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West Ham United announced on Monday afternoon that midfielder Edimilson Fernandes had left the London Stadium to join Fiorentina on loan.

Fernandes joined West Ham from FC Sion in August 2016, and made 32 appearances in all competitions during his first season with the London club.

The 6ft 3in midfielder also appeared on 16 occasions for the Hammers last term, and had been expected to feature under new head coach Manuel Pellegrini this season.

However, it was revealed at the start of this week that the Swiss had made the move to Serie A outfit Fiorentina, where he will spend the 2018-19 campaign on loan.

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The news has not exactly gone down terrifically well with the West Ham fans, with many baffled as to why their club have allowed the midfielder to depart.

Indeed, the Hammers looked short of movement in midfield during their 4-0 loss to Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon, and Fernandes is certainly a player who can get around the field.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the West Ham supporters can be seen below:

Tottenham Hotspur seem to have their hearts set on signing Jack Grealish this summer following a widely-documented pursuit which appears destined to go right down to the wire on deadline day, but a recent report from Germany suggests that Daniel Levy should also be seriously considering the possibility of signing Ante Rebic. 

Indeed, Christian Falk the Bayern Munich correspondent for SportBild has revealed on Twitter that the Bavarian giants will not be making a bid for Ante Rebic this month, as confirmed by Niko Kovac. The Croatia international made a fine impression during the World Cup this summer, but it appears his performances were not enough to convince Kovac to submit an offer for his compatriot.

However, Bayern’s loss could well prove to be Tottenham’s gain, as he is exactly the type of player which Mauricio Pochettino should be in the market for this summer given the extent of his versatility and attacking quality.

Rumours linking Anthony Martial with a move to Tottenham Hotspur have decreased in their intensity in recent days despite Jose Mourinho’s scathing criticism of the French forward, but that does not necessarily suggest that Pochettino is opposed to the idea of signing a player yo support Harry Kane next season.

Although Rebic is typically a left-winger who tends to cut inside onto his favoured right-foot, his displays at the World Cup largely came from the right-side of Croatia’s midfield where he was consistently excellent with his tenacious attitude and willingness to take on his opposite number.

Not only is Rebic able to thrive on both wings, he possesses the positioning sense, technical quality and determination to play as a lone centre-forward, and it’s his level of versatility which makes him such an attractive proposition for Tottenham to consider.

The signing of Grealish appears to be the priority for Tottenham for now but, with Bayern Munich officially out of the running for Rebic, they should certainly be entertaining the possibility of pulling off a shock deadline day deal for a player who has the potential to become a resounding success at Tottenham and solve Pochettino’s second striker conundrum.

Tottenham fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Leeds United parted with £7m to sign Patrick Bamford from Middlesbrough at the end of last month, with the striker taking the number nine shirt at Elland Road.

Bamford managed 10 Championship goals for Boro during the 2017-18 campaign, and has more than proved his worth at this level of football.

The 24-year-old might well turn out to be a fine signing for Leeds, but he is currently playing second fiddle to Kemar Roofe, who has made a wonderful start to the season.

Indeed, Roofe impressed in Leeds’ 3-1 win over Stoke City on the opening weekend of the new Championship campaign, before grabbing a brace in Saturday’s 4-1 success at Derby County.

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Bamford will be given the chance to impress when Leeds face Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup on Tuesday night, but it seems that he will have to be patient when it comes to starting in the Championship due to Roofe’s form.

The Leeds fans have been reacting to the situation on social media, and many are slightly concerned with the 6ft 1in striker’s early-season struggles, which can be seen below:

After Manchester United’s horror show at the back against against Brighton last time out, it wouldn’t be surprising if Jose Mourinho shuffled his pack ahead of Monday’s visit of Spurs.

Despite having spent much of the summer pining for a new centre-back, the Red Devils boss still has plenty of options to select from. 

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Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof lined up as a partnership at the Amex Stadium but were dysfunctional side by side in the United defence. With the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo waiting in the wings, they can’t afford to let their performance levels drop any further before they’re ousted from the starting eleven.

However, all of the alternative options in United’s squad have their critics, so the boss doesn’t have any easy decisions to make. With Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli coming to Old Trafford, Mourinho must get his selection right to spare the Red Devils any further blushes. 

Despite his deficiencies, United looked to be missing Smalling’s leadership and sheer ruggedness against Brighton. Perhaps it is time for that outcast – who Transfermarkt value at just £16.2million – to make a return in the next match.

Manchester United fans, which two centre-backs would you select for the heart of your defence?

Aston Villa have made a strong start to the season under Steve Bruce, widely being regarded as one of the leading contenders to earn promotion to the Premier League.

The club are eagerly trying to finalise further business in the market before the loan window slams shut on Friday but there is also the chance of departures from Villa Park, not all of which will go down well with the supporters.

