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As Crystal Palace took on Newcastle United at Selhurst Park today, many Eagles supporters were left blown away by the performance of striker Christian Benteke.

Patrick Vieira’s side, looking to gain some momentum after a fairly inconsistent start to the season, met the Magpies in London this afternoon in what was a fairly entertaining encounter.

The travelling side, fresh off their headline-grabbing takeover, were given a run for their money by Palace who constantly threatened and provided real problems.

One major vocal point of the attack was Benteke, and despite missing some big chances across the 90 minutes, hitting the woodwork twice, his goal summed up just how threatening he actually was.

According to SofaScore, the Belgian had six shots on goal in total and won the vast majority of his duels up against Newcastle – prompting supporters to praise Benteke on social media, who was unlucky to have a second strike ruled out by VAR too.

Find all of their best verdicts down below.

Palace fans blown away by Benteke…

“This is one of the best Benteke performances I can remember. He’s been excellent”

Credit: @TalkCPFC

“Forget the goal, Benteke has been absurdly good in hold-up today”

Credit: @jack_jsteele

“If you cross the ball, Benteke becomes almost unplayable.”

Credit: @CroydonExile1

“Benteke has much more confidence under Vieira”

Credit: @Dave_Winbod

“I can’t believe my eyes benteke back in form??”

Credit: @GhostKingUK

“wow our own benteke”

Credit: @AendeLaw

Sheffield United have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring Robin Olsen to Bramall Lane this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Calciomercato, who claim that the AS Roma goalkeeper is stalling over a potential move to the Blades, in the hope that a Premier League side firm up their interest in his services.

It had previously been reported that Slavisa Jokanovic’s side had identified the 31-year-old shot-stopper as their number one candidate to replace the recently departed Aaron Ramsdale, and were locked in discussions with the Sweden international – whom Jose Mourinho is believed to be open to parting with this summer.

Jokanovic will be livid

With it being all well and good that Oslen is stalling over his potential move to Bramall Lane due to his desire to play Premier League football, the goalkeeper’s indecision will nevertheless have left Jokanovic livid.

Indeed, with time running out for the 53-year-old to bring in a new first-choice ‘keeper in the summer transfer window, should a top-flight side indeed chose to make a move for the Roma man in the coming days, it would leave the Serbian with very little time to source another player in the position.

Furthermore, Olsen would very much appear to be a fantastic signing for a Championship club to make, as the 31-year-old highly impressed for both Everton and Sweden last season.

Indeed, over his seven Premier League appearances for the Toffees last term, the £2.7m-rated man kept two clean sheets, as well as conceding an average of just 1.3 goals and making three saves per game.

These returns saw the player Alexander Isak dubbed an “incredible” talent earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.87, ranking him as the Toffees’ 12th-best performer in the league.

This fine form continued while on international duty, with the £14k-per-week shot-stopper conceding just four goals and keeping two clean sheets over his four appearances at Euro 2020 – with these metrics seeing the ‘keeper earn a highly impressive average SofaScore match rating of 7.05.

As such, while losing Ramsalde will have undoubtedly come as a blow for Jokanovic, if the Blades boss were to replace the youngster with Olsen this summer, it would certainly soften the hit – although, whether or not the Roma man ends up in Sheffield appears rather uncertain at present.

In other news: Jokanovic heading for his biggest SUFC transfer mistake to date, fans will be livid

Many Everton fans have been left buzzing over an official social media post from club ahead of their game at Crystal Palace later today.

As per the  Toffees’ official Twitter channel, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is now back on the pitch doing individual training as he continues to recover from his injury setback, which has kept him out of action since August.

The match at Selhurst Park this evening may come too soon for him, but it is such a boost to see the striker back in training, meaning that he should be ready to return soon.

Calvert-Lewin scored three goals in his first three appearances of the season prior to his injury (Transfermarkt) and was their top scorer in 2020/21 with 21 goals, showing just how crucial he is to the team, so his return will very much be welcomed by Rafael Benitez and Everton supporters.

Everton fans on Calvert-Lewin’s return to training

These Toffees fans buzzed as the images of the 24-year-old in training were shared on Twitter:

“Things you love to see”

Credit: @___MC88

“He’s back.”

Credit: @_adamefc_

“SIUUU”

Credit: @efcdoyley

“WWWWWWWW”

Credit: @pwefc1

“Great to see”

Credit: @StacyMu78345188

“Yeah!”

Credit: @JoAschoolHR

In other news, find out what latest Lucas Digne news has had these Evertonians talking

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Kevin Campbell has been left thrilled by a Tottenham Hotspur transfer development involving Antonio Conte.

