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Sheffield Wednesday reportedly face fresh competition for the signing of Solihull Moors attacker Kyle Hudlin, with Cardiff City linked with a move.

The Lowdown: Sheff Wed keen on Hudlin move

Darren Moore is looking to mastermind the Owls’ return to the Championship following a hugely disappointing 2020/21 season.

A host of experienced faces are expected to leave this summer as their contracts near expiry, so the main aim is to sign emerging talent who can bring a freshness to the squad.

Hudlin is someone who has been linked with a move to Hillsborough, with the 6ft9in striker currently the tallest outfield player in Britain.

The Latest: Cardiff emerge as rivals to sign striker

According to Yorkshire Live, Cardiff are now also eyeing a move for the 20-year-old, with Mick McCarthy hoping that Championship football turns the striker’s head at the expense of Sheffield Wednesday.

Hudlin only joined Solihull last October but he has impressed in that time, scoring 10 goals in 36 appearances for the National League side.

The Verdict: Potential blow for Owls

Hudlin looks an exciting prospect, so it would be a blow if Cardiff were to swoop in over Wednesday and snap him up this summer.

Unfortunately, the Bluebirds have the advantage of playing in a higher division that the Owls, which could be enough to persuade him to move there.

The hope is that Hudlin sees Wednesday as someone for whom he could start regularly, becoming a prominent figure over time.

In other news, a Championship side are believed to be preparing a bid for one Sheff Wed player. Find out who it is here.

Earlier this month Southampton announced that Ryan Bertrand would be leaving the club when his contract expires this summer and former Leicester City defender Steve Howey has urged the left-back to join the Foxes.

Bertrand joined the Saints in 2015 when he left Chelsea having won both the Champions League and Europa League with the Blues, and he may leave with a heavy heart having made 240 appearances on the south coast.

Since the news broke that the former England international would be leaving the Saints, he has been heavily linked with a move to both Arsenal and Leicester with the two clubs experiencing very different fortunes this season.

Howey believes that if he wants the bright lights and money then go to London, but for footballing reasons he has to pick the Foxes – something he explained exclusively to Football FanCast:

“I think Leicester is a fantastic club at the minute and you just look at the squad and it appears that they are a close-knit group so for me, I would pick them.

“It always sounds better when you tell people you played for Arsenal instead of Leicester, but Leicester is a fabulous club with an unbelievable owner, very good manager and they have some top players.”

The Foxes managed to finish higher in the Premier League than Arsenal so if Bertrand was to join the Gunners then he would not be experiencing any European football for at least one season.

Left-back appears to be more of a problem area for Mikel Arteta as he has often wanted to deploy number one full-back, Kieran Tierney, as a third centre back so having Bertrand at the club could help him do that on a more regular basis.

Wolves striker Rafa Mir has said that his agents are ‘working on’ resolving his future at the end of his loan spell.

Speaking to Marca, the 23-year-old said that he wanted to ‘continue growing as a footballer’ and hoped to find the ‘best place’ to do that. He added that there is a ‘decision to make’ this summer but acknowledges that it’s not entirely up to him.

Mir’s stock grows on loan in Spain

Mir spent the season at Huesca in the Spanish top flight and managed to score 13 league goals. That left him joint-eighth in La Liga’s top scorers list, level with Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann.

What’s more, he accomplished that feat for a side who ended up getting relegated, but he considerably underperformed on his expected goal tally of 16.5 (via Infogol).

Could Lage offer Mir a lifeline?

Mir has only made four appearances for Wolves’ senior side, each of them in the 2017/18 season when they were a Championship club.

Wolves’ seemingly incoming manager Bruno Lage prefers a 4-4-2 formation, so may be keen to deploy the Spaniard alongside Raul Jimenez in attack at Molineux.

Fan feed Talking Wolves relayed his comments, and here’s how some supporters reacted.

Wolves fans respond as Rafa Mir considers future

“Bring him back”

Credit: @jtrogers18

“Unless we are getting £20m keep him and give him a go.”

