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Fans of West Ham United have been reacting to a post on Twitter, in which the Hammers relayed footage of Jesse Lingard’s spectacular strike against Arsenal last weekend.

Since joining West Ham from Manchester United on a five-month loan deal back in January, Lingard has been in rather remarkable form over his seven Premier League appearances for David Moyes’ side, scoring five goals and registering two assists, as well as averaging a highly impressive WhoScored match rating of 7.48 – ranking him as the club’s best performer in the top flight.

The 28-year-old was once again one of the standout performers in the Hammers’ 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Sunday, with the attacking midfielder scoring a screamer from the edge of the box to put West Ham 1-0 up in the fixture, as well as cleverly setting up Jarrod Bowen for the second goal of the game.

And, after West Ham shared footage of Lingard’s strike on Twitter, fans of the club flocked to have their say on the matter, with many heaping a considerable amount of praise on the England international.

So, what exactly did these West Ham United fans have to say in reaction to the footage of Jesse Lingard?

“Incredible goal, awful game.”

@LeMonjames56

“Actually unreal shot, still can’t believe it.”

@cloudymc20

“WHAT A STRIKE!! TAKE A BOW JESSE!!! COME ON YOU IRONS!!”

@diltondiltond1

“Great goal, it’s a shame we couldn’t keep hold of a 3-0 lead.”

@jaymeeteewhu98

“If you don’t sign this lad, then I’m quitting from the Hammers. The best pickup we’ve had in years!!!”

@johnnypana

“It was a really great goal, the jink from Benny, the great cutback from Michy and the rocket from Jesse.”

@CraigardH

“Kick with a bam! We love West Ham!”

@Rohan_bhartiya

In other news: these West Ham fans slammed this club figure with “no ambition” after footage surfaced – find out more here!

Steve Bruce should consider getting Freddie Woodman out of Newcastle United this summer amid claims Arsenal plan to launch a transfer pursuit of the goalkeeper.

What’s the word?

According to Todo Fichajes, the Gunners have marked Woodman as their top target as they look to acquire Bernd Leno’s next first-team challenger at the end of the season.

Mikel Arteta’s north London club signed Alex Runarsson for £2m from Ligue 1 outfit Dijon FCO last summer, but the Iceland shot-stopper has received widespread criticism for his performances and fell to third in the pecking order after Mat Ryan joined on loan in January.

Arsenal now hope to hire a more suitable option to offer Leno competition long-term, and have fixed their eyes on a permanent move for Woodman following his efforts on loan with Swansea City in the Championship.

Woodman has kept 17 clean sheets in 29 second-tier fixtures this season as the Jacks strive for promotion back into the Premier League, no other goalkeeper has kept more than 13.

Newcastle had intended to present Woodman with a more prominent role to occupy at St. James’ Park upon his return, but will not stand in the 23-year-old’s way should a good offer arrive.

The £6.5m-rated ‘keeper has only made four first-team appearances for the Toon across his career, despite featuring in a senior squad for the first time in December 2014, while each of his outings to date have come in the FA Cup.

Should Newcastle sell Woodman?

Newcastle allegedly consider Woodman to be their future number one, but he would likely return to Tyneside in the summer to serve as Bruce’s third-choice option behind Martin Dubravka and Karl Darlow should both remain at St. James’ Park.

With Darlow often impressing this season and Dubravka still valued highly, it is expected that one of the pair or Woodman will likely have to leave the north east at the end of the season.

Bruce has already spoken on the ‘awful’ situation he finds himself in by having to choose between Darlow and Dubravka, though is happy to have that headache.

“I’m delighted with the goalkeeping situation we’ve got,” Bruce said, via quotes by Chronicle Live, following Dubravka’s only appearance of the season so far against Arsenal in the FA Cup last month.

“We’ve got two quality goalkeepers and Martin again reminded us of what a good goalkeeper he is. Karl has been very good all season, so I’ve got one of them awful ones where let’s hope I pick the right one.”

That ‘awful’ situation may only get worse once Woodman’s loan spell with Swansea expires in the summer, at which point Bruce will have to weigh up which of the trio he can afford to part ways with.

