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Noel Whelan has offered his thoughts on Connor Goldson’s contract situation at Rangers…

What’s the talk?

Ex-Premier League striker Noel Whelan has said that Goldson’s contract situation at Ibrox is worrying as he only has 12 months left to run on his current deal.

The central defender will become a free agent in the summer of 2022 if he does not put pen to paper to an extension on his current £27k-per-week deal, which Whelan is backing the club to get done.

He told Football Insider:

“It is a big worry, absolutely.

“He was so important to them last season. We all know what a good player he is and he is the one constant in that backline. I’m sure there is a huge amount of respect between him and Steven Gerrard.

“Negotiations over new contracts are never as easy as you think. Rangers will have a finite amount of money that they can pay in wages but talks will be ongoing.

“To be honest, I can see him signing a new deal. He is at a club that is going in a great direction. He has the Champions League to look forward to this year.”

Fans would be devastated

Ross Wilson must avoid making a howler with Goldson over the next 12 months. The Rangers chief has to ensure that he can pin him down to a contract extension as soon as possible to avoid losing him for nothing next summer, which would undoubtedly infuriate the fans.

Supporters would be devastated to see one of the club’s best performers depart on a free transfer, as Rangers would receive no money in return to replace him.

The £6.75m-rated beast was sublime in the Scottish Premiership last season as the club won the title, averaging a phenomenal WhoScored rating of 7.38 – a figure that only Joe Aribo, James Tavernier and Ryan Kent were able to better.

Earlier this year, Gers boss Steven Gerrard heaped praise on the former Brighton man, calling him an absolute “mountain” at the back and hailing his leadership. He told The Scotsman:

“Connor has been an absolute mountain for this team, a warrior.

“I can’t describe to you how well he has done for this team, not just in terms of what you have seen on the pitch but also his leadership on the inside of the club and his availability every single day.”

This shows how important the 28-year-old is to the club and why allowing him to leave on a free would represent a gigantic howler from Wilson.

He must now work hard behind the scenes to reach an agreement over fresh terms with the defender to secure his future at Ibrox. If not, it will leave fans furious for the club for allowing this situation to drag on.

AND in other news, Time to go: Rangers must ruthlessly axe £9k-p/w “warrior”, Gerrard doesn’t need him…

Leicester City have been dealt a blow in their bid to bring Joao Palhinha to the King Power Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Portuguese media outlet A Bola (via Sport Witness), who claimed that, despite Sporting Lisbon previously being willing to consider an offer of €30m (£26m) for the defensive midfielder, they will now be demanding a figure closer to the player’s €60m (£51m) release clause in order to part with him this summer as a result of the 25-year-old’s performances with Portugal at Euro 2020.

The report added that, along with Leicester, a number of top-level clubs are also believed to be considering a move for the £16.2m-rated man in the summer transfer window, including the likes of Atalanta, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Napoli.

Rodgers will be fuming

Considering just how impressive Palhinha was for Sporting last season, as well as playing a key role in the Portugal team this summer, reports that a deal to sign the 25-year-old now looks set to be twice as costly as at the beginning of the transfer window is sure to leave Brendan Rodgers fuming.

Indeed, over his 32 Liga NOS appearances for Ruben Amorim’s side last term, Palhinha averaged 1.5 interceptions, 3.3 tackles and 1.2 clearances and won an incredible 9.1 duels per game. The £9,100-per-week man also impressed in an attacking capacity for Sporting, scoring one goal, creating two big chances and averaging 0.4 key passes per league fixture.

These metrics saw the man Amorim dubbed a “special” player earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.12, ranking him as the Portuguese champions’ sixth-best performer in the league.

Palhinha continued this fine form in Euro 2020 with Portugal, winning nine tackles and eight duels over his two appearances in the competition – against France and Belgium, no less – with his average SofaScore match rating of 7.35 ranking him as his country’s second-best performer in the tournament, behind only Cristiano Ronaldo.

As such, it would very much appear as if the 25-year-old would have made a fantastic addition to the Leicester midfield this summer, but with an astronomical fee now being required to release the player from Sporting’s grip, a move to the King Power Stadium would not appear to be a likely scenario. That is bound to leave Rodgers rather frustrated.

In other news: Leicester handed major boost over “outstanding” £53k-p/w beast, fans should be buzzing

West Ham United have been linked with another Czech star this week…

What’s the word?

