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Speaking exclusively to FootballFanCast, Gary Mabbutt has urged Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho get the best out of Dele Alli.

The England international has had a difficult start to the season, scoring just once and not even being named in four out of the six match-days squads in the Premier League.

Whilst Mabbutt admitted that the 24-year-old appears to have fallen down the pecking order, he called on Mourinho to show his man-management skills and return the talented midfielder back to his best form.

The Tottenham icon said: “He does seem to have been out of favour a bit this season. Having watched Dele Alli grow as a player from when he first arrived at the club to where he is now, in a game you don’t deserve to win, he can create a bit of magic, he creates that opportunity for you, or scores a goal for you. He has an incredible potential to be a top player.”

Mabbutt added: “What the game is all about is getting a great squad of players together, and having a manager who can man-manage each individual player, to get the best out of him.

“With players like Dele Alli, he [Jose] has to manage that situation very carefully and make sure he manages it in the correct manner. If he feels that the attitude isn’t correct, he has to be the one that works with Dele Alli to get that attitude where it needs to be to make him the player the club wants him to be, and the player he wants to be himself.”

On his day, Alli is an undoubted game-changer. Despite still only being 24, he has already amassed an impressive total of 63 goals and 55 assists in his 228 games for the club.

The £100k-a-week star is going through a serious rough patch, but in Mourinho, he’s got a manager who will continue to demand the best from him.

Spurs already seeing the fruits of the Portuguese man’s style of working through Tanguy Ndombele, who looks to have come back into the reckoning after some serious doubts last season.

Now, it’s Alli and Mourinho’s turn to work things out together.

Released Coventry City youngster Jak Hickman has completed a move to League Two side Bolton Wanderers.

21-year-old Hickman developed through the Sky Blues’ youth sides before going on to make his official debut for the club in the EFL Trophy against Forest Green back in 2018.

Five separate loan spells would then follow, spending time with the likes of Mickleover Sports, Ashton United, Hereford, Redditch United and most recently, Bromsgrove Sporting.

Having seen his contract expire with Coventry this summer, Hickman leaves after much controversy, being fined back in 2019 for making comments against the club in a social media video.

Bolton Wanderers, who will embark on a spell in League Two next season, announced Hickman’s deal along with the signings of Nathan Delfouneso and Matt Gilks.

After seeing his move to Bolton confirmed, Hickman took to social media to reveal his delight, tweeting:

Coventry, who won promotion to the Championship last year are unlikely to miss the youngster, having signed a significant number of players already this summer.

This summer sale will not be one to regret for Coventry, especially after Hickman upset the club one year ago.

The young talent has done well to find himself a football league club, especially after spending the last year on loan in non-league football.

Do you think Hickman will do well at Bolton? Let us know in the comments section below…

According to Football Insider, Leeds have made enquiries about Milan striker Rafael Leao.

What’s the word?

With the Whites having clinched promotion to the Premier League in superb fashion, Marcelo Bielsa’s side are no doubt on the look-out for some reinforcements as they bid to make their first campaign back in the top-flight a good one.

Is it Haaland Snr or David Hopkins? Your Leeds knowledge will be put to the test with this quiz…



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And Football Insider claim that Portugal starlet Leao is of interest to Leeds, although it is suggested that luring him away from the San Siro this summer may prove to be “complicated” as Milan still have “high hopes” for him.

Compared to Mbappe and Ronaldo

At just 21, Leao is already seen as one of European football’s most promising strikers, and it’s no surprise given that he has been mentioned in the same breath as the likes of PSG prodigy Kylian Mbappe, and Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.

The president of Leao’s former club, Lille, Gerard Lopez simply declared him the “Portuguese Mbappe”, whilst Sporting CP’s former youth coach, Tiago Fernandes, proclaimed: “I pushed (then-Sporting coach) Jorge Jesus to take him in the first team and I said to him: ‘Yes, Gelson Martins has talent but Rafael is the best player in the history of the Sporting Academy’. At youth level, he was better than Cristiano Ronaldo.”

Rated at £18m by Transfermarkt, Leao has been further hailed as an “extraordinary talent” by Croatia legend Zvonimir Boban, and it’s quite telling that people seem to be falling over themselves to talk up just how good he is now, and good he can be in the future.

If Victor Orta and co are looking to make a major statement of intent this summer, then they could really do so by landing one of the brightest talents on offer in the whole of Europe.

Tottenham ace Erik Lamela could be on his way out the door before the start of next season. 

According to Football Insider, Lamela’s long-term future at Spurs remains uncertain ahead of the Premier League’s return in June. Football writer Wayne Veysey reports that the Argentine only has nine games to convince Jose Mourinho he deserves to stay in north London.

