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In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Premier League midfielder Lee Hendrie has tipped Manchester City to go on and dominate if they can manage to acquire Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland.

Haaland has quickly become one of the best centre-forwards in world football, managing to score over 40 goals for Dortmund and RB Salzburg last season.

His levels have not dropped, with the 20-year-old already past the 30-goal mark in all competitions this term, and he is now being linked with a whole host of top European clubs, including Manchester City.

Premier League rivals Chelsea and Spanish giants Real Madrid are also said to be chasing Haaland’s signature but, according to the MailOnline, it is Pep Guardiola’s side who are leading the race for the Norway International.

If the Citizens manage to get this deal over the line, for Hendrie, it could be game-changing. He told FFC:

“I think he’d be absolutely outrageous at Man City because he plays between the lines of the box, he scores goals and he’s literally ruthless when he’s got a chance. His work ethic is second to none, it really is, and I feel playing in a team of that calibre, with the likes of [Phil] Foden and [Raheem Sterling], the list goes on, I just feel he’ll get so many chances.”

“I feel he’ll do a similar job to what [Sergio] Aguero does if not better because he’s a completely different player to Aguero. But he’s in the box and he likes to score goals and we’ve seen how consistent he’s been. I just feel that he’d certainly fit the bill for Man City for me. I think he’d be an unreal addition to that football squad and I feel they would go on and dominate.”

With Aguero’s contract up in the summer, Manchester City’s interest in Haaland comes as no surprise.

Guardiola may want a replacement and the former Salzburg No.9 would fit the bill perfectly when you look at his goal record. Competition will be fierce but, with their finances and position in European football right now, the Premier League favourites will surely fancy their chances.

David Moyes should overlook Blackburn Rovers demanding £25m for Adam Armstrong and still look to bring the striker to West Ham United in the summer transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to The Sun, the Ewood Park natives have set a club-record fee for a player sold if Armstrong is to leave the Championship side at the end of the season.

Moyes is thought to be leading the charge for the 20-goal forward, having carried out personal checks as he continues to assess options to fill the void left by Sebastien Haller.

Damien Duff’s £17m move to Chelsea in the summer of 2003 and Roque Santa Cruz’s transfer to Manchester City for the same fee six-years later remain the highest sums received by the Lancashire outfit to date.

Blackburn believe they can now demand a new record sum for the departure of Armstrong, following the moves from the Championship to Premier League made by the likes of Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma.

Watkins joined Aston Villa in September for £28m rising to £33m, while Benrahma initially signed a £5m loan deal with West Ham that the east London outfit turned permanent this January for a further £20m with £5m in potential add-ons.

Rovers also feel they have to demand a lucrative sum despite Armstrong being a free agent in 2022, as his former side Newcastle United will be due 40% of any profit on the £2m paid.

Moyes had considered making an £8m move to sign the 24-year-old during the recent winter market, but resisted the idea in favour of receiving further scouting reports ahead of an idealistic £10m summer bid.

Fulham and Everton are also said to be admirers of the second-tier hotshot but only consider Armstrong as a squad option for now, while the forward would not be opposed to rejoining his boyhood club Newcastle.

Should West Ham sign Armstrong?

West Ham paying £25m outright for Armstrong will instantly place the 24-year-old among the Irons’ most expensive purchases in club history, with only the arrivals of £45m Haller and £36m Felipe Anderson setting the London Stadium natives back a higher initial fee.

If Moyes had hoped to only spend around £8m to £10m on Armstrong, it could make a deal for the attacker far more difficult than he imagined. Yet the Hammers boss should overlook the hike as the Blackburn star has been a sensation in the second-tier.

Only Brentford forward Ivan Toney (25) has scored more often in the Championship this season than Armstrong (19), who ranks first in the division for shots taken per game (4.7) and efforts struck on target (2.1), per WhoScored.

Armstrong additionally offers 1.1 successful dribbles per game, the eighth-most by forwards who have featured more than five times in the league this term and enough to rank fifth among all current West Ham players.

