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Jack Rosser, the London Evening Standard journalist, believes a deal to sign Takehiro Tomiyasu would be a fine signing for Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs are said to be in negotiations with Bologna for the signing of the Japan international, with a deal set to cost £15m.

Tomiyasu can play as both a centre-back and a right-back and has even been deployed as a defensive midfielder during his time at Italy.

The 22-year-old has travelled to the Olympics with his country, though he has sustained an injury while on international duty, perhaps placing his transfer somewhat in doubt.

Still, Rosser believes that he would be a fine acquisition this summer as Spurs look to plug some gaps in Nuno Espirito Santo’s squad.

A deal to strengthen at both right-back and at centre-back by signing one player would be seen as something of a coup and Rosser thinks the club need to get the deal over the line.

Speaking to Football FanCast, he said: “Now Spurs have come in, he’s someone who can play centre back and right back, very versatile, the two big problem positions for Spurs, which will help if they can get him in.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Ben Davies is a potential left-back target for Napoli, according to Ciro Venerato.

RAI journalist Venerato dropped the news while speaking on Radio Kiss Kiss (via Napoli Magazine).

The lowdown

Davies, who has been with Spurs since 2014 when he joined from Swansea, made 14 Premier League starts last season.

Sergio Reguilon, a summer signing from Real Madrid, was favoured in the left-back position.

The Welshman, who has helped his country progress to the Round of 16 at the European Championships, still has three years left on his Spurs contract.

His sale could net Spurs a healthy fee, given that contract situation and Transfermarkt valuing him at £14.4million.

The latest

Venerato reports that Chelsea’s Emerson Palmieri remains Napoli’s primary left-back target.

But if they fail to land the Italian, they are expected to turn their attention to Davies.

Napoli are tipped to use their ‘good relations’ with Fabio Paratici, Tottenham’s new director of football, to ‘snatch’ the 28-year-old.

The verdict

Spurs shouldn’t sell Davies because of his versatility. He played as a centre-back on six occasions last season and is well suited to the role on the left of a three. In fact, the Euro 2020 star can play anywhere on the left side of defence from centre-back to left-midfield, making him tailor-made for Paratici.

Paratici’s preference is thought to be a back three system, so much so he ‘changed course’ in negotiations with Paulo Fonseca when he learned of the Portuguese’s intention to play 4-2-3-1.

It would make little sense to sell a ready-made option for this new shape, even if a reasonable bid arrived, especially while the Lilywhites do not even know who their new manager will be – a boss who is on the same page as Paratici will surely see the benefit in keeping the versatile Davies around.

In other news, Spurs have struck an agreement with this Liga NOS outfit.

Leeds United have been boosted in their quest to sign Osaze Urhoghide this summer, with the defender set to leave Sheffield Wednesday.

The Lowdown: Leeds keen on Urhoghide

Marcelo Bielsa will be on the lookout for new signings in the next transfer window, as he looks to bolster his squad ahead of the 2021/22 season.

One player who has been linked with a move to Elland Road is Urhoghide, who made 16 appearances in Wednesday’s doomed Championship season.

The 20-year-old’s Owls contract expires at the end of this month and it looks as though his time at Hillsborough is coming to an end.

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The Latest: Whites receive boost

According to the Sheffield Star, Urhoghide has rejected the offer of a new deal for Wednesday, with several clubs eyeing him up.

The youngster is thought to be keen on regular first-team football, rather than joining a team for ‘financial gain’, although the Owls can’t match his demands.

With Leeds’ interest in the youngster known (previous report from the Sheffield Star) this latest development could be a big boost to their chances of signing him for nothing.

[freshpress-quiz id=“355458″]

The Verdict: Exciting young player

At 20, Urhoghide certainly represents an acquisition for the future and is a centre-back with plenty of potential – he has been hailed as ‘really impressive’ by Dean Ashton – not to mention being a homegrown talent.

The fact that he wants regular football could work against him, however, considering the level Leeds are now playing at, with Bielsa and his players likely having European aspirations next season after finishing just short of that this term.

If he is happy to be a squad option, perhaps even starting off in the Under-23s and maturing over time, he could be a shrewd addition.

In other news, a journalist has made a big claim regarding a key Leeds player’s future. Find out who it is here.

West Ham United have been handed yet another devastating transfer blow this week…

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, mooted Irons transfer target Patson Daka has rejected a move to the London Stadium as interest in his signature hots up across Europe.

It’s thought that West Ham have been among the many sides to register their interest in the prolific RB Salzburg striker but his representatives have let the East London outfit know that he seeks a move to a higher-level club this summer and as such, he has no interest in joining them.

