As reported by The Telegraph, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is far from finished his planned summer transfer splurge.

What’s the story?

Conte has already signed the likes of Alvaro Morata, Antonio Rudiger and Tiemoue Bakayako this summer, refreshing an already successful squad with some elite talent that can take them to the next level. However, it seems he’s not done there.

The Telegraph report that the Blues are hopeful of securing at least another three signings this summer, taking their total spend beyond the £130m mark. This comes after Conte pledged his future to the club by signing a new two-year contract.

The Italian has also spoken of his desire to add more bodies to the first team squad at Stamford Bridge.

As quoted by The Telegraph, Conte said:

We need to improve the quality and improve the squad because next season will be very tough for us. We are 16 players, without the goalkeepers, and to face four competitions in a good way we need more players. We are in a moment where we have to create solid foundations for this club, we have lost a lot of big players that were fundamental at Chelsea. I have spoken with the club, they know this situation very well and we are trying to find the right solution.

An exciting time then for Chelsea fans as their team prepare to return to the UEFA Champions League and begin the defence of the English Premier League title.

As reported by The Mirror, Chelsea are preparing to make a move for Inter Milan wide man Antonio Candreva this summer.

What’s the story?

With the Blues needing to build a squad that has the numbers to compete in both the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League over the coming season, Antonio Conte needs to make a few more acquisitions before the end of the transfer window.

To that end he’s green lit a move for Italy international Antonio Candreva. The Mirror say Italian club Inter Milan are ready to do a deal for around £25m and the Blues are keen to snap him up.

What Chelsea need?

Candreva offers Chelsea depth for Conte’s preferred team shape, the 3-4-3 formation that provided the catalyst for the Blues’ title winning success last season.

Last season he scored eight goals and created 11 assists for his teammates in all competitions, pointing to a player with the experience and quality to be a consistent and effective force in top-flight football.

The 30-year-old would add serious depth to that crucial right flank both for Victor Moses and further forward too. In every respect, if the deal can be done fairly and for the right price, this seems like a potentially excellent signing.

According to reports from London Evening Standard, Arsenal forward Lucas Perez has re-signed for former employers Deportivo on a season-long loan.

What’s the word?

Ronald Koeman recently made no secret of Everton’s need to sign another striker before the end of the summer transfer window. The Toffees have already signed two this summer in the form of Wayne Rooney and Sandro Ramirez, but neither provide that penetration or physical foothold in the final third Everton seemingly need to truly challenge for a top four finish this season. Earlier today, it was reported by Sky Sports that the Merseysiders had accordingly made a season-long loan offer for Perez, but it now appears he’s returned to Deportivo instead.

“We need at least two more players to get numbers in, but the most important thing is to get a striker in. If you look at all the squads of the big teams, they have so many options.”

Is he that big a loss?

Perez’s stint in English football, assuming he won’t return next summer, won’t live too long in the memory. He hardly got a sniff at Arsenal last season and despite sanctioning his arrival at the cost of £17.1million, it always felt as if Arsene Wenger never really wanted the Spaniard at the club. That being said, Perez took the chances that came his way, particularly in the cups with a return of six in ten appearances. His record at Deportivo the season prior was very strong too, netting 17 times during his final campaign. Although he was a bit of a gamble for the Toffees, the overall evidence suggests he could have been a decent addition to lead the line with real pace and energy.

Where do Everton go now?

In all honesty, it’s hard to say – Ronald Koeman is seriously running out of options and may need to accept he’ll have to work with the tools he’s got for the rest of the season. Watford striker Troy Deeney comes to mind following Andre Gray’s move to Vicarage Road or perhaps a last-minute swoop for Christian Benteke or Olivier Giroud, but no alternative really convinces as an obtainable option at this moment in time.

According to reports from The Liverpool Echo, Liverpool have reached an agreement with Crystal Palace over the sale of Mamadou Sakho in a £26million transfer deal.

Following an unconvincing start to his Anfield career, the France international slowly but surely won over the Reds faithful with his highly-physical, old-fashioned style of defending.

But the 28-cap centre-back fell out with Jurgen Klopp last summer during Liverpool’s pre-season tour and after not featuring during the first half of the campaign, he joined Crystal Palace on loan in January.

Sakho is now set to return to Selhurst Park on a permanent basis after the Eagles agreed a £26million fee with Liverpool, but not every Reds supporter is particularly chuffed with the news.

With a deal for Virgil van Dijk becoming increasingly unlikely, some Liverpool fans are wondering why another centre-back is being allowed to leave the club – a few even viewing Sakho as the Reds’ best defender.

