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Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge has told Football FanCast that he’d be surprised to see Wilfried Zaha leave Crystal Palace this summer.

Palace’s talisman, who scored a career-best 11 Premier League goals last term and is already off the mark in pre-season, was the subject of interest from Tottenham and Everton earlier this summer.

Zaha has been linked away from the club in each of the previous two years, and in an interview with The Times, the 28-year-old once more expressed his desire to leave the Selhurst Park outfit this window.

With just two years remaining on his contract, Zaha could be available to sign at a cut-price, but has already knuckled down since the arrival of Patrick Vieira and looks likely to get a move.

The Eagles boss has been a busy man in the transfer window, making three impressive signings, including Joachim Andersen from Lyon.

And whilst Palace are highly unlikely to be challenging for a European place next season, Bridge reckons that the arrival of a new ambitious manager with fresh faces could meet Zaha’s demands.

He told FFC:

“I’d be very surprised to see Zaha leave, he would probably like a new challenge, but at the same time, he’s kind of got one.

“He’s got Patrick Vieira coming in, Joachim Andersen has just joined from Lyon, Olise, they want to sign more players.”

West Ham United are the latest side to be linked to Nathaniel Phillips this transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports’ Transfer Centre (21st July, 15:33), the Irons are among the teams keen on signing the 24-year-old, though they face plenty of competition for his signature.

Premier League rivals Newcastle United, Burnley and Brighton and Hove Albion are credited with an interest, whilst Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen are said to have sounded out Phillips over a potential return to Germany, where he impressed on loan to Stuttgart in 2019/20.

An official bid is yet to be made for the Reds centre-back.

An absolute steal

Last month, The Athletic’s ever-reliable James Pearce claimed that Liverpool had placed a £15m asking price on Phillips and this could represent some stunning value for money.

They’re in no rush to sell him either, though the 6 foot 3 colossus may not want to be the fourth or fifth choice in the pecking order come next month.

£15m has to be considered a steal, considering Burnley have recently paid £12m to Stoke City for Nathan Collins, who has never featured in the Premier League before.

Phillips enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2020/21, thanks to the unfortunate injury list piling up at Anfield. And he made the most of his opportunities with some impressive displays, notably a clean sheet against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-west-ham-news-transfer-rumours-the-latest-gossip-and-much-more-2” title= “Read the latest West Ham news, transfer rumours, gossip and much more!”]

He also started in both league fixtures against the Hammers, where he kept Sebastien Haller and then Michail Antonio quiet. In fact, he ensured the latter had a torrid time in their 3-1 defeat.

As per SofaScore, the 31-year-old forward was restricted to just one shot on target, whilst he only pulled off one successful dribble from three attempts and lost 66% of his duels.

It’s no wonder Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has lauded him as a “monster”.

Valued at €30m (£26m) by CIES Football Observatory, Phillips could be an absolute bargain at just £15m, not to mention his mooted £64k-per-week wages, which is less than what even Winston Reid is on at the London Stadium (£70k-per-week).

It’s believed that Moyes is keen to bolster his backline, so the Liverpool star could be an intriguing option to consider before next month’s deadline.

The Scotsman must now look to urge a swoop for Phillips this summer.

AND in other news, Moyes risks West Ham nightmare as ExWHUemployee drops big update on 30-goal “machine” – opinion

Amid all the transfer talk surrounding Jack Grealish at the moment, Aston Villa have another homegrown academy talent waiting in the wings to make his breakthrough in Carney Chukwuemeka.

The 17-year-old was handed his senior debut in the Premier League towards the end of last season by Dean Smith, making some late cameos against the likes of Spurs and Chelsea.

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has now delivered some exciting news on the plans for Chukwuemeka heading into the new campaign, which gets underway next month. He said: “Carney Chukwuemeka is the one teenager who will definitely be a part of the first team. He’s starting to fill out and will soon be ready for the demands of Premier League football.”

That was echoed by Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece, who said: “Chukwuemeka will have a big role; he’ll be a contender to start in the Carabao Cup. We’ll see a lot of him over pre-season.”

The teenager has earned rave reviews for his performances at youth team level with Villa, and was even dubbed as a “scary talent” by Preece.

