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As West Ham United breezed past Genk at the London Stadium this evening, taking yet more control of Group H, many Irons supporters were blown away by the performance and contribution of defender Craig Dawson.

David Moyes’ men took a giant leap towards finishing top by beating the Belgian giants this evening.

Indeed, they have gone six points clear with their victory and, as per the new Europa League format, potentially finishing as group victors will guarantee West Ham a spot straight into the last 16.

Moyes rested a fair few first teamers tonight with the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko, Nikola Vlasic, Alphonse Areola and Dawson all coming in after the weekend victory at Everton.

Among all of these fresh faces, it was the latter man who garnered real praise on Twitter for his display – especially considering he opened the floodgates with his towering first half header.

He was also among the highest-rated West Ham players on SofaScore and it’s safe to say his ‘massive’ display didn’t go unnoticed.

Find all the reaction to his outing down below.

West Ham fans blown away by Dawson…

“Dawson you beast”

Credit: @RyanG33A

“Dawson!!!!! What a player”

Credit: @WestHamNews24hr

“Craig Dawson is the hero we never knew we needed”

Credit: @_Sam_Chaplin

“We are absolutely massive and Craig Dawson is absolutely massive”

Credit: @Lew_Fountain

“DAWSON YOU MAGNIFICENT SET PIECE ROBOT”

Credit: @chojinzoku

“can we just bring dawson on in games to attack corners because he’s disgustingly good at it”

Credit: @whuemma

“Craig Dawson!!! Fisted hand Guys so dangerous at set pieces so good in the air”

Credit: @JJ_Hannaway

In other news: ‘Yes yes yes’, ‘No brainer’…West Ham fans buzz as contact made to sign ‘big’ striker, find out more here.

Serie A expert Conor Clancy insists that reported Tottenham Hotspur target Joaquin Correa could frustrate supporters in England if he makes the move to the Premier League.

Reports in Italy have claimed that Spurs are interested in a swoop for the Lazio attacker in this transfer window, as new Director of Football Fabio Paratici looks to strengthen the squad of Nuno Espirito Santo.

He has already secured deals to sign Bryan Gil, Pierluigi Gollini, and Cristian Romero, and it seems that Correa would be an expensive acquisition.

Tuttomercatoweb has reported that he would cost £43m in this window, a large figure for a player who can play in a variety of positions.

The 27-year-old has the ability to play on either flank, as a striker, or as a No.10, and he has made a total of 117 appearances for Lazio, scoring 30 goals and registering 18 assists.

Clancy, though, believes that he can be a frustrating presence because he often has the tendency to play below himself.

The editor-in-chief of Forza Italian Football said: “Correa, he’s going to be the type of player that, whichever team he plays for, he might drive the fans a little bit mad at times because he’s not the most reliable, he doesn’t make the best decisions all of the time.

“He’s not always playing at the level that he should play at but there’s a lot of talent there and working under the right coach, as he showed under Inzaghi, he’s definitely a player who can make a difference.”

Crystal Palace could continue their overhaul of the first-team squad in January after being linked with a move for Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Rayan Aït Nouri.

What’s the story?

According to French outlet Jeunes Footeux (via Sport Witness), both the Eagles and fellow Premier League outfit Newcastle United are eager to prise the promising 20-year-old away from Molineux over the coming months.

The report claims that it’s Palace who are ‘especially’ interested, though, with manager Patrick Vieira keen to bring in some cover and competition for Tyrick Mitchell at left-back.

It’s claimed that the French tactician has already informed his recruitment team that he wants to land Aït Nouri, although chairman Steve Parish will need to open his chequebook, with Wolves set to demand in the region of €25-30m (£21-26m) for their young star.

Crystal Palace must make their move

Following the departure of Patrick van Aanholt in the summer, Palace have been left with only one natural left-sided full-back in their first-team squad.

As a result, academy graduate Mitchell has played every minute of their Premier League campaign to date, something which is not sustainable in the long term.

Therefore, the capital club’s hierarchy must make their move for Aït Nouri over the winter window, and the £33,000-per-week ace could prove to be an exceptional piece of business.

The France U21 international arrived at Wolves on an initial season-long loan from Ligue 1 side SCO Angers in October 2020 before making the move permanent 12 months later.

In that time, Aït Nouri has racked up 34 appearances for the Midlands outfit, putting in several eye-catching displays along the way.

Following a particularly impressive performance last term – ironically against Palace – The Athletic’s Tim Spiers lauded his ‘phenomenal’ showing.

“Ait-Nouri was phenomenal,” said Spiers (as relayed by This is Futbol). “I know it’s only one game and he’s a kid, and he got a lot of space at times, but he played with such enthusiasm and really helped stretch that game out on the left.”