At present, though, interest remains to be seen in either Darlow or Dubravka while Arsenal have been long-term admirers of Woodman, with curiosity in the former England U21 international dating back to 2018 and including a potential pursuit in January that failed to materialise.

Newcastle are now also said to be happy with selling Woodman in the summer as long as the offer received is enticing enough, and should be able to secure that with the 23-year-old under contract through to 2023 on terms penned just last year.

So, if Bruce wants to avoid his headache turning into a nightmare, he must boot Woodman out of St. James’ Park at the end of the season if Arsenal come knocking.

AND in other news, Newcastle eye free-transfer of electric live-wire chased by several Premier League sides…

In a recent interview, former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson discussed Eric Dier’s future at Spurs, as well as tipping the club to land a new centre-back this summer.

Having been an integral part of Jose Mourinho’s defence for the best part of the season, over recent weeks Dier has found his game-time becoming more limited under the manager, who himself claimed that the centre-back was going through something of a crisis of confidence.

However, the £22.5m-rated 27-year-old hit back at the criticism he has faced, suggesting that he is happy with his level of performance for Spurs so far this season.

In a recent interview with Football Insider, Robinson stated his belief that Mourinho is still a big fan of Dier, but went on to suggest that the 58-year-old will look to add depth to the centre-back position this summer.

He said: “I still think Jose is a big fan of Dier. I think he will be a part of the plans moving forward even though I think they will sign another centre-half in the summer. Yes, he has looked susceptible of late but so has Davinson Sanchez. I think another centre-half would help, and competition for places is always a good thing.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Dier has been in unremarkable form over his 21 Premier League appearances for Tottenham so far this season, averaging 0.8 tackles, 0.9 interceptions 4.8 clearances and 1.1 blocks per game, culminating in an average WhoScored match rating of 6.71 – ranking him as the club’s 12th-best performer in the top flight, and their third-best centre-back.

With Mourinho reportedly informing Daniel Levy of his desire to add a top-class centre-back to the Spurs defence last summer, and subsequently failing to do so, it would not be surprising to see Tottenham target a new addition to the position this summer, be that at the expense of or alongside Dier.

In other news: Tottenham are also monitoring this attacker, find out more here.

Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli next summer and the Italian could the long-term successor to Ilkay Gundogan.

It was suggested by the Daily Mail earlier this week that City are interested in signing the Italian international, who is likely to cost around £30 million. However, a later report suggested that the Serie A side won’t consider any bids during this month’s transfer window, so the Citizens may have to wait until the summer to bring him to the Etihad.

The 23-year-old has also been attracting interest from Juventus after impressing in recent seasons with Neroverdi, having joined on a permanent deal from AC Milan in the summer of 2019.

So far this season, the Italian midfielder has averaged a superb 7.11 rating for his performances in Serie A, having contributed two goals and one assist in 16 appearances.

WhoScored describes some of his strengths as passing, dribbling and through balls, which could mark him out as a potential long-term replacement for Gundogan in this Manchester City side.

The German international will turn 31 this year and has impressed in Pep Guardiola’s side so far this season, averaging a 7.10 rating in the Premier League, but he lacks the tackling ability of Locatelli.

The Sassuolo man looks to be something of an all-rounder, as he has averaged 1.2 shots per game and 1.3 successful aerial duels, as well as registering an impressive 88.1% success rate, per WhoScored.

Gundogan meanwhile, has averaged 1.5 shots per game and a 90.7% pass success rate but struggles to win aerial duels, averaging just 0.5 per game in the Premier League, per WhoScored.

Locatelli’s agent has suggested that the 23-year-old “dreams of playing in the Champions League” but with Sassuolo currently seventh in Serie A, it seems as if he will have to move away to realise this dream, and Manchester City could be the perfect place for him.

Certainly, there seems no reason why the midfielder couldn’t be a success in Guardiola’s side and if sporting director Txiki Begiristain can seal a move for him, he could be the heir to Gundogan’s throne with the Citizens.

