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Arsenal could be handed a second chance to bring Raphinha to the Emirates Stadium in the January transfer window.

According to Spanish television show El Chiringuito, Barcelona are open to the sale of the 26-year-old winger this month, despite the fact that the LaLiga side spent £55m in order to bring the Brazil international to the Camp Nou as recently as July 2022.

And, speaking to Sky Sports (via The Express) last summer, Arsenal’s sporting director Edu hinted that, after failing in his own move for the attacker that summer, were the former Leeds United star ever to become available on the market in the future, he could launch a fresh move for the forward.

Revealing a conversation he had with Deco – Raphinha’s agent – Edu said: “I just said to Deco, ‘Can you explain to me the situation with Raphinha?’ and he was clear, ‘Edu, we have a good relationship but I’m not going to lie to you, his idea is to go to Barcelona because he’s dreaming to go to Barcelona, and we’ve been talking to Barcelona since a long time ago’.

“[I said], ‘Okay, thank you very much, if something happens then just let me know because I can explore and understand the situation. If not, no problem and we carry on with our relationship’.”

Now, with Arsenal reported to be closing in on a deal for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk this winter, were Edu to also get a deal for Raphinha over the line prior to the closure of the January window, the Brazilian director would have undoubtedly formed an extremely deadly new duo in Islington.

Indeed, over his 30 Premier League appearances in his debut campaign with Leeds, the £53.5m-rated talent made an immediate impact in the top flight of English football, scoring six goals, registering nine assists and creating 12 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.2 shots, making 2.1 key passes and completing 1.9 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the 26-year-old who journalist Owuraku Ampofo claimed has a “deadly left foot” average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.14, not only ranking him as Marcelo Bielsa’s second-best outfielder in the league but also as the joint 30th-best player in the division as a whole in 2020/21.

It was a similar story over his 35 top-flight outings in 2021/22, with the £214k-per-week trickster bagging 11 goals, providing three assists and creating ten big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 2.5 shots, making 1.9 key passes and completing 1.8 dribbles per match.

These metrics saw the former Stade Rennais star average an extremely impressive Sofascore match rating of 6.97, once again ranking him as the Whites’ second-best outfielder in the league – playing a starring role in Jesse Marsch’s side securing Premier League survival last time out.

As such, while it is true that the player who WhoScored’s Martin Laurence labelled “frightening” has not quite hit these heights in Spain – scoring three goals and registering five assists over 21 appearances for Barca – considering just how effective the Brazilian was in the Premier League, the prospect of the 26-year-old lining up opposite Mudryk is a very tantalising one indeed.

In his own right, the Ukraine international is just as exciting as the Barca star, having scored ten goals and supplied eight assists in 2022/23. Thus, should Arsenal combine that with Raphinha’s quality and experience of English football, they’d have a truly devastating partnership on their hands.

Arsenal are interested in a Premier League winger as Mikel Arteta aims to complete another signing during the January transfer window…

What’s the news?

According to the Daily Mail, Arsenal are interested in signing AFC Bournemouth winger Jaidon Anthony as Arteta looks to add some more depth to his attacking options.

He could face competition for the 23-year-old however, with Leicester City, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Bayer Leverkusen also keen on Anthony.

His contract expires at the end of the season and Arsenal could be looking to secure a bargain move for him this month and with the club close to completing a move for Leandro Trossard, it could be a strong end to the window for Arteta.

He’s a dream signing

Anthony knows Arsenal well, having spent ten years at the Hale End academy during his formative years, playing alongside Reiss Nelson and Emile Smith Rowe, so settling in shouldn’t be a problem for the player.

At just 23 years old, he also fits Arteta’s vision for the future, with the Spaniard looking at bringing the average age of the side down significantly while signing young players who can develop and improve over time.

In the Championship last season, Anthony was excellent, featuring in all but one of Bournemouth’s matches as they gained promotion back to the Premier League. The winger averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.16/10 which ranked him as the club’s best performer during the campaign.

