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Glagsow Rangers have been handed a major boost over their pursuit of Aberdeen winger Scott Wright in the January transfer window, reports say.

What’s the word?

According to The Glasgow Times, Rangers have edged closer to sealing a pre-contract deal for Aberdeen’s Wright which would see the 23-year-old move to Ibrox in the summer.

It’s claimed Gerrard has confirmed that he is close to securing the former Scotland U21 international, with the only downside being that they may have to wait until the end of the season for him to move to Glasgow as a free agent.

Reports in recent times revealed Rangers are looking to strike a deal for Wright as they look to take advantage of the Bosman ruling in a move for the Pittodrie star, with Reds boss Derek McInnes resigned to the loss of the left winger.

Perfect Brandon Barker replacement

If Rangers are to bring in a new era of Scottish football, they will need to strengthen their squad to stand any chance of ending Celtic’s recent dominance once and for all.

The Light Blues top the goal-scoring charts having found the back of the net 60 times in 24 outings. No other team has scored more goals this season than Gerrard’s Gers.

But if there’s one criticism that can be directed at his team at the halfway stage of the campaign, it’s the lack of goals out wide barring the ever-reliable Ryan Kent.

Kent continues to be linked with a move to Leeds United whilst Brandon Barker and Jordan Jones have been deemed surplus to requirements. Despite his best efforts, even Kai Kennedy has been unable to earn a recall, which leaves Barker and Jones as the only natural backup for Kent available to Gerrard right now.

Wright would almost instantly be a significant upgrade to his wide options as he has proven that he is able to score goals and provide assists consistently at a decent level at Pittodrie.

Just this season, the winger has bagged two goals and two assists in 14 Premiership appearances. That’s just one goal shy of both Barker and Jones combined, as per Transfermarkt.

This also means that Wright has created more chances than Gerrard’s first-choice striker Alfredo Morelos, as per WhoScored.

The fact that Rangers are already looking for a winger will be a huge boost for Gerrard and the Gers but leaves Barker and Jones in a perilous position as their future at the club is no longer assured.

Former Rangers manager Alex McLeish could not hide his admiration for Wright in a recent interview with Ibrox News, adding: “And Scott Wright is a great capture and within the club’s coffers, I would have thought.

“But it’s also a sign that they will give young players an opportunity, and that’s great for Rangers fans who, when the government relaxes the rules, will flock back and see these players developing and becoming great players for the club.

“There are a lot of demands on you when you’re playing for Rangers and the players will know that.

“The right players will thrive on that pressure and Scott Wright looks like a very tidy player indeed.”

It appears, therefore, that Wright, who is currently valued at a mere £540k via Transfermarkt, could be quite a coup if Wilson and co. can secure a deal before the transfer market closes in ten days time.

AND in other news, Rangers have ‘no interest’ in Preston North End defender Ben Davies…

Glasgow Rangers are expected to rotate their squad once again when they return to Scottish Premiership action against Hamilton on Sunday afternoon.

Rangers manager Steven Gerrard is set to make a few changes for the Gers’ clash with the Accies this weekend.

Gerrard fielded a largely-unchanged side for the Premiership tie against St Johnstone and he was rewarded with a solid 1-0 win over the struggling Saints.

However, the Ibrox boss is expected to take the opportunity to rest a number of first-team stars on Sunday as he reverts to a starting XI similar to that which triumphed 8-0 against Hamilton last time out.

So, without further ado, here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up, which sees Gerrard ring three changes to the team that beat the Saints.

As is often the case, it’s likely Allan McGregor will start in goal behind a traditional back four once more.

Connor Goldson and James Tavernier will both retain their starting berths but Borna Barisic and Filip Helander are likely to drop out as Calvin Bassey and Leon Balogun return to the starting line-up.

Glen Kamara was rested against the Saints but should return in place of Steven Davis in the midfield, while Gerrard could opt for a slight formation change against the Accies so Joe Aribo and Ryan Jack will keep their places.

Scott Arfield is edging closer to full fitness but is unlikely to feature here, while Alfredo Morelos serves the second of his three-match suspension following his stamp on Ryan Porteous.

Kemar Roofe has been served with a notice of complaint by the SFA after his controversial challenge on St Johnstone’s Murray Davidson so could miss out in favour of Cedric Itten, although Roofe is the more likely pick having started the previous Premiership fixture.

Meanwhile, Ianis Hagi should continue on the right wing with Ryan Kent lining up on the opposite wing if Gerrard sticks with Roofe as his central striker.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard should unleash Rangers defender Calvin Bassey against Hamilton Academical…

Former England international Rob Lee, while speaking exclusively with Football FanCast editor James Beavis, has claimed that injuries to Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman are a far bigger blow for Everton and Carlo Ancelotti than losing Fabian Delph.

