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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to French outlet L’Equipe, Leicester are one of the teams showing an interest in Angers striker Stephane Bahoken.

What’s the word?

Bahoken enjoyed a productive campaign in Ligue 1 last term, finding the net 11 times after his move from Strasbourg.

The striker is currently at the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt where he’s set to feature for a Cameroon side who won the competition for the fifth time in 2017.

But a year after initially switching clubs, Bahoken could be on the move again, especially if he has a good summer.

L’Equipe are reporting that the 27-year-old has sparked interest from Leicester but Wolves are also pursuing the forward who is rated at £7.2m by Transfermarkt.

The report claims that Wolves are set to meet with Angers officials in Egypt about a deal.

Too inconsistent to help Vardy

Jamie Vardy has been fuelled with the goalscoring burden from a central position for a while now, leading the line with few options behind him.

Shinji Okazaki provided solid backup when Leicester won the league but he only found the net on 19 occasions during his spell with the club.

Other options since they won the title have failed to deliver either.

Islam Slimani only has 13 Leicester goals to his name in 46 matches whilst Kelechi Iheanacho has 10 in 63.

Therefore, you sense that the Foxes need someone with a far greater nous in front of goal to help Vardy out next season.

The busy forward isn’t getting any younger and it may not be too soon before we start to see some sort of decline.

With that in mind, Bahoken isn’t the type of quality Brendan Rodgers and his team should be looking to add to their squad this summer.

Why? Because he’s too inconsistent.

2018/19 represented the first time he’s got beyond double figures for goals in his career. Even then he failed to score in back-to-back league games across the entire season, producing indifferent displays when he didn’t find the net.

Could Daniel Sturridge be set to reunite with Brendan Rodgers? Check out the video below to find out…

If Leicester are hunting for someone to play second fiddle to Vardy, they need to have a  rethink.

Their previous investments to fill that hole haven’t gone to plan so the last thing they need is another striker with a hit and miss record.

If they did sign Bahoken, they certainly wouldn’t be making Vardy’s job any easier.

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Celtic left-back Kieran Tierney has been the subject of a £15m bid from Arsenal in recent days, according to The Scottish Sun.

The paper reckon that the Hoops have rejected the offer, but that the Gunners could return in the coming days with an improved deal that may include players of their own.

Leigh Griffiths is ready and raring to go for Celtic next season. One fan discusses what we can expect from him in the video below…

The offer appears to be well short of what is required to bring the Scottish international to the English Premier League, with the report stating that Celtic value him at £25m as a minimum.

Tierney has been a mainstay in the Hoops team for a number of years, and having emerged through the academy as a boyhood supporter of the club is a real fans’ favourite too.

His attacking and combative style is a real benefit to the Hoops on the left flank and if he does move on he won’t be replaced easily.

Celtic fans understandably hate the idea of him leaving and feel that Arsenal’s reported offer is simply far too low to entertain, with many taking to Twitter over the weekend to share their thoughts…

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Liverpool fans are eager to sign Nicolas Pepe this summer after reports claimed his preferred destination is England.

African football journalist Sega Diallo reckons the winger wants to plays his football in the Premier League, snubbing interest from Bayern Munich.

The update comes after the Anfield club dismissed reports they were discussions to sign the Lille player last week.

“It reminds me of a bus seat!” – Watch a damning verdict on Chelsea’s new kit in the video below…

Pepe, who has a market value of £58.5m according to Transfermarkt, had a remarkable season in Ligue 1 last term, scoring a magnificent 22 goals and assisting 12 more.

It’s the kind of contribution that suggests he’d be a potent addition to Liverpool’s right flank, even though they are hardly lacking for attacking talent right now.

The player is currently with his Ivory Coast national team at the African Cup of Nations, so any imminent news of a move from Lille seems unlikely.

Liverpool supporters are eager to see him at Anfield though, with one fan even suggesting he could be the new Mohamed Salah.

