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Mauricio Pochettino has been all but confirmed as the man to take over from Frank Lampard at Chelsea next season and if the Argentine wants to improve on one of the worst seasons in the Blues' history, he may need to recruit a world-class striker this summer.

Kai Havertz leads the way for goals in Chelsea's squad in the Premier League this season with just seven to his name, while only relegation-threatened Everton, Southampton and Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored fewer top-flight goals than the west Londoners.

Who should Chelsea sign this summer?

In a recent interview with Football FanCast, journalist Paul Brown offered his thoughts on who Chelsea should be looking to sign this summer in order to solve their woes in front of goal ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, with Spurs talisman Harry Kane one potential option for Todd Boehly and Pochettino.

"It does seem when you talk about new signings, the one area of the pitch in which Chelsea are lacking is a goal-scoring centre-forward who can play off the last man and make those runs that the others don't.

"All of their forwards really are of the same kind of ilk. I think Kai Havertz and Joao Felix are quite similar, they like to drop off and get involved in the play.

"Chelsea don't really have someone who stretches defences. Harry Kane would be absolutely perfect, even though he too likes to drop off sometimes. He'd give them a threat they just don't have."

However, Brown did cast doubt on whether the England captain would be willing to entertain such a switch, given Chelsea's woeful season and the London rivalry with Spurs.

He said: "Whether he'd be willing to join Chelsea given the animosity between Chelsea and Spurs is a massive doubt. And also Chelsea are not going to be able to offer him Champions League football, or any kind of European football next season, and that doesn't make them very attractive."

Kane looks destined to leave Spurs given their own troubles this season and the Pochettino factor could just work in Chelsea's favour, as he would fire in 169 goals under the 51-year-old manager at Tottenham Hotspur.

It has also been reported that the 29-year-old, who has notched a hugely impressive 27 goals and three assists in the top flight this season, would have been willing to stay with the north London club had they reappointed Pochettino, which suggests he is keen for a reunion. But, it remains to be seen as to whether Boehly can pull off what is being called the "unthinkable".

The Blues have also been linked with Napoli superstar Victor Osimhen but given he would cost around £150m and has no experience in the Premier League, the £100m-valued Kane may prove to be a better option for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

Recent reports have also suggested that Chelsea scouted the Nigeria international during a 2-0 defeat to Monza at the weekend and were left 'unimpressed' which suggests that they could look elsewhere for a new number nine this summer.

Although it would prove difficult to do a deal, Pochettino would surely welcome Kane to Chelsea with open arms, and his phenomenal goalscoring record in a poor Spurs side certainly suggests that he could turn the Blues' fortunes in the final third around.

Leeds United winger Jack Harrison was spotted sitting alone on the bench following their defeat on the south coast to Bournemouth on the weekend.

What was Jack Harrison seen doing?

Javi Gracia will be wanting to put Sunday behind him very quickly as Leeds suffered defeat away to one of their relegation rivals, Bournemouth.

Not only did Leeds taste defeat, but they were on the end of a 4-1 hammering as the Cherries secured the points to take them nine points clear of the Yorkshire side.

Leeds found themselves 2-0 down fairly early in the game but were offered a glimmer of hope when Patrick Bamford halved the deficit before half-time.

However, Bournemouth went on to secure the points with two further goals after the break which leaves the Whites now just one-point above the drop having played a game more than Leicester City and Everton.

Following the game, footage emerged of the £90k-per-week ace seen sitting alone on the bench still in his full strip after all the fans had vacated the stadium.

Having posted it on Twitter, the Leeds presenter questioned whether there was more to this than what may initially meet the eye:

"It might be nothing but been sent this by a Bournemouth fan. Why is Jack Harrison sitting alone in the dugout Ten mins after the stadium had emptied? Shouldn’t they all be in the dressing room? I am confused. Something isn't right," he said.

Has Harrison been good enough this season?

The Leeds winger has recently put pen to paper on a new deal which will see his future extended at Elland Road through until the summer of 2028.

It has been a fairly inconsistent campaign for the Englishman who has provided a solid return of four goals and seven assists in the Premier League (via Transfermarkt).

