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Southampton have signed Kyle Walker-Peters from Tottenham Hotspur, with former Saints captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg heading in the opposite direction.

Walker-Peters, 23, has left north London for St Mary’s for a reported fee worth £12m after initially arriving on loan in January.

The full-back started the last two Premier League games of the season, helping Southampton beat Bournemouth and Sheffield United in the process.

He was famously part of the England U20 international squad who won the World Cup in 2017, but fell out of favour with Spurs boss Jose Mourinho after appearing to take a potshot at the Portuguese in an interview at the start of the year.

Walker-Peters, who is reportedly best friends with Dele Alli, made 24 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring one goal and supplying five assists in all competitions (via Transfermarkt).

He has signed a five-year deal with the Saints, having spent the second half of last season on loan at St Mary’s.

The academy graduate featured for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in all of their top flight games following the Premier League restart as Southampton surged to an 11th-placed finish.

He told the club’s official website “I’m delighted to have signed here. The last few months on loan have been great for me and a lot of fun too. I’ve really enjoyed my football, the atmosphere here and also the style of play.”

“The club definitely fits the way I like to play, and I hope that people were able to see that during the last month or so of the season.

“I feel like I’ve already developed in the time I’ve been here, and that’s a big part of wanting to stay too. Obviously, it’s a club with a great reputation for improving young players and, personally, I’ve found it really valuable working under the manager, with his ideas on the game and what he expects from you as an individual.

“I think the way we finished the season gives us real optimism about where we’re heading too, and it just feels like a really good place for me to keep developing as a player and make the best out of what I have.”

The Portuguese now has a problem he urgently needs to address, as his departure has left Spurs short of options. Serge Aurier remains the club’s only designated right-back, but his future remains uncertain, amid interest from AC Milan.

While Walker-Peters has played well since the restart, he never managed to impress in the first team at his boyhood club. Daniel Levy can use the much-needed funds to find a suitable replacement in the summer.

Tottenham fans, do you think Levy has made the right decision letting Walker-Peters leave? Let us know down below!

Fabio Capello needs little or absolutely no introduction to anyone even remotely familiar with the footballing world. And the legend he is, the ex-Milan, Real Madrid and England boss’ opinion is always highly rated and when he speaks, others listen.

Now, in the latest exclusive interview with ESPN, the former manager talked about Juventus’ situation in Serie A and their need for reinforcements. Of course, the Bianconeri have clinched another title in 2019/20 but it was a hard-fought battle despite having Cristiano Ronaldo in the team.

Their misfortune continued in Europe as they were eliminated at the hands of Olympique Lyon in a rather shocking turn of events that then happened again against Manchester City as well. So it does seem like the Italians are missing something in their forward line.

According to Capello, Ronaldo is missing his own Karim Benzema at Juventus and the ideal man for that role would actually be Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Raul Jimenez. Here’s what Capello said for ESPN: ‘He is a great player who has lots of talent, ideal to play alongside Ronaldo. Because Cristiano has been missing a [Karim] Benzema at Juventus, that could be Raul.’

The Mexican has been linked with a move away from the Premier League for quite some time now and maybe Serie A would indeed be to his liking. Needless to say, playing alongside Ronaldo would surely be a big step-up for his career.

Verdict

One team’s fortune might indeed bring about the other team’s struggles in this case. Losing Jimenez would surely hit Nuno’s team hard and ensuring that he stays could be vital for Wolves.

Of course, despite them being a very good and rather exciting team, the Mexican could potentially set his sights on some greener pastures where the chance of silverware is much bigger than here in England.

Fabrizio Romano has suggested that Wolverhampton Wanderers are “one step away” from signing Barcelona full-back Nelson Semedo.

What’s the word?

Wolves have been looking for somebody to come in at right wing-back after Matt Doherty was sold to Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the transfer window.

It appears that they will fill that void by adding to their Portuguese contingent and bringing in the Barcelona defender.

Romano suggested the deal is near to completion, with Barcelona willing to accept the fee proposed by Wolves, meaning personal terms are the only thing left to be agreed ahead of a move.

Spot the fact from the fib: Are these Premier League records true or false?

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Freeing Traore

One of the many things that makes Adama Traore so useful for Nuno Espirito Santo is that he can operate at right-wing-back, as well as his more natural position further up the pitch.

Due to Doherty’s departure, the Spaniard was deployed further back during the 2-0 win against Sheffield United, and that is likely where he will be played until somebody is brought in, as Oskar Buur is the main alternative in that position.

