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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Manuel Pellegrini has decided that Sead Haksabanovic has no future at West Ham United, as reported by Claret & Hugh.

What’s the story?

The Montenegro international has spent the season on loan at Norrkoping, starting 19 Allsvenskan games and coming off the bench for another 10, scoring 6 goals and assisting 7 more.

This follows his time at Malaga, in which he only managed two substitute appearances over half a campaign in La Liga 2.

While the 20-year-old’s performances in Sweden have been impressive, the indication is that this hasn’t been enough to turn Pellegrini’s head.

The West Ham manager reportedly sees no future for Haksabanovic with the Hammers, and he will be allowed to go out on loan again or be sold.

A chance to settle

This will inevitably be seen as a blow for Haksabanovic, who joined West Ham in 2017, but it can also be an opportunity for the Montenegrin to settle at a club.

Since making the move to East London in 2017 and initially staying for a year, the youngster has gone out on loan twice with varying levels of success.

There can now be hope that he will be able to move on and find a club that he will be able to settle at and make an impact for moving forward, even if there is no long-term move to a prospective club mentioned in the report.

A slight sign of his potential to do this was found during Montenegro’s match against England, despite the 7-0 scoreline, as The Guardian said: “The West Ham loanee was a rare bright spot for the visitors and tried manfully to give his defence some respite.”

This initial rejection could be a blessing in disguise for the 20-year-old, who still has plenty of time to establish a career elsewhere.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

By this point, another transfer rumour linking Real Madrid with Manchester United’s superstar, Paul Pogba, is no longer a big surprise.

Indeed throughout the summer we kept hearing how Zinedine Zidane only had one man on his mind and that’s the aforementioned 27-year-old French midfielder.

“Zidane only wants Pogba”, Marca proclaimed, and back then, Real Madrid reportedly could’ve sealed the deals for either Donny van de Beek or Christian Eriksen but ended up with neither since they were hell-bent on chasing Pogba instead.

And now, El Desmarque have come out with a new update, claiming Los Blancos will go back for the midfielder and are ready to put Isco + additional €80m (£68.5m) to land the midfielder this time.

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At this point in time, this transfer seems like one of those bound to happen sooner or later and usually, if Real Madrid want someone, they get him, no matter what it takes.

And signing Pogba doesn’t necessarily seem like a good idea, especially since they have players like Toni Kroos and Federico Valverde, both of whom have enough quality to keep the Galacticos dominating the middle of the park for years to come.

But let’s entertain the thought of the Frenchman actually ending up at the Santiago Bernabeu, which looks rather likely, especially since El Desmarque also state the player’s status and form at Manchester United have recently dipped and that could play right into Real Madrid’s hands.

If and when this transfer does end up going through, it would also mean Florentino Perez and co. would rather invest huge sums of money into it than counting on their youth and existing players.

Needless to say, with such a big portion of their budget, time, effort and trust going into a single target that they don’t necessarily need, it would leave them with absolutely no margin for error.

Pogba’s transfer needs to work because it very much feels like Zidane and Perez are on a wild-goose chase when even the fans are calling for it to stop.

The consequences of that decision backfiring would be huge; Zidane and Perez would end up red-faced, the ability to evaluate top talent would come under scrutiny and the club would end up with a high-earner on their wage bill who doesn’t provide value for money. After all, Eriksen or van de Beek could have been signed instead – and probably for a lot cheaper.

But at the same time, we also shouldn’t disregard the other side of the coin. Pogba reinvigorating his career at the Spanish capital would be immense for both parties.

Unfortunately, Real won’t know which side that coin lands on until Pogba is their player.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Jose Mourinho arrives again.

They say that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist; Mourinho has convinced the world, or, perhaps, just Tottenham, that his flaws are absent, that his priorities are straight and that he can be the man to lead the club into a glorious new era.

We have been here before. Mourinho was meant to take Manchester United back to the promised land. He was supposed to win trophies at will, bring the best out of high-end players like Paul Pogba and Romelu Lukaku and return the club to their rightful place on top of the Premier League standings.

Instead, he was accused of boring football, never laid a finger on Manchester City, despite one second-place finish that he still ranks as one of his greatest achievements, and alienated the club’s best player, in Pogba. He did win the Europa League but, at the end of the day, was it really worth it?

One has to wonder.

Spurs have taken the bold step of bringing him in fresh from sacking Mauricio Pochettino. Fewer than 12 hours had passed before Mourinho was confirmed as his replacement.

It will be strange, initially, to see the Portuguese back in a dugout, not least one that has been occupied by its previous incumbent for over five years. That is almost a dynastic reign in current footballing terms.

