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The summer transfer deadline day headlines were well and truly stolen by Manchester United, who well and truly splashed the cash. The Red Devils took their total spend to an eye watering £150m thanks to a late loan deal for Radamel Falcao, who arrived amid a flurry of excitement and talk of a Premier League title charge.

Yet the Colombian’s time at Old Trafford has been, so far, relatively underwhelming, with fitness issues and competition for places having been factors in his lack of impact. Not yet a United player permanently, there have been suggestions that Louis van Gaal is considering backing out of a full transfer all together now, and here are FIVE reasons that may make sense…

Lack of playing time so far

Despite arriving in a headline grabbing loan deal with a reputation as one of Europe’s very best forwards, Falcao’s outings have been sporadic so far. The Colombian has featured nine times in total, five have been as a substitute, netting just two goals in the process. A troublesome calf injury has limited his time on the field, which has prevented United from getting a sound return on their considerable investment so far.

That knee injury

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Much of Falcao’s 2014 has been spent on the sidelines. The South American damaged his ACL way back in January while at Monaco, forcing him to sit out the back end of last season and the World Cup. United were stringent in their medical examination of the former Atletico Madrid and Porto ace, yet with such a problem, there’s always a chance of recurrence. Also, Falcao seems short of the yard of pace that made him such a hit, with his explosiveness having been his major strength in the past.

Age debate

While his birth certificate suggests that Falcao is 28, there are some suggestions that he may actually be 30. There is little proof to back up this claim, yet talk in his home continent circles around when he actually made his first-team debut, which, if everything lines up correctly, may have been in his early teens.

His birth certificate has been revealed, but there are numerous cases of incorrect documentation in some of the world’s poorer countries, so there’s potential for Falcao to be older than he says…

Massive fee

United have already paid a massive loan fee (rumoured to be around £6m) for Falcao and are handing him a wage in the region of £300,000-per-week, yet to keep him permanently another £43m will be needed. At the age of 28, the Monaco man has very little in the way of re-sale value and is now in the very middle of his ‘peak years’, making him a short-term fix. Wayne Rooney is of a similar age, while Robin van Persie is the wrong side of 30, so perhaps a younger option may be wiser.

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Where does he fit?

Now that Louis van Gaal has switched back to a 3-5-2 set-up, Falcao has been able to slot into a two man attack. Yet, when LVG has his defensive options in place, he may look to utilise his favoured 4-3-3 set-up, which allows him just one centre-forward. Rooney, Van Persie, James Wilson and Falcao will be his options, while there are suggestions that another big name striker is on the club’s transfer radar. Keeping so many stars happy will be tough, and it’s unlikely that Van Gaal will drop his captain or compatriot, so Falcao could be the man with the axe hovering above.

Out-of-favour Arsenal star Andrey Arshavin is on the verge of a move to Reading, according to reports from the Daily Mail.

The Royals’ Russian owner Anton Zingaervich is thought to be extremely keen on the 31-year-old, who has been a bit part player under Arsene Wenger this season.

The Gunners are said to be willing to offload the man they signed for £15m this January, as he could leave for free at the end of the season once his contract expires.

Arshavin is reportedly taking the offer made by the newly promoted side seriously, as it may be his last chance of regular Premier League football.

Reading are willing to pay £2m to draft him in next month, as they attempt to add some creative flair to their struggling squad.

Manager Brian McDermott has stated that he is looking to add experience to his ranks, which would make the Russian captain an ideal candidate.

Arshavin has made over 100 appearances for Arsenal since his arrival in 2009 and has also earned 75 international caps.

Reading are likely to face competition for his signature, with former club Zenit Saint Petersburg rumoured to be interested.

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Fulham are also monitoring the situation and are thought to have made an official enquiry.

It is also believed that a number of clubs in the Middle East would be willing to take on the attacking midfielder, who could be tempted by one last lucrative contract.

Everton manager Sam Allardyce has revealed that three players have returned to fitness in time for this weekend’s Premier League match against Brighton.

Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka and Ramiro Funes Mori are all available to feature at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The manager confirmed the news in his pre-match press conference, and it provides a major boost considering that the team will be without Ashley Williams.

The centre-back will miss the next three games after getting sent off in the latter stages of Everton’s defeat to Burnley last weekend.

With Jagielka and Funes Mori fit, Allardyce has a handful of options to select from when lining up the defence.

