With Sandro Tonali’s 10-month ban for illegal betting recently confirmed, Newcastle United’s priority is to get cover in midfield during the January transfer window.

Any move is going to have to be considered carefully given that the club have to keep within the bounds of Financial Fair Play, and it isn’t clear how much wiggle room the Magpies have in that regard.

Thus far, Eddie Howe and his backroom team have worked incredibly well alongside the Saudi Public Investment Fund and sporting director, Dan Ashworth, and there’s nothing to suggest that whomever replaces Tonali won’t again be a joint effort between the various areas of the business.

According to inews (subscription required), one of the players that is potentially under consideration is Everton’s dynamic 22-year-old Amadou Onana.

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Though he may not be the favourite at this point in time, and there’s no indication that Everton would welcome an approach in any event, it does seem as though he is on the list.

He’s a player that would clearly get the thumbs up from former legend and arguably Newcastle’s greatest ever striker, Alan Shearer.

‘A real powerhouse performance. He led by example at the heart of Everton’s midfield,’ he wrote on the official Premier League website for his Team of the Week.

With two months still to go before the transfer window opens in any event, there’s plenty that can happen in the meantime, and Onana may move up or slip down the list dependant on a number of factors including injury and form.

The post Shearer in awe of 6ft 4in midfielder Newcastle want to sign appeared first on CaughtOffside.

TalkSPORT pundit and former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has slated two Championship clubs following an investigation into Everton’s alleged breach of Financial Fair Play regulations.

As first reported by The Daily Mail, Leeds United and Leicester City will join Burnley in taking legal action against the Toffees should the club be found guilty of exploiting FFP rules.

The Merseyside club were found guilty of breaking FFP rules back in March and last week, the Premier League recommended that Everton should be hit with a 12-point deduction which would place them at the bottom of the top-flight table.

Leeds United, Burnley and Leicester City are looking to take a £300 million case against Everton should they be found guilty of breaching FFP as all three clubs were relegated during the Toffees’ supposed flaunting of UEFA’s rules.

Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday morning, pundit Simon Jordan has hit out against the three clubs, believing ‘they’ve got no chance’ of being successful in any lawsuit.

“No chance, no chance, no chance. They’ve got no chance. Everybody signs up to a covenant which is basically that the sanction of a breach has this consequence,” the former Palace chairman said via MOT Leeds News.

“Now they can make a case if they want and try and make a case through the legal system to try and suggest that this is a breach of the rules to which they signed up and the consequence of those rules. But any decent court case is going to refer them back to the industry that they came from and say what were the rules that you signed up to.

“The rules that you signed up to were that the punishment for financial breachers was this. You can’t then go and say ‘Well I don’t like the rules that I signed up to and I can’t do anything about changing those rules, so I’m now going to sue you for them.’”

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The post Simon Jordan slams Leicester decision following FFP investigation appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin breaks the deadlock to give Everton the lead against West Ham.

Harrison played a crucial role, flicking a pass to the striker, whose fantastic first touch took him past two defenders before he fired a shot into the net from the edge of the box.

This was his 50th Premier League goal and what a way to score it.

Watch below:

? Dominic Calvert-Lewin puts the blues 1-0 up!

?His 50th Premier League goal?pic.twitter.com/WioH4NopvA

— ??? ?????? ????? (@EvertonNewsFeed) October 29, 2023

The post Video: Dominic Calvert-Lewin gives Everton the lead with a great finish from the edge of the box vs. West Ham appeared first on CaughtOffside.

West Ham (9th in the Premier League) take on Everton (16th in the Premier League) on Sunday, 29th of October, at the London Stadium, at 13:00 PM (BST).

The last time these sides faced, West Ham beat Everton 2-0 at the London Stadium. A brace from Jarrod Bowen securing the victory for the Hammers.

West Ham lost their previous Premier League fixture, losing 4-1 to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Goals from Douglas Luiz (x2), Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey for Villa, and a goal from Jarrod Bowen for West Ham.

Everton also lost their last Premier League game, losing 2-0 to Liverpool at Anfield. A brace from Mohamed Salah was enough to beat 10 man Everton, after Ashley Young was sent off in the first half for the Toffees.

How to watch West Ham vs Everton

• Date: Sunday, October 29th, 2023
• Kickoff: 13:00 PM (BST)
• TV Network: Sky Sports
• Venue: London Stadium

Team News:

West Ham will be without Emerson Palmieri as he has picked up five yellow cards resulting in a one game suspension, whilst Vladimir Coufal will undergo further fitness testing to determine his availability for Sunday.

Everton will be without Alli, Andre Gomes and Seamus Coleman through injury, whilst Ashley Young will also be missing due to suspension after picking up two yellow cards and being sent off against Liverpool.