And one has to wonder exactly what Daniel Levy, the chairman who took the decision to fire and hire, is expecting. Is it Champions League football? Is it the promotion of youth? Is it simply a trophy, any trophy, to put in an increasingly dusty cabinet?

If it’s the latter, Mourinho is probably the man. He has won medals wherever he has gone, even in the toxic environment that was festering at United.

But the other two? Spurs are 11 points off the top four already and are facing a major battle to get back into the race, let alone those positions, while Mourinho regularly favours bringing in experienced, ready-made players like Nemanja Matic, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Alexis Sanchez. That’s not the Tottenham way, or at the very least, not the Pochettino way.

This appointment, then, undercuts much of what Pochettino has built.

He fostered unity at Spurs, building a team that was capable of challenging for the title on two occasions all the while promoting the likes of Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Harry Winks. His team, at their best, were exhilarating to watch and even harder to play against.

Mourinho has never done that, not really. He’s won things, as previously alluded to, but he has simply stuck the bits together after buying them at expensive rates – he became the first ever manager to spend over £1b on transfers in 2017. Where Pochettino built his teams in his simple garden shed, Mourinho bought his in Ikea.

It remains to be seen if this will work, of course. The experiment is fascinating, and one that seemed far-fetched not all that long ago.

But here we are, with Mourinho at the wheel. He is the antithesis of Pochettino, and this will go one of two very different ways.

When Armstrong Okoflex arrived at Celtic in the summer of 2018, he had one clear goal – to play first-team football by the time he was 17.

Upon signing terms for the Hoops he was only 16 but nearly two years have now passed since he moved from Arsenal. Disappointingly, the aim he set out to achieve hasn’t been fulfilled.

Now 18, he is yet to play a senior match for Celtic after being brought to the club by former manager Brendan Rodgers.

The Northern Irishman enjoyed a wonderfully successful spell at Parkhead, winning multiple league titles but once he departed, it was another promising teenager getting his chance instead.

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That fell at the feet of the diminutive Karamoko Dembele who made his senior debut towards the back end of the 2018/19 campaign. He has made two appearances since and despite being a year younger than Okoflex, he is the one that’s shown the most promise.

It’s hardly surprising given he played U20 football at the age of 13. He is a generational talent and it’ll take a lot to surpass the tricky winger.

However, Okoflex does have the necessary qualities in his locker. You don’t get snapped up by Arsenal and Rodgers, a manager known for progressing and spotting young talent, for no reason.

He arrived inspired by the now Leicester boss and the way he developed the game of Raheem Sterling – a star now rated at £144m according to Transfermarkt. It would be quite something if he reached those dizzy heights in the years to come but the fact he has such lofty ambitions is encouraging.

He commented in September 2018: “The manager told me about Raheem Sterling, how he was a young teenager at Liverpool and then he brought him up in pre-season and, because he was doing well and better than the older wingers at the club, he played him in the league games. It shows he’ll play young players and that’s encouraging for me.”

Perhaps the worst thing for Okoflex, therefore, is the fact that Rodgers left and Neil Lennon arrived.

Although he’s handed chances to Dembele, there has been a lack of action for those coming through the academy – Okoflex is one of the biggest victims of that.

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Whether the teenager would have earned it under Rodgers is unclear but there was clearly something brewing when he signed:

“I had a meeting with Brendan Rodgers and he was very convincing. He’s a great manager with all the success he’s had at previous clubs and at Celtic, and he was one of the big factors in coming here,” he said.

Celtic is a club built on huge success so opportunities will probably be few and far between. Though, Dembele acts a reminder that it is possible. He needs to follow his team mate’s example.

In other news, Peter Lawwell should be LOSING SLEEP over Celtic’s failure to sign ace now rated at £50m…

After missing out on his signing last summer, it appears Tottenham are intent on getting Philippe Coutinho at the second time of asking.

Reports suggested that the north London side were interested in taking him from Barcelona the previous year, but a deal failed to materialise, with the Brazilian play-maker instead making a season-long loan switch to the Bundesliga to join Bayern Munich.

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But now, The Daily Mirror claim Spurs are once again interested in signing Coutinho, and could hold an advantage over rivals Chelsea if they are prepared to include an obligation to buy.

After hearing about their latest links to the former Liverpool star, Spurs fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their potential summer target.

A couple of Spurs fans seemed to suggest that there are far more important positions for the club to be concerned about.

Based on his performances this season, Spurs dodged a very expensive bullet by missing out on Coutinho last summer.

Committing vast sums of money both in terms of wages and then a potential fee would be a questionable way of trying to reinforce the positions that need strengthening at Spurs.

