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Leeds United are keen on signing Sampdoria defender Omar Colley this summer.

That’s according to a report from Club Doria, translated on TEAMtalk, who claim that the Serie A side are willing to cash in on the Gambia international, despite recently signing a new contract.

Newcastle and West Ham also keen

Leeds aren’t the only English side keen on the £30,000-a-week centre-back, though. The report adds that both Newcastle and West Ham are interested in Colley ahead of the upcoming summer window.

Colley, who has made 20 Serie A appearances this season, is valued at just £4.05m but is under contract until 2025.

Transfer Tavern take

Statistically, Colley could prove to be a solid signing by the Whites.

As per WhoScored, the 28-year-old has averaged a league match rating of 6.81 this season. That’s higher than two of Leeds’ summer signings in the same position, Diego Llorente (6.78) and Robin Koch (6.59).

It’s also a better rating than Whites youngster Pascal Struijk (6.78), however, along with Liam Cooper, Leeds appear fairly well-stocked at centre-back.

It seems as if Marcelo Bielsa likes having a small squad, so having five centre-back options could be too many for the Argentine ahead of the 2021/22 season.

In other news: Leeds star asks to leave club this summer, find out more here. 

Glasgow Rangers manager Steven Gerrard has revealed James Tavernier has an outside chance of being fit for the Gers’ Scottish Cup fourth round clash next weekend.

Gerrard provides Tavernier update

Club captain Tavernier has not played since February 18th after picking up an injury during the Gers’ Europa League tie with Royal Antwerp (Transfermarkt).

However, speaking prior to Rangers’ clash with Hibernian this weekend, Gerrard revealed the right-back may well be available to face Celtic in the cup. He said (via The Glasgow Times):

“I’d say he’s got an outside chance, James, of being involved against Celtic. He is still outside in a one-v-one capacity with the physio but he is progressing pretty well.”

Big boost

This is no doubt a big boost for all involved at Ibrox. While a number of players have stood out this campaign, £7.2m-valued Tavernier (Transfermarkt) has arguably been Gerrard’s best performer. Going forward, he has been their most dangerous threat, scoring 17 goals and providing 15 assists, while he has been part of a defence that has conceded just 10 times in the Premiership this campaign (BBC).

In Tavernier’s absence, the Gers would have an able deputy in Nathan Patterson. The 19-year-old already has two goals for the 55-time Scottish champions and has repaid his manager’s faith in him. Tavernier, though, is a step above – if he were to be available, the Gers’ chances of progression to the quarter-finals would be far greater.

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this journalist’s comments.

Norwich City have joined the race to sign Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer this summer.

That’s according to a report from The Scottish Sun, who claim that Canaries boss Daniel Farke wants a new centre-back at Carrow Road ahead of the 2021/22 season.

They claim that Ajer is preparing to quit Parkhead in the summer with just over 12 months left on his Celtic contract.

Norwich sporting director Stuart Webber appears to have a close eye on Ajer ahead of the club’s return to the English top flight, with the 37-year-old watching the Norway international in action in recent weeks.

Ajer, who has missed two league games all season, is valued at £3.6m by Transfermarkt, however, reports earlier this month suggested that Newcastle were preparing an £8m offer, so his actual value is likely much more than £3.6m.

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Transfer Tavern take

It seems as if Celtic have a similar situation with Ajer to the one they have with Odsonne Edouard.

The French forward is ready to leave the Hoops over the coming months, regardless of who comes in as the new Celtic manager.

In our view, Celtic may have to cash in on both in the upcoming window, and, in a way, Norwich’s interest could actually help the Bhoys bring in a sizeable fee for the towering centre-back.

The Hoops could be shrewd by playing both Premier League clubs off against each other, which could result in them maximising their profits.

Ajer only cost Celtic £520,000 in 2016, so they look set to make a profit – the question is how much.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano drops major 11-word update; could be of interest to Celtic and Dominic McKay, find out more here.

Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has criticised the team’s defending in their win over Fulham, claiming it has “not been good enough” for a while.

The Whites picked up a welcome 2-1 victory at Craven Cottage last Friday, with goals from Patrick Bamford and Raphinha getting them over the line.

The win saw Marcelo Bielsa’s side jump to 11th place in the Premier League, as their impressive first season back in the top flight continues.

There was some shaky defending on show at times against Fulham, however, with Illan Meslier needing to be in inspired form in the Leeds goal.

[freshpress-quiz id=“347980″]

Whelan tears into Leeds’ defending

While some perhaps ignored the Whites’ issues at the back because of the positive result, someone who wasn’t impressed is Whelan.

