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Manchester City are reportedly leading the race to sign in-demand Fiorentina striker Dušan Vlahović, according to reports by La Repubblica (as shared by TuttoJuve).

The Lowdown: Vlahović is hot property

The Serbia international has been gaining plenty of attention ahead of the January transfer window following his fantastic start to the 2021/22 Serie A campaign.

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Vlahović sits as the top scorer in Italy this season, having netted an incredible 16 times in 18 matches. This has made the 21-year-old one of the most highly sought-after players in European football right now.

Vlahović looks set to be on the move in either the upcoming January window or over the summer, having rejected Fiorentina’s contract proposals, with his current deal set to expire in 2023.

Arsenal, Tottenham and Juventus have all been linked with the player, so Pep Guardiola will be up against some stern competition as he attempts to bring the Serbian to Manchester in January.

The Latest: Manchester City lead the race

According to reports by La Repubblica (as shared by TuttoJuve), it has been suggested that City have the best chance of anyone of signing Vlahović, with Juventus not at the forefront of the transfer race.

Reports have suggested that the 21-year-old’s preference is to remain in Italy until the end of the season before making his move in the summer, and it appears that City are the front-runners in securing the player’s signature.

The Verdict: Would be an unbelievable signing

With many of Europe’s top clubs fighting it out for the striker’s signature, this would prove to be a phenomenal signing for Guardiola. National teammate Sergej Milinkovic-Savic has described the youngster as ‘outstanding’, saying that ‘he’s bound to become one of the greats’.

After failing to bring Harry Kane to the Etihad Stadium in the summer, the City boss is still on the lookout for an attacker, and it is claimed that Vlahović is his priority. He is said to be ‘in love’ with the Serbian’s goal-scoring ability, so this could be a dream transfer for all parties involved.

In other news: ‘Take the £50m and run’, ‘Let him go’ – Lots of Man City fans erupt at Fabrizio Romano transfer claim

West Bromwich Albion have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring Jack Hendry to The Hawthorns this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by TEAMtalk, who claimed that Club Brugge, Anderlecht and Royal Antwerp have all made a move for the KV Oostende centre-back, while Aston Villa are also thought to have joined the race for the 26-year-old’s signature.

A host of Championship clubs, including West Brom, Sheffield United and Fulham, were previously reported to be keen on a move for the former Celtic defender in the summer transfer window, although the relegated trio could now be gazumped by teams offering the prospect of top-flight or even European football.

Ismael will be gutted

With Ismael typically operating with a system which utilised three centre-backs during his time at Barnsley, it would seem highly likely that the Frenchman will implement this setup at The Hawthorns next season.

With the 45-year-old not having a great deal of choice in that position at Albion, the heart of defence would very much appear to be an area where the Baggies manager will look to strengthen in the summer transfer window, with Hendry appearing to be an excellent candidate for the role.

Indeed, over his 30 Jupiler Pro League appearances for Oostende last season, the £3.15m-rated man helped his team to keep six clean sheets, along with averaging 0.6 interceptions, one tackle and 4.1 clearances and winning 4.8 duels per game.

The £8,000-per-week defender also impressed in an attacking capacity, scoring two goals and providing one assist, as well as averaging 0.2 key passes per league game.

These returns saw the man Alex McLeish dubbed a “confident” player earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.01, ranking him as Alexander Blessin’s third-best performer in the Belgian top flight.

As such, it would very much appear that the signing of Hendry would have been a perfect fit for Ismael. However, with a number of clubs interested in the centre-back who boast considerably greater pull than the Baggies, it would seem as if a deal for the Scotland international does not look overly likely at present, an outcome which will surely leave their manager gutted.

In other news: Get it done: Major update emerges on “fantastic” £8m West Brom target, Ismael must act

Newcastle United have been gifted a boost in their pursuit of Kristoffer Ajer in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Newcastle pressing to sign Ajer

The St. James’ Park faithful are reportedly pressing to sign the Celtic central defender, with a move to the North East apparently appealing to him.

The Tyneside club are willing to offer £8m for his signature, as he will only have one year left on his current deal at Parkhead in the summer.

The Latest: Leicester out of Ajer race

As per GiveMeSport, Leicester City have pulled out of the race to sign Ajer, meaning that the Magpies have one less club to worry about as they look to obtain his services.

The Foxes could have potentially offered him the chance to play UEFA Champions League football ahead of Steve Bruce’s side, and so the Toon will surely be relieved that they are no longer in the run-in.

The Verdict: Newcastle should sign Ajer

NUFC may not get a better opportunity to sign a commanding centre-back such as Ajer, and so they should take it with open arms.

