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According to reports on Croatian website Sportske Novosti, Aston Villa are among the clubs targeting a January move for Viktoria Plzen striker Michael Krmencik, who would cost a minimum of €3m (approximately £2.7m).

Villa will be looking to sign a new attacker in the New Year following injury setbacks for Jonathan Kodjia and Scott Hogan, with Dinamo Zagreb and Championship rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers also linked with the prolific Czech Republic international according to Sportske Novosti.

Meanwhile, under pressure Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino may also be looking to strengthen his goal-shy attack in January with his team scoring just nine goals in their 12 Premier League matches so far this term, which has left them in 14th position in the Premier League table.

A centre-forward may well be top of the Argentine’s list with Charlie Austin seemingly out of favour and Shane Long enduring a long goal drought, and bringing Krmencik to St Mary’s could prove to be a shrewd move.

Here are three reasons Southampton should hijack Villa’s bid to sign the Czech striker…

Goals

Southampton need goals if they are to keep themselves out of and away from the relegation zone this season, and the signs are that Krmencik would bring those with him to St Mary’s if he joined the south coast outfit during the January transfer window.

The 24-year-old has enjoyed a successful 2017 for club and country and as well as scoring 14 goals and providing a further seven assists for Plzen so far this term – including three goals in the Europa League – he also has six in 11 caps for the Czech Republic.

Striker attributes

While Mauricio Pellegrino’s preferred formation is the 4-2-3-1 system, the Argentine doesn’t seem to have found the right striker to play the lone role up top.

Manolo Gabbiadini is better on the ground than in the air, Charlie Austin isn’t nimble and Shane Long’s record in front of goal is simply not good enough.

Saints enjoyed the majority of their success in the Premier League in recent years when they had Rickie Lambert and Graziano Pelle in the team, and Krmencik has all of the attributes to follow in their footsteps.

The 6ft 3in centre-forward is strong in the air from crosses and has a competitive edge – meaning he is perfectly suited to the English game – but he is also agile and has some speed and skill too.

Price tag

Krmencik’s Viktoria Plzen contract is due to expire next summer and with no sign that the 24-year-old will extend his stay with the Czech side, he could be available for a cut-price fee during the January transfer window.

Sportske Novosti has suggested that he could be bought for a minimum of £2.7m, and that is certainly an affordable price tag for Southampton in the New Year.

It can be difficult to get good value for money in the winter window, and Saints may prefer to pick up someone like Krmencik rather than paying over the odds for another striker.

Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.

Everton fans have been down in the dumps lately following a torrid few months.

Prior to this weekend’s action the club were in danger of a relegation battle as they had recorded just four wins in 14 Premier League games.

Sam Allardyce took over from interim boss David Unsworth earlier this week as permanent manager on an 18-month deal.

The experienced coach’s first match in charge was against Huddersfield Town at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.

A slow start indicated that things may not go well for the Merseyside outfit, but in the second half, the team got the goals that they needed.

Gylfi Sigurdsson opened the scoring and Dominic Calvert-Lewin added to the tally as Everton picked up all three points.

As a result, the club moved up to 10th in the table and will now prepare for the Merseyside derby against Liverpool on December 10.

Following back-to-back wins, Everton fans are now feeling relatively optimistic ahead of the trip to Anfield.

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Manchester City in the Transfer Tavern are starting to get anxious with the club yet to make a major signing in the transfer window.

The Citizens cruised to the Premier League title last season which has prompted their Premier League rivals to splash the cash. Both Liverpool and Manchester United have spent almost £100m to bolster their ranks and to challenge Pep Guardiola’s side next season. The Spaniard has targeted both Jorginho and Riyad Mahrez, but both moves have not progressed for weeks.

It’s hard to identify other areas of improvement given the abundance of talent available to the former Barcelona boss. Therefore, it would be a wise move to start planning for the future and target some of the world’s best wonderkids. Guardiola should turn his attention to the Serie A and Juventus.

With the Old Lady reportedly set to complete a stunning £88m deal for Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, they could be forced to offload some of their stars to fund the move. City should make an audacious attempt to sign their most prized asset – Moise Kean. Valued at £10.8m by Transfermarkt, the forward became the first player born in the 2000s to make an appearance in Europe’s five major leagues as well as in the Champions League.

Kean spent last season on loan at Hellas Verona where he made 12 starts, scoring four goals. The 18-year-old remains one of Italy’s most promising prospects. The youngster has bags of pace and quick feet coupled with excellent dribbling ability; making him a defenders nightmare. He is also a fantastic finisher, scoring 29 goals in 36 appearances for Juventus’ U17s which saw him fast-tracked to the first-team.

