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Writing on Twitter, Sportitalia journalist Rudy Galetti has dropped a major claim involving Tottenham Hotspur and Marcus Thuram.

The Lowdown: Spurs moving for Thuram?

RMC Sport reporter Mohamed Bouhafsi first broke news that Tottenham are in advanced discussions to sign the Frenchman who is currently at Euro 2020 (Twitter).

Indeed, the journalist also claimed it is very likely the 23-year-old will leave current club Borussia Monchengladbach this summer after an impressive season in Germany.

Bouhafsi believes a swoop for Thuram is now a Spurs ‘priority’ this summer with the transfer window now well underway.

The Latest: Journalist drops Thuram to Spurs claim…

Writing on Twitter, fellow journalist Galetti has dropped his own update on the situation.

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Indeed, he believes that talks are in progress between Spurs and Monchengladbach over the transfer of Thuram but his €30 million (£25.7m) release clause recently expired.

This could mean Tottenham will now have to pay more to seal his signature.

“The times are getting longer between Tottenham and Borussia Monchengladbach for Marcus Thuram,” explained the reporter on social media.

“The €30m release clause recently expired and Spurs should invest at least €40/45m to close the deal.

“Talks in progress.”

The Verdict: Worth it?

Widely seen as a really exciting talent, this move will depend on Tottenham’s ability to either drive the price down or get as many unwanted players out the door as possible.

Tottenham have to adopt a sell-to-buy policy this summer with the coronavirus pandemic having a severe impact on their financing.

New managing director Fabio Paratici may have a huge job on his hands if he wishes to sign Thuram this summer, and going by his stats, the player should have no shortage of suitors.

Out of the entire Monchengladbach squad, the attacker averaged more completes dribbles per 90 in the Bundesliga (1.6) than any of his teammates and was only beaten by Alassane Plea in terms of shots attempted every match (WhoScored).

He may be worth the price tag, but whether Spurs have it to invest is another matter entirely.

In other news: ‘Tottenham are now planning’…Fabrizio Romano relays big N17 development, find out more here.

On-loan St. Johnstone goalkeeper Zdenek Zlamal believes the racism row involving Glasgow Rangers’ Glen Kamara was “great” for the Gers.

The Lowdown: Kamara racially abused at Ibrox

During Rangers’ 2-0 defeat to Slavia Prague at Ibrox in the Europa League, Kamara was racially abused by opponent Ondrej Kudela towards the end of the game.

Kudela has since received a 10-game ban, while Kamara was given a three-game suspension after assaulting Kudela in the tunnel (The Guardian).

The Latest: Zlamal makes astonishing claim

35-year-old Zlamal, however, has not only questioned the validity of the judgement, but also suggested the race row was good for Rangers. He told idnes.cz:

“We had a lot of discussion about the match at my club. There are a lot of guys at Hearts who are die-hard Rangers fans.

“Only the racism was discussed. They saw it differently than I did. The subject was quite hot and explosive, now it is calmer.

“No one in Scotland spoke about the tackles, only the racism. I pointed out how the match was played. Aggressive football is standard for Scots, but this went too far.

“Kemar Roofe kicked Ondrej Kolar in the head. It was a clear intention from him because strikers can peripherally see where the goalkeeper is. The apology was nothing.

“The racism was great for Rangers because it covered up all their shortcomings as Slavia beat them. Rangers players are definitely no saints.

“The whole thing annoys me because no one has presented any evidence. Innocent until proved guilty is supposed to be a big thing in the west, but that has not happened. I hope that Ondrej will be able to play in the Euros.

“If he said something racist, I agree with the maximum punishment, but there is no evidence.”

The Verdict: Outrageous

It is hard to know where to start with these comments. A player was racially abused during a football match, and now someone is saying it was something Rangers wanted? That is an absolutely outrageous claim. While Kemar Roofe’s challenge on Ondrej Kolar was awful – he received a four-match ban himself for it (Sky Sports) – it does not excuse the comments for which Kudela has been prosecuted. There was no need for Zlamal, who has career 276 appearances to his name (Transfermarkt), to share this opinion.

For some reason, it feels as though Czech figures are taking the punishment personally, as if the whole country was on trial for Kudela’s words. That, quite obviously, is not the case, nor should it be. Kudela is the man clearly in the wrong here, and is the one taking the heat for it, not the whole Czech Republic.

In other news, Danny Mills slams the Gers’ treatment of this midfielder.

Some Everton fans have been left to buzz as Erik ten Hag has been named as a potential candidate to be the new manager at Goodison Park.

