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Everton could potentially save themselves around £13m in the summer transfer market by targeting Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot over Norwich City’s Max Aarons or Tariq Lamptey of Brighton & Hove Albion.

What’s the word?

According to Nicolo Shira, AC Milan are opposed to the permanent transfer of Dalot after Manchester United slapped a €20m (£17m) price tag onto the on-loan defender.

The 22-year-old moved to the San Siro in October after sealing a late season-long switch to the Serie A giants, but has struggled to establish himself under Stefano Pioli.

Dalot has opened just 18 of his 24 appearances across all competitions and has been fielded in less than half of the Rossoneri’s league games to date.

AC Milan are now expected to focus on alternative targets and Dalot will return to Old Trafford at the end of the season, in a potential boost for Everton.

The Toffees were linked with a potential move for Dalot last week, with Carlo Ancelotti said to view the Portuguese defender as an alternative to Aarons and Lamptey in his search for Seamus Coleman’s successor.

Ancelotti is eager to find a right-back capable of offering an aerial presence at both ends of the field, and had sought a deal for Dalot last year only for Manchester United to pull the plug in fear of strengthening a rival.

Director of Football Marcel Brands was in agreement with Ancelotti over a move for Dalot, whom the Italian likes for his versatility, and had made efforts to land his signature in 2019 during Marco Silva’s tenure at Goodison Park.

Who would be the best option?

Everton making moves to sign Dalot for a third successive summer has the potential to see the Merseyside outfit acquire Ancelotti’s long-term heir to Coleman, and at a bargain fee compared to deals for Aarons or Lamptey.

Reports by Sky Sports last month claimed Norwich value Aarons in the region of £30m-35m, while the Liverpool Echo understand Brighton would demand close to £30m to release Lamptey.

Aarons is the only one of the trio who has been given consistent minutes at right-back this season, with Daniel Farke awarding the 21-year-old all 38 of his Championship outings in his natural position.

Dalot, who Jose Mourinho claimed was “fantastic” and could be Manchester United’s full-back for the next ten years back in 2018, has only made four of his 12 Serie A outings for AC Milan at right-back this term.

Lamptey made nine of his 11 Premier League appearances in the role before sustaining a season-ending hamstring injury.

Over their performances when played at right-back this season, Aarons has registered the highest average WhoScored match rating at 6.9 out of 10, while Lamptey ranks second at 6.87 and Dalot is third with a 6.71.

But Dalot has provided the highest number of successful tackles per game with 3.8 from six attempts, to Lamptey (1.8/2.3) and Aarons (0.7/1). He also ranks first for interceptions with two ahead of the Seagulls star (1.6) and Canaries ace (0.9) and aerial duels won with 1.3 from 2.3 to 0.4 from 1.7 and 0.9 from 2.3 respectively.

Aarons also provides the least accurate crosses with 0.8 from 3.1 deliveries per game to Dalot (0.5/3) and Lamptey (0.9/3.1), yet tops the charts for key passes with 1.3 to the Portuguese’s 0.5 and the Englishman’s 0.9.

Obviously, Dalot’s sample size is smaller than Lamptey’s and especially Aarons’, but he has the potential to prove a bargain by saving Everton £13m in the transfer market if he emerges as Ancelotti and Brands’ priority target this summer.

AND in other news, Everton land a huge boost but face PL competition for a £26m star who’s “grown so much”…

After being held to a damaging 1-1 draw against Burnley in the Premier League at the weekend, Arsenal return to action when they take on Olympiacos in the first leg of their Europa League clash on Thursday night.

Mikel Arteta’s side were of course knocked out by the Greek giants last year in this same competition, with a late goal from the visitors seeing their European hopes go up in smokes at the Emirates.

The Gunners boss also has to contend with the small task of a north London derby against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, but there’s no questioning that he will look to go as strong as possible with his starting line-up tonight.

And, with that in mind, below is a look at how Arsenal might line up when they make the trip to face Olympiacos.

In goal, Bernd Leno will be looking to keep a clean sheet after his involvement in the Gunners’ defensive howler against Burnley last time out.

The back-four could see one significant change with Hector Bellerin returning at right-back after Calum Chambers was drafted in at Turf Moor, perhaps to deal with the physical and aerial threat of the Clarets.

In midfield, Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka should continue their partnership in the engine room, with the former surely hoping to get to full speed as quick as possible after recently returning from injury.

Further forward, the £36m-rated Nicolas Pepe is surely in line for a return to the starting line-up after his lively cameo against Burnley – the Ivorian missed a glorious opportunity to score, before being involved in two controversial penalty incidents that failed to go Arsenal’s way.

Given Willian’s last Europa League display against Benfica, in which he helped inspire the Gunners’ comeback by assisting Kieran Tierney, it would be a big call from Arteta to drop him.

