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The fixtures haven’t even been released, but Dean Windass has already ruled his former side Sheffield United out of getting promoted straight back to the Premier League next year.

Having failed to build off their outstanding first campaign back in the top-flight in 2019-2020, the Blades were relegated last term having sat at the foot of the table from November onwards.

Sheffield United will no doubt be amongst the favourites to make an instant return to the top division next time, helped by the appointment of Slavisa Jokanovic.

The Serbian, who recently left his position as manager of Qatari outfit Al-Gharafa, has twice been promoted to the Premier League – in 2014 with Watford, and most recently, 2018 with Fulham.

However, after a wretched start to the following season with Fulham, Jokanovic was sacked before Christmas and hasn’t managed in England since.

Despite having two promotions on his CV, Windass’ early prediction is that the Bramall Lane outfit won’t be returning to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

He told Football FanCast:

“It pains me to say it, but I can’t see them going back up next year, depending how many players you do lose.

“He did fantastically well at Fulham and were probably the best team in the Championship, but I can’t see Sheffield United bouncing back straight away.”

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.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-copy/” title=”Tottenham latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

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

A reliable journalist has named as many as ten players that Newcastle United may target in the upcoming summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Newcastle may have to work on tight budget

Due to the financial impact that the global pandemic has had on clubs like the St. James’ Park faithful, the Magpies may have to work in the summer on a tight budget.

With the uncertainty over the potential takeover in the North East from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium as well, free agents, loans and low-budget transfers may be the way to go for the Tyneside club, and a journalist has picked out ten players who could fit that bill.

The Latest: Ten players Newcastle may target

Sean McCormick has picked out ten players that the Toon could potentially target that may not cost them much money coming from inferior leagues.

Writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, the journalist has picked out Andre Ramalho, Krystian Bielik, Fabiano Parisi, Kristoffer Ajer, Gernot Trauner, Steven Caulker and Attila Szalai as potential defensive signings.

NUFC fans should be familiar with both Bielik and Caulker given their time in English football, while Ajer has been recently linked with a move to Newcastle from Celtic.

Josh DaSilva and Selim Amallah have been named as potential midfield options, with the former tearing the Magpies apart for Brentford with a goal and a man-of-the-match display in the Carabao Cup earlier on in the season.

Abdallah Sima has been named as a potential attacking signing to ease the goal scoring burden on Callum Wilson’s shoulders up top.

The Verdict: Newcastle must bolster squad

The Toon will need to bolster up their squad come the start of the next campaign so that everyone can stay as fit and injury-free as possible, as Steve Bruce would then get a chance to rotate, something he has only be able to do when forced to for most of this campaign.

Perhaps one of the names above in each position would help in this case, and they may all be available for a relatively cheap price if McCormick is to be believed.

In other news, find out what enticing transfer claim one Magpie has dropped here!

Roshane Thomas has dropped an update on West Ham United’s failed move for Duvan Zapata on transfer deadline day.

What’s the talk?

In a recent article for The Athletic, the West Ham correspondent shed further light on the Hammers’ late move for the Atalanta centre-forward, with it being said that David Moyes’ side had agreed to initially take the 30-year-old on loan – paying a £4m fee to do so – with an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the season.

However, Thomas went on to state that, despite the Serie A side agreeing to these demands and the Irons submitting a deal sheet to the Premier League, the move ultimately proved to be too late in the day to get the transfer over the line prior to Monday evening’s deadline.

West Ham must act this summer

With no new centre-forward arriving at the London Stadium in the January transfer window – despite a £58m bid for Benfica’s Darwin Nunez – West Ham are still desperately lacking any real strength in depth up top – with Michail Antonio currently being the East London side’s only recognised striker.

And, while this will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to the Hammers’ chances of securing a top-four finish in the league this season, should Zapata once again be available next summer, it would very much appear as if Moyes must do all he can to get a deal over the line for the Colombia international – as the 30-year-old looks to be the perfect match for Antonio.

