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Speaking to Football Insider, talkSPORT regular Gabriel Agbonlahor has been wowed by Jarrod Bowen and has admitted he fully deserves a pay rise in reaction to claims from The Athletic over an increase to his salary – going on to say is it is a ‘great bit of business for West Ham’. 

Bowen has been a mainstay for David Moyes since arriving in 2020, starting 16 Premier League games in total this campaign alone, and reliable journalist David Ornstein claims the attacker has received a significant increase in salary after passing 30 appearances in all competitions for the Irons.

Agbonlahor hails Bowen business

In reaction to this development, Agbonlahor has heaped praise on the ‘great bit of business’ for West Ham with Bowen whilst claiming he will be a ‘star’.

“For me, he’s a quality player,” explained the talkSPORT regular to Football Insider. 

“The pay rise he’s got he deserves because he’s been outstanding this season.

“I’m sure now he just wants to get a few more goals and assists now to back up these great performances because he’s definitely going to be a star.

“It’s a great bit of business for West Ham.”

Transfer Tavern take

Given Bowen’s contribution for the Hammers this season, scoring four times and grabbing two assists (Whoscored), it’s hard to argue with the former Premier League striker’s assessment – and he is fully deserving of his reward.

Time will tell whether he does become a star for Moyes, but you wouldn’t bet against it based off this season.

In other news: West Ham fans reacted to these ‘unbelievable’ links, find out more here.

Weston McKennie started once again as Juventus settled for a 0-0 draw at Atalanta, with their struggles upfront clear for all to see once again.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• McKennie starts for Juve
• Weah comes off bench
• One more match before international break

Neither team could create much of anything in Sunday's match, one which saw one American, McKennie, in the XI, while another, Tim Weah, replaced him in the game's final moments. McKennie continues to start ahead of Weah after initially coming off the bench earlier in the season.

With the draw, Juventus sit fourth in Serie A, four points behind league-leaders Inter, while Atalanta sit one point behind them in fifth.

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  The two teams combined for what was a largely dull game, with neither side ever really getting too much going in the attack.

  Of the two, Atalanta was the more dangerous side, creating a few decent chances. Both teams were missing key attacking parts, as Juventus were without Dusan Vlahovic and Arkadiusz Milik while Atalanta played without Gianluca Scamacca in their attack.

  Still, both teams will have felt they had the attacks to get something out of this game. Instead, they were forced to split the points and move on as they look to the final Serie A match before the international break next weekend.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  McKennie continued his run of games starting at right wing-back as he's apparently jumped in front of Weah on Juve's depth chart. The USMNT midfielder has started five consecutive games in that position after initially seeing Weah emerge.

  McKennie has largely done well in that wing-back spot, showing off the energy and tenacity that have made him such a good midfielder for the USMNT. While the role does limit his skillset as a late runner in attack, he has been plenty involved in the buildup for Juve during this stretch.

  Still, it's hard not to wonder what Juve would look like with Weah out wide as the winger-turned-wing-back would offer a more dynamic attacking presence. It's also hard not to wonder what McKennie could do to get back into the midfield picture as he's been crowded out of Juve's trio in the middle of the park so far this season.

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  USMNT IMPACT

  No one at U.S. Soccer will be pushing the panic button on Weah yet. Life at a top club is filled with ebbs and flows. Unfortunately for Weah, things are a bit slower at the moment.

  That'll change down the line, for sure. There will be moments where Juve need his attacking presence, even if they haven't in these few games to start this season.

  On a USMNT level, Weah looked good during the last camp, scoring in the opening game against Uzbekistan. He's not totally untouchable in the USMNT squad, but he's pretty safe, so, as long as he keeps performing in camp, no one will be too worried.

  As for McKennie, it's good to see him getting consistent minutes, especially as the U.S. prepare for another camp without Tyler Adams, who has suffered another hamstring injury to rob the U.S. of their captain and starting No. 6.

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  GOAL'S RATINGS

  Weston McKennie (7/10):

  Another solid performance from McKennie, who was among Juve's better performers in a very, very dull game. Showed initiative getting forward and had plenty of energy to defend. A decent day.

  Tim Weah (N/A):

  Was tossed into the game with just a few minutes left as Juve chased a win.

The Gunners have not been afraid to spend big in the transfer market in recent years

There was a period of time following Arsenal’s move from Highbury to Emirates Stadium where money was tight and Arsene Wenger was forced to count the pennies.

That all changed, however, when Mesut Ozil sensationally arrived from Real Madrid in 2013 for a club-record £42.5 million ($51m).

