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Everton could be set for a busy January transfer window as their struggles under manager Rafa Benitez continued over the weekend via a 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace.

That result meant the Toffees have only picked up five points from a possible 30 in recent weeks, winning just one of their last ten Premier League games to pile the pressure on their Spanish boss.

However, Benitez could earn himself a reprieve over the winter by sanctioning a bid for wantaway Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

The Toffees were heavily linked with a move for the 24-year-old during the summer, but the Gunners ultimately refused to sanction his exit, meaning he has been largely consigned to a role on the substitutes bench ever since.

But now, the north London outfit are said to be ‘under pressure’ to sell the five-cap England international in January, after Maitland-Niles has become increasingly ‘irritated’ at his lack of game time.

According to the Daily Mail, the versatile youngster was promised regular first-team action by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta after staying put at his boyhood club, but after receiving just 263 minutes of Premier League playing time, he now wants out once again.

And the midfielder’s frustration is likely to have been amplified after putting in a stellar performance against Watford last month, with Arteta even describing him as a ‘different player’.

“First of all, I see a different player in terms of his urgency, his commitment, the clarity in his play, his purpose,” said Arteta. “Since we made the decision (to keep him), it was clear what I was seeing that I wanted him to stay because he was going to be useful.

“He has a huge talent because he’s versatile enough to adapt to almost any position on the pitch.”

Maitland-Niles has just 18 months left to run on his current deal at Arsenal, meaning the capital club are slowly being backed into a corner and must cash in while they still can.

The £14.4m-rated dynamo, who can play on the wing and in defence too, was once dubbed a “Rolls-Royce” by former Arsenal defender Martin Keown.

“You rarely get a player with his pace in that role. I would have loved that as a player. He’s a Rolls-Royce of a player at times,” he claimed.

And Maitland-Niles’ underlying numbers back up the praise from both Arteta and Keown. During his loan spell at West Brom during 2020/21, he averaged 1.5 tackles, 1.1 interceptions and 1.1 dribbles per league game, as per WhoScored.

Therefore, Benitez could seal a significant coup by finally securing Maitland-Niles’ signature, bringing in cover and competition for a variety of positions, while adding a quality player who’s yet to reach his full potential.

And, in other news…Everton can end their midfielder hunt with £175k-p/w gem who’s a “Frank Lampard type” 

A big Rangers transfer claim has emerged, regarding the potential sale of Romanian forward Ianis Hagi from Ibrox and his future under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

What’s the talk?

Former Premier League forward Noel Whelan has claimed that the Gers will need to buy and sell players like the winger for profit to compete with Celtic in the long-term, citing their business model with Virgil van Dijk in particular.

He told Football Insider: “Rangers have got to sell players like him in order to be self-sustainable.

“That’s been the case for Celtic too, not just Rangers. As much as they’re giants in Scotland and well-known across Europe, we’ve seen over the years that Celtic will take profits on their best players.

“Their recruitment has been so crucial for them, and that’s the same for Rangers. They buy them, nuture them, develop them – but then when the time is right, they sell them on.

“It just like what happened with Van Dijk at Celtic. Many have come through there and done a great job for them, winning titles at the club.

“It’s just the way of the world right now. Money talks if you are Rangers or Celtic, they just can’t compete with the Premier League clubs at the moment.”

Masterclass

Turkish outlet En Son Haber recently claimed that Rangers are preparing for Hagi’s exit as a number of clubs circle around the forward. In selling the attacker, they could repeat an Old Firm masterclass from Celtic – as they sold van Dijk for a gigantic profit back in 2015.

Per Transfermarkt, the Hoops signed the Dutchman from Groningen for £2.48m in 2013 before selling him to Southampton for £14.13m two years later. He is one of seven players Celtic have sold for more than £11m since 2014, whilst Rangers have not sold a player for more than £3m in that time.

The Gers reportedly paid £4m to sign Hagi from Genk in 2020 and the interest in his services now could offer them the chance to make a profit on him, much like Celtic did with van Dijk. Ross Wilson now has a major decision to make and he could repeat their masterclass in doing so.

Selling the Romanian international could allow them to kickstart a healthy business model moving forward where they are able to develop young talent before selling them on for big money and then replacing them with more prospects. The Gers could use Hagi as the poster boy for this, showing targets his potential success to convince them to make a similar switch.

This could aid the club in their attempts to sign talented youngsters in the future, as it would show that Rangers are willing to be a stepping stone in their footballing journey. Whilst it may not be music to the fans’ ears, it could be a profitable move by Wilson that helps the long-term future at Ibrox.

