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West Bromwich Albion have been handed a boost to their chances of keeping Sam Johnstone at The Hawthorns this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Evening Standard, who claim that West Ham United are now no longer in the race for the Albion goalkeeper this summer, as David Moyes has been put off by the £10m+ asking price that the Baggies placed on the 28-year-old.

It has been reported that Arsenal are also keeping tabs on the situation of the England international ahead of a potential move this summer, while Valerien Ismael has claimed that he expects Johnstone to leave the club before the end of the window.

Fans surely buzzing

While West Ham backing out of the race for Johnstone in no way means that he will certainly remain a West Brom player next season, it is undeniable that David Moyes’ hesitation over a move for the shot-stopper has provided Albion with a considerable boost to their chances of retaining his services this summer.

And, considering just how impressive the ‘keeper was for the Baggies last season, should he indeed remain at The Hawthorns for 2021/22, it would undoubtedly provide Valerien Ismael with a much greater chance of going on to secure an immediate return to the Premier League at the first time of asking, as well as being something that would have fans of the club buzzing.

Indeed, over his 37 Premier League appearances last term, the £7.2m-rated man helped his side keep six clean sheets, as well as making an average of 4.5 saves and 0.4 successful run outs per game, in addition to making a total of 166 stops over the course of the season.

These returns saw the man Sam Allardyce dubbed a “magnificent” player earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as the Baggies’ second-best performer in the top flight of English football.

As such, keeping the £28k-per-week man at the club this summer would be a fantastic outcome for the club, perhaps even being one of the best pieces of transfer business Ismael could do ahead of next season, and, with West Ham no longer interested in the 28-year-old, the chances of his departure appear to have significantly decreased.

In other news: West Brom transfer news confirmed on “exciting” highly-rated gem, fan surely buzzing

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is facing a quadruple blow ahead of his side’s Old Firm clash next month.

What’s the story?

Along with Kyogo Furuhashi, the Hoops added to their Japanese contingent this month with the signings of Daizen Maeda, Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi.

However, all four are likely to be missing from the clash against Rangers on February 2 due to being on international duty with Japan at the time.

A report from Football Scotland explained: “The Japanese FA had been pushing for the government to relax rules on people entering the country from abroad with restrictions in place caused by Omicron.

“It now looks like they have bowed to that pressure with the government recognising it is in the ‘public interest’ for Japan’s best players to be available for the World Cup qualifiers.

“That includes the likes of Kyogo and his new Celtic team-mates, although Hatate is yet to earn a senior cap for his country but is expected to be called up soon.”

Fans will be gutted

With Celtic fans yet to see the likes of Maeda, Hatate and Ideguchi in action just yet, the news that they will now be missing from one of the biggest games of the season in the Premiership is sure to leave them feeling gutted.

If the newly-arrived trio’s time in Scotland could be mirrored by that of Furuhashi’s start to life with the Hoops, then Celtic fans are in for an absolute treat.

However, with Japan facing China on January 27 and Saudi Arabia on February 1, and the Old Firm clash at Celtic Park a day later, it’s improbable that the quartet will be available for the game.

Also, given the nature of the title race right now, Celtic could really have done with being at full strength as they look to close the gap on Rangers. Instead, they have been handed a major early blow before such a big game.

Meanwhile, Celtic must ruthlessly axe this player…

Crystal Palace are reportedly keen to sign Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen this summer, as the Eagles look to push on after a successful first season under Patrick Vieira.

What’s the talk?

According to TEAMtalk, the south London side are interested in luring the Dane away from west London this summer, after the attacking midfielder joined the Bees in January on a six-month contract.

There was a risk in signing the 30-year-old who hadn’t played since suffering a cardiac arrest last June whilst in action for Denmark at the EURO 2020.

However, the former Tottenham Hotspur star has settled back into the Premier League excellently and is a target for an array of clubs, including Palace.

Palace must sign Eriksen

Crystal Palace will be hopeful that their midfield will once again include Conor Gallagher next season, with the Englishman highly impressing at Selhurst Park on loan from Chelsea this term, however, the Eagles are yet to make any sort of breakthrough in extending the 22-year-old’s stay in SE25.

Therefore, if Gallagher isn’t to stay with the Eagles, signing Eriksen would ensure Vieira’s midfield doesn’t suffer. Having said that, the attacking threat of both Eriksen and Gallagher in the same midfield would be a mouthwatering concept for Palace supporters.

Despite fears that the 30-year-old wouldn’t be able to play football again, the Denmark international has returned to action with no signs of wear and tear, having been labelled “unbelievable” by his manager and fellow countryman, Thomas Frank.

