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[ad_pod ]The early departure of Yannick Bolasie back to his parent club Everton, as per avfc.co.uk,Âhas left a hole in Aston Villa’s squad.Dean Smith must seek to find a solution to this issue ahead of his side’s clash with Ipswich Town at Villa Park this weekend.

On the chalkboard

Whilst Bolasie wasn’t able to produce his best form consistently in his time with the Villans this season, the 29-year-old’s pace, trickery and directness would have been the ideal weapon to target former manager Paul Lambert’s full-backs with on Saturday.

Thogden has ranked his top 5 sets of Championship away fans for Pl>ymaker FC. Did your club make the list? Find out in the video below…

In Bolasie’s stead, Smith ought to give Andre Green a rare chance in the starting XI, as the 20-year-old has the required attributes to replicate the Everton winger’s effect on the Tractor Boys. The youngster’s pace and confidence when running at opponents with the ball at his feet should make him a dynamic and dangerous presence for the Ipswich defence to have to contend with.

Ready to rise to the challenge

Green spent a chunk of the first half of the campaign on loan with League One high flyers Portsmouth. He is yet to start for Villa after he was recalled, as per the club’s official Twitter account, from Fratton Park though, and has only made two starts so far this season for the Midlands outfit in all competitions, as per Transfermarkt.

However, he replaced Bolasie from the bench against Hull City last time out and impressed in his cameo. What’s more, the Villa faithful are sure to get behind Green and give him a chance to grow into a greater role in the team due to the fact he is a product of their club’s academy.

He isn’t the finished article yet, but the potential is clear and he’s ready for this next big test in his career.

Pundit Alan Hutton believes that Leeds United forward Joe Gelhardt could miss up to eight weeks of action should his injury scare prove to be a thigh problem, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Elland Road withdrawal

Gelhardt was handed a start for the under-23s on Monday, looking to build up his fitness levels after missing parts of the international break with a fake positive virus test.

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Unfortunately, the 19-year-old was forced off at Elland Road against Crystal Palace with an issue with his left leg as Crysencio Summerville stole the show with a hat-trick in a 4-0 win.

Leeds were set to assess Gelhardt on Tuesday but initially believed it was a dead leg, although Hutton has made a worrying claim.

The Latest: Hutton’s comments on Gelhardt

Hutton, who contributes as a pundit for the BBC, described Leeds’ injury woes this season to Football Insider as a ‘nightmare’.

He added that a thigh problem could rule Gelhardt out for ‘six to eight weeks’, which could keep him out of the Whites’ final seven league games, should that be the case.

The ex-Scotland defender lamented:

“I just think in general, the injury situation at Leeds has been a nightmare.

“When you really think about it, every week we’re talking about somebody being out.

“Let’s just hope that it is a dead leg because if you’re talking a thigh injury, he could be out for six to eight weeks. Fingers crossed it’s not.

“Playing against teams like Watford and teams round about you, they are six-pointers. You need your full squad fit and raring to go.

“That’s whether it be starting XI or off the bench to make an impact, like Gelhardt has done this season. Hopefully, it’s not too serious.”

The Verdict: Gelhardt’s rise

It’s crazy to think that Leeds would be sweating this much on an injury to Gelhardt, but that just shows his improvement in 2021/22, along with highlighting the severity of the club’s injury crisis.

He has contributed to five Premier League goals in just 486 minutes of action, helping the Whites to pick up four points by winning a penalty against Wolves in October and netting a last-gasp winner against Norwich last month.

Patrick Bamford and Tyler Roberts are both sidelined through injury, which makes Gelhardt’s availability even more important at this stage of the season. Hopefully the youngster will be able to make the trip to Watford on Saturday, providing strong competition to the likes of Dan James and Rodrigo.

In other news: Mega-rich club may now offer Leeds star 380% pay increase after he makes demand to Radrizzani

Jesse Marsch should attempt to lure Sergino Dest from Barcelona to Leeds United, according to transfer insider Dean Jones. 

The lowdown

In the words of ESPN senior writer Tom Hamilton, the 48-year-old has become ‘the most successful American coach in Europe’ and a ‘pioneer’ for his country.

He led Red Bull Salzburg to two league titles and two Austrian cups before earning a move to RB Leipzig, who were Champions League semi-finalists in 2020. The former New York Red Bulls coach is now taking on the Premier League with Leeds, having succeeded Marcelo Bielsa at the end of February.

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Leeds are reportedly looking at 21-year-old Dest, with 17 caps for the United States, in addition to compatriot Brenden Aaronson, and the Whites believe that the former would be an ‘excellent addition’.

He is represented by ICM Stellar Sports, whose clients also include Elland Road duo Patrick Bamford and Dan James.