Indeed, the £29.7m-rated forward has been a revelation for Atalanta since joining the club from SSC Napoli back in 2018, scoring 78 goals and registering 38 assists over his 152 appearances for the Bergamo club.

This season, the £57k-per-week striker has once again been in breathtaking form for Gian Piero Gasperini’s outfit, having already bagged nine goals, registered four assists and created three big chances over his 16 Serie A appearances – returns which have seen him average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.98.

And, with finding the back of the net clearly not being an issue, the 6 foot 2 Colombian’s physical stature is also similar to that of West Ham’s main man in attack, with Papu Gomez previously stating of the centre-forward: “Zapata’s shorts look like underwear, he is so big.

“Sometimes I don’t even want to get close to him in a match because he’s a beast and it hurts. When he is feeling good he’s like a train – you throw the ball forward and ‘ciao!'”

As such, while it was certainly a huge blow to not land the 30-year-old this winter, should a move still be on the table come the end of the season, Moyes could finally find the answer to his centre-forward woes in a move for the Atalanta hitman.

In other news: Moyes can unearth WHU’s perfect DCC alternative with 21 y/o prodigy, he’s “gold dust”

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said that Gabriel Jesus will remain an ‘incredibly important’ player for the Sky Blues in 2021/22 whilst citing his ability to play in either centre-forward or wide positions [City Xtra].

Putting up respectable numbers last campaign, the Brazilian attacker managed to notch 18 goal contributions in 42 appearances; 14 goals and four assists [Transfermarkt].

Now, he looks set to shoulder added responsibility at the Eithad Stadium this campaign, owing to his managers’ recent comments.

In a recent interview, Guardiola stated: “Gabriel is an incredibly important player for us, he can play a striker or wider. He had an incredibly key role in these many years of success in every season.” [City Xtra].

Frequently contributing for City during his time at the club, he may be a key player for his current employers in forthcoming months should they miss out on reported target Harry Kane.

In light of these comments, loads of Manchester City diehards took to social media to discuss the striker, who has been linked with an exit this summer.

Manchester City FC fans react:

Replying to popular Manchester City fan outlet City Xtra on Twitter, here is what some supporters had to say about the update:

“I really wanna see him tried on the wing or just wanna see him be a bit more confident again”

Credit: @SxrgioSZN

“Music to my ears if we sold him he would become a star this season for whoever he’s playing for and be a 150 mill player and we would be gutted, let’s keep the faith in him he hasn’t been great in recent times but he hasn’t been bad, I’m happy he’s staying and pep values him”

Credit:@MrkGmn1

 “unpopular opinion, but in a conventional system as a striker (no help defensively) position, gabby would bag 15+ goals a season in the prem. He is so skillful could beat a defender in a beat.”

Credit: @karthik_mcfc”The mans work-rate is fantastic and I really hope he can rake in the goals this season! Not enough of those have come through him.”Credit: @_JDHart”That’s what I like to hear, I hope he has a great season and stay here”Credit: @Mysterio__01″Keep gabi”Credit: @Basseysamuel998In other news, an ex Premier League player has his say on the 2021/22 title race.

Carlo Ancelotti has dropped news of a double injury blow for Everton as they prepare to play Manchester City in the Premier League this afternoon.

The Lowdown: Everton chasing European qualification

The Goodison Park side go into the final day knowing that they can still qualify for European competition.

They are currently three points behind sixth-placed West Ham United and would need them to lose at home to Southampton and for them to beat Pep Guardiola’s side, while bettering Tottenham’s result against Leicester City and recording a big goal swing, in order to have a chance of qualifying for the Europa League.

That scenario seems highly unlikely, but they have a good chance of qualifying for the Europa Conference League if can they better Spurs, Arsenal and Leeds United’s results.

The Latest: Everton suffer double injury blow

While it is an uphill task to go and beat the newly-crowned champions at the Etihad Stadium at the best of times, it will be made that much harder for Everton as Ancelotti has confirmed that both James Rodriguez and Seamus Coleman have been ruled out of the game through injury.

