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Speaking in an interview with ABC, as also translated by Sport Witness, the agent of Sevilla forward Munir El Haddadi has made a claim involving West Ham United.

The Lowdown: West Ham summer striker search…

Throughout the summer, West Ham were linked with a host of new strikers as they scoured the market for a suitable backup to star man Michail Antonio.

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The Jamaica international has started this season in sublime form but one bad injury, which is very much a possibility going by his past record, could spell trouble for manager David Moyes.

The Irons still didn’t manage to land a forward in the summer, but it certainly wasn’t for lack of trying going by this latest revelation.

The Latest: Agent makes Munir claim involving West Ham…

Speaking in an interview, Munir’s representative, Francesc Valdivieso, simply known as ‘Valdi’, has now made a claim involving West Ham.

He explains that GSB and co were heavily eyeing a move until ‘the last day’ of the transfer market, but the 26-year-old didn’t want to leave Sevilla or La Liga.

“Monchi valued him at ten million euros at the beginning of the market, and in the last few days, he would have considered loaning him out with an option to buy,” Valdi told ABC, as translated by Sport Witness.

“He has had many offers and interest from many teams. In Holland, both PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord have been interested in him until the last minute. Ajax were also considering him.

“That was a good option, but perhaps his long period of inactivity took its toll. In England, both Crystal Palace and West Ham showed a lot of interest until the last day of the market.

“Munir didn’t want to leave Sevilla or La Liga. In Spain, the offers he has received have not been to his liking.”

The Verdict: Missed out?

The Morocco international has bagged 63 club career goals in total at senior level since his debut for Barcelona B during the 2013/2014 season, a fairly underwhelming haul, so we believe West Ham haven’t missed much.

Moyes even opened up about the importance of scouting a perfect forward target who can greatly improve his Hammers squad, not just signing an Antonio alternative for the sake of it (Evening Standard).

Whether or not they return in January remains to be seen, but other targets like Sparta Prague striker Adam Hlozek arguably stand out more.

In other news: ‘Yayyyy’, ‘Ooooo’, ‘Actually mental’…West Ham fans erupt over ‘fantastic news’, find out more here.

Some Liverpool supporters have been left hugely impressed by a touching gesture from Harvey Elliott despite him suffering a serious leg injury at the weekend.

The Reds won 3-0 away to Leeds United on Sunday afternoon, but the victory was marred by an incident involving the teenager.

The 18-year-old suffered a dislocated ankle after being tackled by Pascal Struijk, with the Whites defender receiving a red card for the challenge.

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It was a sickening moment for Elliott, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise this season, becoming a regular in Liverpool’s midfield and catching the eye.

His character has been summed up by a lovely story which emerged after the game, with the teenager giving his shirt to a young boy who had broken his arm and was in the same hospital bay as the Reds starlet.

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Liverpool fans hail Elliott gesture

The “incredible gesture” didn’t go unnoticed by some Liverpool fans on Twitter, who hailed Elliott in the process.

“Harvey Elliott gave his match jersey to a young fan who broke his arm today. Incredible gesture”

Credit: @DaveOCKop

“Harvey Elliott is such a class act, and is young and doesn’t let it go to his head. He appreciates fans and loves putting on the shirt. Hope he gets better soon”

Credit: @Carl_Thomas

“Damn! Damn! Daamn!! This is incredible”

Credit: @awesomely_made

“Stop, my heart “

Credit: @HarryLombardi

“A true top red”

Credit: @GavrailB

“This is brilliant, love it”

Credit: @DaveLFC264

“This is so cool!”

Credit: @TheKlopptimist

In other news, some Liverpool fans aren’t keen on the Reds signing one player. Find out who it is here.

Jack Simpson looked ‘out of his depth’ in Rangers’ Premiership draw with Motherwell on Sunday, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell. 

The lowdown

Simpson made his first league start of the season for the Gers at Ibrox on Sunday, replacing Leon Balogun in the line-up after the team’s Europa League exertions.

The 24-year-old, who joined from English Championship side Bournemouth midway through last season, was partly at fault for Motherwell’s equaliser. Mark O’Hara was able to dribble past him on the edge of the area and bear down on goal, with the ball subsequently breaking to scorer Kaiyne Woolery.

Simpson’s SofaScore rating of 6.4 was the joint-lowest in the Rangers side (along with ‘keeper Allan McGregor). He won just two of his seven ground duels over the course of the game.

