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The rapid approach of the January transfer window can only mean one thing: the return of the rumour mill.

There is now just over a month left before clubs across Europe can add to their squads, and there is already plenty of speculation in regards to who could be bought.

In regards to Liverpool, it is no different, with Jadon Sancho and Sander Berge (Radio Punto Nuovo via Goal.com) just two of the names to have been mentioned.

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According to Corriere dello Sport, Amine Harit is also attracting the Reds’ attention. The Morocco international, who is 22 years of age, is said to be being monitored by the European champions. He has scored five goals and provided two assists for Schalke in the Bundesliga so far this campaign.

Jurgen Klopp is good friends with Die Konigsblauen’s manager David Wagner, which could work to the Anfield outfit’s advantage.

For a potential reported fee of €20m (£17.1m), it could be a bargain for the former Borussia Dortmund manager. The club’s supporters, at least, are delighted with the link. They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min played the full 90 minutes as South Korea suffered a 3-0 defeat to Brazil in Tuesday’s international friendly.

The 27-year-old also played the whole game against Lebanon on November 14, meaning that it has been a fairly intense international break for the attacker.

As a result, he will not have much time to recover for Tottenham’s Premier League clash with West Ham United on Saturday afternoon, which is a huge fixture for a number of reasons.

Spurs have announced ahead of the derby that head coach Mauricio Pochettino has left the club, with Jose Mourinho being appointed as his successor on Wednesday.

And it will be fascinating to see what type of performance last season’s Champions League finalists produce against the Hammers.

A whole host of Spurs fans have been on social media reacting to the fact that Son played the full 90 against Brazil and some were not overly pleased whilst others simply offered their views on his outing.

A selection of the Twitter reaction is available to view below:

It has actually happened. Jose Mourinho has been appointed the new Tottenham Hotspur manager, replacing the sacked Mauricio Pochettino in the process.

And there is little doubt Mourinho’s footballing philosophy differs from that of the man he replaced, which could well see him look to remould Tottenham’s squad when the January transfer window comes around.

With that in mind, here are three players the Portuguese should look to sign to implement his ideas at his new club.

Alex Telles – FC Porto

We’ll start off with FC Porto’s prolific left-back, the 26-year-old Telles.

While Danny Rose has said that he has no intention of leaving the club before his contract expires in 2021, it would be no surprise to see Spurs strengthen in the left-back area to find an upgrade on the England international and Ben Davies, and the Brazilian defender is one of the hot products currently on the market.

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Mourinho’s sides usually have well-balanced full-backs who are no strangers to going forward but are also pretty skilled when it comes to their defensive duties, such as Cesar Azpilicueta and Antonio Valencia in the past.

With three goals and two assists in ten Liga NOS games this season, Telles is certainly a big attacking threat. Last season, those figures were as high as four goals and eight assists and he even tallied 1.1 tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game.

With an estimated value of £31.5m as per Transfermarkt, he is potentially attainable and fits the bill perfectly.

Hakim Ziyech – Ajax

Ziyech to Tottenham Hotspur is nothing particularly new and there’s a good chance that they would go for him even if Mourinho wasn’t at the helm, as per Calciomercato’s recent reports that name them as a serious contender for his signature.

But with the Portuguese coach there, the chances of them chasing the Ajax winger could actually go up, especially considering that he loves quick and prolific wingers who are willing to track back, are deadly in the box and can successfully orchestrate a quick transition.

Just a quick look back to some of his former forward lines tells us enough about it. At Manchester United he used the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Anthony Martial, at Chelsea he had Eden Hazard and Willian and at Real Madrid, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria.

The 26-year-old has been immense for the Dutch side this season, bagging six goals and 15 assists across all competitions, not to mention that he has Champions League experience under his belt as well.

Ziyech definitely looks like someone Mourinho could use in his squad and not just that, but someone who could potentially thrive in his preferred 4-2-3-1 system as well as the wide man just behind Harry Kane up front.