He underlined his attacking qualities by registering 15 goal contributions – eight goals and seven assists – while creating an astonishing 18 big chances across his 45 matches, demonstrating just how effective he was from a wide position.

Anthony didn’t shy away from the nitty-gritty work either, chipping in with 1.3 tackles and 0.5 clearances per game while winning 3.6 duels per match, proving that he can also provide solid defensive support when required.

His former manager Scott Parker lauded his performances last season, saying: “What he does for this team is nothing short of incredible at times really.” And although he has struggled for game time this season, the Englishman has still scored three times in 18 appearances for the Cherries.

Following the disappointment of missing out on Mykhailo Mudryk, Arteta will be working twice as hard to secure attacking reinforcements and a move for Anthony could be a very shrewd investment indeed.

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Arnaut Danjuma back to the Premier League in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Spanish media outlet COPE (via Sport Witness), who claim that, should Fabio Paratici wish to land the Villarreal forward this month, Spurs will need to fork out at least €20m (£18m) for the 25-year-old, as the LaLiga side are looking to recover the fee that they paid to Bournemouth to sign the Netherlands international in 2021.

However, the report adds that Antonio Conte’s side are not the only English club keeping tabs on the versatile winger – who can also play as a number nine – this month. Everton and Bournemouth are also believed to be keen on a move for the ex-Club Brugge forward prior to the closure of the transfer window at the end of the month.

Richarlison upgrade

Tottenham splashed a whopping £60m to bring Richarlison to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last summer. While it is true that the Brazil international has missed seven league games due to injury this term, the fact that the 25-year-old is yet to find the net in the 2022/23 Premier League campaign is beginning to cause problems for Conte and his team.

Indeed, aside from Harry Kane – who has 15 league goals to his name this season – no other player in the 53-year-old’s squad has scored more than four times in the top flight this term, with the England captain’s backup cast of Son Heung-min, Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil having managed just five between them in the league.

As such, should Spurs wish to have any hope of securing a top-four finish in the Premier League this season, it would appear an absolute must for Paratici to add some extra creativity and clinical edge to Conte’s current attacking arsenal – something that is sure to make an £18m move for Danjuma an extremely appealing option to the Italian sporting director.

Indeed, over his 23 appearances in LaLiga last season – only 17 of which came as starts – the £36m-rated talent was in sensational attacking form, scoring 10 goals, registering three assists and creating two big chances, in addition to taking an average of 2.7 shots – 1.3 of which hit the target – making 0.7 key passes and completing 1.4 dribbles – at a success rate of 54% – per game.

The £54k-per-week forward also caught the eye over his 11 outings in the Champions League last time out, bagging six goals, providing one assist and creating one big chance, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots – 1.3 of which were on target – making 0.5 key passes and completing 1.5 dribbles per game – firing Villarreal to the semi-finals of the competition.

As such, should Conte believe he can help the 25-year-old – who Premier League legend Kevin Phillips dubbed a “nightmare for defenders” – refind this form in north London, the six-cap international could quite easily represent an upgrade upon Richarlison on the left flank – especially considering the Dutchman is reported to be available for a measly £18m this month.

Chelsea YouTuber Yannick has torn into Mason Mount’s ‘off the boil’ performance for Graham Potter’s side in their 0-0 draw with Liverpool.

The Lowdown: Mount lacklustre against Liverpool

Mount struggled in the Blue’s Premier League clash with Liverpool, he attempted zero dribbles and only won two of his five ground duels.

The Chelsea midfielder also had no shots on goal and ended the game with a 71% pass accuracy across the 82 minutes he spent on the pitch.

Carney Chukwuemeka replaced the 24-year-old, in a fixture which saw January signing Mykhailo Mudryk make his debut for Chelsea.

The Latest: Yannick labels Mount as ‘poor’

Speaking on his YouTube channel ‘Football Therapy’, Yannick said he was disappointed with Mount’s performance against the Reds despite the fact that he did play a wonderful ball to Hakim Ziyech.

