrival could be possible. He said: “We will see. What can I say? I said already, we have to think about everything and in the end maybe we do nothing, but we will see.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

“Of course, as you can imagine, we will have a look at all the things around us. Of course we have lost a left-back and today you saw two pretty young ones, James [Milner] has played it and all that stuff. As I said, we will see.”

An unnecessary risk

In a truly stellar campaign last season, Robertson underlined his growing credentials as being one of the best left-backs in the league. The Scotland international was an unbelievable presence going forward, registering a whopping 13 assists in 48 appearances across all competitions.

But, there was an element of luck to the Reds’ success. The 25-year-old’s virtually injury-free campaign meant Klopp could turn to the defender week-in and week-out and never really have to turn towards the defensively suspect Moreno. But with the Spaniard’s exit, Liverpool are entering dangerous territory by not signing a proven back-up.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold’s success has perhaps given Klopp more ammunition to believe that handing out chances to his academy players might bear rich rewards. But if Robertson were to get injured, trusting inexperienced teenagers like Lewis and Larouci as they look to contend both domestically and in Europe would be tantamount to gross negligence.

The Reds must simply cover all bases, and avoid relying on Robertson too much. Indeed, seeing the Scot undergo surgery on his hand in the past week should act as a warning sign to Klopp; fail to heed it, and the Reds could be ruing their decision come the end of next season.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more… 

Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United stepped back onto the pitch on Wednesday night. The Whites were in fine fettle as they hammered National League North side York City 5-0.

Jack Harrison netted a brace and got an assist in this match, but it was his link-up play with Barry Douglas that should be a point of interest for many United supporters.

Harrison’s performance

Last season the Man City loanee came under a lot of criticism from the fanbase, partly due to his poor number of goal contributions as he scored just four times and provided three assists.

Although Wednesday’s match was against inferior opposition the fact that he played a part in three goals is a promising sign.

His two strikes were very well taken, while his assist was a pinpoint cross into Kemar Roofe.

He looked much faster and much sharper than he did last term, but he was also allowed to get into better positions due to the work Douglas was doing down the left-flank.

Fantastic partnership

Fans were quick to point out the link-up play between the two left-footers, and it’s clear to see why.

A series of quick passing moves between the two saw Harrison get in behind several times.

Pablo Hernandez’s goal on 34 minutes was kickstarted by a move between Douglas and Harrison, while the left-back’s willingness to get forward allowed Harrison to move inside at times and grab himself a couple of goals.

For Harrison’s second, a long-range drive into the bottom corner, Douglas was making a run into the box which proved to be a distraction to York’s defenders, and allowed Harrison plenty of space to pick his spot.

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The two players showed an excellent understanding of one another’s styles as not only did they play some nice stuff between themselves, but their movement off the ball complemented what each man wanted to do with the ball.

This could be the beginning of a brilliant partnership which we see more of next season. Last term we saw the pair play just 782 minutes on the pitch together, but if Wednesday’s performance is anything to go by that number should be higher this term.

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Manchester United’s stay in the land down under is slowly coming to its conclusion.

After a day off for some much-needed rest and recovery on Sunday, the Red Devils are now once again in full training mode ahead of their final Australia challenge against Leeds United.

The match is scheduled for Wednesday and the team then flies out to Singapore, where they will continue their 2019 pre-season tour.

But for now, they are still doing their sessions in Perth and if Nemanja Matic’s latest

/Bz70dN5n0SY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram snap is anything to go by, the players enjoyed a head-tennis competition in training, one that the Serbian’s side was clearly victorious in.

The snap depicted the mini-tournament champions in good spirits after the game, but not everyone was pleased with the results.

One of the defeated players was Joel Pereira, and he just posted a series of emojis showing how he felt about the loss.

Others, like Juan Mata, were also replying to the snap, but clearly with a lot of love after joining Matic in victory.

Fans will surely be glad to see the players in high spirits ahead of what is a huge campaign, but the results to begin the season will reveal just how effective Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s pre-season strategies have been.

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Everton continued their preparations for the 2019-20 campaign with a goalless draw against Wigan Athletic on Wednesday night.

Fabian Delph made his debut for the Toffees at the DW Stadium, although he could not help his new club put another pre-season win on the board.

Theo Walcott played the first 45 minutes for Marco Silva’s side, but it would be fair to say that the former England international struggled to make his mark.

And the Everton fans were not too pleased with what they saw from the 30-year-old.

Walcott ended the 2018-19 campaign with a respectable five Premier League goals, although his performances were criticised on a number of occasions.

It remains to be seen whether the attacker will be given a leading role for the Merseyside outfit in the new campaign, but his dwindling form suggests he could come under pressure to hold down a place in the starting XI.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

However, the club’s fans were extremely disappointed with what they saw from the 5 ft 9 man against Wigan.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the Toffees faithful can be seen below:

ما زال مهاجم نادي ليفربول السابق، فرناندو توريس، يتفوق على جناح الفريق الأول الحالي لكرة القدم، محمد صلاح، تهديفيًا رغم كل الأهداف التي يسجلها المصري الدولي منذ الانضمام في عام 2017.

وسجل محمد صلاح بقميص ليفربول في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز 89 هدفًا في 130 مباراة رسمية، بينما سجل توريس 65 هدفًا في 102 مباراة فقط.

وبحسب تقرير شبكة “ليفربول إيكو”، فمعدل التهديف الخاص بالإسباني أعلى من محمد صلاح بفارق دقيقة واحدة حيث سجل توريس هدف كل 121 دقيقة بينما سجل المصري هدف كل 122 دقيقة.

اقرأ أيضًا.. ذا صن تكشف موقف ليفربول من رحيل محمد صلاح لـ بايرن ميونخ

وإليكم بعض معدلات مهاجمي ليفربول السابقين والحاليين التهديفية:

فرناندو توريس – 65 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 121 دقيقة.

