The Premier League has become dominated by teams whose stars are mostly imports — Tottenham being the exception. While the price of English players skyrockets with the pressing need for home-grown talent, many teams seem to forget the ones already on their books.

Patrick Roberts moved to Manchester City from Fulham for £12.75million in 2015, a rather large fee for an 18-year old playing in the Championship, and has only made one league appearance for the Citizens thus far.

The English winger has spent the past season and a half at Celtic, where his 11 goals and 19 assists this term helped lead the Scottish treble winners to an undefeated league season. Roberts’ form has caught the eye of many Premier League clubs, but he is rumoured to be close to wrapping up a permanent transfer to Celtic.

But what about his current club?

The winger is definitely good enough to play for City and would fill the spot opened up if Nolito returns to Spain. Pep Guardiola has said that he wants to bring youth players into the first team and that he wants to create a City side with English players at the heart, but he seems to believe more in the transfer market than the club’s academy and loan network.

City fans will certainly not complain about signing players like Bernardo Silva, but the frustration regarding the club’s academy continues to mount. If a player like Patrick Roberts doesn’t have a chance to break into the team, especially after a fantastic loan spell, then what is the hope for the club’s other youngsters?

The winger has the potential to become an England international sooner rather than later and is at a stage in his development where playing time is key, so a move to Celtic makes some sense.

There is little doubt, however, that he could be a rotational player at City and to sell him now sends a poor message to English loan players. No matter how good you may perform on loan, your club may still prefer to buy a £40million import than give you a first team opportunity.

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England great Peter Shilton seems to be one football figure who did not balk at the £30m fee being attributed to Everton target Jordan Pickford.

According to the Guardian, Everton have agreed to pay Sunderland’s asking price of £30m, which includes add-ons, for goalkeeper Pickford, who had an impressive campaign despite the Black Cats’ relegation last season.

The publication claims that the 23-year-old shot-stopper underwent a medical on Wednesday after Everton sent representatives to Poland, where the player currently is for England Under-21 duty.

If the transfer goes through, Pickford will become only the third most expensive goalkeeper in history, behind Juventus star Gianluigi Buffon and Manchester City’s new arrival Ederson.

Shilton, who is regarded as one of England’s best ever goalkeepers, believes that Pickford is worth the huge figure.

The Liverpool Echo quotes the ex-Leicester City man as saying:

“This sort of money should be spent on goalkeepers. For someone like Jordan, who is young and has great potential, it does not seem a great fee. In the big scheme of things it is not a lot of money, considering how important the goalkeeping position is. It is second to a striker who scores 20 goals a season. You cannot have a really good side without a good goalkeeper.”

Pickford’s positive form for Sunderland last season saw him shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, which was won by Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli for a second season running.

The young goalkeeper has played for the Black Cats for his entire career so far, but has been on loan six times since making his first-team debut in 2011.

According to reports in the Daily Telegraph, Tottenham Hotspur are in discussions with defender Toby Alderweireld over a new contract and they are optimistic that the Belgian will put pen-to-paper.

The Belgian has been a huge success since joining the north London outfit from Atletico Madrid in 2015, and he has helped Spurs challenge for the Premier League title in consecutive seasons after forming a strong partnership with Jan Vertonghen at the heart of the defence.

Mauricio Pochettino is now keen to tie the 28-year-old down to a new deal, but The Times had reported last month that talks between the two parties had stalled because of a disagreement over an inclusion of a release clause in the contract.

Tottenham supporters were quick to have their say on the update regarding Alderweireld via social media, and they want the Belgium international to commit his future to the club in what some think would be the “most important deal” of the summer.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

According to an exclusive from The Sport Review, Liverpool have placed a £14.9million transfer bid for Lyon’s prodigious defender Emanuel Mammana.

The Reds are expected to bolster their defensive ranks ahead of next season after conceding the second-most goals of any side in the Premier League’s top six last term but have distanced themselves from Southampton’s star centre-back Virgil van Dijk after being accused of tapping him up.

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Mammana, however, represents an interesting, cheaper and younger – albeit riskier – alternative to the Netherlands international.

Like Van Dijk, the three-cap Argentine’s ability on the ball really stands out, finishing last season with a whopping 91% passing accuracy and also completing one successful dribble almost every two appearances – demonstrating an ability to carry the ball into midfield.