Predicted XI:

West Ham: Areola, Kehrer, Aguerd, Zouma, Coufal, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Soucek, Bowen, Antonio.

Everton: Pickford, Mykolenko, Branthwaite, Tarkowski, Patterson, McNeil, Onana, Garner, Harrison, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin.

The post West Ham vs Everton team news appeared first on CaughtOffside.

The news that Everton could be docked 12 points by the Premier League for one instance of financial irregularity could have massive consequences for Man City according to Stan Collymore.

The pundit, who is never short of a strong opinion or two, even suggested the the club will go into complete meltdown at the thought of being bounced to the bottom of the English league football pyramid.

‘The Premier League are quite prevalent at briefing journalists and if they’re throwing a 12 point deduction at Everton, which is a significant sanction against one club, for the 114/115 charges that are facing Man City, they’re effectively saying ‘we’re ready, our lawyers are across all of this now, and as an organisation we will not accept it,” Collymore wrote in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.

‘Manchester City’s lawyers have tried to kick things into the long grass for quite a number of years now and these aren’t fresh charges. The Premier League are almost prepping the footballing public as to the severity.’

It’s certainly a strange situation when Man City’s historic and significant charges are still not dealt with but Everton, with just a single charge levied against them, appear to be getting hauled before the authorities in double-quick time.

‘Most people would look at Everton and say they feel a little bit for them. They’ve had a shaky time and they’ve never offended anybody, and they come from a great footballing city,’ Collymore continued.

‘If the Premier League can go straight away bang 12 points that might relegate them for the first time in I think 70 years, they would have no qualms whatsoever in throwing the book at Man City.

‘Even if just a quarter of those charges were proven, there is a situation where Manchester City will not only be bounced out of the Premier League, but thrown towards the bottom of the pyramid.’

Given the immense financial backing that Man City’s owners have, it’s a given that they will be able to call upon the services of the best legal teams in the world.

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If the Premier League are going to press ahead as Collymore believes, then having taken their time before making their move is likely to serve the EPL better than if it had already gone all guns blazing to try and ensure City were punished.

‘The stakes are so great now it could mean an absolute meltdown for Man City, to the kind of proportions that Rangers suffered in Scotland when they fell foul of paying players via elaborate schemes,’ Collymore added.

‘The Premier League only have the remit to be able to kick them out of the Premier League of course, but the Football Association and the Football League won’t want them in the top divisions of their competition either. City will go to the very bottom of the pile.’

There’s still no timescale on whether any charges will ultimately be brought, and whether the proposed sanctions will be authorised and actioned.

Until there is complete clarity, both Everton and Man City are likely to be waiting on tenterhooks.

The post Exclusive: Stan Collymore on the complete meltdown at Man City if Everton are charged appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including how Jude Bellingham can become world class, what Sir Jim Ratcliffe is likely to do at Man United if results don’t improve, how Everton’s potential 12-point deduction spells trouble for Man City, plus much more.

—

European Super League isn’t the way forward

No, I don’t think a European Super League is the way forward. UEFA particularly have bent over backwards, with concessions, more games, more money. If you have a European Super League what’s it going to be predicated on?

It’s gonna be very, very difficult for clubs such as Villa and Forest, who have won European Cups in the past, Celtic too, to get into if it’s invite only. That will have a massive impact.

I could certainly see an example of clubs already owned by oil states or oligarchs or hedge funds, that are now spending €400m on players and are mopping up their domestic league, will just give a cursory nod to the league that they come from whilst going on and playing in the Super League.

Any attempt to start to be able to get momentum, however, should see supporters put their clubs under the greatest pressure to say their clubs must not, under any circumstances, enter a European Super League.

I think that particularly with the English clubs, if they were to say no again, we will never join the ESL because the whole idea would be dead in the water. There would be no European Super League that would be worthy of the name.

Saudi Arabia, big American banks… the groundwork has already been laid in some respects. The pre-season International Champions Cup in America is their attempt at giving English and European clubs an insight into what potentially is possible.

Come to America and play in front of 100,000 at the University of Michigan and we can make you richer than than you ever imagined. I could see a situation whereby the Saudis and the Americans, maybe even countries like India or China may want a little foothold.

Several entities will be needed to make it possible but just imagine if Manchester United are offered a billion pounds a season to play in any competition. The odds are that their owners are going to go absolutely yes because they then wouldn’t have to worry about whatever money comes into their club.

It’s a very persuasive argument.

