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Rangers prospect Zak Rudden is intent on making an impression on manager Steven Gerrard this summer, as reported by The Scottish Sun.

Gerrard already has two quality strikers to call upon – Alfredo Morelos and Jermain Defoe – but with Kyle Lafferty on the out, there’s an opportunity to clinch the back-up striker spot that Rangers may need to enter the transfer market for this summer.

Watch the best fails from the world of indoor football in the video below…

Rudden is certainly full of confidence and, having signed a new contract recently, is determined to prove to his manager that he can rely upon an academy graduate to provide a goal threat, potentially saving the club money this summer.

As quoted by The Scottish Sun, the youngster said:

“I am delighted for the club to back me again and give me another deal, I am over the moon. I’m going to try and make the gaffer’s mind up that he doesn’t need another striker and that I am the guy that he wants to put in his team.

“I haven’t trained much with Jermain but I have spoken to him a few times and I will try and learn from him. I have developed a lot and I think I’ve become more like a man now instead of being a wee boy last season.

“The club said I did well on loan, but that there were bits of my game missing that I need to improve on. I just need to make sure I’m an all-round player this season.”

The loan Rudden talks about was at Falkirk last season in the Scottish Championship, where he impressed as the club’s top scorer with 12 goals in 31 appearances.

Ultimately his efforts could not stop the club being relegated, but it was the kind of season that could have been a massive learning experience for the teenager.

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Obviously he is untested as a player in the top-flight and it would be presumptuous to suggest he can be a main man at Ibrox next term, but his development last season surely earns him the chance to feature in upcoming summer friendlies.

If he can prove he has good finishing ability and a strong work ethic, why not invest time into his progression next season, rather than buy another forward?

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Manuel Pellegrini is working hard during this transfer window to perfect his squad for next season having already signed Pablo Fornals from Villareal.

Today’s West Ham transfer roundup includes a rumoured offer for a Premier League striker, the possibility of one of their star men leaving and an update in regards to a 32-year-old forward.

West Ham to bid for Wilson

According to the Sun, West Ham are preparing to launch a £35m bid for Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson this summer. The England international is reportedly Pellegrini’s number one target in attack this summer.

Arnautovic could leave

Marko Arnautovic could be returning to Italy this summer, with Inter Milan keen on taking the Austrian to Serie A according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio. The report adds that Arnautovic could leave for a fee of €25m (£22.3m).

Hernandez receives an improved offer from Galatasaray

Fanatik claims that Javier Hernandez is demanding €3.5m (£3.1m) a year in wages in order to move to Galatasaray this summer.

The Super Lig side had previously offered €3m (£2.6m) a year to the Mexican, with the former Manchester United striker reportedly holding out for €4m (£3.5m). Hernandez scored seven goals in the Premier League last term but could be on the move.

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According to French media outlet L’Equipe, Arsenal will face competition from north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur this summer for the signature of William Saliba.

The report claims that the coveted teenager prefers a move to Arsenal, and any deal would see him immediately return to Saint-Etienne on loan for another season.

To some onlookers that may seem like an odd clause to include in any potential deal given the Gunners’ defensive problems and the fact Saliba’s estimated value falls in the region between €25 and €30m.

However, there are two major reasons why a season long loan deal could be beneficial…

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A full season of first-team football

Although Saliba’s imminent arrival is likely to generate excitement at Arsenal, it’s easy to overlook the teenager’s glaring inexperience. The 18-year-old only played 16 Ligue 1 games last campaign, and after his glowing introduction to first-team football, you would expect Saint-Etienne to utilise Saliba on a regular basis if he does indeed return to the French club.

The step up from the French top flight to Premier League football has proven to be a bridge too far for a handful of players in the past – take Newcastle United flop Florian Thauvin, for example – and without adequate experience there’s no question Saliba could struggle to make a smooth transition.

With a full season at the heart of Saint-Etienne’s defence, Saliba would return to Arsenal with a more complete set of technical, physical and mental attributes, and that in turn should put him in a strong position to challenge for a starting berth.

Arsenal have two returning loanees to call upon

With Saliba away on loan at Saint-Etienne, two returning players, namely Callum Chambers and Krystian Bielik, would help to bolster the strength in depth in Arsenal’s defensive unit.

The duo both enjoyed extremely successful loan spells away from the Emirates last season, with Chambers winning Fulham’s Player of the Season award and Bielik claiming the Man of the Match award in Charlton’s play-off final win to see the Addicks return to the Championship.

