According to a recent report from Cadena SER, Manchester United have been scouting Valencia’s Maxi Gomez this season and were present when he notched a brace against Barcelona last Saturday.

What’s the word, then?

The same source states that Man United already have a list of players they want to see at Old Trafford come next season and Valencia’s young striker is among them.

Quickfire Quiz: How much do you know about Man Utd’s history in the January transfer window?

Importantly, the young Uruguayan forward was at the heart Valencia’s thrilling win over the Catalonian giants, banging in both of those goals to sink the title chasers and give their new coach his first taste of defeat. All of that while United’s scouts watched from the stands, as the same source states.

As Cadena SER explain, however, the 23-year-old was brought in for €14.5m (£12.2m) with Santi Mina going the other way, and the player has a termination clause of €140m (£118.3m) with a contract until 30 June 2024.

Verdict

With nine goals and three assists in his first 25 games for Valencia, Gomez is slowly but surely showing his worth to the Los Che.

But at 23 years of age, he is still far from the finished product and yet, already a big part of Albert Celades’ jigsaw that he’s currently building at the Mestalla.

Needless to say, losing him would be a big hit for the Bats and Valencia should do their best to keep the young centre-forward at the club as long as they can.

Of course, performances like the one against Barcelona do prove that he is on the right path to becoming a star for the future, and teams like United are bound to come knocking.

But if Valencia truly want to compete with the best, they will have to put their foot down and make sure they have the best in their squad.

With Gomez having a termination clause in his contract, this makes things a bit more complicated but, at the very least, Valencia know they can get a decent compensation for him.

Elsewhere, one Manchester United teenager might be on Sunderland’s radar as we speak…

According to The Mirror, West Ham United want to sign three players on deadline day – a striker, a midfielder and a right-back.

What’s the word, then?

Well, The Mirror says that the Irons are desperate for reinforcements on deadline day to stave off the threat of relegation from the Premier League – they currently lie in 17th position and are only outside of the bottom three on goal difference.

The report adds that the Hammers are locked in a battle with London rivals for the signature of Hull City forward Jarrod Bowen, who has scored 17 goals in 32 appearances in all competitions for the Yorkshire club this term.

Calling all transfer experts! How much did each of these Deadline Day signings cost?

Busy day at the London Stadium

It can always be seen as a bit of desperation when you are looking to add at least three players to your squad on deadline day, but in David Moyes’ case it is very much needed.

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The east London outfit were frankly abysmal in their 1-0 FA Cup home defeat against West Bromwich Albion last weekend, and they haven’t been much better in the top flight either.

A number of their regular starters simply aren’t at the races right now, and new faces are needed both to bring quality to the squad, and cause more competition for places under the Scot.

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Should joint-owners David Gold and David Sullivan manage to deliver all three before the 11pm deadline, things could be looking a lot rosier for West Ham ahead of the visit of fellow strugglers Brighton and Hove Albion to the London Stadium on Saturday.

In other West Ham news, Sam Inkersole has dismissed a rumour linking the Irons with a move for a 34-year-old attacker…

Southampton don’t have many central midfielders at the club right now.

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and James Ward-Prowse are Ralph Hasenhuttl’s undisputed first-choice duo in the middle of the park, having made 23 and 25 Premier League starts respectively this season – however, behind those two, the Saints aren’t blessed with a wealth of options.

Hasenhuttl also has Oriol Romeu at his disposal, although behind the Spaniard, only Will Smallbone could be considered as an option to come in and perform at centre-midfield if any of the aforementioned trio were unavailable for whatever reason.

In that respect, perhaps that is why Southampton have been linked with a move for Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham.

The Frenchman – who was described as “a bit moody sometimes” and also a “little bit inconsistent” by his manager Neil Lennon – is believed to be in the Saints’ sights ahead of a summer move, with The Sun believing that Ntcham would jump at the chance to move to St Mary’s.

