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According to a report from The Daily Mirror earlier this week, Southampton were one side keen on a late January move for Che Adams. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Championship outfit Birmingham City and has done so since the summer of 2016, with his sensational goal-scoring efforts for the Blues this season seemingly attracting the interest of new Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

And that’s because a report earlier this week from The Daily Mirror suggested that the South Coast outfit were keen on a move for the striker as they sought the striking reinforcements needed to pull clear of the Premier League’s bottom three, only for Adams to remain at St Andrew’s beyond Thursday’s 11pm deadline.

But given Southampton’s struggles in the final third of the field, it appears that Hasenhuttl’s side may have missed a big opportunity to dispel their relegation fears for good by missing out on the 22-year-old.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, this season has very much followed the trend set by last season at St Mary’s, what with the Saints again set for a battle against relegation, with putting the ball in the back of the net proving to be a key factor in their difficulties.

The South Coast outfit aren’t the lowest scorers in the English top-flight, but their tally of 26 goals from their 24 Premier League matches will almost certainly need big improvement between now and the end of the season if they are to fend off relegation – mainly because their tally of 41 goals against underlines their difficulties in keeping them out as well.

But in the likes of Charlie Austin, Shane Long, Michael Obafemi, and Sam Gallagher, Hasenhuttl doesn’t have a forward line that is inspiring much confidence at present given the quartet have managed only five goals between them in all competitions so far – for what it’s worth, main man Danny Ings has eight goals.

Clearly then, another accomplished striker seemed necessary in the January window especially following the departure of Manolo Gabbiadini, and after last year’s calamitous move for Guido Carrillo, luring someone in form and match-ready to St Mary’s this month appeared to be the order of the day – Birmingham’s Adams fit the bill.

The 22-year-old may have never played at Premier League level before, but he has shown throughout his time at St Andrew’s that he is a young striker very much on the up, with this season the best goal-scoring campaign of his young career to date.

And that’s because the Englishman has netted 15 times in only 29 Championship appearances for Garry Monk’s side to propel him into the division’s top five goal-scorers this term, with four goals in his last four matches underlining his excellent recent form and just how confident he is in front of goal.

Clearly, it seems that Adams is only getting better the more football he plays having bagged nine last term and seven the season before for Birmingham, and at the tender age of 22, he is surely only going to keep improving as the years go on.

But he’d also do a job for Southampton in the present as well given his confidence and form in front of goal – unlike Carrillo, who hadn’t played or scored much for Monaco prior to his move to St Mary’s, Adams would have arrived match-ready and confident to make a difference.

Yes, there has certainly been an upturn in fortunes at St Mary’s following the arrival of Hasenhuttl as manager, but when one looks at the current striking options available to the Austrian, it’s difficult to see where the goals are coming from, Ings aside, in the second half of the campaign.

And that is why failing to land Adams last month represents a big opportunity missed by the Saints, as his arrival would’ve gone some way to dispelling their relegation fears for good.

Southampton fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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Some Celtic fans reckon that the lure of Netflix played a role in taking Lewis Morgan to Sunderland.

The winger completed a loan move on Deadline Day, as reported by BBC Sport, that will see him join the League One outfit until the end of the season.

Netflix are currently filming events at the Stadium of Light as a follow up to ‘Sunderland ‘Til I Die’, which proved to be a massive hit for the digital broadcaster.

After just one start and a dozen appearances off the bench in the first part of the season it was obvious that Morgan would be moving out on loan in search of game-time.

A reunion with former Saints boss Jack Ross and the chance to play at the Stadium of Light has seemingly convinced the 22-year-old to head south of the border.

Morgan joined Celtic a year ago from St Mirren, with Ross insisting that he was instantly returned on loan. After promotion to the Premiership was secured the two men went their separate ways only to be reunited on the last day of the transfer window.

Sunderland are sitting in fifth place in League One – a play off slot – but have three games in hand over leaders Luton Town who are nine points ahead.