The midfielder has scored and assisted once in five league appearances for Brentford, having left Inter Milan in the summer, as well as netting twice last month upon his return to the Denmark national team.

Having earned 111 caps for Denmark as well as making 533 senior appearances at club level, the 30-year-old possesses remarkable experience that the Eagles could certainly do with, despite aiming to lower the average age of their squad.

Moreover, the Dane has scored 148 goals in that period, highlighting the quality he could provide.

It would certainly be a statement signing for Palace who have impressed under Vieira in the Frenchman’s first season as a Premier League manager.

The South London outfit are currently 10th in the Premier League whilst also set to face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday.

Securing a top-half finish and potentially winning the FA Cup would be a marvellous success for the Eagles. Moreover, it would certainly attract higher quality talents in the summer, such as Eriksen.

AND in other news: Vieira must finally unleash £37k-p/w Palace “baller”, his “magic” could stun Chelsea

Everton could seal a bargain deal in either the upcoming January transfer window or next summer after being linked with a move for Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Denis Zakaria.

What’s the story?

According to Sky Sports journalist Angelo Mangiante, the Toffees are one of three Premier League clubs who are interested in securing the 25-year-old’s services, with his contract set to expire at the end of the current campaign.

He tweeted: “Liverpool, West Ham and Everton are interested in Denis #Zakaria, contract expiring in 2022.”

The Goodison Park outfit were forced to limit their spending to just £1.8m during the last window in order to remain within Financial Fair Play’s regulations, so snapping up Zakaria in a cut-price deal or on a free transfer would surely be appealing to the club’s hierarchy.

Rafa Benitez could seal big bargain

After arriving at Borussia-Park from Young Boys back in 2017, the Switzerland international has established himself as one of the dominant engine room operators in the Bundesliga in recent years.

In 141 appearances for Gladbach, Zakaria has scored 11 goals and provided eight assists, but it’s the box-to-box dynamo’s overall performances which have really caught the eye.

One of the most decorated German footballers of all time in Lothar Matthaus is amongst the 25-year-old’s admirers, claiming that the midfielder reminds him of Real Madrid maestro Toni Kroos.

“I’m glad that Gladbach have found another pearl,” revealed Matthaus (as relayed by Planet Football). “At his age, I was earning my first stripes for Borussia. He reminds me of Toni Kroos at that age.”

Zakaria’s former manager Marco Rose has also been openly complimentary about the £51,000-per-week midfielder, previously telling Sky Germany: “He is a very complete footballer who still has a lot of development potential. He has incredible dynamics, understanding of the game and is not yet at the end of his development.”

The appraisals don’t stop there either, with Swiss stopper Yann Sommer suggesting he had qualities that reminded him of Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane.

With Allan and Fabian Delph in their 30s, and Tom Davies, Jean-Philippe Gbamin and Andre Gomes all struggling for form, bolstering Everton’s options in the middle of the park is likely to be high up on Benitez’s to-do list.

Whether the 61-year-old can entice Zakaria to Goodison Park remains to be seen, but the Swiss beast would certainly add some much-needed steel and class to the Toffees’ midfield. If they can get him on a free transfer, it may well be one of the biggest bargains Benitez has ever saled.

In other news… Journalist provides big Lucas Digne update after Everton absence, fans surely fuming

Aston Villa have been handed a major injury boost ahead of their upcoming Premier League fixture.

What’s the latest?

In a recent Q&A for Birmingham Live, Ashley Preece revealed that central midfielder Morgan Sanson returned to Aston Villa’s first-team training on Tuesday, having recovered from an illness that had ruled the 27-year-old out of the club’s last two Premier League fixtures.

Speaking about the current condition of the former France U21 international, Preece said: “Morgan Sanson is expected to return to training today, so we’ll see where he’s at fitness-wise [ahead of the Brighton & Hove Albion clash].”

Gerrard will be buzzing

With both Marvelous Nakamba and Douglas Luiz appearing to both be doubts for the visit of Brighton on Saturday, the news that Sanson is back in contention for the weekend is sure to have left Steven Gerrard buzzing.

While it is true that the Frenchman is yet to play a single minute of Premier League football this season, the midfielder nevertheless highly impressed in Villa’s penalty shootout loss against Chelsea in the League Cup earlier this term.

Indeed, over his 42 minutes on the pitch against the Blues, the £14.4m-rated man made one key pass, created one big chance for his teammates, made three tackles, one clearance and won all six of his duels.

These returns saw Sanson earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.5, ranking him as the club’s second-best performer against the Premier League leaders.

