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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…

Darren Bent has told Football Insider that the reason Rangers still have their club captain James Tavernier is that foreign clubs overlook the level of Scottish football.

What’s he said?

Tavernier has been the subject of interest from at least ten clubs across Europe, per a previous Football Insider report, yet looks like staying at Ibrox. This has bemused the former Spurs and Charlton forward, who clearly rates the goalscoring prowess of Steven Gerrard’s right-back.

Bent believes the perceptions of football in Scotland are ignorant, stating: “You’ll get a striker who scores goals in Scotland and they’ll go: ‘Yeah but it’s just Scotland.’

“I’ve always said to myself that’s unfair. They’re still producing the goods, they’ve still got to score the goals.

“For a right-back, that (his goals and assists record) is absolutely insane. It is surprising that no one else has come in for him.”

The pundit makes reference to the former Newcastle defender’s attacking output last season, and quite rightly too. Tavernier scored 17 goals and assisted a further 20 in 57 appearances in Gerrard’s first season in control at Ibrox.

Long may the ignorance continue

Bent nails it with his damning comments on the attitudes towards Scottish football, but it shouldn’t be taken as a negative.

For a long time, the talents of Premiership players have been undervalued by clubs not just abroad, but in this very country. John McGinn left Hibs for Aston Villa for a £2.75m fee, a fee Celtic haggled over and then ultimately lost out on a brilliant player as a result. Fast-forward 12 months and Villa are valuing him at £50m amid interest from Manchester United.

This sort of mark-up isn’t uncommon – see Champions of Europe Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson – so it’s no great leap to suggest that players north of the border are undervalued until they show how good they are south of the border.

This attitude is exactly what Bent mentions, and from a Rangers perspective, they’ll hope it continues for a long time. In Tavernier, you have a player who’s clearly very productive offensively but is also an important figure at the club.

It’s no token gesture to be captain of Rangers, particularly in this current side. In a dressing room that features club veterans like Allan McGregor and Steve Davis, it’s not like Gerrard is short of experienced players capable of leading his side out at Ibrox, yet he chooses to stick with Tavernier.

Bent is spot on about attitudes towards Scottish football, but if it means the likes of Tavernier stay north of the border that bit longer, we suspect the Ibrox faithful won’t care one bit.

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According to Football Insider, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Bristol City are all keen on signing Aston Villa’s Scott Hogan before the transfer window closes.

Villa’s incredible summer spending will likely make it difficult for Hogan to secure first-team football at the club during the 2019/20 campaign.

The 27-year-old actually finished last season on loan at Sheffield United – helping the Blades earn promotion to the Premier League.

Hogan has managed just 10 goals in 61 appearances for Villa in all competitions, though, and his failure to find the net on a regular basis suggests he will be out of his depth in the top flight.

According to Football Insider, West Brom want to take Hogan off Villa’s hands, whilst Stoke and Bristol City are in the hunt ahead of Thursday’s deadline.

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A number of Villa fans have been on social media reacting to the claim.

And it would be fair to say that the supporters are keen for Hogan to depart, as shown by the tweets below:

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

West Ham United do not have a recall clause in striker Jordan Hugill’s loan deal, ClaretandHugh reports.

What’s the word?

The striker was loaned to QPR in the summer transfer window and he has already scored five goals in six outings.

He netted on his debut against Stoke City and was also on the scoresheet against Swansea City and Wigan Athletic, before netting a brace in the 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

His form has placed the Hammers’ decision to loan him out under the microscope, particularly after Javier Hernandez was sold to Sevilla on Monday.

But ClaretandHugh now reports that there is no option for the Hammers to bring him back in January.

An oversight

This is a mistake on West Ham’s part.

Now, admittedly, this looked like a good deal at the time; his goalscoring record was average even during his time at Preston – 30 goals in 114 games – while he made just three appearances for the Hammers.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Even still, a recall clause should have been included, just to ensure that the Hammers were covered should Hugill start the season like a house on fire.

That is exactly what he’s done and, now, the Irons look foolish.

They are unlikely to make the same mistake again.

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The footballing world, as big of an impact it has on our everyday lives as a whole, has been somewhat put on hold at this very moment.

The news of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil being engulfed in fire has quickly spread throughout the globe and numerous people have taken to their social media in support of this devastating turn of events.

