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Arsenal are plotting a late transfer move for Crystal Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt.

What’s the story?

Mikel Arteta’s side are short on cover at left-back having allowed Sead Kolasinac to join Bundesliga giants Schalke on loan earlier in this January transfer window.

It’s mean Scotland international Kieran Tierney is the Gunners’ only natural player in that role, with Cedric having to fill in for the former Celtic man’s absence in recent games.

Now, The Daily Mirror claim that Arsenal are considering a late move for Van Aanholt, and that with the 30-year-old being out of contract in the summer, “Palace could be tempted to let him leave now to avoid losing him for nothing in six months’ time”.

Edu masterclass

It was only twelve months ago of course that Edu landed Cedric from Southampton – another veteran full-back with plenty of Premier League experience and someone whose contract at the club was coming to an end.

£55,000-a-week man Van Aanholt is in a similar situation at Palace, and Edu could take advantage and deliver the Gunners another masterclass of a signing by bringing the Dutchman in on the cheap.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-arsenal-transfer-rumours-news-mikel-arteta-emirates-premier-league-news” title=”Read the latest Arsenal transfer news and rumours here”]

His former manager at Sunderland, Gus Poyet said: “You need to be really on top of him for his defensive duties and maybe have people around who can help him to maintain the mentality you need to defend. He’s a very offensive full back. He has an explosive ability to go forward and help the team to create chances.

“I would say use him as much as you can on the offensive side, and convince him to help with his defensive duties. But that’s his character. It is what it is. We can’t change that and he can’t be a different player than he is.”

The £7.2m-rated ace has played over 200 times in the Premier League alone, so would be more of a guarantee in hitting the ground running. In terms of providing cover for Tierney, Edu surely must try to bring Van Aanholt in on deadline day.

Jean Philippe-Mateta will likely be thrown straight into Crystal Palace’s first team for the Premier League clash with Wolves at Selhurst Park on Saturday afternoon.

Roy Hodgson confirmed Mateta has been training with his teammates following his high-profile move from Mainz and it looks like he could be in line to link up with Wilfried Zaha upfront.

Palace played a strong side for their midweek defeat to West Ham, which they lost courtesy of a brace from Tomas Soucek. The Eagles have now lost nine of their past 10 games in all competitions, although most of the starters should keep their places, with Hodgson left to decide which of Jordan Ayew, Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi or Mateta to pick alongside Zaha in attack.

With that in mind, here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up, which sees Hodgson make three changes to the defeat to West Ham.

Hodgson has some decisions to make after clearly being left frustrated by their abject first half performance against West Ham. Despite this, Vicente Guaita will keep the gloves, which means Jack Butland will have to settle for a place on the bench at Selhurst Park.

The Palace boss will probably go with a largely unchanged back four from the defeat to David Moyes’ side, with Nathaniel Clyne the only change replacing Joel Ward at right-back.

Palace are of course without the injured James Tomkins, who has been ruled out due to an eye injury he sustained during first-team training.

Jairo Riedewald could be handed a rare start against Wolves, despite the left-footed midfielder being restricted to ten top-flight appearances as a substitute this season.

Hodgson dropped a strong hint in his press conference that Mateta could start against Wolves, though it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him start from the bench.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson dealt James Tomkins injury blow before Wolves clash…

West Ham United may rue David Moyes’ decision to retain Andriy Yarmolenko last summer after reportedly placing the crocked Ukraine winger back on the transfer list.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Irons are planning to part ways with Yarmolenko at the end of the season, even at a substantial loss.

The 31-year-old moved to the London Stadium for £18m as the fifth signing of Manuel Pellegrini’s time at the helm back in 2018, but has struggled to live up to his billing.

West Ham now intend to listen to offers as they look for ways to raise funds that can be used to strengthen Moyes’ squad, with bids of around £5-6m expected to be enough.

Club chiefs are said to recognise the need to accept a sizeable hit on any fee received if the Irons are to offload Yarmolenko, who will have two years remaining on his contract come the summer.

The ex-Borussia Dortmund dynamo is also currently sidelined through injury, having sustained knee ligament damage during Tuesday night’s FA Cup defeat to Manchester United.

