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Former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel would be open to talks with Tottenham, should the club part ways with Antonio Conte, according to The Evening Standard’s Nizaar Kinsella.

The Lowdown: Tuchel in England

Tuchel, who likes to play a 3-4-2-1 formation, made the move to Stamford Bridge back in 2021 and was in charge of 99 games. The 49-year-old averaged over two points per game with the Blues, winning the Champions League during his time in England.

The German also won the FIFA Club World Cup and the World’s Best Club Coach Award at Chelsea, and it looks as if might be open to a return to London.

The Latest: Tottenham links

Kinsella took to Twitter on Wednesday, saying that Tuchel ‘would be open to Tottenham talks’.

The Evening Standard reporter said that despite his Chelsea connection, the manager would be interested in the Spurs job, should Conte depart.

The Verdict: One to watch?

Conte’s future in north London appears to be uncertain at this stage, with Spurs losing both of their home Premier League fixtures since the restart following the World Cup.

Therefore, should the club decide to make a change in 2023, a move for Tuchel could be one to keep an eye on, should he still be out of work, following this update.

He’s had relative success in England and has also managed the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund, winning trophies in both countries, so who knows, he could be the man to finally end Spurs’ long wait for silverware, although a lot needs to happen in the meantime for that to have any chance of materialising.

According to Fabrizio Romano, there is no option to buy in Joao Felix’s loan contract at Chelsea, with the forward set to join from Atletico Madrid.

What’s the word?

The Portugal international, who was also wanted by Arsenal and Manchester United, is set to join Graham Potter’s side on a six-month loan, but there is no clause to make the deal permanent.

Atletico wanted rid of their record signing after he reportedly fell out with manager Diego Simeone, but they will be hoping a good loan spell increases his value and heightens transfer interest in the summer.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano revealed that an obligation-to-buy option has not even been discussed as part of the deal.

He said: “Let me clarify one point on Joao Felix. Chelsea, at the moment, have not discussed any buy option to be included in the deal – just a loan deal for Joao Felix.”

Could they keep him?

This no doubt comes as a blow as Chelsea were reportedly ‘trying’ to involve a buy option in the deal for the attacker.

If Felix performs well in west London, Chelsea may want to keep him despite the impending arrival of Christopher Nkunku in the summer.

Given that he joined Atletico from Benfica for £113m in 2019, the La Liga outfit may wish to recoup a large chunk of that fee, so it seems unlikely a deal will be cheap.

There may also be extra competition for him by the end of the season, but if he settles well at Stamford Bridge, perhaps he would prefer to stay where he is comfortable.

Felix has scored 34 goals in 131 games for Atletico and will be hoping to rediscover his scoring form whilst out on loan before taking a further decision on his future in the summer.

Everton will return to action in the Premier League on Boxing Day when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers at Goodison Park.

The Toffees have had a disappointing start to their season with a poor run of performances ahead of the World Cup break and are now just one point clear of the relegation zone in 17th.

Their opponents on Monday are the only side that have scored fewer goals than Everton this season so far, however, with new manager Julen Lopetegui leading his first ever top flight fixture it will be hard for Frank Lampard to predict how Wolves will threaten.

As a result, the Everton boss must be clever in his approach to the fixture and match Wolves’ unpredictability by perhaps bringing in some fresh perspectives of his own during the clash.

One player that Lampard could unleash in the first home league game since October is youth prospect, Stanley Mills.

It has been reported that Tom Cannon, Isaac Price and Mills missed out on the action in the Everton U23s clash with Colchester earlier this week, hinting that the trio are being saved for the Boxing Day clash against Wolves.

The 19-year-old talent is having the season of his career so far in the U23s with the “outstanding” forward – as dubbed by Paul Tait – scoring seven goals in just 12 appearances.

Over 55 career appearances in the Everton youth set-up, Mills has scored 15 times and delivered six assists with a goal contribution every 170 minutes, an output that could be hugely valuable to Lampard.

Upon signing his new contract at the club in August this year, Everton Director of Football, Kevin Thelwell lavished praise on the player for his progress in the academy:

“This new contract is a reward for Stanley’s encouraging progress at Everton.

“He took his chance to impress Frank and his staff during the summer and we are looking forward to him continuing to develop and keep pushing to be involved with the First Team this season.”

Mills – who was hailed “versatile” by Adam Jones – was recently invited to impress the former Chelsea boss on the Australian tour last month alongside a select few youth players and if he makes an appearance in the matchday squad at Goodison on Monday it would suggest he was successful.