Jose Mourinho will surely be looking at a back-up striker for Harry Kane, whilst a goalkeeper may be on the agenda too. Getting their priorities sorted out first should be the main area for focus.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans react to links with this Eredivisie ace.

It’s safe to say Andy Carroll hasn’t enjoyed the greatest of times in recent years since his initial departure from Newcastle.

The striker has been plagued by injuries throughout his footballing career, and it’s caused him to miss numerous games for various clubs. Last summer, the Magpies re-signed Carroll on a free transfer after his release from fellow Premier League side West Ham.

The deal was a one-year contract, but just like with his former sides, he has struggled massively with his fitness. He has played just 14 times across all competitions, and that has only amounted to 536 minutes of football, with the majority of his appearances coming from off the bench.

Now, The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope has revealed that Carroll is “raring for a return to training”, but with him not reaching the amount of games needed to trigger an extension, his future “remains in doubt” ahead of his contract expiring on June 30.

After hearing the update on the centre-forward, Newcastle fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the ace.

One Newcastle fan meanwhile suggested that with their potential takeover, the Magpies could target some of the best players in the world, and wouldn’t need Carroll anymore.

Judging by his sheer lack of game-time, and continued battles with injuries, it’s difficult to really justify giving Carroll another year at St James’ Park.

Whilst his return last summer was no doubt an emotional one, the Magpies simply have to be ruthless with their hometown hero this summer.

As the Premier League rides the current conveyor belt into uncertain waters, many clubs are wondering how the current global crisis will affect their next transfer window.

For some, their financial worries will be of a much greater magnitude and could involve offloading players in order to make back some summer funds. Everton are amongst those likely to be concerned over their budget and whether the current climate will allow Carlo Ancelotti any breathing space to bring in new talent.

Another option to help minimise costs would be to turn to the out-of-contract players who are set to depart their teams at the end of the campaign. The Premier League has 57 free agents who have not been offered new contracts and Football FanCast has looked at two players who could fit the bill for the Blues if buying big is not an option.

Olivier Giroud

The Merseyside outfit once upon a time came close to penning Olivier Giroud’s future after he was made a top target to replace Romelu Lukaku. In 2017, Everton looked firmly in the running to poach the Frenchman after talks of Dortmund bringing him in were snubbed due to not wanting to offload Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

In an update from Transfermarketweb, Giroud was reportedly set to leave London with Merseyside his likely destination. Of course, the striker instead signed for Chelsea but Everton were reportedly inches away from winning the race for the £25million star (via BBC Sport). But now, with the French international looking to be leaving Chelsea as a free agent this summer, Everton should reignite their interest and add him to the Goodison ranks.

Giroud’s last two full seasons with Arsenal saw him tally a combined 40 goals and 13 assists – proof that when played consistently, he is a threat in front of goal.

The Blues have Dominic Calvert-Lewin who is currently in fine form, but to be able to learn from a veteran of the game who has a total of 203 career goals would be priceless experience. Not to mention the crucial rotation Giroud could provide for Everton’s attack.

Shane Long

The 33-year-old centre-forward could be available for free this summer unless Southampton act fast in renewing his contract. According to a report from the Daily Echo in February, the Saints were set to extend Shane Long’s deal but no further action has been taken as of yet.

However, amid the current financial difficulties, the club could want the striker off their books in order to free up some cash. Southampton also have younger forward options in the form of Che Adams and Michael Obafemi, as well as Danny Ings who has had an explosive season. His 15-goal tally compared to Long’s two could be enough to favour the Englishman and let the latter leave this summer.

Everton were reportedly linked to a move for Long back in 2016, but talks never came to fruition. However, with the Toffees looking to offload a hefty amount of deadweight this summer, they may not be able to spend big on targets they had in mind prior to this global crisis.

Furthermore, as Long approaches the end of his career, he could prove an important pivotal asset to this Everton side. His Premier League expertise and decades in the game would make for a strong substitute during more calculated games.

It’s fair to say that Stewart Donald isn’t the most popular of figures at Sunderland.

After the Black Cats’ board confirmed several months ago that Donald was looking to finally sell the club, various supporters groups united in issuing a statement revealing their relief at the “welcome news” and their hope that a new owner could get Sunderland “back where it belongs”.

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Since then, prospective buyers have simply walked away, and things have been left in limbo, particularly with the current situation affecting the world taking its toll on football too.

Now, The Daily Mail journalist Craig Hope has revealed that Donald can “charge interest up to nine per cent above base rate on money he loans to the holding company that owns Sunderland”.

After hearing about the update, Sunderland fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the situation.

Some Sunderland fans urged Hope to “keep digging for the truth” and bring some accountability for Donald.