Credit: @kywolves

“Not gonna lie could do with him staying, with how paper thin the squad is he could do a job for us next year”

Credit: @thedannyl

“You know if we are gonna go 4-4-2 with Large next season, I say see how he does with Jimi upfront in a two, try him out.”

Credit: @cpj93070

“He’s going!! I don’t think he’d be that good in the Premier League! Jose’ scored numerous goals in the Spanish league, but was useless at Wolves!!”

Credit: @SteveWiles20

“Sounds like he doesn’t want to come back”

Credit: @gricey88

In other news, Wolves have been warned not to offload this star.  

Whenever Wolves have taken a step forward this season, it’s traditionally then meant they take another giant leap backwards.

Nuno Santo’s men had, up until this season, defined the very essence of consistency since he took over.

They were promoted from the Championship and have established themselves among the best of the rest in the Premier League.

This term, however, has been a complete write-off. Injuries have pillaged them severely and they lie in the bottom half of the table having shown no consistency at all.

The win over Brighton a couple of weeks ago felt like a turning point. Nuno had looked towards the future and when picking his most inexperienced XI of the campaign, his side won 2-1.

Though, since that victory, they’ve lost consecutive games to Tottenham and Everton. These are the types of matches that Nuno’s men usually thrive in but to coin an old phrase, they already look as though they’re on the beach.

That’s especially the case for Joao Moutinho, a man who will be dreaming of lifting the European Championships this summer.

He will have to perform better for Portugal than he’s done for Wolves during 2020/21 because at the moment, the midfielder looks past his best.

Towards the beginning of the year, Wolves reporter Tim Spiers commented that this could his final campaign as a regular starter at Molineux.

It was an intriguing argument but judging by his performance against Everton, he has a very valid point.

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Moutinho is a player who has always oozed class but at Goodison Park on Wednesday, he endured an average display in the middle of the park as they slipped to a 1-0 defeat.

This display was anything but classy as the Portuguese surrendered possession of the ball on 21 occasions. This is an alarming number of times for a player who is usually so calm and composed.

For instance, he has only lost the ball on average 9.7 times per match. His performance was extraordinarily out of character.

The £100k-per-week earner’s passing was also slightly down on what we’ve come to expect from him. Often the creative heartbeat of this Wolves team, he completed just 82%, lower than his 88% average throughout the term.

Moutinho did provide three key passes but he showed his age when he was dribbled past on two occasions during an Everton attack.

On this evidence, Nuno can certainly find better options to fill his midfield.

After all, they do have Moutinho 2.0 lying in wait if they choose to exercise the option to buy in Vitinha’s loan contract.

Having been given a platform to earn more starts towards the end of the season, the youngster has finally demonstrated how impressive he can be at the elite level.

AND in other news, Wolves set for huge boost after Molineux news emerges, Nuno will be thrilled…

Sheffield Wednesday confirmed their player retention list on Thursday afternoon, and it could be of interest to Celtic.

The Lowdown: Celtic were keen on Reach

Winger Adam Reach was strongly linked with a move to Celtic Park back in January.

The Hoops, along with rivals Rangers, were thought to be monitoring his situation ahead of a possible pre-contract agreement.

As we now know, Celtic’s only pre-contract agreement with a Sheffield Wednesday player was with Liam Shaw, with the teenager moving to Scotland this summer.

However, Celtic now have another chance to land Reach for nothing.

The Latest: Reach released

The Owls, who were relegated to League One earlier this month, confirmed that 10 players will be released when their deals expire this summer.

One of those is Reach, with the 28-year-old set to end his five-year association with the club.

He’s made 230 appearances at Hillsborough, with 49 of those coming in the 2020/21 campaign.

The Verdict: A good utility addition?

In our opinion, Reach could be a shrewd signing by the Hoops, should the new Celtic manager want him.

He was described as ‘creative’ by journalist George Elek just last month, mainly turning out on the left-hand side of midfield.

However, Reach also played in six other positions in recent months, so could be a handy acquisition in Glasgow who can add depth in multiple positions.

