That’s the case with Riccardo Calafiori, who currently plays for AS Roma and clearly fancies a future at West Ham or Chelsea. The 20-year-old moved to FC Basel in August, leaving Italian football behind.

Born in Rome, the fullback had been in the system at AS Roma, and experienced a loan to Genoa. Last season he made nine Serie A appearances, combined between the two Italian clubs.

He moved to Basel on a permanent deal, where the youngster has a contract lasting until June 2025, with the option for further year.

Speaking to Vocegiallorossa, Calafiori was asked where he sees himself in five years, and that’s when the English clubs were mentioned: “I have two images: going back to Italy, perhaps in Rome, or my dream would be to play in the Premier League. I really like West Ham or Chelsea.”

The defender hasn’t explained why the two London sides stick out for him, but he’s one to keep an eye on and will have to progress to make that dream come true. Impressively, he’s been capped at every level from Italy U15 to U21.

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The country are currently ranked second in the world, but they’re not playing like a side with such status. There’s been disagreements within the camp, with Kevin De Bruyne showing his frustration more than once since arriving in Qatar.

Manchester City’s star midfielder suggested Belgium’s ageing defence is to blame, with Toby Alderweireld, clearly annoyed, later asking if the attack is therefore also ageing because they’re not performing either.

One of the hopes for the future is Everton’s Amadou Onana.

Since moving to Goodison Park in the summer, the midfielder has been winning fans and he started the match for Belgium against Morocco. He received a yellow cared and was then substituted for Youri Tielemans, with both goals coming after the Everton player had left the pitch.

Martinez took Onana off because of the booking, and that’s not a decision the Toffees man necessarily agrees with.

Voetbal Primeur quote him as saying: “I still wanted to play because I felt good. I have played with a yellow card many times in my career. These are the choices of the coach and I don’t blame him.”

Martinez is receiving widespread criticism in Belgium for being too loyal to multiple players in the squad.

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The central defender, who is just 20-years-of-age, has started both matches for Ecuador so far. That’s seen a win over Qatar and a draw with the Netherlands, a good start to the country’s World Cup campaign.

According to Bild, Tottenham ‘wanted to pay €40m’ for the defender during the last summer market. Chelsea, who have been linked repeatedly over the past day or so, and Arsenal are the other two Premier League clubs in the mix.

That seems like a big fee given Hincapié had only had one full season in European football at that stage.

Bild have quotes from Bayer Leverkusen director Simon Rolfes, so that may be where the €40m claim is from. Presenting Tottenham as being prepared to pay €40m sets a basis for a high asking price next summer.

Rolfes is quoted as saying: “Piero is under contract with us for a long time (until 2026), so I won’t comment on every rumour. There’s nothing more to say about that.”

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One of those is Boulaye Dia, who arrived on loan from Villarreal, then managed by Unai Emery, in the last summer window. That loan lasts for the rest of the season and there’s a buyout clause at the end of it.

Dia has played both of Senegal’s games at this World Cup, losing to the Netherlands and scoring in a victory over Qatar. TuttoSalernitana say he’s convincing the club to use their option, but that doesn’t mean he’ll absolutely stay where he is.

Aston Villa are credited with an interest, with the Emery connection made clear.

However, if the manager didn’t see a place for him at Villarreal, to the point of loaning him out, then it’s surely questionable whether he’d been so keen on a reunion at Aston Villa. Dia is 26-years-of-age, so it wasn’t a case of sending a player on loan for experience.

Nevertheless, the link is being made, and this time from close to the player’s current club. Dia will surely have to impress further at the World Cup, and when he returns to domestic football, to truly convince Emery that he’s worthy of a move to Aston Villa.

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Whilst some of them will be obvious, such as PSV’s Cody Gakpo, there’s some lesser known players who are having their moment in the spotlight and taking advantage of it.

Piero Hincapié is one of those, with the Ecuador defender starting both of his country’s matches so far in Qatar. That’s seen Ecuador beat Qatar and then draw with the Netherlands, with the country on course for the knock-out stages.

Chelsea have been linked repeatedly over the past day or so, and those claims have made their way to Germany. Hincapié currently plays for Bayer Leverkusen, and the 20-year-old has been a regular this season.

He’s contracted until June 2026, so Chelsea have no pressure to put on in that respect.

Bild say that as well as the Chelsea claims, there’s also some interest from Arsenal and Tottenham.

Bayer Leverkusen director Simon Rolfes is quoted by Bild as saying: “Piero has been under contract with us for a long time, so I won’t comment on every rumour. There’s nothing more to say about that.”

Bild’s own information suggests the Bundesliga club are keen on a renewal.

