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The Africa Cup of Nations is a tournament that comes around every two years and causes complete havoc for the majority of Premier League clubs.

With the competition set to run from a week Saturday (January 14), Sunderland’s squad has been absolutely decimated with Didier Ndong, Lamine Kone and Wahbi Khazri having all jetted off to their home continent.

This leaves the Black Cats in a somewhat interesting position given the opening of the January transfer window, as, despite the lack of investment coming from the owners, David Moyes needs to find some short-term solutions.

Whether it be loan moves or quick-fix buys, the fact remains that Sunderland could lose significant ground in their battle to escape another relegation battle unless strides are made in the current window.

The business end of the season is fast approaching and it’s time for Sunderland to commence their annual survival act.

Here are THREE January signings that could provide cover for the departed squad members at the AFCON…

Fabian Delph

It wouldn’t be harsh to stay Delph’s Manchester City career hasn’t gone to plan. The midfielder is unlikely to receive much game time for the rest of the season, and a loan move to Sunderland would suit all parties.

Not only would a short-term switch cost Sunderland next-to-nothing, but City would surely pay the majority of his wages and Delph could also tout himself to potential suitors ahead of the summer transfer window.

Holger Badstuber

Following a troublesome four years of injuries, Badstuber looks set to depart Bayern Munich this winter on a short-term deal to regain some match fitness.

Manchester City are interested in the German defender according to ESPN, but Sunderland should attempt to swoop in and offer the German guaranteed football on Wearside.

The experience and mentality Badstuber offers could be a significant factor in Sunderland avoiding the drop.

Marouane Fellaini

Sunderland are in desperate need of some steel in their midfield and who does Moyes know better than former Everton midfielder Fellaini?

The Manchester United player is struggling with life at Old Trafford and looks set to depart the Red Devils at some point in the near future

Moyes could offer the Belgian a quick exit from Jose Mourinho’s side and provide him with a fresh challenge.

Manchester United became the second name in the hat for the FA Cup fourth round after sealing a comfortable 4-0 victory against Championship opponents Reading, giving Jose Mourinho’s side a thrilling victory.

Now enjoying their best run of form for eight years, Manchester United look to be back at their best and will fancy their chances of retaining the FA Cup after Louis Van Gaal’s side lifted the first trophy in the post-Alex Ferguson era last May.

With Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford on the scoresheet, many United players were at their best today and it shows the depth in the squad that Mourinho has available to him, which gives them a good omen in their quest to secure a top-four spot.

United were always going to be favourites against United but Reading’s performance was not the sort of display many would have expected from the Royals and Jaap Stam’s side have a lot to do.

Here, we’ve identified five things we learned from Manchester United’s FA Cup victory.

Rooney is a legend

Netting after just seven minutes against Reading yesterday afternoon, the England international joined Sir Bobby Charlton at the top of Manchester United’s all-time scoring record and put in one of his best performances in recent memory at Old Trafford.

His early goal definitely lifted his confidence and Rooney, having beaten Charlton’s England record last year, will now be looking to make the United record his own and the headlines are ready to be written next weekend when the Red Devils clash with arch-rivals Liverpool.

Rashford back on form

Entering the match without a goal since the end of September, a run of 18 matches, Marcus Rashford struck twice in the final 15 minutes of the game. Whilst he missed numerous chances before finally finding the net, his brace should be a real confidence boost.

It’s been a difficult season for Rashford, who’s had to contend with playing outside of his favoured position for the majority of the side, but his goals yesterday could help the youngster bounce back and become a huge player for the club once again.

United are contenders

The defending champions showed that they’re not only contenders to win the FA Cup again come May but the Red Devils should also not be ruled-out in other competitions, including the Premier League and Europa League.

Whilst they’ve been off the pace in the league, United are now enjoying a fine winning run and could rise into the top-four next weekend. Yesterday’s victory in the FA Cup will raise their spirits and saw them claim their best winning run in eight years, a superb record.

Mourinho back on his best

Woeful at Chelsea last season and looking to be stuck in the initial few months of his tenure at Old Trafford, Jose Mourinho has got his side back to their best form and the Portuguese boss deserves plenty of credit.

He still needs to adjust his tactics at times, especially when up against the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea, but the United board and fanbase will be relieved to see that it seems they made the right decision in appointing the former Real Madrid and Inter Milan boss.

