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According to reports in the Daily Star, new Southampton manager Mark Hughes is lining up a £20m summer bid for Stoke City playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri, who earns £65,000-a-week according to The Mirror, but the move depends on a number of factors.

Firstly, the 26-year-old may only depart the Britannia Stadium if the Potters suffer relegation to the Championship – they currently lie in 19th position three points below 17th-placed West Ham United – while the 18th-placed Saints will only make a club-record move for the Switzerland international if they retain their Premier League status, according to the Daily Star.

In addition, Hughes isn’t guaranteed to still be with the south coast outfit next term given his contract only runs until the end of the campaign, with a potentially season-defining clash against the Irons at the London Stadium on March 31 to come.

Meanwhile, David Moyes’ men are in danger of slipping into the danger zone following three successive defeats by a three-goal margin, but that won’t have stopped the Scottish boss making plans for the future if they do remain in the top flight.

The east London outfit are the best performing side in terms of goalscoring in the bottom nine clubs in the Premier League this season, but it doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t add to their attacking options over the summer.

Here are three reasons West Ham must hijack Southampton’s potential summer bid for Shaqiri…

While Stoke are struggling in 19th position in the Premier League and in real danger of being relegated to the Championship, Shaqiri has still been one of their best and most consistent performers.

The 26-year-old has scored seven goals and provided a further six assists in 29 top flight appearances this season – as well as making 65 key passes – and the fact that he has scored a hat-trick at a World Cup and played for Bayern Munich and Inter Milan previously show the talent he has in his locker.

Shaqiri is a fans’ favourite at the Britannia Stadium because of the ability he has on the ball, and there is no reason why he wouldn’t follow in the footsteps of Marko Arnautovic in being lauded by Irons supporters if he also made the move from Staffordshire to the London Stadium.

The 26-year-old has become a talisman for the Potters since joining them in 2015 – much like Arnautovic has for the Hammers since David Moyes took charge in November – and his passion and quality on the pitch would mean that he would be admired by the supporters.

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If West Ham do stay up this season and Moyes remains in charge, he will be looking to add some real quality to his squad during the summer to ensure they don’t find themselves in a similar situation again next term.

Of course, bringing really good players to the club won’t be cheap, and the opportunity to potentially bring a player with the ability that Shaqiri has to the London Stadium for just £20m would be an opportunity that would be too good to miss, even if the club’s attacking options are pretty strong right now with the likes of Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini, Michail Antonio – and potentially Joao Mario too after the loanee hinted he wants to stay.

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

Aston Villa’s poor form in the English Championship continued on Saturday, losing 3-1 away to mid-table Norwich City.

The Villans have managed just one win in their last five matches, leaving them not only adrift of Cardiff City in second position but also Fulham in third.

The play-offs are now a near certainty and on this form there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to negotiate that gauntlet successfully.

Norwich were 2-0 up before Steve Bruce’s side replied through Jack Grealish, but couldn’t find what they needed to equalise before the home side found their third of the afternoon.

Fans were left annoyed with the result and performance, singling out full-back Neil Taylor for particular criticism.

The 29-year-old struggled throughout, leaving supporters dreaming of signing a replacement this summer.

Can the Welsh international improve in the tail-end of the season and help his side to promotion glory?

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Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on his Saturday display…

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Shkodran Mustafi was supposed to be the elite centre-half that Arsenal had been lacking for years when he joined from Valencia, but it hasn’t worked out quite like that.

He has made an assortment of errors this season, most notably for Manchester City’s opening goal in the EFL Cup final and against Southampton earlier this month, allowing Shane Long to score.

The German, valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, has become someone who cannot be trusted at the back as opposed to a solid role model for the likes of Calum Chambers and Rob Holding who still have a lot of improving to do themselves.

Stats can tell a variety of stories, and one that was brought to the attention of Arsenal fans is that Mustafi has made less tackles than Liverpool frontman Roberto Firmino.

That has not done wonders for the defender’s popularity and we’ve taken a closer look at the best online reaction…

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After their 2-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat against Manchester United last weekend, Tottenham’s season is all but over, unless they falter further in the race for the top four and allow Chelsea to sneak in.

Despite the progress made under Mauricio Pochettino, 2017/18 will be their tenth straight season completed without securing a trophy.

That means that attention has already begun to turn to next season, which will see Spurs move back into their White Hart Lane home after a season’s sabbatical at Wembley.

There are a lot of good things going on at Spurs but the recent poor form and the sudden uncertainty around the future of Mauricio Pochettino has punctured the mood around the club slightly so it could be argued that the stadium move is the most exciting thing on the radar for the fans in North London.

