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Declan Rice would walk straight into the Manchester United first team, reckons former Premier League star Trevor Sinclair.

What’s the word?

Rice has long been linked to Old Trafford and with his future at West Ham far from certain, again finds himself on the Red Devils’ radar as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seeks to bolster his midfield options.

The 22-year-old has again been touted as an ideal candidate to partner Scott McTominay at the base of United’s midfield by the former West Ham star.

Sinclair told talkSPORT: “[Tomas] Soucek and Rice keep McTominay out of the West Ham side, whereas Rice walks into the Manchester United side.

“If that’s a big fish in a small pond then I don’t quite know what you’re talking about, Simon.

“Rice goes alongside McTominay [at Man United]. For me, he’s better than Fred and when you look at McTominay going into the West Ham side, he’s not going to play in one of the forward midfield positions.”

As it stands, the 10-cap England international has three years left to run on his current deal with his boyhood club, with the option to extend his contract for a further year.

Rice, who is currently valued at £49.5m via Transfermarkt, is said to earn in excess of £60,000-per-week at West Ham and United are one of a select group of clubs who could pay him at least double his salary, with Chelsea also among the interested parties.

Nemanja Matic’s long-term heir?

Despite Nemanja Matic recently signing a new contract, Solskjaer’s squad still needs the right investment to take them to the next level. Namely, a defensive midfielder who has experience playing in a holding midfield role.

In Rice, they could find a player who can do exactly that. At the age of 22, he is only going to improve, and should slot well into Solskjaer’s side having already impressed in the Premier League.

It is difficult to ignore just how important Rice has become for David Moyes’ side, who find themselves sixth in the table in the chase for a top-four finish, thanks in no small part to his performances this season.

WhoScored credits him with 1.9 tackles per 90 in the Premier League, showing how effective he is at breaking up attacks and regaining possession of the ball. Attackers find it incredibly hard to get the better of Rice as his tackle success rate of 65% shows that on the whole he is more successful than not. For context, this is significantly superior to Matic’s success rate of 58%, suggesting that signing Rice would be an immediate upgrade on the veteran midfielder.

It’s no surprise that fans, players and pundits alike have been singing his praises, with former Chelsea boss Frank Lampard previously heaping praise on the “fantastic” player for his performances this season thus far.

He said: “He’s a fantastic player for West Ham and England, so fair play because his journey after leaving Chelsea and going to West Ham it is a good story to hear. There are lots of those stories for different reasons at whatever level and that shows a strength of character.”

That sort of inner strength would be most welcome at Old Trafford and to be able to nab a player of his calibre to replace the ageing Matic could turn out be a shrewd investment in the future.

AND in other news, Ed Woodward must tie down Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes to new deal…

Liverpool did well to strengthen their biggest problem area during the January transfer window thanks to Michael Edwards’ work on signing Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies. The two new centre-backs should be enough to see the Reds through their reigning title season, where they’ll push to secure another major honour.

However, as displayed during their shock 1-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, Liverpool’s attack is also under a lot of strain. With super signing Diogo Jota out with a knee injury, the Premier League winners have been missing his tenacity and pace on the pitch. Because of this, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane have been working overtime to conjure up creative play and find the back of the net.

A subject that separates a lot of the Liverpool fanbase is Roberto Firmino’s input to the team. Whilst he is highly regarded as a player that does a lot of work off the ball and who grafts hard to support his teammates, his direct goal involvement stats are questionable for a striker.

Although four goal involvements in his last five appearances is a huge step up from the more recent norm, the Brazilian has suffered long droughts in front of goal. According to BBC Sport, Firmino has just six goals to his name this season, a long way off the likes of Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Merseyside derby rival Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Teammate Salah leads the way as the Premier League’s top scorer so far. He has consistently outperformed the striker in terms of goal numbers since he arrived at Anfield. This has led to Liverpool being linked with several new options in the No.9 position and Kylian Mbappe is undoubtedly one of the biggest names being linked.

The French superstar has been linked to Liverpool for several months now, but a recent report from Canal + (relayed via Get French Football News) states that Jurgen Klopp has been pressing Mbappe’s entourage to get his client a move to Merseyside.

