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Leicester City are set to open talks with Youri Tielemans over a new contract at the King Power Stadium, and Brendan Rodgers will surely be delighted at the prospect of the midfielder extending his stay.

The 24-year-old hit a stunning strike over the weekend to seal a historic FA Cup final win for the Foxes against Chelsea, and the Midlands outfit are set to reward the Belgium international with improved terms.

According to the Daily Mail, Leicester are planning on significantly increasing Tielemans’ wages, making him one of the club’s top-earning players alongside Jamie Vardy and Kasper Schmeichel.

The former Monaco man has been crucial to the Foxes’ success this season, starting 35 of Leicester’s 36 Premier League games, scoring six goals and providing four assists in the process. His exploits have helped the 2015/16 champions to break into the top four once again, and a place in the 2021/22 edition of the Champions League is well within their grasp.

As the Foxes continue to assert themselves at the top end of the table and disturb the established ‘Big Six,’ keeping hold of their best assets will be critical to their continued progression.

Tielemans’ impressive 7.09 WhoScored rating illustrates his importance to Leicester and his quality was further highlighted by Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after an impressive display against the Cityzens earlier in the campaign.

“Tielemans is a top, top-class player. I remember when I arrived, my first season, and Vincent Kompany started speaking about him when he was in the national team for Belgium, how good he was in that period. Vincent, as always, he was right,” recalled the Spaniard.

Building on their incredible FA Cup triumph will now be the main focus of Rodgers and everyone at Leicester, and the importance of Tielemans in those plans cannot be downplayed.

His 1.3 key passes, 82.6 touches and 2.1 tackles per game (SofaScore) this season showcase how the Anderlecht academy graduate is at the centre of everything his team does, and if Tielemans puts pen to paper on this proposed new contract, then it could be the start of an exciting new chapter for Leicester.

In other news…Forget Tielemans: “Colossal” Leicester gem who won 78% of his duels was Rodgers’ FA Cup star – opinion

Brendan Rodgers remains one of Tottenham Hotspur’s top managerial targets, according to reports…

What’s the word?

That’s the latest claim from 90min, who suggested that the 48-year-old is still in the running to take over from Jose Mourinho despite his reluctance to leave Leicester City.

Daniel Levy will not appoint Spurs’ next manager until the summer, with the club’s former midfielder Ryan Mason in caretaker charge until then, and the chairman is believed to be infatuated by the Foxes chief.

It is also claimed that he would be prepared to make Rodgers the second-highest paid manager in the Premier League behind Man City’s Pep Guardiola, who is thought to be on around £15m per year.

Pay whatever it takes

As targets keep coming and going, Levy could have his work cut out to find a viable and attractive manager to fill the vacant role at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Julian Nagelsmann and Erik ten Hag have quickly been ruled out of the running, and even though he seems committed to Leicester, there cannot be many better candidates out there than Rodgers.

Speaking about the interest in his services last month, the former Celtic and Liverpool boss praised Spurs as a club, claiming: “Tottenham is a great club, one of the biggest clubs in Britain but for me, I’m just in a really, really happy place in my life.”

Of course, he’s not going to come straight out and claim he’d be keen on swapping the King Power Stadium for north London, especially as the Foxes are battling for a top four finish, and that will be the centre of his focus.

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You can never strictly rule it out, though. Levy has to throw the chequebook at him and do all he can to convince him to sign on the dotted line. If he wants Spurs back competing in Europe, particularly in the Champions League, then he must turn to Rodgers.

The 48-year-old has completely transformed Leicester on and off the pitch. It is looking like back-to-back seasons qualifying for Europe and he’s done that despite losing his best players every summer.

Stars such as Ben Chilwell, Harry Maguire, N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez were all replaced adequately and it’s like the Foxes have never missed out on their presence. This sort of recruitment is desperately needed at Spurs, with the club in dire need of a rebuild.

Another one of his key abilities is to develop players, and there isn’t a better example than Kelechi Iheanacho, who until this campaign very much looked like he wouldn’t hit the potential with which he was once touted at Manchester City.

