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Everton made a number of signings in the January transfer window in an attempt to save the season.

Many of the new faces have made an appearance in the side, however, the Toffees are not out of trouble yet, and now Frank Lampard could be set to secure his first summer acquisition too.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Star, Donny Van de Beek is interested in making a permanent move to Everton this summer, should they stay up in the Premier League at the end of the season.

The report claims that the Manchester United loanee has no interest in returning to Old Trafford in June just to sit on the bench again, and is desperate to stay at Goodison Park after having a taste of regular first-team Premier League football.

Fans will be buzzing

It is safe to say that Van de Beek has been the most impactful addition to the side since he arrived at Goodison Park when he signed on Deadline Day, meaning supporters would be delighted to see him arrive on a permanent basis.

Supporters got a great sense of what he’s capable of recently, with the midfielder playing a huge role in the 3-0 win over Leeds United.

According to Squawka, the 24-year-old won the most possession in the middle third (6), made ten ball recoveries, making the joint-most tackles (4) and aerial duels won (3) in the Toffees first victory in over two months, proving he can be a hugely influential player for this side.

The ex-Chelsea boss is a big fan of Van de Beek, and has already sung his praises calling him a “top player” in a recent interview, so it would be likely that the idea of a permanent move for the player would be desirable for both parties, as Lampard will want to strengthen his team further for next season, to ensure the side don’t find themselves in their current situation again.

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The Dutch national will face one of his toughest tests as a Premier League player yet, with Everton hosting top of the table, Manchester City, at Goodison Park next weekend and a fantastic impactful performance at home, will surely distract fans from the disappointing defeat against Southampton this weekend.

In other news: Jonjoe Kenny has blown his chance with Lampard

Are you planning on going to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this month to give England your support? Will you be cheering on Fabio Capello’s men every step of the way and living every single moment alongside Wayne Rooney and co? If so, then a special limited edition England Football Cash Passport would definitely come in handy. Travelex have launched this to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup and you could get your hands on one of these passports that has been preloaded with £200 worth of South African Rand by simply entering our World Cup Trivia Competition!

Everyone likes to think that they know their stuff when it comes to football, but how much do you actually know? Here are three simple World Cup questions. Get them right and you’ll be in with a chance of winning the Travelex England Football Cash Passport, pre-loaded with £200 worth of South African Rand. Simply send your answers to each of the three questions below to [email protected] with World Cup Trivia in the subject line:

Which African nation defeated the holders in the 2002 World Cup? Who has scored the most goals at the World Cup finals? Which country was the last to qualify for the 2010 World Cup?

Think you know the answers? Just email them to [email protected], put World Cup Trivia in the subject line and you could be the lucky winner and get your hands on a cash passport pre-loaded with £200 worth of South African. For more information about the Travelex England Football Cash Passport and its benefits head to http://www.travelex.co.uk/uk/cash-passport-limited-edition.aspx. So what are you waiting for? Enter the competition now!

One particular story jumped out at me in yesterday’s news cycle – it was Lionel Messi, normally a considered, responsible and well-spoken young footballer, questioning Fabio Capello’s omission of Theo Walcott from his 23 man squad for the World Cup, something which is naïve as it is incorrect.

The actual quotes attributed to Messi were as follows: “I must say that at the time I thought it was a bad decision to leave Theo Walcott at home. And I think that has been proved right. I can only speak from experience but he was one of the most dangerous players I have ever played against. Along with Cesc Fabregas and Sergio Aguero he would have been the best impact player at the World Cup.” You cannot question Aguero’s and Fabregas’s inclusions in that elite list, but Walcott’s is a troubling one.

To be fair to Messi, he does go onto use his first hand of experience of playing against Walcott in this season’s Champions League knockout phase at the Emirates as reasoning for his opinion stating “Barcelona players are not scared easily but I can tell you that when we played Arsenal last season he truly worried us. When we were playing Arsenal at the Emirates we were so in control of the game at 2-0, with all respect Arsenal were not even in the game. Then Theo came on and changed the game. He pretty much single-handedly salvaged a draw against Barcelona that night. Even in the return leg our manager Pep Guardiola was telling us he was the player to watch out for”

Before adding something approaching a kick in the teeth “If he could do that against Barcelona, think what he could have done against Germany and Algeria. Even if he didn’t start, he would still have been very important for England.”

