Everton fans will be frustrated at their lack of transfer activity in the summer transfer window.

New boss Marco Silva has not be given the funds to strengthen the squad to his liking this summer. Following an expensive window last summer, the Blues need to offload some of their struggling stars before they can spend. Director of football, Marcel Brands, is already starting to streamline the Toffees’ team.

Wayne Rooney left the club for Major League Soccer after just one year back on Merseyside. His departure will free up some much-needed funds on the wage bill at Goodison Park. Defender Ramiro Funes Mori also departed. Alongside Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott, Silva will want a new left winger to complete his attack.

The answer to his problems could be Porto ace – Yacine Brahimi. Valued at £23.4m by Transfermarkt, Everton are long-term admirers of the Algerian and had a £33m bid rejected back in the summer of 2016. Instead, the Toffees opted to sign Yannick Bolasie from Crystal Palace.

With just one-year remaining on his contract in Portugal, now is the time to bring him to the Premier League. The 28-year-old was a key player for his side last season, making 33 appearances in Liga NOS, scoring nine goals and registering seven assists. He also made seven appearances in the Champions League.

Brahimi is an excellent dribbler and loves to beat his man. He has the pace to cause defenders problems and excellent all-around technical ability. His arrival would be great for Cenk Tosun who no doubt would benefit from Brahimi’s creativity in would the final third.

Everton fans, thoughts?

Mike Ashley has been keeping his wallet closed for much of the summer. 

The Toon haven’t had much investment so far this summer and with the transfer window ticking down, it looks like Benitez may have to work his magic again.

The club are closing in on Fabian Schar according to reports but Benitez will need more than that if he wants to keep the club in the league again next year.

The Magpies have been linked with a move for Championship fullback, Joe Bryan according to the Daily Star. The impressive fullback has attracted interest from Augsburg, Mainz and RB Leipzig as well as Wolves.

Wolves, however, have also been linked with a move for Manchester City Oleksandr Zinchenko according to the Express and Star.

Wolves have also sanctioned the transfer of fullback Barry Douglas to Leeds as they look to bolster their funds for a bid for Zinchenko which could now leave Newcastle with a free run at Joe Bryan.

The Breakdown

With Paul Dummett and Achraf Lazaar the only two left backs for Benitez to call upon, a move for Bryan makes complete sense.

The young English fullback has been one of the standout performers for Lee Johnson’s Bristol City side, and with his contract running out next year, Newcastle might just be able to pull him away from City.

It seems a £6 million deal may be on the cards for Bryan and surely even Mike Ashley may even warrant spending such a small fee.

Thoughts Newcastle fans? 

After weeks of uncertainty, Birmingham City have finally been placed under a formal transfer embargo with just days to go until the Blues kick off their Championship season against Norwich City.

That leaves Garry Monk forced to go with what he inherited at St Andrew’s back in March, a squad assembled by various managers with different footballing ideals, but without a single player – unless Kristian Pedersen is somehow able to be registered – signed by the current boss.

To that end, with Monk having cut out experienced goalkeeper David Stockdale, he is reportedly planning to go with untried 22-year-old stopper Connal Trueman for the aforementioned meeting with the Canaries.

So, we decided to ask Blues fans whether they back Monk’s risky plan to start the rookie and it is clear that Blues fans have got faith in the former Leeds United manager.

73 per cent of them back his plan to go with Trueman over outcast Stockdale, as shown by the full poll results below…

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Sunderland fans have seen it all over the last two seasons but now they hope with the addition of a few new faces, they can start climbing the divisions once more.

Having been relegated to League One, times are tough for Sunderland who were in the Premier League just two seasons ago. Fans are dejected and their better players want to leave, making the upcoming season already challenging. However, should enough money be freed up, the Black Cats must look into signing Ross McCormack who is valued at £4.5 million on Transfermarkt.

