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Celtic may have their first win of the Ange Postecoglou reign under their belts but they cannot neglect the need to bring more new faces to Paradise.

Joe Hart and James McCarthy became members of the Hoops family last week but there is still plenty of work to be done.

On the chalkboard

Anthony Ralston has performed admirably this season after coming in for scrutiny that he wasn’t good enough for Celtic.

Those claims made sense considering he played just once for the Bhoys last term. However, he’s been ever-present since Ange Postecoglou took charge and even scored a wonderful goal against Hearts last weekend.

Ralston collected the ball from Odsonne Edouard before dancing beyond several defenders and then planting the ball past Craig Gordon from inside the area.

He also scored against Dundee on Sunday afternoon in their 6-0 thrashing to continue his mightily impressive campaign.

Though, if Celtic are serious about advancing in Europe and contending for the title again, they will need to sign an improvement.

That’s why supporters should be delighted that they are in discussions to sign Royal Antwerp defender Aurelio Buta.

He’s been on Celtic’s radar for a number of weeks now but Sky Sports reported last Friday that a bid of £4.5m was now being prepared.

If they can lure him to Paradise, it would be an almighty upgrade on Ralston.

The Glaswegian side haven’t replaced Jeremie Frimpong since he left for Bayer Leverkusen last January but Buta would help them significantly.

He is a tackling machine and is equally adept in forward phases of play. Dubbed “very gifted” by journalist, Aster Nzeyimana, the 24-year-old completed 1.2 tackles per match in 2020/21.

That’s a tally that would have equalled Frimpong’s success rate in a Celtic shirt from the same season.

Hailed as one of the best full-backs in the Belgian top-flight, Buta would be an exceptional piece of business by Postecoglou and co.

They have needed a permanent full-back for the best part of eight months now and thus, fans should be excited at the idea of signing him.

Ralston has enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign but he is still relatively unproven in the Premiership over a prolonged period of time.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Edouard: Celtic can boost title hopes by signing “wonderful” 19-goal beast…

West Ham United are the latest Premier League outfit to be linked with a move for Takehiro Tomiyasu but they’ll need to act fast to secure him…

What’s the word?

According to Gazzetta dello Sport (via Sport Witness), the Hammers have joined arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the race to secure the versatile Bologna defender.

It’s thought that just €20m (£18m) would be enough to prise him away from the Serie A side but reports elsewhere suggest that the north Londoners are closing in on his signature.

Therefore, GSB and David Moyes will need to get a move on if they truly hold an interest.

Two birds, one stone

Tomiyasu could help fix two emerging problems for Moyes thanks to his versatile nature.

The Japan international is capable of playing as a centre-back, as well as on the right-hand side of defence, meaning he can provide competition and cover right across the backline.

It’s believed that Moyes is seeking a top-quality central option as one of his top priorities this window, whilst the lack of depth behind Vladimir Coufal is worrying.

Ryan Fredericks does not seem up to the standard of the Premier League anymore, whilst Ben Johnson is still a young prospect finding the ropes.

In the 22-year-old Bologna man, the Hammers could get themselves a real star of the future, one who has been lauded as a “true Japanese warrior” by teammate Mitchell Dijks.

Tomiyasu performed to a high standard wherever he played last season, averaging 2.9 aerial battles won, 1.7 interceptions, 1.5 tackles and an 82.1% passing accuracy, as per WhoScored.

At 6 foot 2, it’s no surprise to see him do well in the air but he appears to be equally adept with the ball at his feet, which further bolsters his claims in being an option at full-back.

If Moyes wants to kill two birds with one stone, then a swoop for the £18m-rated Bologna ace makes a ton of sense, so he should look to get one ahead of Spurs before it’s too late.

That price tag seems like a bargain for a dual-threat defender.

AND in other news, “Got some information”: Journo drops huge transfer update that’ll worry West Ham fans…

According to a report by Football Insider, incoming sporting director Fabio Paratici could offload Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks and ‘behind-the-scenes preliminary talks’ have already taken place.

The Lowdown: Sell-to-buy…

Due to difficult financial circumstances at Tottenham caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the Lilywhites will need to adopt a sell-to-buy policy this summer.

Many Spurs players have been touted with a possible move out of north London, with the likes of Erik Lamela, Moussa Sissoko, Juan Foyth and even Lucas Moura mentioned by Alasdair Gold recently.

Winks is also one of them, but now Football Insider bring a development involving Paratici.

The Latest: Paratici wants Winks sale

As explained by Football Insider, Paratici will tell Winks that Spurs are planning to listen to offers for him this summer.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-updates/” title=”Spurs latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Indeed, Tottenham would accept around £30 million for the Englishman and could even offload for less.

