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Southampton goalkeeper Harry Lewis has failed to make a single appearance under Ralph Hasenhuttl thus far and the Austrian should ensure that the 23-year-old leaves the club this summer.

Lewis is an academy graduate at Southampton and made three FA Cup appearances for the senior side in the 2016/17 season, in which he conceded seven goals, and he has not been seen in the first-team since.

His record with the Southampton B team is not overly impressive either, with the shot-stopper having shipped 64 goals in 35 appearances there, keeping just six clean sheets in the process.

Lewis is unfortunate that Hasenhuttl has both Alex McCarthy and Fraser Forster available to him in his squad, meaning that his lack of experience was always likely to mean that he was going to struggle for regular game time.

Although the ‘keeper was a regular for Dundee United in the 2017/18 season, he hasn’t left the club on loan again since then and has been forced to settle for academy football in the three years since.

Considering Southampton also have Angus Gunn out on loan at Stoke City in the Championship, it is difficult to see Lewis ever making it as a regular with the South Coast club.

Fortunately, his contract is set to expire in the summer, so it seems likely that he will depart his boyhood club and, hopefully, find a side that is willing to offer him regular first-team football.

According to Sportrac, Lewis earns more than £20k per week at Southampton, which seems ridiculous when you consider he hasn’t made a single first-team appearance in Hasenhuttl’s two and a half years with the club.

Therefore, you can definitely argue that he is stealing a living with the Saints at this moment in time, and the club should make sure that he leaves when his current contract expires in the summer.

And, in other news… Southampton signing £7.2m-rated beast could be bad news for £55k-p/w Saints regular

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Dean Windass expressed his worries for the young players at Chelsea under new boss Thomas Tuchel.

The likes of Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Billy Gilmour were all getting game time under Frank Lampard. However, there appear to be more answers than questions under Tuchel.

Hudson-Odoi experienced the embarrassment of being doubled subbed during a game after not putting in the required effort from his manager, which raised a lot of concerns and complaints amongst the media.

However, since that move, Hudson-Odoi has put in some excellent performances for Chelsea and seems to be thriving in his new wing-back role.

Abraham has also been substituted at half-time in half of his starts for Tuchel, as well as being handed just five appearances under the German.

Tuchel is still rotating his squad, potentially signalling to the board that he is not happy with the squad and will be looking to make new additions in the summer. This is despite the high profile arrivals last summer of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Ben Chilwell and Thiago Silva.

The former Borussia Dortmund coach has instilled a new mentality at Chelsea making them a lot less weak and a lot smarter on the pitch, but it may have come at a cost for a number of Chelsea’s promising youngsters.

Dean Windass exclusively told Football Fancast he believes Tuchel will want to try his hand in the foreign transfer market as he looks to build his side.

Windass said: “I think Tuchel will be looking more to the foreign market next season.

“That adds a lot of questions to Mason Mount and all these young kids like Billy Gilmour. Are they going to get chances like they did under Frank?

“Reece James at right back. I know he’s back in the team now, but when the manager came in he wasn’t.”

The Blues are still in the Champions League, FA Cup and fighting for the top four so, Tuchel is going to need his entire squad to make anything of this season. This could be a chance to impress the manager.

A lot fo the young players may have to sue this as a final audition to prove they’re good enough for Chelsea and that the manager doesn’t need to go spending millions on new players.

Manchester United have been hit by an attacking injury crisis ahead of their Premier League meeting with West Ham United.

Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani is currently on the sidelines and it looks like he has been joined by Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial, bwith oth forwards reported as being big doubts ahead of the clash.

Usually, having three forwards ruled out would decimate a side, however, Man United fortunately have a man ready to step into the breach – Amad Diallo.

Signed from Atalanta last summer and officially joining the club in the January transfer window, the Ivorian has made a fantastic start to life at Old Trafford.

As well as netting three goals and two assists in just two appearances for the Red Devils’ U23 side, he has carried that form into the senior set-up.

Replacing Anthony Martial in the recent 1-1 draw against AC Milan in the UEFA Europa League, he showed the awareness of an aged pro by netting his first-ever United goal with a clever backwards header that looped over the stranded Gianluigi Donnarumma.

It is that inventiveness and bravery that should see him drafted into the United first team for the clash against the Hammers.

After all, Red Devils’ boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has already suggested that Diallo is going to be “big” after his electric start in Manchester.

Whilst it could be argued that his inclusion would only be out of necessity with the club’s lengthy injury list, Diallo would more than justify a start given his personal statistics.

According to WhoScored, the £13.5m-rated wideman is averaging 0.3 shots, 1.3 dribbles and drawing one foul per game in his United appearances so far. It is somewhat true that they are not sparkling statistics, but it has to be considered that they are only over a period of approximately 83 minutes over three substitute appearances.