His Wednesday deal is thought to be worth £20,000-a-week, so that could prove to be a stumbling block, especially as Celtic’s top earner now being Callum McGregor on the same salary, which may make him one of the club’s top earners.

In other news: Premier League club weigh up move for Celtic midfielder, find out more here. 

Steven Gerrard has been handed a huge potential boost ahead of Sunday’s Old Firm derby at Ibrox, with Rangers captain James Tavernier in contention to feature after recovering from his injury.

The former Newcastle United man has been sidelined since February through injury and whilst the Light Blues were able to secure title number 55 in his absence and maintain the unbeaten run, they will be hoping that his return can see them over the line this season, whilst also hoping that he can have a big part to play in their Scottish Cup run.

Gerrard’s side face the Hoops at Ibrox on Sunday and Tavernier could well make his return, after the 40-year-old manager confirmed earlier in the week that the right-back was now back in full training and was pushing to be involved against Celtic.

Although Nathan Patterson has done a stellar job filling in for Tavernier at right-back, the 19-year-old could easily be overawed by playing in such a big occasion due to his lack of experience, whilst Leon Balogun has struggled when asked to play that position in recent months, so perhaps we will see Tavernier from the start.

The English defender has been instrumental in Rangers’ superb season thus far, having contributed a remarkable 11 goals and nine assists in 29 league appearances, which has helped him average an incredible 7.76 rating for his performances.

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This ranks him not just as Rangers’ best performer this season, but comfortably the best performer in the Scottish Premiership, which emphasises just how important he has been in Gerrard’s side this season.

Earlier in the season, Gerrard was full of praise for his captain, saying:

“I think Tav is someone that, when he goes through the gears, he is unstoppable, and we have seen that, or flashes of that so far this season – I think he is really close to being at his best.”

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This goes to show how much the former Liverpool man values having Tavernier in his squad, and if he is deemed to be fully fit, it would not be a surprise to see him handed a start in the Old Firm derby on Sunday afternoon.

And, in other news… Gerrard suffers Rangers transfer setback over £12m beast with “so much ability”

Mark Douglas has dropped a big claim on the Newcastle United takeover consortium involving Rafa Benitez.

Asked in a Q&A session for The Chronicle whether he thinks that Steve Bruce still has the chance of being the manager of the St. James’ Park faithful if the proposed deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group were to go through, the football journalist claimed that a takeover would ‘likely push Rafa Benitez back into the picture’, given his connection with the consortium.

Newcastle return for Benitez?

If the takeover bid were to eventually go through, then it is possible that the prospective new owners would be looking for a new manager to take charge, given that they did not hire Bruce.

Benitez would certainly be a popular choice to replace the former Aston Villa and Sunderland boss in the North East, as there are many fans on Tyneside who simply adore him and would love to have him back, making it an easy way for the potential new owners to get the Toon Army on side.

The Spaniard guided the Magpies to promotion back to the Premier League and then managed to keep them in the top flight for two consecutive terms, boasting 62 wins from 146 games in total over all competitions (Transfermarkt), a 42.5% win ratio.

With extra funds available to spend in the transfer market, Benitez may well be interested in a potential return to the Toon, should Bruce leave if the takeover were to go through.

In other news, find out what big NUFC transfer claim has been dropped here!

John Kennedy labelled Norway manager Stale Solbakken ‘disrespectful’ after the latter urged Kristoffer Ajer to leave Celtic.

During the international break, Solbakken warned Ajer that the Scottish Premiership wasn’t ‘challenging’ enough for him and said that the centre-back would be ‘smart’ to seek a move to one of Europe’s top five leagues.

Kennedy: Ajer is already playing for a ‘massive club’

Celtic’s interim boss Kennedy struck back at the weekend in response to Solbakken’s advice to the Hoops defender.

“We are a massive club in our own right who compete in Europe every season,” said Kennedy (via Daily Record).

“There’s no doubt there will be interest in Kris because of his profile, his age and where he is at. But I found the statement and the comments disrespectful towards ourselves.”

Could Ajer leave Celtic this summer?