And, in other news… “95% he’ll end up at Manchester City” – Exclusive: Pundit makes bold claim on £108m-rated MCFC target

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho could be without at least one of his regular options this evening as his side head to Championship outfit Wycombe Wanderers in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Speaking ahead of the encounter, the Spurs boss told reporters, via the official website:

“Matt Doherty was not involved at Sheffield United and I’m not sure if he will recover. Dele hasn’t trained for the last couple of days with a small problem in the tendon and Serge Aurier, not really well.”

Dele Alli seems likely to be out but that doesn’t come as a major negative to the Portuguese manager as he’s barely utilised the 24-year-old this term, indeed he’s played only 472 minutes in all competitions, of which six were starts, in all competitions per Transfermarkt.

However, the potential of having both his right-back options in Serge Aurier and Matt Doherty would be a killer blow to their fortunes, especially the Ivorian, who has emerged as Mourinho’s first-choice option over the course of the season.

The 28-year-old has started ten of their 18 league outings this campaign as well as half of their cup outings too. His turnaround in form has led to the club planning to offer him a longer-term contract as he’s entered the final 18 months of his £120k-per-week deal, per Football Insider.

So clearly, he’s a big part of Mourinho’s plans right now.

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What makes this news even worse is the possibility of not having his back-up, Doherty, either. The Irishman, who joined for £15m in the summer, has played 17 times in all competitions, primarily in the Europa League and this very tournament, so you’d imagine he’d be in line to feature once again if fit.

That said, the 29-year-old has struggled to replicate the sort of form that caught the eye at Molineux. His last league appearance against Leeds was a disaster as he badly let the Spurs boss down with a shocking display – as we further outlined in this Performance In Numbers article.

It leaves Mourinho with a tricky selection headache going into tonight’s clash as without either of the duo, he will either have to turn to Japhet Tanganga, who has played the bulk of his appearances at centre-back, Moussa Sissoko, a midfielder-by-trade who has been somewhat a utility player down that right flank or even a vastly-inexperienced academy player.

Tanganga, who has been dubbed “hungry to play” by Ledley King, seems the most viable option should both of the regular first-team options be absent at Adams Park, though it certainly makes Spurs a weaker prospect as they hold the second-best defensive record in the Premier League so far this term with either Aurier or Doherty starting at right-back.

AND in other news, Levy struck dream deal over £45m-rated “born leader” who’s been a Spurs “steal”…

Celtic are reportedly looking to offer a new bumper deal to reserve goalkeeper Conor Hazard. That’s according to Football Insider, who claim that Peter Lawwell is looking to increase his terms after the 22-year-old stepped up to the plate in Celtic’s last two matches.

Hazard started ahead of Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas against both Lille and Kilmarnock, helping the Hoops return to the winning streak they are more than capable of maintaining.

It’s likely that Neil Lennon will now turn to the youngster for the remainder of the season. Celtic are playing catch up as they hope they still have time to close down rivals Rangers and take back the top spot in the Premiership.

Big responsibility for Hazard

Summer signing Barkas has had a disappointing debut season so far after struggling to cement himself as his new club’s first choice. Bain took over from the Greece international after he struggled with a back injury and he has rarely been seen since. But now, even his teammate has disappointed Lennon and he has been forced to call upon Hazard to step up.

Before his back-to-back starts, the Northern Ireland international had featured just one other time for the Celtic senior team. This was way back in 2017, in a cameo appearance against Partick Thistle in the league (via Transfermarkt). However, being just a teenager at the time, he clearly wasn’t viewed as a reliable option to integrate into the team.

His patience and hard work has paid off though and he could now be looking at becoming Celtic’s No.1 next season. With Lawwell acknowledging his work ethic and eagerly lining up a new deal for him, this could spell a very fruitful career for Hazard at Parkhead. It’s also a smart piece of business from the Englishman, who will be more than aware of other clubs noticing the goalkeeper’s progress.

Tying him down whilst he is still on the rise is essential for the Bhoys if they want to return next season and punish Rangers.

In other news, Mark McKenzie is ideal signing amid potential Ajer departure…

As Victor Orta dotted the Is and crossed the Ts in the summer transfer window, he did so knowing he’d signed a collective group of players capable of taking Leeds towards a brighter future.