Baines’s return is also positive news for the fans, the majority of whom wanted the club to buy a new left-back in January due to Cuco Martina’s less-than-impressive performances.

The Dutchman has had to fill in during Baines’s injury absence, and has come under fire due to him being predominantly right-footed.

Everton are in need of some points having won just two of their last 11 Premier League games.

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The club sit 11th in the table, seven points above the relegation zone.

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How many club captains are far from the fan favourite? West Ham’s for one.

Kevin Nolan has been the captain of West Ham United ever since he joined the Hammers in June 2011. He replaced an average captain in Matthew Upson and he was reunited with Sam Allardyce who chose the then 28-year-old to captain the side as they started their bid for an instant return to the Premier League.

Nolan left Newcastle United for West Ham where he was captain of The Geordies. Kevin scored 12 goals in The Championship campaign and helped guide The Hammers back to the Premier League via the playoffs. In the two Premier League campaigns that followed he was the clubs top goalscorer, albeit in a poor West Ham side in terms of attacking. So that’s both seasons that Nolan has been with West Ham in the Premier League that he has outscored all of his teammates – yet he still gets more criticism than most.

As the ‘Kevin Nolan saga’ continues, does he deserve to start for West Ham, and more bluntly is there any room for him?

Let’s get one thing straight, a captain’s influence is as much off the pitch as it is on it, and Nolan’s work behind he scenes seems excellent. He is one of the senior figures and with 359 Premier League appearances to date, he has a wealth of experience beyond most. He has personally shielded Andy Carroll and Ravel Morrison from the press’ jibes and he seems a popular figure within the squad, which has an obvious high level of morale.

He has been a consistent pick in West Ham’s squad under Sam Allardyce and hasn’t missed a game when fit. Many Hammers fans have been calling for Ravel Morrison to replace him, mainly during last season, but Big Sam has stuck by him. Now Morrison has gone on loan to Cardiff the competition for that centre-attacking midfield spot has weakened. Mauro Zarate can and will play there but West Ham’s formation has changed, and that’s why Morrison was allowed to leave on loan again.

The Hammers are largely donning a 4-3-3 formation with a free-roam given to Stewart Downing who’s excelling in his new role. Enner Valencia is playing out wide and both are supporting Sakho up top. Three central midfielders has been the order of the day for Big Sam’s new look West Ham.

Everyone knows that Nolan’s best position is in behind the front-man, and that’s how he has notched so many Premier League goals over the years from midfield. However, West Ham aren’t currently starting with a player in that position. Having said that, the Hammers are to be without Mark Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate for Sunday’s home game against QPR as they were for the trip to Old Trafford last weekend. This somewhat forced Big Sam’s hand into playing a centre-attacking midfielder, which Stewart Downing obliged. It wasn’t West Ham’s best performance of the season so far, but they should have got something out of the game after Wayne Rooney was sent off.

Kevin made his return from injury against Man United when he replaced Diego Poyet for the final 15 minutes. He showed that his knack of arriving late in the box is still present and he tucked away an equaliser which was rightly ruled out for offside but could have easily of been given on another day.

I think Sam will stick with his line-up against Man United for the visit of QPR and I fully expect Kevin Nolan to be used as a substitute, where he may well be just as effective as scoring late goals. His overall lack of effort during games won’t be missed so it’ll keep the Hammers fans happy if he is called upon late to find important goals, rather than to contribute very little to the team.

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Kevin’s days of playing in the Premier League are numbered, and that will be the case as he enters the final years of his career, but he can still do a job, and if he wants another job I wouldn’t mind him being a part of the coaching staff when that day comes. He’s a leader who is excellent for morale – he just doesn’t quite offer enough during the full 90 minutes anymore.

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QPR are set to make an audacious bid for Rennes midfielder Yann M’Vila, according to reports from The Metro.

The French international has been heavily linked with Tottenham and Arsenal in recent months, but it appears that Super Hoops boss Harry Redknapp is confident that he can complete a £7.5m move.

Spurs failed with a £15m bid over the summer, but QPR believe that they can snatch him for around half of that figure, with the player keen to play in the Premier League.

Redknapp is likely to receive substantial backing from the Loftus Road-based outfit’s board this January, as they look to avoid relegation to the second tier.

M’Vila, 22, is thought to be high on ‘Arry’s list of targets, as the former Portsmouth and Southampton coach looks to bolster his squad.

