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Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli is hopeful of returning from injury in time to face Southampton this weekend, according to the London Evening Standard.

The England midfielder has been out of action since sustaining a hamstring strain against Fulham at the end of January.

What’s the word?

Alli has made 25 appearances in all competitions this season, scoring seven goals and laying on four assists.

The 22-year-old, who featured heavily at the World Cup in Russia in the summer, scoring in the quarter-final against Sweden, has missed six Premier League games with his latest setback, including defeats against Chelsea and Burnley. He also missed both legs of the Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund.

Perhaps evidence of his hefty workload also comes in the fact that he sustained a hamstring injury earlier in the season, missing games against Liverpool, Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City and West Ham, as well as European clashes with Barcelona, Inter Milan and PSV Eindhoven.

Alli, however, is now confident of returning to the fray and may also be included in Gareth Southgate’s England squad next week, according to the aforementioned report.

Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino confirmed the report on Thursday, telling reporters, per Football.London: “Yes, that’s good news to be available. We need to wait tomorrow for the last training. But in all aspects doing so well and hope he’s going to be available and maybe can play on Saturday.

The former MK Dons midfielder has become a key player for both club and country and has already won 33 caps for the Three Lions.

Unsurprising fatigue

Alli should not be rushed back.

While he may feel that he is fit to play against the Saints, a successful cameo would surely see him called up by Southgate for the Euro 2020 qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro.

However, in doing so, both club and country risk the talented midfielder burning out.

He has played an awful lot of football since his move to Spurs and is clearly susceptible to muscle injuries; he has sustained two this season alone.

Since his transfer to north London, Alli has made 171 appearances for the club in just four years.

If he is rushed back into the fray, he may well be spending even more time on the treatment table.

اعترف مدرب وولفرهامبتون نونو سانتو، بأن مانشستر سيتي تفوق عليهم في الأداء خلال مباراتهما مساء أمس، في بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وتواجه الفريقان في الجولة الثانية من البطولة، حيث فاز السكاي بلو بثلاثة أهداف مقابل هدف.

وقال نونو سانتو، في تصريحات نشرتها شبكة “بي بي سي” العالمية: “لم نبدأ الشوط الأول بشكل جيد، تحرك مانشستر سيتي بالكرة بشكل جيد وخلق الكثير من المشاكل لنا”.

وأضاف: “اُحتسبت ضدنا ركلة جزاء ومنذ ذلك الحين أصبحت الأمور أكثر صعوبة، في الشوط الثاني تحسننا، صنعنا الكثير من اللحظات والفرص التي يمكن أن نسجل منها، كنا نعلم أن لحظة واحدة يمكن أن تغير كل شيء، الشوط الثاني جيد جدًا للفريق”.

وواصل: “علينا دائمًا أن نشيد بخصومنا بسبب الموهبة والجودة التي يمتلكونها، لكن يجب أن نفعل ما هو أفضل لنا، حتى في الشوط الثاني يمكننا تحسين الكثير من الأشياء، لقد تغيرنا وحاولنا التكيف”.

وتابع: “تمكنا من الضغط واستعادة الكرة، نجحنا في منح مانشستر سيتي من الاستحواذ على الكرة من خلال خط الوسط، كان لدينا الكثير من الأشياء لتغييرها والعمل، من المؤسف أننا لم ننهي المباراة بطريقة مختلفة”.

A year after the Argus review delivered a damning indictment of Australian cricket’s culture, the national captain Michael Clarke has delivered a stern reminder that much still needed to improve if the team are to rise above what he called an “unacceptable” present.Before departing for an ODI tour of the UAE that will take in matches against Afghanistan and Pakistan, Clarke outlined how he and the coach Mickey Arthur had stressed at the team’s Darwin camp that representing Australia is no laughing matter, requiring harder work and higher standards than anything at first-class level.Their message was supported by the embarrassing mid-year tour of England, which saw the ODI team routed 4-0 to surrender top spot in the ICC rankings. With an increasingly youthful, changing team around him, Clarke is adamant that the players with whom he shares a dressing room take responsibility for their roles and acknowledge that, while talent may have lifted them into the Australian team, hard work alone will keep them there.”The most important thing for Mickey and myself is to continue to build the culture we want,” Clarke said in Sydney. “For me the reason I sit where I am today is because of hard work; preparation and hard work are the only two answers for me to be representing Australia, and that’s something that I will continue to push with the young Aussie boys who haven’t played too much cricket around us.”There is a difference between first-class cricket and playing for Australia. Yes, you have to be very talented to be playing for your state, and to get selected for Australia, but the amount of cricket you play these days, the amount you travel, there’s a lot of difference.”The most important thing is the culture. We want to make sure we’ve got the right culture, which we’ve been working on really hard since Mickey’s come in, and I think we’re certainly getting there…hard work and preparation is something I’ll continue to push.”Michael Clarke pushed his men hard at the Darwin training camp that followed a heavy defeat in England•Getty Images

