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Newcastle United’s transfer policy was made loud and clear this summer.The Magpies want to sign young players with a lot of promise that they can then flip for a profit in the future.We hate to say it, but this policy is clearly in place so that Mike Ashley has to invest as little as possible into the club from his own pocket.Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Indeed, the Magpies largely stuck to that policy this summer as they signed the likes of Joelinton and Allan Saint-Maximin for large fees.

Steve Bruce believes that the system is more flexible than the press have been making out, and he’s said that he would make his case for signing any older players if he believes could offer something to the club.

Unfortunately, the fanbase don’t think that Bruce’s plan is viable as they’ve branded him naive and ignorant for thinking that he could sway the higher-ups at the club to change their ways.

Here’s what the St James’ Park faithful have been saying on Twitter…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing Valencia winger Ferran Torres, per SportBild via Sport Witness.

What’s the word?

The 19-year-old, who has won four caps for Spain U21s, has made a total of 63 appearances for the La Liga club.

He has scored three goals and registered just five assists for Valencia during his time at the Mestalla Stadium, but both Spurs and Borussia Dortmund are said to be interested in securing his signature.

Torres’ current contract expires in 2021 and the report claims that Valencia would like to receive €20m (£17.2m) for the teenager.

A slap in the face

Lucas Moura signed a new contract in August.

That’s the same Lucas Moura who scored a hat-trick in the Champions League semi-final victory over Ajax in Amsterdam, who netted 15 goals in all competitions in 2018/19, and who cannot get into the team under Mauricio Pochettino.

He has made just three starts in the league thus far in 2019/20.

Targeting a 19-year-old kid who, with the best will in the world, has been incredibly underwhelming during his time at Valencia, would be a slap in the face to the Brazil international.

Torres’ statistics, per WhoScored, leave plenty to be desired. He averages 0.2 key passes per La Liga game, 0.9 shots and just 0.7 dribbles. The only offensive stat that goes over the number one is unsuccessful touches at 1.2.

Spurs ought to think about perhaps playing the right winger that they have, the one who took them into the Champions League final, instead of considering a move for a player who is going to have next to no impact in north London.

It appears that Newcastle United fans have run out of patience with manager Steve Bruce and want him out of the club.

The former Sunderland manager took over the role from Rafa Benitez, as the Spaniard was unable to agree to terms for a new contract at St James’ Park.

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The Magpies find themselves in the relegation zone after nine games due to a disastrous start to the new campaign. Bruce’s side have only picked up just two wins and have only scored five goals while conceding 14 and losing five matches.

The question was pitched to the Toon Army on Twitter as they were asked to say something to the manager if they had the opportunity to do so.

One fan said that Bruce should swallow his pride and that he is not good enough to take the Magpies forward. He added that he should leave now for the love of the club.

Another supporter had no sympathy for the manager’s situation with one bluntly saying “mind shutting the door on the way out”.

Here you will find some of the best responses from Newcastle fans:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

In an interview with Spanish publication AS, Manchester City prospect Eric Garcia has opened up on his long-term future at the Etihad.

What’s the word?

The 18-year-old signed from La Liga giants Barcelona in 2017, and spent the majority of his first campaign at the Etihad in the academy sides.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Pep Guardiola handed Garcia his Premier League debut in the 8-0 thrashing of Watford in September this season, and then went on to play the full game in the League Cup victory over Preston North End.

Now, the teenager has delivered a cryptic message on whether his spell at City will end up being a successful one, but remained adamant he is currently happy with his situation.

He said (as transcribed by Sport Witness): “It was a complicated decision (to leave), because it is a different country and language. The sports project they offered convinced me. I think time will tell, but so far I am very happy. I am enjoying opportunities that I did not expect at first. At the moment I am very happy in Manchester and I still have two years of contract left.”

Opportunity knocks

Make no mistake about it, the spotlight is well and truly on Guardiola and his treatment of City’s abundance of youth talents. Phil Foden undeniably is the name on everybody’s lips, but Garcia’s assured performances in his limited game-time has raised the pressure up a notch on the Manchester side’s boss.

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The Citizens’ injury crisis at the back means a blundering Nicolas Otamendi, and a converted holding midfielder in Fernandinho are having to make do as a centre-back partnership. The summer departure of Vincent Kompany already feels like an irreparable wound, but in Garcia, they have someone who has shown the City staff signs of becoming a key talisman in the future.

Speaking back in February earlier this year, the club’s U18s boss Gareth Taylor hailed his Spanish captain’s ability to inspire from the back.

“His attitude is first class. We’ve got a guy in Eric who has played three Carabao Cup games this season and when he plays our games for the Under 18s it’s like he’s playing a first team game. He’s a tremendous leader and that inspires everyone else.”

