Ralph Hassenhuttl must now begin the process of clearing the deadwood in the Southampton squad following years of over-spending.

The Saints have spent vast sums of money on mediocre talent in recent windows, meaning Hassenhuttl inherited one of the largest squads in the Premier League. The Austrian manager will be forced to sell to buy now the January transfer window is officially open in order to strengthen his squad. Bringing reinforcements to St. Marys could be crucial to ensuring they avoid the drop this season.

After struggling to impress since his £14m move from Lazio in the summer of 2017, Wesley Hoedt’s time at the club looks to be coming to an end. The Dutchman has reportedly (according to the Sun via HITC) been transfer listed after Hassenhuttl deemed him surplus to requirements.

The former RB Leipzig boss should reinvest the funds from his sale to land Alaves defender – Guillermo Maripan. Valued at just £2.7m by Transfermarkt, the 24-year-old has been one of the most consistent performers in La Liga this season, helping his side an impressive fourth-place in the standings thus far. The Chile international has made 12 appearances so far and his excellent showings should make Southampton scouts take notice.

Maripan is a terrific defender who would add some much-needed stability to the leaky Saints back four. The Chilean loves to get stuck in, averaging 2.2 tackles per game this season and reads the game expertly – allowing him to make 2.1 interceptions on average. Maripan is also a dominant force in the air, winning 3.4 aerial duels per game, meaning he should have no issues adapting to the physicality of the Premier League (WhoScored).

The defender is only getting better and could finally be the replacement for Virgil van Dijk at St. Marys.

Southampton fans, thoughts?

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Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to react after news broke that the club were close to completing their first signing of the window, with highly-rated Sao Paulo goalkeeper Lucas Perri set to join on an initial six-month loan deal.

The Independent reports that the 21-year-old stopper will arrive at Selhurst Park to cover for the injured duo of Vicente Guaita and Wayne Hennessey, who could both be out for up to a month – 39-year-old Julian Speroni is set to start in between the sticks against Liverpool.

The deal to take the Brazilian to Selhurst Park comes with the option to make it a permanent switch in the summer, for a fee in the region of £3m, which would represent great value if Perri impresses in the second half of the season.

It isn’t exactly the striker that they have been crying out for, but given Speroni’s advancing years, it is a smart move by the Eagles and one that most fans seem happy with…

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Everton signed Yerry Mina from Barcelona for a fee of £27.19million last summer, as reported by the BBC.

However, since his arrival, the Colombian centre-back has largely failed to live up to his big price tag at Goodison Park.

On the chalkboard

The 24-year-old has been in and out of Marco Silva’s team this season, but made a return to the Toffees’ starting XI for Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Championship outfit Millwall.

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Mina didn’t cover himself in glory against the Lions, as the second tier side battled their way to a 3-2 victory to secure a cup upset as the expense of their Premier League opponents.

According to the Liverpool Echo’s player ratings, Mina scored a rating of five for his first half showing, before he was replaced by Kurt Zouma during the break having picked up a knock.

Poor return on investment

According to WhoScored’s stats, Mina didn’t make a single tackle or interception during his time on the pitch, and failed to put his 6’5” frame to good use by only winning one aerial duel.

At this point, Silva and the Everton faithful have every right to feel shortchanged, as they are currently not getting what they would expect given what they paid for Mina, as his performances are falling well short of justifying their huge £27.19million outlay.

If his form doesn’t improve soon, the 15-cap Colombia international who was so impressive for his country at the 2018 World Cup will go down as a massive flop on Merseyside, and a major transfer mistake on Everton’s part.

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Two months ago there was some serious debate about Scott Brown being detrimental to Celtic’s performances. Wiser, older heads suggested keeping those thoughts private.

It is true that Celtic’s best form of the season came in November when the club captain was out injured but those two facts were unrelated.

Ryan Christie’s emergence made the difference to Celtic’s season – on Wednesday night the former Inverness man enjoyed the backing and support of his skipper alongside the brilliance of Callum McGregor.

Fortunately Brown wasn’t cast aside. Brendan Rodgers could have chosen that option in 2016 but felt that the washed out midfielder of the Ronny Deila days still had something to offer. Seven trophies suggest that the Irishman called that one correctly.

Against Hibs in midweek, Brown was in his element. Dominating and bullying opponents, many of them 10 years his junior and unable to get close to Celtic’s captain.

Ryan Gauld has been hailed as the bright young thing of Scottish football, but up against Brown he barely got a sniff of the ball with the Celtic midfielder hoovering up everything in the middle of the park.

There were a few second half wobbles in the Celtic performance but Brown quickly put things right, reassuring team-mates and exposing opponents. His presence brings out the best in others with McGregor and Christie highly influential as three more points were secured in the title countdown.

Last season, without Brown, Celtic were a shadow of their real self. This term other players have stepped up to show that the Hoops are equally as effective without their captain.

With a two-year contract secured Brown could afford to relax and coast it but that approach isn’t in his DNA.

If Celtic go on to win the title there won’t be many players to have contributed more than the 33-year-old – just ask Gauld and his Hibs team-mates.