Since then, the Gunners have not held back in the transfer market and have gone on to break the club’s transfer record on a further three occasions in an attempt to compete with Europe’s elite.

Here, GOAL takes a look at the top 15 most expensive signings in Arsenal history.

Arsenal top 15 most expensive transfers

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  Fabio Vieira | £30m | Porto | 2022

  A signing that came completely out of the blue.

  Few had even heard of Fabio Vieira when it suddenly emerged that Arsenal were bringing him in from Porto ahead of the 2022-23 season.

  The playmaker arrived with exciting pedigree, however, having established himself as a key player for the Portuguese giants as they won the 2021-22 title.

  And manager Mikel Arteta was quick to hail his new arrival: “I am very excited that we have identified and signed such a special talent.

  “Fabio is a very creative player that will bring high quality and versatility to our attacking play.”

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  Martin Odegaard | £30m | Real Madrid | 2021

  The Norway international had already enjoyed a fine loan spell with the Gunners before his move from Real Madrid was made permanent in the summer of 2021.

  As expected, Odegaard slotted in seamlessly after his return to north London and is often the heartbeat of Arsenal’s attack, pulling the strings behinds the forward line.

  A price tag of just £30m ($36m) always looked like a bargain and that’s how it’s proved, with the playmaker quickly becoming one of Arsenal’s most important players.

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  Alexis Sanchez | £30m | Barcelona | 2014

  Things may not have ended well between Alexis Sanchez and Arsenal, but the Chile international was a sensation during his first couple of years in north London.

  Signed from Barcelona after the 2014 World Cup, Sanchez was an instant hit with the Gunners and at £30m he was worth every penny.

  When he left four years later to join Manchester United with just six months remaining on his contract, Arsenal landed Henrikh Mkhitaryan in return.

  It’s safe to say things didn’t really work out for either player at their new clubs.

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  Granit Xhaka | £35m | Borussia Monchengladbach | 2016

  Love him or loathe him, Granit Xhaka has certainly given Arsenal longevity following his £35m ($42m) move from Germany in 2016.

  The Switzerland international has made more than 250 appearances for the Gunners and has won the FA Cup twice.

  He was even made club captain by Unai Emery in 2019, only for that honour to be cut short after his ugly spat on-field with Arsenal fans.

  Many will argue about how much value for money Xhaka has given the club over the years, but one thing that can’t be questioned is his ability to bounce back from seemingly irreversible situations.

Ahead of his side’s Premier League clash against Leicester City on Friday night, Newcastle boss Steve Bruce must finally axe Jonjo Shelvey from the starting line-up.

The England international endured a difficult afternoon against Arsenal last time out, with The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder simply slamming him as “disappointing” for his performance.

And, with a trip to Champions League chasing Leicester tonight, Bruce must make the bold call of dropping one of his trusted lieutenants, with The Shields Gazette’s Liam Kennedy raising real concerns over his form this season.

He said: “For a player of Shelvey’s talents he needs to do more. Influence more. Impact more. And more often than not, to the untrained eye, it appears as if he chooses not to up those levels.

“He is no world beater and lacks a yard or five of pace and mobility but Shelvey can be better than he shows. And that’s the most disappointing part. For that reason, for me, he is not a worthy carrier of the armband – and not a player who leads by example, despite his considerable top flight experience.

Dubbed a “liability” on the Pod On The Tyne podcast, the £70k-a-week earning Shelvey just hasn’t shown anywhere near the kind of form that warrants him still being in the starting line-up for the Magpies this campaign.

As per Whoscored, out of the last ten games that he has played, only two of those matches have seen him register a match rating of seven or higher, including dropping a measly 5.94 against the Gunners last weekend.

His passing, something that has usually been lauded as one of his strong points, has been a major let down too, with just a 75.9% passing accuracy in the Premier League – to put that into context, that ranks him 16th in the entire Magpies squad, and below even the likes of Jeff Hendrick.

With no goals and just one assist in his last 12 top-flight games, Shelvey just hasn’t contributed anything of significance for Bruce to keep persisting with him in the middle of the park, let alone be his captain.

It’s high time he gets dropped, starting with the clash against Leicester tonight.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are interested in this Dutch starlet…

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been heaping praise on the club’s under-18 side following their 3-0 away win over Tottenham on Saturday.

Striker Victor Akinwale scored an early penalty for the Eagles to put them on their way, with late strikes from midfielders Jack Wells-Morrison and Maliq Cadogan securing the three points.

The win against Spurs saw Palace return to the top of the Premier League U18 Category 1 South League table at the expense of Fulham. They are three points clear of the Cottagers but have played one game more.

