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West Ham United have agreed a deal to sign Manchester United youngster Ravel Morrison for an undisclosed fee according to the Daily Mail. The Championship club are understood to have managed to sign the precocious midfielder from under the noses of Premier League duo Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers, who both made bids earlier in the window. Morrison will join West Ham on a permanent deal, rather than a loan deal that was in the pipeline, and the move will give the 18-year-old to show just how good he is under the tutelage of Sam Allardyce.

It is thought that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was relatively keen to keep hold of Morrison, but the opportunity for first team football proved too strong for the youngster. The attacking midfielder is sure to please the Upton Park faithful with his style of football, but his development mentally will be just as important as time on the pitch. If all goes to plan for club and player then Morrison will be back in the Premier League next year plying his trade at the highest level with the Hammers.

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Wolves manager Mick McCarthy does not think a bottom-place team has ever been so confident of beating relegation.McCarthy’s side are currently bottom with six games left. But, because of the nature of this season’s Premier League, Wolves are still just eight points away from a place in the top 10.

That’s why the manager is adamant his side are still well set to stay up this season.

Ahead of Saturday’s visit of Fulham, McCarthy said: “There has never been a time that the bottom team could feel so confident that they can get out of it – which we are.”

“It’s so tight still and it’s in our hands – we’ve got a game in hand away at Stoke on Tuesday so there’s still everything to play for.”

“Everyone still thinks they have a chance of getting out of it and we have to maintain that belief.”

“We’ve worked on being solid and trying to keep a clean sheet and let’s hope it works.

“There’s no point leaving the back door open.”

“It’s important to stay in games and not concede because when you do, it’s tough to get one back.”

McCarthy is likely to put striker Sam Vokes on to the bench after he was recalled from his loan spell at Norwich on Friday.

The forward is back at his parent club following injuries to Kevin Doyle (knee) and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, who suffered a hamstring injury in their 3-0 defeat to Everton on April 9.

Doyle has started light training and could yet make a return from his knee ligament injury before the end of the season but defender George Elokobi will miss the rest of the season after tearing his hamstring in training last week.

McCarthy will also be able to call upon midfielder Stephen Hunt, who has returned to full training less than a fortnight after a hernia operation.

Taking your opportunities is a piece of football advice usually reserved for young whippersnappers rather than 30-year strikers. Nonetheless this is the task facing Tottenham Hotspur’s Robbie Keane whose playing chances have been enhanced by Jermaine Defoe’s ankle injury. The Republic of Ireland striker, now in his second spell at White Hart Lane, was the subject of intense transfer speculation this summer having been loaned to Celtic for the second half of last season. Keane has been restricted to three substitute league appearances this season but knows that grasping his opportunities in the wake of Defoe’s injury may be his last chance to secure his position at the club.

Signed by Glenn Hoddle in 2002, Keane had previously been on the books of Wolves, Coventry, Internazionale and Leeds. But it was in north London where the forward found his “spiritual home.” Ninth in Tottenham’s all-time top goalscoring list, he was at his most prolific when partnered with the delightfully skilful Dimitar Berbatov. The popular Irishman was the epitome of a consistent performer, regularly registering over 20 goals a season and winning the club’s Player of the Year award on three separate occasions. Despite his blistering form there were still a few eyebrows raised by his £20.3 million move to Anfield in 2008. A goal tally of 7 in 28 matches seems far from disastrous but that was how his brief sojourn at his “boyhood club” was depicted. He failed to gel with his new manager who had spent lavishly only to continually field Fernando Torres as a lone striker.

Harry Redknapp decided to bring the striker back to Spurs the following January in a deal reportedly worth an initial £12 million. He was made vice-captain and the reunion was completed by the return of Jermaine Defoe and Pascal Chimbonda. Virgin trains quipped that there service could take you from, “Liverpool to London quicker than Robbie Keane.” It would have been understandable if his confidence had been completely shattered. However important league goals were forthcoming and the following season he put four past Burnley in their 5-0 home victory. With the arrival of Peter Crouch and the subsequent revival of his partnership with Defoe, Keane’s chances subsided. When appearing off the bench his passing and link up play was not as inventive and his finishing was far from clinical.