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And as it turns out, even the biggest footballing stars have decided to step up and send a message, showing that they also care about the matter at hand.

In particular, Arsenal star David Luiz has shared snaps on his Instagram profile, emphasising the severity of the situation.

This is certainly an admirable move by the new Gunner and will definitely help spread the awareness of this issue throughout the footballing world.

It still remains to be seen, however, how exactly this rather tragic story will end and will Luiz’s attempts help in any way at all.

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Manchester United are keen on signing Denmark international star Christian Eriksen, according to The Daily Mail.

The representatives of the Dane are said to be hopeful that a deal can be agreed before Thursday’s deadline.

Sources close to the player have said that the 27-year-old is top of the list for Manchester United in the short time that remains in the transfer window.

The Daily Mail are also reporting that Tottenham Hotspur are close to agreeing on a deal to sign Sporting CP star Bruno Fernandes.

Eriksen had hoped to move to Real Madrid; however, the club is more interested in Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek.

Eriksen would join the likes of Fernandes and Juventus star Paulo Dybala in attacking midfielders that have been linked with a move to the north-west. A deal for Dybala is said to have collapsed due to a number of reasons concerning the Argentina international, and Fernandes is not thought to be a target for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Manchester United’s creative quality from midfield was shocking last season, with Pogba carrying the team. The Frenchman finished with the most goals and most assists from the whole squad, with the remaining midfielders all combining to score just 14 goals.

A move for Eriksen makes the world of sense, Manchester United suffered from a lack of creative quality in midfield, and the Denmark international would fix that.

Eriksen’s passing was outstanding, and he stood out above any midfielder or attacker at Old Trafford. The Dane averaged 2.1 passes per game in the Premier League last season, which was more than any other Manchester United player.

Those key passes were crucial as Eriksen ended up with 12 assists in England’s top flight, helping Tottenham Hotspur finish fourth, and qualify for the Champions League.

For a reasonable fee, he would be a no-brainer and would improve the quality of the attack drastically.

Manchester United fans, do you want to see Eriksen at Old Trafford this season? Comment below!

أكد محمود محجوب رئيس لجنة اتحاد رفع الأثقال المصري، أنه يعمل في الوقت الحالي، لعودة النشاط المحلي.

وقال محجوب في تصريحات خاصة لـ بطولات: “غداً أول اجتماع منذ إيقاف الاتحاد كلجنة تسيير شؤون الاتحاد المصري لرفع الأثقال، ونعمل على عودة النشاط المحلي للعبة”.

وأضاف: “عودة النشاط المحلي ستعيد تأهيل العديد من نجوم اللعبة، وعودتهم إلى التدريبات ستكون بداية مبشرة لهم حيث إن معظم اللاعبين عاشوا فترة صعبة خاصة بعد قرار إيقاف الاتحاد المصري، ومن ثم أزمة كورونا”.

وتابع: “لعب محمد إيهاب وسارة سمير تحت مظلة العلم الأولمبي أمر وارد، ولكن بموافقة المنظمة الدولية لمكافحة المنشطات، وليس اختصاص الاتحاد”.

وأردف: “نتمنى مشاركة على الأقل لاعبين اثنين من مصر في أولمبياد طوكيو وفق أقل كوتة متاحة، وهي مشاركة لاعب ولاعبة”.

وأكمل: “اللجنة الطبية في الأولمبية تتابع بشكل مستمر مسألة إيقاف الاتحاد المصري لرفع الأثقال مع الاتحاد الدولي ومنظمة مكافحة المنشطات، لعبة رفع الأثقال مهددة بالإلغاء في أولمبياد باريس 2024، بسبب المنشطات والأزمة ليست في مصر فقط، وإن تواجدت اللعبة في أولمبياد باريس ستكون تحت إجراءات صارمة”.

وواصل: “رئيس الاتحاد الدولي استقال بسبب أزمات اللعبة واختفاء 10 ملايين دولار دون مستندات، بجانب العديد من قضايا الفساد، وهو الأمر الذي يصدر صورة سلبية عالمية للعبة قد تكلفنا الكثير”.

يذكر، أن مصر منعت من المشاركة في نشاطات رفع الأثقال لمدة عامين، بعد ثبوت تعاطي ٧ لاعبين لمواد محظورة من قبل الوكالة الدولية لمكافحة المنشطات.

