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Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan believes that Michy Batshuayi could be a great signing for the Whites, with Marcelo Bielsa possibly getting the best out of him.

The Lowdown: Bamford backup required

Leeds could make additions across several positions this summer, with an additional striker an area which needs addressing.

Patrick Bamford has too often been the Whites’ main source of goals, with no other player in the squad managing to reach double figures in the Premier League last season – Jack Harrison and Stuart Dallas were joint-second top scorers with eights goals apiece.

Batshuayi has been linked with a move to Leeds, with Chelsea keen to offload the Belgian striker following a stint on loan at Crystal Palace in 2020/21.

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The Latest: Whelan keen on Leeds signing Batshuayi

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan claimed the Whites should take a punt on the 27-year-old, particularly as he played under Bielsa at Marseille. The ex-Leeds striker said:

“I think last season, there were rumblings about maybe getting him on loan as well.

“Sometimes, managers that have worked with players before, where it’s not worked out at other clubs for this particular player, I do believe that there’s a certain element of knowing that player.

“Knowing his character, having that trust in a player, that he can go and do a job. Also, knowing you can change the fortunes of that player in a certain league.

“Marcelo Bielsa’s improved everybody at Leeds United. Absolutely no shadow of a doubt about that one. Maybe he could do the same.

“There’s a player lying deep inside (Batshuayi) that we’ve not seen yet. Maybe Bielsa could bring the animal out.”

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The Verdict: Talented, but a risk

Batshuayi has undoubted pedigree as a player, notching 22 goals in 34 appearances for Belgium and being hailed for his “incredible knack” of scoring by Chelsea legend Pat Nevin back in 2017.

Despite this praise, his career has gone stagnant in recent years – he only scored twice for Palace last season – so Leeds making a move for him could be deemed a risk.

If Bielsa believes he can get the best out of Batshuayi, the 27-year-old could be an excellent signing, but there is a niggling feeling that the Whites should look elsewhere for someone to provide competition for Bamford.

In other news, a journalist has dropped a big update on a key Leeds player’s future. Find out who it is here.

Rangers need to tie down Connor Goldson to a new long-term deal at Ibrox as his contract is due to expire at the end of the current campaign.

What’s the word?

Goldson has been a mainstay at the heart of defence for Rangers ever since joining the side in the summer of 2018 under the previous manager Steven Gerrard.

With his contract expiring at the end of the season, there has been no word of an extension from Giovanni van Bronckhorst and this is concerning.

Having featured in all 32 Scottish Premiership matches this season; Goldson would leave a massive hole in the Gers backline if he chose to leave the club.

Disaster if Goldson doesn’t stay

There is no doubt about it that Goldson has been key to Rangers’ success over the previous two seasons. Alongside Filip Helander, the Ibrox side only conceded Chelsea in 2004-2005.

Additionally, the defender also scored eight times during the campaign, including a brace against Celtic, and was arguably at his peak.

The start of this season saw the Gers struggle to replicate the highs of the previous campaign, being knocked out by Malmo in the Champions League qualifiers and stuttering in the league.

Following the 3-1 League Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian at Hampden in November, Goldson said that Rangers had “lacked hunger” following their title win and this statement was not popular amongst the supporters.

The last few weeks have seen a resurgence in both Rangers and Goldson’s form, with progression in the Europa League following victory over Braga and an excellent win against Celtic in the Scottish Cup Semi-final, it could be a wonderful final few weeks of the season for the Ibrox faithful.

During that run, he hasn’t dipped an impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.9, with six of the seven appearances seeing him register a rating above 7.0, illustrating his importance during the back end of the term.

The £27k-per-week defender has been described as the “rock” that the side is built on, and after these last few weeks, it’s hard to argue.

Goldson will be a key protagonist if success is to be claimed and seeing him leave, despite the incoming arrival of John Souttar, would be a disaster for van Bronckhorst and co.

In other news, Sources: Huge transfer news emerges that could send Rangers into panic mode – opinion

Manchester City reached the Champions League final with an impressive 2-0 win against PSG on Tuesday night, with Pep Guardiola’s side superb throughout the entire game.

After earning a 2-1 win at Les Parc des Princes last week, City were favourites to reach the final in Istanbul but still needed to produce a professional display to see off Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

It was comfortable in the end, as Riyad Mahrez’s brace ensured that City would lead 4-1 on aggregate, before PSG lost their heads again, with Angel Di Maria sent off for stamping on Fernandinho, whilst the likes of Marco Verratti, Danilo Pereira and Presnel Kimpembe all could’ve seen red for some shocking tackles in the final 20 minutes.

Whilst the Algeria international will rightly steal plenty of the limelight for his two goals, Kyle Walker also produced an incredible display at right-back, one that should not go unnoticed.

