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According to Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers winger Brandon Barker has been told he can leave Ibrox before the end of the transfer window.

The Lowdown: Not long left

There are just a matter of hours left before the transfer window slams shut.

With John Lundstram (rangers.co.uk), Fashion Sakala and Juninho Bacuna all making the move to the 55-time Scottish champions, there may not be many more new arrivals, but outgoings still look likely.

The Latest: Barker told he can leave

As per this latest report, Barker has been told he can leave the club today, with sources at Ibrox informing Football Insider.

His contract is set to expire at the end of the season (Transfermarkt), so he may have played his last game for the club even if the move is only a loan.

The Verdict: Makes sense

This is a move that makes sense for all involved. Barker has made just 26 appearances for Rangers in all competitions since making the move to Ibrox, joining Oxford United on loan last season after he couldn’t nail down a spot in Steven Gerrard’s starting XI.

However, he is a player that still has potential. He was called “one of the best” by Andy Halliday in regards to his performances in training at Rangers (via This is Futbol), while three goals and four assists in 19 League One appearances at Oxford displayed his ability – he had five strikes in total, mustering up 12 goals throughout his senior career. Surely there will be a suitor for him between now and the deadline.

In other news, this former Ger could make a shock transfer.

Aston Villa would’ve reportedly had to pay around £40m to secure reported transfer target Harry Winks this summer, as reported by The Times.

The Lowdown: Winks on the periphery at Spurs so far this season

The 25-year-old has been on the periphery at Spurs this season, with two of his four appearances coming in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers [Transfermarkt].

Trailing the likes of Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso in the midfield pecking order, could it be time for the England international to move on for the good of his career?

The Latest: Tottenham wanted £40m to sanction Winks’ departure

Of course, there was previous interest in Winks over the summer months, with Everton and Aston Villa both keen on his services [The Times].

However, it has now emerged that the north Londoners wanted to receive a sum of around £40m to part ways with their academy graduate, eventually putting off prospective suitors from making a move.

The Verdict: Right decision not to spend big money on Winks

All things considered, avoiding spending quite an extensive outlay on someone like Winks was the right decision by the Aston Villa hierarchy.

Dean Smith already has excellent midfield options at his disposal such as John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Morgan Sanson, even though Winks is a talented player himself when at his best.

Capable of rotating the ball with ease, he managed to record an impressive passing accuracy of 84.9% across the 2020/21 Premier League [WhoScored]. He also showed his desire to get stuck into the opposition, making 60 successful ball recoveries across the campaign [Premier League], while he was dubbed ‘amazing’ by his former boss Mauricio Pochettino back in 2019.

Should Winks be available for a more modest fee in upcoming windows, he may be a name worthy of consideration, but £40m seemed that bit steep considering that the prolific Ollie Watkins cost £28m.

In other news, many Aston Villa fans react to a moment of magic from a teenage prodigy. Find out more here.

A number of Liverpool supporters have hailed Jurgen Klopp’s apparent mind games ahead of the Premier League clash with Manchester City.

The Reds face their most important game of the season so far on Sunday, as they welcome reigning champions City to Anfield.

Klopp’s men currently have a one-point cushion over their rivals at the top of the table and a win this weekend could feel significant in the title race.

[freshpress-quiz id=“375258″]

It is an impossible result to call, but history suggests that the two sides could play out a thrilling encounter on Merseyside.

Speaking ahead of Sunday’s game [via journalist James Pearce on Twitter], Klopp claimed City are the best team in Europe at the moment, perhaps putting a little bit of extra pressure on Liverpool’s opponents.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-liverpool-transfer-news-5/” title=”Latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans react to Klopp’s comments

These Reds fans reacted to the comments on Twitter, praising the manager in the process.

