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Given Everton’s spotty run of form in the Premier League, winning just one of their 11 previous league games, the upcoming January transfer window could allow the Merseyside club to strengthen and freshen up their squad to put them in a good shape for the second half of the campaign.

However, it seems as though Everton have been mentioned with a potential move for a player that not only would be a very familiar face to a lot of fans in Merseyside but would also be a player that some fans would not want to see wearing their club’s shirt.

What’s the news?

According to Spanish media outlet Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), Everton are in the frame, alongside fellow Premier League club Newcastle United, for a potential swoop for Barcelona and former Liverpool attacker Philippe Coutinho.

The report claims that the Brazilian is not wanted at Barcelona and that his agent is waiting on the likes of Everton and Newcastle to make a formal approach for Coutinho.

During his time with Liverpool, Coutinho managed to rack up 54 goals and 45 assists in 201 appearances across all competitions before making his mega-money move to Barcelona in a deal worth a reported overall total of £142m in 2018.

With 106 appearances under his belt with the La Liga side, Coutinho’s spell at Barcelona has been widely regarded as a disappointing one, which is presumably why the club are looking to get rid of him despite the huge amount of money they paid for him.

Last month, Coutinho, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £380k-per-week according to Salary Sport, answered some of the criticism thrown his way during his time at Barcelona after being called “lazy” by the Spanish media, which apparently surprised him.

It’s hard to see many Toffees fans being excited about potentially seeing the former Liverpool man, who has scored three goals and provided two assists in the nine games he’s played against Everton, join Rafa Benitez’s squad.

Given how Benitez previously criticised former Everton midfielder James Rodriguez for not wanting to work hard for the team and preferring “a comfortable life and money more than the competition,” it seems as though Coutinho could be the next version of the Colombian at Goodison Park given the doubts over his work rate in Spain.

Overall, it would be worth Farhad Moshiri not risking any further fury at Everton from the supporters by stepping away from a potential move for the Brazilian and looking elsewhere for potential reinforcements in January.

In other news: Everton to be offered £31.5m-rated beast who’s “similar to Xavi”, Rafa would love him…

A big update has emerged regarding Rangers striker Cedric Itten and his involvement at Ibrox in the forthcoming months…

What’s the latest?

The Gers have announced their squad for the knockout stages of the Europa League and they have decided to leave the Switzerland international off the list.

He has been omitted from the squad to face Borussia Dortmund alongside the likes of Filip Helander, Jack Simpson and Ianis Hagi. They have made this call in order to bring January signings Aaron Ramsey, James Sands and Amad Diallo into the mix, although new right-back Mateusz Zukowski has missed out.

Buzzing

Rangers fans will surely be buzzing with this news, as it means that Itten will be unable to play against the Bundesliga giants later this month. The £12.5k-per-week centre-forward has been a disaster in the Premiership since Giovanni van Bronckhorst opted to recall him from his loan spell with Greuther Furth in Germany.

In two starts against Livingston and Ross County, the attacker left plenty to be desired from his performances. Across the two matches, he lost 10 of his 13 individual duels and had just 51 touches of the ball whilst failing to manage a single goal or assist.

This shows that he has been far from good enough since his return to Ibrox, which is why fans will be buzzing with the fact that he will not be in contention to play in the Europa League this month,

Incidentally, Itten started against Dortmund in a Bundesliga game earlier this season and was dismal. As per SofaScore, he lost three of his four individual battles (75%) and completed just five passes before being substituted at half-time, with his team going on to lose the match 3-0.

This display is in line with what he has been delivering at Rangers since his return and indicates a pattern which suggests he does not deserve to be starting for the club. He is too weak in his duels and does not contribute enough in the final third to make up for the other issues in his game, which is why it is the right decision to exclude him from the squad.

Van Bronckhorst will still be able to call upon him in the Premiership but the attacker will need to show a massive upturn in form to prove that he is worthy of regular game-time in the coming months. As it stands, his performances have been woeful and the supporters will surely be delighted with his omission for the Europa League.

AND in other news, Forget Barisic: Rangers nightmare who lost 70% duels must never start again for Van Bronckhorst…

Charlton Athletic have been dealt an injury blow ahead of their crucial League One fixture on Tuesday evening, as Diallang Jaiyesimi has been ruled out.

What’s the latest?

According to a statement posted on the club website, Jaiyesimi is expected to miss the fixture against Lincoln City due to a hamstring injury, meaning this will be the third consecutive fixture in which the winger has been sidelined.

However, the club went on to confirm that Ben Watson, after being rested for the 1-1 draw with Accrington Stanley last weekend, looks set to be involved in Tuesday’s clash.

Huge blow

Following the stalemate at The Crown Ground, Charlton now simply must win against Lincoln if they are to stand any chance of securing a top-six finish in the league come the end of the season.