As per SofaScore, the former Spurs defender would earn an impressive 8.1/10 rating for his display, with only Mahrez (8.8) earning higher.

The England international was given the task of keeping Neymar quiet, as he was playing on the left-wing, and the superstar Brazilan got very little out of Walker.

During the game, the 30-year-old right-back would not be dribbled past once, whilst he also contributed three clearances, three interceptions and six tackles.

For comparison, in the Champions League so far this season, Walker has averaged 1.5 clearances, 1.3 interceptions and 2.2 tackles, which emphasises just how good he was at the Etihad on Tuesday night.

The “incredible” Walker completely dominated at right-back from a defensive perspective, winning 11/12 of his duels during the game, resulting in a superb 92% success rate, which was even better than the success rates of Ruben Dias and John Stones, who were both exceptional at the back.

Neymar meanwhile, was able to complete just 4/7 dribbles during the game, whilst he won just 8/20 of his duels and also lost possession 22 times, which emphasises that Walker clearly had the better of him during the game.

The Englishman still contributed in an attacking sense too, as he completed both of his dribble attempts, whilst also playing one key pass and 41/48 of his passes, resulting in a superb overall display.

And, in other news… Bye-bye Sterling: Txiki should seal City swoop for “sensational” PL wizard

Sheffield United are reportedly closing in on a deal to sign Sampdoria midfielder Ronaldo Vieira, according to Football Insider.

What’s the story?

The 23-year-old midfielder has made 44 appearances in total for Sampdoria, although he didn’t feature for them last term, having spent time out on loan with Hellas Verona, in what was an injury-hit spell.

Vieira has previously been on the books of Leeds United, whom he was with before moving to Sampdoria, but it looks as though he’s set to return to English football this summer.

A move to Sheffield is seemingly a tempting proposition for Vieira, with the Blades looking to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking this season after they were relegated from the top-flight last term.

‘Bright future’

Sheffield United’s supporters will be hoping that Vieira can strike up a strong partnership in midfield with the likes of Ollie Norwood and Sander Berge.

Berge won an average of 3.7 duels per game last term, which is the same figure as Vieira, but the Sampdoria midfielder edged it when it comes to tackles per game, with the Italian man averaging 1.2 tackles per game compared to Berge’s 1.1 in the Premier League last term.

Vieira won an average of 1.5 aerial duels per game, whilst Berge’s average is slightly lower at 1.1 per game from last season and the potential of having both players in the starting XI for Slavisa Jokanovic’s side next season could be a frightening prospect for opposition teams to come up against.

With the creative ability of Ollie Norwood coupled with the hard work ethic and tough tackling of both Berge and Vieira, the Blades would cement themselves as one of the favourites to win promotion into the Premier League. The Blades must do all they can to get this deal done as quickly as possible so Vieira can be part of thier squad for the entire upcoming campaign.

Flocking to Twitter, some West Ham United fans have reacted to a claim involving Fiorentina defender and reported Irons transfer target Nikola Milenkovic.

The Serbian has been on David Moyes’ and GSB’s radar in recent days as the club prioritise the signing of a defender.

West Ham have only confirmed the signing of Alphonse Areola from Paris-Saint Germain on a season-long loan deal so far and time is running out to strengthen ahead of a gruelling 2021/2022 campaign.

Moyes will be fighting on the Europa League front as well as domestically next season and West Ham have only Issa Diop, Craig Dawson and Angelo Ogbonna as options in central defence.

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As a result, the Irons are now hunting for reinforcements in that area, and one of the main targets is Milenkovic.

The Daily Express have reported that West Ham are in pole position to sign him this summer, with talks ongoing amid difficulties in swooping for Chelsea colossus Kurt Zouma. It is also thought that Fiorentina are now open to selling the 23-year-old, who West Ham have eyed since January.

Flocking to this update on the 28-cap Serbia ace, some Hammers supporters have reacted with a wide array of takes on social media. One even believes that Milenkovic would be a ‘statement signing’ as GSB allegedly eye a move.

Check out some of their best reactions below.

West Ham fans flock to Milenkovic update

“I don’t believe it.”

Credit: @dcbuss

“SIUUU”

Credit: @MATH3USPEREIRA

“Just get it done, would be such a statement signing. Only other reason I can see a hold up is the player holding out for Juve.”

Credit: @RobWaldon

“Must be 1 step away”

Credit: @BeselidhjaFc

“We are leading on absolutely nothing”

Credit: @IanCulleyMorga2

“Couldn’t lead a horse to water”

Credit: @johnhooper60

In other news: ‘As of now’…Journalist says ‘really exciting’ 54-goal player close to West Ham, find out more here.

