All posts by h79snht.top

After last night’s dramatic events, it is the turn of Manchester United tonight in the Champions League to upset the odds against one of the great powerhouses of European football.

Many had written the Premier League Champions off after a season of disappointment which has seen them slump to 7th in the table on the back of a series of underwhelming performances. Contrast this to a Bayern Munich side that have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title at a canter and are playing some of the best football on the continent and you can see why there was such apprehension ahead of the tie.

United’s courageous 1-1 draw at Old Trafford has at least kept them in the tie, and regardless of the outcome they have at least fared better than most would have believed possible. But like so much of the season United’s hopes rest on the shoulders of a worrying few. The Champions are hardly blessed with a squad of all round quality, with the likes of Rooney and Van Persie carrying the burden for so many others.

This is the reason why the decision to play Wayne Rooney tonight is so controversial, United do not have a readymade replacement for him, certainly not of the same quality. The Englishman is set to play through the pain of a chipped toe thanks in part to a series of injections that United have sanctioned over the last few days. David Moyes ran the rule over the striker’s situation during his pre-match press conference:

“We think it’s OK because we wouldn’t do anything wrong. We take advice from our doctors.

“Everybody knows the character Wayne is. He is determined to play and if he is determined we’d be mad not to (play him).

“We’ve not had clarification on the injury yet.”

The cavalier approach that United have taken here is just symptomatic of how desperate they have become; without Wayne Rooney their hopes would fade fast. The Englishman has the tireless work rate to help nullify Bayern, but also the attacking menace to make United’s brief spells of possession really count.

This is all well and good for Manchester United, but is it not a little selfish heading into a World Cup?

Wayne Rooney may not feel a thing when he plays on that toe, but injections cannot help prevent 90 minutes of football further aggravating an injury of that nature. England fans will surely remember the injury that Rooney picked up on the same ground four years ago that blighted his campaign in South Africa so badly.

Is it really worth risking weeks of rehabilitation for one last 90-minute hurrah in Europe for United? United would probably argue that it is, they are effectively out of both the title and top four races, out of the domestic cups and so Europe remains their last opportunity for success. Rooney’s inclusion transforms what is a borderline impossibility into something that is achievable for United.

Of course it is selfish, but why should United care about England’s World Cup. The player is keen to play and even with the injection the likelihood is that he will recover and be fit well ahead of the summer. United are being perfectly reasonable, they pay the players wages and their interest’s come ahead of any international side as far as they are concerned.

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Roy Hodgson may be at pains to allow his star man to play through injury, but he is powerless and rightfully so when it comes to a game of this magnitude for Manchester United. There is supposedly nothing like representing your country at the World Cup, but I would imagine a Champions League Quarter Final against Bayern Munich comes in pretty close.

Manchester United aren’t under any obligation to rest Rooney and allow him to recover, from an England perspective you would want him wrapped up in cotton wool but that just isn’t going to happen. Rooney gives United an outside shot at causing an upset tonight, and I doubt many would be selfish enough to take that opportunity away from the club.

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Interim Manchester United manager Ryan Giggs will face a number of career-defining conundrums this summer.

After an incredible 24 campaigns in the Red Devils midfield, does the Welshman finally hang up his boots? Subsequently, should he continue down the coaching path laid out for him by higher powers at Old Trafford, with Giggs widely tipped to be announced assistant to the incoming Louis van Gaal and one day become the Dutchman’s successor? Or would he be better off forging his own career in the Premier League management racket?

Some of these decisions won’t be in Giggs’ hands. For starters, whether he continues to feature in every Premier League campaign to date will depend on the wishes of the next permanent United boss. Likewise, at this moment in time it remains unclear whether van Gaal will accept the Welsh icon as his assistant next season – it’s not as if the former Eredivise, Bundesliga, La Liga and Champions League winner will struggle for candidates to work as his No.2.

But Giggs will have some say over where he ends up next season, which in many ways is the most crucial question; does he request to stay within the Old Trafford framework, or does he cut his own apron strings, before one day coming home to roost?

Ending a 25 year spell so abruptly is never easy but the notion of doing so is already on the Welshman’s mind, as reported by the Daily Mail and Mirror Football. You can certainly understand that point of view; Giggs has worked under the greatest manager English football has ever seen and continually plied his trade with top players at the highest level – there isn’t too much to learn from van Gaal that he doesn’t already know, especially about the Premier League.