The Rovers star’s mobility is a key aspect of his game with Blackburn boss Tony Mowbray praising Armstrong for his “speed and dynamic movement,” while recently stating how the 5 ft 8 frontman is “special” and has “Premier League quality”.

That could make Armstrong the ideal back-up to Michail Antonio, who is lauded for ‘distracting and deforming’ defences through his movement to see that the 30-year-old does necessarily need to score to fulfil his role in West Ham’s attack.

So, if Armstrong is on the market – like is expected to be the case – Moyes should not let Blackburn’s valuation prevent West Ham from making a wise purchase.

AND in other news, David Moyes is hopeful of West Ham landing an injury boost ahead of hosting Leeds United…

Amid all the plaudits that have been heading Raphinha’s way recently, the spotlight has somewhat faded away from Leeds striker Patrick Bamford.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side have enjoyed an impressive season in the Premier League thus far, and their summer signing Raphinha has certainly lit up Elland Road with some moments of magic, whether that be a spectacular free-kick or a jaw-dropping piece of skill.

However, while the Brazilian may be the man in the headlines, it’s arguably Bamford who’s been Bielsa’s key man.

Speaking just last month, Match of the Day pundit and former Arsenal striker Ian Wright waxed lyrical about the striker, and even gave credit to the club’s fanbase for the role they’ve had in Bamford’s successes.

He said: “You look at what Bamford has been through, six loan moves, his upbringing, private school stuff, Palace fans complaining about the way he runs – he has been through so much. People told him he would never be a Premier League striker.

“But Leeds fans deserve credit for sticking by him, even when you looked at some of those games and he did miss some easy chances. The manager stuck with him, and it will be difficult to find a manager with as much faith in Bielsa.”

As Wright says, Bamford has faced a lot of criticism over the years, including from some of his teams’ own supporters, so for him to make the step-up to Premier League level and look like he belongs is a real credit to him and his work ethic, and most importantly his mental strength.

Whether he’s been playing with a chip on his shoulder is only something he can say, but it’s fair to suggest that he’s well and truly silenced a lot of the doubters.

In 26 games in the Premier League, he’s scored 13 goals, while he’s also picked up five assists – stats which rank him first in both categories for Leeds.

With 12  games to go in the competition, you wouldn’t put it past him to go on another hot streak and finish the campaign by breaking the 20-goal barrier, and that really would put him in historic company – only five players in the Premier League era have scored more than 20 goals in a league season for a newly-promoted side.

So while Raphinha may be the man of the moment, the £35k-a-week earning Bamford has arguably been Bielsa’s biggest success story and hero this season in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Leeds could sign another Raphinha in this star…

Tottenham Hotspur will surely welcome back several key stars as they return to Premier League action against Fulham this evening.

Jose Mourinho’s side advanced into the next round of the FA Cup with a 5-0 thrashing of non-league minnows Marine on Sunday night and now they host the struggling Cottagers in a rearranged tie from December 30th.

The call to play the game was made only 48 hours ago as there are still a concerning number of coronavirus cases in Aston Villa’s camp, the team they were supposed to face tonight.

Spurs saw many usual starters rested just a few days ago, so what sort of lineup could we see named here at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight?

Here’s the XI we’re predicting along with the latest team and injury news…

We’re expecting to see as many as nine changes as they welcome Scott Parker’s relegation-threatened outfit.

Club captain Hugo Lloris will surely return over Joe Hart between the sticks, given he’s Spurs’ no.1, whilst the only member of the backline to remain from the cup triumph is Toby Alderweireld, who was subbed off at half-time.

It means Eric Dier comes back in for Joe Rodon with Sergio Reguilon and Serge Aurier taking over from both Ben Davies and Matt Doherty.

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was another name who earned a well-deserved rest at the weekend, so he should be fit to start, though he could start alongside Tanguy Ndombele in a deeper role for one big reason.

Rarely-seen maestro Dele Alli made a statement with an encouraging performance at Marine, so he could be gifted another opportunity to impress in the no.10 role, especially as Giovani Lo Celso is out injured.