As such, should the 27-year-old indeed be fit for Saturday’s fixture, it will undoubtedly come as a major boost to Gerrard’s chances of picking up all three points against the Seagulls with absentees already riddling the squad. A win will quite rightly be a result that the 41-year-old is desperate for in the first game of his tenure at Villa Park.

In other news: Grealish 2.0: Gerrard could save AVFC millions with 18 y/o sensation dubbed “the best”

Newcastle journalist Liam Kennedy has made an interesting claim on Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard.

What’s the talk?

The Magpies reporter has name-checked the England international as a player he has heard strongly mentioned as a player the club will want to sign in the January transfer window.

His agent reportedly came to St. James’ Park in October to watch a match and keep an eye on developments at Newcastle, ahead of a potential switch.

Kennedy told GIVEMESPORT:

“The likes of Jesse Lingard and others are names that I’ve heard really strongly mentioned.”

Willock 2.0

The club are currently sat 19th in the table and without a win in their ten matches thus far. They are six points adrift of safety already and appear to be heading for relegation, which is why they need a saviour to come in and rescue them in the January window.

Joe Willock joined the Magpies in the winter market last season and helped Newcastle stay in the division by scoring an outstanding eight goals in 11 Premier League starts. He became a consistent goalscorer in the top-flight and won valuable points, which is exactly what Lingard could do for them this term.

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PIF must secure a deal for the United attacker as he could be the difference-maker for them in the second half of the campaign, much like Willock was in the 2020/21 season. Michael Carrick previously lauded the midfielder’s unique skillset and claimed that he is difficult to play against. He said:

“I think his movement is excellent. It’s something that sounds quite simple, but it’s difficult to defend against.

“He senses where the space is and how to use it. I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s a dribbler with skills and tricks but he’s dynamic. How he plays, he is unique in some ways. You don’t see so much of that now as everyone wants to get on the ball. Off the ball, he’s very effective.”

The £80k-per-week dynamo joined West Ham on loan last season and managed a similar output to Newcastle’s current attacking midfielder, bagging nine goals and four assists in 16 Premier League outings for the Hammers. This shows that he has the quality at this level to come in and make an instant impact on the side by scoring and creating goals, which is why – as Willock was earlier this year – he could be Newcastle’s hero in January.

PIF must now work hard to ensure that they can get a deal over the line for the Englishman to bolster their squad and chances of survival.

AND in other news,  Duncan Castles drops exciting NUFC manager update that should leave fans buzzing…

Rangers could consider loaning out Stephen Kelly in January ‘if he doesn’t get any game time before then’, according to The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell. 

The lowdown

The 21-year-old has logged just 13 minutes of senior action so far this term, making brief appearances in the first leg of the Europa League qualifier against Alashkert and the League Cup win over Dunfermline Athletic.

The midfielder spent the 2020/21 campaign on loan at Ross County, playing 29 games across all competitions, and former County boss John Hughes hailed Kelly as a ‘magnificent’ player and an ‘absolute winner’.

The latest

A supporter asked Campbell on The Athletic’s matchday forum what was ‘going on’ with Kelly, who ‘seems to be nowhere’.

The journalist replied that the 21-year-old ‘just has to stick around and hope an opportunity arises’, but his prospects of game-time at Ibrox have taken another hit with Ryan Jack close to a comeback.

Campbell ‘imagines’ that ‘the question of a loan will be reviewed in January’ if indeed Kelly remains outside of Gerrard’s thoughts.

The verdict

It seems as if the plan was to fully integrate Kelly into the first team setup off the back of a loan spell which delighted Ross County, but it hasn’t really panned out that way.

Worryingly, he is yet to even make Steven Gerrard’s matchday squad for a Premiership game. Ultimately, the competition is just too great at this point, and so another loan move would probably be sensible for the 21-year-old if this season isn’t to just go to waste.

In other news, some Gers fans slammed this man’s performance against St Mirren. 

Sheffield United have reportedly rejected Nottingham Forest’s attempts to sign Blades defender Max Lowe on loan this summer.

The Lowdown: Lowe struggles for playing time

United were relegated from the Premier League last season, but Lowe did not play much of a part in that wretched campaign. The 24-year-old was limited to just seven starts in the league, with Chris Wilder not deeming him a key player for his struggling side.

He is also yet to make an appearance in the Championship this season, which suggests that he has no real future at Bramall Lane under Slavisa Jokanovic either.

The Latest: Blades reject bid

Nonetheless, Football League World claimed that the Blades have turned down a loan bid from Forest for the left-back, potentially due to their lack of options in that area.

