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Spurs have been handed a major boost in their quest to sign Nottingham Forest full-back Djed Spence in the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

Writing on Twitter, journalist Jacque Talbot said: “Understand Djed Spence is a target for a number of Premier League clubs – Tottenham included. Their MD, Fabio Paratici, watched the youngster at City Ground during Nottingham’s 4-1 FA Cup win over Leicester in February.”

That was then followed up by news from Goal.com, who claimed that ahead of a number of other clubs, it’s Spurs who are leading the race to sign Spence come the summer transfer window and that they are considered the full-back’s most likely landing spot.

Fans will be buzzing

With him currently playing for a side sitting ninth in the Championship, it’s fair to say Spence may not have been a real household name earlier this season.

However, his superb performance against Arsenal in the FA Cup saw him catch the national eye, and it left former Gunners icon Ian Wright raving about him after.

He said: “But let me say, that was one of the best right-back performances I have seen for a very long time. A very long time. I have not seen a combative, technical, swashbuckling performance like that for a very long time.”

It’s no surprise then that clubs like Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are both said to be keeping an eye on him, while Spurs’ north London rivals Arsenal have also been following him.

Goal’s update that it’s the Lilywhites who are at the head of the queue, especially in front of those Bundesliga juggernauts, is a very encouraging boost for Antonio Conte and his plans to rebuild this squad in his own image in the summer.

The north Londoners of course were linked with a move for Wolves flier Adama Traore amid suggestions they wanted to see him as a right wing-back, so making a move for Spence carries a lot of weight.

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The 6 foot star’s arrival at Spurs would be a superb signing for Conte, and it’s news that will have fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, a Dane Scarlett claim has been dropped…

Every manager brings something different out of every player. Some managers like Wenger and Ferguson pride themselves on getting the best out of their players whilst others such as Redknapp expect their squad to prove themselves or face being dropped. Players are signed for their clubs in a frenzy of praise from manager and fans with press releases, blog posts and YouTube compilations spreading at an exponential rate the moment a player signing is announced, but it doesn’t always work out. Look at Diego Forlan. A laughing stock in the Premier League but then he gets shipped of to Villarreal and starts banging in the goals like nobody’s business. I remember one year he scored a hat trick on the last day of the season to win the golden boot for Europe joint with Thierry Henry. Not bad for a striker who supposedly didn’t know where the goal was. And he’s not the only one. Every season there is wasted talent in the league, players not being played or not benefiting from their manager’s tactics. So who are the top ten wasted talents in the premier league this season?

Click on Stephen Ireland to unveil the top 10

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Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

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Fernando Torres will weigh up his future at Chelsea in the summer according to his agent.

The Spanish international striker has struggled since moving to Stamford Bridge from Liverpool in January 2011, and has recently gone through a long-term goal drought.

Despite El Nino’s performances improving of late, Antonio Sanz has stated that his client will consider his options at the end of this season.

“We’ll evaluate his future in the coming months. Fernando has another four years on his contract at Chelsea and the situation there has changed for him,” the representative told The Telegraph.

“With Villas-Boas, he was not considered, but the arrival of Roberto Di Matteo on the bench has seen him return to have the trust that he deserves.

“He played a great match in the Champions League in Lisbon, assisting the winning goal for Kalou.”

Roma and Juventus have been linked with moves for the misfiring frontman, but as yet there have been no concrete offers.

“We know the new American project at Roma and the philosophy of manager Luis Enrique, but if Roma want Fernando, they will have to talk with Chelsea.

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“The Italian championship is of a good standard, but there are currently no discussions with Roma or Juventus.”

By Gareth McKnight

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On the domestic front, things could not be going better.

We are top of the table and not just winning, but winning in style and by a good margin of goals too. Rooney looks better than ever, our injury problems have barely been noticed, and the players coming in as replacements making more than a strong case to remain there. Even De Gea is repaying the faith Fergie has shown in him and looks better and more confident with every passing game.

Our attention now turns to the UEFA Champions League, the competition that after last seasons’ crushing defeat by the reigning champions of Europe and Spain, Barcelona, prompted the restructuring of the squad and a great deal of transfer activity this past summer.