Traore, who Football Insider suggested Wolves would demand £70m for, was moved up in the 63rd minute against the Blades, when Buur was brought off the bench.

In that limited time, he managed three shots, one dribble and even made a tackle, indicating how much of an impact he can have when playing in a more attacking role.

Bringing in Semedo is an exciting move on its own merit, after he made a total of 42 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona last term, scoring one goal and assisting a further six.

The fact that bringing in the 26-year-old frees up Traore to play higher up the pitch is a massive bonus, even more so with the Portuguese right wing-back on just €60k-per-week at the Nou Camp, which is around £55k-per-week.

It was reported recently by Herald and Times Sport that Jacob Murphy was keen to move on loan to Glasgow Rangers during the current transfer window.

However, following his performance in the Carabao Cup last night for Newcastle United, it looks like things might have changed at St James’ Park.

Newcastle manager Steve Bruce made it clear following their 7-0 victory in the cup over Morecambe, a game in which Murphy scored, that he has no intention of parting with the 25-year-old.

The Magpies boss said, “I won’t be letting him out on loan. He deserves to stay with us and he’s improved enormously. He’s had a really good pre-season and has shown a great attitude. He’s benefited from being out on loan last season and has really given us food for thought.”

The winger has also been linked with Sheffield Wednesday, who had him on loan last season, he and played 39 times for them in the Championship, scoring nine goals and supplying six assists, per Transfermarkt.

Overall in his career, he has managed 53 goals and 48 assists in 276 appearances, which is a very respectable return. His goal against Morecambe was his first of the current campaign, with Bruce perhaps hinting that he could get plenty more opportunities to add to that tally at Newcastle.

Although these statistics reflect well on Murphy, the ‘Gers might not be too worried about missing out on the winger.

Steven Gerrard currently has Alfredo Morelos, Ryan Kent, and Ianis Hagi in his attack and it would be difficult to envisage Murphy as anything more than a squad depth player, with the aforementioned trio scoring 10 goals and supplying nine assists between them already this season, per Transfermarkt.

Therefore, the ‘Gers need not dwell for too long on missing out on Murphy.

‘Gers fans, are you disappointed that Murphy looks unlikely to come to Ibrox? Comment below with your views!

It is safe to say gameweek two was full of surprises, with Premier League football still never failing to bring the joy and action that we love and expect from one of the best leagues in the world.

One of the biggest upsets and surprises of the weekend was Crystal Palace’s 3-1 win over Manchester United – with the Red Devils failing to create anything elusive going forward, having had 75.8% of possession with just 4 shots on target compared to Palace’s 5 shots on target.

With that being said – this weekend could see some fantastic results with some killer games scheduled for our viewing, such as Manchester City vs Leicester and Liverpool vs Arsenal.

So with further ado, here are my score predictions with Premier Picks for gameweek three – don’t forget you can sign up and play Premier Picks for free, and also set up a mini-league to challenge your mates in. Click here to get involved.

Brighton 1-1 Manchester United

The Seagulls have had a fairly strong start to the season, despite losing their opening game to Chelsea, Graham Potter’s side produced a great performance against Newcastle in gameweek 2 with a comfortable 3-0 victory to earn their first three points of the campaign.

Manchester United, however, had a poor start in their aforementioned opening game against Crystal Palace, and I can’t see things picking up come the weekend. The attacking quartet of Leandro Trossard, Aaron Connolly, and Neal Maupay impressed in their last game for Brighton by all contributing to the goal tally, whereas Manchester United failed to really create anything for themselves against Palace with just 4 shots on target despite their lions share of possession.

I can see this one playing out in a draw, with the final score at 1-1, despite the 71% going in United’s favour.

Crystal Palace 1-3 Everton

It is fair to say the majority agree with this one – with 65% of Premier Picks users going for an Everton victory. The Toffee’s last game against West Brom produced a staggering 7 goal thriller, which saw Carlo Ancelotti’s side come out with a 5-2 win.

Crystal Palace themselves had a great result too, beating Manchester United 3-1 with an impressive brace from Wilfried Zaha – but I see Everton coming out on top in this fixture. Ancelotti’s side has two wins from two so far this season, having scored 7 goals along the way – as well as the fact that Palace failed to win against them last season, hence why I feel that the Merseyside club will come out with three wins from three after this fixture.

West Brom 1-4 Chelsea

It has been a tough start for West Brom since their return to the Premier League this season, having lost their opening two games and conceding 8 goals in the process.