These fans have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts…

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Lots of Everton fans have taken to Twitter to discuss the news of a €30m (£26.9m) bid for Juventus striker Moise Kean being rejected, as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Nicolo Schira.

The Italy international, who starred for the Under-21 side at the European Championships this summer with two goals in two games, enjoyed an impressive breakthrough campaign last term with the Turin-based giants.

Thogden challenged himself to DM 100 footballers on Instagram. Find out who replied in the video below…

Kean hit six goals in just five Serie A starts in 2018/19, and also grabbed another in his one appearance in the Coppa Italia – the 6 foot forward appears to be extremely efficient in front of goal.

The 19-year-old is arguably one of the hottest young strikers in Europe right now after his excellent season for Juventus, and one would assume that it will take a lot more than £26.9m to prise the Italian away from Turin.

However, it is at least encouraging to see offers be submitted for players of this calibre, who have bags of potential.

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

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A Rangers development side triumphed 2-0 over Cambridge United on Tuesday and the fans are buzzing.

Goals from youngsters Andrew Dallas and Jamie Barjonas gave Graeme Murty’s men the win. The victory was made more impressive by the fact that the English League Two outfit put out a strong side in preparation for their season kicking off at the start of August.

The game was played at Rangers’ training complex, meaning the fans missed out on an intriguing side that featured more than just youngsters. Jamie Murphy stepped up his recovery from an ACL injury and played 78 minutes.

Check out the below above to see football played as you’ve never seen it before… in a maze!

On top of Murphy, Glenn Middleton featured amidst speculation that he could be departing the club on loan. The winger had been linked with a switch to Doncaster Rovers but that deal has fallen through.

Finally, the Rangers bench featured three trialists as Murty and Steven Gerrard looked to assess their options going into the 2019/20 season.

These Rangers fans have taken to Twitter to highlight their pride in the youngsters after an impressive win.

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Tottenham Hotspur could sell Danny Rose this summer.

This is what numerous media outlets are reporting and, quite frankly, Spurs fans are absolutely furious.

The left-back, signed from Leeds United in 2007, has grown up in front of them. From his debut screamer against Arsenal to his participation in the club’s run to their first ever Champions League final, Rose has been through an awful lot during his time in north London.

He even asked to leave, and then took a brave stand by admitting to mental health issues, while constantly championing the cause of black footballers in the face of unspeakable racism, particularly while on England duty.

He was perhaps the best left-back in the league earlier in his Spurs career and formed a fearsome tandem with Kyle Walker on the other flank prior to the latter’s departure to Manchester City. He then recaptured some of that magic last season.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And so there is a hashtag: #DontsellDannyRose, one that was created earlier this month and has spiked once again in light of his omission from Tottenham’s pre-season tour in Asia.

Spurs fans want him to stay but the cards appear to be on the table, the river against them; Ben Davies, his deputy, signed a new contract last week and the links with Ryan Sessegnon, a full-back who can also play as a left winger, just won’t go away.

And that’s okay.

For months now, Spurs fans have been calling for the board to back Mauricio Pochettino after two fallow transfer windows.

Tanguy Ndombele came into the club for a record fee, while Jack Clarke came in and then rejoined Leeds United on loan.

But backing the manager doesn’t just come down to signing players. It also comes down to sanctioning sales, to undertaking “painful” rebuilds, as Pochettino alluded to.

To say, on the one hand, you are happy with Ndombele’s signing but then turn around and cry foul when Rose could potentially leave is hypocrisy of the highest order.

Now, of course, fans form an emotional attachment with players. It’s only natural, particularly when that one player burst onto the scene by scoring an absolute scorcher in a local derby. Rose is a cult hero at Spurs and one can understand why; he’s open, he’s honest, he’s everything modern footballers aren’t. He speaks his mind and is beloved for it.

But that can’t cloud reason.

Pochettino has always appeared to have a clear vision of what he wants to build at Spurs and fans, by and large, have bought into it. How could they not? Tottenham, a mid-table team in the 90s and early 2000s, are now perennial top-four finishers and reached the Champions League final last season for the first time in their history.