Writing in his post-match player ratings after seeing him score a hat-trick against Newcastle in the FA Youth Cup, Preece showered him with more praise, saying: “This was a Carney Chukwuemeka masterclass. It was a clinic in how to play an advanced midfield role with the 17-year-old oozing confidence and swagger. The hype’s real surrounding this kid who, as supporters know, has been around Dean Smith’s first team for a long time now. Villa’s No.10 started almost every attack and looked to hurt Newcastle at every opportunity.”

Former Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has previously urged Smith to throw Chukwuemeka into the deep end with the first-team.

He exclusively told Football FanCast: “I kind of go off the fans’ views – I know he’s been scoring goals in the Under-18s. When someone is scoring goals, they’ve showed they’re a massive threat, it does attract football clubs and when you’re getting Manchester City and United hovering around the vicinity and are trying to take the young players away.

“This is where I feel if he’s that good we need to see him filtered through to the first team especially at this stage of the season. We’ve seen the likes of Louie Barry, who I felt would have had more of a chance this season, and I would put him in that category. I’d like to see more of him playing, because if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

If Grealish is to move on to Manchester City this summer, then Villa could find their next game-changer for the coming years in the 1.85m (6 foot 1) Chukwuemeka.

Meanwhile, a new update has emerged on Villa’s pursuit of Julian Alvarez…

Coach Luis Enrique and superstar Kylian Mbappe are barely on speaking terms as their relationship at Paris Saint-Germain deteriorates.

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• Pair are hardly speaking
• Luis Enrique wants to adapt to life without Mbappe
• Face Real Sociedad on Tuesday

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The PSG boss has taken the forward off early twice in as many games, inevitably stirring up controversy about his reasoning. Mbappe was seen in the stands after being withdrawn at half-time by Luis Enrique during their latest clash against Monaco. Now it has been revealed by that Mbappe and the head coach are hardly speaking following the two premature substitutions.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Speaking to the press, Luis Enrique explained the decision to replace Mbappe was a way for PSG to get used to playing without their superstar forward. With Mbappe set to depart the French capital in the summer, the Spanish coach is keen to find new solutions for life after having one of the world's best players. However, this cannot be done without frustrating Mbappe, who will remain keen to play every minute of every game.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Mbappe is set to take a pay-cut from his salary in Paris to join Madrid in the summer. He is expected to earn between €15 million (£13m/$16m) and €20m (£17m/$22m) per year as a base salary before bonuses. Even with the pay-cut, he will become the highest-paid player at the Bernabeu.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR MBAPPE AND ENRIQUE?

  The Parisians travel to Spain to take on Real Sociedad in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, having secured a commanding 2-0 win in the first leg. However, with tensions frayed between Mbappe and Luis Enrique, who knows how many minutes the Frenchman will play.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta says his side is targeting the league title after the Gunners demolished Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.

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• Arsenal steamroller Burnley at Turf Moor
• 'We want' title says Arteta
• Gunners have hit 21 goals in five straight wins

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  A fourth-minute strike from Martin Odegaard set Arsenal on the way to a 5-0 win, with a double from Bukayo Saka while goals from Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz rounded off another relentless performance.

  Arsenal sit just two points behind leaders Liverpool, and Arteta believes his side are finding the consistency that will be required to see off the challenges of Liverpool and Manchester City.

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  WHAT MIKEL ARTETA SAID

  Speaking to the BBC's Match of the Day after Saturday's win, Arteta said: "At the moment all we can do is win our games and after our big two wins away from home we have a tough one in the Champions League at Porto.

  "I hope we can do it [win the title] because we are there but it is about consistency and you see the standards of the other teams. We want it, that's for sure."

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  Arsenal's festive wobble led to questions over whether Arsenal should make a move for a striker in January's transfer window. But the Gunners have bounced back with a five-game winning streak scoring 21 goals in the process. Arteta will be delighted to see goals coming from a host of different scorers.

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• WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

  Attention turns to the Champions League for Arsenal this week, with Arteta's men travelling to Portugal for the first leg of their last-sixteen tie with Porto on Wednesday.

One of the leading tech hubs in Germany, TeamViewer has joined arms with one of England’s prime football teams, Manchester United. Though both sides are from two different worlds, a contract has been signed and has finalised a sponsorship deal between the two European giants. The partnership will see both sides augment their profits through the widening of TeamViewer’s market.