As per The Athletic, the current Ajax boss is on the shortlist of the Merseyside club to replace Carlo Ancelotti, who has left to go and manage Real Madrid.

However, the news outlet also claims that it is unlikely at this stage that ten Hag would take the job, especially given the fact that he signed a new one-year contract extension with the Dutch club until 2023 back in April (Sky Sports).

Nonetheless, he would seemingly be a popular choice among some members of the Toffees faithful, given that he has recently won the domestic double with Ajax (Transfermarkt).

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The 51-year-old also famously guided an exciting Ajax team, containing names such as Matthijs De Ligt, Frenkie De Jong and Hakim Ziyech, to the UEFA Champions League semi-final stage in the 2018/19 season, only to be knocked out by a last-gasp Lucas Moura goal for Tottenham Hotspur.

Everton fans on ten Hag manager update

These Blues supporters buzzed as the manager update was shared on Twitter:

“ten Hag would be a very good coup”

Credit: @taylor_davies77

“Would be all over ten Hag but think he’s just signed a new contract”

Credit: @sayantan_01

“Would love Erik tbh”

Credit: @PREZY29

“ten Hag’s the man for the job.”

Credit: @joshwilbert1

“Out the managers you’ve listed only two would be either ten Hag or Fonseca”

Credit: @pauljohno1878

“ten Hag and Fonseca only options in my view”

Credit: @toffee5000

In other news, find out what manager update has left EFC fans raging here!

After making his return from injury last time out in the Premier League, Jack Grealish must surely make Dean Smith’s starting line-up for Aston Villa’s clash against Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon.

The England international had missed the last twelve games in the top-flight with an injury, and given the number of weeks it took to see him finally back on the pitch, there would have been understandable fears about him missing the entire season.

But, the 5 foot 10 star came on for the final 18 minutes of the 0-0 draw against Everton, and while he couldn’t help inspire a late winner, should start from the off when Villa take on Roy Hodgson’s men.

Speaking after that Toffees game, Smith said: “I think (Grealish) had one mesmerising run where he had five or six Everton players chasing him and you thought it might be one of them days where he comes on scoring the winner.

“It’s really good to have him back. It’s small steps at the moment but it’s great to have him back out there. We’ve got three games now in the next 10 days and we’re hopeful Jack will play a part in all three of them games. Whether it’s Tottenham or Chelsea, we’re hoping to get 90 minutes out of him.

“He’ll be as fit as can be. He’s a naturally fit player anyway. He’s continued to work on his CV (cardiovascular) with a little bit more off feet and, in training, you don’t see a lack of fitness in him, that’s for sure.”

If Grealish is fit, then there’s no questioning he simply has to start against the Eagles, with the influence he has on this Villa side untold – in the 12 games that he missed, the side won just three games, and have completely fallen out of serious contention to finish in a European place.

Former Villa player Paul Merson raved about the kind of quality Grealish brings to the table, saying: “He’s a special player. He’s the best three or four-yard passer I’ve seen in the game for a long time. People will go ‘three or four-yard passes’, but you watch football when it comes back and see how many people roll the ball to a full-back and they have to take a touch or someone goes on the overlap and they kick it out of touch.

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“It is always a pitch perfect ball, that three or four-yard ball and for me he is a special player. Very comfortable on the ball, very gifted.”

Given their recent form, bringing Grealish back into the starting line-up could well be a real game-changer for Villa.

Meanwhile, Dean Smith must never play this Villa star again…

Some Wolves fans have been left to slam the display of Fabio Silva in their 1-0 away loss to Everton in the Premier League on Wednesday evening.

In a game that was played in front of several thousand Toffees supporters at Goodison Park, Richarlison grabbed the only goal as Carlo Ancelotti’s team took all three points.

On the opposite side of the pitch, Silva struggled to make an impact, as he lost out on 67% of his duels, and also failed to record a single shot on target or key pass, losing possession of the ball on no fewer than on 13 separate occasions in the match (Sofascore).

Nonetheless, the former FC Porto man will be hoping for a better performance in their final fixture against Manchester United at Molineux.

Wolves fans on Silva display

These WWFC supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to call the 18-year-old ‘petulant’:

“Silva needs to stop diving. #wwfc”

Credit: @kevins1966

“Where was Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Ronaldo, etc, etc!! These were class youngsters who always showed they had something about them!! Silva is a petulant kid nowhere good enough & in my opinion never will be. Biggest waste of multi millions in Wolves history.”

Credit: @SteveWiles20

“I really hope we buy an experienced striker over the summer. Fabio Silva is just a kid and out of his depth at the moment.”