Now this is all with the benefit of hindsight, and hindsight is a wonderful thing to have at your disposal, but in my opinion, any possible contribution Walcott may have made would have been negligible, for he lacks the positional sense, footballing brain and all-round ability to trouble teams on a consistent enough basis, even off the bench despite the rare occasion that he does sometime deliver the goods.

The strengths and weaknesses of Walcott’s game have been gone over with a fine toothcomb by many a fan, so there’s no need to go in too much depth here, but it’s in the line where Messi argues that alongside Aguero and Fabregas, that Walcott would have been one of the three finest impact subs available at the entire tournament is where I have biggest problem.

It’s a sad indictment of Walcott’s career to date that his most memorable appearances have come in spurts in big games and mainly as passing cameo, but whether he would have been valuable anyway is up for a lot of debate. Perusing through the squads at this year’s World Cup, I’d argue that Diego Milito, Pedro Rodriguez, Jesus Navas, Fabio Quagliarella, Eljero Elia, Joseba Llorente, David Silva and England’s very own Joe Cole offer livelier, more intelligent and overall better attacking options as impact subs from the bench.

Walcott is without a doubt a confidence player, without this most precious of commodities he isn’t much use. As much as his pace is a useful outlet on occasion, as demonstrated in the 4-1 win away in qualifying against Croatia, when utilised properly with a ball behind and into space, with opponents camping men behind the ball, much like Algeria did and to a lesser extent Slovenia did in the group stages, Walcott would have made little or no impact.

He was given ample opportunities by Fabio Capello and more often than not failed to take them when given the chance by a manager that felt owed him another chance. It’s true, Walcott has suffered with injury a lot this season and that has interrupted his rhythm somewhat, but whether he would have made much of a difference to England’s stuttering World Cup campaign is questionable and Messi’s opinion that Walcott would have is quite frankly laughable at worst and ill-informed at best based off his performances for both club and country over the course of the last season.

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What does everyone else think? Would Walcott have made much of a difference to the World Cup campaign as Messi alludes to?

Click on image below to see the ITALIAN babes at the World Cup

Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani is finally free from the injury problems which wrecked his first season at Anfield, according to the club's new medical chief.

Head of sports medicine and sports science, Peter Brukner, believes the Italy international is free from the ankle injury which kept him sidelined for most of the past 12 months.

Aquilani started just nine Premier League games for the Reds after arriving from AS Roma in a £20million transfer carrying an ankle problem.

The 26-year-old made his league debut in November but struggled to make an impact as a direct replacement for former fans' favourite Xabi Alonso, who left to join Real Madrid.

"Alberto's ankle, which was a problem last year, is now 100 per cent healed," Brukner told the club's official website.

"He has been training and has looked very sharp.

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"He'll have to keep working on his injury prevention programme and if he does, I'm sure the supporters will see the best of him because last season was very frustrating for him injury-wise."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Spurs and Argentinean legend Ossie Ardiles has spoke of his confidence about Tottenham’s chances in this forthcoming season.

“I think that we are going to do very well, and I’m very confident. Harry is confident. We are in Europe for the first time in a long time, and it’s going to be a very good season I would say.”

Embellishing on his views with regards to the club’s chances in the Champions League Ardiles said:

“I think we can go a long, long way. You have to be very positive all the time, and obviously we have to win the first two games now against the Young Boys of Switzerland and after that we take it from there. You never know to be perfectly honest. The Champions League has a lot of incredibly good teams, and it’s a hard competition to be playing in. I hope we go on as long as possible.”

Whilst positive about the team’s prospects, Ardiles did state he would like to see some transfer activity before the window closes:

“I think Harry is looking and looking and looking. Right now it is not very easy to buy a player unless you spend money like Manchester City. Harry is trying and I believe he is looking for someone who can improve the team as whoever is coming has to be better than what we have already got. It has to be someone very, very good.”