Ivan Rakitic – FC Barcelona

Even though on the face of it, this transfer looks like a bit of a reach, Rakitic could very well be a perfect fit for any Mourinho side and especially for this particular Spurs team.

Currently, the Portuguese manager has the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Winks and Eric Dier at his disposal to fill that pivot role, but the former is more of a box-to-box style player than a clear-cut defensive midfielder, and the latter has somewhat fallen out of favour lately with only three Premier League games under his belt this season.

If we look back at his past tenures, he did always like having someone at the base of his midfield to guard the more attacking-minded players’ back – think of Claude Makelele or Nemanja Matic, for instance.

While it would not be a surprise if Mourinho resurrected Dier’s career for that very reason, Rakitic, who’s also out of favour and who Barcelona are actively looking to sell, would fill that role perfectly.

He’s a workhorse with loads of stamina, defensively pretty solid, used to covering for his teammates and really good on the ball.

Not to mention that he would be attainable and would offer some much-needed experience to Mourinho’s rebuild project.

Finally, the Special One himself showered the Croat with praise earlier this year when talking to beIN SPORTS after El Clasico, calling him “underrated”.

It has been somewhat of a frustrating season for Rhian Brewster.

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So far this campaign, the 19-year-old has been reduced to just two senior appearances, both of which have come in the League Cup. Those are the only professional matches he has played in during his career so far, and he will be turning 20 next April. This all comes after Jurgen Klopp refused to let him leave on loan at the start of the season, instead choosing to keep with the first-team squad.

Considering his considerable lack of experience, it is surely time the £3.6m-valued England U21 international – as per Transfermarkt – got some regular action. And according to The Mirror, he may be handed a lifeline in January. They are reporting that Aston Villa, Swansea City, Crystal Palace and Leeds United are all interested in signing Brewster on a short-term basis until the end of the season.

The Anfield outfit’s supporters have been reacting to the news on Twitter, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Meanwhile, Liverpool are said to be interested in this 26-year-old La Liga man.

A lot of Southampton fans are full of praise for the side after seeing a tweet from a supporter outlining how the club was already sorting out refunds for away travel. Indeed, the club then replied, seemingly confirming their action. 

Football is currently postponed to recent events, and a lot of fans are in the dark about what happens to the money they spent on games which have not happened when they were meant to.

However, it seems like the Saints are already looking to reach out to their supporters and are offering refunds on train travel, starting with people who were meant to be going to the away fixture against Norwich City in March, and it has pleased many, with one tweeting, “Fair play that’s class”.

In a period of uncertainty, it is nice to see that the club from the South Coast are helping their loyal fanbase out and refunding when needed to.

This has not been the only good gesture, as one person pointed out they have also checked in on older members to see if they are ok and need any support.

Here is what fans had to say following the tweet:

What do you make of this move from the club? Join the discussion by commenting below…

In a Q&A on The Chronicle, Lee Ryder has revealed that Newcastle’s prospective new owners may consider rebuilding St James’ Park.

What did he say?

The Magpies look set to be on the verge of entering a new era under fresh ownership, and with it a sense of hope and excitement at what the future can hold.

And now, Ryder has delivered a rather optimistic verdict on how that could in turn affect the club’s stadium, and revealed that parts of the “dated” ground could undergo some major work.

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He said: “I think this day and age there are ways to increase the capacity and while the facilities are adequate, areas of the stadium have become dated and I think we can all see that.

“We need to see more than a lick of paint because that quickly starts to look tired. When I go to Man City’s Etihad Stadium I see something new every season, it would be great to think of St James’ Park being like that one day. If the Reuben brothers are onboard I’m sure with their know-how they would take a long hard look at the existing layout.”

New life

There can be no questioning that under Mike Ashley, St James’ Park had lost some of its magic and passion, with fans understandably struggling to identify with things both on and off the pitch.

Even Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville said last year: “I have always felt sad, to be fair, going to Newcastle over these last couple of years. I have always felt that there’s never been the connection between the ownership, and the fans, the players and the manager. You always need that at a club if you want to be successful.”