Leeds United could sign a new version of club legend Mark Viduka in the form of Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham amid Jon Newsome’s transfer verdict.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the England international could be available this summer after falling out of favour at Stamford Bridge, and now, Newsome has suggested Marcelo Bielsa’s side enter the race to sign him.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, he said: “I see they’ve put a price tag of £40m on Tammy Abraham. Do you push the boat out and go and buy Tammy Abraham? I’ve watched him since he was out on loan at Bristol City as an 18-year-old and I think he’s a fantastic player.

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“He leads the line, he just needs that club where he’s the number one target and the number one man and I think he’ll just blossom again. So do the club do something like that?”

A new Viduka

Standing at an imposing 6 foot 3, Abraham has got all the physical attributes that make him a very similar threat to the one Viduka provided in his glory days at Elland Road.

In a piece for Leeds Live, Jon Howe wrote about the Australian: “He was an ominous physical specimen, an old-fashioned centre forward in many respects, but mixed a formidable presence with a delicate technique that made him the purest example of a ‘good touch for a big fella’ player you are ever likely to see.”

Dubbed as being “clinical in front of goal” and as a “natural goal-scorer” by former Leeds man Noel Whelan, Abraham combines both his pace and power with real technical quality, and has managed an impressive 12 goals in 32 games despite barely starting.

Speaking after he netted during a loan spell against Swansea a couple of seasons ago, Aston Villa boss Dean Smith said: “Tammy is a handful and he knows better than me that he should have been walking away with the match ball tonight. But he scored the winning goal, he’s a hell of a talent. Tammy put in a hell of a shift up front on his own and proved he is a fine player.”

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The £36m-rated Abraham has all the tools in his locker for Bielsa to discover a new Viduka for Leeds.

Meanwhile, Leeds are eyeing up this winger who’ll “torment defenders everywhere”…

Ange Postecoglou’s first season in charge of Celtic will be an interesting one to oversee.

The Hoops are no longer the dominant force in Scottish football as they find themselves caught up in a huge transition period.

What’s the word?

The ongoing window will be absolutely imperative to Postecoglou who will be keen to hit the ground running.

He’s already identified a number of defenders alongside his recruitment team, but with Scott Brown departing for Aberdeen, they need new faces in midfield as well.

According to Alan Nixon, the Bhoys are still interested in securing a deal to bring Ali McCann to Parkhead.

The St Johnstone midfielder was one of the best young talents in the Premiership last term and as a result, has found no shortage of suitors.

Nixon claims that Stoke are keen on signing the 21-year-old, while Swansea and Hull are also attracted by the idea of acquiring him.

Must sign

With Celtic stuck in a rut, they could do with planning for the future and bringing through some younger talent.

McCann would tick all of the boxes in that regard, particularly after his form in 2020/21.

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Celtic are thought to have scouted him on a number of occasions and they must have been impressed with what they saw.

After all, the midfielder was among the nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year beside David Turnbull.

Last term, he showcased a plethora of attributes that would ensure a seamless transition into the Celtic side.

Adept going forward – he registered four goal contributions last season – he is a ruthless defender as well.

McCann produced 2.7 successful tackles per game for his club, a number that added to the impressive 3.5 challenges per match in the Nations League for Northern Ireland. For context, both of those numbers are higher than any other player at Celtic over the last 12 months.

Furthermore, he is a strong reader of the play, registering 1.5 interceptions per outing. The only players who registered larger numbers in that area were Jonjoe Kenny and Nir Bitton.

With that in mind, it’s hard to deny the midfielder wouldn’t be an upgrade for Postecoglou this season.

Calm in possession, the all-action McCann is somebody the Australian could build his team around for years to come. With so much potential, supporters should be mightily excited if Celtic can lure him to Glasgow.

AND in other news, Ange can fix big Celtic issue by signing £4m gem who’s been “outstanding” at Euro 2020…

Aston Villa winger Bertrand Traore appears to have suffered a fresh injury while on international duty with Burkina Faso, as reported by Birmingham Live.

As to be expected, a number of Villa supporters have been reacting to the news on social media.

The 26-year-old has struggled to get his 2021/22 campaign going after suffering a hamstring injury in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Liverpool back in August.

He is yet to start a Premier League game this season but did feature against Everton and Tottenham as a substitute prior to the current international break.

However, it seems as if Traore has picked up a new problem, with Birmingham Live claiming that he missed Burkina Faso’s 2-0 win over Djibouti on Monday due to injury.

Villa fans react

The AVFC Faithful shared the news regarding Traore on Twitter on Monday afternoon. Here is what these fans had to say in reply, with many frustrated and one labelling the winger as a ‘class player’ while lamenting his injury record.

“Here we go again”

Credit: @deep_645

“Oh”

Credit: @DG_Avfc_2

“Is our whole squad just broken”

Credit: @roberton_sj

“Class player… Made out of Weetabix.”

