Oh, yes its that time again. Christmas chaos around the Premier League has becalmed, with the fixture carnage now focusing on cup football. After the FA Cup Third Round weekend was led by misty-eyed nonsense, we return to the League Cup – the competition seemingly hated by half the clubs involved and devalued to the point of being worthless.

It is, of course, far from worthless. A viable trophy that clubs can actually lift before spring time has even begun and one that should be paid far more respect. Jose Mourinho is one manager that has had a love affair with the League Cup. It was the cornerstone of his initial success at Chelsea over a decade ago and he has seldom shown the disdain for it that many other managers do.

In a season of relative disappointment, Mourinho needs a trophy. An upturn in form of late does not change the fact that the title is out of Manchester United’s reach, even at this stage, and poor performances earlier this season have not been forgotten.

With the out-of-sorts Hull City their two-leg semi-final opponents, progression to Wembley should be straightforward, so maybe he should change things up…

Time for Tim

While Michael Carrick’s record in the Manchester United side this season is bordering on ridiculous, the veteran midfielder will need a rest. At home to a Hull side who will be short on confidence and have looked out of their depth so far this season, it is the ideal opportunity for Mourinho to give the former Tottenham man a brief break.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah, who appeared from the bench against Reading, deserves an opportunity in the Manchester United side and, in a game they will dominate, this is a fitting chance. Mourinho is yet to prove his faith in the younger players around the Manchester United squad, but this is an opening for him to do just that.

Although the bulk of his game time has come in full-back positions, the youngster can play in the middle and may well prove he’s capable of being the anchor.

Mkhi Return

Wayne Rooney equalling the goalscoring record was nice and all, but it’s time he returned to the bench. Well, the ageing Manchester United star needs his rest just like Michael Carrick does and Henrikh Mkhitaryan must return to the side.

Whether the Armenian plays centrally or Juan Mata fills that void, he will terrorise Hull’s defence. He has looked the complete player since becoming a regular member of the side and whatever went on between him and Mourinho earlier this season is long forgotten at Old Trafford.

Pog-back Again

Rested for the game with Reading, Paul Pogba’s return to the Manchester United starting line-up is inevitable. Especially when Marouane Fellaini was his replacement in the first place.

The world record signing has looked every bit worth his value of late and, quite frankly, could destroy Hull single-handedly. Manchester United have become a unit and Pogba is the heartbeat of the side. He might not be the world’s best player just yet, but the Frenchman is certainly one of the very best midfielders around.

Jose Fonte could be on his way out of Southampton this month after he recently lodged a transfer request, claims Press Association Sport.

Southampton fans, as well as their rivals, have had their say on the dramatic development, which has left everyone wondering where the Portugal international could go next.

There has been conflicting reports about the defender’s contract situation at St Mary’s, with the man himself recently admitting that the club were not offering him a new deal, while the club have reportedly stated otherwise.

According to PA Sport, Southampton say that a 12-month extension was on offer to Fonte, but he decided not to sign on the dotted line.

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As expected, the news has sparked plenty of Twitter activity, with fans of Everton, Manchester United and Liverpool among those discussing whether their clubs should make a move.

Considering that Fonte has been at Southampton for the past six years, it is understandable that some fans are sad to see the centre-back possibly leave in this manner.

It remains to be seen where the Euro 2016 winner will end up this month, but this latest development has sparked conversation on social media.

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As reported by The Sun, Jesse Lingard has renewed his Manchester United contract, now earning an incredible £95,000 per week. The paper says that his contract will run until 2021 with option of an extra year.

It’s an eye-watering amount of money for a player who has hardly been a regular first team starter this season. The winger has started just 9 Premier League games this season.

However, it seems he’s rated by Jose Mourinho and if The Sun are correct, he joins Fellaini as the latest to extend his contract at the club this January.

The England international now has the breathing room to grow into the Manchester United shirt, but now faces even more pressure to impress given he has reportedly tripled his salary.

Manchester United fans haven’t exactly been enthused by the news, many feeling it’s far too much money for a player who hasn’t particularly impressed for the Red Devils this term.

Does it send the wrong impression to Manchester United’s aspiring youth? Or is it simply good business?

United fans took to Twitter to share their thoughts…

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Thus far, January has produced just two hitches to Antonio Conte’s plan for Premier League supremacy.

First, his Chelsea side suffering defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur after making themselves firm title favourites with a 13-game winning run. Second, the prospect of a Diego Costa mutiny mid-season, amid reports linking him with a mega-move to the Chinese Super League.