It would be natural to assume that his productivity would increase if afforded more time on the pitch by Solskjaer, starting with Sunday’s Premier League clash against West Ham United.

He was brought to United for a reason and later today, he should be given the chance to shine. Rashford’s injury is undoubteldy a blow to United, but Diallo can ease those worries if given a chance by Solskjaer.

AND in more news, read more on why Manchester United’s move for Gianluca Mancini could benefit Harry Maguire…

Steve Bruce must urge Newcastle United to sign Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury on loan during the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports (Transfer Centre, 19/1, 13:42), Bruce is in the market for a new option for his engine room as the Toon boss feels like he is currently lacking a midfielder with the energy to control play at both ends of the field.

Newcastle would be expected to face strong competition should they move to sign Choudhury this month, and any deal for the former England U21 international is likely to go down to the wire.

The 23-year-old has fallen out of favour at the King Power Stadium this season after earning a career-high 20 outings in the Premier League last term, with Brendan Rodgers only calling on the Loughborough-born midfielder to play 70 minutes of top-flight football to date.

Rodgers has confirmed Leicester would prefer to sell Choudhury in the January transfer window if he is to leave the East Midlands outfit in search of more game time, as the loan offers received so far have not been attractive enough from a Foxes perspective.

Sam Allardyce is thought to have marked Choudhury as his top target for West Bromwich Albion to sign this month as, like Bruce, he strives to bring in a new midfielder.

The Leicester product also reportedly favours a move to The Hawthorns over Southampton or Newcastle as he feels he will be given the most playing time, while not having to relocate, per the Express and Star.

Should Newcastle sign Choudhury?

Bruce should do all he can to ensure Choudhury opts for a move to St. James’ Park by the end of the winter market by pushing Newcastle to have a package in place that will appeal to Leicester, as the Foxes outcast could be the ideal option to solve his midfield headache.

Choudhury may be out of favour in the Premier League this season, yet he has kept his fitness up with frequent minutes in the Europa League with Rodgers opting to rotate his options. But those chances will likely soon dwindle, as Leicester look to negotiate their way through the knockout stages.

That will, more probably than not, see Choudhury face the same situation as he does in the top-flight, where Rodgers has omitted the £7m-rated anchor from six matchday squads and left him as an unused substitute on 10 occasions and counting.

It was not that long ago that Rodgers was a firm advocate of Choudhury’s talents in the engine room and those sentiments were also echoed by former Crystal Palace striker Clinton Morrison, who told BBC Radio 5 Live: “What Choudhury gives you is that he can sniff out danger, he destroys it and can make a tackle, but he’s also really good on the ball.”

Choudhury reflected his Carabao Cup exploits over the 2019/20 Premier League season with 1.2 interceptions and 0.8 successful tackles a game. Those numbers would suggest he can provide Bruce with strong depth as Isaac Hayden (1.85) and Matty Longstaff (1.4) are the sole members of his current unit who break up opposition play more often this term, per SofaScore.

His ability to be the box-to-box presence may not be as strong, with Choudhury rarely carrying possession up the field with just 0.1 successful dribbles a game last season. But his defensive prowess may better free Jonjo Shelvey, who ranks second only to Matt Ritchie (1.63) for key passes (1.2).

AND in other news, Newcastle face heightened competition for a £2.7m target…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United midfielder Rob Lee has been discussing the situation of Dele Alli at Tottenham Hotspur.

The former MK Dons man has found himself on the fringes of Jose Mourinho’s squad this season, having made just one start in the Premier League this season, featuring for just 75 minutes in the top-flight.

As a result, the England international has been heavily linked with a move to PSG during the winter transfer window, where he could link up with his old manager Mauricio Pochettino, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano.

However, with the transfer deadline day set to close on the 1st February, no deal has been agreed, which could result in the £100k-per-week 24-year-old spending the rest of the season warming the bench at Spurs.

Here’s what Lee had to say about Alli when speaking exclusively to FFC:

“I don’t see the point in him staying at Spurs. I think it’s pointless. I think there will be lots of clubs after him but you have to play a certain way to play with a 10. Jose Mourinho just doesn’t play that way. Dele Alli – you have to allow him to do what he wants to do.”

Lee clearly feels that there isn’t much point in Alli staying with Spurs and that unless Mourinho drastically alters the way his side plays, then the attacking-midfielder is unlikely to see his game time with the Lilywhites increase.

Unfortunately for Alli, the latest reports are suggesting that Daniel Levy is not willing to let him leave until a replacement is brought in, and with time running out, it is looking more and more likely that the out-of-favour midfielder will be stuck at Spurs for the rest of the season.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-and-rumours” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, injury latest and more!”]