Speaking to Football Insider, the ex-Leeds man highlighted where Bielsa’s men need to improve, giving an honest assessment of their shortcomings:

“It’s the art of defending. You’ve got to be up for the fight. You can’t let men get around you and you’ve got to rise to that competition.

“We’ve got to get the match-ups right. We recognised they weren’t and changed it at half-time.

“But they’ve got to be right from the off. You can’t keep getting them wrong and then changing them halfway through. We did that in the previous game as well.

“It’s not been good enough for the past few games. It’s one of those where that is just as important as the marking itself, if not more important.

“Bielsa’s got to get the match-ups right. If you get Llorente up against Andersen then he probably doesn’t score that goal.”

Transfer Tavern take

Leeds’ defending is certainly an area that needs to be improved upon next season, with 47 goals conceded in 29 league matches not a flattering tally.

For all their attacking flair and intensity off the ball, being solid at the back is still arguably the key to finding consistency and Bielsa will hopefully know that.

In other news, one Leeds player has hinted at a move elsewhere this summer – find out who it is here.

Pablo Fornals produced another energetic performance to emerge as David Moyes’ silver lining of West Ham United’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City on Saturday.

Moyes opted to retain the Spaniard in his starting line-up at the Etihad Stadium after Fornals produced an impressive display in last week’s 2-1 win over rivals Tottenham Hotspur, in what was a surprise outing for the 25-year-old.

Fornals had only played six minutes of Premier League football this month before Spurs’ trip from north to east London after successive appearances as an unused substitute, but has now featured for 172 of an available 180 minutes since earning an unexpected recall.

Fornals was ever persistent with his drive and willingness to run against Pep Guardiola’s early champions-elect Manchester City, to prove a handful both on and off the ball for the runaway Premier League leaders.

Moyes had clearly instructed the £67,000-per-week maestro to stick with Citizens talisman Kevin de Bruyne whenever the Belgian posed a threat, and stuck to the task well to restrict the £108m-rated megastar to just two key passes – the same as offered by Hammers defenders Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell, per WhoScored.

Fornals further played a role in Michail Antonio netting West Ham’s only goal of the day moments before half-time, with the £24m Manuel Pellegrini signing spreading play into a pocket of space in the final-third for Coufal to attack.

The Czech Republic full-back’s resulting cross was eventually turned home after Jesse Lingard’s strike found Antonio for a tap in at the back post.

The only true blemish on Fornals’ performance came in John Stone’s winning goal midway through the second period, having been too slow to react to the danger posed by the Sky Blues centre-half.

But Fornals’ confidence to play on the half-turn, with his head up and never shy from taking the game to Manchester City ensured he emerged as Moyes’ silver lining, having not been expected to feature frequently a week ago to now warrant a starting place in the Irons XI.

The two-time Spain international ended the 90 with one key ball from 27 accurate passes – only Coufal, Cresswell and Jesse Lingard (2) recorded more for the visiting side, per WhoScored.

Fornals additionally made two successful dribbles from three attempts, only Lingard (1/5) also beat a Citizens player with the ball at their feet. But unlike the Manchester United loanee, the 2019 European U21 champion also won possession back with two tackles from five challenges – Coufal (8) was the sole West Ham player to contest for the ball more often.

Only Tomas Soucek broke up City play on more occasions than Fornals with four interceptions to three, but averages 1.6 per Premier League appearance to his Spanish teammate’s one.

Fornals also averages just 1.2 successful tackles from 2.9 challenges, 0.7 key passes and 0.9 successful dribbles from 1.6 attempts per top-flight appearance this term.

Moyes will surely be delighted with the manner of Fornals’ response to falling out of favour with successive impressive performances against established top-six opposition, often eclipsing the standards seen over his run in the side earlier in the campaign.

AND in other news, West Ham have been given a potential boost in hopes to sign a 19-goal striker this summer…

Pundit Kevin Campbell has issued criticism for West Bromwich Albion’s creative midfielder Matheus Pereira.

Campbell believes that while Pereira had a great campaign in the Championship last season, he has endured a rather disappointing Premier League campaign, failing to live up to the hype.

Pereira hasn’t stepped up

Speaking to Football Insider, Campbell made it clear that he does rate striker Mbaye Diagne, but the striker isn’t getting enough service from the likes of Pereira. Campbell feels that West Brom’s better players should’ve stepped up in the Premier League, but Pereira hasn’t done that.

He said: “I think the football club expected Pereira to have a hell of a season because he took the Championship by storm. They thought they had a match-winner in him because he can score and create goals.

“Let’s be honest though, he has been pretty disappointing. You need your better players to step up, especially at the top end of the pitch and we haven’t seen him do that.