It means there is no place for either Harry Winks or Moussa Sissoko – only the former was rested, though.

Erik Lamela could be back in contention, but we don’t think he will get the nod over either of Heung-min Son or Steven Bergwijn, who replaces axed £36m-rated star, Lucas Moura, despite his recent goal from a free-kick.

Whilst upfront, Harry Kane is set to return over hat-trick hero Carlos Vinicius, though he will surely feature among the bench after scoring three times in 13 minutes against the non-league outfit.

It also means that Gareth Bale remains as a substitute having featured for the final 25 minutes at the weekend.

AND in other news, Jose Mourinho must ruthlessly axe £110k-p/w man TONIGHT…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Hull City midfielder Dean Windass has been discussing the current injury crisis at Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp has been without key first-team centre-backs Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk for much of the season after their respective injuries, whilst Joel Matip has continued to prove unreliable because of his injury-prone nature.

The Reds had seemed to be coping by promoting youngsters Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams but are now without a league goal in 2021, which has seen them drop off the top of the table.

When asked about potential options for the Merseyside club to consider, Windass suggested Wolves centre-back Conor Coady as a player that perhaps should be targeted by the Reds during the current transfer window.

Here’s what Windass had to say when speaking exclusively to FFC:

“Would he go for Conor Coady at Wolves? [He’s a] scouser, he’s been released as a Liverpool kid. He would fit the bill, January till the end of the season, but then would he play when the two centre-halves are available?

“He plays a different system for Wolves, he plays as a sweeper really. When he’s played for England he’s done well. That would probably be on everyone’s lips, Jamie Carragher mentioned it, would he ever come back to Liverpool? Of course he would, it’s his home town club. That would fit the bill, but would Wolves want to sell him? I’m sure the kid would want to go.”

Coady has been extremely consistent with Nuno Espirito Santo’s side since their promotion to the top-flight, having featured in every single game for the Old Gold in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, whilst he was also a regular in their Europa League campaign last season.

His performances in the top-flight earned him a call-up to Gareth Southgate’s England squad and the £22.5 million-rated man has now earned two caps for his country.

With Wolves struggling this season, perhaps Liverpool could tempt the 27-year-old back to Anfield but as he captains Wolves and has four years left on his contract, he would not come cheap.

And, in other news… Liverpool can sign dream Henderson heir in £50m beast tipped to be an outstanding captain

Manchester City were unable to break down a stubborn Manchester United defence in a 0-0 draw on Saturday afternoon, with Riyad Mahrez in particular, producing a disappointing display against the Red Devils.

The Algerian winger wasted a huge opportunity to give the Citizens the lead in the first-half, in a game of few chances at Old Trafford.

The 28-year-old was disappointing throughout the game on Saturday and was substituted in the second-half by Pep Guardiola, as the away side chased a winner.

As per SofaScore, the former Leicester City man picked up a 6.8 rating for his display, with only Joao Cancelo, Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus rated lower of the City players who started the game.

During the game, Mahrez had just 23 touches of the ball, which was less than goalkeeper Ederson, who had 36.

The winger could only complete 13/18 passes during his time on the pitch, as he struggled to have much impact against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side, in a game that was low on quality.

Mahrez failed with his one dribble attempt during the game, which is an area he normally excels in, so it was clear that he wasn’t at his best during the game at Old Trafford.

Whilst he won two out of four of his duels during the game, and lost possession just eight times, he struggled to get involved, as City failed to ever really get in behind United’s defence.

Earlier this year, Guardiola was full of praise for the 28-year-old, saying:

“Riyad is an exceptional player. I know how important he is for us.”

“For the quality, the passes and especially his mentality and he is aggressive to score goals.”

However, it was clear that Mahrez couldn’t really have any impact on the game during the Manchester derby, so it was no surprise that Ferran Torres replaced the Algerian with just under half an hour remaining.

Mahrez will have to improve if he wants to keep his place in this City starting eleven, with Guardiola’s side set to face West Brom in their next Premier League fixture on Tuesday.

