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This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

According to Portuguese outlet Record, Liverpool are interested in signing Sporting midfielder Idrissa Doumbia after being impressed with the midfielder in a pre-season friendly against the Liga NOS side.

The Independent also report that a deal is unlikely to be concluded this summer, although the Reds are now tracking Doumbia’s progress with a view to making a move in the next window.

At just 21 years of age, the Ivory Coast star could well have a bright future ahead of him if he continues in this vein, seeing as he did enough in what was just a friendly to impress the Champions League winners.

Additionally, he would also be a wise player to recruit given the current ages of some of Liverpool’s midfield options.

As you can see, the youngster looks to be a fairly tidy passer of the ball and a decent reader of the play despite his young age with 1.1 interceptions per game.

As aforesaid, he would be a good option to target given the current midfield situation.

As things stand, Jurgen Klopp’s midfield options are bloated and no new faces should be added anytime soon.

The German has Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Gini Wijnaldum, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Fabinho all at his disposal right now – a whopping seven players.

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However, Henderson will be 30 next summer. Wijnaldum is 28 and it won’t be long until he’s also 30. Milner turns 34 in January, and Lallana’s next birthday will be his 32nd – it is fine for now, but Liverpool should definitely have one eye on freshening up some of these options.

At just 21, Doumbia would struggle to get much game time ahead of the established players above, but he should definitely be considered as a potential signing for next summer or the following windows after that given the advancing years of some of Liverpool’s stars.

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December 5th 2018 was a landmark moment in the career of Morgan Gibbs-White as the promising teenager made his first Premier League start.

The opposition? Maurizio Sarri’s Chelsea. The result? A 2-1 win for Wolves. Unsurprisingly it wasn’t the first time Nuno Santo’s team had taken points from a top-six club in 2018/19.

In that clash, Gibbs-White was phenomenal, claiming an assist playing in the advanced role he’d flourished in for England U17’s during their World Cup triumph 14 months prior.

But, that game against the Blues is about as good as it got for the young talent this season. A victim of Wolves’ settled side, he’s had to make do with regular substitute cameos, appearing just five times from the start in the league.

And when he has played, it’s usually been deeper in Wolves’ midfield.

However, there is hope beyond his limited game time this term. Gibbs-White has an extremely bright future and, if the club qualify for the Europa League, he is someone who can benefit greatly from the extra matches.

Wolves haven’t needed much rotation in midfield this season. Ruben Neves, Leander Dendoncker and Joao Moutinho have all been hugely impressive. But with the latter turning 33 before the new season gets underway, there will be questions over whether he can play in as many matches as he has for a second year in a row.

With that in mind, Gibbs-White will surely find himself starting to become a regular in the Wolves side next term.

Given Neves and Dendoncker are more defensive minded players, then Moutinho would be the most likely to drop out should the 19-year-old start to prosper further. That’s unless Wolves change their system to accommodate the young star.

Moutinho was their leading creative light after arriving, claiming eight assists, but if you look at Gibbs-White’s performances at international youth level then there is a key argument to suggest he can take over the mantle from Moutinho.

He’s an exceptional player when coming from deep, having a canny knack of arriving in the penalty area late, either to pop up with a goal or move the ball quickly onto his teammates.

This was evident during the game against Chelsea. Incisive passes were the order of the day as he looked to feed Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez into the channels.

But what should scare opposing teams the most is his ability on the ball. Flashback to a time when Jack Wilshere was actually rather good and there are a few similarities.

Gibbs-White can pick up the ball, get past a man and inject a turn of pace into a match from nowhere. It’s players like that who get you out of your seat.

In an age where England have so many promising young players coming through, he is yet another individual capable of starring for his country in the years to come.

For starters, he may get to do that at the European U21 Championships this summer should he be picked. That’ll present an ideal platform for the Wolves man to show his true capabilities on a continental stage.

Good performances there and there’s no reason why he can’t kick on domestically once he returns.

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England have lacked players with the ability to carry the ball forward, and in Gibbs-White they have a perfect candidate to erase the thought of boring sideways passing.