“Mind gamesssssssssss. Pep will be fuming again lol”

Credit: @JisooLiverpool

“I love these mind games of Klopp”

Credit: @CallMeRyuk

“Mind games started already”

Credit: @Lewis4653

“Jurgen Klopp: The Art of Living Rent Free”

Credit: @KitsuneMersey

“Kill them with kindness. Truth is no team on the globe can reach our top level”

Credit: @mark1976lewis

“Flatter your enemy then control him”

Credit: @Dasmile25

“Mind games huh Jurgen?”

Credit: @dhavin_ramanah

In other news, these Liverpool fans are desperate for the Reds to sign one player. Find out who it is here.

Celtic’s superb run of form continued on Wednesday night as Ange Postecoglou’s side beat AZ Alkmaar 2-0 in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier.

The Hoops have now won their last five matches in all competitions and have scored a whopping 18 goals, conceding four times and keeping three clean sheets.

Kyogo Furuhashi and James Forrest scored the goals for Celtic either side of half time, with David Turnbull setting up the first and Furuhashi turning provider for the second goal.

The Japan international caught the eye with a goal and an assist to bring his name to the fore, but another player was an unsung hero for Postecogliu’s side. Stephen Welsh put in a sensational performance at centre-back and may not get the same applause as Furuhashi due to defending not being as glamorous and scoring and creating goals.

As per FotMob, Furuhashi was the man of the match for Celtic with his performance up front – landing a score of 8.0 against the Dutch side. Welsh, meanwhile, scored an impressive 7.7 for his display, which was the next-highest score in the XI.

Whilst the attacker takes the acclaim and the MOTM award, Welsh should be commended for his commanding showing at the back. Without his important defensive work it could have been a different game for Celtic and we could be sat here speaking about a 2-2 draw or a 3-2 loss instead of a win.

He won four of his five defensive duels and made nine ball recoveries (game-high) during the game, whilst also making six clearances (game-high) from his own box. This shows that he was active defensively throughout the night and was able to stop Joe Hart’s goal from being put under siege by the Eredivisie side. His defending then allowed the likes of Furuhashi, Forrest and Rogic to go about their work in the final third, which means that Welsh provided the solid foundation that the win was built on.

Welsh also had an eye-catching 63 touches of the ball and completed 87% of his passes. Both of these stats were game-leaders for Celtic, showing that he was also able to add ball-playing skills to his defensive expertise – helping the Hoops to progress up and the pitch and retain possession.

Therefore, the £1.2m-rated colossus was Celtic’s unsung hero against Alkmaar. Hopefully, he will be able to turn in a similar performance in the second leg to help the Scottish giants see of their Dutch counterparts.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Edouard: Celtic can form terrifying attack by signing 31 G/A phenomenon…

Aston Villa journalist Luke Hatfield has told Football FanCast that he would not be surprised to see the Midlands club offer Jack Grealish a new £200,000-a-week contract.

Grealish continues to be heavily linked with a move to Manchester City as Pep Guardiola looks to give his attack a revamp.

However, according to The Sun, Villa are ready to hand their captain an incredible £200,000-a-week deal in a bid to fend off City’s advances.

And if such an offer is eventually made, it would come as no shock to Hatfield, who covers the Villans for the Express & Star.

“It wouldn’t surprise me. I mean, Grealish is already the highest-paid player at Villa,” Hatfield said when asked if he could see the Premier League outfit offering their star man the amount of money that has been mentioned.

“With this interest from Manchester City obviously not going away, they’ll want to do their best to keep hold of him and the easiest way to do that is to tie him down to a new deal.”

Grealish, who provided more Premier League assists than any other Villa player last season, is the Villans’ most prized asset. It is a lot of money, but ultimately it looks worth it. If the club can afford it, then why not?

Spanish football journalist Euan McTear has refused to rule out the possibility of Manchester City making a sensational move for Lionel Messi despite already breaking the British transfer record for Jack Grealish.

Messi’s incredibly successful stay at Barcelona has officially come to an end after it was confirmed La Liga regulations have stopped the Spanish giants being able to re-sign the Argentina international.

