Contrasting reports on Leeds United attacker raid, Whites battle Spurs for £40m EPL player

Somewhat incredibly, Toffees boss Rafa Benitez has never squared off against Marcelo Bielsa in the dugout, but he’s relishing the chance to do just that: “Obviously I know him because I had players in Valencia that were playing for the Argentina national team.

“Every time (Roberto) Ayala and (Pablo) Aimar had to go to Argentina I knew about his methods and the way that he was doing things.

“When he was in Italy I was there and we were talking in a congress and talking about football so I know him.

“I have some friends that also know him and I have seen his teams, that is the most important thing - how his team are playing, what they do and it will be an interesting challenge.

"They have been working together for a while but still we have our ideas and our game plan and we will see how it is going on.”

Asked where he saw 66-year-old Bielsa in terms of the game’s top managers, Benitez reasoned: “His teams are very intense. He is someone that analyses the game every day.

"I don’t know how many minutes he can see and how much analysis he can do. “But in the end it depends on the players that you have whether you can put your ideas in place or not.

“He is doing well with Leeds so obviously he is doing a great job and it will be an interesting challenge for me too.”

We’ve gathered the best of today’s Premier League transfer speculation below…