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The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) Public Investment Fund (PIF) are now reportedly ‘ready to spend’ to bring Aaron Ramsey to Newcastle United.

The Lowdown: Midfield targeted

Given that the likes of Florian Wirtz and James Ward-Prowse have been linked with a move to St. James’ Park over the last few days, it is clear that the new owners are looking to strengthen the midfield position.

New players will certainly need to be brought in in the January transfer window, given that the North East club are currently in a relegation battle, sitting in 19th spot in the Premier League table before today’s round of fixtures.

The Latest: Ramsey ‘courted’

As per Tuttosport (via Sport Witness), Ramsey is being ‘courted’ by the Tyneside outfit ahead of a potential move.

PIF are now ‘ready to spend’ on the Juventus midfield player, despite his €14m (£11.8m) yearly wages.

They are ‘not scared’ to pay his salary, and the Old Lady are ‘keen’ to get them off of their books, meaning that a move back to the top flight, and more specifically the Magpies, is now possible.

The Verdict: Avoid

While money is no object to the new owners, Ramsey is a player that they should be avoiding.

Even if they are willing to pay his astronomical wages, it would lead to other players in the squad wanting their pay package to go up, which could leave them in a sticky situation.

Wales international teammate Joe Allen claims that he can be ‘world-class’ on his day, and that is true, given his goals and assists record throughout his club career, but he is 30 years of age now, and has been suffering with injury problems as of late.

Nonetheless, the Toon already have plenty of midfield options in the squad already, and thus should be focusing on strengthening other areas of the pitch first of all, and certainly not splashing out big wages on an injury-prone player in his thirties.

In other news, find out who NUFC have been ‘alerted’ to the possibility of signing in January here!

Leeds United winger Jack Harrison’s inconsistent form has been affected by a recent rib injury, according to reliable journalist Phil Hay.

The Lowdown: Harrison struggling for form

While deprived of several important players through injury, the Whites still couldn’t get their second Premier League win of the season on Saturday but their 1-1 draw at home to Wolves felt like a positive following Rodrigo’s last-gasp penalty.

Harrison struggled to make an impact at Elland Road, though, and he has now played seven league games this season and not registered a goal or an assist.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375277″]

The Latest: Hay reveals injury news

While the winger’s form has been disappointing compared to last season, when he got eight top-flight goals and assists apiece, there could be a good reason for the drop-off.

According to The Athletic’s Hay, the 24-year-old has been playing with a rib injury which has affected his performance level. The journalist stated: “Harrison has had a rib injury recently. Very little been made of it and I don’t know how much of a factor it is but he is struggling for form.”

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The Verdict: Pressure to perform

Harrison now finds himself under more pressure than ever to keep his place, with Raphinha and Dan James also representing strong wide options.

Last season, he and Raphinha were the undisputed go-to starters in those positions, but the Welshman’s arrival from Manchester United has increased the competition significantly.

All three actually played against Wolves, but Marcelo Bielsa may not always be that bold and Harrison will need to improve if he wants to keep starting regularly. Hopefully he overcomes his current injury and produces his best form again in the near future. Leeds could certainly do with it right now.

In other news, one Leeds player has given a key update on his injury progress. Read more here.

This transfer window has been close to perfection from Ange Postecoglou and Celtic.

It means a strong contrast to last summer where excluding David Turnbull, the Hoops got the vast portion of their business in the market completely wrong.

Celtic have spent better this year, however, and their recent performances show as much.

What’s the word?

One thing Celtic have been able to do so far this summer is to keep hold of some of their more important players.

Kristoffer Ajer did get swept up by the jaws of the Premier League but Odsonne Edouard and Ryan Christie are still at Parkhead despite speculation surrounding their future.

Edouard came close to joining Leicester City earlier this year but a move fell through after the Foxes preferred a swoop for Patson Daka instead.

The Frenchman’s wage demands are proving to be an issue but a ten-word update courtesy of the ever-reliable Fabrizio Romano spawned another problem.

He took to Twitter this weekend to say: “No bid from Crystal Palace for Edouard as of now.”

Concerning news

Keeping Edouard at Parkhead looked like the most important piece of business Celtic would do all summer when the market opened.

However, a number of circumstances now dictate that losing him wouldn’t be such a bad piece of news.

After all, fans would surely be concerned if the striker departed in a year’s time on a free transfer when they could have received upward of £15m for their star man.

