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Another week, yet another outstanding performance from QPR talisman Eberechi Eze.

This week the midfielder struck two goals past Hull and had their defence on strings as the R’s won 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

From just 12 outings this term, he’s registered six goals in what is proving to be a sensational season from the 21-year-old.

The Nigerian has earned plenty of plaudits and that continued this weekend as QPR supporters took to Twitter to rave over him.

One fan labelled Eze a living legend while he was also described as the best player in the league.

A further individual suggested he was the best player to don a QPR shirt since Moroccan midfielder Adel Taarabt.

The comparison seems apt given his ability with the ball at his feet and in front of goal.

Eze has been outstanding in pretty much every area, managing 2.5 shots per game, 1.9 key passes and also amassing 3 dribbles each outing, via WhoScored.

On that evidence, it’s hardly a surprise he’s been linked with Tottenham.

Here’s the best of the reaction from his latest display.

Rangers have had another hectic few days and the games will keep on coming for them right up until thenext international break in the middle of October.With European and domestic cup engagements threaded in-between league commitments, Steven Gerrard will have to use his whole squad and it remains to be seen, as well, whether he’ll dip into the youth team.There probably isn’t a pressing need to do that with the size of the Rangers squad, but he does have good young players that he can call upon if needed.Serge Atakayi might well be one of them, too, and he’s shown recently that not only is he a decent young player but also a decent person too.Indeed, after Celtic youngster Calvin Miller picked up a season-ending injury, he posted this message to his Instagram feed:

A touch of class from Atakayi that crosses one of the bitterest rivalries in football.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Even though Real Madrid’s clash with Granada was a 4-2 win, it didn’t come without any costs.

Toni Kroos, their midfield general, had to be subbed off due to an injury, and while that is undoubtedly a huge loss for Los Blancos, they have someone who can shine in his absence.

On the chalkboard

Without exaggerating too much, Kroos has definitely been one of the few shining lights in Real Madrid’s squad.

Even when the squad was underperforming, the German was dropping masterclass performances left, right and centre. But now that he’s out injured, Zinedine Zidane will have to somehow replace his presence in the middle of the park.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The return of Luka Modric to the squad is good news, of course, but one other young star seems to be rising in form and with Kroos out, the spotlight just might be his to take.

A bet on the future

Real Madrid Castilla, while not as popular as some other footballing academies on the planet, is still full of talent.

And one such talent is already playing in the senior squad under Zidane – Federico Valverde.

The 21-year-old Uruguayan has been given a much bigger role in the 2019/20 season than ever before. The game against Granada was actually his 30th game for the Galacticos overall and the assist he made was his first in his career as a senior player.

Watch Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale answer the internet’s weirdest questions in the video below…

Before that, in 2018/19, he only managed 650 minutes in 16 games in La Liga while now, after only five, he’s already on 262.

This does suggest there might be a bigger role for him to play in the ongoing campaign and Kroos’ injury might have opened the door completely.

Valverde was one of the best players on the pitch against Granada, too.

He tallied one assist, three shots, one key pass and 61 touches on the night. Not to mention that he also recorded three tackles and one clearance.

By all standards, it was a brilliant display and with enough continuity and trust from the manager, he can only get better.

An injury to a key player is never a good thing but it just might have a silver lining for Los Blancos in the form of Valverde.

Only time will tell.

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Ever since Football Insider’s Noel Whelan said he wouldn’t be surprised if Manchester United would be willing to pay £90m for West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice, talk within the media has been more widespread, and it seems many Irons fans on Twitter would be willing to accept that fee for one of their prized assets.

Whelan pointed to the fact that the Red Devils had paid £80m for Maguire as the reasoning for them potentially shelling out even more for the England international, who played for his country in their entertaining 5-3 win against Kosovo at St Mary’s on Tuesday.

While no Hammers supporter will want to lose one of their own, every player has his price and seemingly many of the London Stadium faithful realise what they could do if they did receive £90m for the 20-year-old.

Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Even though one individual is looking even lower and said “anything above £65m I’d sell”, another said “£90m for Rice could get us a DM, a box-to-box midfielder, a CB and a RB which would massively improve our team”.

When you look at it like that it’s hard to disagree, and while Rice is clearly a brilliant player with huge potential, is he really irreplaceable if you’re bringing in £90m?

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

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[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Graham Smyth has taken to Twitter to sing the praises of Jamie Shackleton following his performance against Barnsley.

What’s he said?

Marcelo Bielsa made just one change to his starting XI on Sunday as the Whites bounced back from a defeat before the international break.

That saw Shackleton come in for Adam Forshaw who was missing from the squad entirely.

The 19-year-old has appeared in the Carabao Cup this term but that was his first start in the league after previously playing just six minutes from the bench.