Rangers are in a great position heading into this weekend’s fixtures. With their visit to Partick Thistle on Friday night, Pedro Caixinha’s team have the opportunity to put real pressure on the clubs currently above them in the table, and potentially even go top of the league with a supreme performance.

With just three points separating the top four in the Scottish Premiership at the moment, every point is at a premium right now as the chasing pack look to keep the pace with last season’s champions – Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic.

If the Light Blues win by four clear goals against their Glasgow rivals Partick Thistle, then Rangers will be top of the league ahead of the rest of the weekend’s fixtures, which would be a big confidence boost and could even affect the form of the likes of Celtic who play on Saturday.

If Caixinha follows this three-step game-plan, we reckon he can do it…

Start Carlos Pena after his first goal for the club

There’s been a lot of intrigue around Mexican international Carlos Pena since he joined the club in the summer in one of the biggest deals of the Scottish transfer window. Taking a while to even make an appearance and still yet to receive his first start, fans have been eager to see what we can do for the club.

He came off the bench during Rangers’ win over Dundee last time out and his goal nearly brought the roof off Ibrox, supporters delighted to see the new signing get off the mark.

The time is now right to reward that contribution with his first start away to Partick Thistle on Friday night, in place of Kenny Miller, who hasn’t quite looked at his peak in recent weeks.

Playing in midfield just behind Alfredo Morelos could be a great fit for the Mexican, especially if he can make supporting runs into the box and finish off chances like he did against the Dees.

Drop Niko Kranjcar for Josh Windass

Like Kenny Miller, and despite overall good team performances recently, Niko Kranjcar is another who has been slightly off the boil and there are others in the squad ready to come in and take his place.

Along with Alfredo Morelos and Carlos Pena, Josh Windass was on the scoresheet in the match against Dundee and he would be a dynamic and capable replacement on the left-hand side away from home against Partick Thistle.

We saw earlier in the season how devastating he can be on the counter attack and with Thistle never sitting back, he could be the weapon that unlocks the defensive line on Friday night.

He’ll be full of confidence after his first league goal for the club and ready to fight for his place as a regular starter in Pedro Caixinha’s first choice eleven.

Use Aaron Nemane’s pace earlier in the match

After signing on loan from Manchester City for the season, there are high hopes within the Rangers support for Aaron Nemane, a player fans hope can have as big an impact in the Scottish top-flight as his City teammate Patrick Roberts.

He was handed his debut in the win against Dundee, coming on with five minutes to go, but obviously didn’t have enough time to show what he can really do.

What’s clear though is that he has pace to burn and a desire to bring a direct style of play to the Rangers first team. That could be used to great effect if the Light Blues want a big win on Friday night.

If they’ve done the hard work to get themselves one or two goals ahead into the second half then bringing on the teenager could be key in adding more goals against tired, demoralised legs. He deserves a chance to show what he can do beyond a five-minute cameo and tonight could be his night.

Southampton suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against an in-form Manchester United side at St Mary’s on Saturday, but Saints fans were once again unimpressed with the performances of wide men Nathan Redmond and Dusan Tadic.

The south coast outfit came into the match having failed to score in nine of their last 13 Premier League fixtures and they once again struggled in front of goal for the visit of the Red Devils, and they were unable to find an equaliser once Romelu Lukaku had put Jose Mourinho’s men in front in the first half.

Mauricio Pellegrino’s men have now netted just four times in the top flight this term and while Redmond and Tadic tried their best to create and be a threat in the penalty area, it just didn’t happen for the duo.

Southampton fans were quick to give their reaction to their showings via social media, and while some described them as “totally inept” from an attacking point of view, others are ‘done with them’.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Southampton and Newcastle face each other in the Premier League this weekend, meeting in Sunday’s 4pm kickoff, and it should be an intriguing contest between two sides who’ll expect to finish in a respectable mid-table position this season.

But how have both teams fared when meeting in the Premier League throughout the last 25 years, and what can history tell us about the likely outcome at St. Mary’s on Sunday? Football FanCast takes a look…

Head-to-Head

Considering Southampton have never finished higher than sixth in the Premier League, whereas Newcastle have done so on seven occasions, you might be surprised to discover the former have claimed four more top flight wins over the latter throughout the last 25 years.

In fact, Newcastle’s win rate when travelling to Southampton is just 6% – a rather miserly total for a club that once regularly competed for the title and Champions League qualification.

Accordingly, Saints have scored more goals than the Magpies in this fixture and failed to find the net on less occasions. They have, however, twice picked up red cards compared to Newcastle’s none.