Indeed, if the Reds pull off the unthinkable and sign the World Cup winner, Klopp could be looking at this kind of lineup next season…

Being able to deploy a natural goal-machine like Mbappe could make Liverpool one of the most deadly teams on the planet. His natural, effortless ability to find the back of the net is exactly what the Reds are missing right now. However, it’s unlikely Klopp will choose to drop Firmino completely.

The 29-year-old’s lack of goals is made up by his work ethic and passion for the club. His creativity would do wonders for Mbappe as he adjusts to the Premier League and he would also benefit from having Thiago Alcantara manning the engine room behind him.

World Cup winner Mbappe has been heavily praised over the years, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas branding him a “phenomenon” of a player. Certainly, his 134 career goals so far speak for themselves, but Liverpool must be willing to meet his whopping £378,000 per week wage packet – which could be easier said than done given his current PSG contract runs out next year.

This would be one of the biggest transfers in history if it happens, as Klopp pushes Mbappe’s representatives to get him to Anfield. If the German manager gets his wish, he could be in charge of one of the all-time great attacking trios.

In other news, Exclusive: Rob Lee drops verdict on Liverpool return for Danny Ings…

West Ham United would be throwing money away if David Sullivan were to sanction a mid-season loan for FC Barcelona outcast Junior Firpo.

What’s the word?

According to Calcio Napoli 24, Firpo’s representatives have been in contact with a clutch of potential suitors to sound out their interest in signing the left-back in the January transfer window.

West Ham have reportedly not responded to the approach as of yet, but if they do want to sign the player, they will face competition from SSC Napoli, who Gianluca Di Marzio adds have asked for further information on the terms of any temporary deal for the £38,000-per-week defender.

Firpo is believed to favour a move to the Premier League if he is to leave the Camp Nou this winter, but Napoli remain in the hunt in case they manage to offload one of Kevin Malcuit, Elseid Hysaj or Faouzi Ghoulam.

West Ham were credited with an interest in signing Firpo last month following Arthur Masuaku undergoing career-saving knee surgery, with it noted at the time that Barcelona were eager to offload the defender as they strive to reduce their enormous wage bill.

Firpo has continued to live life on the fringes under Ronald Koeman since the Irons’ interest was previously claimed, playing just nine minutes of La Liga football in 2021 to bring his record over 10 appearances to 351 minutes across all competitions.

The last of his league outings even came at right-back as a late substitute for Sergino Dest, to continue a trend of playing out of position with no appearances in his natural left-back role during a La Liga game thus far this season.

Throwing money away

West Ham moving to sign Firpo on loan in the January transfer window would likely only serve to see Sullivan throw his money away by taking on the Barcelona outcast’s wages, as David Moyes already has options at full-back who warrant minutes.

Koeman was willing to field Firpo in his natural left-back role during stages of Barcelona’s Champions League Group Stage campaign, which saw the 24-year-old offer just 0.2 key passes and 0.4 shots while completing a mere 0.6 dribbles and making 0.6 successful tackles, per SofaScore.

Moyes would struggle to see those type of numbers match up and better those of Aaron Creswell at the London Stadium, who has put his initial rustiness to the side to begin shining at full-back once more in place of the injured Masuaku.

Cresswell has continually been defensively solid over the festive period and strong going forward, particularly from set-pieces with his ferocious power, and helped West Ham to begin setting their own tone at Chelsea after the Blues started the stronger of the two sides.

The £6m-rated star’s efforts have helped him to deliver seven crosses a game in the Premier League when fielded at left-back, with Cresswell finding a West Ham player with two of his efforts, per WhoScored. Comparably, Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson – considered as one of the best left-backs in the world – offers 2.2 accurate crosses from 9.4 deliveries a game.

Cresswell also produces 0.7 shots and the joint-most key passes per league game (1.4) by an Irons player with Tomas Soucek, among those who have played more than five times under Moyes this term.

Defensively, Cresswell is further successful with half of his 1.4 tackles a game, offers 1.3 interceptions – more than Masuaku had (0.5) – and makes 1.9 blocks, while offering at least twice as many assists (4) so far this season than anyone else in the Hammers squad.

Moyes also has Ben Johnson who can provide cover for Cresswell, and he did little wrong when fielded in the FA Cup earlier this month with a solid defensive showing from the 20-year-old.

West Ham might be eyeing new additions this month but a cast-off left-back isn’t needed at this time.

AND in other news, a £4.5m-rated brute was West Ham’s true star of the show vs Burnley.

