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According to the Daily Mirror, Manchester United have tabled a final bid worth £40m for Tottenham’s wantaway defender Toby Alderweireld, and the North London club should sign fellow United target Yerry Mina as his replacement.

What’s the story?

The Mirror reports that Tottenham value Alderweireld at around £55m, despite the Belgium international centre-back only having nine months left on his contract. Spurs do have the option to extend his contract by a further 12 months, but this would then trigger a release clause of just £25m.

The 29-year-old joined Spurs from Atletico Madrid in 2015 and instantly became a mainstay in Mauricio Pochettino’s defence, but he struggled with a hamstring injury last season that limited him to just 14 Premier League appearances and now looks set to depart the club.

United boss Jose Mourinho is keen to sign a centre-back this summer and the club have been linked with Jerome Boateng and Harry Maguire, although Alderweireld remains their number one target, according to the Mirror.

Securing a replacement

If Alderweireld does end up joining United before the transfer deadline on Thursday, Spurs will have to act fast to secure a replacement. Perhaps the perfect player could be Barcelona’s Yerry Mina, who looks set to leave the Nou Camp this summer.

Mina’s situation has changed daily this summer, with Spanish paper Sport claiming that Everton had agreed a deal with Barcelona and Metro reporting that United were expecting to sign the 23-year-old.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy could take advantage of this by hijacking any deal and sanctioning the sale of Alderweireld. The Spurs defender clearly wants a move away this summer and Colombian giant Mina impressed at this summer’s World Cup. Having his international partner Davinson Sanchez already at the club would also help Mina to settle in to life in English football.

The Barca man is valued at just £18m by Transfermarkt and could be the perfect signing if Levy breaks out the chequebook.

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Everybody involved with Celtic will be feeling sore today after they were dumped out of the Champions League at the qualifying stage by AEK Athens, and a recent report from Sky Sports suggests that they are set for some bad news in the transfer market as well. 

Indeed, a report from Sky Sports has claimed that the former Hoop Patrick Roberts is on the brink of joining Girona on loan where he will be given a fresh opportunity to impress Pep Guardiola after suffering with injury problems for the majority of the previous campaign.

The same report claims that Celtic had been interested in re-signing Roberts this summer, so the fact he has opted for a move to La Liga is certainly a huge blow for the club.

It was only on the 7th August when the Scottish Sun seemed to suggest that Roberts was set for a permanent deal at Celtic as per Alex Rae’s comments in the media, but it appears circumstances have changed in the past week.

And Roberts’ decision to embark on a season-long loan in La Liga could end Celtic’s chances of signing him on a permanent deal, as one successful season in the Spanish top-flight will certainly alert the attention of plenty of Premier League clubs.

If Celtic were ever going to sign Roberts permanently then it had to be this summer before he showcased his talent elsewhere, and they may live to regret their decision not to commit to a permanent deal.

Perhaps Roberts decided that he was ready for a new challenge and didn’t want to return to Celtic in any capacity, but if they merely refused to fork out for his signature then there’s no doubt that the Bhoys have missed their a golden opportunity to secure his signature this summer.

Celtic fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

Loads of Sunderland fans have been giving their verdict on the weekend’s big win, and they simply can’t get over how well Josh Maja is playing.

Jack Ross and Stewart Donald had a lot of work to do when they took over on Wearside this summer, overhauling an ageing, gutless squad and trimming an oversized wage bill.

The pair have done some excellent transfer work, but until recently there were real concerns that they hadn’t added enough goals to the team.

Maja and Jerome Sinclair are raw and inexperienced, and Charlie Wyke has joined the club with an injury.

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Those concerns are dissipating fast thanks to Maja’s incredible start to the season though, and the 19 year-old bagged again in the win over Scunthorpe.

Chris Maguire and Max Power were also impressive, but it’s Maja that’s taking all the plaudits, and fans are even starting to feel that they don’t need another signing up front.

The young striker has come on leaps and bounds over the summer, and loads of fans have been heaping praise on his sensational start to the season.

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You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

In the context of everything that’s happened so far this summer at Celtic, it’s fair to say that this Sunday’s match against Rangers is one of the biggest derbies in recent times.

The Hoops came into the new season as double-treble Scottish champions, with Brendan Rodgers laying waste of all before him in the league and every cup competition since arriving at the club in 2016.