It’s unclear as to whether Arsenal or Tottenham will reignite their interest in the holding midfielder, which could play into QPR’s hands.

M’Vila is widely regarded as one of the finest talents in his home nation and has been capped 22 times at senior international level.

Meanwhile, The London club are said to be preparing a swoop for former Chelsea star Nicolas Anelka.

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The striker is reportedly unsettled at new club Shanghai Shenhua and clould be allowed to leave.

West Ham are also tracking the 33-year-old.

Everton are going through a rebuilding period following the turmoil from last season.

The Merseyside outfit went from having Ronald Koeman in charge to then appointing Sam Allardyce, who was later replaced with Marco Silva at the end of the season.

Silva is mulling over his transfer options, and it seems that he is willing to offload one of his defenders.

On Friday, the Daily Mail mentioned that the Merseyside outfit consider offers for Mason Holgate.

The 21-year-old, who predominantly plays at centre-back but can also feature at right-back, joined the Toffees from Barnsley in 2015.

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Last season, he made 21 appearances in all competitions, including 15 in the Premier League.

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With the long-term futures of Phil Jagielka and Ashley Williams uncertain, as well as the fact the Ramiro Funes Mori has departed, losing Holgate would be a strange move.

It seems that a large number of Everton fans share the same sentiment.

Leeds United will look to bounce back from a disappointing performance against Middlesbrough and attempt to keep their faint Championship play-off hopes alive when they host table-topping Wolverhampton Wanderers at Elland Road on Wednesday night.

The Yorkshire outfit had the opportunity to close on Boro in the top six at the Riverside Stadium on Friday night, but they fell to a 3-0 defeat with Patrick Bamford scoring a hat-trick for the hosts.

Few players came out of the clash on Teesside with any credit, and the poor result has left the Whites just eight points adrift of the play-offs with only one win in their previous 10 games, and there are only 11 matches of the campaign remaining.

Paul Heckingbottom will know that his team need to start picking up wins if they are to have any chance of gate-crashing the promotion party this term, but they face a tough task against a Wolves side that are at the summit and 10 points clear of third-place Aston Villa going into the latest round of fixtures.

Heckingbottom named an unchanged XI from the 1-0 win against Brentford against Tony Pulis’ men on Friday, but the 40-year-old will be considering making changes to his side and possibly even his formation for the visit of the league leaders after such a below-par display last time out.

Here is how Leeds must line up to get an unlikely three points against Wolves on Wednesday…

Defence

Goalkeeper Felix Wiedwald has been struggling for a while now, and Heckingbottom likely would have dropped him to the substitutes’ bench had Andy Lonergan not been injured.

The German stopper put in another disappointing display against Middlesbrough on Friday and while Lonergan still isn’t available, 21-year-old Bailey Peacock-Farrell is and he must start against Wolves given the fact that Wiedwald’s confidence is clearly shot.

Gaetano Berardi, Pontus Jansson and captain Liam Cooper should all keep their places in the backline, but Heckingbottom should consider replacing Vurnon Anita with Laurens De Bock after the former endured a torrid time against Adama Traore at the Riverside Stadium.

Midfield

Heckingbottom started with a 4-2-3-1 system against Boro, but he should consider reverting to more of a 4-4-1-1 formation against the table-toppers on Wednesday night.

The system should give them more defensive cover and make them more effective in wide areas where they have the players that can make a difference – especially at Elland Road.

Eunan O’Kane and Kalvin Phillips should be replaced by Adam Forshaw and Ronaldo Vieira following their poor displays at the Riverside Stadium, while Ezgjan Alioski and Pablo Hernandez – who is available again after injury – should start on the flanks, with Stuart Dallas dropping to the substitutes’ bench.

Attack

Saiz impressed on his return from a six-match suspension in the 1-0 win against Brentford, but he struggled to make an impact against Middlesbrough on Friday – similarly to the majority of his teammates.

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The Spaniard will be hoping to put his stamp on the clash with the Championship leaders however, and Heckingbottom will know that he needs the attacking midfielder to be on his game in order to boost his team’s chances of taking a much-needed three points.

Pierre-Michel Lasogga largely had to feed off of scraps at the Riverside Stadium, and the centre-forward will be hoping for better service and support back on the Yorkshire outfit’s home patch, and he once again needs to start ahead of Caleb Ekuban up top.

Do you agree, Leeds fans? Let us know below.

