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Rafa Benitez has been in the Everton job for just over 24 hours now but there is no rest for the Spaniard.

The Toffees have lost precious time in the transfer window and will need to act quickly in order to sweep up their desired targets.

What’s the word?

One area that Everton seemingly want to improve this summer is their midfield options.

They have been linked with a plethora of combative central players from Yves Bissouma and Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa to most recently, Glen Kamara.

Another name that’s been put forward is Jack Wilshere. The former Arsenal star is now a free agent after his short term deal with Bournemouth came to a climax at the end of June.

Marcus Bent was quizzed on the matter when speaking exclusively to Football FanCast this week but he wasn’t convinced by the 34-cap England international.

He commented: “No, he’s 29 now and injury-prone having been released by Bournemouth.

“He was a brilliant youngster, did well for Arsenal, but I don’t think Everton want to take the chance on someone like that – I think for the money they can go out and get someone else younger and as talented as he is.”

Stay away

There is no denying Wilshere’s fabulous qualities on the field of play. He can unlock a stern defence and jinx past a defender in the way Phil Foden now does so successfully for Manchester City.

He dominated Barcelona as a teenager and earned fine praise from Spanish legend Xavi.

However, the midfielder’s career has headed downhill after an injury-plagued career with Arsenal and West Ham.

During the course of his playing days, Wilshere has endured 18 different spells on the sideline and hasn’t played over 30 games in one league season for over a decade now.

Once described as the most “overrated” player on the planet by Roy Keane, that assessment might be taking things a stretch too far, but Bent is right to suggest that it would be a mistake to sign him.

After all, Everton already have one injury pillaged midfielder in Jean-Philippe Gbamin.

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The Ivorian arrived at Goodison Park as a highly rated prospect but he’s endured a nightmare in Merseyside.

Gbamin has only played three times for the Toffees since joining for £25m in 2019. Since then, he’s spent 620 days out injured and has missed a grand total of 86 matches.

The midfielder suffered a hamstring injury during his first season before his second campaign was ended by an Achilles tendon rupture.

On the verge of a return last term, the 25-year-old then sustained a medial collateral ligament injury.

With that in mind, Benitez needs to focus his efforts on signing players with a better track record when it comes to fitness; Wilshere is not the answer to improving their midfield.

AND in other news, Everton eye swoop for “special” 34-cap beast, he’s a massive upgrade on Davies…

Manchester United see Leeds stalwart Illan Meslier as a potential goalkeeping transfer target to bring in next summer, according to a fresh rumour which has emerged.

The Lowdown: Meslier a huge figure for Leeds

Despite still only being 21, the Frenchman has already matured into one of the Whites’ most important players, proving to be a model of consistency between the sticks.

Meslier recently became the youngest goalkeeper in Premier League history to make 50 appearances in the competition and has been hailed as ‘fearsome’ by Tony Cascarino. He has been ever-present in the top flight so far this term and missed just three league games in 2020/21.

The only downside of the youngster being so highly regarded is that heavyweight clubs could show an interest, and that is exactly what appears to be the case here.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Man United keen on Meslier move

According to The Daily Star, Manchester United are ‘hot on’ the idea of signing Meslier as they look for possible long-term successors to David De Gea. The Red Devils see the £22k-per-week Leeds goalkeeper as ‘one of the best young stoppers around.’

Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez is also seen as a target at Old Trafford following an impressive start to life at Aston Villa since joining from Arsenal last year.

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The Verdict: Massive potential loss for Leeds

Much like Kalvin Phillips and Raphinha, who have also been linked with exits, there needs to be an acceptance from Leeds fans that Meslier will not be around forever at Elland Road, with WhoScored ranking him as their fourth-best player so far this season.

The Whites are languishing in 16th place in the league, and with a possible relegation battle on the cards, the goalkeeper could feel that his future lies at a club playing Champions League football.