Moyes is currently refusing to put a timescale on the forward’s rehabilitation, with the unwanted winger requiring further assessments.

“Yarmolenko has a got a little bit of a knee injury we’re going to assess so we know exactly what that is,” the West Ham boss noted on Friday.

A blunderous U-turn

West Ham placing Yarmolenko on the transfer list ahead of the summer market represents a blunderous U-turn by Moyes, who has rarely called upon the forward to feature since opting to retain the 31-year-old last summer.

Reports had claimed that the Hammers viewed Yarmolenko as a player they could live without amid efforts to raise funds to sign Said Benrahma, having given Moyes the green light to sell the costly failures of Pellegrini and former Director of Football Mario Husillos’ time at the club.

But Moyes later decided that he wished to retain the attacker, who has since gone on to start just one of his 14 Premier League appearances and play a total of 345 minutes in the top-flight thus far this term.

Yarmolenko at least offered Moyes an option to rotate in the cups, starting all six ties played across the EFL and FA Cups, although having that depth has only added to the vast millions West Ham have wasted on the 92-cap Ukraine international.

On top of the expected £12-13m hit on the fee paid to Borussia Dortmund, West Ham have handed over £15.5m and counting in wages across the 135 weeks that Yarmolenko has been earning £115k-p/w in east London.

Had Moyes sold Yarmolenko even on Deadline Day in October, he could have saved the Irons almost £2m in wages. But now, his decision to keep the forward for another year has only served to add further millions to the funds flushed down the drain.

AND in other news, West Ham may face added competition to sign a highly-rated 6 ft 7 titan…

Many Crystal Palace are fuming with Roy Hodgson following the South London side’s 0-0 draw with Fulham at Selhurst Park on Sunday.

With the Eagles winning against Brighton last Monday, there was not as much pressure on the match at Selhurst Park, with them being on 32 points before kick-off.

Fulham, on the other hand, are  deep in a relegation battle, but with results going their way this weekend (SofaScore), the match against Roy Hodgson’s side was the perfect opportunity to be the closest to safety that they have been all season.

Obviously points are to be appreciated whenever they come and it looks likely that the club will not get relegated this season, but it is the way that Palace are playing under the manager which is frustrating many of the fan base.

Scott Parker’s side looked to be on top for the whole game, and they had 16 shots, with four on target, whilst Palace only had three, with two being blocked and one off target (SofaScore). This caused ‘#royout’ to trend on Twitter after the game.

With Hodgson’s contract expiring in the summer, performances like the one against Fulham will have many hoping that the manager departs then

Here is how Palace fans reacted to the performance:

“Watching palace is a chore these days #royout”

Credit: @Elliotcpfc20

“Jeez! this is awful ‘football’, #RoyOut”

Credit: @Bexhill_Dave

“Awful performance. Mateta dropped. Respect the point. #Royout”

Credit: @maxblair50

“No passion, no ambition and no shot on target #RoyOut”

Credit: @Gathers25

“@CEO4TAGThis is unacceptable #ROYOUT”Credit: @NTUCKEY41“Not one decent attempt at goal and no shots on target against a side in the bottom 3, It’s becoming unwatchable #Royout”

Credit: @Lyncpfc

In other news, these CPFC fans react following a contract update!

Tottenham have been handed a fitness boost ahead of their clash with Fulham in the Premier League on Thursday.

Besides Giovani Lo Celso, Jose Mourinho has a fully fit squad to choose from with the boss confirming this week that despite the pile-up of games, Gareth Bale would be fit to play a part this week.

When asked if he was able to feature, Mourinho told reporters in his pre-match press conference: “I believe so. Start the game, being on the bench, I don’t know.”

“We have to decide. He’s such an experienced guy that of course his opinion is very important. But good reaction, good recovery sessions. He will be involved. I repeat, bench or starting, but he will be there.”

This should be music to the ears of Spurs supporters and indeed the manager too.

Bale hasn’t had an easy start to his second spell in north London. He’s only started three Premier League games for instance.

However, he has shown over the last few weeks that he is slowly rediscovering his best form. Because of that, news that his fitness is up to scratch as they prepare to welcome Fulham is game-changing.