Life without Zlatan

On the bench today, and not being introduced, Manchester United showed they’re not overly reliant on their veteran striker and Jose Mourinho now has a big decision to make ahead of the clash with Liverpool next week, as three forwards scored against Reading.

Wayne Rooney was back to his best and Marcus Rashford looked bright, whilst Anthony Martial will also be pushing after he impressed. Mourinho is still likely to go with Ibrahimovic but, as we mentioned previously, it showed the depth his squad have.

Lucas Leiva could be leaving Liverpool this month as he mulls over an offer from South America, according to Brazilian station Radio 98FM.

What’s the word?

Brazilian side Atletico-MG are keen to sign a top-midfielder for the forthcoming season and have approached Liverpool about the option of signing Lucas Leiva, who sees his contract at Anfield expire at the end of the season.

Whilst he has a few months remaining on his deal, Leiva is open to an exit this month but his preference is to remain in Europe- which is why he’s asked the South American side for a few days to think about his options.

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Further approaches could be forthcoming, especially if any interested party feels the offer from Atletico could tempt the Brazilian to return to his homeland, with Inter Milan regularly linked with a swoop.

Should he leave Liverpool?

The 30-year-old has achieved vast success with Liverpool since joining the club a decade ago but has seen his importance amongst the squad decline in recent seasons. Featuring 15 times this season, only three have been Premier League starts.

Leiva’s other opportunities have come in the cup competitions or off the bench and Leiva is likely to want a more important role in a side. At his age, it’s certainly not a request that will be difficult to adhere to and Liverpool should respect the player’s wishes given the service he has provided the club.

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Mamadou Sakho’s Liverpool career could come to an end by the close of the transfer window. The Frenchman arrived at Anfield in 2013 and has become a cult hero among Kopites thanks to his personality and committed playing style, but one man on Merseyside is not a fan of the defender: Jurgen Klopp.

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After last season’s drug debacle (the player was cleared of any wrongdoing) and a summer of bad behaviour during the club’s pre-season tour of America, Sakho has been frozen out of the Reds’ first-team and banished to the U-23s. Klopp wanted him sold but a deal didn’t come to fruition, yet this window may end with him wearing the red and blue of Crystal Palace.

As we mentioned, the 26-year-old is a popular figure among the club’s fans, so we put this question out there earlier today: Should Liverpool keep Sakho?

The results are now in, and 79% of those who voted want him to stay put.

It seems, though, that the player will be off either before the clock ticks over to 11:00pm tonight or, at the very latest, this summer. Is Klopp making a mistake? The fans clearly think so…

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been forced to deny reportsÂthat he is considering replacing goalkeeper Petr Cech with Manchester City outcast Joe Hart.The 34-year-old made a big blunder against his former club Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last Saturday.The Gunners were already 2-0 down when Cech kicked the ball straight to Cesc Fabregas, who lifted it over the top and into the back of the net, adding insult to injury.The gaffe has raised questions over Cech, but a statistic revealed by WhoScored has suggested that Arsenal’s defence as a whole should be analysed.[ad_pod id=’now-tv’ align=’centre’]

As the tweet above shows, Cech has been one of the busiest keepers in the top flight since the turn of the year, facing 32 shots, just six fewer than Sunderland’s Vito Mannone.

The Black Cats are fighting against relegation at the bottom of the table and have conceded 42 goals, while Arsenal sit fourth in the standings and have the sixth-best defence in the division so far.

Despite that, the fact opposing teams have been able to get so many shots away against the Gunners, suggests that Arsene Wenger’s defensive line and midfielders have plenty to work on.

Arsenal are unlikely to challenge for the Premier League title as they sit 12 points adrift of league leaders Chelsea, while the fight for top four is expected to go down to the wire given that just five points separate second from sixth.

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Southampton have revived their interest in Leeds United defender Pontus Jansson and are eyeing a summer swoop for the Swedish defender, ClubCall reports.

What’s the word?

Pontus Jansson has impressed in Leeds United’s push for promotion from the Championship this season and the Peacocks have been given further incentive to earn a return to the Premier League, as they face losing the Swedish defender.