Top Scorers

Despite never actually representing Southampton, the club where he earned his big break, in the Premier League, not to mention Newcastle’s surprisingly poor record at St. Mary’s, Alan Shearer’s scored the most goals in this fixture throughout the Premier League era, haunting his former employers with eight goals in 15 outings.

That includes braces in 1998 and 2002, alongside a strike during his last ever performance against Saints before retiring. Matt Le Tissier is an unsurprising member of the top five as Southampton’s all-time top scorer in the Premier League, while an impressive 14% of Marians Parhars’ 43 Premier League goals came against the Magpies.

Newcastle’s other representative, meanwhile, is Andrew Cole who scored four goals in just three appearances during his short and affluent spell at St. James’ Park.

The Classic Contest: Southampton 3-3 Newcastle

A six-goal thriller on the final day of the 2003/04 season in which the lead was cancelled out three times, with no equaliser coming later than 12 minutes after the lead-grabbing goal.

Newcastle needed all three points to stay in Champions League reckoning, something that appeared on the cards in the absence of Southampton’s trusted No.1 Antti Niemi, and Shola Ameobi put the Magpies well on track with a powerful strike in the 7th minute.

But after some exceptional footwork from Anders Svensson in the opposite penalty area, James Beattie pounced on a rebound to level the scoring shortly after.

That was the recurring theme for the remainder of the match; Lee Bowyer burst through from midfield to tuck away an effort on 35 minutes, only for Titus Bramble to turn a cross into his own net four later as Southampton surged up the other end. The Toon then began to desperately pepper Southampton’s goal for a winner, forcing a top-class save from Alan Blayney in one of just three league appearances for the club.

[ad_pod id=’leo-vegas’]

However it was Southampton who appeared to have nicked it when the incredibly forgettable Leandre Griffit – whose Saints career consisted of just seven top flight outings – muscled past Olivier Bernard and poked the ball beyond Shay Given in an unexpected breakaway with 88 minutes on the clock.

That lead to a frantic stoppage time in which Darren Ambrose’s long-range pea-roller sneaked through a crowd of players and into the net. But it wasn’t enough to grab the win and Newcastle finished the season in fifth place.

The news that many Everton fans have been calling for has been announced – the club have sacked manager Ronald Koeman.

The Merseyside outfit confirmed the news via their official Twitter page, putting on record their “gratitude” to the Dutchman for his work over the past 16 months.

Koeman’s position had been under strain over the past few weeks due to some unsavoury results.

The Merseyside outfit were tipped to challenge the top six in the Premier League after spending in excess of £100m on new signings.

However, the club find themselves in the relegation zone after nine top-flight outings, only two of which ended in victories.

The final nail in the coffin came on Sunday when the Toffees relinquished their lead to lose 5-2 to Arsenal at Goodison Park.

Idrissa Gueye was also sent off in a game that marked the club’s fifth league defeat of the campaign.

As well as a miserable domestic run, which has seen the team score seven goals and concede 18, the club are on the brink of Europa League elimination following two defeats and a draw in the group stage.

As expected, Everton fans made their feelings known about Koeman’s sacking on Twitter.

Tottenham’s big-money swoop for Serge Aurier during the summer created doubts over whether Kieran Trippier had done enough to convince Mauricio Pochettino he was the worthy successor to Kyle Walker.

But the England international has been in fine form on the most part this season, notching up four assists in seven Premier League starts – the most any Spurs player has managed in the top flight during 2017/18. He was one of the Lilywhites’ best performers in the 4-1 win over Liverpool last weekend as well.

That being said, what was the point in signing Aurier if Pochettino didn’t want the chance to pick the right man for the right occasion? Tottenham’s trip to Manchester United this weekend looks set to be a cagey, counter-attacking affair where the Ivorian’s athletic dynamism could pay dividends – especially if he’s put up against the in-form Marcus Rashford.

So, Tottenham fans, which defender would you start at right wing-back against United? Let us know by voting below…

West Ham United announced on their official website on Monday that they had relieved Slaven Bilic of his duties, and West Bromwich Albion fans are keen for him to replace the under-fire Tony Pulis.

The Croatian was sacked on the back of a 4-1 defeat against Liverpool at the London Stadium on Saturday, which left the Irons in the relegation zone with just two wins from their 11 Premier League matches this season.

However, the Baggies are just two places and one point above the east London outfit having won the same number of games, and they are without a victory in all competitions since they beat Burnley 1-0 in August.

West Brom supporters were quick to have their say on the Croatian becoming available via social media, and while one simply urged the west Midlands club to “go get Bilic”, another said “I do rate him” despite the difficulties he has had with West Ham this term.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…