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Speaking to Sky Sports (via Football Daily), journalist Paul Gilmour has shared an update in regards to Tottenham Hotspur and their possible appointment of Antonio Conte.

The Lowdown: Conte emerges as lead candidate…

After much was made of Spurs and their talks to bring former favourite Mauricio Pochettino back to north London, with the Athletic breaking that major development, rumours of Conte fell flat for a while.

Indeed, it was widely reported that the Argentine wanted a move back to Spurs and the club were also very keen on a reunion.

However, his current club Paris-Saint Germain remained stubborn, prompting the Lilywhites to look elsewhere for candidates.

Talk of Conte then gained serious traction on Wednesday when numerous reliable outlets, the Athletic and BBC for example, backed claims that Spurs are in ongoing discussions with the Italian.

The Latest: Sky Sports journalist drops ‘interesting’ Conte update

Now, speaking to Sky, reporter Gilmour has shared what he’s been told by his ‘colleagues in Italy’ on the situation.

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He believes that while Spurs are in talks for the former Chelsea boss, there is still a ‘long way to go’ and ‘some distance on wages’ in particular.

“This would certainly be interesting, Tottenham are talking to Antonio Conte,” he explained (via Football Daily).

“Our colleagues in Italy say there is some distance between the two parties over wage demands as things stand.”

The Verdict: Exciting times…

News of the serial winner’s possible move to Spurs could come as music to the ears of some supporters given their long and drawn out search for an heir to Jose Mourinho.

Many candidates have dropped in and out of the running and Lilywhites fans may be hoping Conte’s move can be completed before the European Championships.

Spurs need to prepare adequately for the 2021/2022 campaign with a summer rebuild and the 51-year-old’s appointment is crucial to that – with Levy currently holding fire on any business until he has a new boss at the helm.

In other news: Spurs now want this ‘amazing’ 103-goal striker, find out more here.

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce is in talks with Stade Brest over the signing of left-back Romain Perraud this summer, although they are set to face significant Premier League competition for him.

What’s the story?

Despite the Magpies signing Jamal Lewis from Norwich last summer and seeing Matt Ritchie make an impressive return to form in the final few weeks of the Premier League season, it seems that Bruce is keen on landing a new left-back.

According to French publication L’Equipe (via Get French Football News), the Tyneside club, along with Leeds United and Southampton, are in negotiations with Brest over bringing Perraud to the Premier League.

The report added, however, that the Saints currently lead the race to sign him and are hopeful of completing a deal in the coming days.

Far better than Lewis

In the £7.2m-rated Perraud, not only would they be getting a solid defender, but also someone who really comes into his own going forward and provides his team with a vital attacking outlet – this season has seen him record an impressive seven assists in Ligue 1 alone, compared to the measly one that Lewis managed.

Speaking on his podcast, The Athletic’s Leeds correspondent Phil Hay said: “He’s starting to become one of the leading left-backs, seen by many people, as the best left-back or one of them in France’s top division.

“It’s very clear from the performance data that he’s a very attacking left-back, who is good at creating chances, taking shots himself, a real threat going forward, but also really good at employing the press, good as part of a team that likes to press aggressively.”

A player profile from Get French Football News states: “Romain Perraud rapidly became a fan-favourite at the Stade Charlety, thanks to some Roberto Carlos-esque rockets from outside the box. Keeping everything in perspective, Perraud’s style is, on some points, quite similar to the former Real Madrid full-back’s. He has a fighting mentality, an incredible shot power and a left-foot that has proven throughout the season to be a deadly weapon for set-pieces.”

When you compare Perraud’s and Lewis’ stats, they are night and day. The Frenchman averaged more shots, key passes, dribbles, tackles and interceptions per game in the league last season and, at 23, is only a few months older than the Magpies defender.

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It’s no surprise that, given how Lewis has even fallen behind Ritchie in the pecking order, Bruce is keen on bringing in a more exciting, and attacking left-back this summer.

Meanwhile, Steve Bruce is interested in this Scottish starlet…

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa could sign a dream midfield partner for Kalvin Phillips in Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent weeks have suggested that the Whites boss is eyeing up a summer move for the Uruguay international, who he could be available for much lower than his release clause.

Connor Clancy, editor-in-chief at Forza Italian Football, has thrown his backing behind a potential move, saying in an exclusive interview with This Is Futbol: “Anywhere Bielsa wants to play him, he’d do a job. I like him a lot.

“I think he’s only about five foot seven, but you wouldn’t know it if you just watched clips of him, he is a little bit of a machine. He’s so powerful but at the same time, has really, really good ball control.”