Described as an ‘outstanding’ player back in March by former Newcastle ace Lee Clark, who managed him during a loan spell at Kilmarnock, the Norway international certainly has the capabilities of stepping up to the Premier League.

At a staggering six-foot-six-inches tall, Ajer would have no problems at all in adapting to both the aerial and physical demands of the top flight, and at just 23 years of age, he certainly still has a lot of potential left to fulfil.

In other news, find out what insight Lee Ryder has shared from sources close to Mike Ashley on the potential takeover here!

Crystal Palace will assess the condition of their 20-year-old midfielder Michael Olise ahead of today’s evening kick-off against Leeds United.

What’s the latest?

Friday morning’s press conference (via Football.London) saw Palace boss Patrick Vieira drop a revelation on Michael Olise’s foot injury that saw him prematurely withdrawn last time out against Newcastle United.

Speaking to the media, he said: “With Michael Olise – we were off yesterday and today, so we have to wait until tomorrow. But, yes, we took him off early in the [Newcastle] game as he wasn’t feeling 100 percent.”

A mini-update of sorts was then revealed by producer Conor McGilligan on Twitter who shared he was “definitely a doubt.”

Olise omission

In what is his debut season in the Premier League, Olise has struggled to assert himself as a regular under Patrick Vieira, starting just 34% of the Eagles’ Premier League fixtures.

Though you cannot argue against his impact for Palace this season, with his accumulation of seven goal contributions (two goals and five assists) in a total of 23 appearances in the league.

The Frenchman’s five assists this season see him rank first in the Eagles set-up, ahead of Conor Gallagher’s total of three assists in the league.

Along the same lines, his chance creation is what Palace will miss the most, with his total of seven big chances created again placing him ahead of Gallagher and ranking him first in the squad.

At just 20-year-old, Olise is an outstanding creative asset for Vieira’s side and in the appearances, he has made, has acted as the glue for his side’s efforts in possession, with his average of 49 passes per 90 and goal-creating actions of 0.62 placing him within the elite category amongst positionally similar players in Europe’s top five leagues over the last year.

For extra context, Manchester United target Frenkie de Jong averages 56 passes per match, so Olise is kicking it with the best of them and it is not going unnoticed.

Vieira will certainly be worried if he has to make do without the French starlet’s brilliance in the side tonight in what will be a real let-off for Leeds United.

In other news: Vieira must finally unleash CPFC’s £15.3m “delight” today, he will terrify Leeds…

Everton could potentially save themselves around £13m in the summer transfer market by targeting Manchester United full-back Diogo Dalot over Norwich City’s Max Aarons or Tariq Lamptey of Brighton & Hove Albion.

What’s the word?

According to Nicolo Shira, AC Milan are opposed to the permanent transfer of Dalot after Manchester United slapped a €20m (£17m) price tag onto the on-loan defender.

The 22-year-old moved to the San Siro in October after sealing a late season-long switch to the Serie A giants, but has struggled to establish himself under Stefano Pioli.

Dalot has opened just 18 of his 24 appearances across all competitions and has been fielded in less than half of the Rossoneri’s league games to date.

AC Milan are now expected to focus on alternative targets and Dalot will return to Old Trafford at the end of the season, in a potential boost for Everton.

The Toffees were linked with a potential move for Dalot last week, with Carlo Ancelotti said to view the Portuguese defender as an alternative to Aarons and Lamptey in his search for Seamus Coleman’s successor.

Ancelotti is eager to find a right-back capable of offering an aerial presence at both ends of the field, and had sought a deal for Dalot last year only for Manchester United to pull the plug in fear of strengthening a rival.

Director of Football Marcel Brands was in agreement with Ancelotti over a move for Dalot, whom the Italian likes for his versatility, and had made efforts to land his signature in 2019 during Marco Silva’s tenure at Goodison Park.

Who would be the best option?

Everton making moves to sign Dalot for a third successive summer has the potential to see the Merseyside outfit acquire Ancelotti’s long-term heir to Coleman, and at a bargain fee compared to deals for Aarons or Lamptey.

Reports by Sky Sports last month claimed Norwich value Aarons in the region of £30m-35m, while the Liverpool Echo understand Brighton would demand close to £30m to release Lamptey.

Aarons is the only one of the trio who has been given consistent minutes at right-back this season, with Daniel Farke awarding the 21-year-old all 38 of his Championship outings in his natural position.

Dalot, who Jose Mourinho claimed was “fantastic” and could be Manchester United’s full-back for the next ten years back in 2018, has only made four of his 12 Serie A outings for AC Milan at right-back this term.

Lamptey made nine of his 11 Premier League appearances in the role before sustaining a season-ending hamstring injury.