However, while Southampton don’t have a wealth of options in midfield, the 18-cap France U21 international’s potential arrival could be a hindrance to Smallbone’s chances of gaining more regular first-team action.

The 19-year-old – who started and scored in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Huddersfield earlier this season – made the bench for Southampton’s last Premier League game against Liverpool, although that FA Cup outing was his one and only appearance for the first-team. He did, however, shine on that occasion.

After that 2-0 win, Hasenhuttl praised the teenager, saying that he “is one of the best players we have in the youth” and he also “showed that on the ball he has some really good moves and quality” – the former RB Leipzig boss also said that he hopes Smallbone and Jake Vokins “make a good development”.

What could’ve been… Can you name the clubs these football legends almost joined?

Significantly, one presumes that Smallbone will not “make a good development” if Ntcham arrives, as he is already struggling for game time at St Mary’s anyway even though Hasenhuttl has only three first-team central midfielders.

If the Celtic man arrived on the south coast, we fear for the Ireland U19 international’s development.

In other news, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg may have dropped a hint regarding his future on Instagram…

Dele Alli needs to be banned.

The Tottenham Hotspur attacking midfielder made a grievous error of judgement on social media, posting a Snapchat video appearing to mock the outbreak of the coronavirus as well as an Asian man, per BBC.

He posted an apology on Weibo, a Chinese social media site, and he has also accepted that the joke “wasn’t funny”.

There has been uproar and rightly so. Spurs’ social media posts, posted from the official Twitter account, have been flooded with fans asking for an apology from the club.

It is no laughing matter. The coronavirus has killed more than 900 people in China, the BBC reports, and there are more than 40,000 known cases worldwide.

The British government have issued warnings about the virus; it is about more than just football.

Of course, Spurs are embroiled in a battle to finish in the top four under Jose Mourinho and have two key games coming up in the Premier League, against Aston Villa and Chelsea, the latter of whom sit fourth in the table.

Losing Alli would undoubtedly be a blow. He has scored seven goals in 18 Premier League games this season and provided two assists. He is a key member of Mourinho’s squad.

Forever a Spurs legend: Honour Pochettino by getting 100% on this all-Poch quiz…

But the precedent is there. Bernardo Silva was banned for one game and given a £50,000 fine after he compared team-mate Benjamin Mendy to a black character on a Spanish chocolate product.

The FA are currently investigating if Alli breached the rule E3(1); it bans players in the Premier League from making “improper” social media posts or bringing the game into disrepute. Silva was found guilty of the latter and Alli ought to be to.

In his video, he showed himself wearing a mask, panned the camera to an Asian man, and then showed a bottle of antiseptic hand gel.

He is 23 and there is no defence for such a post. He can claim ill-judgement or simply ignorance but the facts are there for all to see: He has behaved in a manner that has clearly brought the game into disrepute.

He is an England international and should know that his platform allows him to be seen by thousands of people from across the globe. On Twitter alone, he has 933,700 followers.

Alli, rightly or wrongly, is expected to set an example. He has not done that; he has done the exact opposite.

A ban has to be the right and proper outcome here.

Meanwhile, Spurs have a star in the making!

The Athletic journalist James Pearce claimed that Liverpool “lacked a spark in the final third” during Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.An early goal from Saul Niguez proved to be the difference between the two teams in their last-16 first leg at the Wanda Metropolitano.Both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were replaced by head coach Jurgen Klopp during the defeat in Spain.And Pearce was keen to pay tribute to La Liga side Atletico for their impressive defending over the course of the 90 minutes.

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Liverpool, of course, will have the chance to turn the tie around when the two teams meet at Anfield for the second leg next month.

Atletico will head to Merseyside with a one-goal advantage, though, and Pearce claimed that the English club’s lack of “spark” in attack caused them to lose on Tuesday night.

The journalist’s full-time tweet can be seen below:

Meanwhile, Liverpool are thought to be leading the race for this Premier League attacker ahead of the summer transfer window.

Things are going quite well for West Brom at the moment.