The Lowdown: Conte pushing for ‘proven’ signing…

As per the same outlet, it appears Tottenham fans could be set for an ‘unprecedented’ January transfer window as Fabio Paratici and Conte lay the groundwork for a mass spending spree.

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Among Conte’s personal transfer demands for the winter window is apparently a ‘proven’ centre-back signing with the Italian ‘ ‘pushing’ to sign someone who can come in and marshal their backline alongside the in-form Eric Dier and Cristian Romero, when the latter returns from injury.

The Latest: Campbell heaps praise on Tottenham

After this development, Campbell has heaped praise on Conte and Spurs for targeting that area, calling it a ‘smart move’.

“They’ve got a lot of weapons going forward, so that backline has to be a real priority for Conte and Spurs,” he told Football Insider.

“With Romero injured there’s a gap at the back. Conte is a very experienced manager, and he knows that for all the attacking flair they have, if they are leaking goals – it will not end well for Tottenham.

“It’s a smart move to be targeting that marquee centre-back in January.”

The Verdict: Get it done…

Dier has impressed under Conte since the 52-year-old took over at Spurs but the Englishman’s presence without Romero arguably isn’t enough for Spurs to potentially get European qualification out of this campaign.

A marquee centre-half signing should certainly be top of the agenda for Tottenham and it’s little surprise Conte is pushing the club to sign one, with there being many links in recent months.

The likes of Stefan de Vrij, Alessio Romagnoli and even Juventus star Matthijs de Ligt have been linked from Serie A and any one of these big name defenders would gift Spurs an upgrade.

It remains to be seen who Conte and Paratici opt to bring to north London, but amid their current COVID crisis, supporters could do with some good news.

In other news: Conte wants player out in January as final decision made, Spurs chiefs already told to sell…find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur are on the verge of sealing their third signing of the summer…

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas, Atalanta centre-back Cristian Romero is set to fly to England to complete his move to Spurs after a deal was fully agreed with the Serie A outfit.

He tweeted:

“Cristian Romero is to fly to London to complete his move to #Tottenham after the deal was fully agreed with #Atalanta and they secured loan deal for Merih Demiral.”

It’s thought that the 23-year-old Argentina international will arrive in London in the next 24 hours to finalise the move, with the Lilywhites paying around a total of £47m for his services.

Romero is expected to sign a five-year deal after Atalanta secured Merih Demiral as his replacement.

Signing no.3

Spurs fans have had to endure a lot over the past 18 months.

Jose Mourinho’s tumultuous reign came to an early conclusion after they were knocked out of the Champions League prematurely. The North Londoners failed to make either of UEFA’s top two tournaments, were defeated in yet another major final and recorded their worst league finish in over a decade.

That’s not to mention the currently emerging saga surrounding star striker Harry Kane after he failed to return to pre-season training after his holidays. It’s well-known that he would like to join defending Premier League champions Manchester City so that he can achieve his trophy ambitions but nobody could’ve expected him to act like this.

However, the arrival of a marquee centre-back gives the Lilywhites faithful something to look forward to and shout about.

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They have already secured a new backup goalkeeper in Romero’s former teammate Pierluigi Gollini, formerly of Aston Villa, and a new winger for the future in Byran Gil, a swoop that saw Erik Lamela finally depart in the other direction.

A lot of Spurs’ problems throughout 2020/21 came down to their troubles in defence. None of the other traditional ‘big six’ leaked more goals, not even Arsenal, who finished one place behind in eighth.

Now that Toby Alderweireld has left the club, Nuno Santo is left with only three central defenders, in which two – Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier – have been publicly slammed as “one of the worst partnerships” in the Premier League.

The latter, especially, is cause for concern as he started more games than any other centre-back last term.

In Romero, the Portuguese coach will be getting an instant fix as he was named the Serie A’s ‘Defender of the Year’ after an impressive campaign in the heart of Atalanta’s defence.

The £45m-rated Argentine recorded more interceptions per game (3.1) than any other player in the division and was lauded as “phenomenal” by Serie A expert Conor Clancy to This is Futbol.

If he performs to the same level, then Spurs will certainly be getting a defensive animal fit to fill that glaring void. The fanbase is surely buzzing as Fabio Paratici closes in on signing number three at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

AND in other news, Spurs open talks to sign £18m-rated “leader” who “Nuno likes”, he’s a big Dier upgrade…

Arsenal are set to reignite their interest in Houssem Aouar this summer…

What’s the word?

That’s according to The Sun, who claim the Lyon midfielder is likely to cost as little as £20m after they failed to qualify for the Champions League, a year on after the Gunners were priced out of a move due to their £55m demands.