Here’s a look at how Celtic fans have reacted to the news on Twitter…

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Sunderland manager Jack Ross has laughed off the idea of playing two strikers at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats have scored in every game this season – they are the only team in the top four divisions to do so – but they have struggled to score more than once in recent outings, doing so just once in their last nine games.

What’s the word?

Sunderland striker Josh Maja left the club for Bordeaux in the January transfer window.

The news was a major blow to Ross, who saw a striker who had scored 15 goals in League One this season head for France.

A deal to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Kazaiah Sterling on loan was secured in the wake of that move, along with a £4million deal for Will Grigg, signed from Wigan Athletic.

Check out Neymar’s controversial new haircut for 2019 and Xherdan Shaqiri as you’ve never seen him before in the video below…

And Ross says that there is little chance that he will revert to a two-up formation, though he accepts that he must find a way to make the Black Cats less predictable.

“It’s a nonsense statement that is thrown out by some people,” he said, per the Chronicle.

“The whole thing about two strikers makes me laugh whenever I hear it.

“If you’re playing two strikers and four midfielders, is that more attacking than playing a striker and two wingers?

“Because two wingers and a striker, that’s three attackers in total.”

He added: “Earlier in the season we were probably a bit more unpredictable because we had to chop and change so much, whereas now we are more settled.

“We have to assess whether there is now more familiarity with what we do and whether that has made it more comfortable for the opposition.

“So we’re looking at it and searching for ways that we can be a little bit less predictable.”

Grigg to lead the line

It appears that Grigg will lead the line after his move and that may well be the best thing for him to do.

He has genuine League One pedigree, scoring a total of 96 goals in 260 appearances in the competition, compared to just nine in 50 in the Championship.

And throwing him in as something of a wildcard will help Ross overcome the club’s current predictability.

Add into the fact that Sterling, on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, has something to prove away from north London and Ross appears to hold all the cards needed to get the Black Cats firing again.

They are currently fourth in League One, nine points behind leaders Luton Town, but they also have three games in hand, and they appear to have brought in the exact reinforcements needed to close that gap.

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Borussia Dortmund winger Jadon Sancho featured for his side in their 3-0 Champions League defeat against Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley on Wednesday night, and Arsenal fans were quick to take to Twitter to urge their club to sign the teenager, whom Arsene Wenger admitted on beIN sports he tried to sign when he was manager.

The 18-year-old has enjoyed a brilliant 2018/19 season with the Bundesliga leaders – scoring eight goals and providing a further 13 assists in 29 appearances in all competitions – and would have hoped to make an impact in north London in the first leg of the last 16 tie against Spurs.

While the exciting attacker showed his sheer speed and skill at times, Jan Vertonghen generally did a great job at keeping the England international relatively quiet, before he was taken off in the 88th minute.

Meanwhile, the Gunners have two great strikers in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, but perhaps don’t have a plethora of quality options in wide areas to help feed the duo.

Arsenal supporters took to social media to give their thoughts on Sancho’s performance, and while one said he “could be a game-changer alongside Aubameyang”, another simply said “need him at Arsenal”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubrvka was awarded the North East Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year for 2018 over the weekend for the excellent campaign he enjoyed at St James’s Park.

Dubravka, who only joined the Magpies in the middle of last year, has been instrumental to Newcastle’s survival this season and has grown into one of the main players in the squad.

In what has been quite a turbulent campaign so far for Rafa Benitez’s men, recent results have been positive for the club and the fans have been given reason to be optimistic about the future after a famous win over Manchester City at the end of January.

The 30-year-old Dubravka has made one or two big errors this season but has responded brilliantly with consistent performances that have given the club an excellent base to achieve good results.

The recognition he’s received this weekend should also be encouragement to him to keep on working hard and continue delivering solid showings at the back.

Benitez struggled to get his team organised at the back for the first-half of the season but recently players like Fabian Schar and Florian Lejeune have formed solid partnerships at the back, which has helped Dubravka tremendously in-goal.