As such, the continued absence of Jaiyesimi is likely to come as a huge blow for Nigel Adkins, as the Addicks appear to have been missing the 22-year-old’s cutting edge in the final third in both their loss against Peterborough United and their draw with Crewe Alexandra, as well as the aforementioned draw at Accrington.

Indeed, prior to the loss against the Posh, the former Dulwich Hamlet ace had scored one goal and provided two assists over his previous five league appearances, averaging a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.04 over these fixtures.

However, Adkins will once again have to make do without the winger on Tuesday, and will undoubtedly be hoping that his side can secure a result in order to keep Charlton in with a shout of the play-offs on the final day of the season – a fixture in which the 56-year-old will likely be praying for Jaiyesimi to be back for.

In other news: Adkins must unleash “unplayable” £5.4k-p/w Charlton ace tonight, can be a game-changer – opinion

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Lautaro Martinez to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Jacque Talbot, with the Football Transfers journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that Fabio Paratici is a big fan of the Inter Milan centre-forward, before going on to claim that the Spurs sporting director even attempted to sign the 24-year-old in the January window.

In a further tweet, Talbot confirmed that both Tottenham and Atletico Madrid are once again interested in the signing of the Argentina international at the end of the current campaign, with recent reports from Italy suggesting that the Serie A side would be willing to accept an offer of between €60m-€70m (£50m-£58m) for Martinez this summer.

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In his post, the transfer insider said: “In what’s becoming a running trend, our story from two weeks ago confirmed by Fabrizio Romano. Tottenham and Atletico Madrid have interest in Lautaro Martinez of Inter.”

Talbot continued: “We’re told Spurs sporting director Fabio Paratici is a fan of the 24-year-old and even tried to do a deal for him in January. While Atletico readying themselves for Luis Suarez’s departure when his contract is up in two months and see the 24-year-old as the ideal replacement.”

A steal at £58m

Following his £22.5m move to Inter back in the summer of 2018, Martinez quickly has gone on to establish himself as one of the most dangerous centre-forwards in world football – bagging 69 goals and registering 23 assists over his 175 appearances for the Nerazzurri.

A large portion of these goal involvements came under the stewardship of Antonio Conte, with the Argentine hitman finding the back of the net 40 times and providing 19 assists in 97 outings over the course of the 52-year-old manager’s two-year spell in charge at the San Siro.

The £177k-per-week striker’s best campaign for Conte undoubtedly came last season, when, over his 38 Serie A fixtures, the 24-year-old scored 17 goals, registered ten assists and created nine big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.9 shots and making one key pass per game.

These returns saw the £63m-rated forward average a quite extraordinary SofaScore match rating of 7.17, ranking him as the Italian’s third-best player in the league – playing a starring role in Inter’s title-winning campaign.

As such, with Conte clearly knowing how to get the best out of Martinez, it is undeniable that the centre-forward would make an exceptional addition to the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski in the Tottenham Hotspur attack.

And, when considering that Inter were reported to have rejected Tottenham’s €95m (£80m) bid for the striker just eight months ago, should the 37-time capped international indeed be available for just £58m this summer, it is clear to see that Fabio Paratici could secure a steal by landing the 24-year-old.

AND in other news: “His people claim..”: Gold drops behind scenes update, Spurs supporters surely buzzing

Former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has weighed in on the Trezeguet-El Ghazi debate in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, suggesting that the Dutch winger should be getting the nod at present.

It was Trezeguet who started in the recent 2-0 defeat to Tottenham, and the 26-year-old has since come in for criticism for putting in a subpar performance.

Ex-Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor was highly critical of his display and overall attacking contribution this season, stating Anwar El Ghazi should be in the team ahead of him, a sentiment shared by former team-mate Hendrie.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about the two attackers, Hendrie said:

“I agree with Gabby about that. El Ghazi’s more of a direct player and he’s got a bit more versatility than Trezeguet. He can go down the line or he can cut inside and he’s scored goals this season, so I totally agree.

“I feel that because they’re not scoring goals, you need something of that dimension to try and bring into the side. If I had to choose one, El Ghazi would be my first choice.”

This season, El Ghazi has managed to score six goals in the Premier League, a tally only top scorer Ollie Watkins can beat. Meanwhile, Trezeguet has failed to register at all, so it is not hard to see why some feel that El Ghazi should be getting the nod over the Egypt international.

Flocking to a Nuno Espirito Santo and Jules Kounde claim made by ABC, via Hotspur Related, many Tottenham fans have shared their views as the Portuguese boss identifies his first summer target.

The 47-year-old’s appointment has finally put an end to Spurs’ long search for a new manager and the Lilywhites can finally now take to the transfer market and start preparing for next season.