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That cost the Spaniard his place in the squad for the 3-0 win over Leicester City and although he scored upon being reinstated to face Hull City last weekend, his future at Stamford Bridge remains a little murky.

Some sources claim the Blues are open to selling their controversial centre-forward at the end of the campaign, once Conte has clinched his first title in England, and although he currently boasts a Premier League-best tally of 15 goals, there are valid reasons for the champions-in-waiting to part company.

With that in mind, we asked Chelsea fans earlier this week to share their views on where Costa will be plying his trade at the start of next season; at the Bridge, back in La Liga or over in the Far East.

Well, the results are now in and Football FanCast can exclusively reveal that a slight majority – 54% – reckon Costa will still be a Blue come the opening fixtures of 2017/18. Whether their prophecy comes true remains to be seen.

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As reported in an exclusive from The Sunday Express, Liverpool are in pole position to win the race for the signature of Ben Chilwell from Premier League champions Leicester City.

What’s the word?

It’s only February but plans are already afoot amongst managers and scouting staff about the direction their clubs will take when the transfer window re-opens in the summer.

Jurgen Klopp has already identified one of his top targets according to The Express, who say that the Anfield club are ready to make an offer for left-back Ben Chilwell at the end of the season.

Arsenal have also been monitoring his progress say the paper, but Liverpool reckon that uncertainty around the future of Arsene Wenger gives them an upper hand in getting the deal done before the Gunners.

Ready for a big move?

Chilwell is certainly not the finished article having made only ten appearances for Leicester City so far in his professional career. That hasn’t stopped many tipping him for the top though after showing he certainly has potential in those limited outings at the King Power stadium.

Having played for England at four youth levels from U18s through to U21s, he’s reckoned to be a potential future full international, even captaining the U20s in a match against Czech Republic in 2015.

The Express say Liverpool rate him as a £10m player, so they obviously think highly of him too and given Klopp is known for getting the best out of young players, it could be a great move for the Reds to invest him in early, especially if he’s destined to win a big club move sooner or later.

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Tottenham Hotspur produced another thrilling attacking display to see off the threat of Everton on Sunday, winning 3-2 to close the gap on Chelsea ahead of the Blues’ match with West Ham United on Monday night.

It was Mauricio Pochettino’s 100th win as a manager in English football, his 77th as Tottenham boss and his side appear to be going from strength to strength under his leadership.

For Everton there were positives to take too, although they would have been aiming for at least a point to keep pace with Manchester United in sixth. It was always going to be tough for Ronald Koeman’s side to get a result but at the very least they showed a never-say-die attitude that will have pleased the travelling support.

The Spurs machine rolls on though and in this form, who knows where it stops?

Here are FIVE pictures that summed up all the action at White Hart Lane…

On their way

Predictably it was Harry Kane who got Spurs off to a flyer, unleashing a powerful shot in the 20th minute that bamboozled Everton goalkeeper Joel Robles at his near post. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kane is his ability to both create goals from nothing but also show that natural poacher’s instinct that allows him to finish of easier chances. The range of his clinical finishing is impressive and this goal only added to that reputation.

Unstoppable

Combining with Dele Alli early in the second half, Harry Kane again showed that clinical touch when he coolly slotted the ball past Robles to score for the second time in the match and notch up his 19th Premier League goal of the season, more than any other player in the division currently.

He’s now scored 14 goals in all competitions in 2017 alone, an impressive haul across the 12 matches he’s featured in.

He also became the man to score the most home league goals in a Premier League season, proving he is one of the best Spurs players of the last 25 years at least.

Still only 23, the future is very, very bright for Kane and Spurs.

Too little, too late

Everton’s lack of attacking ambition even when 2-0 down was likely a source of frustration for the travelling support although Everton finally managed to supply Romelu Lukaku with just 9 minutes remaining and as we’ve seen so often this season, he rarely misses chances.

Finding himself with time and space in the box he fire past Hugo Lloris to become Everton’s leading goalscorer of the Premier League era, having now scored 61 compared to Duncan Ferguson’s 60.

He’s already matched his entire Premier League total of last season, 18 goals, and looks set to have his best ever year in an Everton shirt to date.

Ultimately though it was a comeback that came too late and pushing for an equaliser would ultimately prove fruitless.

Killing it off

Any hope of a point for Everton faded when Dele Alli poked home Harry Winks’ free-kick in stoppage time to confirmed all three points were staying at White Hart Lane.

He’s now scored 23 Premier League goals since the start of last season, a total that no other midfielder in the division has managed in that time period.