If he doesn’t leave during the winter transfer window, then it may not be a surprise to see the €40m-rated (£36m) ace depart in the summer, as he clearly isn’t held in the same regard by Mourinho as he was by Pochettino, who dubbed him an “unbelievable player” during his time in charge of the Lilywhites.

And, in other news… Levy can finally sign Spurs’ Vertonghen heir with swoop for £36m beast who’s “on the same level” as Upamecano

If Nuno Santo had a headache over the festive period it’s likely it won’t have been from excessive drinking. Instead, it will have been from repeatedly banging his head against a wall.

For Wolves, they can’t seem to string two positive results together at the moment and despite how impressive their performance was against Manchester United, they still lost.

Nuno’s men held on for so long but in the 93rd minute, Marcus Rashford’s deflected effort found its way past Rui Patricio and into the back of the net.

At first glance, Wolves’ decision to ring the chances wasn’t the best of ideas. Against a United side who are gunning for the title, it looked foolish. The number of changes wasn’t exactly Mick McCarthy levels but in starting Vitinha and Ki-Jana Hoever, it was a gamble.

It was one that so nearly paid off though as Wolves’ youngsters did themselves no harm. Although those two individuals didn’t look out of place, it was the performance of Max Kilman that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

The 23-year-old was poor against Burnley and was caught out of position on a regular basis. However, he made up for it with a resounding display at Old Trafford.

Kilman has been inconsistent this season and now has to build on this outing, one that saw him win 83.3% of the duels he contested. He was a titan in ground battles, winning four out of five against a free-flowing attack full of world-class talent.

The young defender held his own and in the words of Birmingham Live correspondent Alex Dicken, he “handled everything.”

To add to Kilman’s eye-catching performance, he completed 81% of his passes and provided plenty of cover for Rayan Ait-Nouri. The left wing-back was allowed the freedom to bomb forward because of how well his teammate was defending.

Although he conceded late on, the centre-back deserves enormous credit for the way he went about his business, especially after looking out of place against the Clarets.

The challenge for Kilman now is finding that sort of level on a regular basis.

AND in other news, Wolves must swoop for “magical” £166k-p/w gem with “outstanding timing”…

There were high hopes when Southampton signed Mohammed Salisu from Real Valladolid during the summer, but the young centre-back has endured a torrid debut season thus far.

Fitness and injury issues have prevented the Ghanaian from making a single appearance for either the senior or academy sides during his time with the South Coast club so far.

After Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed that the 21-year-old’s current injury is going to keep him out until next month, it seems unlikely that Saints fans will get to see him make an appearance at all this season.

There did seem a possibility that Salisu could make his debut during December after the injury to Jannik Vestergaard but Jack Stephens was preferred to the youngster before a further injury prevented him from making an appearance against Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup, which would’ve perhaps been the ideal time for the 21-year-old to get his first minutes in a Southampton shirt.

Unfortunately for Salisu, if he continues this run of injury and fitness issues for the significant future, he risks following a similar route to former Southampton man Vegard Forren.

The Norwegian international joined Southampton in 2013 but he was sold back to Molde just six months later, having failed to make a single appearance during his time with the Saints and with little explanation as to what had gone wrong.

It is a worrying update from Hasenhuttl that the former Valladolid man is struggling so much with injury, as he was a regular last season in La Liga, making 31 appearances, so it is concerning that he cannot get fit at Southampton.

Although Vestergaard labelled Salisu a “big talent” earlier this season, once the Danish international makes his expected return from injury next month, you would imagine that the 21-year-old would be fourth-choice centre-back in Hasenhuttl’s side, and therefore, regardless of his injury and fitness concerns, it is difficult to see him making an appearance at all this season.

And, in other news… Forget JWP: 6 ft 2 Saints beast who had 112 touches was Hasenhuttl’s FA Cup star

It’s fair to say the last week or so has been one of the most interesting periods of Miguel Almiron’s Newcastle career so far.

The Paraguay international’s agent came out and revealed that his client could have left the club in the summer, and that European giants like Inter and Atletico Madrid were interested in his services.

Then, Magpies boss Steve Bruce hit back with some explosive comments of his own, branding it as “outrageous” and slamming the agent as being “so amateurish”.

Almiron of course didn’t start last time out against Chelsea in the Premier League, although that was perhaps more to do with his late return from international duty with Paraguay.

But with reports since claiming that he could potentially leave St James’ Park in the near future, it really does feel like the 26-year-old is almost entering a really significant moment in his Newcastle career already.

His start to the new campaign has been pretty much a follow-on from the rest of his time on Tyneside, with just one measly goal to show in 11 games.