“There has been flashes here and there but the Premier League is different from Championship, it is where you earn you name. He has not stepped up.

“I really like Mbaye Diagne up front but he does not get enough service. He is battling the whole back four but he does not get any service – that is the problem. If you are going to get him in you have to provide for him.”

The 24-year-old Pereira had joined West Brom on loan from Sporting Lisbon originally, but the move was made permanent in the summer of 2020.

Currently valued at £11.70m, Pereira had impressed in the Championship while contributing to 28 goals in all competitions. In the current season though, he has contributed to just eight Premier League goals.

Pereira hasn’t had a bad season

Pereira has picked up a rating of 6.74 in the Premier League this season and only four West Brom players have picked up better ratings than the Brazilian. He is still the club’s highest goalscorer and the highest assister. He has also played the highest number of key passes per game for the side (as per Whoscored).

With all due respect, there are other players in the team who deserve more criticism than the player leading the way in both goal threat and creativity.

In other news, many West Brom fans are angry at a news about a midfielder – read more here.

According to Asist Analiz (via Sussex Live), West Bromwich Albion are interested in signing Trabzonspor goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.

Baggies eye Cakir

Cakir is currently on international duty with Turkey and has played an important part in his nation’s early 2022 World Cup qualifying success – they have won their first two matches and the 24-year-old saved a Memphis Depay penalty to help Turkey defeat Netherlands 4-2 earlier this week.

The report from Asist Analiz claimed that The Hawthorns outfit are interested in the shot-stopper, as are Brighton and Liverpool.

Too ambitious

It is at least a positive from West Brom’s perspective that they are linked with an in-demand, up-and-coming talent. Cakir was called “one of the best goalkeepers I have seen” by Leicester City’s head of recruitment Lee Congerton last year (Karadeniz Gazete) and he has been in impressive form for Trabzonspor this term – only Fernando Muslera (81%) has a higher save percentage rate than Cakir’s 79.5% in the Super Lig (fbref.com).

With Sam Johnstone being heavily linked with a move to Tottenham (Football Insider), West Brom could well need a new goalkeeper next term. Unfortunately, £14.4m-valued Cakir is likely to be out of their reach – the Baggies are currently 10 points from safety in the Premier League and look like they will be playing in the Championship next season.

Given the Turkey international’s ability, it is hard to see him making a move to the English second tier, so the Midlands side’s move for him could well depend on their ability to stave off relegation.

In other news, many West Brom fans were delighted with this club update.

Many Crystal Palace fans have been slamming the display of Patrick van Aanholt despite their side’s 2-1 away win at Newcastle United in the Premier League.

Roy Hodgson’s men actually fell behind to a goal from Jonjo Shelvey within the first two minutes of the match before a great strike from Jairo Riedewald and a towering header from Gary Cahill gave the Selhurst Park faithful the goals they needed to take all three points and ease off any possible fears of relegation.

While there were some very good performers in an Eagles shirt, Van Aanholt flattered to deceive.

The former Chelsea and Sunderland man lost possession of the ball no fewer than 24 times in the match, the most out of any outfield player, and also failed to make a single successful dribble, key pass or accurate long ball, as he earned himself a quite measly 6.5 overall rating on Sofascore, the second-lowest out of any of his teammates to have started against Steve Bruce’s team at St. James’ Park.

Crystal Palace fan reaction to van Aanholt display

These CPFC supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with a couple of fans even going as far as to describe the Netherlands international as ‘awful’:

“Van Aanholt had been terrible this 2nd half”

Credit: @TomTcoyp

“That van Aanholt is useless. #cpfc”

Credit: @shave_stuart

“He should be criticised for that. He had a bad game. PvA just keeps having bad games whereas Mitchell consistently performs to a level more often.”

Credit: @SamuelMargo

“PVA completed pass ratio is more of a disgrace tonight than that miss by Townsend. Shocking for a professional footballer.”

Credit: @Scottnesbitt

“PVA’s passing has been awful”

Credit: @matthew_poole30

“PVA is unbelievably awful”Credit: @CieronHemIn other news, find out how fans have reacted to Hodgson’s comments about his future here!

Carlo Ancelotti must unleash Cenk Tosun on Manchester United to see if the rumoured Feyenoord and Besiktas target has anything left to offer Everton.

Tosun has struggled to establish himself in Ancelotti’s plans since recovering from cruciate ligament surgery, with the Turkey striker earning just 32 minutes across all competitions this season.

The 29-year-old made his return from injury in last month’s 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United before playing the final 10 minutes at home to Man United in the league, yet has only been seen on the pitch for a mere two minutes since the 3-1 loss seven games ago.

