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According to reports in French publication FootMercato, Everton have turned down the chance to sign Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri, rated at £22.5m according to Transfermarkt, during the January transfer window.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Sky Sports reported on January 4 that the Toffees were one of a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing the 26-year-old, but FootMercato says that while the Ivory Coast international has been offered to Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City, Everton aren’t interested.

FootMercato reports that Sam Allardyce’s side are well stocked in central areas, and the manager is looking to sign attacking players and a centre-back this month instead.

How has Seri done this season?

He has been good, but not as impressive as last year.

The versatile player scored seven goals and provided a further nine assists in 34 Ligue 1 appearances last term from central and defensive midfield position, but he has scored just one goal and provided a further five assists in 21 outings this season, although the majority of those have come when he has been playing in a deeper role.

The Ivorian is known for his passing and his ability to create chances, as well as making interceptions in the middle of the park.

Are Everton right to not want him?

They certainly are.

The Toffees have plenty of options in the central midfield positions – Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gueye, Mo Besic, James McCarthy, Tom Davies, Wayne Rooney and Davy Klaassen can all play there if needed – and it is certainly an area that doesn’t need strengthening right now.

Could they target him in the future?

It seems unlikely, unless Morgan Schneiderlin or Idrissa Gueye leave either during the current window or in the summer.

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However, Seri has been heavily linked with an exit from Nice, and if that happens this month it will be too late by the summer for Everton anyway.

According to reports by Spanish media outlet Diario Gol, Arsenal are among the clubs interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, who is rated at €45m (approximately £39.7m) according to Transfermarkt, in the summer following the arrival of Philippe Coutinho at the Camp Nou over the weekend.

What’s the word, then?

Well, even though the Croatia international has been a regular for the La Liga leaders this season, Diario Gol says that he fears the signing of Coutinho will limit his playing time for the rest of this campaign and the next one, and he is exploring leaving in the summer.

Diario Gol claims that the Gunners, Premier League rivals Liverpool and Juventus all have offers on the table for the 29-year-old, but that he would prefer to wait until after representing his country at the World Cup in Russia this summer in order to receive more offers.

The report adds that an exit isn’t definite, and if the midfielder continues to play regularly in the second-half of the current season then he won’t be looking to move on.

How has Rakitic done this season?

He has done well, and showed his versatility.

The Croatian has often played in either a central or defensive midfield role for Barca this term, scoring one goal and providing a further three assists in 28 appearances in all competitions.

The 29-year-old started four of their six Champions League group stage matches – coming off of the substitutes’ bench in the other two – with his sole goal of the campaign coming in the impressive 3-0 win against Juventus on the opening matchday.

According to WhoScored.com, Rakitic has shown the quality he has on the ball with an average passing accuracy of 90.6% in La Liga and in Europe, while he has made 25 key passes in 24 outings across those two competitions.

Would he be a good signing for Arsenal?

He certainly could be, and he may even be handed a more offensive role if he did join the Gunners.

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With Arsene Wenger already having the likes of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey available to him in the middle, he may see Rakitic appearing in a more attacking position if he does bring the Croatian to the Emirates.

One concern for the north London outfit could be that he wouldn’t really be a signing for the future given he turns 30 years of age in March, but there is no doubting the ability he has on the ball and Arsenal will need guaranteed quality if the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil have left by the summer.

The 1-1 draw at St. Mary’s in Sunday’s 4pm kickoff was undoubtedly a frustrating experience for Tottenham fans. Mauricio Pochettino’s side entered the clash amid a run of eight wins in ten games across all competitions, but just couldn’t extend that to 9 in 11 versus a Southampton side who, despite gaining a point, find themselves in the relegation zone.

Somewhere in between a suspect playing surface, the absence of chief creator Christian Eriksen and a solid defensive performance from the home side, Tottenham failed to make further progress after a Harry Kane header cancelled out Davinson Sanchez’s own-goal opener.

And it appears no individual frustrated Southampton more than Moussa Sissoko, who hasn’t exactly been a beacon of popularity since joining the north London club from Newcastle in summer 2016. In fact, when we asked Spurs fans to rate each individual performance against Southampton out of ten, the 53-cap Frenchman picked up an average score of just 3.1 – the worst of any Tottenham player and even lower than what their three substitutes received.

