Bournemouth conducted some decent transfer business over the summer and got their campaign off to a winning start last weekend as they dispatched Cardiff City with relative ease. 

The Cherries and manager Eddie Howe deserve plenty of credit for maintaining their Premier League place over the last few seasons, and there will be high hopes for further improvement this season.

One of the key summer signings brought to the club was Sheffield United and Wales youngster David Brooks, who joined the Cherries in a deal worth just over £10m to the Championship club.

However, we at the Transfer Tavern think that Bournemouth could have been wiser to make it a double swoop on the Blades by signing defender Jack O’Connell at the same time.

The former Brentford man has developed into one of the Championship’s leading defenders, with his marauding runs from left centre back becoming something of a trademark, while he has endeared himself to Blades fans with a number of fine performances over the last two years.

O’Connell looks to have all the tools to become a Premier League player, and the likes of Brighton were linked heavily with him over the summer months.

While Bournemouth do have their regulars in defence, the likes of Steve Cook and Simon Francis are not getting any younger, and O’Connell could have been the perfect partner for big money signing Nathan Ake at the heart of the Cherries defence.

Bournemouth fans, what do you think? Would O’Connell have been a good signing? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Harry Kane recently said in an interview with The Independent, that Tottenham can no longer fall back on the excuses that have served them over the past few seasons. 

Two FA Cup semi-final losses in a row, as well as last season’s Champions League capitulation against Juventus at Wembley were all categorised as a learning curve, that this was a young side that was still developing.

However, Kane has said that The Lilywhites can no longer rely on those excuses, that they now have amassed the experience to carry them through the big games where they have fallen short in the past. The World Cup Golden Boot winner also said that a title win is the only thing that will suffice for his side.

This is the exact mentality that manager Mauricio Pochettino will want in his side, and it has taken four years to develop this. Tottenham will have to adopt the same mindset that title rivals such as Chelsea, Man United and Man City do; that nothing other than winning the title is acceptable. Until Tottenham break free of the epithets that they are a young or developing side, they will never taste the success that the other top teams do.

It is this psychology that Kane brought to the England team during the World Cup, and it was clear to see the fruits of that approach. If he can bring that approach to the Tottenham setup, success will surely follow.

On a personal level, this is the mentality that Kane (rated at £135m on Transfermarkt.co.uk) needs as well. As someone that is consistently chasing the Golden Boot, he needs to believe that he is in a team that strive to win titles, otherwise there are plenty of other clubs that will give him that opportunity.

Tottenham will have to face a lot of adversity this season. Not only have they received criticism for not bringing in any additions to their squad, but the debacle surrounding their new stadium will be a distraction. But for senior players like Kane to come out and say that Tottenham still have the mentality to win the title is not only exactly what Pochettino wants, but what he needs.

Galatasaray are keen to add an ‘option to buy’ clause in their loan arrangement with Everton for Henry Onyekuru, according to Fanatik.

What’s the word?

The 21-year-old signed for the Toffees in 2017 from Eupen, but he is yet to make an appearance for the club due to failure to obtain a work permit.

As a result, the attacker has been on loan at Anderlecht and now Galatasaray, where he is expected to stay until the end of the season.

Turkish media outlet Fanatik reports that Onyekuru has impressed on his loan so much so far that the club want to arrange a purchase option once the temporary deal expires.

It is believed that Everton are after a fee in the region of £22.5m, but manager Marco Silva should rethink selling the young talent.

Why keep him?

Onyekuru attracted Everton’s attention by scoring 30 goals in 60 games for Eupen, and he has carried his form into his loan spells.

At Anderlecht, the Nigerian did not rack up as many goals as he netted 10 in 28 outings, but he has shown that he has the skill to thrive.

To offload a player that has not even stepped foot on the Goodison Park turf yet would make very little sense.

Onyekuru – valued at £9m by Transfermarkt – has an eye for goal and could certainly be useful at Everton in future campaigns, but he will need time to establish himself at the club.

If Galatasaray approach the Premier League outfit with their proposal, the Toffees should shoot them down.

