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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Jan Vertonghen was one of Tottenham’s best players last season, if not the best.

The Belgium international was simply heroic as Spurs reached the Champions League final and finished in the top four – his form was good enough to prompt our very own Harry Sherlock to dub him the club’s signing of the decade.

Vertonghen is a key cog in Mauricio Pochettino’s team, but for reasons yet to be officially confirmed, the Argentine left the defender out of his squad entirely for the Premier League opener against Aston Villa.

Spurs still went on to get the win – albeit whilst making hard work of it – and when asked about the situation, Pochettino said: “I am going to play the players who I believe deserve to play.”

As aforesaid, Spurs still got the win but not without trailing 1-0 for 73 minutes after John McGinn capitalised on some poor defending.

Pochettino and Vertonghen have to put their differences aside for one reason – there is simply too much competition at the top of the Premier League to be leaving your best players out.

Last season, Spurs finished in the top four by just a single point, and missed out on third place also by a single point having had a superior goal difference to Chelsea – the margins are so fine that there isn’t any time to weaken yourself by not playing a star performer.

Who knows, if the former Ajax man had been playing against Villa then Dean Smith’s side might not have even scored their goal – what if Spurs fail to make the top four by a single goal come May?

Entirely hypothetical, sure, but when the top two dropped just 16 and 17 points each last season, there really is no room for mistakes.

The fact of the matter is that even at this early stage of the season, the points that are won and lost are the same points that are up for grabs in the business end of the season.

Spurs cannot allow themselves to potentially miss out on even just a single point by leaving their best defender on the bench.

Pochettino and Vertonghen must make amends soon.

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كشف عمر كمال عبد الواحد لاعب فريق الكرة بالمصري حقيقة تلقيه اتصالات من ناديي الأهلي أو الزمالك خلال الفترة الماضية بعد تألقه ضمن صفوف النادي البورسعيدي.

وتعادل  المصري مع سيراميكا كليوباترا بنتيجة 2-2 اليوم الجمعة في الدوري المصري الممتاز. طالع التفاصيل

وقال عمر كمال في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورتس”، بعد سؤاله عن حقيقة مفاوضات الأهلي والزمالك: “أشعر بالراحة في المصري، ولا أشغل تفكيري بأي شيء خارج الملعب، وأترك الأمور لوكيلي ووالدي”.

طالع | مدرب المصري: عانينا من أخطاء دفاعية أمام سيراميكا كليوباترا

وأكمل: “علي ماهر قال لنا أي فريق سينهي الدوري في المربع الذهبي سيعتبر كأنه حصل على اللقب”.

وأختتم: “كل الأندية دعمت صفوفها بشكل قوي، الدوري هذا الموسم ليس سهلًا على أي فريق”.

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With less than 24 hours left of this transfer window, a winger appears to be amongst Everton’s top transfer targets.

The Toffees have recently had a second bid for Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha rejected, and now they have also made a move for Alex Iwobi.

It is being reported that the Gunners have turned down a £30m offer from Marco Silva and co for the Nigeria international. However, the Goodison Park outfit are expected to make another approach, although it will need to be above £40m to persuade Arsenal to sell.

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23-year-old Iwobi has spent his entire career at the Emirates Stadium, making 149 appearances for the club. During that time, he has scored 15 goals and provided 27 assists.

As he is not even a guaranteed starter for Unai Emery, £40m does appear to be a somewhat high valuation.

The Iwobi situation has certainly got Arsenal fans on Twitter talking. You can check out some of the best reactions to news of Everton’s interest below…

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Lots of Everton fans have taken to Twitter to react after it was confirmed on the club’s official website that Muhamed Besic had joined Sheffield United on loan for the 2019/20 campaign.

Besic signed for the Merseysiders in the summer of 2014 from Hungarian side Ferencvaros and has made 56 appearances in total for the club.

The Bosnia international spent last term on loan with Championship side Middlesbrough, before returning to Goodison Park this summer.

However, after the Toffees signed Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Fabian Delph and Andre Gomes in the window, the chances of the 26-year-old getting some game time under Marco Silva looked slim.

You won’t believe which of Liverpool’s Champions League winning side of 2005 is still playing in the video below…

As a result, the 5 foot 10 midfielder has linked up with Chris Wilder at the Blades after a deal sheet was submitted in order to get the move sorted beyond the 5pm deadline on Thursday.

Let’s take a look at how the Everton fans on Twitter reacted to the news…

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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…

Ian Holloway has heaped significant praise on Everton’s signing of Fabian Delph whilst suggesting he would have been perfect for Arsenal.

What did he say?

Delph signed for The Toffees for just £10m in what some may view as a bargain signing with the midfielder having 20 England caps under his belt, as well as captaining the national team on occasion.

In response to Granit Xhaka’s performance against Tottenham, in which he picked up his 39th yellow card for the Gunners and gave away his fifth penalty since joining, the former QPR boss suggested Arsenal would have been better off signing Delph.

Speaking to talkSPORT, he said: “Well for me I’m looking at what I think who is probably the signing of the season for Everton in Fabian Delph.

“If Arsenal had Fabian Delph playing the way he did yesterday for Everton, do you see what I’m saying?”

The former Manchester City midfielder started for the first time for his new club against Wolves, but he didn’t take long to influence the team, getting Everton back to winning ways in the league in a performance which pleased his manager.

