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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…

Luka Jovic was one of Real Madrid’s big summer scoops, but despite his successful stint at Eintracht Frankfurt prior to the big move, life in the Spanish capital hasn’t been that dreamy for the young Serbian.

Zinedine Zidane finally addressed the issue in his latest press conference.

What did he say?

It took Real Madrid a reported sum of £53.2m to land their 21-year-old target and lure him away from the jaws of the Bundesliga where he was definitely thriving.

Jovic managed to net 27 goals and assist seven more in the 48 games he played for Eintracht Frankfurt across all competitions in the 2018/19 campaign so Los Blancos’ interest wasn’t really that much of a surprise.

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What was a surprise, however, was Zidane’s reluctance to actually play the Serbian and give him a proper chance. As a result, he only tallied 218 minutes across seven games for the Galacticos so far in the ongoing season.

For that reason, the Frenchman was asked about his “demotivated” outcast by the press.

Here’s what he said in full:

“He’s not demotivated. He’s just arrived and he’s looking much better now than when he came in. He’s slowly learning Spanish and becoming part of the group. I will be counting on him and he’s important despite the fact he hasn’t played much recently.”

Not done yet

Zidane’s words will definitely come as a relief to Jovic, and to any football fan who enjoys seeing young talent thrive.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

His situation is a strange one, as even though he is presumably a bet for the future since he is very much at the beginning of his career, Real Marid’s recent rumoured transfer targets and preferences in the market have put the Serbian’s transfer under question.

After all, why would the club be on a lookout for a new striker to replace Karim Benzema if they already have one within their ranks?

Still, Zidane seems to believe there is a place for the young forward in this Los Blancos squad and just by stating the 21-year-old is important should at least give the Jovic fan club some hope.

By all accounts, he is not done just yet and his chance might be coming in the near future.

All he has to do is be patient.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…

Neither Arsenal nor Manchester United will be particularly happy with their 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on Monday night.

The result does see the Gunners move back into the top four, but they are just one point ahead of the likes of Tottenham and Chelsea, both of whom were victorious at the weekend. The Red Devils, meanwhile, sit in 10th place, behind Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.

How do football vloggers afford to watch their team week in, week out? Find out in the video below…

The match itself was a rather even affair, with the home side having 16 shots to Arsenal’s 10. That comes as a bit of surprise considering Unai Emery decided to play with three defensively-minded players in the middle of the park. One of those was Lucas Torreira, who was making just his second start of the campaign in the Premier League, alongside Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi.

Unfortunately for the Uruguay international, this performance is unlikely to have convinced his boss that he deserves to start more in the future. There were some contributions you would have expected, such as his two tackles, but zero interceptions and just one clearance are numbers that many would have expected to be higher.

Of course, going forward, little is expected from him, so he cannot be too harshly judged for his zero key passes and shots on target. But it isn’t something that works in his favour, either.

Watch Arsenal Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The former Sampdoria midfielder’s influence on the Emirates outfit has waned significantly since last season. During Arsenal’s 14-match unbeaten league run, Torreira, who joined the club in a £26m deal last year, started in all but three matches and played the 90 minutes in all but one of those games when he was included from the beginning. He produced some important moments, too, such as the winner against Huddersfield and his acrobatic strike against Spurs at the Emirates Stadium as the Gunners won 4-2.

The speculation linking the 23-year-old with Milan during the summer clearly hasn’t done him too much good, but on the pitch, he has the kind of attitude that doesn’t appear to be affected by off-the-field affairs.

Against United, though, he was taken off after just 54 minutes, which shows that his manager was once again not impressed with his display.

We shouldn’t expect to see him back in the starting XI for a week or two at least.

When does a loss of form become something more substantial? Perhaps even something definitive? At what point is a temporary malaise no longer put forward as a valid reason to explain why a player isn’t as good as he used to be? Instead it’s simply acknowledged and accepted that the player isn’t as good as he used to be.Whatever the answer is to that rather gloomy thought it’s hard to shake off the feeling that Tottenham’s Dele Alli and Manchester United’s Jesse Lingard are slowly and inexorably revealing it to us by virtue of being shadows of their former selves over a long duration of time. They’re case studies in a way.Indeed, so long have they each been off the boil and ineffective to the point of being anonymous that it’s difficult to determine exactly when their downward trajectories began while recalling the days of them running the show in north London and at Old Trafford induces only nostalgia.Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

With Alli it’s possible to pinpoint the 2017/18 season as the start of his decline though precisely when is shrouded in debate. All we do know is that the attacking midfielder who emerged so complete and brilliant that he won back-to-back Young Player of the Year awards suffered a sustained dip to his usual high standards that year. His stats were down though still impressive. Teammates such as Son Heung-min and Christian Eriksen began to overtake him in prominence.