Chelsea have sacked club legend Frank Lampard after 18 months in charge following a mixed bag of results. His final game was the Sunday’s fourth-round win over Luton in the FA Cup.

Roman Abramovich has never been one for hanging around as former Paris St-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel has been named as Lampard’s immediate successor and he will be in charge when they play host to Wolves at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Here at Football FanCast, here’s what we think the starting XI will look like for the big game.

We’re backing Edouard Mendy to keep his place in goal for the Blues this evening, having played most Premier League games this season.

In terms of defence, things look rather straightforward, with much of Lampard’s former side remaining intact. Tuchel will most likely stick with the tried-and-tested partnership of Kurt Zouma and Thiago Silva, who played under the German at Paris Saint-Germain.

Reece James will probably keep his place at right-back while Cesar Azpilicueta will be forced to settle for a place on the bench, and Ben Chilwell will almost certainly replace Emerson Palmieri at left-back.

The new coach knows he needs to get Timo Werner and Kai Havertz firing again, with the dup having initially struggled for form since the start of this season, which partly led to Lampard’s sacking.

Using Havertz as a No.10 makes most sense, so he’ll probably resort to using Mason Mount and Mateo Kovacic as the holding midfielders whilst N’Golo Kante recovers from injury.

Out wide, the options pretty much pick themselves, as Tuchel is set for a reunion with his former charge Christian Pulisic, with Callum Hudson-Odoi on the opposite flank. Don’t be surprised to see Hakim Ziyech feature at some point in the second half, though.

Chelsea will look to kickstart 2021 in style when they play host to Manchester City in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.

After tasting defeat at Arsenal, the Blues bounced back with a hard-fought draw at home to Aston Villa and Frank Lampard’s side will want to get back to winning ways when they take on the Citizens in a crunch clash in the top half of the table.

Lampard has confirmed Reece James has been ruled out due to injury. However, the Blues boss is hopeful Hakim Ziyech will be in contention to start on Sunday after working his way back to fitness.

Here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up for this afternoon’s action, which sees Lampard make four changes to the team that drew with Dean Smith’s side.

Lampard faces some tough decisions as he’ll be desperate to start the year with a bang and will not want to let the disappointment from the defeat to Arsenal fester for any longer.

It’s hard to tell exactly where the changes will be made, but what’s certain is he’ll likely bring first-team regular starters Thiago Silva and Kurt Zouma back into the fold after Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger were noticeably poor at the back.

Despite the fact he has failed to keep a clean sheet in his past two appearances, new summer recruit Edouard Mendy will keep his place in goal at the Bridge behind a back four of Ben Chilwell, Cesar Azpilicueta, Silva and Zouma.

Lampard will probably deploy a midfield three consisting of Mason Mount, Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.

Maybe Ziyech could come back in, but Callum Hudson-Odoi has been in such fine form in recent weeks, we’ve given the Blues academy graduate our backing, with the ever-reliable Christian Pulisic keeping his place on the left wing.

Upfront, things get a little more interesting, as Tammy Abraham is likely to lead the line, which means there is no room for Olivier Giroud despite the Frenchman getting on the scoresheet against Villa. Both Giroud and Timo Werner will have to settle for a spot on the bench, such is the strength in Lampard’s squad.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Premier League striker Dean Windass has tipped new West Brom boss Sam Allardyce to swoop for one of his former players in the upcoming January transfer window.

The 66-year-old replaced Slaven Bilic last week on an 18-month contract and suffered an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to arch-rivals Aston Villa in his first game in charge on Sunday evening.

He told reporters that he will be backed next month, and Windass has suggested that Everton outcast Yannick Bolasie could be one to make the switch to the Hawthorns.

The 31-year-old originally joined the Toffees in a £25m deal from Crystal Palace in 2016 under Ronald Koeman but would go onto play more times for Allardyce than the Dutchman.

He scored just once in 17 appearances, whilst 53% of his matches at Everton have come under Big Sam, per Transfermarkt.

The DR Congo winger wasn’t registered for their Premier League squad this season and is expected to leave the club in January as Carlo Ancelotti revealed in October.

And the ex-Hull marksman believes he could end up in the Midlands…

He told FFC:

“Yeah, pace in the wide areas.

“He’s been Everton’s forgotten man but yeah [I’d take him].