Clarke spoke frankly that all players had to deliver far more with actions than words, after several players’ pre-series pronouncements were made to look decidedly hollow when the tourists were completely outplayed by an England side who were themselves then beaten by South Africa to lose the top Test match ranking.”The other thing I spoke about on the camp was it’s actually not about what you say, it’s about what we do as a team,” Clarke said. “We’ve all sat in meetings and heard the coach or the captain have their opinions and say what they felt, but it’s now up to us as individual players and a team to do something about it, to realise we sit fourth in the ODI rankings, third in the Test rankings and ninth in the Twenty20 rankings. Every player knows that’s unacceptable for an Australian team to sit there, but that’s easy to say – it’s now about what we do.”It’s not about being selected and that’s it, go and have a good time. There’s a lot that comes with representing your country, on and off the field and it’s just about making it very clear to all the boys that we all sit on the same line, there’s no-one special in the team, everyone has the same rules, the same guidelines and the same expectations.”I’m pretty sure all the players know where we sit now, we know how hard it’s going to be, Darwin was a great indication of how hard we’re going to have to work to get back to being the No. 1 team in all three forms – we’ve set a good standard.”These words echoed many of those contained in Don Argus’ review of the Australian team’s performance, released on August 19 last year. It was a frankly worded excoriation of a decline that followed the retirements of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist in the 12 months after the 2007 Ashes victory.Australia’s first match is against Afghanistan on Saturday, before three matches against Pakistan. Clarke expected spin to play a major role in the matches, a measure the touring party prepared for on slow, spinning wickets prepared to emulate those of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”We’ve got a lot of work to do to get back to the No. 1 one day team in the world, where we’d all like to be,” Clarke said. “We came up against a pretty good team in England in conditions they were used to, their confidence was pretty high as well after beating the West Indies. But it’s no different against Pakistan, they know these conditions really well, I think spin’s going to play a huge part in this series, both facing it and bowling it.”

West Brom are very keen admirers of their loanee Grady Diangana, but what are the chances they are able to clinch him long-term? Can he become a permanent fixture at the Hawthorns? And for how much? All has been revealed, at least in the eyes of The Athletic correspondent Steve Madeley.

What’s he said?

During the January transfer window, Albion sealed the 21-year-old on loan for the rest of the season by sweetening his parent club, West Ham United, with a little boost to their financial coffers.

It was also reported by The Sun that the Baggies were keen on making his temporary switch permanent for £10m, although it remains to be seen when they would plan on doing so as the enigmatic is under contract in east London until 2025.

Madeley was asked in a recent Q&A about the chances of that move actually happening, and how much it would cost, to which he replied:

“He likes it at Albion, Adam, so if they get promoted then I’d give them a chance. The asking price would be somewhere north of £15m, I’d imagine – maybe even £20m-plus, given he is young, home-grown and English. So I don’t see how Albion would afford it in the Championship but they probably could as a Premier League club.

“Much would depend, though, on whether West Ham are willing to sell, whether they stay up and, if they don’t, on what assurances he is given about his future there. Much as he’s enjoyed his time at Albion, West Ham are a more established Premier League club, based in his home city who generally pay better than Albion would.”

Steve Madeley, The Athletic.

No-brainer

Although this would be a bold and audacious move by the west Midlanders, it ultimately is one they should do their utmost to try and pull off. It’s simply a no-brainer.

Madeley suggests Albion would have a chance, and it would take £15m-£20m+ which will be pennies if West Brom secure promotion as local rivals Aston Villa pocketed around £170m alone for winning the playoffs last season, which will only increase with TV revenues and staving off relegation.

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Diangana has been an integral part of their success so far this season with the Baggies sitting top of the Championship table – somehow following a run of one win in eight league games. The Hammers loanee has directly contributed to 11 goals this term.

Following the Stoke City defeat on January 20th, Slaven Bilic’s men had won 62% of matches with him in the side whereas just 14% in his absence, which speaks volumes on his influence and worth to this team.