The latest

Addressing fans in The Athletic’s matchday discussion, Campbell argued that Simpson ‘has not impressed at all since coming in’ and looked ‘out of his depth’ against Motherwell.

He said that the Gers signing the 24-year-old was ‘surprising’ in the first place given his ‘lack of appearances’ at that age and noted that he looks ‘very shaky’, with long balls a particular weakness.

The verdict

Rangers fans ought to be concerned with Campbell’s verdict on Simpson. Filip Helander is out until December, and Leon Balogun and Connor Goldson can’t play every game until then.

If the ex-Bournemouth centre-back, who earns £3,100 per week, continues to produce more performances like this, then it could seriously hamper the Gers’ title defence.

The hope will be that he is motivated by the criticism he’s facing and sets out to prove that Rangers’ investment in him was no mistake.

In other news, read this BBC reporter’s reaction to an ‘extraordinary’ development at Ibrox.

According to Calciomercato, West Ham United could now agree fresh terms for yet another player as they share a development involving Angelo Ogbonna.

The Lowdown: West Ham in contract spree?

The Irons have been linked to offering new deals for a plethora of first team stars recently.

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Indeed, according to club insider Claret & Hugh, fresh contracts are in the pipeline at West Ham with talks continuing over a new deal for defender Vladimir Coufal.

They could also offer fresh terms for Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice, and according to a fresh report, manager David Moyes and GSB may not be done there.

The Latest: West Ham could now agree Ogbonna deal…

According to Calciomercato, defender Ogbonna has become the latest West Ham man at the centre of a potential new contract at the London Stadium.

The Italian’s current contract expires in 2022 and is free to leave on a free transfer next year as it stands, it is explained that the 33-year-old now ‘deals with the extension’.

While the report doesn’t go into much more detail than that, it appears West Ham aren’t quite resigned to losing him just yet.

The Verdict: Get it done…

Lauded as ‘phenomenal’ by James Collins for his performances last season, we believe the Irons should certainly tie him down despite his age.

A one-year extension could certainly suffice, giving West Ham time to find a suitable replacement for Ogbonna whilst also potentially allowing them to sell for a fee before then, with Kurt Zouma gradually stepping into his shoes over the next year or so.

In other news: ‘No brainer’ – Sky pundit reacts as West Ham eye ‘massive signing for Moyes’, find out more here.

Liverpool maintained their 100% record in the early stages of the Champions League, comfortably seeing off Porto 5-1 in the Estadio do Dragao.

The Reds were impressive throughout the 90 minutes as they maintained their advantage at the top of Group B, with Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino each bagging a brace while Sadio Mane slotted in his fourth goal of the season.

But arguably more impressive than the goalscoring exploits of Salah and co. was the eye-catching display of 20-year-old midfielder Curtis Jones.

The academy graduate was starting his second consecutive game after bagging in the 3-3 draw with Brentford over the weekend and once again firmly grasped his opportunity to impress.

He played a pivotal part in four of the five goals on Tuesday night, claiming two assists for his outstanding exploits against the Portuguese giants.

Jones helped to get Liverpool on their way in the 18th minute, bursting down the left wing before cutting inside and shooting at home goalkeeper Diogo Costa’s far corner. And the young shot-stopper could only parry into Salah’s path for an easy tap in.

Things then got even better for Jones on the hour mark. After dispossessing a Porto player in the middle of the park, he surged forward, driving at the opposition defence before picking out an unmarked Salah with a simple pass, and the Egyptian made no mistake with the finish.

The England Under-21 international then grabbed his second assist setting up Firmino for his first of the evening courtesy of some suspect goalkeeping before the Brazilian striker then pounced on the rebound of his blocked volley to wrap up the victory.

It was a magnificent performance from start to finish for Jones, and his underlying numbers back up his exploits on the pitch.

As per SofaScore, the youngster received a match rating of 8.5 out of 10, the joint-highest total awarded to any player. He made three key passes during the 90 minutes, completed all four of his attempted dribbles and won a whopping seven duels.

Jones also achieved a passing accuracy of 89%, created one big chance and had 89 touches, highlighting his influence over proceedings in midweek.

Jurgen Klopp will be hoping for more of the same after his midfield maestro proved to be the real hero on what could have been a tricky night of European football.