Tottenham are said to be eyeing a major defensive overhaul with the club preferably wanting two new signings at the back this summer.

ABC have now come out to reiterate Spurs’ interest in starlet centre-back Kounde, who was targeted by the likes of Manchester City last summer.

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They claim that Nuno has personally identified the Frenchman as his first Tottenham target this summer, and despite the fact he wants a Champions League club, there is still time to convince him.

Many Lilywhites fans have now flocked to this claim, with one supporter even dubbing Kounde a potentially ‘perfect signing’.

Starting 33 La Liga matches for Sevilla over 2020/2021, the rising 22-year-old also managed a composed 90.1% pass accuracy out from the back (WhoScored)- displaying a cool head on young shoulders.

Here’s what Tottenham fans had to say as their club allegedly eye a move.

Spurs fans flock to Kounde claim

“Offer him whatever he wants, he’ll be a game changer for us”

Credit: @thfcmitchell

“Do whatever it takes to get him, he’d be the perfect signing for us”

Credit: @_JoeGTHFC

“YESSSSS”

Credit: @JacobTHFC_

“VAMOS NUNO”

Credit: @THFCenthusiast

“Nuno knows ball”

Credit: @batibat_10

“Apparently we can sign him for around €45 mil so please do for it he’s affordable and he’s his top target so we should try our hardest”

Credit: @ParishLizzie

“Just get him somehow”

Credit: @TopDier

“YESSSS”

Credit: @thfclukas

In other news: ‘I’d be excited, Spurs fans’…Stan Collymore thrilled by major news out of N17, find out more here.

Alasdair Gold has dropped a very encouraging claim on new Spurs manager Nuno Espirito Santo ahead of pre-season training next week…

What’s the word?

Due to the timing of their appointment, some doubts were cast over how quickly the Portuguese would be getting involved, having signed a two-year deal with the option of a third on Wednesday evening.

According to the ever-reliable football.london journalist, the 47-year-old will be on the training pitches in perfect time.

Speaking on a recent video on his YouTube channel, Gold said: “He is currently self-isolating at the Lodge, which if you’re not aware is the very swanky, luxurious five-star hotel at Hotspur Way, the training complex. He’ll be there until midway through next week.

“The plan is, as it always is, is that the non-internationals will return on Monday to go through all the sports science team tests that they do. They have loads of testing, you often see it every year. There are photos and videos, the bleep test. Things like that.

“What the plan is, on either Tuesday or Wednesday, Nuno Espirito Santo will come out of his isolation and will be able to immediately start work on the pitches. It’ll all sync up quite nicely.”

Timely boost

This is a very encouraging boost for the Lilywhites for numerous reasons.

First, it suggests that no time will be lost in their preparation for the 2021/22 campaign, in which the north London outfit will certainly have to improve on last season’s efforts – a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League, a Carabao Cup final defeat and embarrassingly crashing out of the Europa League.

At one stage, the club looked to be heading into next week without a manager, which would have been a rather damaging prospect, but now it seems as if Nuno will be able to prepare his entire pre-season schedule before getting hands-on early in the week.

Secondly, it means those players who haven’t been at Euro 2020 or the Copa America can get to grips with their new boss, understand his project, system and much more. This includes his former Wolves defender Matt Doherty, who has endured a tough time since his £15m switch to Spurs.

He’s just one of many players who are in line to benefit from a fresh start in N17, and if anything, his presence could help his former coach settle in a little easier. Ultimately, that is another boost working in favour of Spurs.

All in all, chairman Daniel Levy and new sporting director Fabio Paratici seem to have got this hire spot-on at exactly the right time. Any later and the club would be in further peril.

Ultimately, that should leave both Spurs’ hierarchy and supporters absolutely buzzing heading into the new season, thanks to this encouraging insight from Gold.

AND in other news, Dier, Doherty and 3 new signings start in 4-3-3: Predicting Spurs’ XI under Nuno Santo…

Aston Villa must avoid making an unforgivable mistake this summer amid reported transfer interest from West Ham in John McGinn.

What’s the story?

The Scotland international has once again been an integral part of Dean Smith’s Premier League side this season, missing just one game in the competition, and even that was down to suspension – in fact, barring that clash against Newcastle, he’s played every single minute in the top-flight.

Now, ExWHUemployee has revealed that David Moyes is a big fan of McGinn, and suggested that a move for him could be on the cards this summer.

He said: “Players who Moyes is interested in when he was at the club before…McGinn of Aston Villa. We haven’t made any offers for them. Moyes liked him before and Moyes still likes him. There are realistic expectations that we could go for him.”

Major blunder from Villa

Given how both sides have enjoyed impressive Premier League campaigns to date – West Ham looking more and more likely to secure Champions League football and Villa still very much in the hunt for a European spot – selling McGinn to a ‘direct’ rival would be a foolish mistake.