The statistics, though, suggest that meagre rating is somewhat harsh. Sissoko actually created the most chances, four, of any player on the pitch and made the most tackles, three, of any Tottenham star. So, Spurs fans, do you think Sissoko is treated unfairly by some supporters? Let us know by commenting below…

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Anthony Martial has become quite the fan favourite at Manchester United this season.

The Frenchman had to fight his way into Jose Mourinho’s team after being left out of the squad a handful of times.

In the current campaign, the attacker has been thriving, scoring 11 goals and creating six assists in 34 appearances – 21 starts – in all competitions.

This week, the Frenchman was named United’s Player of the Month for January due to his impressive form, which included three goals and two assists.

As expected, the fans were delighted that the 22-year-old was handed the gong, but some were left disappointed with his thank-you message to the supporters.

The former Monaco star said all the right things, but a handful of United’s following were irked by the fact that he did not speak French.

Martial has been living in England for the past two-and-a-half years, but his video message indicates that he is not 100% comfortable speaking the local language.

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Some supporters have been left less than impressed.

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The Sun’s Neil Ashton was roundly mocked this week for an article in which he favourably compared the present Spurs side with Busby’s Babes and Bill Shankly’s great Liverpool side. English football was entering a golden age, the tabloid’s chief football reporter trumpeted, while strongly alluding that this was directly due to the rise of Mauricio Pochettino’s men.

The Premier League should ‘cherish, encourage, and embrace’ them. They are ‘irresistible’. He ended his puffed-up piece of propagandising by insisting that we all watch this incredible team while we had the chance.

Yet Ashton’s ludicrous hyperbole was hardly an outlier. Across all media platforms Tottenham are praised to the rafters with such casual regularity these days that a newbie to the sport would assume it is they who have made this season’s title race a one-team formality and not Manchester City. For the record Spurs are twenty points shy of the top and are currently lying outside of a Champions League spot, one point behind a Chelsea team deemed to be in entrenched crisis.

The press’ enthralment of Spurs is hardly a new phenomenon of course with the North London club long said to have benefited from positive coverage in comparison to their rivals. The timing of its escalation though is puzzling even when recent impressive performances away to Liverpool and Juventus and at home to Arsenal and Manchester United are factored in. In recent seasons they have been in genuine contention to win their first league title for over 65 years.

Now they are hopelessly adrift of that aspiration and furthermore are on course to only match their second worst league placing since 2009. In the last few days alone two journalists have confided to me that they are absolutely perplexed by their colleagues’ decision to ramp up the Tottenham love-in now of all times.

If it is somewhat galling to see the continued excellence of this excellent 11  portrayed in an exaggerated fashion that is nothing in relation to when it is broken down further to the biased representation of its players. The beatification of Harry Kane is one thing but at least the striker justifies his acclaim on a weekly basis with goal after goal after goal. Dele Alli however does not have the performances to back up the hype. Not this season. Far from it.

The attacking midfielder has always included a good portion of rough with the smooth, an ‘edge’ to his game that pundits and journalists alike could excuse when his form was exceptional with the reasoning that it was necessary to fire him up a level. That reasoning incidentally was never less than nonsense at the best of times. Only now it’s anything but the best of times for the 21-year-old and with the player a shadow of his former self his proclivity to indulge in football’s dark arts has really come to the fore.

It is fair to suggest that if this nose-dive in form and reckless elevation of ego had combined in any other previously over-hyped English star the press would delight in their favourite sport of Tall Poppying, laying into the player with unsavoury relish. Yet in the case of Alli he ‘needs to cut that part of his game out’ apparently. Two weeks ago at Anfield he even received contrary praise for admitting and apologising for a dive so startlingly blatant even Donald Trump would have held his hands up to.

The last home-grown player to enjoy such unaccountability was a young Wayne Rooney. Rooney was ten times the player Alli is at a similar age.

It does not take the mind of a conspiracy theorist to work out why this is so. Alli cannot be considered a popular player among neutrals and in fact the very opposite applies. He does however play for Tottenham Hotspur.

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If coverage of this modern Spurs side can be viewed as generously enthusiastic then the same cannot be said of their depiction on social media. There – presumably as a direct reaction to the flowery prose and smitten glances encountered everywhere else – it slants too unfairly towards the negative given their establishment as a force to be reckoned with in recent years. Spurs are damned for being ‘bottlers’. They are derided for an absence of silverware. They are ‘Spursy’.

