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According to French outlet Foot Mercato, Liverpool are interested in signing Guingamp goalkeeper Dominique Youfeigane. 

The 18-year-old has attracted a lot of attention from a number of Premier League clubs, but The Reds look to be the frontrunners to sign him.

With the arrival of Alisson in the summer, many Liverpool fans may have forgotten the dire state that the club were in at the end of last season with regards to goalkeepers. Loris Karius’ error-strewn display in the Champions League final effectively sealed his fate, as he was loaned to Turkish giants Beşiktaş at the beginning of the season.

With this interest in Youfeigane it could spell the end of the German’s career at Anfield. Then again, that does not mean that Simon Mignolet gets away scot-free. The Belgian had arguably a worse season than Karius last season, but avoided the horror-show in the Champions League.

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Mignolet has stayed at Liverpool this season, but that may have actually been a ploy to give Karius more experience, while they would be happy for the Belgian to play second fiddle to Alisson. Mignolet has had to settle for just one League Cup appearance this season, which clearly shows that he is not highly regarded.

Therefore, while Alisson will clearly hold the gloves at Anfield for many years to come, the second and third choice ‘keepers should start getting worried as The Reds are clearly plotting the Brazillian’s successor. It’s fair to say that the future does not look bright for either Mignolet or Karius.

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Loads of Leeds fans have been running the rule over their victory against Derby County, and they’re running out of superlatives for teenage winger Jack Clarke.

The Elland Road faithful have been crying out for Clarke to start more games, and they got their wish on Friday night as the 18 year-old started on the right wing against Derby.

Clarke has been playing limited minutes under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa as the boss works to improve the youngster’s athleticism and physicality, but he was unleashed in full flow against the Rams.

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Not only did he set up the first goal, racing past Craig Bryson and firing a delicious low cross for Kemar Roofe to bury, but he was an absolute nightmare for the Derby defence throughout the match.

Clarke completed three key passes and tortured Rams’ left back Max Lowe all evening with his directness and skill, and fans will rightly feel like they really do have a superstar on their hands now.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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According to The Daily Star, Everton have joined a host of top European clubs keen on signing Lyon’s Tanguy Ndombele however, if the Goodison Park outfit want to avoid completely breaking the bank, a swoop for Watford’s Abdoulaye Doucoure would be far smarter.

What’s the word?

Well, The Daily Star reports that the Toffees have thrown their hat in the ring for the Ligue 1 star and will have to compete with Premier League champions Manchester City, Champions League winners Real Madrid and Catalan giants Barcelona for his signature.

Impressing on both the domestic and European stages, the Frenchman has earned himself a hefty £75m price tag and has already been subject to a bid from Pep Guardiola and City, who have identified him as a long-term replacement for Fernandinho.

Everton made some big statements in the summer with the signings of Barcelona trio Yerry Mina, Andre Gomes and Lucas Digne, as well as Marco Silva favourite, Richarlison – the Portuguese boss should consider raiding his former club Watford once again for a player who he brought the best out of, instead of entering an eye-watering bidding war for Ndombele.

Doucoure’s in demand

The 6-footer has come on leaps and bounds since his move to the Prem in 2016 and his performances for the Hornets have seen him attract interest from French giants, PSG.

Speaking on French talkshow, Canal Football Club, the 26-year-old added fuel to the rumour fire as he confessed his desire to leave the Hertfordshire outfit amidst transfer interest this month, despite signing a new five-year deal in August.

Much like Ndombele, the former Granada man is a powerful, energetic midfielder capable of stopping a opposition attack with a meaty tackle before releasing a teammate on the counter or striding forward himself – he could be the perfect partner for Idrissa Gueye at the base of an Everton midfield that could do with some added steel.

While Watford would surely demand more than the £22.5m Doucoure is valued at by Transfermarkt, their valuation would surely fall a far cry from Lyon’s asking price for Ndombele and they won’t have near as much competition for his signature.

What do you think, Evertonians? Would you like to see Abdoulaye Doucoure on Merseyside? Let us know by voting in the poll below…

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Thierry Henry has been sacked as Monaco manager after only three months in the role, as reported by the BBC. 

The former Arsenal striker took on his first career managerial role when he replaced Leonardo Jardim at the Stade Louis II in October, as per the BBC. The club were in trouble at the time, struggling in the bottom half of the Ligue 1 table.

The Gunners legend couldn’t stop the rot however, and Monaco now find themselves just one point off of rock-bottom, with the Frenchman only managing to guide the team he once played for to two league wins in his time in charge of the club.

