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Transfer expert Dean Jones says that Arsenal ‘really like’ FC Barcelona winger Ferran Torres, and ‘inquired’ about him over the summer.

The Lowdown: Mudryk alternative?

The Gunners have been strongly linked with a move for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk in the January transfer window, but the Ukrainian club so far have not budged on their extortionate €100m (£87.7m) asking price.

Edu is expected to try and negotiate that price down, but if a deal is deemed too expensive to do, then the North Londoners could look at alternative targets, as they seek cover in the forward line for the injured Gabriel Jesus.

The Latest: Torres liked

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Jones says that the Emirates Stadium outfit also ‘really like’ Torres, and could make a move for him instead having ‘inquired’ about him in the summer:

“They really like Ferran Torres, and they clearly believe he might become available because they inquired about him in the summer as well.

“So, if they’re sniffing around him again now, they sense that something’s up.”

The Verdict: Great back-up option

If a deal for Mudryk fails to materialise, then Torres is a great back-up option for Mikel Arteta and his side.

Footballing legend and Barca manager Xavi rates his player very highly, claiming that he is ‘world-class’ after signing him last January:

“He’s a player on another level, he’s spectacular: how he understands the space, links play, doesn’t lose the ball, his defensive work… he’s world-class. He’s a great signing, one I wanted, and a wonderful footballer.”

Having won a Premier League title with Manchester City, Torres’ move to Barcelona has seen him score 12 goals and make seven assists in 44 games in total over all competitions for the Catalan giants (94th percentile for shots and progressive passes received per game of all wingers in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year.

At just 22 years of age, he still has a very high ceiling, and this would be a smart deal to do for Arsenal if they cannot land Mudryk.

The Everton hierarchy are yet to sign off on a new contract for Toffees goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. 

The Lowdown: Pickford’s contract situation

As things stand, the Englishman’s contract at Goodison Park is set to expire in the summer of 2024.

This season has seen the 28-year-old, who is one of the club’s top earners with a wage of £100,000 per week, feature in all but one of Everton’s games in the Premier League.

However, some concerning behind-the-scenes details have emerged ahead of the upcoming January transfer window regarding Pickford and his future on Merseyside.

The Latest: Behind-the-scenes issues

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Everton are yet to sign off on the new five-year contract that Pickford apparently agreed to sign before the World Cup.

The report adds that this delay has led to increased doubt over the shot-stopper’s future at Goodison Park and has alerted the likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea to the situation.

The Verdict: A mistake from Everton

Even though Frank Lampard’s side have had a tough season in terms of their league results, Pickford has shown how important figure he is for the team.

For example, having faced the fourth-highest number of shots on target in the Premier League (81), the Englishman has made 62 saves, the second-highest of any goalkeeper in the division.

This has given him a save percentage of 79% – the fourth-highest in the league – in addition to his overall performance rating of 6.93/10 from WhoScored, making him the third-highest rated player at Everton.

Overall, we feel that if the Goodison Park board have delayed giving the green light to Pickford’s new contract, this has been a big mistake on their part, especially if the 28-year-old ends up having his head turned by one of the prospective suitors mentioned in the report.

Wolves are thought to be preparing a third offer for OGC Nice midfielder Mario Lemina, according to The Daily Mail.

The Lowdown: Lemina profiled

Lemina can play as a holding or central midfielder and has been on the books with Nice since 2021. The 29-year-old has made 56 appearances for his current employers – more than any other club he has represented during his career.

The Gabon international has previous experience in England with Southampton and Fulham, with journalist Josh Bunting lauding him as ‘superb’ during his time at Craven Cottage.

The Latest: Third offer…

The Daily Mail provided an update in the last 48 hours, saying that Wolves will ‘push’ to sign a new midfielder following an injury to Boubacar Traore. They reported that the club are expected to make a third offer for Lemina, with their second bid of around £4.9m turned down by Nice.

The report adds that personal terms are not expected to be an issue, with the midfielder keen on a Premier League return.

The Verdict: Fingers crossed

Julen Lopetegui has limited senior midfielders fit and available to him at this moment in time, so a player like Lemina could be just what is required in the Midlands.

As mentioned, he has previous Premier League experience, making 74 appearances in the English top flight, while he has also been a regular in Ligue 1.

The player himself may think that he has unfinished business on England, so a deal for him could be a smart piece of business by Wolves chiefs, and hopefully one which can go through before the Old Gold’s next league fixture against West Ham on January 14.

Manchester City crashed out of the Carabao Cup at the quarter-final stage on Wednesday evening as they suffered a surprise defeat on the south coast against Southampton.

Pep Guardiola opted to rest some of his big-name players ahead of this weekend’s Manchester derby but was undone by an impressive Saints display.