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Just like he was in Russia, PSG star Kylian Mbappe has been a star for Didier Deschamps’ side and the manager can now mix it up a little on Tuesday, resting some players and giving others the chance of playing at a World Cup.

West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola has likely been hoping against hope for some minutes before he comes home from Qatar. That match against Tunisia may have been his best chance, apart from if there’s injuries to others.

That outside hope has taken a further blow, with L’Equipe reporting the Hammers stopper is out of France’s training session on Monday. Areola is the only new member of the Deschamps selection with an issue, and it’s said to be related to his back.

There’s no indication of a more serious problem, and L’Equipe present it all as precaution around the West Ham player.

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Spurs fans won’t have been surprised to see their man doing well, especially after his performance in the 4-3 victory over Leeds United, just before the break for Qatar 2022 started.

This evening, Uruguay face Portugal in what is expected to be a tough match for both countries. Just like he did against South Korea, Bentancur is expected to play a deeper role than he does for his club, making it more difficult to repeat his goalscoring Leeds performance.

Bentancur believes his deeper position has worked, and he’s quoted by Gol Caracol as saying: “More than anything it was to be able to make a quicker and cleaner start. It was not achieved. Because we could not play a fast game from behind. It is not my Tottenham position, but I feel very comfortable playing anywhere and more for our team.”

Despite that, the Spurs player does feel Uruguay lacked a little because they didn’t have midfielders able to break the lines of the opposition.

Uruguay aren’t being talked about as one of the favourites for the competition, but that is something Bentancur is quite happy with, believing it allows them to go under the radar: “We always respect all our rivals and the less said about Uruguay, the better for us. As is sometimes said, slowly because of the shadows is the best way to avoid attracting attention. Always with humility, respect your rivals and go out to play as equals. The previous World Cup we did very well, then the qualifiers cost us a bit, now it was not the desired start. We are going to give our best.”

That has to start tonight against Portugal.

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The RB Leipzig defender has long been thought to be on the Blues wanted list, and two decent performances for Croatia at the World Cup have helped hype the situation a little.

Fichajes now say Chelsea are ready for a ‘World Cup madness’ on the transfer front. As has widely been reported, and for some time, it’s thought they already have a deal in place to sign Christopher Nkunku from RB Leipzig.

He was dealt the cruel blow of being injured in France’s final training session before their Qatar adventure began, so is of course out of the World Cup.

It’s his Leipzig teammate Gvardiol who is being referred to, and Fichajes believe Chelsea have a big advantage in the race for the 20-year-old’s signing. That’s because they have an open live of communication with Leipzig, after the deal for Timo Werner in the summer and the contact over Nkunku.

Over in Italy today it was reported Antonio Conte is trying to use Ivan Perisic to help get the defender to Tottenham. The pair are both with the Croatia squad, but it’s worth pointing out Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic is also there, so perhaps Graham Potter needs to get his midfielder on the case.

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Antonio Conte hadn’t been at Spurs for long and having found difficulties signing other players, La Viola’s midfielder was seen as an option.

Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski signed for Spurs on deadline day of that winter market, and the deal was clearly a good one for the Premier League club and their manager.

Once the window closed, it was reported in Italy that Amrabat had been keen on the move to England, turning down other options to hold out for it. It didn’t happen, and now there’s a suggestion Tottenham could return for a second try.

La Repubblica, via Viola News, now report Conte’s side are ‘ready to get underway’ with another attempt. He’s impressed at the World Cup for Morocco and is currently showing the ‘best version’ of himself.

The 26-year-old has a contract with Fiorentina which lasts until June 2024, putting La Viola under a little pressure regarding his future. They want a renewal, but a strong Tottenham attempt in January could change things.

Amrabat would be seen as a reasonably priced squad addition, and a player Conte is known to like.

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Barcelona themselves were keen on a transfer for financial reasons, as they wrestled with levers and creative accountancy to try and bring the signings in that Xavi Hernandez had requested the club make.

The midfielder didn’t take kindly to it, and refused to leave the Camp Nou or renegotiate his contract with the Catalan club. Despite all kinds of threats sent through the media from club sources, De Jong was gaining prominence for Barcelona ahead of the World Cup.

There’s another Dutchman set to be the man linked most with Manchester United during the next window, and that’s PSV’s Cody Gakpo, who is impressing at the World Cup.

Both men have been taking part in press conferences and were asked about January moves and Manchester United.

De Jong killed the line of questioning, quoted by Mundo Deportivo as saying: “I’m at a World Cup, I’m not going to talk about clubs.”

Meanwhile, RMC quote Gakpo being just a little more open: “As things stand, I will still play for PSV after the winter break. But as I said before the start of the World Cup: we’ll see what happens.”

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