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The mood around Anfield has taken a notable downturn in light of a pair of draws against Leicester City and West Ham United, but a timely boost has arrived to lift spirits at the club.

Indeed, according to a recent report from the London Evening Standard, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is ahead of schedule in his bid to return from injury and Jurgen Klopp has selected him in Liverpool’s Champions League squad for the knockout stage of the competition.

The 25-year-old midfielder has been sidelined ever since a tackle from Aleksandar Kolarov unfortunately resulted in a nasty injury, one that cruelly ruled him out of World Cup contention in the middle of a bright period of form which suggested he was a contender to start for England in Russia.

But nearly ten months later it seems that he is edging towards an eagerly-anticipated return, and the supporters couldn’t be happier.

Liverpool’s midfield has been lacking the presence of a direct dribbler and genuine goal threat from deep in recent weeks, but his return could provide Klopp with a weapon to exploit in Europe.

The fact he has been sidelined for such a prolonged period of time suggests the last-sixteen clash against Bayern Munich may come too soon for Oxlade-Chamberlain, but if the Reds progress he might have a chance to play a key role in the latter stages.

Here’s what the Liverpool fans have had to say about the latest update…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

News on Kiko Casilla’s potential ban has been hard to come by recently.

The deadline for his response to the charge came and went, and we’re still unsure on what is going to happen to the Spaniard.

For those who need a little refresher, the goalkeeper is facing a minimum six-game ban after being accused of racially abusing Jonathan Leko during United’s game against Charlton earlier this season.

While we’re not sure what’s going to happen with Casilla, Phil Hay believes that his ban will fall on the lenient side due to the outcome of a very similar case.

What’s been said then?

The journalist was talking on the latest edition of The Phil Hay Show (13/12/19), and he was asked whether or not he thinks Illan Meslier will be good enough to step in for Casilla.

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“I think he’s going to be good enough for the short period he’ll be in.” Hay said (53:00).

“We’re talking six games or eight games. Well, it could be more, it could go to ten or 12 for Casilla if he is found guilty of this.

“The case is very similar to that of Forestieri at Sheffield Wednesday who ended up with six games, so I think we’d be looking in that ballpark.”

Mixed emotions

If Casilla is to be banned, to hear that he could get away with the shortest punishment he could possibly be handed is brilliant news for Leeds on the pitch.

The Spanish stopper has been key in Leeds’ assault on the top two this season as he’s kept 12 clean sheets in 21 appearances.

However, a number of fans stated that they wouldn’t want anything to do with the goalie if he is found guilty of racially abusing another player, so to see him get away with just a six or eight-game ban is a little disheartening from a moral standpoint.

What happens to Casilla remains to be seen, but if he’s found guilty there will certainly be mixed emotions across the fanbase.

Meanwhile, our writers have been pondering whether or not one of Leeds’ January targets would be a good signing.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho insists Son Heung-Min did not deserve to receive a red card against Chelsea, per Football.London.

What’s he said?

The South Korea international was shown a straight red card after his clash with defender Antonio Rudiger.

Following an altercation, Son appeared to lash out, with his studs being pulled down Rudiger’s ribs.

But Mourinho has taken issue with the red card, which was shown after a VAR check.

He said: “For me, it’s not a red card. I think if we go to every person in this room, some would say yes and some would say no. That’s not the essence of the VAR.

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“The essence, the initial protocol of the VAR, I was involved in the beginning in UEFA meetings and this kind of thing, the VAR is for the penalty of the first half, a clear and obvious mistake, 65,000 persons in the stadium look to the screen and know it’s a penalty. For me that’s the VAR.

“When you have the situation with Son and Rudiger it’s not a clear and obvious mistake by the referee. The mistake from the referee in that action is not to give a yellow card to Rudiger, because of the way he fouls Son.

“That is the clear mistake. But the VAR didn’t say that. Then the VAR goes to the Son situation which for me is not.”

Mourinho also took aim at Rudiger, insisting that he must have sustained “broken ribs”.

He added: “Rudiger is for sure is having scans in the hospital on broken ribs because it was a really violent situation. In some countries, like mine, for example with our culture we used to say clever player but in this country, and one of the reasons I fell in love with this country in 2004 it because we don’t call them clever, we call them other things that I refuse to call.”

Open to interpretation

Son appeared gobsmacked to be shown a red card, too.

And, watching the replays, it certainly appeared as though this was a decision that was open to interpretation.

Son did appear to move his leg towards Rudiger and the slow-motion replay looked all the worse.

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However, Mourinho is probably right; a yellow card apiece – one for Rudiger’s initial foul and another for Son’s reaction – would have seemed the fair punishment.

Instead, the Portuguese is now planning for the next three games without the winger; one can perhaps understand his anger.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to some major news from the club’s official Twitter account.

West Bromwich Albion slumped to just their second league defeat of the season as they were downed 2-0 by Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns on Sunday, and Baggies fans on Twitter were soon discussing the limited first-team chances of one player.

The west Midlands outfit signed former Arsenal youngster Chris Willock on a season-long loan deal from Benfica during the summer transfer window, but it has quickly become apparent throughout the campaign to date that manager Slaven Bilic isn’t a huge fan of the 21-year-old.

