Arne Slot will be sweating on the fitness of Liverpool's Alexis Mac Allister after he picked up an injury during Argentina duty.
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Joshua Zirkzee has revealed he hopes to emulate Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Manchester United.
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Liverpool owners FSG had scouts in South America to watch an in-demand new transfer target in action this week, according to an intriguing update.
The Reds will embark on a new era under Arne Slot this summer, once Jurgen Klopp moves on, and the Dutchman will want to sign players who are ideal for his style of play.
Ousmane Diomande is a player who has been constantly linked with a summer move to Liverpool, following a season that has seen him impress greatly for Sporting CP. The young centre-back is seen as a possible long-term heir for Virgil van Dijk at the heart of the defence, with the legendary Dutchman turning 33 in the summer and needing to be replacing one day.
Another report has claimed that the Merseysiders are pushing to sign Napoli striker Victor Osimhen in the summer transfer window, in what would be an audacious move for the Nigerian. He has a huge £111m release clause in his current deal, but it remains to be seen if anyone will stump up that amount of money for him, especially a Reds leadership who are known for their analytical approach in the market.
Meanwhile, there are also a number of exits that could happen at Liverpool this summer, with Joe Gomez one of the best players who is believed to be contemplating his future currently. He may want to be a regular elsewhere, possibly even at centre-back instead of full-back.
The likes of Joel Matip and Thiago are expected to depart when their contracts expire at the end of the season, while there is no guarantee that Mohamed Salah will definitely stay put currently. Liverpool need to plan for the long-term future when it comes to new signings, and a fresh update suggests that they are focusing on that.
According to Scouts in Attendance on X, Liverpool had scouts present to watch Brazilian teenager Lorran in action for Flamengo on Thursday: "17yo Flamengo RW Lorran got his first senior start in 1-0 Copa do Brasil win v Amazonas on Thurs. Believe LFC are watching him now as well."
Lorran is a relatively unknown name, considering his age and the fact that he is playing in South America, but this is still an exciting update, nonetheless. There is always an element of intrigue about young Brazilian talents, considering the manner in which the likes of Pele, Ronaldo and Neymar have burst onto the scene down the years, so seeing Liverpool linked with one whets the appetite.
Lorran has already made 11 appearances for Flamengo, despite still only being 17 years of age, scoring once and assisting twice in that time. He is also a 13-cap Brazil Under-17 international, netting once in the process.
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The teenage attacker would come in as a long-term acquisition who could shine in the youth team at Liverpool to begin with, or be loaned out elsewhere, with the hope being that he matures into a formidable player over time.
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In two weeks the streets of north London could be engulfed in a sea of red as Arsenal celebrate a historic Premier League title, their first in 20 years.
However, it could equally all be doom and gloom should the might of Manchester City win their remaining three matches of the season.
The Gunners have come so far this term and if they beat Manchester United and Everton, will finish on 89 points. The fact that tally may not be enough to be crowned champions is rather ludicrous.
City are still the favourites and if they do win the league, it’ll be back to the drawing board for Mikel Arteta and Co during what could be a rather exciting summer transfer window.
Last year it was all about Declan Rice. Edu had been tracking the England midfielder for quite some time and in a desperate attempt to ward off the Citizens, a £105m bid was lodged and finally accepted by West Ham after some toing and froing.
The end result has been near perfect. That fee has looked like a bargain for a man now thought to be in with a chance of winning the PFA Player of the Season award following a career-best haul of seven goals and nine assists, as well as some sterling defensive displays.
He’s attracted praise right throughout the season, the latest of which has come from Ray Parlour.
Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast on behalf of NetBet Sports Betting the former Arsenal midfield waxed lyrical over the club’s record signing.
He said: “Declan has been a top signing for Arsenal and it’s great he is still playing at such a high level when it matters most at the business end of the season. His energy is great, he plays every game, his goal against Bournemouth typifies his drive and energy during the game. He deserves to be up there for PFA Player of the Season. It was a big move for him and he’s settled immediately into this team.”
Asked whether any other Arsenal stars could be in the frame for the award at the season’s end, the Romford Pele commented: “Odegaard has been excellent as has Saka who both are in the mix for sure, but Rice for me takes it.