According to The Athletic, Slavia Prague centre-back David Zima is attracting interest from the east London outfit this summer, adding that he is a player the Irons have scouted this season.

The 20-year-old is under contract until 2023/24 and doesn’t have a release clause, so the Czech champions will be in no position to sell, especially as they believe he has huge potential.

That could change should he perform well at the European Championship in the next month, whilst it is also worth noting that he has the same agent as Hammers star Tomas Soucek.

Coufal 2.0

Despite his relatively young age, the 6 foot 3 colossus has been a regular presence in Prague’s starting XI. He played 35 times in all competitions last season, including some big Europa League ties against Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal and Leicester City, having a major impact against the Foxes.

In their round of 32 knockout tie, the Czech beast silenced prolific talisman Jamie Vardy, keeping a clean sheet against him in both legs. The former England international lasted just over an hour in the first encounter before being withdrawn by Brendan Rodgers and was then thwarted by Zima again in the return leg.

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As per SofaScore, he made three tackles and three interceptions, restricting Vardy to two shots off target and a disappointing 6.5 rating.

Valued at just £6.75m by Transfermarkt, football talent scout Jacek Kulig believes that Zima is someone who could generate a lot of money for Slavia Prague in the future and has likened his potential to that of Diego Godin.

“One of the most talented U-21 centre-backs in Europe in my humble opinion,” he tweeted back in January. “Slavia will make a lot of money with his transfer.”

Also described as a “complete and dominant” defender, Zima would certainly be a nice depth option for the Irons as they head into next season, where they will be tasked with the likely test of a minimum 50-match campaign thanks to their qualification for the Europa League.

David Moyes’ success with transfers of this ilk in recent windows should also provide further encouragement. For example, few would have heard of Vladimir Coufal until he sealed a bargain £5.5m move to east London.

He has been an instant hit and was arguably one of the clear contenders for the ‘Player of the Season’ award – WhoScored ranked him as West Ham’s fifth-best performer in 2020/21.

In Zima, Moyes could repeat this masterstroke and deliver the club another Coufal-like signing.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Diop: West Ham could seal bargain swoop for £13m powerhouse who “will explode”…

Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa could land a bargain transfer in West Brom’s Matheus Pereira amid Carlton Palmer’s fresh transfer claim.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent days and weeks have suggested that the Whites are interested in signing the Brazilian this summer, and it’s even been claimed that he could be available for as little as £15m.

And, speaking exclusively to This is Futbol (via MSN) about Leeds’ reported interest in Pereira and the reported price tag on his head, Palmer said: “I think it’s a good price and he’s a good player. The problem West Brom are going to have is the wage bill going down and players of his calibre wanting to play in the Premier League.”

Gets fouled more than Raphinha

Former Leeds striker Noel Whelan has already talked up the prospect of Pereira joining Raphinha at Elland Road, saying: “It is a mouth-watering prospect. We missed out on certain players last season, and this is a player that excites everybody. I would definitely take him all day long.

“He’s a fantastic player, he’s great on the ball, he can turn people inside out. Pereira’s another option we can use right across that front three and maybe in a number 10 role as well. He’s the right age and he’s the sort of player we should be looking at. Imagine, if you put him alongside Raphinha, Rodrigo, Harrison etc, that’s pretty formidable.”

In fact, Pereira’s average of two shots and 1.8 key passes per game in the Premier League last season was only a touch lower than Raphinha (2.2 and 2.1), while he was actually fouled significantly more times than his Brazilian counterpart (1.6 to one).

And, after a particularly fine performance earlier this year in the Premier League against Aston Villa, former England ace Jermain Jenas said of the 5 foot 9 maestro: “He’s just silky. When he’s on it, he’s just got that lovely left-foot, (tucked) his penalty away, the delivery into the box for set-pieces was brilliant, and he wanted to showcase his skills.”

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Given the very reasonable price that he is supposedly available for, Bielsa should be all over a move for Pereira this summer. It could be a “mouth-watering” signing as Whelan says.

Meanwhile, Leeds have been handed an exciting boost…

An exciting update has emerged in Tottenham Hotspur’s hunt for defensive reinforcements in this transfer window…

What’s the word?

It’s believed that the north London outfit will look to add two new centre-backs to their armoury before next season and it seems like they are closing in on their first addition in that regard.

Spurs are thought to be leading the race to sign Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna this summer, according to The Athletic, and the player is keen on joining the Premier League outfit.

