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Amid all the controversy surrounding how Jack Grealish’s injury was leaked before Aston Villa’s Premier League clash against Leicester at the weekend, it’s easy to forget that the club’s talisman may be set to miss a significant period of time.

While Villa boss Dean Smith was quick to reveal that he is hopeful the England international could be back for the game against Leeds, according to BBC Sport, “it is understood he could be out for a month”.

Whether Grealish is out for just one game or more, Smith has a big decision to make about how he goes about replacing his main man – after all, the 25-year-old has scored seven goals and provided a further 12 assists in all competitions this season.

One Villa player who could be set to benefit from Grealish’s potential absence is Jacob Ramsey.

The 19-year-old has firmly established himself as part of Smith’s first-team squad this campaign, making nine appearances in the Premier League, albeit most of them being cameo appearances off the bench.

But perhaps now is the perfect time for him to get a real chance to impress from the off, and given what people have said about him, it’s clear he’s got the talent to be an able replacement for Grealish.

Villa’s former academy manager has previously gone on record to say about Ramsey: “If he continues to match his undoubted technical ability and eye for a goal with the desire and energy to reach the next level, he will have a bright future in the game.”

In fact, Smith himself has gone on record to say that he has an “awful lot of potential”, while former Villa ace Alan Hutton has dubbed him as a “class player”.

There is no questioning that with Grealish out injured, Villa have got a major hole in their side that is difficult to fill.

But if he’s given an opportunity, Ramsey could well step up to the plate and prove to be the club’s next academy breakout, ready to be a part of this side for the next few years to come – after all, it’s only because Grealish was given a chance once upon a time that Villa are blessed with one of the Premier League’s elite talents.

Ramsey could well be Smith’s saviour.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee has been discussing the situation of Dele Alli at Tottenham Hotspur.

The former MK Dons man has found himself on the fringes of Jose Mourinho’s squad this season, having made just one start in the Premier League this season, featuring for just 75 minutes in the top-flight.

As a result, the England international has been heavily linked with a move to PSG during the winter transfer window, where he could link up with his old manager Mauricio Pochettino, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

However, with the transfer deadline day set to close on the 1st February, no deal has been agreed, which could result in the £100k-per-week 24-year-old spending the rest of the season warming the bench at Spurs.

Here’s what Lee had to say about Alli when speaking exclusively to FFC:

“I don’t see the point in him staying at Spurs. I think it’s pointless. I think there will be lots of clubs after him but you have to play a certain way to play with a 10. Jose Mourinho just doesn’t play that way. Dele Alli – you have to allow him to do what he wants to do.”

Lee clearly feels that there isn’t much point in Alli staying with Spurs and that unless Mourinho drastically alters the way his side plays, then the attacking-midfielder is unlikely to see his game time with the Lilywhites increase.

Unfortunately for Alli, the latest reports are suggesting that Daniel Levy is not willing to let him leave until a replacement is brought in, and with time running out, it is looking more and more likely that the out-of-favour midfielder will be stuck at Spurs for the rest of the season.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-and-rumours” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, injury latest and more!”]

If he doesn’t leave during the winter transfer window, then it may not be a surprise to see the €40m-rated (£36m) ace depart in the summer, as he clearly isn’t held in the same regard by Mourinho as he was by Pochettino, who dubbed him an “unbelievable player” during his time in charge of the Lilywhites.

And, in other news… Levy can finally sign Spurs’ Vertonghen heir with swoop for £36m beast who’s “on the same level” as Upamecano

With Celtic badly depleted ahead of their Scottish Premiership clash against Hibernian on Monday night, it was a much-changed line-up from the one that lost to Rangers last time out.

And one of the changes came up front, where 19-year-old Cameron Harper got a rare chance to impress – the American hadn’t made a single competitive appearance for Neil Lennon’s side before then.

The Hoops, who had Gavin Strachan in the dugout at Parkhead, badly needed the teenager to offset the loss of both Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths, but sadly for both him and the team, he just struggled to deal with the pressure.

As per Sofascore, he won just two out of the seven duels that he contested, whilst he just couldn’t get involved in the game either, making a measly total of 13 passes.

Apart from one effort that saw him hit the side-netting, Harper didn’t look anything remotely like someone who could be challenging for a first-team spot at Celtic Park anytime soon.

GlasgowLive gave him a match rating of 5 for his performance, saying that whilst he had “lots of energy”, he “didn’t have the end product to match”.

And it was a display that left some fans really scratching their heads about whether he can make a real career at the club, with a few insisting that he just looked so out of his depth.

Harper was gifted an opportunity to really put a marker down and send a message to Lennon about being involved in the first-team for the rest of the season.

