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Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, former Premier League footballer Carlton Palmer discussed Gareth Bale’s form since his summer return to Tottenham Hostpur.

After leaving Spurs for Real Madrid in what was an £85 million world-record deal back in 2013, Bale went on to feature 251 times for Los Blancos, scoring 105 goals and providing 68 assists, helping the Spanish giants to win a remarkable four Champions Leagues, two La Ligas, four FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, two Supercopa de Espanas and one Copa del Rey.

Half a season into his return to Spurs, Bale has so far started just one Premier League game for Jose Mourinho’s side, playing just 160 minutes over a total of four appearances in the top flight, in which he has managed one goal.

“On the Gareth Bale situation, if that wasn’t at Tottenham, that would be an absolute catastrophe move and I thought it was inspired at the time,” Palmer told The Transfer Tavern. “But it’s not looking to be that way at the moment and Tottenham are lucky that he’s not become a main player for them, or not needed to be a main player, because it’s not worked out at the moment.”

He continued: “I knew he needed time to get his fitness up and get up to speed and whatever, but he should be ready to be playing an active part in the first team and delivering. Considering the wages they’re paying out to him at the moment, that’s turning out to be a bad, bad deal. At this moment, he’s been a waste of money because he’s not playing.”

Indeed, as Palmer suggests, Bale’s performances have not exactly been sensational for Tottenham so far this season, with the 31-year-old averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.67 in the Premier League and a rating of 6.85 in the Europa League, ranking him as the club’s 11th-best performer in both competitions.

And, while Madrid are reported to be paying around 60% of the Welshman’s £600,000 weekly wage, Bale’s presence at Spurs is still costing the club around £240,000 per week, enough to rank him as Tottenham’s highest-paid player.

As such, it would appear that Palmer is entirely justified in dubbing Bale a “waste of money” at present, as, considering Harry Kane has 12 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League, while Son Heung-min has 12 goals and six assists in the top flight, both of whom earn less than Bale, it is easy to argue that the 31-year-old has not yet proved anywhere near good value for money for Spurs.

In other Tottenham news, Spurs have been linked with this French striker, find out more here!

According to Football Insider, Aston Villa are prepared to send Frederic Guilbert out on loan in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Frenchman has been out-of-favour this season at Villa Park, with the arrival of Matty Cash in the summer from Nottingham Forest further sending him down the pecking order.

It’s meant that Guilbert has yet to play a single minute in the Premier League, with his only competitive appearances for the club coming in the EFL Cup.

Despite the lack of first-team action, Football Insider claim that Villa are not prepared to sell him on a permanent basis either in January or in the summer, and are instead keen on loaning him so he can get some first-team football before returning to compete for a starting spot next season.

Sawiris & Edens will be fuming

Just what must the Villa owners be thinking?

Guilbert is about as out of the picture as you can get at a football club, and it’s quite telling that a 33-year-old Ahmed Elmohamady was keeping him out of a place in the match-day squad let alone in the starting eleven.

Cash’s arrival from Forest has given Villa a full-back that could well hold down his position for the next few years to come, so it’s difficult to see where Guilbert fits into the picture, other than as a potential fall-back if he gets injured.

But even then, Elmohamady seems to be the man Dean Smith is keen to rely upon. Earning around £40k-a-week, Guilbert is just a drain on the wages at Villa Park, and the sooner they permanently get rid of him the better.

Johan Lange is making an inexcusable blunder by refusing to make a ruthless call.

Earlier this month, we wrote about one of Crystal Palace’s worst missed chances in the club’s history in the form of Ferland Mendy, but it’s about time we looked at one of the smartest sales Steve Parish has ever sanctioned.

Back in 2019, Aaron Wan-Bissaka was one of the hottest properties in the Premier League, he’d just been named the Palace Player of the Year and had become known for being the most effective defender in Europe.

Wan-Bissaka registered four assists for the Eagles overall as well, which made him a wanted man in the summer, with Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United reportedly competing for his signature.

Palace weren’t able to fend off interest from the Premier League giants, with the Red Devils winning the race to sign him for £45m plus £5m in add-ons on a five-year-deal, via Sky Sports.

Unfortunately, things haven’t perhaps quite panned out how Wan-Bissaka or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would have imagined when he first arrived at Old Trafford. The 22-year-old performed admirably enough, picking up four assists in the Premier League last season, whilst he averaged 3.7 tackles, 1.9 interceptions and 1.7 clearances per game, via WhoScored, but Solskjaer’s side still finished 33 points adrift of league champions Liverpool, whilst they conceded more goals than their arch-rivals too.