Becoming the key man again

Delph has had a tough few years at the Citizens. Many of his four years there were plagued by injury and due to the ability in the squad he saw his game-time limited, and was often played out of position when he did feature.

Prior to his spell in Manchester, the 29-year-old had played his way into the England squad by becoming a pivotal player for Aston Villa, and it is that role he will likely look to recreate at Everton.

Against Wolves the midfielder enjoyed the second-highest pass accuracy of any player on the pitch who made more than ten passes, other than Seamus Coleman, and he kept the Everton midfield ticking whilst providing energy to the team going forward.

In typical Delph fashion he was also just as useful in defence, making four tackles, two interceptions and two clearances, underlining how effective he will be as a box-to-box midfielder this season.

If he can stay fit he should be able to rediscover his best form and act as the midfield anchor which will allow Everton’s creative players more freedom, as Holloway suggests.

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كشف مهاجم الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي ريال مدريد، كريم بنزيما، عن ملهمه من أجل تحقيق النجاح في مسيرته الرياضية المليئة بالإنجازات خاصة مع الملكي منذ الانضمام إليه في عام 2010.

واستطاع بنزيما حصد العديد من البطولات مع ريال مدريد أبرزها الدوري الإسباني مرتين ودوري أبطال أوروبا 4 مرات، ولكنه كشف عن صفاته الشخصية في حواره مع مجلة “El Pais”.

اقرأ ايضًا.. بنزيما يقترب من المشاركة في مباراة ريال مدريد وأتلتيكو بـ الديربي

وقال الفرنسي: “لقد جئت من حي فقير كانت الحياة به صعبة للغاية، عندما رأيت أولادًا أكبر سنًا يرتدون ملابس جيدة وسيارات جميلة، أردت أن أكون مثلهم”.

وعن مثله الأعلى في كرة القدم وملهمه في الحياة: “لم يكن هناك أبدًا، ولكن هناك لاعبين رغبت في أن أصبح مثلهم مثل الظاهرة رونالدو، كذلك أن معجب بمايك تايسون (الملاكم) لأن كلانا جاء من القاع وصعدنا شيئًا فشيئًا ولم يساعدنا أي شخص آخر”.

ووضح بنزيما تأثير رحيل، كريستيانو رونالدو، عن ريال مدريد على أسلوبه الفني، وقال: “سمح لي بلعب دور مختلف مع الفريق، لقد كان يسجل 50 هدفًا كل موسم وكان علي التكيف مع أسلوب لعبه، إنه أحد افضل اللاعبين في العالم وكنت سعيدًا باللعب إلى جانبه”.

وعن زيدان: “اعتبره أخي الأكبر، يقدم لي النصحية دائمًا”.

Spicy, eh? It’s just a shame the hardman facade was ruined by a friendly message from Arsenal’s Lacazette in the comments section – you know, the guy who helped fell your side…

Call us old fashioned but isn’t it a bit weird when players from sworn rivals communicate publicly straight after a game? At least pretend like you want to two-foot each other into oblivion.

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Andreas Pereira has had a pretty mixed career at Manchester United.

The 23-year-old midfielder has been one of the Red Devils throughout pretty much the entirety of his career as he played for their U18 squad and then advanced through the ranks to finally reach the senior team in 2015.

Watch Manchester United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

But not everything was as rosy as it may sound at first.

He spent a lot of time away from Old Trafford, jumping from loan to loan and, for the most part, never being able to settle completely.

And now he has taken to

/B1eQfXFn2oo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram to share a brilliant throwback snap accompanied with the footage of his first-ever goal for Manchester United.

He called it a very special day and shared a snap in which he can be seen in Wayne Rooney’s embrace. That was followed by the footage itself.

Since his debut for the senior team, Pereira has played a total of 37 games for the Red Devils, scoring two goals and assisting further two in the process.

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We had to wait until the last day of the 2019 summer transfer window in the Premier League, but Romelu Lukaku has now officially become a new Inter Milan player after his departure from Manchester United.

The Belgian forward has penned his new contract with the Italian side and will move to Serie A on a permanent basis and until at least 30 June 2024.

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And of course, he has quickly taken to social media and Twitter to send a message to both his former and present club.

His farewell note to the Red Devils was somewhat short and to the point but the one to Inter seemed just a bit more cheerful as Lukaku expressed his happiness to be a part of his new club.

As far as his stint at Old Trafford is concerned, he joined the Red Devils in the summer of 2017 from Everton and netted 42 goals from 96 games in total.

He is also quite experienced on the international stage, scoring 48 goals in just 81 games for Belgium.[ad_pod ]

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Trent Alexander-Arnold earned his seventh cap for England on Wednesday and his performance has drawn praise from Liverpool fans.

The Three Lions ran out 5-3 winners, though the full-back was not as defensively solid as usual, whilst his normally effective crossing – as evidenced by his nine assists from crossing last season – was below par, with his four attempts failing to reach a target.

There is significant competition for the right-back spot in Gareth Southgate’s squad, with Kieran Trippier starting the previous match against Bulgaria, and Kyle Walker and Aaron Wan-Bissaka also strong candidates for the role.

That means there is competition for places, and so far in a Three Lions shirt, Alexander-Arnold has underperformed in a key aspect of his game – creating chances – as he is still yet to register an assist at international level.

Despite that, fans are impressed with what they saw last night, with some just relieved to see him get through the 90 minutes injury-free, alongside teammate Jordan Henderson.

Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Here are some of the reactions from fans wishing him well and praising his display against Kosovo.

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