Bale scored a sumptuous strike during the 4-0 win over Burnley last time out. It was shades of the old Welshman as he cut inside and then curled a delightful effort past the goalkeeper. That wasn’t his only involvement in the match, however, as he netted twice and also claimed an assist.

In his last four outings, the 31-year-old has scored four goals and also registered three assists for his teammates. The forward is beginning to play a lot more football now and his involvement will be key to determining the outcome this evening.

Mourinho should be delightful that he can finally rely on the Welshman to play a consistent part in the starting XI. His form of late has been utterly devastating.

That and his improved fitness is surely a major boost to Tottenham’s chances of pushing for a place in the Champions League.

AND in other news, Mourinho must keep faith with “dominant” £36m-rated Spurs beast, he’s now undroppable…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 150 appearances for Newcastle United, has backed Karl Darlow to depart Tyneside after getting the taste for first-team football.

Darlow stepped in for the injured Martin Dubravka this season making 26 appearances and keeping four clean sheets. However, before the draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Darlow was dropped by Steve Bruce who opted to start the Slovakia international.

Howey recalls Steve Harper, who made 194 appearances for Newcastle over 20 years, spent most of his career on the bench but admits that may not be what Darlow wants to do.

Speaking on the situation that Darlow finds him in and what could be the next move for the shot-stopper as he searches regular first-team football, Howey told FFC exclusively:

“For me personally, I would leave because I don’t think he could have done any more.

“That’s the problem with goalkeepers you’ve got to have two very good keepers, but it’s keeping them happy.

“I think Steve Harper, apart from the last little bit of his career, was second string all the time. Which is fine, but as a professional, personally I wanted to play all the time.

“Darlow’s had a taste of first-team football and done very well. He’ll be thinking, I don’t want to sit on the bench again, I want to play.”

The 30-year old has a 66.7% save percentage in the Premier League this season and has grabbed the attention of a lot of people with pundits and fans even backing him for an England call-up last year.

Newcastle have Freddie Woodman returning from Swansea City in the summer which means Bruce and the hierarchy have a decision to make on who will be the club’s long term number one.

Darlow is surely unlikely to be short of suitors if he was to leave the Magpies after his performances in a struggling Newcastle side.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former West Ham striker Marlon Harewood expressed his belief of Tomas Soucek being able to play for Barcelona.

Soucek has been in stunning form at West Ham this season, managing to find the back of the net eight times in the Premier League, and is now said to be attracting interest from some big clubs in Europe.

And, according to Todo Fichajes (via CaughtOffside), Barcelona are one of those European heavyweights who are keen on the 26-year-old midfielder.

Undoubtedly, it would be a huge step up for Soucek, but Harewood is confident he would be able to make that jump should anything materialise. Discussing the speculation in an exclusive interview with FFC, the retired ex-Premier League forward said:

“The Barcelona link is justified. It’s one of them things, if he carries on doing what he’s doing, West Ham are going to struggle to keep him for the upcoming years if he continues to put in performances like this, what he’s been doing. He’s been absolutely fantastic, a breath of fresh air, to be fair.”

Soucek’s midfield partner Declan Rice has also been linked with a move away from the London Stadium, with Manchester United the latest team to enter the conversation. Manager David Moyes, who recently claimed Rice is worth more than £100m, however, has insisted that the club are under no pressure to sell the 22-year-old.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/marlon-harewood-exclusive-west-ham” title=”Marlon Harewood West Ham exclusive”]

If the Hammers can keep hold of both Soucek and Rice, then the foundation should be there for another successful season next term.

Manchester City eased into the quarter-finals of the Champions League thanks to a 2-0 victory against Borussia Monchengladbach at the Puskas Arena on Tuesday night.

It was always going to be tough for Marco Rose’s side to get back into the tie, having also suffered a 2-0 defeat in the first leg but Pep Guardiola’s side were in complete control for the entire 90 minutes.

Kevin De Bruyne scored a superb opener as his left-footed shot from outside the box flew in off the bar, before Ilkay Gundogan quickly added another as he slid the ball past Yan Sommer following good work from Phil Foden.

