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Newcastle United are now in the top half of the Premier League table as a crucial January continues to chug along.

Eddie Howe has come out to state that the Toon’s start to the year is “season-defining”, with a mammoth nine games heading their way in all competitions, as another EFL Cup final potentially waits on the horizon.

Howe would have been delighted by the performance against Crystal Palace to kickstart 2026 with a comfortable 2-0 victory, but he will know his squad could still do with some improvements here and there, with the transfer window now back open for business.

Newcastle United looking at striker deal

With Sandro Tonali struggling to hit the grand heights expected of him this season, it’s no great shock to see that the Toon are planning to bring in midfield reinforcements in January.

The incessant rumour at St James’ Park at the moment revolves around Newcastle preparing to go all out to snap up AZ Alkmaar sensation Kees Smit, with a wild £52m valuation above the in-demand Dutchman’s head.

It’s not just centrally where Newcastle could look to add in additional bits of quality, though, with a new development no doubt piquing the Toon’s interest.

Back in the summer, it was heavily reported that the Magpies had bid a whopping £50m for Jorgen Strand Larsen’s services, with the Wolverhampton Wanderers marksman fresh off a goal-heavy campaign in the Premier League.

Now, however, with the Nordic striker’s reputation taking a battering at Molineux this season, TEAMtalk is reporting that Larsen could be available for a discounted £40m, with Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, Everton, and Fulham all informed about the situation at hand.

Newcastle are also being kept up to date during talks regarding his cheaper availability, with Howe potentially winning another Nick Woltemade-style figure if the lofty centre-forward does desert the West Midlands for a chance at top-flight redemption on Tyneside.

How Strand Larsen is another Woltemade in the making

Immediately, the similarities are apparent when taking in their ginormous frames, with Larsen coming in at an imposing 6-foot-4 when powering through on goal.

Woltemade does have him beaten in this department, standing at a remarkable 6-foot-7, but, when weighing up the Wolves number nine’s debut season in the Premier League, next to the Bremen-born menace’s current potent campaign, the similarities are also clear for all to see in their shared goalscoring prowess.

Larsen’s debut PL numbers vs Woltemade’s

Stat

Larsen

Woltemade

Games played

35

17

Goals scored

14

7

Assists

4

1

Goalscoring frequency

186 mins

180 mins

Goal conversion %

26%

27%

Big chances missed

13

6

Big chances created

6

1

Stats by Sofascore

Looking at the table above, the numbers are eerily similar, with Woltemade surely in line to notch up 14 Premier League goals himself this season, if he can keep his blistering Toon stay up.

The table above is enough, though, to make Newcastle consider a £40m move for Larsen in January, even if he has just one league goal next to his name this season, with his finishing ability lauded as “phenomenal” last campaign by his ex-Old Gold boss Vitor Pereira, firing a goal home every 186 minutes.

It could just be that Larsen needs a change of scenery to get back to his best, having been plunged into a depressing relegation battle at Molineux, with his overall style of play – away from being a focal point with goals – also suiting Howe’s set-up.

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Indeed, although Woltemade has garnered a lot of praise this season so far for his “ridiculous” finishing ability – as he was once labelled by journalist Zach Lowy – he has also stood out for his general hold-up play, with the towering striker’s nous to find his teammates up top such as Harvey Barnes with ease even being heralded as “mesmerising” to watch by Sky Sports’ Andy Sixsmith.

The German’s perfectly timed backheel against Benfica in October would set Barnes on his way to slotting a chance home, with Larsen also known to be a selfless performer in trying to tee up his Wolves teammates, when at his Molineux peak, as seen in him creating six big chances last season.

Newcastle royalty in Alan Shearer has even praised Larsen’s hold-up play as “excellent”, with journalist Liam Keen also noting that the Scandinavian is “very strong” in holding off opposition defenders, before calmly playing a pass.

It’s a steep amount to fork out on a player who has seen his Wolves career fall to the wayside, but Woltemade cost a bomb, too, at £69m, as another £40m is possibly dropped soon.

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Everton sits just five points behind their arch rivals, Liverpool, in the current Premier League standings.

David Moyes’ Toffees are still in with an outside shout of a top-four position in the top-flight this season, with eight league wins now next to their name from 19 total games, after getting the better of ex-boss Sean Dyche with ease last time out to beat Nottingham Forest 2-0.