The ever-reliable Alasdair Gold at football.london has now delivered a fresh update on their search in a recent YouTube video, in which he said: “I think Tottenham are certainly making moves to get Bologna’s Japanese centre-back Takehiro Tomiyasu. He’s only 22 and he ticks a lot of boxes. He’s not going to be very expensive, probably under £20m.

“From what I am told, the logic behind going for him – and this may ring a bell – [is that] he can play centre-back but he’s essentially a defensive right-back, so think Japhet Tanganga, Juan Foyth. That kind of mould.

“The logic, I understand, in going for Tomiyasu is that he will tuck in to allow [Nuno] Espirito Santo’s system to quickly flip from a back four to a back three, and allow Sergio Reguilon to bomb on like an attacking left wing-back, which we know will get the best out of him.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a done deal but from the sounds of it, it’s certainly a move that Tottenham could make happen.”

Gold then went onto confirm that Spurs are also interested in Sevilla’s Jules Kounde, whilst Joachim Andersen, who enjoyed a successful loan spell at Fulham last term, and Fiorentina colossus Nikola Milenkovic also remain as other targets.

Fixing a problem

This should come as hugely exciting news for the Spurs faithful as it’s evident that new sporting director Fabio Paratici has already highlighted key areas of weakness and will look to source a solution to give Nuno the best chance of success next season.

Indeed, defensive problems were the Lilywhites’ Achilles heel last term as a combination of individual mistakes and a lack of cohesion saw them finish with the worst goal concession record of any of the traditional ‘big six’.

Toby Alderweireld is entering the final stages of his top-flight career at 32, while Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier both struggled for consistency and were often culprits for those defensive errors, leading to them regularly being in and out of the starting XI.

Tangana has been more utilised as a right-back but still lacks experience, whilst Joe Rodon has rarely seen the pitch since his move from Swansea.

It’s ever so clear that Nuno desperately needs a centre-back or two, so it has to be hugely positive news to see the club linked with so many names, and even more so as it appears that they are close to sealing Tomiyasu.

The Japan international can also play at right-back, where Serge Aurier and Matt Doherty have also struggled to impress, so he effectively solves two problems in one.

That said, the club still need to add another man to that backline but, as outlined above, it’s something they are working on. Perhaps the fans around north London can start to get a little more excited for the new season now.

AND in other news, Paratici can find Spurs’ ideal Bale successor in “special” £22.5m-rated Mendes client…

Leeds United’s Andrea Radrizzani is risking Marcelo Bielsa’s wrath amid a major transfer update on their pursuit of Stade Brest’s Romain Perraud.

What’s the story?

According to reports from The Athletic’s Phil Hay, the Whites were eyeing a summer transfer move for the left-back, and there were even recent claims that they were confident of landing him after encouraging talks.

Now however, Football Insider claim that a move is on the brink of collapse, with a Leeds source telling them that “there has been frustration over the asking price set by the Ligue 1 club for the French full-back”.

The report adds: “Stade Brest have told the Premier League club they want between £15-18m for the former France Under-20 international.

“That is more than Leeds are willing to pay for a player without senior international or Champions League experience, and who has only been playing in the French top tier for two seasons.”

Bielsa will be fuming

Whilst Leeds’ stance on not wanting to be bullied into paying over the odds for a player is admirable, the fact that he was being considered as their “top” left-back target for this summer earlier in May should surely have seen the Whites just stump up the money here.

£15m-£18m is hardly a blockbuster deal that would have left Leeds completely reeling financially, and there’s a real debate to be had about whether the extra few millions they spend on Perraud is worth more than going after their second or third-choice targets who might be slightly cheaper, but not quite as good.

Perraud himself enjoyed a superb campaign in Ligue 1, with his tally of seven assists in the division only seeing three other Leeds players manage more (Raphinha with nine, Patrick Bamford and Jack Harrison with eight each).

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/leeds-united-marcelo-bielsa-transfer-gossip-rumours-news-elland-road-rodrigo-de-paul” title=”Read the latest Leeds transfer rumours and news!”]

And, in a piece for The Athletic, Hay revealed just why the full-back appears to be an absolutely perfect fit for what Bielsa wants at Elland Road.

He wrote: “Perraud…shows characteristics which would meet Bielsa requirements: a creative edge and a high number of dribbles and shots for a player at his position, combined with a very active role in pressing defensively.”

It’s exactly why Leeds’ decision to pull out of negotiations with Brest over signing Perraud will have Bielsa absolutely fuming.