The Baggies look increasingly likely to return to the Premier League with each passing week, and they’re now nine points clear of third place, sitting pretty at the top of the Championship.

The Midlands club are well aware that promotion is in their hands, and if they keep winning, they will be back in the top-flight.

They’ve had a tough run lately, playing two playoff contenders in the shape of Nottingham Forest and Bristol City in their previous two games, and things don’t get much easier on Tuesday.

Indeed, Slaven Bilic’s side host sixth-place Preston North End at The Hawthorns in their next match, in what is likely to be a tough game.

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Albion will have to be at their best to beat the Lancashire outfit, and here’s how we think they’ll line up with two changes.

After beating Bristol City 3-0, unsurprisingly we haven’t predicted too many changes for West Brom.

Sam Johnstone remains in goal, while the back four remains very similar, aside from the fact that Kyle Bartley returns in place of Ahmed Hegazi.

The main talking point ahead of this one is in the midfield after Romaine Sawyers’ red card on Saturday.

Steve Madeley has recently stated that Rekeem Harper will be next in line after the midfielder’s indiscipline, so the teenager starts in the league for the first time this season.

Filip Krovinovic and Jake Livermore start just in front of him, while Callum Robinson and Matheus Pereira play on the wings.

Hal Robson-Kanu retains his place up top after netting a brace against the Robins.

In other news, West Brom fans have been drooling over one man.

Garry Monk isn’t having the best of times as Sheffield Wednesday manager at the moment.

The former Birmingham City boss has overseen just one win in the Owls’ previous dozen league games, but to be fair to the manager, he’s been without his 12-goal top scorer.

Indeed, Steven Fletcher has been absent since New Year’s Day due to an injury, but he made his long-awaited return on Saturday.

Snapshot

The game was there to be won at St Andrew’s at the weekend.

The Blues and the Owls were drawing 2-2 at halftime, but the Yorkshire club took the lead in the 65th minute.

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In an attempt to put the game to bed, Monk introduced the striker into proceedings in the 71st minute, but he didn’t have anything close to the desired effect.

Doesn’t help Monk

The Scot’s return didn’t quite go to plan.

The forward rarely made anything happen as he failed to have a shot on goal, didn’t play a single key pass and also amassed just six touches, via WhoScored.

Fletcher was quite simply a yard off the pace, and if he doesn’t get back up to speed soon then Wednesday’s problems may only worsen. After all, Wednesday are lacking goals as it is.

Heading into their clash with Birmingham, they’d only scored twice in their last five outings. Individually, the next highest scorer after Fletcher is Jacob Murphy who has just five strikes all season.

Monk is in real peril at Hillsborough, fans have been calling for his head, and the club are slowly but surely sliding down the league table.

Wednesday have certainly missed the £1.8m-rated man’s firepower in recent weeks, scoring just four goals in the seven games he’s missed since the turn of the year, but Saturday’s cameo indicates that he may not be a quick and immediate fix for the Owls’ current woes.

In other news, Ron Atkinson has praised one Sheffield Wednesday player.

Leeds United have been urged to make one of their loan signings permanent this summer by former defender Danny Mills as the Whites’ form continues to trend in the right direction.

What’s he said?

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have put the pressure on league leaders West Brom with a run of four straight victories culminating in Saturday’s 4-0 whitewash over local rivals Hull City.

Manchester City loanee Jack Harrison has been a major part of that by recording 11 key passes, 13 dribbles and seven tackles, per WhoScored.

In 36 Championship appearances, the 23-year-old has scored five goals and provided six assists, so he’s evidently been a huge player to Leeds’ fortunes.

Which is why Mills is calling for the club to sign him this summer, especially as his asking price has decreased substantially. He said:

“At the end of last season I think Manchester City wanted £15million for him, he is good but he has not got a pack of diamonds in his pocket.

“That was a little bit expensive for how well he had done. Now, the option at £8million is very viable indeed.