The 34-year-old saw his contract expire at the end of June but agreed to extend his stay at the Nou Camp by negotiating reduced terms on a new deal.

Despite wanting to remain at Barcelona, Messi has been forced to seek pastures new as he cannot be re-registered or sign the contract due to the club exceeding La Liga’s wage limit.

According to Spanish media outlet Marca, a reunion with former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola at Manchester City is Messi’s preferred choice despite interest from French outfit Paris Saint-Germain.

Although City announced the arrival of Aston Villa talisman Grealish for £100million just hours after news of Messi’s departure broke, McTear still thinks the frontman who scored 672 goals in 778 appearances for Barcelona could end up at the Etihad Stadium.

He told Football FanCast: “Barcelona really needed to clear out a lot of wages to be able to register him with La Liga because they have a different system to other leagues.

“It sounds like Messi wanted to stay at Barcelona and wasn’t considering other clubs but it’s impossible for them to re-sign him, so he’ll have to think of somewhere.

“City has always been one that has made a lot of sense.”

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been snubbed by Valencia forward Lee Kang-in, according to a report from El Desmarque. 

Valencia, who finished in 13th last season, need to sell the South Korean before they can register another non-EU player in the form of Brazilian forward Marcos Andre. However, he has now rebuffed the advances of four different clubs, including Wolves and Ligue 1 outfit AS Monaco.

He is apparently willing to run down the final year of his contract and leave on a free transfer next summer if no satisfactory proposal arrives.

The lowdown on Wolves target Lee Kang-in

Lee, who can operate as an attacking midfielder and on either flank, has made 62 appearances for Valencia, scoring just three times and providing four assists (via Transfermarkt).

The 20-year-old has earned six caps for South Korea, having made his senior debut in September 2019. He featured for his country at the Olympic Games earlier this summer and scored three times in Tokyo.

Fan feed Talking Wolves relayed the report about his Molineux snub, and here’s what some supporters made of it.

Wolves fans bemoan Lee Kang-in news

“Joke club at the moment. All the people over the last few weeks saying “just wait and see”, “watch what happens”, “they know what they’re doing””

Credit: @LearyMitchell

“We are Rejected FC”

Credit: @WolvesNumber37

“Why do we continue to go for players who don’t want to come”

Credit: @Lazychris14

“Why does it feel like no one wants to play for us? Not even our own players”

Credit: @xGJHP

“Lol, and that’s why we keep going back to the Portuguese well. No more Kang-In rumors please, another window of this and he’s easily hitting Talisca levels.”

Credit: @FFTVS

“Wish we’d look elsewhere then, sick of seeing his name now”

Credit: @OhAnotherWolf

In other news, many Wolves fans were left fuming by this Bruno Lage admission. 

Amid all the transfer talk surrounding Jack Grealish at the moment, Aston Villa have another homegrown academy talent waiting in the wings to make his breakthrough in Carney Chukwuemeka.

The 17-year-old was handed his senior debut in the Premier League towards the end of last season by Dean Smith, making some late cameos against the likes of Spurs and Chelsea.

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has now delivered some exciting news on the plans for Chukwuemeka heading into the new campaign, which gets underway next month. He said: “Carney Chukwuemeka is the one teenager who will definitely be a part of the first team. He’s starting to fill out and will soon be ready for the demands of Premier League football.”

That was echoed by Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece, who said: “Chukwuemeka will have a big role; he’ll be a contender to start in the Carabao Cup. We’ll see a lot of him over pre-season.”

The teenager has earned rave reviews for his performances at youth team level with Villa, and was even dubbed as a “scary talent” by Preece.

Writing in his post-match player ratings after seeing him score a hat-trick against Newcastle in the FA Youth Cup, Preece showered him with more praise, saying: “This was a Carney Chukwuemeka masterclass. It was a clinic in how to play an advanced midfield role with the 17-year-old oozing confidence and swagger. The hype’s real surrounding this kid who, as supporters know, has been around Dean Smith’s first team for a long time now. Villa’s No.10 started almost every attack and looked to hurt Newcastle at every opportunity.”