“One can’t forget both centre-backs who have been amazing and should both be in the team of the season. I think Arsenal will have many players in the team of the season for sure.”
So, what’s on the agenda for the forthcoming summer? Well, it could be about another Premier League star in Alexander Isak.
Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the Newcastle striker is high on Arsenal’s list of priorities for the summer. The trouble is that it could take a seismic fee to prise away a man who has found the net on 24 occasions in all competitions this term. For context, that’s four more than Arteta’s leading marksman this term. Bukayo Saka has 20.
Speaking to FFC about what the Swede could bring to the Emirates Stadium, Parlour stated: “Isak is a player I like a lot. If you look at the signing of Rice, he is exactly what the team needed when Xhaka left and he has taken the club to another level.”
The move to acquire Rice was certainly a landmark moment in Arsenal’s recent history, but so too could the signing of an exciting centre-forward. There is a sense, despite the club’s leading Premier League tally of 88 goals this term, that they still need a striker to go to the next level.
Isak, therefore, could be exactly that man. Parlour continued: “Isak is the type of player who can do well in this Arsenal team. He will suit Arsenal’s fluid style of play and can do well in this team with the likes of Saka, Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard and Odegaard supporting him. It’s important to have quality strikers as we had in our era with Wiltord, Kanu, Henry and Bergkamp.
“However, Newcastle will not want to lose their top striker. Fee wise, he will be similar to Rice’s fee, so if Newcastle are forced to sell, then yes he would take Arsenal forward.”
The former midfielder isn’t wrong. Reports have stated that the Sweden international may well cost £100m if the Magpies are to sanction a sale.
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Everton have often struggled within the transfer market, conducting deals that either see the club lose a lot of money or selling a player for well below his value.
Outgoings have been crucial for Sean Dyche’s side as they aim to avoid any further punishment for breaking the Premier League’s strict PSR rules.
He’s done an admirable job leading the club clear of any impending danger and securing their Premier League status for another season despite being hit with an eight-point deduction.
His side ended the 2023/24 campaign 14 points clear of Luton Town, with the club needing to build on their success in recent weeks ahead of their 33rd consecutive Premier League campaign which commences in August.
Whilst they’re not in the clear regarding any further punishments, the Toffees are in a solid place under Dyche, but it could’ve been even better had they kept hold of a couple of players who have gone on to develop into top-quality talents away from Goodison Park.
Everton signed forward Ademola Lookman from Charlton Athletic for a fee in the region of £7.5m in January 2017, with the youngster touted as 'one for the future' by boss Ronald Koeman after he arrived at Goodison.
Arriving at the club as a 19-year-old, Lookman made an instant impact on the first-team, scoring on his debut in a 4-0 rout over Manchester City.
However, the goal against Pep Guardiola's side would be the only time he scored for the Toffees before leaving the club to join RB Leipzig on loan.
Despite his tender age, Lookman excelled in Germany, scoring five times in just 11 Bundesliga appearances – form that saw the youngster receive his maiden England U21 call-up.
Upon his return for the 2018/19 season, the forward was restricted to limited minutes for the Toffees, featuring for a total of 601 minutes throughout the entire campaign. Lookman subsequently rejoined RB Leipzig permanently in the summer of 2019, for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £18m – a deal that still brought a £10m profit for the Blues.
However, nearly five years on from his move away from Merseyside, the 26-year-old forward has taken his game to the next level – scoring 15 goals and providing eight assists in all competitions this season, which includes a hat-trick in the Europa League final triumph over Bayer Leverkusen.
Despite Lookman’s exploits in the final victory, the club arguably made a bigger mistake allowing fellow winger Anthony Gordon to depart Goodison Park, with the youngster finally starting to flourish following his £45m move to Newcastle United in 2023.
The 23-year-old was expected to leave his boyhood club, in order to bolster the club’s battle against PSR, but that doesn’t take away from the fact he would’ve dramatically improved Dyche’s forward line.
