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According to a report by Claret & Hugh, West Ham United are now committed to bringing defender Craig Dawson onto the payroll permanently, with David Moyes deciding some time back that he wanted a permanent deal regardless of his obligation-to-buy clause.

West Ham committed to Dawson signing

Indeed, as per the Irons insiders, West Ham had already made the call over Dawson becoming a permanent player, with the 30-year-old having been a revelation since coming to the London Stadium on loan.

The defender, who has started 14 Premier League games this season (WhoScored), took a while to work his way into the side but has managed to usurp the likes of Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop over the course of the campaign.

He is currently a mainstay in Moyes’ backline, and the manager has apparently already made up his mind on a permanent deal for Dawson, with the club set to sign him for around £3m.

Transfer Tavern take

Claret & Hugh added that GSB are committed to this transfer regardless of whether Dawson hits the number of games needed to trigger his obligation-to-buy clause, which seems inevitable judging by Moyes’ recent admission that it was ‘very close’.

Given his form over this season, it seems obvious why Moyes made up his mind about the 30-year-old a while ago.

Bringing Dawson to east London permanently for just £3m has been described as a potentially ‘staggering’ deal by pundit Noel Whelan (Football Insider), and it’s hard to argue with his assessment.

In other news: West Ham have been dealt a potential Jesse Lingard blow, find out more here.

The latest instalment of the Manchester derby is not quite the title clash that Manchester United would have envisaged.

The Red Devils can cut the gap to Manchester City at the top of the table with a win but only to 11 points, perhaps merely delaying the precession to the title of Pep Guardiola and his men.

However, bragging rights are certainly up for offer and a key to United getting a result will be the performance of Bruno Fernandes.

As has been the case for many games since the Portuguese arrived from Sporting Clube de Portugal, he is set to be the Red Devils’ main hope.

In his time at Old Trafford so far, he has contributed 34 goals and 21 assists in just 62 matches – some seriously impressive numbers.

His contribution has even increased this season with Fernandes contributing to 49% of United’s 53 Premier League goals throughout the campaign.

He is also by far and away the most creative player in the entire Red Devils’ squad. According to WhoScored, he is averaging 2.8 key passes per match. His nearest midfield competitor is the lesser-spotted Juan Mata at just 1.1.

Even his teammates are aware of his immense influence since his arrival. Brazilian Fred has suggested that Fernandes “took over” the Manchester United midfield as soon as the ink dried on his contract at Old Trafford.

His creativity, dynamism and leadership are going to be even more important against such a good Manchester City side.

After a relatively poor start to the campaign, Guardiola has created a formidable team. The Citizens can boast the best defensive record in the Premier League having shipped just 17 goals throughout the entire season so far.

That stubbornness could suffocate United’s attacking players throughout the match, meaning Fernandes will have to be on top form if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer aspires to take anything from the Etihad Stadium.

In the melting pot of the Manchester derby, Fernandes once again has to show his immense quality and display exactly why he has become the main star, not just in the United midfield, but the entire team.

If the Portuguese star struggles, it’s hard to see a way how United can penetrate what has been a fantastic City back line. If he plays well, however, then the visitors have a chance to leave the Etihad with a positive result.

AND in more news, read our opinion on why Edmond Tapsoba could be the perfect foil for Harry Maguire…

Tottenham will be looking to continue their strong recent form with another three points against North London rivals Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday – and if Jose Mourinho wants to give his side the best chance of victory in the derby, he should axe Eric Dier.

The centre-back was restored to the starting line-up for Spurs’ game against Dinamo Zagreb in midweek, and whilst he helped the Lilywhites to keep a clean sheet in their 2-0 victory, Mourinho should revert to a partnership of Davinson Sanchez and Toby Alderweireld for the game at the Emirates.

Dier has struggled for consistent form in the Premier League so far this season, having averaged a fairly disappointing 6.71 WhoScored rating across his 21 appearances in the top flight.