He stated (11:08), “Mason Mount was poor, he played one beautiful ball when Ziyech nearly scored.

“But despite that he had a bad game, poor decision-making, just not overly great. He’s had a couple of great games this season but he’s been off the boil and I love Mason Mount. Maybe the contract negotiations is distracting him, I think he is an excellent player.”

The Verdict: Mount should be dropped

We believe that Potter should drop Mount for the next couple of games, he’s not been up to par in his last few appearances in a Chelsea shirt.

The midfielder has five goal contributions from 19 league games, but he’s failed to score or assist in his last four Premier League matches.

Potter could bring in Carney Chukwuemeka as a potential Mount replacement, he arrived for a big fee last summer costing around £20 million.

He’s found it hard to work his way into the Chelsea squad, featuring only eight times in the league and starting one of those matches.

It could be a great opportunity to give the 19-year-old a proper run in the Premier League, plus it would give him some much-needed experience he’s only featured in England’s top flight on 22 occasions.

Insider ExWHUemployee has revealed that West Ham United are keen on signing Djed Spence with a number of loan players to be considered before the January window closes.

What’s the word?

Up to this stage in the winter market, with just days left before it all comes to an end, The Hammers have managed to make a couple of signings with Danny Ings and Brazilian youngster Luizao arriving in East London.

Of course, a few players have left too with Craig Dawson heading to Wolves and Darren Randolph joining Bournemouth as both men leave on a permanent basis.

However, it seems as though the club are not content with that activity just yet and they are potentially keen on adding the Tottenham Hotspur wingback to their ranks.

Indeed, in a post shared to The West Ham Way Patreon, Ex named Spence as a target while noting that agents with “frantically” offer the club alternative loan options too in the next few days.

He said: “We also like Spence, the right-back, at Spurs.

“The club intend to present him [David Moyes] with a number of options and he will need to approve which deal he likes if any.

“These loan deals are targets we have mentioned and will also be some last-minute deals with agents frantically offering their players around.”

Loan to happen?

Speaking in a recent press conference, Moyes didn’t exactly sound particularly expectant when it came to the club completing any more deals this winter.

Indeed, he said (via football.london): “The truth is, I don’t really know. If I had something lined up to come in or go, there’s none of that in the pipeline at the moment but with four or five days to go, who knows what would happen.”

However, he doesn’t completely shut down the chances of anyone arriving and if the club are working hard behind the scenes to present some loan options – as Ex says – then perhaps someone like Spence could still arrive.

According to recent reports, Spurs are certainly happy to let the youngster leave this winter as he has struggled to get regular game time since arriving from Middlesbrough last summer.

Manager Antonio Conte has publically made it clear that he isn’t the biggest fan of Spence. Seeing as he has yet to start a game for Tottenham either, it seems likely that the 22-year-old, who has been hailed as “unbelievable”, would be keen on an exit too.

And so, the player is certainly available but it just remains to be seen if West Ham and Moyes are keen to try and swoop in and add him to their ranks for the remainder of the season.

Sunderland-supporting journalist Josh Bunting ‘would have loved’ the Black Cats to have signed an out and out striker in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Sunderland’s transfer business

Loanee striker Ellis Simms was recalled by Everton at the end of December, which came as disappointing news for Sunderland, given that he had weighed in with seven goals and two assists in the Championship.

In terms of arrivals, the Black Cats brought in Leeds United striker Joe Gelhardt on a loan deal for the rest of the season, defender Joe Anderson joined on deadline day and Pierre Ekwah was signed to bolster the midfield.

The Latest: Bunting’s comments

The one area that Bunting wishes Sunderland had strengthened further is the attack, but he does believe they still have enough attacking quality, saying: “Without doubt I would have loved another 9 absolutely but there’s so much quality in and around Gelhardt. Look when Stewart came off at Fulham, Sunderland still creates openings in the game whilst playing in between the lines. Frustrating but I’m honestly not all that worried.”

