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Everton’s record in the transfer window has left a lot to be desired in recent years and one club has benefitted more than most from their haphazard spending.

The Toffees signed Alex Ixobi from Arsenal for £34m in the summer of 2019, but not before they splashed out £20m to secure the services of a 28-year-old Theo Walcott just six months prior.

At first glance, it appeared to be a sensible transfer for the Goodison Park outfit. Director of football Marcel Brands had secured an England international who had scored over 100 goals for the Gunners and was still in his prime years.

However, Walcott’s three-and-a-half-year stay on Merseyside proved to be somewhat of a nightmare for Everton and the player.

The flying winger made a fast start to in a Blue shirt, scoring three goals and providing a further three assists in his first 14 Premier League games for the club, but his promising form failed to carry over into 2018/19.

During his second campaign as an Everton player, Walcott only added a further eight goal contributions despite making 40 appearances in all competitions.

And things got even worse for the now 32-year-old in 2019/20. The Southampton academy graduate scored just two goals and laid on four assists, condemning the forward to one of his least productive campaigns in many years.

It led to Walcott re-joining his boyhood club on a season-long loan last term before making the move permanent following the expiration of his contract over the summer, ending an underwhelming with the Toffees.

He exited Everton with 20 goal contributions in 85 outings for the club and will go down as another expensive dud who promised so much.

And, in other news…Everton increasingly likely to sign £187k-p/w gem, fans surely buzzing 

According to The Daily Express, there has been a major development in West Ham United’s hunt to sign Manchester United star Jesse Lingard in January.

The Lowdown: West Ham eye Lingard deal…

Numerous reliable sources have backed that manager David Moyes has identified the signing of Lingard on a permanent deal as one of West Ham’s major priorities this month.

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Club insider ExWHUemployee claimed recently that the Irons are set to make a move early this window while reliable reporter Jack Rosser of The Evening Standard reiterates that Moyes is still very much eager.

This comes as Lingard’s current deal at Old Trafford expires in the summer with no sign of fresh terms as The Express now share a major update involving West Ham.

The Latest: West Ham ‘at the front of the queue’…

As per the outlet, West Ham are ‘at the front of the queue’ to sign United’s attacker as they enter pole position for his January signing.

It is believed the Irons are now ‘ready to table’ another bid to sign Lingard as he remains Moyes’ top target, with West Ham’s manager personally ‘working on a package’ to tempt him behind-the-scenes.

The Verdict: Exciting…

Given Moyes’ is currently readying an offer for the 29-year-old as he aims to seal his permanent signing, this update comes as an exciting one with West Ham now favourites.

Lauded as ‘absolutely phenomenal’ and the best player in the Premier League on form at one stage last season (Adrian Durham, talkSPORT), Moyes himself has been very public in his praise for Lingard.

The Scotsman waxed lyrical over England’s international ace, calling him ‘incredible’ for his performances on loan at the London Stadium over 2020/2021.

He bagged a brilliant nine goals and four assists in just 16 English top flight starts, leaving little wonder Moyes wants a return, and Hammers supporters may be hoping he gets his wish before January 31.

In other news: West Ham source: Newman eyeing bid for brand new forward target as club greenlight January sale, find out more here.

Former Wolverhampton Wanderers target Hirving Lozano looks as if he will be available to sign in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Get Italian Football News), who claimed that, with Napoli on course to sign Dinamo Batumi winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia this summer, the Mexico international could be put up for sale by the Serie A title challengers.

This could see Jeff Shi reignite his interest in the 26-year-old, with Calciomercato reporting back in the March 2020 that Wolves were one of three Premier League clubs – alongside West Ham United and Everton – contemplating a move for the former PSV Eindhoven starlet.

Furthermore, Lozano himself appears to be open to a move away from the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium this summer, with the forward revealing in November: “The truth is that I would like to go and play in another club, bigger.”

Better than Ocampos

With Bruno Lage looking as if he could experience something of a mass exodus in the wide attacking positions of his Wolves squad at the end of the current campaign, it would appear a very wise move for Shi to revisit the possibility of signing Lozano this summer.