Mourinho faces an exodus of players in the summer, as Jan Vertonghen and Juan Foyth are seemingly set to leave. A source told Football Insider that the Lilywhites are likely to listen to offers for Lamela between now and the end of the season.

It is fair to say that the Argentina international is still a divisive figure among many Tottenham supporters, despite the fact he moved to White Hart Lane more than six years ago. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by injuries throughout his career so far, including a hamstring injury last year which saw him spend 63 days on the sidelines.

Nevertheless, Lamela was a favourite of former boss Mauricio Pochettino, as he became the club’s first-choice right winger during his tenure, scoring 31 goals and creating 40 assists in 183 appearances before his compatriot was promptly sacked after a poor run of form back in November.

The 28-year-old has struggled for consistency this season, as he has only scored two goals and provided just one assist in 17 games in the Premier League, taking 1.4 shots per game, averaging one key pass and attempting at least one dribble on average (via WhoScored).

Earlier this year, Football Insider revealed that Spurs are willing to let him leave, and it seems that the situation remains unchanged.

While Lamela could be given one last chance to prove himself to Mourinho, Football Insider claims that he could quit north London if the right offer arrives. Although footage has recently emerged of his sensational strike in a training match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday, this is merely papering over the cracks.

His output this season has simply not been good enough, especially as the Spurs head coach has made it clear he wants to win trophies in the future.

Mourinho is well aware that he will be strapped for cash in the transfer market and the club could sell the £14.4m-valued midfielder to raise funds for a squad overhaul.

Tottenham fans, should Daniel Levy sell Erik Lamela in the summer? Let us know in the comments below!

So Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham are picking up their form at just the right time.

After a drab 0-0 draw against relegation-battling Bournemouth, Mourinho’s men have racked up three consecutive wins, with their latest one coming against Leicester on Sunday afternoon.

The Lilywhites took the lead thanks to a deflected strike from Heung-min Son, before a magical brace from Harry Kane finished off the game within the first-half.

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And whilst their attacking players will no doubt steal the headlines, some of their defenders were equally as impressive, not least Davinson Sanchez.

As per Sofascore, the Colombian blocked four shots (a team-high), made three clearances, two tackles, and won three of his four duels on the ground.

And after seeing his performance, Spurs fans took to Twitter to share their reactions.

A couple of fans lauded Sanchez for making some big improvements over the past couple of games under Mourinho, and insisted that he could develop into a top player for them.

Reports in recent days have suggested that Spurs are on the look-out for a new centre-back, with Beijing Guoan’s Kim Min-jae being touted as a possibility this summer.

Sanchez’s performance against the Foxes on Sunday showed that they still have a defender with plenty to offer, and with the likes of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld well into their 30s, it could be the Colombian’s time to shine sooner rather than later.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Crystal Palace travel to Vicarage Road this Saturday to take on a Watford side who are seriously down in the dumps as things stand.

The side who knocked the Eagles out of the FA Cup at the quarter-final stage last season have just eight points to their name after 15 games of the Premier League campaign, having won just a single match all season.

Additionally, the Hornets have also already dismissed two managers in Javi Gracia and Quique Sanchez Flores, and are looking likely to be manager-less for this encounter unless a replacement is found before kick-off.

Despite their struggles, Watford still have a few players who can hurt Palace…

Ismaila Sarr

The Senegal international – who Palace tried to sign back in the summer (L’Equipe via GFFN) – scored his first Premier League goal for Watford recently against Southampton with a well-taken finish high into the net.

Sarr possesses blistering pace and has the ability to get in behind a creaking backline consisting of players such as James Tomkins, Mamadou Sakho and Martin Kelly, who are hardly the quickest men in the world.

The 21-year-old could prove to be a thorn in Palace’s side throughout this weekend’s affair with his directness – Hodgson must inform his defenders of Sarr’s best abilities so they can give themselves a few yards, in order not to get caught out.

Etienne Capoue 

While the Frenchman is a decent player, Capoue is a man that Palace must be wary of for slightly different reasons other than his footballing ability.

Last season, the former Tottenham man raked his studs down the Achilles of Wilfried Zaha during the league encounter at Vicarage Road, an incident that he really should’ve seen a red card for with Roy Hodgson also admitting that the foul negatively affected Palace’s talisman.

Having watched the game, Capoue also tried to gee up the home support following the nasty, studs-up challenge as if he had done something positive – his dirty gamesmanship must be something that the Eagles try not to be influenced by.

“It definitely affected Wilf. We didn’t see anything like the best of him until late in the game. One can understand that type of challenge affecting him.”

In other Crystal Palace news, the Eagles have been dealt a transfer blow after an update in the Championship…

Leeds are on course to return to the Premier League and though their excellence has been masterminded by Marcelo Bielsa, there have also been a number of stand-out efforts from the squad, too.