Under Guardiola’s tutelage, Kean could develop into one of the best strikers in the world.

Manchester City, thoughts?

It’s going to be a crucial summer for Newcastle fans this summer. If Mike Ashley doesn’t dip his hand into his pocket, Newcastle could be in for a tough season much to the distress of Newcastle fans in the Transfer Tavern. 

Newcastle have added former Swansea midfielder, Ki Sung-yueng and signed Martin Dubravka on a permanent basis. Newcastle mustn’t stop there though as they desperately need some more options up front and also another midfielder.

The club have now set their sights on signing Sporting Lisbon midfielder, Bruno Fernandes according to Portuguese media outlet, A Bola. The midfielder was outstanding for Sporting Lisbon last season, where he scored 16 goals and also registered 20 assists in all competitions. After a training ground attack from the fans, he is one of a group of players looking to terminate their deals at the club.

The Breakdown

Valued at £27 million by Transfermarkt, the 23-year-old was one of Sporting’s best players last season.

Capable of playing further back as a deep-lying playmaker, Fernandes is brilliant at moving the ball and building the attack from deep. He can pick the ball up from the defence under pressure but also play that cutting pass through the lines to start attacks. Moreover, the Portugal international can also push forward to play as the 10 and play from there.

As seen by his superb goal tally, Fernandes can chip in a few goals from midfield. At only 23, Newcastle would be getting an absolute gem if they can bring him to St James’ park.

The club may face some competition from West Ham for his signature but if they sign him, Benitez could have a superb midfielder to partner Jonjo Shelvey.

Thoughts Newcastle fans?

In the immediate vortex of a World Cup exit emotions can often spiral into the hysterical.

Overwhelming disappointment lends itself to castigation that usually leads to a scapegoating of an unfortunate individual. Usually too there are calls for sweeping change as we pinpoint how England came undone and what new approach can be implemented to ensure this never happens again.

This time however – for the first time in a very long time – there has been scant playing of the blame game while calls for a ‘root and branch’ reform have only been aired ironically. Indeed this barely feels like a post mortem at all.

Instead there is a great deal of hope mixed in with the deflation as it is widely acknowledged that Gareth Southgate and his young squad are very much heading in the right direction and simply need more mileage under the hood. And from that mileage comes experience and from that experience comes invaluable knowledge in how to better navigate tournaments, overcome adversity, and in the broader sense, become a more rounded, complete footballing side.

This truth, and the largely positive and reasoned reaction to it, is encouraging in itself but there is even greater cause for optimism. Because the journey of discovery for this England squad does not start now: it has already begun and from Russia 2018 lessons will have been absorbed that will only make this side stronger as they prepare for Euro 2020 and stronger still for Qatar 2022.

This learning applies to Southgate as much as it does his players. It is difficult to overstate how successful a campaign the 47-year-old has had and in doing so he has completely reimagined his reputation while making us feel connected to our national side once again. That it’s all been done with a dignified stance is also important.

Yet for all of the significant positives – namely the forging of a unified squad through the establishment of an identity and a system that got the best out of his players – his in-game management in the Luzhniki Stadium fell painfully short.

With England in full control of their destiny his substitutions only weakened them and though it would have taken a very brave manager to withdraw Kane and a brave one to hook Alli by the hour mark: their reputation mattered far less than their ineffectualness.

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Hauling Sterling off was a mistake and it proved to be a costly one as Rashford drifted out wide thus isolating Kane who frankly looked a shadow of his usual self. In this regard it was not a resurgent Croatia who nullified England’s threat but their own manager.

In addition to this was Southgate too affixed to a system that had previously worked so well? Once Croatia got the upper hand England were over-run in midfield and were crying out for a steadying influence in the central area, an influence Lingard or Alli could not provide simply due to the types of player they are. This however would have necessitated a change to the formation and for whatever reason Southgate eschewed this option or more pertinently he failed to adapt.

In the days to come Southgate will obsess over every decision he made in Russia and its tempting to believe that such inflexibility will not occur again.

As for the players one of the biggest lessons also came courtesy of Wednesday night’s defeat. It is imperative in a major tournament – and especially against top level opponents – to press home an advantage when the opportunity is there. Ironically the very opposite used to be England’s downfall, with a proclivity to play with their hearts rather than heads and an attempt to prevail through sheer will. It was calculation and savvy that used to be beyond them.

Yet Croatia were all at sea – they were there for the taking for much of the first half – but England instead kept to their game-plan and remained patient and organised throughout, their careful build-up play welcomed by a team in relative disarray.