The Aston Villa man is unlikely to stay with the Championship outfit, having been out on-loan with Melbourne FC for the last season, where he well and truly found his goal-scoring touch again. Despite the lower quality, McCormack bagged an impressive 14 goals in just 17 appearances whilst in Australia, a record that would look good in any league in football.

Sunderland desperately need a goalscorer more than anything and that is certainly what they would get should they pursue Ross McCormack. The 31-year-old has enjoyed a goal-littered career in the Championship and so bringing him to League One could only be a sensible idea, on the back of his brilliant performances down under.

Sunderland remain a big club and they would like to think their League One stay won’t be a long one as they plan to reach the top flight once again after sorting out a messy few seasons. The capture of Ross McCormack is exactly the signing that would allow Sunderland to make progression through the league again and one that they must consider should the money be available.

Thoughts… Let us know!

Everton are facing a rocky spell of fixtures during pre-season, where they have failed to win since their first game earlier last month in a crushing 22-0 victory. 

Marco Silva has found life trickery with Everton so far and his team really haven’t helped him during pre-season as a number of individual errors are leading to Everton becoming the laughing stock of the English clubs right now.

It is believed the Toffees need to improve all over the pitch, especially in defence but fans want to see exciting forwards arrive at the club to partner or provide competition for Cenk Tosun, someone like Tammy Abraham, a player valued at £9 million according to Transfermarkt.

The 20-year-old spent last season on-loan with relegated Swansea City where he was given the chance to show off his talent with regular football. It’s fair to say he didn’t light up the Premier League but with eight goals and 5 assists in all competitions does prove that Abraham has potential to be a potent English forward in years to come.

Everton already have an array of attacking options in Sandro, Calvert-Lewin and Oumar Niasse but none can say they offer anything quite like Tammy Abraham. The tall, powerful runner is a lot to handle in and around the penalty area and his slim frame is also deceiving for how strong on the ball he can be.

The Toffees have only brought in one player officially so far in Richarlison so, at this stage, fans are desperate for any kind of talent to arrive at Goodison Park, whether that be Tammy Abraham or someone else.

Would this be a good decision for both Everton and Abraham… Let us know!

West Ham fans are suddenly feeling confident about their trip to Anfield, after reports claimed Liverpool could have just one fit centre back.

Jürgen Klopp confirmed in his press conference on Friday that both Dejan Lovren and Ragnar Klavan are unavailable for selection on Sunday.

Lovren has only just returned to Melwood after his World Cup exploits, and Klavan is struggling with a knock picked up in pre-season.

Joe Gomez and Joel Matip could also miss the clash with short-term issues, meaning Virgil van Dijk may be partnered with a youth team centre back when the Hammers come to town.

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Manuel Pellegrini and West Ham have been hard at work transforming their attack this summer, and what better way to kick off the season than against an injury-struck defence.

Liverpool have of course had their issues with defending over the last couple of seasons, so the injuries to several first team players could see those problems arise again.

West Ham fans are certainly feeling confident, and you can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Former Crystal Palace winger Bakary Sako rejected a new contract at Selhurst Park earlier this summer, according to Football.london, and Celtic should now take the chance to sign him on a free transfer.

What’s the story?

Sako made just 19 appearances in all competitions for Roy Hodgson’s side last season, but still managed to net an impressive six goals, proving why a top club should still be looking to take a chance on the 30-year-old.

The Malian international spent three years with Wolves, where he scored 38 goals and provided 36 assists in 124 games, before moving to Palace in the summer of 2015.

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers criticised the club’s board after their Champions League exit at the hands of AEK Athens this week, saying that the club had been complacent by not adding to the squad enough over the summer, according to the BBC.

Bargain signing

So far this summer, the Bhoys have only spent money on striker Odsonne Edouard and have completed deals for goalkeeper Scott Bain and former left-back Emilio Izaguirre on free transfers, as well as taking new Manchester City signing Daniel Arzani on loan.