If Meslier is to leave Yorkshire, Leeds should at least receive a huge transfer fee for his services considering his current deal doesn’t expire until the summer of 2026, giving them the funds to bring in reinforcements of similar or superior quality.

In other news, Graham Smyth has provided a key update regarding one Leeds player. Find out who it is here.

Liverpool have a multitude of attacking players in their squad who have contributed to keeping the Reds in the race to win the Premier League title, along with securing the Carabao Cup earlier in the season.

One figure who hasn’t been as active in the Premier League as some of his attacking team-mates this season is Roberto Firmino.

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With 17 league appearances under his belt, the Brazilian has only started nine times, which shows that he hasn’t always been a first-choice pick for Jurgen Klopp at times this season, in addition to having some injury issues.

Despite scoring five goals and providing three assists in the league, the 30-year-old’s overall performances have earned him a disappointing season rating of 6.84/10 from WhoScored, making him one of the lowest-rated Liverpool players to start more than three league games.

With this in mind and the £180k-per-week attacker’s contract at Anfield set to expire in the summer of 2023, it seems as though the Merseyside club could have identified a potential future long-term replacement for the Brazil striker.

According to a recent report from Record (via Sport Witness), the performance from Benfica striker Darwin Nunez against the Reds in their recent Champions League meeting impressed the hierarchy at Liverpool and a number of their players.

In 79 appearances for the Portuguese club, the 22-year-old has racked up 42 goals and provided 15 assists across all competitions.

Labelled a “tenacious” player and a “monster” on the pitch by journalist James Dodd, the £36m-rated attacker not only scored against Jurgen Klopp’s squad in midweek, he also made two key passes and completed all four of his dribbles, highlighting what a tricky player he is for opponents to handle.

Also, the Uruguayan has twice as many shots per game on average (2.8) in the Portuguese league this season compared to Firmino in the Premier League (1.4).

Taking all of this into account, if the 30-year-old ends up leaving Merseyside in the near future, signing Nunez as his replacement could be just what the Reds need to keep their lethal attack ticking over nicely.

In other news: FSG could replicate Elliott masterclass as LFC plot bid for “special” teenage sensation

Things very much look as if they are on the up for Celtic at present, with the Bhoys remaining undefeated over their last nine fixtures in all competitions, qualifying for the final of the Scottish League Cup and closing the gap on the current Scottish Premiership leaders to just four points.

However, despite the positives, there is still undoubtedly a great deal of work that Ange Postecoglou needs to do in the upcoming January transfer window if he is to keep Celtic firing on as many fronts as possible this season.

And, while Joe Hart has become the Hoops’ undisputed number one since joining from Tottenham Hotspur this summer, there is undeniably a significant lack of quality in depth behind the 34-year-old shot-stopper, with the prospect of the former England international picking up an injury being dubbed a “nightmare” scenario by Chris Sutton.

However, before splashing the cash on a new signing between the sticks in January, perhaps it would be wise for Postecoglou to take a closer look at one of Celtic’s up and coming youth products in the position – in the shape of 18-year-old Tobi Oluwayemi.

Oluwayemi can save Celtic millions

Having been selected ahead of Vasilis Barkas as part of Postecoglou’s matchday squad for the Bhoys’ 3-2 Europa League win over Ferencvarosi TC at the start of the month, it is evident that there are high expectations for Oluwayemi at Parkhead.

Indeed, the teenager has been impressing for Celtic’s B team in the Lowland League this season, with the reserve side’s coach, Darren O’Dea, stating upon the 18-year-old’s call up to the England U19 international squad: “We’re going to miss him for a couple of games but that’s a success. We thought he would be involved with the U19s team and then the added surprise of being involved with the first team is fantastic. It’s why we’re here, it’s why he’s here.”

Furthermore, Postecoglou is also known to be a personal fan of the former Spurs youngster, something which is largely down to the goalkeeper’s excellent ability with the ball at his feet – a crucial and perfect trait for a shot-stopper to possess in order for the 56-year-old manager to implement his particular brand of football efficiently.