Despite being in defence, Kompany would lead from the back and bring out the best in everyone else. At just 18, Garcia appears to be showing similar characteristics. It simply means Guardiola has no excuses but to turn to the Spaniard right away.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

According to The Mirror, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli has hired a nutritionist and scaled back all commercial activities in a bid to get back to his best, as the penny appears to have finally dropped for the 23-year-old.

The Mirror says the England international – who was omitted from Gareth Southgate’s squad for the upcoming qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria – is now on a strict diet to try and overcome the muscle injuries that have plagued him over the previous 18 months or so.

Four hamstring issues during that period showed that something was right and that a change needed to be made, with the former MK Dons man now cutting out all sugar, according to the report, as well as taking up yoga.

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Alli will be hoping it helps him get back to the form and fitness he was showing when he scored 22 goals and provided a further 13 assists in 50 appearanaces in all competitions during the 2016/17 campaign for example, and when he had that arrogant swagger that has been missing for so long.

There is no doubt that the current season has been a tough one for player, who earns £100,000-a-week according to The Daily Mail, with him playing just 264 minutes of football to date, according to Transfermarkt.

Injury played a part at the very start, but since he has been fit he has played just 30 minutes in the Premier League – all against Arsenal – and was left out of the squad altogether against Leicester City having started against Olympiacos a few days earlier.

He was also part of the side that was thrashed 7-2 at home by Bayern Munich, picking up what was actually a respectable 5/10 rating in the circumstances from Football London, compared to some of his teammates.

The Englishman visibly is a shadow of the man who was so influential in the final third previously for Tottenham, and it is a positive for him that he has made changes to try and get back to where he was, because boy do Mauricio Pochettino’s men need an in-form Alli back right now.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets… 

It is fair to say that Miguel Almiron has struggled to get firing in the Premier League since joining Newcastle in what was a club-record fee at the time.

The £20m signing promised a lot when he arrived on Tyneside having scored and assisted a total of 43 goals in 70 appearances for Atlanta United, and there was certainly a lot of expectation on him performing from Toon fans.

He has looked to be a threat on occasion and his pace has suited the Premier League by allowing him to get in behind the defence and cause the opposition problems, as highlighted against Manchester United on Sunday.

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However, too often, as it was the case in that match, Almiron doesn’t have the quality to provide the decisive touch to either score or assist his Newcastle teammates.

It is not the only area of concern for the Paraguayan, either, and against the Red Devils he disappointed with the ball at his feet as he was careless in possession and wasteful in the final third, as his stats from WhoScored demonstrate.

That will be a big worry for Steve Bruce, particularly as summer signings Joelinton and Allan-Saint Maximin are still finding their feet, too, and thus are yet to add the attacking threat that makes the Magpies a dangerous outfit, with one goal and zero assists between them.

Their goal-scoring record reflects that with five in eight league games, and if Almiron doesn’t improve quickly he should find himself out of the team.

Players such as Matt Ritchie and Christian Atsu will likely be frustrated at not getting more game time despite Almiron’s shortcomings.

The 25-year-old is still yet to register a goal or assist for the club in 18 games and a lack of composure and instinct against United indicated that it could be a bigger problem than a lack of confidence.

It is not just in front of goal where he struggled at the weekend, having also failed to beat a man or supply a key pass to a teammate, whilst his 24 touches show that he wasn’t involved as much as the St James’ Park faithful may have expected.

Bruce has come under fire from supporters since taking over but if key players are underperforming it makes his job a lot harder, and as a result he may consider dropping the winger or altering his position in order to improve the team, and his level of performance – with WhoScored giving him an average rating of 6.2 in the Premier League.

Arsenal were in good form once again in Europe as they beat Standard Liege 4-0 on Thursday.

The goals were scored by Gabriel Martinelli – twice – Joe Willock and Dani Ceballos as the Gunners enjoyed a comfortable night at the Emirates Stadium.

It was the perfect opportunity for Unai Emery to play some of his fringe players, such as Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding and Emiliano Martinez. However, there was one notable exception from the squad.

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The former Sevilla boss decided not to include Mesut Ozil in the side, saying that other players “deserved” it more.

It is another blow to the former Germany international, who has once again recently been linked with a move away from north London.

It appears as though the Arsenal supporters were very disappointed with Emery’s comments in particular.

They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Glasgow Celtic had a nightmare by failing to secure a deal to bring Lyndon Dykes to Parkhead back in the summer of 2020.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Barry Ferguson, who claimed in a recent interview with Go Radio (via the Daily Record) that it was a mistake neither of the Old Firm managed to seal the signing of the centre-forward prior to his move to Queens Park Rangers back in 2020.

Indeed, reports that summer had suggested that both Glasgow clubs were interested in the then-Livingston striker, who had scored 12 goals over 33 appearances for the Lions in the 2019/20 campaign.

Speaking about the Scotland international’s move south of the border, Ferguson said: “I’m disappointed Rangers or Celtic didn’t go for him. I’d have liked him to stay up here. What did he go for, just over £1m? I’d have liked to see him stay in Scotland.

