Tottenham Hotspur fans have urged the club to swerve a move for Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot.

Corriere dello Sport, via Sport Witness, reported earlier this week that Spurs, Arsenal and Everton are all interested in potentially bringing the central midfielder to the club.

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However, a number of supporters are concerned about the prospective deal.

While Rabiot has made 13 appearances in all competitions this season and has also won six caps for France, some supporters believe he is simply too much trouble for the club.

The 24-year-old, per a Bleacher Report article written last year, has been embroiled in a number of controversies during his career, turning up late to team meetings and rejecting a spot on the standby list for France’s World Cup squad in 2018.

Other supporters, meanwhile, are growing tired of being linked with the midfielder.

Spurs were linked with a bid for the star last January, as well as during the 2018 summer window, with The Sun latterly quoting France Football.

And some fans would like the rumours to stop.

Rabiot only joined Juve in the summer and has a contract that runs until 2023.

Per Transfermarkt, he is currently valued at £28.8m.

Meanwhile, Spurs have been given some really bad news about Christian Eriksen. 

According to a fresh report from The Athletic, Arsenal are in advanced talks with Paris Saint-Germain over a possible transfer of Layvin Kurzawa as they would like to immediately sign the player.

What’s the word, then?

The Gunners are on a lookout for a new defender, especially with new signing Kieran Tierney hampered by injuries throughout the campaign and the club’s only other natural left-back, Sead Kolasinac, nursing an ankle injury as well.

This leaves Mikel Arteta with very few options for the left side of his defence and this could very well force the Gunners to move for Kurzawa this month.

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The Athletic also state the English outfit are maintaining hope that they’ll be able to sign Kurzawa without having to pay a fee.

His contract is due to expire in the summer and, with his position at PSG under question, the French giants wouldn’t really miss him too much.

Verdict

Kurzawa’s departure seems to be imminent at this point.

The 27-year-old left-back has only managed to muster 585 minutes across 11 games in Ligue 1 this season and has only been a starter in six out of a possible 13 matches.

Granted, injuries have also caused him some trouble and that’s part of the reason why he hasn’t been picked regularly by Thomas Tuchel.

Even with that under consideration, at this very moment he seems as far away from regular football as he can be.

This is reinforced even more by the fact that his contract is due to expire in the summer and there are still no concrete signs of a possible renewal being offered.

For those reasons, parting ways with him seems reasonable for PSG to get him off the wage bill this month even if it means getting no compensation for him.

Elsewhere, one of Arsenal’s big transfer targets has received glowing endorsement from those that know him best…

Newcastle could have a busy end to the transfer window as Italian journalist Louis Giraldi reports that the club is showing an interest in AC Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu.

What’s the word, then?

The Magpies confirmed the loan signing of Nabil Bentaleb this week but it seems that Steve Bruce is not satisfied at stopping there, and is keen to add the Turkey midfielder as well.

Giraldi suggests an offer has been made for the 25-year-old, who was signed by the Rossoneri for €25m (£21m) back in 2017, and has been part of Gennaro Gattuso’s plans this year with 18 appearances made.

Big ambition

Mike Ashley provided more funds than he usually does in the summer with big fees spent on Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin, but with Newcastle still looking over their shoulders at relegation he may be tempted to dip his hand into his pocket once more.

Bentaleb arriving on loan is a sensible option that didn’t risk too much financial outlay, and if Inter Milan target Valentino Lazaro arrives he would also fit into a similar category.

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Calhanoglu, however, is a different kettle of fish, and would mark a significant change of pace from the north-east outfit.

He has been a regular for one of the biggest clubs in Europe over the past two-and-a-half years making 85 Serie A appearances, and to pursue a player with international and Champions League experience sends a statement to league rivals and the fanbase.

Furthermore, the midfielder may be still to hit his prime given his age, and he possesses the kind of quality that would serve the Toon well in midfield, with 1.6 key passes and 1.1 dribbles made per game this term.