Slaven Bilic’s side will have a tough test on their hands this weekend when they face Chelsea, who lost their last game against Liverpool but won their opening game against Brighton 3-1. Frank Lampard’s new signings are yet to properly click, but their game against the Baggies could prove a pivotal turning point for their new-look squad – with new signings such as Hakim Ziyech, Ben Chilwell, and Thiago Silva all looking closer to being fit to play.

Along with the other 100% of users, I see this being a victory for the Blues, with a 4-1 win.

Burnley 0-0 Southampton

Both clubs have had a tough start to this season – the Clarets lost their opening game against Leicester on Sunday, losing 4-2 thanks to a spirited performance from Brendan Rodgers’ side. Southampton are also yet to win a game with two losses against Crystal Palace and Tottenham.

I can’t see this game being a win for either side due to their current form, and despite Danny Ings scoring a brace in his last game, as well as Burnley putting two past Tottenham – I predict this game to finish in a stalemate, with a 0-0 draw and a point for either side.

Sheffield United 1-2 Leeds United

The Blades are yet to find their feet this season, having lost their first two games against Wolves and Aston Villa, and have failed to score in both games too. Leeds secured their first Premier League win for 16 years at the weekend with a 4-3 victory over fellow Premier League new boys Fulham – and I can see this form continuing for Marcelo Bielsa and his side.

Chris Wilder’s side has failed to carry on their impressive form from last season, and I just don’t see them securing a win over Leeds after their first two losses this season. 57% of Premier Picks users also see Leeds getting the three points from this game, with only 11% going for a Sheffield United win.

Tottenham 3-1 Newcastle

Tottenham fans will be hoping to see the form of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son continue into this weekend after the pair were involved in all 5 of Spurs’ goals against Southampton. Jose Mourinho will no doubt not change too much about his XI from the game against the Saints after their display – with Newcastle having lost their last game 3-0 against Brighton.

The Magpies did have a great start to their season with a 2-0 win over West Ham, but I just don’t see them getting past a Tottenham side that is coming off the back of a fine performance in a 7 goal thriller. Myself and the other 86% of Premier Picks users have gone for a Tottenham win, predicting a 3-1 win for Mourinho’s side.

Manchester City 3-2 Leicester City

The Citizens started their season strong, with a 3-1 victory over Wolves on Monday night – thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Gabriel Jesus, and I see their form continuing through to this weekend. The Foxes themselves have had a good start to their own season, winning their opening two games and scoring 7 goals along the way.

This game will be hotly contested with both sides securing big victories during gameweek 2. Despite Leicester’s strong start, 79% of Premier Picks users also agree with a Manchester City win, with my own prediction ending in 3-2 to Pep Guardiola’s side.

West Ham 0-2 Wolves

It has been a tough start for the Hammers faithful, with David Moyes’ side losing their opening two games to Newcastle and Arsenal, despite a better display against the Gunners. Wolves did kick off their season with a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, but lost on Monday night to Manchester City, with the Citizens putting in a strong performance to beat Nuno’s side 3-1.

West Ham’s poor start could continue, with me and 61% of Premier Picks users going for a Wolves win – predicting them to win 2-0 over the Hammers.

Fulham 0-2 Aston Villa

Aston Villa kicked off their season with a fantastic 1-0 win on Monday over Sheffield United, thanks to a winning goal from Ezri Konsa. Fulham on the other hand has struggled in their first two games of the season, losing both and conceding 7 goals all told. Villa has made some great additions to their squad this summer such as goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and striker Ollie Watkins – and I don’t see them losing against the Cottagers come gameweek 3 – predicting Dean Smith’s side to win 2-0.

Despite my personal prediction, Premier Picks users seem to be split down the middle, with 30% going for a Fulham victory, 33% for a draw, and the other 37% opting for a Villa victory.

Liverpool 3-0 Arsenal

The defending champions have had a great start to their season, with two wins from two and beating Chelsea last weekend in a comfortable 2-0 victory – and their form will likely continue against Arsenal this weekend. The Gunners themselves have had a strong start to this campaign, beating Fulham 3-0 in their opening game, then securing a 2-1 victory over a stubborn West Ham side.

Arsenal have only beaten Liverpool once in their last five meetings with the Reds, however, and myself along with 89% of Premier Picks users see this fixture going in Jürgen Klopp’s favour, opting for a 3-0 victory at Anfield.

