According to a recent report from The Sun, Leicester City are one of several teams interested in a move for forward Jarrod Bowen. The 22-year-old currently plays his football at Championship outfit Hull City and has done so since leaving Hereford United back in 2014, with his mightily impressive exploits for the Tigers seemingly attracting the interest of Foxes manager Claude Puel.

And that’s because reports suggest that the Midlands outfit, as well as fellow Premier League sides Everton and Tottenham, are keen on the £4.5 million-rated sensation (as per Transfermarkt), and given the success James Maddison has had since making the move to Leicester from the second tier in the summer, the Foxes could replicate that transfer success by landing Bowen this month.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the Foxes were seen to have taken quite the gamble in luring Maddison away from Norwich City last year, this all despite the attacker netting 14 goals and laying on eight assists in 44 Championship appearances for the Canaries last term, in turn helping Daniel Farke’s men finish 14th in the second tier.

And the 22-year-old has since gone from strength to strength following his move to the King Power Stadium, bagging five goals and laying on three assists in 19 Premier League appearances for Puel’s side, with Jamie Vardy (seven) the only Leicester player to have scored more so far this term.

And with a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad back in October 2018, albeit he didn’t earn his first cap for the Three Lions, it’s clear just how meteoric a rise Maddison has undertaken in the last six months – and given the ability Bowen possesses, the same could well happen to him.

The 22-year-old has been an absolute revelation ever since making the move to the KCOM Stadium back in 2014, with the forward in that time scoring 26 goals and laying on seven assists in 79 appearances for the Tigers.

Significantly, the vast majority of those contributions have come in the Championship in the last two years to help Nigel Adkins’ side pull clear of relegation, bagging 14 times in the second tier last term in their 18th place finish, as well as netting 11 already this time round as they seek to climb the table under former Reading and Southampton boss Adkins.

Clearly, there’s a reason why Puel is interested in luring the Englishman away from the North East this month, as for a player to net that many times and impress on so many occasions in the notoriously difficult Championship says a lot about just far Bowen looks set to go in the game – he has got immense ability.

And given how much Maddison has benefited from the step up this season, in becoming a vital player for Leicester and very much in contention for England, the same could well happen to Bowen were he to take the plunge and make the move to the King Power Stadium.

And given how much Leicester themselves have benefited from Maddison’s arrival last summer, it’s clear that Puel must do all he can to land 22-year-old Bowen this month, in a bid to replicate the success they have had with fellow Englishman Maddison.

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

Should Pompey’s form continue, there is no reason as to why they won’t be playing Championship football this time next season.

That is certainly very exciting for those fans watching and they have really been treated to something special during their first campaign back in League One.

Top of the league and currently cruising, all fans can ask for is that the players continue providing the same high level of performances that have been showcased – that way promotion will be achieved.

As well as that, extra bodies in and around the squad could be a very wise idea, considering how many games there are still to play.

Someone who would be keen to make a point is West Ham U23 star Josh Pask, a young defender patiently awaiting his chance.

Pask, (who is valued at £90k on Transfermarkt) has shown his ability for the U23 side this season, leading from the back in his nine appearances so far.

It would be a risky move to acquire a player for a promotion push who has only played youth level and on-loan for Gillingham but at the age of 21, Pask will be hoping to grab an opportunity at playing regular football in a higher league.

For those who don’t know Josh Pask, he is a confident defender that could really prove himself given the chance by a club like Portsmouth.

A tall, imposing centre-half that likes to get forward and knock the ball around getting his team up the pitch is what you would expect to see from the Englishman.

Whether Portsmouth are willing to take the risk and sign Pask is unknown but as an extra body and cover in defence, surely they can’t go wrong.

Do you agree… Let us know!

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According to German outlet Bild, Borussia Dortmund are keen to spend the cash received from the sale of Christian Pulisic to Chelsea and are considering a move for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.

What’s the word?

Well, Bild reports that, having received £58m for Pulisic, Dortmund are looking to put that money straight back into finding a replacement for the American winger.

BVB are weighing up their options and will consider moving for Borussia Monchengladbach’s Thorgan Hazard – the Belgian has been in sensational form this season – or Zaha, who is having a mixed campaign at Selhurst Park.

The electric Ivorian was a target of Lucien Favre’s in the summer after Andriy Yarmolenko was offloaded and the Swiss boss appears to have reignited that interest this month.

Zaha will surely command a pretty sizeable fee but, whatever that may be, can the Eagles afford to lose their talisman?

One of a kind

Few in the Palace ranks can get fans out of their seats time and time again, but the dazzling feet and powerful runs of Zaha can; the 26-year-old is widely regarded as one of the best dribblers of the ball in the Premier League.

Trent Alexander-Arnold told The Times (via Empire of the Kop) that Zaha is the toughest opponent he has faced and that speaks volumes – the Liverpool full-back has come up against the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, to name but a few.

Palace have relied heavily on his creation and goals in recent years, but the former Manchester United man has chalked up just four assists and three strikes so far – he hasn’t found the net since mid-September.

