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Just 18 months after his arrival at Elland Road, Adam Forshaw may be on his way out of Yorkshire as recently relegated Fulham have been showing an interest in his services.

The 27-year-old joined Leeds from Middlesbrough in a deal worth £4.5m, but he may be on the move again this summer as Scott Parker looks to bolster his midfield.

Would be a loss

Although Forshaw wasn’t really a key player for Marcelo Bielsa last season, he would be missed if he were to leave the club.

He is quite clearly a very competent midfielder in the second division – he won promotion with Middlesbrough back in 2016, helped Leeds to a third-place finish last season, and he is now being targeted by one of next season’s promotion hopefuls.

Fulham’s midfield will undoubtedly be amongst the best in the Championship with Stefan Johansen, Tom Cairney and Kevin McDonald a tried and tested trio at this level, and the addition of Forshaw would only improve that.

Shackleton step up

Leeds are already quite light in the midfield and with Kalvin Phillips potentially headed out of the club as well, it could be time for Jamie Shackleton to move into a more prominent role.

The 19-year-old was mightily impressive in the playoff semi-finals against Derby County, and United fans have been excited about his development. In recent weeks both Noel Whelan and Phil Hay have called him the most talented youngster at the club ahead of Jack Clarke.

An opening in the midfield may see him thrust into the starting XI next season as Bielsa has never been afraid of throwing his young players in at the deep end.

The £4.5m-rated Forshaw’s transfer to Fulham could be the catalyst that kickstarts a prosperous career for Shackleton as first-team opportunities could be headed his way.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Daily Star, West Brom have rejected an offer from West Ham for Salomon Rondon. The terms of the deal included a £10m fee plus Sam Byram and Jordan Hugill.

What’s the word?

Technical director Luke Dowling has confirmed ahead of the new season that Rondon will no longer be a Baggies player next term.

He suggested in quotes relaid by Express & Star that they were happy to sell and that Newcastle still had an interest in the striker after his successful loan spell last campaign.

However, it now appears as though West Ham have entered the race for the forward.

The Daily Star reported this week that the Hammers had a bid rejected for the Venezuelan which saw them offer £10m plus Byram and Hugill for his services.

Rondon currently has a £16.5m release clause in his contract.

Watch West Bromwich Albion Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Forget about Hugill

West Brom were absolutely right to reject this bid and if West Ham continue to offer Hugill in a swap deal they must knock it back again.

The fact of the matter is that the Irons striker simply isn’t good enough to help them achieve promotion.

Albion have already said they don’t see it financially viable to bring back Dwight Gayle, meaning he’ll leave behind 24 Championship goals.

That’s a big void and signing Hugill to fill the gap would be incredibly poor business, irrespective of whether they’d finally be selling Rondon as part of the deal.

In the Championship last term, the 27-year-old only scored six goals in 37 outings on loan at Middlesbrough.

It was a dismal return from a forward who previously looked competent in the division. Back in 2016/17, he netted 12 times for Preston but he’s been fairly mediocre since.

The fans in the video below had some very strong words for Michel Platini who was detained over alleged corruption this week…

West Brom will arguably need greater depth in attack next season but Hugill is hardly the type of character who will help fire them to promotion.

The Baggies are already having to cut down on wages so they’d be better off searching for someone in the transfer market that is guaranteed to score them goals, rather than accepting terms to bring Hugill to the Hawthorns.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Celtic are one of the teams interested in signing versatile Middlesbrough man Paddy McNair this summer, according to The Northern Echo.

What’s the story?

The Hoops have finally announced their first signing of the summer this week, with defender Christopher Jullien arriving from Toulouse to help bolster the defensive line.

It’s now important that the recruitment team at Celtic Park move on to other targets and one of the players being looked at is Northern Ireland international McNair.

The Echo reckon that manager Neil Lennon is a long-time admirer of the midfielder-stroke-defender having watched his progress at Manchester United and with his national team.

The paper say that Sheffield United are also in the hunt and could pay as much as £5m for the player, similar to the fee that Middlesbrough bought him for.

Celtic fans aren’t happy about Arsenal’s bid for one of their key players…

Why are Celtic interested?

With Celtic potentially playing another 60+ game season next term, they need a squad that can cope with the demands of the schedule without a drop in quality.

McNair is a player able to feature in multiple positions having played Championship football in midfield, the centre of defence and at right-back last season.

