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According to Gökmen Özcan, a journalist for Turkish outlet Fanatik, on Twitter, Everton striker Cenk Tosun has turned down an offer from Crystal Palace. 

The journalist also claims that the striker has turned down six other offers this January, rather opting to stay at Goodison Park instead.

However, the 27-year-old has only managed six Premier League starts this season, scoring two goals. Manager Marco Silva has preferred to play youngster Dominic Calvert-Lewin or winger Richarlisoon out of position rather than field Tosun, which is a good indication of how he is regarded at Everton.

But this could be a sign from the Turkey international that he is willing to stay at Everton and fight for his place. This is the sort of attitude that fans will love, and it will go a long way to ingratiate himself with the Everton faithful. Too often players give up on their chances at a club and accept a move away, and this could be seen as a welcome relief to The Toffees’ fans.

On the other hand, the majority of Everton fans would have seen how much the striker has struggled during this past year, and would surely rather he left than fought for his place. This could free up funds if the move were permanent, or at least alleviate the wage bill if the move was a loan. However, if Tosun remains at the club, he continues to be an economic drain that produces nothing on the field.

Unfortunately for Tosun, it may be too late for him to win over the fans at Everton and a starting berth.

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Jefferson Montero finalised a loan move to West Brom from Swansea on deadline day as Baggies boss Darren Moore made multiple additions to his promotion-pushing side – the Swans, meanwhile, must have forgotten to put out the welcome mat and made zero signings, instead letting four leave.

The Ecuadorian has bags of pace and a decent end product but hasn’t started a game under Graham Potter this season, making all of his league appearances off the bench.

Entering the fray just before the hour mark against Birmingham on Tuesday, the winger teed up Oli McBurnie for his side’s second but just days later he’s no longer a Swansea player.

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The 29-year-old arrived at the Liberty Stadium in 2014 from Mexican outfit Morielo and has gone on to make 84 appearances for the Welsh outfit, chalking up two goals and 14 assists.

Despite that pretty dismal return, the 64-cap international offered a different dimension to the Swans attack and the decision let him go, particularly to a promotion rival, seems a bizarre one.

Swansea have also offloaded Wilfried Bony and Tom Carroll for the remainder of the season, who will join Al Arabi and Aston Villa respectively.

Here’s how the Liberty Stadium faithful reacted to Montero’s exit…

Sunderland still have a couple of areas to work on despite securing all three points in their last League One fixture, as things are still far from perfect.

The Black Cats are still in with a good chance of securing promotion to the Championship in the current campaign, but this will only happen if a number of the club’s star players continue to step up their game.

Indeed, the player who holds the key to Sunderland’s promotion hopes is Aiden McGeady. Sunderland managed to secure the services of the winger for just £250,000 back in 2017.

It’s safe to say that the Republic of Ireland international is enjoying one of the best seasons in his career as he continues to excel at the Stadium of Light, with eight goals and six assists to his name.

McGeady has been the source of all things brilliant in the final third for the Black Cats over the past couple of months, as his ability to create and thread the final pass was a big reason behind Josh Maja’s success.

One of the biggest challenges for Sunderland will be to replicate their form in front of goal without Maja in the side, so the winger will play a huge part in providing the likes of Will Grigg, Charlie Wyke and Kaziah Sterling with countless amounts of opportunities, as well as chipping in with his own goals and assists.

He was even given the captain’s armband for a couple of games last month, so his leadership qualities and experience will also come in handy from here on in, as the Black Cats have a number of young players in their ranks.

Sunderland fans – thoughts on Aiden McGeady this season? 

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According to Le 10 Sport, Bayern Munich have entered the race to sign Arsenal target Nicolas Pepe.

What’s the story?

The report states that the German giants are currently leading the charge for his signature, but other major European clubs remain interested in the Lille winger. As well as Bayern and the Gunners, Barcelona and Manchester City are also credited with holding an interest in the 23-year-old.

Considering the 10-cap Ivory Coast international’s prolific form this season it is unsurprising that he is garnering such attention. As per Transfermarkt’s stats, the attacker has already racked up 16 goals and 10 assists in 23 Ligue 1 outings.

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The aforementioned report claims that Lille accept that Pepe will likely leave the club this summer, and he certainly won’t be short of suitors. Arsenal, for their part, would surely have to offer a huge fee to ensure that they don’t miss out.

Out of reach

The Gunners could certainly do with a new winger. As things stand, Alex Iwobi is the only out and out wide man in Unai Emery’s squad. Pepe, then, would be a very welcome addition at the Emirates Stadium.

