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Former West Ham United midfielder John Moncur has compared current Irons starlet Jeremy Ngakia to £50m Manchester United right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka on the latest We Are West Ham podcast (March 11).

What did he say?

Well, the ex-Hammers star was asked about the teenager, who has made his first-team breakthrough for the east London outfit with four successive Premier League starts in the absence of the injured Ryan Fredericks.

Moncur said (18:51): “There’s a rawness about him. He’s got a lot of natural talent. He eats the ground up and he looks good at times going forward. He reminds me a little bit of Wan-Bissaka, the way he’s leggy and he’s a good defender.”

He added: “I think he’s been a real bonus, and when someone comes in like that it gives the whole squad a lift, because you think ‘blimey, we’ve got a signing here for nothing’.”

Did he really play for us?! No West Ham fan has managed to name all of these obscure Irons signings….

Has he established himself already?

The interesting thing is that even though Pablo Zabaleta has been fit and available, it is the 19-year-old who has been preferred in the full-back role in Fredericks’ absence.

That says a lot about the youngster as a player and how well he has performed so far, with David Moyes willing to place his faith in him despite the club ultimately finding themselves in a Premier League relegation battle.

Watch West Ham United Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

In addition, he has dealt admirably with the likes of Liverpool star Sadio Mane and Arsenal ace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang since being introduced by his manager in recent weeks.

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He may be youthful, but there has certainly been no reason for the Scot to consider dropping him when Fredericks returns from his time on the pitch to date, and he is very much in a position to continue making the spot his own.

Ngakia will hope to keep proving a point between now and the end of the 2019/20 campaign, and show that a more youthful look for this West Ham team – alongside the likes of Jarrod Bowen – could be the way forward next term should they retain their top-flight status.

In other West Ham news, Irons fans have been discussing a midfielder who has been linked with an exit from the London Stadium…

Manchester United fans have taken to Twitter to bemoan Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to drop Eric Bailly in place of Victor Lindelof for the trip to Goodison Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Ivory Coast international had started both of the Red Devils’ last two outings – the 2-0 win over Chelsea and the 5-0 victory over Club Brugge in the Europa League.

As you can see, Bailly helped United keep clean sheets in both of those fixtures, but despite that, Solskjaer decided to place the former Villarreal defender back on the bench in preference of Lindelof.

The Swedish centre-back was set to face Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison, both of whom have netted a combined 27 goals this season for the Merseysiders this season – he didn’t struggle as such against the attacking duo, but did give away two fouls.

Of course, Solskjaer gets paid to make the big decisions – however, it is difficult to see why Bailly was dropped given that he did nothing to deserve such a fate.

Let’s see what the United fans on Twitter thought of the Norwegian’s pre-match decision…

To kick off the reaction, ‘Big Fish’ said that they think Solskjaer made a mistake by choosing the former Benfica man over Bailly, adding that Everton’s forwards are pacey and physical – as aforesaid, he coped well and basically shut them out with the Toffees’ only goal coming courtesy of a howler from David de Gea.

Elsewhere, Black Mamba said that Solskjaer is one foolish manager after dropping the Manchester United No.3 –  in fairness, perhaps Bailly was just being rested after a lengthy injury lay-off.

Lastly, Olly Green said that he was disappointed not to see Bailly start against Everton – it didn’t make a huge difference as Everton struggled to make chances and only scored thanks to De Gea.

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Is life under the Glazers really that bad? Maybe this quiz will change your minds, Man United fans…

Caru then simply said “really?” after finding out what Solskjaer had done.

In other news, this Manchester United man has been compared to some club legends…

The Athletic’s Liverpool correspondent James Pearce has denied that RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner has a release clause of €30m (£25.5m), per The Red Agenda (February 26, 50:01).

What’s the word?

Sport1 have claimed that the striker’s release clause is remarkably low for a player who has scored 27 goals in 33 outings thus far this season.