Likewise, the veteran winger’s  niggling grievance under Moyes was his lack of influence on first team affairs. Being a manager that once pulled down his trousers in a half-time team-talk and said to his players ‘Do I look excited?’, van Gaal’s reputation as an incredibly particular and maverick figure is well-known, and the assumption is that he’s not the easiest man to work with. You can’t imagine him actively heeding the advice of a coach whose management career thus far consists of a 4-0 victory over Norwich City and a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.

He’s hardly the first manager with such a cavalier repute and in many ways that no-nonsense, self-assured demeanour is what’s made the Netherlands boss such a strong candidate for the United gig. One can certainly draw parallels in character to Sir Alex Ferguson.

But van Gaal’s frostiness could be amplified if he’s forced to take on Giggs as his assistant. Now forming the majority of the coaching staff at Old Trafford and even releasing their own hit documentary, the famous Class of ’92 are growing in power at Carrington and the Welshman is their leading unofficial figurehead. The last thing the 40 year-old wants to enter is a backroom battle for political power at Old Trafford, especially against a manager who has previously duelled with the dark forces behind the scenes at Bareclona and Bayern Munich.

Another problem clouds the horizon. It’s no secret that United’s ageing side needs to be dismantled ahead of next season, with the Premier League champions planning to spend around £200million on new players and the vast majority of the old guard expected to be sold or released. In many ways, van Gaal’s ultimate aim as Red Devils boss is to make drastic changes to the squad this summer and oversee it’s speedy transition throughout the course of the next campaign.

Giggs on the other hand, has significantly different ideas. He’s already urged United to offer 35 year-old Rio Ferdinand and 32 year-old Patrice Evra new deals rather than release them this summer, understandably so considering he’s played alongside the former defender for over a decade.  I’m not questioning the 40 year-old’s professionalism, but it would be a tough start for both if Giggs and van Gaal immediately pose polar ideas on the future direction of the squad.

Should all these issues amalgamate, then Giggs will find himself more a puppet of the Old Trafford hierarchy than a genuine second-in-command. United’s plans to have the Welshman wait in the wings until van Gaal’s tenure is over is obvious. Bearing in mind the former Ajax boss is 62 and has already discussed the issue of retirement publicly, that may not be as far off as expected.

But what will Giggs be able to bring to the dugout without prior experience? David Moyes spent ten years at Everton learning his trade but lasted just eleven months at Carrington. Right now, we don’t know if Giggs has the quality to manage Barcelona or Bury.

The other option is and braving the world of Premier League management. That would certainly improve Giggs’ credentials for the United hot seat, should the midfield veteran go on to prove himself at a lesser club with completely different standards and aims. The toughest test for any player as talented as Giggs is being able to accept the failings of others and communicating his ideas to lesser-equipped players.

But English management is in a huge mess. We’ve reached the point where every Premier League chairman, upon making a new appointment, has to overlook the nature in which any given candidate lost his last job. There are exceptionally few top flight managers without a number of discerning black spots on their CV.

Steve McLaren, Steve Bruce, Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Roy Keane, Steve Coppell, Paul Ince, Gordan Strachan and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer are just a few examples of managers who worked under Ferguson and were once tipped to eventually succeed the Scot, but have since found themselves lost in the hire and fire culture of English football.

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In a nutshell, the opportunity to be fast-tracked as van Gaal’s No.2 and eventually be appointed United boss isn’t one Giggs will be offered again. Should he decide to forge his own path and not that already set out for him at Carrington, it could well be the last time the Welshman’s name is brought up in regards to the Red Devils post.

In many ways, it’s a catch-22 situation for Giggs. Working as van Gaal’s No.2 could leave him frustrated and eventually under-equipped when the time arrives to succeed him. Assistant manager or not, the Welshman would face the same weaknesses he does now in regards to the United post, namely a troubling lack of experience. Things may be running a lot smoother at Old Trafford by then, but there will still be little to suggest the 40 year-old is a manager capable of winning Premier League titles.

On the other hand, Premier League management is enduring as hostile an environment as it’s ever seen, and Giggs could quickly find himself engulfed in a world where the average tenure lasts just 1.4 years. Then again, if you can’t master the nuts and bolts of the trade, then you don’t deserve to manage a club of Manchester United’s magnitude.