On the whistle, Harry Kane said games of such magnitude were decided by ‘fine margins’ and he was absolutely right in that assessment. But that doesn’t mean that these fine margins are benignly bestowed by the universe – they can be controlled and it simply cannot be under-valued to what extent this is so when teams learn when to shift through the gears and go for the throat.

Another lesson is a rather obvious one. For all of England’s impressively creative set-pieces the fact remains that they scored only three times from open play in six games. This suggests a shortfall in creating chances and it’s a concern that goes all the way back to their qualification campaign and friendlies too under Southgate’s charge.

Here though we must veer from the notion that the present squad must learn from this and instead look to the near future – to the emergence of Phil Foden, Jadon Sancho, and the sublime Ryan Sessegnon – because there are some tricks you can’t teach old dogs, no matter how esteemed the university. In years to come England will be abloom with creativity and difference-makers and in Foden potentially too a Modric-figure pulling the strings.

At the next World Cup these kids will shine amidst a core of players with four further years of international experience and the teachings it affords. The Three Lions will be even more assured and certainly considerably more nuanced. It’s an exciting thought.

Throughout this summer ‘Three Lions’ has belted out from drunken throats and stereo, an anthem to our hope. Perhaps now the dream is over another song should take its place, one released three years earlier. Things can only get better.

According to TEAMtalk, Tottenham Hotspur have approached Stuttgart over a move for versatile defender Benjamin Pavard in this summer’s transfer window.

Pavard starred at right-back for France at the 2018 World Cup – putting in a string of impressive performances as the European nation landed the crown.

The 22-year-old played a lot of football at centre-back for Stuttgart last season, however, and has also operated in central midfield for the Bundesliga club.

Pavard is contracted to Stuttgart until the summer of 2021, but a number of clubs have been linked with the defender, and it will be difficult for his German side to keep the Frenchman if bids start to arrive.

Toby Alderweireld’s expected exit will open up a spot in the squad, and Pavard’s arrival could see Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino switch to a 3-4-3 formation.

Pochettino would have the option of playing Kieran Trippier and Ben Davies as wing-backs, with Pavard potentially sliding in alongside Davinson Sanchez and Jan Vertonghen in central defence.

It is understood that a release clause in Pavard’s contract will allow him to leave for £30.9m next summer, but Tottenham want a deal done ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.

As shown in the graphic above, Pavard played the full 90 minutes in six of France’s seven games at this summer’s World Cup – putting 540 minutes on the board.

The 6ft 1in ace scored an absolute stunner against Argentina in the round of 16, whilst the fact that he picked up just one yellow card is a credit to his defensive abilities.

Pavard also made 12 tackles during this summer’s tournament, and a pass success rate of 80% shows just how well he used the ball. Those numbers for a full-back are very impressive, and there is no question that he was key to France’s triumph.

Tottenham will face a lot of competition for the defender – rated at £36m by Transfermarkt – this summer, but Pavard seriously came of age at this year’s World Cup.

The 2018-19 Premier League campaign is now just around the corner, and Pavard’s arrival at Tottenham would send out a big statement.

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Dedryck Boyata’s solid World Cup has reportedly led to a stream of clubs queuing up to deepen Celtic’s central defensive crisis by buying him this summer.

Newly-promoted Fulham, Italian giants Lazio and Ligue 1 outfit Lyon, who have just brought in £15m from the sale of defender Mouctar Diakhaby, are all apparently in the hunt for the Belgian international.

Brendan Rodgers has just the two match-fit and available centre-halves for the Champions League qualification tie against Rosenborg as Boyata is being given an extended break as a result of his role in Belgium’s run to the semi-finals of the summer showpiece out in Russia.

However, the interest in Boyata, combined with Fulham’s new Premier League money and Lyon’s windfall, may well allow the former Liverpool boss to create an auction, ensuring that if his central defensive resources are further depleted, the Bhoys will at least receive top dollar.

So, we asked Celtic fans whether they would sell Boyata for £15m this summer and it’s clear that most of them would, with 85 per cent of them willing to do a deal at that sum…

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According to Sky Sports, West Ham have opened talks with Crystal Palace over the potential signing of energetic midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate – with the east Londoners valuing him at around £10million. The Senegal international doesn’t appear to feature prominently in Manuel Pellegrini’s plans and could now be sold to fund further signings amid a summer of lucrative spending at the London Stadium.