However, three of those goals and three of those assists have all come since the last week in February.

The other goal and a further three assists all came in the first three weeks of the campaign, too.

This has left a huge barren run through the majority of the campaign where the 26-year-old has not been providing the Whites with a contribution in front of goal.

Harrison was awarded with a mere 4/10 rating following the game on Sunday with journalist Graham Smyth saying:

"Tried to get up and down but couldn't do enough. Defending for the first was poor, albeit after a pitch-length sprint. Position asked a huge amount."

Harrison has registered two key passes, three clearances and a tackle during the game on the south coast, however, he was also dribbled past twice and lost possession 20 times (via SofaScore).

The video shows the winger is hurting, however, it is apparent there is no time for the Leeds players to be feeling sorry for themselves with Manchester City next up for the Whites.

When Nicolas Pepe signed for Arsenal in the summer of 2019 there was much fanfare.

It wasn't every day that the Gunners threw such vast sums of money around, as Unai Emery and co smashed the club's transfer record and shelled out £72m on the Ivorian.

Whether the winger had exceptional numbers or not, that was a lot of cash for someone who was still relatively unproven.

That said, when you welcome a new attacker through the door, there is always going to be widespread excitement.

Here was a player who had bagged 22 times in 38 Ligue 1 outings the campaign prior for Lille, proving himself to be one of the best in the French top flight.

Sadly, Pepe has and likely never will live up to his true potential at the Emirates Stadium.

What went wrong for Nicolas Pepe at Arsenal?

After being signed for such a huge price tag, you either sink or swim.

Chelsea are currently feeling the negative impacts of spending upwards of £88.5m on Arsenal target Mykhailo Mudryk in January, with the Ukranian so far having registered just a solitary assist during his nine outings in Blue.

There are worrying parallels to that of Pepe, who has also struggled significantly during his time on English shores.

Overall, the Ivory Coast international has found the net on 27 occasions while also supplying 21 assists. The quality of each goal is well measured too, with few boasting a better left foot across Europe.

Who can forget his dipping curler from the edge of the box against West Ham or his late free-kick against Vitoria Guimares in the Europa League that picked out the top corner.

Sadly, that quality has been few and far between with the 27-year-old largely reduced to a role on the bench.

So unconvincing has the 6-foot wide man's time in the English capital been, that he's now back in France, on loan at Nice. His eight goals across all competitions are unspectacular and suggest that a lack of consistency still plagues Pepe.

That has been his biggest issue since that mega-money move, even if he did score 16 goals across the 2020/21 campaign.

That record is more than handy but the price tag involved always denoted that he should be reaching truly awe-inspiring numbers.

As such, it has rather harshly seen him labelled as the Premier League's "biggest flop" by African football journalist Ezzedine Said.

Pepe's best position is arguably on the right-hand side of an attack and because of that, it's unlikely he'll ever be a regular in this Arsenal team.

After all, the French-born asset has paid the price for Bukayo Saka's emergence on the scene, a young dazzling star who is now 'the best right winger in the world' – as per Arsenal's GOAL correspondent, Charles Watts.

Few would argue against that statement with the 21-year-old having scored three goals at the Winter World Cup, while registering 13 strikes and ten assists for Arsenal throughout the current campaign.

Pepe was always going to struggle to get in ahead of someone like that and it was typical that Saka's first full season of football came during the former Lille star's debut campaign in England.

Of course, the England international did start out as a left-back in this Arsenal side, but his swift progression into becoming a real Premier League star as a right-winger saw Pepe simply forgotten about.

Arsenal's current number 7 only actually played twice on that right-hand side during the 2019/20 campaign, but the following term, after the club's record-signing had scored just eight times, he featured on as many as 20 occasions from the right.

It was from that campaign that Saka leave Pepe in the dust, without a chance of ever reaching his true potential at the club. For the Gunners, that has only been positive. For the £72m man in question, though, it has left him without a permanent home for the 2022/23 campaign.

As a result, few would bet against the £140k-per-week flanker still being in Islington come next term.

