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

Torino have rejected a €60m (£54m) bid from West Ham United for Andrea Belotti, per Tuttosport.

What’s the word?

The Hammers are thin in the striking department after selling Marko Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG and also allowing Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez to leave the club.

They currently have Javier Hernandez and Jordan Hugill as their forward options.

And the report claims that Belotti was the subject of a big bid as the club looked to solve their forward crisis.

The offer was swiftly rejected, however, with Torino keen to keep a player who has scored 70 goals in 148 games for the club.

Cheaper option found

A deal for Belotti already appears to be dead in the water after West Ham reached an agreement to sign Sebastian Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Bundesliga club confirmed on Tuesday that he is set to undergo a medical with the Irons before a move that Football FanCast sources understand could cost as much as £50m.

Belotti, of course, would have been an intriguing option for Pellegrini’s men, and he has a solid record of goalscoring.

The Torino star scored 17 goals in all competitions last season; he netted 13 in 35 as he battled injury woes in 2017/18 and in 2016/17, when he played the majority of games throughout the season, he netted 28 in 38.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But a move for Haller is now in the advanced stages and one cannot imagine the club signing both – it would come to an outlay of over £100m.

The Frenchman is 25 and has been a consistent forward at both Frankfurt – where he has scored 33 goals in 77 games while providing 19 assists – and FC Utrecht, where he netted 51 goals in 98 outings.

Haller is a different type of forward to Belotti; the latter usually plays up top on his own, while the former partnered Luka Jovic in the Bundesliga last season.

Neither have played in the Premier League, though, and it appears that the Irons have done a deal for the cheaper option, in the hope that he will prove value for money.

Belotti may actually be a more proven option – he has won 22 caps for Italy and has played over 170 games in Serie A while Haller has yet to be capped by France and has 60 Bundesliga outings under his belt.

Pellegrini, though, will be praying that he has made the right choice as the Hammers look to improve on last season’s 10th-placed finish.

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Manchester City are already knee-deep in the 2019 summer pre-season with their friendly matches well underway.

The spirits are good and the team feel ready to continue with the next challenges that take them to Hong Kong to face Kitchee FC. The Citizens’ first two fixtures were played in Nanjing and Shanghai respectively and were all a part of the Premier League Asia Trophy tournament.

Raheem Sterling has shared a new

/B0RaE0oC2cb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram snap as the team was on their way to Hong Kong and onto their next training facility.

Surely enough, the image was met with a lot of positive feedback from his teammates and some other stars.

Benjamin Mendy, who is unfortunately still recovering from his serious injury, has stayed behind but was quick to send support to his teammate and friend.

The defender just posted some emojis, replying to Sterling’s snap.

But he wasn’t the only one as some other stars, both from the footballing world and beyond it, have done the same.

Sterling will be looking to build upon a stunning 2018/19 campaign that saw him score 25 goals and provide a further 18 assists in 51 appearances in all competitions for the Citizens.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to Sky Sports, Jose Mourinho has opened up on the level of criticism he received during his stint as Manchester United manager.

What did he say?

Mourinho took over the Red Devils in May 2016 and led the club to a League Cup and Europa League triumph in his first campaign. After then finishing his second season only behind champions Manchester City, United endured a difficult start to the 2018/2019 campaign and promptly sacked Mourinho in December of last year.

Now, the 56-year-old has revealed his dismay at what he felt was a certain lack of recognition for his achievements, but vowed to return to management with a “big smile”.

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He said: “I can just say that the Manchester United time was not an easy time. I always felt that to win the Europa League was fantastic and it didn’t look like it was, the way people approach it. To finish second was even more than that (success), so probably I was feeling a little bit like: ‘Wow, I’m working well, I’m giving everything and I’m not getting what I think that deserves’.

“The only thing I can promise you is that when I have the next club, the next project, I will be so, so happy that I will walk into that press conference with a big smile. That I can promise.”

Harshly judged?

