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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…

West Bromwich Albion may currently be competing in the English second tier, but that hasn’t stopped them from ranking amongst the elite on one particular spectrum.

Slaven Bilic’s side are attempting to return to the promised land of the Premier League this season, and they appear to be right on track as they sit top of the table going into the third international break of the season.

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Despite enduring a second year away from the glamour the top-flight can bring, the club are still one of the most efficient providers of talent for the England national team.

Albion rank tenth from a total of 143 clubs, both domestically and abroad, that have ever supplied the Three Lions.

Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool sit top with 78 and 74 apiece with the Baggies seeing 44 players earn a call-up.

This should offer up serious encouragement going forward as it goes to show that the Hawthorns can be a place where British talent can thrive, which is in no doubt aided by the phenomenal academy setup at the club.

West Brom are renowned for their development squads, which has seen the likes of Rekeem Harper, Kyle Edwards, and Nathan Ferguson all breakthrough into the first team in recent years.

These players have also started to gain international recognition, meaning one day they could go on to add to that total of 44, especially if the Baggies can win promotion this campaign.

The exploits of Ferguson (England U20s), Edwards (U20s) and Grady Diangana (U21s) should be the perfect motivation for those in the academy ranks to remain at the club while those from further afield that may get the opportunity to join the club can see that it may eventually pay dividends.

Gareth Barry has made the most England caps of any player in this West Brom side with 53 appearances.

Aston Villa’s promotion-winning season from the Championship saw a number of loan players play a vital role in Dean Smith’s side returning to the Premier League.

The likes of Tyrone Mings, Anwar El Ghazi and Kourtney Hause have all signed permanent terms since, but one loanee who returned to their parent club has just been given a wave of appreciation from a number of Villa’s fanbase.

Axel Tuanzebe, 22, made 27 league starts for the West Midlands side during the 2018/19 campaign, playing a highly influential role in their promotion via the Championship play-off final.Â

Thursday witnessed the birthday of the Manchester United defender and that led to many Villa supporters praising his contribution to their current status as a top-flight team.

Although Tuanzebe may not currently be plying his trade in B6, these fans have certainly not forgotten his influence over their promotion-winning season.

Here are some of the best reactions following an official club tweet from Villa wishing the former loanee well on his 22nd birthday.Â

A number of Rangers fans have criticised James Tavernier for his performance in Sunday’s 3-1 win over Hamilton Academical in the Scottish Premiership.

Ryan Kent netted twice for Steven Gerrard’s side whilst Ryan Jack was also on the scoresheet as the visitors recorded their 11th league win of the campaign.

That said, despite the importance of the victory, a number of Rangers fans took to social media to slam Tavernier for his defensive performance.

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Just last month, a number of the Scottish club’s fans criticised the Englishman’s showing against Hearts, with one supporter branding the 6-foot defender “horrendous”.

And now many more have reacted negatively to the 28-year-old’s outing against Hamilton, which came just two weeks before the Scottish League Cup final against Celtic.

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Despite the result being a huge positive for Gerrard’s team, the fans were not best pleased with their number two to say the absolute least.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

Loads of Newcastle fans have been reacting to a transfer link to Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard, who The Chronicle believe could be the “perfect fit” for the Magpies.

According to The Daily Star, via @NUFC360, the Tyneside outfit have identified ‘French Eddie’, as he is affectionately known by Celtic fans, as the man to solve their goalscoring woes.

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Steve Bruce has reportedly held a number of video calls with the club’s transfer team in the past few weeks, and Celtic would likely accept an offer in the region of £30m, and it seems the St. James’ Park faithful believe he would be a better option than Rangers’ Alfredo Morelos, who was also linked this weekend.

The Chronicle have added their take on the links, claiming the Hoops starlet is “perfect” for Bruce’s side. Indeed, the 22 year-old links up with his teammates well, can come short or burst in behind, and most importantly he scores goals, bagging 27 in all competitions this season as well as a remarkable 19 assists, per Transfermarkt.