West Ham United fans will have been delighted to see Declan Rice on the scoresheet when England beat Italy last week but it was arguably Emerson who was the Hammers' star performer of the international break.

Who was West Ham's best player during the international break?

While Rice did fire Gareth Southgate's side ahead against Italy and sent them on their way to an impressive win, the midfielder wasn't actually that impressive from a defensive point of view, as he managed just one tackle and one interception in the 90 minutes, while he would win just one of his four duels.

Sofascore would award the midfielder a strong 7.2/10 rating for his performance at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium but that was clearly impacted by his early goal from an England corner, as his return of no successful dribbles and 86% pass accuracy suggests that his overall display could have been far better.

While Emerson was left on the bench by Roberto Mancini for the game against the Three Lions, the £95k-per-week full-back started in the 2-0 win against Malta and was one of the best players on the pitch.

As per Sofascore, the former Chelsea defender would earn an impressive 7.7/10 rating for his performance, with only Sandro Tonali (8.1/10) rated higher of every player to feature in the game from both sides.

The 28-year-old looked extremely impressive from both an attacking and a defensive point of view, as he registered a haul of four key passes in the 90 minutes, while he also completed three tackles and won six out of seven of his duels in the game.

It hasn't been an easy start to life at the London Stadium for Emerson but his performance against Malta emphasises what he can do when at his best, so David Moyes must now find a way of unlocking the Italian as he aims to keep the Hammers in the Premier League this season.

Across his 14 top-flight appearances so far this campaign, the left-back has averaged just 0.5 key passes, 0.3 dribbles and 1.1 tackles per game, an indication of how much he raised his game during the international break.

Once lauded as "unbelievable" by former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, the talented defender was arguably West Ham's top performer during the international break and if he can translate that form into strong Premier League displays, then he could be a big player for Moyes in the battle for survival.

TalkSport pundit Tony Cascarino has claimed that Harry Kane would not join Chelsea in a summer transfer amid speculation over the player’s future.

What’s the latest on Harry Kane to Chelsea?

After a week in which Tottenham Hotspur were knocked out of the FA Cup before then losing in the Premier League, the club’s English striker may feel as though he’s had enough of life in north London.

After all, his contract is set to expire in 2024 and without a trophy in his cabinet to speak of, Kane could be on the move this summer amid past links to the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich.

Of course, seeing as Todd Boehly spent well over £250m in the winter, perhaps the player could end up at Chelsea. This matter was spoken about on TalkSport recently.

However, Cascarino insisted that the Spurs player wouldn’t be up for a move, saying (2:50): “I don’t think he’d go to Chelsea. I just think that’s a move that he thinks he can’t do.”

He then agreed when his co-host Shebahn Aherne added: “It would be total villain vibes, wouldn’t it?

Would Kane ever join the Blues?

There has been some talk that Chelsea should try and sign the Spurs ace. Indeed, as quoted by The Express in January, former player Glenn Johnson suggested that the Blues could do with Kane.

He said: “Who needs him most right now? Probably Chelsea.”

Seeing as Graham Potter’s men have struggled for goals all season – with just 24 goals in 25 league games this term (the fewest in the top half of the table) – it’s not hard to see why Kane is being touted as a possible saviour.

After all, he became Tottenham’s all-time record scorer, surpassing Jimmy Greaves, when he netted his 267th goal for the club recently against Manchester City.

Still, because of his attachment to Spurs, it would be a huge betrayal if he joined bitter London rivals Chelsea and so it’s probably safe to say this deal won’t be happening barring a dramatic twist in the near future.

Glasgow Rangers head coach Michael Beale suffered defeat for the first time in charge of the club as his side lost the final of the League Cup 2-1 on Sunday.

Their opponents took the lead just before half-time as the Light Blues fell asleep in their own penalty box and allowed Kyogo Furuhashi to arrive unmarked to tap the ball into the net from close range.

Celtic punished them again in the 55th minute. Kyogo scored his second goal of the match by sliding in ahead of Borna Barisic to meet Reo Hatate’s cross.

However, Rangers reacted brilliantly to pull one back almost immediately. Alfredo Morelos met James Tavernier’s set-piece and put his side back in the fight by converting at the back post.