It’s arguably been more of the same so far this season, although United have struggled for consistency, as they lost to Palace in a thrilling 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford in September, before being beaten by Istanbul Basaksehir in the Champions League. His market value has actually decreased over time, as he is currently valued at £36m via Transfermarkt.

The Eagles got rid of the academy graduate at the perfect time, they cashed in him and bought a much-needed striker in Jordan Ayew instead, signing now-first team regular starters James McCarthy and Gary Cahill as well.

Once hailed as a “fantastic” defensive right-back by Gary Neville, Wan-Bissaka is one of the best players to break into the first team from the academy ranks, but Palace can be happy with the fact that they didn’t hold onto him for much longer than they needed to, especially when you consider the fact they recently signed Nathan Ferguson and Nathaniel Clyne.

AND in other news, Former Crystal Palace starlet Victor Moses has thrived since Selhurst Park exit…

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of Real Madrid superstar Gareth Bale on a season-long deal worth a reported £270,000-a-week – with manager Jose Mourinho apparently key in driving one of the deals of the summer window. 

Bale, who left north London for the Bernabeu seven years ago in a then-world record £85.3m move, has now completed a sensational return on a temporary basis, with the Welshman putting pen to paper on a loan deal which will make him the highest-paid player at Spurs above the likes of Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele. 

The 83-cap international’s return has excited a plethora of Spurs supporters, all of whom consider him a real cult hero, and they apparently have Mourinho to thank, with the manager reportedly key in striking a deal.

Indeed, the ex-Chelsea boss thought that Bale’s transfer was imperative to Tottenham’s 2020/21 Premier League hopes due to his flair and dynamism, and he will join fellow left-sided star Sergio Reguilon, who underwent a medical yesterday (Evening Standard). 

As per the Daily Mail, it would appear that the 31-year-old is now a Tottenham player, a notion which has excited many supporters given the various updates over the last 48 hours.

However, despite reportedly securing a deal for one of their club icons, Lilywhites could have even more reason to get excited, with recent updates suggesting that Spurs are not done there.

Reliable Football.London correspondent Alasdair Gold has claimed that a centre-back and striker are still on the agenda, and the end of the window could prove just as exciting as this latest update.

Spurs fans, who should the club sign next? Have your say in the comments below…

When Gareth Bale enjoyed his most devastating season at Tottenham in the 2012/2013 campaign, Andre Villas-Boas began to utilise him in a more central area, and to incredible effect.

In the ten games that he played in a second-striker position, the Wales superstar racked up six goals and five assists. There were a number of occasions where the 31-year-old picked the ball up in the inside right position before driving inside and unleashing a rocket into the top corner.

Ultimately, it was a case of getting the ball to the team’s best player and just letting him do his thing. Whilst Bale may have made his return to Spurs, there’s one man who Jose Mourinho could replicate AVB’s tactic with at the club: Heung-min Son.

The South Korea international, rated at £57.6m by Transfermarkt, has started the new campaign like a house on fire, scoring seven goals in six games, and picking up three assists too – just one of those goals came in the Europa League qualifying games, with the rest all in the Premier League.

The one game that he started the match through the middle came against Shkendija, and he showed his full ability, netting once and setting up two others.

His combination of pace, movement and clinical finishing has been a class above this season, and his outstanding four-goal haul against Southampton will live long in the memory.

The key takeaway from that game was how the 28-year-old didn’t play out wide or just hugging the touchline. Instead, he made a conscious effort whether through a tactical instruction or his own intuition to play more infield, and make those darting dangerous runs inside either the two centre-backs, or the full-back and centre-half.

Son is the man in form at the moment, and Mourinho would do well to strike while the iron is hot. Moving him into a more central position could see him wreak even more havoc.

Newcastle United fans have been left fuming by the latest news to come from their prospective £300m takeover as the Premier League’s CEO, Richard Masters, has commented on matters.

He was in conversation with Sky Sports’ Bryan Swanson on Friday afternoon where he said: “I don’t think timing is an issue here. I don’t think we have any specific views about when these things need to be done by. We need to ensure all processes are followed properly, and when the decision is made it’s the right one.”

But the Magpies faithful disagree, claiming the club has been left “rudderless” in a time where clear leadership is needed.

Players’ contracts are expiring, staff are on furlough and money is still being taken for season tickets.

Given Mike Ashley is still the current owner at the northeast outfit, many have placed blame on him, which is hardly a surprise given how poorly he’s run the club during his 13-year tenure.

Think you’re a big Magpies fan? Can you name these former players by looking at their careers? Go on, give it a go…

World Class score: 95% | Expert score: 80% | Veteran score: 65% | Intermediate score: 45% | Amateur score: 30% | Try Again: 5%

Several seasons of mediocrity and two relegations to the Championship cover just a fraction of fans’ disappointment.