If you’re trying to recruit players like Mo Salah for £30/40m and somebody all of a sudden says we will give you a billion pounds, or half a billion pounds a season to play in this league…

The Premier League and the FA, instead of having the boll**ks to say we’re kicking you out and you’re never coming back will look at it and say the clubs can have their cake and eat it.

Do I want ESL to happen now? Absolutely not.

But ultimately, countries like Saudi Arabia and some of the big banks and hedge funds in America could offer the kind of money at the moment that even the Premier League can only dream of, so one will more than likely make it happen in some form or another at some point in the next decade.

Man United’s recruitment has been abysmal

Antony, Jadon Sancho, Casemiro… there hasn’t been one Manchester United player that you would say has been a consistent eight out of 10 over the past couple of seasons.

In terms of a comparison with Liverpool or in particular Manchester City, United’s recruitment has been abysmal. You’ve always got to have an 80% strike rate with the players that you bring into your football club.

They have to be an eight out of 10 to be able to push you forward. Look at Manchester City; Haaland comes in and does the job, Grealish comes in but the Doku arrives and takes his place and all of a sudden it’s ‘now you’ve got to be a nine out of 10, Jack…’

I don’t see anybody at Manchester United that’s anywhere near that level, and their transfers haven’t been above a five out of 10.

That means Erik ten Hag is under major pressure, no doubt. I don’t think at the moment he’s got the kind of credibility he needs, having come from Ajax, to be able to survive a full season of mediocrity.

He got out of jail winning the Carabao Cup last season, but if Jim Ratcliffe comes in, and is ruthless as he has been in his business dealings, then you’re looking at who potentially could replace ten Hag.

The obvious answer will be somebody like Roberto De Zerbi who has done very well at Sassuolo and Brighton. He plays an aggressive attacking style of football that Manchester United fans would like, and he’s taken a team up to Old Trafford twice and played them off the park.

Ten Hag’s demeanour and personality isn’t exactly endearing either and he comes across as a little bit of an automaton, a bit of a robot.

For me, Jim Ratcliffe would probably look at it and go ‘I’ll give him to the end of the season and see what he does.’

Everton charge would be a pre-cursor to complete meltdown at Man City

I think it’s really simple. The Premier League are quite prevalent at briefing journalists and if they’re throwing a 12 point deduction at Everton, which is a significant sanction against one club, for the 114/115 charges that are facing Man City, they’re effectively saying ‘we’re ready, our lawyers are across all of this now, and as an organisation we will not accept it.’

Manchester City’s lawyers have tried to kick things into the long grass for quite a number of years now and these aren’t fresh charges.

The Premier League are almost prepping the footballing public as to the severity. Most people would look at Everton and say they feel a little bit for them. They’ve had a shaky time and they’ve never offended anybody, and they come from a great footballing city.

If the Premier League can go straight away bang 12 points that might relegate them for the first time in I think 70 years, they would have no qualms whatsoever in throwing the book at Man City. Even if just a quarter of those charges were proven, there is a situation where Manchester City will not only be bounced out of the Premier League, but thrown towards the bottom of the pyramid.

The stakes are so great now it could mean an absolute meltdown for Man City, to the kind of proportions that Rangers suffered in Scotland when they fell foul of paying players via elaborate schemes.

The Premier League only have the remit to be able to kick them out of the Premier League of course, but the Football Association and the Football League won’t want them in the top divisions of their competition either. City will go to the very bottom of the pile.

Messi is a worthy Ballon d’Or winner… but so are Haaland and Alvarez

I’m not a big fan of individual awards because they’re so subjective and almost pointless. What’s the criteria? Goals scored? Assists given? Influence over your team or any other metric you ascribe to?

Then you get people like Pep Guardiola coming out and saying Messi should have his own award, and that will have weighed heavily on the minds of journalists and the people that vote for things like that.

If you’re looking for the fairy tale and the guy that’s come in and almost single-handedly won a World Cup then Messi is a worthy winner.

However, if you’re looking in terms of numbers, Erling Haaland comes in and breaks the Premier League record – which is very difficult to do – in his first season, then he has a valid shout.

What about Julian Alvarez, who won the World Cup and scored goals, and provided assists for Haaland and his team-mates?

Brand Messi and brand Ronaldo have been very, very strong for a long time, but in years to come I would like to see some kind of criteria attached to the award in the same way that you would judge the Golden Gloves or similar.

Bellingham could edge further to world-class status with El Clasico winner

El Clasico, because of the political relevance; Real Madrid still very much seen as the club of the Spanish state and Barcelona, the standard bearers for their semi autonomous region, is still the biggest club game in the world.

There’s political elements that perhaps only the Celtic v Rangers games can compare with. If they had the kind of money and the kind of exposure that La Liga has, I think that would be the biggest game because it would be effectively split because of the religious rivalry. It’s very nasty and they very much don’t like each other.