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Henry enjoyed a phenomenally successful playing career, winning two Premier League titles, La Liga twice, and one Champions League crown across spells with Arsenal and Barcelona. The 41-year-old is also the north London side’s all-time leading scorer and won the World Cup with France in 1998.

However, the iconic striker has so far failed to translate such impressive feats to the dugout, and his difficult spell with the Ligue 1 outfit will not be remembered as the positive start in management that he would have hoped for. 

Many Arsenal fans will have hoped for better too, with Henry remaining a hero at the Emirates Stadium. However, there will also be some relief that the 41-year-old wasn’t appointed Arsene Wenger’s successor in the summer after he suggested he was interested in the role, as per The Express…

Mike Ashley has been under scrutiny for a while, owing to his lack of investment at Newcastle, but this week, Rafael Benitez has really ramped up the pressure. As per the Telegraph, Benitez has refused to commit his long-term future to Newcastle, noting that he “cannot guarantee” that he’ll even be at the club by the time the end of the season rolls around. 

The message from the manager here, then, is clear: invest in the team, or he’s going to leave. Regardless of whether it’s in the summer or beforehand, that spells bad news for Newcastle, but certainly, by intimating that he could leave shortly; Ashley will be put under a fresh wave of pressure.

Of course, Newcastle are already in a relegation battle as it is, and it’s largely been down to the tactical nouse of Benitez that they’ve managed to keep their heads above water. If he were to leave, however, that would put the club back more than a few steps, and from that point on, you’d have to say that Newcastle would be one of the favourites to go down in the Premier League.

Ashley, then, at this point, simply must act. The Newcastle owner surely can’t risk increasing his team’s chances of falling back into the Championship. And he must not view a win against Man City as reason enough to settle.

You can certainly understand the frustration of Benitez. He’s put in all this work and tried so hard to make things happen, but his hands have been completely tied. He can only do so much, and whilst he’s given Ashley more than enough time and chances, the owner, somehow, continues to underwhelm.

It’s now or never for Newcastle. If Ashley doesn’t head this warning, it could lead to disaster.

Thoughts?

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Following his summer 2017 switch from Hull City to Liverpool, Andrew Robertson took some time to acclimatise to life at Anfield and integrate himself into Jurgen Klopp’s first-team squad.

However, in December 2017 he established himself as the Reds’ first choice left-back and has since become a vital part of the first XI and key to the effective implementation of the German coach’s preferred tactical set-up and style of play.

His role

Robertson is a very modern, attacking full-back. The 24-year-old has bags of pace, energy and stamina, which he uses to join in attacks and offer a creative outlet for his team on the flank.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

The 28-cap Scotland international is also a committed defender whose consistency and reliability makes him one of Klopp’s most trusted lieutenants and one of the most important regular members of Liverpool’s starting XI.

His importance

Whilst the likes of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk hog the headlines, Robertson’s importance cannot be overstated. The Scot offers Liverpool so much dynamism and tenacity in both attacking and defensive phases of play.

He has been a near ever-present selection for the Reds so far this season. According to WhoScored’s stats, he has made 23 Premier League appearances so far – all of which have been starts. These outings have garnered five assists.

His average of 1.3 key passes and 0.8 dribbles per game highlights what he brings to Liverpool’s attack. His defensive record of 2.5 tackles and 1.5 clearances per match is equally impressive. 

His exploits may sometimes fly under radar, but his loss to Liverpool would certainly make a massive, unmissable difference.

Issues at board level within Newcastle United never fail to throw up their fair share of thrills and spills.

However, in the eyes of many of the Toon Army, this is as far from a thrill as you can get.

On Monday evening, the club announced that they’d be offering half-season tickets to supporters for free in order to urge stay-away fans to return to St James’ Park.

Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie took to Twitter to have his say on the matter while confirming the news.

With 10,000 additional free tickets up for grabs, it’s quite the statement from Newcastle as they aim to boost attendance levels after an upturn in form under Steve Bruce.

The Magpies have lost just once in their last seven games but not even that has managed to get fans flocking to see their beloved club.

Sharing their views on Twitter, some were incredibly disappointed with the desperation from Newcastle to try and get their fans back into the stadium via this method.

St James’ Park has a capacity of over 52,000 but they’ve only attracted an average of just north of 46,000 in 2019/20. For an indication of how much that’s dropped, last season’s average sat at over 51,000 in terms of average attendance.

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Fans have taken to boycotting matches in protest against Mike Ashley and they held a stand against the current ownership outside the ground before their opening match of the campaign against Arsenal.

Many supporters now seem to think that his form of approach has worked.

Other supports took to Twitter to berate Ashley for the way he continues to run the club. One individual suggested he wouldn’t be heading back to watch his team play until he sells the club.

