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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…

Sheffield Wednesday’s season could well be over already.

On Thursday afternoon, the EFL charged the club with financial misconduct after they sold their Hillsborough stadium to owner Dejphon Chansiri in order to offset debts in the 2017/18 season.

The move handed the Owls a pre-tax profit of £2.5m that year, but they broke league regulations to do so.

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Wednesday have since released a statement claiming they will contest the charges, and although no punishment has been set in stone, it seems somewhat likely that the club are made an example of.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes the most likely consequence will be at the very minimum a 12 point deduction, but no timeframe has been set on that.

If they were to be faced with such a penalty today, sitting eighth on 25 points, they would slip to the edge of the relegation zone on goal difference with 13 points.

And if Maguire is right, they could see even more deducted, which would undoubtedly leave them in a battle to save their Championship status.

What a sheer contrast that would be as the club are currently a mere three points off being back in playoff contention.

But thankfully, they have a manager in charge that knows the situation all too well as Garry Monk was in charge of Birmingham City when they were slapped with a nine-point deduction back in March.

Their form after the news should offer serious encouragement to fans in south Yorkshire as the 40-year-old is the perfect man to keep them safe on the pitch for the foreseeable future.

In the eight games played post-deduction, the Blues managed to lose just one game, and at the end of the season, they should have been three places better off.

To only keel over in one match speaks volumes to Monk’s man-management abilities, so Wednesday are in a safe pair of hands for sure.

They even beat Owls’ Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in that run.

If there is to be one positive from this scenario, it is the fact that the club has a shining light in Monk – without him, their future prospects would look rather dismal.

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

Jose Mourinho is desperate to keep Harry Kane at Tottenham Hotspur, per The Daily Telegraph.

What’s the word?

Mourinho was appointed Spurs manager on Wednesday morning.

And the report states that the former Manchester United and Chelsea boss is adamant that the striker must not be allowed to leave the club in the coming transfer windows.

He is said to have told Daniel Levy that he will not need to spend huge sums of money in order to win trophies at the club, but is adamant that Kane must be kept at the club.

He rates the 45-cap England captain as one of the best strikers in world football and

A report from Spanish outlet El Desmarque earlier this week had claimed that Real Madrid had entered into talks over a deal for Kane that would see Karim Benzema go the other way, but the Telegraph reports that chairman Levy values the Spurs star at £250m and is also determined to keep him.

An intriguing link-up

It remains to be seen how this will work.

Mourinho has worked with some top forwards throughout his career, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Didier Drogba.

But, as Football FanCast has previously detailed, only two players have ever scored more than 22 league goals in a single league season under his management.

Thus, he may have to change his approach to bring the best out of Kane, though this report will be encouraging for Spurs fans.

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The signs are there that Mourinho believes Kane can be a key player for seasons to come as he bids to bring silverware to north London, in order to maintain his record of winning a trophy at every single club he has managed since Porto.

He will need the England international to hit the net with regularity in the coming weeks and months if he is to have any chance; the pressure is on for the forward but he has been so prolific in recent seasons – winning back-to-back Golden Boots in 2015/16 and 2016/17 – that it is difficult to imagine him wilting.

This could be an ideal partnership for Spurs.

According to reports from Football Insider, Sevilla are plotting a bid for Xherdan Shaqiri with Liverpool ready to cash-in on the Switzerland international.

What’s the word?

Shaqiri has managed just 10 appearances across all competitions during Liverpool’s title-chasing season, with three of those outings coming in either the Community Shield or the Club World Cup and just six coming in the Premier League – totalling a mere 174 minutes of top flight action.

According to Football Insider, Michael Edwards rebuffed a number of loan approaches for the attacking midfielder in January but Liverpool are now ready to part with him once the transfer window reopens, provided a club is willing to match their £28m valuation.

La Liga outfit Sevilla are keen on the 28-year-old and are even preparing a formal bid, while CSKA Moscow and Roma are interested as well – although it’s not clear whether any are willing to meet Liverpool’s asking price.

Call yourself a Liverpool expert? How much did each of these big-money January signings cost?

Shaqiri should have been Coutinho 2.0

When Liverpool initially signed Shaqiri from Stoke for a mere £13.5m, he had all the hallmarks of a cut-price solution to the loss of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona the January prior.

Of course, there’s a reason the Swiss cost so little whereas the Brazilian left Anfield in a deal that could eventually be worth £142m, but there were clear similarities between the players as well. Both could operate as part of the midfield or the attack, both could create chances as well as score them and both could produce moments of potent magic from long-range.

In fact, albeit playing half a season more than the former Liverpool star, back in the 2017/18 season Shaqiri was one of just two players to score more Premier League goals from outside the box than Coutinho, the other being Kevin De Bruyne, while he ended that campaign with seven assists as well.

