After a week of concerning rumours for Liverool, suggesting that their star player could be on the way out of the club with Barcelona sniffing for his signature, Reds fans are on high alert for any comments or speculation regarding the 25-year-old.Now, to fend off any potential interest, Liverpool have reportedly slapped a £134million price tag on their attacking midfielder.While most fans on Merseyside consider this valuation about right for the Brazilian, one former player believes that £80million would be good value for Coutinho.Speaking on talkSPORT, Danny Murphy stated his thoughts on the matter saying;“If they’re talking about £199m for Neymar, you can’t put Coutinho in Neymar’s league at the moment.“He’s not worth £150m, could they get £100m for him? Maybe.“If Barca are prepared to pay over £80m for Coutinho, I think that’s good business.”Clearly not happy with their former players comments, Liverpool fans took to Twitter to express their dismay…

Some Tottenham Hotspur fans may have still been mourning the loss of Kyle Walker following the right-back’s impressive performance for new club Manchester City on Saturday, but he was soon forgotten by the end of the weekend.

The reason being the performance of Kyle Walker-Peters, who took the vacancy for Sunday’s Premier League opener against Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

The 20-year-old, who joined Spurs’ academy in 2013, made his top-flight debut and ended the 2-0 win with Sky Sports’ Man of the Match award.

Kieran Tripper’s injury meant that Walker-Peters was called into action, and even though it is early days, the youngster has given manager Mauricio Pochettino something to think about.

Dele Alli and Ben Davies got on the scoresheet for Tottenham, but the focus was on Walker-Peters, who has made a case for being included in the club’s clash against Chelsea at Wembley this Sunday.

After the match, the young defender took to Twitter, and the fans responded with praise.

As reported by Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport, Juventus will return to Liverpool in January in an attempt to woo Emre Can away from Anfield.

What’s the story?

As the club try to put the Philippe Coutinho summer transfer drama behind them and move on, it seems they could be heading for another transfer showdown in January.

Corriere dello Sport report that Italian giants Juventus will look to exploit the fact Emre Can’s contract is expiring to attempt to sign him in January, where they could land his signature on a pre-contract.

Can’s deal is up next summer and Liverpool have not yet managed to agree terms on extending his stay at the club.

How important is he?

Can played in the vast majority of Liverpool’s English Premier League matches last term, 32 in total, and often provided the kind of all-round midfield display at the Reds will need if they’re to compete for silverware again this season.

Performances like the one in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last year and against Arsenal recently point to a player that on his day can be one of Liverpool’s best, linking defence and attack expertly.

This season he’s started in sparkling form and the last thing fans want is to see him leave the club. They’ll be seeking improvement to the squad, rather than see their best talent cherry picked to clubs around Europe.

Keeping him on Merseyside by persuading him to sign a new deal must be a massive priority for the Reds this Autumn.

The Tottenham fans in the Transfer Tavern are glad that their side has placed a strong focus on the future of the club…

Whilst emphasising the present, Tottenham have been sure to recruit well in recent years, both in terms of quality and potential. Big players like Dele Alli and Eric Dier have moved to London as young professionals, only to hone their craft at the club.

Not only does this keep costs down, but it also allows the club to plan ahead – with both players able to play on at the top for the best part of a decade if Tottenham hang on to them.

It’s become a theme of their transfer policy as of late, and it’s a tactic that is reportedly leading to them keeping an eye on a very talented young forward. Currently playing for SM Caen, Elye Wahi is the player in question according to Le Parisien, with the attacker drawing attention after scoring 89 goals last season.

Significantly, he is just 14-years-old, and so he’s unlikely to make it onto our TVs for quite a while yet, but Tottenham are already looking to the future by keeping an eye on him.

He can’t be signed for a few years yet, but that won’t stop them from scouting him – and last season he looked very good indeed. Anything can happen as teenagers grow older, but the signs are all there that he will become a top player

Landlord’s Verdict

Tottenham has been a fantastic hub for young talent to hone their craft lately, and so a move to White Hart Lane could be attractive.

That said, there are a host of clubs reportedly keen on him, and so a move won’t be easy.

There is no rush to sign him, of course, so Pochettino won’t be worried about losing him just yet.

Tottenham fans – thoughts?

Let us know below!

Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is never far from the headlines where the club are concerned.

A report in The Times claim that the businessman wants to open talks with manager Rafael Benitez about a new contract at St James’ Park.

The Spaniard’s current deal does not expire until the end of next season, but it is believed that Ashley wants to secure the coach’s future.

According to The Times, the club owner has invited Benitez out for dinner to discuss a potential new contract, and it is believed that the ex-Liverpool manager will not make a decision until he learns of Ashley’s plans for the club.

There were concerns that Benitez could quit during the summer after he made it clear that he was unsatisfied with the club’s transfer activity.

However, the 57-year-old has remained committed to the Magpies, and now the fans are mulling over these latest reports that Ashley wants to open contract talks.

Yannick Bolasie has not played for Everton since December last year, but it looks as though he is edging closer to a return.

The 28-year-old suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury 10 months ago after making 16 appearances for the Toffees following a £25m switch from Crystal Palace.