The TeamViewer logo will be embedded onto the Man United shit. We were accustomed to the Chevrolet badge, but that will be removed, which only means that United’s and Chevy’s contract has come to an end.

The Chevy deal had lasted for seven years and was considered United’s largest signing for just shirt sponsorship. The deal with Chevrolet was worth £64 million a year compared to the TeamViewer deal which is worth £47 million. This means United will witness a drop of £17 million from the new deal. The Chevy deal got monetary funds for the club and gave cars to the entire football team.  The automaker gave the players their Chevrolet Camaro, which we saw Daley Blind driving and the likes of David De Gea, Mata and Evans were captured in the Captive SUV. These are smooth cars. Check out the Chevrolet deals here for a sneak peek at what you could also be cruising around in. We like the 2021 Chevy Colorado with 308 horsepower from its V6 engine; great for off-roading.

What does TeamViewer have to offer? Well, United signed a five-year deal with a dynamic global software company.  The collaboration will connect fans all around the world through remote software developed by TeamViewer. Fans will get to experience a virtual stadium, unique behind the scenes content, and augmented reality at play at Old Trafford Stadium.

Man U players also stand to benefit from the deal. Old Trafford will be upgraded with enhanced training and performance systems through augmented reality (AR). AR will also allow remote access to players for scheduling and training, and medical examinations.  Fancy this; scouts will also be able to use the tech. All this mechanisation will be put in place to strengthen the squad’s performance and hopefully push the team from second place and into winning the Premier League title.

The partnership will also see the business at the Stadium stepping up. There will now be enhanced accessibility and IT support in all offices. The tech will also increase security and provide solutions for stadium controls to optimise safety, thus seeing a smooth flow of ticket sales. The system is also intelligent enough to give alerts when there are faults. All this will be done through the control of the Internet of Things (IoT).

Since this deal is supposed to be two-way, it is meant to benefit both sides. The deal will expose TeamViewer’s technology to a new and broader market; the Manchester United fan base. Because the brand is versatile, it is suitable for private, commercial and industrial use; thus, the partnership will help to market the tech hub’s comprehensive solutions portfolio to all customer segments globally.

Though it may take time for TeamViewer to start booming in profits as a result of this collaboration, analysts say the deal is worth it in the long run. It’s pretty obvious that the large market needed by the software developers will soon go their way as Manchester United is the most popular football club anywhere you go. So, we are right in calling it the loftiest deal TeamViewer won in 2021.

Gerard Pique has credited former Barcelona team-mate Lionel Messi for "expanding soccer" since his transfer to MLS side Inter Miami.

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• Pique credited Messi for impact on MLS
• Says he secured GOAT status with World Cup win
• Contributed assist in Inter Miami's win over Real Salt Lake

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Pique says the 36-year-old superstar's transfer to Inter Miami last summer has massively contributed to expanding the sport in the United States. The former Barcelona and Spain defender also suggested that Messi secured the 'GOAT' title once and for all after his triumph at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with Argentina.

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  WHAT GERARD PIQUE SAID

  Speaking to , Pique said: "I see Leo happy, he fulfilled all his dreams when he started playing. The World Cup was the epitome of everything and I think that in Miami he is expanding soccer. With his image and the fact of playing in the MLS, he made the United States gain strength."

  He added on Messi's status in the history of the game: "Football people wanted Messi to be world champion. Especially because of the doubters who questioned his career, and said he was missing the World Cup. I think there are no longer any doubts. He is the best player in the history of football. He elevated Barcelona to another dimension."

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  The eight-time Ballon d'Or winner kicked off the 2024 MLS season in style as he contributed with an assist in The Herons' win against Real Salt Lake. In his maiden season with the club, the Barcelona legend scored 11 goals in 14 appearances, and Miami are considered to be contenders for the MLS Cup this time around due to his presence alone.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR INTER MIAMI?

  The David Beckham-owned side will be next seen in action on Monday in MLS as they take on LA Galaxy in their second match of the season. Miami are due to host Orlando City four days later as the fixtures come thick and fast for Gerardo Martino's side.

Harry Kane has come under fire from the Italian media, who described his display in Bayern Munich's Champions League loss to Lazio as "dull".