Whilst City’s attacking play was a joy to behold at times, their defence deserves a lot of credit for securing yet another clean sheet in the Champions League, with John Stones excellent at the back once again.

As per SofaScore, the former Everton man would earn an impressive 7.6 rating for his display, with only Riyad Mahrez (7.7) and Kevin De Bruyne (7.9) earning higher.

The centre-back made three tackles and four clearances during the 90 minutes, which far exceeds the one tackle and the 1.8 clearances he has averaged per game in the Champions League this season.

Stones, who is currently valued at £22.5 million by Transfermarkt, was also involved in five duels with Monchengladbach players during the game and wonn every single one of them, which emphasises just how in control he was at the back.

The England international also had 129 touches of the ball on Tuesday night, which was comfortably the most of any player from both sides, with Kyle Walker’s 99 touches the closest to him.

He used the ball extremely well too, as 115/119 of his passes would find a Manchester City shirt, resulting in an incredible 97% pass accuracy, which again is higher than the 93.1% pass accuracy he has averaged so far in the competition.

Considering Stones lost possession just four times during the game and wasn’t dribbled past once, it is clear that he produced a near-perfect display for Guardiola’s side, and the Spanish manager will surely be delighted with just how confident his team looked at the back once again.

And, in other news… Txiki may end up regretting £25m City transfer call with “phenomenal” gem

Frank McAvennie has exclusively told Football FanCast that West Ham should go all out and sign Jesse Lingard on a permanent basis this summer.

The on-loan Manchester United attacker has enjoyed an incredible run of form since making the temporary switch from Old Trafford back in January.

Following his brace during West Ham’s victory at Aston Villa on his debut, the England international has been involved in eight goals in seven Premier League outings having started every game since joining the Hammers, bar the two games against United.

Lingard’s most recent contribution saw him open the scoring in impressive fashion against Arsenal on Sunday before setting up Jaren Bowen moments later to double West Ham’s advantage.

Unfortunately for Lingard, his first-team heroics counted for nothing after the Gunners produced a fine comeback from 3-0 down to claim an unlikely draw at the London Stadium.

Despite that disappointing setback, the Hammers remain fifth in the Premier League and are just two points behind the Champions League places heading into the international break.

And McAvennie has been thrilled with Lingard’s contribution both on and off the pitch since his arrival in east London.

He told Football FanCast:

“I would take that in a minute, I think he looks happy. When you find something you love doing, you never work a day in your life. The teams that I played in, we were all such good pals and had a good laugh, and the best piece of business West Ham done this season was getting rid of Haller. Someone forgot to tell him because he was never smiling!

“They didn’t look happy, but with this guy Lingard coming in all of a sudden the boys are happy. They’re playing guitars like they’re in a pop group. I love seeing that. It means they’re all together.

“If he’s happy, for £20-million, I would take that all day, I’d snap your hand off for him. If he’s happy at West Ham then I don’t see why it won’t be a match made in heaven.”

Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively told Football FanCast that Ralph Hasenhuttl is fortunate to have avoided getting the sack at Southampton.

The Austrian appeared on the verge of losing his job following Southampton’s forgettable 9-0 defeat to Leicester back in October 2019, but ended up turning things around and led the St Mary’s outfit to an impressive 11th-place finish.

Hasenhuttl’s Saints side then started this Premier League season in outstanding form, and topped the table in November after beating Newcastle.

But Southampton have endured a wretched run of form since mid-December, beating only rock-bottom Sheffield United, and although his side are in the FA Cup semi-finals, they’re just seven points above the relegation-zone and suffered another 9-0 defeat at Manchester United back in January, part of a six-match winless run.

And Fry told Football FanCast that Hasenhuttl losing his job still isn’t ruled out.

“In the present day of football I would say yeah, nobody survives that [two 9-0s]. There’s been a lot of talk about him going, but then he had a magnificent run and Southampton are playing superb football.

“He’s had one or two key injuries, but they’re a club Southampton in the Premier League that have got a good team if they pick their best XI. But they haven’t got a big squad and haven’t got strength in depth.

“Can I see them getting rid of him? Possibly.”