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Tottenham Hotspur could be about to do something for the first time in over six years…

What’s the word?

According to Italian news outlet Tuttosport, Spurs are interested in bringing former Juventus general manager Fabio Paratici to North London this summer.

The Athletic have previously suggested that Daniel Levy could look to appoint a new director of football, something he has not done since the departure of Franco Baldini in 2015.

Paratici is very close to Spurs’ mooted managerial target Antonio Conte, who left Inter Milan this week after winning the Serie A title. Reports suggest the pair have remained in touch since their time in Turin.

Imagine him and Conte

A move such as this one would signal a significant change in direction at the Lilywhites, moving back to a more foreign model that we tend to see in Italy and Germany.

In recent years, the bulk of all club decisions have been made between Levy and technical performance director Steve Hitchen but there is a void between them and what happens on the pitch.

This is where Paratici could come in, and given his relationship with Conte, the Spurs chairman could well be onto a winner by eyeing the pair of them for his vacant roles.

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His chances of securing Paratici have been increased since it was officially announced that the 48-year-old would be leaving the Serie A giants after 11 seasons.

Paratici is widely considered to be one of the masterminds behind the golden era at the Allianz Stadium, where Juventus secured 19 trophies under his tenure, as well as bringing big names like Cristiano Ronaldo to the club.

“Fabio has written the history of Juventus in recent years,” claimed president Andrea Agnelli. “A journey characterised by professionalism, self-sacrifice and many successes. Nineteen trophies in 11 years are the best testimony of his work, which is fully part of the long tradition of our club. Today is the time to thank him for having been able to create a strong professional bond, accompanied by daily passion.”

Conte steered the Italian side to three league titles and two Supercoppa Italianas during his time under the long-serving general manager and has since continued his successful managerial career, adding a Premier League title and FA Cup triumph with Chelsea to his record as well as winning this season’s Serie A with Inter.

Given their history of success, this could be exactly what Spurs need considering they have not won anything since 2008, yet have gone close on more than one occasion.

Paratici and Conte has been a very lucrative partnership before, so Levy could do no wrong in sealing the pair of them to help transform the perennial North London strugglers into a club the fans will be proud of.

AND in other news, Spurs surely risk losing Harry Kane after talks with “pathetic” coach with 30% win rate in the PL…

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting to an update regarding the future of Eagles left-back Patrick van Aanholt on social media. 

The Athletic’s Crystal Palace correspondent Matt Woosnam revealed on Monday evening that the Dutch defender is set to leave Selhurst Park in the summer after four-and-a-half years at the club.

Van Aanholt is thought to be attracting interest from Spain, Italy and Galatasaray in Turkey and looks set to be a free agent when his deal expires at the end of June.

The 30-year-old has made 133 appearances for Palace, with 22 of those coming this season.

He’s lost his place in recent weeks to youngster Tyrick Mitchell, and it seems as if the club will have to replace an Aanholt with a full-back who can provide competition to Mitchell.

Palace fans react

Woosnam posted the update on Twitter, and it didn’t take long for a number of Palace fans to have their say on the decision.

This is what some had to say…

“Thank God”

Credit: @ARJW78

“Fairs he should never play again then imo”

Credit: @SellyMenace

“Criminally underrated by many and made to be scapegoat for too much. Don’t blame him for wanting out. Defo should have tried harder to keep him.”

Credit: @Ryceezy

“Good, moving on….”

Credit: @kav_paul

“Never really got any sense that he wanted to stay which is a shame. Done a good job for us overall. Need to thank him and start looking for a replacement to support Mitchell.”

Credit: @edmonds_mark

“Think he’s been a tremendous player for us. Not sure what people expect sometimes but he’s scored some huge goals and always put the effort in. Mitchell’s emergence is exciting but will miss PVA.”

Credit: @JLiff

In other news: Many CPFC fans react as Roy Hodgson is linked with a new club, find out more here. 

Despite already possessing the scintillating Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Everton’s policy this summer appears to be on strengthening their frontline.

The Toffees forward has 20 goals in all competitions but when did an extra dose of firepower ever hurt anyone?

We’ve seen some eye-catching rumours emerge already with the likes of Sergio Aguero and Andrea Belotti linked with Goodison.

Though, one of the most interesting links is to Leipzig attacker Hwang-hee Chan. He penned terms with the Bundesliga outfit last summer but after a campaign where he’s battled illness, it’s not gone according to plan.