“Maybe Rangers or Celtic made contact, I don’t know. He’s started the season well down there though, so if he keeps his form up, you never know.”

He could’ve fired Celtic to 10IAR

While Celtic fans may often disagree with Ferguson’s opinion, it is difficult to argue with his claim regarding Dykes, as the striker has proven since his move to QPR that he would have made an excellent addition to the Bhoys’ attacking options both last and this season.

Indeed, over his 42 Championship appearances following his £1.98m from Livingston last summer, the £3.15m-rated man scored 12 goals, registered five assists and created six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.4 shots and making 0.8 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player Alex McLeish dubbed a “brilliant find” earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.84, ranking him as Mark Warburton’s 10th-best performer in the second tier of English football.

Dykes has also started the 2021/22 season in fantastic form, scoring four goals and registering two assists over his nine Championship appearances, as well as bagging four goals over his last four World Cup Qualifying fixtures for Scotland – all four of which, quite remarkably, have been the match-winner in each respective fixture.

As such, while it was not simply Celtic’s lack of goals that saw them cede their Scottish Premiership crown last season, it would be a difficult argument to make that Dykes would not have been a much better signing – not to mention a cheaper one – than the £4.95m capture of Albian Ajeti – who scored just six goals over his 20 league appearances for the Hoops last term – as well as one who could well have fired Celtic to their much-desired 10 league titles in a row.

In other news: Fresh injury update emerges on £15k-p/w Celtic “leader”, Postecoglou will be buzzing

While bagging goals may not necessarily be a big concern for Liverpool at the moment with Jurgen Klopp’s side managing to score 17 goals in the Premier League, eight in the Champions League and three in the Carabao Cup so far this season, one future goalscorer that could well have slipped through their grasp.

That happens to be Taiwo Awoniyi, someone who left Anfield over the summer months.

The 24-year-old striker, who left the Merseyside club during the recent summer transfer window for a permanent move to German club Union Berlin for a fee of £5.8m, has since enjoyed a great start to the season after managing to score eight goals in 12 games across all competitions.

Liverpool originally signed Awoniyi back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Nigerian club Imperial Academy for a fee of just £990k. However, his lack of game time was influenced by work permit issues.

Before making his permanent move to Union Berlin, the striker had completed numerous loan spells at clubs in different countries across Europe as a result and didn’t end up making even one appearance for Liverpool’s senior side.

Prior to joining his new club on a permanent deal, Awoniyi spent some time on loan there between September 2020 and June this year, during which he managed to score five goals in 22 appearances across all competitions.

In his latest appearance for the German club, Awoniyi managed to score two goals in Union Berlin’s recent 2-1 win over FSV Mainz in the Bundesliga, earning himself an impressive overall match rating of 8/10, making him the highest-rated player on the pitch on the day according to SofaScore.

In our view, if Liverpool didn’t have any plans to integrate Awoniyi into their first team at any point in the near future, then it probably was the best thing for them to do to sell him rather than just continuing to enable loan moves.

However, if the striker continues racking up the goals for his current club, there could be some regrets from Liverpool that they didn’t give him the chance to prove his worth in their team before shipping him out. After all, Divock Origi is hardly a prolific back-up option with just two goals in the last 12 months.

Fortunately, for the moment, it doesn’t seem as though scoring goals is a particular problem for the Reds at this moment in time.

In other news: FSG currently face one of their biggest Liverpool dilemmas, they must act soon – opinion 

With Kylian Mbappe set to make the move to Real Madrid, it has been reported that his brother Ethan could follow him to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Kylian Mbappe set to join Madrid
• Brother Ethan will join the club as well
• Kylian requested Madrid for brother's move

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  In a move that has been in the making since 2019, the French World Cup winner is set to finally make his dream move to the 14-time Champions League winners. It has now been reported by the Daily Mail, that Kylian has made a special request to the higher-ups at the club to sign his brother Ethan alongside himself. The report has also suggested that Madrid have already accepted the request and will prepare for a double signing from the Parisians.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Ethan is only 17 years old but made his professional debut with the defending Ligue 1 champions earlier this season. It has been reported that his signing would initially be for Real Madrid Castilla before the team can judge the player and his level.

• Getty Images
  

  DID YOU KNOW?

  Despite taking a significant pay cut, the 25-year-old, who makes £21.4 million net every season in Paris, will earn £12.8 million at Real Madrid this season, making him the team's highest earner. Although Mbappe will not get the same base salary at Madrid, he will receive a substantial signing bonus estimated to be worth over £85.6 million, and he will retain an 80% share of the image rights in any future deals he signs. This deviates from the customary 50/50 split that the club imposes on new members.

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• WHAT NEXT FOR KYLIAN AND ETHAN?

  The duo will still be focused on the season with Paris Saint-Germain as they stand to win the treble if everything goes correctly for them. They could both be in action next for the Parisians when they take on Monaco on Friday, March 1.