The chances of Shaqiri becoming as central a figure as Coutinho at Anfield were always slim, but he appeared the perfect addition for when Jurgen Klopp needed that type of player in his side – someone to unlock a water-tight defence, or circumvent it entirely by scoring from distance.

For whatever reason though, it just hasn’t happened. Despite an impressive nine goal contributions in the Premier League during his debut term at Anfield, Shaqiri has slid down the pecking order to the point where he’s now surplus to requirements.

Injuries have been a factor, but perhaps this is as much an insight into how the game has changed in recent years. Klopp has traded a traditional No.10 for a midfield three with runners bursting forward, and that’s very much the case at many top clubs right now – which, coincidentally, is probably why neither Barcelona nor loan club Bayern Munich particularly want to retain his services.

Perhaps then, it’s just bad timing for Shaqiri, coming to a top club to replace a player whose type is going a little out of fashion. But either way, he’ll be left wondering why he’s not managed to make more of the void handed to him by a once-instrumental Liverpool player.

Many Leeds United fans have reacted to a post via Twitter showing Luke Ayling in an Arsenal shirt as a youngster.

Defender Ayling has been one of the standout performers at Elland Road this season, gaining an average of 7.31 out of ten per game via Whocored.com. The 28-year-old’s displays have helped guide Marcelo Bielsa’s side to sit one point clear of West Bromwich Albion at the top of the Championship standings as things stand.

Joining Leeds in the summer of 2016 from Bristol City, Ayling has since become a regular start for the Yorkshire club, making 145 appearances in all competitions (Transfermarkt).

Three seasons at Bristol came after a spell with Yeovil Town, whom Ayling joined after developing through the youth academy at Premier League side Arsenal.

Joining the Gunners at the age of 10, Ayling would follow the likes of Jack Wilshere and Kyle Bartley through the club’s academy sides, signing professional terms with the duo in the summer of 2007.

With football at a current standstill due to the pandemic, many club accounts and fan accounts on social media platform Twitter have been engaging with fans, and a latest tweet from Second Tier Podcast suggesting that Ayling is ‘unrecognisable’ in a Gunners shirt has seen Leeds fans react to the image in question.

Below are just some of the responses gained to the Tweet:

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A lot of Tottenham Hotspur supporters have slammed Erik Lamela, following a tweet from fan account COYS.com about the right winger. 

The Spurs fan site asked for opinions on Lamela and what his future at the club should hold, provoking plenty of replies from the THFC faithful.

After arriving at White Hart Lane from AS Roma for £27m all the way back in 2013, it is fair to say the Argentine international has divided the fan base like no other player before him, appearing in over 200 matches for the Lilywhites, scoring 33 goals and producing 47 assists in all competitions so far.

Lamela was a favourite of former manager Mauricio Pochettino, making the 8th highest amount of appearances and playing in 183 games for his compatriot despite a number of injuries, before Poch was unceremoniously sacked late last year (Transfermarkt). However, he has struggled for game time under new boss Jose Mourinho, with his teammate Lucas Moura usurping him as the first choice forward on the right flank (Transfermarkt).

As expected, loads of fans seized the opportunity to blast the 28-year-old, with one supporter commenting that he is a “useless headless chicken,” and another pleading with Daniel Levy to “sell sell sell.”

Take a look at some of the angry reactions down below…

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Liverpool have been the best team in England so far this term.

The current pandemic has put a stop to their procession to the title, but before professional football on these shores, and indeed across the continent, was suspended, they were just two wins and six points away from being named champions. As it stands, they are 25 points clear at the top of the table, which is the biggest such margin in the history of the division.

Manchester United, meanwhile, are 37 points behind the Reds and are fighting for a Champions League spot. Bruno Fernandes has had a massive impact since he joined for £47m in January – the Red Devils are unbeaten in the nine matches he has played – but in the long-term, you would expect them to need more recruitment to fight for the title.

Not if you are Twitter page The United Stand, though. They say that the Old Trafford outfit would be 30 points better off if the Portugal international had been at the club since the start of the campaign, which would have them just seven points adrift at this stage.

As you can imagine, this has tickled the Liverpool supporters. They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Let us know what you think!

Two years after first being charged by the Scottish FA for alleged breaches of rules over the granting of a UEFA licence, Rangers can finally move on.The Gers were accused of not “behaving towards the Scottish FA and other members with the utmost good faith” in regards to financial information the club had given prior their financial collapse back in 2012.

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But the Ibrox side successfully argued for the case to be dealt with by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and now, the Scottish FA has confirmed that they have decided not to refer a notice of complaint to the CAS.

The governing body said: “Following consideration of the implications of such a referral, including legal opinion, it was the board’s unanimous position that this matter should not be referred to CAS.”