The Newcastle defensive unit now looks composed and settled and with Dubravka at the heart, it could steer the club to more important results as the season comes to an end.

Newcastle, however, are still only a point above the relegation zone in 16th spot and will be eager to build on their recent successes.

They will therefore need the likes of Dubravka and the club’s senior group of players to remain calm and keep the team focused going forward in order to remain in the Premier League for next season.

The Slovakian international, though, has a lot of experience to his name and has proven this season that he knows how to dig deep and encourage his fellow teammates.

It’s every club’s dream that the mega-money of the Chinese Super League would come knocking for one of their flopped stars in the hope of recuperating their initial investment. Crystal Palace are no different.

Big Christian Benteke was lauded as the saviour of Crystal Palace’s offensive woes when he arrived from Liverpool in a deal estimated to be worth £27m in 2016, a relatively large sum for the time (source: BBC Sport), but has since only managed a meagre 18 league goals in 74 appearances.

Certainly not what the club were expecting.

Now, with time running out on the Belgian’s contract, Palace are dangling his services in front of the big spenders. Those who have already invested in the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Paulinho, and Jose Fonte, amongst many more, for astronomical fees.

According to Belgian outlet HLN, Crystal Palace ‘secretly hope’ for a bid from Asia before their season starts at the beginning of March.

However, there’s one major sticking point: Christian Benteke reportedly doesn’t want to leave.

Despite the arrival of compatriot Michy Batshuayi, who looks set to occupy the starting spot, Benteke would sooner see out his contract at Selhurst Park than move halfway across the world to play his football in China.

Probably a fair decision from his perspective.

Naturally, his current club will be pushing to make the transfer happen, as they prepare for a more successful 2019/20 campaign, but at the end of day it’s Benteke’s choice.

On reflection, when we consider the original costs and the current returns, we’ve got to say it’s been one of the club’s worst investments in the past decade, and once he does move on they’ll be hoping to be far more calculated in their scouting activity.

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Liverpool returned to form in stunning fashion on Wednesday due in no small part to the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold, and Martin Keown is full of praise for the young Scouser.

After drawing four out of five games in all competitions, Liverpool needed a big bounce back to form against Watford on Wednesday night and that’s exactly what they got.

The three points were of course the most important thing, but the performance was also crucial, as every single Reds player had a good evening in the 5-0 demolition of the Hornets, something that will build huge confidence going into the Merseyside derby.

No one was more impressive than Alexander-Arnold though, and BBC Match of the Day regular Keown, who won three league titles with Arsenal, says the 20 year-old has the perfect mentality to challenge for trophies.

What’s the word?

When asked who will be the Anfield outfit’s key player going down the stretch, Keown told The Daily Mail: “Alexander-Arnold is back in the nick of time. Until Wednesday’s win over Watford, I thought Liverpool had blown it.

“That 5-0 victory sent a message to Manchester City and Alexander-Arnold was the standout performer with a hat-trick of assists.

“He is only 20 but plays with the freedom and confidence of a serial winner. That is what this team have been missing.”

Mentality is key

Alexander-Arnold’s quality was never in doubt, as the youngster delivered three world class assists on Wednesday night, and if truth be told he could have had a few more considering the crosses he was bombarding Ben Foster’s penalty box with.

The youngster is developing into a complete right-back and is incredibly technically gifted at such a young age, but Keown’s observations reveal what really separates him from other players his age – his mind-set.

Since recovering from his nightmare performance at Old Trafford last season, the England international has gone from strength to strength, easily bouncing back from any small setbacks along the way.

In a Liverpool squad so bereft of title-wining experience, a local lad with the confidence and resilience that Alexander-Arnold possesses could make a huge difference as they enter crunch time.

Keown has been there, seen it and done it, so the Reds should take a lot of confidence from his verdict.