The former Southampton boss hasn’t done that through sheer luck; he’s been decisive and he’s been ruthless when he has needed to be.

Take a look back at the likes of Mousa Dembele, Ryan Mason and Aaron Lennon. All three were beloved by the fans in north London. All three were moved on at the right time.

Pochettino may well have spotted a weakness in Rose’s game, a flaw he believes is only going to get worse. Fans on Twitter simply don’t know.

If you want Spurs to reach finals, to win trophies and to become Premier League champions, eventually, then you have to buy into the manager’s vision.

And if that includes #sellingDannyRose, then so be it.

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Mauricio Pochettino has said that he wants Christian Eriksen to stay at Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

Speaking at the British Grand Prix, via Football.London, he confirmed that, while he did not know what would happen, he hoped to be working with the Denmark international in the 2019/20 season.

This is notable for a number of reasons but firstly because reports suggest that chairman Daniel Levy is actively trying to find a buyer for the playmaker.

One report suggested that he actually phoned Real Madrid to offer the Spanish club the opportunity to secure Eriksen’s signature.

Of course, this comes after the midfielder revealed that he could leave the club this summer in the wake of the Champions League final.

Are Levy and Pochettino in disagreement, then? Football FanCast looks at three possible reasons for this apparent discrepancy below…

Division

Perhaps Pochettino does want to keep Eriksen around but Levy feels his time is up.

This would be worrying for Spurs fans; you want to have your chairman and your manager on the same page.

Levy, of course, is the deal maker and he has already secured the transfers of Tanguy Ndombele and Jack Clarke this summer.

Pochettino is said to be keen on a number of new signings, still, with Giovani Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon continually linked with the club.

Maybe the only way for those deals to happen is to sell a major star and reinvest the funds, but Pochettino could want to sign the two stars to play alongside Eriksen.

One has to feel that this isn’t the most likely explanation but it is certainly possible.

Smokescreen

Pochettino and Levy could well be on the same page and this is just a ploy to drum up more interest.

The Argentine talked up Eriksen’s skills in the interview and labelled him one of the best talents he has worked with.

That could well be Pochettino’s way of bringing in some enquiries from other clubs.

It does not appear very likely that Real will come knocking this summer – they have been heavily linked with Manchester United’s Paul Pogba – and maybe this is, essentially, a come-and-get-him plea to other clubs or at the very least, an attempt to sustain Eriksen’s value in the market with his contract winding down.

As previously mentioned, Pochettino seems to have his own targets and they will need funding. He will know that as well as Levy. Eriksen is the most saleable asset they currently have, but no club ever got a better deal by admitting they’re looking to cash-in.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Olive branch

No matter how hard they try, Spurs simply may not be able to sell Eriksen this summer.

Real seem to have other targets, he doesn’t seem very interested in Manchester United and there aren’t many other ways he can turn.

Indeed, Juventus have done a fair bit of business this summer, while Barcelona have signed Antoine Griezmann.

This, then, may well be an olive branch.

Eriksen did admit that he could well stay at Spurs if no interest is forthcoming and it seems like that scenario may well play out – as recently speculated by The Guardian.

As such, Pochettino will have to reintegrate him into his plans regardless of the number of transfers the club pull off in this window.

Talking him up is the perfect way to kickstart that process.

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Liverpool looked off the pace as they gave up a 3-0 defeat to Napoli this weekend.

The Reds faced the Naples outfit in Edinburgh and suffered yet another defeat, their third one so far this pre-season.

Jurgen Klopp clearly still has a lot of work to do before the 2019/20 Premier League season kicks off in couple of weeks, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom at Murrayfield stadium, as several young talents got some minutes under their belts.

Harvey Elliott, Liverpool’s newest signing, made his maiden appearance for the Reds after officially joining the club just hours before the match.

The 16-year-old prospect quickly took to

/B0eTgxSHer9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->Instagram to celebrate, as he posted with the caption: “Dream come true.”