And, in other news…Bought for £4.4m, now worth £27m: Liverpool sealed masterclass over “sensational” gem 

With no wins to start off the new Premier League season, Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce is under increasing pressure to deliver some much-needed results as his side make the trip to face Wolves on Saturday afternoon.

The Magpies remain winless after their opening six games and find themselves just outside of the relegation places by virtue of a superior goal difference to Leeds.

The defence has once again been a major issue of concern for Bruce, with the Tyneside club’s tally of 14 goals conceded better only than bottom club Norwich in the entire division.

A shake-up at the back could be exactly what’s needed, and the Newcastle boss could start that by dropping Ciaran Clark.

The Republic of Ireland international has been a mainstay of the Magpies’ defence for the start of this new season, whether it’s featuring in a back three or a back four.

Just like the rest of his teammates, though, the 32-year-old has really struggled, and was particularly disappointing in the defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago. As per Sofascore, he lost both of the duels in which he was involved that day, made no tackles whatsoever and was dribbled past once as Cristiano Ronaldo and co ran riot in the second half.

Writing for The Shields Gazette and The Chronicle respectively, both Miles Starforth and Lee Ryder were critical of Clark’s second half performance in particular, giving him a measly five and four in their post-match player ratings.

With Fabian Schar waiting in the wings for his opportunity to start, Bruce could inject a bit of fresh energy by dropping one of the players in whom he seems to surprisingly put his trust every week.

While Clark has hardly been the sole reason as to why Newcastle’s defence has been very leaky to start the new campaign, his shakiness at the back isn’t what’s needed at the moment – in fact, his average match rating this season of 6.34, as per WhoScored, is only the 12th best of any Newcastle player.

The £35k-a-week ace simply has to be dropped today, as he has been decidedly poor in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Chris Waugh has dropped a promising Newcastle United takeover update…

The Athletic’s George Caulkin has dropped an update on Newcastle United’s manager search involving former Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe.

What’s the story?

With Steve Bruce set to be sacked as Magpies boss, there have already been plenty of names bandied about in terms of taking over the helm at St James’ Park.

And, in a Q&A for The Athletic, Caulkin has delivered some news on where things stand with Howe, and whether he would be an ideal fit for Newcastle.

He said: “I know that members of the board have discussed Howe amongst themselves, but I don’t think he’s on the list I mentioned (they don’t have to stick to that list, of course!). Howe makes sense in some ways – he built Bournemouth, took them into the Premier League and did a brilliant job.

“Newcastle is very different to Bournemouth, though; bigger, louder, far more intense and demanding of managers. Bournemouth were also relegated under him. Look at where Newcastle are in the table.”

PIF must avoid Howe appointment

While appointing Howe a few years ago when he was earning rave reviews about his management and style of play at Bournemouth may have been seen as a coup, the way his tenure with the Cherries ended has surely sounded alarm bells.

After a couple of seasons successfully establishing Bournemouth as a Premier League side, a real struggle in his last year at the club saw him unable to save them from relegation.

Since then, Howe has spent time away from football, and after being linked with the manager’s job at Celtic over the summer, didn’t end up being appointed there.

As well as having a Premier League relegation on his CV, Howe’s record as a manager is hardly something to write home about: his final campaign in the top-flight saw him average considerably less than a point per game, and never averaged more than 1.2 in the time Bournemouth spent in the Premier League.

It would be an extremely underwhelming hire from Newcastle to go for someone who has been out of work for well over a year, and his last season ending in a relegation.

Fans will surely be worried if Howe is the man PIF go for.

Meanwhile, Newcastle must also get rid of this man as well as Bruce…

A number of West Brom supporters have hailed Conor Townsend’s display in the first half against Birmingham City.

The Baggies are back in Championship action in another Friday evening encounter, following the rather tedious international break which has taken place over the past fortnight.

Valerien Ismael’s side host Birmingham City in an all Midlands derby, with three points and of course plenty of bragging rights on offer at The Hawthorns.

A win for West Brom would take them top of the Championship going into the weekend, with Bournemouth returning to the summit if they win or draw away to Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.

Townsend was the standout man in the opening 45 minutes, forcing Matija Šarkić into a good save after a quarter of an hour, as well as registering a couple of crucial tackles.

West Brom fans react to Townsend display

These Baggies supporters took to Twitter to laud the 28 year-old’s first half performance.