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Jamie Carragher believes that Dejan Lovren has all of the characteristics to be a future captain at Liverpool.

The Reds recently tied up their long-awaited £20m move for the Croatian centre-back, who was impressive at Southampton last term.

Lovren was celebrated for his positive style of defending, but his leadership qualities were also praised as he controlled the Saints’ backline – which was often impressive.

WANT MORE? >> Liverpool transfer news | Latest transfer news

The 25-year-old is expected to slot straight into the Merseysiders’ first XI next season, with he and Mamadou Sakho – a big money arrival from 2013 – being hailed as the future of the club’s rear-guard as they look to put their 50 goals conceded record which cost them the title behind them.

Carragher – Liverpool’s former vice-captain – believes that the newbie will become a major figure at Anfield, and he even believes he could be in the running to succeed Steven Gerrard as skipper:

“Centre-backs normally make great captains.” He is quoted by the Daily Star.

“If Lovren establishes himself in the team became a top player by showing the same form he has at Southampton for Liverpool, then in the next few years when Stevie does decide to call it day he will be in contention.

“You look at him and he has the potential to make a big powerful impact at the back and that’s what Liverpool need.

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“Jordan Henderson is another who could possibly be in contention and there will be more who arrive in that time that could be up for it as well.

“But if Lovren can come in and produce that sort of form then I am sure he will be in the running for it.”

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Points in August count just as much as points in May, no matter what position or league you are in. So far this season, Nottingham Forest has been grabbing all the points they can.

Forest has collected 13 points from five games this season in the Championship and is one of only two undefeated teams left in the league. Some of their more impressive results have been an away win of 2-1 at Bournemouth, and an impressive 4-0 home victory against Reading. These results have placed the Reds as an early contender for promotion this season as they sit at the top of the league.

This start to the season is a complete turnaround to what happened to Forest between 8th February and the end of the season last season. Forest played 19 games and only managed to win three games, draw six, and they lost the other 10 meaning they only achieved 15 points out of a possible 57, finishing 11th in the Championship.

Forest has nearly achieved in five games what they couldn’t achieve in 19. Manager Stuart Pearce believes his side can win promotion as in a recent interview, he said: “I think that – with the ability we have in the squad and, on top of that, if we have the hard-nosed professionalism needed to put into place everything that we ask of them – we do have a chance.”

Pearce has to take some credit for Forest’s great start to the season thanks to his activity during the transfer window, probably the best business out of all the Championship sides this summer. Some of Forest’s signings which have had an immediate impact to the squad include Michail Antonio and Britt Assombalonga.

The majority of teams who get promoted from the Championship to the Premier League have a striker who scores on a consistent basis. Last season, Forest did not have a consistent goal scorer and that is one of the reasons why they couldn’t achieve promotion. Forest’s top goal scorer in the league was Andy Reid with just nine goals.

This appears to be a different story so far this season, with Assombalonga finding the net four times in five games and Antonio scoring three. There is now a lot of threat up front for opposition defences to be wary of.

Assombalonga has a proven track record of goal scoring, scored 23 goals in 43 appearances for Peterborough United last season in League One during their unsuccessful promotion push. So far this campaign, it looks like he is going to replicate this goal scoring tally at Forest.

Pearce and Forest know how unforgiving the Championship can be as the team clearly discovered this last season when they only managed to achieve three wins in 19 games. He said: “We have to keep getting better. It is such a long season and it is such an unforgiving league. Myself and the coaching staff are under no illusions, when it comes to what we have to do, to get out of this league.”

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“You know well that it will be a tough league and you cannot take your foot off the gas for one moment. But the exciting thing for me is that I believe I have got a squad that will evolve and get better. We can still get stronger.”

There will be times like there was last season where the road to promotion will get a bit bumpy, but I believe this a great squad that can help Nottingham Forest achieve promotion back to the Premier League.

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While Sergio Aguero and Diego Costa having been hogging the limelight and Graziano Pelle has been picking up praise for his adaptation, Saido Berahino has been quietly plugging away in the background. The 21-year-old has now notched six Premier League goals and looks set to fulfil the obvious potential he’s had for some time.