Underwhelming outings for England during that summer’s World Cup saw his reputation dwindleÂand then the following campaign for Spurs brought injury after injury. A total of 22 games were missed last season due to thigh and hamstring problems. So poor was he in the other fixtures it’s hard to work out which games they were.

When Alli was hauled off against Bayern in Tottenham’s recent 7-2 disaster nobody batted an eyelid. Despite his fall from grace, he is still valued at £81m by Transfermarkt, but it would take a genuine masterclass from Daniel Levy to attract that type of offer for him given his current form.

With Lingard, his diminishing as a creative force was more of a creeper. When the staggering statistic emerged earlier this season that the 26-year-old hadn’t scored or made a single assist in 2019 – he has since at least added one assist to his name carving out a goal against Rochdale in the EFL Cup – people responded in the same manner as when a rather obvious twist is revealed in a film. They knew it. This whole time they knew it. They just didn’t articulate it for fear of ruining the surprise for others, that’s all.

Yet as Duncan Alexander illustrated in the damning tweet below, Lingard’s woes go back much further, hidden only by a successful December of last year.

In recent times he has been dropped by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – and this despite United being entrenched in crisis and requiring every drop of experience right now – and on his return against Arsenal he was so insipid a local newspaper deemed him ‘invisible’ and a ‘liability’.

In recent times too Lingard – valued by Transfermarkt at a fee surely beyond his current worth at £36m – has found himself excluded from the England set-up and it’s apt and pertinent that the other player left out this week of Gareth Southgate’s squad was Alli. Their omissions were a surprise given how highly the coach rates them. Their omissions, to the general public, were long overdue.

When does a loss of form become something more substantial? With every passing week with this pair we’re beginning to find out.

Odsonne Edouard was at it again on Monday night, scoring twice to make it four goals in two games for the France U21 squad.

When Celtic signed him from Paris Saint Germain for £9m at the start of last season few would’ve suggested he could go on to leave Celtic for more than the £19.7m Lyon paid for Moussa Dembele. At this rate he’ll be succeeding Kieran Tierney as Scottish football’s most expensive export – which is exactly what one fan thinks after his glowing performance for France’s young side.

Watch Scotland Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Including international football, Edouard is on ten goals and five assists in just thirteen games this season, scoring goals in every competition he has played in. Crucially, he scored the all-important opening goal in the first encounter of the season against city rivals Rangers before the international break.

Celtic fans lapped up the young Frenchman’s latest display – there is no doubt in their minds that the cockerel-wearing international rules the roost – and following the performance, many took to Twitter to heap praise on the 21-year-old.

Here’s a quick look at what they’ve been saying on social media…

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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 on Monday Night Football, Gary Neville has admitted Manchester United have taken a “step backwards” in order to move forward with their new era.

What did he say?

The Red Devils have failed to win the Premier League since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, and a miserable campaign last season ended with them finishing in sixth and thus missing out on Champions League football.

Now, Neville has revealed the club are “nowhere near” contesting for the league title, and insisted a change from their old transfer policy is needed.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “I actually think United have taken a step backwards but a step in the right direction to go forwards because enough is enough of all these 30-year-old players coming in, not suiting the style. They’ve got to stop that because it’s not worked for the club.

“Top four and winning a trophy would be a successful season. That’s where Manchester United are at. That is unacceptable in terms of where United need to be, but they are incapable – after six or seven years of poor recruitment – of going from seventh, sixth or fifth into first. They are nowhere near that at this moment in time.

“I think being on the right track this season is more important than fifth, fourth or third. People have to start liking the team again.”

