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Aston Villa have been handed a potential blow in their bid to bring Harry Souttar to Villa Park in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Alan Nixon’s report for The Sun, with the journalist claiming that Everton are ready to step up their interest in the Stoke City centre-back after watching him in action for the Potters last week.

Further reports have revealed that both Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur are also keeping a close eye on the situation of the defender ahead of the winter market, however, it would now appear that the Toffees are leading the race for the 23-year-old.

Lange must act

While it is undeniable that Dean Smith already possesses rather impressive depth in the heart of his defence, with all four of Tyrone Mings, Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause and Axel Tuanzebe being incredibly strong options for the 50-year-old to be able to call upon, Tuanzebe’s likely return to Manchester United following the completion of his loan spell at Villa Park means that Johan Lange is correct to be planning ahead for the position.

And, considering just how impressive Souttar has been for Stoke so far this season, making a move for the defender in January, as well as before Everton manage to secure a deal for the youngster, would appear to be a very wise move by the Aston Villa director of football.

Indeed, over his 13 Championship appearances, the £3.6m-rated man has helped his side keep three clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 1.9 interceptions, two tackles, 5.8 clearances and winning a whopping 7.2 duels per game.

These returns have seen the player who Joey Barton dubbed “exemplary” average a SofaScore match rating of 7.19, ranking him as Michael O’Neill’s third-best performer in the second tier of English football.

As such, it would very much appear as if the £5.2k-per-week Souttar boasts the ability to make an immediate impact within the Aston Villa first team, as well as being a player who will only improve with time and experience of playing at a higher level.

So, it would indeed appear a wise move for Lange to do all he can to beat the Toffees to the 23-year-old’s signing, or else Villa could find themselves lining up against the Australia international in the second half of the season.

In other news: Imagine him & Ings: Lange must seal AVFC deal for 4 G/A beast with “mindset of a lion”

Taking to Twitter, journalist Rudy Galetti of Sportitalia TV has dropped a major update on Newcastle United’s pursuit of manager Paulo Fonseca.

The Lowdown: Magpies in Fonseca talks…

As widely reported, Newcastle have been in talks over the potential appointment of Fonseca after they sacked Steve Bruce (Chronicle Live).

The former AS Roma tactician has been tipped as one of the overwhelming favourites for the role and reliable reporters like Fabrizio Romano insist that there is progress being made in negotiations.

Sharing an update on social media, Galetti has now backed this news whilst going a step further.

The Latest: Fonseca ‘ready to sign’ for Newcastle…

Indeed, the Italian reporter claimed that Fonseca is now ‘ready to sign’ a three-year contract with the Magpies and the announcement ‘could already be made official’ quite soon.

“Paulo Fonseca is ready to sign a 3-year contract with Newcastle,” Galetti explained on Twitter.

“The former Roma coach should be present in the Selhurst Park stands to follow the match against Crystal Palace.

“The announcement could already be made official soon.”

The Verdict: Big claim…

Coming as a big claim, Newcastle supporters could be enticed by the prospect of potentially appointing Fonseca as Bruce’s immediate heir.

Lauded as an ‘international class’ tactician by Roma chief executive officer Tiago Pinto, the 48-year-old has also been described as mixing both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp’s tactics in ‘a symphony of Beethoven and Metallica’ (Liverpool Echo).

Also a three-time league title winner with Shakhtar Donetsk, it’s clear that Newcastle and PIF could certainly do far worse than hiring Fonseca.

In other news: Newcastle now preparing £67.7m bid for ‘extraordinary’ ace with eight goal contributions already this season, find out more here.

Liverpool’s summer clearout is set to continue in the final few days of the transfer window, with Divock Origi, Nat Phillips, Lorius Karius and Sheyi Ojo all reportedly available for moves away.

What’s the story?

According to The Athletic’s Liverpool reporter James Pearce (as relayed by Anfield Watch on Twitter), the Reds could part ways with up to four more fringe players before the August 31 deadline.

They tweeted: “NEW: Liverpool are open to offers for Divock Origi. Nat Phillips could also depart, while Liverpool are looking to off-load Loris Karius and Sheyi Ojo. #awlive [@JamesPearceLFC]”.

Liverpool fans should be delighted

Liverpool have already brought in around £30m this summer by sanctioning the sales of Taiwo Awoniyi, Harry Wilson and Mark Grujic.

Switzerland international Xherdan Shaqiri is set to follow that trio out of the Anfield exit door after Lyon had a bid accepted for the diminutive forward, but the exodus is not expected to end there.

Due to the huge financial impact of the ongoing pandemic added to the fact that they have a large squad, the 19-time English champions have been working with very limited funds in recent weeks.