FI explain that ‘behind the scenes preliminary talks’ have already taken place over a potential sale this summer but Winks does not want to move on.

Alas, if he wishes to play regularly, the 25-year-old may have no other choice.

The Verdict: Time to go…

Speaking to HITC, former England international Emile Heskey lauded Winks as a ‘phenomenal player’ despite playing a bit-part role for Tottenham last season.

The midfield maestro started just nine Premier League matches over 2020/2021 (WhoScored), a huge drop off in comparison to the 26 games over 2019/2020.

Still young and homegrown, Spurs will be hoping to recuperate a sizeable bid for him this summer and it may help greatly in their attempts to strengthen the squad.

Despite his quality, the time does feel right for Winks to move on.

In other news: ‘Massive for Tottenham’, ‘Best news’…Sky pundit thrilled by alleged N17 development, find out more here.

Glasgow Rangers fans are livid as thousands of Scotland fans descended on London ahead of their Euro 2020 match at Wembley with England.

The Tartan Army travel to the English capital as they continue their European Championships campaign. They started off with a 2-0 defeat to the Czech Republic, but they will be hoping to turn things around against their fierce rivals. Given the proximity, thousands of Scotland fans have made the trip to support their side (BBC).

Rangers fans do not have a great relationship with the national side, and it seems they are far from happy with this news. The Gers were condemned when they descended on George Square to celebrate their title success (The Herald), and they believe there should be as much outcry in this situation as we continue to fight the pandemic.

The Gers fans were far from happy, and they took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say below

“‘Selfish behaviour. They’ll kill people. Will the SFA be dishing out media updates every hour pleading for fans to stay away? And they better clean up after them. Think of the poor people who have to come in behind them to actually do their job. It’s a national scandal.”

Credit: @glennwb55

“Exactly. A disgrace from those in power.”

Credit: @Nemonfa

“One rule for rangers and one for that lot, the snp hate the rangers way, but do we care”

Credit: @MurdochHarris1

“Because wee nicola likes to think of this as point scoring. A mini invasion of London by Scots. Then they come back and boom covid levels are through the roof.”

Credit: @TheStig4677

“I’m sure dornan and humza yousaf will condemn it, release statements, take to twitter, take it to parliament and talk about it for weeks, or does that not fit their narrative!”

Credit: @stephenfox3

“Thousands of Scotland fans heading to London. Most without tickets. Yet no condemnation from the media or SNP. No demands for the SFA to issue a statement, or Clarke to tell them to stay at home. Compare and contrast the outrage when Rangers fans celebrated their 55th title.”

Credit: @missteeray

In other news, Rangers fans are livid with this video.

Manchester City fans are unhappy at the news that Gabriel Jesus is a major transfer target for Juventus this summer.

This promises to be a busy summer at the Etihad Stadium after the previous term. It was a successful one on the whole as the Citizens won the Premier League and the League Cup, but the loss to Chelsea in the Champions League final in Porto could lead to the squad being refreshed.

That will also mean outgoings. Both Sergio Aguero (fcbarcelona.com) and Eric Garcia have departed City to join Barcelona and now, as per Gazzetta Dello Sport (via Sport Witness), Jesus could be joining them through the exit door. They say that the £54m-valued Brazil international (Transfermarkt) is Juve boss Max Allegri’s first-choice target, and Jesus would be open to making the switch.

The news was shared on Twitter by @City_Xtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Jesus below

“No Gabby don’t go”

Credit: @GdpMcfc

“He’s too good to leave”

Credit: @paddymill

“We can’t lose Jesus I’m telling you we need to keep him at all costs”

Credit: @Furqan_ibrahim1

“Hope this doesn’t come back to bite us.”

Credit: @ChrisTomz123

“I hate this summer. Gabriel Jesus is very important to us. He always gives his all on the field. His pressing and defending is top notch. Very versatile too. Why is pep trying to sell our best players”

Credit: @RockyRhymes3

“Sad to see him go, and if he joins a side that sets up more to suit him I’m sure he’ll do well. Makes sense for him to leave at this stage, though. I’d think 40m and reinvest that straight in to one of the three striker options. Delap as the understudy for next season?”

Credit: @jparkes1991

In other news, Man City fans are delighted with this Grealish update.

Sheffield Wednesday manager Darren Moore must ruthlessly axe centre-back Tom Lees amid interest from Championship side Bristol City.

What’s the talk?

According to the Bristol Post, Lees is one of the players for whom Nigel Pearson is weighing up a swoop as he attempts to improve his defence heading into the 2021/22 campaign. The report claims that Pearson is looking to bring in two new centre-back options and Lees is a player he would like to sign, along with Oxford defender Rob Atkinson.