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On the face of it, Wolves’ Premier League opener against Leicester was far from a thrilling encounter with both sides battling out a 0-0 stalemate.

But the game will be looked back on for one moment of controversy after the video assistant referee ruled out a 53rd minute Leander Dendoncker strike after it appeared to hit the arm of teammate Willy Boly seconds earlier.

A new law brought into the game for this season state that any goal scored or assisted through the use of the hand or the arm will be disallowed, even if it was an accident.

A number of fans took to Twitter to blast the decision…

One supporter said they didn’t like VAR one bit brandishing it ‘unnatural’ with reference to being one millimetre offside or an accidental handball as in this case.

Others called it ‘farcical’ and ‘ridiculous’ with one fan going as far as saying it has destroyed football.

Some members of the Molineux crowd claimed the team were robbed as a result whilst one supporter took a swipe at those in control of VAR on Sunday, calling them ‘corrupt’.

Here’s the best of the reaction…

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Lots of Crystal Palace fans on Twitter have continued to laud Jordan Ayew’s performances, after the forward bagged the winning goal against Aston Villa.

The Ghana international has now scored in back-to-back games for the first time in a Palace shirt, having netted a calm finish in the 2-1 win over Manchester United at Old Trafford last week.

Ayew excelled against his former side on Saturday, taking three shots on goal, completing one dribble and also making two tackles – he netted with his only strike to hit the target.

The 6 foot striker said after the game that he was keen to repay the faith shown in him by the south Londoners, and he is certainly doing just that with his performances right now.

The Eagles supporters on Twitter couldn’t stop praising the 27-year-old after the 0-0 draw against Everton on the opening day, and they have continued to do the same after his heroic performance against the Villans.

Let’s take a look at what they’ve been saying about the £2.5m summer signing…

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Loads of Sunderland fans have been reacting to a throwback video posted by the club’s official Twitter account, as they celebrated a home debut goal from fan favourite Julio Arca.

It’s not been a great few years for the Stadium of Light faithful. Back-to-back relegation seasons were absolutely brutal for the fans, while the actions of players like Jack Rodwell, Darron Gibson and Papy Djilobodji have only compounded their misery.

Things may be looking up after the latest rumours regarding a possible takeover though, and fans are also enjoying an old video of one of their favourite ever players.

Arca spent six years on Wearside, racking up 164 appearances, scoring 19 times and adding another nine assists.

And one of those goals came on his home debut, as he glanced in a header against West Ham.

He celebrated with more passion than the three aforementioned names put together ever had for the club, which is perhaps how he endeared himself to the fans so quickly.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

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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 Dutch publication Voetbal International, both Feyernoord and PSV enquired about taking Tahith Chong on loan this season.

What’s the word?

The 19-year-old featured prominently in Manchester United’s pre-season tour this summer, but missed out on the match-day squads for the Premier League clashes against Chelsea and Wolves respectively.

Now, the report claims whilst the two Dutch sides had asked about a possible loan swoop for the teenager, Chong’s desire is to remain at Old Trafford and he is understood to be confident of breaking into the team.

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Indeed, Chong’s agent Erkan Alkan said, as quoted by The Manchester Evening News: “Tahith does not want to be loaned, but (he wants) to fight for his chance at Manchester United.

“Top clubs from the Bundesliga and La Liga also have him in sight. He has done a strong preparation (for the season), in which he has proven to be one of the better attackers of United.”

Sorry Tahith, off you go

Despite United’s shortage of options going forward after the sale of Romelu Lukaku and the potential departure of Alexis Sanchez, Chong failed to make the squad for the opening two games of the season. The 19-year-old is clearly highly-rated by those at Old Trafford, but that hasn’t been reflected in his game-time in the early weeks of the campaign.

Even if United feel a move to the Dutch top-flight may not be the best for his footballing education, surely sending him on loan to a side in the Bundesliga or La Liga would do him the world of good. The likes of Jadon Sancho and Reiss Nelson have shown just how much Premier League talent can grow by getting regular game time in a foreign league, and Chong would surely have benefited the same.

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

Instead, he may face yet another season in the United academy sides and face a long campaign that stunts his considerable potential. So whilst Chong may back himself to break into the Red Devils’ squad, the club should take matters into their own hands and decide his short-term future for him.

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