Whilst it was a performance that was full of disappointing performances across the park for the Light Blues, one player let Beale down badly in the heart of the defence – Connor Goldson.

How did Connor Goldson perform against Celtic?

The manager’s veteran defender, who has played over 250 competitive matches for the club, did not showcase his leadership and experience for the Gers as his sloppy defending ultimately cost the club a trophy.

Goldson will not want to see the replays for the opening goal from Kyogo as the Englishman was caught horrendously out of position, which allowed the Japan forward to put their rivals ahead.

Ex-Gers winger Neil McCann criticised the central defender’s role in the opener, saying:

“Connor Goldson is right out the game. Kyogo just walks into the box and it’s the easiest tap-in you could have in any game, never mind a cup final.”

Journalist Jonny McFarlane added to that by Tweeting that it was a “terrible” goal to concede as the ex-Brighton man was in “no man’s land” at the back.

The £37k-per-week enforcer was then part of the defence that failed to cut out Hatate’s ball along the box for the second goal, although Barisic was the closest man to Kyogo for that particular strike.

Goldson also did little to stop Allan McGregor from being tested as the Hoops had a whopping 14 efforts on goal, including five on target, which suggests the 30-year-old did not do much to make up for his first-half error.

Therefore, the English defender was a big liability for the Gers in the match as his lapse in concentration broke the deadlock in the match and allowed Celtic to kick on and dominate the match. His error let Beale down as the manager may not expect one of his most experienced players to make such a telling mistake.

Tottenham Hotspur remain interested in signing Inter Milan goalkeeper Andre Onana this summer, according to recent reports.

The Lowdown: Spurs eyeing a new goalkeeper

With Hugo Lloris now 36 and laid low with injury, Spurs manager Antonio Conte has identified the need for a new goalkeeper. Several potential options have emerged, including the likes of Jordan Pickford, David Raya and Jan Oblak.

However, a new development at Inter Milan could open the door for the 53-year-old to go back in for someone in whom he has been interested for a long time, with 90min reporting back in November 2021 that the Italian had shortlisted Onana upon taking the job in N17.

The Latest: Onana available?

According to 90min, Inter are ready to sell the Cameroonian in the summer in order to raise funds, having struggled to balance the books since the global pandemic of 2020.

The Serie A giants are aiming to raise around £50m by July and they could look to cash-in on their goalkeeper, with Tottenham being alerted to his availability.

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The Verdict: Get it done?

Hailed as a ‘superstar’ by UEFA-accredited journalist Oma Akatugba, the 26-year-old has been in fine form of late, keeping clean sheets in four out of his last six games, including one in the Milan derby last time out.

There are also plenty of indications that he would be an upgrade on Lloris, recording a better save percentage (75.6% to 72.5%) and far more touches of the ball per 90 (40.95 to 30.59) than the Frenchman over the past year, with the latter metric indicating that he is more comfortable in playing the ball out from the back.

As previously mentioned, Spurs have a range of different targets to replace their current first-choice goalkeeper, but Onana’s impending availablity is very good news indeed as he is proven at the top level, making 32 appearances in the Champions League.

Insider Graeme Bailey believes that Newcastle United will be looking at the loan market to recruit a new midfielder.

The Lowdown: PIF not looking to spend heavily

Newcastle appear to have found themselves in a rather big hole heading into the final hours of the transfer window by allowing Jonjo Shelvey to join Nottingham Forest on a permanent basis without having a replacement lined up.

Eddie Howe has insisted that there are no guarantees the Magpies will be able to bring in a replacement signing before Tuesday’s deadline, which would certainly leave Newcastle very short in midfield.

As things stand, Newcastle have four central-midfield options, which may sound sufficient, but given the fact Howe deploys three at once, they are one injury away from a crisis in that department.

The Latest: Newcastle to look at the loan market

Howe’s commented on Financial Fair Play restrictions at Newcastle in the past, which is likely why they will look to move in the loan market, as Bailey highlighted on the Loaded Mag YouTube channel.

He said: “We’ve known they are looking for another midfielder. From what I’m told, it’ll likely be a loan. They’ve done the Gordon deal, it seems highly unlikely that they’re going to pay big money [again].