Meanwhile, Marcelo Bielsa must sell this Leeds United flop this summer…

Mark Warburton’s reported Queens Park Rangers transfer target Charlie Austin has dropped a huge hint about a potential move to the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.

What’s the talk?

In a recent interview with the QPR website, the 31-year-old centre-forward revealed that there are talks ongoing about a move from West Bromwich Albion to the Hoops this summer.

He said: “At the moment, the talks are ongoing. There are talks. It’s not like there’s nothing – there are talks going on with the football club. As much as it’s in my hands, it’s in the football club’s hands as well. That’s all I can really say.

“Everybody knows how I and my family feel about the football club. But it’s what direction myself and the club want to go in. Hopefully we can meet and who knows what will happen.”

Fans will be buzzing

Having fallen down the pecking order at West Bromwich Albion in the season just past – making a mere five appearances in the Premier League for the Baggies, none of which came as starts – Austin showed what he is truly capable of upon linking up with Mark Warburton’s side in the January transfer window.

Over his 21 Championship fixtures with QPR, the £1.8m-rated man scored eight goals, provided one assist and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots and making 0.5 key passes per game, culminating in an impressive average SofaScore match rating of 6.94 – ranking him as the club’s eighth-best performer in the second tier.

It is no coincidence that the arrival of the former Southampton man coincided with a dramatic upturn in form at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium, with Warburton’s side ranking third in the Championship table since the turn of the year.

As such, the news that there are talks underway between the hitman – whom Claude Puel dubbed an “important” player – and QPR regarding a permanent move this summer would appear to bode extremely well for the club’s potential promotion push next season, something that is likely to leave fans of the Rs buzzing.

In other news: Get him gone: Warburton must ruthlessly axe “massive” £4k-p/w QPR dud this summer – opinion

Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero may be surplus to requirements at Manchester City but he’s certainly not short of new admirers. A number of major clubs across Europe have been linked with his signature and the latest side to emerge as front runners are Chelsea.

Under Thomas Tuchel, the Blues have made it through to the Champions League final but, with Timo Werner finding his feet in English football, the need for striking support is evident.

Fitting the Bill

Chelsea have striking options but Tuchel seems reluctant to have the faith in Olivier Giroud and Tammy Abraham that was displayed by former manager Frank Lampard. Werner is the big money signing and the German is the future but he’s struggled up front with just 12 goals in 47 matches so far.

Contrast that with Sergio Aguero’s record of 258 goals in 357 games for Manchester City. With Werner learning his trade alongside the Argentinian, he can develop into a more prolific striker.

Chelsea could use some attacking intent as they prepare to face Aguero’s Manchester City in the final of the Champions League. According to sports betting markets linked via asiabet, City are the clear favourites for the win at around Even Money. Chelsea are some way behind at 3/1 and Werner will be crucial if the Blues are to defy those odds.

Anyone interested in staking on that Champions League final will also find news updates and opinion pieces related to the game. Any readers of asiabet that are ready to make a move can also access some of the best offers and promotions available.

Chelsea are up against it and, if they fail, the club will be anxious for transfer reinforcements as they look to regroup for the new season.

Cutting Edge

That incredible return has made Sergio Aguero the leading goal scorer in the history of Manchester City Football Club. In his ten years at the Etihad, he helped City to claim a number of major trophies while picking up some individual awards of his own.

Aguero is a Golden Boot winner as the EPL’s top goal scorer and his best return came in the 2016/17 campaign when he scored 33 goals in 45 matches across all competitions.

There’s no doubting his ability but the only issue with Sergio Aguero surrounds his fitness. Injury has kept him on the sidelines on many occasions and, had he stayed fit, he would surely have passed the 300 club goal mark for his current employers.

He’ll be 33 in June and that fitness, along with reported wages of £200K per week, may be a concern but there still appears to be a queue for Aguero’s signature.

Where Next?

Chelsea are among a clutch of English Premier League clubs being linked with a move for Sergio Aguero this summer. West Ham, Everton and even Manchester United have been mentioned in connection with his signature.

Moving further afield, Barcelona may be a likely destination if the Argentinian decides to leave England behind. Barca are desperate to keep hold of their star man Lionel Messi but the main strikers Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele are struggling in front of goal.

If Messi were to link up with his Argentinian international teammate Aguero, he could be tempted to stay.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid and Juventus have also been mentioned as possible destinations but it seems that Chelsea and Barcelona are the current front runners. Sergio Aguero is far from finished as an attacking force but it will be fascinating to see where his career takes him next.