Wolves have shown interest in Benfica superstar Joao Felix in recent times. If they pull it off it’ll be a remarkable transfer coup. But they may be better off relying on their own young talent. It’s definitely a far better option financially.

His debut season in the top-tier of English football was a promising one but next year could be a real breakthrough campaign.

Much has been made about the club’s lack of depth but he is a phenomenal example of why Wolves can ignore the advances Jorge Mendes makes this summer and opt for internal solutions.

After all, Nuno is aiming to keep his squad small again next season. As a result, the opportunity will surely be there for their exciting prospect to eclipse his elder colleagues.

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Rangers moved into the transfer market to sign Glen Kamara from Dundee at the end of the January window, and it’s fair to say the new acquisition has made an instant impact at the club.

The 9-cap Finland international’s reputation has been snowballing since the moment he set foot in Glasgow, but his reputation culminated last night when he notched his first goal for the club.

Kamara was an outstanding performer at Ibrox in a domineering 4-0 win over his former club. He set the tone for a fine evening by bagging the opener after just four minutes with a well cushioned volley.

In the aftermath of proceedings, Kamara took to Twitter to galvanise the supporters during this rich vein of form and cited his delight at scoring his first goal for the club.

The supporters responded to the post with gushing admiration, with suggestions that he could become a future captain or club legend firmly a part of the discussion.

It may well be early days in his career but it appears that the 23-year-old is well on his way to establishing himself as a firm fan-favourite.

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Here’s what the Gers faithful had to say in response to Kamara’s Twitter post…

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Loads of Leeds fans have been reacting to some comments from Marcelo Bielsa, as the gaffer heaped praise on super-sub Samuel Saiz.

Leeds fans were all calling for Saiz to start against Reading after he picked up another assist this weekend, and those calls are only getting louder after Bielsa praised the Spaniard.

Saiz has come off the bench in his last three appearances, picking up assists in two of those.

The 27 year-old is unbelievably talented, but has been subject to controversy in the past, including a ban for spitting at an opponent earlier this year.

The boss has clearly decided he is best utilised coming off the bench against tired legs, but his latest comments have left fans wondering why he can’t get a start.

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“I think Saiz is the most skilled player in our team and he has skills that few players have,” Bielsa said. “I’m not talking about only our team. I’m talking about football in general.

“Samu is very useful to our team. Either he plays 20 minutes, half-an-hour or the whole game. I have the obligation to take into account the whole team.”

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The crafty playmaker has four Championship assists so far this campaign, and having both him and Pablo Hernandez on the pitch must be terrifying for opposition defenders.

Loads of fans have been reacting to the boss’ comments, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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Celtic announced their 43-man squad for the Europa League this season earlier this week, and there was one surprise omission in the form of summer signing Daniel Arzani.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the highly-rated 19-year-old was brought to Celtic Park on a two-year loan after he joined Manchester City from Melbourne City this summer, and having shown plenty of glimpses of quality for Australia at the 2018 World Cup it would have surely been hoped that he could hit the ground running with the Bhoys.

However, the talented teenager won’t feature in Europe for the Scottish Premiership holders this term, with assistant manager Chris Davies suggesting that he still needs time to settle in to his new surroundings.

According to an interview as reported by STV, Davies said: “He is two weeks into his training program here, which is, in normal terms, still early pre-season.

“He still has a way to go to get up to speed but he has a two-year loan and we are going to support his development.”

Was signing him a mistake?

In the short-term, it seems it absolutely was.

When Celtic were signing an exciting young player from Man City they would have been hoping that he could make an instant impact for them out wide – especially having seen Patrick Roberts and Charly Musonda return to City and Chelsea respectively following loan spells last season.

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Given his performances in Russia this summer, Arzani could have been a real dangerous weapon for the Bhoys in the Europa League, and the fact that he isn’t yet ready for action suggests that Celtic should not have signed the 19-year-old – or at least waited until January when he may have been ready and prepared.