According to the latest speculation, promotion rivals West Brom are eyeing a move for Ritchie de Laet before the window shuts in a few days time and those reports have certainly ruffled some feathers in the fanbase.

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The 29-year-old defender has been absent from the first-team picture so far this season, only appearing in Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup defeat to Burton Albion, but some supporters have expressed their desire to retain the signature of the two-cap Belgium international.

We have gathered some of the best reactions below.

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According to Metro, Ander Herrera could be open to a Manchester United exit as early as January if the club don’t resolve his contract situation soon.

What’s the story?

Herrera first arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2014 when the Premier League giants signed him from Athletic Bilbao. The Spaniard has since proved himself to be a technically gifted, hard working and versatile squad member at United.

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According to the aforementioned report, the 29-year-old would like to stay with United and manager Jose Mourinho wishes to keep him but so far the club have failed to offer him agreeable new contract terms. His current deal expires at the end of this season, meaning he will be a free agent next summer unless he signs a new deal at Old Trafford before then.

In the event of Herrera’s exit, United must identify his replacement early and ensure they land their man. That target ought to be Dani Parejo of Valencia. 

A perfect fit

Like Herrera, Parejo is an extremely fit, hard working and consistent central midfielder, and he also offers a greater goal threat from deep than his compatriot. 

The Spain international would be an additional creative outlet for Mourinho to deploy and is also diligent in his defensive responsibilities. His combined attributes make him the perfect Herrera replacement, and perhaps even represent something of an upgrade. 

Transfermarkt value the Valencia man at £18 million. If United were able to secure his signature for a fee in that region then the Red Devils will have bagged themselves a bargain. With Parejo onboard, the club might even find themselves hardly missing Herrera at all. 

Yes, Alisson’s mistake against Leicester was embarrassing and Liverpool were lucky it wasn’t costly, but fans of the Reds needn’t worry as they themselves must adapt to finally having a confident goalkeeper between the sticks.

The club seem to have had a goalkeeping problem ever since Pepe Reina started making basic mistakes towards the end of his Anfield career. The Spaniard was undoubtedly a success and spent eight years at the club, but errors crept into his game and then his head was turned by Barcelona after rumours that Victor Valdes was to leave the Nou Camp.

A move to Barca never materialised but Liverpool had already signed Simon Mignolet from Sunderland in a £9m deal to be Reina’s long-term replacement.

With the Black Cats, Mignolet had looked sturdy and secure in the midst of a poor team and many Liverpool fans might have realistically expected him to become the club’s number one for a decade.

Unfortunately, after saving a last-minute penalty against Stoke on his debut at Anfield to secure Liverpool a 1-0 win, things started to go downhill pretty quickly for the big Belgian. Mignolet always looked nervous when crosses came into the box and he was even more of a wreck if the ball came back to his feet, often making the whole of Anfield uneasy.

Then, just two years ago, Loris Karius was brought in from Mainz in what seemed to be a bargain £4.75m deal for the goalkeeper who had been voted the second best in Germany behind Manuel Neuer the season before.

Of course, everyone already knows the conclusion to this story and it certainly wasn’t a fairy tale happy ending in Kiev earlier this summer.

Karius’ Liverpool career is now all but over after the German agreed a two-year loan switch to Turkish side Besiktas, but Mignolet does still warm the bench now that Alisson has arrived. The Brazilian spent just two seasons at Roma, where he became one of the most sought-after keepers in world football after initially having to wait to displace former Arsenal stopper Wojciech Szczesny.

Alisson, who signed for the Merseyside club for £67m this summer, is of the new breed of goalkeepers that are just as capable of starting attacks with their passing as they are at shot stopping, similar to Manchester City’s Ederson.

Liverpool fans got their first real taste of their new keeper’s footballing ability in the home win over Brighton, where the 25-year-old nonchalantly chipped a weak back-pass over the onrushing Anthony Knockaert’s head, before controlling the ball and laying back to a presumably stunned Virgil van Dijk.

After that game, Jurgen Klopp praised Alisson’s confidence to try something different to get himself out of a tricky situation, although the German boss admitted that it had made him slightly uncomfortable.

In the Reds’ next game away at Leicester though, Liverpool were 2-0 up and cruising before the Brazilian lost sight of the ball during a Cruyff turn, allowing Kelechi Iheanacho to steal it away from him before setting up Rachid Ghezzal for his first Premier League goal, putting the Foxes in with a chance to snatch a point late on.

Alisson, who is valued at £54m by Transfermarkt, had plenty of time to smash the ball into row Z after the admittedly poor back-pass and in hindsight he should clearly have taken the easy option. But although it didn’t come off this time, in the future Liverpool fans will be thankful for his overconfidence after suffering for years with nervous goalkeepers.