As a result, Jurgen Klopp has only been able to bring former RB Leipzig centre-back Ibrahima Konate to the club following their disappointing third-place finish this term.

However, if director of football Michael Edwards can pull off another masterclass in the market by offloading any, or all, of the four aforementioned flops, Klopp could have the required resources, and space in his squad, available to land another one of his transfer targets.

Therefore, this latest revelation will surely have the Liverpool supporters feeling delighted. They’ve seen their main domestic rivals significantly strengthen ahead of 2021/22, while key midfielder Gini Wijnaldum has joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

And while the Reds may not be able to compete financially with the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United under their current structure, selling unwanted fringe players in lucrative deals is a smart way to level the playing field.

Phillips is arguably the only first-team member up for sale whose exit could split opinion amongst the club’s fanbase, but with the returns of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip to full-fitness, coupled with Konate’s arrival, his game time would be very limited.

Whether Edwards can get any of the quartet out the door in time to bring in just a second major signing remains to be seen, although his past heroics will give Liverpool fans hope there a still a few deals that can be pulled off.

And, in other news…Sky Sports reveal exciting Liverpool transfer update that’ll have fans buzzing 

An update has emerged on Colorado Rapids forward Dantouma Toure, regarding interest from Ibrox giants Rangers.

What’s the talk?

US-based journalist Brian Sciaretta has claimed that the youngster was recently training with the Gers and is now on trial with Premier League side Arsenal.

He Tweeted: “I heard Colorado Rapids homegrown winger Dantouma Toure, 17, is doing offseason training with a bunch of European teams. Was recently at Rangers, now training with Arsenal. Born in Guinea, Toure has played for USYNT’s in the past.”

Exciting

This update will surely excite Rangers fans as it suggests that the club could be considering a swoop for the promising young forward.

The 17-year-old, who has picked up the nickname “Yaya Toure”, has shown great promise in his career so far, playing professionally in the USL Championship last year for New York Red Bulls II. He also made his MLS debut earlier this year for the Rapids, showing how much trust they have in him despite his age.

Colorado’s general manager Padraig Smith lauded the forward as a ‘difference-maker’ upon his arrival at the club as a 16-year-old. He said:

“Yaya is an exciting talent who has already shown tremendous potential through his performances in the USL Championship as a 16-year-old.

“He’s powerful and explosive on the ball and has an ability to take on defenders that allows him to be a difference-maker. We believe he has all the qualities necessary to develop into an elite player and are excited to see what the future holds for him.”

This, along with the experience he already has under his belt, highlights how exciting he is as a young forward and why Rangers fans should be delighted with the prospect of him joining the academy. He is already making strides at senior level despite being almost three years away from hitting the age of 20 and he could be a promising long-term addition to the team.

Of course, he is currently training with Arsenal and the Gers would need to convince the teenage wiz to make the switch instead of making a move elsewhere. Gio van Bronckhorst and Ross Wilson must work hard to tempt him into making a full-time switch to Ibrox if possible, as he could be a fantastic signing for the academy given the potential he has shown.

AND in other news, 64x possession lost: GVB must work his magic on £5.6k-p/w Rangers dud with 0 assists…

Southampton have been linked with a move for OGC Nice defender Flavius Daniliuc recently and the Austrian could be a superb addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side this summer.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, both Southampton and West Ham are interested in signing the Austria U21 captain this summer, with Nice reportedly willing to let him leave.

The centre-back, who has previously spent time with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, enjoyed a fine debut season in senior football with Nice last season, which has seemingly attracted the interest of the Saints.

Would Daniliuc be a good signing for Southampton?

The 20-year-old made 23 appearances in Ligue 1 last season for Nice, averaging a 6.40 rating from WhoScored for his performances, although eight of his appearances in the French top-flight came from the bench.

He could prove to be an excellent option for the future at Southampton and could work well under the coaching of fellow countryman Hasenhuttl, who suggested earlier this week that he was targeting another centre-back in the transfer window.

Considering Daniliuc is currently rated at £5.4m by Transfermarkt, he would arguably fit into two of Southampton’s key areas when targeting players so far this summer, in that he is young and would likely cost under £10m.

The youngster has also featured in every position across the defence, which suggests that he could provide excellent back-up at both centre-back and full-back, which is an area the Saints arguably need to strengthen in, as they currently have just Romain Perraud as a natural left-back in their squad.

It could definitely be argued that Hasenhuttl needs a versatile defender such as Daniliuc in his squad for next season, if he wants to strengthen a defence that shipped the second-most goals in the Premier League last season.

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Therefore, Martin Semmens should definitely consider bringing in the Austrian youngster this summer, as he could prove to be a very shrewd acquisition for the future.