Somehow though they’ve contrived to generate an air of negativity around the club, mostly based on a failure to improve the squad in the transfer market.

A win against Rangers is needed to remind everyone why they have dominated Scottish football for the last seven years.

To do that there must be a real improvement over recent performances, with the Hoops looking a bit one-note in attack and incredibly shaky in defence.

One recent positive in the first team though has been the introduction of 19-year-old winger Mikey Johnston, a player who has brought a fearlessness and desire to the Celtic first-team.

The argument against starting him on Sunday is that he hasn’t really been tested in a truly big match to date, and has made just four career starts, with the game against Rangers a unique cauldron usually best suited to experienced performers.

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At the same time, unleashing a young Celtic supporter with everything to prove against Steven Gerrard’s side could give the Hoops an edge over their city rivals.

Do you think Mikey Johnston should start against Rangers? Have your say in our poll below…

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After a summer spending-spree, West Ham United will be bitterly disappointed at their pointless start to the Premier League season. They lost their first three games of a campaign previously filled with excitement after lavish recruitment under Manuel Pellegrini.  

Indeed, after spending over £100m on new players in the summer, the Irons board surely expected at least a top-half finish from Pellegrini as a minimum, perhaps even pushing for European contention, thus far, that looks a pipe-dream. The East Londoners have not only lost, but certain players have put in very poor performances that will be very concerning to the Hammers faithful. In particular, a 2-1 loss at home against Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth will be of particular concern, as that is a game Irons fans would have likely thought their team should be winning.

To pinpoint one player who has the potential to really cost the London Stadium outfit, attention has to be turned to club-record signing Felipe Anderson. The Brazilian is valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt. The right-sided midfielder was surely expected to be a world-beater, but has so far showed he is a precarious talent who can drift in and out of games, and has often failed to make an impact. If he doesn’t turn his form around, he could really be the single player who costs the Irons dearly. Manuel Pellegrini likely pinned a lot of hope on the player to be both a creative and goal-scoring threat in the side.

The West Ham United support will be desperately hoping their record-signing is just finding his feet in the Premier League, and is about to set the division alight once he gets used to the pace of the English game.

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Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder signed the fourth striker he wanted to compete for a first-team spot when he brought in Conor Washington following his release by Championship rivals Queens Park Rangers, and he now has to find his preferred strike partnership in his preferred 3-4-1-2 formation.

The former Peterborough United man comes into a frontline already containing Leon Clarke, Billy Sharp and fellow new boy David McGoldrick, with Caolan Lavery looking to be a fifth-choice option after he failed to secure a loan move away.

While Sharp and Clarke have impressed for the Blades over the course of the last couple of season, some competition for them – especially given they are 32 and 33 respectively – was much-needed if the Yorkshire club are to be involved in the promotion race this term.

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Sharp and McGoldrick certainly strengthened their claim to remain in the starting XI as the two players up top following their displays in the 4-1 win against Aston Villa at Bramall Lane at the weekend, with the former netting the fourth goal.

That said, the latter has only one goal and no assists in six league appearances so far this season, to suggest that perhaps Clarke or Washington deserve an opportunity alongside the in-form Sharp.

Washington may bring a new dimension to the United attack, but with 32 Championship goals between them last season it is Sharp and Clarke who have proven they are deadly together, and they deserve to be Wilder’s first-choice partnership as things stand.

So, Blades fans, who do you think is your best strike duo? Let us know by voting below…

Loads of Celtic fans have been reacting to the latest big news, as club captain Scott Brown is set to sign a new deal with the club.

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According to Raman Bhardwaj, Brown is poised to extend his contract with Celtic, as the 33 year-old prepares for his 12th season with the club.

Brown’s current deal is set to expire next summer, but he is expected to extend the deal in the next couple of weeks.

Brown moved to Celtic Park in 2007 after making over 100 appearances for Hibernian.

He has gone on to rack up nearly 500 games for Celtic, scoring 37 times and adding 58 assists, according to Transfermarkt.

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The tough-tackling midfielder has also earned himself over 100 yellow cards in that time period, and fans are delighted that their captain is set to stay flying around the midfield for at least another couple of years.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Everton fans have been discussing their injury crisis, and a huge 60 per cent of fans want Marco Silva to hand Gylfi Sigurdsson the armband with the regular captain candidates ruled out of the clash against West Ham.