This rates the 27-year-old below both Alderweireld and Sanchez in terms of Premier League ratings this season, whilst he hasn’t featured in any of Spurs’ last three wins in the top-flight, so it would be a mistake to ruin the winning dynamic which has seen Mourinho’s side put themselves back in with a chance of securing a top four spot this season.

Spurs went top of the Premier League with a 2-0 win against Mikel Arteta’s side earlier in the campaign but the Gunners are enjoying a decent 2021 so far, which is partly due to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s return to form.

The former Borussia Dortmund man has nine goals in all competitions since the turn of the year and would have perhaps fired Arteta’s side further up the table if it weren’t for their defensive issues.

The Gabon international scored the equaliser in the last meeting of the two sides at the Emirates and will almost certainly be the danger man on Sunday.

After Alderweireld was rested in midweek, it seems likely that he will come back into the side, so if Mourinho doesn’t axe Dier, he would presumably start alongside the Belgian in the centre of Spurs’ defence.

This would leave them extremely vulnerable to Aubameyang’s speed should Arsenal look to play balls over the top, with the £22.5m-rated Englishman unfortunately not blessed with pace.

Considering Dier hasn’t recorded a rating of more than 7 from WhoScored since early January, it wouldn’t make sense for Mourinho to select him in defence for such an important fixture – and with Aubameyang looking particularly dangerous at the moment, you worry that he could ruin the former Sporting Lisbon man if he is handed a start.

Therefore the Portuguese boss must axe him and go with Alderweireld and Sanchez as his centre-back pairing.

In other news… Bye-bye Sissoko: Levy should seal swoop for £16.2m-rated beast who Klopp loves

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United footballer Steve Howey has been singing the praises of Southampton midfielder James Ward-Prowse.

The 26-year-old has enjoyed a superb start to the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, having averaged an impressive 7.24 rating for his performances, with four goals and four assists to his name in 18 appearances.

This ranks him as the Saints’ second-best performer in the top-flight, in what has been a promising start to the season from Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, with European football certainly looking a possibility for next season if they maintain their current level of performances.

Ward-Prowse, in particular, has been getting a lot of praise, with Glenn Hoddle suggesting that his old club Tottenham Hotspur should sign the England international this month.

Indeed, Howey has suggested that it is something of a surprise that the Southampton academy graduate is still with his boyhood club, considering his excellent performances for the South Coast club in recent seasons.

Here’s what Howey had to say about Ward-Prowse when speaking exclusively to FFC:

“[Ralph Hasenhuttl] has got some very very good players. I’m still surprised that someone like James Ward-Prowse is still there. What a player he is. They’ve got some very good players that will cause problems for any team.”

Certainly, if Ward-Prowse’s excellent form continues this season, and Southampton don’t achieve European football, then it would not be a surprise if a top-six club from the Premier League club came knocking for the midfielder in the summer.

Fortunately for Hasenhuttl and the South Coast club, the Englishman’s £45,000-a-week contract runs until 2025, so it would have to be a substantial offer if Southampton were to sell him in the future.

Hopefully, the midfielder can help the Saints achieve European football of their own because it would be a massive loss if he were to leave the club in the near future.

And, in other news… “I can’t see him going” – Exclusive: Pundit makes claim on key Southampton man’s future amid exit rumours

Sam Allardyce’s first full West Brom squad following the end of the January transfer window made for interesting reading.

There was no room for Kamil Grosicki, and that’s before deadline day loan duo Okay Yokuslu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles even became involved.

It begs the question – just why was he not offloaded before Monday?

According to reports in Poland, there was late interest in the 32-year-old winger from Ligue 1 outfit Dijon and it was claimed that the Polish international was desperate to leave as he won’t get enough game time to impress ahead of the Euros this summer.

Whilst Allardyce himself claimed the veteran rejected the chance to join Championship outfit, Nottingham Forest.

Grosicki has now been snubbed from Big Sam’s squad three times in a row, whilst he’s only started twice in the Premier League all season, via Transfermarkt.