And, with reports suggesting that Barkas could be on his way out of Parkhead in January, there would very much appear to be a space that requires filling in Celtic’s first-team squad for the second half of the campaign, a slot which Postecoglou could save Celtic millions of pounds in transfer fees on if he decides to place his trust in the teenager O’Dea dubbed a “really good” talent.

In other news: Huge blow: Celtic dealt injury setback ahead of Bayer clash, fans will be fuming

Everton have found themselves in a vulnerable situation this season and it leaves Frank Lampard will a lot of decisions to make if he manages to secure survival in the Premier League this season.

In terms of the squad, there will likely be many changes at Goodison Park this summer especially when you consider the financial situation the club has found itself in, recording the highest loss in the Premier League over the last three years. As a result, it would make sense for Farhad Moshiri to sell some players.

Many faces have been linked with moves away including star players Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin amid the relegation troubles for the Merseyside club, with other Premier League clubs hoping to capitalise on Everton’s downfall by offering their star men a way out this summer.

With that being said, Lampard must work with the board to identify which players they can afford to let go and which they must keep at any cost to ensure they won’t suffer the same fate next season if they do hold onto top-flight football this summer.

One player who has recently been linked with a move away is Andre Gomes, with Roma reportedly hoping they can snap up the midfielder for around £16m at the end of the season, and it could be a huge opportunity for Lampard to finally axe the Portuguese player.

Since the ex-Chelsea boss arrived at the club, Gomes has only picked up 107 minutes of game time in three Premier League appearances, with the manager favouring Abdoulaye Doucoure, Allan and Donny van de Beek to play in the centre of the pitch.

Even when Allan was suspended, Lampard favoured starting centre-back Mason Holgate in the midfield role which sends a big message to Gomes about his manager’s trust in him to deliver in his role.

The 28-year-old was labelled “poor” and was criticised for “costing his team” his team this season in his performance against Southampton, despite the victory by a local Saints radio pundit (via Paul Brown) and this has been a common theme throughout his twelve league appearances for the Toffees this season.

According to Soccerment, when you compare Gomes to his position competitor Doucoure, it is no wonder that Lampard favours the latter with Gomes unsuccessful in over twice as many tackles as his team-mate, possessing a lower pass accuracy (76.4%) and a lower shot accuracy (16.7%).

Ultimately, if Roma do come in for the £18m-rated flop this summer Lampard should take advantage of boosting funds for the club by selling, especially when it’s clear the manager doesn’t consider the midfielder a starting player in his team.

In other news: Frank could save EFC from relegation by unleashing £92k-p/w “leader”

West Ham have been given a clear run to sign Andrea Belotti in 2022, according to emerging reports…

What’s the word?

The long-serving Torino talisman was a tentative target for Irons boss David Moyes throughout the summer, with even the reliable ExWHUemployee mooting the club with interest at one stage.

And now it appears the 28-year-old forward will be available for nothing from January as he will be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with any team outside of Italy, thus opening the door for the east Londoners to strike.

“Andrea Belotti has chances to leave Torino as [a] free agent next summer, as things stand now,” revealed transfer expert Fabrizio Romano earlier this week. “He’s out of contract in June 2022 and he has not accepted yet last Torino proposal to extend [his] current deal.”

Back in May, some reports in Italy suggested the Hammers were even the ‘front-runners’ to seal Belotti’s signature, so he’s certainly a player on their radar.

Bargain swoop

The Irons were merely one striker away from achieving a very successful summer transfer window. It is the one position they still lack considerable depth in and it absolutely has to be the top priority for new head of recruitment Rob Newman.

Moyes only has one senior centre-forward at the club in Michail Antonio, 31, who has suffered from his fair share of injury problems throughout his time at West Ham. Indeed, he hasn’t started more than 24 league games across the past four seasons, largely due to those aforementioned issues.