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Plenty of fans are excited by the links, with one member of the Toon Army hailing the “beast” while another dreamed about his link-up with fellow Frenchman Allan Saint-Maximin…

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According to The Express and Star, Crystal Palace are confident they will complete their move for Nathan Ferguson when the transfer window opens this summer.

What’s the word?

The West Brom starlet was ever so close to a move to Selhurst Park in the January transfer window, with a reported £10m fee being agreed by the two sides.

However, the deal collapsed at the final minute when Palace appeared to pick up a problem with the defender’s knee during his medical examination – Ferguson has since undergone surgery to solve it.

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Now, The Express and Star claim that with Ferguson’s contract set to expire in the summer, he is “destined to continue his career elsewhere”, and that Palace are confident they will finally get their man.

Moving on

Well, it appears the Ferguson saga is finally set to reach its end over these coming months.

Whilst the Baggies may have harboured hopes of retaining him for the long-term after his switch to Palace in the January transfer window fell through, this latest developments means they can finally start drawing up plans for the future.

The uncertainty surrounding him up to this point would have made it difficult for Slaven Bilic to truly start thinking about next season, and even for figuring out what their transfer plans should look like.

But if it’s now understood that Ferguson will leave, and will join Palace for a big-money deal, then Bilic can start planning on how to reinvest that potential money and which areas need strengthening ahead of their possible return to the Premier League for next season.

Meanwhile, West Brom should make keeping this man their priority.

If the rumours linking Liverpool with a move for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly are true, the Reds would surely boast one of, if not the most, dominant central defensive partnership in European football.

Jurgen Klopp’s side already possess an elite centre-back in Virgil van Dijk, who only narrowly missed out on the coveted Ballon d’Or award last year.

And yet, despite having the best defensive record in the Premier League with just 21 goals conceded this season, it appears Klopp has set his sights on making his back-line even more formidable.

According to Italian publication Tuttomercatoweb, the Reds have earmarked Koulibaly to be Van Dijk’s partner at the back at Anfield, and that Joel Matip could be sold in order to make room for the Senegal international.

After hearing about the links to the defender, Liverpool fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their latest transfer target.

A couple of fans suggested that Klopp should stick with Joe Gomez as Van Dijk’s centre-back partner instead, and that they didn’t need Koulibaly.

What a partnership this could be.

If you thought the Reds’ defence was a force of nature before, then adding someone like Koulibaly would almost be unfair to the rest of the Premier League.

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It’s no surprise many Liverpool fans are so keen for him to join this summer.

Meanwhile, Jamie Carragher has given his verdict on this Liverpool starlet.

As the proposed takeover in the North East draws nearer to completion, the Saudi-led consortium, headhunted by the country’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and backed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), will surely be looking for a marquee signing in the upcoming summer transfer window to mark a new era at St. James’ Park.

The would-be owners, comprising also of businesswoman Amanda Staveley and the billionaire Reuben brothers, should look no further than former Tottenham Hotspur ace Gareth Bale.

As per ChronicleLive, odds have tumbled on Bale returning to the Premier League this summer, with Newcastle United his most likely destination according to the bookies.

According to the latest odds from Betfair, the Tyneside club are now 4/1 to complete the signing of the 30-year old this summer, with a move to any MLS Team priced at 6/1.

Manchester United have also been linked with Bale, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are 7/1 to capture his signature this summer, while a return to Spurs is 10/1.

The Welsh international does not have to prove himself in the top flight, having scored 43 goals and provided 31 assists in 146 appearances across six seasons (via BBC).

Whilst he may cost the club a fair bit to sign, indeed he is valued at £28.8m by Transfermarkt, the prospective new owners will have plenty of money at their disposable, making the Welshman potentially an affordable target.

Given his history in the game so far, including his excellent record in the English top flight, NUFC’s prospective buyers could certainly do worse than making Bale their marquee signing to bring in the new era.

Geordies, do you think Bale still has what it takes to succeed in the Prem? Comment below!

This article forms part of our Profit Players feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how well a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how good of a deal the club managed to achieve.