Since then, it has been revealed that the 22-year-old is said to be ‘very keen’ on joining Premier League rivals Liverpool, who qualified for the Champions League, one year after winning the league.

Yet another blow

This is another cruel and bitter blow to David Moyes, not at least because he’ll be desperate for a new forward.

The 58-year-old cannot afford to go into the new campaign with just one senior option to lead his line – an injury-prone Michail Antonio, who has been converted into a centre-forward.

With a likely 50-plus game season on the horizon, he needs numbers across the pitch but up top is perhaps the most glaring of problems to fill right now.

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Daka would’ve been an intriguing and worthwhile option, considering he’s just scored 34 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions this season, whilst also providing 12 assists as he looks to follow in Erling Haaland’s footsteps, via Transfermarkt.

He would’ve been a far cheaper option than reported no.1 target Tammy Abraham, who Chelsea are commanding a whopping £40m for. Football Insider claim the 22-cap Zambia international is available for just £17m.

The Salzburg sensation, who has been compared to Premier League legend Thierry Henry, is also someone that the fans have been desperate for – back in May, one supporter claimed it would be the “perfect signing” whilst another called him the “dream,” as per the Transfer Tavern, where more reaction can be found.

They will now be immensely gutted to not stand a chance at signing the 22-year-old goal machine, even more so after suffering a major blow to their chances of bringing Jesse Lingard back to the London Stadium.

The Sun believe the 28-year-old maestro, who enjoyed a successful half-season spell under Moyes –  scoring nine and assisting five, has told parent club Manchester United that he’d like to stay.

This news is just another devastating setback to the Irons and their transfer plans.

AND in other news, Forget Tammy: Hammers must secure £22.5m-rated “huge talent” amid ExWHUemployee claim…

Football Insider pundit Paddy Kenny believes Ashley Young will be a ‘massive’ signing for Aston Villa both on and off the pitch.

The Lowdown: How Smith will use Young…

Young sealed a return to the Midlands earlier this month on a free transfer from Inter Milan.

The 35-year-old, who left Villa for Manchester United back in 2011, signed a one-year contract at Villa Park.

He spoke with Watford and Burnley but decided to return to Villa, where Dean Smith will reportedly use him in two different positions.

According to The Athletic’s Villa correspondent Gregg Evans, Smith sees Young as cover for left-back Matt Targett and right-back Matty Cash.

The Latest: Kenny’s claim

Kenny, 43, was talking to Football Insider and had this to say about Young, believing he will be a great influence on the Villa dressing room.

“I’ve heard in the game he comes across as the sort of bloke who’ll be great to have in the dressing room.

“He’s experienced and you can’t beat experience. He’s still got the legs, that physicality, and he can still run too.

“He’s gone to Inter Milan and won the title so what a signing that is to get him back after so long.

“I’m sure he’ll be a massive addition to their squad. They are looking ambitious and Dean Smith could have a really good season with them.”

The Verdict: A shrewd signing by Villa

Young knows just what it takes to turn out in front of the Villa faithful, and his versatility on a free transfer could prove to be an extremely shrewd signing by Smith.

The Englishman mainly played as a left-midfielder for Inter Milan last season but has turned out as a full-back on over 100 occasions throughout his career.

He’ll be able to serve as backup to both Targett and Cash, and who knows, should Smith be short of wide attacking options, he could well decide to play Young further forward.

Villa are thought to be after two wide forwards this summer and have already signed one in Emiliano Buendia. If they don’t add to their attacking ranks, they may rely on Young in even more ways than expected.

In other news: ‘Please don’t’, ‘There’ll be riots’ – Many AVFC fans say the same thing after club post, find out more here. 

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl has been dealt a huge injury blow ahead of the game against West Ham on Sunday, with Che Adams set to miss the trip to the London Stadium.

It was confirmed by Hasenhuttl earlier in the week that the Scotland international picked up an ankle knock in the defeat to Leeds on Tuesday and will therefore miss today’s match against the Hammers, although he is expected to be fine for the European Championship this summer.

Whilst Southampton are seeking to finish as high as possible with three points against David Moyes’ side, the hosts can secure a Europa League spot with victory against the Saints, so the Irons boss will surely be relieved that one of Southampton’s most in-form players is set to miss the game.

The former Birmingham City striker impressed for Southampton in recent wins against Fulham and Crystal Palace, with two goals and an assist to his name, whilst his partnership with Danny Ings up front has once again been bearing fruit.

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Only Ings has scored more goals for Southampton than the 24-year-old in the Premier League this season, with Adams’ nine goals and five assists in 2020/21 a vast improvement on the four goals and two assists he managed last term.

