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There’s no question that in Mexico where football is king, Javier Hernandez is God.

The all-time goalscorer for El Tri is one of the greatest players to ever come from the North American country and has made a lasting impact on European football with successful spells at Bayer Leverkusen, but with West Ham, his form has taken a hit.

16 goals in two seasons with the east London side is a poor return for a striker has hit double digits in individual campaigns on five separate occasions in his time in Europe, and with Hernandez not really adapting to life in east London, it is looking increasingly likely the Mexican star will be leaving the Premier League for good this summer.

Leaving West Ham seems like a beneficial move for Hernandez, who during his time with the Hammers has not only seen his form drop but has seen the former Man United striker be dropped from the Mexico starting XI for Wolves striker Raul Jimenez, who has been a revelation this season for the newly promoted side.

With World Cup qualification starting soon and Hernandez likely to play in his final competition in 2022, the 30-year-old forward will be hoping to go into that tournament in good form after a season of regular first-team football, and at West Ham, the striker simply doesn’t fit into their long-term plans.

With Manuel Pellegrini looking likely to bring in a new striker this summer, Hernandez should be looking for a new club when the off-season rolls around for the benefit of not only his club career, but also his international reputation.

West Ham fans, has Hernandez been a success at the club? Let us know!

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Dwight Gayle has hinted his future could be away from Newcastle United by revealing he’s enjoying life in the Midlands with West Brom, according to The Express and Star.

The 29-year-old striker is on a season-long-loan from the Magpies, in a deal which saw Salomon Rondon go the other way – both men have excelled for their respective clubs.

What did he say?

Asked if he saw his future at the Hawthorns, Gayle replied: “Yes of course. I’ve really enjoyed the season and the fans have taken to me and showed great support. I’m going to see what happens in the summer, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time here.”

These quotes could give Newcastle a big boost in their pursuit of Rondon. With Gayle hinting he sees his future at the Hawthorns, maybe a swap deal can be done rather than the Toon paying the reported £16.5million release clause for Rondon, which would rise to £20million if the Baggies are promoted.

Championship is Gayle’s level

Gayle has played 99 Premier League games scoring 21 goals over a period of four seasons with both Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

His Championship record meanwhile is 95 appearances and 54 goals while he also has assisted 15 – this comes from three seasons in the Championship with Newcastle, Peterborough and West Brom.

The stats clearly show that Gayle is more suited to the Championship than the Premier League in every way, he simply scores twice as many.

Gayle played a key part in the Newcastle side that was promoted as champions from the Championship, scoring 23 goals in 32 appearances. However, once they were promoted Gayle only missed three games all season and managed to only score six goals. He also had less shots per game, going down from 2.8 to 1.6.

This could be down to the fact defending is better in the Premier League, but it also seems likely that Gayle has less confidence than he does in the Championship.

The ex-Peterborough man will be remembered fondly by Newcastle fans for helping secure promotion but he is better in the Championship and the Toon have upgraded with Rondon, who has scored nine goals and registered five assists in the Premier League.

Gayle’s quotes are likely to help Newcastle in their pursuit of the Venezuelan, or at the very least push himself a little closer to the exit door. Clearly not at the required standard, his comments have done the Magpies a welcome favour.

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According to the Daily Record, Rangers appear to have secured the signing of Motherwell starlet Jake Hastie on a pre-contract agreement.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 20-year-old contract is set to end in the summer, and Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson confirmed that the attacking midfielder would not be extending his deal with the club.

As a result, Steven Gerrard’s Rangers have swooped in to offer the youngster a three-year contract with the option of a fourth year, and all that is needed to confirm the deal is for Hastie to put pen to paper.

Check out Keith from C’mon the Hoops’ fascinating video on the origins of the Old Firm derby below…

He has impressed for the Steelmen in the second half of the season, notching seven goals in 14 games having spent the first half of the campaign with Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Championship.

His form has led to him being called up to the Scotland Under-21 squad, whilst the attacker also had offers from England which he rejected in favour of a move to Ibrox.

Ryan Kent replacement?

Rangers fans have enjoyed watching young winger Ryan Kent throughout his season-long loan spell this season, with the 22-year-old notching seven goals this term since arriving from Liverpool.

However, the Reds are said to want in excess of £12m for the Englishman from any club wishing to take him on a permanent deal, which would be a hefty figure for the Gers to meet.