Pearce, though, has now denied that, insisting that it is almost double what the German outlet have claimed.

Indeed, a separate Athletic report claims that Werner has already received offers from Barcelona and Manchester United, though he is keen on a move to Merseyside.

A clause allows him to agree an exit worth £51m provided it is negotiated prior to a specific date in April.

Pearce said: “As far as I’m aware, his release clause is around the £50 million mark.”

Can you name the result these iconic Liverpool images belong to? Give it a go now…

Still cheap

Liverpool have deep pockets and have previously paid £56.2m for goalkeeper Alisson Becker, £54m for Naby Keita, and £76.1m for Virgil van Dijk, per Transfermarkt.

Werner, of course, has been in electric form this season and is perhaps one of the most prolific strikers in European football.

He has outscored Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino thus far this term, and has a phenomenal record for Leipzig.

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In 147 appearances for the club, the 23-year-old has scored 88 goals and registered 38 assists, equalling 126 goal involvements; that’s a goal involvement every 0.8 games.

Spending £51m on him, in this inflated transfer market, would be a genuine bargain.

Meanwhile, Liverpool fans have drooled over one man!

Andre Gomes is slowly but surely approaching his comeback after being sidelined with a serious injury for a total of 19 games.

The Portuguese midfielder was involved in a gruesome incident with Heung-Min Son against Spurs that left him with a nasty ankle injury which many expected to keep him sidelined for a lengthy period of time.

How much do you really know about the Farhad Moshiri era? Answer 25 simple questions below…

But the former Barcelona man recently shared an update on his Twitter profile, saying that good things are coming and suggesting he’s going to be back in action pretty soon.

Needless to say, that was music to many fans’ ears who simply can’t wait to see him in that blue jersey once again…

Some of them just praised him on a more general level and enjoyed his short yet important update.

It seems that they’ve missed him dearly and will now finally get to watch him play once again.

One fan called him fascinating while one another stated that Gomes is truly a belter of a player.

Finally, with the big clash against Arsenal rapidly approaching, many fans are already dreaming of him running the show at the Emirates.

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Some feel he could score a goal or even three…

Elsewhere, Tony Bellew was extremely happy with Everton’s latest update on Gomes’ recovery…

Former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips has told Jan Vertonghen to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer, per Football Insider.

What’s he said?

The defender has a contract that expires in the summer.

Ajax manager Erik Ten Hag has already confirmed that the Dutch giants are interested in signing him should he become available in the next transfer window.

Vertonghen was, of course, substituted against Southampton in their FA Cup fourth-round replay, leading to a dejected reaction from the 32-year-old.

And Phillips believes the time has come for him to call time on his Spurs career.

He said: “You saw the reaction of Vertonghen when he came off in the last game.

“He wasn’t happy. You could just see he was in dismay.

“He’s been a good servant for the club, but it might be just time for him to move on and fresh blood to come in.”

Spot on

Phillips has nailed this.

Vertonghen is coming to a fork in the road, with his contract expiring and there being interest from his former club in bringing him back.

The big fat Tottenham quiz of 2019 – how much do you remember about the last year at Spurs?

An exit from Spurs this summer would hardly be earth-shattering given the publicity surrounding his contractual situation.

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But Spurs need to bring in younger blood in the summer.

Vertonghen is 32 and will turn 33 in April, while Toby Alderweireld, his usual defensive partner, is 30 and will be 31 next month.

A younger defender is required this summer, regardless of Vertonghen’s future.

Meanwhile, Spurs targeted this striker in January!

Sunderland have picked up their form in recent weeks and now have a very realistic shot at promotion but it will be far from easy until the end of the season.

As the team has already shown this term, many sides in League One are capable of beating each other, with the Black Cats experiencing seven league defeats so far. Phil Parkinson has fixed the defence in recent weeks, however, with five goals conceded in 10 league games, and that means the north-east outfit should be feeling confident ahead of games against Rochdale and Oxford this week.