Lees is out of contract at the end of the month and is reportedly on £22,000 per week at Hillsborough. This means that he is on course to become a free agent at the start of July, which would allow Bristol City to bring him in without paying a transfer fee to Sheffield Wednesday for his services.

Relief for Chansiri

Moore deciding to axe Lees this summer would come as a massive relief for Dejphon Chansiri. The 30-year-old is one of the club’s top earners and his exit could take a sizeable chunk away from the wage bill Chansiri will need to pay in League One next season following the club’s relegation to the third tier.

Sheffield Wednesday have felt the impact of the global pandemic financially and are reportedly struggling to pay the wages of their players at the moment. The club are looking into the possibility of placing some of their playing staff on furlough over the summer to cut costs and cover payments.

This means that letting Lees go could be a necessity this month. If Chansiri is not able to pay the players their wages for the month just gone, there is no way of being able to justify keeping the defender at Hillsborough for another season or longer, unless he was willing to take a gigantic pay cut to play for the club in League One.

That appears to be an unlikely outcome because of the interest from Bristol City in his services. Pearson is offering him the chance to move back to the Championship, potentially without a pay cut, and that could be an attractive prospect for the former Leeds player.

It is worth pointing out that this is not an indictment on Lees’ performances for the club in the season just gone. He averaged the highest WhoScored rating in the Championship for Sheffield Wednesday, earning a score of 6.88 for his performances across 38 starts, just ahead of Barry Bannan. He averaged five aerial battles won and 5.4 clearances made per game, showing that he was a beast for Wednesday at the back despite their failure to stay up.

However, time is up for Lees at Hillsborough, and Moore must allow him to go because of their wage bill situation.

AND in other news, SWFC must complete deal for “powerful” ace after huge update

Celtic’s break of over a week since they last played has been a welcome one.

Following a 4-1 drubbing against their biggest rivals, the last thing the Hoops will have wanted was another humiliation during a catastrophic season.

This will have been a chance for the Bhoys to reflect and evaluate what went wrong last time out, while it will also have done the playing staff some good to get away from the limelight for a while.

On the chalkboard

Celtic now have two games left before their season climaxes but they will be without Callum McGregor when they face St Johnstone on Wednesday evening.

Tipped to become the Celtic captain when Scott Brown departs Paradise, the midfielder was particularly poor in the hammering against Rangers.

He did his side no favours with a succession of poor tackles that eventually led to a red card being shown.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-celtic-manager-and-transfer-news-howe-favre-mcgregor-mccann-tierney” title=”Read the latest Celtic manager and transfer news!”]

Already cautioned and in the referee’s notebook, McGregor went sliding in on Glen Kamara and caught him late. The result of which was an early bath and a premature end to his Old Firm derby.

The 27-year-old won’t be available for selection this week but there is a simple solution to John Kennedy’s problems.

Sublime Soro

Ismaila Soro has had a topsy-turvy campaign at Parkhead but it’s hard to deny he doesn’t deserve more opportunities in the middle of the park.

He may well earn more minutes when Brown heads to Aberdeen but this should represent the ideal time to audition for a permanent role in the starting XI.

A little bit rash and naive at times, he needs to discover more maturity in the near future.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast in April, Frank McAvennie said; “He reminds me of Kante when he was at Leicester and also so much of Scott Brown when he came in the team and caused a lot of fouls and got booked a lot, before the maturity came through.

“I think Soro could be a little tenacious player in there, I think he could do a job.”

Soro has certainly shown promising moments in a Celtic shirt.

In the build-up to the Christmas period, the 5 foot 8 midfielder was nothing short of exceptional. The Hoops endured a horrendous European experience this season but when they surprisingly beat Lille, Soro was the beating heart of the performance.

He completed a mighty ten tackles and also won two interceptions during an impressive win for Neil Lennon’s side.

Dominant in the tackle and capable of bursting forward, it’s surely only a matter of time before he becomes a real star in this team.

Linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur last week, he is a player full of energy. Speaking after his initial transfer to Celtic, his former coach Ori Guttman said he possessed “explosive power.”

It’s not easy to find an individual with that in their locker but that’s why the £11k-per-week earner could become so pivotal to the Bhoys in the coming years.

During the 2020/21 campaign, the Ivorian has won 1.9 tackles per match, the highest number of anyone to play more than once for Celtic this season.

With McGregor’s suspension in mind, Kennedy must hand Soro his first start since February. He may well hold the keys to victory on Wednesday evening.