When the club announced a few months ago that Donald was looking to relinquish his hold on the club, Sunderland fans would no doubt have been hoping for a brighter future without him at the helm.

Instead, things have reached a standstill, and Donald’s grip on the club continues to cause controversy.

Sure – Unilever’s market leading deodorant brand – have released their ‘Breaking Barriers’ short film series in collaboration with Chelsea Football Club, as part of the brand’s goal to inspire people to be more confident, overcome challenges and move more.

The short films document the inspirational stories of Blues stars N’Golo Kante, Jorginho and Antonio Rudiger, who have faced difficult challenges on their way to reaching the pinnacle of football.

Firstly, lets hear from the tenacious, tough-tackling World Cup winner Kante, who details what he had to overcome at the beginning of his career before a phenomenal journey which has seen him win back-to-back Premier League titles, as well as the Football Writers Association Player of the Year and also the PFA Players’ Player of the Year.

The former Leicester man said: “I didn’t always believe that I would become a professional footballer. When I was younger I played in the lower leagues. I failed quite a few trials at professional clubs. When I failed, I watched the players in those academies and went home and told myself there was a lot of work to do.”

Kante added: “I worked twice as hard to keep up the hard work and maybe one day it would happen. I think those failures allowed me to build myself to become a professional player. If it’s something you love you should give the best of yourself and if it’s not enough, we should find ways of being better.”

In Jorginho’s case, the ex-Napoli playmaker reveals that a number of clubs were concerned about his stature. The Brazilian-born Italy international has won the Coppa Italia and the Europa League during his career so far, while also commanding a fee of £57m when swapping Naples for London in 2018.

However, he very nearly walked away from his career before it had even begun.

Chelsea’s No.5 revealed: “When I was little, I did three trials at three different clubs in Brazil. All three teams told me I wasn’t good enough because I was too small.

“I then went to a football academy that was 200km from my home. In the winter I would

have cold showers as there was no hot water. To go through this at 13 wasn’t easy and in that moment I wanted to give up football.”

“But I said, “I’m not going to come home mama, this is my dream”. Always believe and don’t give up, because there will be difficult moments but after, glory awaits.”

Last but not least, an experienced centre-back who cost Chelsea £34m when joining from Roma back in 2017 outlines the driving force behind his motivation to succeed – Rudiger.

The 27-year-old said: “When I was 15 I had a trial. The coach said to my brother: “let’s be honest, he will never

make it.” Their words, they’re still somewhere in my head. It was a tough moment for me. That’s when I learned you have to believe in yourself. You have to grab it with both hands.

“We’re talking now about football, but this is for in general life. Nothing comes easy. That was for me the (clicks his fingers). I think there were better footballers, but I wanted it more. Even if you fail… yes, you failed

one time, two times but maybe the third time you will not fail.”

Renata Assuncao, Global Brand Director at Unilever said: “We’re all facing barriers at the moment adapting to life in these difficult times. As a brand that believes movement is a powerful tool to maintain physical and mental well-being, we want to continue inspiring people to overcome these challenges going beyond their limits.

“We hope these uplifting positive stories will help inspire people to keep moving and break their own barriers.”

Sure, Unilever’s market leading deodorant brand is an official partner of Chelsea Football Club. Join the conversation on Twitter @Sure and Instagram @SureFootball. 

Frank Lampard was able to pick out a positive from Wednesday’s 3-2 defeat to West Ham.

Chelsea’s slim lead following a Willian penalty was quickly turned around as David Moyes’ side came out all guns blazing. The Irons equalised on the stroke of half-time before getting their noses in front just six minutes after the restart. Despite a valiant performance from Willian who bagged the Blues’ second goal, West Ham snatched an 89th minute winner through Andriy Yarmolenko.

Despite what is undoubtedly a painful loss, Lampard had a lot to say about Christian Pulisic.

“It is a big positive, he is playing well as we all can see, plus with Willian as the two wingers, Willian got his two goals,” he said in his post-match interview (via Metro).

“It is nice to see him back, fresh and hungry and playing with the quality he has. He is going to get better. He is a young player with great talent.”

Pulisic missed 11 games earlier this year due to an abductor injury, but since his return he has scored two goals in three appearances (via Transfermarkt).

When firing from all cylinders, the winger is a force to be reckoned with in attack. He will be an important asset to Lampard’s side next season, particularly alongside the addition of Timo Werner.

This is Chelsea’s first loss since English football restarted. Although they remain in fourth place in the table, Manchester United’s win over Brighton sees them close the gap to just two points now. The Blues must shake off this defeat and restore their positive form if they want to secure Champions League football next season.

What do you make of Lampard’s post-match comments, Blues? Have your say in the comments below…