Now Lampard can give Mills his chance to shine in front of the adoring home support and it will be a great opportunity for the manager to get an idea of whether the youngster is ready or not to feature in the first team more regularly over the second half of the season.

Everton have suffered a number of huge injury concerns to key players over the last 18 months which left them not only with the worst injury record in the Premier League last season but has also contributed to their struggle for consistency in their performances.

Indeed, the Toffees signed eight new players in the summer to bolster their squad depth following constant fitness concerns to key players like Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Yerry Mina, however, it hasn’t stopped the team from continuing to be weakened over the campaign so far.

One of the biggest causes of concern for Frank Lampard as he prepares for Everton’s return to action in the Premier League after Christmas is James Garner’s back injury which left him unable to join the squad during their Australian tour over the World Cup break last month.

Premier League injury expert Ben Dinnery made a concerning claim last week when he revealed that the young midfielder could now be out of action until at least February.

“The initial sort of prognosis was relatively okay, but subsequent evaluations and testaments reveal that it’s probably going to be towards maybe the end of January or even early February before Garner is back in contention.”

Tom Davies has also suffered an injury whilst in Australia with the squad meaning that Lampard’s depth in the centre of the pitch has been severely compromised ahead of the second half of the season and will require some immediate thought on how to address the situation.

One way that Lampard could bolster his midfield presence is by promoting Everton academy talent Isaac Price, who was given the golden opportunity to join the senior Blues on their trip to Australia.

The 19-year-old midfielder has already clearly impressed the 44-year-old manager and could now be the saviour in his midfield dilemma whilst Garner and Davies recover on the sidelines.

Price has been part of the Everton youth academy since he was seven years old and has risen through the ranks to become a key player in the U21s team, making 71 appearances over his career so far and this season he has been a stand-out performer in the Football League Trophy.

Over three appearances, the talented youngster has scored one goal and completed 80% of his dribbles, as well as averaging 1.7 key passes, two interceptions, two tackles, three clearances 7.3 touches and four duels won per game, proving that he has been a huge presence in midfield for his team.

Lampard gave an assessment on Price’s impact dubbing the midfielder’s capabilities “natural” during the friendlies in Australia:

“His energy is amazing, wins a lot of second balls & is calm when he gets there. Finds passes & pockets which is natural knack. He puts himself in the frame now.”

With that being said, the future is looking bright for Price and his rise to the senior team could be fast-tracked if Lampard gives him the opportunity to shine in Garner and Davies’ absence when the Toffees return to action later this month.

Everton forward Anthony Gordon is ‘not doing enough’ at Goodison Park, according to BT Sport pundit Gabby Agbonlahor.

The Lowdown: Summer transfer interest

Premier League clubs Newcastle United and Chelsea were both credited with a strong interest in the 21-year-old over the summer, with the latter even reported to have been prepared to pay the £60m asking price set by the Toffees.

Frank Lampard has dropped the forward to the bench for the last two games, but the 44-year-old has since revealed that the youngster has been playing with a broken hand, hence the reason he has been a substitute.

The Latest: Agbonlahor’s comments

Speaking to Football Insider, Agbonlahor suggested that Gordon’s valuation will have now been reduced as a result of his decline in performance.

The 36-year-old said: “That £60million has come down to £30million. I feel like he doesn’t do enough, he doesn’t score enough goals, for me. He’ll get the odd one or two and then go quiet.

“There’s a reason why he’s on the bench, he’s not doing enough. Maybe, has the interest from Chelsea got to his head? He’s got to knuckle down.

“He should have been one that should have been in the running for the World Cup. Now he’s gone quiet and he’s not even being talked about again.”

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The Verdict: Slightly overrated?

Whilst Gordon undoubtedly has plenty of potential, he’s definitely not worth £60m at this moment in time and is probably overvalued by his club. Indeed, his current Transfermarkt value comes in at €40m, which equates to just under £35m.

The England under-21 international has only scored seven goals in 75 appearances for the Toffees and currently averages just 0.6 dribbles and 0.6 key passes per league game (WhoScored).

Although he is Everton’s leading Premier League scorer with three goals this term, Gordon only ranks ninth in WhoScored’s overall performance metrics at Goodison Park, which suggests that his all-round game has plenty of room for improvement.

It’s easy for players to get distracted by transfer speculation when big clubs come sniffing around, but it’s important that he gets his head down and focuses on the job at hand.