Call yourself a Championship expert? Name all the top-scorers from each of these Championship seasons…

He’s currently absent through injury so they’ll need him back at the earliest opportunity to bolster their title bid, and should they gain promotion back to the Premier League then a permanent return for Diangana can’t be ruled out of the equation just yet.

And in other news, West Brom have missed out on the next Luka Modric as Bilic pulled out of a loan switch late on deadline day…

According to The Shields Gazette, Sunderland are interested in signing Will Grigg from Championship outfit Wigan Athletic. 

The Black Cats are apparently interested int the 27-year-old after he was an unused substitute in his club’s victory over Aston Villa at the weekend.

Grigg is not a regular starter for Wigan this season, and as a result has only scored four goals in 16 Championship games so far. On the other hand, he managed to bag an impressive 19 goals in 43 League One matches last season with The Latics, and may be keen to return to the division in which he thrived.

However, reports are also emerging that Jack Ross is also interested in signing 23-year-old striker Lawrence Shankland from Scottish Championship outfit Ayr United, but face competition from Hull and Wigan themselves.

The Scot has managed 18 goals in 18 appearances so far in the Scottish Championship, which is an stunning record. In addition to his form in the league, he managed nine goals in six Scottish League Cup appearances this season, which is terrific by anyone’s standards. His wonderful form has put Ayr in a great position to earn promotion to the Scottish Premiership this season.

Therefore, when weighing up these two options, The Black Cats would be much wiser to move for Shankland. Not only would Grigg probably cost more, because he is a bigger name from a bigger club, but his form this season is in no way as good as the Scot’s. The fact that Shankland is four years younger is just further reason why Sunderland should move for him.

According to a recent report from Goal, Alberto Moreno could be set for a move away in the near future. The left back currently plays his football at Premier League side Liverpool and has done so since 2014, although he has slowly but surely been pushed out of first team reckoning in recent times by the brilliant Andrew Robertson.

And reports suggest that the four-times Spain international is no closer to agreeing a contract extension beyond the expiration of his current one at the end of the season, thus leaving him available on a free transfer come the summer, or potentially a cut-price deal in January.

And Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley and manager Rafa Benitez should be very interested in these recent reports, as the former could help the latter solve a key problem in his Magpies squad by luring the linked-away Moreno to St James’ Park.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the full back department is one area of the Newcastle squad which appears to be lacking in genuine quality – the likes of Paul Dummett and DeAndre Yedlin are solid Premier League players, but not really anything more than that.

Add in the likes of Javier Manquillo and Achraf Lazaar, and it’s clear that further strength and quality is needed in those ranks if Benitez is to indeed take the Magpies forward, and perhaps improve upon their tenth place finish in the top-flight last season.

And while Moreno hasn’t always shone during his time at Liverpool, there is little doubting that the Spaniard would be an upgrade on the current full back options, not least fellow left backs Dummett and Lazaar.

The 26-year-old was a regular feature under ex-Reds boss Brendan Rodgers upon arrival at Anfield back in 2014, appearing 28 times in his first season in 2014/15 before adding four more to his tally to finish the 2015/16 campaign with 32 Premier League appearances to his name.

Yet the arrival of Jurgen Klopp saw the Spaniard fall away somewhat, to the point that midfielder James Milner filled in at left back instead of Moreno for much of the 2016/17 season, only for the latter to fight and win back his place in the early stages of the 2017/18.

Thus, the fact that he has continued to be in and around the first team picture at Anfield underlines that Moreno does indeed have the quality needed to succeed in the Premier League – he does have some defensive vulnerabilities, but he’s also very good going forward.

And in a Newcastle side that sometimes struggles for dynamism from the full backs, and overall are in need of further quality to pull themselves away from the relegation mire, a cut-price deal for Moreno in January should be of interest to manager Benitez, and indeed owner Ashley.

As such, the latter must seek to help the former solve a key problem in his Newcastle squad by luring Moreno away from Anfield come the New Year.

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

According to French media outlet Foot Mercato, Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Getafe centre-back Djene Dakoman, but they should forget about him and buy a player their arch-rivals Arsenal wanted in June.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Foot Mercato report that the 26-year-old is in demand after a brilliant debut campaign in La Liga with Getafe, with Sevilla and Atletico Madrid among the Spanish clubs interested, while Premier League sides Spurs, Leicester City, Arsenal and West Ham United are also keen.