The Verdict: Could pose a problem…

Bunting has an optimistic outlook about how Tony Mowbray’s side will fare without a new attacking signing, but the reality is that it could be the difference-maker in their push for the Championship playoffs.

Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie has recently detailed that Ross Stewart will be out for the rest of the season (via Chronicle Live), which is a massive blow, with the striker scoring a remarkable ten goals in 13 Championship games so far this term.

While new arrival Gelhardt has been hailed as ‘fantastic’ by the media, he is still only 20, and it is unclear whether he will be able to take on the bulk of the responsibility in front of goal, netting on just two occasions in 20 Premier League appearances for Leeds last season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Ruben Neves is ‘unlikely’ to sign a new contract at Molineux, according to journalist Steve Madeley.

The Lowdown: Summer exit was close

The Premier League playmaker will be out of contract with Julen Lopetegui’s side in 2024 and his future is currently up in the air having not yet been offered or put pen to paper on fresh terms.

The Portugal international has been the subject of strong interest from several top-flight sides over the past couple of transfer windows, with the 25-year-old even admitting that he came close to leaving the club last summer.

The Latest: Madeley’s verdict

Taking to Twitter, Madeley was asked by a Wolves supporter whether Neves will be extending his stay in the Midlands, to which the reporter replied:

“We can all dream but I’d say it’s unlikely sadly. Neves genuinely loves Wolves. He’s grown up at the club and his kids have grown up in the city.

“But he’s a 25-year-old Champions League-level player who needs to maximise his talent. Sad but understandable.”

The Verdict: Opportunity deserved

Wolves would never want their captain to depart, but Neves has been dubbed a ‘beast’ by journalist Jimmy Conrad and he has been exactly that for the club, so deserves the opportunity to go on to bigger and better things.

The Nike-sponsored talisman has made a remarkable 238 appearances for his side and is an integral member of the starting eleven, where he’s been averaging 2.6 clearances and 2.5 tackles per league game this season (WhoScored).

The Mozelos native, however, is destined to play a level of football that Wanderers might not reach for some time, and with the substantial fee the club could get for him, it would be the right decision to let him progress to the next stage of his career.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou will stay at the club until at least the end of his project at Parkhead, according to Anthony Joseph.

The Lowdown: Postecoglou at Celtic

Since arriving shortly after the 2020/21 season had finished and Rangers had waltzed their way to the SPFL title in some style, finishing on 102 points and going the whole campaign unbeaten, Postecoglou has turned the tide back in Glasgow.

He’s won 69 out of 95 games in charge along the way to reclaiming the league title last year and winning the Scottish League Cup, with them currently nine points clear at the summit this time round and in the final of the Scottish League Cup once again.

The Latest: Joseph’s claim

Early in January, The Scottish Sun reported that Postecoglou was on a shortlist of potential Everton managers before Frank Lampard’s sacking, as his accomplishments in Scotland make him an attractive prospect for Premier League sides.

However, speaking on The Celtic Exchange, the Sky Sports reporter claimed that the Australian is committed to the project he’s started at Parkhead and willing to see it through, saying:

(1:09:57) “If it was in the summer and a massive club came in for him I think he would (leave), if it was someone like Leicester (City) or Southampton or something like that even Everton, I don’t think so.

“I get that feeling that he is very honest, he’s very upfront, he very much sees that he’s in a very privileged job to be managing in Europe at a huge club.

“I’m not saying he won’t eventually leave, I think he’ll stay out to see what he feels is the end of the project, I don’t think two seasons is that.”

The Verdict: Not another Rodgers

Given Joseph’s claims, it seems unlikely that the Australian would follow suit of Brendan Rodgers’ controversial exit and head south of the border, just as the Northern Irishman did in 2019 to join Leicester.

With Rodgers previously managing Swansea City and Liverpool in the Premier League the feeling of unfinished business in England with a Leicester side who were champions just four years prior, paired with two league titles won at Celtic, meant his departure was seemingly inevitable.

