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Southampton were linked with a move for Milot Rashica over the summer and the Saints look to have missed out on a real gem of a winger.

The Kosovan international was linked with the likes of Southampton and Liverpool during the summer but ended up staying with Werder Bremen.

Since joining the Bundesliga outfit from Vitesse in 2018, the winger has gone on to make 77 appearances for Die Werderaner, in which he has contributed an impressive 24 goals and 14 assists (per Transfermarkt).

It was no surprise that the 24-year-old was linked with a summer exit after Bremen’s disappointing Bundesliga season, in which they only avoided relegation by beating second division side Heidenheim on away goals in their playoff game.

They have enjoyed a much more solid start to the 2020/21 campaign, as they currently sit ninth in the Bundesliga table, although Rashica himself has barely featured, having struggled with knee problems at the start of the season.

The winger, who was likened to Real Madrid winger Eden Hazard in a scout report written by HITC, has enjoyed fruitful campaigns in the past two seasons; contributing eight goals and five assists in 28 appearances last season (per WhoScored).

The season before was arguably even more impressive for Rashica, as he grabbed nine goals and five assists in 26 Bundesliga appearances, which earned him an impressive 6.98 average rating (per WhoScored).

He certainly seems to have a similar play-style to the former Chelsea man, with WhoScored suggesting that the Kosovan likes to dribble, cut inside and counter-attack.

Considering the poor form of Southampton’s wingers so far this season, with Nathan Redmond having failed to contribute a goal or an assist thus far, whilst Moussa Djenepo’s average rating of 6.75 isn’t exactly groundbreaking, you can definitely argue that Rashica would have been a stellar addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad.

The Kosovan can also feature as an attacking midfielder and a striker, suggesting that he could prove to be an excellent back-up option for Danny Ings and Che Adams in Hasenhuttl’s side.

His versatility could be compared to Stuart Armstrong in Southampton’s squad, with the Scottish international capable of playing in multiple positions across midfield, whilst WhoScored also lists one of his strengths as liking to cut inside.

It will be interesting to see if any Premier League sides consider a move for the £19.8 million-rated winger in January. If he can produce the same sort of form he’s been doing in the Bundesliga in the English top-flight, then he would surely prove to be a solid signing for any Premier League club.

Glasgow Rangers romped to a four-goal rout of Ross County at Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon to extend their lead to 13 points at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Steven Gerrard’s side brushed aside the second-bottom Staggies to maintain their unbeaten start to the season as Celtic dropped points against St. Johnstone at Celtic Park.

Kemar Roofe poked the ball past County goalkeeper Ross Laidlaw to open the scoring before the break, and James Tavernier, a Callum Morris own goal and Jermain Defoe added the extras.

Rangers dominated from start to finish in a largely one-sided affair, although Stuart Kettlewell’s side came close to scoring after Canadian midfielder Harry Paton forced a fine save from Allan McGregor.

The current club captain produced a near-perfect display, Defoe rolled back the years with his brief cameo, but Kemar Roofe was arguably the pick of the bunch.

SofaScore graded the 27-year-old with a decent 7.3 rating – he won three out of his six duels, produced 17 out of 18 passes (94%), was fouled once, which shows that he was a constant threat throughout.

Roofe finished the game with a team-high two shots on target, plus two shots off target and one shot blocked, despite the fact he was replaced by Cedric Itten towards the latter stages of the second half.

Valued at £4m via Transfermarkt, the versatile forward has now scored six goals and supplied an assist in nine appearances in the Scottish Premiership so far this season, whilst he is averaging 2.3 shots per game, via WhoScored.

There’s no doubt the Ibrox boss will have been buoyed by his striker’s performance as Alfredo Morelos struggled alongside the Jamaican striker. Despite the Colombian’s best efforts, he couldn’t end his latest mini goal drought, and may be left to rue his missed chances as Defoe came off the bench to score on his 800th appearance for club and country.

Gerrard’s side travel to Poland to face Lech Poznan on Thursday knowing they will win Group D if they can match or better Benfica’s result against Standard Liege.

Morelos may be the trusted man for the big occasion, but we’re backing Roofe to lead the line in the Europa League as he has made such a strong start to the season.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers boss Steven Gerrard could unshackle Kemar Roofe as the team’s No. 10…

According to a recent report from Sky Sports, Liverpool have “no interest” in signing Brighton centre-back Ben White during the January transfer window, which could prove to be a huge mistake by the Merseyside club.

The Englishman is attracting interest from the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Manchester United but it seems as if the Reds won’t be signing him next month.

It seems likely that Jurgen Klopp’s side will be venturing into the transfer market to try and sign a centre-back, following the injuries suffered by Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez but it seems as if those high up at Liverpool have decided that White is not a natural replacement, despite them having reportedly registered an interest during the summer.