And, in other news… Imagine him and JWP: Semmens should seal Saints deal for beast who “always performs”

Ashley Preece has dropped a key transfer update on Aston Villa and their plans for the rest of the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

Dean Smith’s side have already enjoyed a superb start to the summer with the signings of Emi Buendia and Ashley Young, and it appears they are intent on adding some more players to the first-team squad.

Responding to a question about Villa looking to make four to five top-quality additions this summer, The Birmingham Mail’s Preece said: “Just another couple to come in, as I understand it, if that. Villa want all their business done before pre-season on July 5 in an ideal world but transfer market changes all of the time.”

Fans will love it

While a disappointing end to last season saw them miss out on a top ten finish in the Premier League and thus drop out of European contention, there’s no questioning that Villa took a giant stride forwards.

The Midlands club brought in some smart additions last summer, and look to have done the same this time around too, with the signings of both Buendia and Young – both with Premier League experience and much more likely to hit the ground running at Villa Park.

So, news that Smith is looking to bring in “another couple”, and that the club are intent on doing all their transfer business before the start of pre-season in a couple of weeks, is exciting.

Given the strength of the spine of the team – the likes of Emi Martinez, Ezri Konsa, John McGinn, Jack Grealish and Ollie Watkins – Villa only really need a couple of finishing touches, like a Buendia for example, to take that next step.

And, by getting them in before pre-season, allows them the best possible chance of acclimatising to what Smith wants from them ahead of the new Premier League season.

It’s exactly why Villa fans will love Preece’s latest update on the club’s transfer plans.

Meanwhile, Villa are interested in this teammate of Buendia’s…

Celtic returned to winning ways on Saturday afternoon as the Hoops bounced back from an Old Firm derby defeat before the international break.

Ange Postecoglou’s side were without star striker Kyogo Furuhashi who will miss the next seven games through injury but that didn’t seem to matter as Albian Ajeti found form.

On the chalkboard

Celtic also happened to be without two of their key players from years gone by in Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie.

Both players sealed moves away from Paradise on transfer deadline day as Edouard joined Crystal Palace and Christie headed to Bournemouth.

The former began Palace’s game with Spurs on Saturday on the bench but appeared late on and scored twice on a sensational debut.

However, it could actually be the latter who Celtic end up missing more. Christie was in sublime form at the start of the season, creating more key passes a match (4) than anybody else in the Bhoys side.

His early season performances were in stark contrast to the type of displays that we saw from the Scot last term when he scored only once in his last 11 Premiership outings.

The solution

One way Celtic could go about replacing the Scotland international is by signing Jed Wallace.

Reports from Football League World suggested this week that the Hoops were one of a number of sides interested in signing the £6.3m-rated player.

Wallace is currently contracted to Millwall but is out of contract next summer and thus, could be signed on a pre-contract agreement once January rolls around.

Also interested in the attacking midfielder are Rangers, West Brom, West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

By fending off the competition to sign him, Celtic could discover their brand new Christie.

Described as a “top player” by Lions boss Gary Rowett, the 27-year-old is capable of scoring and creating goals in abundance.

He has already scored three goals and assisted two strikes in seven outings in the second-tier of English football this term. That adds to the 18 goal involvements he registered throughout the 2020/21 season.

A closer look at the tools they both possess also displays a host of similarities. Last season, Christie registered 2.8 shots, 2.1 key passes and 1.2 dribbles per game.

In comparison, Wallace had 2.2 shots, 2.2 key passes and 1.2 dribbles a match.

With that in mind, Celtic could find their direct replacement by luring him to Glasgow next year. On a free transfer, this would be the perfect acquisition for Postecoglou to make.

AND in other news, Forget Ajeti: Celtic gem who took 126 touches vs Ross County was their true hero…

Celtic’s attractive playing style under Ange Postecoglou could suffer following the departure of Ryan Christie, according to The Celtic Way reporter Anthony Haggerty.

Christie made the deadline day move to Championship side Bournemouth for a fee believed to be in the region of £2.5million.

It comes despite Postecoglou, who was appointed as Celtic’s new manager in June, wanting to extend the winger’s contract following an impressive start to the season.

Christie’s Bhoys deal was due to expire in January and, with deadline day looming, the 26-year-old was also linked with Bournemouth’s south coast rivals Southampton at a cut-price fee.

Saints were not the only Premier League outfit who raised an interest as Burnley explored the possibility of being able to tempt Christie to Turf Moor on deadline day.

Christie leaves a sizeable gap in Postecoglou’s preferred starting line-up, having appeared in all four of Celtic’s Scottish Premiership fixtures so far this season.