Over their performances when played at right-back this season, Aarons has registered the highest average WhoScored match rating at 6.9 out of 10, while Lamptey ranks second at 6.87 and Dalot is third with a 6.71.

But Dalot has provided the highest number of successful tackles per game with 3.8 from six attempts, to Lamptey (1.8/2.3) and Aarons (0.7/1). He also ranks first for interceptions with two ahead of the Seagulls star (1.6) and Canaries ace (0.9) and aerial duels won with 1.3 from 2.3 to 0.4 from 1.7 and 0.9 from 2.3 respectively.

Aarons also provides the least accurate crosses with 0.8 from 3.1 deliveries per game to Dalot (0.5/3) and Lamptey (0.9/3.1), yet tops the charts for key passes with 1.3 to the Portuguese’s 0.5 and the Englishman’s 0.9.

Obviously, Dalot’s sample size is smaller than Lamptey’s and especially Aarons’, but he has the potential to prove a bargain by saving Everton £13m in the transfer market if he emerges as Ancelotti and Brands’ priority target this summer.

AND in other news, Everton land a huge boost but face PL competition for a £26m star who’s “grown so much”…

Unsurprisingly, with a £340 million deal potentially just around the corner, Mike Ashley is all in on getting PCP Capital Partners in at Newcastle United, but Shields Gazette journalist Liam Kennedy has told FFC that there is one potential buyer with quite a lot of money behind them that could rival the potential new owners.

The consortium that are attempting to buy Newcastle are the only group to have stumped up the cash and proved they have the sufficient funds to not only buy the club immediately, but also be able to take the Magpies forward.

PCP Capital Partners, which is led by Amanda Staveley, had huge plans to transform Newcastle and not just the club, but also the city and surrounding area which may have changed the way players and pundits viewed the North East.

However, with Newcastle being such a big club historically and many viewing it as a sleeping giant, there is no surprise that other parties are constantly linked with taking over from Ashley. Kennedy has confirmed that there is one other seriously wealthy interested party if the current takeover deal falls through, and he spoke about that potential buyer to Football FanCast:

“You always hear things about potential buyers and I got one put to me about a week ago who has some quite big money and family links, so they would definitely be of interest if it could progress.”

July appears to be a critical month for everyone involved with Newcastle United as the anti-competition case and arbitration are set to come to fruition and with Ashley’s bold statement released on Thursday evening, it will have only stirred things up further.

Celtic’s first pre-season encounter threatened to disappoint until the fruits of Ange Postecoglou’s labour shone through.

The Hoops endured a nightmare start by conceding after three minutes but the pressing that the Australian is renowned for became greater as the game went on, eventuality prevailing 3-1.

What’s the word?

Wednesday afternoon’s win was the ideal start to Postecoglou’s tenure but you sense as though his opening few months at Parkhead will be judged on transfer activity.

The Bhoys have already welcomed Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide to the club in the last few weeks but they are keen to press on with further acquisitions.

That was the word of the new manager who in his post-match press conference, excitingly revealed that they hope to have some more announcements in the next week or so.

The 55-year-old commented: “We are working on multiple fronts. There are some pretty obvious gaps we have in the squad. They are the areas we are working really hard to find the right players.”

Postecoglou continued: “I know exactly how I want to play and the kind of players we need. So we are looking far and wide. There’s challenges with getting players into the country and doing business so early in the window.

He concluded: “The whole club is working hard and I’m hoping over the next week or so, we have some announcements.”

Ideal news

These are a set of quotes that are likely to leave the supporters at Paradise absolutely elated.

Celtic have started the transfer window in promising fashion and they are in talks to sign a number of players.

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Conversations have reportedly been taking place over the signing of Croatian defender Mario Vuskovic while discussions have been had over Bologna’s Aaron Hickey as well.

Those two players aren’t the only defenders in the crosshairs of Celtic as they aim to improve on a disastrous 2020/21 campaign.

A move for Swedish centre-half Carl Starfelt could be on the cards while Cameron Carter-Vickers is on their radar as well.

This summer, more than any other, Postecoglou needs to complete transfer activity quickly.

They have a number of holes to fill in the squad with Scott Brown departing and loan players heading back to their parent clubs.

The sooner they get new players in, the quicker they’ll be up to speed with the manager’s style. It’s doubly important that fresh faces arrive over the next week so that they’re ready to feature in Champions League qualifying.

At the moment, Celtic could head into that game with Midtjylland without James Forrest who is a doubt. They also have a particular shortage at right-back.

Consequently, Hoops fans should be delighted if they address those areas during the next seven days.

It will be a major boost to their hopes of being in the group stages of Europe’s premier competition next term.