The 23-year-old defender has enjoyed a remarkable rise to fame over the past 18 months or so, after he was instrumental in Leeds’ promotion to the Premier League last season, as he played every single game for the Whites in their title-winning campaign.

Despite heavy interest in him during the summer, he committed to a new contract with the Seagulls and has been a regular in Graham Potter’s side so far this season, making ten appearances in the top-flight; in which he has averaged a solid 6.75 rating (per WhoScored).

Potter was full of praise for the youngster during the summer, as he rebuffed interest from other Premier League sides, saying:

“I know about his qualities. He’s a fantastic player. He’s done brilliantly at Leeds and helped them get promotion – that’s fantastic for them, fantastic for him – but he’s our player and we’re looking forward to working with him.

“He complements us really well. He’s got attributes that are really, really useful and he’s going to be a top player.” (per Daily Mail)

Considering Liverpool’s defensive woes, it seems surprising that the Reds seemingly won’t be trying to sign the £13.5 million rated White during the upcoming transfer window, as he seems destined for an excellent career in the Premier League.

Perhaps the Reds feel they can sign a more affordable centre-back to solve their injury crisis, as White would no doubt come at a premium price due to his age and nationality, but this transfer decision definitely feels like something the Reds may end up regretting in the future.

And, in other news… LFC wizard who made fewer passes than Kelleher badly let Jurgen Klopp down with his display against Ajax

Leeds United weren’t afraid to splash the cash during the summer transfer window and some of their signings have proven to be great swoops form Victor Orta. However, Marcelo Bielsa’s latest injury update revealed that both Robin Koch and Diego Llorente are out with respective knee and muscle injures, which sees them very exposed at the back.

Defence is the one area that the Whites must fine-tune to avoid slipping into worrying territory in the league table. Meanwhile, their attack could also use a spruce up but they have options ready and raring to go.

This cancels out any suspected move for reported transfer target Gyrano Kerk, who Leeds were reportedly interested in according to a report from The Mirror (September 27, page 74), and whom Robin van Persie has been praising in recent days.

Why Leeds mustn’t sign Kerk

Orta did well to recruit Helder Costa on a permanent basis from Wolves during the summer after bagging himself five goals and eight assists in white last season (via Transfermarkt). He currently has two goals and two assists in the Premier League this term and already faces competition from rising 20-year-old talent Ian Poveda.

The two are clamouring to catch Bielsa’s eye, which is proving difficult recently due to the club’s third right-wing man Raphinha impressing the boss. Paying big bucks for another right-winger would only upset the applecart at Leeds.

Despite being valued at just £5.8million, Kerk has attracted a lot of attention and Utrecht have been holding their breath. Luckily for them, they survived the summer window without losing the star forward and are likely planning to slap a hefty price tag on his head to ward off any future interested parties.

Not only do Leeds need to invest their funds in other areas of the pitch, but signing Kerk could seriously hinder the growth of Poveda, who is learning from older teammates Costa and Raphinha. The club is stacked with talent down the right-hand side and splashing the cash on yet another winger would raise some serious questions at Elland Road.

In other news, Marcelo Bielsa drops huge clanger which could cost him against West Ham…

Aston Villa have a huge game this evening as they face off against West Midland rivals West Bromwich Albion. After beating Wolves a week ago, it would be great if the side could beat two local rivals in the space of eight days. Trezeguet, however, will not be able to feature in the game.

The latest on Trezeguet

Dean Smith has told Birmingham Live that the player is injured and as such, he won’t be available for selection. He said: “A couple of days before the game [against Wolves] Trez got a hamstring injury. He’s out for a few weeks.”

This is a blow for Villa

Trezeguet has provided a decent attacking threat during this campaign, managing an average of 2.4 shots, one key pass and 1.1 successful dribbles per game (WhoScored). West Brom have conceded 26 goals in the division, which is the most in England’s top flight, and therefore to be without a player who could create opportunities against a struggling defence will be frustrating for Smith.

With other creative players in the side like Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins, the club will still be hopeful that they can get the three points. However, the game might have been exactly what the Egyptian needed. West Bromwich Albion sit 19th and with the attacker not scoring this season, this could have been the ideal game for him to get off the mark/

In other Villa news, fans have been piling praise on one star at the club following his latest comments. Have a read who it is here!

Liverpool secured their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup after beating a young Aston Villa side 4-1 at Villa Park on Friday night.

The hosts were forced to play their U23 side after an outbreak of the virus at Boodymoor Heath training ground earlier this week and the youngsters put up a great fight, with the scores level at half-time.

However, Jurgen Klopp’s side emphasised their greater experience and quality in the second-half and three quickfire goals would ensure the Reds’ progression.

