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Everton are reportedly now eyeing up a shock move to sign former Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum this summer.

The Lowdown: Liverpool great…

Wijnaldum will go down as one of the greats at Anfield, after helping them secure both the UEFA Champions League and Premier League titles.

Dubbed a ‘sensational’ player by Jurgen Klopp just before he left to join PSG last summer, it has not quite worked out for him in France, as he has been limited to bit-part appearances, playing the full 90 minutes on just eight occasions.

The Latest: Everton interest

Writing in his latest piece for 90min, transfer expert Graeme Bailey has revealed that the Goodison Park outfit are now ‘keeping close tabs’ on Wijnaldum’s situation, although so are Leicester City, Wolves and West Ham United.

PSG already want to sell him after only signing him last summer, but a loan move looks more likely at this stage.

The Verdict: Smart move?

Given Wijnaldum’s experience in the top flight and his added winning mentality, signing him on loan could prove to be  a smart piece of business from the Merseyside club.

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Of course, there may be some grumblings from supporters due to his Liverpool connections, but the Toffees need to focus on bringing in players that will help them climb up the table next season and avoid another relegation scrap.

The fact that PSG want to move him on should also help with their pursuit of the Netherlands international.

Everton need to use their summer transfer window to add depth and quality to their squad, and now they have been linked to a new potential transfer target.

What’s the latest?

According to Italian news outlet Calciomercato, Everton have joined the race to sign Roma midfielder Jordan Veretout.

As per the report, Everton are thinking about plotting a move for Veretout and his current club would expect no less than €15m (£12.8m) to part ways with the player this summer.

Fabian Delph replacement

Frank Lampard will surely be hoping to strengthen his squad during his first full transfer window at the club and signing Veretout would be the perfect replacement and upgrade for Fabian Delph who will leave the club after his contract expires at the end of this month.

The 29-year-old midfielder who was dubbed “wonderful” by journalist Mina Rzouki has been a consistent performer for his Italian club in the Serie A this season over his 36 league appearances.

Veretout scored four goals, contributed eight assists and created nine big chances, all while making 1.6 key passes and completing 0.9 tackles on average per game.

He also won the majority of his duels (56%) and was successful in the large majority of his dribbles (74%), whilst also completing a 93% pass accuracy in his own half.

The midfielder ranked tenth for the most assists in the Serie A, and ranked sixth for assists via set plays in the entire top five European leagues, proving that he is extremely influential in creating goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates, something that would be highly valued at Everton.

Everton are in need desperate need to score more goals next season after conceding 23 more goals than they scored last season which ultimately contributed to the Toffees’ difficult relegation battle, so adding Veretout’s prolific playmaking abilities into the team would surely be a huge boost for the team’s chance creation.

That’s an area where he certainly betters Delph too, with the former Man City man failing to provide an assist last term while supplying just 0.4 key passes per match.

With that being said, Kevin Thelwell should be making a move for the midfielder as soon as possible as he could be a real asset for Lampard to deploy in the centre of the pitch next season at Goodison Park especially if he can emulate or even better his output in the Serie A in the Premier League next season.

AND in other news: Contact made: EFC in talks to sign “untouchable” £18m-rated gem, Frank will love him

Aston Villa have ‘no intention’ of parting ways with Danny Ings this summer, Sky Sports report.

The Lowdown: Exit rumours

Ings made the move to Villa Park last summer from Southampton in a deal worth £26.48m. The 29-year-old made 31 appearances in his first season as a Villa player, scoring seven times and registering six assists.

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that Steven Gerrard would be willing to part ways with Ings this summer to make room for a new marquee attacker, however, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

The Latest: Sky Sports update

Sky Sports provided a live TV update regarding Villa and Ings on Monday afternoon.

They were told ‘in the last few minutes’ that Villa have ‘no intention of selling’ Ings despite rumours of a move to Manchester United or Leeds United, adding that Gerrard sees Ings as an ‘integral part of his squad’.

The Verdict: Good news

Villa are fairly short of centre-forward options, with Ings and Ollie Watkins the two recognised strikers in the Midlands.

Keinan Davis and Cameron Archer spent the second half of last season out on loan in the Championship, so keeping hold of Ings appears to be the correct call.