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Most retired footballers want their former clubs to succeed, but ex-Newcastle United goalkeeper Shaka Hislop has revealed that he would like to see the North-East outfit relegated from the Premier League.

The comment would initially come as a surprise to most fans, but the 49-year-old has claimed that dropping into the second tier would force Mike Ashley into selling the club.

The Sports Direct tycoon, who has been regularly bashed by fans on social media, put Newcastle United up for sale in October, but he is yet to strike a concrete deal with any potential buyers.

While carrying out punditry duties for ESPN, Hislop said:

“I’ve picked Newcastle, and I’ll tell you why – because that would force Mike Ashley to sell. And I think you will not see the best of Newcastle until Ashley sells. In case you haven’t gathered, I’m not much of an Ashley fan.”

Newcastle spent last season in the Championship after Rafael Benitez failed to keep the Magpies in the top flight.

Having a full season ahead of him, the Spaniard was able to comfortably guide the club back into the elite, but they are in danger of falling right back into the second tier.

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As it stands, the club are just two points above the bottom three with nine games left to play.

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In the days leading up to the weekend’s domestic action, plenty of footballers tend to post training pictures on Twitter or messages expressing their excitement for the next game.

Fernando Llorente was one of those players, as he took to social media ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League match away to Huddersfield Town.

The striker’s simple tweet has not quite attracted the kind of response he may have hoped for.

While some Tottenham fans shared his excitement about Saturday’s early kickoff, rival supporters mocked Llorente’s failure to land a regular spot in the team.

The Spaniard joined the North London outfit from Swansea City on transfer deadline-day, but has only started one fixture, which was in the Carabao Cup.

In total, the striker has made five appearances in all competitions, but across the Premier League and Champions League, the former Juventus star has played just 53 minutes.

The ex-Sevilla man was always going to be down the pecking order at Spurs due to Harry Kane cementing the role as first-choice striker.

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Judging from his tweet, Llorente is excited for the upcoming game, but rival fans have pointed out that he is unlikely to play.

Others were much more supportive…

Leeds fans are in the best mood they have been for a while with the Whites finally looking like a side capable of getting back up to the Premier League

The Yorkshire club’s fall from grace has been as spectacular as it has sad, with the Champions League semi-final appearance of 2000/01 a distant memory. The hard times have been really hard, but under the stewardship of Garry Monk Leeds are in the play-off spots right now and look like a team capable of going through the lottery to book a spot back at the top table.

A number of their players have put in stellar performances, with centre-back Pontus Jansson one of them. The giant Swede, on loan from Torino, has won the fans over with his playing style and personality, making himself a cult hero at Elland Road.

We decided to put this video together in honour of Jansson. After all, he heads bricks straight back, apparently…

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If you look at the strikers that Roberto Mancini has at his disposal at Inter Milan, you’d think they’d be at the top end of Serie A and mounting a serious push for the title.

Yet, as they languish in fourth place with only the bragging rights over their rivals to cheer about, some Inter fans have been left disappointed by what they’ve seen from one striker in particular.

The man in question? Stevan Jovetic – who is on-loan at the San Siro on an 18-month deal from Manchester City. Whilst many forget that he is still a City player, he looks like he might be in limbo come the end of the season with his future at Inter Milan growing more unclear by the day.

Comments in the Italian press this week plunged the Montenegrin’s future into doubt, with the 26-year-old himself stating that “I haven’t come to sit on the bench”.

Inter have the chance to sign the striker at the end of the season for a sum of around €14.5m, but will they want to pay such a fee for a striker that has only wielded six goals in 23 league appearances? It’s yet to be seen, but his future at either club is well and truly up in the air.

Many City fans have been calling for another striker to be brought all season, with the reliance on Segio Aguero seemingly getting greater week-by-week. With Wilfried Bony failing to provide anything at all since signing from Swansea City a couple of years ago and Kelechi Iheanacho still finding his feet in the first team, City need more firepower upfront, so could Jovetic be an unlikely option?

