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The January transfer window is coming to a close and a big Rangers claim has emerged as they potentially look to add to their squad…

What’s the talk?

Transfer insider Dean Jones has revealed that the Gers are looking to sign a centre-back from an English Premier League club before the end of the month.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “Rangers are interested in Dan Quick from Crystal Palace on a permanent deal, but there are others trying to sign him too, including Leicester, Southampton, Dortmund and PSV.”

Excitement

This update will surely leave Giovanni van Bronckhorst feeling excited for several reasons.

Firstly, it shows that they are competing with some top clubs to bring him in, with Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund and 2016 Premier League winners Leicester also in the running. It suggests that Ross Wilson is identifying talented players as he is looking to sign prospects who are wanted by other top European outfits.

Van Bronckhorst will also be excited by the prospect of having a young centre-back with whom to work. He could mould him into the perfect defender for the system he wants to play, with a view to him replacing a current first-team stalwart in the future.

Having a player in the academy who could slot straight into the first team further down the line if needed could alleviate the stress of needing to dip into the transfer market to find a replacement if a player is sold. For example, if Calvin Bassey is sold to a Premier League team in 18 months’ time, Quick could then step into his place in the XI if he is able to fulfill his potential.

The 19-year-old has played 22 times for Palace at under-18 level and four times for the under-23s, scoring three goals and providing two assists from centre-back. Whilst this is not an abundance of data from which to judge him, it does suggest that he excelled sufficiently for the under-18s to earn a step-up to the under-23s.

In his one appearance in the EFL Trophy this season, he recorded an excellent SofaScore rating of 7.50 against Portsmouth’s senior side. He made three tackles, five clearances and two interceptions that night, whilst completing 80% of his attempted passes and creating one chance, as per SofaScore.

This suggests that he is capable of delivering solid defensive displays whilst also using the ball efficiently in possession. Quick could therefore suit Rangers, as they average 63.6% possession per game in the Premiership and need players who are comfortable on the ball, as the Palace youngster appears to be.

AND in other news, “Monitoring”: Journalist delivers key Rangers transfer update which Van Bronckhorst will love…

Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu is one of the players Newcastle United have considered during the January transfer window, The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards has revealed. 

The lowdown

Newcastle are reportedly looking at domestic alternatives to their top centre-back target, Sevilla’s Diego Carlos, as the La Liga outfit hold firm in their demands (via The Athletic).

Salisu moved to England relatively recently, joining Saints from Real Valladolid in August 2020 for a fee of £10.8million. The 22-year-old, now valued at £9million by Transfermarkt, signed a contract that runs until the summer of 2024.

Salisu has been a regular under Ralph Hasenhuttl this season, starting 20 of their 23 Premier League matches.

The latest

Edwards tweeted on Monday afternoon that ‘NUFC have looked at’ the Ghanaian defender.

However, he ‘was told last week’ that the move didn’t look ‘possible’ in January.

The verdict

It’s tempting to wonder if Salisu’s sensational performance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with league leaders Manchester City has only inflated his price tag.

Salisu made more clearances (14), tackles (seven), interceptions (four) and blocks (three) than anybody else, earning a place in Alan Shearer’s Team of the Week.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig called it a ‘monstrous performance’, while The Express’ Charlie Gordon wrote that he deserved a ‘boxing licence’ after taking a ball to the chin and soldiering on.

He’s still young, and on the evidence of that display, it’s hard to dispute BBC journalist Tom Murray’s claim that ‘he has a frightening amount of potential’, so perhaps the Magpies should stump up a big offer and see how the south coast outfit respond.

In other news, Fabrizio Romano dropped a big NUFC transfer update on Monday morning.

Aston Villa certainly kept themselves busy behind the scenes during the recent January transfer window in terms of the deals they managed to get done, with several new players arriving and a few of the existing squad moving out on loan.

Now that the winter market has closed, it seems as though a clue has been dropped regarding one particular deal which could be under the spotlight once the summer transfer window opens.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football Insider, Villa rejected a £30m bid during the recent January transfer window for Douglas Luiz and “will listen to offers around the £35m mark in the summer.”

Villa struck a deal with fellow Premier League side Manchester City back in 2019 to sign the midfielder for a reported fee of £15m.

Since then, the Brazilian has gone on to make a name for himself at Villa Park, becoming an important figure for the team with a total of 94 appearances under his belt across all competitions, scoring three goals and providing eight assists along the way.

With John McGinn being the only Villa midfielder to have racked up more minutes in the Premier League this season that Luiz, this highlights just how vital the Brazilian is for the team in that area of the pitch.