After seeing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer fail to turn the ship around in the second half of the season, Mourinho’s time in charge may now be looked upon more favourably. The Portuguese boss has always been synonymous with trophies and he delivered two of those in his first campaign at the club.

To then finish second behind one of the greatest sides in Premier League history is certainly nothing to be sniffed at, and whilst the club struggled in the early stages of last season, it just felt like Mourinho had simply lost the dressing room by the end.

The task of the rebuilding job at hand at Old Trafford is clear for all to see, but Mourinho’s efforts in trying to raise the club from its Sir Alex Ferguson slumber should not be forgotten all too hastily.

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According to The Sun, Wigan Athletic are closing in on a £1m-plus swoop for Everton midfielder Joe Williams ahead of the 2019-20 campaign.

Williams is yet to make a first-team appearance for Everton, but has spent each of the last two seasons on loan with Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers respectively.

The 22-year-old will see his contract at Goodison Park expire next summer.

And according to The Liverpool Echo, Williams has turned down interest from elsewhere in the Championship and indeed the Bundesliga to near a switch to Wigan.

The Everton fans have been on social media reacting to the transfer speculation.

Watch Everton Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And it would be fair to say that a number are disappointed with the call.

Indeed, there is a general feeling that Williams could have contributed for the Toffees had he been given the chance after two seasons out on loan.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Former Crystal Palace striker Neil Shipperley has praised Roy Hodgson for the job he has done with the Eagles and urged fans to be realistic in regards to what the club can achieve.

What did he say?

Hodgson joined Palace in September 2017 following the sacking of Frank De Boer and led the Selhurst Park outfit to an 11th placed finish in his debut season, which was then followed by 12th last time out.

When asked how he feels the former England boss has done, Shipperley told Football FanCast, “I think he’s done a great job, a really good job with what he’s been given. We haven’t really spent much money and if we don’t spend any money he’s going to have his work cut out again.”

The 44-year-old former England U21 international also explained that he believes the fans expect too much of Hodgson, adding, “You have to be realistic and not all fans are realistic. You have to actually analyse what’s gone on here. We’re not spending any money and I don’t think Roy is recruiting any of the players; it’s down to Dougie Freedman and that’s out of his hands. You’ve got to be careful what you wish for because I think he’s got the best out of these players.”

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More investment needed

When De Boer was relieved of his duties in 2017, Palace looked in real trouble. They had lost each of their first four league games without scoring a goal and sat rock bottom of the Premier League table. Things did not immediately get better under the new boss, but they grabbed their first win – and points – of the campaign against Chelsea on October 14th and then went from strength to strength.

Indeed, the club have not spent much money since Hodgson arrived – nobody spent less than the paltry £10.67m they shelled out last season, whilst they have parted with more cash than just one club in the top flight this summer as well – and so he must be applauded for the work he has done by leading them to survival relatively comfortably in each of the past two terms.

Having control over transfers appears to be seldom seen in the Premier League nowadays, but that doesn’t mean that clubs aren’t signing new players. Having received £45m from Manchester United for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, there should be money to spend this summer. With the increasing financial power of all clubs in England’s highest division, it is unlikely that Palace will be able to once again get away with failing to strengthen their squad. Whilst Hodgson may have done well until now, Freedman and the fans should not expect it to continue much longer without more investment.

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Opening up the Premier League season to the reigning champions was never going to be easy, but West Ham’s capitulation to Manchester City on Saturday afternoon certainly didn’t look good.

The Hammers were well in the game in the first-half and kept Pep Guardiola’s side at bay for the majority of the opening period. But following a quickfire double from the visitors, the home side appeared to lose all sense of purpose and ended their first league game of the season with a 5-0 defeat.

After seeing their side fall to a huge defeat, West Ham fans took to Twitter to voice their concerns about the performance and the season ahead.

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Many Hammers supporters bemoaned their side’s display and raised concerns over whether anything had changed from last season.

Indeed, some declared the performance an “absolute abomination” and said the team simply gave up after City scored.