Sekou Mara handed the hosts the lead as he produced a fine finish from a ball out wide after Sergio Gomez had gifted possession back to the home side.

Moussa Djenepo then made it 2-0 with a delightful chip over goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who was inexplicably far off his line and was ruthlessly punished by the Malian for his poor positioning.

While the German shot-stopper was at fault for that goal, he arguably wasn’t the poorest Man City performer at St Mary’s, with Julian Alvarez disappointing in the attack.

As per Sofascore, the World Cup star would earn a shocking 6.3/10 rating for his performance, which was the joint-worst of any player to feature in the game from both sides.

During his time on the pitch, the Argentine youngster would manage just 34 touches of the ball, which was fewer than Ortega, while he would only complete 17 of his attempted 25 passes in the game.

This saw him register a disappointing 68% pass accuracy, which is significantly worse than his 87.3% pass success rate in the Premier League, which emphasises just how poor he was at St Mary’s.

Alvarez also won just one of his four duels in the game and lost possession on 11 occasions, which suggests that he was bullied by Southampton’s centre-backs on Wednesday night and failed to have any real impression on the game.

After being played in on goal by Kevin De Bruyne, the 22-year-old forward would shoot well wide of Gavin Bazunu’s post, while he also missed a golden opportunity when Ilkay Gundogan’s cutback found him in the area, but he failed to make a proper connection when a goal would have handed Guardiola’s side a way back into the game.

Therefore, while fingers will be pointed at Ortega for his part in Southampton’s second of the night, Alvarez was the real culprit as he should have found the net at least once during the game, while his overall play was also far from good enough.

Aston Villa secured a dogged and important win in their efforts to return to prominence in the Premier League on Friday night, defeating a gallant Leeds United team 2-1 at Villa Park.

Having taken the early lead through Leon Bailey’s strike, Villa were galvanised into holding onto their advantage, displaying a level of resilience and tenacity which will delight head coach Unai Emery.

The 51-year-old now clinched victory in Manchester United 3-1. 

Emiliano Buendia nodded in from close range after the interval to give the home side a two-goal cushion, before the Whites’ Patrick Bamford halved the deficit in the closing stages. Despite the waves of Leeds’ forward surges, the Villans managed to hold on for victory and now sit 11th after 19 league matches, with 25 points on the board.

The continuation of the steadily blossoming winning mentality is indeed the most important facet of this match, but several exemplary showings will indeed leave Emery with new-found optimism over the push for European football which could be forged over the coming months.

Buendia and Bailey were amongst the goals, while summer signing Boubacar Kamara – who arrived on a free transfer last summer – produced a “sublime” performance (as remarked by one football writer) to continue the club’s purple patch.

However, it was established industrious ace Douglas Luiz who should take home many of the plaudits after a stunning display.

Having warded off interest from Arsenal in the summer for the Brazilian ace, Villa’s technical director Johan Lange is reaping the benefits of Luiz’s presence in the team, with his average Sofascore rating of 7.00 the highest of any player in the entire squad so far in 2022/23.

Against Leeds, his all-encompassing intensity and unwavering grit anchored the ship and provided an offensive outlet from deep within the core of the team, offering an added dimension from which to flourish.

His 7.7 Sofascore match rating on the night was better than anyone else who featured and was testament to his influence across every department.

Recording 71 touches, Luiz was in the thick of the action, completing 72% of his passes, making two key passes, creating one big chance and unleashing two shots in his efforts to enhance Villa’s prospects of victory.

From a defensive standpoint, the 24-year-old remarkably won nine of his 17 duels, along with making five tackles, four interceptions and two clearances – a churning engine and a key component somewhat going under the radar as his goalscoring team-mates stole the headlines.

Statman Dave lauded Luiz’s “excellent” outing, while Brazilian reporter Fernando Campos hailed “another great performance” from the ace who “dictates rhythm”.

With the Villa hierarchy looking to match the ambitions of four-time Europa League winner Emery, it is vital that Luiz remains the centrepiece to the team’s forthcoming exploits.

West Ham United could be set to reignite their interest in a long-term target…

What’s the latest?

That’s according to transfer insider Pete O’Rourke, who spoke to Football FanCast about a potential move the Hammers might make for Youssef En-Nesyri, who Sevilla had valued at around €40m (£35m).

He said:

“Again, like all those teams down the wrong end of the table scoring goals has been an issue and that’s been the same for West Ham.

“They just haven’t hit the heights of last season. Michail Antonio and summer signing Gianluca Scamacca just haven’t been consistent enough or scored enough goals for West Ham so far this season.

“So that’s why West Ham are in the market for a new striker in this transfer window. Obviously, they are big admirers of En-Nesyri having previously tried to sign him before.”