AND in other news, Gio can finally axe a “Rangers legend” by signing “perfect” £3.1k-p/w beast in January…

The potential sale of Newcastle United target Luis Diaz could be the biggest deal in both FC Porto and Magpies history, according to a report from A Bola (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

As it stands, the departure of Eder Militao is Porto’s most lucrative. The Brazilian moved to Real Madrid for £45million ahead of the 2019/20 season.

The Portuguese outfit have somewhat made their name from farming and selling big talents in recent years, including James Rodriguez to Monaco for around £40m, Radamel Falcao to Atletico Madrid for £36m and Pepe to Real Madrid for £27m (Transfermarkt).

Now, Diaz has the suitors queuing up after netting 11 goals in his first 16 appearances of 2021/22.

He’s won some pretty lofty praise from his team-mate Sergio Oliveira, who labelled him ‘extraordinary’.

The latest

The report from the Portuguese newspaper, translated by SW, states that Diaz’s potential sale could eclipse that of Militao.

He has a release clause of €80million – about £67.6million – but Porto may be willing to accept lower offers, and Newcastle are one of a host of clubs in the race to land the Colombian.

Fellow Premier League sides Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea are also named, along with two continental giants in Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Liverpool and Milan have clearly been impressed by Diaz when coming up against him in the Champions League group stages.

The verdict

It may not only be the Militao record that falls here. Newcastle’s biggest signing remains £39.6million buy Joelinton.

It surely won’t be long until they surpass that under their new regime, one of the wealthiest in the game, as the new owners will surely want to make a splash before too long in order to signal their ambition to the Toon Army.

But the bigger challenge comes in persuading Diaz to join, when he might also have offers from sides that have already established themselves in European competition.

In other news, Newcastle are ready to offer this target ‘huge money’.

As per Corriere dello Sport, two mainstay Tottenham players in Lucas Moura and Oliver Skipp could now face uncertainty as Antonio Conte plots which players will fit into his squad.

The Lowdown: Skipp and Lucas shine for Spurs…

During Nuno Espirito Santo’s brief and regrettable reign at Tottenham, two players who arguably shined for the Portuguese tactician are Lucas and Skipp.

The former, featuring in all but one Premier League game so far, has completed more dribbles per 90 on average than any Spurs player this season (3.1) according to WhoScored.

Meanwhile, the latter man has certainly turned heads at Spurs – making an appearance in every English top flight match so far and averaging a higher pass accuracy than any Lilywhites player with more than one start (WhoScored).

Skipp’s form in particular has prompted reports of a potential new deal at Tottenham but according to CDS, both Lucas and Spurs’ promising youngster face a degree of uncertainty under Conte.

The Latest: Conte’s plan…

Analysing what Conte is plotting at Spurs and the rebuild needed, the Italian outlet claim there is a strong belief that he will play a three-at-the-back system and one which puts many players in danger.

Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez and Joe Rodon ‘don’t inspire much confidence’, while Lucas is listed as a ‘tall outsider’ who is ‘not easy to place’ in Conte’s plans alongside the likes of Steven Bergwijn and Bryan Gil.

CDS go on to tip the Spurs team to be ‘refounded’ from the ‘bottom up’, particularly in midfield, and bizarrely Skipp is deemed not ‘up to par’ alongside Harry Winks.

The Verdict: Interesting times…

Depending on the system which Conte will choose to implement at Spurs, it could certainly be a tough time for certain players and the likes of Skipp and Lucas certainly cannot be excluded.

The Lilywhites are favoured to adopt a three-at-the-back system under the Italian, even by reliable sectors of the English press, with Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele tipped as the favourites for Spurs’ central midfield positions in a possible 3-4-1-2 system (Evening Standard).

Meanwhile, as a natural winger, Lucas is certainly in danger if Conte wishes to play with one attacking midfield man behind a front two of Son Heung-min and Harry Kane.

The Brazilian, lauded as a ‘monster’ by compatriot Raphinha, seemingly may not be saved by his previous performances this season while it remains to be seen whether Skipp, previously a ‘key starter’ at Tottenham as per Alasdair Gold will continue to be so.

In other news: Conte has already made a £237 million Spurs demand as he eyes ‘huge’ signing among six players, find out more here.

Reliable Celtic reporter Kieran Devlin has recently answered a question on Hoops left-back Boli Bolingoli.

The Lowdown: Bolingoli in 2021…

Bolingoli has made just eight appearances during the calendar year, loan with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir.

A permanent move away from Celtic Park failed to materialise over the summer, despite links of a return to Turkey with Altay SK.