Check out some of the furious reaction of West Ham fans to the game below:

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David Ginola has revealed that he ‘would love to manage Newcastle United’.

Indeed, during an appearance on Back of the Net, in quotes carried by ChronicleLive, Ginola said that ‘it would be the perfect situation’ to lead the Magpies in the future.

The Frenchman spent two seasons at St James’ Park as a player – scoring seven times for the club as they secured back-to-back second-placed finishes in the Premier League.

It would be fair to say that the 52-year-old is remembered fondly by the club’s fans.

And as expected, many have been reacting to the Frenchman’s claims.

Ginola does not have any coaching experience, although he has revealed that he is currently taking his badges with the view to a role.

Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And it would be fair to say that a number of the Newcastle supporters are open to the idea of the former midfielder taking the position currently held by Steve Bruce.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

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Lots of Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react after the reason for signing Fabinho was revealed by The Athletic.

The article by James Pearce states that the Reds signed the Brazil international over Chelsea’s Jorginho and Arsenal’s Lucas Torreira because of his physical prowess.

Liverpool had tracked the defensive midfielder’s progress since the 2012/13 campaign when Fabinho was on loan at Real Madrid from Portuguese outfit Rio Ave, so they have clearly done their research on the player.

The Merseysiders finally got their man last summer when they parted with £39m to bring the 25-year-old to Anfield from Monaco, and it has proved to be an inspired swoop.

Fabinho has helped the club win the Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup since signing, and it feels like the Brazilian is getting better with every passing game under Jurgen Klopp.

Let’s see how the Liverpool fans on Twitter reacted to the news…

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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…

Injuries have robbed many from being a great player instead of just a good player.

We can only wonder just how colossal Ledley King could’ve been were it not for his injury issues, whilst Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge potentially could’ve had much better careers if they were able to stay off the treatment table.

Whilst we are not comparing Jonny Williams to players of these quality, the diminutive Welshman has endured a career hampered by injuries which have held him back for years – he has even needed a psychologist’s help after injuries robbed him of the chance to help Sunderland in the midst of their relegation battle a few years ago.

After breaking onto the scene at Crystal Palace in 2011, the now-25-year-old attacking midfielder has slowly had to rebuild his career whilst out on numerous loan spells at Ipswich, Nottingham Forest, MK Dons and Sunderland, but it is at Charlton where he is really starting to get back in the mood.

Williams joined the Addicks midway through last season and impressively managed to make 18 appearances, registering just one assist as promotion was won via the playoffs.

This season, however, the former Palace man has been on fire – keeping him fit is imperative to Lee Bowyer’s side continuing their fine form and having a successful campaign.

Williams has already grabbed four assists in just four starts this season, and seems to have got over his injury woes – touch wood.

Charlton sit third in the Championship and are one of just four teams yet to be beaten this term, winning three and drawing two of their five games.

Williams has registered an assist in four separate matches, with his latest set-up against Brentford epitomising everything that the 5 foot 6 Welshman is about – dogged, determined pressing, and a moment of quality with his through ball to Conor Gallagher earning the three points for the Addicks.

The Charlton No.7 is well capable of more moments of brilliance like that, and keeping him fit would ensure we see those flashes of quality more often throughout this season, which will be vital to the south Londoners’ hopes of success this term.

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Tottenham Hotspur fans are excited at a Daily Star report claiming that they could look to sign Paulo Dybala in January.

The club attempted to do a deal for the Argentina international in the summer, though it reportedly fell apart on transfer deadline day.

Sources confirmed to Football FanCast throughout the summer that Spurs were serious about the prospect of bringing the 25-year-old into the club.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino is understood to be a big fan of the forward, though numerous details were too difficult for the club to overcome, particularly the issue of his image rights.

The report claims that Spurs could be offered the opportunity to bring the forward into the club at the turn of the year, when the transfer window reopens.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And supporters are excited at the potential opportunity, with many hoping that a transfer can finally be pulled over the line.

Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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