James Garner would collect a goal and assist to rub salt into the wound of his former employers, but Moyes would have been over the moon with Thierno Barry’s efforts at the City Ground, as well, as he collected just his second ever Toffees strike against Dyche’s hosts.

But, with only 20 goals put away all season long, the Merseyside giants could be tempted to make some signings up top this January, with a talismanic figure in attack no doubt steering Moyes’ men to even more victories.

Everton still keen on dream striker move

With Beto only on one paltry Premier League strike for the campaign, too, it’s clear why a whole host of attacking names are already being linked to the Hill Dickinson Stadium, a matter of days after the window has reopened.

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Indeed, rumours suggest that Everton have begun to discuss a January deal with wantaway Wolverhampton Wanderers striker Jorgen Strand Larsen.

Although with his tally of just three goals in all competitions this season, he won’t be viewed as a huge upgrade worth breaking the bank over.

However, landing the services of Ivan Toney would be a deal that would send shockwaves through the Premier League, as the ex-Brentford attacker continues to be linked with a return to England.

Realistically, the costs involved – with Toney’s wage for Al-Ahli coming in at an eye-watering £433k-per-week – render this deal somewhat of a pipedream.

But, the i Paper has suggested that this is a move that the Toffees ‘would dearly love’ to get over the line over the coming month, as they search for that missing focal point up top, with Toney picking up a stunning 131 goal contributions over his last five seasons in England and in the Saudi Pro League.

Landing the 29-year-old’s services against all the odds could see Moyes win his very own version of Romelu Lukaku, with the Belgian still revered to this day on Merseyside as a beloved goal machine.

Why Toney can be Moyes' own Lukaku

Lukaku’s lasting imprint at Everton is felt today, with Barry stating – after bagging his game-clinching strike against Forest – that he has tried to model his instinctive Toffees game on the 32-year-old during his Goodison Park peak.

Indeed, for the majority of his Merseyside stay, most of what Lukaku touched would turn to gold, with his deadly 87 strikes for Everton in total far outweighing his output at Chelsea, Manchester United, and West Bromwich Albion.

He would even be labelled a “world-class” finisher by one of his former Everton bosses in Ronald Koeman, with the Toffees often relying on the magic of their former number ten to get them out of some sticky spots.

Everton are crying out for a similarly impactful figure to lead the line under Moyes, as the mid-table outfit has fallen victim to a lot of goalless displays this season, with December seeing the Merseysiders draw blanks across three straight Premier League ties.

Toney’s goal record under Frank

Stat

Toney

Games played

141

Minutes played

11,992 mins

Goals scored

72

Assists

23

Hat-tricks

2

Sourced by Transfermarkt

This is where Toney could come to the rescue, looking at the table above, with the 6-foot-1 marksman hailed as a “special” presence in front of goal by his ex-Bees boss in Thomas Frank, when putting away a devastating 72 strikes from 141 games under the Dane’s tenure at the G-Tech Community Stadium.

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Moyes will hope he can strike up an equally red-hot relationship with the seven-time England international if an audacious move is successful, with the Glaswegian responsible for getting a hefty 55 strikes out of Michail Antonio at West Ham United, while also working alongside memorable attackers such as Lukaku during his first Everton reign in Tim Cahill and Steven Pienaar.

The “remarkable” goalscorer – as he has also been lauded by Frank – hasn’t seen his goals dry up in the Middle East, either, as seen in his 43 strikes and counting for Al Ahli, as Toney continues to impress wherever he goes, much like the well-travelled Belgian.

The financial aspects of this deal do make it a very far-fetched one to get over the line, with Strand Larsen’s signature a lot easier and cheaper to seal.

But, if arrangements can be made for Everton to somehow work around his steep pay packet, winning Toney this January could see a second coming of Lukaku arrive on Merseyside.