He could save their season

It is not unfair to suggest that this season has been a resounding failure for the Irons thus far.

Having secured consecutive top-seven finishes, David Moyes now seems poised to battle with a number of teams to merely retain his side’s place in the Premier League.

It has been a catastrophic fall from grace from the 59-year-old who has handed a transfer war chest in the summer, with one of those signed namedropped by O’Rourke as an inconsistent failure thus far.

However, by adding some much-needed goals to the fold, they could achieve safety with relative comfort given how tight the table is.

Results depending, a run of three straight wins could see West Ham jump up as high as 11th.

Although in the league the Moroccan has been somewhat toothless, he still boasts five goals across the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

He is yet to recapture the form of the 2020/21 campaign, but perhaps a move to England might reignite a career that has stagnated in Spain.

During that season, he scored 18 LaLiga goals and a further six times in just eight Champions League games.

He showed flashes of finding this form in the recent World Cup, where he was lauded for his “monster moment” by journalist Piers Edwards to score the decisive goal in Morocco’s win over Portugal.

Moyes is in desperate need of something to stop the rut, with his side winless since the restart having scored just four times in their last six league games.

Even former Arsenal striker Kevin Campbell had previously urged his old club to swoop for the 25-year-old, as he claimed: “I will tell you that much. He will carry a threat top end of the pitch. He has good size, speed, knows where the goal is, he is skilful.”

Perhaps En-Nesyri could provide the spark that is needed, helping to salvage what has been a miserable season thus far.

Manchester United are confident their Argentinian youngster, Alejandro Garnacho, will put pen to paper on a new deal at Old Trafford.

What’s the latest?

The Red Devils are flying in the Premier League once again after picking up three huge points against their city rivals on the weekend.

And a player who made a big difference in that game was Garnacho after he came off the bench late on in the game to provide Marcus Rashford with the assist for the winner.

Garnacho’s current deal at United still has 18 months left until it expires at the end of next season, however, his sudden rise this season has the Red Devils wanting to extend his future at Old Trafford.

And speaking on the Here We Go podcast, Fabrizio Romano has suggested the powers that be at United are convinced the 18-year-old will put pen to paper:

“I’m told the Man United are still convinced of this contract extension, convinced and relaxed that everything will be resolved very soon.

“So conversations between Man United and Garnacho continue to extend the contract. They want him to have an important contract as an important player.”

Tie him down at Old Trafford

Garnacho only made his debut in the Premier League at the age of 17 less than one year ago under Ralf Ragnick in a draw at home to Chelsea.

But his rise this season has been huge with the Argentinian having now made seven appearances in the top flight as well as four in the Europa League (via Transfermarkt).

And across those two competitions, the 18-year-old has been able to return Erik ten Hag’s trust with two goals and two assists.

What is perhaps most impressive is the magnitude of some of the games he has affected already having scored the winner in the final group game in the Europa League to clinch the top spot against Real Sociedad.

More recently, he came on with just 18 minutes remaining of the derby against Manchester City and was able to work his magic down the left to put it on a plate for Rashford to seal the points.

And it is apparent his displays for United are not going unnoticed with the likes of Real Madrid believed to be showing an interest in the youngster.

With the same report suggesting Garnacho’s representatives have rejected United’s £20k-per-week offer, the Red Devils will be hoping for no more pushbacks in their bid to tie the youngster’s future down at Old Trafford.

However, Romano’s comments may provide fans with some confidence that Garnacho will be playing his football at the theatre of Dreams for years to come.

Although this may not deter Madrid from attempting to take him in the future, it would provide some insurance for United on their asset.

An update has emerged on Arsenal and their chances of landing a deal to sign Amadou Onana in the January transfer window…

What’s the talk?

Speaking on 90min’s Talking Transfers podcast, journalist Graeme Bailey revealed that any clubs hoping to sign the Belgian international would have to part ways with at least £50m.

This came shortly before The Evening Standard reported on Tuesday night that the Gunners have placed the Everton central midfielder on their radar heading into the final week of the window.

Fellow Premier League club Chelsea are also said to be interested in signing the 21-year-old, who joined the Toffees from Lille for £33m last summer.

Upgrade in midfield

Edu could land Mikel Arteta an upgrade on current Arsenal midfielder Albert Sambi Lokonga by matching Everton’s £50m valuation of Onana to sign the gem this month, or in the summer.

Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey have nailed down the starting spots in the middle of the park in the Premier League this season and Lokonga has been unable to force his way into the team.

The 23-year-old gem has only started twice in the top-flight so far this term, playing six times in total, and has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.75, whilst making 1.0 tackles and interceptions per game, after playing 19 matches in the division in 2021/22 – making 1.9 tackles and interceptions per outing.