Naturally, with West Brom being one of the division’s smaller clubs, the big teams are circling the young striker, with Spurs particularly keen. Talk of a big money January bid has been doing the rounds, and here are FIVE reasons it would make sense for the White Hart Lane side.

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CLICK ON BERAHINO TO REVEAL THE FIVE

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He’s in razor-sharp form

Monday’s cool finish against Manchester United took Berahino’s Premier League tally this term to a whopping SIX. Alongside Southampton new boy Graziano Pelle, the Burundi-born forward only trails Diego Costa and Sergio Aguero in the scoring charts – with the duo having cost their clubs over £30m. In his central striking role, Berahino’s energy and pace make him a headache for defenders, and it’s a virtual guarantee that he will get even more goals over the course of the season. Spurs may want to snap him up to ensure that those goals come in the white shirt of theirs, rather than West Brom’s.

He’s young

Only just 21, Berahino’s form is all the more impressive. The pacey front-man only got the ‘key to the door’ a couple of months ago, and it’s fair to say that he’s been unlocking defences with much more regularity this term. At such an age, Berahino has the potential to do what he’s doing now for at least another ten years, making him a sound long-term investment for Spurs should they offer up the cash.

Spurs have NO QUALITY up top

Roberto Soldado’s missed penalty over the weekend really summed up his awful Spurs career. The Spaniard was dubbed the answer to Tottenham’s attacking ambitions last summer when he cost them £26m, yet his spell at White Hart Lane has been a disaster. Emmanuel Adebayor also fails to provide consistency, albeit his goal return is far superior, while Harry Kane is, arguably, not quite ready to be a week in, week out Premier League forward just yet.

Berahino could be first choice at Spurs, where he would, potentially, get better service than he does now at West Brom.

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Statement of intent

With Spurs some way off of looking like a genuine top four force, a big signing could provide the boost needed and make rivals really begin to fear the Lilywhites. The Baggies are understood to be looking for around £30m for their man, which slots him into the ‘marquee’ sector of the transfer market. Nabbing Berahino could really announce Spurs’ ambitions.

Re-sale value

As much as some Spurs fans won’t want to admit it, the white half of north London has become a shop window in recent years. The likes of Luka Modric and Gareth Bale have passed through on their way to bigger things, but that’s certainly not a major negative for Spurs. The Lilywhites have made massive profits on their big players, and if Berahino develops and the transfer market continues to inflate, there’s no reason that they should not make a tidy sum on potential the deal in a few years.

While Arsenal’s victory away to West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League on Saturday may have offered Gunners boss Arsene Wenger some respite following his side’s unconvincing start to the season, there are still murmurings of discontent among the Arsenal fanbase. Many now feel that a change of manager is needed if Arsenal are to progress as a football club and an ominous banner was unfurled by disgruntled Gunners fans at the Hawthorns which read ‘Arsene – thanks for the memories, but it’s time to say goodbye’.

Major Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov also expressed his concerns regarding Wenger’s leadership, stating recently that his stubborn approach is holding the club back. Wenger has been at the Emirates long enough to understand the demands of the Arsenal fanbase, and he must surely acknowledge the fact that lingering issues need to be addressed if his side is to have a successful season. Here are five things in particular the Gunners boss needs to sort out:

[ffc-gallery]CLICK ON DANNY WELBECK TO SEE THE FULL LIST

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1. Defensive issues

The most pressing worry for Arsenal is the thinness of their options in the backline.

Four defenders left the club in the summer, with only two coming in as replacements. A spate of injuries in defence – including a long-term lay-off for new recruit Mathieu Debuchy – has meant that Wenger has for most of the season been unable to field his strongest back four, and their poor start could in part be attributed to a lack of familiarity.

He must target a central defender at the very least in the January transfer window to make sure that this problem does not persist for the remainder of the campaign.

2. Where to play Welbeck

Danny Welbeck has made no secret of his desire to be played in his favoured position as a centre forward since his £16 million arrival from Manchester United on transfer deadline day. One of the reasons why the England international decided to leave his boyhood club was his frustration at being played out of position, which, he argued, was to blame for his unremarkable goals return.

Although Welbeck grabbed the decisive winning goal against West Brom over the weekend, he was deployed out wide in the game to accommodate for Olivier Giroud. With the 24-year-old so determined to make his mark as an out-and-out striker, Wenger has a tough decision to make: does he continue to play him occasionally on the wing, therefore running the risk of making the player unhappy, or does he try to fit him in as a second striker alongside Giroud?