He missed the Hammers’ first defeat of the season through suspension and his presence was sorely missed in the final third.

Without him, it means the Scottish coach has to turn to someone like Jarrod Bowen to play out of position, which seems like a crazy scenario to be left in considering they are vying for a top-six finish and are competing in the Europa League this season.

Belotti on a free would not only solve this massive quandary but also save GSB and the club millions.

The Italy international, who won Euro 2020 this summer, has proven to be a prolific goalscorer in the Serie A over several years, hitting double figures in every campaign since 2015/16, including a career-best of 28 goals in 2016/17, as per Transfermarkt.

Former Premier League shot-stopper Joe Hart played with Belotti during a loan stint in Turin and waxed lyrical about the talismanic forward to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio.

“Andrea is similar to all the great strikers, English and not. It’s hard to compare him to someone else because he’s special. He’s Belotti and that’s it. He has [an] instinct for goals, personality and he’s a team player: he’s always focused on his team and plays hard to help it.”

Considering he is valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, Newman could secure West Ham an absolute bargain and at the same time, fix one of Moyes’ ongoing nightmares in one fell swoop.

Belotti is there for the taking and the Irons would be foolish to not make their move again.

AND in other news, Moyes could have West Ham’s next Glen Johnson in “fearless” 19 y/o gem who’s a “unit”…

West Brom are sweating over the fitness of Baggies midfielder Alex Mowatt after he picked up a foot injury, judging by an update from their manager.

The Lowdown: Mowatt picks up foot injury

Valerien Ismael’s side suffered a disappointing night in the Championship on Friday, losing 1-0 away to Stoke City to dent their promotion bid.

Not only that, but Mowatt also suffered a foot problem, having started all 11 of West Brom’s league matches so far this season.

The Latest: Ismael provides injury update

It’s now a few days after the game and an update has been provided by Ismael via The Express & Star, with Joseph Masi reporting that the club are still waiting to find out how serious the injury is.

The Baggies boss said: “The injury with Alex Mowatt – we need to check and see how bad it is.

“It’s his left foot and he needs to go and have a scan. I hope it isn’t too bad. When Alex comes out, it’s normally a bad sign because he can play all the time, he wants to play all the time – 90 minutes plus.”

The Verdict: Key player for Baggies

Mowatt is a massive player for the Baggies already, having followed Ismael from Barnsley in the summer – he has averaged two tackles and 1.9 interceptions per game in the Championship this season, the former being the second-highest in West Brom’s squad – so the hope is that he is back in the fold as soon as possible.

There is the bonus of an international break coming this weekend, though, which gives the midfielder more time to recover ahead of the visit of Birmingham City on October 15.

In other news, one West Brom player has been blasted by a pundit. Find out who it is here.

Another one of West Ham’s mooted summer transfer targets has slipped from their grasp…

What’s the word?

Back in May, the Irons were strongly linked to Adam Armstrong and were thought to be the front-runners in the race to land his signature, as per The Sun.

The Daily Mail then claimed a month later that Blackburn Rovers were willing to sell him for a lower amount than their initial £25m valuation, which further opened the door to the East Londoners to strike a bargain deal.

However, the 24-year-old talisman has joined Premier League rivals Southampton on a four-year deal, replacing another one of the Hammers’ reported striker targets, Danny Ings, who signed for Aston Villa last week.

Armstrong cost just £15m.

Striker setback

Ivan Toney last year. Ings last week. Potentially Tammy Abraham. And now Armstrong.

West Ham’s search for an alternative to Michail Antonio has been very frustrating and it seems like it’s not going to get any better now, as another target has been missed.

David Moyes cannot afford to go into September with the 31-year-old as his only senior option, especially given his past with injuries. Since joining from Nottingham Forest in 2015, Antonio has struggled to start more than 24 matches in the league.