The Sports Direct Chief Executive was at the centre of a potential £350m takeover from Sheikh Khaled throughout the summer with talks apparently progressing well. However, nothing seems to have materialised in recent times.

Until that happens, it seems as though fans will continue to boycott and protest.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are in the transfer market for a Championship striker…

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According to an interview with evertonfc.com, winger Ademola Lookman says the trust shown in him by manager Marco Silva has allowed him to be more confident when he has been on the pitch this season.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 21-year-old looked set to instantly become a key player for the Merseyside outfit having scored on his debut against Manchester City following his move from Charlton Athletic back in 2017, but he has largely failed to kick on since then.

The England U21 international struggled for first-team opportunities under Silva’s predecessor Sam Allardyce before spending the second-half of last season on loan at RB Leipzig in Germany, where he impressed.

While there may have been some doubts over his future, Lookman has been involved again under the Portuguese boss at Goodison Park this term, and has revealed to evertonfc.com how the 41-year-old has helped him.

The attacker said: “It is always important to feel you have the manager’s trust. Once you go out there it enables you to play free.

“I have always thought about football in terms of enjoying myself. I still play football for fun and that is what I want to do my whole career, God willing.

“I enjoy expressing myself and I enjoy the pressure of football.”

How has he fared this season?

It’s certainly not been easy for him considering he faces competition from the likes of Theo Walcott, Richarlison and Bernard for a spot in the starting XI.

While he failed to make the squad against Manchester City earlier this month due to a “technical decision”, he has still made 17 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing two assists.

With Everton not looking like they will have too much to play for in the closing 12 Premier League fixtures, Lookman will be hoping that Silva places his trust in him again in the coming weeks so he can continue to express himself on the field.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Marcelo Bielsa’s pre-Cardiff City press conference was a rather interesting one.

The presser was longer than usual, and when Bielsa is talking for a lengthy period of time then you know that he probably has something worth listening to.

This time a key topic of conversation was his usage of young players, in particular, Robbie Gotts.

The Argentine was very open and honest about how he felt about the youngster’s place in the squad as he claimed that he can’t play him at the moment, but went on to admit that he feels guilty about that and he’d understand if he wanted to leave.

“In another moment I said to Robbie that I really wish that he stays with us. But I would understand if he thought at this moment it was better for him to leave, I would understand this,” he commented.

To be fair to Bielsa, this is a very mature way of handling Gotts’ situation as he’s stated that the door is open for him to walk away from the club. While this wasn’t explicitly stated you’d expect that to be a loan deal rather than a permanent one after seeing two senior figures at the club heap praise upon him earlier in the season.

However, despite the door being open for the youngster, he shouldn’t be keen to get out of Elland Road anytime soon.

Although he’s not made his debut yet, the 20-year-old is now a true member of the first-team as he’s one of the 24 players Bielsa talks about that train with the senior squad. Therefore, even though he isn’t playing he’s learning his trade under a brilliant manager.

If he leaves for another club he won’t be ready to immediately step into the Argentine’s first-team upon his return as there are very few coaches that force their players to train as hard as Bielsa does.

Gotts may have an escape route from Elland Road, but irrespective of game time, he shouldn’t want to use it.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay’s recent transfer update has shown how Leeds can kill two birds with one stone.

West Bromwich Albion conceded a late equaliser away at Barnsley on Boxing Day and missed the chance to extend their lead at the top of the Championship table.

The league leaders will be pleased with how the season is panning out so far but the new year could see a shift in the dynamics at the summit of the division.

What’s the word?

With the January window looming on the imminent horizon, supporters are beginning to question whether any new players will be walking through the door at the Hawthorns.

Steve Madeley, however, has suggested it’s unlikely that the Baggies will be spending big – if at all – in the winter window.

When asked about the prospect of the club signing Jarrod Bowen in his post-match Q&A, per The Athletic, Madeley appeared to rule out a potential January bid.

“Don’t think there’ll be any cash splashed, but I agree a good signing or two might just inject a little extra impetus.”

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Healthy Championship position

Under the current circumstances it wouldn’t be a surprise if West Brom swerved a move for Bowen.

The Hull City attacker is clearly an electric prospect to monitor in the coming months, but the league leaders have breathing space at the top of the division right now.

If Bilic’s side were languishing on the edge of the playoff places, it would make sense to splash £20m on Bowen in mid-season given the financial rewards that come with promotion to the Premier League.

But while the Baggies are topping the Championship table and marching on towards promotion without the 23-year-old it seems difficult to justify such a huge outlay.

Madeley has not fully ruled out a move but his verdict suggests he isn’t expecting the club to part with any significant figures next month.