Gerrard would be furious

The importance of the 23-year-old for the Villans so far this season in terms of his performances is reflected in WhoScored currently listing him as the squad’s third-highest rated player with an overall rating of 6.91/10. Therefore, it’s safe to say that he would be a big miss for the team if he ends up leaving in the summer.

Also, with Steven Gerrard recently saying that he and his coaching staff rate the £31.5m-rated star “extremely high,” he would surely be furious to see the club potentially selling Luiz in the summer, which would be an unforgivable disaster for Johan Lange to sanction.

With journalist John Percy recently claiming that the Midlands club are looking to open talks with the midfielder with a view to signing a new contract with Villa, this should give the Holte End faithful some hope that the 23-year-old won’t be leaving in the summer.

In other news: Villa dealt big blow on “intelligent” rarely-seen 19 y/o, he could have been Carney 2.0

Celtic have been dealt a late injury blow ahead of their Scottish Cup fixture this afternoon.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on The Athletic, Kieran Devlin revealed that Ange Postecoglou will not be able to call upon Josip Juranovic for the visit of Raith Rovers today, as the right-back has not recovered from an illness which saw him miss the 3-2 victory over Aberdeen on Wednesday.

In his post regarding the Scottish Cup clash, the journalist said: “Juranovic won’t make it”.

Fans will be gutted

Juranovic’s absence as Celtic face a Raith team who currently occupy fourth place in thevChampionship should not cause Postecoglou’s side too much trouble. However, the continued absence of the defender will undoubtedly leave the Parkhead faithful gutted, especially with Thursday’s Europa Conference League tie against Bodo/Glimt fast approaching.

Indeed, over his 20 Premiership appearances following his £2.5m move to Celtic last summer, the £3.6m-rated Croatia international has quickly established himself as a key player for the Hoops. He has already helped his side to keep eight clean sheets, scored two goals and created four big chances for his teammates, in addition to making 1.4 key passes, one interception, 1.6 tackles and 1.5 clearances and winning 3.1 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £16k-per-week defender average a  remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.25. That not only ranks him as the Bhoys’ joint seventh-best performer in the league (of those who remain in Postecoglou’s first-team squad), but also as the joint 10th-best player in the entire Scottish top flight.

As such, the 26-year-old’s absence on Sunday should not be a disaster for the Hoops, but should Juranovic fail to overcome his illness prior to Bodo/Glimt’s visit to Celtic Park on Thursday, the potential consequences could be devastating for Postecoglou and his side.

In other news – Forget Bitton: Ange must finally unleash Celtic’s “brave” £4.95m-rated “threat” today

Having fallen to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United in their previous Premier League fixture, Aston Villa now have a great chance of putting that game behind them with a potential win in their next game against relegation-battling Watford this afternoon.

On the chalkboard

After the defeat at St. James’ Park, Villa boss Steven Gerrard said that “some changes in the team need to happen,” which suggests that there could well be some names taken out of the starting XI that lined up against Newcastle for when they take on Watford this time around.

With that in mind, one name that didn’t start last weekend that we feel should be in the starting XI this time around is Ashley Young.

Since arriving back to his former club on a free transfer back in the previous summer transfer window from Inter Milan, the Englishman, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £88k-per-week according to Salary Sport, has made 13 league appearances for the Villans, starting seven of them and chipping in with two assists.

Given how the 36-year-old has featured for Villa in a number of different positions across the pitch this season, his versatility could make him a suitable for Gerrard to pick against Watford if he wants to back up what he said after the Newcastle game and make some changes to his team.

The statistics work in his favour as well with Villa journalist Ashley Preece recently sharing on his official Twitter page that the team’s win percentage with Young in the team this season is 46.15%, whereas without him it stands at just 18.18%.

Labelled as an “outstanding” player on and off the pitch by Gerrard, it feels as though the Villa boss wouldn’t have a problem starting the former Manchester United figure from a trust point of view, whereas with a player like Danny Ings, who could also be one change that comes into the team this afternoon, his lack of consistency in front of goal this season could make him a bigger risk to put in rather than Young.

Moving forward, whether Gerrard picks Young to start against the Hornets or not, the Villa boss will be desperate to see his side pick up a win after their poor defeat last weekend to prove to everyone that the performance against Newcastle was just a one-off bad day at the office.