He played the full 90 at Oakwell and did enough to earn the praise of YEP journalist Smyth. Posting on Twitter, he said:

Superb Shackleton

The teenager was in brilliant form as he stepped up in Forshaw’s place comfortably. Earning praise, therefore, was fully justified.

It’s hard to forget he’s still such a young player too. After all, he featured over 20 times last term, 11 of which came at right-back.

This time Shackleton featured in central midfield, playing in an advanced role beside Mateusz Klich.

The way he beat players was particularly impressive as he completed three dribbles and offered a different dynamic to Forshaw in the middle of the park as well. The youngster completed four tackles and three key passes too according to WhoScored.

It was almost a complete performance from the Whites midfielder as he more than staked his claim.

With competition for places fierce in that area of the pitch, he’s proved what he can bring and why he can be a valuable asset once again to Marcelo Bielsa.

Considering Tyler Roberts has now returned from injury, appearing on the bench at the weekend, it’s timely for Shackleton and Leeds that he put in as good a performance as he did.

Bielsa hasn’t favoured a great deal of rotation, playing just 17 different players in the Championship so far this season, so he made excellent use of his rare chance.

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Liverpool fans on Twitter are absolutely delighted with Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot, with the Frenchman reportedly preferring a move to Liverpool instead of Tottenham should a Premier League switch materialise, according to Paris United.

The 23-year-old midfield star has been the subject of strong interest from Spurs and boss Mauricio Pochettino has reportedly even spoken to the player in a bid to get him to north London.

He would be teaming up with his former teammates in Lucas Moura and Serge Aurier if he were to arrive at Spurs, however Rabiot appears to be more interested in linking up with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.

Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…

Naturally, fans of the Merseyside-based club loved this news, and find it a source of enjoyment for a couple of reasons. Firstly, they would be getting an exceptional young player on a free transfer, as he has just six months left on his contract with the Parisians.

Secondly, they would be beating a title rival to a marquee signing, signalling a change from the days when they’d have their best players pinched from them by fellow Premier League clubs, such as when Raheem Sterling moved to Manchester City.

Let’s see how fans of the Reds reacted on Twitter…

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Think of a great Premier League striker and who comes to mind? Thierry Henry? Alan Shearer? Perhaps a present-day marksman such as the unnervingly clinical Sergio Aguero?

Once we get going the names easily roll off the tongue – Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ian Wright, Wayne Rooney – and we can all play along. And should we do so it would take most of us a good deal of time before we reached Jamie Vardy.

Why is this? After all, the Leicester City forward boasts 83 goals from 180 Premier League appearances, which equates to a goal every 2.1 games over a period of several campaigns. That’s a ratio comparable to the very best the English top flight has gifted us with since 1992 and sharing their stratosphere is all the more remarkable given that – the fantastical 2015/16 season aside – Vardy’s team usually reside outside of the top six.

Three years ago the Sheffield-born hit-man won the FWA Footballer of the Year award, an honour not bestowed on Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Andy Cole – we could go on – and in that same season his 24 goals were pivotal in securing his side a wholly unexpected league title. A quick run-through of the Premier League’s most prolific goal-scorers brings up a whole host of players who didn’t achieve that. Vardy did.

Watch Leicester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

In a reputational sense, as important to the stats is the fact that the 32-year-old is not merely a tap-in merchant.

Indeed, the bread-and-butter finish from close range is a barely used trait in his arsenal, one that is instead eclipsed by an array of spectacular drives, cute and clever executions, and ice-cold dispatches at the end of explosive darts with defenders trailing in his wake.

Last weekend the ball bounced up 25 yards out against Bournemouth and Vardy struck a glorious, arced effort that sailed into the net over the goalkeeper. Brendan Rodgers later deemed it ‘sublime’ and it really was.

It was the kind of goal we would all be overly familiar with by now had Henry scored it; a staple of greatest goal compilations. Yet, just like the French genius’ goals that take your breath away could be described as being typical to the man, that’s Vardy’s stock-in-trade: the spectacular.

With all this in mind, assessing where he is pitched among the brilliant forwards of yesteryear and today intrigues. To suggest that Jamie Vardy is under-rated would be disingenuous and all told he is rightfully admired and acknowledged. Yet when compared to the ‘establishment’ greats – from Shearer right through to Aguero – it’s hard to shake the feeling that he’s placed short of them.

In part this is because he will forever be the ‘non-league footballer turned England international’ and though admittedly Ian Wright took a similar rags-to-riches route to the very top, it’s worth remembering that Wrighty did much of his plundering for Arsenal and Vardy for the Foxes, one club significantly more glamorous than the other.

It should be remembered too the scepticism that bordered on puzzlement when Vardy was linked with Arsenal just three short years ago. Why was this? Could it be because we had gotten too immersed in the Vardy narrative, that of the Sunday League everyman perennially punching above his natural calling?