AND in other news, Celtic open talks to sign “unbelievable” 13-goal gem, he may end Christie’s Hoops stay…

Frank McAvennie has exclusively told Football FanCast that West Ham captain Mark Noble would be “annoyed” if David Moyes ever opts to pick a youngster instead of him while Declan Rice is out.

The Hammers have one of the most settled midfield partnerships in the Premier League in Rice and Tomas Soucek, but the former has been ruled out for around four weeks with a knee problem sustained on international duty.

Prior to West Ham’s game with Wolves last week, the pair had played every minute in the Premier League season, with that run finally coming to an end at Molineux.

Mark Noble was the obvious choice to replace Rice, with 21-year-old Conor Coventry, who was an unused substitute for the recent defeat to Manchester United, their only other senior recognised central midfielder in the squad following the summer departures of both Carlos Sanchez and Jack Wilshere.

But McAvennie told Football FanCast that playing a youngster ahead of Noble wouldn’t sit well with the Hammers skipper:

“Nobes would be annoyed at him because you automatically want to get in.

“Sometimes you say ‘right Nobes, you go and sit in in front of the centre-halves and don’t let them get in’. But it’s so defensive. Because it’s so good to watch West Ham at the moment because they’re so quick and lively.

“They’ve got players there, it’s how they do it. Do they bring Nobes in or bring a youngster in and play the same way, that’s why David Moyes is given the big bucks. I know for a fact that Noble will want to play, but whether he can or not I don’t know.”

Luke Edwards has dropped a big claim on the potential takeover of Newcastle United as news emerged on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

The Lowdown: KSA on priority watch list

As per The Athletic journalist Matt Slater, the KSA are staying on the US government’s priority watch list for Intellectual Property (IP) theft for the third straight year.

Slater claimed that this is ‘not a good look’ for the Saudis’ quest to prove they are taking digital piracy seriously, given that they want to invest in football, most notably the KSA group wanting to buy the St. James’ Park faithful off of the hands of Mike Ashley.

The Latest: Edwards reacts

Quoting the tweet from Slater, Daily Telegraph journalist Edwards has since given his reaction to the news, claiming that he does not think Ashley will win the pending arbitration case between him and the Premier League over the failed takeover in the North East by the KSA consortium.

He also claimed that the takeover ‘collapsed ten months ago’ in his opinion, in other words saying that he cannot see a way back into the Tyneside club for the Saudis.

The Verdict: Takeover not done yet

While the latest news with the KSA is alarming, it does not mean that a takeover of the Magpies can be ruled out just yet.

The result of the arbitration hearing will likely give a much clearer picture over the direction of where the potential deal is heading, and Ashley would not have pursued with the case if he was not at least somewhat confident of winning it.

Still, even if the Toon do not end up winning the case, then they still have the anti-competition lawsuit that they launched separately against the top flight to fall back on, which could present the potential takeover with a new pathway.

Nonetheless, Ashley and NUFC will not have given up hope of winning arbitration just yet, as the legal battle with the division looks set to be an intriguing one.

In other news, find out which ace Callum Wilson dubbed ‘unbelievable’ Newcastle are eyeing here!

Leeds United had a £13million bid for Lewis O’Brien rejected in the summer, according to Huddersfield Town chairman Phil Hodgkinson.

The Lowdown: Leeds constantly linked with move

The Whites ended up having a productive summer, bringing in the likes of Junior Firpo and Daniel James, but they failed to find a quality midfielder who can allow players like Kalvin Phillips to rest and rotate.

Leeds were continually linked with a move for Huddersfield’s O’Brien, but he ended up staying put at the Championship club.

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The Latest: Chairman makes big claim

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Hodgkinson has claimed that the Whites bid as much as £13million for O’Brien.

You couldn’t get a much closer source than the Terriers’ chairman himself, delivering a nine-word verdict and confirming that Huddersfield rejected the approach:

“The fourth offer we rejected was for thirteen million.”

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The Verdict: Overpriced?

While O’Brien is a young player who has shone in the Championship, winning Huddersfield’s Player of the Year award in 2019/20, £13million seems a lot of money to spend on a player who will ultimately be arriving as back-up, rather than a first XI option.

The 22-year-old remains unproven at the top level and he would likely have come in as a squad player, providing opportunities to rest Phillips now that the ‘Yorkshire Pirlo’ is featuring regularly through international breaks.

It may be that Leeds come back in for O’Brien in the January transfer window or next summer, but there is a feeling that he could be overpriced if they are willing to spend that amount again.

In other news, a key piece of Liverpool team news has emerged ahead of Leeds’ clash with the Reds on Sunday. Read more here.