There are only two matches remaining for Palace in their quest for the title, an away trip to Brighton before ending their campaign at home to West Brom.

Palace fans react

The club shared the update on the 3-0 win on their official Twitter page on Saturday afternoon. These Eagles fans were full of praise for the club’s youngsters, with one describing their talent as ‘insane’.

“Great stuff”

Credit: @Adam_Palace

“Massive win for the boys. Congrats”

Credit: @Teeboy_LFC

“Brilliant lads”

Credit: @Fiachra_Furlong

“We’re just insane”

Credit: @CPFCMax03

“We’re just too good for you”

Credit: @LawonY60

“If only the first team could play like this”

Credit: @RednBlue81

In other news: Many Palace fans hail star man after off-field activity emerges on social media, find out more here. 

Southampton fans are far from happy with comments from Nathan Redmond ahead of their F.A Cup semi-final this weekend.

The Saints will travel to Wembley on Sunday to play Leicester City for a place in the final. Despite losing 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion on Monday, the St. Mary’s Stadium outfit will at least be happy to be playing a side who themselves are struggling for form in the Foxes – they have lost their last two games (lcfc.co.uk).

Redmond was speaking ahead of the clash, and he was discussing the contrast with Southampton’s last semi-final appearance in 2018. On that occasion, they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea, and the £16.2m-valued 27-year-old (Transfermarkt) said that at the time there was no aspiration for success amongst the Saints players, although now they are in a far better position to prevail.

These comments were shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it is fair to say the fans were disappointed. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the comments from Redmond below

“Appreciate his honesty but what a disgrace. In a semi final and no aspiration to succeed?!!”

Credit: @saintdansmith

“Behave”

Credit: @BuildABonfire

“This is throwing it on the line. Saying how up for it everyone is and how good the atmosphere is after a 3-0 spanking by a poor team means if we don’t turn up then we have some very big questions to answer.”

Credit: @Andrew_Stokes_

“He knows people actually watched the West Brom match right!?”

Credit: @JamesBrooksAP

“Imagine saying that out loud in any other job? Let alone a well paid one.”

Credit: @papaschmoo

“how can he say this after the wba game”

Credit: @jahgsvlayso

In other news, Southampton fans slammed this man against West Brom.

Frank McAvennie has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Ross Barkley’s ability to blow hot and cold would make him a risky signing for the West Ham.

Barkley is currently on loan at Aston Villa for the season, and hit the ground running by scoring spectacular goals against both Liverpool and Leicester.

But a hamstring injury, combined with a loss of form, has seen the midfielder contribute just one goal since December, with the England man failing to start any of Villa’s last seven Premier League matches.

£96,000-a-week man Barkley is expected to return to parent club Chelsea this summer, although Moyes is a big of the midfielder, with reports suggesting that he could become an option for West Ham should his long-term future lie away from Stamford Bridge.

Moyes was Everton manager when the former Toffee was coming through the ranks, and handed Barkley his Premier League debut back in 2011.

Despite the links, whilst McAvennie recognises Barkley’s ability, he exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that he isn’t convinced by the Liverpudlian:

“The problem with Barkley is he went to Villa and was on fire. He stuck up a wonderful partnership with Grealish and McGinn.

“And then he went off the boil, and if you’ve got a player like that, I’m not sure if you’d want him. You can spend big money on him and he could do great for six games and go back to his old ways.

“There’s no doubt he’s talented, but out of him and Lingard, I would take Lingard all day long in this form.

“I don’t know if you could do with Barkley. They need to stop bringing in players that want to just see out there time because we’ve done that with Wilshere and Andy Carroll.”

Whatever you think of Jorge Mendes and his methods, you can’t help but laud the things he’s done for Wolves.

Since Fosun became involved with the Midlands outfit, they have established a friendly relationship with one of the most powerful football agents in the game.

The club’s manager, Nuno Santo is a client of Mendes’ Gestifute agency while several of their playing staff are also on his books. To name a few, he leads negotiations for the likes of Pedro Neto, Nelson Semedo, Ruben Neves and Fabio Silva.

Ties to Mendes have even led to incredible links regarding a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. His arrival at Molineux is far-fetched but one that shouldn’t have been a few years ago was Bruno Fernandes.

The Manchester United star is one of the super agent’s biggest clients and managed to pave the way for one of the most game-changing transfers the Premier League has seen in recent years.

He was signed for a considerable £47m from Sporting Lisbon but if Mendes had noticed his talent quicker, a move to Wolves could have occurred.