The Toffees are set to be without Delph for this Saturday’s Premier League clash with title-chasing Chelsea after the midfielder limped off during the first half of last weekend’s draw at Burnley clutching a hamstring injury.

Blues chiefs are resigned to losing the former Manchester City star for the early stages of the festive period, fearing that rushing him back will only worsen the issue having been plagued by injuries since moving to Goodison Park in 2019.

Ancelotti was already without his first-choice full-backs Digne and Coleman for the trip to Turf Moor, forcing the Italian to hand Delph only his second start of the league campaign to fill in at left-back.

Digne is facing up to three months on the sidelines after surgery on an ankle injury, while Coleman has been plagued by hamstring problems this season that have ruled the Republic of Ireland international out of action for five of Everton’s last six top-flight fixtures.

Lee, who earned 21-caps for England during his playing career, feels the loss of Digne and Coleman has thrown Everton’s season off course and into the rough, as the pair brought energy and balance that Ancelotti cannot find elsewhere in his squad.

“I think the bigger blow is his full-backs. I think that’s why they started like a house on fire, Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman. But they’ve got so much energy, they can get up and down and give so much balance and I think they miss them more than they miss anybody else,” Lee told Football FanCast. “It helps that Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been on fire, he’s scoring all their goals.

“But I thought at the start of the season, they look good, they look like they have a really, really good balance to their team and it just goes to show you that if you lose a couple of your wider players and lesser players come in, or maybe they don’t know how to do the job, that they just seemed to be set up so well under Carlo Ancelotti. And they now, they look a bit not quite as fluent as they were. And I think it’s down to both their full-backs.”

Everton have won just once in the five Premier League fixtures they have been without Coleman for, coming at newly-promoted Fulham, while losing to Southampton, Newcastle and Leeds United.

Ancelotti fielded central defender Ben Godfrey at right-back against Southampton after stating he has “no doubt” in the summer arrival’s ability to play on the side, before favouring Jonjoe Kenny at Newcastle, Tom Davies against Leeds and Alex Iwobi at Burnley.

Godfrey is now expected to move to left-back in place of Digne and Delph when the Toffees host Chelsea on Saturday night, with Ancelotti seemingly opposed to utilising former Olympique de Marseille prospect Niels Nkounkou.

The young Frenchman has featured for just 69-minutes in the Premier League since moving to Merseyside in the summer and been omitted from Ancelotti’s last four matchday squads, despite playing all three Carabao Cup ties through to the end and providing one assist.

It remains to be seen who Ancelotti favours on the right of his defensive line, with Coleman’s absence denying the Italian his joint-most productive defender for successful tackles (14) and ground duels won (27), per SofaScore, while Digne accounts for the second-most key balls (16) and big chances created (5) by any Everton player in the league this term.

AND in other news, Everton already have their answer to a 48-goal target “every coach wants”.

Writing on Twitter, reliable West Ham United inside source ExWHUemployee has dropped an enticing three-word hint over a potential move for free agent Diego Costa in January – coming as the club could look to commence their search for a ‘perfect’ striker who can provide strength in depth. 

Indeed, due to consistent fitness issues for Michail Antonio, and the topsy-turvy form of club-record signing Sebastien Haller, numerous reports have claimed that the Hammers are targeting a forward in January.

ExWHUemployee drops Costa hint

Of all the names being linked, West Ham reportedly have their eyes on Olivier Giroud, Abdallah Sima, Moussa Dembele and Joshua King – but now a fresh name could enter the mix.

Costa, who has recently agreed to terminate his contract with Atletico Madrid by mutual consent, could potentially move to the Irons in January as he emerges as a realistic signing for GSB and the club.

ExWHUemployee, writing on social media, has dropped an enticing three-word hint as he believes the move is possible – going on to say ‘Wouldn’t surprise me’.

Transfer Tavern take

The Spaniard, proven at Premier League level with Chelsea, could potentially make a move to the London Stadium and is free to negotiate with any club following his new status as a free agent.

He also wouldn’t command a fee, however, it remains to be seen whether the target man would be willing to take a huge cut on his most recent £270,000-per-week wages with Atletico.

Described as a ‘beast’, given he is free to negotiate a potential Premier League return, West Ham could very well land him in January – and reliable insider ExWHUemployee believes the move is a realistic one.

In other news: West Ham fans buzzed over this inside claim, find out more here.