Arsenal could now land an upgrade on the midfielder and, in turn, find real competition for Xhaka and Partey by swooping for Onana as the 21-year-old has caught the eye in the Premier League this season.

Despite playing in a struggling team, who are 19th in the table, the gem has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.94 across 18 appearances in the division, which immediately indicates that he could offer more than Lokonga in terms of his average performance level – based on their respective displays in 2022/23.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig once hailed Onana as “dominant” and a “one-man army” and this praise is backed up by his statistics for Everton as the Belgian international has made 3.5 tackles and interceptions per match and won 61% of his ground duels in the Premier League.

Only Partey (3.5) can match the Toffees gem’s number of defensive actions per game this season and this suggests that the youngster could provide an injection of steel to Arteta’s options in the middle of the park, which is something that Lokonga has been unable to do.

Therefore, Arsenal could land an upgrade on their current Belgian midfielder by signing his compatriot from Everton before the window slams shut, as Onana’s performance levels and his defensive contributions indicate that he would offer more to the Gunners.

Everton could reportedly sign Udinese defender Rodrigo Becao if Michael Keane is allowed to leave the Merseyside club.

The Lowdown: Keane out?

The 30-year-old has been linked with a move away from Goodison Park this month, with reports that the Toffees ‘knocked back’ a loan approach from Premier League relegation rivals Southampton.

However, Keane did work under Sean Dyche – who is set to be named imminently as Everton’s new manager – at Burnley, so it remains to be seen whether he will be allowed to leave before the end of the month.

The Latest: Becao in?

As per The Daily Mail, Dyche is ‘eager’ to make improvements to Everton’s squad before the transfer window closes on Tuesday, and he could duly sign Becao.

However, Keane would have to be allowed to leave for that signing to happen, with West Ham United thought to be ‘considering’ a move for the current Toffees defender.

The Verdict: Get it done

Even though Dyche could fancy Keane and bring him back into the fold, the 30-year-old has £80,000 per week, so Everton could do with getting him off the wage bill.

As for Becao, he has been a standout centre-back in Europe over the past year, with the 6 foot 3 colossus ranking in the 98th percentile for progressive passes received per game, as well as in the 97th for touches, 96th for tackles and 92nd for non-penalty goals (FBref). Those figures show how much of a threat he can offer in both penalty boxes.

With that in mind, the Toffees should be looking to get both of these proposed transfers done if they can.

Another transfer window has passed and Newcastle United are still yet to secure the signing of Leicester City playmaker, James Maddison, with the Englishman having remained at the King Power Stadium despite strong interest from Eddie Howe’s side in recent times.

Reports during the summer window claimed that the Magpies had seen a bid rejected of around £50m for the 26-year-old, with further claims made in the lead-up to January that the northeast side would make another approach in the mid-season window.

While there were reports at the tail-end of last week that suggested the Tynesiders were “in talks” regarding a move for the former Norwich City man, no such move came to fruition, with the midfield maestro staying put with just 18 months to run on his existing deal with the Foxes.

The Daily Mail then claimed on deadline day that Premier League champions Manchester City could well be eyeing a move for the Coventry-born gem come the summer, with that potentially set to prove a further blow to Newcastle’s hopes of bringing the one-cap star to St James’ Park.

Maddison had no doubt emerged as an attractive option after providing 11 goal involvements in just 14 league games so far this season, having previously recorded a staggering haul of 30 goals and assists across all fronts last term.

With Howe now needing to find another solution to help bolster his creative, midfield ranks, the former Bournemouth boss could well be best served promoting from within, with 16-year-old Lewis Miley a player who seemingly can make an impact at senior level in the coming months and years.

The teenage “wonderkid” – as described by the Chronicle’s Chris Knight – has already had a taste of first-team action after featuring in the mid-season friendly win over Rayo Vallecano back in December, with that inclusion a testament to how highly regarded he is by those on Tyneside.

A “powerful runner” who has “good close control and can pick a pass”, in the words of journalist Mark Carruthers, the emerging superstar has thrived in the academy set-up of late, offering the versatility – like Maddison – to feature in an attacking midfield role, or on the flanks.

The Gateshead-born starlet has already racked up four goal involvements in only eight appearances across all competitions at youth level so far this season, with his overall record for the club’s U18 side standing at four goals and three assists in 31 games.

Such is Miley’s undoubted potential, he was even included in The Guardian’s next-generation list of the top 20 talents across the Premier League, with that an indication of the possible diamond that Howe and co have on their hands.

While it would be fanciful to suggest that the young prospect will be able to immediately push for a regular role in the first-team, the hope will be that in the years to come he can emerge as the Magpies’ own, Maddison-esque talisman – saving the club millions in the process.