Their new man’s range of passing and ability to start attacks has already been useful for the Reds and with van Dijk and Joe Gomez in front of him, Liverpool have looked far more solid as a defensive unit than at any point in recent years.

All players make mistakes and it just so happened that this one led to a goal, but the result wasn’t affected and, although it was perhaps ironic for it to happen so soon after Klopp’s comments, this was the best time for Alisson to make the error. There is no doubt that he will learn from the experience, but Liverpool fans should expect him to play exactly the same way against Tottenham after the international break, and they should be thankful for it too.

Liverpool fans, who was your signing of the summer? Let us know by voting in the poll below.

Alexandre Lacazette had his struggles at Arsenal last season after arriving in the summer from Lyon for big money.

However, the centre-forward finished the campaign with 14 Premier League goals and ended the season quite strongly overall.

Lacazette has also made a decent start to this one, assisting team-mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Gunners’ 3-2 win away at Cardiff City last Sunday before getting himself on the scoresheet with the winner.

And former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has since talked up the importance of the Frenchman for Unai Emery’s side.

The Breakdown

“He [Lacazette] failed to make the French squad for the World Cup then watched from afar as they went on to lift the trophy in Russia,” Keown wrote in his Daily Mail column.

“Emery used him as a substitute in his first three Premier League matches, then he finally gets to start against Cardiff. So, what does he do? He goes and scores the winner. Lacazette now has to play and be the person they build around. Full credit to him.”

With Aubameyang’s preferred position also up front, Emery has some tinkering to do to get both the former Borussia Dortmund man and Lacazette into the side.

The pair did start in Arsenal’s victory at the Cardiff City stadium but, like his predecessor Arsene Wenger, there have already been games where Emery has decided to play Aubameyang up top alone with Lacazette having to settle for a role on the bench.

Going forward, though, Emery must find a system that allows him to include Lacazette in the starting XI on a regular basis.

The 27-year-old is too good of a player to be tossed in and out of the side.

As touted by Keown, Emery must instead build his team around Lacazette, even at the expense of Aubameyang leading the line.

Everton fans will be disappointed to be beaten 3-1 by West Ham at Goodison Park at the weekend.

The Toffees had made a decent start to life under Marco Silva with one win and three draws from their opening four fixtures. A visit from West Ham, who were yet to register a single point in the league, was seemingly the perfect way to end the international break. However, a brace from Andriy Yarmolenko helped the Hammers to victory on Merseyside.

One area that will be concerning for the Portuguese is attack. Indeed, Everton were without Richarlison due to suspension, but it marked another game without a goal for Cenk Tosun. The Turkish forward is yet to find the back of the net this season and hasn’t scored since March. Silva desperately needs to bolster his forward line in order to be successful this year.

One man he could target is FC Porto striker – Moussa Marega. Valued at £17.1m by Transfermarkt, the 27-year-old was a key player for his side as they lifted the Portuguese league title last season. Marega was in fine form in front of goal, scoring 23 and assisting eight in all competitions highlighting what he would bring to the Everton attack. The Malian has already found the back of the net during his first two appearances in the new campaign.

Marega is a pacey, physical forward who should have no trouble adapting to life in the Premier League. The Mali international has Champions League experience that could prove vital in Everton securing a return to Europe. The striker is reportedly keen to move to the Premier League and was linked with West Ham in the summer.

This one should be a no-brainer for the Merseysiders.

Everton fans, thoughts?

Southampton have had an average start to the season, having got a taste of every result possible in their games so far.

Mark Hughes is determined as a former Southampton player to help move the Saints away from the troubling times they’ve had over the last 12 months or so and help them return to at least the top ten in the Premier League.

He is an experienced manager and with a good bunch of players to utilise, Southampton face no reason why they cannot get back up the table. By spending a little more in January, that bid will be made a marginally easier, especially if they recruit a central-midfielder and someone up to Barcelona’s Denis Suarez’ ability.

Suarez, (who is valued at £13.5 million on Transfermarkt) isn’t quite at the level of his namesake Luis Suarez but would still be a terrific option for Southampton to consider when the January transfer window opens.

The 24-year-old has unsurprisingly struggled to make a name for himself with Barcelona ever since moving to the Nou Camp in 2016. With immense competition in midfield from the likes of Sergio Busquets, Vidal and Ivan Rakitic, a move away from the Spanish giants could be a good idea for Denis Suarez, for him then to be able to show his true ability and potential.

Suarez is definitely what you would call a versatile player, seeing as in his short career he has successfully played as a winger on both sides, attacking midfielder and even as a centre-forward.

Southampton would surely welcome a player of Suarez’s ability and versatility, as he would stroll into St Marys as a big improvement to current options.

Do you agree… Let us know!