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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Using the loan market well can be a key factor in getting promoted from the Championship, as shown by Aston Villa last season.

The side from Villa Park managed to acquire the likes of Tyrone Mings, Tammy Abraham and Anwar El Ghazi on loan deals.

These players and others who joined on a temporary basis eventually helped Villa to the play-off final, which they used as a springboard to elevate themselves into the promised land of the Premier League.

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Charlton Athletic will be hoping that their own use of the loan market can help them reach a similar destination. Even if the aim of reaching England’s top tier doesn’t come to fruition, there’s no doubt they have already benefited from it.

The Addicks’ two most important loan acquisitions in the summer were arguably Josh Cullen and Conor Gallagher, two players who signed from Premier League sides West Ham United and Chelsea respectively.

While there is also Brighton & Hove Albion’s Beram Kayal, who is joined by West Bromwich Albion duo Sam Field and Jonathan Leko.

Charlton currently sit 12th in the table, six points off the play-off spots and their loanees have definitely played a part so far.

There is Gallagher, who already has 5 goals and an assist from midfield, Cullen, whose statistics include 1.9 tackles, 1.5 key passes and 1.5 clearances per game, as well as Leko with his 3 goals and 2 assists.

To show how integral Bowyer has seen them, the first of those two names have 15 starts this season, while Leko has 12.

By moving to the loan market, they managed to recruit players that simply wouldn’t have been available to them otherwise, while the majority of their other signings came in on free transfers.

This shows both their resourcefulness and lack of financial power, though the only issue is that they may have to do exactly the same thing again next season due to Roland Duchatelet’s stringent attitude towards player spending.

Shortly after taking over at the club, Duchatelet claimed: “Throwing money at players and so forth, that is definitely not the strategy here,” and it’s fair to say, much to the frustration of Charlton supporters, that he has stayed true to his word.

They may be harbouring hope that Cullen will be available on a free, as his current West Ham contract comes to an end in the summer, but his form could yet attract interest from a more coveted destination.

Charlton’s use of the loan market has been effective so far this season, but they will likely need to do it all over again next season if they are to sustain their level.

Tottenham Hotspur are definitely at the beginning of a brand new adventure.

With Mauricio Pochettino sacked and out of the door and Jose Mourinho taking over the team, it’s pretty safe to say some changes are bound to happen in the near future.

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But speaking of the future and what it holds for this squad, Spurs do seem to have plenty of young players who are just waiting to emerge on the scene if and when they are given the chance to do so.

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One such talent is definitely their 19-year-old defensive midfielder, Oliver Skipp.

The young player recently took part in England’s U21 clash with the Netherlands and it seems that he has managed to impress many of Tottenham Hotspur fans in the process.

They were quick to shower him with praise, comparing him to the likes of Luka Modric and Tanguy Ndombele.

You can see some of their replies and comments down in the collection of tweets below:

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

From a strictly financial viewpoint, Leeds United’s Amazon Prime documentary was a riveting success for the streaming service.

Reports state that the series was watched over 500,000 times within a day of its release, and of course that has spurred speculation about a second season.

While the documentary was enjoyed by so many, there were complaints around the Leeds fanbase as they said that Andrea Radrizzani was more focused on making a documentary than getting the team promoted.

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Those criticisms are somewhat right as the Italian’s production company Eleven Studios was behind the project.

However, a recent report from The Athletic highlighted how the series can have a positive impact on Leeds’ promotion chances.

Indeed, after Tottenham Hotspur agreed to have a similar series made about their trials and tribulations this term, it was revealed that the London club would be paid around £10m for the series.

Of course, Spurs are a bigger club than Leeds, but if the 500,000 streams on the first-day figure is accurate, the Whites are in a great place in terms of negotiating a similar fee for series two.

Find out what happened when a world-record-holding freestyler attempting skills with the worst pair of boots available on eBay in the video below…

Perhaps they won’t get £10m exactly, but it’s not too outlandish to say that their price for the series will likely be in the millions.

With FFP limiting Leeds in the transfer window over the summer, it’s hard to say that the second series of this documentary is a bad idea.

After all, they had to sell Pontus Jansson in the summer simply to free up a little more room for manoeuvre.

It would be a welcome boost to the club’s coffers too, especially given Andrea Radrizzani’s claims that their current wage bill is unstainable.