The 24-year-old has scored 18 goals and provided seven assists in all competitions this term, via Transfermarkt, leading to Dean Windass lauding Rodgers’ influence as “unbelievable” in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.

With players like Dele Alli, Joe Rodon, Dane Scarlett and many more at Spurs, Rodgers would be very well placed to continue such a trend.

Furthermore, Mourinho has previously waxed lyrical about his former Chelsea coach, suggesting he is “creative” and a “very good coach.”

Only Sir Alex Ferguson has a better win percentage of any British manager to take charge of 50 or more games since 2000 in the Premier League, leading to Gary Neville lauding the 48-year-old “one of the outstanding managers in the league”.

It’s no wonder that Rodgers, who has won 54% of his games in charge of the Foxes, would be a dream candidate for Levy and Spurs. It could cost them an extraordinary amount of money to land him but, if it’s the price they have to pay to get a top contender, so be it.

Rodgers is absolutely perfect for Spurs; it’s as simple as that.

AND in other news, 45 y/o who left “a lasting impression on Spurs would bring shades of Pochettino to North London…

Pedro Neto’s injury at Wolves may well prove crucial for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, it has put a significant dampener on a campaign where injuries have been rife all season long for the Old Gold.

Secondly, it could rule him out of the start of next term and finally, it may stop him from moving elsewhere during the summer.

As Neto was taken from the field after just half an hour of their clash with Fulham, the club’s worst fears were confirmed soon after. The 21-year-old had broken his knee cap and was now set to miss the next six months of action.

It’s a huge blow but it would be even more devastating if they lost him permanently. Before the Portuguese suffered that injury, he’d been linked with a mega £50m move to Manchester United.

However, if and when he moves will now be dependant on the timescale of his injury. If Neto returns quicker than usual then we could well see him at Old Trafford next season.

Should that happen, Wolves will need to find a replacement.

Nuno Santo and co could do much worse than target Peterborough’s Siriki Dembele, somebody touted with a switch earlier this season. The attacker is out of contract in a few months time and as a result, won’t cost Wolves a single penny if they try to sign him.

We’ve already compared Dembele to former Wolves man Bakary Sako because of his exploits in League One but you sense the former’s potential and ceiling are far greater.

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Capable of playing through the middle or on the flanks, he’d make a wonderful replacement for Neto. He is bright, energetic and can score and create in equal measure.

This season Dembele has scored 12 goals and registered a further dozen assists. It has been an outstanding campaign for the 24-year-old who has fired his team back to the Championship.

He is an artist on the ball and in much the same way Neto does, the Peterborough forward beats players for fun.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast a few weeks ago, Posh director of football Barry Fry told readers to “watch this space” in a relation to a bid and ongoing contract negotiations.

That was after handing the player a phenomenal review; “Siriki can get the ball in his own half and with dazzling dribbling ability, he can beat four or five players and score a wonder goal or cross it for somebody else to score,” he began.

Fry added: “He’s very, very exciting. He’s got the best stats outside the [English] Premier League, I think.”

Looking towards a player who has been plying their trade in League One this season might not be the smartest of ideas on paper but if one thing is clear, it’s that Dembele is a weapon.

Signing him on a free transfer is low risk and would be particularly shrewd for a player of his qualities.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Neto: Wolves can forge perfect duo by signing “phenomenal” 30-goal bully…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Marlon Harewood, who played 164 times for West Ham, believes Tammy Abraham has everything that the Hammers will be looking for in new signings.

Since the arrival of Thomas Tuchel, Abraham has fallen down the pecking order despite netting 30 goals in 80 games for the Blues, with the German now favouring Kai Havertz and Timo Werner as strikers, which has led to the 23-year old being linked with a move to West Ham.

Abraham was trusted to lead the line for Chelsea under Frank Lampard after the striker impressed during his loan spell at Aston Villa, in which his goals helped them clinch promotion back to the Premier League via the play-offs.