Added to that, his flexibility and versatility would be a key addition during this troubling period for Newcastle. He can play in central midfield as well as on either flank, which could prove vital given how many of their players have been struck by injury – Saint-Maximin missing out once more against Everton on Tuesday.

In 2017/18 he recorded his most productive season for Milan with 13 goal contributions in Serie A alone, and with the technique he possesses from set-pieces he could be key to finally getting Joelinton firing.

In other news, Newcastle fans may be grateful for the club targeting new recruits following the match against Everton.

Juan Foyth is for sale at Tottenham Hotspur but would the club miss him?

On the chalkboard

Sources at the club have confirmed that the Argentina international is expendable in this transfer window, with La Liga club Real Betis interested in signing him.

Spurs would like to sell him due to concerns over their home-grown quota and there is hope that a deal can be agreed before the transfer deadline.

The question must be asked: Would Spurs be making a mistake if they let the 22-year-old go?

His sample size really is too small to examine this season as he has made just four Premier League appearances, with only one being a start.

Last season, though, is instructive as he played 12 times under Mauricio Pochettino.

Per WhoScored, he averaged 2.6 tackles per game, 0.8 interceptions, 1.3 fouls and 4 clearances. He also completed 1.6 dribbles per game and averaged a passing accuracy of 85.2% before Spurs’ midweek encounter.

A ball-playing defender

Foyth likes to carry the ball and he has the accuracy to distribute it effectively too, but it has cost him in the past.

In the 2-2 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road, for example, he was caught in possession before the Canaries scored their opening goal.

And it appears that Jose Mourinho simply doesn’t trust him given the sheer lack of game time he has had under the Portuguese.

Under Pochettino, Foyth was seen as something of a prospect and was, at one point, set to become the club’s right-back following the exit of Kieran Trippier.

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Injury put paid to that plan, however, and it seems as though he just doesn’t fit in north London anymore.

It is something of a shame but there is unlikely to be too much regret at Spurs if he is sold, particularly if Mourinho is to keep playing in the way that he has thus far.

Meanwhile, Spurs have debated the possible signing of a global megastar!

According to a report published by The Telegraph earlier this month, both Manchester City and Barcelona are set to duel it out for the coveted signature of Villarreal’s 19-year-old sensation, Ivan Morante, who is rated as a £6m player and has been tipped to eventually play for the national side.

But who exactly is this kid and why do these European giants want to sign him that badly?

Let’s find out…

Who is he?

Morante is a 19-year-old who joined Villarreal’s academy as a young child and has been on a steady rise ever since.

And it seems that he couldn’t have chosen a better academy for himself than the Yellow Submarine’s, which has seemingly polished this rough and raw talent into a diamond in the making.

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Rising through the ranks in Spain, Morante quickly gathered pace and went on to achieve great success at the club, eventually even winning both the domestic league and the Copa del Rey with Villarreal’s Juvenile A squad, which was a first for the Yellow Submarine.

And with some international experience in the Spanish youth ranks as well, it doesn’t really come as a surprise to see the likes of Man City and Barcelona prowling around.

Judging by his profile, Morante is a player that would fit both their systems like a glove.

How does he play?

Even though he is still just 19 years of age, his talents are already breaking out for everyone to see. As a player, he is brave and extremely technical on the ball, capable of both retaining and recycling possession under pressure and in the face of the opposition. In general, you could define him as a ‘pivot’, as they would say in Spain, or a holding midfielder.

If his profile was to be compared to some of the greats, we could say that Barcelona would finally land their Sergio Busquets successor and Pep Guardiola would sign someone capable of rivalling Rodri for a place in the midfield anchor role.

Just by looking at his stats from the 2019/20 season across all competitions, we can immediately see where his strengths lie, courtesy of Wyscout.

We’ve already mentioned that the technical side of his player profile is very strong and the numbers certainly back that claim up pretty nicely. Morante has averaged 87.4% passing accuracy in the ongoing season, with 1.39 through balls per game as well. It’s important to note that 47.1% of those have been accurate, indicating that he has a keen eye for a piercing ball and also the vision and the skill to deploy it.

