Togo manager Claude Le Roy has lined Liverpool starlet Sadio Mane up as a Manchester United player of the future, according to Star Africa.

What’s the word?

The outlet quoted Le Roy, as per Football365, as saying Mane would “have his place” in any Old Trafford Side.

At present, Mane is ruled out from action for United rivals Liverpool, after injuring his hand while representing Senegal, but otherwise is a vital cog in Jurgen Klopp’s system and remains the Reds’ joint top Premier League scorer so far.

The 26-year-old’s role in the German’s side has seen him play across the front three and even in a slightly deeper wide left position, showing how adaptable the forward is and one of the reasons Le Roy is such a fan.

“He’s a great player and he’d have his place at Manchester United, at Barcelona, or at Real Madrid,” noted the coach.

“It would be a really good thing if I could have him with the [Togo national team],

“Sadio is an excellent player and I tell you that all of Africa watches him play in the Premier League at the weekend as well as the Champions League.”

Is there even a chance?

You can never say a transfer is off the table with 100% certainty, but this one is as good as 99%.

Bar a ludicrous bid from Old Trafford, the winger is staying put in Merseyside with a contract not set to expire until 2021.

For that agreement not to be honoured, Ed Woodward would need to write out a very large cheque as well as force a change of heart within the Senegal winger.

Prior to his exit from Southampton, United showed interested in the winger but Mane opted for Liverpool instead thanks partly to the man in charge.

“There was interest from a lot of clubs,” quoted the Liverpool Echo.

“Not just Manchester United, but as soon as I knew Liverpool were interested I just felt it was the right club with the right coach. It was right for me to come here.”

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While West Ham United’s form has certainly improved in recent weeks compared to at the beginning of the campaign, they still appear to have a bit of an issue in the left-back position.

Both Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku have featured in the role already this season, and while they do a good job going forward they have often been caught out from a defensive point of view – Cresswell was too easily beaten by Adama Traore in the defeat to Wolves, while Masuaku was disappointing in the reverse to Brighton last month.

Following his struggles at the Amex Stadium the Frenchman was replaced by Cresswell for the clash against Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium, but Irons boss Manuel Pellegrini once again decided to switch the duo for the trip to Leicester City last weekend.

It appears clear that the Chilean boss is uncertain on the pair and which one of them is the better option for his team, and it wouldn’t be too surprising if he was looking to bring a new left-back to the east London outfit in the near future.

Meanwhile, Manchester City man Oleksandr Zinchenko has found first-team minutes hard to come by under Pep Guardiola this season and has been linked with a move to Real Betis, and despite being an attack-minded player he has usually been deployed as a left-back when he has appeared for the Cityzens.

Given his clear ability and what Guardiola has seen in him as a defender, we decided to ask West Ham fans to vote on our poll to see whether they would want Pellegrini to try and sign Zinchenko, and a whopping 87% said they would, as you can see from the results below.

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Tony Pulis must use the visit of Crystal Palace in the English Football League Cup as a scouting opportunity on Eagles’ midfielder Jason Puncheon.

Why’s that?

Puncheon is struggling to get into Roy Hodgson’s Premier League squad on the back of missing 239 days with a cruciate ligament rupture that he picked up last December.

The long-term injury ruled the 32-year-old out of 22 games before he could return to action in a different season to the one he was sidelined during, but he has so far been unable to elbow his way ahead of Cheikhou Kouyate, Luka Milivojevic or James McArthur in the centre of the former England manager’s side.

A two-minute substitute call-up against Arsenal last weekend was the only Premier League minutes the 5ft 8in man has played, though he did start Palace’s previous two Carabao Cup fixtures where he featured for the full 90 both times.

What would he add to Boro?

Only last week, Tony Pulis accepted he needed to add new attacking options after Boro missed several opportunities against Derby and felt more individual creativity would benefit the squad.

“Everybody knows we need a bit more individual ability in the final third,” he told Sky, as per Teesside Live.