This begs the question – why can’t Pochettino’s team be reasonably estimated? Why can’t it ever be somewhere in-between with considerable admiration for the outstanding work done by the Argentine during his three-and-a-half years at the Lane coupled with a recognition that for all of their strengths, collective and individually, there appears to be an – admittedly high – glass ceiling to their ability?

Perhaps this is illustrative of where we are now in football with nuance and reason discarded for only extremes. It does need pointing out though that considering where the main section of Spurs’ cheerleaders reside the charge that they don’t win anything is unfounded. They’ve won the Media Cup now for three years running, on this occasion uncontested.

For the first time this season, Jürgen Klopp may have every senior player available for selection on Saturday.

At a time of the season usually renowned for injuries and fatigue, Liverpool welcome Newcastle to Anfield this weekend with a clean bill of health. Several reds missed last week’s clash with West Ham due to illness, but the return of Jordan Henderson and Nathaniel Clyne to full training this week means Klopp has a full squad to choose from.

While the front three pretty much picks itself for the Reds, there is still plenty of debate about the midfield and defence. Joe Gomez has spent a lot of time at right back this season, but has lost his place in recent weeks to Trent Alexander-Arnold due to injury.

Newcastle’s visit to Anfield seems like the right time to reinstall Gomez into the back line. Alexander-Arnold, valued at £7.20 million on Transfermarkt, has been in fine form recently, but 20 year-old Gomez offers a bit more defensive stability.

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Alexander-Arnold’s attacking intent has been valuable this season, especially when teams sit deep like Rafa Benitez’s men probably will, but they will also look to use either Christian Atsu or new signing Kenedy as an outlet on the left. Gomez could prevent this threat.

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Gomez could also benefit from getting 90 minutes on his return from injury, with Klopp likely to select the more defensive option when the Reds visit Old Trafford next weekend.

So, Liverpool fans, should Joe Gomez replace Alexander-Arnold on Saturday? Let us know by voting below…

Former Everton youngster Oliver Shannon has revealed that he still has ambitions of turning out for the Toffees despite his early release from the Merseyside club.

Shannon was on Everton’s books between the ages of five and 18, but left the club after failing to win a professional contract.

The midfielder, who is now 22 years old, has spent the last three years playing for College team Clemson Tigers in South Carolina.

Shannon was selected by Atalanta United in January’s Major League Soccer SuperDraft, however, where he will play under former Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino.

Despite his big break arriving in the United States, the midfielder has revealed that his ‘dream’ is to return to Everton at some point in the future.

Shannon told the Liverpool Echo:

“My highlight in America so far is definitely graduation. My dream job in the future would be a sporting director or general manager – over here or back home – or something where you can combine scouting with the commercial role.

“But for now, I’m single and can definitely see myself coming back. I would like to return and play and as high as I could. The dream is obviously still to play for Everton. Whether I do that or not remains to be seen.”

Everton, who have recently been linked with a shock move for Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, are back in action at home to Brighton & Hove Albion this weekend.

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The Toffees are currently on a run of three defeats in their last four Premier League matches.

New Southampton manager Mark Hughes will look to lead the club to the semi-finals of the FA Cup in his first match in charge when the Premier League strugglers face League One high-flyers Wigan Athletic at the DW Stadium on Sunday.

A 3-0 defeat in what looked to be a must-win top flight clash against Newcastle United last weekend saw Mauricio Pellegrino relieved of his duties, and it was a long time coming considering Saints have now won just one of their last 17 league games.

That crushing loss left them just one point above the relegation zone with eight matches remaining, and they look to be in real danger of dropping into the Championship given the fact that five of those fixtures are away, while they also have to host Chelsea and Manchester City at St Mary’s.

Hughes, who took his first training session on Thursday, will know the tough task that lies ahead of him, but first he will look to receive a confidence booster in the most famous domestic cup competition in the world, with an opportunity for the south coast outfit to reach the last four for the first time since they got to the final in 2003.

It certainly won’t be an easy task against the Latics however, who remain on course for automatic promotion to the Championship and have already seen off Premier League opposition in Bournemouth, West Ham United and Manchester City in the FA Cup on their own patch this season.

Pellegrino made two changes from the side that drew with Stoke City at St Mary’s for the long trip to St James’ Park last weekend, and following such a disappointing display where some players appeared to give up, Hughes will be thinking about making changes to the XI on Sunday.