As a result, Leipzig are willing to let him depart in a deal potentially worth £13.5m. That isn’t too much when you consider some of the fees Everton have parted ways with in the last few years.

Hwang would add wonderful depth to this Toffees side but what is his playstyle?

The South Korean is capable of playing out wide while he’s also adept through the middle as an out and out centre forward or as a shadow striker.

With that in mind, he could become Everton’s very own Roberto Firmino. He made a living out of playing as a false 9 for Hoffenheim and since moving to Liverpool, he’s truly made that position his own.

The Toffees won’t like to be reminded of Liverpool’s Champions League and Premier League triumphs but Firmino played a major part in that success because of his positioning; a trait that’s not too dissimilar to the way Hwang plays.

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In an article on the official Bundesliga website, they hailed the South Korean’s exploits against the Reds when he played for Salzburg. The forward scored and assisted during a 4-3 defeat at Anfield as he was praised for his “dexterity and flexibility.”

The article wrote: “In that sense, Hwang is not dissimilar to Liverpool’s former Hoffenheim striker Firmino. Happy leading the line as part of either a duo or a front three, Leipzig’s first summer signing likes to get on the ball and has a trick or two up his sleeve to shake off a defender.

“Comfortable with both feet, with the strength to hold off an opponent and the pace to exploit space, he could cause problems for many a Bundesliga defence – just like Brazil international Firmino did before him.”

The 25-year-old would clearly offer a lot to Everton’s forward line, providing not just goals but also creativity in abundance with his “brutal dynamism”, an attribute Former Liefering and Salzburg head coach Peter Zeidler waxed lyrical about.

Last term Hwang created more goals (22) than he scored (16). Considering he was playing as a centre forward for the whole campaign, this provides the biggest indication yet of why he’s so like Firmino.

The Brazilian isn’t the most devastating finisher but his vision and chance creation is first-class. As Liverpool won the league last season, Firmino similarly produced more goals for his teammates than he scored.

It worked for Liverpool having a player like that, so there’s no reason it wouldn’t work with Everton.

After all, combine him with Calvert-Lewin in a two-prong attack and you could have a very menacing duo.

AND in other news, Forget Holgate: Everton must swoop for “tenacious” £26m gem, he’s an “absolute beast”…

In recent comments made on Twitter, Caught Offside’s Leah Smith claimed that Liverpool have completed the signing of RB Leipzig centre-back, Ibrahima Konate.

So far this season, Liverpool have been extremely unlucky with injuries to their central defenders, with all three of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip being ruled out until the summer.

As a result, Jurgen Klopp brought in both Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies in the January transfer window, however, with Kabak struggling for form somewhat – the 21-year-old has averaged a WhoScored match rating of 6.69 over his eight Premier League appearances – and with Ben Davies having yet to make an appearance for the club, it would seem as if greater depth is still required in the position.

And, according to Smith, Liverpool have just secured the addition of RB Leipzig centre-back, Ibrahima Konate, with the journalist stating on Twitter: “MASSIVE! Ibrahima Konate to Liverpool is DONE and will be official on May 1st, 2021! £32m.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Despite having missed a large part of this season due to a number of injuries – something that could be a slight concern for Liverpool – the signing of Konate would certainly appear to be an impressive one for the Reds, with the former RB Leipzig manager, Ralf Rangnick, stating that the 21-year-old is “so good that he could play for Real Madrid or Barcelona.”

Furthermore, if Smith is to be believed, the £32 million fee Liverpool have paid for the France U21 international would seem to be extremely reasonable, as this figure is only slightly higher than his Tranfermarkt valuation of £31.5 million.

Given Konate’s age, assuming his injury woes don’t follow him to Merseyside, this could be a really astute piece of business.

In other news: ‘Get out of my club’, ‘How can you even tweet this?’ – Lots of Liverpool fans rip into key man – find out more here!

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has told The Transfer Tavern in an exclusive interview that he expects his old side to get £100m for Jack Grealish if they do decide to sell him in the summer.

Grealish has really excelled for Villa this season, with 16 goal contributions in the Premier League.

He is now being linked with a move to Manchester City, who have reportedly made the attacking midfielder their top target.

Getting him out of Villa Park, however, will not be easy, with the Midlands club managing to tie him down to a five-year contract at the start of the campaign.