That’s the word of club legend Steve Bull anyway. Speaking exclusively to FFC’s sister site, Transfer Tavern, he said: “I think he went under the radar for [Jorge] Mendes otherwise, I think he would have definitely been on our scale and we definitely would have had him all day long.”

He would have been enthralling capture for Wolves, and Fosun must be cursing Mendes after missing out.

Fernandes is now valued at £81m by Transfermarkt and has become one of the most impressive attacking midfielders in world football.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-wolves-transfer-news-and-views-ocampos-ronaldo-trincao-fabio-silva” title=”Latest Wolves transfer news and views!”]

Speaking about him recently, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel commented: “The impact he has since he arrived in Man United is indescribable. Unbelievable.”

The Portugal international has scored a mighty 23 goals this term, providing a further 14 assists in 46 outings. That adds to his tally of eight goals and seven assists in 14 Premier League matches last season after moving in January 2020.

Evidently, he could have been a real star in this Wolves team. That’s not just because of his antics in terms of creativity and goals, but because of his mentality and leadership.

“Bruno Fernandes is not really a tackler, but he leads by example because he works really hard and he’s brilliant on the ball,” Bryan Robson admitted this week.

“But I always see him talking and shouting to players and he is always either trying to encourage or having a bit of a go at players if they are not in the right position,” the Man United legend added.

Fernandes has very quickly become a star of European football and besides Ronaldo, he is Mendes’ diamond.

AND in other news, Shi will regret awful call on “intelligent” £75k-p/w ace, Wolves could have signed him…

In a recent interview, former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips discussed West Ham United’s reported interest in a summer move for Tammy Abraham.

The forwar dhas endured something of an up-and-down campaign for Chelsea so far this term, with the 23-year-old scoring six goals and registering two assists over his first 14 Premier League appearances of the season, before going on a run of six league games without either a goal or assist, as well as finding game-time increasingly hard to come by under Thomas Tuchel of late.

Indeed, it has been reported that the German manager remains unconvinced by the £36m-rated striker, with West Ham thought to be closely monitoring the situation of the England international ahead of a potential summer move.

Speaking recently to Football Insider, Phillips stated his belief that the £82,000-per-week Chelsea forward would be a good fit for David Moyes’ side.

He said: “I could see him there, definitely. The way West Ham are playing at the moment, he’d get chances. As a striker, you want to be playing regularly because we live on confidence.

“To play a few games then get left out, for a striker, that’s not great. I can see him at West Ham. They’ve got creative players that would create opportunities for him and he likes to play on that last man. If he was to be sold by Chelsea there’ll be a few clubs chasing him because he’s still got a long career ahead of him.”

Transfer Tavern Take

With Moyes currently only having the option of Michail Antonio as an out-and-out centre-forward in his first team squad, a move for a striker is likely to be a priority for the Scot in the summer transfer window, something which surely won’t be lost on the club’s GSB ownership.

Considering that Abraham has impressed when being awarded a start this season, scoring seven goals in 15 games when he has been picked in the starting XI for Chelsea, perhaps the 23-year-old would indeed be a good addition to Moyes’ attacking arsenal this summer, as Phillips suggests.

However, whether or not the Blues will be open to selling the centre-forward to a Premier League rival, particularly one currently sitting just two points behind them in the league standings, remains to be seen.

In other news: This West Ham summer target dropped a big hint on his future – find out more here!

Celtic youngster Vincent Angelini has been linked with the likes of AC Milan, Juventus, Lazio and Manchester United in recent months.

However, it is Premier League strugglers Brighton who are now making a serious attempt to snap up the 17-year-old goalkeeper in quite the turn of the events considering the massive names mentioned above.

According to the Daily Record, Angelini has ben invited to train with the Seagulls and is waiting to be given the green light by the Hoops.

Angelini snubs new Celtic deal

The report claims that the shot-stopper has turned a new deal at Parkhead and looks set to quit the club.

Celtic will be due a compensation fee, should Angelini leave. Brighton want to see the teenager train with their own development squad before agreeing a fee with the Hoops.

Transfer Tavern take

Although the club are looking to land some of the UK’s top young talent ahead of the summer window, the number of teenagers heading the other way appears to be a concern.

Another young goalkeeper in Liam Hughes left Celtic for Liverpool earlier this year, and attacking starlet Karamoko Dembele also looks set for a Parkhead exit this summer.

It appears as if Angelini will be the latest to call time on his young career in Glasgow, and a move to the south coast with Brighton could well materialise, should he impress on trial.

In other news: Italian giants join race for Celtic star, find out more here.