In other news: Aston Villa heading for summer transfer catastrophe that’ll surely have Gerrard fuming – opinion

Taking to Twitter, ITV and talkSPORT presenter Sam Matterface has made a claim on Antonio Conte’s future at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Spurs suffer shock defeat…

After beating Premier League champions Manchester City 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium last weekend, it appears that Spurs and Conte have been brought crashing right back down to Earth.

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Far from building upon their victory over Pep Guardiola’s side, the Lilywhite, instead suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Burnley at Turf Moor in what was a night to forget.

Clarets defender Ben Mee scored the only goal in a game which has taken Tottenham’s regrettable Premier League run to four losses out of their last five.

Since then, there has been much noise on Conte’s future at the club, as Matterface made a claim on Twitter.

The Latest: Matterface makes Conte claim…

After speaking with the Italian, Matterface said that there was a suggestion on the 52-year-old’s part he may actually quit as Spurs manager.

The commentator explained via Twitter: “The way Conte just spoke to me just now he was clearly suggesting that he was going to quit as Spurs manager.”

The reporter also went on to question the former Chelsea boss directly, with the coach apparently stating: “I have to talk to the club.”

The Verdict: Worrying…

Conte’s arrival, which came with a proven track record of serial winning, perhaps signalled an exciting new dawn for Spurs supporters.

His potential pull in the transfer market could also be a big factor in his presence at Tottenham, and the thought of losing him already is certainly a worrying one.

In the wake of these comments and the shock defeat to Burnley, these coming weeks could be make or break.

In other news: Tottenham already at work to sign £177,000-per-week ‘beast’ for Conte, find out more here.

Aston Villa remain long-term admirers of Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, according to Ashley Preece.

The Lowdown: Leeds flirting with relegation

Leeds have recently sacked Marcelo Bielsa after three-and-a-half years in charge at Elland Road and have brought in Jesse Marsch as his replacement.

The Whites are currently just two points off the relegation zone, and should they drop down to the Championship, you’d expect that some of their star players, including Phillips, would leave in the summer.

Villa tried to sign the England international back in 2019, but as we know, he remained in Yorkshire. Phillips did reveal last year that he was ‘swaying towards’ a move to the Midlands at the time, though, and it seems as if Villa chiefs are still keen on the 26-year-old.

The Latest: Preece’s comments on Phillips

Preece relayed comments from a Birmingham Live Q&A on Tuesday morning.

One fan hoped to see Phillips make the move to the Midlands in the summer, should Villa’s budget be in the region of £100m after keeping Philippe Coutinho. This is what Preece had to say in reply:

“Kalvin Phillips is an interesting one now off the back of Bielsa’s sacking. As we know, Villa have long been admirers of the England midfielder. I’m expecting a summer of big change, Gerrard’s already hinted at that.”

The Verdict: One to watch…

Phillips, who shared his admiration for Steven Gerrard last summer, has been out of action since December and has had to watch his Leeds team-mates struggle, so you could argue that a possible move to Villa Park may well be one to keep an eye upon.

It seems as if Leeds are in real danger of relegation, but you’d expect that Villa would still need to cough up a big fee for his services.

Liverpool, Manchester United and West Ham have all been linked with the player in recent months, with the latter preparing a £50m bid last month. A fee in that region could still be required even if Leeds drop down a division, so he could end up costing Villa a club-record fee if they do go for him.

In other news: Journalist drops key transfer claim regarding ‘phenomenal’ Villa star

Leeds journalist Beren Cross believes midfielder Adam Forshaw could return to the starting XI against Aston Villa tomorrow evening.

The Lowdown: Bamford and Forshaw on the bench

Jesse Marsch left Forshaw on the bench for his first game in charge of the Whites against Leicester City, with Robin Koch and Mateusz Klich getting the nod in midfield.

The American revealed details of a private conversation he had with Forshaw prior to the trip to the King Power, citing his inability to train throughout the week as the reason for leaving him out.

Patrick Bamford joined Forshaw on the bench last time out, with Phil Hay claiming the forward is set to feature against both Aston Villa and Norwich City in back-to-back home games.

The Latest: Cross’ comments

Cross shared Marsch’s comments regarding Forshaw in a story for Leeds Live on Tuesday morning.

He then said:

“The rationale will be a boost for Forshaw’s chances of returning to the line-up when Aston Villa visit on Thursday night, assuming he has trained enough this week.”

The Verdict: Who drops out?

It’s easy to see why Marsch decided against selecting Forshaw from the off on Saturday after sharing details of their private Thorp Arch conversation, but as Cross mentions, a return against Villa could now be on the cards.