That assured finishing was rediscovered during a short loan spell at Celtic, another one of his “boyhood clubs.” Mobbed on arrival, Keane evidently enjoyed being the centre of attention once more, scoring goals and unleashing his trademark celebration. He netted 16 times in 19 appearances at Celtic Park whilst wearing the No7 shirt previously adorned by Henrik Larrson. Media reports this summer suggested that Redknapp was keen to offload the forward but he was unequivocal. “His situation is that he is still one of our better players.” That view was supported by his performances in pre-season, scoring against Fiorentina and Sporting Lisbon. Keane said, “I’m looking forward to the new season as it’s probably the best I’ve felt in a while.”

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Relief would have been his overriding emotion at the club’s decision not to purchase another striker. Yet the partnership of Defoe and Crouch appeared watertight until the former was ruled out for three months after sustaining ankle ligament damage on England duty. Defoe’s misfortune represents a prime opportunity for Keane to get the run of games he craves. There is strong competition from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Crouch may be preferred as a lone forward given the abundance of creative talent in Spurs’ ranks. This was the tactic used in their recent draw against Werder Bremen with Keane featuring from the bench. A two pronged attack suits Keane and many of the club’s more nostalgic fans would like to see him recapture his free-scoring form.

Jack Howlett’s twitter / rss feed

Premier League clubs are often guilty of being negligent towards their youngsters who seem to be given less of a chance each year with big money signings in transfer windows dropping them down the pecking order. But January seems the perfect opportunity to allow the youngsters to leave on loan and gain some much needed first team football.

Football fans often underestimate the challenge that youngsters have stepping up to play first team football at any level, let alone in the Premier League. It’s not just playing with and against quality players but its playing men’s football, something that youngsters may really take a while to come to terms with.

The likes of Daniel Sturridge, Jonjo Shelvy and Kyle Walker have benefited greatly from loan spells at both Championship and Premier League clubs and January is the time for more to follow in their footsteps. Here is a look at the top ten youngsters that need to cut their teeth elsewhere in January.

Click on Conor Coady to unveil the top 10

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There will be plenty at stake when Arsenal and Tottenham meet in the North London derby in the English Premier League.Arsenal will be hoping to keep the pressure on leaders Manchester United, while Spurs’ eyes will be on the Champions League when they go head to head at White Hart Lane on Wednesday.

The Gunners are six points behind United with six games to play and – with far too many points dropped by the Londoners in the second half of the season – they will need luck to have any chance of upsetting Sir Alex Ferguson’s side.

For Harry Redknapp’s men, the rest of the season is all about trying to secure a Champions League berth for 2011/12.

Spurs enjoyed a magical run in this season’s European tournament that included defeats of Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Dutch champions Twente and AC Milan before they were eventually eliminated in the quarter-finals by Real Madrid.

Redknapp’s men proved that they could compete among the region’s elite, but with three points between them and fourth-placed Manchester City – albeit with a game in hand – their time in Europe’s premier club competition could prove fleeting.

In their last league game, Spurs played a scintillating first half at home against Stoke on their way to a 3-2 win on April 9.

Arsenal were held to an extraordinary 1-1 draw at home against Liverpool on Sunday, which saw two second-half injury-time penalties converted.

The last time the two sides met, Arsenal threw away a 2-0 lead at half-time to hand Spurs their first away win over the Gunners for 17 years, with second-half goals to Gareth Bale, Rafael van der Vaart and Younes Kaboul lifting the visitors to a memorable victory.

Arsene Wenger boasts the healthier of the two squads, with only goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and defender Thomas Vermaelen certain to miss out, although the latter is back in full training after missing most of the season with Achilles tendon problems.

Right back Bacary Sagna could resume after recovering from a knee problem, while midfielder Denilson appears to have overcome a toe complaint.

Redknapp’s problems centre around his defence, with Alan Hutton, Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King all unavailable for selection with respective knee, calf and groin problems.

They could, however, welcome back speedy midfielder Steven Pienaar from a groin strain. Defensive midfielder Wilson Palacios is a chance to return from a knee injury.

Nigeria international midfielder Dickson Etuhu has signed a contract extension to keep him at Fulham until the summer of 2014.

The 28-year-old, who featured for the Super Eagles at the World Cup finals in South Africa earlier this year, has been with the Cottagers for just over two years, scoring four goals in 66 appearances since his arrival from Sunderland.

Etuhu, whose previous deal was set to run out at the end of the season, had previously enjoyed spells with Manchester City, Preston North End, Norwich City and the Black Cats.

He had recently told the Ealing Gazette:"I'm fairly laid back about it to be honest.

"It's a question of wait and see and I'm not the only one with only a year left on my contract.