After struggling to net his first Southampton goal, he finally broke his duck with a superb long-range effort in a win against Manchester City towards the back end of last season. He took that confidence into the start of the new campaign, with four goals and four assists in the opening 13 Premier League games this term.

This led Hasenhuttl to suggest that the striker had gone from “zero to hero” at Southampton due to his role in their impressive start to the current campaign.

Therefore, it is a big blow from Southampton’s point of view to lose him ahead of the final game of the season, whereas West Ham will surely be relieved that he won’t be fit to play.

In other news… Southampton suffer huge transfer blow with “first-class” ace, Hasenhuttl must be fuming

Dominic Calvert-Lewin may have become the first Everton player since 2017 to score 20 goals in one campaign last weekend but that isn’t stopping Carlo Ancelotti from targeting a new striker.

A whole host of forwards have been linked with Everton in the last few weeks with the likes of Rafael Leao, Hwang-hee Chan and Andrea Belotti all reportedly on their radar.

This has all emerged in a week where their top scorer, Calvert-Lewin, was linked with a mega £80m move to Manchester United.

Irrespective of whether he leaves the Toffees could do with some more firepower, especially if they qualify for Europe.

More games mean a larger squad is required and they won’t be able to rely on Calvert-Lewin across potentially 50+ matches.

The aforementioned targets would all be adequate acquisitions but none would be better than a certain Sergio Aguero.

The Manchester City legend is set to wind down his career at the Etihad when his contract comes to an end this summer and Everton are one of his potential destinations.

Aguero is now 32 years of age but if you consider everything he’s done in the English game, he’d be a marvellous signing at Goodison Park. In fact, Ancelotti could take this Everton side to a brand new level by luring the Argentine to Merseyside in a few months time.

The striker is one of the best players we’ve ever seen in the Premier League and has scored 258 goals in 386 outings for City. He is the club’s record scorer and after he netted against Crystal Palace on Saturday, he put his side within reach of a fifth Premier League crown; all of which have come with Aguero in the team.

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After his goal at Selhurst Park a few days ago, Pep Guardiola commented: “He’s an absolutely top legend, extraordinary player, behaving as the most humble and nicest human being and it’s not easy to find that. That’s why I love him as a man.”

The Spaniard has always been the first to hail the £240k-per-week earner. Following the announcement that he’d leave City, Guardiola said: “Aguero’s numbers speak for themselves… Maradona, an Argentine, conquered Italy. Messi, another Argentine, conquered Spain. And Agüero has conquered England. His numbers speak for themselves.”

To be mentioned in the same breath as Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona says it all.

Of course, it is easy to look at his injury history in the last few years as a concern. Aguero missed 24 matches last term because of muscle and knee problems while he’s been absent for 17 games through injury and illness in 2020/21.

That said, if the opportunity to sign a player like Aguero comes around, it cannot be passed up.

Ancelotti has already worked with some of the best players in world football throughout his career and his appeal could convince the veteran to head to Goodison this summer.

If he does arrive, it will be a landmark addition, a player with the devastating finishing abilities required to potentially take Everton closer to the big and greedy six.

AND in other news, Everton may find their new Lukaku by signing £45m beast who makes “spectacular plays”…

Many West Ham United fans were far from happy with the performance of Issa Diop during their 1-0 defeat to Everton on Sunday.

The Hammers’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time were damaged on Sunday thanks to a Dominic Calvert-Lewin strike. While it is not impossible for them to reach the group stage of Europe’s premier club competition, they face an uphill battle to get there – they are now five points behind Leicester City in fourth with just three games left (Sky Sports).

Diop, valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt, started at the heart of the back four against the Toffees, and it is fair to say he wasn’t at his best. For example, he was dribbled past on two occasions (SofaScore) by an Everton team who seemed reluctant to attack, while he was partly at fault for the only goal of the game along with fellow defender Craig Dawson.

These Irons supporters were far from happy with what they saw from Diop, who one fan labelled a “liability”, and they took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what these fans had to say about Diop

“I like Diop but he needs to remember he’s a centre back, he gets caught out far too high up the pitch time and time again. That’s coachable, Moyes needs to have a word and if he won’t listen don’t play him”

Credit: @TheLawless

“The amount of times he gets dragged out of position! They definitely studied that, in fact they definitely did as Calvert-Lewis confirmed. Exposed Dawson. Horrible defending.”

Credit: @RyanMac97158556

“They were both at fault for the goal. Diop out of position leading to Dawson being out paced. We need to bring in a next level CB in the summer.”