Former Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie has previously urged Smith to throw Chukwuemeka into the deep end with the first-team.

He exclusively told Football FanCast: “I kind of go off the fans’ views – I know he’s been scoring goals in the Under-18s. When someone is scoring goals, they’ve showed they’re a massive threat, it does attract football clubs and when you’re getting Manchester City and United hovering around the vicinity and are trying to take the young players away.

“This is where I feel if he’s that good we need to see him filtered through to the first team especially at this stage of the season. We’ve seen the likes of Louie Barry, who I felt would have had more of a chance this season, and I would put him in that category. I’d like to see more of him playing, because if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”

If Grealish is to move on to Manchester City this summer, then Villa could find their next game-changer for the coming years in the 1.85m (6 foot 1) Chukwuemeka.

Meanwhile, a new update has emerged on Villa’s pursuit of Julian Alvarez…

Lee Ryder has dropped some potential timeframes on both Newcastle United takeover cases against the Premier League.

The Lowdown: Ashley vs Premier League

Mike Ashley has launched two separate claims against the English top flight over the failed deal between him and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium.

One is the arbitration case, which is set to take place over the coming months, and there is also the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) claim over the Premier League’s decision-making process regarding the failed takeover bid.

The Latest: Potential timeframes

Writing in a Q&A session for The Chronicle, football journalist and takeover follower Ryder has shared that the arbitration hearing, which is set to take place in July, could take three weeks to yield a result.

He also outlined that the separate anti-competition claim could take up to nine months for an outcome.

The Verdict: Arbitration key

Newcastle will certainly not want to come out of the arbitration proceedings with a negative result, as it means that they may have to rely upon the CAT claim, which would take much longer to find an outcome.

The timing of arbitration is not ideal either, given that the summer transfer window has already begun and the new 2021/22 season is set to start in August.

Nonetheless, a positive result could speed up the takeover process, which would be the best outcome for the Tyneside club as they look to go into the new campaign as best prepared as possible.

In other news, find out what FFP claim has been dropped on the potential takeover

Celtic are reportedly closing in on the signing of an out-of-contract attacker… 

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, Celtic are discussing personal terms with out-of-contract forward Kyle Edwards as they attempt to bolster their attacking options this summer.

The report claims that the Hoops are poised to make him a contract offer following his release from West Brom, whilst they will still need to pay a compensation fee to the Baggies for their part in developing him.

Fans will be buzzing

Celtic fans will be buzzing by this news as this appears to be a deal that is not a million miles away from getting over the line. He would arrive as a player with a decent amount of pedigree with Premier League and Championship experience under his belt in England, helping the Baggies secure promotion from the second tier and then playing a bit-part role as they were relegated the following campaign.

Edwards is an exciting young winger who could get supporters off their seats during games. WhoScored lists his biggest strength as dribbling, with a career average of 1.4 dribbles completed per game – although that is skewed by the fact the majority of his appearances have been as a substitute.

This shows that his style of play could lend itself to being loved by supporters, as long as he is able to pull it off effectively and add quality end product to score and create goals for the club.

One of his West Brom teammates, Romaine Sawyers, said last year that Edwards is an “unbelievable” talent and said that his old academy manager, Mark Harrison, compared him to Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

He told The Athletic: “I remember Kyle when he was proper, proper small — he was an unbelievable player even then.

“Mark Harrison, our old academy manager, told my age group, ‘We’ve got this kid who is 10 years old and this is Messi'”. 

The 23-year-old gem also has plenty of room for development. He will not be arriving at Parkhead as the finished article and this means that he could be a project for Ange Postecoglou to work on in the short and long term for Celtic.

Therefore, he could be a smart addition next season – given his experience in the Premier League and his dazzling dribbling skills.

AND in other news, Ange must avoid Celtic blunder with “inspirational” £15m beast, fans would be livid…