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Kyle Walker’s move to centre-half was nothing short of a revelation for England at the World Cup. Completing an all-Yorkshire-born back three, his speed spared the Three Lions a number of defensive blushes, while his quality on the ball was crucial to how Gareth Southgate’s side impressively retained possession throughout the tournament.

But there were still some uncomfortable moments, particularly the penalty he conceded against Tunisia – which, although harsh, was a consequence of the Manchester City star taking up the wrong body position – and Croatia’s late winner which came from his pocket of the penalty area.

And Walker – who Transfermarkt value at £45million – may well have not been involved in England’s back three at all in Russia had Joe Gomez not suffered an injury while on international duty in March against the Netherlands. The game previous for the Three Lions, the 21-year-old was England’s Man of the Match against Brazil – excelling in the right centre-back role by keeping Neymar quiet.

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Gomez has started the season strongly for Liverpool as well, forming a partnership with Virgil van Dijk that has conceded just one goal in four Premier League games, and even that was a consequence of goalkeeper Alisson making an ill-fated Cruyff turn in his own box.

So, England fans, with the Three Lions due to face Spain in their Nations League opener on Saturday, should Southgate keep Walker at right centre-back or be bold and look to the future by giving Gomez the nod instead? Let us know by voting below…

Loads of Everton fans have been reacting to their draw against Huddersfield, and they are absolutely delighted with the performance of Kurt Zouma.

Everton came from behind to grab a point against Huddersfield on Saturday, and fans are understandably frustrated by the result.

The visitors took the lead through Philip Billing, and although the Toffees replied almost immediately through Dominic Calvert-Lewin they were unable to grab all three points.

One man who was extremely impressive though is Zouma, who is going to need to step up over the next couple of weeks.

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Phil Jagielka is out in the cold after his red card against Wolves, Yerry Mina is not yet fit, and Michael Keane is expected to miss the next couple of games with the skull injury he sustained against Bournemouth.

Zouma was an absolute beast filling in for Keane alongside Mason Holgate, as the Chelsea loanee won an incredible six aerial duels, completed 90 per cent of his passes, and made four clearances.

Holgate played his part as well with an incredible 14 clearances, but it’s Zouma that is getting all the praise.

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You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below, as it’s starting to look like the late loan swoop for Zouma was a stroke of genius from Marco Silva and Marcel Brands…

West Ham United fans have been on social media picking their starting XI for Sunday’s Premier League clash with Everton at Goodison Park.

The Hammers started their 2018-19 Premier League season with a defeat at Liverpool, and have since lost to Bournemouth, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Everton will be without a number of players for this weekend’s match through injury and suspension, but the West Ham fans are still quite pessimistic.

The London club’s supporters have been discussing their team selection for the match this weekend, and it brought up an interesting debate on Twitter.

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Football is a game of opinions after all, and it is not a surprise that so many disagreed with who should be in the starting XI.

A fifth straight Premier League defeat for West Ham this weekend would leave the team in a very difficult position, and would place huge pressure on them ahead of their next home fixture, which just so happens to be against Chelsea on September 23.

A selection of the Twitter reaction from the West Ham fans can be seen below:

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Aston Villa ended a run of five matches without a win in all competitions on Tuesday evening by defeating Rotherham United 2-0 but not all the players within the squad impressed.

33-year-old Alan Hutton has been an ever-present figure so far this season for Steve Bruce’s side but his performance in the victory at Villa Park left a sour taste in the mouth for many supporters.

The veteran defender continues to be selected by Steve Bruce despite unimpressive performances and many have speculated that Hutton has something over the Villa boss, as they cannot understand why he continues to get the nod.

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Former Scotland international Hutton has been on Villa’s books for seven years but now seems to be past his best, with many fans calling for changes to be made to the defence ahead of this weekend’s clash against Sheffield Wednesday.

We have gathered some of the best reactions to his latest performance below.

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Unai Emery was forced into a risky substitution six minutes before half time on Sunday when defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos went down with a knee injury and had to be replaced by Rob Holding.