Credit: @Sam6WHU

“Diop & Dawson are average, need a 2nd CB with Og in the summer IMO, Dawson does improve with Og tbf but Diop for me is a liability as a CB, I reckon he’d be a good CDM,”

Credit: @rickwhufc

“Diop had another usual stinker. But Benrahma was shocking today. It seems Moyes’ criticism has got to his game negatively I think 8th is now more likely”

Credit: @westham_mo

“100% need to get rid of Diop…”

Credit: @Jsklen_face

In other news, West Ham fans want the club to sign this man.

Fabio Silva arrived at Molineux with a lot of hype and excitement surrounding him but despite being just 18-years old and having been throwing in at the deep end, he’s flattered to deceive a lot of the time, but Wolves legend Steve Bull still holds out hope for him.

During his time with Porto, Silva was described as the ‘€125 million boy’ because of his release clause in his contract which was, and still is, the highest to ever have been inserted into a contract in Liga Nos.

Former manager Nuno Espirito Santo may not have expected to have handed Silva as many as 12 Premier League starts but his hands were tied when Raul Jimenez was ruled out for the season in November.

Four goals in 32 league appearances doesn’t scream wonderkid however, and he came under scrutiny from Jamie O’Hara on Twitter following his appearance against Tottenham earlier this month, with the talkSPORT pundit labelling him as “absolutely shocking”.

Bull, though, does believe that he will prove his worth in the future and justify his huge price tag and then some more, as he exclusively told Football FanCast:

“Mendes and the club must have seen something in him and they did say when he first joined the club that in four years he’ll be worth £100 million.

“The club must see something that a lot of supporters can’t, but I do think you might see him gradually blend into a well-established centre-forward.”

Just this week, Jeff Shi admitted that he thinks Silva is the best wonderkid in the world at his age but his goal-scoring record at Molineux says otherwise when you look at what players such as Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland have been and are doing.

Next season could be a huge one for Silva’s development as he can hopefully have an entire season playing, training and learning from Jimenez who is expected to start next season fully fit.

Carlo Ancelotti must start Allan when Everton visit Brighton & Hove Albion on Monday night in order to take control of the midfield battle.

The Toffees boss is hopeful that the 30-year-old will be fit to feature at the Amex Stadium after missing last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace due to a minor injury.

Ancelotti could be short of options on the south coast after losing Andre Gomes to a hamstring issue against the Eagles, leaving Tom Davies and Jean-Philippe Gbamin potentially as his only fit holding midfielders.

Allan had started three of his side’s last four Premier League fixtures before the international break, after returning from a hamstring strain to face Southampton in March’s 1-0 win.

Everton’s medical team will carry out late checks to see if Allan can make his return against Brighton, where the Goodison Park natives will be without Abdoulaye Doucoure (foot) and Fabian Delph (tendon).

“For sure, Andre Gomes, who started to train individually today [Friday], will not be able to play on Monday,” Ancelotti said. “He will be able to play in the next game against Tottenham.

“We are checking on Allan. He trained normally this morning. We have to wait and see how it goes and if he will be available.”

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Ancelotti will hope that Allan is passed fit and can join Davies in protecting Everton’s backline against Brighton, as the Seagulls will have been encouraged by how Crystal Palace were able to take a point last time out.

Everton had to be more attacking with their line-up after losing Gomes in the first half as Gylfi Sigurdsson came on to replace the Portuguese, and the later introduction of Gbamin failed to add the defensive resilience needed.

Crystal Palace applied heaps of pressure in the closing stages and were able to strike a late equaliser through Michy Batshuayi to leave Merseyside with a draw, but could have scored beforehand had it not been for Robin Olsen.

The AS Roma loanee was called on to deny Eberechi Eze, Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew in quick succession before Batshuayi found the net, which will have given Brighton a sense of confidence that they too can take a result in Monday’s clash.

Ancelotti could prevent Graham Potter’s side replicating Crystal Palace’s methods by starting Allan if the Brazilian is passed fit, as the £21m summer signing from Serie A side Napoli – who Noel Whelan calls “incredible” – can get Everton on the ball and playing on the front foot.

The only game that Allan did not start following his return to action last month came away to West Bromwich Albion, when he was introduced with half an hour still to play to help the Blues gain control of the game.

“Allan coming on was probably about getting on the ball and getting us playing, sit in there and dictate us going forward – and then probably me to create or score a goal because it was 0-0,” said Sigurdsson after the game, via quotes shared by the Liverpool Echo.

Everton will need a result against Brighton to preserve their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, and they will likely need Allan performing like he has done previously if Ancelotti’s side are to dictate the midfield battle on Monday.

AND in other news, Everton have landed a huge boost in the race to sign an 11-goal striker subject to a potential £21.5m bid…