And The Express & Stars journalist Liam Keen was also effusive in his praise for Aït Nouri as Wolves saw off Everton in the opening weeks of the current campaign.

“I thought he was very good today, defensively good; going forward, he offers something very, very different to Marcal, who’s not great going forward, let’s be honest. He gets the crowd on their feet, and that’s what you need,” Keen said.

With Palace in need of defensive cover and Aït Nouri showing bags of potential, it’s a deal that makes sense for many reasons for the south London side.

And, in other news…Palace must seal bargain deal for “intelligent” £5.4m-rated maestro who has “no fear”

While Celtic have seen their league form drastically improve under the leadership of Ange Postecoglou in recent months, with the Bhoys remaining undefeated over the last eight Premiership fixtures, the 56-year-old Hoops manager will nevertheless be aware that his side will face one of their sterner tests of the season at Parkhead this evening.

Indeed, Robbie Neilson’s Heart of Midlothian side have also been incredibly impressive in the current campaign, sitting just two points behind Celtic in the league, as well as having already taken three points off of the Bhoys on the opening day of the season.

As such, Postecoglou will know that he must get his team selection spot on against Hearts if he is to have any hope of his side reducing the gap between them the current Premiership leaders, with one player who the Greek-Australian coach simply must call upon tonight being Nir Bitton.

Game-changer

With Tom Rogic’s hamstring injury leaving Celtic somewhat short in the middle of the park, Postecoglou opted to slightly change his setup in the middle of the park, playing the more defensively-minded Bitton in place of the 28-year-old attacking midfielder.

And, while this change would, on the surface, appear to make the Bhoys more defensive, Bitton has in fact flourished in the absence of Rogic, with the 30-year-old being one of the Hoops’ most impressive players over the last four fixtures.

Indeed, in this period, the £720k-rated Israel international has enjoyed 353 touches of the ball, completed 269 passes, made 15 tackles and won a whopping 31 duels, with these metrics seeing the £14k-per-week midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.33.

As such, while both Bitton and Rogic look as if they will be available for selection against Hearts this evening, Postecoglou simply must unleash Bitton ahead of the Australia international.

Not only would he help to solidify Celtic against a side who have already scored 25 goals in the league, the man the 56-year-old manager himself dubbed “influential” has also proven to be something of a game-changer in the middle of the park in the absence of Rogic.

In other news: Celtic handed big transfer boost ahead of January, fans will be elated

Many Everton fans have been slamming the performance of Alex Iwobi in their 4-0 pre-season defeat at Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.

The Nigeria international missed a good chance to bring the Toffees back into the game midway through the first half, as they were already 2-0 down at that point to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.

Iwobi did not have a great game in general as Twitter fan page The Everton End voiced their frustrations with the winger during the match, which prompted a lot of negative reaction.

With the new Premier League season starting on Friday night, Rafa Benitez would have not been convinced by the Nigerian’s performance, and so the 25-year-old could well face being dropped to the bench for their opener.

He has played 65 times for Everton competitively but scored a paltry four goals in that time and has set up just four more (Transfermarkt) – centre-back Michael Keane netted three league goals last season alone – while he has drawn the ire of some Toffees fans in the past.

Everton fans hammer Iwobi

These Everton supporters slammed Iwobi’s performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he was a ‘disgrace’:

“I’m really struggling with having to watch him this season”

Credit: @BrunsypPB

“Got to be the worst ever buy”

Credit: @kevdano

“Worst £40 mill we’ve spent!”

Credit: @_Sumz

“I mean this literally. He is the worst signing Everton have ever made. There has not been a worse signing, I won’t be convinced otherwise”

Credit: @BradleyHilditch

“Iwobi you are a disgrace”

Credit: @RobertS91163055

“Niasse was genuinely a better signing than Iwobi”

Credit: @efcdylan_

In other news, find out what confirmed news has had these Toffees buzzing!

Aston Villa manager Dean Smith could sign a dream teammate for Emi Buendia in Argentina starlet Julian Alvarez.

What’s the story?

Having clinched the signing of Buendia from recently-promoted Premier League side Norwich, it appears that Villa have their eye on another Argentine, with Alvarez on their radar.

Reports in recent days have claimed that Fernando Hidalgo, the agent of the 20-year-old, is set to meet with Villa’s representatives over a possible summer move to the Midlands.

Dribbles more than Buendia

One of the main things that has marked Alvarez out at club level has been his sheer versatility, with the 1.7m (5 foot 7) dynamo playing on the right, the left, up front and even having a stint as a number 10 as well.

His directness and willingness to make things happen has earned praise from Marcelo Gallardo, his manager at River Plate, who said that the 21-year-old is “a player that every coach would love to have”.