Both players have made strong cases to be handed first-team opportunities next season and their collective presence should ensure that Emery has enough depth to justify sending Saliba back to France.

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It’s nearly time for the 2019 pre-season tour and most of Arsenal’s superstars are now back at the Emirates and hard at work.

Alexandre Lacazette was one of many to share an update on social media for the fans as he was seen back on the grind at the training grounds, getting ready for their exhibition matches.

But as usual, the Frenchman was in a jesting mood and pretty active in the comment section, enjoying some banter with teammates and friends.

Lacazette’s

/Bzqs5SCoa2_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link” data-lasso->snap saw him getting pumped up after completing a drill and it prompted some other stars to reply as they couldn’t miss the opportunity for some jokes.

Barcelona’s ace defender, Samuel Umtiti, was among the stars who decided to joke around with his compatriot, as he told Lacazette that he is showing true “fighting spirit” and followed it up with some emojis.

Of course, Lacazette didn’t shy away from an answer as the duo had some fun in the process.

[ad_pod ]West Ham United fans have lavished praise on winger Felipe Anderson after the club tweeted a clip reel of his best bits from the 2018/19 season.

The Brazil international became the club’s record signing last summer after joining the club in a £36m switch from Serie A giants Lazio.

He went on to make a total of 36 Premier League appearances, scoring nine goals and registering four assists.

Indeed, Anderson’s performance for the Irons were so good that he was actually capped by Brazil for the first time in four years in March, playing a total of 18 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Panama.

His silky dribbling and penchant for nutmegging defenders drew many admirers and fans are hopeful that he will enjoy another productive campaign, as Manuel Pellegrini’s men look to improve on last term’s 10th-placed finish in the top-flight.

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Take a look at the best of the reaction on Twitter below!

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Leeds’ pre-season preparations continued with a 2-1 win over Western Sydney Wanderers at the weekend, ending their tour of Australia which has been somewhat controversial.

Marcelo Bielsa initially didn’t travel whilst he also kept behind a number of his first-team stars after deciding upon a squad of 16 to travel to the other side of the world.

It’s been a strange pre-season for Leeds who are yet to do a great deal in the transfer market but have also let stalwart Pontus Jansson leave.

But with him departing, they could now be on the verge of making a critical mistake.

On the chalkboard

Last week Paul Bell hinted that financial fair play was behind the sale of Jansson, who departed the club after making 37 starts in the Championship last term.

However, comments now made by Director of Football Victor Orta suggests a replacement may not be brought in.

In an interview with Leeds Live, he had the following to say about their transfer activity:

“We had a plan at the start of pre-season in terms of ins and outs. Now, more or less, we are 90 per cent covered in the plan we have.”

These comments don’t bode particularly well for the Whites who appear to be more or less finished in the market.

In terms of their attack, they look well equipped having brought in Helder Costa but questions still lie defensively.

Leeds fans voiced their concerns with the defence after losing to Manchester United last week, berating Gaetano Berardi and demanding that new faces were brought in.

He only featured 15 times in the league last term so it’s questionable that he may now be trusted in defence for the entirety of the upcoming campaign.

Not replacing Jansson, who won a colossal 4.9 aerial duels and 2.4 tackles per game last term, would be a considerable error.

Leeds just missed out on promotion in 2018/19, but they could be even further behind the pack if they don’t sign a replacement to bolster their defensive ranks.

Spoiler alert: we can confirm that the horde of local school kids failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage.

Indeed, despite their opponents scoring two goals on the day, the Premier League stars came out on top 3-2, with a controversial Alli penalty apparently securing the win.

Won’t anybody think of the children?

West Ham United could make a move for PAOK Salonika striker Chuba Akpom, according to The Daily Mail.

The Hammers have reportedly been keeping an eye on the former Arsenal man since his move to Greece, where he helped his club win the league for the first time in 34 years.

West Ham have let Marko Arnautovic, Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez leave permanently this summer, as well as loaning out Jordan Hugill, meaning they are in the hunt for another option upfront despite the signing of Sebastien Haller.

Akpom played 33 games in all competitions for the Greek champions last season, scoring eight goals and assisting five times, as per Transfermarkt.

The 23-year-old also showed what he can do in front of goal in pre-season, as he notched four in a 5-1 win against Fortuna Sittard – the best of the bunch saw him receive the ball on the edge of the box, turn and touch it away from the onrushing defender before convincingly firing into the bottom corner.