Indeed, with Francisco Trincao recently revealing that he does not want to remain at Molineux beyond the completion of his season-long loan deal, Adama Traore looking certain to move onto pastures new this summer and Paris Saint-Germain plotting a move for Pedro Neto, Lage could well be left with only Daniel Podence and Hwang Hee-chan as options on the flanks ahead of next season.

While it is true that Lozano has somewhat struggled to live up to his club-record €42m (£35m) transfer fee over his two-and-a-half year spell in Naples, the Mexican has nevertheless shown in flashes that he is still a player who boasts a huge amount of talent.

Indeed, over his 32 Serie A appearances last season, the £31.5m-rated winger was in deadly form for Gli Azzurri, bagging 11 goals, registering four assists and creating 10 big chances for his teammates, along with taking 1.8 shots and making 1.1 key passes per game.

These returns saw the £112k-per-week attacker, who journalist Bolarinwa Olajide dubbed a “sensation”, average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.04, ranking him as his club’s seventh-best player in the Italian top flight.

As such, with the futures of Trincao, Traore and Neto all appearing to be somewhat up in the air at present, and with goalscoring being something of an issue for Wolves this season – with Lage’s side finding the net just 33 times in the Premier League – a swoop for Lozano could well be the answer to the Old Gold’s problems.

Furthermore, with Sevilla reportedly demanding an eye-watering €90m (£75m) in order to part ways with Wolves’ target Lucas Ocampos this summer – a player who has registered one direct goal contribution for every 208 minutes of football played for Sevilla, compared to Lozano’s record of one direct goal contribution every 160 minutes at Napoli – it is clear to see that the Mexican would be a signing who represents much better value for money.

AND in other news: Lage could unearth Wolves’ next £100m talent as Fosun plot offer for 19-year-old “missile”

West Ham United are interested in a deal to bring Aleksandr Golovin to the London Stadium in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Sport Witness, who claim that a source close to the AS Monaco attacking midfielder has revealed that both West Ham and Everton are interested in a move for the 25-year-old this month.

The report goes on to state that David Moyes’ side have made contact with the Ligue 1 side regarding a deal for the Russia international, however, it is also claimed that Monaco are unlikely to want to part with Golovin in the current transfer window – with Russian media outlet Championat suggesting the French side would demand a fee of around €50m (£41m) in order to sanction his sale.

Moyes’ next Lingard

Considering just how impressive Golovin has been for Monaco since his £27m move from CSKA Moscow back in 2018, it is easy to see why West Ham would be interested in a move for the attacking midfielder this month.

Indeed, over his 114 appearances for the Ligue 1 side, the £22.5m-rated man has scored 16 goals and registered 22 assists, with arguably his best season for the Monegasques coming over his 21 league outings last season.

In this campaign, the £78k-per-week forward scored five goals, provided nine assists and created nine big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.8 key passes and taking 1.3 shots per game.

These returns saw the player who Jose Mourinho dubbed a “playmaker” earn a rather astonishing seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.31, not only ranking him as Monaco’s best performer in the league, but also as the sixth-best player in the division as a whole.

Indeed, Golovin’s form in this campaign was not dissimilar from that of Jesse Lingard last season, who, over his 16 Premier League appearances while on loan at West Ham, scored nine goals, registered four assists and created three big chances for his teammates, seeing the 29-year-old earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.19.

Furthermore, both the AS Monaco attacking midfielder and the Manchester United man possess impressive positional versatility, with each player more than capable of operating from either flank or in the number 10 role.

As such, should Moyes be able to get a deal over the line for Golovin this winter, the 58-year-old Hammers manager could very much have the club’s next Lingard on his hands for the second half of the season – something that is undoubtedly an extremely exciting prospect for everyone involved with the club.

In other news: West Ham submit Jan offer for “outstanding” £70k-p/w tank, Moyes desperately needs him

A worrying claim has been made regarding the feeling behind the scenes at Newcastle during the January transfer window…

What’s the talk?