“Not that they can’t, but just with FFP etc, it’s looking very, very difficult to fit that in.”

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The Verdict: Sensible business is being done

It is very admirable and sensible from Newcastle’s mega-wealthy owners to not just hand Howe whatever he wants and risk them being hit by FFP issues further down the line, which could ruin any progress they’ve already made.

Therefore, it looks as though a temporary signing is the only way Shelvey will be replaced, with the likes of Sander Berge, Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek all being linked with the Magpies recently.

However, any potential move for either of the latter two could well depend on Chelsea’s ability to land Enzo Fernandez, so Newcastle may well have to sit tight until other clubs do business, which may well lead to a busy deadline day.

Newcastle United defender Dan Burn was playing a dangerous game on Sunday with his defending potentially risking a penalty being awarded against him.

What’s the latest?

Eddie Howe’s side battled until the very end on Sunday afternoon on Tyneside to prevail with all three points against Marco Silva’s Fulham.

Having seen Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty disallowed, Alexander Isak was able to pop up with a late header to seal the points for the Magpies.

However, the defending in the lead-up to the penalty award from Burn has been heavily criticised as dangerous having put his hands on Andreas Pereira.

Speaking on Sky Sports’ Ref Watch, pundit Stephen Warnock has slammed the Blyth-born left-back and believes he is walking on thin ice when he is defending like that:

“I thought it was a penalty. I thought the arm on the shoulder is so, so dangerous. When you’re running as well and you get that arm on the shoulder. The slightest pull when you’re running at speed can cause so many problems. I thought that was a penalty and a sending-off.”

Another let-off?

It is crucial to mention that this incident was looked at by VAR and the decision came back as no penalty just moments before the penalty was awarded for the incident involving Kieran Trippier.

And there is certainly minimal contact made which is probably not enough to see Pereira fall to the floor from the slightest of pulls.

However, we do have to agree with Warnock in the sense Burn is playing a very dangerous game by giving the referee and VAR even the opportunity to consider giving it as a penalty.

The 30-year-old was beaten to the ball by the Fulham midfielder who was then bearing down on goal before Burn placed his hands on him.

And the challenge did almost have a sense of last-ditch desperation about it to prevent Pereira from being able to get a shot away on Nick Pope’s goal.

Again, we do not think there was enough of a pull on the Fulham man to bring him down.

But from a Fulham perspective, you could well argue that what Burn did shouldn’t be tolerated with Pereira being pulled – albeit minimally – inside the box.

And this is not the first time Burn has been at the centre of VAR controversy this year with the defender accused of pulling on Arsenal’s Gabriel inside the box earlier this month.

So with this in mind, it is perhaps wise for the Newcastle defender to perhaps cut this out of his game as it does feel as if it could potentially catch up with him soon.

Everton manager Frank Lampard is running out of time and could be sacked in the next few weeks, according to journalist Simon Phillips.

The Lowdown: Everton in dire form

The Blues are increasingly having a season to forget, with results proving to be hugely disappointing on either side of the 2022 World Cup.

Everton are hovering ominously above the Premier League relegation zone, having not won since October, and Lampard is under big pressure to keep his job.

However, a new update suggests that his time at Goodison Park may have slightly longer left to run after Saturday’s draw at Manchester City.

The Latest: Lampard timeline

Speaking to Give Me Sport, Phillips claimed that Lampard probably has a couple more weeks to save his future at Goodison:

“In terms of the amount of time I think he’s got, I think if things don’t get better in the next few weeks, then you might see him in some real trouble then.”

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The Verdict: Time for a change?

With each passing game, the more it does feel as though Lampard has taken this Everton side as far as he can, with performances and results both not good enough even despite the impressive fightback at the Etihad.

The 44-year-old is struggling to get the best out of too many players, with last season’s bright sparks like Anthony Gordon and Alex Iwobi now struggling, and having had support from the fans for some time, the tide is definitely turning now.

A new manager with fresh ideas may be the sensible option or Everton could find themselves in a second consecutive relegation battle come the spring.