A number of Southampton fans have been showering praise on former Saints midfielder Steven Davis after former manager Mauricio Pochettino compared him to Barcelona legends Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

Davis is set to be become the most capped player in Northern Ireland’s history when they take on Bosnia and Herzegovina tonight. The 35-year-old is currently playing for Rangers and his manager Steven Gerrard, as well as former Southampton managers Pochettino and Ronald Koeman, were among those sending messages to him ahead of the occasion.

The midfielder spent seven years at Southampton, arriving at the club in the summer of 2012 and helping them firmly establish themselves back in the Premier League, before he eventually left St Mary;s to move back to Rangers in January 2019, initially on a six-month loan deal before making the move permanent that summer (as per TransferMarkt).

The 35-year-old was a reliable performer for Southampton and came into his own under both Pochettino and Koeman, helping dictate the play for the Saints from the middle of the park and being part of the sides which secured four successive top-eight finishes between 2013/14 and 2016/17.

In the video paying tribute to Davis, as per Sky Sports, Pochettino described the midfielder as being Southampton’s version of Iniesta and Xavi at Barcelona. Many Southampton fans were keen to echo their thoughts over the 35-year-old’s abilities.

Saints fans react to Pochettino’s comments on Davis

Southampton fans how highly do you rank Davis amongst the club’s best players? Let us know your thoughts below!

For the first time since joining Leeds United, Marcelo Bielsa has something of a bloated squad.

The Argentine has always been adamant that he likes working with a smaller group of players, but after spending almost £100m in the transfer window, Leeds have a lot of depth in their key positions.

Having depth is always a good thing at a club, but a spending spree of those proportions is bound to bring with it some selection headaches, and it looks as though there’s a brewing dilemma at Leeds that could soon be keeping Bielsa up at night.

Leeds are now absolutely stacked at right-wing after the addition of Raphinha and the emergence of Ian Poveda.

Add into that the fact that Helder Costa has been United’s first choice for the past year or so, and you can see the problem that Bielsa faces.

Costa has been brilliant lately as well, netting two goals and contributing an assist in his first four appearances this season, but it’ll be hard to justify spending £17m on Raphinha if he’s just going to sit on the bench.

Poveda also has a case to make. He earnt a lot of praise for his showing against Manchester City, and even if he’s not a starter he will want a spot on the bench. However, with three players vying for one spot, it’s hard to imagine that two substitute spots will be taken up by one position.

Of course, there is the argument that Raphinha can also play on the left, but that just complicates things further adding Jack Harrison and Ezgjan Alioski into the problem creating an even bigger selection headache.

We can’t come up with the answer to this conundrum, and luckily we don’t have to, it’s up to Bielsa to keep up this juggling act between three very talented players fighting for one spot.

We certainly don’t envy the Argentine.

Steven Gerrard will be counting his lucky stars with the wealth of midfield options he has available at his disposal at the moment. Glasgow Rangers restored their nine-point lead over their arch-rivals Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership as they humiliated Hamilton Academical at home on Sunday afternoon.

Gerrard’s side put the Accies to the sword with an eight-goal win at Ibrox after Joe Aribo, Kemar Roofe and James Tavernier scored braces, whilst Scott Arfield and Brandon Barker were also on target.

The Ibrox boss is pretty spoilt for choice as summer signing Bongani Zungu made his first-team debut as a substitute in the second half, whilst Steven Davis enjoyed a well-deserved rest and Glen Kamara remained on the bench.

Aribo has been in such fine form for Rangers in recent weeks as he marked his return to the first team with a dominant display against Livingston after recovering from injury. Whilst the Light Blues dominated proceedings from start to finish, he was clearly one of the star performers.

The 4-cap Nigeria international was a constant threat throughout the game, as he scored his first goal of the game to complete a three-goal flurry in three minutes in the first half, before he doubled his efforts with another deflected shot to put the game beyond the Accies.

Speaking after the game, Gerrard said: “I have been on to these players, probably on to them too much, about keeping standards no matter what stage the game is at. It pleased me at half-time that we carried on looking to score goals and win even more emphatically.

“It has been coming, we have threatened to do that. But the pleasing thing today was that we were very clinical. We suffocated Hamilton from start to finish, we stayed on them and never took our foot off the gas and you could see the quality throughout the squad.

“Look, we are not at the stage yet where we can play with ego in any game or at any stage. We are trying to become a winning team, a successful team. We are in no position to disrespect any opponent or any team. It is about Rangers trying to be as strong for as long as we can and be as consistent as we can.”

Per SofaScore, the 24-year-old received a high statistical rating of 9 for his performance, which was the third highest behind Tavernier and Roofe – he completed 39 out of 46 passes (85%), took two shots on target, won eight out of his twelve duels in total, and created one key pass, whilst he made four tackles as well. A look at his heatmap shows a hub of activity on the left flank, particularly in the final third, which shows that he was a potent attacking threat throughout the game.