In fact, Hendrie believes it could cost Manchester City or any other club that is interested in Grealish as much as £100m to acquire his signature.

Speaking exclusively to TT on the player’s future, the ex-Villa star said:

“Jack’s possibly going to go for, if he does go, he’s going to go for probably around £100m. That’s the sort of bar the top players are sitting at, if not more.”

Transfermarkt currently value Grealish at £54m but, given the England international’s importance to Dean Smith’s side, it would not be a surprise to see Aston Villa demand a fee closer to £100m.

Steve Bruce will hope he can guide Newcastle United back to winning ways and forget the dismal defeat to Brighton when Tottenham Hotspur visit St James’ Park on Sunday.

However, the Toon are set to be without Callum Wilson as their 10-goal top scorer continues his recovery from a hamstring injury, but Allan Saint-Maximin could be available after a three-game lay-off with a groin issue.

Newcastle have failed to win any of the six games that Wilson has missed since being forced off during the 3-2 win over Southampton in February to now sit just two points above the drop zone.

With that in mind, here’s a potential line-up that Bruce may field against Jose Mourinho’s Spurs, who will be striving to make ground in the race for Champions League qualification, and we anticipate two changes from the team which was thumped 3-0 at Brighton last time out.

Bruce entered the weekend with a number of minor injury concerns following the international break, but was dealt a huge blow before the pause in domestic fixtures with Isaac Hayden ruled out for the rest of the season with a significant knee injury.

Jeff Hendrick will hope he can capitalise on the Englishman’s misfortune, having replaced Hayden against Brighton to make his 19th league appearance of the campaign, but should be overlooked in favour of a recall for Matty Longstaff.

The academy graduate was omitted from the matchday squad at the Amex Stadium for the sixth time in Newcastle’s last seven games and has not played since January’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal.

Bruce’s decision to overlook Longstaff has caught some of his Newcastle teammates by surprise given that the 21-year-old is fully fit, and he should look to change perceptions with a recall as the midfielder can hold his own against the best and rarely shies away from a challenge.

Bruce will be expected to recall Saint-Maximin to the starting line-up for the first time since drawing 1-1 with Wolverhampton Wanderers in February, at the likely expense of Ryan Fraser despite the Scotland winger earning his nation a vital point against Israel recently with a neat finish.

“He [Saint-Maximin] could be, yeah,” Bruce said on Friday. “We’ve still got two days to train, today and tomorrow, but he came through a big training session 48 hours ago, so we hope he’s a bit more advanced than Callum is. We hope he can play some part.”

Bruce has previously lauded Saint-Maximin for what he brings to the United line-up, as the Toon “looked a threat” when playing on the counter-attack thanks to the Frenchman’s “blistering pace”.

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Newcastle being without Wilson will likely see Joelinton retain his place alongside Saint-Maximin in the split-striker system Bruce currently favours, given the manager’s glowing endorsement of the Brazilian’s recent efforts.

“I thought Joelinton, arguably, had his best game in a Newcastle shirt. I thought he was terrific on the night,” Bruce said, via quotes by Chronicle Live, in relation to the striker’s performance against Aston Villa last month.

“But, of course, a striker has to top it off by scoring a goal. He understands that, but his overall performance was very, very good. I thought he led the line very, very well.”

Newcastle also have concerns in goal with Martin Dubravka returning from international duty having missed two of Slovakia’s three World Cup qualifiers through illness, although Bruce doubts that the 32-year-old will miss Sunday’s clash with Spurs.

“Martin hasn’t been very well, but we expect him to be OK,” Bruce noted on Friday. “We expect him in for training today and we’ll have a chat with him to see how he feels, but we think he’ll be OK.”

Bruce will be expected to name an unchanged defence of Paul Dummett, Ciaran Clark, Jamaal Lascelles and Javier Manquillo against Mourinho’s north London natives, with Jonjo Shelvey, Joe Willock and Miguel Almiron joining whoever replaces Hayden in midfield.

AND in other news, Newcastle could save at least £8.5m by unleashing a £38k-p/w “life-saver” next season…

When Daniel Levy secured Matt Doherty for what seemed like a £15m bargain in the summer, he probably thought he was onto a winner. Heck, even we did at one stage earlier this season, as you can read here.

The Tottenham Hotspur star is now facing a fight for his future if reports are to be believed, so he’s been anything but that and is now on the verge of becoming one of the chairman’s biggest failures.