But instead, he badly fluffed his lines, and once both Edouard and Griffiths return, it’s hard to imagine Harper seeing any meaningful action anytime soon.

It has been reported recently in The Athletic that Southampton are willing to let Michael Obafemi leave in the January transfer window, should they agree a deal which suits both parties, meaning he could be allowed to leave on loan or permanently.

The Irishman has struggled for game time for the Saints this season, with Ralph Hasenhuttl rarely deviating from his front two of Che Adams and Danny Ings.

Even when Ings has been sidelined through injury, the Austrian manager has preferred loan signing Theo Walcott up front, whilst it seems as if youngsters Dan N’Lundulu and Nathan Tella have both moved ahead of Obafemi in the Saints pecking order.

As a result, he has made just one substitute appearance in the Premier League so far this season, which will undoubtedly be disappointing for the 20-year-old when you consider that last season saw him make 21 appearances in the top-flight.

Hasenhuttl has criticised the youngster’s professionalism in the past, saying:

“The problem with Michael was always he would play one good game and then fall back a little bit and was not professional enough to force or keep his position in the team or in the squad.”

However, he has still shown himself as capable of being a threat in the Premier League, having contributed four goals and three assists in 29 appearances in the top-flight.

With Ings now sidelined after picking up a hamstring injury, you would hope that Obafemi would be given an opportunity to impress in the Saints’ upcoming fixtures, instead of goal-shy 33-year-old Shane Long, who started the Boxing Day fixture against Fulham.

Unless Obafemi can impress Hasenhuttl with his work rate in training, however, he is unlikely to be selected to replace Ings. The England international has proved to be a constant threat with his pressing in recent seasons, something which Obafemi hasn’t really shown so far in his time with the club.

The Republic of Ireland international is still just 20-years-old though and considering his contract is set to run until 2022, Martin Semmens and the Southampton board shouldn’t rush into a decision on the youngster in January, simply because he isn’t featuring as much in the first-team this season.

A loan move would perhaps be sensible, to ensure that Obafemi’s progress isn’t stifled too much, as they could definitely end up regretting selling the £4.05 million rated forward, as he showed enough last season to prove he can be a part of this Saints squad in the future.

Certainly, with Ings’ future still hanging in the balance, with the former Liverpool man yet to agree a new contract with the club, it would make even less sense to let Obafemi leave permanently, as the youngster could well prove to be the natural successor to Ings, provided he can start to show a bit more professionalism and prove to Hasenhuttl that he deserves to start.

It will be interesting to see whether the 20-year-old gets his chance in the Southampton first-team in the coming weeks but even if he doesn’t, the South Coast club shouldn’t allow him to leave permanently in the January transfer window.

And, in other news… Hasenhuttl must make a brutal decision on “unbelievable” ace not good enough for the PL…

Things do not seem to be going to plan for long-serving Tottenham Hotspur star Erik Lamela this season.

As it often is, his campaign has been blighted by persistent injury troubles, and now he’s in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Over the festive period, the Argentinian winger was pictured alongside Spurs teammates Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon in what was a clear breach of the government’s lockdown measures.

It resulted in major fines for all three players.

And if anything, it was a complete act of betrayal to manager Jose Mourinho, who despite all of the doubts in the £85k-per-week attacker, has often kept the faith in him.

For all of his time on the treatment table, the ‘Special One’ has backed him to the point of calling him an “amazing guy” and a “fantastic player,” as per talkSPORT.

Indeed, Lamela has missed at least 108 matches through injury since making a €30m (£27m) move from Roma in August 2013, whilst he has been restricted to just 524 minutes of action in all competitions this term.

According to Eurosport’s Dean Jones, the winger is a player that Spurs could look to move on this transfer window in order to raise funds to bolster Mourinho’s squad.

And maybe it is time they should.

Former Leeds man Noel Whelan slammed Lamela’s recent antics in an interview with Football Insider, he said:

“This is one thing that has really gone against Erik Lamela. The club cannot trust him. Those players have broken the trust with the management and hierarchy. It is not as if he is even playing regularly and maybe that is why he thought he could do whatever he wanted. Maybe he’s not fussed anymore.”

It wasn’t too long ago that he took fire from Graeme Souness. The Sky Sports pundit dubbed him “pathetic” for getting Anthony Martial sent off during their 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United (via football.london).

Perhaps the latest controversy is enough to entice Daniel Levy into cashing in this transfer window.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Daniel Levy urged to sign out-of-contract UCL star…

West Bromwich Albion fans have been reacting to the news that their club are set to receive a fine for their agreement with West Ham in regards to Robert Snodgrass.