Foot Mercato say that that the Togo international is valued at €35m (£31) having impressed and made the La Liga team of the season, impressing with his physical qualities and his reading of the game at the heart of the defence despite only being 5ft 10in tall.

Meanwhile, Tottenham’s north London neighbours were heavily linked with a move for £35m-rated Freiburg defender Caglar Soyuncu back in June, although no move materialised as they got Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund instead.

Why should they sign Soyuncu instead of Djene?

Well, despite what was unquestionably a fine campaign for the 26-year-old, he has still only had one season at the top level in Spain and his lack of height would perhaps be a concern if he was coming to the Premier League to play at the heart of the backline.

On the other hand, the Freiburg man stands at 6ft 2in tall and is known for his defensive qualities and his ability on the ball, which would mean that he would be a better fit under Mauricio Pochettino given his ability to play out from the back.

Given Djene is also four years his senior, it certainly makes sense for Tottenham, whose fans have urged their club to snap up an Everton ace, to pay a few million pounds more to get a player with more potential for the future and time on his side.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”273047″ player=”12034″ title=”Power Ranking the 1819 Premier League kits”]

Zlatan Ibrahimovic may not have featured at all this season, but he remains one of the biggest characters at Manchester United.The former Sweden international recently signed a new contract at Old Trafford after his initial deal was scrapped.The 35-year-old suffered a serious knee injury in the closing stages of last season, which made the Red Devils decide to opt against triggering an extension to his one-year deal.However, after making great strides in his recovery, United were keen to bring him back with the intention of the striker playing a role in the second half of the season.As a result of summer signing Romelu Lukaku taking the number nine shirt at Old Trafford, Ibrahimovic was forced to switch.When the former Paris Saint-Germain star does return to the field, he will be donning the number 10 jersey.On Twitter, the forward posted a picture of 10 United shirts with his name emblazoned on the back, and he added a caption that was very typical to his character.

Diego Simeone will snub the advances of Arsenal and other top European sides to stay at Atletico Madrid this summer and oversee the club’s move into a new stadium, Spanish outlet AS reports.

What’s the word?

Spanish giants Atletico Madrid face a tough few months ahead as they’re at great risk of failing to qualify for the Champions League, as they currently sit just one-point ahead of fifth-placed Real Sociedad. On top of this, there’s question marks surrounding the future of key figures.

One of those important names at Atletico Madrid who has been linked with a summer exit is manager Diego Simeone, with the Argentine boss being linked with the likes of Arsenal and Inter Milan. However, he’s going nowhere.

AS report Simeone is already working to identify summer targets and will oversee Atletico’s move from the Vicente Calderon to the Wanda Metropolitan Stadium.

When will Simeone go?

Simeone’s future is not tied to Atletico Madrid forever though and he made headline news earlier this season when he cut short his long-term deal with the Spanish side, which sees his current deal expire in 2018- and it’s widely expected he’ll move on then.

He’s spoken previously about his desire to manage former side Inter Milan and that could become a possibility next year. However, he will oversee Atletico Madrid in a huge period of transition- where they’re expected to lose key-players like Antoine Griezmann.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been coy when asked whether his side can still win the Premier League title, but spoke about the importance of today’s clash with Everton at Goodison Park.

The North London side have endured poor recent domestic form that has allowed Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur to move away from them at the top of the table.

Wenger’s side were also eliminated from the Champions League in midweek by holders Barcelona, while they have been eliminated from the FA Cup by Watford.

This means that Arsenal can focus on finishing the Premier League seasons strongly, with an outside chance they could still be crowned English champions.

Wenger has stated that there will still be twists and turns in the title race and that the Gunners need to take one game at a time.

“I would say we have to go step by step – let’s get back to winning habits first, that starts tomorrow… if we win tomorrow, we’ll see. That’s our target,” the Arsenal website quotes him as saying.

“But at the moment, the only way to achieve something special is first to be realistic and humble enough to deal first with Everton.

“Things will change until the end of the season, that’s for sure. We have to take care of our own destiny, and that’s by producing the performances we expect from ourselves.

“It’s very tight, but I believe the Premier League is far from over. We are in a position where we hope for the best. I agree that a negative result would be very bad for us, but we focus on a positive result. We know now is the time for us to produce the result we want.”

Everton have proven themselves as a difficult opponent and Arsenal will need to be close to their best if they are to leave Merseyside with points.

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