Former player Gary Rowell, who scored 103 goals for the club, believes Sunderland ought to be brushing aside lower-placed sides like Rochdale at the Stadium of Light, though he did admit that such opponents are a bit of a “banana skin”.

Writing for the Sunderland Echo, Rowell said of the upcoming fixtures:

“I can’t accept and more importantly the players shouldn’t accept losing at home to Burton or drawing at home to Bolton and many others, these are the points dropped that are so damaging. Sunderland can’t afford any slip-ups, it is win or pay the price.

“The Oxford away game on paper looks a lot harder [than Rochdale]. They might currently be only 10th but they are a better team than that position indicates and I wouldn’t be surprised if they rally a challenge for a play-off position so they can’t be taken lightly.

“Sunderland need the grit and resilience they showed in the two away games before Portsmouth, both 1-0 wins at MK Dons and Tranmere where both fixtures weren’t easy on the eye but I will gladly take the same outcome on Saturday.”

As Rowell has said, any match could prove troublesome for Sunderland in League One, particularly at home where the visitors may look to raise their game, but the next four matches are against opponents placed outside of the play-offs and therefore present a great chance to accumulate points.

March 1st then sees the Black Cats visit promotion rivals Coventry in what could be a decisive game but if Parkinson gets a run going and confidence flowing through his players, then it could be a great opportunity for Sunderland to position themselves in line for promotion.

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Parkinson has got one area of the squad performing at maximum with the defence, and if he can do the same with the attack and show invention like he did against Ipswich to get the winner, then the north-east outfit may make a return to the Championship.

What do you make of Rowell’s comments? Is he right that Sunderland can’t afford any more poor results? Feel free to discuss below…

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport, Arsenal legend Ian Wright has criticised the club’s summer signing Nicolas Pepe over his performances this season.

What did he say?

The Ivory Coast international has struggled for consistent form in his debut campaign at the Emirates, scoring just five times across all competitions since arriving from French side Lille for a club-record fee of £72m.

And now, Wright has admitted the Gunners desperately need more out of their big-money signing, and that it was a damning statement that his three managers this season at club level have benched him.

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He said: “We definitely need more out of him, I’d like to see him play more and getting the creative players ramming the ball down his throat to get him taking on players. In Arsenal’s current state in respect of money we cannot afford to pay that kind of money for somebody and three managers now are not really sold.

“That can’t happen, we’re not in that luxurious position. Whatever happens we’ve got to get a tune out of Pepe and quick. Three managers have benched him. I’m not seeing enough movement from him, not seeing enough hunger from him to want to make something happen and he needs to start doing that because questions are starting to be asked.”

Absolutely fair

Whilst undoubtedly it will always take a bit of time for a player to settle into a new country and a different culture, the sum of money the Gunners have paid for Pepe means that it is a luxury they cannot afford. The north London side have struggled massively this season, currently finding themselves in tenth place after 25 games in the Premier League.

Can you name all of these obscure Arsenal signings? Give it a go now!

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His team’s difficulties have only made it more improbable for him to succeed, but Arsenal need him to be one of the players to step up and lift them out of their current slump. He is at the moment a £72m passenger, and their season risks continuing to spiral downwards unless Pepe can find his best form as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, David Ornstein has revealed the “unbelievable” thing Mikel Arteta did before the Man Utd win.

It appears that Tottenham Hotspur outcast Victor Wanyama will be the subject of plenty of speculation on transfer deadline day.

Spurs are reportedly in talks with Celtic over a potential loan deal which is likely to include an option to buy, per London Evening Standard.

But the deal looks set to go down to the wire if a recent update from The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare is anything to go by.

Indeed, in The Athletic’s deadline day transfer blog, the Spurs correspondent addressed reports and suggested the Premier League side will have to pay a portion of his wages to sanction his departure.