If Smith’s side can enjoy another fruitful summer in the transfer market just like they did last year with the likes of Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martinez, then there’s no reason why they shouldn’t feel confident of really breaking up the Premier League’s proverbial big six.

So selling McGinn, who has been a real pillar of the side all season, to a team who have also harbour the same ambitions as you, would be an unforgivable error on Villa’s part.

The Scottish ace has been widely praised for his performances, including by former Villa man Micha Richards.

He said: “This season he’s been absolutely incredible, back to the John McGinn I know. A lot of shine goes off of him because of Grealish because Grealish does the little bits that make people stand up on their chairs, but in terms of hard work, putting in tackles, goals and assists, John McGinn is a top, top player.

“Villa have been a successful side largely down to him as well and his work-rate in there.”

And, speaking last summer, former Villa man Allan Evans raved about what the Scottish ace brings to the table, saying: “John has really been a saviour for Aston Villa. They were in a difficult situation and he was exactly the kind of guy they needed to get out of trouble.

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“John has been a real star for the club. It was a disaster for him and Villa when he broke his leg. He is the type of player who can make a huge difference to a side. There are not too many like him around.”

It’s exactly why Villa must avoid looking to sell the £35m-rated ace to West Ham this summer.

Meanwhile, Villa must surely regret this major howler…

BBC reporter Kheredine Idessane has shared details on Celtic’s breakdown in talks with Eddie Howe.

The Lowdown: Howe move collapses

It’s safe to say that Friday was a dramatic day in Celtic’s search for a new manager. Stephen McGowan of the Daily Mail was the first to break the news of a deal falling through for Howe, with Celtic later confirming that the Englishman won’t take over at Parkhead.

John Percy of The Telegraph claimed on Friday evening that Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, currently in charge of Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos, is now closing in on taking over at Parkhead.

The Latest: Idessane shares details

Shortly after the news came out regarding Howe, Idessane took to Twitter to share his information on a move falling through.

The BBC reporter admitted that Howe would have been handed the chance to lead a complete restructure in Glasgow, but ultimately a move didn’t go through due to backroom staff issues. The journalist explained:

“More on the Celtic story; my information is that Eddie Howe had been given free reign to do a complete restructure @CelticFC and they thought they had their man. But he eventually turned it down because it wasn’t possible to assemble the team of back room staff he wanted.”

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The Verdict: A total calamity

In our view, the last week or so has been a total disaster for the Celtic board.

Howe always wanted to bring some members of staff from his previous employers Bournemouth with him to Scotland, and the chances of that happening appeared to be boosted following the Cherries’ Championship play-off exit last weekend.

However, for whatever reason, Howe has now turned down the chance to take over at Parkhead. They first met him at the beginning of April, so really it’s close to two months of communication being completely wasted, with less than that length of time until the Hoops are in Champions League qualifying action in July.

It appears as if Postecoglou will now be their manager, and hopefully the club has done their research on the 55-year-old as they would have with Howe before that move collapsed.

In other news: Celtic closing in on deal for ‘massive’ Hoops fan, find out more here. 

Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has confirmed a major injury blow before tonight’s Premier League game against Leeds United at St James’ Park.

What’s the story?

The Magpies find themselves inside the relegation zone heading into tonight’s game against Marcelo Bielsa’s side, and Steve Bruce will be desperately hoping for a bit of respite.

However, they will have to do so once again without their main man up front, with the Newcastle boss confirming that while Callum Wilson has made good progress on his injury, he’s not quite ready to make an appearance just yet.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Bruce said of the 29-year-old: “We’re not going to put a time on it. He’s making good progress. Unfortunately, he’s not made it.”

Fans will be gutted

The former Bournemouth striker has been a rare shining light for Newcastle over the past year or so and marked his debut campaign for the Magpies last season with 12 goals in just 26 Premier League games despite struggling for consistent action through injury.

This season has also seen him start off well, netting twice in the opening three fixtures, and it’s no surprise that he’s the man on whom Newcastle rely to lead the line and score their goals. In fact, Joe Willock was the only other player in their squad to score more than four times in last season’s Premier League.

The £19.8m-rated Wilson has earned rave reviews in his time playing in the Premier League, with Eddie Howe, his former manager at Bournemouth, particularly fulsome in his praise of the centre-forward.

The ex-Cherries boss said: “He is an outstanding player with unique attributes for us. He has that ability to run in behind and he’s got the work ethic off the ball and, of course, he knows where the goal is.”

The fact that Wilson will once again be missing from action tonight is a body blow and big setback to Newcastle, and Magpies fans will surely be gutted at seeing him missing a game from which they desperately need a win to get their season going.

Meanwhile, Bruce must drop this player tonight…