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Former Zimbabwe fast bowler Henry Olonga has added his voice to those calling for the British government to ban Zimbabwe from touring in 2009.Speculation has been growing in the last week that the British government would tell Zimbabwe that their side would not be given visa to tour in May and June next year when they are scheduled to play one-day internationals and possibly two Tests. In the past, the government has stopped short of taking any direct action, preferring to leave the decision to the ECB, but since Gordon Brown became prime minister, the official line has hardened.Olonga was reacting to comments made by Peter Chingoka, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman, to the effect that it was for the ICC to step in to force countries to meet their obligations under the Future Tours Programme.”Banning tours brought South Africa’s dreadful apartheid regime into the public consciousness around the world,” he told the Mail on Sunday. “It was the right thing to do then, and it is as valid now in Zimbabwe. I would rather inconvenience a small group of Zimbabwe cricketers for the greater good of millions who could ultimately benefit.”Olonga’s comments were backed by Kate Hoey, the former sports minister and the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Zimbabwe. “Cricket is the way that Mugabe has shown that Zimbabwe is a normal country, and his relationship with the ZC chairman, who the British government quite rightly refused to give a visa to come to this country to, is close.”The money that has gone into cricket has not gone to grassroots in Zimbabwe, it’s gone into the pockets of those running the game and indirectly into the pockets of Zanu PF [Mugabe’s party].”It would send out a message, and the opposition would love to see a ban of the kind which worked in South Africa,” she told the BBC. “We should not allow them to come here and swan around the boardrooms of our clubs.”

Michael Hussey has been put in charge of an under-strength Australian outfit © Getty Images

Before New Zealand became a regular Test opponent Australia rewarded fringe players with a Trans-Tasman tour and the current selectors have taken a modern slant on B-sides by picking an under-manned squad for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy. While New Zealand will field their first choices during the three games, Australia have left their captain and vice-captain at home and Andrew Symonds is recovering from a serious arm injury.Adding to the visitors’ lack of power is a Brett Lee ankle injury and a hip problem to Michael Clarke, who is second-in-charge after Ricky Ponting decided to have treatment on his back and Adam Gilchrist rested. The changes mean Australia have picked a raw squad, including Adam Voges, Cameron White, Brad Haddin and the on-standby Phil Jaques, and the competition that has been wedged into a crammed itinerary has become an inconvenience, even though they were upended in the CB Series finals.If Clarke is ruled out, Matthew Hayden will be the only one of Australia’s top four who is batting in his usual position while Brad Hodge, the No. 5, is keeping Symonds’ spot warm. The third-year series that the organisers pipe-dreamed would develop into an All Blacks-Wallabies rivalry is achieving the credibility of a pre-season warm-up.In the New Zealand corner there is no danger of the trophy being tarnished by a low-key attitude. The matches, starting in Wellington on Friday, are a crucial chance to fine-tune after the disappointment of missing the CB Series finals when bundled out by England.

Jacob Oram was an intimidating presence after coming back from a hamstring injury © Getty Images

Stephen Fleming returned to face severe scrutiny following the early exit, but New Zealand were boosted by strong performances from Jacob Oram, Shane Bond and Lou Vincent. Bond, who collected 11 wickets in six games, and Oram (261 runs at 87) proved their fitness in style while Vincent’s three half-centuries made sure the spot of the retired Nathan Astle could be covered. Peter Fulton and Michael Mason were dropped from the touring squad for this series and the only extra is Daryl Tuffey, who has returned for the first time in two years after recovering from a shoulder problem.Apart from an experimental batting line-up, Australia’s main area to improve is the fast bowling, which struggled under pressure over the past month and was unable to threaten England during three consecutive losses. In a take on naughty-boy nets, the selectors refused to rest any of the fast men from the week-long trip and they will try to spend the time honing yorkers and closing-over tactics.The at-the-death problem was also exposed during the previous Chappell-Hadlee Trophy when Australia, who won the 2005 series 2-1, gave up totals of 320 and 332. In the six games played for the trophy recognising the two families, Australia have been successful three times and the deciding match of the inaugural series was washed out in Brisbane.Michael Hussey has been handed the captaincy in Ponting’s absence and he will look to improve on his one loss against West Indies in Malaysia last September. The opening day-night game will be followed by fixtures at Auckland on Sunday and Hamilton on Tuesday. By then New Zealand should have an idea of their World Cup prospects and Australia will be able to pass judgement on some of the next-generation batsmen.Australia squad Matthew Hayden, Shane Watson, Phil Jaques, Michael Clarke, Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey (capt), Adam Voges, Brad Haddin (wk), Cameron White, Brad Hogg, Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Bracken, Glenn McGrath.New Zealand squad Stephen Fleming (capt), Shane Bond, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Brendon McCullum (wk), Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Jeetan Patel, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.