Snodgrass made the move to the Baggies from the Hammers earlier this month (wba.co.uk). However, to get the deal over the line, manager Sam Allardyce revealed that the Midlands outfit had agreed not to play the 33-year-old against the Irons on Tuesday night (via The Times), a game The Hammers won 2-1.

Such an agreement is actually against the rules, and there has since been an investigation into the deal by the Premier League. It seems that the Baggies are set to be hit by a fine as a result.

The news was shared on Twitter by Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett, and these West Brom fans replied in their droves as they gave their opinions.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Snodgrass agreement below

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

Credit: @hoare_neil

“And breathe…”

Credit: @RobPaddock16

“Thank god for that”

Credit: @leo_woodfield

“Thank the lord”

Credit: @StevoSmith0

“There’s our transfer budget gone then”

Credit: @jackggriffiths

“Dodged a bullet but again woefully poor from the recruitment department to put us in the situation in the 1st place”

Credit: @CarlAlexander74

In other news, West Brom enter talks for this 26-year-old international.

Celtic’s year has been an absolute whirlwind.

Because of the current pandemic surrounding us, the Scottish season was curtailed early. Thus, the Hoops took home the league title because of their emphatic lead at the top of the table.

Since then, they’ve had aspirations of winning a tenth-successive domestic crown. That, however, looks a far-fetched dream, mainly because Rangers have gone 11 points clear.

To be that far behind their rivals has been unthinkable in the last decade but it’s clear that not everything has been done right in 2020.

On the transfer front, things have also been largely unimpressive. The Hoops missed out on the likes of Joe Hart, Ivan Toney and Fraser Forster in the summer but we want to focus on someone they failed to sign in January.

Nearly 12 months ago it was reported that Celtic had been offered the chance to sign Ian Poveda at Manchester City. Lo and behold, Nick Hammond failed to get his cheque book out and he signed for Leeds United instead.

The pacey prodigy started just once last season so initially, it didn’t look like a loss. However, Poveda’s vibrant cameos from the substitutes bench in 2020/21 lead us to believe he would have added a great deal to Celtic’s side.

Of course, the vast majority of their problems lie in defence but Celtic aren’t exactly as free-scoring as they were last year, failing to find the net against Ross County last weekend.

Although Poveda is yet to score a goal for Leeds, he resembles the qualities that Daniel Arzani showed for Celtic. Both diminutive wingers with tricky abilities, the Australian unfortunately had an injury-hit spell in Glasgow and played just twice.

Hoops supporters didn’t get a clear inkling of his ability but he is a superb dribbler, just like Poveda, someone who could have made up for the loss of Arzani when he returned to Manchester City.

Both have come through the academy at City and given the technical attributes they possess, it’s clear to see why.

According to Twenty3, Arzani has managed 13.85 successful dribbles per 90 minutes for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands. On the other hand, Poveda has registered 9.61 over the same metric.

In terms of touches in the opposing penalty area, the Leeds winger is ahead by quite the distance – 5.56 v 1.15. Coincidentally, they are vastly similar when it comes to the number of accelerations they make over an average of 90 minutes. Arzani has 3.46 compared to Poveda’s haul of 3.03.

Considering Poveda was acquired on a free transfer, you can’t help but feel as though Hammond and Celtic missed a trick here.

After all, Pep Guardiola once said the 20-year-old had an “incredible power to develop.”

He is one that undoubtedly got away.

Meanwhile, Celtic could fix their HUGE Scott Brown problem in the following way…

It’s been a rough first half of the season for Arsenal, and speculation over Mikel Arteta’s future as manager is mounting.

The Gunners are in the midst of their worst start to a league campaign for a number of decades, and were eliminated from the Carabao Cup in mid-week with ease by Manchester City.

And with Chelsea next up for them in the Premier League on Boxing Day, the north London side could be staring at yet more festive disappointment.

Arteta will surely have to make some big calls and key changes to liven up his team, and with that in mind, below is a look at how they might line up against Frank Lampard’s Blues.

After making the controversial call to leave him out of the quarter-final against City, Arteta will no doubt bring Bernd Leno back into the starting line-up, and hope that the German can bring a bit more calmness to the Gunners back-line.

The likes of Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney should also all return to the first-team, with the trio among those names rested in mid-week – only Gabriel should keep his place, having served his one-match suspension against Everton last weekend.

In midfield, Mohamed Elneny hasn’t quite the heights like he did against Manchester United in Arsenal’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford, and the Egyptian could make way for Granit Xhaka.