With Charlie Austin on loan at QPR, the winger is now the second-highest earner (£50k-per-week) behind Branislav Ivanovic (£66.5k-per-week) at the club.

It seems an awfully poor decision to keep him around considering he’s not getting games and perhaps that money could’ve gone towards a move valuable addition.

The former Hull City man wasn’t even involved as the Baggies were defeated by Sheffield United earlier in the week, so when Maitland-Niles and Yokuslu are in line to feature at Tottenham on Sunday, two more names will need to make way.

Overall, the £1m signing of Grosicki has never gone to plan. In the year he has been at the Hawthorns, he’s only featured 19 times, where has scored just once.

During his time at the Tigers, the Poland ace was dubbed “unplayable” by ex-teammate Jackson Irvine and a “threat to anyone” by former boss Nigel Adkins, yet we’ve never seen that come to fruition for Albion.

There wasn’t a better time for Luke Dowling to offload the rarely-seen flop than over the past four weeks, now Guochuan Lai will have to continue to line the pockets of a player who just isn’t fancied by his manager.

That’s why it’s one foolish decision.

AND in other news, 89% duels lost: Allardyce surely left worried after West Brom man drops disasterclass…

Marcel Brands must ditch his favoured Everton approach and swoop for RC Strasbourg Alsace centre-half Mohamed Simakan in the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to TuttoMercatoWEB, Carlo Ancelotti’s Toffees and Nuno Espirito Santo’s Wolverhampton Wanderers are beginning to show an interest in AC Milan’s defensive target ahead of the mid-season market.

Milan have been in discussions with Strasbourg over a potential deal for their 6 ft 1 enforcer, with a fee in the region of €15m and €20m (£13.6m and £18.1m) muted as decent value after the 20-year-old’s strong form thus far this season.

Simakan is believed to favour a move to the San Siro should he leave the Meinau Stadium in January, where he has helped to keep four clean sheets in Ligue 1 having started all appearances under Thierry Laurey this season.

Everton and Wolves are thought to be pressing ahead with efforts to hijack the Rossoneri’s deal, despite the Toffees purchasing Ben Godfrey from Norwich City for £20m in the summer.

New approach needed

Simakan has been one of the shining lights of Strasbourg’s challenging season in the French top-flight so far, with Laurey’s side engulfed in a relegation battle, yet his future appears set elsewhere.

Everton supporters would need to see their Director of Football Brands favour a new approach this winter if Ancelotti is to ever call on the youthful titan at Goodison Park, as the Dutch transfer chief is not a fan of mid-season deals.

Brands has only ever purchased one player during the January window since moving to Merseyside in 2018, when he sanctioned a deal worth less than £1m for Jarrad Branthwaite earlier this year.

He opposes winter transfers through a belief that clubs rarely wish to offload top-talents in the January window so demand extortionate fees, and he is unlikely to deviate far from his belief at the start of 2021 after the Blues announced loses of £139.9m in their latest annual accounts.

Instead, the priority will lieky be on offloading those deemed surplus to requirements under Ancelotti, yet exceptions are allowed in Brands’ plans if the right option suddenly becomes available – something Simakan would certainly be.

The youngster is highly-rated in France and was expected to be Strasbourg’s big-ticket sale in the summer, having impressed clubs from around Europe – including Milan, Everton, Tottenham, Southampton, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund – with a versatile approach to his game.

AND in other news: “Ancelotti’s sort of player” – Exclusive: Marcel Brands urged to make Everton swoop for £18m-rated maestro.

Mike Ashley will be heading for his biggest mistake at Newcastle United if he decides against firing Steve Bruce following Tuesday night’s shameful 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.

The Toon earned themselves the discomfiting honour of becoming the first Premier League side to lose to Chris Wilder’s Blades this season thanks to a second-half penalty converted by Billy Sharp, after Federico Fernandez was adjudged to have handled the ball inside Karl Darlow’s box.