Aribo was recently described as an “exceptional” powerhouse by Charlton boss Lee Bowyer, on talkSPORT, as quoted by The Daily Record, and has now scored four goals in ten games so far this season, via Transfermarkt. In comparison, even Ianis Hagi has only scored once in 16 games, despite the fact he has made more starts.

In fact, it’s fair to say that the versatile player is quickly becoming undroppable, which is perhaps why he has started the past three games in a row in all competitions. The attacking midfielder has played more centrally in the past, whilst he has been also deployed on the wing in recent weeks. He could even emulate the efforts of former Rangers skipper Barry Ferguson, who was named Scotland’s Players’ Player of the Year in the 2002/03 Scottish Premiership season, having scored 18 goals from the midfield.

The Ibrox boss will be will no doubt be hoping he sees similar performances from Aribo down the stretch, and will surely consider starting him again when Rangers face Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership after the international break.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers right-back James Tavernier hits back at critics in sensational style against Hamilton…

After suffering a disappointing 2-0 defeat away at Southampton just before the start of the international break, Newcastle will be itching to put things right when they take on Chelsea this Saturday.

The Magpies currently lie in 13th place in the Premier League, and face a Chelsea side whose uptick in form has seen them move just three points behind league leaders Leicester.

And whilst the chances of the Tyneside club picking up a result may be slim, they have been handed a major potential boost ahead of the clash at St James’ Park.

After limping off in England’s UEFA Nations League defeat to Belgium on Sunday, there is a huge concern over whether Ben Chilwell will be fit enough to play for Chelsea on Saturday lunch-time.

The Blues’ summer signing has been in fine form over the past few weeks at club level, bagging two goals and two assists in his last five Premier League games.

If he does miss out, then Chelsea will be without one of their first names on the team-sheet, and give Frank Lampard a major headache.

It could leave him having to use regular centre-back Cesar Azpilicueta out of position, or turn back to Marcos Alonso, whose last game in a Blues shirt was his horror showing in a 3-3 draw away to newly-promoted West Brom – a match in which he was hauled off at half-time when his team were trailing 3-0.

Either way, Allan Saint-Maximin will surely be licking his lips at the prospect of going up against one of the two. Newcastle’s wing wizard has yet to really spark into life this season aside from the game against Burnley, in which he picked up his only goal and assist of the season.

Described as looking “lazy” by Alan Shearer earlier this year, Saturday could give Saint-Maximin the perfect opportunity to find his form and run riot against either an out-of-position centre-back, or a slow and defensively suspect left-back.

The Magpies’ star winger will fancy his chances.

Tottenham Hotspur could have been given a golden chance to make a handsome profit on outcast midfielder Dele Alli. Leeds Live have reported that bookmakers have made Marcelo Bielsa’s newly promoted side 25/1 to land a deal for the England international.

After falling out of favour under Jose Mourinho, Daniel Levy will be looking at his options and whether the time has come to cash in. According to CIES, Alli’s value has skyrocketed to a mammoth €70million (£62.2million), a huge spike from the initial £5million Spurs paid for his signature back in 2015.

Should Spurs look to sell Dele Alli?

It seems a surreal concept that the man Mauricio Pochettino loved so much would have his Tottenham future hanging in the balance. During the Argentinian’s reign, Alli flourished into one of the league’s most clinical midfielders. His best season was unarguably in 2016/17, where he netted a superb 18 Premier League goals and contributed an additional eight assists (via Transfermarkt).

Pochettino lauded Alli for his influence on the Spurs attack, generously comparing him to the likes of Diego Maradona and Ronaldinho. Even new boss Mourinho values the playmaker despite his decision to drop him on nine occasions this season.

“[Alli’s] too good to not be one of the best players in the world and not playing with the national team,” the three-time Premier League winner said last season (via The Independent).

But despite his comments on the 24-year-old, it seems that Mourinho has moved his team on as he looks to push Spurs up the Premier League table. Alli is a solid option to have on the bench and the club will be in no hurry to sell considering the fact he is contracted until 2024.

However, if Leeds are seriously considering bringing him to Elland Road, Levy and co could target their need for an attacking midfielder and push to bank a healthy sum of cash from the Yorkshire club, even if it doesn’t quite reach the £62m mark.

In other news, Spurs could unearth their next Dembele in teen prodigy Harvey White…