Credit: @STRACH_AVFC

“No luck fc”

Credit: @buendiazboyz

“El Ghazi to the rescue!”

Credit: @hafizstar

In other news: Smith looking to pip Arteta again as Aston Villa eye move for ace who has the same agency as Mings

Manchester United’s early form this season has hardly been ideal. It’s a puzzling situation for their Norwegian tactician, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

This summer, the Red Devils made three landmark acquisitions in Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho.

However, while the last two names watched on from the sidelines, Ronaldo was virtually a lone figure as well but his frustration was shown on the field of play, rather than from the comfort of a seat.

The Portuguese threw his arms about and took issue with his teammates for failing to make attacking runs throughout the opening half.

But his anger surely would have been directed at the defence too. After all, as Solskjaer’s men went into the half time break 2-0 down to Atalanta on Wednesday evening, it marked what was initially a horrible night.

At the time of writing (20.55 – 20th Nov), they are bottom of their European group and their defensive record is only getting worse.

According to Opta, United have failed to keep a clean sheet in 12 consecutive matches at Old Trafford. That happens to be their longest run since February 1964 – a mere 57 years.

That’s a rather bizarre statistic when you consider they have £80m Harry Maguire at the back. The Englishman has struggled with injury in recent weeks and his lack of sharpness shone through this evening in a woeful first half at the back.

He tried stepping up and setting an offside trap as the visitors scored their first goal. He wasn’t on the same wavelength as his fellow defenders and ultimately caused a vacant space for Mario Pasalic to score.

Maguire was then caught out for the second strike too with Merih Demiral beating him to the ball at a corner and finding the net with an excellent header.

Yet, he wasn’t the only culprit in a diabolical first half for United on Wednesday. The England international’s centre-back colleague in Victor Lindelof was also hopeless.

The Swede has never covered himself in too much glory since joining Man United and his display in the opening 45 minutes in midweek demonstrated why they brought Varane to the club over the summer.

He was caught in no man’s land down the left-hand side for the opening goal and was a poor presence from a physical point of view.

Lindelof contested just one defensive duel in the first 45 minutes but didn’t even win that as he lost 100% of the battles he competed in before the interval. Considering how under pressure they found themselves, not completing a single tackle or interception is an extremely poor record.

The defender was also successful with just 50% of his long balls forward.

If Solskjaer is going to have any hope of holding onto his job, his team will desperately need to improve. At the moment, they look like a side destined to head out of Europe’s major competition.

AND in other news, Report reveals exciting Man Utd manager update that’ll leave some fans buzzing…

Tottenham Hotspur appear to have made several of their underperforming defenders available for transfer this summer…

What’s the word?

That’s according to The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare, who claims that the North London outfit will have to sell players before they can buy due to the club’s finances.

Serge Aurier and Davinson Sanchez are among the names mentioned, both of whom played a regular amount of game time under Jose Mourinho last season, whilst Toby Alderweireld has expressed his desire to leave this window.

Get rid!

It leaves new manager Nuno Santo with plenty of interesting decisions to make, especially if other clubs do come forward with offers for any of the defensive trio.

One player he should almost certainly look to offload is Sanchez, who cost Spurs a whopping £42m in 2017 under Mauricio Pochettino (a then club-record fee) and has simply failed to live up to expectations.

The 35-cap Colombia international started four of their five opening Premier League matches in 2020/21 but a particularly calamitous display that saw Spurs throw away a three-goal lead meant he lost his place in the starting XI for several months.

Sanchez made 17 starts in the top-flight and featured a total of 32 times across all competitions, as per Transfermarkt. However, his performances often drew stern critics.

His penultimate appearance in the Premier League saw another lead thrown away after Newcastle United found an equaliser late on, courtesy of an error from the 25-year-old.

As a result, Sanchez was dubbed a “real liability” by former Republic of Ireland star Kenny Cunningham to the OTB Football podcast (via This is Futbol), whilst ex-Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara described him as an “absolute disgrace” on Twitter.

Only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (1.8) averaged more fouls per game than Sanchez (1.2) of any player to start over 15 matches in the Premier League last season, too, via WhoScored.

That merely adds to the reasons why Nuno should not want to keep him around.

Valued at €20m (£18m) by CIES Football Observatory, the young centre-back has seen his worth decrease dramatically, perhaps due to his poor performances but at that price, it does suggest that Spurs could cash in for a decent enough amount to put it towards any new additions.

If he’s not shown a positive sign in the four years he’s been here, then there’s no point in the Portuguese putting his faith in him. He’ll only let him down.

It’s time to show no mercy and cash in on the Pochettino flop.

AND in other news, Paratici can become an instant hit if Spurs sign 54-cap gem who’s “similar to Eriksen”…