If that was – and indeed is – the case then as one of the Premier League’s most consistently deadly strikers continues to defy his twilight years by firing goals aplenty (he currently has three goals and an assist from 360 minutes played this term) perhaps a long overdue revision is required.

It used to be said that Jamie Vardy is having a party. Maybe now is the time to stop viewing his goal-scoring exploits as debauchery and instead invite him to the top table of legendary Premier League forwards.

A new loan ruling that is set to be implemented next season could have a big impact on Wolves, according to reliable journalist Tim Spiers.

The Lowdown: New loan ruling

According to The Athletic, clubs will be limited on the number of international players they can have out on loan in the future.

From next season, teams will only be allowed to have eight players on temporary moves elsewhere and that number will drop to six by 2024.

Wolves currently have ten players out on loan, highlighting how clubs will be affected by the new venture moving forward.

The Latest: Spiers reacts to claim

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Spiers gave his thoughts on the news, discussing how it will impact on Wanderers’ business:

“New loan rules coming in next season which will impact Wolves, who had 10 players on loan overseas in the first half of the season (max of 8 next year then max 6 from 2024) and four at Grasshoppers (max 3 at one club).”

The Verdict: Good decision

In truth, it is healthy to see this ruling introduced, with the report correctly stating that it is a good way of preventing clubs from ‘stockpiling talent’.

It is good to see that players aged 21 and under won’t be affected, however, as loan moves can be healthy for their development, such as Wolves forward Theo Corbeanu, who is currently at MK Dons.

It will make teams think more about recruitment in general and potentially ensure they get the most out the players already in their ranks, rather than stockpiling players for purely financial reasons.

In other news, some Wolves fans have reacted to an exit rumour regarding one player. Find out who it is here.

Aston Villa and Everton are two of several top flight clubs who have been linked with a move for Blackburn Rovers defender Darragh Lenihan, TEAMtalk report.

The Lowdown: Lenihan profiled

Lenihan, a two-cap international for the Republic of Ireland, has been with Rovers since 2011 and has been labelled as ‘special’ by Tony Mowbray.

The 27-year-old has made 237 appearances for his current employers and has captained the club on numerous occasions in an impressive Championship campaign.

The centre-back, who can also play as a holding midfielder, is out of contract at Ewood Park at the end of June, and Villa are one of the sides seemingly keen on a possible cut-price move.

The Latest: Villa keen

According to TEAMtalk, Villa, Everton, Leeds, Newcastle and Wolves have registered their interest in Lenihan ahead of a possible free transfer.

Lenihan is eager to play in the Premier League and looks set to delay contract talks until the end of the season. Should Rovers earn promotion, he would consider penning a new deal with the club.

The Verdict: Avoid

Villa have recently announced the signing of Calum Chambers from Arsenal, so bringing in Lenihan could be a backwards step.

Yes, he has been Blackburn’s best performer this season and can play in multiple positions, however, he has no Premier League experience, and at the age of 27, you’d expect he could be in his prime now.

Therefore, it may not be a shrewd buy when building for the future and could also stop academy signings Josh Feeney and Kerr Smith from progressing into the first team.

Villa have high hopes for the future and have spent big on some high-profile names in recent years, so Lenihan may not be a smart signing when thinking long-term.

In other news: ‘Bottled it’ – Many Villa fans react to Fabrizio Romano transfer update. 

Rangers are monitoring Racing Santander’s Pablo Torre ahead of the January transfer window, according to The Daily Record. 

The lowdown

The 18-year-old attacking midfielder has featured five times for Spain at under-19 level, along with scoring three goals and providing five assists in 15 appearances in the Spanish third tier this season.

Talent scout Jacek Kulig has raved about the teenager, labelling him an ‘amazing talent’ and a ‘magician’; and he has already been compared to the likes of Euro 2020 winner Marco Verratti and Ballon D’Or recipient Luka Modric.

The latest

According to The Daily Record, Torre has apparently been recommended to Rangers’ scouts, who will now be watching him.

His contract, which runs until 2025, contains a £4m release clause, but Racing are said to be in financial trouble and could therefore possibly accept a lower offer.

The Gers aren’t the only club interested in the teenager, though, with Spanish giants Real Madrid also admirers of his, along with clubs in Italy.

The verdict

If Torre is to live up to his evident potential, £4m could end up looking like a massive bargain, and that’s assuming the club who sign him are forced to pay the full extent of his release clause.

Rangers could theoretically end up selling him on for a huge profit after a few years at Ibrox, which might factor into the club’s thinking.

Real Madrid represent daunting competition, but perhaps there’s a scenario where Los Blancos sign him and then loan him out, as they have done with a whole host of their Castilla players this season.

In other news, could this Gers forward be lured south of the border?