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He’s also proof that recruiting from the lower divisions can pay dividends and Armstrong would’ve been a very interesting option for the Europa-bound Irons this season.

Former Hammers star Joe Cole once likened the former Rovers striker to Sergio Aguero.

“Armstrong reminds me of Aguero in a way, he’s of the build and he’s hungry for goals,” the ex-England midfielder told Coventry’s official website (via efl.com). “In a lovely way, he’s selfish for goals and has the ingredients to be a top player and go on to score many more goals.”

No player fired off more shots per game in the 2020/21 Championship than Armstrong (4.7), so it’s hardly a surprise to see him amongst the most lethal finishers in the division, having bagged a whopping 28 goals – a feat only bettered by Toney.

Also described as “explosive” and “devastating” by Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray to The Athletic, the former Newcastle United youth product would fit the sort of mould that Moyes would undoubtedly be looking for as these are similar characteristics to Antonio.

He will surely be absolutely gutted to miss out on yet another target.

AND in other news, “We are told”: Sky Sports drop major West Ham transfer update, Moyes will be delighted…

Many Nottingham Forest fans have been slamming the performance of Gaetan Bong in their 1-1 draw at Reading on Saturday.

Philip Zinckernagel gave the away side a very early lead, but Steve Cooper’s men were eventually pegged back midway through the second half by Scott Dann.

Bong came on around the half-hour mark to replace the injured Max Lowe at left-back, and several Forest supporters were left wishing that he did not after the performance that he put in.

The former Brighton defender lost out on four of his duels and also failed to record a single successful dribble, blocked shot or interception, while failing to make a key pass or cross (SofaScore).

Bong also lost possession of the ball on 13 occasions, the joint-third most out of any Forest player despite not starting the match (SofaScore).

Nottingham Forest fans hammer Bong

These Forest fans slammed the Cameroonian’s performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he is a ‘liability’ against Reading:

“Was a good trip to Reading, shame about result and if I’m honest first time Cooper made a big mistake by bringing Bong on, waste of a sub because he is awful”

Credit: @AdzL_93

“Leave Bong in Reading please”

Credit: @cookenffc

“PLEASE DO NOT PLAY BONG AGAIN!!!!!!!”

Credit: @Lee_Rev1

“Bong is still absolutely lost, how does he still get a game?”

Credit: @mmearsuk

“Gaetan Bong plays like he’s filming a TikTok”

Credit: @josephpickard

“Bong is a liability. COYR!”

Credit: @ScatmanRon

In other news, find out what club tweet had these Forest fans erupting

Many Wolves fans have been left raging as Tim Spiers posted their squad for their pre-season trip to Marbella in Spain.

While Spiers tweeted some names that supporters will surely get excited about, such as new signing Jose Sa and the return of Raul Jimenez, a lot of the squad is made up of youth players and highlights how thin it is going into the new 2021/22 season.

Of course, players such as Adama Traore and Conor Coady will return to the Midlands a little bit later given their exploits in Euro 2020, but nonetheless it does seem like a squad that is in desperate need of new additions.

With the new Premier League campaign a matter of a few weeks away now, it seems as if several members of the Molineux faithful are growing more impatient with the lack of incomings at this moment in time.

Wolves fans on pre-season squad

These WWFC supporters fumed as the pre-season squad was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘awful’:

“We can fit the whole squad in a tweet, we’re actually in trouble”

Credit: @wwfc_bibb

“Our squad is weak need some new faces to be added big time #wwfc #Wolves”

Credit: @Georgewwfc2

“Nuno left us in a right state”Credit: @Gary_Poynton”What an awful squad of players that is”Credit: @Macca_Clifton”Seeing it laid out on paper makes us look weak man!!”Credit: @goldandblack17″Wow. Concerned by the lack of depth here”Credit: @StefanF30In other news, find out what transfer update has Wanderers fuming here!