Ancelotti unleashing Tosun on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in Everton’s Carabao Cup quarter-final on Wednesday night could be the £6.3m-rated striker’s last chance to impress the Italian, with reports emerging of growing interest in the 45-cap hitman’s services.

Claims by Algemeen Dagblad suggest that Everton will allow Tosun to leave Goodison Park in the upcoming January window, with the £60,000-per-week disaster seen as a leading option for the Blues to sell as the club looks to raise funds and free space on the wage bill.

Feyenoord would be keen to strike a deal if Tosun does leave Merseyside, yet could face competition from the man who signed the 29-year-old, Sam Allardyce, following his appointment as West Bromwich Albion’s new head coach.

Besiktas President Ahmet Nur Cebi has also admitted he would love to reunite the Black Eagles with the forward he sold for £27m in 2018, but only on loan, feeling Tosun is still a “special” player despite scoring just 10 Premier League goals in almost three years.

Ancelotti must use Everton’s Carabao Cup quarter-final against United as his last chance to truly see if Tosun has anything left in his locker for the Toffees, as depth behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been a vivid issue for the Goodison Park natives this term.

Tosun is the only other recognised senior centre-forward still on the blue side of Stanley Park after Moise Kean joined Paris Saint-Germain on a season-long loan but he has brought nothing to the table in his rare outings to date this term.

Facing the Red Devils in a cup quarter-final would be too much of a baptism of fire for youth prospect Ellis Simms, with the 19-year-old yet to play a single minute for the first-team, and solutions will need to be arranged swiftly if Tosun offers another toothless display in the midweek clash.

Everton cannot go for broke on Calvert-Lewin seeing out the season without missing a beat, thus Tosun must be given the chance to prove himself or be shown the door.

AND in other news: “Ancelotti’s sort of player” – Exclusive: Marcel Brands urged to make Everton swoop for £18m-rated maestro.

The last time Arsenal played Crystal Palace at the Emirates, Granit Xhaka seemed to reach the point of no return.

The Switzerland international walked off the pitch to a tirade of boos from the home crowd, and with reports linking him with a move to the Bundesliga, it seemed like his time in north London was up.

But fast forward more than a year later, and Xhaka has been one of Mikel Arteta’s trusted lieutenants, featuring in 20 games this campaign. And his display on Thursday night against the Eagles proved exactly why this has been a period of redemption for the 28-year-old.

As per Sofascore, his 7.8 match rating was the highest of any player on the pitch, and when you look at the stats, it’s easy to see why. The midfielder had an astonishing 130 touches of the ball and completed 99 passes during the game (the most of any player), and he was instrumental in ensuring Arsenal recycled possession effectively.

Whilst the Gunners lacked a cutting edge going forward, Xhaka at the base of the midfield controlled the tempo, always looking to pick the ball up from the likes of David Luiz and Rob Holding before firing it out wide to the full-back.

But perhaps most impressively, he was superb going back towards his own goal. He made a game-high six tackles, with only Thomas Partey coming anywhere near that amount with four. What made Xhaka’s defensive contributions even better, were that the majority of them were to deny very dangerous Palace counter-attacks.

His timing in the challenge was perfect more often than not, including when he went to ground, invariably winning the ball and actually keeping hold of possession too. He always made sure Wilfried Zaha couldn’t have a direct run at any of his centre-backs, whilst he made a crucial game-saving interception to deny Christian Benteke a tap-in in the second-half.

Speaking after the game, Arteta raved: “He’s progressing really well. He’s played a lot of minutes, he’s evolving the right way and he’s one of our leaders for sure. He had some really important moments today.”

Football.London gave Xhaka the joint-highest rating of any Arsenal player with 7, saying: “The Swiss international is often maligned for his defensive capabilities, but there were several occasions when Xhaka did well to stop Palace counter attacks with a few nifty interceptions. Was assured on the ball as well and had a solid game overall.”

The Arsenal man was said to be “crestfallen” at full-time by ESPN’s James Olley, and it was no doubt because of the amount of effort he had personally put into the match.

Bernd Leno pulled off some outstanding saves for Arteta’s side, but Xhaka’s ability to read the game in critical moments was the real determining factor behind why they actually managed to keep a hold of their point rather than even losing that too.

And so whilst the Gunners may not have come away with a win, it did deliver another reminder of how influential Xhaka is on this Arsenal side. And given everything that happened in this corresponding fixture last season, that’s a real testament to the Swiss ace’s superb mentality and temperament.

Meanwhile, Arteta must make a decision on this Arsenal man after Palace display…