It is thought that the club’s hierarchy is preparing to offer a £100k-per-week to finally lure the Frenchman to the Emirates Stadium.

Aouar is not involved with France at Euro 2020 which could make negotiations easier to complete, whilst the North London outfit are said to be leading the race to secure him as Mikel Arteta looks to bolster his creative options.

Bye-bye Willian?

In recent months, it has been reported that the Gunners’ boss would like to offload several players in order to raise finances to bolster his playing squad, so it’s no surprise to see names like Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi linked with exits.

Another flop that seems to be heading for the door is Willian, just a year on from his free transfer from local rivals Chelsea.

“Willian is leaving the club, I want to confirm that Willian is leaving the club,” claimed Fabrizo Romano on his ‘Here We Go’ podcast last month. “There is nothing going on with other English clubs, but he’s leaving the club, so 100 per cent, Willian is going to leave.”

He has been nothing short of a disaster, especially considering his £192k-per-week salary. As the third-highest earner at the club, the veteran only provided one goal and five assists in the Premier League.The 32-year-old’s departure could pave the way for Arsenal to fully send for Aouar this summer. Even more so if they are to offer him six-figure wages a week. Willian will leave behind a lot of funds to do so.Aouar was the saga of the summer before Thomas Partey emerged as a more likely signing and after another impressive campaign, it’s time for Edu Gaspar to finally pull the trigger.As per Transfermarkt, the 5 foot 9 playmaker registered eight goals and four assists across all competitions, which is substantially more than any of the Gunners’ midfield options during 2020/21.With Martin Odegaard back at Real Madrid and Mesut Ozil long gone, Arteta does need a new creative midfielder who can help unlock many a Premier League defence next season – failure to do that could see them miss out on Europe once again.Smarter Scout describe the midfielder as a “prolific dribbler,” “skilful,” and a “very good finisher” and that’s not just backed up by his goal returns but also by the fact he averaged 2.3 shots, 1.5 dribbles and 1.3 key passes each outing last season.Valued at £36m by CIES, Aouar has also been lauded as “special” and as a player that “has a lot of talent,” so it’s no surprise to see former Premier League star David Ginola claim that he’s the “type of player Arsenal fans would love” to Sky Sports.For a fee of just £20m, Edu and Arteta would be fools to not swoop for the “exceptional talent” this summer. They must complete this move this time around.

AND in other news, Forget Odegaard: Arsenal must land £60m-rated “special talent”, Arteta’s a “huge fan”…

Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish isn’t convinced Leo Hjelde will be thrown in for his Leeds United debut against Newcastle United.

The Lowdown: Leeds’ injury crisis

The Whites take on the Magpies at St James’ Park on Friday night, as they look to properly get their season up and running, having not won in their opening four Premier League games.

Marcelo Bielsa will be without centre-back trio Diego Llorente, Robin Koch and Pascal Struijk, however, with Liam Cooper the only established available option in that position.

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The Latest: Pundit plays down Hjelde debut

There is the opportunity to give fans their first ever sighting of highly-rated 18-year-old Hjelde, having not yet played a minute of action of first-team football in England.

Speaking to Football Insider, though, McLeish says it would be the wrong decision, given his lack of experience:

“If the young player isn’t ready it’s hard to throw him in. My guess is that Leeds will go around the houses and look at who can fill that hole the best.

“Ayling played there last season, I can’t think they would throw the youngster straight in there. Unless they have seen something exceptional in him. It’s time to introduce him in a small way, maybe in the cups and things.

“I suspect they will move the defence about and put one of the wide players in there.”

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The Verdict: Too soon for youngster

Hjelde is a player who hopefully has a huge future ahead of him – he has notably been compared to Liverpool superstar Virgil van Dijk – but now is too soon to throw him in at the deep end.

The Premier League is such a physical, testing division and a fierce St James’ Park crowd could possibly get on top of him, in what is a game Leeds certainly don’t want to lose against one of their fellow winless rivals.

Instead, it may be that Bielsa opts to play Luke Ayling at centre-back, with the ever-versatile Stuart Dallas slotting in at right-back.

In other news, Leeds could sign one player in the January transfer window. Find out who it is here.

Having seen his Sheffield United side start their 2021/22 Championship campaign in rather disastrous fashion, with the Blades picking up just two points over their opening five fixtures of the season, Slavisa Jokanovic will now be sleeping much more soundly after securing United’s first win in the second tier.

And what a win it was, with two goals each from Iliman Ndiaye and Ben Osborn and further strikes by John Fleck and Morgan Gibbs-White sealing a resounding 6-2 victory against the recently promoted Peterborough United.

