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Former Everton striker Kevin Campbell has branded the arrival of Cenk Tosun ‘a great piece of business’ for the Toffees.

Tosun joined Everton from Besiktas earlier this month off the back of scoring 14 times in 24 appearances for the Turkish club in the first half of the 2017-18 campaign.

The 26-year-old made his Everton bow against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, and despite his new team suffering a 4-0 defeat, the forward showed glimpses of his talent.

Campbell was the last player to move to Everton from Turkish football, with the now 47-year-old switching from Trabzonspor in March 1999.

The former striker has hailed the capture of Tosun, insisting that the Turkish international will be a star for the Merseyside club once he has fully settled.

Campbell told Everton’s official website:

“It is a great piece of business for Everton to bring in somebody of international quality. Tosun is a good player, a strong player. He is blessed with good technique and knows where the goal is.

“The quicker we can get him settled in the better. He might need a couple of games to adapt but he is a top-quality striker.”

Everton, who have lost each of their last three in the Premier League, will be looking to put three points on the board when they host West Bromwich Albion this weekend.

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are looking into the possibility of a loan deal for Juventus striker Fernando Llorente, according to reports from the Daily Mail.

Despite the Gunners having made an almost perfect start to the season, Arsene Wenger is still keen to bolster his striking options.

Olivier Giroud remains his only orthodox option in the role, with a suspension or injury for the Frenchman likely to expose the threadbare nature of the Londoners’ options in the final third.

Llorente has emerged as one of Wenger’s targets, despite the forward having only signed for Juve over the summer.

The World Cup winning front-man completed a Bosman move to the Serie A champions from Athletic Bilbao just a matter of months ago, but has spent the majority of his time at his new club on the bench.

The form of fellow arrival Carlos Tevez and the presence of a number of talented players have seen the 28-year-old fall out of favour, putting his chances of making Spain’s squad for the 2014 World Cup at risk.

He is thought to be open to a move to secure regular action, and Wenger is hopeful that he can take advantage of the situation with a temporary deal.

An option to make the move permanent could also be a possibility.

Could Fernando Llorente be just the man Arsenal need to stay in the title fight?

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Newcastle forward Demba Ba is unhappy at starting recent games on the bench, and could consider his future if he is not reinstated to the side’s starting line-up according to the striker’s agent.

The Senegal international started the Magpies’ fixture against Everton on the bench on Monday, before coming on to score both goals for the visitors in a 2-2 draw.

The forward’s agent Alex Gontran has stated that his client is becoming disillusioned with Newcastle boss Alan Pardew.

“Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Demba doesn’t understand the management,” the agent told BBC Sport.

“If he continues to be a substitute all season, we’ll look at other solutions.

“Demba is happy at Newcastle. He is playing in the Premier League, with lot of fellow French speakers and he loves the club’s supporters.

“He would like to start every game but he respects the choice of the coach, even if he does not always understand or agree.

“How could you put your best striker with full confidence on the left wing?’

“The choice to put Demba on the left last season was good for the club, because Papiss Cisse scored 13 goals.

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“But there was a lack of recognition for Demba. It is more difficult to play well when you don’t have the confidence of your staff,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

Manchester United were unable to challenge Manchester City for the 2017-18 Premier League title, but the Red Devils did secure a runners-up position.

Second represented progress from the 2016-17 season, but United ended the campaign without a trophy after losing 1-0 Chelsea in the FA Cup final.

Jose Mourinho’s style of football has not won him too many admirers with the United fans this season, but the Portuguese has delivered trophies wherever he has been.

There would surely have been a different undercurrent if United had beaten Chelsea to land the FA Cup last weekend, but it seems that the English club’s supporters now want change.

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On Wednesday, United’s official Twitter account posted a story which detailed the club’s players that will be present at the 2018 World Cup this summer.