Up front, it’s a far easier decision, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang once again leading the line.

Predicted XI: Leno; Bellerin, Luiz, Mari, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Pepe; Aubameyang.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie has questioned David Moyes’ “defensive” tactics during the Hammers defeat at Manchester United on Saturday.

Craig Dawson’s second-half own goal proved the difference between the sides, but West Ham hardly threatened, and failed to register a single attempt on Dean Henderson’s goal as they lost for just the third time in the Premier League since Christmas, but do remain in touch with fourth-place Chelsea.

The Hammers missed the influential Jesse Lingard, who was ineligible due to being on loan from United, whilst Pablo Fornals was unavailable through injury.

But Moyes decided against bringing in either Said Benrahma or Manuel Lanzini against his former side, starting Jared Bowen and Michail Antonio as West Ham’s only two attacking players.

And McAvennie felt that Moyes should have gone with a similar approach to the one he used against United’s rivals City last month, despite their narrow defeat at the Etihad Stadium.

He told Football FanCast: “Two weeks ago they played Man City and they were outstanding. They were on the front-foot. Yes, they’re going to miss Lingard, any team would. It was a shame, I liked them against Man City and the fans loved it.

“That’s two games this season – they should have gone for Liverpool, they were not playing well, of course you’ve got to be wary of the front-three, but they didn’t and the fans were upset. And they didn’t do that against Man United, I was disappointed.

“I’m not going to have a go at David Moyes because he’s been brilliant this season as manager and got 99.9% of things right, but at Man United he got it wrong, he was too defensive.”

With Rangers’ managing director Stewart Robinson recently stating that the club may be forced to sell some of its prized assets in the summer to boost their financial position, Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson, James Tavernier and Kai Kennedy are a handful of names that immediately spring to mind.

The latter of whom happens to be a highly talented teenager and with his contract set to expire in 2023, it’s understandable why the club might be tempted to cash in on the promising starlet.

Rangers youngster Kennedy, who was once dubbed a “fabulous little player” by Steven Gerrard, recently signed a new two-year contract that will keep him at his boyhood club for the foreseeable future. However, the 18-year-old has previously attracted interest from the likes of European giants Bayern Munich, Manchester City and Roma, as well as Premier League strugglers Sheffield United.

But all that talk will have to wait for now, however, as he is continuing to make waves in the Championship with Raith Rovers after a short stint with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The scorer of two goals and supplier of four assists this season, Kennedy has caught the eye with his flair for the theatrics, while he is proving to be a force to be reckoned with his combination of pace, physicality, athleticism and technique.

Don’t let his small stature deceive you – a return of three assists sees him rank sixth in the Championship this season, which shows that he is a real menace for the opposition.

Following the arrival of Scott Wright from Aberdeen, Kennedy could’ve been forgiven for feeling a little anxious about his long-term prospects.

But Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson’s recent comments show just how highly he is rated within the club.

“Kai consistently stated during all of our conversations that his ultimate ambition is to be a successful Rangers player and we are pleased we have a clear plan that allows him to move towards achieving the ambition he has held since joining our Academy as a young lad.

“He has progressed beyond our B Team and he needs to develop and influence strongly at first-team level now. We were pleased with his performances at Inverness and thank John Robertson for his work with Kai.

“For personal reasons, Kai wanted to be closer to his family during Covid times and we look forward to monitoring his contribution to Raith Rovers in their pursuit of promotion.”

Intuitive, quick and capable of bringing the ball out to put his side on the front foot, it looks like Kennedy has a bright future ahead of him. Whether he will be plying his trade at Ibrox next season remains to be seen, as he may end up leaving on loan, but whoever acquires his services will be delighted to get their hands on one of Scottish football’s hottest prospects.

AND in other news, Ianis Hagi stars in Rangers’ 1-0 win over St Johnstone…

Glasgow Rangers fans are far from happy with an incident from their match against Kilmarnock in the Premiership on Saturday.

The Gers edged the game 1-0 to go 21 points clear at the top of the table with just nine games left to play (BBC). Steven Gerrard will be delighted that his team were able to pick up the three points – right now, he knows the results are far more important than the performances.

It could have been a more comfortable win for the Gers as well. There was an incident in the penalty area, when right-back and captain James Tavernier was clearly taken out by a Killie player – it looked like a stonewall spot-kick, but referee Don Robertson decided not to give it.

A GIF of the incident was shared by Twitter account @_R_W_B_, and it angered the club’s supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say about the incident below

“100% a penalty. If the ref thinks the Killie player gets the ball, he can argue it’s a corner (Still a penalty, as he’s went through the back of Tav). He gave a goal kick. Bonkers.”

Credit: @RustyBaw72

“These just get ignored. It’s ridiculous.”