“Townsend is back wow!!”

Credit: @nathy_james

“Tackle Townsend!!!”

Credit: @gavin_poulton

“Superb tackle from Townsend there, it needed to be too”

Credit: @jemclay

“Townsend is absolutely quality”

Credit: @Blackjack42B

“Great shot by Townsend followed by a great tackle”

Credit: @BombersBoots

“I’m looking at the team and wondering who’s going to create anything, Townsend seems our best option at the min, looking for little 1-2s , the front 3 not at it so far”

Credit: @stuwolwalton

In other news, Luke Hatfield has claimed a number of clubs are interested in one West Brom player. Read more here.

Adama Traore could leave Wolves and still isn’t the finished article as a footballer, according to Express & Star journalist Luke Hatfield.

The Lowdown: Traore still hit-and-miss

The 25-year-old is arguably one of the Premier League’s most entertaining players, given his remarkable pace and ability to dribble past players.

A lack of end product has always been Traore’s downfall, however, and despite some good performances this season, he is still yet to register a single goal or assist.

The Latest: Hatfield makes key claim

The Spaniard’s future at Wolves is up in the air, with a new contract not yet signed, and speaking to Give Me Sport, Hatfield suggested that he wouldn’t be a great loss now:

“It’s a lot of money to get for a player whose future isn’t guaranteed at the club.

“He is not the youngest player in the world anymore – it’s not like he’s 22 years of age.

“He’s pushed on from there now in terms of years on the pitch and we’re yet to see that end product really reveal itself on a consistent basis.”

The Verdict: Time to earn big money for him?

There is always hope that Traore will suddenly go up a gear and find consistency in the final third – Tim Sherwood has described him as ‘fantastic’ – but as each year passes, the more unlikely it feels.

As Hatfield alludes to, the wide man is 25 now and should be in and around his peak years, but he arguably remains as raw as he has ever been.

For this reason, if a huge bid comes in for Traore, Wolves should accept it, using the money elsewhere and moving on without him.

In other news, some Wolves fans have shown their love for an official club tweet. Read more here.

Harry Winks’ time at Tottenham Hotspur is surely running out after the Englishman endured another disappointing outing this week.

The 25-year-old has been restricted to only 60 minutes of action in the Premier League so far this season, so the bulk of his opportunities to impress have come in domestic and European cup competitions.

Nuno Santo heavily rotated his side for their Europa League clash at Vitesse on Thursday night, leaving home the bulk of his starting XI, a decision which seemed pretty smart considering that he still had plenty of options available.

One of those was Winks, who started in the Netherlands, making it four appearances from a possible five in the competition, but he failed to take the golden chance handed to him.

With the January transfer window on the horizon, it could be best if both parties go their separate ways.

According to The Times, the Hotspur Way academy graduate is likely to seek a temporary move away from north London. He attracted interest from Everton, Aston Villa and Brighton in the summer and needs regular game time to stand a chance of breaking back into the England squad.

Valued at £18m by Transfermarkt, it could be wise for Spurs to simply offload Winks, as it seems unlikely that a positive loan spell would see him suddenly rise through Nuno’s pecking order.

The Lilywhites could instead sell him and use the funds to bolster other key areas of the squad such as in attack, where Harry Kane still lacks a backup, or in attacking midfield as they have been bereft of creativity for quite some time.

With all due respect to the Dutch outfit, who were very worthy winners, the north Londoners should be sweeping aside such teams, especially when there are several players with points to prove on the pitch.

Winks was pretty poor once again, not only picking up a yellow card for his troubles, but also winning just two of nine battles (22%) in the engine room, thus proving to be lightweight. He also committed three fouls and lost possession 11 times, as per SofaScore.

At half-time, BT Sport pundit Chris Sutton questioned his attitude and ability, claiming that the 25-year-old maestro “looked a shadow of himself” [21st October, 18:40pm].

In the past, Spurs legend Graham Roberts dubbed him “an average player” during an interview with Football FanCast in the summer.

After another abject display and one which will hardly have Nuno rushing to keep him involved, perhaps it would be wise if Winks never featured for the club again as it is clear that he is simply not good enough.

If he can’t do it against Vitesse, then there’s no real hope in the Premier League. It’s time to get rid and move on.

AND in other news, Forget Lo Celso: £27m-rated Spurs lightweight who lost 89% duels failed Nuno yet again…