But defending is equally crucial in the pivot role. With 8.73 recoveries and 3.67 interceptions per game, the 19-year-old is certainly making strides in that category.

It’s also important to note that he averages 1.88 fouls per game as well, which could be an indication of his tendency to make tactical fouls in order to snuff out the potential danger coming from the other side, but 0.08 yellow and no red cards also suggest that he is rather safe in his approach too.

How would he fit City or Barcelona?

Man City and Barcelona are both clubs that have excelled and set unprecedented standards under Guardiola.

And for that reason, they also share some similar ideals, principles and ultimately, styles of play. Their tactics can be described as vertical, highly focused on possession domination and maybe above all, structural that follow the principles of positional football.

The player that is usually the hub of such systems is the defensive midfielder, or the pivot. With his great technical ability and potential to turn into a star of the future, Morante could well occupy that role for one of the greatest clubs in world football.

He is the type of player to start attacks from the deep, helping move the ball from inside their own half and transition it into the final third. This is reinforced by his average of 11.59 passes into that area per game with 73.9% accuracy, as stated by Wyscout above, suggesting that he is often the one initiating the progression from deeper areas.

Since both Man City and Barcelona love to build all the way from the back, Morante could have a huge role to play in those scenarios in the not so distant future as he seems secure and brave enough on the ball to actually accomplish such a task.

Verdict

Even though they have done a fantastic job nurturing the 19-year-old talent and polishing his skills, Villarreal may succumb to the advances of rival clubs.

But on paper, a transfer to either of the aforementioned giants looks like exactly the right move for Morante.

BBC Radio Solent journalist Adam Blackmore has said via his official Twitter account that he has “had it on good authority” that there is no truth in the reported transfer interest in key Southampton duo Danny Ings and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg this month.

Ings is Saints’ top scorer this season with 16 goals in 27 matches all competitions and had reportedly been the subject of an enquiry from Manchester United, as per The Telegraph.

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Meanwhile, captain Hojbjerg was linked with a last-gasp window move to Tottenham Hotspur by Sky Sports, although they later backtracked and said he was a target in the summer instead.

The south coast outfit are on an upward curve at the moment having won their previous four Premier League away matches, and they certainly couldn’t afford to lose either player at this stage of the campaign.

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While Blackmore says this is simply agent talk and that the club are convinced that both players aren’t going anywhere, it will be interesting to see what happens in the summer.

If Ings’ fine form continues he will surely be a target of some bigger clubs, while if his Danish teammate hasn’t signed a new deal he will only have 12 months remaining on his contract at that point.

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You could cut the tension around Elland Road with a knife at the moment.

Everything is quite jittery at Leeds as their grasp on the automatic promotion places is slipping week by week.

Indeed, after the Whites’ latest loss they’re just three points off third place, and with their next three games coming against top-six sides, there is a real danger of them falling out of the top two.

Understandably, fans have been furious with some of the players in recent weeks, and that hasn’t gone down well with some people that have ties to the club.

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Indeed, Tony Dorigo tweeted telling supporters to put their dummies back in and back the boys rather than getting on their backs.

Now, a former player tweeting that is fair enough as he has no control over the team, but when the owner echoes that sentiment it’s only going to end one way.

Andrea Radrizzani showed his support for Dorigo’s tweet by responding with a GIF of people applauding.

Unfortunately, that didn’t go down too well with the supporters, and you can understand why.

Leeds’ current demise is at least partly down to Radrizzani – he’s a man who had the power to change their fortunes, and to tweet this just days after the January transfer window closed is quite short-sighted.

As you can imagine, the Elland Road faithful weren’t too happy with this.

In other news, Leeds may actually be weaker now than they were before January.

Football.London’s Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold has given his verdict on the possibility of the club swooping for Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic in the summer.