3. Ramsey’s loss of form

So instrumental to Arsenal’s FA Cup-winning season last year, Aaron Ramsey has found it tough to carry over his fine form into the current campaign.

The Welshman scored 16 goals in all competitions last season – despite missing 15 league games through a lengthy injury – yet he has struggled to dominate games this time around. It has been suggested that the midfielder is simply trying too hard to make an impact and that his form will return if he plays his natural game, while others maintain that the 23-year-old still hasn’t fully recovered psychologically from the horrific leg break he suffered in 2010.

Either way, Arsenal are a much better team when Ramsey is on song, and Wenger must do his utmost to get last season’s outstanding performer back to his best.

4. Settle on a best XI

So saturated is the Arsenal midfield that Wenger very rarely settles on a preferred combination of players for an extended period of time.

The injuries of Mikel Arteta, Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere may in fact be something of a blessing in disguise as the Gunners boss will at least find his options more manageable, yet when this trio returns, they will be fighting for a place in the four or five-man midfield with no fewer than eight other Arsenal players.

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Constantly chopping and changing the side surely cannot be advantageous to Arsenal’s chances; Wenger must identify his core starting eleven and stick with them as often as he possibly can.

5. Lack of consistency

The previous point goes hand-in-hand with this one: only once have Arsenal managed to secure back-to-back victories in the Premier League this season, and it is this inconsistency that has reduced them to playing catch-up already with Manchester United in fourth.

Getting anywhere near league leaders Chelsea is out of the question, yet by stringing a run of wins together – which will be helped if he allows the same starting eleven to play together week-in, week-out – Wenger can at least make a decent push for Champions League qualification for the 18th year in succession.

Got any questions? Follow me on Twitter @GruffuddOwen

It has been a strange season for Newcastle so far and with various winning and losing streaks, they find themselves in 10th place. The Toon had a poor start to the season with no win in their first seven matches, but then won five consecutive fixtures to climb into the Champions League positions- albeit briefly.

The Magpies soon after went on a four match losing streak, including a heavy defeat in the League Cup tie at Spurs, so overall, a mid-table position is where they deserve to be after such a mixed bag of results. But the defeat to Leicester in the FA Cup this weekend leaves them out of both cup competitions, sitting bang in mid-table with the season in danger of petering out in dull fashion.

Adding to that, we’re only in January and there is now no permanent manager at the helm; what can possibly lie in store for the rest of the season? After 20 matches, there is no danger of a relegation battle being 10 points away from such worries. A top four finish is out of the question, and so too looks like a dreaded Europe League spot, which might not be a bad thing considering how it hampered their season in 2012/13.

It is not exactly an appealing position for any future manager to take, with nothing really to gain from such a dead-end position. Maybe it would be best to keep John Carver in temporary charge until the end of the season, so a new man can be brought in where the club will actually have something to play for.

There also doesn’t seem to be too much ambition shown by Mike Ashley and the majority of the supporters in terms of a league finish. It seems as if the club are happy to finish mid-table or thereabouts every season, which restrains Ashley from pumping multi millions into the playing side of things.

That is not to say Ashley hasn’t spent money this season, but for a club of Newcastle’s size, ambition should be there to give the top five, six or maybe even four a go; which can only be achieved by spending two or three times more than this last summer. This is not an unrealistic point to make, with Ashley’s net worth well over £1 billion. And the fact Sir Bobby Robson showed what can be accomplished at this great club with the right backing, achieving back-to-back Champions League football for the 2002/3 and 2003/4 seasons.

Newcastle haven’t won a major trophy since lifting the FA Cup in 1955 – although they won the Inter City Fairs Cup in 1969 which many don’t consider as a major honour – this is a stat which is bewildering for a club the size of the Magpies. With that in mind, the fact Newcastle made seven changes for the cup match at Leicester surely demonstrates that lack of ambition, especially when they have nothing to play for in the league. A full strength Newcastle side is capable of beating anyone on its day as they showed against Chelsea, and although there are some injuries around, this was a totally nonsensical team selection.

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The lack of ambition can also be suggested through the sales of the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Mathieu Debuchy and Demba Ba in recent years. Selling your best players is not a great sign for the club and one the fans surely can’t be happy with.