And, in other news… Manchester City made a huge transfer mistake with “inquisitive” ace who’s started the season on fire

David Sullivan would be heading for disaster by signing Marcus Edwards amid claims West Ham United are a likely destination for the Vitoria Guimaraes winger.

What’s the word?

According to O Jogo (5/1, p. 19), the Irons are lining up an £18m bid to bring Edwards back to the Premier League just one-and-a-half-years on from leaving Tottenham Hotspur.

The London Stadium is considered a likely destination for the Spurs product, after seemingly fending off firm interest from a host of clubs in England and Portugal including London rivals Fulham and Crystal Palace plus Southampton.

Edwards quit Tottenham in 2019 due to a lack of playing time in north London, though accepted that his struggles to breakthrough also stemmed from a poor attitude in his youth.

He played just 15 minutes of first-team football altogether outside of loan spells with Norwich City and SBV Excelsior Rotterdam before moving to Portugal, where he has scored 10 goals and provided 11 assists in 50 games across all competitions to date.

Spurs would be due 50 per cent of any fee paid to Vitoria for Edwards after insisting on a sell-on clause to be included in their deal for the midfielder, who is considered to be among the most gifted dribblers to emerge from the north London side’s academy in recent years.

Anderson 2.0

Edwards enjoyed a tremendous debut season with Vitoria Guimaraes last term to net nine goals and pen nine assists, but has struggled to reach the same heights this term with a sole strike and two further assists added to the London-born 22-year-old’s account.

Rarely has Edwards offered a gifted touch in the final third to provide goals or assists during Liga NOS fixtures this season, with the former England U20 international recording just 0.5 key balls and 0.9 shots a game beside 0.1 accurate crosses, per SofaScore.

He additionally averages a mere 10.4 accurate passes and loses possession 11.0 times a game in the Portuguese top-flight, but uses his effectiveness on the ground to make 2.3 successful dribbles and win all 4.5 of his duels.

Mauricio Pochettino lauded Edwards for his potential whilst in charge of Tottenham, believing the diminutive 5 ft 6 attacker with lightning-quick feet reminded him of FC Barcelona great Lionel Messi.

“The qualities – it’s only looks, his body and the way that he plays – remember a little bit from the beginning of Messi,” Pochettino said, via quotes by Sky Sports. “He is a very good prospect and potentially he can be a top player, but we need to be patient and tell him that he has a lot of talent, enough talent to be a top player, a great player.”

That potential is still yet to truly unfold and Sullivan would instead be handing David Moyes a new Felipe Anderson, who may be recalled from a failed loan spell with FC Porto in order to protect his market value ahead of a sale in the summer.

AND in other news, David Moyes has dodged a huge bullet as West Ham dealt blow in bid to sign an 11-goal target.

Leicester City’s £30million summer capture of defender Wesley Fofana has reportedly left West Ham United boss David Moyes in agony.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, Moyes has been blown away by how Fofana has instantly impressed in the Premier League following his move to the King Power Stadium in the recent transfer window.

West Ham had strived to rival the Foxes in efforts to sign Fofana after his former side Saint-Etienne were left furious by Leicester’s tactics, but eventually missed out to Brendan Rodgers’ side after the Ligue 1 outfit accepted a club-record offer worth €38.5m (£30m).

Leicester had seen several bids rejected over the course of the market, though secured a deal for the highly-coveted youngster after ASSE accepted what they deemed to be an “exceptional” sum during the “uncertain economic context caused by the health crisis”, as noted in an official statement.

Rodgers has been reaping the rewards ever since, with Fofana starting four of Leicester’s Premier League fixtures and helping to two clean sheets including a 1-0 win over Arsenal and a 1-0 victory at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Moyes has been left in awe of the 19-year-old’s instant success in England and is greatly frustrated to not be seeing those efforts in east London, having identified the Under 21 international as a candidate to solve his priority need at centre-half.

Sullivan’s disaster

David Sullivan’s inability to match or better Leicester’s £30m offer for Fofana before Saint-Etienne accepted the Foxes’ bid will be a failure West Ham could live to rue for years to come, given how well and how fast the teenage brute has taken to the Premier League.