Celtic have been handed an injury blow after Ange Postecoglou confirmed that Cameron Carter-Vickers is set to miss the Champions League game against Real Madrid on Wednesday evening.

The Lowdown: Injury concerns

The Premiership champions earned a comfortable 3-0 victory over Livingston last weekend, and with nothing left to lose in Europe, they should be heading into tonight’s clash full of confidence and unburdened by expectation.

However, the Hoops will need to complete their final group game without the services of the American centre-back, who is said to have suffered some after-effects from the most recent league action.

The Latest: Carter-Vickers fitness update

Speaking during his pre-match press conference, Postecoglou revealed that Carter-Vickers struggled with the conditions of Livingston’s pitch and has therefore not travelled to Spain with the rest of the squad to face Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

As quoted by Football Scotland, the Celtic manager said: “Cameron Carter-Vickers pulled up a bit sore after the game on Sunday. The artificial pitch wasn’t great for him so we’ve left him at home.

“Everyone else apart from Callum (McGregor) – obviously he’s out – is fit and available.”

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The Verdict: Blow for Postecoglou

Carter-Vickers has been hailed a ‘big player’ for Celtic by club captain Callum McGregor, and it’ll be a big blow for Postecoglou not having him available for selection this evening.

The American is currently averaging 3.9 clearances and 3.7 aerial duels per game and has a pass success rate of 91%, ranking among the Hoops’ top three players for each metric, highlighting how much of a rock he has been at the heart of the backline (WhoScored).

Taking the decision not to risk him is the right one for an inconsequential fixture, given that he’s already been sidelined once this season; and with the World Cup just around the corner, he’ll no doubt be hoping to make a swift return to action.

Crystal Palace fans are well accustomed to seeing Wilfried Zaha being linked with a move away from Selhurst Park, but the Eagles may have to be wary about losing another one of their top talents in Michael Olise.

According to recent reports from Italy, AC Milan are keeping a close eye on the French winger, who has impressed in Patrick Vieira’s side since joining from Reading in the summer of 2021.

The Rossoneri were said to be keen on the youngster when he was originally at Reading so have a long-standing interest in Olise, although they appreciate that his contract at Selhurst Park is set to run until 2026, so any move now would likely be a very expensive one.

Although Olise has featured in plenty of Premier League games so far this season considering he is just 20 years old, Vieira might consider making him a guaranteed starter, otherwise, he could have his head turned by a potential move to the Italian champions.

The former Reading man has started five and come off the bench in five of Palace’s 11 Premier League fixtures so far this season and has impressed with his performances, contributing two assists in the top flight.

Impressive performances against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Brentford have seen him earn above a 7.4 match rating from WhoScored, which shows what he can do when he is afforded a start, and Vieira might consider playing him more often from the beginning of Premier League matches.

There is no doubt that Vieira is a big fan of the £47.5k-per-week Olise and is probably just managing his minutes as a young player but only Eberechi Eze has played more key passes per game this season, so the 20-year-old is clearly ready to be starting week in, week out.

The French manager was full of praise for the young winger last season after an impressive display against Hartlepool in the FA Cup, saying:

“When you look at the last round and this one, he played well. He can score goals, create chances and he is a special talent.

“He will improve and get better as a player. His work ethic every day has been terrific since he has been at the football club.”

Therefore, with Zaha seemingly set to leave in the summer, Vieira should ensure that Olise remains at Selhurst Park by giving him the starts he deserves in the Premier League in order to avoid the potential heartbreak that would come with a move to AC Milan.

Arsenal take on Tottenham Hotspur in this afternoon’s North London derby, and it promises to be a mouth-watering tie.

Both teams are separated by just a point in the Premier League table, with Arsenal occupying the top spot and Spurs in third.

With Arteta’s men in excellent form so far this season, losing just one match in all competitions, the question is, who will start against Spurs?

One player who Arteta should really be thinking about unleashing is a teenage gem who has significantly impressed since joining the club in the summer…

On the Chalkboard

Marquinhos made the move to England from Brazilian side Sao Paulo and the 19-year-old looks like he is ready to make a big impression this season.

Marquinhos has plenty of pace to burn and before he made his Premier League debut for the club, he had been – in the words of Planet Football –  “tearing it up” in the Premier League 2, scoring three times while also registering an assist.

These performances were enough for Arteta to give the right winger an opportunity to shine in European competition. The Spaniard wasn’t to be disappointed, with the Brazilian achieving a SofaScore rating of 8.9, the highest on the pitch by a mile.