Any financial gain they can get would be welcome – let’s just hope that the deal is done by the time January rolls around.

A selection of Newcastle United fans lauded Allan Saint-Maximin for his tormenting display against West Ham United on Saturday, with a few suggesting it ended Pablo Zabaleta’s career as a professional footballer.

Saint-Maximin featured for 77 minutes in the Magpies’ 3-2 win over the Hammers, as Steve Bruce’s men recorded their third victory of the Premier League season to climb up to 15th in the table.

The Toon are now four points clear of the relegation places after 11 games, while defeat saw West Ham slip to 12th and are only one point above the St. James’ Park natives.

Saint-Maximin did not have a direct influence on any of Newcastle’s goals on Saturday, but his performance saw supporters flock to social media, with one noting that his display was ‘the stuff of dreams’.

Another suggested Zabaleta was having a ‘nightmare’ trying to contain the 5 ft 8 Frenchman, signed in the summer for £16.5million.

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Saint-Maximin completed five of his seven dribbles against the Irons, more than any other Newcastle player, per WhoScored data. He also fashioned three shots, all of which were on target, and made 11 of his 18 passes in the final third.

The former OGC Nice man came close to opening his account for assists in the 36th-minute, too, when he breezed past Zabaleta on the wing and squared the ball to Miguel Almiron, but saw the Paraguayan’s shot saved before Jonjo Shelvey smashed the rebound over the bar.

Here are some of the messages shared…

Giovani Lo Celso is set for a return from injury and some Spurs fans think he could be the solution to some of their problems.

The Argentine arrived in north London off the back of a season in which he scored 16 and assisted six, and as such there is some expectation on him to perform for the Lilywhites.

He arrived on loan but there is an option to make the move permanent – likely for a substantial fee given a price of £65m was rumoured – and that will only add to the pressure on him to deliver, which he has so far been unable to do because of his injury issues.

As a result, he has played just 44 minutes for his new side, though he could get a chance to return against Red Star Belgrade.

Supporters will hope that he begins to show the best of what he has to offer soon with other creative midfielders such as Christian Eriksen performing way below par, and some think the former Real Betis man is exactly what the team needs.

Here are some of the reactions from fans who think Lo Celso is the answer.

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Rafael Benitez is still a Geordie, pass it on.

Ah, good old Rafa. China is just about as far away from St. James’ Park as one can get, but that’s where the former Newcastle United boss now resides after a breakdown in contract talks saw him head to the far east.

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It’s safe to say that, having secured Premier League promotion at the first try and then keeping the Magpies afloat in the top flight for two seasons on a slim, Mike Ashley sized budget, Benitez is a very popular man around Tyneside.

As former midfield star Rob Lee said last week, Benitez may not be a Geordie, but he gets what the club means to the city and fans, and his latest Instagram snap shows he clearly still holds the Toon Army close to his heart.

Dalian, where Benitez currently manages Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang, is located a short 5,134 miles from Newcastle, but that hasn’t stopped Magpies fans from reaching their former favourite…

Emojis can sometimes say more than words, and the Spaniard’s red-faced smile in the caption is a pretty clear sign that he still adores Tyneside. Well, that and the ‘good memories’ hashtag of course.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Even though the talk of the summer very much revolved around Neymar, Mundo Deportivo have now come out with a report stating that the board is still divided on that matter because some of them would rather go for Kylian Mbappe.

But looking at their financial situation, if such a transfer really is in the plans, a huge clean-up could be on the horizon.

What’s the word, then?

Mundo Depotivo claim there’s an internal debate going on at Barcelona at the moment and the decision on whether Blaugrana should chase Neymar or Mbappe, who scored 39 goals in all competitions last season, has not yet been made. The problem seems to be that some of the members are more keen on the 20-year-old superstar as they see him as younger, a better goal-scorer and also a name that would not divide the fans.

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Of course, Mbappe is one for the present and future as the Frenchman is only 20 years of age, while Neymar will be 28 next year. The Catalan outlet also points out that this operation would be extremely difficult since Mbappe has a contract until 2022 and the player is liked by Real Madrid as well, so the competition could be fierce.