There will still be cause for concern that for 45 minutes, Villa’s youngsters were a match for Liverpool’s stars, with Louie Barry deservedly bringing the home side level shortly before half-time, with some of Klopp’s side perhaps cruising slightly after Sadio Mane’s early opener.

Despite scoring twice in the game at Villa Park, the former Southampton man’s overall performance was nowhere near his usual standard.

As per SofaScore, the winger would lose possession 22 times during his time on the pitch, which was the most of any Liverpool player.

After the 28-year-old headed the Reds in front early on, he drifted out of the game somewhat, as he was only able to complete 21 of his 35 attempted passes during the game, resulting in a less than impressive pass accuracy rate of 66%.

Mane was also unsuccessful in both of his dribble attempts, whilst he won just six of his 13 total duels during the game, with the Villa youngsters perhaps putting up more of a fight than the Senegalese international expected.

The £108 million-rated forward also failed to find a Liverpool shirt with any of his five attempted crosses suggesting that from a creative point of view, he struggled against the Villans.

Therefore, despite his looping header to score Liverpool’s third goal, Mane should be disappointed with his overall performance against Villa, as he was often second best against the inexperienced home defenders.

And, in other news… Imagine him and Fabinho: Edwards must seal bargain swoop for Champions League defender

Sam Allardyce will be looking to break his West Brom duck this lunchtime as his Baggies squad heads across the border for the first Black Country derby in nine years.

The 66-year-old is yet to win since taking over from Slaven Bilic in mid-December and the Midlands outfit embarrassingly crashed out of the FA Cup last weekend, losing to League One minnows Blackpool.

Now they face a Wolves side who have won just once in their last six outings, including a 2-1 defeat to Everton in midweek.

Big Sam rotated his squad at Bloomfield Road, so what sort of side could we see selected at Molineux?

Here’s our predicted lineup along with the latest team and injury news…

Well, Albion will still be without injured trio Conor Townsend, Hal Robson-Kanu and Sam Field, whilst arguable Player of the Season Conor Gallagher is serving a one-match suspension following after he picked up a fifth yellow card against Arsenal.

Allardyce is, however, able to welcome back Branislav Ivanovic, Kieran Gibbs and Kyle Bartley after the trio made it through the Blackpool defeat unscathed, though only the latter two will start in a back four alongside Semi Ajayi and Darnell Furlong, who all sit in front of Sam Johnstone.

Romaine Sawyers is set to return to the starting XI in the absence of the Chelsea loan star, he could partner skipper Jake Livermore in the engine room whilst Matheus Pereira, who was deployed as a false nine last weekend, reverts back to a natural no.10 role.

Both Kamil Grosicki and Filip Krovinovic were handed rare opportunities to impress in the FA Cup, though neither is likely to start here this afternoon.

Indeed, the Croatian, who is valued at €7m (£6m) is closing in on an exit from the club, according to the Telegraph’s John Percy.

Instead, we may see Robert Snodgrass handed his Baggies debut after joining from West Ham a little over a week ago, whilst Grady Diangana is deployed on the other flank.

With a lack of a striker, Big Sam will surely turn to Callum Robinson to lead the line. Karlan Grant is out for at least five weeks with a broken foot and Charlie Austin has gone to QPR on loan.

In total, there could be six changes with David Button and Lee Peltier also dropping to the bench alongside the likes of Rekeem Harper, Kyle Edwards and Dara O’Shea.

AND in other news, West Brom can finally replace Nathan Ferguson with £65k-p/w “top player”…

Liverpool take on Manchester United at Anfield on Sunday in what is arguably their most important game of the season so far.

Jurgen Klopp’s side dropped off the top of the Premier League in midweek following United’s 1-0 win against Burnley and the Red Devils could go six points clear of Liverpool if they win at Anfield.

The Merseyside outfit have struggled in recent matches, picking up just two points in their games against West Brom, Newcastle United and Southampton respectively but bounced back with 4-1 win against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Klopp to line his side up against Manchester United on Sunday, with six changes from the team that started in the FA Cup win…

Alisson unsurprisingly reclaims his spot in between the sticks for Liverpool after Caoimhin Kelleher started at Villa Park.

Joel Matip returned to training this week and although the club might not want to rush him back too quickly, this is a hugely important match, so the Cameroonian should start ahead of Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips at centre-back.

Trent Alexander-Arnold replaces Neco Williams at right-back but will need to put in a much-improved performance from the one he did against Southampton in the Reds’ last Premier League fixture, whilst Andrew Robertson comes in for James Milner at left-back.

After impressing from the bench against Villa, Thiago starts in midfield, replacing Curtis Jones. The 19-year-old has struggled in recent weeks, so Klopp may be best served by leaving the “exceptional” teenager on the bench.