Of course, Rodrigo’s addition stole the headlines but it cannot be underestimated the work Orta did in securing a host of players for their academy.

The likes of Joe Gelhardt, Cody Drameh and Crysencio Summerville all arrived to bolster the ranks in the U23s but the young player who has caught the attention the most is Sam Greenwood.

The teenager took the bold decision to leave his hometown of Sunderland in 2018 to join Arsenal, but just two years later he was moving back up north.

This time his destination was Leeds United, and since arriving, he hasn’t looked back.

Gelhardt was the main attraction as far as young prospects go last summer but it’s Greenwood who has impressed more than anyone.

The 18-year-old has been superb for the U23s and already has six goals in just nine outings this term. A minor injury set him back but the highs have certainly outweighed the lows in his first few months at Thorp Arch.

He scored a hat-trick against Sunderland and is very nearly ready for first-team action. His left foot is as sweet as a nut and he is an instinctive finisher capable of hitting rasping drives. It’s no wonder that he’s been compared to Robin van Persie – someone with a breathtaking shot and left foot.

Talking about Greenwood earlier this season, Joe Donnohue of Leeds Live said: “His start may have been excellent, so imagine how much better he could be with consistent football.”

Excellent is something that typifies the teenager perfectly and in a month where Leeds favourably look away from entering the transfer market, he could profit significantly.

The likes of Jean-Philippe Mateta and Diego Costa have been touted with moves but the Whites should forget about those attackers and focus on promoting within.

Greenwood is as explosive as they come and would surely suit the style of football Marcelo Bielsa plays perfectly.

He deserves his chance as much as any at Leeds.

AND in other news, “He’d fit into Bielsa’s team” – Exclusive: Pundit claims £30m gem would be perfect Leeds signing…

David Moyes can solve his Sebastien Haller dilemma after Gabby Agbonlahor stated the West Ham striker will be “frustrated” to not have successfully replaced the injured Michail Antonio.

What’s he said?

Speaking with Football Insider, Aston Villa hero Agbonlahor has claimed Haller will be growing increasingly irritated to have not staked his claim for a starting role at the London Stadium whilst Moyes has been without star striker Antonio.

The £10.8m-rated dynamo has missed his side’s last two Premier League fixtures as a result of the hamstring injury sustained at home to Manchester City last month, which was expected to sideline Antonio for six weeks, yet he remains the Irons’ joint-top scorer with three goals.

Haller failed to strike a single effort against either Liverpool or Fulham when handed his first starts of the top-flight campaign, leaving the club-record £45m signing with just one goal in his last 13 Premier League outings.

Agbonlahor feels the Cottagers’ defensive-minded tactics played a great role in Haller’s plight continuing last time out, noting: “It’s not as if Fulham played a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3, Fulham played a very defensive formation. It would have been tough for even Antonio to break them down.

“West Ham get their most joy when they play against teams on the counter-attack. The game against Fulham was tough to create chances. So, it’s not something that I’d worry about.

“I think with Haller, if you get the right balls into the box for him then he will score goals, but West Ham didn’t manage to do that. I’m sure he’ll be frustrated because he wants to be scoring goals.”

Moyes has the answers

Agbonlahor’s comments come in line with Moyes’ remarks following the Fulham clash, having told the West Ham website: “Our crossing quality was really poor and we didn’t deliver good enough quality into the box when we were in positions to do so. We were hoping to get something aerial for Haller to score from.”

Moyes now has the chance to afford Haller another shot at proving his worth in claret and blue when league action resumes against Sheffield United later this month, with ExWHUemployee – while speaking on the West Ham Way podcast – claiming the Scottish coach has already decided he will not risk Antonio aggravating his injury by starting him at Bramall Lane.

Instead, Antonio is due to be listed among the substitutes with Moyes keen to see if Haller can fare any better against a side who has allowed the second-most shots (15) and fourth-most crosses (21) a game in the top-flight thus far this term, per WhoScored.