It was a hammer blow to the winger, who had impressed in the early stages of his Everton career.

Now that Ronald Koeman’s side are struggling to pick up points – only seven from seven games in the Premier League – the fans are more desperate than ever to see Bolasie return.

The team have lacked cutting edge in the final third following the sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United in the summer.

Wayne Rooney and Sandro Ramirez were bought as attacking options, but so far the team are struggling for goals having scored just four in the top flight.

In an interview with evertontv, Bolasie has spoken positively about his return to action now that he is able to train at Finch Farm.

As expected, Everton fans were very happy with what they heard, and some could not resist launching a dig at Koeman.

This morning The Mirror (via The Times) reported that Jack Wilshere is considering quitting Arsenal in January in the hope he could force his way in to Gareth Southgate’s World Cup plans.

Wilshere’s injury problems over the last few years have seriously hindered his development and prevented him from reaching the heights expected of him when he first broke in to the Arsenal first team.

But will a permanent move away from Arsenal really open up doors for Wilshere, or is it too late for him to earn an international call up ahead of next summer’s World Cup?

Here are the thoughts of Football FanCast’s writers…

Matt Law

The fact that Jack Wilshere is even being considered for the World Cup at this stage says more about England than it does about the 25-year-old.

Wilshere is never going to become the player that many thought he would, but with England desperately short of quality in midfield, there is a case for him to travel to the World Cup.

If Wilshere leaves Arsenal in January and has an injury-free second half to the season, he should make the trip to Russia. There is no doubt about that for me.

James Beavis

With England lacking any sort of creative spark or quality in central midfield from the likes of Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson and Jake Livermore right now, if – and with Wilshere it is always a very big if – the 25-year-old moves on during the January transfer window and proves his fitness and quality during the second half of the season, then he has to be in the squad for Russia.

He offers something that no other Three Lions midfielder – aside from perhaps Adam Lallana – does, but he must stay injury free otherwise it is a risk that Gareth Southgate won’t be willing to take.

Danielle Joynson

Southgate will already have an idea of who he wants to take to Russia, and even if Wilshere does seal a move away from Arsenal in January he would need to be playing regularly and be an influential figure on the pitch to be considered for the England squad. Given his lengthy injury record, I just can’t see that happening.

Plus, I have always been baffled by suggestions that the midfielder can still become an England great. That ship has sailed.

John McGinley

Jack Wilshere has a perception problem. Fans, pundits and media see him as a has-been at the age of just 25 and whether that’s unfair or not it will impact on his World Cup selection. I can’t see him having a good enough season at Arsenal or elsewhere from January to change that.

Long-term he can rebound, short-term he doesn’t stand a chance of that, especially on the international scene.

Christy Malyan

Jack Wilshere will never become the world-class midfielder heralded of him during his younger years.

That being said he still possesses the creative spark to turn dominance of possession into a vibrant attacking performance, which is exactly what the Three Lions lacked throughout qualifying. The World Cup, though, is a different animal altogether. England may face one or two smaller nations who will look to keep ten men behind the ball, but Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier will be much more appropriate against high-quality opposition.

Which all begs the question of whether Wilshere can justify a place in the squad for potentially just one game. That will depend on the complexion of England’s group, but also whether Wilshere is fully match fit.

It’s hard to remember the last time England didn’t take a chance by bringing at least one unfit player to a major tournament; and it’s equally hard to remember a time when it actually worked out.

Unless Wilshere ends the season match sharp, Southgate needs to search elsewhere for more flair in deep midfield.

Amid an era in which any manager to oversee a contained performance is labelled a pragmatist, often accusatively, we sometimes forget what that word actually means.

The Oxford Dictionary definition is simple; “Dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.” In Premier League managerial terms, that translates as strategising in accordance to the opposition and situation at hand rather than allowing yourself to be dictated by sometimes irrational ideals.

Last month, that was the apparent justification for Manchester United’s laborious scoreless draw at Anfield and scrappy win over Tottenham Hotspur, the pragmatic perspective assumed from Jose Mourinho being that the Red Devils couldn’t afford to drop three points to a divisional rival and thus took the must-not-concede rather than must-score approach.

But if Mourinho is the Premier League’s chief pragmatist as often declared, then he will surely sense Chelsea’s vulnerability and the unignorable opportunity to exploit it when his side travel to Stamford Bridge on Sunday. It can’t be another case of United eking out another acceptable result against another member of the big six with another defensive performance.

Through worrying form, Chelsea represent a realistic chance to earn three points off a divisional rival, knock a team out of the title race and make a statement to Manchester City. A more cautious approach, and Mourinho is no less an idealist than the many ideological managers he’s often billed as the champion of defying.

The notion of Chelsea’s inconsistent results stemming from an unsettled camp has been over-pronounced. It’s rare the west London club are ever completely settled and even on route to the title last term, there was constant in-fighting between Diego Costa and Antonio Conte. Crises are nothing new for the reigning champions – in fact, it’s usually when they tend thrive.