Gordon has bagged 11 goals and ten assists in the Premier League in 2023/24, hitting double figures in both tallies for the first time in his professional career.
|
Gordon vs Lookman in 2023/24 |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Statistics |
Gordon |
Lookman |
|
Games |
48 |
43 |
|
Goals |
12 |
15 |
|
Assists |
11 |
8 |
|
Combined G+A |
23 |
23 |
|
Stats via Transfermarkt |
||
As a result of his excellent form, the “phenomenal” talent, as dubbed by Newcastle journalist Thomas Hammond, now boasts a transfer value of £68m, as per CIES Football Observatory Tool – a jump of £23m since his move just less than 18 months ago. Lookman, meanwhile, is said to be worth £42m less at 'just' £26m, according to CIES.
Gordon has also been included in Gareth Southgate’s provisional 33-man training squad ahead of the European Championships in Germany this summer, with the attacker staking a claim to be in the final squad given his superb performances for Eddie Howe’s side.
His move away from Goodison didn’t sit well with the supporters, but they simply can’t deny they would’ve loved to have kept hold of the youngster given his rapid progress at St James’ Park.
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A recruitment source with close links to Tottenham has told one outlet that chairman Daniel Levy could receive a "big-money" bid for one of Ange Postecoglou's players this summer.
As per reliable media sources, like club insider Paul O'Keefe, Spurs are open to offers for over a dozen squad members when the window reopens on June 14.
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Fabrizio Romano has also claimed that Spurs are set for a "busy" summer, and they're believed to be eyeing up at least one attacker, with Timo Werner already being sealed for another season after Tottenham reached an agreement with Leipzig to extend his loan deal.
"I think it will be an important summer for Tottenham in terms of midfield," said Romano to GiveMeSport recently.
"And then [there will be] an offensive player, at least one offensive player. We will see if it's going to be more a kind of winger or more a kind of number nine. But they are exploring the offensive players market and I think they will do something also in that position.
|
Tottenham's top scorers in all competitions last season |
Goals |
|---|---|
|
Son Heung-min |
17 |
|
Richarlison |
12 |
|
Dejan Kulusevski |
8 |
|
Brennan Johnson |
5 |
|
Cristian Romero |
5 |
"So I think it will be a busy summer at Tottenham."
This statement still carries weight, regardless of Werner remaining for another campaign, with football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold backing that Spurs will go for more attacking players after the German.
To fund these moves, the likes of Bryan Gil, Giovani Lo Celso, Troy Parrott, Joe Rodon, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Richarlison, Tanguy Ndombele, Sergio Reguilon, Japhet Tanganga, Manor Solomon and Djed Spence are a few players who could be sold by Tottenham to bolster Postecoglou's transfer kitty – according to rumours in the last few months.
European heavyweights could also test Levy's resolve when it comes to the club's most important players, with Barcelona and Real Madrid keeping tabs on Cristian Romero as one example.
Now, it is believed star £50,000-per-week defender Micky van de Ven isn't excluded from that equation.
As per Tottenham News, sharing a claim from one of their recruitment sources who has close links to the club, Levy could receive a "big-money" bid for van de Ven after his excellent debut campaign, and clubs around Europe have already expressed an interest.
The Dutchman, called "world-class", has been imperative at the heart of Postecoglou's high line – with van de Ven's searing pace being an important factor and crucial to the way Tottenham play.
Van de Ven's injury absences were very much noticed, as Spurs often struggled to deal without the Netherlands international when unavailable. Taking this into account, it could take a pretty monstrous offer for Levy to even consider parting company after just one season.
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Leeds United were left disappointed last month as they lost 1-0 to Southampton, thanks to a goal from Adam Armstrong, in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.
The Whites narrowly missed out on automatic promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking as they finished third in the division, and still had a chance to finish in the top two going into the final game of the regular season.
They then beat Daniel Farke's former side Norwich City 4-0 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the play-offs before their loss in the final in the capital.
The Yorkshire-based outfit are now preparing for a second season in the second tier and this means that there will be changes to the playing squad, with players coming in and moving on.
One player who is set to return to Elland Road is attacking midfielder Brenden Aaronson, who is going to be reintegrated into the squad after talks with Farke, having spent the 2023/24 campaign on loan with Union Berlin in the Bundesliga.