The latter of the Sheffield United goalscorers, Gibbs-White, particularly impressed, with the Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee proving in the fixture that he more than has the ability to play a key role in Jokanovic’s push for promotion this season.

Key figure

Indeed, over the course of his 77 minutes on the pitch against Peterborough, it would have been difficult for the 21-year-old to turn in a more impressive display on his debut for the Blades, with the central midfielder scoring one goal, registering one assist and making one key pass.

The £6.3m-rated man also completed 100% of his attempted crosses and his attempted longs balls, won 67% of his duels, drew two fouls and made one tackle.

These returns saw the England U21 international earn a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 8.4, ranking him as the fifth-best player from either side to feature in the match.

And, with John Lundstram having left the Blades for Glasgow Rangers this summer, there was very much a hole that needed filling in the United midfield, something that, as long as he can maintain his level of performance against Posh over the course of the season, Gibbs-White appears more than capable of filling.

They might not directly be a similar type of players but after his departure, it was a huge void and loss to the Blades. Gibbs-White, however, has made them forget about the now Gers midfielder.

However, not only does the man Chris Basham dubbed a “powerful” player have the ability to plug a gap for Jokanovic, he could well go on to prove the catalyst to fire his new side up the Championship table, and potentially all the way back to the Premier League.

In other news: Jokanovic must avoid January transfer disaster as reports emerge on SUFC “leader”

Despite spending just six months on Tyneside before Newcastle United were relegated in 2016, Andros Townsend is a firm fan favourite and the club even attempted to bring him back in 2018. However, Dean Widnass can’t see Steve Bruce being tempted to bring the 29-year-old back to St James’ Park this summer.

Townsend ended up joining Crystal Palace in the summer of Newcastle’s relegation but he failed to impress on a consistent basis, something that held him back at Tottenham Hotspur as well, and he now finds himself as a free agent this summer, as things stand.

The winger recently confirmed that he already has two offers from clubs ahead of next season but is keeping his options open, potentially waiting for a call from Bruce who is a big fan of homegrown players as that was all he signed last season for the first team.

However, Windass is not confident in seeing Townsend making an emotional return to St James’ Park because of his lack of goals during his time at Palace, as he explained exclusively to Transfer Tavern:

“No, I can’t see that happening and I can’t see Steve taking a chance on him because I think he’s really struggled at Crystal Palace in the last couple of seasons.

“He hasn’t moved on in terms of developing and he hasn’t managed to add goals to his game so I can’t see Steve taking a chance on him.”

Newcastle are in need of reinforcements this summer and Bruce may look to dip into both the free agent and loan market this summer to avoid eating up too much of his reported £10 million budget.

Townsend spent a short but sweet time on Tyneside when he was signed by Rafa Benitez and there was hope that he may stay on with the Magpies into the Championship, however he claimed that playing in the second tier of English football never really crossed his mind.

Carlton Palmer has slammed the West Brom board for allowing Sam Johnstone to leave the club as a free agent. 

The lowdown: Johnstone attracting interest

A report from the Daily Mail has claimed that the 29-year-old goalkeeper is a target for Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham and Southampton this summer.

Set to become a free agent in July (Transfermarkt), Johnstone seems certain to end a four-year permanent spell at The Hawthorns at the end of the current campaign. Indeed, Steve Bruce has acknowledged that the ‘keeper will be on his way out of Albion once the season ends.

The anti-climactic ending to Johnstone’s West Brom career has been criticised by one former England international…

The latest: Palmer criticises West Brom

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Palmer – who works as a pundit for the BBC – has slammed the club’s decision to allow the England ace to leave for nothing.

He fumed: “They’re going to lose Sam Johnstone on a free, which is crazy business. Why not let Sam Johnstone go last season if you’re not going to get him to sign a new contract? Why not let him go and get £10m-£12m for him rather than let him go on a free, it’s just crazy.”

The verdict: Bang on the money

Whilst keeping the three-cap England goalkeeper was perceived as a positive having suffered relegation last year, without the prospect of an instant return to the top flight it now appears to be a major oversight from the West Brom hierarchy.

Last summer, West Ham saw a reported £10m bid for the stopper rejected by the Midlands club, money which would now go a long way towards funding a much-needed squad overhaul.

Moreover, Bruce may need to replace Johnstone as first-choice at The Hawthorns, with neither David Button nor Alex Palmer seemingly up to the task based on the concession of 20 goals in their 10 combined Albion appearances so far this season.

In other news, West Brom have been backed to sign a Premier League midfielder. Read more here.