He made his senior breakthrough at Man United before making the switch to Sunderland and subsequently Boro, so has Premier League and second-tier experience, which suggests he is capable of playing in the Scottish Premiership.

Watch Celtic Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Scott Brown is currently the only combative, defensively minded midfielder available to the Hoops, with the others in the first-team squad excelling in the opposition half.

McNair can play that role and also slot in to defence if needed, potentially saving the need for the club to buy another central defender this summer.

Having that kind of versatility could be incredibly useful, even at the reported £5m, strengthening both the midfield and defence with one signing.

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One of the biggest transfer sagas of the summer, the situation surrounding Paul Pogba and his long-term future at Manchester United has seemingly been simmering for months.

Reports in recent weeks had suggested that the France World Cup winner wanted out of Old Trafford this summer and that Real Madrid and former club Juventus were interested in his services.

Mino Raiola then admitted that he was in the middle of trying to sort a move out for his client, and now, speaking to talkSPORT, the Italian has insisted that Pogba has done “nothing wrong” and that he has been “professional and respectful” during the ordeal.

After hearing the latest comments from Pogba’s agent, United fans took to Twitter to voice their opinion on the matter and many were rather surprisingly on the Frenchman’s side.

Some Red Devils supporters pointed to the 26-year-old turning up for the club’s pre-season tour as a major sign of his professional attitude and compared Pogba’s behaviour to the situations surrounding Neymar and Antoine Griezmann.

Indeed, whilst United fans were seemingly aggrieved by some of Raiola’s words, most were rather more reluctant to point the blame at Pogba himself and expressed their concern at seeing the midfielder be manipulated.

Check out some of the reaction of United fans below:

After losing James Justin, Luton Town have been raided for another defender in the form of Jack Stacey.

Bournemouth have confirmed via their official website the signing of right-back Jack Stacey, with BBC Sport reporting that the Hatters accepted a £4m offer for the defender following a season where the 23-year-old was influential to the club’s promotion to the Championship.

As well as scoring via Luton Today as well as being named in the EFL Team of the Season, alongside full-back partner Justin as well as striker James Collins.

With Sky Sports News reporting that Luton could receive up to £8m for Justin plus the reported £4m the club have accepted for Stacey, the Hatters now find themselves in a healthy financial position to not only reinvest into the future of the club but also to find good replacements for two of last season’s most important players.

With Luton initially signing Stacey on a free transfer according to Transfermarkt and Justin coming through the academy, the Bedfordshire-based club have made profit from two players who cost them nothing to sign, meaning that the Hatters could seemingly afford to go fairly big on signing replacements.

Luton fans, who should the club sign to replace Justin and Stacey? Let us know!

[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…ÂOn Wednesday evening Leeds United stepped back onto a football pitch for the first time since their heartbreaking playoff semi-final loss against Derby County.The Whites wasted no time in getting back to their very best as they rushed into a 4-0 lead before half-time against York City.Interestingly, we saw Marcelo Bielsa do something he rarely did last term, as he opted to start Kemar Roofe and Patrick Bamford up top together.

Last season

Last term Bielsa almost exclusively used a 4-1-4-1 formation which left room for only one striker in the starting line-up.

This meant that Roofe and Bamford rarely played together – in fact, they appeared on the same pitch just five times last season, and Leeds won only one of those games.

The duo also both failed to score when they did feature together, so you can see why Bielsa was hesitant to utilise both of his forwards in the same XI.

Against York

Pre-season is always a good chance to experiment with different styles, and on Wednesday the Argentine opted to take a different approach up top.

Instead of opting for a 4-1-4-1 with an attacking midfielder, Bielsa instead lined up with more of a 4-1-3-2 with Roofe acting more fluidly as a forward.

Fans were impressed by the understanding Roofe and Bamford had together as the 26-year-old continuously dropped deep to play balls through to his partner.

Some fans even thought that last season’s top scorer was playing as a number 10, but he would still be in and around the box whenever the ball was out wide. He was essentially acting as more of a deep-lying striker, whereas Bamford was always looking to get in behind.

Watch Leeds United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Unfortunately, Bamford couldn’t find the net against York, but with the number of chances the pair created for one another on the night, this partnership could be fruitful for Bielsa’s side next term.

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West Ham United fans can barely believe that they have signed Sebastian Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt.

The club confirmed a record deal to sign the French striker had been struck on Wednesday. Haller has signed a five-year contract in east London.