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Ardiles was speaking about Tottenham during an interview about Sporting Memorabilia and his links with London-based Sporting Memorabilia Company SJ Dent & Co. Whilst Ardiles treasures his World Cup medal as his most prized piece of memorabilia, he stated he would love to own something from “someone he admired very much in sport – Muhammad Ali”.

To view SJ Dent & Co’s online collection of memorabilia visit their website www.sjdent.co.uk. You can also receive a 5% discount on any purchase by entering the code ‘Promo1’.

“I think I would like to go to Barcelona. If they want me or not is another thing. It’s what I want and what I would like.”- Cesc Fabregas, May 5 2010.

The summer’s longest transfer saga was finally resolved on Friday when Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas committed his future to Arsenal. But when Fabregas revealed his intentions to return to his boyhood club Barcelona last May he must have been quietly confident in the Spanish side’s ability to complete a transfer which both sides have been willing to happen since the start of the summer. The club’s new president Sandro Rosell has been heavily criticised for not doing enough to make the deal happen and Fabregas finally ran out of patience with Barcelona’s botched attempt to capture his signature.

In July the Catalan club lodged a £30m opening offer for the midfield maestro. This was rejected outright by the Gunners, who hit back angrily, insisting the club had no intention of discussing the potential sale of their captain and most valuable asset anytime in the near future. With Barcelona failing to make a substantial offer, and Arsenal fighting bullishly to hold onto their star man, direct dialogue between the two clubs stopped, leaving the 23-year-old in limbo.

Despite failing to increase their offer, Barcelona have spent the summer attempting to unsettle the player with a breathtaking degree of arrogance. The majority of the Barcelona squad shared their views on the transfer, lining up one after the other, presumptuously claiming it’s only a matter of time before Fabregas was back in a Barcelona shirt. Midfielder Xavi, Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol have all spoken candidly about Fabregas’ desire to return ‘home’ and his frustration at not being allowed to move clubs. For all Barcelona’s criticism of Arsenal’s handling of the transfer, it is the Catalans who failed to up their bid for the player. It was up to Barcelona to make an offer worth listening to; Arsenal didn’t want to sell and were not exactly going to start chasing the Spanish champions to make a deal happen.

How badly did Barca want to land prodigal son Fabregas anyway? More so than 2009 summer signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic whom they shelled out an astonishing €46m for plus Alexander Hleb on loan and Samuel Eto’o, who had just finished the season on 36 goals in 52 games. Or enough to make Arsenal’s No.4 the second most expensive player in the club’s history in front of striker David Villa whom they signed for £33m earlier in the summer? Obviously not. When the Spanish side target a player they usually do not take ‘no’ for an answer, yet they were rather timid in the wake of Arsenal’s determination to hang on to the player. The Gunners know that Fabregas will demand an exit sometime over the next two seasons, but they were intelligent enough in their negotiations to ensure Barcelona would have to break the bank in order to land their number one target. Barcelona were also wary of paying over the odds for a player who they claim was poached from them by Arsenal, after the Gunners exploited a loop hole in Spanish contractual law to sign him at 16.

Ultimately Barcelona may not have had the finances in place to increase their offer and meet Arsenal’s valuation. The club’s audit last month revealed they are over £369m in debt. The club recorded a loss of £60m last season and even had to take out a loan to pay their player’s wages in June. A £30m deal for Fabregas would have made him the tenth most expensive player of all time, just a million less than Manchester United splashed out on Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov in 2008 and £2.5m short of the price Manchester City valued Brazilian Robinho at the same year. On paper Fabregas’ suitability to Barcelona in terms of age, quality and commitment to the club would suggest he is worth considerably more than the two players mentioned above and nearer, or above, the £40m mark would more accurately reflect his true value in today’s market. With Portuguese attacker Cristiano Ronaldo valued at an inflated £80m last summer, Arsenal knew they could deploy similar tactics used by Manchester United to delay any potential transfer. Fabregas is an Arsenal player, something which Barcelona forgot at times during the whole sorry affair. Arsenal should be commended for how they dealt with the La Liga champions underhand tactics and most importantly managing to hold onto Fabregas.