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But the United fans were simply not interested in hearing about it, with the response section full of those asking for Mourinho to be sacked ahead of the 2018-19 season.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin posted on his official Twitter account following his side’s 3-2 win against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Thursday night, and Gunners fans were quick to react.

The Spaniard has been playing as a right-back in recent times but he was pushed forward into a wing-back role in a 3-4-2-1 formation against the Eagles, with the north London outfit taking an early lead though Shkodran Mustafi.

A second-half brace from Alexis Sanchez wrapped up the points for the visitors, but they were made to sweat when James Tomkins scored in the 89th minute to set up a nervy finish.

Bellerin has struggled to replicate the form he has shown in the past this season, and he failed to make too much of an impact at both ends of the pitch against Palace.

Arsenal supporters took to social media to give their thoughts to the 22-year-old, and while one said “step up your game”, another said “you’re the weak point of the team”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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The summer transfer window may be over, but for Championship, League One and League Two teams the chance to improve their squad is not quite over.

The ‘emergency’ loan window is rarely befitting of its name – with league officials waving through most loan moves despite their discretionary basis. However, the system is probably to the benefit of English football as a whole. Premier League managers have a better idea of who will actually play for them now as they have named their 25 man squad for the first half of the season. Football League managers on the other hand have an idea of where they would like to strengthen or add depth to their squad.

The loan window offers clubs beneath the Premier League the chance to strengthen with quality they could simply not buy. It also allows younger players and others struggling to make the first team squad the chance to maintain their fitness in a competitive match environment which simply cannot be replicated by playing reserve or under 21 football at their incumbent club.

With this in mind, here are five Liverpool players who clubs lower down the pyramid are likely to be having a look at during the loan window.

Click on Jon Flanagan to see FIVE Liverpool players who could gain some valuable experience elsewhere

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After a spectacular 5-0 victory on the opening day, Fulham have lost two in a row and welcome and unbeaten West Brom Albion to Craven Cottage on Saturday.

The Cottagers were drubbed 3-0 at West Ham last time out, having previously put up a good performance losing 3-2 at Old Trafford. They have also found themselves dumped out of the League Cup by Sheffield Wednesday.

With three points from a possible nine, Martin Jol will be no doubt going out for maximum points against the Baggies.

Greek International captain Girogos Karagounis could feature, with Jol having singed the 35-year-old on a free transfer.

“I’m delighted to have signed for Fulham Football Club and I am excited by a new challenge in England and the Barclays Premier League,” the former Inter Milan and Panathinaikos midfielder said.

“I’m looking forward to working under Martin Jol and playing alongside some fantastic players at this club.”

Fellow new boy Dimitar Berbatov could also be in line for his first start for his new side, while Simon Davies, Bryan Ruiz and Kerim Frei are all expected to be in the squad.

Steve Clarke’s West Brom side have made a fantastic start to the campaign, beating Liverpool 3-0 on the opening day, before earning a dramatic point at White Hart Lane.

The Baggies claimed another Merseyside scalp during their last outing, beating Everton 2-0 at the Hawthorns.

Romelu Lukaku is hopeful of returning to the squad having sat out the Everton victory.

“Romelu’s injury was the result of a tackle and, to be honest, it was probably a 10-day injury. He just ran out of time to play against Everton,” Clarke said.

“It was natural that he would be fit and ready to play for Belgium.”

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Prediction: Fulham 2-2 West Brom

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Manchester United starlet Timothy Fosu-Mensah has returned to the club following the end of a mixed season-long loan spell with the Premier League rivals Crystal Palace, and Red Devils fans have been discussing the 20-year-old’s first-team chances next term.

The Netherlands international started the campaign in the side under previous Eagles boss Frank de Boer – playing as a centre-back in a three-man defence – but he struggled to make an impression with current manager Roy Hodgson in the remainder of the season.

The Dutchman found himself behind Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the pecking order over the course of the last couple of months, and he failed to make the matchday squad for their final five top flight fixtures – although that doesn’t seem to have deterred some of the Old Trafford faithful who reacted to a suggestive tweet from the 20-year-old earlier this week.