Pakistan are all smiles during a training session at Peshawar © AFP

It’s been just two days since they suffered their second-heaviest defeatin Tests, but India’s chance for redemption isn’t too far away. Victoryin the five-match one-day series, starting in Peshawar on February 6,would go a long way in soothing the wounds but India will know that theybegin the contest as underdogs, against a buoyant side that has won 10 oftheir last 12 games.The upbeat Pakistan squad, almost identical to their Test side, trainedfor around two hours at the Arbab Niaz Stadium this afternoon, withInzamam-ul-Haq having a long batting session. Inzamam had missed theKarachi Test owing to a long-term back injury but was expected to don thepyjamas for the opening game here.There was already a buzz outside the ground, with the public lookingforward to the first one-dayer in the city for more then 16 months. Theauthorities at the Arbab Niaz Stadium indicated that tickets were all soldout and close to 15000 were expected to turn up. Recently England hadrefused to play in Peshawar citing security fears and the city has alwaysbeen in the spotlight owing to its proximity to Afghanistan.Ten members of the Indian squad had a net session this morning beforeheading off to visit the Khyber Pass. India’s spirit received a boost withthe addition of four new players to the squad, with Mohammad Kaif, SureshRaina, Murali Kartik and S Sreesanth having a net session in theafternoon.Having been part of the Uttar Pradesh side that recently triumphed in theRanji Trophy triumph, Kaif and Raina would be expected to provide a liftwith their acrobatic fielding along with some handy middle-order runs.Kartik will provide the team with the left-arm spin option and,considering Harbhajan Singh’s indifferent form so far, he might turn outto be a crucial addition.Despite winning eight of their last 12 games, India, as Rahul Dravid hasadmitted, are yet to completely come to terms with the new ODI rules(Supersubs and Powerplays). They will be up against a side that havethrived under the innovations – with multi-dimensional players oozing outof every pore – and can easily have the momentum stolen from under theirnoses.As expected, security arrangements were beefed up for the game, with thefull knowledge that even a minor occurrence could be a black mark. Twodays ago, the local police were forced to -charge angry fans whoprotested against the non-availability of tickets but they will hope thatthe next two days pass without incident.

Lance Klusener: not expected to have his contract renewed© Getty Images

The United Cricket Board of South Africa is expected to reduce its current number of centrally contracted players from 20 to a figure nearer 13, when the current deals expire at the end of South Africa’s tour of the Caribbean in May.According to a report in the Johannesburg-based Star newspaper, 13 players have already been recommended for new deals, although AB de Villiers and Justin Kemp, who currently fall outside that list, are expected to be added, if their performances against West Indies are up to the anticipated standard.But there will be no new deal for Lance Klusener, while Paul Adams and Neil McKenzie are two other veterans whose hopes of a contract have faded. The only other new face currently in the mix is Charl Langeveldt, who made an instant impact on his Test debut in January, bowling South Africa to victory in the Newlands Test despite the pain of a broken hand.South Africa has been suffering from a steady drain of white talent to England county cricket in recent years, with Martin van Jaarsveld – who played in the Durban Test against England – becoming the latest to take advantage of the Kolpak ruling by joining Kent for the 2005 season. But this news should at least prevent further losses from the squad, by safeguarding the incomes of their leading players for another 12 months.The UCB has set a target of seven black cricketers in the squad for the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, and this quota looks set to be handsomely filled. In addition to Langeveldt, there are three more senior squad members in Herschelle Gibbs, Makhaya Ntini and Ashwell Prince, plus JP Duminy, Monde Zondeki – who has been selected for the third one-day international against Zimbabwe – and the up-and-coming spinner, Thandi Tshabalala.