Here’s what he had to say:

“Re: the reports of Wanyama joining Celtic, I’m told it’s unlikely. Wanyama won’t accept less than the £65k-a week-wages he’s on currently, so the only way Celtic could afford that is if Tottenham subsidised some of the wages. Their preference naturally is for him to go to a club that could pay his wages.”

The Kenya international is seemingly surplus to requirements in north London but finances could well prove to be a stumbling block in any potential deal.

If a rival bidder decides to stump up the full £65k-per-week on deadline day then Celtic will surely find themselves gazumped and powerless to bring the midfield enforcer back to Paradise.

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The deal may well have been labelled an unlikely one but where there is possibility there is hope for Neil Lennon and those supporters who wish to see Wanyama return.

Perhaps Spurs’ hand will be forced as the deadline edges closer…

Leeds urgently need to get back to winning ways in order to rebuild confidence and maintain the four-point gap to third-place Fulham, and in order to do so they have brought in Jean-Kevin Augustin.

A number of strikers have been linked to the club this month including Che Adams and Andre Gray, but instead the club has turned to Jean-Kevin Augustin, who arrives on loan from RB Leipzig.

The forward was previously on loan at Monaco this term but he struggled in France, scoring once in 13 games, have led his parent club to turn to Leeds as a place where he can get more game time.

Augustin is now one of two senior strikers in the squad alongside Patrick Bamford, and given his strike partner can often be guilty of missing good chances, such as a penalty and one-on-one against QPR, there may be pressure on Augustin to produce the goods.

Supporters certainly feel there is an added pressure playing for Leeds anyway due to fan expectation, which is greater than ever this year due to promotion hanging in the balance once again.

If he can handle such expectation and play his natural game then he could be an astute signing, as the majority of his professional appearances have come in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1.

Some fans believe he has the characteristics to handle any pressure, and suggest he will thrive at Elland Road because of that, though given his lack of goals this season it will be interesting to see how his confidence is.

One fan is a little more ruthless in his view of the 22-year-old, suggesting that he should be able to handle pressure because of the money he is on, and that shows there is a big expectation on the player before he has even played a game.

Can you get full marks on the Ultimate Leeds Quiz? Test your knowledge below…

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In other transfer news, Leeds have added another player to their radar who may be able to improve another area of the squad.

According to a recent report from Calciomercato, Matias Vecino could be close to leaving Inter Milan and Everton are interested in prising him away from the San Siro.

What’s the word, then?

Carlo Ancelotti is supposedly looking to reinforce his midfield and the 28-year-old ace just might fit the bill.

Calciomercato emphasise that Vecino has the qualities Everton are looking for and they have already made contact over a move.

Call yourself an Everton expert? How much did each of these January signings cost?

With that in mind, Alessandro Lucci was already at the offices at San Siro, discussing the potential farewell of his player and his transfer to the Merseyside team, despite initially denying the rumours.

It seems that the Uruguayan could be heading out the exit door in the near future.

Verdict

Even though he has somewhat risen in prominence in the ongoing 2019/20 season – stringing together full games throughout December –  Vecino is still behind some of Antonio Conte’s midfielders in the pecking order.

The likes of Marcelo Brozovic, Antonio Candreva, Nicolo Barella and Cristiano Biraghi have also played more than the 28-year-old Uruguayan ace.

Quite clearly, when it comes to midfielders, the Nerazzurri’s gaffer is more or less spoiled for choice and that leaves Vecino in a rather tricky situation.

For that reason, it’s completely possible to see him leave in the not so distant future and Everton are looking like a likely destination.

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Recently, FCInterNews stated the player is valued at around €20m (£17m), which doesn’t sound like an unrealistic figure for a club who have spent £50m on Richarlison and £45m on Gylfi Sigurdsson in recent years.

With all the choices Conte has in the middle of the park, Vecino might not even be missed.

In other news, Inter Milan have reportedly been offered one of Manchester United’s biggest young talents…