He’s since made two sporadic Celtic appearances under Ange Postecoglou, who decided to start the Belgian in a defeat to Livingston in September and a win over Motherwell earlier this month.

Aside from those fixtures, Bolingoli hasn’t featured in a Scottish Premiership matchday squad, leaving many wondering what’s next for the defender, who is still under contract until 2023.

The Latest: Devlin’s response…

Devlin ran a Q&A on The Athletic on Wednesday prior to the Hoops’ 3-1 win over Hibernian.

He was asked by one Celtic supporter about Bolingoli’s situation, to which he described it as ‘incredibly odd’.

“People I speak to around the club were as surprised – on both occasions – as we all were from afar. Just an incredibly odd situation.”

The Verdict: Ange needs to make a call…

You’d have expected if Postecoglou saw Bolingoli in his Parkhead plans, he would have been a regular in the league following Greg Taylor’s shoulder injury back in September.

However, the Hoops boss has used youngster Adam Montgomery and right-back Josip Juranovic at left-back, with Bolingoli making a couple of appearances in between.

On that basis, it might be wise for Postecoglou to resolve the situation for good by giving the club the green light to move Bolingoli on for good.

Not only would it put to bed the end of his Celtic career, but it would also free up the wage bill, with Bolingoli currently on £15,000-a-week.

In other news: ‘Difficult’ – Injury expert reacts as ‘excellent’ Celtic ace may miss 3 more games. 

An update has emerged on Giovanni van Bronckhorst, regarding the possibility of him replacing Steven Gerrard at Rangers.

What’s the talk?

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Dutchman is set for talks with Rangers over the vacant managerial position this weekend.

He Tweeted: “Rangers have shortlist ready to replace Gerrard. The board will start official contacts during the weekend – talk scheduled also with Gio van Bronckhorst #RangersFC Former Rangers and Barça player, he’s in the list together with other 2 managers. He’s interested in the job.”

Delight

Rangers fans will surely be left delighted by this update from Romano for multiple reasons. Firstly, he is a familiar face who understands the club.

The retired Netherlands international played over 100 times for the Gers during his playing career in Scotland before his £12.15m transfer to Arsenal in 2001, which remains the most expensive departure from Ibrox in the club’s history to this day.

This shows that he is familiar with the club and will have a connection with the fanbase, through memory or the memories of their parents, and could form an instant bond if he gets the job.

Van Bronckhorst being, according to Romano, interested in the role could also leave fans delighted as it shows that he is keen to make the move and still has an affection for the club. He wants to take over from Rangers, rather than Ross Wilson needing to convince him to take the job.

They could also be buzzing due to the Dutchman’s impressive record as a manager. In four full seasons at Feyenoord, he averaged 2.03 points per game in the Eredivisie as his side finished third, first, fourth and third.

He also won the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup twice each, taking his tally to five trophies in four years at Feyenoord, showing that he has the quality as a coach to piece together a team capable of winning games on a regular basis.

Van Bronckhorst is also currently out of work, which means that Rangers would not need to pay any compensation to snap him up.

He could come straight in without any baggage from a job he just left and that could appeal to Wilson, as it would save money ahead of the January window.

AND in other news, Wilson could land Rangers an “exceptional” Gerrard replacement in “modern” 48 y/o boss…

While things at Celtic appear to be increasingly on the up under the management of Ange Postecoglou, with the Bhoys currently on a run of six games without defeat in all competitions, there are nevertheless a number of positions in the 56-year-old’s first-team squad that are lacking a considerable amount of depth.

Indeed, in a recent article for The Athletic, Kieran Devlin highlighted Celtic’s need for an adequate replacement for Callum McGregor in the number six role, as, during the four-game period in which the central midfielder was sidelined back in September, the Hoops clearly lacked a player who could replicate the 28-year-old’s “passing range, speed of thought and execution to accelerate attacks.”

However, before Postecoglou enters the January transfer market in search of a backup for the Scotland international, perhaps it would be wise to take a closer look at one of the club’s summer signings first – in the shape of Liam Shaw.

Indeed, after joining the club on a free transfer back in July, the 20-year-old said of his style: “I describe myself as a box-to-box midfielder, a lot of energy running up and down, I can score a goal, and be aggressive in that I like a tackle and I like to press people.”

This is something that was evident in his 19 Championship appearances for Sheffield Wednesday last season, over which the £315k-rated man scored one goal and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.3 key passes, 0.7 tackles and taking 0.5 shots per game.

While these statistics are not exactly mind-blowing, it must be remembered that his returns came while the midfielder was enjoying his breakthrough season in professional football within a side who were fighting at the wrong end of the Championship table – before ultimately suffering relegation.