“We’ve got Stewart, who has been fantastic and he was very good today. But we need to bring that in, we need to add that.

“When it’s difficult and tight at home we need someone who’ll open the door.”

Puncheon may have struggled for form before, and admittedly after, his injury but should Pulis bring the journeyman to what would be his 12th club, the Welsh manager would be adding the player he described his side as needing, and it would unlikely cost the north east club that much with Transfermarkt valuing the creative attacker at £4.5m.

Pulis has also worked with the Englishman before at Crystal Palace, during arguably the best spell of Puncheon’s career, when he provided vital goals that ensured the south London club beat the drop.

Given his lack of involvement at present, Hodgson also revealed Palace would not block Puncheon’s departure if he wants to be playing regularly, and it is worth noting his contract is set to expire in the summer as well.

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West Ham spurned a golden opportunity to win consecutive Premier League games for the first time in nearly two years on Saturday, so what can Manuel Pellegrini do to get the Hammers firing on all cylinders?

The Chalkboard

The Hammers travelled to the John Smith’s stadium on Saturday to take on a Huddersfield side that had scored just two goals there since February, but it only took six minutes for the hosts to get in front.

Felipe Anderson equalised with a fine finish in a much improved second half, but Manuel Pellegrini’s side are becoming extremely inconsistent.

The performances in wins against Everton, Manchester United and Burnley were enthralling, but they have come sandwiched between drab displays with very little creativity.

So what can the gaffer do? How can he get the Hammers scoring goals every week? It starts with fixing a mistake he made in the summer…

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More business in January?

West Ham did some excellent business this summer, bringing in a whopping nine new signings. Led by Pellegrini and Mario Husillos, signings like Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena are already looking like huge hits.

However, the side is really lacking a midfielder who can dictate the tempo of the match, and it was foolish to think Jack Wilshere would ever be fit long enough to do it.

The Hammers are packed with attacking flair with the likes of Anderson and Marko Arnautovic, but their inability to control the midfield means those attacking players get very little service.

The return of Manuel Lanzini will help, but the boss simply must target a new central midfielder in January.

A new role for Arnie?

David Moyes’ best move as West Ham manager was giving Arnautovic the freedom to play as a central striker, but the Austrian international is crying out for some support up there.

The 29 year-old has five goals and one assist already this season, but far too often he finds himself isolated up front and loses possession.

He could excel playing just off of a more natural goalscorer like Javier Hernandez, and it could also kick start Hernandez’s Hammers’ career.

The Mexican international has never quite lived up to the hype in East London, and he struggles to hold the ball up when he plays up front alone. Deploying the pair together with Arnautovic slightly deeper could kill two birds with one stone , helping both players find their top form again.

So, West Ham fans, is a new central midfielder the answer? How much will Lanzini help? Let us know your thoughts on the Huddersfield display in the comments down below…

According to The Daily Mail, Tottenham have come to an agreement with the FA to play all their games this season at Wembley should the need arise. 

This comes after Spurs further pushed back the date of their homecoming to the New Year, with some fearing that the new stadium may not be ready this season.

This will put many Tottenham fans’ minds at ease, as the teams’ future this season has been up in the air. This has seen the team have to make quick solutions, including playing a League Cup match at MK Dons, and playing Man City at Wembley the day after an NFL match.

However, this new deal offers some security to the club’s season. Not only that, but it can be seen as a good thing for Tottenham.

Although it doesn’t seem like it, Tottenham have made their best ever start to a Premier League campaign. Their performances haven’t been particularly inspiring, and it has run parallel with a poor Champions League campaign, but they are currently in fourth place, only one point adrift of Chelsea in third, who have had a good start to the season.

To be in this position during what is regarded as a lean spell for The Lilywhites can only bode well for when they click into gear this season. However, a move to a new stadium midway through the season may seriously disrupt their rhythm. Spurs have only played four home matches out of their opening 12 fixtures, meaning they will have an influx of home fixtures soon. As they are more accustomed to Wembley now than their new stadium, it may be a safer bet to play them there.