The Newcastle fans deserve better and although 10th is a respectable position, Newcastle are a massive club. The Toon could and should be competing with the very best in this division, as Sir Bobby Robson and Kevin Keegan proved many years ago.

Arsenal have officially confirmed the signing of 17 year-old defender Krystian Bielik this afternoon, but he’s by no means the only talented teenager on the north London club’s radar.

Indeed, Arsene Wenger has an insatiable appetite for young and talented prospects, harking back to his acquisition of Patrick Vieira way back in 1996 and Theirry Henry in 1999 – two youthful signings that would go on to change the course of Gunners and Premier League history.

There’s plenty of speculation linking Arsenal with teenage prodigies from across the globe once again, so, being the lovely bunch we are at Football Fancast, we’ve listed FOUR of them.

So, without further ado…

JEAN KEVIN AUGUSTIN

According to the Metro, Arsenal are plotting a move for PSG prospect Jean Kevin Augustin, whose Parc de Princes contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

Those of you ITK with all things Parisian might be somewhat surprised that his contract is being allowed to wind down, having made Laurent Blanc’s bench on four occasions already and regularly represented France at U18 level. But it appears Augustin has grown so frustrated with PSG’s prolific spending blocking his path to the first team that he’s now considering offers from abroad.

The 17 year-old striker’s availability has attracted interest from Porto, Juventus, Benfica, Roma and West Ham, according to Mirrror Football, but ESPN moot the Gunners as the front-runners, claiming they’ve already made contact with Augustin’s agent.

MAX MEYER

Germany’s academy system is perhaps the healthiest in Europe at this moment in time, evident enough through their World Cup triumphs during the summer with a squad that boasted an average age of just 24, including eight players of that age or younger.

And the latest product to emerge from the Mannschaft conveyor belt is Schalke starlet Max Mayer, compared to Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze and Lionel Messi, amongst others, for his dribbling speed and technique, allegedly generated via his love for playing Futsal whilst progressing through the Miners’ academy.

Unlike the majority of the teenager showstoppers on this list, the 19 year-old has already seen plenty of action at senior level – 68 appearances-worth to be precise, amassing a return of ten goals, in addition to picking up his first cap for Germany in a pre-World Cup friendly against Poland last May.

Arsenal were strongly linked to the attacking midfielder’s services during the summer, along with Liverpool and Chelsea, as reported by The Express. Ever-increasing in his importance to Schalke however, this term claiming two goals and one assist in 11 Bundesliga starts, the Gunners would likely have to pay an arm and a leg to prize Meyer away from the Veltins Arena this month.

KEITA BALDE DIAO

Another Arsenal-linked teenager with plenty of first team football under his belt is Lazio striker Keita Balde Diao, who boasts a promising return of 15 goals in 48 Serie A appearances for the Stadio Olimpico outfit. This season, he’s netted three goals from three outings in the Coppa Italia.

The Spanish striker began his career at Barcelona’s famous La Masia set-up, but elected to leave the club in 2011 by way of a bizarre ice cube prank that resulted in him being sent out on loan to Cornella, where he racked up an incredible 47 goals for their youth team.

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He then joined Lazio for just £300k and has been attracting interest from Arsenal and Liverpool ever since, with the Daily Star reporting a £15million transfer tussle between the Premier League clubs as recently as the start of the January window.

Blessed with pace, brawn, firepower and a uniquely direct style of play, the 19 year-old certainly possesses the natural requisites to be a success in the Premier League. Whether the Gunners will make good on their interest this month however, or allow the Keita transfer saga to continue, remains to be seen.

MALCOM SILVA

As reported by The Daily Star and Talksport, Arsenal, Manchester United, Barcelona and Chelsea are fighting it out for the signature or Corinthians prodigy Malcom Silva.

The 17 year-old forward has only scored twice in 25 appearances for the Brazilian outfit thus far but, as shown in the video above, appears to be blessed with an eclectic mix of pace, power and creativity that would certainly serve him well in England.

Resultantly however, the Brazil U20 has already been slapped with a rather outrageous £20million price-tag, per The Daily Star once again, whilst other reports claim Barcelona already have a first refusal option on the young striker.

When ex-Stoke and Crystal Palace manager Tony Pulis arrived, West Bromwich Albion were sat in 16th and only one point above the relegation zone.