They are two players who would likely have started for the Merseyside club, but the Toffees will now have to try and get a result without the duo to call upon.

The Verdict: Rodriguez and Coleman key

As the club’s captain, Coleman will be a huge miss for Everton as he offers leadership off the pitch as well as on it. The Republic of Ireland international ranks highly in the squad in terms of average tackles (1.6), average clearances (1.3) and assists (three) per game in the top flight so far this season (Whoscored), and he will be a loss in these key areas.

Rodriguez offers a creative spark for the Blues as, with six goals and four assists in total in the league so far this term (Whoscored), he has also shown composure in front of goal, which is what Everton will need as they could to be limited in terms of chances against a Manchester City side who often dominate possession.

Both players could be a massive miss going into the match against the newly-crowned Premier League champions.

In other news, Everton are vying with Liverpool to sign this ace!

Ian Mearns has questioned the Premier League after Newcastle United released a statement with regards to their upcoming arbitration case.

The Lowdown: Arbitration statement

The St. James’ Park have recently released a statement on their official website asking for the arbitration process to be made public.

However, this can only occur if the top flight agree to it as well, otherwise the process will remain behind closed doors.

In what can be described as bullish terms, the North East club also claimed that they have ‘nothing to hide’ with regards to the process, and even suggested that the Premier League should have ‘no reason to be afraid of the public spotlight’, providing that they have acted ‘lawfully and properly’, and therefore should be wanting to make it public too.

The Latest: Mearns on statement

Speaking to The Chronicle, Mearns, who is the local MP for Gateshead, has claimed that public transparency would be ‘very welcome’ from the perspective of the top flight, unless ‘they have something to hide’.

He was also critical of Mike Ashley for being ‘absolutely hypocritical’ in the statement, as he is asking for more transparency and as such for the case to be made public, but he is ‘never particularly positive or communicative with fans’.

The Verdict: Make case public

If both parties are equally as confident of getting a positive result from the arbitration hearing, then there should be no reason at all not to make the case public.

The Tyneside club have already claimed that they have ‘nothing to hide’ in their statement, and so the top flight should be following suit if that is true for them as well.

Nonetheless, whether the process remains confidential or is opened to the public, the results of the forthcoming proceedings will give a much better picture of the direction of where the takeover is heading, and if it goes in the favour of the Magpies, then the process could well be accelerated, much to the joy of the Toon Army.

In other news, find out how Mehrdad Ghodoussi has reacted to the statement here!

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!

Many Liverpool fans have been left fuming as a transfer update emerged on Nabil Fekir.

As per a report from earlier on in the week by El Gol Digital, which has since been shared by LFC Transfer Room on their Twitter page, the Anfield faithful are ‘best positioned’ ahead of both Everton and Arsenal to sign the Real Betis ace in the summer window, and he could be sold for a fee in the region of €40m (£34.3m).

Fekir was close to signing for Jurgen Klopp’s team back in 2018 as a potential replacement for Philippe Coutinho, but after a dragged-out transfer saga a deal never materialised.

It seems as if several Reds supporters do not want a repeat of what happened then, and even so, Fekir, a central attacking midfield player by trade, would not really fit into Klopp’s preferred 4-3-3 formation.

Liverpool fans on Fekir transfer update

These Kopites fumed as the transfer update was shared on Twitter, with one LFC supporter even going as far as to claim that it was a ‘joke’:

“Are you having a laugh?”

Credit: @61Zaqir

“OK that’s it. I’m tuning out of LFC transfer Twitter until the first day of the new season. Nabil Fekir”

Credit: @Byrnish1981

“Out of all the rumours, this is by far the worst.”

Credit: @vdm1_

“Tell me this is a joke..am I in a time warp?…. YNWA”

Credit: @RedStew08

“Well and truly silly season.”

Credit: @keswickbro

“Nah he’s been trash gimme Coutinho”

Credit: @LfcBackupLa

In other news, find out what transfer update has Reds buzzing 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