Clubcall states Southampton are considering a summer approach for the 26-year-old defender, having previously held interest in him during his days at Malmo, and Leeds face losing the man they’ve only recently penned-down to a three-year deal.

Jansson arrived in Yorkshire from Serie A outfit Torino, whom he joined in 2014, and initially impressed on a loan stint with Garry Monk’s side- with his performances earning him a permanent switch to Elland Road.

Can Leeds keep him?

Jansson endured difficult years in Torino, where he never really settled, so he may be reluctant to move on from Leeds as it’s an atmosphere he has settled into. However, he may find it difficult to turn down the advances of Southampton if Leeds do not secure promotion.

Southampton are said to have scouted the defender last week in Leeds’ 1-0 victory over fellow promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday and may see Jansson as a ready-made replacement for star-man Virgil Van Dijk- who continues to attract the attention of a host of top clubs.

The Saints are also looking to bolster their defensive ranks after losing Jose Fonte to West Ham during the January transfer window but their hopes of signing Jansson may rest on Leeds’ promotion chase.

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Over the course of his career, Arsene Wenger has managed many big players. Most of them, though, are big names today because of him.

Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp amongst countless others are titans of the modern game, but those who became so under Wenger’s guidance owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

[ffc_insert title=”Adrien Rabiot: the man to fix Arsenal’s midfield woes” name=”Player Zone” image_ link=”https://www.footballfancast.com/features/player-zone/adrien-rabiot-could-finally-answer-arsenals-midfield-woes” link_text=”Read more” ]

What is sad is how he’ll be appreciated as a titan himself once he retires yet for now, he is beginning to look more and more out of touch; old, on the wane, and no longer able to stay at the top. The problem stems not from his ability as a coach, but from unwillingness to bend to the demands of the modern world: spending vast sums of money on players at the peak of their powers has never been the Wenger way.

He has had the chance to retire several times over the past decade. He has always said he would never break his contract, but many of those have come to an end. So too have trophy droughts, though Arsenal haven’t won a league title in well over a decade. But if you want to know everything about Wenger’s whole worldview – and one that doesn’t seem to have changed much over time – you need only look at the quote above. It was never about money, contracts, trophies or the media, it was about the love of the game and nothing else.

The joys of looking back over a career that’s lasted three decades in top class management is that quotes are left along the path like souvenirs, traceable to momentous events and woven from the context of their time. Speaking about the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, another of Wenger’s quotes on the subject has seen a swell in relevance as the Frenchman struggles against his own footballing mortality. Ferguson could retire, according to Wenger, because he had horses. ‘But I have no horses.’

It would seem from the outside that, for a man who loves football so much, Wenger is someone who really hates the game. The folly of throwing around barely-fathomable sums of cash, justified only by the fact that others are throwing it around, too, is anathema to Wenger just as it might be to most people outside the game, but the difference is that Wenger is so firmly ensconced in modern football that he, unlike everyone else, has no horses: there are no outside influences on a man who lives only for one thing.

Football exists in a bubble and so does Wenger. At some point, both must burst.

The game has changed both in its own outlook and the way it is viewed by the outside world, supported by its fans, and covered by the media. To look back at Wenger’s 1999 quote now, almost two decades on, is to be reminded that this is a man who took charge of a club when the idea of 24-hour news was still in its infancy and the internet came with the sound of the scrambling of phone lines. He presided over the same institution for so many years that it – in line with the rest of the world – became unrecognisable. The only constant is the manager.

Match reports from the time often start with the words ‘last night’, today they are frantically written during the game and published on the full-time whistle. Quotes from press conferences don’t become public knowledge from the papers the next day, but from Twitter seconds after they are said. It seems like a different age, and it probably is. But Wenger’s roots are from a different time.

And so if Wenger seems like a bit of a misfit, it’s probably because he is. Even in 1999, Nicolas Anelka wanted to leave Arsenal to grow in fame and prestige, to earn more money and to win more trophies. 17 years later, it’s more relevant than ever. Just like with Anelka, Wenger faces the same scenario, but this time it’s Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil who are rocking the boat. But the passing of time, and the changes in football haven’t changed Wenger’s mind.

But why should it? After all, this is a man who loves the sport, not anything else. The money is good, but it’s good everywhere, not just at Real Madrid, and not just at Arsenal. And in the end, when you retire, you won’t count money.