The Athletic’s Chris Waugh has provided an insight into how the club have felt their month has gone so far, whilst also revealing that they are far from finished ahead of deadline day.

He tweeted: “‘Frustration’ at business had been building behind the scenes, but progression of Bruno Guimaraes deal is very encouraging (let’s hope it gets done). One of several #NUFC are still looking to conclude, with summits in Saudi.”

Fans will be upset

This news will surely leave Newcastle fans feeling upset with the way PIF have handled their first transfer window at the club. They failed to bring in a full-time sporting director or director of football to come in and execute a well thought-out transfer strategy, instead bringing in Nick Hammond on a short-term deal in December to assist Eddie Howe.

Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood are the only signings of the window so far, with just over three days left to go before the window slams shut. The worry now is that the Magpies are scrambling around to complete “several” deals – according to Waugh – near deadline day, and that is not a situation the fans would have wanted at the start of January.

In an ideal world, Newcastle could have appointed a sporting director at the start of December and given them a month to work on a plan ahead of January to then be ready to go all-in during the first few weeks. It could have given Howe and the supporters a major lift to have the bulk of the club’s business done in the first half of the month, rather than rushing to bring players in during the final few days in January.

PIF are now in a position where they do not have time to negotiate and bargain with clubs, and that could lead to them overpaying for players or signing the wrong player because they do not have the time to carefully decide who they want to bring in if other targets are unavailable.

This is why Newcastle fans will be upset with the news that there is frustration behind the scenes, as it suggests that PIF have got it wrong this month. The board are seemingly not happy with the way they have handled the transfer window, and supporters could be frustrated by this due to how important January could be in the battle against relegation.

AND in other news, Howe can finally axe shocking NUFC “nightmare” with “incredible” £100k-p/w monster…

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Tottenham Hotspur’s four games in April will all air on Sky Sports, the club have confirmed on their official Twitter account.

Spurs play Brighton & Hove Albion, Huddersfield Town and West Ham United at home, while also travelling to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City.

And the club have announced that three of those games – Huddersfield, City and the Hammers – will be 12:30 pm kick-offs. The clash with Brighton will start at 4:30 pm.

It remains to be seen whether the home games will be held at Wembley or at the club’s newly-built stadium.

The London Evening Standard reported earlier this week that Spurs are hopeful of playing Brighton on April 6 at their new ground, but the game may well be rescheduled if the Seagulls beat Millwall to reach the FA Cup semi-finals.

The Huddersfield game, the report states, subsequently appears to be the most likely fixture to raise the curtain.

And Spurs fans have reacted to the news of the television picks with cynicism – many believe Sky Sports are trying to air the opening of the new stadium so are hedging their bets, while others are less than enthused about three early kick-offs in a row. Take a look at some of the best reaction below!

The previous summer transfer window was a fairly busy one for Southampton with the likes of Danny Ings, Jannik Vestergaard and Ryan Bertrand among others leaving the club and the likes of Romain Perraud, Adam Armstrong and Lyanco joining the Saints.

In addition to those three new players that joined in the summer, Southampton also managed to secure a deal for 18-year-old full-back Valentino Livramento from Chelsea’s U23 side for a reported fee of £5m.

The teenager arrived with a lot of potential and excitement behind him given how Chelsea’s first team manager Thomas Tuchel revealed that the west London club tried their hardest to keep hold of the defender before he made the move to St. Mary’s.

In his short time with the south-coast club, Livramento has already proved himself as an important and impressive member of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad. He’s played more minutes in the Premier League than any other outfield Southampton player and earned himself an overall season rating of 7.05/10 for his performances, making him their second-highest rated player according to WhoScored.

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With this in mind, it seems as though Southampton could be following up their swoop for Livramento with a move for another Chelsea youth star in the near future.

Another masterclass inbound?

It has recently been reported by The Sun that Southampton, alongside fellow Premier League side Brentford and Brighton & Hove Albion are interested in signing 19-year-old midfielder Ben Elliott from Chelsea’s U23 side.