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• Bayern lose 1-0 to Lazio
• Kane has quiet night in UCL
• Forward criticised by Italian media

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The German giants lost their second straight game in all competitions, following their 3-0 thrashing by Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga last weekend, with a disappointing 1-0 defeat at Lazio on Wednesday in the last-16 of the Champions League. The England captain barely had any chances for the Bavarians, who had Dayot Upamecano sent off in the 67th minute and Ciro Immobile scored the resulting penalty. The 30-year-old was criticised by sections of the German media after the Leverkusen drubbing and now Italian publications have followed suit.

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• WHAT THE ITALIAN MEDIA SAID

  wrote the former Tottenham star didn't "exploit" his early chance against Lazio and usually doesn't make such mistakes. believed that Bayern's number one threat had a "rather dull evening" and Lazio's defenders limited him as best they could. However, mused that Kane felt "abandoned" in the second half, with all three publications giving him a rating of 5.5, 6, and 5.5 out of 10, respectively.

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  While Kane is breaking Bundesliga goalscoring records this season, with 28 goals and eight assists in 29 games in all competitions, there is a distinct possibility Bayern will end up with no trophies this term. They are five points behind leaders Leverkusen, fell in round two of the DFB-Pokal cup, and have to overturn a 1-0 deficit in the Champions League against Lazio. The England skipper came to the German giants to win silverware but at present that looks unlikely.

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• WHAT NEXT FOR KANE?

  Kane's Bayern return to Bundesliga action away to Bochum on Sunday. They play RB Leipzig and Freiburg in the league before hosting Lazio in the second leg of their Champions League knockout clash on March 5.

Nottingham Forest are interested in a deal to bring Sam Clucas to The City Ground this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, who revealed in a post on Twitter that Chris Hughton’s side are contemplating a move for the Stoke City midfielder in the coming weeks.

Nixon claims that the 30-year-old is available on a free transfer until July 1, when, if no move materialises for the £2.25m-rated man, he will then become tied to his current side for a further year.

Hughton must move

Considering the fact that Nottingham Forest look likely to be without the services of Manchester United midfielder loanee James Garner next season – unless the Reds can convince Ole Gunnar Solskjaer of another loan deal for the 20-year-old this summer – central midfield looks to be a position in which Hughton will have to strengthen in the upcoming transfer window.

And, following another impressive campaign at the bet365 Stadium last season, Clucas could well prove an extremely astute signing for a club looking to mount a push for a top-six finish next term.

Over his 24 Championship fixtures last term, the £33k-per-week man scored two goals, registered three assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles and 1.7 key passes per game.

These returns saw the midfielder whom Gabriel Agbonlahor dubbed a “quality” player earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.05, ranking him as Stoke’s joint third-best performer in the second tier.

As such, if Forest do indeed fail in their potential bid to bring Garner back to The City Ground this summer, the former Swansea City man would appear to be an apt replacement for the youngster, especially when taking into account he would be available on a free transfer.

However, with Nixon also claiming that a number of other Championship sides are keen on the 30-year-old, it would be highly advisable for the 62-year-old to act sooner rather than later, or else he risks missing out on the midfielder to one of Forest’s second-tier rivals.

In other news: Transfer updates emerges on £18k-p/w dud likened to Makelele that’ll delight NFFC fans

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti complained that referees do not understand coaches after a tense meeting at the Spanish Football Association (RFEF).

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• Ancelotti attended meeting at RFEF offices
• Real Madrid boss left the discussion angry
• Coach says referees 'don't understand' coaches

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Ancelotti and his Barcelona counterpart Xavi, along with several other La Liga coaches, were present at a meeting at the RFEF's headquarters. The gathering was held to discuss refereeing and other issues in Spanish football – most notably a lack of severance pay received by coached when they're sacked.

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  Ancelotti has previously complained that the referees in La Liga do not show enough respect to coaches, while Xavi has reportedly proposed a joint-press conference so that managers can express their grievances.

• WHAT CARLO ANCELOTTI SAID

  The meeting at the RFEF headquarters seems to have done very little to resolve the tension between referees, coaches and the RFEF in general, as Ancelotti voiced his anger afterwards. Asked by a journalist how the meeting went, Ancelotti said it was "a mess", adding: "They don't understand us coaches".

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ANCELOTTI?

  The Italian left RFEF's headquarters early so that he could lead Madrid's training session on Tuesday. Their next game is against Cadiz on November 26.