Speaking on how Abraham has everything West Ham will be looking for and why things could change very quickly for the centre-forward, Harewood told FFC:

“Football is a crazy game – it can go all sorts of ways because he might get back into the Chelsea team and then stay there but at the moment, he’s not playing. It would be a good signing come the end of the season for West Ham.

“He would be a very good signing for West Ham moving forward because he can bring a whole heap of attributes that West Ham are trying to find.”

The £57,692 per week striker has also had to deal with several niggling injuries since Tuchel arrived at Stamford Bridge which has not helped his cause to try to impress his new manager.

Having just booked their place in the semi-finals of the Champions League, the Blues may yet not need to finish in the top four to qualify for the competition next season, if they can win it.

Many Arsenal fans have slammed the performance of Calum Chambers in their 3-0 home loss to Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday night.

The former Southampton man, who is primarily a central defender by trade, was run ragged at right-back by Sadio Mane all night as Jurgen Klopp’s men cruised to victory in the end at the Emirates Stadium.

Although there were some pretty poor performances in a Gunners shirt on the night, Chambers was especially off-colour. He lost out on 10 of his duels, the most of any of his teammates to have set foot on the pitch, and he also made no interceptions or tackles and lost the ball on 19 separate occasions (joint-most of any Arsenal player), earning him a measly 5.7 overall rating on Sofascore, the lowest out of anyone involved on the night.

Arsenal fans on Chambers display

These Gooners slammed his performance on Twitter, with one supporter even going as far as to claim that the 26-year-old is a ‘midtable footballer’:

“Might be good this in long run. Chambers, Holding, Ceballos, Elneny not good enough. Add Pepe, Auba, Laca to that maybe. Very poor.”

Credit: @RobWoodfin1

“#ARSLIV | Holding and Chambers beaten aerially by a guy shorter than the both of them. Embarrassing. 0-1 #AFC”

Credit: @HighburEE0304

“We expect top 4 again with Holding and Chambers starting games still in 2021! #afc”

Credit: @johnh1886

“One thing we learned is Chambers isn’t the answer he is a midtable footballer and he joins the vast collection of midtable trash masquerading as Arsenal players!!! #ARSLIV”
Credit: @stevegroves2004

“The only time Chambers and Holding play is for Arsenal, they aren’t good enough to be on the bench for England. Shows how out of class we are. Pathetic manager, pathetic players. Bring it on Thursday! #ARSLIV”
Credit: @msleeplessagain

“If Chambers was awarded a penalty he would probably pass it back to his keeper #ARSLIV”
Credit: @stephen_peel

In other news, find out what Martin Odegaard news has left these Gunners buzzing!

UEFA has missed the deadline to publish their report into the chaos surrounding Glasgow Rangers’ Europa League match against Slavia Prague at Ibrox last month.

UEFA miss deadline in Gers fiasco

The Gers were knocked out of the round of 16 by the Czech champions after losing 2-0 at Ibrox. However, the match was marred by a number of incidents, with Glen Kamara accusing Ondrej Kudela of racist abuse before the latter said the Finland international had hit him in the tunnel (slavia.cz).

Last week, Slavia president Jaroslav Tvrdik said UEFA had until April 5 to share their report (slavia.cz) – but they are yet to do so.

*Since this article was published, Ewan Murray has confirmed UEFA have opened ‘proceedings’ against Kudela.

Outcome is needed

Of course, it is important the European governing body carry out their due diligence to make sure they have all the information they need to make the right decision. However, for everyone involved in this sorry debacle, an outcome is needed sooner rather then later.

Depending on the decision, it is important that Kamara gets closure. What he is said to have been on the end of is out of order and must be eradicated both from the game of football and everyday life. UEFA will know they will be sending a message no matter the result – that is perhaps why they are taking so long to come to a decision.

In other news, some Rangers fans do not agree with these Steven Gerrard comments.

David Moyes has confirmed that West Ham United will be without midfielder Pablo Fornals against Arsenal on Sunday due to injury, which should prove beneficial for Jarrod Bowen.

Fornals was forced to sit out the Irons’ 1-0 defeat to Manchester United last week after sustaining a groin issue and is not expected to overcome the blow in time for the London derby.