It is ‘not yet known’ whether Chris Hughton’s side will make another bid for Lowe, who has also been linked with Reading and Swansea.

The Verdict: Keep hold of him

United have made a poor start to the season and they need as many options as possible in the coming weeks and months. For that reason, it makes sense for Jokanovic to keep hold of Lowe, especially as Yuri Ribeiro, Tyler Blackett and Nicholas Ioannou have all moved on.

The hope is that the £2.7m-valued defender can play a positive role as the season progresses, reaching his full potential after joining from Derby County in 2020.

In other news, some Sheffield United fans have criticised one player after their latest defeat. Find out who it is here.

After making no mistake in picking up all three points in their previous Premier League outing against Norwich City, Aston Villa are back in action once again this weekend with a home clash against Burnley next up for Steven Gerrard’s side.

On the chalkboard

In terms of which players Gerrard could select to be in his starting XI to take on Sean Dyche’s side, one player that featured in their midweek victory that should be in the team to face Burnley is Jacob Ramsey, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £15,000-per-week according to Salary Sport.

In the 90 minutes he was on the pitch for against Norwich, Ramsey showed Gerrard just what a significant midfield player he can be for the Villans by showing his ability in both an attacking and defensive sense.

Going forward, as well as scoring Villa’s opening goal in the first half, Ramsey managed to make two key passes, have a total of three shots at goal and complete one successful dribble.

In a defensive regard, Ramsey managed to win seven of the 10 duels he was involved in and make two tackles in the game, showing how much of a well-rounded midfield player he is.

This performance earned the 20-year-old an impressive overall match rating of 8/10 from SofaScore, making him Villa’s second-highest rated player on the day as he was deservedly called “outstanding” by Gerrard.

Birmingham Live also picked up on his solid performance against Norwich by saying that it was a “coming-of-age performance from the 20-year-old who looks every bit a Premier League player,” as well as adding that Ramsey is “growing into a proper player.”

With this in mind and the fact that Villa have the likes of Morgan Sanson, Anwar El Ghazi, Leon Bailey, Bertrand Traore and Marvelous Nakamba out for the weekend’s game, even though Gerrard may have little option but to start Ramsey, his performance against Norwich certainly showed that he should be in the team based on his quality alone, not the inavailability of others.

Even though Carney Chukwuemeka managed to grab an assist in the match against Norwich after coming off the substitutes bench, the fact that Ramsey has more minutes in the league under his belt this season suggests that he would be the better fit to start against Burnley rather than Chukwuemeka on this occasion.

In other news: AVFC handed big injury boost ahead of Burnley clash that’ll have Gerrard buzzing – opinion

Speaking to Football Insider, Sky Sports pundit Kevin Campbell has been blown away by a transfer claim involving Tottenham Hotspur star Harry Kane and Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva.

The Lowdown: City pull out all the stops?

As August 31 approaches with time running out to land one of their top targets in Kane, reports have recently detailed that City could pull out all the stops to finally sign him.

Reliable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano claims that the Sky Blues are ‘really pushing’ for him while the Daily Mail highlight just how far they are willing to go.

The Mail claim that City could now offer Spurs the chance to sign Bernardo in a swap deal for Kane and it is believed, in terms of cash, they could also go as high as £130 million.

The Latest: Campbell blown away…

Speaking to FI, reacting to this news from the Mail, Campbell has been blown away by the ‘huge’ update and believes signing Bernardo in exchange plus £130m would be a ‘great deal for Spurs’.

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“Wow, now that would be a great deal for Spurs,” explained the former Premier League striker.

“That is for sure because Bernardo Silva is a fantastic player.

“The question is, will Spurs bite? That is the key. I don’t think Daniel Levy is going to make compromises over this one.

“£130million plus Silva is a lot of money plus a top player. Now if that does not get the juices flowing for Spurs, I really do not know what will. Huge.”

The Verdict: Bang on the money…

Landing a player of Bernardo’s calibre whilst receiving a nine-digit fee would be a major offer and one chairman Daniel Levy would be foolish not to consider.

Kane, at 28-years-old, is slowly but surely approaching the twilight phase of his career – with there being an argument that Spurs should cash-in while they still can.

Given the player’s own desire to leave and Tottenham’s need to adopt a sell-to-buy policy, not entertaining a generous offer of that ilk would be questionable to say the least.

In other news: ‘Yes yes yes’, ‘Buzzing’, ‘Game changer’…Tottenham fans erupt as ‘beautiful’ news confirmed, find out more here.