Gerrard has said that he wants Kent to sign on a permanent basis, but if the finances get in the way of any deal materialising, it appears as if Rangers have already moved to replace the on-loan Liverpool attacker.

Kent and Hastie are similar players who enjoy roaming around either on the wings or in the No.10 role, and both have a high ceiling for improvement – the fact that the latter is two years younger than the former suggests that the Scottish giants could even be getting a better deal in signing the 20-year-old for free rather than splashing out on the Reds youngster.

Additionally, Hastie has matched Kent’s tally for the entire season in just the second half of this campaign, so Rangers may even be getting a better player than the highly-rated man on loan from Anfield.

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Javier Manquillo has played for some massive clubs – Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Marseille, Newcastle and Sunderland – yet he has flattered to deceive for most of his career.

However, his performances over the last couple of weeks have shown a marked improvement.

Manquillo for Newcastle

Signed in the summer of 2017 for around £4.5 million, Manquillo can play both left and right-back and it was this versatility that saw Rafa Benitez bring his fellow Spaniard to the club.

Manquillo was thrown in at the deep end as injuries to DeAndre Yedlin and Paul Dummett left Newcastle short and the Spaniard was asked to fill in at right-back whilst Chancel Mbemba filled in at left-back. The 24-year-old started quite well but by December he had put in some unconvincing performances, particularly in defeats to Watford and Leicester.

From January of his first season onwards Manquillo had little playing time and was often restricted to brief appearances off the bench.

Pl>ymaker FC Exclusive: Jermaine Jenas reveals why Tyne-Wear is a more intense derby than anything London can offer – check out the video below….

Recent revival

Once again this season Benitez has used Manquillo as a rotation option, and even though he played a crucial role in the win over Huddersfield in December, setting up Salomon Rondon for the winner, since then he had hardly been seen…until recently.

After Yedlin’s mistake against Crystal Palace the Spaniard was put in for the Leicester match and was solid throughout against Demarai Gray and then Marc Albrighton, as the Toon recorded a one nil win.

On Saturday Manquillo was up against Nathan Redmond, who has been in scintillating form for the Saints, but the ex-Atletico player kept Redmond quiet and even found time to get forward on a few occasions, linking well with Ayoze Perez.

Manquillo is perceived to be worse going forward than Yedlin but he actually has the same number of assists as the American this season with two, the Spaniard also seems more committed to his defensive duties and if the last two games are anything to go by then maybe he can turn his career around.

In fact, the Toon have won three of their last four games in which Manquillo has started.

For a player who started at Atletico he has struggled at every club but there was obviously something that all these big clubs saw that suggested he had potential, and he is now finally starting to realise it.

Hopefully this recent spell at Newcastle is the beginning of a revival for the 24-year-old, and not just a flash in the pan.

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Bright Enobakhare has had a thoroughly successful loan spell with League One side Coventry in the second half of the campaign.

His performances have been excellent for the Sky Blues and, despite only being with the club since January, he was named their young player of the year.

However, while discussing whether he should get another chance at Molineux on Twitter, Wolves supporters were split on the future of the 21-year-old.

One fan said that by keeping him around he could save the club £20m in future investment in the transfer market. Two other supporters meanwhile made comparisons between him and Adama Traore, claiming that Enobakhare had the same dribbling ability but a better final ball.

However, there were less convincing responses too with a further tweet suggesting Niall Ennis was higher up in the pecking order and another commenting that he wasn’t ready yet.

In 18 matches since arriving at the Ricoh, Enobakhare has scored six goals. He was able to play a bit part throughout Wolves’ Championship winning campaign last year, playing in 21 matches.

Here’s the best of the Twitter discussion surrounding the Nigerian’s future:

Crystal Palace fans have taken to Twitter to reveal that they want Jordan Ayew to be signed on a permanent basis when his loan spell ends this summer.

The Eagles took the Ghanaian forward on loan from Swansea back in the summer, but he has largely disappointed and has only found the back of the net twice.

In fairness, Ayew works hard for the team, but his lack of quality is so strikingly evident that signing him on a permanent basis would be terrible idea – the Eagles have enough goal-shy forwards already within their ranks.

Ayew has made just 20 Premier League appearances this term, and would most likely be regarded as fourth choice behind Christian Benteke, Michy Batshuayi and Connor Wickham if all of them managed to stay fit. Ayew has probably been quite lucky that the likes of Benteke and Wickham have had fitness issues this season.