The board and fans both realised that steps had to be made in order to compete with what looked like the greatest club side the world had ever seen, with masses of individual talents in players like Leo Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, and also a team ethos and a will to win. This, accompanied by the fact our squad was facing a number of retirements that summer, with key players in the twilights of their careers, led to us delving into the market.

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Fergie knew action needed to be taken if history was not to repeat itself and a young crop of players were purchased – and have done much better than expected, lighting up the domestic league and adding to what was already a great squad. When you also factor in a certain striker that goes by the name of Wayne Rooney and the breath taking form he is in, United look a formidable force.

It is true that Barca also bought in the summer; Cesc Fabregas and the Chilean Alexis Sanchez were the marquee signings of choice, yet they are both attacking players. No defensive reinforcements were bought in, with Guardiola choosing to hope the forwards would always score one more than the opposition. The option of playing with three ‘centre backs’ has been employed thus far, yet it seems strange to consider Sergio Busquets a centre back, and Barcelona do look prone to conceding the odd goal. Defensively there remain question marks, and whilst as an attacking force they look as good as ever, elsewhere on the park they may suffer when injuries and suspensions strike.

United will certainly fancy their chances of avenging the events of last May, but it would be foolish to look solely at Barcelona as our only threat on the European stage.

Real Madrid look just as good as Barcelona, if not better at times. Much is expected of Madrid in the second season of Jose Mourinho’s tenure, and they will be going all out to win the Champions league this term. Likewise the Italian sides. There is always tough competition from Italy, and places like the San Siro are tough grounds to visit for the away leg of a tie. As with last season, the possibility of drawing an English side is never out of the question, and although City are new to the competition, they look stronger than ever this season. It is always difficult when playing a side you know so well domestically in the UCL, as we found during our ties with Chelsea, and there are always surprises that get thrown up.

It is vital to win the group in order to gain a more favourable draw in the first knockout round, and this is our first target. Fergie will not allow the players to get ahead of themselves and become consumed by winning the competition so early on, yet we are certainly one of the favourites, and as fans it doesn’t hurt to dream!

Article courtesy of Rebecca Knight from The Busby Way

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Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has admitted that his side would prefer to be playing in the Champions League rather than the Europa League, but stated that the Premier League champions now want to win the tournament.

The Old Trafford outfit find themselves in Europe’s second-tier tournament after finishing third in Group C of the Champions League and being eliminated at the hands of Benfica and Basel.

Although playing in the Europa League will be a new experience for most of the players and manager, Rooney is eager to lift the trophy.

“It’s a shame we’re out of the Champions League. That’s what we all want to play in,” he told the club’s official website.

“Unfortunately we went out and now we turn our attention to the Premier League and Europa League.

“I don’t think the manager’s won the Europa League, so I’m sure he’ll want to win it. Every competition we enter we want to win.

“There are some good teams but we have to believe, keep working and hopefully we can go on and win it,” he stated.

United continue their attempt to overthrow cross-town rivals Manchester City from the top of the Premier League, and take on QPR at Loftus Road on Sunday.

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By Gareth McKnight

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A revitalised Blackburn side head to St James’ Park on Saturday hoping to make it six wins in a row against Newcastle who have started the season magnificently.

The Magpies come up against their bogey team this weekend with Alan Pardew’s men yet to taste defeat in league and cup. The harmonious feeling that is now flowing through the club is a refreshing change from the drama and turmoil that usually makes the headlines. Credit should go to Pardew and chief scout Graham Carr for their recruitment drive this summer with Yohan Cabaye, signed for £4 million from French champions Lille, looking like an absolute steal. His performance in last week’s draw at Aston Villa was a joy to behold with the midfielder unlucky not to open his account for the club with former Magpies keeper pulling off three world class saves to deny him. Newcastle showed a growing resoluteness that is becoming a hallmark of Pardews reign and the manager seems to be able to squeeze every ounce of determination from his players. Tuesday’s 4-3 Carling Cup thriller at Nottingham Forest proved that with his troops refusing to give up eventually wining the tie in the dying embers of extra time through a Fabricio Coloccini goal. Another positive from that game was the return of Hatem Ben Arfa who appeared in black and white for the first time in nearly a year whilst fellow Frenchman Sylvain Marveaux also impressed giving Pardew a welcome selection headache.

