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Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively told Football FanCast that Gareth Bale only returned to Tottenham to build his fitness in time for this summer’s European Championships.

Having fallen out of favour at Real Madrid following his toxic relationship with Zinedine Zidane, the Welshman made a sensational return to Spurs last summer on a season-long loan.

But Bale’s opening few months back at Tottenham were frustrating, with the majority of his appearances coming in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions.

However, the attacker found some form during the Europa League tie against Wolfsberger last month, which allowed him to force his way into Jose Mourinho’s Premier League side.

During a six-game period recently, Bale contributed to nine goals, six of which were goals, although Fry believes that his sole reason for coming back to north London was with Wales in mind.

Fry exclusively told Football FanCast:

“I think Gareth jumped at the chance to join Tottenham because he loves it and he felt that he could get game time, where he wouldn’t at Real Madrid.

“He would have expected to play more, but the object of the exercise in Gareth Bale coming to Tottenham was to get fit for Wales. That’s all he came for, believe you and me – game-time, getting fit for the World Cup qualifiers and getting into the Euros.

“It was always going to be each of them using each other for their own means, which is still good for Tottenham fans if they see Bale how he played two or three times. He’s not going to be the player he was with the injuries and loss of game-time. But he can still contribute a lot, but I thought he would have played more than he has.”

Bale’s return to Tottenham hasn’t gone how some would have hoped, but with 10 goals and three assists, and at least 10 games remaining, it’s turned out to be a decent season for the Welshman.

David Sullivan must strive to see West Ham United seal a deal with Watford for Craig Dawson, after David Moyes voiced his intent to retain the defender beyond his loan spell.

What’s the word?

Speaking following Monday’s 2-0 win over Leeds United, via quotes by football.london, Moyes praised Dawson for his performances and confirmed that he is likely to sign with the club on a permanent deal.

Dawson moved to the London Stadium on a season-long loan in October as a last-ditch domestic transfer, in a move long-said to include a £2m option to purchase.

Moyes has stated that the terms struck with Watford also include a clause dependent on the number of appearances Dawson makes throughout the 2020/21 campaign, a total which the £42,000-per-week enforcer is getting close to.

Monday’s affair marked the centre-half’s 14th outing with the Irons across all competitions, having featured in all bar one fixture since making his debut at Southampton in December.

Moyes now hopes to have the 30-year-old to call on next season, regardless of Dawson reaching the set number of games needed for the clause to be activated.

“There is a good chance, although we are not quite there yet, but there is a clause in it after a certain amount of games and we are getting very close to that number. His performances, his attitude and determination are certainly worthy of that anyway,” the Irons boss said.

“We brought him in, it took him a while until the Southampton game – I think it was – before he got a start, but that was because of the form of Fabian Balbuena and Angelo Ogbonna – but he has come in and added goals to us as well and his experience has been really important, and he is playing really well this season.”

Should West Ham retain Dawson?

Moyes has clearly been impressed with what Dawson has brought to West Ham since October, and is rightly keen to retain the Watford enforcer who is not out of contract at Vicarage Road until 2023.

Thankfully for the Irons, they have a clause in their deal with the Hornets to purchase the £3.5m-rated titan after a set number of games. But Sullivan should be lining up a permanent switch even if, for whatever reason, Dawson fails to trigger the terms already agreed.

The Telegraph’s Matt Law lauded the defender for producing an “outstanding” performance against Leeds on Monday, having denied the Elland Road natives a goal despite a result being there for Marcelo Bielsa’s side to take.

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton also praised the impact Dawson has had on West Ham’s defence, telling BBC Radio 5 Live (8/3, 20:56): “West Ham had a dreadful defensive record last season, and I think that shows how important Craig Dawson has been. He is a calming influence on them.”

He offers more than just being a leader to his teammates too, with Dawson doing the gritty work to keep opponents out, such as his goal-line clearance to deny Leeds that BBC Sport pundit Garth Crooks claimed “must have sickened” the Whites.