The forward hasn’t been included in a single matchday squad in the Championship, while he was an unused substitute for their only Carabao Cup fixture against Millwall.

It was perhaps no surprise he wasn’t involved too much earlier in the season given the form another loanee in Grady Diangana was in on the wing – five goals and six assists in 19 league outings – but after he suffered a hamstring injury earlier this month, Willock still hasn’t made the matchday 18.

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That is despite the fact that wingers Kyle Edwards and Matt Phillips – who was criticised by supporters following the reverse against Boro – don’t appear to be in the greatest form right now.

Many fans have raised the argument that he can’t be any worse than them at the moment, as you can see below.

However, there were those supporters who are choosing to trust in their Croatian boss, and believe that Willock’s absence is because he obviously hasn’t shown his manager enough in training to be considered.

Can you score at least 80% on this Ultimate Premier League Quiz? Test your knowledge now…

Given his continued absence, that is probably a sensible outlook to have and perhaps the 21-year-old needs to take a look at himself in that respect.

In other West Brom news, Baggies fans have largely slammed a Tony Pulis signing for his display against Middlesbrough…

Speaking ahead of Aston Villa’s FA Cup tie against Fulham, Dean Smith offered an indication that he could make multiple changes to his team.

That comes from his statement, per Birmingham Mail, in which he claims the Premier League is the priority before going on to say “hopefully the quality of the squad can carry us through.”

With the team already having a Carabao Cup semi-final to contest, while also fighting for their place in the league, it may be wise for Smith to avoid overworking too many players – especially after Tom Heaton and Wesley were confirmed to be out for the rest of the season.

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Considering these factors, here is FFC’s predicted XI for their FA Cup game against Fulham, which features nine changes from the 2-1 victory over Burnley.

The first change is forced due to Heaton’s aforementioned injury and Smith could opt to use Lovre Kalinic, considering Orjan Nyland will likely be playing in the league moving forward.

James Chester impressed during Villa’s last cup game, the 5-0 win against Liverpool, and could come back into the side again.

He is joined in the backline by Bjorn Engles, who has not featured in any of Villa’s last three league games, only making the bench for one of those.

Both of the players keeping their place in the side from the Burnley win are on the left, with Neil Taylor and Kortney Hause both keeping their place here. The first of those does so with Matt Targett out, while Smith may play Hause to afford Tyrone Mings more rest.

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Conor Hourihane and Henri Lansbury have played an integral part in Villa’s Carabao Cup run, recording a combined seven appearances, four goals and five assists, so the hope will be that they can play a similar role in the FA Cup.

Ahmed Elmohamady was rested against Burnley, so he could come in for this game as a fresh presence on the right.

Jota and Anwar El Ghazi both come into the team having been left out of the side that faced Burnley, allowing Trezeguet and Jack Grealish to get some rest.

Smith’s hands are tied with the striker position following Wesley’s injury, so Jonathan Kodjia seems almost certain to start.

In other news, one Aston Villa man has ensured there is no need to panic buy despite their setback.

According to Record, via Sport Witness, Wolverhampton Wanderers have made a ‘formal offer’ for Benfica attacking midfielder Gedson Fernandes.

What’s the word?

It is believed that their bid has been rejected by the Portuguese giants as they are demanding a fee of at least €40m (£34m), although, Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira is keen on making a deal with Wolves work as they are offering a permanent deal rather than a loan move.

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West Ham have ‘agreed a deal in principle’ with the midfielder, per SkySports, but it is by no means confirmed as of yet with the above reports conflicting such an update. Wolves could still sneak in with a transfer offer.

Nuno Santo was reportedly in for the Portuguese youngster during the summer when the club made a €35m (£29.8m) offer as per the same source.

Traore alternative?

Fernandes has played the bulk of his short career to date in central midfield with Transfermarkt recording 56 of his 113 appearances in the role, but this season, he’s been utilised at right-wing in over half of the matches he has featured in.

His newfound position makes the possibility of Wolves signing him an interesting prospect as Nuno needs options behind his tried and tested favourites.

Currently, if Adama Traore were to get injured or suspended – or at worst, leaves the club – the system would need to be changed or a player would have to be played out of position.

Fernandes’ key attributes are more suited to a wide role with his dribbling and duel-winning abilities mentioned by Sky Sports. Last season in the Primeira Liga, he attempted 2.8 dribbles per game and won an average of 8.2 duels per match.

TalkSPORT note his threat from distance, claiming he ‘packs a ferocious strike’ as well as offering electrifying pace, which is reinforced by Goal, who state he is ‘technically proficient with an athletic build and an eye for goal.’

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His previous experience playing centrally means he offers something slightly different to the Spanish winger with Fernandes being compared to Paul Pogba and Yaya Toure in the past. The pair have always scored goals from midfield – something that Traore has only started to do himself this campaign after bagging five in all competitions.

Ultimately, Nuno needs strength in depth and the Benfica ace’s versatility hands the west Midlanders that in abundance – maybe it would be wise to up their bid to the £34m that is desired.

While in other news, Wolves could have a solution to one of their biggest problems as they are offered a bold swap deal involving Ruben Neves…