And after hearing about the news, Rangers fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the situation.

Despite leaving the club on loan last summer, it looks like Alexis Sanchez could still end up playing a hugely beneficial role for Manchester United.

The Chile international had a torrid spell at Old Trafford with just five goals in 45 games, before making the temporary switch to Serie A giants Inter.

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Now, Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo claim that United are willing to offer Sanchez to Borussia Dortmund in order to sweeten the deal to sign Jadon Sancho.

The report adds that whilst the winger’s wages may prove to be a stumbling block, a deal remains in possibility. And after hearing about how Sanchez could help them sign Sancho, United fans took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the transfer update.

A couple of United fans didn’t seem to buy the idea that Dortmund would be willing to take on Sanchez, with one supporter insisting that the German side wouldn’t want to pay the Chilean’s wages.

In a summer where pulling off big-money deals like the one for Sancho will be extremely difficult, clubs will have to be more creative with the way things get done.

And in Sanchez, United could potentially throw him into the mix to help get Dortmund to sell Sancho for cheaper. It would simultaneously get an under-performing star off their books, and bring in one of their prime transfer targets.

If this gets pulled off, it would be a win-win situation for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Tottenham head into tonight’s Premier League London derby with West Ham knowing they face an uphill battle to make the top four.

Spurs are currently eighth in the table, four points behind Manchester United and nine points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, with eight games remaining.

However, Jose Mourinho is excited about the fact he will be able to choose from six ‘fantastic’ attackers. Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Steven Bergwijn and Moussa Sissoko have all made a full recovery from injuries while Dele Alli has served his one-match ban and Lucas Moura has worked his way back into contention.

Transfer Tavern have put together a predicted starting lineup, which sees the Portuguese pick arguably his strongest side available, with three changes to the team that faced the Red Devils on Friday.

Alli will likely slot back into place in between Bergwijn and Son. It is hard to imagine Bergwijn will be dropped after opening the scoring against the Red Devils. Giovani Lo Celso is expected to start if the Argentine is fully fit, as he came on to replace Bergwijn late in the second half last week.

Any good manager will know squad rotation is vital in the busy schedule ahead, and Mourinho may choose to drop either Harry Winks or Moussa Sissoko to the bench. Sissoko has spent a long time out and as a result he may get a chance to rest his legs.

While there seems to be something going on between Mourinho and Tanguy Ndombele, this could be the perfect opportunity for the club’s record signing to finally prove himself. Spurs were crying out for someone to change the game in the clash with Man United on Friday and Ndombele’s absence was duly noted.

Although the duo have a fractured relationship, Mourinho will have to use the Frenchman at some point, and he could be called into action against the Irons.

The old partnership of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen has been exposed as of late, and bar a mistake in the penalty spot, Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier looked unflappable at the back. The Spurs boss may stick to his guns and give the pair another chance, especially as they will have to deal with the speed of Felipe Anderson and Michail Antonio.

Tottenham fans, do you think this is how Mourinho will start against West Ham? Let us know in the comments below!

Chelsea are reportedly eyeing up a move for Premier League goalkeeper Dean Henderson this summer.

According to Football Insider, the Blues are lining up an offer for the Manchester United shot-stopper, who is currently impressing under loan manager Chris Wilder at Sheffield United.

Henderson is enjoying a solid season with the Blades, who are battling for a place in Europe next season. They currently sit seventh in the league table on 54 points, just five adrift of the top four.

Sheffield United originally signed the Englishman on loan in 2018 – he has since helped the Blades clinch promotion from the Championship. This season, he has made 90 saves so far in the Premier League under Wilder. One of those saves was a penalty and he has kept 13 clean sheets, the second highest amount this campaign, behind only Ederson and Nick Pope who both have 14 (via Premier League).

The report from Football Insider doesn’t specify how much Man United would want for Henderson, but his current Transfermarkt value is £13.05 million.

Talks of a potential exit for current first choice goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga have been circulating ahead of the summer window. It seems the Spaniard has fallen short of Frank Lampard’s expectations and a replacement could be a priority of Chelsea’s once the season ends.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recently said: “Dean has had a fantastic couple of years at Sheffield United. Eventually he will end up as England and Manchester United number one.” (via The Express).

Henderson could have a future at Old Trafford but if the right price is tabled for his services, United could choose to cash in and add to their funds for the summer, given they already have David De Gea at their disposal. Indeed, Solskjaer recently stated that the Spaniard could have another decade at the top (Guardian).

Chelsea should deeply consider making an offer for the 23-year-old who would undoubtedly give his all as the first choice for a top Premier League side.

Do you think the Blues should sign Dean Henderson this summer? Have your say in the comments below!