Forshaw has been a regular in recent months, missing just one of Leeds’ last 18 Premier League fixtures, starting 12 of those. On that basis, you’d expect the midfielder would be firmly in Marsch’s thoughts ahead of two crucial fixtures, providing he has trained with the rest of the squad since the defeat to the Foxes.

He could replace Koch or Klich, or Marsch may decide to deploy Koch in his natural centre-back role, leaving one of Luke Ayling or Stuart Dallas at risk of missing out.

In other news: Phil Hay drops huge Leeds news from Thorp Arch hours before Villa. 

Luke Ayling, Junior Firpo and Jack Harrison all struggled in Leeds United’s hugely disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Aston Villa.

The Whites hosted Steven Gerrard’s side on Thursday evening, in what was another massive game in their fight to remain in the Premier League.

Goals from Philippe Coutinho, Matty Cash and a scarcely believable finish from Calum Chambers consigned Leeds to a grim defeat, however, as a return to the Championship feels increasingly likely.

According to Sofascore, these were the Whites’ three worst players on the night, out of those to have played at least 45 minutes of action – could all three be in danger of losing their place in Jesse Marsch’s team after letting him down this week?

Luke Ayling – 6.4

Ayling was used at centre-back by Marsch against Villa but didn’t have his best evening of the season.

The 30-year-old only managed to win one out of four aerial duels, not to mention being dribbled past a fairly alarming four times overall and losing the ball twice.

Ayling also failed to read the game well, not even mustering up a single interception against Gerrard’s men, understandably looking like someone playing out of position.

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Junior Firpo – 5.8

Firpo earned the lowest rating at Elland Road, as his disappointing first season at Leeds continues.

The former Barcelona man lost possession a sizeable 18 times in total and none of the six long balls he attempted ended up finding their intended target.

Firpo committed two fouls as well, prior to being stretchered off, which summed up his evening.

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Jack Harrison – 6.3

Harrison was the third Whites player deemed to be the poorest against Villa, with the winger struggling ever since his stunning hat-trick at West Ham in January.

The 25-year-old didn’t make an interception all night, like both Ayling and Firpo, and he also gave the ball away on 19 occasions.

Harrison won only one ground duel of five, too, and failed to complete a successful dribble.

In other news, an injury expert has shared details regarding one Leeds player. Find out who it is here.

Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte should unleash Steven Bergwijn in a new role as his side faces a daunting trip to Anfield to face Liverpool in the Premier League later this evening.

The Lilywhites remain in the race for a top-four finish and the prospect of Champions League football next season but currently sit two points behind arch-rivals and fourth-placed Arsenal, who they face later next week.

Meanwhile, the Reds sit one point behind defending champions Manchester City and need to keep the pressure on whilst the latter’s morale could be low following their agonising semi-final exit on Wednesday.

It leaves the Italian head coach with plenty to ponder heading into kick-off. One conundrum has to be at wing-back, where a mix of injuries and inconsistencies have caused something of a headache.

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Without Matt Doherty, Conte has had to rely on summer signing Emerson Royal, but it is very evident that he’s just not fancied, with The Times suggesting back in January that the manager felt the 23-year-old wasn’t good enough to play the wing-back role as Tottenham targeted Adama Traore.

Some supporters around N17 think he’s a “liability”, while former Spurs centre-back Jonathan Woodgate has slammed him for being “horrendous” in recent outings.

There is a serious lack of options available to the Tottenham boss, though, which is perhaps why he has continued to persist with the struggling ex-Barcelona flop.

However, Bergwijn could provide an interesting solution to Conte, especially given the attacking demands from the position. Truth be told, he’s perhaps been unlucky to not be given more of a chance in north London.

On the left, he’s competing with a red-hot Heung-min Son and on the right, he’s having to battle January arrival Dejan Kuluseveski, who has already usurped the squad in assists (eight).

The £18m-rated dynamo, who earns a reported £73k-per-week, has started just one league game since his match-winning brace from the bench against Leicester City in mid-January.

It’s not too dissimilar to the role that Jose Mourinho asked from him last season, particularly against the Gunners, where he put in two tackles and two clearances, helping Serge Aurier out defensively.

It was a performance which saw the ‘Special One’ describe the Netherland sinternational as “incredible” for his energy and work rate.

As such, he could well have all the credentials to fill in for Emerson at right wing-back over the final four games of the season, starting with tonight’s tricky test.

Conte should give Bergwijn a chance in the surprise role – he could well unearth a vital secret weapon in the race for a top-four finish.

AND in other news, Conte now plotting Spurs for “refreshing” £34m-rated gem, he’d be a “great signing”…