Here is how Southampton must line up against Wigan, ahead of Alex McCarthy in goal…

Pellegrino’s first-choice back four in recent weeks has been Cedric Soares, Jack Stephens, Wesley Hoedt and Ryan Bertrand, and unless any of them pick up knocks in the build up to the match then Hughes should stick with them.

While the full-backs’ spots look to be particularly safe, the return of Maya  from injury could throw a spanner into the works at the DW Stadium, but the new Southampton boss should look to go with the quartet that have played together consistently in 2018.

Pellegrino decided to drop Oriol Romeu for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at St James’ Park with the Spaniard one yellow card away from a two-match ban, and just because he has generally looked a little off the pace in recent weeks.

It was probably the right decision by the Argentine boss, but both the Dane and central midfield partner Mario Lemina had a nightmare in the first-half against Newcastle, and must improve significantly at the DW Stadium.

Hughes shouldn’t risk playing Romeu given he will be needed in the Premier League, while the 54-year-old should finally look to move away from the 4-2-3-1 system that has proved so unsuccessful this term.

Instead he should go with more of a 4-2-2-2 formation, with Nathan Redmond and youngster Josh Sims, who the fans have been impressed with in recent weeks, on the wings to bring pace and a counter-attacking threat against the League One high-flyers.

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Too often this season under Pellegrino the lone striker in the 4-2-3-1 system was left far too isolated, and it is something that Hughes must look to change in their final nine matches this season.

Despite failing to score in his first eight appearances for the club, the Welsh manager should keep the faith with club-record buy Guido Carrillo up top at the DW Stadium because of the physical presence he has, but he should look to play Manolo Gabbiadini, who the fans are desperate to see start matches, alongside him to try and bring that added attacking threat.

That change would see Dusan Tadic drop to the substitutes’ bench, and the Serbia international could have few arguments seeing as he hasn’t been performing at his best over the course of the last 18 months, and was taken off at half-time against Newcastle last weekend.

Do you agree, Saints fans? Let us know below.

England’s two friendlies were supposed to give Gareth Southgate a clearer picture of who should and shouldn’t be part of his World Cup plans.

But if anything, the 1-0 win over the Netherlands and the 1-1 draw with Italy only highlighted the impressive array of options the Three Lions boast in a somewhat unorthodox 3-5-2 formation.

Southgate’s setup put offensive-minded players in favourable positions, allowing them to roam and break forward from practically any area of the pitch.

Key to that though, is the balance provided by the holding player at the base of midfield – something Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier both did to good effect against Oranje and Azzurri respectively.

Indeed, the 37-cap Liverpool captain provided a real platform in midfield as England beat the Netherlands on Friday night, especially in terms of possession. In addition to winning the ball back with three assists, he completed 95% of his passes, including 16 long balls, and registered the most passes of any England player – an impressive 91.

But the Tottenham utility man, who Transfermarkt value at £36million, was given his audition against Italy and produced an equally solid display.

Although he was less influential in terms of winning the ball, registering just one tackle and one interception, he added aerial protection in front of the defence and was metronomic on the ball as well – completing 92% of his passes and recording the most touches of any England player.

With both holding options showing the solidity and vital balance they can offer this incredibly mobile and fluid in England team, Southgate is left with a key decision to make for the World Cup – especially if he sticks with a 3-5-2 system that allows for only one defensive midfielder.

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So, England fans, who do you think is the better option? Let us know by voting below…

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Paul Heckingbottom says he is still deciding who to keep or sell this summer, and fans have been recommending plenty of names to put in the sell category.

When Paul Heckingbottom replaced Thomas Christiansen in February, fans expected a bit of a bounce from the new manager at the very least.

That didn’t happen though, and Leeds have gone from playoff hopefuls to mid-table obscurity in the space of a few months.

Since Heckingbottom took over, his side have won just twice, but while plenty are calling for the 40 year-old to leave this summer, many fans are hopeful he can make a positive impact with a full transfer window under his belt.

The ex-Barnsley man insisted at his pre-Sunderland press conference on Thursday that they are purely focused on the impending games, but also admitted he is considering his options for next season.

Several players have taken a lot of stick from supporters in the second half of the season, and deservedly so.

Fans have been reacting to Heckingbottom’s comments on Twitter, and it seems they are expecting a massive squad overhaul this summer.

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Some of the best reactions can be found below…

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