Although the Celtic defence certainly needs addressing, 6ft winger Sako has the pace and power to be a huge success north of the border, similar to Scott Sinclair after his move in 2016.

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With no club having snapped up Sako, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers should look to him to add extra fire-power going forward and he could prove to be the bargain of the summer.

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Celtic have missed out on a massive prize pot after being knocked out of the Champions League.

The Hoops failed to reach the group stages of the competition for the first time in four years following an aggregate defeat to AEK Athens. Brendan Rodgers’ side were unable to gain the advantage at Celtic Park and paid the price in the return leg. He will now miss out on an increased prize pot by dropping into the Europa League qualifiers alongside Rangers.

Rodgers lamented the lack of spending following the defeat which could kickstart their summer recruitment drive. Rangers have added a host of new players to their ranks and have made an impressive start under Steven Gerrard meaning retaining the Scottish Premiership title will be even more difficult. One area of concern will be defence and Rodgers should look to sign a defender as soon as possible.

One player he should consider is former Espanyol defender – Diego Reyes. Valued at £4.5m by Transfermarkt, the Mexican is available on a free transfer following the expiration of his contract at FC Porto. He made just 12 appearances in the Liga NOS last year but still managed to score two goals in the process with injuries plaguing him throughout the campaign.

Reyes is primarily a centre-back but is also comfortable at right-back or defensive midfield. Remarkably, he is still only 25-years-old meaning his best years are yet to come. He would add some much-needed experience to the Celtic back four having made 55 appearances for the Mexico national team.

It remains to be seen how Reyes would fare after returning from injury but on a free; it’s a risk worth taking for the Hoops. If he can rediscover the form he showed in La Liga two years ago, it would be a masterstroke signing from Rodgers.

Celtic fans, thoughts?

Arsenal fans have not had too much to shout about this season, as the Gunners have opened the Premier League season with two consecutive defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea.

Unai Emery’s side are seeking a major upturn in form in the coming weeks, starting with Saturday’s clash with West Ham, but fans have had to find other things to celebrate in the absence of on-field form.

With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette firmly established as the go-to options for Emery in the final third, England international Danny Welbeck has to up his game in search of action – and it appears he has done exactly that.

Arsenal’s social media team posted a video of two stunning goals netted by Welbeck in training, standing behind the goal and curling an effort into the net before scoring direct from a corner – which admittedly is much more difficult to do in a match situation.

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Many fans were impressed by the skill though and we have assembled some of the best reactions below.

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According to the QPR website, manager Steve McClaren plans on rotating his squad for Bristol Rovers’ visit to Loftus Road in the League Cup. 

Only time will tell if this is the right choice, as he must be torn between sticking or twisting with his starting line-up with a crucial match in the weekend.

After recording their first Championship win of the season, McClaren is faced with the dilemma of whether he rests his players or keeps the momentum going with the same side that beat Wigan at the weekend.

If The Rs’ opponents this weekend were not fellow strugglers Birmingham, McClaren may have kept a similar side to last Saturdays. But it is of paramount importance that his team is refreshed for the visit to St Andrew’s this coming Saturday, particularly as The Blues will have had a week’s rest.

The club will also be buoyed with the news that the parent clubs of Tomer Hemed and Nahki Wells, Brighton and Burnley, have granted permission for their loan players to play. While it may not be a necessity for Hemed to play after his exploits over the weekend, McClaren may want to give Wells a few minutes tonight. The Bermudan striker looked slightly behind the pace against Wigan, and giving him a runout tonight may make him sharper and move him closer to match fitness.

With such pressures on the club in the Championship this season, the League Cup will be at the back of McClaren’s mind, meaning a weakened side is a wise choice. The club will not want the distraction of a cup run while they are potentially focussing on survival this year.

Obviously it will only become clear on Saturday evening if rotating the squad after the first win of the season is a good idea by McClaren, but with such a huge fixture looming on Saturday, it looks like the right choice.