Sources have told Football FanCast that the deal is worth an initial £45m plus £5m in performance-related bonuses.

The transfer comes about after the 25-year-old scored 20 goals in all competitions last season and also registered 12 assists.

A player with proven experience, he has netted a total of 24 goals in the Bundesliga, along with 41 in the Eredivisie.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He has been capped at various youth levels by France but has yet to make his senior debut though, nevertheless, supporters are beyond delighted with his acquisition, which eclipses the £36m the club paid to sign Felipe Anderson from Italian giants Lazio last summer.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…According to a report from Matt Wilson, talks are ongoing with Basel over the potential of bringing striker Albian Ajeti to West Brom this summer.

What’s the word?

Albion’s transfer activity has kicked into life in recent weeks as Slaven Bilic and the hierarchy lay the groundwork for what they are undoubtedly hoping will be a return to the top-flight.

Most recently, Romaine Sawyers re-signed for the club, a deal that marked their fifth incoming of the transfer window.

However, they look as though they could be returning to the market for Swiss forward Ajeti.

Express & Star initially reported that the player’s wages demands could be a stumbling block. Yet, Wilson has since claimed that the deal might be back on, suggesting the Baggies’ interest wasn’t dead.

Transfermarkt currently rate the player at £6.3m.

Fixing a problem

At the moment, West Brom are heading into the season with a distinct lack of goals in their side.

Dwight Gayle was in superb form for Albion last term but has returned to Newcastle following his loan spell whilst Jay Rodriguez has packed his bags for Burnley. As a pair last term they netted 46 times.

Without them, therefore, they could well struggle.

Hal Robson-Kanu is still at the club but finished last season with a red card whilst Kenneth Zohore’s arrival after scoring just once in 2018/19 isn’t too convincing.

The fact is that West Brom will need someone who can score on a regular basis and judging by Ajeti’s record in Switzerland, he can provide that.

Check out what happened when Thogden mixed with some of Montenegro’s craziest ultras in the video below…

At 22 years of age, he is still very much a developing player and scored 14 times in 32 Swiss Super League matches throughout last season.

That was further enhanced by five goals in the cup as well as scoring in continental competitions for his club.

In each of his last three seasons with Basel, he’s found the net with double figures and for a West Brom outfit who lack a genuine goalscorer, this would be a hugely encouraging signing if he joins.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to 90min, Manchester United rejected the chance to sign Everton-bound Moise Kean this summer.

What’s the word?

Reports in recent weeks have claimed that the Juventus star is heading to the blue half of Merseyside to join Everton in a deal worth an initial £27.5m.

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Now, 90min claim that Kean’s agent, Mino Raiola, offered the young striker to United but the Red Devils turned down the opportunity to take him to Old Trafford.

Worth a gamble

It had been claimed earlier this summer that United were intent on signing more “exciting players” as they look to build towards the future. The captures of Daniel James and Aaron Wan-Bissaka certainly fit into that bracket, but a swoop for Kean may have perhaps outdone both.

The 19-year-old is already a fully-fledged Italy international and has struck twice in his opening three games for the Azzurri. His performances at club level with Juventus speak of someone with incredible raw talent and all the skills that United could do with. Pace, trickery and an eye for goal, Kean enjoyed somewhat of a breakthrough campaign with the Bianconeri last season.

The teenager scored six times in 13 Serie A appearances, and never looked fearful of playing for such a historic team. The forward averaged 1.5 shots and 0.7 dribbles per game despite his limited minutes, and his ability to play in numerous positions would have been something Ole Gunnar Solskjaer really took to.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Indeed, Kean’s brother, Giovanni, described him back in 2016 as: “A panther like (Thierry) Henry and a fighter like (Carlos) Tévez. Moise works hard on the pitch and always gives everything because this is what he learns every day at Juve.”

As the modern market goes, an initial outlay of £27.5m doesn’t even to translate to being a big-money deal anymore. The Red Devils’ openness to let Romelu Lukaku go to Juventus could have seen the club perhaps look to include Kean in the deal. In the end, United’s reluctance to take a gamble on the youngster could be Everton’s gain.

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The youngster played well during United’s pre-season tour and has made a real case for himself for the upcoming Premier League campaign.

We dare say that, for as long as “J Lingz” keeps up his barrage of superlatives, Gomes will be riding on supreme confidence. And that’s a really, really good thing.

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