Imagine him and Kalvin Phillips

With Phillips off to Euro 2020 as a fully-fledged England international and a cornerstone of his club team back at Elland Road, the real test for Bielsa is trying to create the perfect midfield setup around him. In Nandez, he could find exactly that.

The £12m-rated star has a real engine on him and can cover the ground effortlessly, and when you think of the intense pressing game that Bielsa likes to employ at Leeds, the Uruguayan seems absolutely perfect for it.

According to Sofascore, he averaged 1.8 tackles and won an impressive 6.1 duels per game in the Serie A last season, which compared to Phillips, looks very good – the Leeds man averaged 2.6 tackles and won 5.3 duels per match in the Premier League.

His performances for Cagliari even led journalist Mina Rzouki to say: “Cagliari’s Nandez is one of the most underrated players. God he’s been so amazing, especially in Cagliari’s last 3 games. He scored the equaliser against Napoli. Man of the match in the win against Udinese. Against Roma – just wow. Unstoppable.”

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Having the tigerish presence of Nandez alongside Phillips could add a real menacing dimension to Leeds’ midfield.

Meanwhile, Leeds United have been handed a major transfer boost over this star…

Harry Kane has insisted that he wants to leave Tottenham Hotspur this summer and if he does end up leaving the north London club, Dean Windass has backed Steven Bergwijn to replace the golden boot winner.

Even for Kane’s high standards last season was a special one as he finished as the Premier League’s top scorer for the third time, but also finished the campaign with the most assists in the league. However, that was not enough to win the PFA Player of the Year award.

Since arriving in January 2020, Bergwijn has failed to impress on a consistent basis managing just four goals in 51 league appearances, but under a new manager and in a new role he could flourish and prove why Spurs brought him from PSV Eindhoven.

He has only ever been deployed as a striker 11 times as he has spent most of his career as a winger, but to save his club several million this summer he could put his hat in the ring to replace Kane if he goes, according to Windass who spoke exclusively to Football FanCast:

“It could be a situation now where it’s a great opportunity for him because he could say he’s number one now if Kane does end up leaving. I know he’s played in the wide areas but the boy is a talent.

“He’s only a young boy and I watched the Spurs documentary and when he signed he looked quite happy and his family were quite happy. So he’ll be rubbing his hands together now, not for the fact that he’s losing Harry Kane but because it’s a great opportunity for the kid.”

It would not likely be a good replacement for Kane in the eyes of Tottenham fans considering Kane is regarded as one of the best strikers in world football, whereas Bergwijn has only ever scored more than nine goals in a season once.

If the worst does happen and Kane leaves, whoever is the new manager will have a very large transfer budget to sort the squad out and improve it in almost every area after a very poor previous campaign.

Glasgow Rangers star Glen Kamara was on the verge of a move from Ibrox to the 22-time Russian champions last summer.

The Lowdown: Interest rises in Kamara

After playing a big role for the Gers in their Premiership title success last term, there has been plenty of interest in the Finland international from south of the border.

The likes of Watford (Gianluigi Longari), Arsenal (Give Me Sport) and Leeds (TEAMtalk) are all said to have been in pursuit of the 25-year-old, but it appears he could have made a move further afield 12 months ago.

The Latest: Failed move emerges

As per soccer.ru, Zarema Salikhova, the wife of Spartak Moscow owner Leonid Fedun, has revealed:

“Offered last summer when Souchek refused. The footballer was ready to move, in the course of negotiations the price was brought down to 5 million. Plays in Scotland, a family nest in Finland. I really wanted to play closer to home. Comfortable for him. Breeding negative feedback. So I think: would he have strengthened Spartak or, thank God, he hadn’t bought it?”

The Verdict: Worth a lot more

The Gers signed Kamara from Dundee in January 2019 for just £50,000 (Transfermarkt) – £5m would have represented a huge profit. However, after the Gers’ success this term and also appearing in and impressing at the European Championships, Kamara’s value will have gone through the roof.

Last year, it was suggested by The Athletic that Kamara is worth £10m – a considerable fee – and, if he is to leave this summer, the Ibrox outfit will surely be looking for an even bigger fee than that considering their success this term.

Ross Wilson and co will be counting their lucky stars that a deal didn’t go through last year.

In other news, Rangers fans were livid as this video emerged.

Tottenham Hotspur have agreed to temporarily waive their Marcus Edwards’ sell-on clause, according to a report from Portuguese newspaper A Bola (via Sport Witness).

The lowdown

Edwards made only one senior appearance for Spurs – a 15-minute EFL Cup runout – before leaving to join Vitoria Guimaraes in 2019.

Spurs inserted a 50% sell-on clause into the deal for the 22-year-old winger, who made 33 Liga NOS appearances last season, 21 of which were starts. He scored three goals, provided one assist and averaged 2.2 successful dribbles per game (via WhoScored).