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If you are looking at the historical relevance, Europe’s most successful team are Real Madrid, and Barcelona bring a huge amount of relevance to modern football fans and youngsters because ever since the Ronaldo’s and Messi’s, the Ronaldinho’s and the rest, they are still a huge club in most people’s eyes.

There’s no reason why Bellingham couldn’t dominate Saturday’s match because this isn’t a good Barcelona side by any means.

As a defensive midfielder that has the ability to be able to get forward and who has already scored 12 goals I think… to be in that position before the clocks go back, I think most people would say he’s on his way to becoming world class.

I think with 20+ goals this season, 10+ assists and a great Euros where he perhaps comes up with an iconic Bryan Robson type goal, there will be no arguments.

The jack of all trades will be the master of all of them.

The post Collymore’s column: Bellingham could be world class, ESL isn’t the way forward, Everton charge a pre-cursor to Man City, Man United’s poor transfer business and more! appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Leeds have demanded the strongest possible punishment for Everton if they are found guilty of violating financial rules as the Toffees face a possible 12-point deduction.

That is according to the Daily Mail, who report that Leeds, along with Burnley and Leicester City, remain eager to sue Everton for £300million if they are found guilty, following two of the club’s relegation to the Championship last season.

Everton stayed in the English top flight on the final day of the season and if found guilty of their crime, they would have essentially gained an unfair advantage in staying in the Premier League.

The report says that the Toffees registered a staggering £372million worth of losses across three years, £250million above the Premier League’s limit, and could face a 12-point points deduction.

This would certainly relegate the Merseyside club to the Championship this season as Leicester and Leeds look good to come straight back up.

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The post Premier League want maximum punishment after Leeds United move appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Everton are reportedly facing a potentially huge points deduction as they are investigated over alleged Financial Fair Play breaches.

According to the Telegraph, the Premier League has recommended that the Toffees are hit with a big punishment, with 12 points being docked as the current recommended action against the club.

The report states that Everton recorded financial losses of £371.8million over a three-year period – considerably more than the £105million permitted by Premier League rules.

Everton could also face other punishments such as a transfer ban, according to the Telegraph, so all in all it’s looking pretty bleak for the Merseyside outfit if they are found to have engaged in any major wrongdoing.

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A 12-point ban would see Sean Dyche’s side almost certain to be relegated, as they’d be rock bottom of the Premier League with minus-five points if it went through now.

Everton only narrowly survived relegation last season, so they could really do without these off-the-field problems making life even harder for them in the weeks and months ahead.

The post Everton facing huge points deduction as Financial Fair Play punishment appeared first on CaughtOffside.

Everton will not agree to sell Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the January transfer window.

That’s according to a recent report from Football Insider, who claims the Toffees are determined to keep hold of the in-form striker.

Despite struggling with multiple injuries over the last few seasons, this term has so far seen the 26-year-old close to returning to his best.

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Scoring three goals in his first seven matches, in all competitions, it is clear that a fully fit and firing Calvert-Lewin is going to be crucial in the Toffees’ quest to retain Premier League status.

And despite being linked with a move to Steven Gerrard’s Al-Ettifaq, a mid-season move to the Saudi Pro League appears out of the question for Everton’s number nine.

Not only is the striker thought to be happy at Goodison Park amid an upturn in form, but the Merseyside club are understandably unwilling to offload such an important player at what is likely to be a crucial period in their season.

The post Everton make January transfer decision on Dominic Calvert-Lewin appeared first on CaughtOffside.

In many respects the January transfer window can’t come soon enough for Newcastle United.

Sandro Tonali’s absence from the Magpies midfield would be expected to cause difficulties for the club, not to mention that, should the club still be in the Champions League and pushing hard in the Premier League, Eddie Howe would surely want to strengthen what he already has in squad terms.

It’s perhaps with that in mind that inews (subscription required) are reporting that the north east giants are considering Everton powerhouse midfielder, Amadou Onana, as a potential replacement for Tonali.

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The Toffees are unlikely to take too kindly to any approach from one of their most hard-working players, but given their current predicament both on and off the pitch, there’s a strong likelihood that they wouldn’t be able to rebuff any reasonable offer if it came in.

Onana’s hire would certainly shake things up a bit in the Magpies midfield and give it even more drive and desire.

Always on the front foot and ready to press at any given moment from first minute to last, the 22-year-old Senegalese is precisely the type of player to execute the style of play that Howe desires.

Though any move is a long way from being concluded at this point, it’s certainly one to watch over the next couple of months.

The post Newcastle line up move to sign Everton first-team powerhouse appeared first on CaughtOffside.