Not to mention that Barcelona also had a chance to go for him in 2017 when Neymar left, but they chose Ousmane Dembele instead. But looking at their squad right now, there would hardly be any place for Mbappe unless a major clean-up was done beforehand.

Galacticos

Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Dembele, Philippe Coutinho, Antoine Griezmann and then, Mbappe to top it all off. Surely, the problem with this is a glaring one. Firstly, can Barcelona actually afford to have all those people in the books in the first place? Sure, Coutinho is currently on loan at Bayern Munich so his future at the Blaugrana is more than just under question.

But even without the ex-Liverpool man, this kind of squad wouldn’t really be sustainable. The other problem is that those are all high-profile superstars who occupy similar positions. Getting them into the same lineup would be a nightmare, if not impossible, even.

All of that leads us to believe the Barcelona board, if they are truly committed to trying to get Mbappe, would have to offload some major pieces in the not so distant future. Even if they’d prefer to keep all of the aforementioned talents in the same squad, they just might be forced to sell up nonetheless.

Either way, with all of those £100m+ players piling into their squad, Barcelona are slowly but surely turning into their worst enemies – the Galacticos.

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Oxlade-Chamberlain looks to be having an excellent time since making his return to England setup for the first time this month since picking up a long-term injury back in April 2018.

Maguire, on the other hand, is probably still sat on that exercise bike, looking as glum as ever, trying to figure out why he left Leicester City.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose has suggested via The Mirror that he is ready to fight for his spot following a summer in which it looked as though he might leave the club, and manager Mauricio Pochettino might have played a bit of an unexpected blinder as a result.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the England international was left behind as the north London outfit travelled to Singapore in July on a pre-season tour, with The Telegraph reporting it was with a view to being sold.

That looked even more likely when Ryan Sessegnon arrived from Fulham on transfer deadline day, but despite links with Watford the 29-year-old remained at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

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With the youngster injured, Rose may well have expected to find himself behind Ben Davies in the pecking order given what happened previously, but instead he has played all but two minutes of their Premier League campaign to date.

And according to an interview with The Mirror, he is happy and wants to battle to keep his spot in the starting XI.

Pochettino played a blinder

It might not be the conventional method or what was predicted to happen during the summer, but perhaps the Argentine boss has inadvertently made Rose realise exactly what he has got in a white shirt.

It appears as though potential suitors weren’t exactly falling over themselves to sign the Englishman based on the lack of rumours during the summer, and now the 29-year-old appears to be fully motivated and ready to take advantage of the fresh opportunity he has been given.

Sometimes things can go stale for players at clubs, but it appears that Rose has been given a new lease of life, and has also been helped by the fact that he remains in contention to be a regular starter at left-back for his country, too.

Pochettino will be hoping that Spurs can continue to reap the benefits of the increased competition for places in his team as they aim for another strong season in both the Premier League and the Champions League.

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In our latest instalment of the Flashback series, we take a look back at a certain moment and look at how things might have changed those initial reactions.

In 1997, Arsenal had a pretty special strikeforce, comprised of Dennis Bergkamp and Ian Wright, who would both go on to be regarded as club greats.

For part of January, John Hartson could also be added into that, before he decided to make the move across London from Highbury to Upton Park, having scored 15 times in 52 starts and 12 substitute appearances for the Gunners, as per Transfermarkt.

Speaking to Football Fancast about the move recently, Hartson said: “I moved on. I had Bergkamp and Wright playing ahead of me. Several times Wenger played me and Wrighty with Bergkamp in behind in the hole, so the three of us did play quite a bit together, but in the long run, it was always going to be Wrighty and Bergkamp.

“I got a little bit disillusioned and perhaps should have hung around to pick up a double winners medal in 98, but I never did that.

“Harry Redknapp told me he was going to build his team around me and he did. I played every single week, I had the number ten shirt on my back and I was starring for West Ham.”

Hartson would repay Redknapp’s trust in claret and blue, as over a two year period, the 52 cap Wales international would go on to play 62 games in East London, making a return of 26 goals and 8 assists.

That number includes goals in two separate wins against Tottenham Hotspur and a victory over Liverpool, showing how much of a big game player the striker could be.

Following his spell with the Hammers, Hartson went on to represent the likes of Wimbledon and Celtic, winning six trophies at the latter.

West Ham fans, what is your favourite Hartson moment? Join the discussion by commenting below…