Edwards is currently valued at £9m by Transfermarkt, having been rated as low as £2.88m in April 2020.

The latest

Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon are said to have opened talks with Vitoria over signing Edwards, having been impressed by his performances, but Tottenham’s clause has proven to be a stumbling block in their negotiations.

As a result, the London outfit have struck an agreement with Sporting. They will instead bank 50% of the transfer fee whenever Edwards leaves Lisbon further down the line.

The verdict

Although Spurs could miss out on a decent cash injection this summer by delaying the receipt of the sell-on fee, you could argue that this is a shrewd move from Daniel Levy, the club’s chairman and transfer negotiator.

Edwards’ value is only rising, and the proposed move to Sporting should inflate it even further. If he lives up to the potential he’s showing, Spurs’ eventual intake could easily more than double.

At that point, it would look a very smart decision indeed to forego the sell-on payment for now and instead reap it whenever he moves on from Sporting.

In other news, this manager is open to the Spurs job.  

Adama Traore divides opinion amongst Wolves fans and neutrals with some seeing him as a great talent with defenders unable to get near him, whereas others see him as a winger who runs down blind alleys with no end ball.

Despite his often shortcomings, Wolves legend Steve Bull believes it will cost £75 million for him to leave this summer.

Traore was an ever-present under Nuno Espirito Santo, especially last season with the injuries to Raul Jimenez, Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto leaving the Spaniard as the only Premier League proven attacker as he ended up missing just one game.

There has been talk of Thomas Tuchel looking at the Spain international this summer as an alternative to Achraf Hakimi, who looks set for PSG, but after his relatively brief showing at right back for Spain against Slovakia, he wouldn’t have done anything to fill his potential new manager with joy.

His raw pace and willingness to drive at defenders and get his team further up the pitch can be a valuable asset for whichever team he’s playing for next season, but he certainly won’t come cheap as Wolves legend Steve Bull explained exclusively to Transfer Tavern:

“If Harry Kane is worth £120 million then Traore is worth £70-75 million easily and if the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea need a goal in the last 10 minutes of a game then he could get it for them.”

The Spaniard will be disappointed with his time at the Euros thus far for Spain as he failed to get off the bench in their previous two games and was handed just 14 minutes in their commanding 5-0 win over Slovakia on Wednesday.

The £43,000 per week winger would likely love a move to Chelsea especially if his role is going to differ a huge amount or is not fancied under Lage as his talent is undoubted when he’s on top of his game and Leeds’ Director of Football, Victor Orta, once claimed he could be the best talent in Spain during his time at Barcelona.

James Forrest has had a particularly tough 12 months at Celtic Football Club.

The Scot was gearing up for an assault on ten in a row this time last year but the Hoops’ season fell away without him in the squad. As the Bhoys relinquished their grasp on the title to their biggest rivals, Forrest featured on just 13 occasions.

It wasn’t anybody’s fault at Celtic because the wide man was merely injured. It was a campaign plagued with fitness issues for the 29-year-old, who missed 38 matches and 176 days with two separate ankle problems.

His absence from the team was evident as Neil Lennon’s team struggled for goals. Ryan Christie deputised on the right-hand side but managed 13 fewer goals than he racked up in 2019/20.

During that season, Forrest contributed to 38 goals in all competitions, and trying to make up for that shortfall when everything isn’t going to plan is particularly difficult.

The Parkhead figure did make Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad for the European Championship and he made it through the tournament unscathed ahead of a big 2021/22 season.

Under the stern eyes of Ange Postecoglou, he will surely be a big player, especially after they missed width last term.

However, just as Forrest returns to the side for good, his partner in crime could depart. Odsonne Edouard has been repeatedly linked with the exit door andm if he leaves, it would be a big blow to not only the team but Forrest’s assist count.

The positive is that Celtic would likely find a replacement. Football Insider reported this week that they could challenge Rangers for the signature of River Plate’s Rafael Santos Borre.

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The 25-year-old is out of contract this summer and could be acquired on a free transfer. His addition to the Paradise ranks could be game-changing for Forrest as he returns to full fitness.

The Colombian has scored eight goals during the 2021 campaign in Argentina, adding to his impressive haul of 22 last term. That means he’s now beaten the goalkeeper 56 times for River Plate.

Those goals have earned him quite the reputation in South America. Speaking about his qualities, Javier Saviola noted: “Borré is a great striker. Right now River has forwards of the highest level, both Rafa, Suárez and all the boys who are emerging with so much projection. Rafa is among the best forwards today, due to his way of playing and his goals.”