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Man United supporters have taken to social media to give their thoughts on what the future holds for the versatile youngster, and while one said “watch Mourinho rot him on bench next season”, another said “he’s so perfect for RB, yet Jose doesn’t seem to rate him”.

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Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

When Alexandre Lacazette signed for Arsenal in the summer, it felt like a case of better late than never.

Since the departure of Robin van Persie to Manchester United in 2013, Arsenal have lacked a top striker. And after being linked with big-money moves for massive names, the Gunners always seemed to shy away from actually making the purchase, must to the displeasure of their fans.

But after signing the Frenchman in the summer, Gunners fans had to wait until late October for a glimpse of their golden trefoiled attack to start a game together.

This season, despite the arrival of Lacazette and the success – if you can call it that – in keeping Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in the summer, Arsenal have still floundered at times this season, especially away from home. But they do remain very much in the hunt for fourth place and a return to the Champions League next season. And with a deadly striker on board, Arsene Wenger’s side will be a force this season.

This weekend, their victory over Newcastle showed just what Lacazette brings to the team, even when he’s not scoring.

Although the vital goal in Saturday afternoon’s victory over Newcastle came from Ozil, the Frenchman’s performance was the kind of striker’s display that Arsenal have been lacking for an age.

When players like Lacazette are not scoring goals, you have to be prepared for them to seem inactive: predators don’t do much for most of the game, except for when they pounce.

With someone like Olivier Giroud up front in recent seasons, Arsenal always had a player who was more likely to get involved in games and link-up with other players. The problem with that, however, is that it can often be easier to defend against: the opposition don’t have to worry about a deadly striker lurking in the box miles away from play. With Lacazette, they do.

At the weekend, the Frenchman managed only 38 touches of the ball: one more than Petr Cech and comfortably less than half of the contribution of any other Gunners player, although he was taken off with just over 15 minutes to go.

With those touches, however, he won one dribbles, played two key passes and took four shots: when he gets it, there’s always danger and that’s because of the positions he occupies.

What’s also interesting is that, in contrast with his team’s 85% pass accuracy, Lacazette’s was all the way down at just 70% – much lower. But that’s because he’s not just attempting easy short passes, but rather trying to win battles with defenders, play lay-offs to his teammates or even set some of his attacking partners through on goal or into dangerous positions.

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For years, Arsenal have been accused of being too intricate and too pretty in their build-up play.

With Lacazette in the side, they’re a little bit more direct and look straight to goal that little bit more often. Later on in the season, that could be crucial when it comes to the race for the top four.

Arsenal are leading the race to sign Dutch star Adam Maher, according to talkSPORT.

The AZ Alkmaar midfielder had been linked with Ajax, but the Amsterdam club have ruled themselves out of the running, opening the door to a Premier League move.

The 19-year-old has been linked with a move away from AZ, after impressing in the Eredivisie this year. The midfielder scored seven goals as he helped the club to finish 10th in the table.

The Gunners were ready to fight Ajax for the Dutch youngster, but the club’s director of football, and former Arsenal player, Marc Overmars, has ruled out a move for Maher.

“I called Adam and his representative Sigi Lens to say that we have made different choices,” Overmars told De Telegraaf.

“Additionally, I have said to AZ that we have no interest.”

This leaves Arsenal as the sole club interested in Maher, who played the full 90 minutes in Holland Under-21s 1-0 defeat to Italy Under-21s in the summer final of the European Under-21 Championship.

Maher has also appeared for the senior side, making a substitutes appearance against Romania in a World Cup Qualifier earlier this year.

The midfielder has come through the AZ academy to become a top player for the Dutch club, and could well be playing in the Premier League next year.

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Should Wenger sign the 19-year-old? Will he do well in the Premier League?

Share your thoughts below?

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