One of the more surprising omissions from Tuesday night was Reiss Nelson, and the England U21 international will surely be hoping that was because Arteta sees him as a potential starter against Chelsea.

And having made his comeback against City, Gabriel Martinelli will look to give Arsenal an extra edge in attack as long as he shakes off the knock he picked up in the Carabao Cup.

Predicted XI: Leno; Bellerin, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Ceballos, Saka; Nelson, Lacazette, Martinelli.

Sunderland midfielder Josh Scowen has offered Black Cats boss Phil Parkinson plenty of food for thought after producing a stellar display in Saturday’s 2-0 win away to Gillingham, having been benched for the midweek draw with Rochdale.

Scowen initially joined Sunderland in January from Queens Park Rangers, but could have walked away from the Stadium of Light this summer through a clause in his £8,100-per-week contract that became active when the League One season was curtailed early due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The clause allowed Scowen to move on if the Black Cats failed to secure promotion out of the third-tier and if the North East giants received an offer from a club competing in the Championship.

Scowen ultimately stayed yet sat out Sunderland’s season-opening draw with Bristol Rovers after sustaining a bruised ankle late in the Black Cats’ pre-season programme, but soon enjoyed a consistent run in the starting line-up until Tuesday’s draw with Rochdale.

Parkinson opted to drop the 28-year-old to the bench at the Crown Oil Arena and only called on him to feature for the final 16 minutes, though offered Scowen a recall at Gillingham and started the London-born midfielder.

The former QPR ace proved to Parkinson why he should be one of the first names on the teamsheet at Priestfield Stadium, with Scowen offering an excellent display and a persistent goal threat worthy of much more.

Scowen was guilty of blazing arguably his best chance of the first-team over the bar, before spurning a handful of good openings in the second period as Sunderland pushed for the opening goal.

But the £720,000-rated ace impressed nonetheless, as Chris Maguire and Lynden Gooch scored the goals to seal all three points, with SofaScore data showing Scowen as recording the game’s joint-most shots (four) with Gillingham’s Dominic Samuel.

Scowen was additionally successful with his only attempted dribble of the match, while completing 78% of his 32 passes for two key balls and three accurate crosses. He failed to direct a shot on target, though, with three efforts sailing wide and one blocked, including missing the one big chance to score.

Parkinson also witnessed Scowen contribute defensively with one clearance and one tackle, along with winning two of his five duels on route to registering 51 touches.

The Black Cats boss will find it very challenging to justify again benching Scowen when Sunderland host Ipswich Town on Tuesday night after the sensational efforts he produced at Gillingham.

AND in other news, Phil Parkinson risks a naïve call on a Sunderland man Jack Ross claimed had “not achieved anything”.

Overall, Celtic enjoyed a rather fruitful summer transfer window as Neil Lennon brought in no fewer than six new additions.

The likes of Vasilis Barkas, David Turnbull, Alban Ajeti, Shane Duffy, Diego Laxalt and the returning Mohamed Elyounoussi all walked through the door at Parkhead.

However, the Hoops chief did fail to clinch one of his mooted targets with Hammers winger Robert Snodgrass nearly joining the club on deadline day.

The Glasgow Times claimed that a move for the 33-year-old, who is a Bhoys supporter himself, hinged on whether or not the defending Scottish champions could ship out “one or two” players.

In reality, Lennon could probably have done with another wing option, especially if he ever wants to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 he sometimes deploys as the squad depth out there is particularly poor.

On the left, it’s only really Elyounoussi with Mikey Johnston still out through injury whilst on the right, it’s James Forrest’s position to lose with Ryan Christie being able to play wide on the odd occasion.

So it’s not really a surprise to see Lennon opt for a 3-5-2 recently and even less of a surprise to see he wanted Snodgrass.

But now that’s out of the question – until January at least – perhaps the 49-year-old should look to the academy setup and he may well stumble across Cameron Harper, who could be worth unleashing as a back-up choice.

Karamoko Dembele isn’t the only generational talent hiding amongst the Parkhead ranks.

Speaking to Celtic TV last year, the 18-year-old American said: “I feel like I’m quite dangerous, I feel like I’m an exciting player. If I get the ball I can make things happen. So I like to get the ball in dangerous areas and I feel like something in the front three is where I am going to make the most impact.”

Capped at U20 level for USA, Harper could continue his upward trajectory if he’s handed the opportunity to do so by Lennon.

Given the injuries suffered to Ajeti and Odsonne Edouard, his versatility to play all three positions in attack as well at wingback, which could be a valuable threat as the congested campaign rumbles on.

AND in other news, Celtic must secure £5m speed demon who’s a nightmare for defenders in January…