On form, Almiron perhaps doesn’t warrant getting a start in Newcastle’s Premier League clash with Crystal Palace tonight, but you just wonder whether the whole spat between his manager and agent could have just lit a fire under him.

The Paraguayan has a point to prove and can really do his side of the talking on the pitch, and Bruce must surely consider giving him the opportunity to do so.

It was just this summer that the Magpies boss waxed lyrical about the dynamo, saying: “Almiron is a manager’s dream. He’s bright, he’s tough, he trains every day and he’s been carrying a thigh injury but doesn’t want to tell anybody.

“The last 20 minutes on Sunday (against West Ham United) he was limping about the pitch. In 18 months he’s proved to be a really top, top player.”

Friday night could well be the making of Almiron at Newcastle if he’s given his chance.

For Neil Lennon, the sands of time have surely hit the bottom of the glass.

After a 1-1 draw with St Johnstone, Celtic’s run extended to just two wins in their last 12 matches.

They may have looked more dependable defensively but on this occasion, not even the attack was firing as the Hoops struggled to create and ultimately fell even further behind their arch-rivals Rangers.

Ten in a row now looks nothing but a pipe dream for the Bhoys, an unattainable vision slipping away as each week passes by.

One of the worst bits, however, was that not even Tom Rogic could help his team. The Australian has looked a rejuvenated character this season, scoring two goals and registering three assists, proving to be one of very few bright sparks.

Yet, on Sunday afternoon, he was poor and his contribution will have left Lennon seething, something that was evident in the fact that Rogic was brought off on 68 minutes.

In doing so, he left the pitch having failed to make a single key pass. Playing in the number 10 role, it was hardly surprising that Celtic struggled so much to create.

The 27-year-old had just one shot, which went off-target, and he produced a solitary accurate cross.

Furthermore, Rogic won just 25% of his aerial and ground battles combined. This was a poor day at the office for a man who has usually been so reliable this term.

Yet, he struggled to get going, just as the rest of his team did. Could someone like Olivier Ntcham have made a difference in that role? Unfortunately, we will never know.

Although this shouldn’t be the end of the road for Rogic in the starting XI, it should be the end for Lennon. His coaching simply isn’t getting enough from this team.

He has to go.

In other news, Celtic are on the verge of a BIG mistake with Dembele…

Manchester United prospect Diogo Dalot proved he was a missed opportunity for Everton with an inspired performance for Portugal’s Under 21s as Rui Jorge’s side beat Norway 4-1.

Portugal’s young chargers hosted the best up-and-coming talents Norway had to offer at the Estadio Antonio Coimbra da Mota on Friday night as they continued their qualifying efforts for the UEFA European U21 Championship.

A hat-trick from Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Pedro Neto and a second-half strike from the Molineux outfit’s FC Porto loanee Vitinha ensured Portugal kept within six points of the Netherlands at the top of Group 7 ahead of facing Gibraltar on Tuesday.

Everton were linked with a potential move to sign Dalot from Manchester United this summer, with the Mirror suggesting in August that Carlo Ancelotti had considered the youngster as a potential long-term option to bolster his defence.

The full-back has fallen out of favour at Old Trafford under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after the arrival of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, leading Ancelotti to believe that the 21-year-old could be signed for around £10million – almost half the £19m Manchester United paid to sign him during Jose Mourinho’s tenure.

Dalot ultimately secured a one-season loan deal with Italian giants AC Milan, who are reportedly already considering approaching United over a permanent transfer having failed to agree on an option to buy clause.

The Braga-born full-back is yet to make his debut outing for the Rossoneri, with his sole domestic minutes of the campaign coming in a 90-minute run-out for United against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Carabao Cup.

Dalot opened the Norway affair on Friday night for his sixth U21 international appearance and first in two years, and enjoyed 83 minutes on the field before being replaced late on by Pedro Pereira.

In those minutes, Dalot stood out behind Wolves’ goal-scoring duo on the right-hand channel as he registered the next-highest match rating to Neto and Vitinha from SofaScore at 7.5.

The Porto product earned his score thanks to completing 40 of his 48 attempted passes, which led to two key balls, creating one big chance, delivering two accurate crosses and playing six long passes.

He also struck one shot on goal but saw that effort blocked, while denying Norway with three clearances, one block, three interceptions, one tackle, one ground duel won and one aerial contest won.

Everton Director of Football Marcel Brands may have been left disappointed to see Dalot thrive on Friday, having opted, alongside Ancelotti, not to sign the young full-back in the summer and therefore, not land the Blues’ boss his potential long-term Seamus Coleman successor.

AND in other news, an outcast of Carlo Ancelotti’s plans is unlikely to win the Everton boss over despite his Deadline Day decision.