[ffc_insert title=”An Ode to Thierry Henry” name=”Golden Goal” image_ link=”https://www.footballfancast.com/premier-league/arsenal/arsenal-v-manchester-united-an-ode-to-thierry-henrys-greatest-ever-goal” link_text=”Relive a wonderstrike” ]

If Wenger’s words are crafted with the context of 1999, and Anelka’s transfer to Real Madrid, then the people who ought to listen are the wantaway stars of today. Sanchez and Ozil, in the same position as Anelka before them, could quite easily end up just like he did.

“I was very young at Arsenal and at Real Madrid and maybe I didn’t realise the chance I had,” Anelka told the Daily Mail in 2008. Had he stayed with Arsenal, he would have been at the peak of his powers in 2006 when the Gunners were climbing to the summit of European football and very nearly scaling it. Instead, he swapped it for two goals in 19 league appearances for Real Madrid. That’s not to say he had a bad career, but despite his medals and his money, he’ll be a hero to few of his clubs.

When they retire, players like Sanchez, Ozil and Anelka will have some medals and their money. Sir Alex Ferguson will have his horses. But whatever happens, you get the feeling that Wenger will always have football.

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According to the Scottish Sun, Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha is ready to hold crunch talks with burgeoning talent Billy Gilmour in an attempt to get him to stay at the club.

What’s the word?

Gilmour is one of the brightest talents in Scottish football and has previously been linked with big moves away from Ibrox, with Chelsea reportedly keen on the 15-year-old starlet.

While no deal has yet been agreed for the midfielder, top brass atop the marble staircase are thought to be worried Gilmour could be cherry-picked away from Glasgow.

Why the big deal?

Despite being only the tender age of 15, Gilmour already has quite the pedigree. Having impressed so much for Scotland at the U16 Victory Shield thanks to his poise and composure on the ball, the likes of Bayern Munich and Barcelona have been credited with an interest in the midfielder.

Chelsea are reportedly the frontrunners in the race for his signature, further signifying the reputation he has growing in him. Noted for his ability to pick out the right pass when on the ball, his technical ability in an age group so often defined by physical presence is mightily impressive.

What are Rangers doing?

Well, according to the report in question, the Light Blues are understood to have ensured the talented teen has played a huge role in first-team training. Clearly, the Gers will not be able to compete with the kind of clubs linked with Gilmour, though are thought to have offered a better chance of being blooded into the first-team.

Though Gilmour’s long-term future may lie elsewhere, Rangers seem to be doing all they can to keep him around for now.

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Those hypercritical in nature can probably pick a few holes in Newcastle’s promotion bid this season. The Magpies haven’t been quite as dominant as many expected under Rafa Benitez in the Championship, especially at St. James’ Park.

Nonetheless, the Magpies are still on course to return to the top flight at the first time of asking and look set to claim this season’s Championship title – they’re one point ahead of second-placed Brighton with just six fixtures of the season remaining.

And the Tynesiders have produced some impressive collective performances this season, whilst certain individuals have also stood out in the second tier.

With that in mind and enough football played to provide us with satisfactory evidence, we have a crucial question for Newcastle fans: who deserves this year’s Player of the Season award?

Newcastle haven’t officially held the award for the last two seasons due to their troubles on the pitch, but a Championship promotion campaign feels like the perfect time to bring it back in.

So, who gets your vote?

Manchester United’s 2-0 victory against Chelsea on Sunday was one of their finest performances of the season. It was a match they never really looked like losing, or even drawing, and it was against the current league leaders who have takenÂall the plaudits in the top-flight for months.It was Marcus Rashford and Ander Herrera who hit the headlines with the two fine goals that provided victory. The Spanish midfielder in particular shone across the 90 minutes, putting in a majestic display for the home supporters.It was another strong defensive performance too, United’s third clean sheet in their last four Premier League matches.Clean sheets are becoming a bit of a habit for the Red Devils defence and David De Gea, as this stat from Squawka shows.

That’s a fantastic number of clean sheets in less than two seasons and it’s proof of what United fans already know; he’s the best goalkeeper in the Premier League.

If Mourinho’s side are going to have a serious title bid next season then surely holding on to him has to be a big priority in the summer transfer window?