Pablo Hernandez continues to produce moments of quality while Patrick Bamford is really starting to show why he cost the club £10m, scoring nine goals this term. However, it is the defence which has provided the foundation for success thus far.

The Whites’ backline has conceded just 13 goals in 22 league games, and key to that has been one player – Ben White.

He is still young but he plays with the assurance and composure of a man who has been at Leeds for several years, and supporters certainly wish he could end up being a long-term servant at Elland Road.

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The defender has a mightily impressive 2.5 interceptions to his name per game while possessing fabulous ball-playing abilities. In 2019/20, he’s registered a pass success rate north of 84%.

The 22-year-old certainly has the quality, with some displays leaving fans believing that the sky is the limit for him, suggesting international call-ups and Champions League appearances could await the Brighton & Hove Albion loanee.

That is where the issue lies – White is only in Yorkshire for the short-term, and that means the club should start doing everything it can to guarantee his future and a stay at Elland Road.

Phil Hay stated in early November that Leeds would have the funds to do a deal if they go up but there are a number of sticking points.

It may be difficult with Leeds still in the Championship and interest in him growing from the likes of Manchester United and Liverpool, but that shouldn’t deter the club from making an effort.

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He has made a real difference to the side akin to that of Tyrone Mings at Aston Villa, who subsequently signed for the club for an astronomical fee of £26.5m after he guided them to promotion.

That shows what kind of money is available in the Premier League, but also the appeal that promotion would bring to Leeds.

Brighton have several accomplished centre-backs in the squad, namely Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy, as do the other clubs mentioned. Therefore, White may be keen to play for Leeds permanently, and for a manager like Bielsa.

The club, therefore, should attempt to open negotiations with his parent club with a view to making his presence in Yorkshire a permanent one, as a deal could be agreed to see him make a switch upon Leeds’ promotion, which is looking likely at this stage.

Elsewhere, Adam Forshaw has responded to Leeds’ fan criticism against him and it is a message supporters will want to see.

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”.

So just a year after being snubbed for the managerial post at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta is once again one of the supposed front-runners for the job.

The Gunners’ decision to sack Unai Emery after a win-less run standing at seven games, has meant the club will now be looking to appoint their second manager since the departure of the iconic Arsene Wenger.

And according to The Independent, Arteta leads a shortlist of candidates who are being lined up by the north London side to become their new permanent boss, with the likes of Carlo Ancelotti, Nuno Espirito Santo and Massimiliano Allegri also in the frame.

The report adds that whilst Arteta felt slightly “stung” by the club turning him down the summer before last, but has “such affection for the club, that he would be willing to reconsider any offer”.

After hearing the latest reports surrounding their former captain, Arsenal fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the matter.

Many supporters of the north London side revealed they are feeling slightly underwhelmed with the links to Arteta, and questioned how someone of no managerial experience could be handed such a top job.

Check out some of the reaction of Arsenal fans below:

Meanwhile, Arsenal fans react to Freddie Ljungberg being named interim head coach.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

The point of no return?

That could be the situation facing Nottingham Forest midfielder Ryan Yates as he and the team prepare to take on Luton Town.

It’s been a while since the Reds have been in action, with last week’s game against Reading being called off. However, Yates has been used to time off. He had been out for the majority of the early part of the season after going through a knee operation in the summer. Consequently, he’s made just one sub appearance.

What’s he said?

Speaking ahead of the game, Yates spoke about how hard he has been working to get back to fitness and that after making his return against Hull last week, he wants to make sure that he can stay a member of the squad for a long time to come:

“I think that there is more to come from me; I have to take it day by day, keep training harder and harder and keep learning from the experienced pros in the team.

“If I do get a chance, I have to take it with both hands and try and keep hold of the shirt. I just need to show my passion, desire and hopefully we can win games.”

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May never get a better chance

Yates is absolutely right in his assessment of the situation. With Samba Sow going through an injury of his own, this is going to be his best chance to prove that he can compete for a place in the starting line-up.

He is clearly seen as someone for the future, having made his breakthrough in the side in the latter part of last season under Martin O’Neill and even managing to get on the scoresheet once (via Transfermarkt).

However, those performances will mean nothing for him going forward.

Whilst it might be harsh to suggest, it is important to remember that Yates is not a Sabri Lamouchi player, he merely inherited him.

That means that there are no emotional attachments to his past career at the City Ground and that if he doesn’t prove to Lamouchi what he can do, it will make the whole job of selling him on and bringing in someone that can fit his style a lot easier.

With that being said, the 21-year-old will be hoping he gets the chance to start the game. Judging by the number of comments in a recent Q&A with Paul Taylor of The Athletic, it’s clear to see that fans hold him in high regard.

Now he needs to get in just as high a regard with the head coach.