Edouard remains the club’s record signing when they paid a whopping £9m for the forward back in 2018. Losing so much on a player would be disastrous for Celtic, a club that aren’t exactly swimming in cash.

His wage demands appear to be pricing him out of a move and there seems to be a huge degree of difference in how much the player rates himself compared to those who actually want to sign him.

Selling Edouard for a decent price will also have allowed Celtic to strengthen deeper throughout the squad.

Kyogo Furuhashi has already proven that his loss won’t be as bad as first feared. The Japanese forward has six goals in seven outings and looks like an outstanding capture.

The potential arrival of Giorgos Giakoumakis would surely be less likely to happen if the Frenchman doesn’t pack his bags in the coming week too.

The Greek scored 29 goals last term, a tally that Edouard has never managed to replicate. It’s worth bearing in mind that Giakoumakis found those strikes in a better division than the Premiership too.

If Postecoglou isn’t able to shift the bullish attacker in the remaining days of the window, it should come as a cause for concern. For all parties, they need to come to an agreement as soon as possible.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon drops new claim on £12k-p/w “laughing stock”, Celtic fans will be fuming…

Dusan Vlahovic is among Tottenham Hotspur’s top targets for January and he is surely a player that Antonio Conte would love to sign…

What’s the word?

According to the Telegraph’s Matt Law, the Italian head coach will sit down with sporting director Fabio Paratici to discuss their plans for the winter transfer window, in which the Fiorentina striker is expected to feature in talks.

Spurs have regularly been linked with a move for the Serbia international and it seems he will once again be a hot topic of conversation next month.

La Viola are thought to be asking for a fee in the region of €60m (£51m) and €70m (£56.7m) but that could decrease by €10m (£8.5m) by the summer.

Conte’s dream signing

Vlahovic would be something of a dream for Conte as he seeks to bolster his thin-looking frontline. Indeed, he only has Harry Kane to call upon, meaning he is restricted in two ways.

The first is the fact that he does not have an alternative to his out-of-sorts striker, who has bagged just once in the Premier League all season and secondly, he does not have another option to go to his Inter Milan title-winning formation of 3-5-2.

Vlahovic is scoring for fun in the Serie A at the minute, so he would certainly be an intriguing option – the 6 foot 3 marksman bagged a brace at the weekend to make it 17 goals from 18 appearances this campaign, adding to his 21 goals last term.

The 21-year-old talisman has earned substantial praise as a result of his fine goalscoring form, ranging from Italian football expert Conor Clancy deeming him to be a “complete number nine” to football talent scout Jacek Kulig dubbing him “the Serbian machine.”

Conte has had a history of having big physical goalscorers in his side, including Romelu Lukaku at Inter and Diego Costa at Chelsea, so it’s easy to see why he would be keen to sign Vlahovic this winter.

As such, Paratici could well land his manager a dream signing with a move for the £45m-rated forward next month. The club should do all they can to appease the head coach. On the above evidence, Conte needs a player like Vlahovic.

AND in other news, Conte and Paratici now gifted huge Spurs transfer boost amid Fabrizio Romano update…

Many Wolves fans have been left fuming over a transfer update on Amadou Diawara.

As per Siamo La Roma, the Midlands club have rejected the chance to sign the Roma ace, as he was reportedly inserted in talks when they went on to sign Rui Patricio.

Arsenal also rejected the opportunity to sign him when Granit Xhaka looked like he was on his way to the Serie A club.

Diawara played in a total of 29 games for Roma over all competitions across the 2020/21 season, including in their impressive run to the semi-final stage of the UEFA Europa League (Transfermarkt), and at 24 years of age, is a player who has not yet reached his peak.

The Guinea international could have given another handy option in the centre of midfield for the Molineux faithful, but instead it looks as if they have now missed their chance.

 Wolves fans on Diawara transfer update

These WWFC supporters fumed as the transfer update was shared on Twitter (via Talking Wolves):

“We’re so so stupid it’s unreal”

Credit: @wwfc_bibb

“Fosun throwing Wolves name into the rumour hat again so it looks like they’re actually trying to sign players. Smoke and mirrors”

Credit: @LearyMitchell

“BRUV WHY?”

Credit: @nelbzV2

“Pardon?”

Credit: @KKWWFC

“WHAT?”

Credit: @bestwolvesfan

“They’re really starting to test me now, I’m trying to be patient and trust the process”

Credit: @BVitler

“Excuse me?”

Credit: @BrunoLages442

In other news, find out what club announcement has Wanderers buzzing here!