With Barcelona’s failure to complete the protracted transfer, Fabregas now finds himself at The Emirates for another season. By revealing his desire to leave, the Spaniard put all his eggs into one basket, a risky strategy in what was always going to be a difficult transfer to conclude. If it was always his dream to return to Spain then why in 2006 did he sign an EIGHT year contract committing his long-term future to the club? Fabregas no doubt signed on the dotted line because the contract included huge bonuses, a massive signing-on fee and a regular increase in wages. The club have invested heavily in Fabregas’ career and deserve more loyalty from their captain. They cannot be expected to roll over and let Barcelona come and take their best player for an unacceptable fee. Barcelona refused to pay a premium rate for one of the hottest talents in the game, forcing Fabregas to come out and end the circus by finally committing his future to the club.

Like this blog? Read more articles from this author below-

Future remains bright at Arsenal

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Premier league clubs curb spending

Why Hodgson deserves better than Fayed cheap shot

Aston Villa's caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald has played down talk of England winger Ashley Young being set to leave Villa Park to join Tottenham Hotspur.

The 25-year-old has been linked with interest from Spurs for some time, but MacDonald is hopeful that nothing will come of this link.

He said after the 1-0 win at home to Everton:"We've not had any contact from Tottenham for Ashley Young, nothing at all. We've not had any bid from them at all.

"Clubs are going to be coming in for some of our top players because one or two of them have been tremendous.

"They have shown some great form at the start of this season. I would like to think the club wouldn't sell them, but who knows. If it was down to me, I wouldn't sell them.

"I think if the club says it is a sell to buy club, we have to develop those younger players quicker and better.

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"But we also need to keep the club progressing to keep all your senior players keen and interested in trying to win things.

"We want to still be forcing ourselves into Europe, having good cup runs, because that is the nature of football."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

There have always been footballers who have been a little bit on the chubby side over the years. Jan Molby, Micky Quinn and Neville Southall are just a few that spring to mind, but this didn’t stop them from playing at the very top level. These days the Premier League is home to a few footballers who could be classed as fat, as are the leading European and World Leagues. But which players really take the biscuit when it comes to fat footballers? Here we celebrate the fuller figures in football and pay homage to those who have refused to fit in with the super athletes around them.

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Click on the image below to see the TOP 10 Fat Footballers:

For years, Manchester United had struggled to replace Peter Schmeichel in the Old Trafford goal. Sir Alex Ferguson had experimented with 6 goalkeepers in as many years before he decided to sign Edwin van der Sar from Fulham in 2005.

It proved to be a masterstroke from the United tactician as van der Sar has been a model of reliability and consistency in his 5 years at the club.

With the Dutchman between the sticks, United have enjoyed a great period of success including three Premier League titles, one League Cup and one UEFA Champions League trophy.

At almost 40, van der Sar is surely approaching the twilight of his career and Sir Alex Ferguson is surely on the look-out for van der Sar’s successor.

Click on the gloves to look at 5 candidates who could fill van der Sar’s gloves at United.*

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Are there any other goalkeepers you feel United should make a move for instead?

Gareth Bale is the man of the moment at present that is without question and you do sense that he is a player that will name his own price going forward. Max Clifford claims that the Welsh winger could make anything in the region of £20m in the next five years, with endorsements and image rights.

It is dramatic rise for a player who less than 12 months ago was struggling to get a game at White Hart Lane as Redknapp continued to leave him out of the cold and seemingly ignored any opportunity to get that winless monkey off his back. Bale seized his chance, when Harry had no option with Assou-Ekotto’s injury and the rest is history.

With fame comes female adulation and hopefully in Bale’s case the need to update his wardrobe, so the shiny grey suits and the waistcoats are replaced by something that represents fashion. Fortunately on the women front he appears to have got it spot on and while she doesn’t have the same wow factor as perhaps Mrs van der Vaart, Lloyd, Clancy or Keane, she is certainly has potential.

Click on image below to view gallery

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Where does Ms Bale rank among the other Tottenham WAGS? – click here to find out.