Credit: @BMCRangersRants

“That’s actually hilarious “

Credit: @AATG57

“Absolute joke and Tavs goal was onside”

Credit: @thefragglerocks

“Decisions are getting worse #wontstop55”

Credit: @richardbarber73

“Stonewall penalty. Don doing what he does best today.”

Credit: @onlyoneamoruso

In other news, Rangers fans love this injury update.

Recent reports have suggested that Sepp van den Berg could be allowed to leave on loan this month, which reflects that Jurgen Klopp simply does not rate the Dutch defender at this moment in time.

What’s the word?

According to Goal, Liverpool are willing to let the 19-year-old leave on loan this month, despite their current injury crisis.

The report suggests that the Merseyside club have held discussions from three different clubs, from Belgium, Germany and Switzerland respectively, as they look to get the 6 ft 2 youngster some first-team football experience under his belt.

Does he have a future with Liverpool?

The fact that Klopp has trusted Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams, both of whom had never appeared in the Premier League before, ahead of Van den Berg this season, is perhaps a damning reflection of where the 19-year-old currently stands at Liverpool.

The centre-back joined the Reds from PEC Zwolle in the summer of 2019 and he has four first-team appearances to his name, having established himself as a regular in the first-team with the Eredivisie side.

He has also made seven appearances in the U’23 side so far this season, in which he has contributed one goal but he has clearly not done enough to prove to Klopp and the Liverpool coaches that he was capable of stepping up in the absence of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip this season.

Liverpool journalist was full of praise for the young defender after his performance in the FA Cup against Shrewsbury Town last season, saying:

“I thought against Shrewsbury he was absolutely brilliant. I mean that was by far and away the best I’ve seen him play, for him to take on that responsibility and he seemed to be far more aggressive than he normally has been.”

Hopefully, if he does leave on loan, he can do get some regular first-team experience but there is definitely a worry that Klopp doesn’t rate him, as he has not been given an opportunity to impress at all this season, despite Liverpool’s injury crisis in defence.

And, in other news… Klopp must ruthlessly axe LFC ace TAA dubbed “world-class”; he was abysmal vs AVFC

West Brom have twice missed out on signing attacking hotshot Ollie Watkins over the years and now their most recent decision is looking worse by the week…

What was the word?

According to Sky Sports during the summer transfer window, then-Baggies boss Slaven Bilic was said to be an admirer of the former Brentford forward and was interested in signing him.

This has since been backed up by The Athletic’s Steve Madeley, who claimed that Watkins was the top target before the club moved onto Karlan Grant.

Whilst in the past, Darren Moore revealed that Albion rejected the chance to sign him from Exeter City before his move to the Bees.

One that got away?

Now the 25-year-old finds himself down the road at Aston Villa, where he has set the Premier League alight with his goalscoring exploits – only further making those calls look absolutely disastrous.

Currently, Sam Allardyce has two major problems as West Brom boss.

One, they cannot stop leaking goals – they hold the record of the Premier League’s worst defence, and two, they cannot score goals either – Grant has bagged just once since his £12m arrival in the summer.

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Matheus Pereira is practically carrying the Baggies on his back having scored four and assisted three of their 15 league goals (46.6%).

Over at Villa Park, Dean Smith’s side find themselves in surprise contention for a European spot and that largely comes down to the signing of Watkins as last term in narrowly avoiding relegation, they lacked a true goalscorer.

An average of 1.07 goals scored per game has risen to 1.83 in less than a year. That is no coincidence as top-scorer Watkins has bagged eight in 18 starts, also averaging 2.8 shots per match, via WhoScored.

No wonder he was dubbed “a machine” by Bees programme editor Chris Deacon.

By comparison, Grant is managing only 1.2 shots per game with Pereira and Conor Gallager a fraction better by 0.2, so the Villa man usurps the whole Albion squad with ease.

Both Grant and Watkins came from the Championship this summer and only one looks right at home in the big time – hint: he’s not wearing blue and white stripes every weekend.

Villa clearly struck gold over the 5 foot 11 dynamo, who earns £75k-per-week, all whilst the Baggies continue to suffer amid a relegation dogfight.

Smith once lauded his leading man “a hell of a player” when signing him at Brentford, while Trevor Sinclair described him as “lethal” and compared his style to Jermain Defoe to fans on Twitter.

It remains to be seen whether Bilic or Allardyce would’ve got the same returns out of him, but the ability is clearly there.

Guochuan Lai’s decision to not pay up for the £27m-rated Watkins could be one they regret massively for a very long time – if not forever, especially if they go down.

He’s transformed their rivals from relegation favourites to a top ten side almost overnight. That shouldn’t have been allowed.