The Serbia international’s contract is set to expire in the summer, though the Red Devils do have the option to extend it by another year should they so wish.

Matic, though, could well become available in the next transfer window, having made just eight Premier League appearances this season.

He did play five games in a row under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, against Burnley, Arsenal, Norwich City, Liverpool, and Burnley, though he was left out of the squad for the 0-0 draw with Wolves.

And Gold believes that, if he is available, Spurs will look to bring him into the club.

Matic is a previous Mourinho favourite and has played 159 times for the Portuguese for both Chelsea and United.

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Gold, assessing the prospect of a move for the midfielder, said: “Spurs will look at the Serbian this summer if he becomes a free agent but they will not want to get into an auction for his services.”

Matic is 31 and will turn 32 in August.

Meanwhile, Spurs’ Player of the Season should be clear!

According to a new report from The Mirror, Manchester United are interested in Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks and have made him one of their top summer transfer targets.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is apparently quite a fan of the player, with his ability and age fitting the bill ahead of a potential title challenge next season.

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The Mirror also mention that the 24-year-old Spurs man is valued at around £40m and, with the potential sale of Paul Pogba, Ed Woodward could test the resolve of Jose Mourinho and try to lure Winks away from north London.

Upon hearing this update, however, many of the fans had a crystal clear message for the Red Devils – no, thank you.

One fan stated that he would be willing to part with Winks if United were to offer around £100m, but that scenario is highly unlikely and effectively akin to saying he’s priceless to the Lilywhites.

But it has to be said that fans were somewhat divided on the matter.

While there were many who don’t want to part ways with the midfielder, others would let him go immediately.

Some were begging Solskjaer to take Winks and saying that United can definitely have him.

Finally, there were also some fans who were not so eager to let go of Winks but would have absolutely no problem sending Eric Dier to Old Trafford.

It seems that he is no longer really welcome at the club…

Meanwhile, many Spurs fans wanted to sign a playmaking Premier League star…

Garry Monk isn’t the most popular man in the blue-half of Sheffield at the moment.

Indeed, the manager has frozen out two fan favourites, which has drawn anger from the fans, and to make matters even worse he’s overseen just one league win since the turn of the year.

It’s fair to say that he isn’t doing a great job, fans have been calling for his head, and the results speak for themselves.

However, it could all have been so different for Wednesday.

Cast your mind back to the summer, Steve Bruce had just been poached by Newcastle and there was an air of uncertainty around Hillsborough.

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The Owls were fantastic under Bruce, losing just three of the 18 games he took charge of, and even after his departure, the same group of players who produced that run were still at the club, and it was a real chance to build something.

To be honest, Bruce couldn’t have left at a better time, there were plenty of experienced Championship managers without a job and Wednesday were in a great position to get a suitable replacement through the door.

Chris Hughton, Aitor Karanka, Tony Pulis and Nigel Pearson were all available in the summer, as they were unemployed at the time, and each manager mentioned has previously tasted promotion from this division with Brighton, Middlesbrough, Stoke and Leicester respectively.

Away from those who have actually been promoted, there was another good option in the shape of Gary Rowett, who is now proving his worth at Millwall by taking them to the verge of the playoffs.

You can read more on this and other top stories via our Sheffield Wednesday News page.

Instead of going for any of the aforementioned managers, the Yorkshire club appointed Monk, a man who has never guided a team to a top-six finish, despite managing sides that were more than capable. That included a Leeds team that finished seventh in 2016/17, and a recently-relegated Boro side the year after that.

It’s now become quite clear that Monk wasn’t the right choice with the team languishing in mid-table.

Unfortunately, the good atmosphere built up by Bruce’s time at the club has vanished, key players have been frozen out, and the cohort of stars that were pivotal to getting Wednesday to the playoffs under Carlos Carvalhal are another year older – they may have just missed their chance for one last hurrah.

Monk’s appointment could be a decision the Owls live to regret for years to come.

In other news, Sheffield Wednesday must never do one thing again.