Mauricio Pochettino will not want to lose silly points as the club acclimatise to their new stadium, particularly this season, so this Wembley deal may have given them the best hope of success.

The international break came at completely the wrong time for Newcastle United as Rafa Benitez’s side had pulled off two brilliant successive victories against Watford and Bournemouth.

There’s no doubt that Benitez would’ve wanted to play as quickly as possible to continue the club’s form. This weekend, Newcastle face Burnley – who they’re level on points with – in what is an early season six pointer.

It’s a game Newcastle can’t lose and if they were to win, it would give them some separation from the relegation zone. However, contrary to what Michael Owen believes, a draw wouldn’t be the worst result for Newcastle.

The Breakdown

Although Newcastle have only scored nine goals this season, they go up against a side that has conceded 25 already this season. Furthermore, Burnley have only scored 12 this season and come up against a very stingy Newcastle defence.

A win would be preferable but when considering who the bottom three are playing this weekend, a draw would be a solid point. Huddersfield face a tough Wolves side, Cardiff go up against Everton while Fulham face fellow strugglers, Southampton. It would seem unlikely that Cardiff or Huddersfield will be able to come away with a win and therefore, what Newcastle need to do is go for the three points but make sure that they don’t lose.

It looks like it could be an incredibly boring game but also one, where the pressure isn’t on Newcastle to win but they have to make sure they get some points from the game.

So Newcastle fans, what do you think? Let us know!

According to French outlet L’Equippe, Liverpool and PSG are going to use their fixture tonight as a chance to discuss a potential move for Fabinho. 

The midfielder joined The Reds in the summer from Monaco for a fairly sizeable fee of £39m, but has struggled to establish himself at Anfield.

It was expected that the Brazilian would work his way to become a mainstay in the Liverpool midfield after recovering from an injury he sustained at the beginning of the season, but has struggled thus far.

Jürgen Klopp would definitely want a player to command the midfield from deep, like what Fabinho offers. However, the 25-year-old is the ideal of what Liverpool want at the moment, but in reality, he falls far short of what was expected from him. Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Georginio Wijnaldum are proving this season to be superior to Fabinho, as he slips lower down the pecking order.

With these rumours emerging, this may be a case of ‘no smoke without fire’. This speculation is not only indicative of Liverpool’s view of Fabinho, but is also an insight into PSG’s current state of affairs. Manager Thomas Tuchel has already spoken about his team’s need for a defensive midfielder, and the Brazilian is already someone that has proven himself in Ligue 1.

Despite quite a large sum for Fabinho being paid in the summer, the longer Liverpool wait and leave him to struggle for game time, the more his price will drop. It may be in their interest to let the player go as soon as possible. The Parisian outfit have not been afraid in the past to splash the cash, and The Reds can take advantage of that.

Arsenal supporters have been making a lot of noise in recent times after seeing their side extend their impressive unbeaten run in all competitions to 17 games at the weekend.

Unai Emery’s men went into their meeting with fellow high-flyers Bournemouth off the back of three straight draws in the Premier League, which came after a remarkable seven-match winning run. And the Gunners got back to winning ways in the league, at the same time preserving their excellent unbeaten streak in all competitions, with a 2-1 victory at the Vitality Stadium on Sunday, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s strike proving to be the winner after Josh King had cancelled out Jefferson Lerma’s own goal for the Cherries.

Thus, there have been many buoyant Arsenal fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have been heaping praise on Aubameyang for bagging the winning goal on Sunday, with that his tenth of a mightily impressive season so far.

Yet it was far from plain sailing for Emery’s Gunners on the South Coast on Sunday, with the North London giants again needing a commanding performance from Lucas Torreira in the middle of the park to help power them to another league victory.

The Uruguay international made the move to the Emirates Stadium during the summer as Emery sought to bolster his midfield ranks, and he appears to have found an absolute gem given the level of performances the 22-year-old has produced thus far.