“Listen, Sam will know, Sam will have it in his mind who he needs.”

The wide areas have been a problematic issue at the Baggies this season.

Grady Diangana hasn’t been able to continue the form that helped spearhead them to Championship promotion last term, whilst Bilic often went to a back five to mask his lack of trust in a true right-winger – neither Matty Phillips, Kamil Grosicki or Kyle Edwards could nail down that spot.

Bolasie could somewhat solve the issue short-term as he’s vastly experienced in the Premier League having made 119 appearances in his top-flight career.

Although, the £70k-per-week Toffees misfit would arrive with plenty of fitness concerns given he’s not played a competitive fixture this season.

Bolasie’s last senior appearance came in Sporting Lisbon’s 4-1 thrashing by Istanbul in the Europa League back in February.

AND in other news, West Brom exclusive: Pundit drops scathing Luke Dowling claim after Slaven Bilic sacking…

The international break is usually a bearer of bad news for many football clubs, never mind Glasgow Rangers. But Steven Gerrard may have been left feeling a little bit aggrieved after Nigeria were held to a 4-4 draw by Sierra Leone in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Both Rangers first-team regular starters Joe Aribo and Leon Balogun were named in the starting line-up by manager Gernot Rohr, but Nigeria threw away a four-goal lead as Sierra Leone staged a spectacular comeback at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin City.

Everton ace Alex Iwobi bagged a brace as the Super Eagles looked set to continue their perfect start to the AFCON qualifiers as they cruised towards a third win from three games in Group L after scoring four goals inside the first half hour.

Rohr set his side up in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation, with Aribo deployed in a holding role as part of a midfield three along with Iwobi and Stoke City loanee Oghenekaro Etebo.

Nigeria enjoyed a whopping 62% of the possession of the ball but they couldn’t make their dominance in possession count when it mattered the most.

Several players were at fault for the poor performance overall but Aribo was the real culprit. At the best of times he looked off the pace, others he was caught slacking as the Leone Stars began their fightback just before half-time.

Goal gave the 24-year-old a low grade of 5/10 for his efforts, insisting ‘his languid style often left Etebo exposed in the defensive phase’, adding he wasn’t ‘as influential in a midfield pairing with the Stoke City loanee’, whilst Premium Times Nigeria were even more scathing in their assessment, claiming he was ‘very culpable as his doodling on the ball led to the second Sierra Leone goal’ and ‘he didn’t take as much care of his forward passes as he normally would and played within himself.’

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Perhaps this game was simply a case of too much, too soon for Aribo in such a short space of time after spending a lengthy spell on the sidelines. The 4-cap Nigeria international missed a substantial chunk of the season after he suffered an ankle injury in training, which saw him ruled out for several weeks.

Since then, he has scored three goals in four games in the Scottish Premiership, having made a full recovery, which brings his total to four goals in ten games so far this season. He bagged a brace as the Light Blues battered Hamilton Academical in a 8-0 win at home before the international break.

Even so, Aribo probably deserved a well-earned rest as he has played seven games in a row so far. Instead, he delivered a sub-par performance as a result, as he looked tired towards the end of the game. Is it any wonder, really? Gerrard will be hoping he is rested for the rematch next week, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Gerrard could unearth the next Ryan Jack in Glasgow Rangers loanee Stephen Kelly…

According to The Daily Mirror, Newcastle are one of a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing Burnley midfielder Jack Cork.

What’s the story?

The 31-year-old’s contract expires at the end of this current season, and with the Clarets involved in rumours of a potential takeover, his long-term future at Turf Moor is up in the air.

The Daily Mirror claim that along with Newcastle, the likes of Brighton and Sheffield United are also keeping an eye on developments, with a view to potentially landing him on a free transfer.

He’d be an Isaac Hayden upgrade

Having missed Burnley’s clash against the Magpies earlier this season, the last time Cork took to the field against the Tyneside club was back in February, when the two sides played out a rather drab 0-0 draw at St James’ Park.

One man who stood out was the Clarets’ 6 foot 1 machine, who dominated the midfield battle against Jonjo Shelvey. Playing that screening role against Ashley Westwood, Cork was a constant menace in shutting down the Newcastle engine room, and he finished the game with eight duels won and having made seven defensive contributions.