Haggerty admits Christie was a key cog as Postecoglou recovered from a poor start to his reign.

He told The Transfer Tavern: “I think there were machinations going on behind the scenes to try and keep Ryan Christie sweet and keep him on board.

“I think the Celtic supporters, to a man, woman and child, would say it was a no-brainer to try to keep him.

“But he has left and a big part of Angeball has left now because he hit the ground running under Ange.”

Bruno Lage has only been in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers for a matter of hours but he’s already begun work on his first signing at Molineux.

With a number of players potentially heading for the exit door, he’s had to move swiftly in order to identify replacements.

What’s the word?

Taking to Twitter in the aftermath of Lage’s arrival, renowned reporter Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Wolves were in talks to sign Jose Sa.

The Old Gold are in danger of losing Rui Patricio to Roma and are trying to land the Olympiacos goalkeeper as his replacement.

Sa is rated at just £6.7m by Transfermarkt so could be a bargain for Wolves in the transfer market.

Lage may be forced to spend smaller fees in the window this summer due to a lack of finances at Molineux.

Capable replacement

This move would tick all of the boxes if you’re Fosun and Jeff Shi.

Sa is Portuguese, a client of Jorge Mendes and is one of the most underrated goalkeepers in Europe.

The 28-year-old initially caught the eye of Wolves all the way back in 2019 after a string of impressive performances in the Champions League.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-wolves-transfer-news-guedes-toney-shaqiri-neves” title=”Read the latest Wolves transfer news!”]

Olympiacos lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich but it would have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Sa who produced a mind-boggling nine saves. It was a performance that earned congratulations from a certain Manuel Neuer, who was quick to applaud his opposite number.

Sa is still playing in the Greek league and his numbers this term are actually more impressive than Patricio’s.

The Wolves ‘keeper had a clean sheet ratio of just 27% this term which was streets behind his potential replacement who kept 51.7% in the league.

His displays caught the eye in Europe again, producing a save success rate of 77.4% in the group stages of the Champions League.

Once more, this statistic usurps Patricio who saved 68.6% of his shots in the English top-flight.

Standing at a colossal height of 6 foot 4, Sa also has a bigger reach than the 33-year-old Wolves stalwart.

Portugal’s number 1 stands an inch shorter which could make all the difference when saving shots heading for the corner or when coming out to claim crosses and set plays.

With Wolves lacking financial muscle this summer, getting the Olympiacos star would be a smart piece of business.

AND in other news, Better than Vitinha: Wolves must sign £13.5m-rated gem who was nicknamed Maradona…

A big Newcastle United update has emerged on Brentford striker Ivan Toney… 

What’s the talk?

According to 90min, the Magpies are one of the teams showing an interest in signing the English centre-forward at the end of the season.

The report claims that it would cost a sizeable fee of around £50m to prise him away from the London club, with Arsenal, Everton and West Ham also keen on him.

Meanwhile, a Football Insider source suggests an asking price of £30m has been slapped on his shoulders with Newcastle keeping tabs.

Imagine him & Allan Saint-Maximin

By signing the Bees frontman this summer, Eddie Howe can seal a dream duo by pairing him with French attacker Saint-Maximin.

Toney has shown, this season, that he can thrive as part of a two-pronged attack as he has built an exciting relationship with Bryan Mbuemo. The Brentford pair have 16 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League between them and this shows that they have been superb together in the top flight.

Since making the jump up from the Championship, the Englishman has taken to the division like a duck to water – earning plenty of plaudits along the way.

Bees boss Thomas Frank has been effusive in his praise of the goal machine. He said:

“Ivan is very intelligent, because he’s reflecting, and he deserves a lot of praise himself for also coming into a well-run club and listening to all the small bits and adding extra layers to his development and performance.

“If you want to be a top player you need to work hard, constantly reflect and want to learn and then of course you need to have that confidence that he’s got so naturally.He’s coming across so fantastically: he’s humble, calm, but with a mindset of a lion.”

His statistics back up the acclaim as he has produced 12 goals and four assists in 27 league starts, averaging a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.33. He has been able to regularly provide quality on the pitch and still has room to improve at the age of 26, which is why he can be a fantastic signing for the Magpies.

Now, imagine him lining up alongside Saint-Maximin in black and white. The French winger has five goals and three assists in the Premier League and has created 1.4 chances per game. This suggests that he can supply Toney with the opportunities he needs to find the back of the net, whilst Toney’s assists suggest he can also put the ex-Nice man into positions to score for himself. Simply mouthwatering.

AND in other news, Howe can unearth his own Ginola in Newcastle’s rarely-seen 19 y/o “bright talent”…