Kouyate’s no doubt a solid Premier League player, but is he the right signing for the Eagles who have made just one addition so far this summer? Football FanCast look at the potential consequences – some positive, some negative – of Kouyate making the switch to Selhurst Park…

Double deal agreed with West Ham

Kouyate isn’t the only West Ham player Crystal Palace have been linked with this summer, previous reports from Sky Sports revealing the Eagles’ keenness to sign winger Michail Antonio. There hasn’t been any noteworthy movement on that front, but talks opening between the two clubs regarding Kouyate’s move could facilitate grounds for negotiations over Antonio as well and get what would be an equally important signing over the line.

Antonio isn’t the same calibre as Wilfried Zaha and shouldn’t be expected to fill the potentially departing forward’s void alone. But he’s a decent Premier League player nonetheless who would suit Palace’s dynamic style of play. And even if the Ivory Coast international doesn’t leave this summer, the Eagles are in desperate need of another wide option to increase competition and depth throughout the squad. Valued at £15million, Antonio would be a good addition at modest cost.

More goals added to midfield

James McArthur, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Luka Milivojevic were responsible for 17 of Palace’s 45 Premier League goals last season and Kouyate could well add to that potency from the middle of the park. The energetic midfielder perhaps isn’t perceived as much of a goal threat, but he actually netted nine times during his first two Premier League campaigns, and much of that owes to how he was utilised by the Hammers – more as an offensive box-to-box than a deep-lying anchorman and even a centre-back at times.

Palace’s midfield is all about dynamism and the ability to break forward at speed, and the Kouyate of his first two Premier League seasons fits into that setup perfectly. Of course, there’s a question over whether Roy Hodgson can rekindle that kind of performance out of the Senegalese, but if he managed to get McArthur scoring regularly last season there’s no reason he can’t do the same with Kouyate.

Everton beat Palace to Maxime Gonalons

Worryingly light on depth in the engine room, Palace could certainly do with signing both Kouyate and fellow reported target Maxime Gonalons this summer. But from a player’s perspective, signing one midfielder might leave the other concerned about playing time upon moving to Selhurst Park – especially as Milivojevic and McArthur are likely nailed on for starting berths in the coming campaign anyway.

Everton are also believed to have some interest in the Roma man, and that uncertainty could just see them sneak ahead in the race for Gonalons’ signature. They can easily match Palace’s £8.9million bid and can probably offer him a more lucrative contract as well, not to mention a greater chance of qualifying for European football come the end of the campaign.

So, Palace fans, would you back a swoop for Kouyate? Let us know by voting below…

According to Marca, Everton boss Marco Silva is interested in bringing Villarreal attacker Denis Cheryshev to Goodison Park in this summer’s transfer window.

Cheryshev scored four times for Russia during a very impressive 2018 World Cup, but the 27-year-old is expected to be available for transfer this summer.

The versatile forward joined Villarreal from Real Madrid in the summer of 2016, and managed four goals in all competitions for the Yellow Submarine last term.

Everton are still believed to be in the market for at least one more attacker this summer, and Cheryshev could well fit the bill.

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The Premier League club’s supporters have been reacting to the speculation on social media, and it would be fair to say that they have differing views.

That said, there are many who feel that Cheryshev’s arrival could see 20-year-old Ademola Lookman, who continues to be linked with RB Leipzig, move on ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.

A selection of the best Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Arsenal were beaten by reigning champions Manchester City in their Premier League opener.

Unai Emery’s team selection raised a few eyebrows with Petr Cech starting ahead of Bernd Leno in between the sticks and Lucas Torreira beginning on the bench. The Citizens took an early lead when Raheem Sterling was allowed too much space and fired a low shot home. Bernardo Silva wrapped up the win with a lovely volley after the interval.

The decision to start Cech was a strange one. The former Chelsea man has been declining in recent seasons as he approaches the twilight of his career. His inconsistent performances continued against Pep Guardiola’s men, almost allowing Aymeric Laporte to tap home a rebound as well as nearly scoring a bizarre own-goal from a routine pass back.

Leno was recruited from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer for and was seen as the perfect replacement for the ex-Czech Republic international. The German was benched for just the third time in his career. Emery insists that Cech will remain his number one and Leno will have to wait for his chance to impress.

Given Emery wants Arsenal to play out from the back, Cech should not be in the starting eleven. He constantly struggles with distribution and puts the Gunners in dangerous situations as a result of his poor passing.

If Arsenal want to be successful this season, Leno needs to be given the number one jersey. The Germany international is much better with the ball at his feet and will only improve at 26-years-old.

It’s time for a change at the Emirates, starting with their goalkeeper.

Arsenal fans, thoughts?