Gerrard found success in a system using two centre-forwards, so bringing in another striker to challenge Ings and Watkins could be the better decision, and hopefully we will see that come to fruition ahead of Gerrard’s first full season in charge.

In other news: Villa now receive ‘official proposal’ for player with ‘unbelievable’ work rate. 

A new name has emerged in Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer plans this summer…

What’s the word?

According to Alasdair Gold of football.london, Spurs have been tracking Lyon midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who Premier League rivals Newcastle United tried to sign earlier this year.

It remains to be seen how much the Brazil international would command, given how much of a regular he was for the Ligue 1 outfit last season.

Transfermarkt currently value the 24-year-old star at £31.5m, whilst he is thought to be earning wages in the region of £49k-per-week at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais.

AC Milan will be due 15% of any sale due to an agreement in the €20m (£18m) deal to sell him.

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Frightening midfield unit

The arrival of Paqueta in north London would be quite the coup and could allow manager Antonio Conte to form one of the better midfield departments in the English top-flight.

During the 2021/22 campaign, the Lyon star delivered a total of 11 goals and seven assists from attacking midfield across both domestic and European competitions.

As such, WhoScored graded him as L’OL’s highest-rated player (7.24), whilst as per FBref, he ranks inside the top 6% for progressive passes (9.25 per 90), top 9% for shots (3.06 per 90) and top 12% for non-penalty xG+A (0.59 per 90) of his positional peers across Europe’s top five divisions.

“I love his dribbling and blind passing, but what I love is his desire, his activity, his selflessness, his commitment,” once claimed former Premier League talisman Thierry Henry.

With similar workmanlike players such as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp and Rodrigo Bentancur, Paqueta could fit right in to make Spurs’ engine room one to be feared every week.

Meanwhile, teammate Jerome Boateng has also waxed lyrical about the Brazilian’s exploits, declaring:

“He brings so much to our team. He’s running a lot, his skills of course, his technique, his creating chances, his passing, his fighting for the ball, he helps us a lot. And I think he has a big potential to be really a world star in football.”

As such, sporting director Fabio Paratici must look to swoop for the Lyon playmaker in the coming months. He’d be a fine addition to Conte’s squad heading into a Champions League campaign.

AND in other news, Paratici now eyeing £18m-rated Spurs bargain, could be bye-bye “horrendous” Nuno flop…

Leeds United and Victor Orta snatched Rasmus Kristensen from under the noses of Borussia Dortmund, The Athletic’s Phil Hay says. 

The lowdown

Leeds are set to complete the signing of right-back Kristensen in the coming days.

The key components of the deal are agreed, and now all that remains is for the Dane to undertake and pass a medical.

He’s due to become the Whites’ second signing of the summer, following team-mate Brenden Aaronson from Austria to Yorkshire.

In the short-term, Kristensen will compete with Luke Ayling for a starting role at Elland Road and, given that he’s six years younger, he may be viewed as a long-term successor too.

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The latest

‘It’s been something of a turnaround’, Hay writes, with Dortmund looking poised to land Kristensen ‘until very recently’.

‘People close to the negotiations’ thought a move was at a very advanced stage before Leeds intervened.

They made their ‘pitch’ and muscled their way ‘into the running late on’.

The verdict

Why might nine-time trophy winner Kristensen choose Leeds over Dortmund? The Bundesliga outfit are set to embark a season of Champions League football, while Leeds only survived in the Premier League by the skin of their teeth.

But perhaps he’s more confident of dislodging Ayling than he would be Thomas Meunier, or maybe he’s desperate to play in the Premier League.

Of course, there is also the possibility that the Whites are offering a bigger boost to his current £14,000-per-week salary.

But above all else, Marsch seems to have been the decisive factor. Kristensen’s relationship with the American after their time together at Salzburg has, according to The Daily Mail, swung the deal in Leeds’ favour, and given the Red Bull model’s penchant for producing top talent, this could be a very beneficial connection for the club in the coming years.

In other news, an ex-Leeds man has issued a ‘huge’ Raphinha claim.

Everton could make a move for Manchester United midfielder James Garner this summer, while James Tarkowski is still top of the transfer wish-list. 

The lowdown

Garner spent the 2021/22 season on loan at Nottingham Forest, helping them win promotion to the Premier League.