We’ve taken a look at some of the more excitable fans…

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Southampton desperately needed three points against Leicester City on Thursday night, but it was not to be as the club were held to a goalless draw.

A point is better than none, but the coastal club remain four points adrift of safety with as many games left to play.

Since Mark Hughes took over as manager in March, the club have not picked up a league win, and now they seem destined for the Championship.

The team have mustered just 33 goals in 34 top-flight games this season, which highlights how much of a problem the attack has been.

In fairness to Hughes, the former Stoke City boss has got the team firing more frequently that they did under former boss Mauricio Pellegrino.

The team have netted six times in their last five games in all competitions, but they have relinquished their lead twice.

Hughes has urged his players to be more expansive in their approach, but the fans think that it is too late.

Despite the dismal league campaign, Southampton could potentially end the season with silverware as they are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

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Rangers have won a crucial three points at home to Kilmarnock, beating Steve Clarke’s side 1-0 in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.

With rivals Aberdeen and Hibernian both drawing, the Light Blues have moved to within a point of second-placed Aberdeen with two games remaining.

It was the departing David Bates that provided the victory, heading home from a deep far post cross late on to break the deadlock.

After a brutal defeat to Celtic last week, it was the perfect way to bounce back, especially after the blockbuster appointment of Steven Gerrard as manager on Friday.

Fans were pleased with the result and much of their praise of the performance went to goalkeeper Jak Alnwick who was again deputising for the injured Wes Foderingham.

His distribution was excellent throughout and he made a double save in the first half that would prove crucial to winning the three points.

Some even believe he is now a better option that the club’s number one Foderingham.

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Supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

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Arsene Wenger’s days of mind games have largely been behind him since he was at the top of his game, dueling with Sir Alex Ferguson but he has been unable to resist a parting dig at Tottenham.

Ahead of his last game in charge of the North London outfit, Wenger took a swipe at his most local rivals by claiming that they may be forced to sell talisman Harry Kane in order to afford their new stadium which they will move into at the start of next season.

As a man who knows a lot about the effects of moving into a new arena and the impact it can have on spending capacity at a club, Wenger might be right but his comments are sure to have gone down badly.

Well, we’re asking you whether they’re right; does Pochettino have to sell Kane in order to afford their brave new era?

Or is this typical mind games from Wenger? Let us know by voting in the poll below and keep your eyes peeled for the results…

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This season’s FA Cup final sees two of the biggest clubs in English football do battle at Wembley on Saturday, with last year’s finalists and Premier League champions Chelsea taking on a club in Manchester United whose FA Cup haul is only surpassed by Arsenal’s.

It’s a big game for both managers too, representing potentially Antonio Conte’s last game in charge of the west Londoners and Jose Mourinho’s chance to have material reward for the progress his side have made this season, even if its inevitably been overshadowed by Manchester City’s immaculate campaign.

But which manager faces the bigger injury problems? Can history tell us anything about the likely result? How could the referee influence the match, and who enters Saturday’s clash in better form? Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the FA Cup final…

What History Tells Us

Chelsea and Manchester United have encountered each other 14 times throughout the history of the FA Cup and will match a record for final meetings this weekend, with Saturday being their third occasion.

There has, however, been a considerable imbalance in this fixture, United claiming twice as many wins as the Blues, keeping two more clean sheets and scoring eleven more goals. In fact, Chelsea won just one of their first ten FA Cup clashes against United, conceding 21 times.

That imbalance has reversed in recent years though; United have failed to win all of the last four meetings, losing three of them and being held to a replay in the other.

Nonetheless, it’s still United who are more experienced and successful at this stage of the competition. They’ve lifted more FA Cups than Chelsea by almost double, and have a slightly stronger final win rate by 6%.

Form Guide

There isn’t a great deal to choose between Chelsea and Manchester United in terms of recent form. In fact, their last six games across all competitions have brought exactly the same number of wins, draws, defeats, goals and clean sheets. The quality of opposition has been well balanced too, both facing a member of the top four as their toughest opponents, and only one player for either team – Olivier Giroud – has scored more than once during that time.

The big concern for Chelsea, however, is that United got over their somewhat inevitable pre-final slump some time ago, losing to Brighton at the Amex Stadium. They responded with a more respectable scoreless draw at the London Stadium and grabbed a confidence-boosting win on the final day of the Premier League season.

In contrast, Chelsea’s last two outings have produced severely disappointing performances – a 1-1 draw with Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge, followed by a shock 3-0 defeat to Newcastle last time out.

