Football news: Arsenal and Spurs to battle for Evan N'Dicka, Frank Lampard's new club? - Paper Round
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Updated 04/02/2021 at 08:39 GMT
Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Southampton are all tracking Eintracht Frankfurt's youngster Evan N'Dicka. Meanwhile, Frank Lampard is the favourite to replace Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace after his departure from Chelsea. Manchester United keep hold of Shola Shoretire and Real Madrid can offer Isco nothing.
Chelsea Manager Frank Lampard ahead of the Premier League match between Leicester City and Chelsea
Image credit: Getty Images
Arsenal lead race for N’Dicka
Arsenal lead the battle for Bundesliga’s Evan N’Dicka, according to the Mirror. The 21-year-old defender currently plays for Eintracht Frankfurt, and has impressed since coming back from injury. The French youngster’s agent, Michael N’Cho Ibou, helped assist with the Nicolas Pepe deal so could do a favour for Arsenal. However Spurs and fellow Premier League side Southampton are also in the running.
Paper Round’s view: N’Dicka would be a sensible signing for any of these teams as none of them have the money to regularly compete at the top end of the market. At just 21 he has the potential to significantly improve, and given Arsenal have let three central defenders leave in the current transfer window, they will need to add numbers to their squad in the summer.
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Lampard favourite to replace Hodgson
Frank Lampard only left Chelsea last month, but he has already been made favourite for another job, reports The Sun. Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has six months left on his current deal and is yet to sign a new contract to stay at Selhurst Park into the new season. Lampard would rival former Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe for any position that comes up.
Paper Round’s view: Lampard might regard moving down the table something of an insult after an impressive first season at Chelsea, but he really only got that job because of his playing days at Stamford Bridge rather than any managerial achievements. If he were to fail to make a success of the job then it could deal a fatal blow to any hopes he has of a long spell in management.
PSG miss out on Shoretire
Manchester United have managed to secure the signing of Shola Shoretire to a professional contract, reports the Daily Mail. The 17-year-old has been training with United’s under-23s and is expected to step up into the first-team setup in the near future, but had been courted by Bayern Munich, Juventus, PSG and Barcelona. He will now remain with his boyhood club.
Paper Round’s view: Given how hard it has become for English clubs to sign young players from abroad after Brexit, it is vital that Premier League sides keep hold of their promising teenage players. Shoretire may not be able to compete with the best yet, but as Jadon Sancho and others have shown, young English players are no longer afraid to go abroad to secure first team football.
No way back for Isco at Real
Real Madrid’s Isco appears to have no way back into the first team under Zinedine Zidane, and his value keeps falling, according to Spanish newspaper Marca. The 28-year-old was rumoured to be interesting both Arsenal and Sevilla in the winter transfer window but neither of them followed through, meaning he is stuck in the Spanish capital until he secures a summer move away.
Paper Round’s view: Isco was a hugely promising youngster and at the start of his career at Real he looked to be set to improve and be one of Spain’s best players. Instead he has lost his way and has not forced a move to another club for a fresh start, or returned back into consideration at his current club. The current situation will be doing him no good and needs to be resolved soon.
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