Leeds United had a great transfer window this summer and while their near-£100m outlay saw them add a plethora of new talent to their ranks, it shouldn’t be forgotten that they missed out on their number one target.

Indeed, Ben White isn’t a Leeds player after a summer-long transfer pursuit, and it seems as though they may never land him.

The centre-back, rated at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, has predictably taken to the Premier League like a duck to water after a somewhat shaky start in his first two games.

White has really come into his own in recent weeks, and his performance against West Brom over the weekend showed that perfectly.

The Seagulls star was brilliant against the Baggies, making four tackles and three interceptions, while his ball-playing abilities were abundantly evident as he completed two dribbles and had a pass accuracy of 91.7%.

One of the main things White was criticised for last season was his lack of aerial presence, with Noel Whelan saying:

“He is not as dominant in the air as centre-backs like Harry Maguire and Pontus Jansson. But he is better on the ball than Jansson and just as good as Maguire.”

However, he’s seemingly improved on that this term as well, winning five aerial duels against Crystal Palace last weekend.

Leeds may have landed Robin Koch and Diego Llorente at centre-back, but they should still be kicking themselves over the fact that White didn’t come through the door.

He was so highly rated at Leeds and it was easy to see that he was a ready-made Premier League star, with Whelan often waxing lyrical about him.

“Ben White ticks every box,” Whelan told Football Insider. “He is a brilliant defender who’s only going to get better in the years ahead. He does everything really well – mobile, athletic, great distribution, confident on the ball, makes good decisions, his positioning is good.”

The fact that he’s been touted as a potential Virgil van Dijk replacement at Liverpool tells you all you need to know about him, he’s a top-quality defender and at the age of 23, he still has room to improve.

Leeds may forever regret not breaking the bank to sign him.

Leeds chalked up yet another 4-1 loss after Crystal Palace made easy work of brushing aside their Premier League opponents. The back-to-back heavy defeats will not have gone down well with Marcelo Bielsa and morale in camp will be low. Arsenal await the Whites in their next game, which could prove to be another tough test for them.

After their loss to the Eagles, Leeds have slipped into 14th in the league table, now level on points with Manchester United. Helder Costa was unlucky to contribute an own goal but he wasn’t the only player to put in a poor performance.

Stuart Dallas disappointed vs Palace

Stuart Dallas was successful in just 74% of his attempted passes and none of his crosses. He also lost possession a worrying 19 times and was dribbled past twice (via Sofascore). This will be disappointing to both the fans and the player himself after he bagged himself a goal against Leicester.

His performance against Aston Villa was impressive too, registering three tackles, three interceptions and completing five of his attempted seven long balls.

Dallas’ inconsistent performances could be down to being played in several different positions. The £2.7million-valued defender’s versatility is something Bielsa can count on. But after playing further up the field today and at right-back against Villa, it seems he is more of a man to fill the gaps.

It will certainly be a disappointing loss for the Whites and a learning curve for the manager as he considers different tactics moving into their upcoming match against Arsenal. Bielsa has the international break to try out some new things on the training pitch and get the best out of his players.

In other news, Exclusive: Chris Kirkland thinks Illan Meslier could be the next Premier League goalkeeper to be dropped…

Sunderland have been handed a significant boost after learning that Aiden McGeady’s wages will not go towards the club’s wage cap figure.

After spending last season on loan with Charlton Athletic, Republic of Ireland international McGeady returned to the Stadium of Light as his contract entered its final year.

The £653,000-valued attacker returned to training with the Black Cats’ under-23s earlier this summer but a recent calf injury limited his involvement.

And, it has now been reported by Northern Echo that McGeady will not be part of Sunderland’s senior squad next term and that the club are desperately trying to offload him.

With the introduction of a salary cap in the EFL, concerns had arose as to whether the Irish winger’s wages would count towards the club’s wage cap.

However, Sunderland Echo have now been informed by sources close to the EFL that with McGeady not being included in Phil Parkinson’s 22-man squad list for the new season, his salary will not count towards the £2.5m limit.

The future of the attacker is now unknown with the new season starting this weekend.

Parkinson must ensure that his decision to leave McGeady out is the right one. The Irishman has proven over the years that he is a very good asset – he has 27 goals and 13 assists in 98 games for the Black Cats – but obviously Parkinson does not believe that will come in handy next term.

The money not utilised by McGeady’s wages then must be used elsewhere, surely.

Do you think Aiden McGeady should have been given a chance by Phil Parkinson this coming season? Let us know in the comments section below…

Manchester United’s hopes of signing Jadon Sancho have been dealt a blow by Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc. 