The display Dawson produced was typical of the 30-year-old in claret and blue, as he claimed a sixth Premier League clean sheet in 12 games as well as a third goal – West Ham only kept eight shut outs all season during the delayed 2019/20 campaign.

If Moyes and Sullivan were to suddenly pass up on keeping a player who has helped turn around the club’s fortunes so much, questions would rightly be raised.

AND in other news, West Ham eye summer swoop for £35k-p/w gem with “boundless energy”…f

Roy Hodgson has reportedly started planning for his summer transfer business, with Crystal Palace being linked to Sheffield United midfielder John Lundstram.

According to The Mirror, the Eagles are interested in swooping for the 27-year-old on a free transfer in the summer with his contract set to expire at Bramall Lane.

There is currently a contract conundrum at Selhurst Park with midfielders James McArthur and James McCarthy both set to run down their deals but Lundstram is not the answer that Hodgson needs.

He had an excellent first season in the Premier League under Chris Wilder, scoring five goals and providing three assists, he was not able to continue that high level of performance this year.

In 23 appearances in the league this campaign, the £7.2m-rated midfielder is yet to score amidst a dreadful season for Sheffield United.

When compared to the potentially departing duo of McArthur and McCarthy, Lundstram is certainly no better.

According to WhoScored, Lundstram only averages 0.1 more key passes per game than the former, whilst averaging only marginally higher defensive numbers than the latter which for a team who has spent the majority of the season propping up the table, is not too inspiring.

One positive of his arrival, however, could be the lower wages that he would command in comparison. Currently earning £4k per week with the Blades, even an increase on that amount should save Palace money on the combined £105k per week wages that McCarthy and McArthur scoop at Selhurst Park.

Should the two depart though, it is doubtful that Lundstram would even be able to find his way into the Palace team immediately with the likes of Luka Milivojevic, Cheikhou Kouyate, Jairo Riedewald and even Nathan Ferguson all ahead of him in the pecking order.

Whilst Lundstram would by no means be a terrible signing, he is certainly no better than what the Eagles currently have, with his potential arrival indicating a somewhat of lack of ambition from Steve Parish and the club.

AND in more news, Read more on how key it is for Palace to tie down Patrick van Aanholt to a new contract…

After missing out on several domestic targets, West Brom’s attentions have turned to a new home-grown star ahead of Monday’s deadline…

What’s the word?

According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, the Baggies are ‘pushing hard’ to sign Arsenal midfielder Ainsley Maitland-Niles on loan for the remainder of the season.

It’s claimed that the 23-year-old is in need of regular minutes if he’s to remain in Gareth Southgate’s England plans ahead of the summer’s European Championships.

Albion face competition from an unnamed ‘top-four side’ and they will need to convince the Gunners as they have reservations over him joining a relegation candidate as well as Sam Allardyce’s style of football.

Massive coup

This would be quite the move from West Brom as Maitland-Niles offers vast versatility which could benefit Big Sam tenfold.

Primarily a central midfielder, the 3-cap England international has featured on both flanks as a winger as well as a full-back this season alone. Over the course of 223 career appearances, the Hale End youth product has played in seven different positions.

As BT Sport and Daily Mail pundit Chris Sutton once said, ‘the young man’s versatility is a weapon’ before adding: ‘He is such a versatile talent – a diamond.’

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-west-brom-news-and-transfer-rumours” title=”Read this week’s latest West Brom news, transfer rumours and more…”]

The Baggies are sitting in a perilous position right now and could do with bodies across the pitch and that’s what Maitland-Niles would evidently bring.

It’s no wonder local Express & Star journalist Joseph Masi believes it would be “a major coup” to seal his signature. It really would be.

64 of those aforementioned appearances have come in the Premier League with another 30 games coming from the Europa League, via Transfermarkt.

That’s just experience that Big Sam does not have right now in any of his players, and that’s remarkable considering he’s still only 23.

“He’s got all the attributes to become a top player,” explained former Gunners striker Jeremie Aliadiere only 18 months ago.