[ad_pod ]Hugo Lloris turned in a performance of the highest calibre against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday.Holding a 3-0 lead from the first leg, Spurs travelled to Germany knowing that anything other than a heavy defeat would see them safely through to the quarter-finals.Dortmund burst out of the blocks against Mauricio Pochettino’s side as they attempted to pull off a truly dramatic comeback.But they were met with great resistance by the France international, who made a number of excellent saves.Per WhoScored, Lloris made seven, including a superb reaction block from Julian Weigl in the first half and an athletic stop from Mario Gotze.Spurs only needed to keep a clean sheet to ensure their progress but Harry Kane, of course, had his say, sending an excellent, curled finish past Roman Burki at the beginning of the second half.

And fans were delighted with the performance of their goalkeeper, who also enjoyed an excellent performance against Arsenal at the weekend, saving a last-minute penalty from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

Heading into the second leg of a European tie 3-1 down is no easy challenge for any team, but on Thursday night, that is the exact task Arsenal must overcome.

After breezing past one big challenge on the weekend in the form of Manchester United, Unai Emery must do the same thing in midweek when Stade Rennais roll into town.

The Ligue 1 side swept the Gunners aside last week at their home ground and now it’s all to play for in north London with Arsenal desperately looking to overturn what potentially could be a dangerous outcome for the club.

Thankfully, there is some good news going into the crunch game on Thursday as Alexandre Lacazette is set to return (as per Sky Sports) to the Arsenal team after his initial three-match ban was reduced to two matches, making him available for this game.

The weekend’s result showed just how important Lacazette’s presence on the pitch is for the Arsenal first-team, and his inclusion in the squad now midweek means Emery’s men now have a serious chance of overturning their 3-1 deficit.

Indeed, the Frenchman both assisted Granit Xhaka’s opening goal and won the penalty that allowed Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to slot in the winning goal to send Arsenal into the top four of the Premier League table.

So, his impact on the game Thursday night could be the difference between progression to the Europa League quarter-finals or European embarrassment in a competition the Gunners were strong favourites for.

In the competition this season the former Lyon striker has been one of the Gunners’ key players, scoring the goal that sent Arsenal into the knockout round of the Europa League in a 1-0 against Qarabag. Clearly, he’s the man Unai Emery can rely on.

Arsenal fans, do you think Lacazette will make an impact on Thursday?

Newcastle’s decision to bring in a loan manager in a bid to help bring on the young players graduating through the academy is long overdue, and is something that rival Premier League clubs have been doing for some time now.

The disastrous loans spells for Elias Sørensen, Jamie Sterry and Cal Roberts — resulting in all three of them being recalled yesterday due to lack of playing time — highlights the urgency of bringing in a specialist who can liaise between Rafa and clubs interested in borrowing the youngsters.

The Magpies have acted quickly to prevent a repeat of the trios’ dreadful experience, and will give Rafa one less problem to deal with on a day to day basis.

The impending arrival of the “Loan Player Coordinator”, as reported in the Newcastle Chronicle, along with two other key roles behind the scenes, is could save the club millions if it helps to develop more youth players into first team contenders.

More importantly, this must be seen as the clearest indication yet that Mike Ashley is willing to give Rafa the things he has been pleading for, in order to commit his long-term future to the club.

Revamping the academy — along with a written guarantee of a budget for each transfer window — was one of the main sticking points for Benitez, and heeding his warnings on the need to do so will have much more sway with the Spaniard than the promise of a marquee signing which was rumoured earlier in the week.

The stand-off between the club and manager has been in place for months, and these recent developments surely suggest that it is Ashley who has blinked first.

Fans, who are desperate for positive news regarding their manager’s situation, will be hoping so, and if the club are serious about trusting Rafa, then a new contract could be signed sooner, rather than later.

We think the signs coming out of the club in dribs and drabs are means for optimism for Toon fans, and that a happy ending me be in touching distance.

What do you think Newcastle fans? Are you feeling more confident that Rafa will stay? Let us know below…