As reported by Italian outlet CalcioMercato, Tottenham Hotspur are one of several clubs interested in the signature of Napoli forward Arkadiusz Milik.

What’s the story?

Harry Kane is of course irreplaceable in Mauricio Pochettino’s squad and has started this season again in blistering form, netting another double this weekend away to West Ham United.

However, alternative options are always appealing to fans, especially when they know their team will be competing on multiple fronts at home and abroad across a long season.

One man who could give Pochettino’s squad a boost is Napoli striker Arkdiusz Milik, according to CalcioMercato. The 23-year-old Poland international has found himself playing second fiddle to the likes of Dries Mertens at his current club, alerting potential suitors to his availibility.

Teams like Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund are interested, alongside Spurs themselves, says the report.

What does he offer Spurs?

Despite not quite being able to make himself first choice for the Serie A outfit, he has shown an ability to be a prolific goalscorer at previous clubs. At Ajax he scored 47 goals in 75 appearances, making his name as one of the top players in Eredivisie before his move to Napoli.

He hasn’t completely flopped at the Italian club either, scoring 10 goals in 28 appearances, including a recent effort away to Shakthar Donetsk.

With a tall frame and the ability to link up with teammates around him, he’s less of a born finisher than Harry Kane, but that different option and style of play may not be the worst thing in the world when plan A goes wrong for Spurs, who have had a over-reliance on the English international.

According to reports in the Daily Mail, Leeds United are considering making a move for Osasuna midfielder Fran Merida, who like recent addition Samu Saiz is playing in the second tier of Spanish football, after sending scouts to watch the former Arsenal man in action.

What’s the word, then?

Well, Leeds United may be top of the Championship table on goal difference going into Tuesday night’s fixtures following an impressive start to the campaign, but it hasn’t stopped Thomas Christiansen looking at players that could potentially improve his squad during the January transfer window and beyond.

The Daily Mail says that scouts from the Yorkshire outfit have been trailing the 27-year-old, who is in his second season with Osasuna following their relegation from La Liga last term, with a view to making a move for the Spaniard.

Merida has certainly had an interesting career having been on the books of Barcelona, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid during his career, but he has failed to settle down at any of those or Braga, Hercules, Atletico Paranaense and Huesca prior to joining Osasuna.

How has he done for them?

Ok, but not brilliant.

Merida, who usually operates as a central or defensive midfielder has made 25 appearances in all competitions since joining Osasuna in the summer of 2016, and he sometimes struggled to make the matchday squad on occasions in La Liga last term.

In 15 outings in the Spanish top flight, he did show his ability with the ball at his feet by successfully completing 12 of the 17 take-ons he attempted in what was a disappointing personal campaign for him and the club.

Would he be a good signing for Leeds?

It’s difficult to say.

Saiz has already made a huge impression at Elland Road and while Merida may have struggled to have a huge impact at Osasuna, there is no reason why he couldn’t with Leeds.

Of course he already has some experience of English football too from his time with Arsenal, and that would stand him in good stead if he did join the Championship outfit during the January transfer window or elsewhere in the future.

That said, the Yorkshire outfit look to be well stocked in the middle of the park right now with Kalvin Phillips, Eunan O’Kane, Ronaldo Vieira and Mateusz Klich, and they also have to start thinking about players that could make the jump up to the Premier League because of their promising start.

It’s hard to believe that Merida is good enough to do that, though.

Many people were sceptical about about Pedro Caixinha’s summer transfer policy. He signed eleven players and let another eleven leave the club, raising questions of whether he was doing too much, too soon. So far though you’d have to say that the signs are positive with the majority of his signings fitting into the first team well.

Not all of them have been smash hits of course, both Eduardo Herrera and Dalcio have done little in a Light Blues shirt so far and Carlos Pena still has plenty to prove despite his double against St Johnstone on Friday night.

For the most part, Rangers appear to have recruited very well and along with an up turn in their league form, have a great chance of reaching a national cup final this weekend when they face Motherwell, something they didn’t manage last season.

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Perhaps the most impressive of all the summer arrivals has been Alfredo Morelos, a little known striker from Colombian who didn’t garner too much excitement when he joined in June. With Rangers making headlines signing up established talent like Bruno Alves and Graham Dorrans, it was easy to gloss over his signing before he started getting regular appearances.

Since then, he’s battered in an impressive eight goals in 11 appearances in the Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup, which has created a bit of hype about what he can go onto achieve this season. His form has even alerted clubs from the English Championship with Aston Villa reported to have sent scouts to tracks his progress last Friday night, with Rangers expecting bids in the January transfer window.

It’s vitally important though that Rangers resist the temptation to cash in on the 21-year-old and retain his talent, or risk seeing any potential progress this season disappear without trace.