However, with Postecoglou earning his stripes in Australia and Japan in various roles, he doesn’t hold that unfinished business desire in the Premier League such as Rodgers, meaning an eventual exit in more ceremonial circumstances is much more likely.

Newcastle United’s main target for the summer transfer window and qualifying for the Champions League will allow them to consider a move for the likes of Manuel Ugarte.

What’s the latest?

Eddie Howe’s options in midfield took a blow over the January transfer window after the club failed to deliver on their ambition to bring in a new central midfielder.

And adding to this, veteran midfielder Jonjo Shelvey walked away from the club for a move to Nottingham Forest after Steve Cooper’s side offered him a two-year deal.

As a result, it is believed Dan Ashworth will be entering the summer transfer window with the priority of addressing their depth in the middle of the park.

Speaking to Football FanCast, journalist Pete O’Rourke has suggested the Toon could open up a lot more options in the summer if they can land a spot in the top four:

“We know Newcastle, one of their main priorities for the summer transfer window is going to be central midfielder and that’s what they tried to do in January, but were unable to bring in anybody.

“So I’m sure if they’ve got Champions League football on offer they will be in the market for the likes of Ugarte and other players of that ilk.”

Addressing their January’s shortcomings

Perhaps the recent suspension of Bruno Guimaraes has emphasised January’s shortcomings in the market with Howe now without the Brazilian and Shelvey who’s moved on.

A player of Guimaraes’ ability would be a massive miss to any side in Europe but his absence certainly does show just how short of options Howe is when his side picks up an injury or suspension.

So it seems as if Ashworth will be looking to pick up some new midfielders in the summer and the months coming will allow him some time to assess the potential options on Newcastle’s radar.

And as O’Rourke has suggested, if they are able to land a spot in the top four, it could possibly open the door to singing a player like Ugarte.

Reports (via The Sun) have suggested the Toon have already made an approach to Sporting CP over the possibility of signing the Uruguayan in the summer.

It has been suggested by other reports from Portugal that a move for the midfielder could cost the Magpies in the region of £53m.

This is a midfielder – hailed a “machine” – who is right up there – statistically – with the best around given he ranks inside the top three percentile for tackles, clearances and blocks (via Fbref).

However, bringing in a player like this could require landing a spot in next season’s Champions League and there is still a long way to go in the season for the Magpies to seal a spot in the top four.

Southampton ‘have had interest’ from former Premier League manager Frank Lampard in the vacant role on the south coast, according to recent reports.

The Lowdown: Marsch talks break down…

It was widely believed just two days ago that former Leeds head coach Jesse Marsch was set to take charge at St Mary’s after positive talks.

However, after a managerial twist, negotiations with the American broke down, with reliable sources suggesting that the main reason was down to contract length.

After sacking the under-fire Nathan Jones last weekend, Southampton are now back to square one in their search for his successor, and Sport Republic’s next move could be crucial.

The Latest: Southampton attracting Lampard’s interest?

According to The Guardian, in terms of alternatives to Marsch, there could be a handful of contenders for the vacancy at St Mary’s, with some big names displaying an interest in the role.

One of those is former Chelsea and Everton boss Lampard, with the report stating that apparently the Southampton board ‘have had interest’ from the 44-year-old among other candidates.

The Verdict: Good option?

The Premier League playing legend’s last two high-profile jobs at Stamford Bridge and Goodison Park ended in his prompt dismissal, but Lampard did guide Derby County to the Championship play-off final in 2019, and he has managerial experience in both of the top two divisions in England.

He has also survived relegation battles before, having steered Everton away from the drop zone towards the end of last season.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp also once heralded the ‘exceptional job’ that he feels Lampard performed at Chelsea back in 2020 before his eventual sacking, so the 44-year-old does come with some credentials.

However, given that the majority of his roles have ended in disappointment, Southampton must be wary of hiring the former Everton boss and perhaps ascertain why – if they do indeed regard Lampard as a viable candidate.