The Arsenal man appears to be very defensively-sound, averaging 1.7 tackles per game throughout the course of his career, whilst an average of one dribble per game suggests he likes to get forward and is a hard man to get the ball off, per WhoScored.

Those tackling figures merely highlight his impressive work-rate too.

Football Insider pundit Kevin Campbell said: “He has a great engine on him,” whilst only last month Peter Crouch told BT Sport (via the Metro): “I think he’s tremendous, I really like him. He’s got energy and he’s calm on the ball. He was full of confidence.”

“You can tell he’s got the gears,” added Martin Keown. “He’s a Rolls-Royce of a player at times.”

By comparison, Romaine Sawyers has struggled as a deep-lying playmaker, averaging only 0.4 dribbles per game as Albion’s worst-rated regular starter, via WhoScored.

Maitland-Niles is everything Big Sam needs right now – versatility, experience and quality in abundance, and given he’s only earning around £35k-per-week in north London, he’d be a bargain and cheap loan deal for the second half of the season.

Dowling must convince Maitland-Niles and Arsenal into this move before Monday. It could be huge for their survival bid.

AND in other news, West Brom could find Sam Allardyce’s next Defoe in £6m-rated “unique talent”…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former West Brom and England midfielder Carlton Palmer has backed the Midlands outfit to secure the signing of Christian Benteke before Monday’s transfer deadline.

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, the Baggies are closing in on a move for the Crystal Palace frontman, despite the arrival of Galatasaray striker Mbaye Diagne last week.

It’s claimed that the 30-year-old has been told his playing time at the Eagles will be limited so a temporary spell at the Hawthorns could be beneficial as it would put him in the shop window ahead of the summer window when he will be out-of-contract.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-west-brom-news-and-transfer-rumours” title=”Read this week’s latest West Brom news, transfer rumours and more…”]

Albion boss Sam Allardyce has managed Benteke before at Palace and revealed earlier this month that he would be keen should the Belgian be available, he said to Sky Sports:

“If he is available, I’d be interested because we all know I’m looking for a front-man if at all possible.”

And when asked if a deal could happen before the 11 pm deadline on Monday, Palmer told FFC:

“Benteke’s contract is up at the end of the season. If they take him now, they might have a deal with him.

“If they had a deal, and said ‘We’ll take him until the end of the season, and we can split the wages’ then Benteke might do that. And then [West Brom] might promise Benteke ‘if you keep us up, we’ll give you a year’s contract.’

“I think there’s a deal to be done there [before deadline day].”

Benteke, who is valued at £8.1m by Transfermarkt, enjoyed a fruitful spell under Big Sam at Palace during the 2016/17 season where he scored nine goals in 22 appearances.

It led to the 66-year-old lauding the 6 foot 3 colossus a “big catalyst” towards their survival bid, and he’d surely be hoping that history can repeat itself should the former Villa man swap south London for the Midlands before tomorrow night.

Albion only have one domestic loan space left to fill, and given they are among the lowest scorers in the division, Benteke could be a welcome addition to their cause.

AND in other news, Baggies can seal “major coup” in £35k-p/w diamond dubbed a “Rolls-Royce of a player”…

When it comes to Sunderland, it’s clear what the issue is – they don’t score enough goals.

Danny Graham and Will Grigg are yet to find the back of the net at all this term and last season’s top scorer – Chris Maguire – only scored ten in League One.

Things have improved slightly with the rejuvenation of Charlie Wyke. The tall striker has been superb this campaign and already has two goals under Lee Johnson, taking his tally for the season to ten.

Yet, Johnson isn’t completely satisfied yet. That’s because he admits that Sunderland lack pace and directness in attack, something he wants to address in January with the addition of someone who can stretch the play.

Of course, the introduction of Jack Diamond has helped proceedings. The talented youngster has amassed 1.6 dribbles per game – the highest of any player at the Stadium of Light.

That being said, they clearly need at least one addition in the final third. Could that be Barnsley’s Luke Thomas? It was reported a few days ago that Sunderland and Oxford United were considering a move for the Tykes attacker.