But if this takeover goes through, then some new life can be breathed into St James’ Park. The stadium itself may look better and modernised, but perhaps more importantly, the kind of footballing home that fans love going to week-in and week-out.

Newcastle United’s prospective takeover continues to rumble on into the second half of May but The Sun’s Alan Nixon believes it could be a little longer before any official announcement.

On Monday, the Premier League announced a return to training starting today as part of their ‘Project Restart’ plans to get the remaining fixtures underway.

That’s on top of having to do their due diligence in the owners and directors test for the consortium wanting to purchase the Magpies.

Nixon also claims that they’ll need to shuffle a few more papers though he also states that it should still happen, which is reflected in the odds at www.betting.co.uk, so a sign of encouragement, perhaps.

He said:

It’s been well over a month since reports first emerged suggesting that Mike Ashley was going to sell up after 13 years at the helm, and while fans at St James’ Park are losing their minds at the length of time it’s taking, the current circumstances facing football and the wider country are paramount right now.

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AND in other news, George Caulkin downplays Newcastle post-takeover plans

Newcastle United’s takeover is ‘set to draw to a close’ as the Premier League sign off on the deal, according to the Sunday Mirror’s former chief football writer Paul Smith.The journalist gave a series of encouraging updates to Twitter on Thursday evening, claiming that the Saudi Arabian-backed consortium had been told informally that the move is complete.He also added that the Magpies’ new owners are working with a PR company to prepare for the official announcement and the subsequent media requests.Smith tweeted:

After weeks of rumours and speculation over potential opposition to the deal, it appears as if the Premier League have found no wrongdoing and thus will veto the exciting new era at the northeast outfit.

United have a rich history but that has been forgone under the 13-year reign of Mike Ashley, who has overseen two relegations to the Championship and many seasons of mediocrity.

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While Smith doesn’t put an exact timeframe on things, you can only imagine it all coming to a head very soon.

AND in other news,ÂNewcastle swoop for PROLIFIC 22 y/o can kickstart the Saudi revolution…

As clubs all across Europe feel the financial pinch of football being postponed and fans having to stay away, the upcoming summer transfer window may be one of the most low-key on record.

And according to Football Insider, Tottenham are “convinced” that scouring France “can be a fruitful market for them as they eye bargain deals”.

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The report claims that with French football suspended until September, Spurs are hoping to “exploit the changed French market to lure some players at knockdown prices”.

After hearing about the report, fans of the north London side flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation.

A few Spurs fans however seemed far less optimistic about the news, and claimed that as well as this being Daniel Levy being his typical frugal self, they have just not had much success with players bought from the French league.

Understandably, some Spurs fans don’t seem entirely thrilled with the idea of turning back to the French market for some new signings this summer.

Ndombele’s disastrous debut campaign that has seen his form and fitness questioned by his own manager has left a bit of a bad taste, but if Spurs can look past that, there may very well be some really shrewd deals to be done.

Many Aston Villa fans have reacted after the Express & Star reported the extension of midfielder Danny Drinkwater’s loan deal.

The Midlands based side remain in the bottom three of the Premier League after a poor run of form since the restart of the 2019/2020 season, which was stalled due to the pandemic.

Villa, who have been largely inconsistent throughout the campaign, will be desperate to keep their top-flight status after only gaining promotion via the play-off final last season.

With the final games of the season coming thick and fast, the club have now agreed a loan extension for Chelsea midfielder Drinkwater.

The former Leicester City Premier League winner arrived on loan during the January transfer window but he is yet to make an impression having featured just four times so far.

Added to that, he has also been involved in a training ground bust-up with teammate Jota earlier this year.

A loan extension has now been agreed which will mean the midfielder will now remain at Villa Park until the end of 2019/2020 season before returning to parent club Chelsea.

Reacting to the news of Drinkwater’s loan extension, Villa fans gave their opinion, with most not happy about it…

Do you think Drinkwater will play a part for Villa this season? Let us know in the comments section below…