The latest

Jones told GiveMeSport that Leeds face some pretty daunting competition for Dest, who made a ‘dream’ move to Barcelona in 2020, but he thinks that Marsch may be able to exert some pulling power.

The journalist claimed: “Sergino Dest has much bigger clubs interested in him right now. He’s got huge ambition and doesn’t even want to leave Barcelona because it was his dream move.

“But if Jesse Marsch has got any pull over him, then he should give it a go.”

The verdict

Dest started 10 of Barcelona’s first 11 La Liga matches this season, but since Xavi took over in November, the American has only been named in five starting line-ups. Injury problems have played a part, but his place looks considerably less secure than it did under Ronald Koeman.

If Marsch could tempt the £16.2m-rated wide man and Leeds could make an offer to Barcelona’s satisfaction, then there would be cause for celebration at Elland Road.

Dest, who can operate in both full-back positions and as a winger, was Ajax’s Talent of the Year in 2020 and also featured in the IFFHS Under-20 Team of the Year alongside the likes of Alphonso Davies, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden and Ansu Fati, so his potential is huge.

Indeed, Barcelona team-mate Dani Alves declared that ‘he has everything to be one of football’s greats’, so if Marsch does have any sway over possibly enticing the 21-year-old to Leeds, he absolutely must utilise it.

In other news, this Leeds man could leave the club after Marsch spoke to him about his behaviour. 

Rangers travel away from Ibrox today as they return to Premiership action after losing in the Europa League on Thursday night.

Gio van Bronckhorst’s men lost 1-0 to Braga in the European clash and now come up against St Mirren in the Scottish top-flight as they look to bounce back from the defeat in Portugal.

The Gers have lost three of their last four matches in all competitions, including their Old Firm clash last week, and the Dutch head coach may need to make some changes to the team to get back to winning ways.

How many alterations will he make to the side? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that Borna Barisic, Joe Aribo and Aaron Ramsey will all return in place of Leon Balogun, Scott Arfield and Glen Kamara from Thursday night.

Starting off with the defence, Van Bronckhorst may look to move Calvin Bassey to centre-back and bring Barisic in at left-back. He made this change in the second half against Braga and it would freshen up the backline amid a busy schedule of matches, leaving Balogun fresh for the second leg next Thursday.

In the number 10 role, we are predicting that Kamara will be axed for Ramsey. The Finland international was deployed ahead of Ryan Jack and John Lundstram on Thursday night but was unable to display any attacking quality.

As per SofaScore, the £21k-per-week dud failed with his one attempted dribble and failed to create a single chance for his teammates. By contrast, Ramsey – who Ross Wilson dubbed “world-class” – has scored two goals in his last two Premiership appearances and can offer more of a threat going forward.

On the right, we are predicting that Arfield will lose his place and Aribo will come in instead. The Nigeria international has started 28 of the club’s 32 Premiership matches this season, which shows that Van Bronckhorst has been relying upon him on a regular basis.

This is why he may want to go with the ex-Charlton man from the start against St Mirren, as the manager clearly trusts the 25-year-old to put in a good performance.

Despite Fashion Sakala’s struggles against Braga, he could keep his place up front as Kemar Roofe also failed to adequately fill Alfredo Morelos’ boots against Celtic. Both players have been unable to catch the eye and therefore it seems largely irrelevant – at this point – to debate which one of them will start.

AND in other news, 100% duels lost: Rangers dud who lost the ball every 1.8 touches v Braga failed Van Bronckhorst’s big test…

Liverpool are hot on the heels of reigning Premier League champions Manchester City at the top of the table with just a handful of games left before the season comes to an end.

With 31 matches played, the Reds have won 22, drawn seven and lost two along the way, scoring 79 goals and conceding just 22 in the process.

One man who hasn’t been a particularly prominent figure on the pitch for Jurgen Klopp’s side, especially over the past few weeks. is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

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Having appeared in 17 league games, the Englishman has only started nine, the latest of which came back in February in the 3-1 win over Norwich City.

Since then, the 28-year-old has not played a minute of action for his side in the league, failing to even make the substitutes’ bench for the 2-0 win over Brighton in March and last weekend’s clash against Pep Guardiola’s side.

Looking ahead to the upcoming summer transfer window, it seems as though the Reds have their eyes on potentially bringing another midfield option to Anfield, which could well see Oxlade-Chamberlain wave goodbye to Anfield.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from O Jogo (via Sport Witness), Liverpool are eyeing up a potential summer transfer swoop for Porto midfielder Vitinha, who apparently has a release clause of £33m.

After spending last season on loan in the Premier League with Wolves, the 22-year-old – who has been described as a “fabulous” player by his manager Sergio Conceicao – has been a regular figure for Porto in the current campaign.