Up until the incident Everton were causing the Gunners some real trouble with keeper Petr Cech having to make a couple of good saves to keep the likes of Richarlison and Theo Walcott out.

But, in the second half, Arsenal looked a bit more solid at the back with Holding especially looking full of confidence. The 23-year-old was dominant in the air and made a number of headed clearances, contributing to Arsenal keeping their first clean sheet of the season.

Sokratis has been one of Arsenal’s standout players this season and fans have heaped criticism on Shkodran Mustafi after another half hearted performance, suggesting they want to see Holding partner with Sokratis, if his injury isn’t a long term one.

Here are some of the Twitter reactions by Arsenal fans:

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Arsenal supporters have been pretty happy in recent times after seeing their side record a seventh consecutive victory in all competitions at the weekend.

Unai Emery’s men went into their clash with fellow high-flyers Watford having won each of their preceding four Premier League matches, alongside victories over Vorskla Poltava in the Europa League and Brentford in the Carabao Cup. And the Gunners made it seven on the spin on Saturday as a Mesut Ozil strike alongside a Craig Cathcart own goal secured a 2-0 success for Emery’s men, a result which moved them up to fifth place in the Premier League table.

As such, there have been many thrilled Arsenal fans up and down the country in recent times, several of whom have been full of praise for playmaker Ozil for his goal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, his third goal of the campaign.

The former Germany international hasn’t always been in the good books of Arsenal supporters but he was given the captain’s armband by manager Emery on Saturday, a move which appeared to pay off with the 29-year-old arguably more involved at the weekend than in previous games.

And while he got the crucial second goal to put the game beyond Javi Gracia’s Hornets, Englishman Rob Holding was arguably their unsung hero on Saturday in producing a dominant display in the heart of the Gunners backline.

Ultimately, there were some concerns among Arsenal fans given the recent injury to centre back Sokratis, what with the Greece international making a fine start to life at the Emirates Stadium following his move from Borussia Dortmund during the summer.

And with fellow defender Shkodran Mustafi not overly convincing in the early phase of the season, and with Watford possessing a combative striking duo in Troy Deeney and Andre Gray, Holding and the Germany international looked set for a very testing afternoon indeed.

And while the latter somewhat struggled with the physicality of the Hornets front men, 23-year-old Holding was outstanding over the course of the 90 minutes, winning five of his seven aerial duels, alongside making six clearances and a team-high three interceptions.

Thus, it’s pretty clear that the young defender dealt pretty well with everything that was thrown at him by Gracia’s side, as while the scoreline suggests that it was a comfortable afternoon for Emery’s men, it certainly didn’t tell the whole story with both goals coming in the final ten minutes.

And while Holding clearly shone off the ball, he also did a decent job on it as well in having 57 touches over the course of the encounter, and finishing the match with a very healthy pass success rate of 89%, making 40 of the 45 passes he attempted.

As such, while there were some concerns heading into the clash that the Arsenal defender could get overpowered by messrs Deeney and Gray, that simply didn’t come to fruition – Ozil may have netted the crucial second for the Gunners, but it was 23-year-old Holding who was their unsung hero on Saturday.

Arsenal fans… what do you think? Let us know!

[ad_pod ]Yerry Mina was one of a handful of new signings that were recruited by Everton in the summer transfer window.The 24-year-old defender was linked to Manchester United, but he ended up leaving Barcelona for Goodison Park.There was plenty of excitement surrounding the transfer, but the Colombian international is yet to step foot on the pitch for Everton in a competitive setting.Mina arrived at the Merseyside outfit with an injury, which meant that manager Marco Silva had to wait to put together his ideal centre-back partnership.Michael Keane, Phil Jagielka, Kurt Zouma and Mason Holgate have all featured in the back line at some point this season, and it seems that Mina will have to continue waiting for his chance.According toÂL’Equipe, during a training session on Wednesday, the former Barcelona player cracked a metatarsal in his left foot and is expected to be on the sidelines for a further three weeks.Everton fans have been reacting to this news on Twitter.

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