On the rise

The truth is that Alfredo Morelos’ impact on the Rangers team was predictable given his career so far. He’s a young player with significant potential who, after taking the brave step to move from South America to Europe via an non-traditional route, is now on the rise.

He took the unusual step of leaving Colombia for Finland in 2016, joining HJK Helsinki. It’s common for South American players to leave their homes to make a name for themselves in European football, but you usually see them head to Spain or Portugal where the culture and language is closer to home. It’s far less common to see them end up in Scandinavia, but it was a decision that has paid off.

He made an instant impression in Finland, scoring 30 goals in 2016 in all competitions including four in UEFA competition. Proving it wasn’t a fluke, he went on to up his strike rate in 2017, starting the new Finnish season by scoring an incredible 16 goals in just 19 appearances. It was this form that generated the interest from abroad and Rangers wasted no time in securing his signature halfway through Helsinki’s summer season.

His tally combined over the last 18 months then is 54 goals in 75 appearances, a scoring rate that any striker would be envious of, at any level. With another 13 assists in that time, all for Helsinki, it’s clear he’s a player that thrives on seeing the ball hit the back of the net.

If Rangers do receive bids for him in January, then cashing in and giving up that kind of strike rate so soon into his Ibrox career would be criminal.

A winning contribution

Pedro Caixinha has been tasked with taking Rangers to the top of Scottish football, at the expense of the talented Aberdeen and the dominating Celtic. There have been missteps along the way, most notably against Progress Niederkorn, but you’d back Rangers to finish with more points and compete better this season than they did last season. As noted, there’s even the significant chance of reaching a cup final by the turn of the year, which would be a huge boost to Caixinha’s credibility.

If they’re to do this, they simply need Morelos in the team. Even selling him next summer seems foolish, if he can keep up his current form. Selling him mid-season though could deliver a critical blow to any ambitions they have short-term and long-term.

Rangers aren’t exactly blessed with excellent striking alternatives with Eduardo Herrera making just one start since joining the club and Kenny Miller both out of form and out of favour with manager Pedro Caixinha.

Morelos’ contribution is a winning one and while selling him in the future may end up an inevitable outcome if he continues his quick rise, it’s simply too soon to entertain the notion.

Michy Batshuayi was the hero for Chelsea on Saturday as they came from behind at Stamford Bridge to beat Watford in the English Premier League.

Trailing 2-1 well into the second half, Antonio Conte made the bold decision to substitute summer signing Alvaro Morata off the pitch and bring on Batshuayi, who had struggled for form in their last match against Crystal Palace.

The challenge was to show he can be a first team regular at the Blues and the youngster responded with the equalising goal, before finishing off an injury time effort to round off the 4-2 result. It was an exceptional contribution at a critical time for Chelsea, who had lost their previous two league games.

Batshuayi has now scored seven goals in 10 appearances for Conte’s side this season, although many of those appearances have been from off the bench, making him one of the more prolific strikers in the country so far this term.

Has he played his way into a starting position next time out?

Fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts on it all…

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Aston Villa were dealt a double blow at the weekend in their Championship game against Sheffield Wednesday.

Steve Bruce’s side suffered defeat and also lost defender John Terry to an injury that could keep him on the sidelines for a lengthy spell.

The Chelsea legend, who moved to Villa Park after calling an end to his Stamford Bridge career in the summer, broke a bone in his right foot inside the first 21 minutes of the team’s 2-1 defeat at home.

Terry is not expected to grace the pitch until 2018, and as frustrating as that may be, it appears that the 36-year-old is not moping around.

With the international break now upon us, the former England captain jetted to Dubai with his wife Toni, and later shared a holiday snap on Instagram.

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Villa dropped from fifth to sixth in the Championship as a result of the defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

As it stands, the club are seven points adrift of the top two automatic promotion spots.

Arsene Wenger’s days are numbered at Arsenal, so if you think you have what it takes to take charge of the Gunners in his place on Football Manager 2018 then you’re going to have to consider doing what he failed to do in his final years – make the most of the academy.

The Frenchman’s apparent reluctance to spend big money on players and the failure to successfully bring through more than just a handful of young players during his long tenure had ultimately led to a final decade of underachievement and fan unrest.

But now, with you in the hotseat, Arsenal’s fortunes can start to change for the better. The best place to start is to look to the club’s youth setup for any promising youngsters who could develop in to world class players in the future – it’ll save a few quid in transfers (which is what Wenger loved to do) but will also keep on the right side of the Emirates faithful.

We’ve done some digging and have identified four youth players at Arsenal who have the potential to become top class players with the right training and development.