But there is no question the Blues are on the ropes after a 3-0 romping at the hands of Roma last night, knowing another huge blow domestically will send them spiralling away from title contention. They’re already nine points behind Manchester City, haven’t produced a truly convincing performance since beating Atletico Madrid in September and showed how drastically confidence has diminished amongst the squad in the second-half at the Stadio Olimpico.

And the biggest problems are in defence. Compared to how untouchable their three centre-backs and two wing-backs were last season, we’ve already seen Conte start five different players at centre-half and three different players on the right in the Premier League – let alone the in-game changes he’s made like throwing Willian or Pedro out wide for extra creativity.

That inconsistency in personnel, combined with the absence of the imperious N’Golo Kante in midfield and an abundant lack of organisation, has seen the Blues concede 13 goals in their last six games and keep just a single clean sheet. The performance against Roma, in which Chelsea allowed a particularly sloppy second goal, was their worst defensive display yet this season and probably since Conte took the job in 2016.

Manchester United’s potency has waned since their decimating form at the start of the campaign – they too appear short of form. But in Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford particularly, Mourinho has more than enough attacking quality at his disposal to cause Chelsea’s defence similar problems and capitalise on what is proving to be Conte’s most troubled stretch as the now-United gaffer’s successor.

A true pragmatist in the purest sense of the word, if that’s what Mourinho is, will surely recognise that. Of course, Chelsea still have fantastic quality going forward – it’s what has seen them manage three wins from that run of six games – and as previously mentioned, the west Londoners are arguably at their best when their backs are to the wall.

But for a team with United’s robustness defensively and sheer dynamism going forward, Chelsea are clearly there for the taking. Playing for the draw in the manner we saw at Anfield would be an invaluable opportunity missed – and one that could prove incredibly costly come the end of May.

Indeed, there are clear mathematical reasons why United should be playing for the win too. They’re also playing catch-up with Manchester City who will surely make relatively light work of Arsenal at the Eithad Stadium on Sunday and Pep Guardiola’s side have already claimed a win at Stamford Bridge this term. If Mourinho intends to draw on the road with all the big six this season, City need just one more away victory to surpass their total against the same opposition.

In other words, the title race will boil down to how City fare at home against the big six compared to United at Old Trafford and against the rest of the Premier League. Evidence thus far suggests Guardiola’s boys will be nothing short of perfectly imperious on both fronts. United, though, have already dropped points to Huddersfield and Stoke.

No doubt, there will be other occasions this season in which setting up not to concede is the logical approach against high-quality opposition away from home, as we saw from United at Anfield, but Chelsea’s poor form means Sunday isn’t one of them. Sticking to that strategy regardless of circumstance and form is surely as idealist as Jurgen Klopp’s unwavering faith in gegenpressing, Guardiola’s insistence upon dominating the ball and Arsene Wenger’s belief in Arsenal’s free-flowing game.

It’s defensiveness for the sake of defensiveness, a draw against divisional rivals for the sake of a draw. It’s still a philosophy, in terms of both playing style and the mathematical theory behind winning a title, just not in the expansive, entertaining manner we usually associate with that phrase.

Out of form, off the boil and porous at the back, the pragmatic approach to Sunday’s game is playing for all three points. In fact, it’s more than that; it’s aiming to humiliate the Blues on their own patch, to knock them out of the title race and to make a statement to the rest of the contenders. Mourinho might not get a better opportunity to do that away from home this season – a true pragmatist will surely take it.

Leeds United fans are having a difficult time in the Championship of late given that the team have lost six of their last seven games.

Everything started brightly for Thomas Christiansen and the players as they went on a seven-game unbeaten run.

In that time, the team scored 14 goals and conceded just two, but that form went out the window by mid-September.

The club were in and around the automatic promotion places, but they have now dropped to 10th in the table, three points adrift of the playoff spots and 10 behind the top two.

On Saturday, the misery continued as the club took on Brentford at Griffin Park against a team that had picked up just four wins in 15 matches.

Ezgjan Alioski managed to cancel out Brentford’s opener, but goals from Yoann Barbet and Ryan Woods in the final 10 minutes plus stoppage time gave the hosts victory.

On Leeds’ official Twitter page, a video of the game’s main moments was posted, much to the fans’ dismay.

Emre Can’s contract situation must be a concern on Merseyside. The Liverpool midfielder is clearly a favourite of Jurgen Klopp’s, often called upon to feature in the big games, but his current deal is due to expire at the end of the season.

And with recent reports claiming the German international is demanding around £150k per week to stay on Merseyside, there’s a very real prospect that Liverpool will begrudgingly decide to cash in on him in January, rather than risk losing him for free in the summer.

That, however, could open a new door for Liverpool; Sport believe Liverpool and Chelsea are the two best-placed sides to sign Schalke’s highly-rated midfielder Leon Goretzka and selling Can could provide the funds to secure his services – especially with the 6 foot 2 German’s contract also winding down.

With that in mind, we recently asked Liverpool fans whether they’d back selling Can to fund a deal for his compatriot and according to our poll, a whopping 90% would. That’s some endorsement of the 22-year-old, but where would he fit into Liverpool’s starting XI? Let us know by commenting below…