Defeat at Bramall Lane left the Magpies just eight points above the drop zone, while having played two games more than 18th-placed Fulham and one more than 16th-placed Burnley, with the result also extending the North East giant’s top-flight winless run to six games.

Pressure is now mounting on Ashley to part company with Bruce a year-and-a-half on from his arrival as Rafa Benitez’s successor, with some fans demanding the 60-year-old is fired, having seen the Magpies bow out of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in the space of just 18 days.

With a second trip to Arsenal in the space of less than two weeks to come on Monday night, Bruce will be returning to the Emirates with his back up against the wall, knowing the howls of angst from supporters will only grow with yet another defeat in north London.

The Toon boss is not prepared to walk away, however, as the boyhood Magpies fan has vowed to fight for his position after the disappointing defeat.

“I’ll never ever walk away from a challenge,” he said, via quotes by Sky Sports. “I’ve been in it long enough to have that respect, but I understand – especially watching the first-half – we weren’t good enough and I take the responsibility for that, because I picked the team.

“I think we’ve had, apart from the last month which we knew would be difficult with the run of fixtures we’ve had, we’ve given ourselves a decent start to the season.”

Newcastle barely laid a hand on Sheffield United during their awful night in South Yorkshire, with a five-at-the-back system far too defensive and without any clear cohesion in the engine room, with Ryan Fraser and Sean Longstaff initially fielded as two false number 10s.

Fraser’s reckless two yellow cards in the space of three minutes threw Bruce’s plans out of the window just before half-time, and things failed to improve much after that with the Toon taking just four shots, enjoying a measly 28.4% of the possession and completing a dismal 58% of their mere 106 total passes in the second period, per WhoScored.

Their performance was hardly out of the norm, either, as Newcastle rank second-last for total shots taken per game (8.8) last for average possession (41.4%), 18th for pass success (75.1%). However, it can’t really be argued that these poor attacking stats are the case of the Magpies being extra solid at the back, as the numbers prove that they are anything but sold.

Thus season, they’ve allowed, on averages the second-most amount of opposition shots on goal (15), only West Brom (16.2) allow more. Furthermore, Newcastle have conceded the fourth-most goals from open play (16), per WhoScored, despite Karl Darlow’s often excellent performances in goal.

So, Bruce’s side don’t attack well and they aren’t exactly solid at the back either, so, what exactly is the manager bringing to the table? His side not being able to attack is one reason to sack him and the fact they don’t really defend well is definitely another.

If Ashley does not take decisive action on Bruce’s position soon, he will be setting the course for another big mistake at Newcastle by allowing United to sleepwalk toward yet another relegation.

AND in other news, forget Ryan Fraser: a £46k-p/w Newcastle man who lost 63% duels seriously betrayed Steve Bruce vs Sheffield United.

Writing on Twitter, journalist Fabrizio Romano updated Spurs supporters with quotes from a DAZN interview, in which Inter Milan CEO Beppe Marotta dropped a two-word transfer hint in regards to Christian Eriksen. 

Eriksen, who has found game time difficult to come by at the San Siro since putting pen to paper on a £16.9 million move, could be on the way out in January after this huge update from the Serie A magnate.

Eriksen transfer hint dropped

Marotta, speaking to DAZN, refused to rule out a January exit for the Dane, dropping the teasing transfer message ‘we’ll see’ – potentially reason for Lilywhites to get excited following this declaration.

For the first time, an Inter Milan executive has come out to update the footballing world on Eriksen’s future in Italy – with the former Spurs fan favourite looking increasingly likely to leave.

Tottenham have also been heavily linked to an Eriksen reunion, with a recent report from Football Insider claiming that Inter have offered Daniel Levy and co a chance to re-sign their ex-star.

Transfer Tavern take

There has been much debate over Spurs’ inability to find a creative outlet in the mould of Eriksen since his departure – but Jose Mourinho has since utilised both Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele in the more forward attacking midfield positions.