What a difference a week makes with Blackburn now a high after two wins in the space a few days shifting some of the pressure from boss Steve Kean’s shoulders. The Scotsman pulled off an unlikely comeback to take all three points at home to Arsenal last week before seeing his side beat Leyton Orient 3-2 in the Carling Cup. It is certainly a massive turnaround for Kean who was the subject of protests before the game at Ewood Park last week. He definitely silenced his critics with Blackburn running out 4-3 winners gaining their first Premier League win of the campaign. It’s been a rough ride for Kean since he took over from Sam Allardyce but the signing of goal poaching Yakubu from Everton looks like a shrewd bit of business after he notched two on his debut. With confidence now beginning to rise a trip to Newcastle will provide a much sterner test although Kean should be positive of coming away with all three points with St James’ Park a welcome source of wins over the last few years. They recorded a 2-1 victory in this fixture last season and would certainly go for a repeat of that on Saturday.

Davide Santon, Alan Smith, Haris Vuckic and Mike Williamson are the only injury concerns for Newcastle.

Blackburn on the other hand welcome back David Goodwillie, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Michel Salgado. David Dunn and Ryan Nelson miss out on the trip to Tyneside.

Key Players

Yohan Cabaye – The French midfield playmaker has made Kevin Nolan a distant memory at St James’ Park with his box-to-box style of play. Will be intent on breaking is Newcastle duck this weekend after last week’s duel with Given saw the keeper come out on top.

Junior Hoilett – With pace and skill in abundance the young winger could be deployed on the right to have a go at makeshift left back Ryan Taylor. Will be expected to get the ball down and run at the defender at every opportunity.

Verdict: 2-1

Fancy winning a million pounds??

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Sitting in second place with 88 points, having scored a record 88 goals, with three games still to play, it is clear that by anyone’s standards this has been a great season for Sheffield United.

After a worrying pre-season that had fans protesting over Danny Wilson’s appointment as manager, the Blades supporters soon changed their minds after an impressive display against Oldham on the opening day of the season.

One player who stood out for me that day back in August and who has carried his fine form throughout is Harry Maquire. Maguire came through the ranks at Shirecliffe making his debut against Cardiff last season with the unenviable task of marking Craig Bellamy. Since then he has never really looked back, notching up 50 starts in a year. In his first full season he’s been a rock in the heart of defence alongside Neil Collins and has only missed two games all season (one through suspension and the other through illness). As a result he is almost certain to pick up the young player of the season award.

After such a great season it is hard to pick out one individual player but for me I think that Kevin McDonald has been excellent. He made his debut against Bradford and showed his potential, firing over after just 90 seconds on the pitch. His unbelievable strength and pin-point passing has made him a key figure in our promotion push. He has missed a few games through injury and his influence has been felt with a draw against Tranmere sticking out as a game where we missed his ability. In fact, just days later when he returned we smashed five past play-off chasing Notts County with the former Burnley man playing a key part in the victory. McDonald also the capacity to pitch in with vital goals and with his contract expired in the summer I’m sure other clubs will be looking to get him on a free transfer. However I’m confident that Wilson will be doing everything in his power to keep ‘Super Kev’ at the club this summer.

After a horrible campaign last season which resulted in our relegation to League One there have been a number of players who have looked like completely different players this term. This includes Michael Doyle who couldn’t hold a ball up and seemed to lose it every time he touched the ball. However this season playing in the heart of midfield alongside McDonald has altered his play and as a result his passing has vastly improved. His wonderful strike against Yeovil may have sent 16,000 Blades fans into shock and his confidence has shoot through the roof this season. I think every United fan will be want him to carry this form into next season, hopefully back in the Championship.