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"There are at least another five of us and, of course, knowing what the future holds is a way of getting security for your family."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Jermain Defoe has admitted that he feels more pressure to perform due to Tottenham’s excellent 2011-12 campaign, and competing for the Premier League title is similar to representing England.

The diminutive marksman scored the only goal of the game on Tuesday night to give Spurs a hard fought 1-0 win over West Brom, and keep their ambitions of challenging the Manchester clubs for top spot alive.

Defoe is enjoying the added expectancy of the Tottenham fans, and wants to keep the good run of form going.

“I’m loving the pressure,” he admitted to Mirror Football.

“It’s like playing tournament football for England, when everyone is pinning their hopes on you to make the breakthrough.

“It means I have to make sure my preparation is right, that my attitude is right. Because I know how much it means to so many people.

“Everyone saw the tension at our place on Tuesday. The way that the fans, my team-mates and the manager and his staff celebrated when I got that goal and I enjoy being able to make that happen.

“That result on Tuesday shows that we are well and truly in the title race. The lads showed so much character to keep going when West Brom made it so hard for us.

“City and United know we are a threat, and with every game that we keep on winning we can put pressure on them to keep winning,” he concluded.

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By Gareth McKnight

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Wigan earned their best away league result this season to claim a crucial victory over relegation rivals Blackpool.The visitors took the lead in the third minute when Hugo Rodallega broke clear and slotted the ball through the legs of Blackpool keeper Matthew Gilks.

Shortly after, Neal Eardley forced Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi to tip his

cross over the bar.

At the other end Gilks had to make a similar fisted clearance from a free kick, and a smart run from Charles N’Zogbia only resulted in a corner.

In added time at the end of the half, N’Zogbia showed some individual brilliance to double his side’s lead.

Collecting the ball midway inside the Blackpool half, he ran past two defenders before firing past Gilks.

Elliot Grandin should have pulled a Blackpool goal back before the interval whistle, but his header went straight at Ali Al-Habsi who held on.

The second half was similar to the first, with very few chances being created by both teams.

The best early opportunity came when Gilks unconvincingly parried away an N’Zogbia cross, however no Wigan player was following in for the loose ball.

The game was put beyond Ian Holloway’s men in the 66th minute when Mohammed Diame’s shot from outside the box took a wicked deflection off Eardley, sending the ball into the corner of the helpless Gilks’ goal.

DJ Campbell managed to reduce the deficit for the home side in the 83rd minute but it was too little too late from a disappointing Blackpool side.

Wigan climb out of the bottom three as a result of the win while Blackpool slip into the drop zone for the first time this season.

Birmingham City have boosted their strikeforce with the signing of former Blackburn Rovers frontman Matt Derbyshire on a season-long loan from Olympiacos.

The 24-year-old former England Under-21 international moved to Greece in January 2009 and helped his club win the Greek Cup final at the end of the season.

However, last term he struggled to make an impact and has been allowed to return to England, with an option for a permanent deal also in place.

Derbyshire scored 20 goals in 86 appearances before leaving Rovers and has also been loaned out to Plymouth Argyle and Wrexham.

Meanwhile, Blues boss Alex McLeish is confident that another new signing, Nikola Zigic, will improve as time goes on, following a debut as a substitute in the 2-2 draw at Sunderland.

McLeish commented:"He was a presence and he will cause problems, but I'll be expecting a lot more from not only Zigic, but everybody.

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"He's got an international pedigree but it's a new league for him. Playing in England is completely different to La Liga.

"The longer ball from the back in English football is something a little bit new for him and I'm going to have to do a wee bit of work on the training ground to help him improve in that respect."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Bolton manager Owen Coyle has admitted that Gary Cahill will most likely leave the club in the next 12 months, despite constant attempts by the Reebok Stadium outfit to keep their star man.

The England international is in the last year of his contract at The Trotters, and will become available on a free transfer come the summer.

Due to the fact that Bolton will not want to lose the central defender on a free transfer, a January sale looks likely as Coyle’s men look to reclaim some financial reward from the centre half.

“If something comes in, I think for Gary, for everybody, it’s probably better sooner than later,” Coyle told The Daily Mail.

“We all accept that if something is going to happen, it is best it isn’t dragged out. There will always be speculation about top players and Gary is certainly in that category.

“You can have a gut feeling about whether he will stay or go, but you could be totally wrong. I would imagine that if he is performing out of his skin, there will be a clamour of clubs for him, because of his contract situation,” he stated.

Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham are all interested in Cahill, with a bidding war set to start come the new year.

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By Gareth McKnight

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