And the former Sampdoria man was again at his very best on Sunday in laying the foundations for another Arsenal win, with the midfielder excellent on the ball and indeed off it to help steer Emery’s men to another three points.

Torreira touched the ball 76 times to underline his busy overall involvement in proceedings, while his 91% pass success rate was inferior to just Hector Bellerin and Sokratis (94%) of those that started the game for the visitors.

Add in one key pass, and indeed completing his one and only dribble over the course of the 90 minutes, and it’s clear that the 22-year-old was solid on the ball to help the Gunners make the transition from defence into attack – but he also excelled off the ball as well.

The Uruguayan, capped 13 times by his country, won two of the three aerial duels he contested to help negate that threat from Bournemouth, while he also completed two of his three tackles in the middle of the park in a bid to thwart the home side’s advances on the floor.

Add in a clearance, and it’s clear that the 22-year-old did exactly what was asked of him by manager Emery – he appears to be the midfielder Arsenal have been crying out for in the last few years.

So while Aubameyang got the all-important winning goal, Torreira’s efforts in the midfield helped the Gunners navigate a very tricky encounter against the Cherries, hence the £36 million-rated ace (as per Transfermarkt) was their unsung hero on Sunday.

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

Everton lost the Merseyside derby earlier today in heartbreaking fashion as a late Jordan Pickford howler handed all three points to rivals Liverpool.

The Toffees put in a strong performance against the Reds, who are still keeping on the coat tails of leaders Manchester City, who once again ran away with three points this weekend at the expense of Bournemouth.

Speaking of City, and with Everton in mind also, we here at the Tavern think that Pep Guardiola should be eyeing up a move for Toffees youngster Ademola Lookman, who is forging quite the reputation for himself at Goodison Park of late.

Lookman impressed in his sub appearance against Liverpool today, and he is edging ever closer to being a player who manager Marco Silva will be looking to start on a regular basis.

It’s clear his season last time out with RB Leipzig has had its benefits, and with bags of potential in the locker, he could well be the ideal signing for a club like City as they seek to build up stock of the best talent from around Europe.

Quick, willing to learn, and already with good experience under his belt, Lookman could well be a star for years to come if given the chance at a giant of world football like City.

City fans, what do you think? Would Lookman be a good signing? Let us know in the comments!

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Arsenal will be looking to make it 22 games unbeaten in all competitions when they visit Southampton this weekend, but they will be without their three first choice centre-backs thanks to suspension or injury – will the shortage of defensive options for Unai Emery see that Mesut Ozil will be back in the team?

On the chalkboard

Emery has favoured a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 approach in recent weeks and has been given little reason to change his ways as his side have taken 10 points from their last four, including a memorable victory over north London rivals Spurs and a hard-fought draw with Manchester United.

However, with Sokratis Papasthathopolous, Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding all ruled out, the Spaniard’s hand may be forced and this may mean we see the return of Mesut Ozil – the German has been left out as of late due to a ‘back spasm’, but was a tactical omission for November’s clash with Bournemouth, after the Gunners boss hinted he may not be up to the physical demands of the occasion.

Back to basics

The aforementioned slew of injuries and bans will surely mean that Emery returns to a back four, as he simply doesn’t have the personnel to field five (or three, depending how you look at it) defenders.

After varied success with a 4-2-3-1 earlier on in the campaign, the inclusion of a third attacking midfielder will surely mean that Ozil returns to the line-up in the number 10 role.

This may prove to be to the Gunners’ advantage as the Saints will most likely try to hit them on the break, therefore putting great numbers behind the ball, so the 30-year-old’s eye for a pass could be crucial to finding their way through the bodies.

If Emery does intend to include Ozil in his plans going forward, then surely Sunday’s trip to St Mary’s presents him with his best opportunity to give the club’s highest-paid player some game time.

Jermaine Jenas spoke exclusively to Playmaker FC about why Spurs are better than Arsenal right now. Check out the video above…