Ross Taylor’s innings of 138 dominated the New Zealand Academy Selection’s innings in their drawn two-day game with Wellington at Lincoln Green at New Zealand Cricket’s High Performance Centre at Lincoln University yesterday.The Central Districts-based batsman overcame injury problems suffered in an earlier match against his CD team for the Academy side and blasted the Wellington attack. The side had been given a solid start by Jesse Ryder and Mark Richardson. They put on 64 runs before Richardson’s concentration cracked and his 111-minute innings for 14 ended when he was caught from Iain O’Brien’s bowling.Ryder was very patient, by his standards and faced 155 balls in his innings of 52. He and Mark Orchard took the side to lunch at 128 for 1. However, within an over of each other the pair were dismissed after the lunch break and when James Hill was leg before wicket to a Jeetan Patel arm ball, the Academy had slumped to 153 for 4.Taylor and Ross Allen then set about recovering the situation. They added 62 runs before Allen was trapped leg before wicket to Matthew Walker. Taylor carried on, scoring his 50 off 73 balls and with Peter Fulton with him, they took their side to tea at 225 for 5. Fulton had been recovering from illness suffered the day before and was eventually out to Andrew Penn, after adding 49 with Taylor.There was no nervousness from Taylor as his three-figure milestone neared. Mark Gillespie was on the receiving end as 24 runs came from an over, the second ball going for six which registered his century, off 123 balls, his second 50 coming off only 32 balls. Taylor kept the pressure on and by the time he was dismissed for 138, he had faced 140 balls. The only bowler to really look like containing him was Jeetan Patel, the offspinner whose flight and control yielded him 3 for 48 off 16 overs.Brief scoreboard: Wellington 259-8 (S Mills 74*, A Penn 67, M Bell 37, A Redmond 3-70, M Orchard 2-26, R Sherlock 2-51) drew with New Zealand Academy Selection 344-8 (R Taylor 138, J Ryder 52, M Orchard 34, J Patel 3-48, I O’Brien 2-50)

Hyderabad held on for a draw on Day Four of their Ranji Trophy league match against Andhra Pradesh at Secunderabad on Friday, giving their rivals five points from the match.Resuming on their overnight score of 68/2, Hyderabad lost Vanka Pratap with the score on 91. A Nand Kishore, the only batsman from his side who has looked comfortable in this match, made 70 off 234 balls before becoming the fourth wicket to fall.Hyderabad’s middle order, however, performed more solidly than in the first innings. D Vinay Kumar, in particular, showed tremendous grit to make an unbeaten 37 off 238 balls. He, along with Venkatapathy Raju (32 off 103 balls), took his side through to stumps in safety.Ending the day on 237/6, Hyderabad gained three points from this drawn encounter. The result put Andhra Pradesh at the top of the South Zone league points table and Hyderabad at third place, with Tamil Nadu finishing second.Ramesh, Sharath score centuriesCenturies from Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sridharan Sharath gave Tamil Nadu the vital first-innings lead, giving them five points from their drawn Ranji Trophy league match against Kerala at Chennai.Opener Ramesh, unbeaten on an uncharacteristically slow 41 overnight, resumed in similar vein on Friday. Hitting just three fours in his knock, Ramesh made 126 off 391 balls and 62 minutes. He lost Hemang Badani soon after play resumed, but Sharath have him enough support for the pair to post 176 runs for the fourth wicket.Sharath fell with the score on 336, having made 102 off 226 balls, hitting nine boundaries. Ramesh remained unbeaten at the close of play on Day Four, accompanied at the end by Ashish Kapoor, who made 32 not out. Tamil Nadu ended the day on 407/5, attaining second place in the South Zone league points table.