He is arguably the best young player in English football right now and if he keeps improving and contributing at the rate he is currently, the sky is the limit for the 20 year old.

Record breakers

Tottenham Hotspur’s 9 home league wins in a row is a club record in the Premier League and highlights the level of consistency and determination to win that Mauricio Pochettino has instilled in his team. They’re on the cusp of becoming Spurs legends with only one or two missing pieces of puzzle left that could well be found in the upcoming transfer window.

How many more records, club or otherwise, will Pochettino’s team break before his time is up as Spurs boss?

Monaco’s Bernardo Silva could be a top target for Manchester United this summer according to reports from French website le10sport.com.

The Red Devil’s had previously been interested in signing Bernardo’s team-mate, French midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, however it now appears Jose Mourinho has turned his attention to the former Benfica man.

The youngster has had a glistening career so far at the age of only 22, winning the domestic treble with Benfica in his breakthrough season of 2013/14, also winning the Segunda Liga Breakthrough Player of the Year for his appearances for Benfica B in the second tier of Portuguese football.

A loan move to AS Monaco followed, which later turned into a permanent deal, has since proven a major success for both player and club. Since the move, Silva has played 126 games for Leonardo Jardim’s side and scored 26 times too.

The tricky midfielder has helped Monaco reach the top of Ligue 1, four points clear of closest rivals PSG and on course for their first league title since 1999/2000.

Here are three reasons Manchester United should make Bernardo their top priority this summer …

On the Up

Bernardo’s improvement over the past few years has been exponential, and that is not likely to stop anytime soon. His first season with Benfica B was nothing short of exceptional, and his first team breakthrough was also one of the highlights of a treble winning season for The Eagles.

Since the move to Ligue 1, his form has only got better with each season, which has also been helped undoubtedly by the influx of other top quality players at AS Monaco too. If the Portugal international is indeed to move to United and again into what is yet another class of players, he is surely only to once again continue to improve.

Benfica’s Boys

Benfica has a trusted record of producing and developing quality players both from their youth system and from players bought into the club. This is true especially in recent years. Fabio Coentrao, Axel Witsel, David Luiz, Nemanja Matic, Angel Di Maria and Nicolas Gaitan are just a few of the household names that have had their career propelled with the Portuguese giants.

Perhaps the most impressive to come from their ranks as of late, however, is  Bayern Munich star Renato Sanches. The Portuguese international was the star for his country as they won Euro 2016, and has since impressed during his time in Germany too. It is a track record to trust.

New Generation

United, while they have bought for both the present and the future as of late, are certainly building, primarily, for the future. The core of the Red Devil’s side is shaping into a relatively young one, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera all becoming key members of the squad.

While of course Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wayne Rooney and few other household names remain key figures for the club, a new generation is beginning to take shape and the more veteran players at Old Trafford will begin to make way for the new breed. Silva, at only 22, will be part of that young developing squad that can go on to succeed both now and for a long time in the future.

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Russia awaits. Manchester United have now travelled the 1,600 miles+ distance to Rostov for their Europa League last 16 first-leg clash, and although Jose Mourinho has insisted that he will not view the competition as a priority until the quarter-finals are on the agenda, there remains the feeling that the competition offers a real opportunity.

With the most expensively assembled squad left in the tournament, the Red Devils are among the favourites, and with a Champions League spot on offer for the winner, this may be the club’s most viable route back to the continent’s top table, given the close nature of the top four in the Premier League.

Playing a rotated team has been somewhat the norm for Mourinho in his side’s eight matches so far, so there’s a feeling that he might do the same this time out vs. Rostov, so we asked the fans: should Man United play a weakened team?

The results are in, and a 67% majority thing that he should not…

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As Ed Woodward and Jose Mourinho try and piece together a Manchester United team packed to the rafters with Galacticos, today marks the birthday of one of football’s greats – one who himself rejected a move to the Theatre of Dreams.

Back in 2003, the world awaited Ronaldinho’s next move as the Brazilian superstar, who captured the hearts of the global footballing family thanks to his majestic performances during the 2002 World Cup, geared up to leave Paris Saint-Germain.

With Sir Alex Ferguson preparing to sell David Beckham, the Red Devils needed a marquee name to replace the England captain and it seemed as if the Selecao samba star was set to move to the Premier League. Incoming Barcelona president Joan Laporta had promised to bring Beckham to the Camp Nou, though he would later spring a surprise in the transfer market, one that would ultimately change the landscape of European football.

Laporta joined forces with former Nike executive Sandro Rosell in order to win the presidential election at the Blaugrana and, not to be disappointed by Beckham’s decision to join arch-rivals Real Madrid, the latter relied on his friendship with Ronaldinho to steal him away from United’s grasp.