With 25 league appearances under his belt, the midfielder has scored two goals, provided two assists and earned an overall performance rating of 7.41/10, making him the third-highest rated player currently at the club according to WhoScored. This shows just how capable the £4.5k-per-week Portuguese gem is of playing in a top team at a high level.

With an average of two shots, 1.5 key passes and 1.8 dribbles per game in the league this season, this highlights how much of an attacking threat he can be from the middle of the pitch.

This would certainly suit Liverpool given how they currently have the best attacking record in the Premier League in terms of goals scored.

Taking all this into account, if the Reds were to strike another deal with Porto – as they did in January for Luis Diaz – to bring Vitinha back to England on a permanent basis, it could add a bit of extra attacking strength to their squad and also give Oxlade-Chamberlain the signal to bring his time at Anfield to an end.

In other news – Fewer touches than Alisson: Liverpool waster who lost 92% of his duels was “awful” against Benfica

West Ham are still interested in completing the signing of Manchester United midfielder Jesse Lingard, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Lingard excels at West Ham

The 29-year-old spent half of last season on loan at the London Stadium, becoming a hero in no time and spearheading the Hammers’ European challenge.

Lingard scored nine goals and registered four assists in just 16 Premier League appearances for West Ham, prior to returning to the northwest.

He has again struggled for playing time at Old Trafford this season, however, and the Hammers have been tipped to re-sign him in the near future.

The Latest: Hammers still in the fight

Speaking to Give Me Sport, O’Rourke claimed Lingard remains on David Moyes’ radar, with their interest never going away:

“He has been on West Ham’s list since last summer when he had that great loan spell at the London Stadium last season. He doesn’t figure in Manchester United’s plans going forward.”

Newcastle are now strongly linked with the 32-cap England international, so it appears Rob Newman could have a fight on his hands for his signature in the next ten days.

The Verdict: Newcastle favourites

While it would be great to see Lingard back in east London, it does look increasingly as though he could be part of the Tyneside revolution, following their recent big-money takeover.

The Magpies have made a second loan bid for the England international and their newfound financial power could give them the edge over West Ham, in terms of wages.

Should the player opt for London living and a club currently thriving instead of fighting relegation however, Lingard would be a fantastic addition to Moyes’ squad this month. He has been hailed as ‘exceptional’ by the Hammers boss in the past and showed in his temporary stint last term just how much he can inject into the Irons’ attack.

In other news, some West Ham fans are excited after an update on one target. Find out who it is here.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has given the Glasgow Rangers’ youth players a chance at Ibrox since replacing Steven Gerrard back in November.

In his very first press conference, the Dutchman mentioned that chances would be given to players regardless of age, and so far, he has stuck by that mantra in his six months in charge.

Opportunities have fallen to youth starlets such as Alex Lowry and Charlie McCann, with the two being deployed in the earlier stages of the Scottish Cup to great effect.

Lowry came on for Ianis Hagi against Stirling Albion and made an immediate impact, scoring in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd.

Meanwhile, former Manchester United youngster McCann emerged from the bench in the next round against Annan Athletic and suitably impressed.

This has led many to push for young striker Tony Weston to be given a chance in the first team, especially considering the fact Alfredo Morelos is out for the rest of the season through injury.

Weston signed for Rangers from Blackpool in the summer of 2020 on a three-year contract and has continued to impress ever since – scoring goals aplenty for the B team – 21 in the Scottish Lowland League alone this season – and pushing towards a first-team opportunity.

Rangers youth coach Steven Smith sang his praises earlier on in the season, dubbing him “clinical” following a double against Dalbeattie Star.

These goals have given the striker the perfect platform to impress Van Bronckhorst with the final furlong of the season approaches.

And, considering his impressive goalscoring record for the B team, Rangers could well have the next 355-goal Ally McCoist in their midst, and if Weston was even half the player that Super Ally was, then the Gers have got something special on their hands.

AND in other news: Van Bronckhorst can brutally axe “shaky” Rangers dud in deal for “annoyingly brilliant” £0 machine

Everton have been linked with a number of potential candidates in the search for their sixth manager in six years including Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard.

This week they have already been interviewing for the role, with Vitor Pereira flying in yesterday to meet with Farhad Moshiri, however, the meeting has not been met with a warm reception.

What’s the word?

According to The Mirror, Moshiri’s interest in Pereira has been met with strong resistance from the Everton board and club executives, due to his recent poor record at Fenerbahce and his relegation with 1860 Munich.

It has been reported that the Toffees owner has been persuaded behind the scenes to pull away from appointing the manager, and encouraged to take his time to look over the other candidates before he makes a decision, due to the situation Everton find themselves in, three points away from the relegation zone.

Pereira was sacked from his managerial position at Fenerbahce for the second time last month after the Turkish side failed to pick up results in the league, and the Portuguese native is currently available for a new role.