Currently sitting top of the Premier League pile, this Lilywhites team appears to be clicking, and while the 28-year would surely add more strength in depth, it’s also clear that Mourinho will not want to disrupt the harmony of this squad.

In other news: Jose Mourinho dropped a subtle message for Pochettino, find out more down below.

When you think of Sam Allardyce’s managerial career, one player sticks out like a sore thumb.

Kevin Nolan has played under the 66-year-old more times than anyone else, racking up 390 appearances across two different clubs and the ‘firefighter’ will need characters like him in this West Brom side if they are to beat the drop.

Luckily for Big Sam, he has an almost like-for-like already at the Hawthorns in the shape of Jake Livermore.

Whilst his old skipper, Nolan, was often deployed in the hole behind Andy Carroll, it wasn’t his attacking exploits that made him so effective, but rather his defensive contributions.

Combative, efficient and industrious. The ideal mix for any Big Sam midfielder. That’s pretty much Livermore down to a tee, is it not?

The Albion captain started his first game in five outings in Slaven Bilic’s swansong draw at Manchester City and proved to be a hassle for the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.

In nine Premier League starts, the 31-year-old is averaging 2.2 tackles and 2.3 fouls per match, via WhoScored. A perfect combination of being hard to beat and disrupting the opposition.

Indeed, Big Sam should be salivating over the prospect of unleashing the former Spurs powerhouse against Villa this Sunday.

He arrived in the west Midlands for just £10m in 2017 and has been here ever since and this unwavering loyalty is another factor that will have the new Baggies boss rather excited.

SmarterScout claimed earlier this season that the midfield veteran had “been massive, an aggressive defender with decent tackling” but lacked that extra bite in his duels with poor ball-retention, and that’s something Allardyce will need to improve fast to restore some stability.

The Albion “leader” could well hold the keys to Big Sam successfully pulling off another phenomenal safety bid. If Livermore is on form in the engine room, then at the very least, West Brom will have a firm foundation to build off going into 2021.

AND in other news, Big Sam may already be heading for his FIRST mistake at the Hawthorns…

Steve Howey believes that Newcastle United’s Federico Fernandez and Fabian Schar are the best defensive pairing currently at Steve Bruce’s disposal.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, the former Toon and Manchester City centre-back listed the duo despite the “leadership qualities” of club captain Jamaal Lascelles.

“I mean, I like Lascelles. I think he’s a decent player,” he told Football FanCast.

“Again, it’s like all players, you kind of struggle with form and I think, obviously, with injuries as well with him – I totally understand that.

“I like Fernandez, Schar for me is a good player as well. Paul Dummett’s decent in there, Ciaran Clark’s done really well in there as well.

“It’s probably going to upset a few people but I’d probably say Fernandez and Schar are the strongest two.”

In four of the five fixtures which the North East club has played in the Premier League so far this season, Bruce has deployed the Toon in a four-back starting formation.

Only in the 3-1 victory over Burnley at St. James’ Park did Schar and Fernandez start alongside one another, with Lascelles starting alongside Fernandez in the other three matches with a four-back formation.

As mentioned by Howey, though, Bruce also has Paul Dummett and Ciaran Clark as options in the centre of defence but neither have made a Premier League appearance for the Toon this season.

During the summer transfer window, Newcastle shipped out another centre-back option in 29-year-old Florian Lejeune on a loan deal to Spanish side Deportivo Alaves.

Howey went on to explain: “I mean, I thought Lejeune was decent and obviously he left. I think the leadership qualities, though, that you do get off Lascelles helps the team, so, it is a difficult one.

“I think on a football-base, I would go with Schar and Fernandez but, obviously, you’re missing them leadership qualities that Lascelles brings.”

While Bruce does appear to have a number of options for his central defensive pairing, the fact that Fernandez and Lascelles have begun alongside one another in three of their five top-flight matches so far this season suggests the English manager knows his favoured option.