When you compare his performances in the league with what Buendia produced in the Championship with Norwich last season, you can see someone who could potentially link up quite well with Villa’s new signing.

His average of 1.7 dribbles per game is actually higher than Buendia (1.6), while he has also shown an ability to provide an end product, averaging 1.6 key passes and 1.3 shots per match – Villa’s new boy managed 3.1 key passes and 2.8 shots per game in 2020/21.

Alvarez could hit the ground running at Villa Park thanks to the presence of Argentine colleagues Buendia and Emi Martinez, and given his age and versatility, he should slot right into the young squad that Smith is building at the club.

If Villa are looking to sign a young talent who is on the rise, then they should look no further than Alvarez.

Meanwhile, Ashley Preece has dropped a major Aston Villa update…

Many Manchester United fans have been left buzzing as some early team news has emerged ahead of their Premier League meeting with Newcastle this weekend.

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match at home to the Magpies on Saturday afternoon, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has now said that they are preparing for the clash without the central midfield player.

This is because the Brazil FA have triggered a FIFA rule, meaning that they can ban players for five days if teams do not release them for international duty, and Fred would miss out as a result.

However, this may not necessarily be a bad thing for the Red Devils, given his poor display in the 1-0 away win at Wolves last time out, which was heavily criticised by supporters.

Manchester United fans on Fred display

These Man Utd fans buzzed as the news on Fred was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it is ‘boss’:

“We are all happy he won’t play”

Credit: @veco7vic

“It’s a win for us!”

Credit: @IrfanHernandez_

“No Fred let’s gooooooo”

Credit: @UTDSiddhesh

“Yesss”

Credit: @MUFCfame

“BOSS”

Credit: @erick_luwole

“Siuuuuuuuuuu”

Credit: @joongDEGEA

“NO FREDDDDDD!!!!!!!”

Credit: @michaelrenwick_

In other news, find out what pre-NUFC news has MUFC supporters fuming here!

Everton’s transfer recruitment down the years has been perplexing, to say the least.

The Toffees have spent considerable sums on new players but haven’t had an awful lot to show for it. In fact, their league finishes since spending big money have been nothing but average.

They’ve not qualified for Europe and were forced into taking a completely different approach after Rafa Benitez penned terms at Goodison Park.

Expecting a wealth of finances, he opened the cheque book for just one player – Demarai Gray – who cost as little as £1.7m. The rest of Everton’s business was built around free transfers.

However, for all of the dodgy incomings, there have been some blunders when it comes to selling players too.

Moise Kean hasn’t left Merseyside permanently yet but his loan exit to Juventus this summer has to raise question marks. He is clearly of good enough quality to play for Everton after scoring 17 times for PSG last term.

Yet, we want to cast your minds back even further to the Marco Silva era.

It’s a time in Everton’s history that supporters won’t want to remember quickly but one of the exits he sanctioned has gone under the radar.

In the summer of 2019, he let full-back Antonee Robinson sign for Wigan after a successful loan spell there and at Bolton. Following his time with the Trotters, Karl Henry described him as “unbelievable,” such was his impact on the club.

What followed was rather incredible. The left-back very nearly joined AC Milan in the January window of 2020 but a move collapsed after problems with his medical.

He subsequently moved to Fulham last summer and was the subject of £10m interest from Wolves in recent months.

Robinson has stayed in the second tier but if Silva hadn’t allowed his departure, Everton now wouldn’t have a huge predicament on their hands.

Benitez is incredibly stretched in full-back areas with Seamus Coleman and Lucas Digne the sole senior options in those areas.

The likes of Ben Godfrey, Fabian Delph and Jonjoe Kenny could all fill in up to a point but after loaning out Niels Nkounkou, they are severely restricted on the left.

However, if they had Robinson then it might not only save them millions in the winter market, but it will also have been beneficial for Digne.

Robinson isn’t a bad player either. He showed as much during his first full season in the Premier League with Fulham last campaign.

The American defender produced 1.6 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game last season while registering one key pass and an eye-catching 1.8 successful dribbles a match.

With that in mind, the former Everton man clearly has a lot in his locker. They should now be reeling from Silva’s bizarre call three years ago.

AND in other news, Forget James: Everton must unleash “exciting” rarely-seen gem with “unbelievable pace”…

Tottenham Hotspur have reportedly called off plans to appoint Antonio Conte as their new manager after negotiations hit a stumbling block, as reported by Sky Sports.

The north London outfit had been in talks with the 51-year-old over becoming Jose Mourinho’s successor in the role, but on Friday evening it emerged that those negotiations broke down over some of the Italian’s demands, including an apparent reluctance to work with the club’s up-and-coming talents, as per Sky Sports.