The SE25 outfit have done their utmost to keep Zaha at the club and have surely slapped an eye-watering price tag on his head but, with many areas of the squad still in need of improvement, they should thoroughly consider bids for the number 11 if it means they can address those problem areas.

Roy Hodgson’s system is crying out for a clinical finisher and a number 10 should be high up on the agenda; if Palace can sign one of each then they would be a far more balanced team than they are at the moment.

The current plan seems to be to get the ball to Zaha and, beyond that, there isn’t one – doing the unthinkable and letting the nine-cap international go may mean others finally step up and Palace break free from their perennial relegation battle.

Selling the wing wizard abroad would also ensure he does not come back to haunt his former club twice a season, and if the Bundesliga outfit stump up a fee in the region of the £58m they got for Pulisic, it could prove very hard for the Eagles to say no.

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On Wednesday evening, Southampton will host Crystal Palace at St Mary’s Stadium.

The Saints will be confident heading into this encounter, having gone unbeaten for the last three Premier League games – a run that includes securing a hard-fought draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Crystal Palace, meanwhile, were unfortunate to fall to a 4-3 defeat against Liverpool at Anfield last time out in the league, and Roy Hodgson will be keen to see his side bounce back from the loss.

The battlers

The south coast club’s key man in terms of offering a goal threat is Liverpool-loanee Danny Ings. The 26-year-old has registered eight goals in 17 appearances for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side so far this season, as per Transfermarkt’s statistics.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

Palace centre-back, and Ings’ former Liverpool teammate, Mamadou Sakho will likely be the man tasked with stopping the once-capped England international.

Who will prevail?

Like Ings, Sakho has enjoyed an impressive campaign so far. According to WhoScored’s stats, the 29-cap France international has averaged 1.1 tackles, 1.6 interceptions and 4.7 clearances per Premier League match so far this season.

What’s more, the 28-year-old has only been dribbled past 0.3 times per game.

As per WhoScored’s records, Ings has maintained an average of completing 0.8 dribbles per Premier League game this season, and has generally been dispossessed only 0.9 times per match.

Although Sakho ought to know Ings’ game well from their shared time at Anfield, the stats suggest that the striker is coming into this clash with a slight edge over his opponent. Southampton fans will be hoping that advantage pays dividends on Wednesday night.

Marina Granovskaia is Chelsea’s transfer chief, and she’s largely taken over the mantle from Michael Emenalo at Stamford Bridge. Typically, she’s involved in everything from contractual renewals to big money signings to handling incoming transfer offers.

She’s had a big role to play, then, in the future of Callum Hudson-Odoi. Indeed, according to the Telegraph, she has informed Bayern Munich that Chelsea’s talented teenager is not for sale – which is a huge decision. The Blues have, as a result, turned down millions of pounds in an effort to give a young player a chance.

Throughout her tenure, she’s made some huge decisions, like bringing in Maurizio Sarri and playing a part in the signing dozens of players, but it’s her decision on Hudson-Odoi that could end up being her crowning achievement at Stamford Bridge.

In the past, this isn’t a decision that Chelsea would have taken. The Blues have regularly been willing to cash in on young players in favour of bringing in more established names, and for a while, it looked like this would go down the same path.

However, Granovskaia has taken a different path, and if it works out, it could be huge for the club. If Hudson-Odoi is able to make an impact in the Chelsea first team, not only will her decision be vindicated, but it could also open the door for Chelsea’s other young players to force their way into the team. After all, if Hudson-Odoi is rated so highly and has proven his worth; why can’t they?

Of course, it could all go poorly. If he has a poor second-half of the season, Chelsea will live to regret not taking the money and running.

That’s a risk, though it had to be taken, and the results could be huge.

Forget the sackings and the hirings. This is a decision that could have huge consequences for years to come – and it could be a defining 6 months for Granovskaia as a result.

Thoughts?

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Marco Silva has accepted that his position as Everton manager is under scrutiny following his side’s poor recent form, as reported by the Mirror.

What he said

Speaking after the Toffees’ dismal 3-1 home defeat against newly-promoted Wolves, the under-fire Portuguese coach was clear that he knows his job at Goodison Park is on the line, “of course, of course I understand that. I am not here to find excuses or whine about something, of course there will be questions about me.”

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

Everton have lost three of their last four games in all competitions and currently find themselves in 9th place in the Premier League table, fourteen points off of sixth placed Arsenal.

Everton have fallen well short of expectations so far this season and Silva must bear much of the blame for this state of affairs.

Issues to address

A defence of Silva is that he is still only in his first season on Merseyside, and should be afforded more time to rebuild his squad in his own image. Considering he took over at Goodison from Sam Allardyce, there have certainly been plenty of adjustments to be made in order to get Everton playing the brand of football that Silva prefers.

However, the Toffees’ complete inability to defend set pieces, defensive naivety, and lack of steel are all issues the manager ought to have been able to address already to a far greater extent than he has. What’s more, these are issues Silva appears to have created himself. The crippling defensive weakness from set pieces is something that has crept in this season.