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Everton have been spoilt for choice for the captain’s armband in recent years, but all of their veteran defenders are expected to miss Sunday’s match against West Ham.

Seamus Coleman suffered a serious foot injury on international duty, while neither of Leighton Baines or Phil Jagielka are expected to start against the Hammers.

The Toffees are having a bit of an injury crisis already, with Theo Walcott and Dominic Calvert-Lewin both doubts as well, while the ever-improving Michael Keane is still out with a head injury.

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While the obvious choice for the armband might be local lad Tom Davies, the majority of fans have picked Sigurdsson.

The Icelandic international is starting to show the form that made the Toffees splash out £40m on him under Ronald Koeman, and you can find the full poll results down below…

Arsenal supporters have been making a lot of noise in recent times after seeing their team secure a fifth straight victory in all competitions at the weekend.

Unai Emery’s men went into their encounter with Everton in the Premier League on Sunday having won their previous three league games, as well as getting past Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava 4-2 in their opening Europa League group stage match in midweek. And the Gunners continued their excellent run of form at the weekend as goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed a 2-0 success for the North London giants, in turn moving them up to sixth place in the Premier League table.

Thus, there have been many thrilled Arsenal fans up and down the country in recent times, although several of whom have taken to Twitter in recent times to react to a club post based on right back Hector Bellerin, many of whom feel is a shadow of the player he once was.

And those Gunners supporters are absolutely spot on to suggest that the Spain international, who earns £100,000 a week as per Spotrac, needs to buck his ideas up.

Ultimately, the 23-year-old broke into the Arsenal first team during the 2014/15 campaign and has been a mainstay ever since, going on to appear 168 times for the Gunners in the last four years, in which time he has netted seven goals and laid on 20 assists.

Yet it was his early years in Arsene Wenger’s team in which the Spaniard was at his very best, marauding up and down the right flank to offer an option in attack, at the same time fulfilling his defensive duties to great effect – after all, some felt he was the best right back in the Premier League a matter of years ago.

Yet the Gunners’ decline in recent seasons, in which they have fallen out of the top four to twice finish in the Europa League places, has also seen the 23-year-old’s level of performance dip, particularly in defence, as he is often too far forward in attack to allow space for opposition wingers to run in behind.

Yes, there is little doubting that he is a great attacking outlet for Emery’s side, but he used to be reasonably dependable defensively in an Arsenal shirt – that simply isn’t the case anymore.

His opposite number, Richarlison, forced a fine save out of goalkeeper Petr Cech before curling an effort just wide – both of which came in the first half, and both of which came from Bellerin’s side.

Clearly, while he can sometimes be forgiven for his defensive lapses if he contributes in attack, the 23-year-old is overall not at the same level he was in the early stages of his Arsenal career, and Gunners fans are absolutely right to demand he bucks his ideas up to reach that level once again.

Arsenal fans… what do you think? Let us know!

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Leeds United were linked with a loan move for Manchester City starlet Phil Foden during the summer, and following his impressive display for his team in their 3-0 Carabao Cup win against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday night, they must attempt to get him again in January.

What’s the word, then?

The Manchester Evening News reported in June that the talented 18-year-old would not be joining Leeds or any other club as Pep Guardiola saw him as a big part of his first-team plans, and that proved to be the case as the transfer window slammed shut with him still being a City player.

While he is clearly highly-rated by the Spaniard, the teenager has only played 29 minutes of Premier League football so far this term, with the 90 he racked up against the U’s being his first start since the Community Shield at the beginning of August.

It looks certain that Foden has a big role to play for the Premier League holders in the coming years, but whether he will get the minutes he both wants and deserves during the current campaign remains to be seen – even if he did impress with a goal and an assist against Oxford.

Why should Leeds sign him?

While the Yorkshire outfit currently lie top of the Championship standings, if they are there or thereabouts in the New Year then Bielsa will surely want to add a couple of new faces to his squad in order to try and push them over the line.

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Given the clear talent Foden has – as shown with his brilliant assist for Riyad Mahrez on Tuesday – he is a player that could make the difference for them in the run-in, and given Marcelo Bielsa’s tactics his energy and skill will be needed in the latter stages of the campaign.

Guardiola will likely need convincing to let the 18-year-old leave on loan, but if anyone can do that then it is Bielsa.