But the 21-year-old is a talented defender as well, weighing in heavily with tackles, interceptions and clearances last term despite only making 16 starts in Ligue 1.

He seems like a good fit for the way Jurgen Klopp wants his side to play, building attacks from the back. So, Liverpool fans, are you backing your club’s swoop for Mammana? Let us know by voting below…

According to reports in the Mail on Sunday, Everton are lining up a £9m move for West Ham United centre-back Winston Reid as they look to find cover for the injured Ramiro Funes Mori.

Although the Toffees have Phil Jagielka, Ashley Williams and new boy Michael Keane as their available centre-halves, Ronald Koeman is looking for a fourth option after Funes Mori picked up a serious injury while playing for Argentina in March.

Everton’s official website confirmed earlier this month that the 26-year-old will be out for six to nine months, meaning he could miss the majority of next season.

Reid himself is currently working back to full fitness himself following a surgery on a shin problem, but the Mail on Sunday says that he is hoping to be ready for the start of the new campaign.

Everton supporters were quick to have their say on the rumour via social media, and they were divided with their opinions.

While some said that they would certainly take the New Zealand international, others don’t believe that they would get him for £9m, or that he would be willing to sit on the substitutes’ bench.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

According to reports in The Telegraph, West Ham United have launched a club-record £27.1m bid to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho.The Telegraph says that Irons officials have been in the Portuguese capital trying to sort out a deal for the 24-year-old over the course of the last week, and they are confident of securing the Portugal international despite Sporting wanting £36.1m for the player.The Telegraph says that the Liga NOS outfit are aware of the defensive midfielder’s wish to play in the Premier League and the Hammers are looking to use that to their advantage when it comes to agreeing a fee.West Ham supporters were quick to have their say on the rumour via social media, and the majority are excited at the potential addition with some saying he would be “perfect” for the club and others even going as far as saying he would be their best signing since Carlos Tevez.Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Celtic announced on Friday that midfielder Stuart Armstrong had signed a two-year deal at the club, keeping him in Glasgow until 2019, a year beyond his current contract which was due to expire next summer.

His situation was one that worried Celtic fans all summer, with the prospect of a move away from the club before the end of August growing more likely as the saga rolled on.

His exceptional form last season made him a real favourite in the Hoops as he emerged as one of the key performers in Brendan Rodgers’ treble winning side.

One of the key aims of the club this summer has been retaining the big stars in Rodgers’ squad and you’d certainly count Armstrong as one of those.

However, it’s unusual for the club to sign short-term contracts with players and the one-year extension raises a few questions and perhaps a few doubts about where his future lies.

Here are TWO positives and TWO negatives of the new contract for the Scottish international…

Positive: Another 12 months of goalscoring

The fact that Stuart Armstrong will be at the club for another season at least is undoubtedly a massive positive for Celtic in the short-term. They don’t have another central midfielder who can play the all-round game he has in Brendan Rodgers’ time at the club, possessing the energy and ability to defend out of possession but also the desire to get himself forward and score goals.

It’s his goalscoring that won so many plaudits last season, he netted a massive 17 from midfield, a huge amount for a midfielder who wasn’t even deployed in attacking positions in all of his matches.

If there is one major positive of him signing a new deal, it’s that this will likely continue all season again. He’s already scored two this summer and the season has barely started.

Now he is happy with his new deal he can come back into Rodgers’ plans once again and become the driving force in the Hoops midfield.

Negative: He likely isn’t the man to build a team around

When he was on top form last season, scoring goals and even taking the captain’s armband when Scott Brown missed games, many Celtic fans he might be the man to take over from Brown long-term, a man to build the team around and maybe even become the future club captain.

It seems unlikely, based on just a single year extension to his current contract, that this will be the case though. If he had that potential or want to stay at the club for the rest of his career you’d imagine he’d be happy to commit more years to his playing days in Glasgow.

Does he have ambitions to play in the Premier League, or even move abroad? His intentions aren’t clear nor certain but you’d expect him to be leaving Celtic in a year’s time, when the situation will be exactly the same as this summer.

This contract allows him to develop further and experience more UEFA Champions League football, but his long-term future is far from certain.

Positive: The club have protected his value

Aside from his ability, this new contract is a perfect business situation for Celtic. They’ve now protected the value of one of their key assets in the squad from clubs looking to capitalise on his situation in Glasgow. Whether they sell him in January, next summer or even before the end of August, they should now receive a healthy fee for the player.