In just 69 minutes on the pitch, he scored, provided an assist, had 52 touches, and made four key passes as Arsenal won 2-1.

It was a remarkable senior Arsenal debut for the player and he clearly has plenty of promise to go far in the game.

Marquinhos might only have one minute of league action behind him, but with Bukayo Saka having featured for England in their two recent Nations League matches against Italy and Germany, he may not be as fresh as Arteta would like heading into such an important match.

Whatever happens, the 40-year-old has an extremely prodigious talent waiting in the wings and he should be willing to unleash him, regardless of the opposition. Having conceded nine goals this season so far Spurs are vulnerable, and Marquinhos could prove to be Arsenal’s secret weapon in their quest for another three points.

West Ham United are potentially set to lose defender Ben Johnson in the future, with the academy graduate yet to sign a new deal at the club.

What’s the word?

According to club insider Claret and Hugh, the 22-year-old is currently holding out on signing a new deal with the Hammers, with his current contract set to expire in the summer of 2024.

The report suggests that the club have been in contact with the England U21 international’s representatives regarding an extension for ‘several months’, although at present the east Londoners appear ‘no closer’ to reaching an agreement.

The piece goes on to add that although negotiations may resume in the coming months, it could well depend on an improvement in the Premier League form of David Moyes’ side to ‘help talks along’.

Perkins repeat

The London Stadium outfit will likely be fearing the worst with regards to Johnson’s future, with the club potentially facing the prospect of losing the full-back for nothing if he does not extend his existing deal.

The Irons have previous with regards to seeing academy talents run down their deals at the club in search of pastures new, with the likes of Jeremy Ngakia and – more recently – Sonny Perkins having left on a ‘free’ in recent times.

In the case of the latter man, the teenage star was no first-team regular – having made just three appearances at senior level – although had been tipped for big things by those at West Ham, having been earmarked as the “next Declan Rice”, as per ExWHUemployee.

As such, the Hammers were unsurprisingly frustrated at seeing the exciting talent depart over the summer having rejected the offer of a professional contract, with the 18-year-old forward subsequently joining fellow top-flight club, Leeds United.

Much to the annoyance of those back at his former club, the Englishman has already “hit the ground running” in his new surroundings – according to Leeds’ U21 coach Michael Skubala –  having already proven himself something of a “goal machine” with six goals in just five Premier League 2 games.

Having been forced to watch the impressive starlet begin to blossom at Elland Road, Moyes and co will not want to see history repeat itself in the form of Johnson, with the defender’s possible departure a potentially even greater blow such has been his impact at first-team level to date.

The £19k-per-week titan has already racked up 64 appearances in all competitions for the club thus far, proving himself a real “wonderful” asset – in the words of former coach Stuart Pearce – with his ability to feature all across the backline.

Last term proved particularly fruitful for the 5 foot 9 menace – who is currently sidelined with a thigh injury – as he made 34 appearances across all competitions, eight of which came as part of the club’s stunning Europa League run.

A valued squad member due to his versatility, Johnson is a player that West Ham simply can’t afford to lose, with the case of Perkins a cautionary tale of just what can happen if the club allow a contract to ebb towards its expiry.

Journalist Simon Phillips has stated that the signing of Che Adams is Frank Lampard’s ‘top priority’ for Everton.

The Lowdown: Everton exploring offer

It has been reported that the Goodison Park outfit are ‘exploring’ a loan-to-buy offer for the 26-year-old and that Southampton would be willing to let him go, using the funds to bring in a new striker.

The Merseyside club have been linked with the likes of Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi and Brentford’s Ivan Toney in recent days, as Frank Lampard desperately looks to sign a centre-forward before the transfer window closes.

The Latest: Adams is Everton’s ‘top priority’

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Phillips has shared that Adams is Lampard’s ‘top priority’ in terms of Everton’s list of striker targets.

He stated: “I’ve been told that Che Adams is the top priority there for Lampard at least. But, obviously, at Everton, he’s got the board there, and the decisions are not just Lampard’s.”

The Verdict: Great option

Adams would certainly be a great option for Everton, especially if they can get him on an initial loan basis, which would save them the money to then potentially sign him on a permanent deal next season.

The Scotland international boasts plenty of Premier League two goals away to Leicester City on Saturday afternoon, helping the Saints to come from behind and clinch all three points in a 2-1 win.

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Therefore, he should be able to settle in fairly quickly with a move to Goodison Park, and Lampard would be hoping that the 26-year-old could hit the ground running straight away in the absence of the injured Dominic Calvert-Lewin.