AND in other news Exclusive: West Brom urged to secure 28 y/o who could fix problems…

Sunderland simply aren’t at the races right now.

They should be buoyed by the potential of a takeover, but instead, there is still an incredibly negative atmosphere surrounding the Stadium of Light.

They can’t hold onto leads and their attack is far from flowing – heading into this weekend, Sunderland had scored the second-lowest number of goals in the top eight so far.

That, clearly, is far from ideal. They are behind their promotion rivals and if they don’t score more goals, they will be consigned to yet another year in League One.

Danny Graham has still only scored two strikes in 54 matches for Sunderland while Will Grigg has yet to find the net all season.

For someone who cost the club £4m in 2019, you want a lot more for your money.

Sunderland’s issues have only got worse with the news that Lynden Gooch will miss the next month. Aiden McGeady is building up his fitness and with Elliott Embleton back in the first-team fray, they do have solutions.

However, what if Phil Parkinson thought outside the box? One player he could consider is 20-year-old Jack Diamond, someone with just nine first-team appearances to his name.

He spent last season on loan at Harrogate Town where he scored three goals in their triumphant promotion campaign from the National League to League 2 and since returning, he has been superb for Sunderland’s U23s.

The versatile forward has scored three goals in three Premier League 2 outings, while he also netted for the senior side in the Papa John’s trophy.

Having made two appearances in the league this term, he is clearly in Parkinson’s plans but he needs to play more, especially with the lack of fluidity in the Black Cats’ attack right now.

After all, Diamond had a brilliant summer, being hailed by both Luke O’Nien and Phil Parkinson.

His teammate said back in September: “There are a few of the youngsters who have been impressing. Jack Diamond has come back and done really well, so we have that healthy competition.”

Parkinson added: “Jack we’ve been pleased with, he’s got real pace and power. There are areas of his game he’s got to get better at but you’d expect that for a young player.”

It’s evident why he needs more regular action.

Meanwhile, one Sunderland man who made just SEVEN passes on Friday night let Parkinson down…

After finally picking up their form, Celtic head into the Old Firm clash against Rangers on Saturday afternoon with a bit of wind in their sails.

Neil Lennon’s side have racked up six wins on the bounce in all competitions, and know that only a win will be enough to really get them back involved in the Scottish Premiership title race.

And whilst the Hoops have been in such good form, the Celtic boss should consider making one big change: bringing in Mohamed Elyounoussi.

The Norway international had been in great form in recent weeks, bagging five goals in just three league games. But after netting against Kilmarnock earlier this month, the winger has found himself on the bench for the previous three matches, playing a grand total of 17 minutes.

The Bhoys desperately need a win against Steven Gerrard’s side, and Elyounoussi has got the kind of game-changing ability to turn things in their favour.

Speaking earlier in the summer after a 6-0 win over KR Reykjavik, Lennon said: “Elyounoussi is, I think rightly the Man of the Match, and the one we should talk about because this guy is a very, very good player. When he came to Celtic last season, he might have tailed off towards the end of last season, but he was excellent when he came in.

“He has an awful lot to offer and that performance will fill Neil Lennon with an awful lot of heart because if he’s back to his best, Elyounoussi is a very, very dangerous player.”

The Norwegian has bagged 12 goals in all competitions this season, and will no doubt be hoping to get the call to start against Rangers. Whether it’s playing him from the left or through the middle, he could wreak havoc on a Gers team who might just begin to feel the weight and pressure of leading the title race.

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Noel Whelan has been wowed by Spurs and how strong they have been without Christian Eriksen – going on to drop a claim that they may not need him after all following rumours of a return. 

The Dane, who left north London for the San Siro last January after a long transfer saga, is struggling for game time under Antonio Conte in Serie A – resulting in reports suggesting he could look to leave.

Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed that Tottenham are interested in taking Eriksen back, with news emerging recently that the transfer is definitely possible.

However, as explained by Romano, Spurs won’t be able to bring him back on loan due to Inter’s unwillingness, but they could in fact secure a permanent deal. 

Eriksen claim dropped by Whelan

Whelan, speaking to Football Insider, has gone against the grain with Eriksen – claiming that Tottenham are in fact stronger without the playmaker and outcast Dele Alli.

“The defence isn’t the best but they are still good players,” explained the Sky pundit.

“This is a team that will score lots of goals. I can’t believe how they can freeze out Dele Alli and sell Christian Eriksen and be even stronger.”

Transfer Tavern take

While manager Jose Mourinho benefitted from a stellar transfer window, securing seven marquee signings including a return for club hero Gareth Bale, landing Eriksen would arguably be the icing on the cake.

Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso have been utilised in a more central attacking midfield role, but having Eriksen back would gift Spurs that extra creative spark.

In other news: Levy could bag this ‘massive signing’ in January, find out more here.