His dribbling is cited as being very strong on WhoScored, while holding onto the ball and defensive contributions are also strengths, though aerial duels and offside awareness are weaknesses.

In comparison, Javier Hernandez played 28 games for West Ham last season, scoring eight goals and assisting three times.

His finishing and headed attempts are put down as his strengths on WhoScored, while offside awareness and aerial duels are weaknesses.

This suggests that while ‘Chicharito’ can contribute to goals with more regularity, it is Akpom who can have a greater impact on the wider game. With Haller already through the door at club-record expense, perhaps a more expansive option could help supplement him better.

This move may be seen as somewhat left-field by some considering he wasn’t able to forge much of a chance for himself in England before, but this could be a fairly cheap signing for West Ham, who have already spent big bucks on a striker this summer.

He’s reportedly valued at £5m and, at 23, does have time to grow after a strong season out in Greece.

Could Akpom supplement Haller? Join the discussion by commenting below…

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Speaking to talkSPORT, former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy shared his views on the incident at Wembley before the Community Shield game between his former side and Manchester City kicked off on Sunday.

The Liverpool supporters were heard booing the national anthem as the players lined up before kick off, for reasons expertly explained in this article by The Independent – bottom line is, the majority of the Reds fanbase do not seem to want God to save the queen.

Jurgen Klopp’s men went on to lose the traditional curtain raiser on penalties to Pep Guardiola’s champions, but the Merseysiders’ booing of the national anthem has remained as a hot topic.

What did he say?

Murphy said: “You can’t condone it because it’s disrespectful, but it’s gone on for years.

“You’ll Never Walk Alone is the Liverpool anthem and is what should be sung by Liverpool supporters before a big game, and Blue Moon is Manchester City’s anthem and should be sung by theirs fans – I agree with that.

“The national anthem before any big game is pointless when such a small percentage of players are English.”

Spot on

The 42-year-old has hit the nail on the head here.

Whilst booing the anthem is one thing, having it played in the first place is fairly pointless in this day and age.

Just six players out of the 22 who started the match were English. Should the Portuguese national anthem have been played for Bernardo Silva? The Spanish one for Rodri and David Silva? It is a tradition that is becoming essentially pointless.

With all due respect, it is a mere sideshow whilst fans such as myself wait until they can carry on getting behind their team – it is simply a pointless minute or two.

The atmosphere and the pre-match anticipation would be significantly stronger if clubs’ respective anthems are played instead, and we wouldn’t need to waste time lambasting Liverpool’s fanbase for choosing to boo, a choice that they are well within their rights to make.

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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…

Southampton kick off their 2019/20 Premier League season with a trip to Burnley.

The south coast outfit will be looking for a much better campaign this time around following two successive relegation battles, and the signs were certainly promising under manager Ralph Hasenhuttl last time out as they took 30 points from the Austrian’s 23 top flight matches in charge.

Having only racked up nine points up until Mark Hughes’ sacking in December, the onus is on the squad to get off to a much better start this term, beginning at Turf Moor.

The squad has been boosted with the additions of Che Adams, Moussa Djenepo and Kevin Danso, but how will they line up against Sean Dyche’s side?

We take a look below.

Following a busy pre-season schedule, I am tipping Hasenhuttl to go with exactly the same XI that started the 2-0 friendly win against Cologne at St Mary’s last weekend.

In truth, there is probably only one spot in the side up for grabs right now, and that is who plays alongside Jannik Vestergaard and Jan Bednarek in central defence.

Despite the former RB Leipzig coach preferring a 4-2-2-2 system at previous clubs, he has usually favoured a back five during his time on the south coast – as he did last Saturday.

Jack Stephens got the nod over Maya Yoshida, and his ability to bring the ball out of defence should mean he is selected against the Clarets, even if he does have an error in him such as his last-gasp handball at Turf Moor in February.

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Meanwhile, Angus Gunn starts in goal having played more minutes than Alex McCarthy during pre-season, while Ryan Bertrand and Yan Valery are the wing-backs.

The other decision Hasenhuttl has to make if he is only playing two central midfielders is who misses out between captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu, and it is the latter we believe will start from the substitutes’ bench.

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Up top, the exciting front three of Nathan Redmond, Danny Ings and new boy Che Adams should be unleashed, and the latter two in particular have been in decent form during pre-season with three goals apiece, while the former was the 2018/19 players’ and fans’ player of the year.

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