Neil Collins has also found extra confidence after having a poor season during our relegation campaign. He has the ability to pass the ball well up-field and even on some occasions going for looping runs up-field including a memorable one against Bury. Collins has even popped up with goals this term, one of which secured a vital victory in the Yorkshire derby against Huddersfield.

Despite Collins’ fine form I think the biggest turnaround has to be with keeper Steve Simonsen who had to put it fairly had a terrible season last term. After a mediocre start to the season he seemed to have found his old form again but mistakes against Wednesday and Leyton Orient led to him being dropped to the bench which resulted in 17-year-old George Long making his first league start.  However ‘Simmo’ was recalled after the Exeter match where Long had conceded four times and since then he hasn’t been out of the side. He came back a better player, making fewer mistakes and running his defence better.

However one man that deserves a special mention after struggling last year is Ched Evans who has a remarkable 34 goals in all competitions.  He has been outstanding all season and his form has been noticed by everyone in English football. The Welshman has the ability to do everything on and off the ball, has blistering pace to get him away from defenders and also has a venomous shot to finish with. He’s had all kinds of pressure on his shoulders this season but he coped well to become something of a shining star in the Football League. If he can carry this brilliant form through to next season he could possibly help the Blades’ survive in the Championship, if that’s where we end up in May.

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As this is my first blog feel free to follow me on twitter @jakkUTBveall 

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Bolton Wanderers’ 11 year stay in the Premier League came to an end after a 2-2 draw away at Stoke. The reason we went down was simply due to a lack of consistency meaning that overall, we weren’t good enough.

Could a spell in the Championship be beneficial for the Bolton Wanderers? As of October 2011 the club were £110 million in debt and this figure continues to rise. This looks quite worrying for a team whose owner, Eddie Davies, is only worth an estimated £60 million.

As a result of this the club is looking to balance its books. A parachute fee of around £50 million and the aim of reducing the wage bill by half will come some way in fixing Bolton’s financial problems. The Wanderers took a step closer to achieving this with no less than 15 players who left the club a little over a week ago. Eleven of these players were released, with 3 returning to their parent clubs and Nigel Reo-Coker who decided to active a release clause in his contract.

Also in the past few weeks Bolton chairman, Phil Gartside, has revealed both him and the owner are fully behind manager Owen Coyle and all three of them are determined to get Bolton back in the top flight, but Is this decision a good or a bad thing? It is a bit of both really in my opinion.

On one hand Owen Coyle has to take some responsibility for the clubs poor performances last season, however, the Scotsman has proven he is more than capable to escape this league as he did with Burnley a few years ago. He has shown a lot of promise as a manager, he is young and he worked wonders with Bolton in the 2010/11 campaign.

On to transfers, out of the players released Ivan Klasnic and Gretar Steinsson are the only two who would have featured in the approving season and these two can be replaced with younger players. Also Ryo Miyaichi has shown an interest in returning to the Reebok on another loan period, the young lad showed some potential in the half a season he was here from Arsenal.

As always there are some ridiculous transfer stories and the one that stands out is Jordan Rhodes to Bolton. With a number of Premier League clubs interested in him, this rumour is one of those. Other rumours include Adam Clayton from Leeds on a free transfer. I’ve not seen too much of Clayton but the little bit I have tells me he would be a great signing for us.

Bolton are also in need of a new centre back after David Wheater was ruled out for 9 months, it’s pretty much guaranteed  there will be a defender arriving. A few names have been thrown around, one being Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough) who Owen Coyle tried signing in the January transfer window but was unsuccessful.

There is also a lot of speculation surrounding Zat Knight and Jussi Jaaskelainen. Neither of these have signed new contracts and can leave on a free if they don’t. Jaaskelainen, who has been part of the Bolton set up since as long as I can remember, is rumoured to be attracting interest from a number of clubs including newly promoted West Ham and also West Brom.