According to the Evening Standard, Spurs could now refocus their attention back towards Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag as potential candidates for the vacant managerial post at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

With Conte seemingly falling by the wayside, whoever ends up as Tottenham’s new manager faces potentially one of his toughest tasks yet at N17. They risk losing leading talisman Harry Kane after he expressed his desire to leave, they’ll be competing in the newly-formed Europa Conference League after their lowest league finish since 2008/09 and they may need to operate on a constrained transfer budget.

Back in April, the Daily Mail claimed that Spurs would have to sell before they buy this summer, although there are plenty of names who could garner finances, with the futures of Dele Alli, Harry Winks, Serge Aurier, Juan Foyth, Erik Lamela, Davinson Sanchez and Lucas Moura all up in the air.

Arguably the biggest problem facing the new manager will be the defence they inherit. Individual mistakes and a lack of cohesion in the backline was Spurs’ Achilles heel throughout the 2020/21 season.

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It was evident that Sanchez and Eric Dier aren’t good enough as a pairing, whilst Toby Alderweireld is getting no younger. It’s hardly a surprise that football.london reported that Tottenham want two new central defensive additions but that’ll cost a lot of money.

Perhaps they may have one solution at the club already in Joe Rodon, the rarely-seen summer window signing, who looked the part whenever given an opportunity.

After arriving from Swansea City for an initial £11m, the Wales international only made eight league starts, playing a total of 729 minutes across a 38-game campaign, via Transfermarkt.

He’s a player who has been earmarked for the future, with former Spurs captain Gary Mabbutt telling Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that he possesses “great potential”, whilst Steve Cooper, his former boss at the Liberty Stadium, dubbed him a “pure defender” and a “real asset.”

Similarly, Lilywhites legend Graham Roberts told supporters on Twitter that the Welshman has “huge potential.”

Despite hardly featuring for the club this term, Rodon was one of the more productive defensive options, registering a squad-high 1.8 interceptions per game whilst also recording the highest passing success rate (88.1%) of anyone at Spurs except Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, via WhoScored.

By unleashing the 23-year-old colossus, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy could save millions in the transfer window this summer. While Rodon is certainly in need of a viable partner in the middle, an increased show of faith in him could save Spurs the need for multiple additions.

AND in other news, Spurs could seal bargain Kane heir in 34 G/A “special talent”, he won’t cost Levy a penny…

Manchester United are interested in signing “outstanding” Juventus striker Paulo Dybala this summer, and he could be the perfect replacement for Edinson Cavani at Old Trafford.

What’s the story?

United are poised to move to sign Juventus striker Dybala, according to reports from Corriere dello Sport in Italy, the Red Devils want to make him one of Erik ten Hag’s first signings at the club.

This isn’t the first time that the 28-year old has been linked with a move to the Theatre of Dreams. Two years ago the club were linked with a swap deal involving then United player Romelu Lukaku, but nothing materialised.

Now could be a great time to make this happen with Cavani out of contract at Old Trafford in the summer and it being unlikely he will sign an extension.

He could be the perfect Cavani replacement

When Cavani joined the Red Devils on a free transfer in 2020 there was a lot of optimism. However, given the clubs past record of failing to get the best out of proven players, some were wondering what would happen.

Thankfully the move has proven to be successful with the Uruguayan being directly involved in 26 goals in 56 appearances. Although the unplanned return of Cristiano Ronaldo has led to much less game time for him this season.

When he departs United will need to fill the place left behind from not only him, but Mason Greenwood who is no longer involved with the team.

Dybala represents the perfect player for this, with the £222k per week star out of contract this summer.

The potential exciting arrival of Ten Hag, and the chance to link up with his former team mate Ronaldo, could persuade him to finally come to the Premier League.

He has suffered a lot with injuries this season missing 83 days which would be the only concern for United. However, when they don’t have to fork out an extortionate transfer fee it makes things less risky.

Dybala’s record for the Old Lady is pretty good, being directly involved in 161 goals in 286 games. He’s experienced and used to playing for a top club just like Cavani.

If you compare the two based on their form last season, Dybala is better in quite a few areas. When it comes to goal creating actions per 90 minutes he beats the 35-year old with 4.93 compared to 2.23.

That may be down to the fact that Cavani is more of a poacher than a creator. But United already have that in Ronaldo, so replacing the Uruguayan with someone who offers more is what United should be doing.

But with Ronaldo also being linked with a potential exit, it could be bye-bye to the Portuguese star and a welcome to Old Trafford for Argentina’s Dybala.

IN other news: Man Utd eye Ten Hag’s first signing in £20.6m “rising star”, he’s a major Fred upgrade – opinion