Port-of-Spain – While Christians around the world celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ, nearly 20 000 at the Queen’s Park Oval and many more around the region mourned the West Indies’ death in the Caribbean’s first-ever triangular limited-overs competition yesterday.Unpredictable Pakistan, beaten twice by the same opponents in the preliminary phase of the competition, were the ones who rose to the occasion to complete a hard-fought victory by four wickets in the third and decisive final.It was complete misery for West Indians watching their side capitulate to their lowest total in 33 One-Day Internationals at the ground, an inadequate 114 which the Pakistanis overhauled for the loss of six wickets.’I think we were about 60 runs short of having a competitive total. We tried our best to defend it, but in the final analysis, we didn’t get enough runs,’ captain Jimmy Adams admitted.’Without getting too technical, the bottom line is that we did not score enough runs.’You talk about keeping wickets for the last ten overs. That did not happen and we paid the price for that.’We have accepted the fact that we made mistakes. We have to face them and we have to make sure that they don’t happen again.’The hosts defended their paltry total gallantly, with Reon King at the forefront of an absorbing battle.The improving Guyanese fast bowler brushed aside both openers before the lunch break and added the scalp of Abdur Razzaq just after. But his four wickets for 25 runs from ten overs were not enough to stage a remarkable resurrection on Easter Sunday.Pakistan survived the early discomfort of 19 for three, and although it took them 45.1 overs to attain the target, it was a deserved success for the Asians to follow up their capture of the Sharjah Champions Trophy just before coming to the Caribbean.Inzamam-ul-Haq was by far their leading light with the bat. He ignored the discomfort of a foot injury that necessitated a runner for most of the afternoon and held things together with a composed unbeaten 39 that carried his series aggregate to 295 runs (ave. 59.00).Few would disagree with his being chosen to receive the Man-Of-The-Series prize of a Rover vehicle.Unlike so many previous occasions, West Indies’ demise was not caused by careless, irresponsible strokes after they predictably maintained the pattern by batting first on winning the toss.It was orchestrated by the craft and guile of the dangerous leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed and a sensational over from Shoaib Akhtar in which he twice sent stumps flying all over the place.The combination of Musthaq and Shoaib triggered the deterioration from 71 for two to 97 for eight, which meant that six wickets were swept side for the addition of 26 runs after the best opening stand of the series between Philo Wallace and Sherwin Campbell.Mushtaq, a constant threat throughout a series in which his economy rate was second to none, finally gained a big haul.He snared four wickets, including the three young Jamaicans in the 23rd over of the innings that virtually settled the outcome of the match.After Razzaq induced Campbell into flicking a catch to mid-wicket with the total on 61, Mustaq started the West Indies’ problems by having Wallace stumped, a decision which television replays suggested could have gone either way.The memorable Mushtaq over followed. The victims, in order, were Wavell Hinds, Chris Gayle and Ricardo Powell, the trio falling within two balls of each other.The left-handed Hinds was left clueless about a delivery which he expected to spin away. Instead, it spun onto him and bowled him. Both Gayle and Powell were outfoxed by flight, the former clipping a catch to mid-wicket and the latter slicing one to backward point.When Ridley Jacobs was dismissed to a bat-pad catch off off-spinner Saqlain Musthaq, there was still some hope of a West Indies revival, but that was quickly snuffed out by the irrepressible Shoaib.Still not yet fully recovered from the groin injury that kept him out of the series until now, Shoaib was not at his best. But he gave a hint of what will come in the Test series by knocking over the stumps of Adams and Curtly Ambrose.Earlier, Ambrose was typically tight with the new ball, but it was King who made the breakthroughs that were needed by finding the edge of Imran Nazir’s tentative bat and removing Shahid Afridi to a tumbling catch by Franklyn Rose.Razzaq was another casualty to an edged catch to the keeper, but Pakistan consolidated by way of a partnership of 42 in 15 overs between Inzamam and Younis Khan.Adams broke the stand with his left-arm spin when Younis hit a loose delivery back to the bowler.Adams struck another blow by having Yousaf Youhana snapped up at silly-point,h and King kept the match alive when Jacobs caught Moin Khan inches off the ground.Pakistan were then 93 for six, but the experience of Inzamam and Wasim Akram prevailed.

With Frank Lampard trying to help Everton turn a corner this season in the Premier League, one thing the new Toffees boss will certainly be pleased about is the progress being made by some of his club’s brightest young talents.

It’s been an area where the Merseyside club have somewhat struggled to bring through in recent years, but one teenager who is delivering on some of the hype at academy level, is Tom Cannon.

The 19-year-old striker was a prolific goal-scorer for the club’s U18s, scoring a whopping 29 goals in 42 games and also providing a further nine assists too.

Since the step-up to the U23s, things have been a bit more slow-going however, with just the eight in his 33 games at that level.

However, Cannon has shown signs of finding his feet in recent weeks, including notching twice in a 2-0 win over Derby County on Monday night.

Speaking after his brace, U23s boss David Unsworth raved about the kind of development Cannon has enjoyed recently.

He said: “We all know about Tom’s goalscoring, he does the hardest thing in the game, he puts the ball in the back of the net. We just need to get the other areas of his game up to speed and he’s done so well this year.

“He’s developed at a really fast rate and we’re all delighted for him.”

Unsworth’s verdict on Cannon makes for promising reading for Lampard, and the youngster’s style of play certainly makes him a different option to the likes of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison in the senior team.

A player profile done by The Liverpool Echo back in the summer of 2020 revealed: “Due to his willingness to run in behind, play on the shoulder of defenders and work between the lines, comparisons to Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy have been drawn.”

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While Lampard may be reluctant to throw Cannon into the deep end anytime soon, especially with how the club have been performing in the Premier League this season, the Toffees may well have a real breakout star on their hands in the future.

With his goal-scoring instinct and pace to run in behind, it’s no surprise the 19-year-old is likened to a young Vardy, and that’s something Everton fans should surely be excited about.

Meanwhile, Patrick Boyland has dropped an update on Jean-Philippe Gbamin’s Everton future…