United can’t afford to wait

Neville’s long-term vision for the club is admirable. The United legend is saying all the cliche things about how this rebuild is going to take a number of transfer windows and there isn’t a quick fix. And to all intents and purposes, he’s right. But the Red Devils simply cannot afford to just let seasons pass them by as part of their ‘transition’ period.

Reports in recent weeks have suggested Solskjaer’s side are interested in landing Borussia Dortmund starlet Jadon Sancho next summer. Without Champions League football or a realistic marker that the club are contending for the big prizes again, why on earth would the England international want to head to Old Trafford?

As such, United would have to settle for transfer targets who may be second or third on their short-list, and it essentially becomes a vicious cycle.

Neville’s comments are understandable, but they need to be assessed in the cold light of the day. A club of United’s size should never consider a backwards step the right thing to do. Both Solskjaer and the club don’t have the time to simply be on the “right track” to future success. They need it immediately.

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Newcastle fans have taken to Twitter after they were linked with a move for Monaco midfielder Youri Tielemans, as reported by Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur.

The Belgian international joined the Ligue 1 side back in May 2017 for a fee of around £20m, and was part of the side that finished third at the World Cup last summer.

Monaco, who sit 19th in France’s top flight and are in real danger of relegation, are open to selling the 21-year-old for the same price they bought him for (as per the Telegraph), or shipping him out on loan.

Be sure to check out the incredible story of the man who rose from a Tanzanian refugee camp to become one of Australia’s biggest football stars in the video below…

With Thursday’s 11pm deadline fast approaching, Newcastle are running out of time to get players through the door that would aid their hopes of Premier League survival.

Newcastle fans, though, aren’t too positive about the chances of signing Tielemans if their reactions on Twitter are anything to go by. Here’s a look at what they’ve been saying…

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Lots of Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react to the news that Virgil van Dijk has committed his future to the club by agreeing a new six-year contract.

The Mirror report that the Netherlands international’s current deal was not meant to expire until 2023 as per the five-year deal he signed upon joining the club in a £75m move from Southampton.

Van Dijk’s new terms will see him net a weekly wage closer to £200k-a-week, having previously earned £125k-a-week at Anfield with bonuses for clean sheets and appearances.

After agreeing the new deal, the former Celtic man will remain at Anfield until 2025 with Liverpool tying the player down for the best years of his career.

Having just won the Champions League and UEFA Super Cup, as well as being named UEFA Men’s Player of the Year ahead of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, this is incredibly exciting news for the Merseysiders.

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

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Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Dean Jones of Eurosport has made a West Ham United transfer claim involving Sparta Prague striker Adam Hlozek.

The Lowdown: West Ham eye Hlozek…

As widely reported in recent months, the Czech Republic international is a striker West Ham and manager David Moyes have been keeping tabs on as the January transfer window opens for business.

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Indeed, Football Insider claimed just before the new year that the Irons, and by extension recruitment chief Rob Newman, made an early approach for Hlozek to find out what it would take to win the race for his signature.

They believe that Sparta could demand around £16-20 million for West Ham to sign him mid-season with The Daily Mail reporting since then that Hlozek is still firmly on the club’s radar.

Sharing an update, Jones has made a claim to GiveMeSport as he backs their interest further.

The Latest: Jones makes Hlozek claim…

Speaking to GMS, he says that West Ham are ‘definitely’ eyeing a move for the 19-year-old sensation who they like a lot.

However, he also claims his valuation could well be reason why they haven’t made their move yet.

“He is definitely somebody that’s on their radar and they like him a lot,” Jones explained.

“I can’t remember what his value is right now but I think that’s part of the concern of signing him at the moment.”

The Verdict: Get it done?

As West Ham remain in the market for a player who can back up striker Michail Antonio, a move for Hlozek in January comes with both ups and downs.

Lauded as ‘world class’ by his agent Pavel Paska (90min), the teenage hot shot has certainly impressed since the beginning of 2020/2021 – racking up 21 goals and 24 assists in all competitions (Transfermarkt).

These numbers at such a young age highlight his magnificent potential, but one red herring may well be that this comes in a far inferior division to the Premier League.

It remains a point of contention whether he could eventually replicate those numbers in England and there is an argument to be made he is more one for the future than the here and now.