Finally, Roberto Firmino comes back in up front, leaving Takumi Minamino on the bench, as Klopp unsurprisingly selects his strongest front three for what will undoubtedly be a tough game against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

And, in other news… Klopp can sign LFC’s next Coutinho in £30m beast who “lacks absolutely nothing”

Mark Noble lit up the stage as West Ham United beat Doncaster Rovers 4-0 to book their place in the FA Cup fifth round and secure a trip to either Liverpool or Manchester United.

Strikes from Pablo Fornals and Andriy Yarmolenko gifted David Moyes’ side a controlling lead in the first-half, before an unfortunate own goal from Andy Butler and a late hit from Oladapo Afolayan ensured the London Stadium natives would avoid an upset at home to their League One opposition.

The Hammers rarely looked likely to stumble in their Saturday afternoon showdown, as they extended their fine run of form to five-straight wins across all competitions. It is also the first time since winning six-in-a-row back in 2012 that the Premier League outfit have won five on the bounce.

Moyes recalled Noble to his midfield for the FA Cup tie as he sought to afford Declan Rice a rare break, with the England international having started all but two of West Ham’s previous fixtures this season and each since September’s Carabao Cup victory over Hull City.

Noble has rarely featured in any competition this term, with the £4m-rated veteran’s starting role only his sixth inclusion in an opening line-up over 12 appearances to date, in what is likely to be his final season in professional football.

Moyes’ decision never seemed questionable with Noble offering a calm head in possession to help dictate the flow of play, and often dropping between centre-halves Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop to allow full-backs Ben Johnson and Ryan Fredericks to push forward.

Noble’s vision frequently carved Doncaster apart, too, with the £50,000-per-week maestro providing an array of delicate and precise passes to either play his Irons teammates through or stretch the visiting Donny side.

It was additionally Noble’s right-wing corner that led to Butler inadvertently sending the ball over Ellery Balcombe’s line, while causing problems with his dangerous play in the closing stages as West Ham never let their foot off the throttle.

Noble ultimately ended the fourth round win over Doncaster Rovers having taken a colossal game-high 162 touches – 62 more than the next-best efforts of Johnson, per WhoScored.

He also played significantly more passes than any other player for either side, with a match-high 154 total attempts – Manuel Lanzini ranked second with 82. Of his passes, Noble completed 148 for a 96% success rate, including playing one of West Ham’s 14 key balls after feeding Lanzini to shoot on the stroke of half-time.

Noble has previously been criticised for taking “too many” touches by Irons icon Frank McAvennie, who suggested the 33-year-old had begun to hold Rice back with his time spent in possession.

That was never the case beside Tomas Soucek in the FA Cup, with Noble playing with his head up to carry play forward from the back and ensure West Ham remained on the front foot on a day they rarely had to get out of first gear.

Doncaster found Noble a tough object to avoid when in possession, though, as he attempted a joint-game-high three tackles and registered two interceptions, for the same total defensive output as Moyes witnessed Balbuena produce.

Noble’s efforts may not see that he earns a start when West Ham visit London rivals Crystal Palace on Tuesday, but his performance proved there’s more than just a little bit of life left in the old dog yet.

AND in other news – Exclusive: Pundit drops verdict on West Ham’s interest in a lethal striker adored by a Moyes favourite.

The football community was left shocked by West Ham’s Tomas Soucek and his red card during his side’s 0-0 draw against Fulham on Saturday evening.

Terry in disbelief

The Czech midfielder was sent off during the dying embers of the game at Craven Cottage after he was judged by referee Mike Dean to have maliciously elbowed Aleksandar Mitrovic in the face.

However, replays showed that the Serbian striker looked to have made a meal of the contact. Despite referring to VAR and a lengthy wait, Dean believed it was worthy of an instant dismissal.

In reaction to this, Terry, now a coach at Aston Villa, initially spoke about the incident on his Instagram story. He said: “Never a red card. There is no way he has meant that.”

Following on from his brief 12-word outlook, the former Chelsea captain then reacted to Danny Murphy’s post, who applauded what Jamie Redknapp said after the full-time whistle.

“Outrageous decision after watching it 20 times,” wrote Terry. “I see it once and knew 100% it was an accident.”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

We have to agree with Terry completely. It was quite obviously an accident and we are not quite sure what Dean, or VAR official Lee Mason, saw that everyone else missed.

There is no aggression in his movement towards Mitrovic. To us, it looks like he is trying to get his body in front of his opposition number, rather than have his back to him.

That being said, referees do not take any accountability for their actions and offer no explanations for the calls they make. Until then, unfortunately, these decisions will continue week in, week out.

In other news, West Ham to take second bite of the cherry in pursuit of sign £35m-rated star.