He completely bullied Shelvey in the middle of the park, who was one of the Magpies’ poorest performers – according to Sofascore, his 6.6 match rating was only better than that of Joelinton. He lost possession 19 times and averaged a shocking 61% pass accuracy, thanks in part to the way in which Cork pressed him non-stop.

Newcastle already have an anchor man in Isaac Hayden, but Cork could be a real upgrade on the 25-year-old. Whilst both averaged similar numbers for the key defensive areas last season in the Premier League, the Burnley man outshone him in possession. He boasted more touches per match, had a far greater accuracy when it comes to forward passes into the opposition’s half, and had a significantly better dribble success rate.

Cork would give Newcastle a solid shield to their back-line, but also offer them a little more in way of moving the ball forwards and starting attacks.

Glasgow Rangers dodged a bullet by not signing Juninho Bacuna from Huddersfield Town in the summer…

What’s the word?

Recent reports had revealed that Rangers were interested in a move for the 4-cap Curacao international, with the club keep to take him on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy.

The Sun’s Alan Nixon added that Steven Gerrard was searching for an attacking midfielder, as the Ibrox outfit had enquired about Bacuna’s availability, but their request had been rejected, and they ended up bringing in Bongani Zungu on a season-long loan deal from Amiens instead.

Rangers dodged a bullet!

Bacuna clearly has bags of potential, that much is almost obvious, but his inexperience would’ve made this a hard sell with supporters. He broke through the ranks at FC Groningen after scoring 13 goals for their academy teams, via Transfermarkt. Since then, it’s fair to say that he has struggled for consistency so far, as he has only managed to score seven goals in 68 appearances for the Terriers in all competitions.

When you consider that Glen Kamara, Steven Davis and Scott Arfield have been in such fine form in recent weeks, and that’s without even mentioning Ryan Jack, it’s difficult to see which player would’ve been forced to make room for him in the Rangers midfield.

Coupled with the fact that the 23-year-old earns weekly wages worth £17,000, which is more than what Arfield earns every week, it’s safe to say that it would’ve been a nightmare move for the Gers. The last thing that Gerrard needs is an inconsistent, inexperienced midfielder, who would cost a fair amount of money. It almost doesn’t bear to think about.

Former Terriers striker Dale Tempest once criticised the £4.95m-rated ace for his inability to concentrate during a game, saying he often “falls asleep”. He told The Examiner: “He is a technically brilliant player and physically fantastic, but tactically and mentally he falls asleep and doesn’t fully fulfil his responsibilities in a central role.

“Every time I watch a Town game, I swear to myself and to anyone I am with – I wish Bacuna would stop rolling his foot over the ball!!”

Hardly the stuff that legends are made of, that’s for sure. Rangers will be glad that they signed Zungu instead. Now they just have to make sure that he is fully fit and firing on all cylinders.

AND in other news, Rangers must watch out for Standard Liege’s Mehdi Carcela in Europa League…

Fulham are expected to be one of the busier teams on Deadline Day.

The Whites’ Premier League campaign has gotten off to the worst possible start, losing each of their first four games this season, and with Tony Khan promising new arrivals after their 3-0 loss to Aston Villa last week, we’re expecting some names to come through the door on Monday.

It’s no secret that Fulham need to strengthen at the back, they’ve conceded 11 goals in four league games so far, and with The Athletic reporting that they want two centre-backs through the door, that will be their top priority.

With a hectic day expected, we’ve had a go at predicting at how Fulham could line-up after all is said and done.

The main thing to note is that we expect the London club to land their two centre-backs, with Timo Baumgartl and Jean-Clair Todibo coming in.

Todibo has been heavily linked for the past week, and it seems as though there has been a real breakthrough in that department, despite late interest from Borussia Dortmund.

The other centre-back spot seems to be a shootout between Baumgartl and Omar Colley, but with many reputable sources now reporting that Colley won’t be joining, we expect Baumgartl to come in after he was left out of PSV’s squad due to ongoing talks with the Cottagers.

The rest of the team remains largely the same, we expect Ademola Lookman to earn a starting berth after his electric league debut against Wolves, while Kenny Tete and Harrison Reed return to the XI.

Scott Parker will have a selection headache all season at left-back with Antonee Robinson and Joe Bryan being two solid options, but we’ve backed Robinson to take up the mantle in the near future.