The forward, who earns £6k-per-week, hasn’t found a goal in 2020/21 but it’s important to consider that he contributed to nine strikes for Coventry at this level in 2018/19. Possessed with “lots of pace” according to his manager at the time Mark Robins, he’s a player that could add plenty to Johnson’s side.

The key word there is could. All you need to do is look at the spell Antoine Semenyo had from last January onwards. Signed on loan from a Championship club in the winter market, the winger arrived with pace to burn and dangerous energy.

That’s alarmingly similar to Thomas, so Sunderland will need to hope his spell doesn’t end up going the same way.

After Semenyo signed temporary terms with the Black Cats, he started just once and failed to score. Phil Parkinson had high hopes for the 20-year-old but he wasn’t given a fair enough chance to show what he was capable of.

If Kristjaan Speakman secures a deal for Thomas he will need assurances that Johnson will play him. Any such move will be rendered pointless otherwise. Last January tells you all you need to know.

AND in other news, Storey can secure IMMEDIATE success in Jan with genius Sunderland strategy…

Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers have been linked with a move for Juventus’ Douglas Costa.

Reports in Italy have stated that Douglas Costa’s ongoing loan stint at Bayern Munich could be cut short this month and Wolves could be one of the clubs interested in the Brazilian.

Wolves linked with the Juventus man

Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy talk about Costa’s current situation at Bayern, stating that he wasn’t even in the squad for Bayern’s recent game against Freiburg and the absence wasn’t injury related either. They go on to state that Costa’s loan stint at the Allianz Arena could be cut short this month.

The report states that there has been some interest from England recently, especially from Wolves and Manchester United. It is also said that because of the impact of the pandemic, Costa would be allowed to play for a third European club this season.

SportWitness have added detail to this report, saying that Wolves will not be able to match his €6m after tax wages and the links seem more about hope than expectation.

Costa has made nine Bundesliga appearances this season, scoring once and assisting once for the Bavarians. He played six Champions League games too, getting two assists (as per Transfermarkt).

Wolves should avoid Costa move

Costa has been injury prone over the years and he had a rather concerning fitness record during his time at the Bianconeri. The Brazilian was constantly troubled by muscle injuries and that should be a warning sign for Wolves (as per Transfermarkt).

While the 30-year-old is still valued at £18m, he has played only 281 minutes of league football this season. In the 2019/20 campaign, he played only 792 minutes of Serie A football for Juve.

This shows that he’s not really capable of playing regularly anymore and signing him won’t make sense for Wolves.

In other news, Wolves have rejected a move for a defender – read more here.

According to Norwegian publication VG, Arsenal remain interested in Sheffield United midfielder Sander Berge.

What’s the story?

The 22-year-old only joined the Blades earlier this year for a club-record fee, and has quickly established himself as a key part of Chris Wilder’s side, playing in every single Premier League game this season, including completing the full 90 minutes in the last eight.

Now, VG claim that Arsenal were actually very much interested in signing him before he ended up joining Sheffield United, but that his performances since his arrival at Bramall Lane have “definitely not harmed by his achievements in recent months”.

Can he be Arsenal’s next Vieira?

Standing at an imposing 6 foot 5, Berge has a lot of similarities to Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira. The Frenchman of course was the captain during the Invincibles era, and led the Gunners to some incredible domestic successes.

Whilst Berge at 22 still has an awful long way to go to get anywhere near that level, he possesses a lot of the same characteristics that defined Vieira’s time at Arsenal. Tall, powerful and deceptively good with the ball, the Norwegian has got a game-changing dynamic to his game.

Taste of Football wrote in their analytical report about him: “The midfielder is a massive physical presence in midfield. His ability to shrug off anyone pressing him and almost glide beyond them is a joy to watch. The Norway international uses his strength to his advantage, allowing him to transition quickly from his own box into the final third. But Berge’s game isn’t reliant on his stature.

“On multiple occasions, he is seen skipping past the opposition, either with a flick around the corner or an elegant dribble. Hardly what you expect from such a giant in midfield. Berge also has finesse to his game. Reminiscent of a young Sergio Busquets, a testament to how easy he makes the game look.”