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Another player who has been attracting attention is Lee Chung-Yong. The 23 year old, who is highly rated by Bolton, is being target by Trabzonspor manager Senol Gunes who was the in charge of South Korea and handed Lee his international debut. Chungy has only recently revered from breaking his leg in pre-season and made 2 appearances, both as a substitute. This means the transfer could be very risky as there is no guarantee Lee will be the player he use to be, plus the move could prove an expensive one for Trabzonspor as CYL is a great prospect. However, Lee only has only 12 months left on his current contract and maybe this could be deciding factor in him staying or leaving.

This season is a chance to rebuild the team, Owen Coyle has already stated he is after younger players to take the club forward and this could mean if the right players are brought in then Bolton Wanderers could have a bright future.

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Chelsea’s under-fire manager, Andre Villas-Boas, has informed the media this week that the festive month of December will be a crucial one for both him and the team. Six Premier League games and one in the Champions League is on the menu in December for Chelsea and the young Portuguese manager will no doubt by writing his wish list to Santa asking for maximum points in the hope that he’ll still be in a job come January.

Villas-Boas has seen his side win just twice in their last nine matches including twice to Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in the space of 10 days. The second of those defeats came this week and ended their Carling Cup chances whilst the league meeting knocked Chelsea out of the top four in to fifth. They have the chance to move back in to the top four on Saturday when they face the team immediately above them, Newcastle United at St James’s Park.

However, Newcastle will ensure that the crucial month of fixtures gets off to a tough start since the Magpies unbeaten at home and have lost just once in the league this season, away to Manchester City and who boast the joint best defences in the league along with Man City. They proved more than a match for Man Utd when they travelled to Old Trafford and held Man Utd to a 1-1 draw, so back on home soil, they will be no pushover for Chelsea in what has become a must win game.

Despite the outcome at Newcastle, it is the following game against Valencia in the Champions League that is even more crucial for Chelsea. To qualify for the knock out stages of that tournament, they must win or earn a goalless draw, a very tall order when low on confidence and against the Spaniards who know that a win or score draw would see them finish above Chelsea in Group E.

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Should the unthinkable happen for Villas-Boas and they lose or even draw against Newcastle this weekend and go out of the Champions League next week, then it could be that the 34 year will not be at the helm when they welcome Manchester City to Stamford Bridge. Even qualification in the Champions League may not be enough depending on the outcome of this game, such is the proximity exit door for Villas-Boas, if you are to believe the media and if City hit the form they have shown they’re capable of, then a heavy defeat for the Blues will no doubt be hard to swallow for Abramovich in the “battle of the billionaires”.

If Villas-Boas is still standing by then, they then hit the road to face Wigan and then Spurs away before Christmas before finishing off the year with home games against Fulham and Aston Villa over the Festive period.

It is hard to envisage a scenario whereby Chelsea win all seven games in December given the run of form they have been in and it is equally difficult to envisage Villas-Boas being in a job come the new year and being trusted to add to the £70 million he spent on two players in the Summer with more signings in January if they don’t at least go throughout December without losing. Any defeat over the coming month will result in close scrutiny of the former Porto manager’s tenure and after Steve Bruce became the first managerial casualty of the Premier League season this week, the bookmakers make Villas-Boas the second favoruite at 3/1 to be the next top flight boss to face the chop behind 10/11 market leader, Steve Kean, at Blackburn. As it stands, it is a question of when more than if for both Kean and Villas-Boas, the question is, will the search for the next Chelsea manager begin before the year is out?

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There is certainly no love lost between Liverpool and Newcastle United and there has been plenty of activity between the two Premier League clubs both on and off the field.

The Reds have already bought Andy Carroll, a deal that the Magpies have actually done pretty well out of, and Jose Enrique from Newcastle within the last year, and have even been linked with Cheik Tiote in this window.

Liverpool and Newcastle met last week at Anfield where two goals from another former Magpie, Craig Bellamy, helped the Reds to a 3-1 win and gave Liverpool some breathing space in 6th position in the Premier League table.

Here are managers Kenny Dalglish and Alan Pardew on the touchline during that game, with the Liverpool boss having a chuckle, but bearing in mind the £35 million that Newcastle bagged for Carroll, is it Pardew who’s having the last laugh?

Leave your suggestions below…

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