AND in other news, McKay must wield the axe on 5ft9 Celtic dud, Sutton dubbed him the “new Ryan Christie”…

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting to an update regarding defender Nathan Ferguson on social media.

According to the Daily Mail, the 20-year-old tore his achilles in training just days after Eberechi Eze suffered the same injury.

Ferguson, who is yet to play for Palace after signing from West Brom last summer, was thought to be approaching full fitness.

He’s suffered a number of setbacks during his time at Selhurst Park but was thought to be under consideration by Roy Hodgson to face Liverpool on the weekend.

However, Ferguson, who can play anywhere across the backline, is now likely to be out for a number of months, with the report claiming he is hoping to be back before the end of the year.

Palace fans react

@cpfc_xtra shared the news on Ferguson on Monday lunchtime on Twitter. This is what these Palace supporters had to say in reply, with one describing it as ‘heartbreaking’.

“Honestly what is going on … This rebuild had become a total catastrophe”Credit: @BenRich27″I swear Palace must have been cursed…this is getting ridiculous now!”Credit: @JMac00027″This is worse than Eze. Poor Ferguson. Will probably never play again. Absolutely heartbreaking for the lad. God whoever our new manager is they absolutely have to hit the ground running. No pressure!!”Credit: @audreysprayer”What the hell is going on at the training ground ???”Credit: @BenIAgbaimoni”Are we doing WWE style training ?”Credit: @CalumCPFC”Just need Zaha to leave now and I think we can confidently say we’re finishing 20th.”Credit: @JA9baller

In other news: Many CPFC fans unimpressed with what Wilfried Zaha has had to say, find out more here. 

According to The Mirror, West Ham United are interested in signing Chris Wood from Burnley this summer.

The Lowdown: Hammers eye a striker

The past season was a magnificent one of the Hammers as they finished sixth in the Premier League table, meaning they will play in the Europa League next term.

However, if they are to compete in Europe, they will likely need to bring in a new centre-forward, as David Moyes currently has only Michail Antonio at his disposal in that regard.

The Latest: Irons eye Wood

It is being reported that West Ham are interested in signing Wood, as reported by The Mirror.

The Clarets are believed to want more than the £25m for which they sold Michael Keane to Everton in 2017.

The Verdict: Left-field option

Wood could be a somewhat unexpected signing. He plays for a Burnley side who finished a lowly 17th in 2020/21 and, at the age of 29, he hardly has plenty of time left in his career to make an impression.

However, there is no denying he is a proven centre-forward. He has 151 career goals to his name, including 47 in 136 matches at Premier League level – he has netted at least 10 goals in the league in his last six campaigns (Transfermarkt). Alan Shearer lauded him as “horrible to play against” (Lancs Live)- high praise indeed from the Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer.

£25m would be a considerable fee to pay, and the Hammers could surely find younger options for that price who also have plenty of ability. Should they have difficulty doing so, though, Wood could be a very good fallback option.

In other news, many West Ham fans rage as this photo emerges.

Plenty of Crystal Palace fans have been reacting to Roy Hodgson’s comments on defenders Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins on social media. 

Hodgson was talking to the media ahead of the Eagles’ trip to Leicester City on Monday and had some ‘good news’ to share.

As posted by the club’s official Twitter page, Hodgson said:

“We’ve got a lot of players back which is good news. Mamadou Sakho – even James Tomkins is out there training. So in fact, this is as big a group as we’ve had training for a long time.”

Sakho has missed the majority of the season through injury, with the 31-year-old, who is out of contract at Selhurst Park this summer, making just three Premier League starts.

Tomkins, meanwhile, has also been absent for large parts of the campaign. He’s made just four Premier League appearances from the off this season and hasn’t been in a matchday squad since January.

Palace fans react

As to be expected, the return of Sakho and Tomkins had plenty of Palace fans talking on social media, with fans hoping to end the season on a strong note after it looked like it was going to just peter out following the heavy defeats to Tottenham and Chelsea.

This is what some had to say in reply to the club’s Thursday afternoon post, with some hoping to see the pair alongside each other before the end of the current campaign.

“I’m not used to so much good news in one thread! Oh my”

Credit: @ljbrameld

“My CBs”

Credit: @danofthesouth_

“YEEEEEES”

Credit: @TalkCPFC

“Are you serious? These players are draining the club. Experienced and overpaid now so get rid of them and reward players that want to play for the club, no meal tickets allowed. We need huge change in the summer or will pay the ultimate consequences…. “

Credit: @mark_welling

“Need one last game of Tomkins and Sakho if they’re going this season”

Credit: @androsisnotbald

“One last dance”

Credit: @amancpfc

In other news: Many CPFC fans buzz over club’s interest in £48k-p/w ace, find out more here.