“He reminds me of Jason Wilcox. He is going to hug the touchline, get good crosses into the box and works his socks off. Very rarely lets you down. He is of that ilk. He is not the type of player that will get you 15 goals a season but what he gives you is width and work rate.

“At £8million, whether it is Premier League or Championship, it is a really good buy.”

Danny Mills for Football Insider.

Must-buy?

Harrison has come on leaps and bounds under the Argentine boss, already surpassing last season’s exploits of four goals and four assists with ten games spare.

Therefore, it would surely be a no-brainer to sign him on a permanent basis at the end of the season considering City are wanting nearly half the amount they were demanding last summer.

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Helder Costa is a figure that has split opinion, but Leeds have an obligation to buy of £15m on him so to nab Harrison for £8m, it’s arguably a major steal.

Bielsa is quite light for options out wide as it is, so securing the Englishman ahead of next season regardless of the division they play in would also be shrewd business as it will be one less worry on his mind.

Quickfire Questions – Early title winners: Can you get all 13 right in 2 minutes?

If the west Yorkshiremen do indeed gain promotion, something that Aston Villa swooped up around £170m for achieving, then signing Harrison for a fraction of that is simply the right thing to do.

And in other news, Leeds winger Ian Poveda suffers another killer blow…

The Athletic’s Chris Waugh joined Taylor Payne on the Pod On The Tyne podcast and discussed a recent improvement in Newcastle’s overall performances.

Steve Bruce’s team have tallied two wins in their last two games played, including a huge victory over West Brom in the FA Cup that booked their ticket to the quarter-finals of the competition.

And Waugh believes that this new formation Bruce has deployed is actually making Newcastle enjoyable to watch after previously struggling to convince. Here’s what he said on the Pod On The Tyne podcast (11/3/2020): “I think it certainly made them far better to watch and far more of an offensive threat. I thought Newcastle for large part looked more threatening than I’ve seen in a long, long while. I can count on one hand essentially the number of decent halves of football I’ve seen this season before the last two matches and yet against West Brom and Southampton, it was actually borderline entertaining.”

Even though the sample is still quite small, the improvement is already visible and both victories against West Brom and Southampton have been rather impressive. Indeed, against the Saints, the Toon Army had 14 shots (via WhoScored) which was way higher than their previous 10.3 average per game and their clash with the Baggies saw them bag three goals in one outing, which is a fairly rare occurrence.

Newcastle fans, do you think this new formation is the secret behind your recent success? Let us know down in the comments below!

Tottenham will let Jan Vertonghen go for nothing at the end of the season, according to Football Insider.

What’s the story?

The 118-time Belgium international’s contract runs out at the end of the season, but it seems there are no plans from Spurs to try and keep him at the club.

The report adds that the north London outfit told a number of interested sides that he would be available for £12m in January, but they failed to offload him in the end.

Right decision

Since signing for the club in 2013, Vertonghen has been a revelation. He has gone on to make 314 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, helping the club move towards the upper echelons of the Premier League and European football, which culminated in them reaching the Champions League final last season.

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However, much like the whole team, the 32-year-old’s level of performance has dropped during the 2019/20 campaign. His average WhoScored rating in the top flight of 6.85 is the worst since he made the switch to London seven years ago. Quite frankly, he is not the player he used to be, and the increase in injuries over the last season-and-a-half have not helped him perform at his best level.

Vertonghen currently earns £100,000 a week at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, a substantial amount – for context, only five players in the whole squad currently take home more than what he does. It is not clear how much he would demand if talks for a new contract were set to commence, but if it were to be around the same sum as present, that is not something that Tottenham could justify considering the quality of his displays recently.

There is no doubting that he has been a terrific servant ever since Andre Villas-Boas took him to White Hart Lane, but all good things must come to an end. Yes, Spurs will not receive a penny when he does depart, but sometimes, that does not matter.

His loyalty down the years means they have got their money back on the pitch – whether they get any money for him when he leaves is irrelevant.

Meanwhile, Danny Murphy criticises this key Spurs figure.