But what is that style of play to which Saviola refers? Well, Borre possesses pace in abundance, has a ruthless finishing streak and is capable of playing in the channels, dragging defenders away from vacant spaces.

As a consequence, not only could Forrest improve the number of assists he gets, the Scotland international could also find himself in more goalscoring positions due to Borre’s selfless play.

As Celtic look to revive themselves next season, the prospect of these two lining up under Postecoglou is mouth-watering. Dominic McKay simply has to seal this move if the opportunity arises.

AND in other news, Celtic eye swoop for “incredible” £20k-p/w beast, he’s the perfect Ajer replacement…

West Ham could land one of their reported summer transfer targets for a lot less than first expected…

What’s the word?

According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, Fiorentina centre-back Nikola Milenkovic has been offered to the Irons but they could face competition from Serie A rivals Juventus.

It’s claimed that the 23-year-old defender will not renew his contract in Florence as he enters the final 12 months of his current contract, meaning the club will likely be forced into selling him this window.

They are currently asking for between €15m (£12.8m) and €20m (£18m) but that could decrease considerably as we head closer towards the new campaign as they don’t want to risk losing him for free, with Milenkovic able to discuss terms with other clubs about a free transfer in January 2022.

At one stage, his price tag was reportedly around €35m (£30m).

The Hammers’ interest in the Serbian powerhouse was confirmed by the ever-reliable ExWHUemployee on this week’s ‘The West Ham Way’ podcast, where he said:

“The latest is a guy called Milenkovic from Fiorentina. There is interest in him, but I don’t think they’ve put any concrete offer in for him at all, but he is on the potential radar.”

Time to strike

If this latest development is to be believed, then it’s time for GSB to put in that concrete offer, otherwise they’ll risk Juventus coming in and swooping him from their grasp.

It’s thought that David Moyes sees the addition of a new central defender as a big priority, as per Football Insider, who also suggest that the club’s hierarchy have set aside funds to do so.

At less than £20m, Milenkovic seems like an ideal candidate to sign this summer.

He may not have played outside of Italy or his home country but comparisons to a Premier League great suggests that he could well fit right in.

“Milenkovic is better than Vidic with the ball at his feet, and he is much calmer on the field,” Mozzart journalist Dejan Stankovic told ESPN FC. “He is the most talented centre-back Serbia have had since Vidic, and they definitely have one thing in common – both are fearless.”

Former Serbia head coach Mladen Krstajic has also likened the Fiorentina star to the Manchester United legend, whilst his ex-manager at Partizan, Ivan Tomic, believes he “has [the] physical characteristics of a beast.”

Standing at a whopping 6 foot 5, Milenkovic certainly offers the physical presence to be a nuisance to many a top-flight attack and that’s backed up by the fact that he averaged three aerial duels won per game in 2020/21.

Also via WhoScored, the £18m-rated monster managed a seasonal 86% passing accuracy, proving to be equally adept with the ball at his feet – another factor that suits the Premier League.

Furthermore, Milenkovic also averaged 3.6 clearances, 1.4 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per league outing, only further bolstering his claims of being an all-round animal at the back.

After this exciting update, Moyes and co would be foolish to not try and sign the Serbia international.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano delivers encouraging West Ham transfer claim, fans must be buzzing…

Many Everton fans have been left to buzz as a transfer update emerged involving Allan.

Speaking on the Radio Goal broadcast on the Kiss Kiss Napoli station (via Area Napoli), journalist Valter De Maggio has shared that the central midfield player has told him that he will be staying at Goodison Park, and that he is ‘very happy’ there.

Allan ahs been linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer window, to reunite with his former manager Carlo Ancelotti.

However, it seems as if he is set to stay at the Merseyside club, which has come as a welcome relief to several Toffees supporters, given how much of a key player he is for them.

In the 2020/21 season, the Brazilian played in 26 games in total, tending to start more often than not when he was available (Transfermarkt).

Everton fans on Allan transfer update

These Blues buzzed as the transfer update was shared on Twitter:

“Great news if true.”

Credit: @lewissefc

“This is the kind of content I like to read”

Credit: @PaulDevine70

“PLEASED to hear it. It would be nice to see him fully fit and playing, in an Everton shirt.”

Credit: @danexadmirer

“Got to love him after the season he’s had and still wanting to stay at the Blues despite the only reason he joined, has left. Hoping for a masterclass from him this season!”

Credit: @KingKierxn

“Great news. When fully fit he’s one of the best we’ve had since Peter Reid. Always looking for a forward pass, hates giving the ball away. An animal in midfield”

Credit: @paulbhankinson

“Very good to hear if correct. We can’t afford to lose his excellent work in our midfield.”

Credit: @PeterPapadopo11

In other news, find out what recent image has Evertonians fuming here!