An exit after just one season would certainly put him among the likes of Noe Pamarot, Calum Davenport and Grzegorz Rasiak, three truly forgettable signings in N17.

At least former duds such as Vincent Janssen and Roberto Soldado fulfilled their purpose – that being a back-up role to Harry Kane.

According to ESPN reporter James Olley last month, Jose Mourinho could be willing to put the 29-year-old up for sale this summer unless his form drastically improves in the coming months.

Football Insider believe that Wolves would be open to re-signing the Ireland international, but only at a cut-price.

Things have gone from bad to worse for Doherty in recent weeks, too. After being berated by Mourinho throughout their defeat to Liverpool, the Spurs boss finally had enough at the weekend, as he axed him from his Premier League matchday squad entirely for the trip to Aston Villa.

Young academy starlets Dane Scarlett and Alfie Devine made the bench, whilst Japhet Tanganga started over him at right-back. Not only did this add insult to injury but was surely a telling sign of what’s to come, given the aforementioned speculation.

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Currently valued at €30m (£26m) by CIES Football Observatory, Doherty has been limited to only 12 league starts and that includes some shocking performances – he was dropped after that Liverpool scolding, and that came just a few matches after an utterly needless red against Leeds United.

In those two games, the 6 foot 1 wing-back failed to record a WhoScored rating above 5.87.

That disappointing level of performance was repeated in the North London derby (6.56), where the “very poor” dynamo lost possession the second-most times in the Spurs XI, and that was seemingly enough for Mourinho to drop him entirely for their win on Sunday.

Alasdair Gold at football.london claimed Doherty “had a nightmare” as he got completely torn apart by Kieran Tierney, whilst The Athletic’s Tifo podcast pundit Seb Stafford-Bloor believes the defender has “got progressively worse” as the season has gone on.

On top of that £15m fee, it is thought that the 29-year-old is costing around £65k-per-week as per Spotrac, meaning in total, Doherty has cost £16.85m – and counting – straight out of Levy’s pocket.

The “weak link” is fast becoming one of the worst signings of the modern Levy era, especially if Mourinho moves him on ahead of next season. Only a vast turnaround in form will stop that from happening now.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Hojbjerg: Spurs could land the next Yaya Toure in £12.6m-rated prodigy…

Steve Bruce is setting Newcastle United up to fail long-term as Dwight Gayle will be forced to reconsider his future amid rumoured interest from Galatasaray.

What’s the word?

According to the Sunday Mirror (14/3, p. 68), the Super Lig giants, who signed DeAndre Yedlin on Deadline Day last month, are now keen on a move to snap up Gayle this summer.

Yedlin sealed a free transfer to the Turk Telekom Stadium having otherwise been a free agent at the end of the season, and could be reunited with Gayle who similarly is in the final months of his United contract.

Galatasaray are interested in bolstering their offence with a move for Gayle, but may face strong competition from Turkey’s other elite clubs with a host of Super Lig outfits also thought to be monitoring the 31-year-old’s situation.

Gayle also has admirers in Qatar and Saudi Arabia with his £40,000-per-week contract set to expire in June, while The Athletic claimed earlier this month that the forward is unlikely to be offered a long-term deal to remain at St. James’ Park.

Tentative talks have taken place over new terms, but Gayle’s age and record of injuries that have sidelined the striker for a third of the past two seasons combined have brought hesitancy from the Toon hierarchy.

Gayle, for his part, is open to staying on Tyneside and is aware that any new deal is likely to be his last at the club, despite attracting interest from the Middle East, Turkey, Europe and Major League Soccer franchises recently.

Championship sides are also likely to look fondly on the skill of a forward, whom Bruce lauds as a “natural finisher”, should Gayle hit the market as a free agent at the end of the season, but the £7m-rated attacker would favour a fresh start if another Premier League spell is off the table.

Should Newcastle let Gayle leave?

Gayle has often left a lot to the imagination with his performances this season and has struggled to find any real form due to Bruce rarely playing the striker and when he does, it is often not in his favoured position.

Gayle has only made five of his 13 outings in all competitions this season as an out-and-out striker and of those appearances, only two have come in the starting line-up with opening calls against Chelsea and Aston Villa in the absence of Callum Wilson through injury.

Bruce’s decision to start Gayle on the left-wing before a move into a false nine role for the second half against Aston Villa last Friday particularly backfired, as the London-born forward cut an invisible and frustrated figure often too far out to pose any attacking threat.