West Ham shareholder Daniel Kretinsky’s ties as co-owner of Sparta, however, could gift the club an advantage in the race for his signature.

We believe a swoop for Hlozek is certainly worth considering even despite the slight drawbacks.

In other news: ‘Tears in my eyes’, ‘Finally’…Many West Ham fans flock to ‘very exciting’ transfer development, find out more here.

Rumoured Wolves transfer target Donny van de Beek is in talks with Crystal Palace over a January move, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Wolves keen on Van de Beek

The Dutchman has had a disastrous spell at Manchester United, featuring over just 69 minutes of Premier League action this season.

Van de Beek has been linked with a move to Wolves, as Bruno Lage eyes up quality additions, but nothing has come to fruition in the January transfer window.

It now looks as though the final nail in the coffin may have been delivered, in terms of him moving to Molineux.

The Latest: Romano delivers blow

Taking to Twitter on Friday, Romano confirmed that Palace were in talks with the midfielder over an imminent move:

“Talks ongoing again today between Manchester United and Crystal Palace for Donny van de Beek. Patrick Vieira is pushing to have Donny soon.

“Discussions on salary coverage and loan fee between the two clubs. No buy option clause included.”

The Verdict: One that got away

It is hard to put your finger on what has gone wrong for Van de Beek at United but he showed his ability at Ajax, enjoying 75 goal involvements (41 goals, 34 assists) in 175 appearances.

For that reason, Wolves missing out on him is a blow, even if it was only on loan, with his arrival having the potential to give the midfield an added dimension between now and May.

It looks as though Wanderers will have to make do with what they have, but with Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves in superb form, and no European commitments, the squad should hopefully have enough quality to continue its current excellence.

In other news, some Wolves fans have gushed over a transfer update. Read more here.

Everton have already been linked with signing a number of players in the January transfer window, and Rafael Benitez will be hoping to add quality to his struggling side over the next few weeks, with another name being put into the conversation to join the squad at Goodison Park in 2022.

What’s the word?

Fabrizio Romano took to his Twitter replies to make the bold claim that the club are interested in signing Phillipe Coutinho during the transfer window.

Replying to a tweet, the transfer insider confirmed that the Toffees are in among many other clubs considering a move for the Barcelona player, claiming: “Everton are among clubs considering Coutinho. Not the only one. I think he plans to stay in Europe as priority. We’ll see.”

The £16.2m-rated star has been a hot topic of transfer speculation, as he has failed to make an impact at Camp Nou since joining the La Liga giants in 2018, scoring just two goals so far this season, which is a far cry from the expectations when the club signed him for £142m. However, he did show glimpses of talent at Bayern Munich, where he played his part in winning the Champions League on loan in 2019/20.

Despite the rumours of interest from Arsenal, Everton, Newcastle and Tottenham, it has since been reported by Mundo Deportivo that the 29-year-old could go back to Brazil amid interest from both Atlético Mineiro and Palmeiras, which the reports suggest could benefit Coutinho’s chances of getting into the national squad for the World Cup at the end of 2022.

Would it be the right move for Everton?

There is no doubt that Coutinho has talent, with Brazil team-mate Roberto Firmino gushing: “You simply can’t say that he’s not a magician. He has magical powers. He produces plays that don’t exist, that you couldn’t make up.”

However, Everton have a habit of overspending in the wrong places, and the fans will be fuming if the transfer budget is blown on a player like Coutinho, instead of investing in a number of younger prospects who can elevate the team for the future, with Demarai Gray a perfect example of the type of signings the Merseyside club need to be making.

One Everton fan took to Twitter to react to the potential signing of Coutinho, venting: “Moshiri actually cannot help himself. It’s an insane addiction he has to overpriced washed players than are nothing more than short-term solutions that don’t help us in the long run.”

Gray was signed for £1.7m in the summer and has since become Everton’s joint-top scorer this season, making an impact far beyond his market value when he joined the Blues. That has set the bar for the kind of signings Benitez needs to be making, instead of buying a player coming to the end of his peak with wage demands of £383k-p/w, a sum could easily spread across multiple other signings.

Were they to splurge on Coutinho rather than investing a similar amount across several new signings, Everton fans would surely be raging at the club, much like the example above.

In other news: This transfer target could solve one big issue for Benitez