However, if it is true that the north London club will only have around £40 million to spend this summer, as reported by The Sun, then they will struggle to strike a deal for Pepe. Beyond that, with a budget so tight, and defensive signings an absolute must, attacking reinforcements shouldn’t be their priority either.

As far as Pepe is concerned, he looks to be a player now beyond the Gunners’ means. They should step down from this chase now and begin focusing their efforts elsewhere.

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Former Crystal Palace man Jordon Mutch has joined South Korean outfit Gyeongnam FC, having been released by the Eagles last month as they looked to lighten their wage bill and offload some deadwood.

Following Mutch out the exit door were Jason Puncheon, Alexander Sorloth, Jonny Williams, Sullay Kaikai and Nya Kirby, who have moved on to pastures new or been sent out on loan for the remainder of the season.

In his four years at the club, Mutch made just 40 appearances for the south London outfit and was sent out on numerous loans as many surely presumed he was surplus to requirements.

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His release last month was testament to that as Palace preferred to let the 27-year-old leave for free at the first opportunity rather than wait for a suitor.

Capable of playing all across the midfield, the new Gyeongnam number 80 joins the likes of Hulk and Paulinho in moving to Asia – the Brazilian pair ply their trades for Chinese clubs Shanghai SIPG and Guangzhou Evergrande, respectively.

Having struggled to find form at the various clubs he has played for, Mutch will be hoping he can kick on in the East. Here’s how the Selhurst Park faithful reacted to the midfielder’s move on Twitter…

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

Sheffield Wednesday’s season so far has been full of surprises – whether they are good or bad is up to interpretation, but as it stands, they are surpassing the exploits of the two teams that reached the playoffs under Carlos Carvalhal.

So that’s one positive.

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However, off the pitch, uncertainty continues to mount with owner Dejphon Chansiri staring down the barrel of a permanent ban from football while the English Football League could slap the club with a vast 21-point deduction.

Either way, their fate looks sure to be sealed depending on the influence of one key factor – Hillsborough stadium.

On the Chalkboard

Their home ground holds the keys to any form of success this campaign.

Under the stewardship of Garry Monk, the Owls are yet to lose on their own patch – that’s three wins and four draws since the 40-year-old took charge in September.

Overall from ten matches, Wednesday have the ninth-best home record in the division having lost just once when Lee Bullen was in caretaker charge.

It was that 2-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers that led to the decision to appoint Monk permanently.

Solid form at home is usually a fantastic foundation for promotion – the two teams that finished top in the table last season were both promoted. Norwich City and Sheffield United only lost four of their 23 games, per Transfermarkt.

In addition, it is the dubious sale of Hillsborough that could lead to the messy situation that everyone is fearing.

Wednesday could be made an example of, either through expulsion from the Championship or a hefty points penalty that would see them go from playoff contenders to relegation favourites.

Therefore, their chances of success this season could well hinge on their home comforts, both on and off the pitch.

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In other news, Sheffield Wednesday outcast Jordan Rhodes may still have a future at the club

Jordan Rhodes had a frustrating game during Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Bristol City.

On the chalkboard

The striker had a superb game against Nottingham Forest, as he went on to get a hat-trick, having failed to score a single Championship goal before that since February 2018.

His first was a brilliantly taken half-volley, the second was a clinical header, while the third and final finish was a superb acrobatic strike.

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While this will have been a boost for the 29-year-old, he was brought back down to earth quickly during the Owls’ match against Bristol City.

Frustrating game

It turned out to be a highly frustrating match for him, as is perhaps best summarised by the fact that he didn’t manage to take a single shot, before being brought off for Sam Winnall in the 76th minute.

Ashley Williams in particular did a very good job of dealing with him throughout his time on the pitch, though Rhodes felt he should have had a penalty when he was nudged in the back by the Welshman, but nothing was given.

To show how much the Scotland international was kept at bay, he even failed to contribute a single dribble or key pass.

He was also dominated in the air, coming out on top in just 29% of the aerials duels that he competed in on the day, with the only real sign of his quality being the 82% pass success rate he maintained.

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In the end, Sheffield Wednesday came away the happier of the two teams, taking all three points for themselves thanks to Barry Bannan’s penalty.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that this will have been a very frustrating match for Rhodes.

In other news, Wednesday have been given a boost in their pursuit of Championship striker.

Christian Eriksen has received an offer from French giants PSG ahead of the summer transfer window, per Italian journalist Nicolo Schira.