As a product of the Blues’ youth academy, as Livramento was, Elliott has made 20 appearances for their U18 team, scoring four goals and providing three assists, showing that he has some attacking talent in him, as well as making eight appearances for their U23 side.

In addition to the trio of Premier League clubs that apparently have their eyes on Elliott, the report also says that Chelsea are keen on securing the midfielder’s future at the west London club which suggests how highly they value the youngster, who described himself as being “hungry” for success after winning the first youth trophy of his career.

Given his age, we feel that Southampton should definitely explore the possibility of signing Elliott whenever they can as he could well follow in the footsteps of Livramento and become an integral part of Southampton’s squad.

A number of Chelsea’s former academy stars are starting to make a name for themselves this term with Marc Guehi stepping up at Crystal Palace and the aforementioned Saints youngster starring too. Thus, there is every reason to believe that Elliott could follow in a similar direction and become a like-minded masterclass in the transfer window.

Considering the age of current Saints midfielder Oriol Romeu (30) who could be on his way out of the club in the next few years, it may pave the way for Elliott to take his place in the team if he does join the club. This would be a deal that makes plenty of sense.

In other news: Forget Armstrong: “Unbelievable” Saints gem who made 4 key passes was Ralph’s hero – opinion

With the January transfer window fast appoaching, Bruno Lage and Jeff Shi will be starting to consider players who they could look to bring into Wolverhampton Wanderers in order to give the club the best possible chance of securing a top-half finish in the Premier League this season.

One such position will almost certainly be centre-back, with summer signing Yerson Mosquera being ruled out of action until at least February as a result of a hamstring injury, and both Willy Boly and Romain Saiss more than likely being unavailable for selection in January due to their potential involvement in the Africa Cup of Nations.

As such, Lage could well be left with just Conor Coady and Max Kilman as senior options for his three-man defence, something that would undoubtedly be a disaster for the 45-year-old manager.

However, before dipping into the transfer market, perhaps Lage and Shi should consider an option much closer to home – figurative speaking, at least – in the shape of Nigel Lonwijk.

Lonwijk could save Wolves millions

Having joined Wolves from PSV Eindhoven back in January of 2020, there was a considerable amount of hype about the 19-year-old centre-back, with Shi himself stating of the youngster’s signing: “To be able to get somebody of Nigel’s quality across the line was really pleasing and we’re delighted with the signing.

“He’s very good physically, a good defender one-v-one, and has strong technical ability, so we very much see him fitting into how our system as an outside centre-back. He’s got good physicality as well, so ticks the boxes in many of the things we’re looking for in terms of our centre-back positions.”

However, while it is not particularly unusual for a teenager making a move to England from another country, the £90k-rated defender is still yet to make a first-team appearance for the club, being sent on loan to Eredivisie side Fortuna Sittard for the 2021/22 campaign in order to continue his development in senior football.

And, if the 19-year-old’s most recent performance against PEC Zwolle is anything to go by, it would very much appear as if the youngster would make an extremely useful addition to Lage’s current options in the heart of his Wolves defence this winter.

Indeed, over the course of his 90 minutes on the pitch, the former Netherlands U16 international made a whopping 14 clearances, two interceptions, one tackle and won an incredible 11 of his 15 attempted duels.

Aside from this defensive masterclass, the 6 foot 3 centre-back also scored the match-winning goal for Fortuna, while his overall display saw him earn a SofaScore match rating of 8.3 – the highest of any player to feature in the fixture.

As such, with it being clear for all to see that Wolves are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements this January, bringing Lonwijk back to Molineux would very much look to be a smart move by both Lage and Shi, as, should the defender indeed impress when given a chance in the first-team, he could well go on to save Fosun millions of pounds in transfer fees this winter.

In other news: Tim Spiers drops 13-word transfer claim that will leave Wolves fans buzzing

West Ham didn’t add any new signings to their side in January but David Moyes will surely be hoping to make up for it this summer as the Hammers push on again for a place in European football as news of a potential transfer target emerges.

What’s the word?