And if the Gunners needed any more reason to sign him, then they only have to listen to what Mikel Arteta’s assistant, Albert Stuivenberg, said about him. He lauded: “He is already very mature. He is intelligent, reads the game well, and takes the initiative. He has the potential to become a future leader.”

Berge has all the hallmarks of a young Vieira, and could be a superb signing for the north Londoners.

Southampton have recently been linked with a move for Celtic defender Jeremie Frimpong ahead of the January transfer window, which could spell trouble for right-back Yan Valery.

What’s the word?

According to The Scottish Sun, the Saints are keen on signing the former Manchester City man next month, as he continues to impress for the Bhoys.

The 20-year-old joined Celtic from the Citizens in September 2019 and has enjoyed a superb first year with the club, quickly establishing himself as a first-team regular in Neil Lennon’s side.

The right-back has 42 appearances to his name, in which he has contributed an impressive three goals and six assists.

Lennon will be desperate to keep hold of the young defender, however, as he was full of praise for him when he scored in Celtic’s win against Hibernian last year, saying:

“I’m just delighted what he brings to the game, defensively or offensively and there is as an end product as well.

“He put a couple of chances on a plate which we should have benefited from.

“He’s an outstanding talent who looks after himself. Watching him makes me tired, the amount of runs he makes, he wears people down.

“He is an amazing player. Amazing. With younger players, you want to look after them but you can’t hold talent back.”

Bye-bye Valery

However, with the Scottish side in poor form of late, with Lennon reportedly close to being sacked, there may be nothing he can do if Southampton come calling for Frimpong in January.

If he were to sign, you worry for Valery’s future with the Saints, as the Frenchman has failed to make a single appearance for the club this season, following the signing of Kyle Walker-Peters from Spurs in the summer.

Certainly, Frimpong’s performances for Celtic over the past year or so suggest that he would be a good addition to Hasenhuttl’s squad at Southampton, so it will be interesting to see if the Saints consider a move for the £2.7 million-rated defender.

Martin Semmens must push for this signing as soon as possible.

And, in other news… Saints’ only concern: Hasenhuttl has a big decision to make on “super-talented” winger

From West Brom, to Barcelona, to Aston Villa. At only 17 years of age, it’s already been quite the journey for Louie Barry, and one that Dean Smith and co will no doubt be the biggest beneficiaries of over the coming seasons.

The teenager started off his youth career at the Hawthorns, before a high-profile switch to Barcelona saw him become the first ever English player to join the Catalan giants’ famed La Masia academy.

Having only spent a few months at the Camp Nou, Villa made their move to bring the club’s boyhood fan back home, and the club’s academy manager, Mark Harrison, wasn’t shy in waxing lyrical about the starlet.

He said: “It (Louie’s signing) sends a powerful message about the ambition of this football club. We’re delighted – Louie is a local person and his family are all Villa fans, as is Louie. He is still a very young man but as he’s developed, he’s always been one player that you always recognise as having outstanding attributes. He’s got a fantastic mentality, he’s desperate to do well for this football club.

“He’s really driven, he’s got great family support, but in terms of what he can achieve, we firmly believe that he can be an outstanding number nine for this football club.”

Quite the lofty statement, but it is an indication of just how highly Villa rate Barry. Across Europe, another young striker is making his mark on the biggest stage: Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Braut Haaland.

The Norway international has been lighting up the Bundesliga despite only turning 20 a couple of months ago, and if anything, gives Villa a real comparison for the kind of meteoric rise a young player can enjoy if given the chance.

The fact Barry spent some time at Barcelona has already exposed him to a different culture, and at a club that demands a certain standard of its young players. That will hold him in good stead at Villa, and with Smith potentially facing a shortage of striking options, he could find his opportunity sooner rather than later.

Haaland is the bench-mark at the moment. But if Villa trust in the process, then they may not have to look very far for their own.

And in other news, this Aston Villa new boy may be better value for money than Ollie Watkins.