The Toon boss argued following the 1-1 draw that the decision to play Gayle out of position was so Newcastle could continue with the system developed around Allan Saint-Maximin, Wilson and Miguel Almiron. And showed no signs that he intends to change that.

“We’ve played a certain way now for the past six, seven weeks. I spoke briefly on it last week, of not trying to change the shape of us, the way we’ve gone about how we’re trying to play,” Bruce said, via quotes by Chronicle Live.

“I’ll be a bit more technical and say we’re playing with split strikers if you like, but that’s the way we’ve gone about our work and I changed him and Ryan just after half-time. That’s the way we’ve set up and that’s the way we’re going to continue.”

But sticking with square pegs for round holes is not working for Newcastle, and Gayle will surely start to reconsider his willingness to stay at a club where chances to feature are slim if Bruce is not open to playing the man who Noel Whelan calls a “weapon” where he performs best.

Bruce allowing Gayle – who has more goals over the past two Premier League seasons (5) than Andy Carroll (1) and Joelinton (3) combined – to leave will also set Newcastle up to fail long-term, as the club are expected to be light on funds to sign replacements and have plenty of other starts set to be out of contract in the off-season.

AND in other news, Steve Bruce must unleash a “fantastic” Newcastle gem who delivered a statement performance vs Aston Villa…

According to a report by club insiders Claret & Hugh, via West Ham Central, defender Craig Dawson will sign for West Ham United once he makes just two more appearances for the club – a fee which will apparently total £2.2 million. 

Manager David Moyes also confirmed in a press conference that Dawson is ‘very close’ to becoming a permanent player as the club near his obligation to buy clause over the amount of matches featured (football.london).

Now, Claret & Hugh claim that the exact number of appearances needed is two – with the transfer fee paid to parent club Watford amounting to around £2.2m when the clause is triggered.

Flocking to this claim, plenty of Hammers were in full reaction as one supporter called it the ‘best news I have heard all day’.

Given the unexpected impact Dawson has made at the London Stadium, keeping the likes of Fabian Balbuena and Issa Diop out the team at points this season, it’s hardly surprising some supporters are excited.

Find all of their verdicts down below.

West Ham fans flock to Dawson claim

“Great business he is a decent solid pro”

Credit: @StuartPiner

“Best news I have heard all day”

Credit: @Lydgate1

“7.2 million for Coufal and Dawson… Ridiculously good business. Quite rare for us.”

Credit: @ConCroucher

“What a bargain”

Credit: @mattw00druf

“Wow we need to wrap him up in cotton wool and hope he don’t get injured and be out for the rest of the season, which would normally be our luck (just hope he actually wants to stay)”

Credit: @Ludders59

“Absolute bargain”

Credit: @DazzaG77

“unbelievable signing”

Credit: @Tynam76161269

In other news: West Ham are eyeing this 44-cap star, find out more here.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United defender believes Georginio Wijnaldum will be wanting to be one of the top earners at Liverpool, hence why contract talks have dragged on for so long

Wijnaldum has been an ever-present for Liverpool since signing from Newcastle United in 2017, having made 225 appearances for the Reds, which has led the midfielder to want a new and improved contract at Anfield with Barcelona waiting to swoop in on the Dutch international.

The 30-year old’s current deal is set to expire this summer and despite being the scorer of some important goals in Liverpool’s recent history, like the one against Barcelona, both parties remain far apart in discussions with the midfielder admitting he’d be devastated to leave Anfield.

Speaking on the former Newcastle midfielder’s future on Merseyside and what he will be expecting from Liverpool’s owners, Howey exclusively told FFC:

“He’ll obviously want to be one of the top earners and rightly so because of what he’s done at the club.

“He’s helped change the fortunes of Liverpool, they’ve been Premier League, Champion League and Club World Cup champions and he’s been a big part of that with some very important goals.

“So, I can totally understand why Wijnaldum is wanting that new deal. At the moment, however, it’s just a really difficult time for Liverpool as well.”

Wijnaldum’s market value currently stands at £36 million and during a time where Liverpool have not been able to splash the cash, it could prove to be a big blow if the Dutch international walks away for free.

Liverpool are focusing on finishing in the top four this season, however after getting past RB Leipzig this week, Klopp may see winning the Champions League as the club’s best route into the competition next season.