The rest is history. He became the focal point of Frank Rijkaard’s Barca side, a transformative presence that saw the Catalan giants return to the forefront of continental football. A talent of earth-shattering ability, he was the precursor to Lionel Messi, helping the Argentine prepare for his meteoric rise to previously uncharted summits of the beautiful game.

His time at the very top was reasonably short-lived, though. Never one to shy away from the glamorous lifestyle those in his position can so easily command, Ronaldinho’s discipline ultimately let him down. Even during his time in the French capital, concerns over his lifestyle would emerge.

Despite boasting a talent that saw him win a World Cup, league titles in Spain and Italy, the Champions League and two Ballon d’Or crowns, it seemed as if his head was only in the game for a few years. After achieving so much so quickly, he would easily become disinterested.

In 2008, Simon Baskett of Reuters described him as a ‘toothy-grinned wizard who had the club under his spell for three glorious seasons’, but the Brazilian would leave as a bloated version of himself that year, let go by Pep Guardiola as the current Manchester City coach took Barcelona to new levels.

Elvis had left the building. In fact, he never really returned from the 2006 World Cup, a tournament in which Brazil were widely expected to retain their crown, though one that eventually proved to be a pivotal few months in his decline.

In stark contrast to his performances four years earlier, he failed to register either a goal or an assist over in Germany as the holders fell to France at the quarter-final stage as style consumed substance amid rumours about nightclubs and women swelled as a result of his escalating excess.

It seems a little harsh to suggest a man who won so much and had such a profound impact on one of the world’s most traditional footballing institutions never really fulfilled his talent, though it’s more indicative of just how good he actually was than it is overly weighty expectations.

Interestingly enough, Neymar – the latest superstar to hail from the most romantic footballing country in the world – has recently suggested he would be open to a move to the Premier League. Admitting he respects Manchester United (among others), the Barcelona forward’s signing would be a landmark one on these shores.

The current captain of Brazil and Messi’s heir-apparent, Neymar is undoubtedly one of the most marketable athletes in the world. Sure, there’s an element of the flash style that goes hand-in-hand with top footballers these days, though backed up by a substance not apparent in Ronaldinho.

A family man, the former Santos prodigy is a devout Christian, seeming to sway towards the Kaka mould, rather than the sort of lifestyle that derailed the likes of Ronaldinho and Adriano before him.

[ffc_insert name=”The Word” title=”Arsene Wenger’s 1999 Nicolas Anelka message rings truer today than ever before” image_ link=”https://www.footballfancast.com/features/the-word/the-word-arsene-wengers-1999-message-truer-today-than-ever-before” link_text=”Read More” ]

Although the intense levels of drama surrounding it would have you believe it, rarely do players plying their trade for the likes of Real or Barcelona leave for Premier League in their prime. However, the sort of money plundered into the Pogba deal only a few months ago shows what a financial powerhouse such as United can do in the market these days.

Though United are struggling to recapture the imperious aura that surrounded the Theatre of Dreams during Ferguson’s famed tenure in charge, Neymar’s comments only show what a huge club they still are. Two titans of Brazilian football, with entirely different personalities, have waxed poetic about their pulling power. After all, as former defender Gordon McQueen so aptly quipped even back in 1978, ”ask all the players in the country which club they would like to join and 99% would say ‘Manchester United’. The other 1% would be liars.”

Having missed out once, perhaps United should learn from the Ronaldinho saga and make Neymar a priority. They came so close before, but missing out again could cause further regression on the European stage.

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Phil Neville has claimed that his former club Everton should prioritise their defensive targets when jumping into the transfer market this summer.

The ex-Manchester United player, who spent eight years at Goodison Park after leaving Old Trafford in 2005, was asked for his thoughts on Twitter.

During an online Q&A, the 40-year-old received a question about which one player Everton should target.

The Liverpool Echo recently reported that Hull City defender Harry Maguire and Burnley centre-back Michael Keane are both being tracked by the Merseyside outfit, and those are the names that Neville brought up.

The retired footballer believes that the arrival of either defender would boost Everton’s back line.

Interestingly, he selected the pair over a potential attacking target, despite uncertainty continuing to surround Romelu Lukaku’s future.

With regards to current matters on the pitch, the Toffees’ were beaten 3-1 by arch rivals Liverpool on Saturday, which has left them eight points adrift of the top four.

They remain in the hunt for a Europa League place, though, as the club reside three points behind fifth-placed Manchester United.