Celtic target Charlie Wyke is said to favour a move to Parkhead over interest from Sky Bet Championship clubs, as reported by Nottinghamshire Live.

The Lowdown: Celtic recruit ahead of 2021/22

With pre-season drawing ever closer at Lennoxtown, many onlookers will be fascinated to see how Ange Postecoglou goes about re-structuring what is a fragmented Hoops side ahead of 2021/22.

Already busy in the transfer market, Celtic have tied up deals for young stars Liam Shaw and Joey Dawson from Sheffield Wednesday and Scunthorpe United respectively.

However, arguably the most documented transfer pursuit of the Celts summer has been the pursuit of the 28-year-old Wyke.

The Latest: Wyke prefers Celtic to Nottingham Forest

As it stands, the 6ft 2in forward Is believed to prefer a move to Glasgow ahead of attention from Nottingham Forest [Nottinghamshire Live].

Wyke has not been short of offers this summer, with Cardiff City, Millwall, Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough and CSKA Moscow all rumoured to have monitored his situation this summer [Nottinghamshire Live].

Currently out of contract at Sunderland, he looks certain to depart the Stadium of Light on a free transfer at the end of this month [Football Insider].

The Verdict: Wyke would be an excellent Celtic signing to kick-start Postecoglou’s tenure

Wyke would be an excellent addition to a Celtic squad which has lacked a cutting edge in recent months – in a sparkling 2020/21 season, the poacher notched an incredible 31 goals in 54 appearances [Soccer Base].

Possessing a particular knack of getting his head on the ball, the aerial colossus scored 16 headed efforts within this timeframe [67 Hail Hail].

Potentially acquiring a penalty box predator for nothing at all, thanks to his contract situation, may be too tempting for the Scottish giants to turn down.

Celtic should look to tie up a deal as soon as possible for Wyke, and this latest update can only be seen as hugely exciting.

In other news, Leeds United have opened talks to sign a Celtic defender.

According to a report by journalist Jack Rosser of The Evening Standard, as shared on his Twitter, West Ham United manager David Moyes hasn’t ruled out yet another attempt for Man United ace Jesse Lingard.

The Lowdown: West Ham in Lingard chase…

As reported in the summer, Lingard was firmly on manager Moyes’ radar as an attacking target following his very impressive 2020/2021 loan stint at the London Stadium.

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The England international bagged a brilliant nine goals and four assists in 16 Premier League starts over the second half of last campaign (WhoScored) – leading West Ham to aim for his permanent re-signing.

Alas, when Lingard opted against a return to east London, West Ham instead moved to sign Croatian ace Nikola Vlasic from CSKA Moscow on deadline day.

As attention already turns to January, with the Irons thought to be already eyeing Adam Hlozek of Sparta Prague, news has emerged on another attacker in Lingard.

The Latest: Moyes not done with Lingard?

As per Rosser, sharing an article on his Twitter, West Ham may not be done with the 28-year-old just yet despite signing Vlasic.

It is believed that Moyes ‘has considered another move in January’ for the player dependent on his chances at Old Trafford and how Vlasic takes to life in the Premier League.

“As per Paul Hirst, Jesse Lingard has rejected a new deal at Manchester United,” he explained on social media.

“David Moyes has considered another move in January dependent on Lingard’s game time and how Vlasic settles.”

The Verdict: Move on…

While Lingard has been dubbed ‘absolutely phenomenal’ in recent months (Adrian Durham, talkSPORT), we believe West Ham should move on and prioritise signing an out-and-out striker.

Moyes already has three great attacking midfield options in Vlasic, Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma, yet no alternative to Michail Antonio up front.

This is where the Scotsman should be prioritising, not yet another Lingard attempt.

In other news: ‘Absolutely buzzing’, ‘Here we go’…West Ham fans flock to official announcement, find out more here.

Leicester City have made a solid start to the new season, picking up six points from a possible nine in the Premier League after seeing off Manchester City in the Community Shield.

The Foxes are aiming to finally break into the top four this term following consecutive fifth-place finishes, and several high-profile acquisitions over the summer will certainly help them in their mission to do just that.

However, some of their regular stars have so far struggled to live up to their usual lofty heights in the opening weeks, with the likes of Caglar Soyuncu and Ayoze Perez making high-profile mistakes.

It’s arguably another one of Rodgers’ first-team gems who endured the worst August of the lot, though.

As per SofaScore, Harvey Barnes earned a rating of just 6.27 out of 10, the second-lowest amongst his Leicester colleagues. When examining the £60,000-per-week speed demons underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why he has accrued such a poor rating.