محمد صلاح – 89 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 122 دقيقة.

دانيال ستوريدج – 50 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 136 دقيقة.

لويس سواريز – 69 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 139 دقيقة.

مايكل أوين – 118 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 143 دقيقة.

روبي فاولر – 128 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 158 دقيقة.

ساديو ماني – 70 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 171 دقيقة.

ديفوك أوريجي – 19 هدفا بمعدل هدف كل 178 دقيقة.

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Despite beating Kilmarnock 2-1 on Sunday, the Rangers fans aren’t happy with the performance of their left-back Borna Barisic.

After Scott Arfield’s opener was cancelled out by Killie’s Stephen O’Donnell, a last-minute Connor Goldson winner gave Steven Gerrard’s men all three points on the opening weekend of the Premiership season.

Goldson’s last-gasp header meant the Rangers fans went home happy after what had looked like being another disappointing result against the Ayrshire side.

Yet, even with the late heroics, the Gers supporters weren’t pleased with Barisic – and not for the first time this season either.

The Croat endured a tricky first season at Ibrox, only featuring 22 times after signing from Osijek last summer.

This campaign hasn’t started much better, as he was withdrawn at half-time against Progres Niederkorn last week, and was bullied by Chris Burke in the second half at Rugby Park.

The supporters have pulled no punches in their assessment of the defender, with many coming to the end of their tether after yet another abject display.

Have a look at some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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Celtic are preparing themselves for a third bid from Arsenal for Kieran Tierney and the Parkhead faithful are not very happy about the whole ordeal.

As reported by The Scottish Sun, Tierney has been the subject of two bids from Unai Emery’s side so far this summer but both offers have been rejected.

The second bid, the club believed, was filled with unachievable add-ons that would take the fee to the region of £25m, while the Bhoys expect the initial fee to be closer to that full figure.

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The 22-year-old is a fan favourite on the Hoops’ side of Glasgow, as is often the case when a player breaks through from the youth ranks and makes a consistent impact in the first-team.

Tierney is a Celtic fan himself too, meaning he’s in no rush to leave Neil Lennon’s men this summer.

Celtic have brought reinforcements in already this summer with Luca Connell, Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli-Mbombo coming to Parkhead. Mbombo is a left-back of course but he could merely be competition for Tierney, rather than a replacement.

Here’s what the supporters had to say about the Gunners’ cheeky second bid and a potential third offer for their star…

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So, it’s official.

Liverpool have completed their fourth signing of the summer, although this one looks as if he will have the biggest impact on first-team proceedings as he plays deputy to Alisson as Jurgen Klopp’s No.2 – he even made his debut against Norwich City on Friday when the Brazilian went off injured.

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Former West Ham keeper Adrian has signed on a free transfer after leaving the Hammers at the end of last season following Simon Mignolet’s departure for Club Brugge, meaning that the Reds have almost immediately found a new backup for their undisputed No.1.

Let’s take a look at some of the Spaniard’s best moments since arriving in England with the Irons…

[snack_break title=”Stunning display against Manchester City”]

The Hammers very nearly stopped Manchester City from recording a 13th consecutive league win back in December 2017, although the Citizens went on to do just that and equal the record.

However, Adrian stepped in for Joe Hart – who was ineligible to face his parent club at the time – to make his furst Premier League appearance of the season and delivered a standout performance.

If anything, this shows that he has a good mentality can be relied on when called upon, something that he will need if he is to successfully deputise for Alisson.

[snack_break title=”Catching Cheikhou Kouyate’s head instead of the ball”]

This is more of a funny moment instead of being one of the 32-year-old’s ‘best’ as such, but it can’t be ignored.

Back in a game against London rivals Tottenham, the glovesman caught the head of teammate Cheikhou Kouyate instead of the ball, which made for some excellent visual content.

[snack_break title=”Knocking Everton out of the FA Cup”]

A lot of Liverpool fans will presumably like this one. The Anfield new boy knocked the Reds’ Merseyside rivals Everton out of the FA Cup back in the 2014/15 season with the winning penalty in the shootout.

What made the moment look even cooler was the fact that Adrian whipped his gloves off mid stride, as if to say: “This is about to be over, I won’t be needing these anymore.”

Impressive stuff, to say the least.

[snack_break title=”Running the entire pitch to celebrate Andy Carroll’s late winner vs West Brom”]

A player who Liverpool will know well is involved in this one, whilst memories of another are evoked.

Andy Carroll, the man who the Merseysiders signed for £35m back in 2011, netted a 94th-minute winner against West Brom back in January 2018, which led to Adrian sprinting the length of the pitch to get involved in the celebrations.

Remember when Pepe Reina did the same against Manchester United, Reds fans?

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Loads of Liverpool fans on Twitter have been having their say on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain following his performance against Chelsea in the Super Cup on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old was given a start on the left wing by Jurgen Klopp despite the large majority of his appearances in 2017/18 coming in a central or right midfield role, and it’s fair to say it didn’t work out.

The former Southampton man appears to be still recovering his match fitness following the cruciate ligament injury that kept him out of action for the majority of last season, and he was largely anonymous out wide and unable to use his pace in the opening 45 minutes against the Blues.

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The England international was sacrificed at half-time and replaced by Roberto Firmino, with Klopp suggesting post-match that he made a mistake selecting Oxlade-Chamberlain where he did.

Liverpool supporters were quick to issue their verdict on the 26-year-old’s display via the popular social media platform, with one saying “Ox looks months away from being ready to start games”, and another simply saying “Ox 0/10”.

Klopp may just need to think again before he considers playing the midfielder out wide in the future, then.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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