The interview has also led to some members of the St James’ Park faithful to speculate when the takeover might actually happen, even if some are more tongue in cheek.

Evidently, some are sick of the length of time this whole process has taken, let alone how many more weeks it is before an official announcement.

AND in other news, Newcastle transfer target tipped to “excite” fans…

Despite being repeatedly linked to new attackers ahead of the summer transfer window, the one area that Manchester United seemingly need to improve is their defence.

The Red Devils have had no problem finding the back of the net since the restart, scoring 12 goals in their last four games, but defensive lapses are still there to be exploited.

Handing Bournemouth a route back into the game due to Eric Bailly giving away a silly penalty could have cost Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team points had they not been so clinical going forward, and conceding an injury-time equaliser to Southampton is what currently stands between them and a top-four spot.

United fans will be glad to know that they’ve been linked to a £43.2m-rated centre-back this week, with reports circulating that Inter Milan are willing to offer the 20-time champions of England a swap deal involving Milan Skriniar for Anthony Martial.

Skriniar would seemingly bolster the United backline, he’s started 28 league games for a team with the best defensive record in a league famed for its defensive prowess, but is it worth sacrificing their top scorer for him when there could be a player just as good already on the books?

Of course, we’re talking about Chris Smalling.

The 30-year-old has seen a bit of a career resurgence over in Italy, and due to the fact he’s playing in the same league as Skriniar it’s very easy to compare the two.

The Englishman does make fewer tackles per game, but he trumps the Inter man when it comes to interceptions, clearances, catching people offside, making blocks and being dribbled past.

In fact, the 31-cap ace is dribbled past six-times more often than Smalling, and in a league where most teams have incredibly pacy attackers, that could be very costly if United want to bring him in.

Signing defenders from Serie A is always going to be fashionable due to the reputation that league has, but United’s loanee has shown he can hang with the best of them in Italy, and he has more than earnt his chance at another shot at Old Trafford, especially when one of the alternatives is swapping Martial for a defender who has been statistically outperformed by Smalling this term.

So after a miserable opening to the current campaign, it appears Unai Emery’s misery may be finally coming to an end.

Following a series of poor results, Arsenal find themselves in eighth in the Premier League table, and are already eight points off the top four.

Reports in recent weeks had suggested that Emery may have just a month to save his job, but it now appears it could be far sooner than that.

According to The Daily Mail, the Gunners have set their sights on Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager, with the north London side’s hierarchy impressed by what the Portuguese man has done in his time at Molineux.

The report further claims that Nuno’s agent, Jorge Mendes, has particularly close ties with Raul Sanllehi, and that could prove to be decisive.

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After hearing their links with the Wolves manager, Arsenal fans flooded to Twitter to voice their thoughts on their potential Emery replacement.

Many Gunners supporters insisted he simply isn’t good enough to manage a club like Arsenal, and revealed they are feeling particularly underwhelmed by the reports.

Check out some of the reaction of Arsenal fans below:

Meanwhile, Arsenal fans want former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri to replace Unai Emery.

With the Premier League announcing today that action won’t resume at the end of May as previously planned, it could be a long time before we see Newcastle back on the pitch.

Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains a matter of debate – before beating Southampton in their last match, the Magpies had won just once in ten Premier League games.

Nonetheless, Newcastle are one of the most well-supported clubs in the country and it’s inevitable some sections of the Toon Army will be getting withdrawal symptoms around now.

And we just might have something to cure that itch, in the form of a quiz that all Newcastle fans will be able to dig their teeth into.

This piece of trivia has a simple premise – we show you a picture of an obscure former Newcastle player, you select the according name from four possible answers.

Sounds easy, doesn’t it? We can assure you this’ll be anything but…

There haven’t been too many good signs for West Ham United ahead of their derby day against Tottenham Hotspur.Lukasz Fabianski is still out injured, while Jose Mourinho has come in and replaced Mauricio Pochettino, which has been seen as something that should lift Spurs.However, there has now been a positive for the supporters, as Michail Antonio and Mark Noble have been declared fit to take part in the game:

This update has left many Hammers fans excited about the prospect of seeing them back in the West Ham team.

Antonio seems to be the one getting the majority of the reaction, probably due the extent of his absence and that fact he can have a positive impact on the team.

Before getting injured during the Carabao Cup win against Newport County, the winger showed that he can be a threat for the Hammers, as he averaged 0.7 key passes and 1 dribble per game, despite averaging 42 minutes per Premier League appearance.

A selection of Twitter reaction to the update, including posts from thrilled West Ham fans, can be seen below: