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Barry Ferguson has suggested teams will be looking at six Glasgow Rangers players in particular this summer.

Ferguson discusses Gers transfer plans

Ferguson was speaking to The Go Radio Football Show (via Ibrox News) about what the Gers’ transfer policy will be this coming summer.

He believes the Gers will be looking to hold on to their best players, but suggested Alfredo Morelos, Borna Barisic, Joe Aribo, Ryan Kent, Connor Goldson and Glen Kamara could all attract interest. He said:

“This run in Europe and regaining the league title back, I’m just thinking that the Rangers board may say to the manager, ‘look we’ve got an opportunity to make it into the group stage of the Champions League, let’s try and keep our best players and let’s add to that’.

“I know money talks, if somebody comes in with a ridiculous offer they will need to consider it but I think the Rangers board at this moment in time will fully back Steven Gerrard and allow him to try and keep the ones he wants to keep.

“I think he’ll add some quality to it [the squad] because the best time to strengthen is when you’re on top.

“There are six assets in that Rangers team; Goldson, Barisic, Kamara, Aribo, Kent and Morelos…that’s the six I would probably say teams are looking at.”

Big summer ahead

There is no doubt that that this summer’s transfer window will be an important one for the 55-time Scottish champions. They have a chance of reaching the Champions League group stages next season, which would be a huge achievement for Steven Gerrard and co.

To do that, they will need to do all they can to hold on to their best players. One consolation if they were to depart could be the potential windfall the Gers would receive as a result. According to The Athletic, those six aforementioned players combined are currently valued at a whopping £80m – a considerable amount for a side like Rangers. It remains to be seen what Ross Wilson and co decide in a few months.

In other news, Rangers fans react to this injury news.

After falling to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa last time out in the Premier League, Leeds are back in action when they take on West Ham on Monday night.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side lost to the Hammers 2-1 in the reverse fixture at Elland Road back in December, with an early Mateusz Klich penalty cancelled out by Tomas Soucek, before Angelo Ogbonna struck the winner for the away side with just ten minutes to go.

The Leeds boss made a couple of changes to his team for the defeat against Villa, and could well do the same again for the Hammers, but some late injury news could give him a massive boost ahead of the game.

And with that in mind, below is a look at how Leeds might line up when they make the trip to the London Stadium to take on West Ham on Monday night.

In goal, Illan Meslier should keep his place in between the sticks, with his agent being the topic of conversation earlier last week after opening up about the Frenchman’s long-term future at the club.

The back-four in front of him should also remain unchanged, with Diego Llorente finally beginning to get a run of games under his belt after an injury-riddled debut campaign in English football – the Spaniard is in line for his third successive Premier League start tonight.

The big injury news concerns talisman Kalvin Phillips, with The Athletic’s Phil Hay revealing that the England international is with the Leeds squad travelling down to London, and that he is “likely to start tonight”.

With Phillips back into the side, that could see Pascal Struijk drop out to leave the 25-year-old to take back his usual place in front of the back-four.

The midfield could also see further change with Rodrigo in place to start too after Hay’s reveal that the Spaniard is also with the squad, while Pablo Hernandez could partner his compatriot what with Mateusz Klich’s poor form surely warranting him being dropped.

Out wide, the £70k-a-week earning Helder Costa should also be axed with Jack Harrison returning, while Raphinha and Patrick Bamford will keep their places in a much-changed starting line-up.

Predicted XI: Meslier; Ayling, Llorente, Cooper, Dallas; Phillips, Raphinha, Hernandez, Rodrigo, Harrison; Bamford.

Meanwhile, Bielsa should look to play this exciting talent more…

Slavia Prague have torn into Glasgow Rangers following allegations of racial abuse directed towards Gers midfielder Glen Kamara.

Slavia slam Rangers after Kamara allegations

The Gers were knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday after losing 2-0 to the Czech champions at Ibrox and 3-1 on aggregate.

The clash, though, was marred by a couple of unsavoury incidents. First, Kemar Roofe was sent off for an awful challenge on Slavia goalkeeper Ondrej Kolar, and there was then a coming together between Kamara and Ondrej Kudela. Towards the end of the match, Kudela leaned in towards Kamara to whisper something into his ear, and whatever he uttered outraged both the Finland international and his close-by teammate Bongani Zungu.

After the match, Steven Gerrard suggested Kamara had been racially abused (Sky Sports). This was not a view shared by Slavia at all, though, and they released a statement slamming the behaviour of the Ibrox outfit while also defending Kudela. They said (slavia.cz):

“Slavia resolutely denies the disgusting accusation of one of the team captains Ondřej Kúdela of racist behaviour. Already the founders of our club gave us crest with colours meaning “the purity of the idea of sports and fair contest where the rival is not our enemy, but respected opponent.” Today, Slavia is an international club based on respect for our opponents and mutual respect of all people and cultures.

“After one of the brutal fouls, Ondřej Kúdela spoke to one of the Rangers players. “I told him ‘You ******* guy’. It was said in emotions, but I absolutely deny there was anything racist in those words,” Kúdela stated.

“Slavia players faced an unprecedentedly malicious play from their opponents. They have never experienced such play in any game they participated in modern history of the European competitions. Many brutal tackles resulted in injuries of our players. Goalkeeper Ondřej Kolář was taken to hospital with ten stitches on his head.

“After the end of the game, the team was not allowed to enter the dressing room. Ondřej Kúdela was assaulted by player Kamara and hit with fists in the head when Rangers manager Steven Gerrard witnessed the incident. Even the UEFA representatives who were also present on the site of the incident were shocked by this behaviour.”

Bizarre statement

This is somewhat of a bizarre statement. The incident itself was clearly one that shook the Rangers players, and it would be hard to see Kamara retaliating in such a way if Kudela simply swore at him. It is a little demoralising to suggest the former Dundee man has lied without even wanting to look into the situation.

To then try and divert the attention towards an alleged incident after the match is quite shocking. This is an incident that was obviously not picked up by the television cameras, so only those who were present in the tunnel will know exactly what happened, but it seems unlikely that the Gers squad would do what has been claimed here.

Either way, a thorough investigation needs to be launched into all of the allegations.

In other news, Rangers are interested in this 18-goal striker.

Sevilla striker Youssef En-Nesyri excelled at a potentially ideal time for West Ham United by hitting a hat-trick against Cadiz CF on Saturday, only to then deal the Irons a huge blow.

Reports by the Daily Star earlier in the week suggested that Hammers were preparing a new offer worth up to £32m, including add-ons, with the hope of signing the 23-year-old forward this month, after seeing a £27m bid knocked back earlier in the January transfer window.

Yet Sevilla, who signed the Morocco international for just €20m (£18m), are said to be relaxed as they demand no less than €40m (£35.5m) outright to release the man who fired them up to third in the La Liga table with a Man of the Match showing in Saturday’s 3-0 win.

En-Nesyri’s hat-trick at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium was his second in the space of only two weeks, after firing home thrice in a 3-2 win at home to Real Sociedad. He now has 12 goals in 19 games, more than any other player in the Spanish top-flight.

It was not only his goals that saw En-Nesyri stand out against Cadiz this weekend, as he dictated the flow of Sevilla’s attacking gameplan to warrant a match-high 10 out of 10 rating from WhoScored.

It was his best match rating of the season so far, having offered a game-high five shots – three more than anyone else – of which four were directed on target. He also provided two key balls from 14 accurate passes, which SofaScore deemed to have created two big chances for Sevilla to find the back of Jeremias Ledesma’s net as they awarded him a 9.8/10 rating.

En-Nesyri has now created five clear-cut chances for Sevilla to score in La Liga fixtures this term but remains without an assist, despite offering four times his average key passes a game (0.5). No forward in La Liga has created a higher number of chances where there is a reasonable expectation of a teammate scoring without a shot being converted.

He also moved his successful dribbles a match average to 0.4 after successfully driving play forward with the ball at his feet on two of his six attempts against Cadiz – only four attackers across Spain’s top-flight offer two or more successful dribbles a game. One of those four attackers is Sevilla winger Suso, who attempted (8) dribbles against Cadiz.

En-Nesyri also contested more offensive aerial duels (3) than any of his teammates on Saturday, while attempting one defensive aerial contest further saw the €50,000-per-week (£44.5k-p/w) marksman match his season average of two or more duels won a game with a 51% success rate.

En-Nesyri even confirmed after the match that he had been suffering with sight issues after the foul he drew late in the first-half that led to his second goal.

But for as good a performance as En-Nesyri produced, maybe at a high enough level for West Ham to match Sevilla’s demands for a winter sale, he went on to perhaps deal a huge blow to the Irons’ hope of securing a transfer this month.

“Nothing has changed, all this comes with work and concentration. Now we are going for more, for now, I’m staying at Sevilla, I’m going nowhere,” he told Movistar+, via quotes by Estadio Deportivo. “I want to finish the year here. It’s a great club and I want to be here.”

En-Nesyri’s declaration will likely be seen as a huge blow at West Ham as the club searches for a new striker to replace Sebastien Haller.

After all, the Moroccan’s match-winning performance against Cadiz saw En-Nesyri offer more shots (2.2, Michail Antonio) and key passes (1.5, Aaron Cresswell) than any Irons player offers per game in the Premier League, of those to have featured on more than five occasions, per WhoScored.

Moyes should be looking to do all he can to convince En-Nesyri to have a swift change of heart before the window slams shut, as well as urging West Ham co-owner and Chairman David Sullivan to present the extra millions needed for a transfer, as he looks to be player who could be a very useful addition to the Hammers.

AND in other news, West Ham consider January bid for “phenomenal” striker boasting 15 goals in 19 games.

The Yorkshire Evening Post’s Joe Urquhart has confirmed via Marcelo Bielsa’s pre-match press conference that Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich is “fine” for tonight’s game against Wolves.

What’s the word?

Leeds have been hit by a minor injury crisis as Kalvin Phillips and Rodrigo are still out, which has left Marcelo Bielsa with his options tested, but it seems Klich will be available for selection after playing through the pain barrier during Sunday’s defeat at Arsenal.

And as well as Urquhart’s reveal, the midfielder himself delivered a positive update on his fitness situation earlier in the week.

“It’s getting better,” the 30-year-old recently told BBC Radio Leeds. “I had some struggles with my hip, but it should be fine.”

He downplayed the problem, however, when asked if it was causing him any further issues.

“Hard to say, because I was on painkillers, but it wasn’t that bad,” he added. “It’s not something that was a very big issue. But obviously every little pain is just annoying and it doesn’t really help but that wasn’t the reason why I couldn’t play better.

“I could say not, but at the back of your head you always know there is something not 100 per cent right but as I said, it’s nothing big and it’s not an excuse.”

Huge boost for Marcelo Bielsa

The timing couldn’t be better for Bielsa as their first game following the 4-2 defeat to Arsenal at the Emirates draws ever nearer.

The Whites will be desperate to return to winning ways when they take on Wolves at Molineux on Friday night, and they will be buoyed by the presence of one of their most reliable and consistent performers over the past couple of seasons.

Just like Leeds, Klich has made quite the promising start to life in the Premier League, having made 23 top-flight appearances in total this term with three goals and five assists to show for his 21 starts.

His five assists this season sees him ranked joint-first out of the entire Leeds squad together with the likes of regular starters Patrick Bamford and Raphinha.

You’d imagine his ongoing recovery, therefore, will be a huge boost to a Leeds side that have arguably struggled at both ends of the pitch in recent weeks.

But the box-to-box midfielder’s presence should be very welcome as he is no stranger to tracking back and breaking up attacks, showing he is willing to put the hard graft in to deny opponents, as evidenced by his 1.1 tackles per game in the Premier League.

Working under Bielsa’s watchful eye, Klich will no doubt continue to be a key component for the Whites as they aim to push further up the table.

It’s exactly why the Leeds boss will be breathing a sigh of relief that his midfield man is seemingly okay for tonight’s game against Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.

So after major doubts and speculation, Aston Villa’s FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool on Friday night will go ahead as scheduled.

An outbreak at the club’s Bodymoor Heath training ground left the match in serious jeopardy, but it has now been confirmed that the match will take place, with Villa set to field a team full of players from their U23s and U18s set-up.

And with Dean Smith also set to be absent from the game, Mark Delaney is set to take the reins at Villa Park, and it will be a very youthful looking line-up that he puts out tonight.

With that in mind, below is a look at just how Villa could take to the field.

Delaney’s hand is also likely to be even further restricted by the fact some of the club’s brightest young talents may have been involved in first-team training in recent days and would therefore also be unavailable for the game.

That will no doubt see someone like Jacob Ramsey also fail to make the team for today, with Delaney by and large sticking to the majority of those who played for the U23s and below.

In goal, Akos Onodi, who has been first-choice for the reserves this season is likely to make his senior debut, with a back-four of Kaine Kesler, Dominic Revan, Mungo Bridge and Ben Chrisene in front of him – Chrisene, the left-back could be the youngest player on show tonight at just 16 years of age.

Villa could feature a very highly-rated midfield, with Lamar Bogarde a summer arrival from Eredisivie giants Feyernoord. Alongside the 17-year-old Dutchman, Mamadou Sylla and Carney Chukwuemeka may start too.

Out wide, Tyreik Wright and Jaden Philogene-Bidace – who has been linked with an exit from Villa Park – could play, with young striker Louie Barry surely deserving of a chance up front too.

It all means that Villa will have an entire starting eleven who will be making their senior debuts for the club.

Predicted XI: Onodi, Kesler, Revan, Bridge, Chrisene; Bogarde, Sylla, Chukwuemeka; Wright, Barry, Philogene-Bidace.

Over the years, Daniel Levy has delivered a mixed bag of results when it comes to transfer dealings. Yes, he’s a tough and exceptional negotiator, but that has backfired more than once.

What was the word?

Indeed, Spurs should be absolutely ruining the decision to not pull the trigger on Bruno Fernandes, who has emerged as one of the Premier League’s best superstars since his move to Manchester United almost a year to the day.

The Portuguese playmaker revealed to the Red Devils’ official club podcast that he was close to signing for the north London outfit, he said:

“I was close to Tottenham. In the summer I was closer to Tottenham than Manchester. Sporting thought at that moment the proposal was not good enough, they thought they deserved more for a player like me. They wanted more money. I was not mad, I was sad.”

Fernandes went onto join Spurs’ top-flight rivals in an initial €55m (£48m) deal, which could eventually rise to €80m (£70m) in add-ons, a not too dissimilar amount paid for Giovani Lo Celso in the very same season (£55m).

One that got away?

Unfortunately for Levy, this is a fatal mistake, and one that has happened before.

The Hotspur faithful will remember the Jack Grealish saga well. In the summer of 2018, Spurs were inches away from securing a move for the impressive Villa star, but Levy’s reported attempts to secure him on the cheap cost them dearly as he remained in the Midlands.

Since then, he’s gotten promoted with the club and finished last season as one of the most creative players in the division – only Kevin De Bruyne (136) created more than Grealish’s 91 chances.

The 25-year-old has continued to deliver in that sense as he ranks first for key passes per game (3.7) in the Premier League, closely followed by Fernandes, who ranks third with three key passes per game, via WhoScored.

He’s played 49 times for United in all competitions since his arrival and has contributed towards a whopping 44 goals, meaning he’s providing 0.9 goals per game for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

It’s no wonder Fernandes has been lauded as everything from “devastating” to being a “game-changer.” He’s even been hailed as the best player in the Premier League by talkSPORT’s Adrian Durham.

Those are figures that none of Spurs’ current attacking midfielders can even sniff at – Lo Celso’s managed just 11 goal contributions in 56 appearances, while Tanguy Ndombele’s strike at the weekend took his tally to six goals and seven assists in 53 matches.

And in comparison to Fernandes’ three key passes per game, neither of the Lilywhites duo has averaged above 0.8 key passes per match themselves, per WhoScored.

If Levy wasn’t so stubborn over the cost of bringing Fernandes to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, then Jose Mourinho could have had one hell of a star on his hands.

Instead, the Spurs chairman has let their top-flight rivals run free with it and that has been one catastrophic blunder. According to CIES Football Observatory, his worth is estimated in the region of €200m (£175m) – not bad for an initial £55m.

This is a deal that Spurs could long regret as the evidence above shows he’s been far better than any of Mourinho’s current options and just like Grealish, Fernandes has gone onto make them suffer through his phenomenal displays.

AND in other news, Mourinho would be signing Holtby 2.0 in “magic” Premier League outcast…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former England midfielder Carlton Palmer has made a stunning claim about Tottenham Hotspur misfit Dele Alli.

The 24-year-old has been restricted to just 66 minutes in the Premier League all season and hasn’t even been named in the matchday squad for eight of the ten top-flight fixtures, as per Transfermarkt.

Throughout the summer transfer window, there was speculation over his future amid links to Ligue 1 giants and Champions League finalists Paris Saint-Germain.

It has since been reported that Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is expected to reject any advances for him next month despite Mourinho’s lack of trust in the two-time Young PFA Player of the Year.

When asked about why Alli hasn’t been involved as much this season under the ‘Special One,’ Palmer revealed that it has been down to his application on the training pitch.

The ex-West Brom and Leeds United star told FFC:

“Now, you’ve got to train the way you play. If you don’t train well, you’re not going to play well.

“So from what I’m hearing, that’s part of the problem, right?

“And then he’s got to do the other side of the job in the team, the way Mourinho’s teams work. They’re functional teams, they’ve got jobs to do.”

When Mourinho first took over from Mauricio Pochettino last season, the £46.8m-rated playmaker initially looked to have benefitted from the change in manager, contributing four goals and three assists in his first five matches at the helm.

Although just one start in the Premier League since June tells a completely different story.

The world also witnessed the Spurs boss lambast the out-of-favour England international in front of the whole team during their Amazon docuseries ‘All or Nothing,’ calling him “lazy” but with a bit more colourful language.

If Alli hasn’t improved his behaviour on the training pitch, then perhaps it is hardly a surprise that he’s struggled for game time during the 2020/21 campaign thus far.

AND in other news, Exclusive: Pundit BACKS Harry Kane to keep up SHOCK record amid “worries”…

The long-awaited fixture of Manchester United vs Leeds ended in a crushing blow for the newly promoted Championship winners.

Their fierce rivalry was the perfect fuel for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side to secure an empathic win which sees them jump to third in the Premier League table.

United hit the Whites for a whopping six goals, thanks to in form Bruno Fernandes and a creative masterclass from Anthony Martial. Scott McTominay, Victor Lindelof and Daniel James also got themselves on the scoresheet to complete a huge win for the Reds.

Marcelo Bielsa will return to the drawing board to analyse what exactly went wrong tonight. Arguably, the entire team was below par, but none more than Jack Harrison.

Harrison disappointed in huge United clash

Leeds’ two goals came from unlikely sources as defenders Liam Cooper and Stuart Dallas were the only players in white to find the back of the net. Even Patrick Bamford struggled to implement his usual fiery nature upon the Man United defence.

However, the striker was also seriously deprived of chances from his fellow attackers.

Harrison was a major weak link in the Leeds midfield, failing to register a single shot on target in 90 minutes. He also failed to complete 90% of his attempted crosses and lost possession an alarming 24 times, highlighting how null his attacking presence was.

The £45,000 per week loanee also struggled with his passing – with just 71% of them finding a teammate and only one of his four attempted long balls coming off, who SofaScore.

Bielsa may not have expected a win this evening, but he will be hugely disappointed to come away with such a heavy defeat. This will not bode well for confidence as the Whites turn their attention to Burnley next time out – a fixture that the boss must consider dropping Harrison for.

He could be replaced by rising star Ian Poveda, or even Stuart Dallas, who has grown into a more attacking role recently. If Bielsa deploys Pascal Struijk, it will give him more freedom to use Dallas further forward rather than in defence during their current injury crisis.

In other news, This ex-Leeds star’s current form will have Victor Orta kicking himself…

Celtic’s shaky run of form continues after Aberdeen held them to a thrilling 3-3 draw at the Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The stalemate means the Hoops have gained a point in the Premiership title race, but they are still paying for their shock loss to Steven Gerrard’s side during the Old Firm last weekend.

As seems to be the norm this season, Neil Lennon changed up his starting line-up drastically in what he hoped would be a win for his side. After fielding a back three for five straight games, the manager opted for four defenders across his backline, dropping Stephen Welsh to the bench.

Lennon also changed his attack, putting Albian Ajeti up top as the lone striker, supported by usual starter Mohamed Elyounoussi, who was deployed deeper on the field.

This proved to be a costly mistake for the Hoops, who barely saw Ajeti make any sort of impact on the game at all. According to Sofascore, the 23-year-old made just eight successful passes in the 70 minutes he was on the pitch, with a measly three of those coming in the second half.

Ajeti failed to register any shots towards goal and was caught offside twice. His performance in what was a very important match for Celtic was an extremely lacklustre one. He was eventually replaced by Leigh Griffiths, who despite having a quiet game against AC Milan, made an immediate impact against Aberdeen.

Whilst the Swiss man’s numbers for the season are far from worrying (five goals in eight league appearances), Lennon certainly has a lot to mull over when it comes to his attack. The Hoops will face Lille in their next Europa League clash and he may well field a completely different line-up once again whilst he searches for a winning formula.

In other news, Michael Stewart not convinced on Vasilis Barkas performances which could cost Celtic moving forward…