And soon enough, some other youngsters replied to one of his first snaps as a Liverpool player to show their support.

Bobby Duncan and Rhian Brewster, two promising strikers, both sent their best wishes to the new signing, with Duncan in particular already clearly a big fan of the ex-Fulham teenager.

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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…

Mauricio Pochettino called on Tottenham Hotspur to change his job title earlier this week.

Fresh from beating Real Madrid 1-0 in a pre-season friendly, the Argentine was asked about transfers.

His answer emphasised his current frustrations.

He claimed he did not know anything about the way the club was conducting its business in the transfer market – so far they have signed Tanguy Ndombele from Lyon and Jack Clarke from Leeds United – and claimed that he feels like simply the club’s coach.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said, per the BBC: “I am only coaching them and trying to get the best from them.

“Sell, buy players, sign contract, not sign contract – I think it is not in my hands, it’s in the club’s hands and [chairman] Daniel Levy.

“The club needs to change my title and description. Of course, I am the boss deciding the strategic play, but in another area I don’t know. Today, I feel like I am the coach.”

In 2016, per the previously mentioned BBC report, when he signed a new contract at Spurs, Pochettino’s job title changed.

Initially hired as a head coach, he became the manager and said at the time: “We are agreed that it would be good, for myself, for the club, for all.

“It’s true that ‘manager’ is a word that means different things than head coach. Maybe I was always manager from the first day I arrived here – and maybe it describes my job better.”

Perhaps Pochettino was being forgetful.

But his words point to a wider theme of his own unhappiness.

Throughout the summer, the club have attempted to sign both Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso from Fulham and Real Betis respectively.

Sources have confirmed that the interest in the pair is genuine but negotiations appear to be dragging.

The talks for Lo Celso, indeed, have been ongoing for over a month.

Pochettino, perhaps, is growing tired with the way the deals are dragging. His pre-seasons are famous for their intensity and surely he will have wished to have the business sorted by now so that he can bring the new acquisitions up to speed.

Or, perhaps, the quotes are more alarming. Perhaps it is chairman Daniel Levy who is driving the business and Pochettino has no input whatsoever.

But that would be extreme and, really, remarkably unlikely.

The most logical explanation is that the former Southampton boss is simply tired of talking about transfers, particularly given that he is asked about potential deals in pretty much every press conference.

One has to wonder how Pochettino will react if no deals are done prior to next Thursday’s transfer deadline.

One thing is for sure; it will be explosive.

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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 to PA (via The Independent), former Tottenham captain Ledley King has insisted trophies should not be considered the barometer of success this season.

What did he say?

The north London side lost the Champions League final to Liverpool last time out, and are yet to win a piece of silverware under the management of Mauricio Pochettino.

Now, King has revealed simply improving should be deemed sufficient, as the competition to win trophies is increasingly “difficult”.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

He said: “It is important just to improve. We all want to win trophies, every team wants to win trophies, but it is not a given. It is very difficult and no-one has a given right to win anything. The team will be trying to compete on all fronts to win anything, but I don’t think you can judge the season on not winning a trophy.

“We will be able to look at the season as a whole and see what we have done. Last season was great for the club but we didn’t win a trophy, so I don’t think it can be judged like that. We all realise how difficult it is to win trophies at the moment – Manchester City won three last year, so the competition is very tough.”

Spurs need tangible success

For all of Pochettino’s great work, not winning a single trophy remains a bit of a black mark on his managerial reign. The north London side have arguably been England’s third-best side in recent seasons behind Manchester City and Liverpool, and were desperately close to ending their trophy hoodoo in the Champions League.

This summer’s spending has turned up the pressure on Spurs to deliver a trophy, and just another top-four finish may feel slightly underwhelming after the club’s European exploits last season. Pochettino’s side are in a hugely important stage, with the futures of Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld uncertain. Winning a cup or even the league could be the key to ensuring their best players stay at the club.

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