Those key differences to their end-of-season results could make all the difference heading into the weekend.

Referee influence – Michael Oliver

If there’s one thing Conte and Mourinho need to bear in mind about Michael Oliver heading into Saturday’s showpiece, it’s that he’s easily one of the strictest referees in the Premier League. In fact, the 33-year-old ranks in the top seven from the 20 referees to work in the top flight this term for fouls per game, fouls per tackle, penalties per game and red cards per game – which paints a pretty clear picture.

That probably suits Chelsea a lot better than United for a few key reasons. Firstly, United have averaged more fouls per game than Chelsea this season and picked up 22 more yellow cards. Secondly, the Red Devils’ record for conceding goals from set pieces this term is actually pretty poor, their ten being four worse than the Blues’ six and just two less than they’ve conceded in open play.

In slightly better news for United though, they’re yet to lose a game with Oliver officiating this season – Chelsea, in contrast, are yet to win from three attempts.

Team News

Conte has only one fresh injury doubt for the FA Cup final, with Emerson Palmieri facing a late rate for fitness. But it’s likely the January signing wouldn’t have started this one anyway; Marcos Alonso is one of the most important players in Chelsea’s system and was tellingly rested against Newcastle last time out. The Spaniard is one of three expected changes from the side that lost 3-0 at St. James’ Park.

But the real question is how Conte will set up his team. Willian is undoubtedly one of Chelsea’s most consistent performers and an incredible asset in big games due to his ability to provide a crucial outlet on the counter-attack.

But because of the sheer power of United’s midfield, the Brazilian looks set to miss out, with under-fire summer signing Tiemoue Bakayoko keeping his place to complete a three-man engine room. Willian will most likely have to settle for a spot on the bench for the sake of 3-5-2.

Mourinho has a few doubts to contend with that could severely impact United’s chances of victory on Saturday – specifically star frontman Romelu Lukaku.

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However, we believe uncertainty over his availability could be simply a ploy to throw off the Blues, with The Sun claiming he could have played last time out against Watford after having surgery in Belgium. Aside from that, fellow doubts Maroaune Fellaini and Anthony Martial remain important impact players that Mourinho would no doubt like to have on his bench.

Those three players excepted, the rest of United’s starting XI largely picks itself at this moment in time. Ander Herrera has provided the best balance alongside Paul Pogba in midfield, Alexis Sanchez has made the left wing berth his own, Ashley Young and Antonio Valencia are the first-choice full-backs and Nemanja Matic and Jesse Lingard have been amongst United’s most dependable players this season.

That does, however, mean no start for fan favourite Marcus Rashford, despite the youngster’s impressive scoring record in big games against high-quality opposition. The England international, like Willian, will need to settle for making an impact off the bench.

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Paul Heckingbottom took a risk by moving across Yorkshire from Barnsley to be the latest man to oversee promotion at Leeds United and it has not paid off after he was sacked after under four months in charge.

After Garry Monk got Leeds moving in the right direction in 2016/17, it was a season of regression at Elland Road as Thomas Christiansen’s bright start petered out to the extent that he failed to win a game between Boxing Day and his sacking in early February.

That was before Heckingbottom arrived, hoping that a Yorkshire influence would be just the ticket for Leeds; but unable to use the transfer window to bring in his own players, he oversaw just four wins after his move across the city and paid with his job.

One shock name who has reportedly emerged in the frame to replace Heckingbottom is experienced manager Marcelo Bielsa, 62, who has managed the Argentina and Chile national team.

He is something of a unique personality and with no knowledge of English football and a macap reputation following him, Leeds fans are far from convinced…

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Michael Carrick may not have played a great deal for Manchester United last season but his retirement to join the club’s backroom team still leaves Jose Mourinho light on numbers in the centre of the park.

The problem for the former Inter manager is that the transfer market is so inflated and it is such common knowledge that United have millions to spend that value is hard to find.

That’s what makes recent reports that Aleksandr Golovin, aged just 22 and valued at just £15m by CSKA Moscow has attracted Mourinho interesting to the club’s fans; it looks like an opportunity to grab something of a bargain.

Golovin played at Old Trafford in the Champions League group stages last season, outperforming counterpart Ander Herrera that night with a 93.6% pass success rate from his 62 efforts, two crosses, and two interceptions despite being on the wrong side of a 2-1 scoreline.

So, we asked United fans whether they want the Russian poster boy to be at the Theatre of Dreams next season, and 78 per cent of them said they would, as you can see from the full poll results below…

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