Moshiri could cause chaos

The potential appointment has not just been met with concern by the Everton board, but also by the fans who already have a fractured relationship with the owner after years of reckless spending and bad decisions that have ultimately found the club in one of their worst positions in decades.

That potentially put them in a relegation battle that could see Everton lose their Premier League status for the first time in the league’s 30 year existence.

Fans have been taking to social media to share their concern over the chances of 53-year-old Pereira becoming the next manager of the club, with one fan tweeting:

“Yesterday I said we’re not in a relegation battle if we appoint Vitor Pereira we will get relegated.”

Moshiri is in no position to be making any more mistakes, so ensuring that he looks at all of his options carefully and finds the right manager to suit the needs of Everton’s situation to keep them safe inside the Premier League next season is absolutely imperative.

There is no room for error in the final few months of this season and winning points to climb the table should be the top priority.

After all, the last thing Everton want is another manager to cause the fans to turn on him and Pereira already has a history of that, having to tell supporters in Turkey to “shut up” according to reporter Zach Lowy.

In other news: Insider reveals update on Duncan Ferguson’s position

As per Spanish news outlet Fichajes, there has been a development involving Tottenham Hotspur and their fresh links to Juventus striker Paulo Dybala.

The Lowdown: Dybala links re-emerge…

As transfer chief Fabio Paratici eyes ‘quality players at zero cost’ for manager Antonio Conte, Spurs have been eyeing a plethora of potential 2022 free agents.

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Man United star Jesse Lingard and AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie have been mentioned recently, as well as Dybala in this past week, with Corriere della Sera claiming Tottenham’s manager is ‘in love’ with the player.

Going one step further, Fichajes have more on this as they lift the lid on Conte’s transfer demand for Spurs involving the Argentine.

The Latest: Conte green-lights move…

As explained by the Spanish source, Conte has now personally green-lit a move for Dybala and is set to demand Tottenham chiefs ‘do everything possible to get his contract in the next summer market’.

Fichajes go on to explain that the 28-year-old is a player Conte likes ‘very much’ and that he knows could be a ‘great addition’ in north London – with Juve’s ‘jewel’ now firmly a target.

The Verdict: No brainer?

Signing the 31-cap star on a free deal in the summer should come as a real no brainer for Tottenham, especially in their hunt for a striking alternative to Harry Kane.

The £220,000-per-week forward has racked up a brilliant 109 goals and 46 assists for Juve across all of his appearances to date for the Old Lady, backing that he could be a prolific option for Conte.

Amid their links to Fiorentina star Dusan Vlahovic, depending on if Dybala signs a new deal, Paratici could land a completely free alternative with the Serbian’s level of quality.

In other news: ‘This will get Tottenham fans excited…’ – Sky Sports drop big N17 transfer update live on air, find out more here.

Tottenham Hotspur are among the teams to have made a bid to sign Porto winger Luis Diaz, according to reports.

Portuguese newspaper O Jogo (via Sport Witness) claim that Spurs submitted a €60m (£50m) offer for the 24-year-old winger but it was refused, with the Primeira Liga outfit wanting a fee closer to his €80m (£66m) release clause.

Premier League rivals Liverpool and Newcastle United have also been heavily mooted with interest in recent weeks, too.

The 31-cap Colombia international has been in electric form this campaign – as per Transfermarkt, the versatile attacker has provided 15 goals and five assists across the Portugal top-flight and Champions League, adding to his 11 goals and six assists in all competitions last season.

His form has earned substantial recognition from those around him.

Only two months ago, Portuguese journalist Marino Peixoto wrote on Twitter:

“The rate at which Luís Diaz is churning out otherworldly performances coupled with his ability to score screamers like this on a consistent basis is genuinely frightening. Only a matter of time before somebody pays an astronomical fee for him.”

Whilst Dragons teammate Sergio Oliveira described the £36m-rated dynamo as “extraordinary” after a particularly glowing display against Italian giants AC Milan.

“I don’t have to answer, we know his qualities, apart from the human level he is also extraordinary on a technical level,” he said (via the Daily Mail).

Given manager Antonio Conte’s desperate plea to bolster his playing squad this month, Diaz is evidently a player capable of adding some much-needed quality in the final third.

“For sure (we need to strengthen),” the 52-year-old told reporters. “After only two weeks I said we needed to improve the quality of this squad.”

He has proven on both a domestic and European level that he can regularly score and set up chances, as evident by his figures and subsequent praise above.

Spurs may well need to break their £55m club-record fee to land him but you’d imagine he would be worth every penny, even more so under the Italian manager.

Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici must do all he can to secure the Colombian maestro this window.

AND in other news, Forget Bergwijn: Tottenham’s £34m-rated “big talent” could fill Conte’s huge Son void…