The Dortmund chief recently told reporters “we plan on having Jadon Sancho in our team this season, the decision is final. I think that answers all our questions.”

Recent reports revealed the Red Devils have drafted a shortlist of alternative replacements if they cannot sign Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s top target this summer.

According to ESPN, Ed Woodward has held informal talks with Barcelona to sort out a deal for Ousmane Dembele.

Now Spanish publication Sport claims that, as cited by The Manchester Evening News (via @utdreport), Barca are willing to sell the 21-cap France international this summer if Man United meet their valuation.

The future looked bright for Dembele by all accounts but the Barca winger has turned out to be a complete-and-utter flop. The £135m signing has struggled to hit the ground running, having only managed nine appearances last season before succumbing to yet another injury.

Barca consider him surplus to requirements and will let him leave the Nou Camp on loan with the option to buy. It is believed that the Blaugrana want to sell him for €90m (£81m) in the summer.

He has been hampered by constant injury setbacks which has practically been the story of his career to date.

Naturally, many United fans blasted the transfer news on social media, with an angry supporter insisting Dembele is “another Bailly” in reference to the injury-prone defender. Another added “what a joke” while one fan tweeted he is “made of glass.”

Scroll through some of the scathing reactions so far…

United fans, do you think Woodward should sign Dembele? Let us know down below!

Just as it the case for many of the European giants this summer, Juventus are undergoing a huge change, both in terms of personnel and overall style of play. The former Chelsea gaffer Maurizio Sarri has been sacked and in his place came Andrea Pirlo, who will now be looking to give the team his own outlook.

According to the transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio who reported the news for Sky Sports Italy, the Bianconeri are looking for potential partners for Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala in the forward line. One of the new players who popped up on their radar is actually Arsenal’s Alexandre Lacazette.

Of course, this is not exactly the first time we hear the Frenchman’s name in this context as he was already linked with a potential move away from the Emirates and the Premier League earlier in the window.

Pirlo will need someone new and fresh in attack, especially if he ends up losing one of the two aforementioned stars. The financial situation in Turin is not great, partly because of the recent outbreak of the pandemic and partly because of their astronomical wage bill. For that reason, they are bracing for big changes in the immediate future and Lacazette might have a role to play.

But with not a lot of money to spend and Mikel Arteta still being fond of his forward, it will be interesting to see how the Italians go about completing this transfer.

Verdict

Needless to say, losing Lacazette would indeed be a big blow for the London outfit. Arteta is slowly but surely moulding this Arsenal team into proper contenders and fierce rivals and the Frenchman is surely a big part of that process.

But seeing how Juventus don’t have that much money to spend and the Gunners are not necessarily in a hurry to sell, maybe they end up keeping their striker after all.

According to The Daily Mail, Tottenham are interested in signing Newcastle winger Allan Saint-Maximin this summer.

What’s the word?

As Jose Mourinho heads into his first summer transfer window in charge of Spurs, all eyes will who the Portuguese man will look to bring to strengthen a squad that is having an incredibly difficult season – ahead of their clash against Everton on Monday night, the Lilywhites find themselves in tenth place in the Premier League.

But as per The Daily Mail, Spurs have joined French giants PSG in the growing list of clubs to show an interest in signing Saint-Maximin, and quite crucially, they may have an advantage the Ligue 1 side don’t.

Can you name every one of Spurs’ top goalscorers from the past 15 seasons? It’s a tricky one…

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The report claims that whilst Spurs don’t have the biggest budget, they “would be willing to offer players such as Danny Rose and Juan Foyth plus cash”.

Game-changer

In what has been an impressive debut campaign in English football for Saint-Maximin, the Frenchman has been one of the shining lights of Newcastle’s season.

The winger has scored four times and provided a further seven assists, and has at times been unstoppable. Speaking after his performance against West Ham earlier in the season, former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison said: “Saint-Maximin, he was unplayable. I don’t know how you defend against players like that. He doesn’t look like he knows what he’s going to do so I don’t know how defenders feel when he’s getting at them.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by The Daily Mail journalist Craig Hope too, who described him as “unplayable” and the Premier League’s “most enjoyable star to watch”. That directness and quick feet – Saint-Maximin has averaged a ridiculous 4.6 dribbles per game this season – is far unlike anyone else in the current Spurs squad, with first-ranked Heung-min Son averaging exactly half that.

Even in Gareth Bale’s most prolific season at the club back in the 2012/2013 campaign, the Welshman only averaged 1.8 dribbles per game. Having someone like Saint-Maximin who can commit defenders, and draw double teams, can open up space for the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli to wreak havoc. It’s the kind of move that could transform the Spurs attack for next season.