Fofana has enjoyed a dream start to life at the King Power Stadium where Rodgers has hailed the ASSE product, noting via quotes by the Leicester Mercury: “For a boy of 19 years of age, it’s why we worked so hard to get him in. He’s come into a developing team and he’s going to make mistakes.

“Sometimes he stays on the ball a bit longer, he could get his pass off earlier. And sometimes he gets a fraction too tight, but I like my defenders to be able to defend forward and jump forward. That’s just about experience and knowing when to full press or when to three-quarter press.

“He has so many natural attributes, physically he’s a big boy, he’s great in the air, he’s strong, he’s quick, he’ll never get bullied as a centre-half. His profile is perfect for the British game. What you see is that he can play, he takes the ball, he passes the ball, he can step in with the ball, and he can play short and long passes. It’s great.”

Moyes would undoubtedly have loved to have had the chance of nurturing Fofana’s development and to utilise a player Rodgers believes is “perfect” for the Premier League.

Fofana is also one who has made just one fewer successful tackles (8) than Fabian Balbuena (9), made more interceptions (12) than Aaron Cresswell (8) and Angelo Ogbonna (6) and won more ground duels (13) than Balbuena (10), per SofaScore, despite playing vastly fewer top-flight minutes (360) than each Balbuena (540), Ogbonna (693) and Cresswell (720).

AND in other news, West Ham are eying a perfect £30m swoop to sign a “complete player” who has been backed for greatness.

Having made just five first-team appearances for Aston Villa, Callum Robinson struggled to translate his success at academy level into the senior side.

The versatile forward was a shining light for the club’s U23s, playing 42 times and scoring 19 goals and providing a further seven assists too.

But despite that, he didn’t get much of a look-in at Villa Park, instead spending most of his time on loan at Preston North End and Bristol City.

And it was with Preston that he really made his mark, impressing enough to earn a permanent move to the club in the summer of 2016 – reports have suggested that they paid just £170k to prise him away from Villa.

After bagging a total of 41 goals at Deepdale, Robinson joined Sheffield United, before heading on loan to Villa’s fierce local rivals West Brom in January (he sealed a permanent move there in the summer).

The Hawthorns has seen his develop into a first-team star at Premier League level under Slaven Bilic’s management, featuring in every single top-flight game this season.

His stand-out performance no doubt was his brace in a thrilling 3-3 draw against Chelsea.

Given Villa are seeing the fruits of their labour in giving young academy talents a genuine chance in the first-team in Jack Grealish, it’s no doubt a huge disappointment that they let Robinson slip through the net.

It’s even more galling that he’s doing the business for the enemy too.

Roberto Di Matteo may have not lasted long at the club, but ultimately, he was in charge when Robinson completed his permanent switch to Preston.

And now Villa are paying for his mistake.

Lots of Everton fans have hailed Denise Barrett-Baxendale as she has demanded an apology over Project Big Picture.

According to The Guardian, the Toffees chief executive has demanded an apology from both Liverpool and Manchester United for pushing the project. However, Tom Werner and Ed Woodward, the club chairman and executive vice-chairman who represented those respective clubs, refused to apologise as they felt that they had no reason to do so.

As per The Guardian, Project Big Picture was left dead in the water in a tense meeting with all 20 Premier League clubs as they agreed unanimously to engage in a new strategic plan for the future of English football.

The project proposed a £250m bailout for the English Football League (EFL) and a more equitable share of football’s broadcast money in exchange for the top flight’s ‘big six’ (Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur) teams being granted overwhelming voting control on a number of important points.

The 14 other clubs were believed to be strongly against the change in governance, including the Toffees, hence Barrett-Baxendale’s demand for an apology from both the Reds and the Red Devils.

Everton fan reaction to Barrett-Baxendale news

These members of the Goodison Park faithful hailed their CEO on Twitter after reading that she had demanded an apology from both Liverpool and Manchester United:

Evertonians, was Barrett-Baxendale right to demand an apology? Comment below with your views!