He failed to set the Etihad alight during his first spell, but faced fierce competition from Edin Dzeko, Alvaro Negredo and Sergio Aguero, who all battling for the right to be City’s top striker. So could it be different this time round? If you want to be brutally honest, he’s struggled to find the form he discovered at Partizan Belgrade back in 2007/08, which earned him his move to Fiorentina. He scored 19 in 33 appearances that season and since then he’s had one solid campaign in Italy and has failed to fulfil his potential.

You can’t argue for the Montenegrin unfortunately. At Fiorentina, Manchester City and Inter Milan he’s been surrounded by quality but he seems to be outshone far too easily for a player that should be offering flair, trickery and goals.

Whilst he’s struggled to dislodge Mauro Icardi from the Inter Milan team all season, his market value has continued to drop. These should be the best years of Jovetic’s career, yet he seems to be stuck in an irreversible rut.

What seems clear is that his future may lie away from both Manchester City and Inter Milan in the near future with a club that can offer him a fresh start.

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He had so much potential and perhaps he can rediscover that somewhere else, but as for a return to the Etihad? Don’t get your hopes up.

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Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero are the Premier League’s joint top goal scorers this season.

It is most likely going to be the Spaniard or the Argentine who will finish the season as the league’s top goal scorer. But who has been the better player so far this season?

Starting off with goals scored, both players have scored nine goals for their respective clubs. Diego Costa (7) may have played two games less than Aguero (9), but the Argentine has played 622 minutes whilst the Spaniard has played 585 minutes, 37 minutes less. Therefore, whilst many will see Diego Costa scoring the same amount of goals in two games less, is actually on 37 minutes less, less than half a game.

When it comes to how the goals are scored, Diego Costa statistics shows he is the more versatile of the two. From Diego Costa’s nine goals, he has scored four using his left foot, three using his right foot, and two using his head. All of them were scored inside the area as well. Aguero on the other hand has scored one goal using his left foot, eight using his right foot, none using his head, and all but one of his goals have come from inside the area.

In order for a striker to score, he needs to takes shots, accurate shots. Aguero has taken 43 shots in total, around 4.78 shots per game, with a shot accuracy percentage of 65%. Diego Costa however has taken fewer shots, but has a higher shot accuracy percentage. The Spaniard’s shot accuracy percentage is 84% from a total of 22 shots, around 3.14 shots per game. Whilst it is important for a striker to take as many shots as possible to increase his goal scoring chances, these shots need to be on target as well to further increase these chances.

Next is match performance against big teams. It’s important for these players to perform in these games more than any other as they have the biggest influence on the final places in the Premier League table at the end of the season.  From the teams that finished in the top six last season, Diego Costa has played against Everton, Manchester City, and Arsenal, but Aguero has played against Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham.

Diego Costa scored twice in 6-3 away win at Everton, and once in the 2-0 home win against Arsenal, but failed to score against Manchester City. Aguero also failed to score when his side met Chelsea, but he did score in the 3-1 home win against Liverpool, the 2-2 away draw against Arsenal, and scored all four in the 4-1 home win against Tottenham. Aguero may have scored more (6) in big games than Diego Costa (3), but neither player’s team have lost a big fixture.

A striker can’t just show up in the big games though, he has to be consistent throughout. Six of Aguero’s nine goals have come from four games against big teams. In the remaining five games against what some might say, lesser sides, he has only scored three goals. Three of Diego Costa’s nine goals have come from three games against big teams, meaning the remaining six have come against lesser sides. What this shows is Diego Costa is more consistent, scoring against anyone, no matter the opponent. Aguero though is only showing up for big games, and not against lesser sides. Strikers need to score no matter who the opponent as the result could play a huge influence come the end of the season.

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Diego Costa is a better striker than Aguero. He is more versatile as he has scored goals with his left foot, right foot, and with his head so far this season. The Spaniard has scored the same amount of goals as the Argentine in a smaller amount of time and with fewer shots on goal as well. Diego Costa also has consistency as he has scored in all but one game in the league for Chelsea this season. The only place he needs to improve upon is scoring in the big games, like against Manchester City, as these games could win or lose Chelsea the title come next May.

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