The Spaniard had regained a regular role in Moyes’ plans before the Hammers’ trip to Old Trafford, with the 25-year-old starting three straight Premier League fixtures.

Fornals had only enjoyed a single six-minute cameo in West Ham’s previous three top-flight games before opening the action against Tottenham Hotspur last month, and remained in the side for subsequent meetings with Manchester City and Leeds United.

Moyes will once again be unable to field the £16.2m-rated playmaker when West Ham host Mikel Arteta’s Gunners this weekend, as one of several players due to be sidelined.

“We’ve got just about everybody the same [as last week],” Moyes said on Friday. “Pablo Fornals is improving, and, on the injury front, Angelo Ogbonna is closing in and getting much closer to fitness but he’s a wee bit away.

“Arthur Masuaku and Andriy Yarmolenko are both getting much closer, as well, so hopefully, it won’t be too long until we’re back to a full squad.”

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The international break which follows Sunday’s London derby should prove vastly beneficial for West Ham with Ogbonna (ankle), Fornals, Masuaku and Yarmolenko (knee) all seemingly moving closer to making their returns from injuries.

However, as Arsenal’s visit to the London Stadium will likely prove too early for some if not all, those who featured yet struggled against Manchester United will likely be given a reprieve and the chance to prove their worth this weekend.

Bowen will almost certainly fall into that category after his efforts alongside Michail Antonio in a two-man strike partnership left Moyes vastly underwhelmed at Old Trafford.

“We thought tonight that the way we would play with two up, Jarrod and Michail as two forwards to start with, we thought that might give them a problem to start with, so I saw that as being positive in a different way,” Moyes said, via quotes by football.london.

“But ultimately, we got better as the game went on when we brought on Manu [Lanzini] and Said [Benrahma] I would say that. I would also say Man United might have been better than they were and that the team that was out did not concede any goals, only one from a set-piece at that time and it was only after that that you can judge it.”

Bowen should expect to be kept in the starting line-up against Arsenal as Moyes will be able to return the former Hull City forward to his natural wide position with Fornals unavailable.

Moyes had moved the winger centrally to accommodate for Jesse Lingard being ineligible to face his parent club, but the Manchester United loanee is in line to make his return on Sunday.

A switch back to a 4-2-3-1 with Bowen on the right should help to see the £27m-rated maestro – who Darren Bent has described as an “example” for Said Benrahma to follow – find the form which eluded him last week and impressed Jamie Carragher earlier in the campaign.

“Bowen, he has been a brilliant signing for him [Moyes],” Carragher said on Sky Sports, via quotes shared by Hammers News, after scoring the winner against Aston Villa on November 30.

“He’s just one of those players, he always nicks a goal every three or four games, you just see him on the scoresheet. And again, he’s got a vital goal for them. He does really well on that right-side coming inside and he’s been a great signing for them.”

AND in other news, a West Ham winter target is set to be available for £17m this summer…

Rob Lee has exclusively told Football FanCast that Callum Wilson could be the key to Newcastle’s survival chances.

Newcastle slipped further into trouble following their defeat at Brighton on Saturday, leaving Steve Bruce’s team just two points above the bottom-three heading into the international break.

That result was the Magpies’ sixth Premier League game without victory, which has coincided with the injury to top scorer Callum Wilson.

The former Bournemouth striker sustained a hamstring problem during Newcastle’s win over Southampton last month, which was the last time Bruce’s men tasted victory.

Prior to his setback, Wilson had scored 10 Premier League goals this season, which is more than 30 percent of the goals they’ve netted in the league.

And Lee told Football FanCast that Wilson’s return can’t come soon enough for the St James’ Park oufit:

“You get him back after the international break, he’s the one that can save the season because he’s the guy that can score goals out of nothing.

“Even when we’re not playing well, which is a lot, he can still score. And that’s the different between somebody staying up and going down.”

Newcastle have won seven Premier League games this season, with Wilson scoring in five of those. So if Bruce’s men are to finish above the dotted-line, Wilson is certainly going to play his part.