Indeed, it is clear to see that the foundations are undoubtedly there for Shaw to blossom into a fine number six, something that will be developed further with more experience of first-team football.

However, with the 20-year-old being yet to make an appearance in the Scottish Premiership under the management of Postecoglou, it would appear a very wise move for the Bhoys boss to finally unleash the rarely-seen Shaw in the coming weeks and months, as the midfielder could prove to solve one of the 56-year-old’s biggest issues at Parkhead.

In other news: Ange must ruthlessly axe “incredible” £14k-p/w Celtic ace, there’s a better option

أعلن المدير الفني لفريق طرابزون سبور التركي، عبد الله أفسي، التشكيل الأساسي لمواجهة فريق كوبنهاجن الدنماركي.

ويستضيف ملعب “باركن ستاديون” في الدنمارك مباراة الفريقين، في ذهاب الجولة الفاصلة المؤهلة إلى دور مجموعات دوري أبطال أوروبا 2022/23.

ومن المقرر أن تُقام مباراة الإياب في معقل الفريق التركي يوم الأربعاء 24 أغسطس الجاري.

وحسب الموقع الرسمي، يتواجد اللاعب المصري محمود حسن تريزيجيه في التشكيل الأساسي لفريق طرابزون سبور. تشكيل طرابزون سبور أمام كوبنهاجن

حراسة المرمى: شاكير.

خط الدفاع: لارسين، دنسفيل، هوجو، إرين.

خط الوسط: سيوبيس، باكسيتاس، عبد القادر عمر.

خط الهجوم: كواسي، تريزيجيه، كورنيليوس.

Jhulan Goswami, captain of the Indian women’s team, has said she’s happy to have regained her No. 1 bowling ranking but was disappointed with India’s third place finish in the World Cup in Sydney.India’s hopes of making the final of the tournament faded after their five-wicket loss to New Zealand in the second of the Super Six matches. “Losing to New Zealand was the turning point of the tournament,” Goswami told .Kate Pulford, the New Zealand batsman whose 71 set up the victory, had been reprieved on 22 when Mithali Raj dropped a sitter in the slips. Several run-out chances were also missed with the Indian fielders throwing wide of the stumps. “A little competitive approach with some good fielding back-up would have clinched us the tie against the Kiwis,” Jhulan said. “It was simply not our day. We fielded badly.”India thrashed West Indies by eight wickets in their final Super Six game, but it was not enough to take the side to the final. “We faced the West Indies in our next match and won the match hands down,” she said. “If we had crossed the New Zealand hurdle, the title would have been well within our reach. It’s very disappointing.”

Southampton face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium this weekend as they go in search of their first win of the Premier League campaign.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s Saints have picked up three draws and one defeat from their opening four Premier League matches. After losing to Everton on the opening day, the Saints managed draws against Manchester United, Newcastle and most recently West Ham.

What could the Austrian do to give his side the best chance of coming away with their first win? Making some changes to the starting XI could be one way to go about it, and in Moussa Djenepo, there has been one player in particular who has failed to make the most of his opportunities this season.

The winger has started all four of Southampton’s league matches this term and averaged a dismal SofaScore rating of 6.28. Only Nathan Tella, who has played 10 top-flight minutes, has a lower rating than the Mali international, highlighting how much he has struggled recently.

Djenepo has failed to make an impact defensively or offensively in his four starts, struggling at both ends of the pitch for the Saints. The £34k-per-week dud has failed to produce a single goal or assist in the league this season, whilst only creating 0.8 chances per game and completing 40% of his attempted dribbles with the ball. He has also missed one ‘big chance’, showing that he has not had the quality in the final third to punish Premier League opposition.

Defensively, he has been too lightweight. As per SofaScore, Djenepo has lost 63% of his total duels against opponents, whilst he has also been dribbled past as often as he has won possession back (0.5) per game. This shows that he has not been strong enough to win individual battles against opponents, handing the advantage to the other team.

He also lost possession of the ball a whopping 61 times in four games, 15.3 times per match, and has completed a disappointing 70% of his passes. All told, he has not offered enough defensively, offensively or in transition to suggest that he deserves to keep his place in the starting XI.

Hasenhuttl needs to ruthlessly axe him from the team and offer another player a chance, as Djenepo is not providing the goods at this moment in time. Dropping him also could motivate the 23-year-old to work harder in training and improve when he gets his next opportunity to play.

AND in other news, Ralph must unleash £52k-p/w Saints “phenomenon” vs Man City, he’s a game-changer…