Despite that, the Whites are reportedly looking into a deal to add another playmaker to their group during the summer transfer window, which officially opened for business on Friday.
According to TEAMtalk, Leeds are one of a number of clubs eyeing up a swoop to sign Coventry City attacking midfielder Callum O'Hare on a free transfer.
The English whiz has turned down the chance to sign a new contract with the club and is now set to become a free agent when his deal expires at the end of this month.
At the age of 26, any team wanting to snap up the talented playmaker would not have to pay any compensation to the Championship outfit, and would only need to worry about wages and a signing-on fee.
The report claims that Southampton, who have just been promoted to the Premier League, and Burnley, who were recently relegated from the top-flight, are also keen on a deal for the former Aston Villa prospect.
TEAMtalk adds that Leeds have been keeping tabs on the Coventry star's situation and that they are now 'ready' to join the race for his services this summer.
The outlet states that the club are looking to bolster their attacking options this summer as Crysencio Summerville has attracted interest from Chelsea, Fulham, Brighton, and Liverpool.
Meanwhile, Wilfried Gnonto is reportedly pushing to seal a permanent exit from Elland Road over the coming months, and would like to return to Italy to play in his home country.
O'Hare could now be brought in to potentially replace one of those key stars or to complement them if the Whites keep hold of Gnonto and Summerville.
The free agent target could also come in and be Farke's new version of Todd Cantwell, who thrived under him in the Championship at Norwich.
The German head coach brought the attacking midfielder through from the academy at Carrow Road and gave him his first run of first-team matches in Norfolk during the 2018/19 season.
Norwich won the Championship that year but Cantwell was largely a bit-part player as he only started 18 games and played 24 in total of their 46 league clashes.
He scored one goal and provided two assists in those 24 matches before going on to rack up six goals and two assists in 30 starts in the Premier League the following year.
The Yellows were then relegated from that top-flight at the end of the 2019/20 campaign and that provided Cantwell with an opportunity to drop down to the second tier and thrive as a key player.
That is exactly what he did as the English forward, who operated down the left flank with a license to drift into central positions as a natural attacking midfielder, caught the eye and Norwich won the Championship title again.
|
2020/21 Championship |
Todd Cantwell |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
33 |
|
Sofascore rating |
7.17 |
|
Goals |
Six |
|
Assists |
Six |
|
Key passes |
53 |
|
Dribbles completed |
53 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
As you can see in the table above, the Canaries academy graduate showcased his ability to score and assist goals, whilst also providing quality on the ball as a passer and a dribbler.
Farke could now find his next version of the right-footed gem, who currently plays for Glasgow Rangers in Scotland, by landing O'Hare ahead of Southampton and Burnley.
Firstly, the 26-year-old star could play a similar tactical role for the Leeds boss as he is a right-footed attacking midfielder by trade who could be deployed on the left from the start, but with the freedom to come infield to operate in his favoured – central – area of the park.
He could either start on the flank and come inside to cause havoc in the final third if Summerville moves on from Elland Road this summer, or the Coventry ace could simply play in the number ten role from the start.
The Whites target, who EFL presenter Gab Sutton claimed "offers that bit of stardust", also has the quality on the ball to make a Cantwell-like impact at the top end of the pitch.
O'Hare missed 37 matches due to a knee injury during the 2022/23 campaign but had racked up eight goals and 16 assists in the previous two Championship seasons combined.
The 5 foot 9 magician has come back to fitness this term and caught the eye with a return of six goals sand three assists in just 18 league starts.
|
23/24 Championship |
Callum O'Hare |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
31 |
|
Starts |
18 |
|
xG |
4.06 |
|
Goals |
6 |
|
Big chances created |
4 |
|
Assists |
3 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
As you can see in the table above, the mercurial playmaker was efficient in front of goal as he outperformed his xG by roughly two goals in the division.
O'Hare also fired in four goals and one assist in three starts in the FA Cup, which meant that he ended the campaign with ten goals and four assists in 21 starts in all competitions.
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Therefore, the out-of-contract wizard could come in and be Farke's new Cantwell in an attacking midfield or wide position at Elland Road next season, as he is another versatile English playmaker who can offer quality as a scorer and a creator of goals at Championship level.