What’s the word?

The reporter claims that Serie A giants Inter Milan are interested in securing the signature of the Denmark international, whose contract expires in the summer.

He is subsequently able to talk to foreign clubs this month ahead of a potential move at the end of the season.

PSG, though, are said to have made the best offer, with a bid that will hand Eriksen a yearly salary of €12m (£10.1m). That works out to a weekly wage of £256,303-per-week.

Per Spotrac, Eriksen currently earns £75,000-per-week at Spurs.

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Can’t turn it down

The Dane really doesn’t have much of a choice here.

Sources told Football FanCast in the summer that he was keen to move abroad in search of a new culture and a new challenge.

He would get that in France and more than treble his wages to boot.

The hope for Spurs, though, is that he gives the Ligue 1 giants an answer quickly.

He turned in a poor performance against Southampton at the weekend, having been a game-changer against Norwich City, and his inconsistency is troubling.

If he says yes to PSG, one has to hope that, with his future sorted, his head will also be right and he will be able to start performing to a high level consistently.

It would be a win-win for both parties; Spurs get a motivated Eriksen back and he finds the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans want one man to leave in January. 

Somehow, Leeds United are still at the top of the Championship.

The Whites have won just one of their last five games, but they’re still sitting incredibly comfortably in the automatic promotion spots nine points clear of third-place Brentford.

The Yorkshire club were once again unable to avoid their annual Christmas capitulation as they’ve struggled over this period. Fortunately for them, however, they’ve really not been punished for it.

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The fact of the matter is that what seals Leeds’ promotion this season may not be their brilliance from now until the end of the campaign, it may very well be the lack of quality throughout the rest of the division.

Historically, 52 points at this stage of a campaign would be enough to get you into the top two, but it’s never been enough to afford you such a comfortable lead over third place.

In each of the past five seasons, the third-placed team at this point in time has had at least 47 points, and on two occasions they’ve had 49.

If the gap to third was just five or three points at this stage, we’d all be talking about the fact that Leeds are falling apart again and how inevitable it is that they’ll be caught. But the Championship this term seems to lack any semblance of Premier League pedigree aside from Marcelo Bielsa’s side and West Bromwich Albion.

With just 20 matches to go, Leeds can afford to not be at their very best for the rest of the campaign without the worry of not ending up in the Premier League.

Of course, every supporter will hope that the Whites take 60 points from the 60 that are still available, but at this point, anything in the high 30s could be enough to seal the deal.

In other news, our writers have been weighing up whether or not Billy Sharp would be a good signing for Leeds.

Javier Manquillo was far from the most popular of Rafa Benitez signings during the 2018/19 campaign but his reputation has been on the perpetual rise ever since Steve Bruce took the reigns at St James’ Park.

Due to the presence of DeAndre Yedlin, the Spaniard is far from first choice right on Tyneside but his performances have been markedly improved compared to the standard he set under Benitez.

From a statistical point of view there isn’t much to distinguish between the two campaigns. The 25-year-old now completes 0.3 more tackles, 0.2 dribbles and 0.1 blocks more per game than he did last season, while his offensive improvement has been a little more tangible – he completes 0.4 more dribbles and wins 0.4 more fouls per game, per Whoscored.

Those marginal gains appear to have made Manquillo a far better all-round player than he was prior to the beginning of the new campaign, and Bruce deserves great credit for his man-management of a player who could easily have been written off given the options at his disposal.

And it appears his improvement has garnered interest from Premier League rivals West Ham United. According to a recent report from The Athletic, the Hammers are weighing up a potential move for Manquillo this month in a bid to bolster their options at full-back in light of Ryan Fredericks’ recent injury setback.

The pertinent aspect of this potential deal is that Manquillo has now entered the final six months of his current contract – a fact that gives Bruce and the rest of Newcastle’s decision-makers a conundrum to unpick this month.

If the club have no intention of offering a new deal then the remaining weeks of the January window represent the last time Newcastle can attract any fee for the full-back.

But while that may be true it’s unlikely they’ll be able to command anything representing a significant sum for the £4.5m-rated man, per Transfermarkt.

And if that does indeed prove to be the case, then why would the Magpies shoot themselves in the foot and offload a player to a potential relegation rival on the cheap?

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After all, Yedlin has already collected two separate injuries this season and fellow right-back Emil Krafth has left plenty to be desired on his debut season for the club.

It’s a foolish prospect given Manquillo’s improvement this season and one they should avoid at all costs.