It has been reported that Palace would pay around £4m to take the 27-year-old on a permanent basis in the summer, although it would be a strange transfer seeing how little an impact he has made.

Lots of Palace supporters on Twitter think otherwise though, and would like to see him signed…

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“Nobody.”

That was the response given by InGood Nick when he was asked if any of the current Sheffield United players would be good enough for the Premier League.

He believes that Chris Basham and George Baldock will struggle on a technical level and that “we could definitely improve in those areas.”

He went on though to claim that “they have proved us wrong every season, they could all prove us wrong again.”

It remains to be seen what Chris Wilder does in the transfer window but he must realise that technically some of his players are going to struggle when pitted against some of the finest players in world football.

However, the dressing room atmosphere at Bramall Lane is excellent, so Wilder must find the right balance of technique and attitude in any of his potential signings.

Watch the video below to hear why Sheffield United fans have nothing to worry about next season.

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Former Republic of Ireland international Tony Cascarino recently claimed – whilst on talkSPORT – that Wolverhampton Wanderers Raul Jimenez was good enough to play for Liverpool.

Jimenez managed an impressive 17 goals in 44 appearances for Wolves during the 2018-19 campaign – including 13 in the Premier League as last season’s Championship winners finished seventh.

Wolves have only just activated their option to sign Jimenez – previously on loan – on a permanent deal.

As a result, the Mexican will not be going anywhere this summer.

Cascarino said that the striker is ‘good enough’ to turn out for the Reds, though, and it has thrown up an interesting debate on social media.

Indeed, the Liverpool fans have been discussing whether they would ever be open to a move for Jimenez, now 28-years-old.

Whilst some would be interested in having the Mexico international at their club, others are not so keen on the idea.

A selection of the Twitter reaction to Cascarino’s comments can be seen below:

Let’s be honest, who was that bothered about Sunday’s final game week in the Scottish Premiership? Rangers certainly didn’t seem to be as Kilmarnock ensured Steven Gerrard ended the season in defeat, although taking the positives from the clash, the Gers got to see 17-year-old Dapo Mebude get a run out in the senior side.

Ultimately, the youngster couldn’t mark his appearances with a goal or a win, but he still did enough to impress the supporters with his neat touch on the ball and willingness to put in the hard yards in his time on the pitch. There now must be thoughts amongst the Bluenoses that Mebude is more ready than they thought, and he’ll be expected to get more minutes in next season’s title push.

The weekend’s action may have been the last time which the Gers witness Alfredo Morelos bag for the Gers, and if he does find himself packing his bags and leaving Glasgow this summer then it will be up to Steven Gerrard to either recruit a replacement or source one from the youth sides. If he opts for the latter, Mebude is the obvious candidate to step up and try and add goals.

Jermain Defoe, Kyle Lafferty and Dapo Mebude have enough goals in their boots between them to replace Morelos, it’s just whether the fans, and Steven Gerrard, can put their combined faith into the strikeforce. It obviously helps that Stevie G has added goalscoring wingers in the form of Jordan Jones and Jake Hastie for next season, but without a doubt, Mebude will be the mystery element for the Gers.

The 17-year-old is blatantly being looked at as a star of the future as he was rewarded with a new contract back in January, tying him down to Ibrox until 2021. That’s a much longer deal that most players of the youngster’s age get at the famous Glasgow club, and you simply cannot rule out the youngster playing his part next season as Rangers target Celtic’s Scottish Premier League crown.

Rangers fans, do you want to see more of Dapo next season? Let us know, comment below!

[ad_pod ]Sunderland threw away a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Charlton Athletic in the League One Playoff Final.TalkSPORT host Jim White posted a photo of Stewart Donald after the full time whistle, and it’s fair to say it summed up the mood of a thoroughly deflated club.

The Sunderland owner looked like the loneliest man in football, pondering over his thoughts and reflecting on a season of nearly moments.

Sunderland gambled and ran the highest wage budget in League One and also spent the most on transfers – including the purchase of Will Grigg from Wigan Athletic for £4m.

All of these were calculated risks based on the fact the new Sunderland owners clearly believed Jack Ross could take Sunderland back into the Championship.

After five minutes of Sunday’s final it looked like Sunderland were going to get promoted, as a calamitous own goal by Naby Sarr handed them the lead and early momentum, but they failed to capitalise and paid the ultimate price.

Stewart Donald’s gamble has failed and a change in strategy may have to be considered next season to ensure the Black Cats return to the Championship at the second time of asking.