Rangers will be looking to continue their journey in the Europa League when they take on Slavia Prague at Ibrox on Thursday, with Steven Gerrard’s side in a strong position after coming away with a 1-1 draw in the away leg last week.

One way in which Rangers could get the edge over their Czech opponents is by unleashing Kemar Roofe at Ibrox, with the former Leeds United man having made his return from injury in the reverse fixture.

The Jamaican forward has impressed since signing from Anderlecht in the summer, having contributed 12 goals and two assists in 26 appearances for Gerrard’s side.

In the Premiership, he has averaged an impressive 7.13 rating for his performances, which sees him rated as the eighth-best performer in the league for Rangers so far this season, so it is certainly a big boost for Gerrard that he is now back from injury.

After he made his return against Slavia last week, the former Liverpool man said:

“It’s great to have Kemar back and a cameo will do him the world of good.”

Hopefully, the return to action, plus another week of training, will give Roofe the fitness he needs to make a big impact in the game at Ibrox on Thursday, as he could be the difference-maker.

We have already seen Roofe score twice in the Europa League this season, once against Benfica and once in the 2-0 win against Standard Liege with an unforgettable goal from the halfway line.

Gerrard was clearly wowed by that strike, as he said after the game:

“I think it was a moment of genius. I’ve been lucky enough to watch it five or six times since the end of the game and it’s the actual build-up and preparation before the strike.”
Although Roofe will do well to recreate a similar goal to that in training, let alone in a competitive game, it emphasised what he is capable of and the quality that he possesses and a moment of magic like that could well be the difference between Rangers progressing or exiting the Europa League on Thursday night.

Therefore, Gerrard should give the £5.4 million-rated forward a chance to impress from the start and hope that he can have another moment of genius on Thursday night.
And, in other news… Gerrard should unleash teen wonderkid who is “worth his weight in gold” next season

Rangers played out a 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague at the Sinobo Stadium on Thursday evening and Steven Gerrard’s side will be confident that they can progress further in the Europa League by winning next week’s second leg at Ibrox.

Nicolae Stanciu gave the hosts an excellent start when he curled into the top corner after just seven minutes but Rangers fought back and equalised thanks to a scrappy goal from Filip Helander before half-time. Gerrard’s side were on top in the second half but had Allan McGregor to thank for securing a draw as the 39-year-old made an unbelievable save in the final few minutes to ensure that the teams finished level.

Although there were some excellent performances on show from Rangers, one man who struggled throughout the game was Nathan Patterson.

The 19-year-old continued his recent run in the side by starting in the Czech Republic, as captain James Tavernier is still sidelined through injury and Leon Balogun showed his vulnerabilities as a right-back in the previous round against Royal Antwerp.

However, he was tormented by the impressive Stanciu for much of the game, with SofaScore awarding the right-back a disappointing 6.4/10 rating for his performance, which was the worst of any Gers player who started the game.

Whilst the teenager made an impressive five clearances, three tackles and three interceptions during the game, the Slavia attackers regularly had the better of him down his side, as he was dribbled past as many as five times on Thursday evening.

For context, Filip Helander and Connor Goldson weren’t dribbled past at all, whilst left-back Borna Barisic was dribbled past just once, so it definitely seems like the home side targeted the young right-back and exploited his inexperience.

It was also arguably a poor display from the defender from a passing perspective, as he would complete just 17 passes during the game, which was fewer than the 24 passes McGregor would complete, which emphasises that he wasn’t able to get on the ball very often.

Unfortunately for Gerrard, on the few occasions when Patterson did have the ball at his feet, he was wasteful with it, as he lost possession 16 times, which again was more than both of Rangers’ centre-backs despite them having much more of the ball.

After the game, Gerrard suggested that the academy talent “became a man” with his performance on Thursday but the stats suggest that the youngster still has a lot to learn before he can be considered a serious challenger for Tavernier at right-back in this Rangers side.

And, in other news… No time for niceties: Wilson must axe £7.5k Rangers flop this summer; he’s simply not good enough