The Englishman played the full 90 minutes last weekend at Wembley last weekend as Forest beat Huddersfield Town in the playoff final.

Steve Cooper’s side are thought to be keen to retain Garner for their first season back in the top flight, but new United manager Erik ten Hag will assess him before deciding whether to sanction a move (via The Athletic).

Garner, who was born in Merseyside, has two years to run on his United contract and is valued at £6.3million by Transfermarkt.

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The latest

The Blues are looking at a ‘potential loan deal’ for Garner ahead of the 2022/23 season (via The Daily Mirror).

They’re ‘confident’ of making free agent centre-back Tarkowski their first signing of the summer, but Garner might prove to be the second.

Any further business after that, journalist David Maddock says, will depend upon outgoings.

The verdict

Everton have done business with United as recently as January, negotiating a loan move for Donny van de Beek, and they may be about to re-open communication channels.

Intriguingly, Maddock notes that the Red Devils are interested in Dominic Calvert-Lewin, so it will be interesting to see if the two prospective deals become linked.

Everton would surely have been mightily impressed by Garner’s display in the promotion decider. He won all five of the ground duels he contested, completed 42 of his 48 passes (88%) and created three chances in an all-round display that earned him SofaScore’s man of the match award.

Former United boss Jose Mourinho told a ‘confidant’ that Garner is ‘a player’, The Times’ Henry Winter has marvelled at his ‘class’, while Liverpool Echo journalist Christopher Beesley believes he could offer Lampard a ‘new dimension’. That should get Everton fans excited.

In other news, Everton are in pole position to sign this CB, and it’s not Tarkowski.

Finance expert Kieran Maguire has now revealed some significant news involving Everton.

The Lowdown: Leeds and Burnley compensation

As shared by iNews, both Leeds United and Burnley are now seeking £200m in compensation in order to try and offset the advantage that the Goodison Park outfit have received through alleged overspending.

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It is understood that representatives from the two clubs have formally requested that the Premier League order them not to delete any relevant information with regards to their accounts.

The Latest: Maguire shares latest

Speaking to Football Insider, Maguire has revealed that both Leeds and Burnley have decided to pursue a compensation claim regardless of which team were to get relegated to the Championship:

“There are some precedents which need to be considered.

“There was the Carlos Tevez case in 2005. West Ham agreed an out-of-court settlement with Sheffield United. That was nothing to do with FFP because it didn’t exist then.

“But we have recently had a settlement between the owners of Derby County and Middlesbrough with regards to FFP breaches.

“You can understand why Burnley and Leeds are doing this. My understanding is that they have decided to pursue this regardless of who got relegated.”

The Verdict: Significant

The fact that Leeds and Burnley are pursuing this, despite the Clarets going down and Leeds and the Toffees staying up, is significant.

The claim could have easily been thought of in bitter taste, but it looks as if the Blues could still have a potential problem on their hands given Leeds’ involvement even after staying up.

If the claim is successful, then this may alter their transfer plans significantly for the summer, and they will not want to be restricted spending-wise again, after only spending a mere £1.7m last summer.

Nonetheless, the Merseyside club will still be confident that they have not broken any rules, and will continue with their plans as normal for now.

In other news, find out which ‘reckless’ flop EFC could now sell this summer here!

Everton are to hold fresh talks with Sporting Lisbon over a potential move for Joao Virginia, according to Portuguese newspaper O Jogo (via Sport Witness). 

The lowdown

Virginia has now reached the end of his season-long loan spell with the Primeira Liga outfit, who have qualified for next season’s UEFA Champions League.

He had the opportunity to play eight times, including in a UCL group match against Ajax in December.

Sporting agreed a €5million (£4.3million) purchase option with Everton back in August.

The Blues already have Asmir Begovic as cover for Jordan Pickford, and have decided to extend his contract by a further year.

Virginia has only played three times for the Merseyside outfit but has won some won rave reviews in his time, with former coach David Unsworth describing him as ‘unbelievable’.

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The latest

The report claims that representatives from both clubs will meet this week in the hope of reaching a deal.

Sporting believe that the option to buy included in the deal is too expensive and will pursue a compromise, but Everton are apparently ready to play hard ball.

The verdict

It might be in Everton’s interests to reduce their demands. After all, Sporting may have something they want.