If Silva is to be trusted with rebuilding Everton, he has to prove that he is capable of making these necessary improvements. Until then, he will always be doubted and under pressure to deliver.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Leeds United have just won their seventh league game in a row, and there’s very little for Marcelo Bielsa to be annoyed about at the moment.

However, it may be a little bit frustrating for the Argentine to see that two of his most effective players at present occupy the same position.

Indeed, Jack Harrison and Ezgjan Alioski have both been brilliant in the past few weeks as Harrison has contributed to eight goals in his last 11 games while the North Macedonian has now scored in Leeds’ last two games.

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Bielsa certainly has a bit of a selection headache when it comes to choosing between those two, but there may be another solution that allows him to get both men into his team.

Fortunately, Harrison is a player who can be deployed on either wing as his Transfermarkt stats show that he’s actually played on the right more than the left throughout his career, despite the fact that he’s been mostly deployed on the left this term.

Helder Costa has been occupying that side in recent weeks, and while he’s hitting a bit of form himself after grabbing two goal contributions in his previous four outings, it could be worth dropping him so that Bielsa can get Alioski and Harrison on the same pitch.

It’s impossible to ignore the good form that both wingers are showing at the moment, and having both of them on the pitch at the same time could prove to be hugely fruitful for the Yorkshire outfit, therefore, this tactical move may be something that Bielsa wants to try in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, there is another selection headache on the horizon that Bielsa may have to deal with that isn’t so simple to fix.

Tottenham Hotspur have now officially confirmed that Alfie Whiteman has signed a new contract with the club that will keep him around until at least 2022.

The 21-year-old goalie is the product of Spurs’ academy and seems to be one that the club are putting their faith in for the not so distant future.

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Upon seeing the update, many Spurs fans were also delighted that he has agreed to stay put and work on his career in London.

They congratulated him and were seemingly over the moon with joy, with one fan even calling him a “life saver”, as you can see from some of their replies down in the collection of tweets below.

But even though many were happy for Whiteman, there were also some fans who are just not sure what Spurs have in store for their young goalkeeper.

After all, the 21-year-old has not featured between the sticks for the club in the Premier League or in the Champions League, tallying appearances only in the EFL Trophy and in Premier League 2.

The vast majority of the fans, however, wanted to see a different update altogether.

Mourinho’s produced some incredible footballing stars – how much do you know about them?

With Toby Alderweireld’s contract also due to expire in the summer of 2020, many of the supporters were actually hoping that this announcement would be on the centre-back signing his extension and were somewhat disappointed to see it was Whiteman instead.

It remains to be seen whether Jose Mourinho can also convince his centre-back to pen an extension before time runs out.

Elsewhere, Spurs’ young star in making is definitely not the solution Milan need for their glaring issue…

Liverpool’s youngest-ever starting XI suffered a 5-0 defeat to Aston Villa in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday night.And journalist James Pearce has claimed that it “should never have come to that”.Liverpool’s first team are currently in Qatar at the Club World Cup, meaning that the Reds were forced to name a youthful side against Villa.Watch Liverpool Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

Five debutants were included in a starting XI which had an average age of just over 19 years and six months.

Jonathan Kodjia scored twice for Dean Smith’s side, whilst an own goal and efforts from Conor Hourihane and Wesley made it a difficult evening for the Merseyside club.

Pearce, who now works for The Athletic, wrote that it was a “great experience for the youngsters”, who were supported throughout the evening by the club’s fans.

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However, the well-respected journalist claimed that it was “ridiculous” that the scenario presented itself in the first place.

Pearce’s message on what was a bizarre occasion can be seen below:

Meanwhile, Liverpool are reportedly at the head of the queue for a teenage defender currently playing in the Football League.

Real Madrid will not be making a January move for Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba, as has been reported by Marca.

What’s the story?

It is suggested that the Frenchman wants a move away from Old Trafford, while United have been refusing to let him go.

Marca report that the 26-year-old and his agent Mino Raiola have been told by Los Blancos that a move will not be made for him during the January transfer window.

This stance comes due to the fact that they already have €200m (£170m) to make up from their summer spending.

It is also felt that Pogba is not as needed as he may have been in the past, due to the rise of Federico Valverde, who has played 13 La Liga games this season, scoring three times and assisting twice.

A big problem

United may have been reluctant to let Pogba leave, but this decision from the European giants Real Madrid leaves them with a very real dilemma.

Pogba is one of the Red Devils’ most recognisable names, but he has not featured much on the pitch this campaign due to injury and illness, managing just seven appearances across all competitions.

The club will be tempted to dig their heals in and keep him, due to what he can offer, having made 27 goal contributions last term.

However, this could be considered a massive financial risk, considering his stance on wanting to leave and the fact that his contract comes to an end in the summer of 2021.

They only have to look at the situation surrounding their target Christian Eriksen to see how detrimental it can be to allow a wantaway man’s contract to enter its final year, as he aims to run it down so he can leave for free, as reported by The Daily Star.

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With that in mind, United have a big decision to make on whether or not they will allow him to leave.

In other news, FFC has suggested that Man United are risking a Paul Pogba deja vu situation.