Do the right thing by this lot and you’ll be a huge success at Arsenal…

Reiss Nelson

Age: 17

Position: AM (RL)

Nation: England

Value: £1m

Asking Price: £37m

Jeff Reine-Adelaide

Age: 19

Position: AM (RL), AM (C)

Nation: France

Value: £2.2m

Asking Price: £47m

Joe Willock

Age: 17

Position: AM (RC), M (C), AM (L)

Nation: England

Value: £450k

Asking Price: £29m

Joao Virginia

Age: 17

Position: GK

Nation: Portugal

Value: £650k

Asking Price: £7.5m

Harry Redknapp is known for transfer market canniness, something that all managers need to have in some form: no matter how good a coach you are, assembling the right team is vitally important.

The problem with playing the transfer market, though, is that it often comes right down to the wire: leaving it late isn’t ideal, but it can be necessary as clubs look to make sure that replacements are lined up before letting players go and the savvier negotiators leave it late to drive up the price.

But even for a manager as experienced in the transfer market as Redknapp, it’s not always possible to get the deal over the line. And in hindsight, that can sometimes look agonising. Sometimes a player who could have completely transformed a club slips the net, and that’s exactly the story that the former Queens Park Rangers manager was telling about his time at Loftus Road.

Watch the video below to find out who Redknapp almost signed who could have changed the fortunes of QPR….

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Everton headed into Sunday’s Merseyside derby as underdogs due to Liverpool’s recent goalscoring form.Jurgen Klopp’s side had found the back of the net 15 times in their previous three games in all competitions, while the Toffees were struggling for wins until recently.The arrival of Sam Allardyce has been positive so far as he managed to pull the team away from the relegation places in the Premier League.A 2-0 win over Huddersfield Town gave the players some confidence heading into the derby, but at Anfield the team gave very little in an attacking sense.Liverpool dominated the ball, particularly in the first half, but they struggled to find a way through, taking 42 minutes to score.Mohamed Salah put the Reds ahead, but the hosts failed to build on it and were later punished when Dejan Lovren gave away a penalty by fouling Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the box.Wayne Rooney scored from the spot to earn his team a much-needed point in the final 13 minutes of the game.Former Everton striker Kevin Campbell gave his assessment of the contest on Twitter after the final whistle.

According to reports in The Sun, Borussia Dortmund are ready to use the money they get from selling Andriy Yarmolenko to West Ham United to sign Crystal Palace winger and Tottenham Hotspur target Wilfried Zaha, and they could be two deals that help Spurs out in their pursuit of another attacker.

What’s the word, then?

Well, a separate report in The Sun on July 6 revealed that Zaha had turned down a bumper new £125,000-a-week deal to extend his current £100,000-a-week contract at Selhurst Park, with Spurs, Borussia Dortmund and Everton among his suitors.

The latest report in The Sun says that Dortmund are ready to launch a big-money swoop for the Ivory Coast international should Yarmolenko complete a move to West Ham, as they look to bring in another wide player to boost replace the Ukraine international and strengthen their attacking options.

However, according to German media outlet Kicker, via The Sun, Mauricio Pochettino is also keen to sign Dortmund winger Christian Pulisic, rated at £40.5m by Transfermarkt.

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How would letting Zaha go to Dortmund help them?

Well, if Spurs allow the Crystal Palace to move to Germany in a big-money move there is no question that it would help them in their bid to bring the young American to north London, considering he plays in a similar position and could cost a significant fee if Dortmund need to balance the books somehow.

Pochettino, who has been told by the fans to get rid of an attacker following a new development, may feel that at 19 years of age Pulisic has more potential and room to grow than the Eagles man does, and he would also be able to provide cover and compete for a number of positions given he can play on either wing or in the No.10 position that Dele Alli often occupies.

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Manchester City’s achievements in recent years have been recognised by many, but there are always some that say the club’s success is down to money.

There is no getting away from the fact that City became a powerhouse thanks to the help of Sheikh Mansour’s billions following his takeover in 2008.

In the last eight years, the North-West outfit have won seven major trophies, including three Premier League titles.

Last season, Pep Guardiola guided City to the English crown in style, but they did struggle against Liverpool, particularly in the Champions League when the Reds knocked them out in the quarter-finals.

Liverpool are one of England’s most famous clubs, but they do not possess the spending power that City have.

With that being said, the Merseyside outfit have been making a statement in this summer’s transfer market as they have reportedly smashed the world record fee for a goalkeeper.

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According to Goal.com, on Wednesday, Liverpool agreed a fee in the region of £67m to sign Brazilian shot-stopper Alisson from Roma.

If the deal goes through, the Reds would have broken spending records twice in seven months following the £75m acquisition of defender Virgil van Dijk in January.

After the news regarding Alisson’s likely switch to Anfield emerged, City fans suggested on Twitter that the tables have turned.