Nearly three months later, the Baggies are now comfortably in 13th in the Premier League and look almost certain to have avoided relegation. So how has Pulis turned the club around?

Pulis is a highly respected manager having coached for over 20 years, where he has honed his ability to rejuvenate failing clubs on only a very small budget. This, coupled with his focus on shoring up defensive lines, made him an ideal fit for West Brom. The Welshman can be described as an old school type manager who will endeavour to make each of his players feel valued, focussing on their individual strengths rather than weaknesses.

In a short amount of time the Pulis effect is already apparent at the Hawthorns. February was particularly good for both manager and players as Albion went through the entire month unbeaten, including three clean sheets and a Manager of the Month award.

Now with only a handful of games to go, including fixtures against Liverpool, Manchester United and a final day of the season trip to Arsenal, the 57-year-old will need to keep his squad focussed, particularly in defence.

Considering Albion only just avoided relegation last season by finishing 17th, anything higher after a season of uncertainty can be deemed a success. Pulis is already said to be looking to the future, with plans to reshape the squad come summer where he’ll look to strengthen key areas. After all, it hasn’t  been plan sailing recently with the Baggies being knocked out of the FA Cup and suffering a 2-1 defeat, both at the hands of bitter local rivals Aston Villa.

One of Albion’s best signings under the guidance of Tony Pulis has been the acquisition of ex-Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher. Already given the captain’s armband, Fletcher has added some stability to the heart of Albion’s midfield and his arrival has unsurprisingly coincided with their resurgence.

Another positive has been the changes seen in Brown Ideye. The striker cost the club a record fee of £10million last year, but the Nigerian had little impact until Pulis started working with him. Ideye now looks a changed man who is slowly finding the net again, and crucially scored West Brom’s winner against Stoke.

Citing lack of support in the transfer market as his reason for quitting Palace hopefully Pulis will get the money to make the signings he needs in the summer and come the 2015/16 season he can focus less on staying up and more on pushing West Brom up the table.

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If any manager has the experience to guide a club like Albion to stability it is Tony Pulis so the powers that be would do well to keep him happy if they don’t want a new manager come August.

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Since joining Manchester City in 2011 Edin Dzeko has had many ups and downs. His goals helped City win their title last season but less than 12 months later he is finding it hard to even get into manager Manuel Pellegrini’s starting XI.

The Bosnian has scored just six goals this season and considering that his four and a half year contract ends this summer Dzeko hasn’t exactly performed well enough to deserve a renewal.

Manchester City enter the Easter break in second but if both Arsenal and Manchester United win their weekend fixtures then City could see themselves propping up fourth before their Monday evening game. For a club like City winning the league one year and then finishing fourth or even out of the Champions League places the following year is not considered acceptable.

Pellegrini has come under fire for much of the season and numerous reports suggest he may lose his job this summer with several top managers already named as possible replacements.

Likewise with key players like Yaya Toure, Vincent Kompany and Dzeko all failing to perform to their typically high levels heads are soon expected to roll.

A big summer clear out has been suggested and Dzeko may well be on that list.

Dzeko has been linked with a move to Italian champions Juventus perhaps along with Steven Jovetic in a bid to lure midfielder Paul Pogba to the blue side of Manchester.

At 29 Dzeko is reaching the latter stages of a forwards career. After 30 many clubs will only commit to giving a player a year-long deal so Dzeko would be wise to pick a club where he believes he’ll get regular playing time rather than big money to sit on someone’s bench for 12 months.

Dzeko has always had to fight for the number one striker role. As soon as Sergio Aguero arrived seven months after Dzeko initially signed he had to take a back seat to a player who is arguably one of the world’s best. Since then most of the accolades have gone to the Argentine. Things have only gotten worse with the arrival of Wilfried Bony from Swansea City as Dzeko is now the Sky Blue’s third choice behind both Bony and Aguero.

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Dzeko is a very capable striker but his talent hasn’t always been obvious at the Etihad. For Bosnia at international level the forward has scored 41 times from 71 matches while for City he’s found the net 50 times from 125 appearances.

A move away from England to a less competitive but somewhat respected league like Serie A seems the best option for Dzeko rather than wasting more time trying to win over a club that would rather spend time and money hiring and firing players in their search for the perfect forward.

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