Haller could only win six of his 10 aerial duels against Fulham last time out while striking just one of three shots on target, which Moyes will no doubt hope he can improve after netting on his Ivory Coast debut.

AND in other news, West Ham have been given the ideal chance to sign a “phenomenal” £20m David Moyes target.

Pretty much all of Tottenham Hotspur’s summer signings have already played their part this season, which only emphasises just how well Daniel Levy and co conducted their transfer business.

The north London outfit sit top of the Premier League standings after ten matches and look to be genuine contenders to rival the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool for the title.

And whilst that has largely been down to the goalscoring exploits of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son, the other areas of the pitch cannot be ignored. After all, they have also conceded the least amount of goals – just nine.

Supporters will be quick to throw the crown to £15m bargain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has added a much-needed anchor-like presence in the heart of midfield. Something that Spurs have long lacked since the exit of Mousa Dembele.

The 25-year-old Dane has averaged a whopping 3.1 tackles, 1.8 clearances and 3.7 long balls per game, via WhoScored. By comparison, throughout the entirety of last season, the only midfielder to average anywhere near that was Giovani Lo Celso with 1.8 tackles per match.

However, the impressive form of fellow arrival Sergio Reguilon has gone under the radar somewhat, especially tactically.

Spurs boss Jose Mourinho likes balance in his full-backs, in the sense that one is more attacking than the other, and that’s exactly what Reguilon has done since joining from Real Madrid alongside Gareth Bale.

The majority of their attacks come from his side of the pitch (38%), which results in more shots coming from this side and through the middle too (88%), via WhoScored. This is because the Spaniard’s presence allows Son the freedom to cut inside and act as a second striker, hence his juicy returns thus far.

Reguilon is far more attack-minded than Ben Davies having averaged 1.3 key passes per game to the Welshman’s 0.3, as per WhoScored.

The €70m-rated (£63.5m) dynamo is even doing his fair share defensively, managing 1.7 tackles and 2.3 clearances per match.

It’s no wonder “everyone loves” him, according to Football.London’s Alasdair Gold.

Either way, he deserves far more credit – at least as much as Hojbjerg, if not more, as he is certainly proving to be one of Mourinho’s unsung heroes on that left flank.

Levy pulled a masterstroke with his addition.

AND in other news, 16 y/o teen sensation could become Spurs’ biggest talent since Harry Kane…

Earlier this week, we discussed the idea that Marcelo Bielsa could switch to a tactic that involved using inverted wingers after the signing of Raphinha.

We suggested Helder Costa as a possible option on the left, due to his previous experience playing on that side and also his ability to shoot on his right foot, but a deeper dig into Bielsa’s past shows that there may be a much better option in Leeds’ squad.

When you think of a Bielsa player, you likely think of pace, high energy and intensity, so it may come as something of a surprise that one of his most creative players ever was Dimitri Payet.

Indeed, only one player has made more assists while playing under Bielsa, and that was Michael Susaeta, who only has three more assists despite playing 71 more games under the manager than Payet.

Interestingly, Payet has been deployed as a left-winger for the majority of his career, despite being a right-footer.

He isn’t in the Jack Harrison mould where he wants to get to the by-line and cut it back, he’s much more focused on skill and technique rather than pace. He’s adept at cutting inside, finding a killer ball or getting in an early cross on his favoured right foot.

So, if Bielsa is going to switch to inverted wingers, he may be looking for someone in Payet’s mould to play down the left, and he has that man in the shape of Pablo Hernandez.

Nobody can doubt that Hernandez has the ability to put in pin-point crosses or cut inside onto his favoured right foot. We’ve seen him do it time and time again from a more central area over the past few seasons, but he is more than capable of playing on the left.

The Spaniard has played on the left-wing 61 times in his career, and his record there is actually quite good, scoring seven and assisting 14 for a ratio of a goal contribution every 3.05 games.

Of course, he wasn’t playing in a Bielsa team for those previous left-wing appearances, so if those numbers can improve at a similar rate to how we’ve seen his stats improve over the past two seasons, he could actually add another gear to his game playing in that role in the system.

It’s certainly an interesting prospect, and one Bielsa may want to explore in the not so distant future.