Players like Victor Wanyama, Virgil van Dijk, Fraser Forster and Aiden McGeady have all left for monster fees by Scottish standards in years gone past and if Stuart Armstrong has another good few months or full season at Celtic then he could reach a similar figure and provide an excellent return on the investment that brought him to the Hoops from Dundee United in 2014.

Negative: Speculation about his future will rumble on

What this contract signing is unlikely to have achieved is closure on reports linking the midfielder with a move away from the club. For supporters of a certain vintage it will be reminiscent of when Stiliyan Petrov signed a new deal with the club before moving down to the English Premier League shortly after, an agreement that suited both the player and Celtic after many years of service.

Stuart Armstrong hasn’t quite reached that status at Celtic Park but given the short-term nature of the deal you can already picture speculative headlines and question marks about his future well into the Autumn and Winter ahead of the January transfer window.

That’ll be especially true if he’s one of the players that can impress in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has admitted that he aims to have at least three new players as part of his squad before the transfer window closes on Thursday, reports the London Evening Standard.

What’s the word?

Out of last season’s top seven, Spurs were the slowest to get off the mark in the transfer window.

It has only been in the last week or so that the North London outfit have strengthened their squad.

The club have brought in Ajax defender Davinson Sanchez and goalkeeper Paul Gazzaniga from Southampton.

After Tottenham suffered a late equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Burnley on Sunday, Pochettino revealed that he hoped to be busy in the next few days.

He told Sky Sports:

“I am confident of getting a minimum of three players. We are working hard to try and add more quality to the squad. There are many rumours and we are working hard. We will see. There are only a few days to the end of the transfer window.”

Who could the new arrivals be?

Bringing in three players within four days is no easy feat, particularly if the selling clubs smell desperation from Tottenham.

It seems that one player could have one foot through the welcome gates already, with Sky Sports claiming that the club have agreed a deal with Estudiantes for 19-year-old defender Juan Foyth.

Paris Saint-Germain’s Serge Aurier has regularly been linked to the London outfit as a possible replacement for Kyle Walker, who joined Manchester City earlier in the window.

With regards to the midfield, Everton’s Ross Barkley has been touted as a Tottenham target for some time, but so far, a deal has not been agreed.

Earlier this month, The Telegraph reported that last season’s Premier League runners-up were open to paying £25m to land the England international, which is half of Everton’s asking price.

It is unclear whether Pochettino will get his wish by midnight on Thursday, but new signings will boost a shaky start for Tottenham, which has seen the team pick up four points from a possible nine.

Arsenal returned to winning ways on Saturday with a comfortable 3-0 win vs Bournemouth at the Emirates Stadium.

After losing to Stoke and Liverpool before the international break, the pressure was on both the players and Arsene Wenger heading into this one but fans got the reaction they were looking for with a convincing performance.

New signing Alexandre Lacazette was back on the scoresheet with his second goal of the season but the day’s plaudits went to Danny Welbeck who not only netted a brace but also set up Lacazette for his effort too.

Welbeck has had a difficult couple of seasons at Arsenal but with three goals in five matches already at the start of this campaign, it’s looking like he’s turned a corner and can be a reliable presence in the Gunners’ attack once again.

Supporters were absolutely delighted with his contribution and took to Twitter to share their joy…

Everton midfielder Tom Davies has said that he was pleased with his own performance during Saturday’s 2-1 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Joshua King struck early in the second period to send Bournemouth ahead at Goodison Park, which led to more unrest with the home supporters.

Everton turned things around in the latter stages, however, with forgotten man Oumar Niasse coming off the bench to score a double for the Toffees.

Davies was also key to Everton’s comeback though, with the 19-year-old setting up Niasse’s first of the match, before playing a key role in the striker’s second in the 82nd minute.

The teenager has revealed that he was ‘proud’ to contribute to an important three points.

Davies told Everton TV:

“It is always good to be involved with the goals and to get an assist – and maybe half an assist… I am proud of my performance.

“It was good movement and good build up play for the first goal. I was in the middle of the pitch and Oumar made a great run. It was a great first touch by him as well, so I cannot take all the credit – he did a lot after my pass!”

Davies came through the youth system at Everton before making his first-team debut during the 2015-16 campaign.

Everton will now switch their attention to the Europa League as they prepare to host Cypriot side Apollon on Thursday night.