According to The Telegraph, West Ham are plotting a bid for Mainz captain Moussa Niakhate and could snap up the centre-back for just £8m in the summer.

Mainz reportedly do not want to lose the 26-year-old on a free transfer when his contract expires in 2023, so would be interested in accepting a lower fee this summer to cash in on him.

The East London club joins two other Premier League clubs in the pursuit for the Frenchman’s signature, as Newcastle United and Everton are also linked in the report.

Diop replacement

West Ham supporters will surely be delighted that the club is linked with a new player to freshen up the defensive line after an abject season from Issa Diop, and they will be even more thrilled about replacing their current defender with Niakhate when you compare their output this season.

According to Squawka, the 26-year-old defender, who was hailed “ambitious” by Mainz manager Bo Svensson, has also been highly effective in offensive play with three more goals and ten more chances created than the current West Ham centre-back who was labelled “poor” by Ian Wright this season.

It’s also evident that he is well-oiled machine in defence, registering numbers that eclipse far and away what Diop can produce.

With the Europa League trophy and an outside chance of stealing the fourth spot in the Premier League table to qualify for Champions League still in sight, it was thought Moyes might have added some depth to his squad in the winter transfer window, but clearly the club felt that they could progress without new additions.

The recent success for West Ham in finishing higher in the league, and their continued efforts to become a force in the Europa League will surely mean that adding to and upgrading on their current options will be a priority this summer, and Niakhate could be a great place to start for the side.

In other news: WHU may end up signing “electric” £50m gem this summer, he can finally replace Haller

Transfers are never guaranteed to work out in football and failed deals have stung Sunderland more than most in recent years.

The Black Cats suffered back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and the Championship to end up in League One in 2017, as they were unable to bring in the players they needed to avoid the drop on both occasions.

However, they have also made some excellent decisions in the transfer market over the years and deserve credit where it’s due.

Blinder on Wickham

One player the club managed to pull a blinder with was centre-forward Connor Wickham, as Dick Advocaat sold him to Crystal Palace for £9m (Transfermarkt) in 2015.

The Black Cats brought him in from Ipswich for £8.1m in 2011 and he scored 15 goals and provided four assists in 91 outings for the side. This included ten Premier League goals in his last two top-flight campaigns, scoring five in 15 and five in 36 before leaving for Selhurst Park.

Sunderland got almost 100 games of service and a number of Premier League goals out of him before making a, albeit small, profit on him. Whilst this is evidence enough to suggest that it was a good deal by the club, what has happened to Wickham since leaving has proven that they played a blinder with his sale.

His career has flopped as he only played 50 times in six seasons for Palace. After playing 21 Premier League matches in his first campaign for the club, he never made more than eight in another season for the Eagles as he scored three league goals in his final three years in London.

He ended his disastrous spell by leaving on a free transfer in the summer of 2021. Championship Preston then picked him up for nothing later that year before landing at his current destination – MK Dons.

The 6 foot 3 forward, who journalist Dom Howson previously dubbed a “unit”, has beaten the goalkeeper only once in nine League One outings for the Buckinghamshire side after joining on a free transfer from Preston, as he has failed to get himself back on track.

The Athletic previously ran a story explaining when players typically peak in each position and for centre-forwards it is said to be around the age of 27, heading into their 30’s. Thus, with Wickham now 29, it’s obvious things haven’t turned out well for him.

Instead of finding his best form, Wickham’s stock is now at the lowest point of his entire career. At the time of writing (28/03/22), Transfermarkt value him at a measly £720k, which is significantly lower than the £9m Sunderland received from Palace for his signature. It is also lower than the £900k he was valued at whilst playing for Ipswich at the age of 16, illustrating just how far he has fallen from grace.

Therefore, Sunderland played a blinder with him as they made a profit on the fee they paid to the Tractor boys and got him out of the door before his career went tumbling downhill.

He failed to fulfil his potential and the Black Cats did not feel the effects of his failure as they cashed in on him at the perfect time.

AND in other news, Forget Defoe: Sunderland must now swoop for teen prodigy with 21 goals in 13 games…