Arsene Wenger’s post-match interview with BBC Sport’s Jacqui Oatley following Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with Hull City in the Premier League over the weekend made for pretty awkward viewing. The reporter’s hard, probing questioning was a refreshing change to the usual interviewing formula of briefly asking the manager how the game went, evaluating the performance of a goalscorer or star player, and occasionally discussing any controversial decisions that may have occurred during the match, yet Wenger’s barbed, brusque responses were inappropriate given that Oatley was merely doing her job as she saw fit.

The Match of the Day commentator may simply have caught the Frenchman on a bad day, and a bad day it was for the Gunners, with Danny Welbeck having to rescue a point in stoppage time. Arsenal have now won only twice this season and are already 11 points off league leaders Chelsea, and despite the fact that the North London side are well known for their slow starts, Wenger’s cantankerous conduct with the press in the bowels of the Emirates Stadium may be a sign that he is finding it particularly difficult to cope with the demands and expectations of the current campaign.

After winning the FA Cup in May – their first piece of silverware in nine years – there was a firm hope among Arsenal’s fan base that this year would mark the mounting of a genuine title challenge after a number of seasons of being off the pace. Nevertheless, Wenger’s reluctant admission to Oatley that it is his team’s defensive shortcomings that are to blame for Arsenal’s record of two wins in eight implies that the Gunners have failed to adequately strengthen their backline, and with infuriating inactivity in the transfer market being a recurring criticism of Wenger, one can see why he may have found it uncomfortable to face the truth in front of the cameras.

Indeed, when Oatley dared to voice the genuine concerns of many Arsenal fans as to why the club refused to sign a centre half or a defensive midfielder in the summer, Wenger adopted a prickly tone, curtly and confusingly saying that the problem against Hull wasn’t the defence despite his admission to the contrary just moments before.

The maths just don’t add up for Wenger. Offloading four defenders over the summer (Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Carl Jenkinson and Ignasi Miquel) and bringing in two replacements (Calum Chambers and Mathieu Debuchy) has left Arsenal with a backline deficit of two compared to last season. Debuchy already faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines due to injury, and the Gunners are clearly struggling with a lack of defensive cover with Chambers’ recent suspension and Spanish full-back Nacho Monreal also crocked.

All of which points to a glaring oversight on Wenger’s behalf in not adequately reinforcing his defence during the transfer window. The Frenchman has since promised Arsenal fans that he will be delving into the market in January, but if the Gunners continue to slip up in the league until then, any purchases may ultimately be futile.

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Winning the league already looks to be beyond Arsenal this season, which will not not please their fans. If Wenger had only taken care of his defence earlier, he might not be feeling quite so hot under the collar, and we might have all been spared his petulant behaviour on Saturday.

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Arsene Wenger’s transfer policy is well known to all that have followed the Gunners in recent years. Buy young, undeveloped talent, turn them into world class players and then sell them on at a decent profit when they get too big for their boots. This worked successfully with the likes of Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, but more recently the club has struggled to hang onto their better players, losing Cesc Fabregas last summer, while Robin Van Persie felt the grass was greener elsewhere this year.

Wenger won’t stop his transfer policy though despite the club’s lack of success in recent years, but for every Henry and Vieira, there’s another 20 youngsters who were brought out of obscurity only to never make the grade with Arsenal. Before Wenger, George Graham and Bruce Rioch were more traditional in their transfer methods, but still bought some rubbish all the same. Check out the worst XI signings made by Arsenal in the Premier League era.

Click on Nelson Vivas to unveil the XI

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The Genova International Academy (GISS) is an exclusive football academy that is out to challenge the conventional pathways of becoming a professional footballer.

GISS is a paid service that employs professional coaching staff to help develop aspiring young footballers and its chief coach has recently revealed what trait he thinks is the most important attribute to have as an aspiring footballer.

Dimitri Koltsov, academy coach at GISS – which specialise in providing developing players “a stepping stone to Europe” – revealed that without this trait in professional football, “you go nowhere.”

The academy is now in its tenth year and operations have expanded from one academy to over one hundred across America, Canada, Asia, Spain and Italy.

Over 82 players who have joined or passed through the GISS Residential Academy doors have signed to professional clubs in the past 6 years.

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Find out what attribute Koltsov deems the ‘most important quality’ by watching the video here:

Instagram: Giss_worldFacebook: Genova International School of Soccer.  website. www.issgenova.it