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting to an update regarding Patrick Vieira on social media.

Palace are on the hunt for a new manager following Roy Hodgson’s Selhurst Park exit at the end of the 2020/21 campaign.

Former Arsenal midfielder Vieira was reportedly placed on the Eagles’ shortlist as a possible replacement for Hodgson back in April.

However, it appears as if Palace could miss out on the 44-year-old, who was sacked by Nice in December.

Vieira’s agent told Il Secolo XIX that the Frenchman is in contention to take over at Serie A side Sampdoria, with a meeting in place.

Nuno Espirito Santo now appears to be Palace’s man, though, with the former Wolves man in advanced talks with the Eagles, who appear to have made him their number one target.

Some reports have however claimed that swoop could be off too.

Palace fans react

@CPFCtransfersHQ and @cpfc_xtra shared the news on Vieira on Twitter on Monday. This is what these supporters had to say in reply, with a hint of sarcasm in the air…

“Absolutely devastated. Can’t believe we’ve missed out on him.”Credit: @Phillyconcarne”Gutted we missed out on Vieira”Credit: @ReeceJMT”Just announce Nuno.”Credit: @audreysprayer”I’m devastated”Credit: @cpfcharlie0″YESSSSS”Credit: @CPFC_Ollie_”What a shame.”Credit: @Jay_Rodrigues09

In other news: Many CPFC fans react to links to possible Wilfried Zaha replacement, find out more here. 

Newcastle United held in to salvage a 1-1 draw at Liverpool on Saturday afternoon but Miguel Almiron badly let Steve Bruce down with a wasteful performance from the engine room.

Bruce elected to keep his Paraguayan playmaker in the right-hand slot of a midfield three, having named an unchanged line-up at Anfield from the side that beat West Ham United 3-2 last week.

Having five defenders on the pitch failed to prevent Mohamed Salah from breaking the deadlock in just the third minute, when the Egyptian spun Matt Ritchie at the back post and drilled an unstoppable strike past Martin Dubravka.

Ciaran Clark will have felt he could have done more to prevent the ball from reaching Salah, with the Republic of Ireland international only able to make glancing contact as Sadio Mane’s delivery floated over the six-yard box.

Liverpool kept digging in search of a second and almost found gold through Clark again later in the first half, when the centre-back gifted possession to the Reds only for Diogo Jota to scuff his shot wide.

Clark thought he had equalised for a moment when he headed home from a corner, but he proved to be one of three players in offside positions with one of which Jonjo Shelvey, who blocked Allison’s path to the ball.

Bruce eventually saw enough from Clark, despite a reasonable recovery, to replace the defender with Joe Willock just after the hour mark, in a move that would pay dividends with the Arsenal loanee snatching a 90+4 goal to grab an unlikely draw.

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Clark was an easy choice for Bruce to replace having offered no successful tackles while Paul Dummett had three, make no interceptions while Dummett and Federico Fernandez had one apiece, and win no aerial duels, having lost his only challenge, while Fernandez had one, per WhoScored.

Yet Almiron’s wasteful efforts in the engine room ensured he would let Bruce down to a higher degree on Saturday, and offer the Toon head coach an option to replace with Dwight Gayle nearing stoppage-time while a point remained in reach.

Almiron lost 75% of his duels at Anfield with success in one of one aerial challenges but just one of seven on the ground, per SofaScore.

Only Allan Saint-Maximin (12/24) lost more ground duels for the Toon than Almiron, while Jacob Murphy – behind the £14.5m-rated midfielder Kevin Phillips believes is “top quality” on the pitch – won nine of his 11, up against Jota (2/9), Mane (2/9) and Andrew Robertson (6/7).

Murphy also posed a greater attacking threat for the Magpies than Almiron with one shot attempted to the 27-year-old’s zero, and provided one of his side’s six key passes while the influential midfielder failed to carve out a single goalscoring opportunity for a teammate.

A lack of focus in the final third from Almiron had proven costly for Newcastle in the first half, as well, when a communication breakdown led to the former Atlanta United maestro crossing paths with Joelinton and Saint-Maximin as United sought to break forward.

Almiron is now without a goal in his last eight Premier League appearances and without an assist since the first game of the season, and would not have surprised Bruce to see that record continue with his efforts at Anfield.

AND in other news, Newcastle United hold keen interest in £35m titan who “flung his teammates under the bus”…