After starting all three of the Foxes opening top-flight games against Wolves, West Ham United and Norwich City, Barnes has failed to score or assist a single goal. The 23-year-old has also made just 13.7 accurate passes per game on average (41 in total), highlighting his lack of involvement in proceedings. [SofaScore]

He has also recorded just 0.3 shots on target, 0.3 key passes and 1.3 dribbles per game, while failing to create a single big chance for his teammates. [SofaScore]

In fairness to Barnes, he is currently returning from a serious knee injury which ended his 2020/21 season back in March and forced him to miss Euro 2020 over the summer, but he will be expecting to put in some much-improved performances following the current international break.

In other news… Report sheds light on Leicester’s deadline day development, Rodgers will be gutted 

Queens Park Rangers will not include Macauley Bonne as part of a deal to bring Andre Dozzell to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by West London Sport, who claim that, despite speculation that Bonne could make a move to Ipswich Town in order to sweeten QPR’s offer for Dozzell, Mark Warburton has no intention of parting with the 25-year-old centre-forward this summer.

It is then reported that the 58-year-old wishes to develop the Zimbabwe international over the remainder of his contract with the Rs, despite the fact that QPR recently confirmed the return of Charlie Austin on a permanent basis.

Grave mistake

While it is good to have strength in depth across the pitch, the fact that QPR will now have all five of Lyndon Dykes, Charlie Austin, Charlie Kelman, Aramide Oteh and Macauley Bonne capable of operating up front in their squad next season, the argument that it would be a mistake to scupper a chance to sign Dozzell simply to keep hold of Bonne is a relatively easy one to make.

Indeed, over his 34 Championship appearances for the Rs last season, the £1.8m-rated man scored just three goals, registered one assist and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.3 key passes and hitting the target with 0.4 shots per game.

These returns saw the £3.9k-per-week striker earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.57, ranking him as Warburton’s third-worst performer out of the 28 players to feature in the second tier for QPR last term.

In comparison, over Dozzell’s 43 League One appearances for Ipswich last season, the attacking midfielder provided one assist and created 10 big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.5 interceptions, 1.7 tackles and 1.3 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the £810k-rated man earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.98, ranking him as the club’s joint seventh-best performer in the third tier.

As such, if QPR do not go on to complete a deal for the player Paul Lambert dubbed “incredible” this summer because of Warburton’s refusal to part with Bonne, it would appear to be a very big mistake on the part of the 58-year-old gaffer.

In other news: QPR dealt big blow over “outstanding” £35k-p/w gem, but there could be a silver lining

Tottenham Hotspur are now eyeing a move for Inter Milan right wing-back Denzel Dumfries, according to a report by Sport Mediaset (via SportWitness).

The Lowdown: Conte’s search for a RWB

It was heavily reported that Spurs boss Antonio Conte wanted to bring in a new right wing-back in January.

Fabio Paratici was initially negotiating with Adama Traore over the proposition of playing in the position, having come close to agreeing a £20m fee with Wolves.

However, Spanish giants Barcelona swooped in at the last minute, snatching the 26-year-old out of Conte’s grasp.

As a result, the Lilywhites manager has been left with just Emerson Royal, following the season-ending injury sustained by Matt Doherty.

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The Latest: Dumfries rumours

According to a report by Sport Mediaset (translated by SportWitness), Inter may need to sell players to manage the books this summer. Therefore, Dumfries could be an option which would make significant money.

It is claimed that Bayern Munich and Tottenham would be “in the front row” for a summer transfer, as both sides are “watching him very carefully”.

Sport Mediaset further report that it would take in the region between £29.5m and £33.7m to secure the Dutchman’s services.

The Verdict: Good signing

After a shaky start to his Serie A career, Dumfries has gone on to earn comparisons with that of Inter legend Maicon, after a string of “brilliant” performances.

The Netherlands international’s underlying stats certainly illustrate this; he ranks in the 99th percentile in his position for non-penalty expected goals, non-penalty expected goals plus expected assists, touches in the attacking penalty area and progressive passes received (Europe’s top five leagues via FB Ref).

His attacking threat would complement Conte’s play-style perfectly, as he would slot in as an overlapping wing-back in Spurs’ back five.

If Paratici can get this deal across the line, we feel this would be a perfect signing for Conte.

In other news: Tottenham Hotspur: Sky Sports man drops Steven Bergwijn claim