The 22-year-old defender is about to enter the final year of his £14,000-per-week Celtic contract, and the Daily Mail reported in recent days that Newcastle had set their sights on Ajer and were preparing an £8m transfer offer.

Celtic signed Ajer as a 17-year-old from Norwegian club IK Start in 2016. He has gone to rack up 171 appearances in green and white, as well as earning 21 caps for his country (via Transfermarkt).

This season, Ajer is averaging 3.2 successful aerial duels, 88.2% passing accuracy, 1.3 tackles, 1.4 interceptions and 3.4 clearances per match (via WhoScored).

Transfer Tavern verdict

Kennedy is justified in calling out Solbakken, who should have raised his concerns with Ajer privately. The defender may only be 22 but his national team coach is clearly itching for him to make the next step.

Celtic, for their part, may try to commit him to another two or three years in Glasgow before a lucrative sale.

The increasing prospect of working with Eddie Howe may be persuasive, and losing him for less than £10m would have to be regarded as a real disappointment.

In other news, a Premier League offer could also arrive for this Celtic midfielder.

Aston Villa were beaten at the death by Liverpool on Saturday, and the fans were far from happy with the performance of Marvelous Nakamba.

The Villans travelled to Anfield to face a team that had scored just once at home this calendar year (Sky Sports), and they took the lead towards the end of the first 45 minutes through Ollie Watkins, who slotted home calmly past Alisson.

However, Mohamed Salah was on hand after the break to level things up, and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored late on to win the game for his side.

The Villa fans were far from happy with what they saw from Nakamba. Although the Midlands outfit took the lead, it was far from a good display from the Zimbabwe international, who was often guilty of giving the ball away easily. Also, his poor marking contributed to the goal that saw his side pegged back.

Nakamba managed just 31 touches in total, which was actually 18 less than his own goalkeeper, Emi Martinez, who was in fine form as always (Sofascore).

The supporters took to social media platform Twitter in their droves to share their thoughts on his showing.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Nakamba below

“Take Nakamba off please not completed a pass yet”

Credit: @leebavfc

“Inevitable equaliser but poor from Martinez that. Awful tracking from Nakamba before that too.”

Credit: @Valentine06

“Nakamba switched off”

Credit: @SotcAvfc

“Nakamba been off it today”

Credit: @jemail97

“Douglas Luiz and nakamba absolutley shocking”

Credit: @Jasonmoss1995

“Nakamba looks to be a bit of a passenger today.”

Credit: @TallieJ

In other news, Villa fans are livid at this latest injury news.

Leeds United are reportedly still interested in signing Torino centre-back Nicolas Nkoulou this summer, with talks becoming more ‘intense’.

Marcelo Bielsa could be on the lookout for new addition in the next transfer window as he aims to bolster his squad and establish the Whites as a solid Premier League outfit again.

One area where Leeds appear to be relatively well-stocked is at centre-back, but that hasn’t stopped one rumour from doing the rounds.

Bielsa has been linked with bringing Nkoulou to Elland Road in the past and it is now claimed that they are still eyeing up the 72-cap Cameroon international.

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Leeds still keen on Nkoulou move

According to Calciomercato [via Leeds All Over], talks over a move for the 30-year-old have become ‘increasingly intense’, with his contract at Torino expiring at the end of the season.

Nkoulou has been at the Serie A club since 2017 and may believe that a fresh challenge is required.

Transfer Tavern take

As mentioned, there is no great need to sign a centre-back this summer, although Nkoulou’s vast experience could prove to be a shrewd addition. Also, his 88.7% passing success rate is better than any of Leeds’ senior centre-backs, while nobody at Elland Road can match his average of 2.4 interceptions per game – Liam Cooper comes closest at 2.3.

Bringing him in for free may not affect the club’s transfer budget, either, which is another reason why taking a punt on him could be worth it.

It feels like a win-win scenario, with Leeds already possessing strong options in that area should Bielsa opt against a move for Nkoulou.

In other news, Leeds have received a boost in their quest to sign a world-famous star this summer. Find out who it is here.