23-year-old midfielder Matheus Nunes, who’s valued at £27million by Transfermarkt, confirmed in December that he’d been made aware of a summer approach from the Toffees.

Perhaps it would be smart for Kevin Thelwell and his team to make concessions here, especially given that Virginia doesn’t appear to be part of their plans anyway. They could then sweeten relations with Sporting, which will serve them well should they wish to return for Nunes or indeed any of their other assets.

In other news, Sky Sports have dropped a further update on the FFP dispute.

Aston Villa are set to add to their squad this summer, with Steven Gerrard looking as though he will get an opportunity to make his mark at Villa Park.

What’s the word?

That is according to a report from Birmingham Mail which claim that the 41-year-old has dropped his biggest transfer hint yet.

As per the report, it looks as though Gerrard is set to sign multiple players, and it could involve a free agent or two in the mix.

The Villa boss is also keen to get his business done as early as possible, saying: “I want them in yesterday. The quicker you get them in, the quicker you can get them settled. In an ideal world you want all your business done for when you come back for the first day of pre-season but that is unrealistic because people go away and do different things.”

The report mentions the likes of Luis Suarez, James Tarkowski, Divock Origi, Jesse Lingard, Conor Goldson, Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah as free agents that Gerrard could bring in.

Gerrard means business

If his latest comments are anything to go by, Gerrard means business this summer. His reputation as both a player and a manager can be put to good use, with Villa now able to be resourceful in their business.

All of the aforementioned players could leave a positive impact for Gerrard, with the likes of Suarez surely making the mouths of the Villa faithful water amidst the prospect of another link-up with recent permanent signing Coutinho after their mutual stints at both Liverpool and Barcelona.

The 41-year-old’s ideology of getting players in as quickly as possible is yet another positive that fans can take from his approach as a manager, with him looking to bed players in as early as possible to have them ready for the start of the new season.

Whilst it has been a tough start to his managerial career in the Premier League, he clearly has a plan and he should get the opportunity this summer to bolster a squad who will be looking to challenge for the European spots in what will be Gerrard’s first full season in charge of Villa.

In other news: “Gerrard wants“: John Percy drops big Villa transfer claim, supporters will be buzzing

Reliable transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has revealed the latest information regarding Liverpool striker Divock Origi’s future at Anfield.

What’s the story?

According to Romano, Origi has already told Liverpool he will depart this summer on a free transfer with AC Milan looking like his likely destination.

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The journalist tweeted: “AC Milan are working on final details to complete Divock Origi deal on a free transfer. Liverpool are aware of the negotiations between AC Milan and Origi agents, the contract proposal almost ready. Origi already informed Liverpool board that he’s gonna leave.”

The 27-year-old has played just six times in the Premier League for Jurgen Klopp’s side this term and will be targeting more frequent game time upon the expiry of his contract at Anfield.

Supporters will be gutted

Although he has often been a backup option during his tenure at the Merseyside outfit, Origi has contributed some famous performances and goals and will be remembered fondly by the Liverpool supporters.

The Belgian joined from Lille in 2014 but was instantly loaned back to the French club for the 2014/15 campaign before being slowly integrated by Jurgen Klopp.

Following another loan spell in the 2017/18 season at Wolfsburg, the striker returned and made a major impact, scoring some of Liverpool’s most famous goals in recent history.

A brace from the striker proved pivotal as the Reds overturned a 3-0 Champions League semi-final deficit against Barcelona to win 4-0 at Anfield and eventually win the trophy with the forward scoring in the final too.

Moreover, the 27-year-old has popped up with a couple of vital goals against Everton in the Merseyside Derby, with one recently.

In 174 appearances for the Reds, Origi has scored 41 times whilst also providing 18 assists, averaging at an impressive goal contribution every 117 minutes given that most of his football has come from the bench.

Despite a decent goal scoring record, the Belgian has constantly fallen victim to the club having an array of world-class attacking talent with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz, Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota all above the striker in the attacking pecking order.

Supporters will be gutted that the scorer of some iconic Liverpool goals will be leaving but it will prove to be the best option for Origi with game time set to be limited at Anfield.

AND in other news: Liverpool must now brutally sell £85k-p/w dud who’s lost possession every 4.5 minutes