Credit: @BalSinghBad

“Stop sending crosses to Fabio. Completely uncapable to connect. It´s like playing with 10 men”

Credit: @RodrigoBecarius

“What the hell is Nuno playing at taking MGW off when you’ve got Silva doing nothing and Moutinho misplacing passes and taking rubbish corners left right and centre. The mind boggles #wolves”

Credit: @mikeaitch20

“Will those fans who still rate Fabio Silva please make an appointment at the nearest psychiatric unit. Thank you. #wwfc”

Credit: @dougan_the

In other news, find out what transfer update has left Wanderers buzzing here!

Celtic remain in the hunt for Newcastle and Tottenham target Kyle Joseph, according to an exclusive report from Football Insider.

They have been informed from a Hoops source that the club remain in dialogue with the Wigan forward ahead of a potential cut-price move, despite reports suggesting that Newcastle were leading the way to land the teenager.

Celtic, who are looking to lure top young talent to Parkhead, have not given up hope of signing the 19-year-old, who is out of contract at the DW Stadium at the end of the season.

Football Insider added that both Newcastle and Spurs, along with Rangers, are also hopeful of landing Joseph on a pre-contract deal.

Transfer Tavern take

Former Celtic player and coach Billy Stark labelled Joseph’s goalscoring records coming through Wigan’s system as ‘excellent’, and it seems as if the youngster fits one of two Celtic transfer policies. The Hoops are thought to be looking at UK-based prospects with high upside potential who are available either on a pre-contract or for a nominal fee, per The Athletic.

Joseph fits that bracket of being an impressive UK young talent who could end up joining Celtic for just £300,000 in a compensation fee. He already has a number of senior appearances and goals under his belt, as well as being a Scotland youth international.

In the long run, Joseph could prove to be a shrewd replacement for someone like Leigh Griffiths, who at the age of 30 could end up being released by the club in the summer.

In other news: Two clubs interested in Griffiths on possible free transfer, find out more here. 

Former Premier League side Sheffield Wednesday could be relegated to League One this evening.

The Owls host Blackburn Rovers at Hillsborough Stadium tonight knowing that a defeat plus a win for relegation rivals Derby County would see their fate sealed.

In the absence of manager Darren Moore, assistant coach Jamie Smith will once again lead the side out and he will want to see a reaction after the south Yorkshiremen were held by ten-man Bristol City at the weekend.

But what sort of XI could we see selected? Here’s our prediction along with the latest news from the Wednesday camp…

There could be as many as three changes from the weekend.

Moore and Smith have a big decision to make in attack as the Owls looked toothless against the Robins despite having a player advantage, so we’re banking on a recall for Jordan Rhodes after he was axed for Saturday.

He’ll replace Callum Paterson upfront, with Josh Windass keeping his place just in behind and he could be joined by Andre Green, who is pushing for a start after an impressive cameo from the bench and a recent goal for the U23s.

The 22-year-old dynamo comes in for Kadeem Harris.

Out wide, both wing-backs Adam Reach and Liam Palmer should remain as they have done throughout the last few weeks, whilst Sam Hutchinson could move back into midfield, having been utilised at centre-back for the past two matches.

He’ll join skipper Barry Bannan in the engine room, with Osaze Urhoghide likely to return in a three-man defence after being snubbed in successive games for the first time since his opening league game of the season against Preston at the end of January.

Saturday’s goalscorer Julian Borner and vice-captain Tom Lees should partner the 20-year-old gem in front of veteran shot-stopper Keiren Westwood.

AND in other news, Worrying update emerges on £20k-p/w Sheffield Wednesday “leader”, Moore will be gutted…

Mark Douglas has claimed that Jetro Willems is on the radar of Newcastle United and remains close friends with Allan Saint-Maximin.

However, writing in his latest piece for The Chronicle, the football journalist has also claimed that Marseille also want to sign the Frankfurt ace.

Newcastle should sign Willems

Willems did a very good job for the St. James’ Park faithful when he was on loan in the North East, scoring two goals and making a further three assists from left-back in 20 games in total over all competitions across the 2020/21 term (Transfermarkt).

The Netherlands international certainly showed his worth in the Premier League, winning no fewer than 5.1 of his duels per game, as well as averaging two clearances, 1.9 tackles and 1.1 successful dribbles a match (Sofascore).

His performances on the pitch quickly made him become a fans favourite at the Tyneside club, with many members of the Toon Army begging for him to be signed on a permanent deal, and the 27-year-old would certainly give Steve Bruce another handy option.

Nonetheless, a potential reunion with the Magpies could well turn out to be a match made in heaven, but they would probably have to avoid being relegated to the Championship first of all.

In other news, find out what big Bruce update Luke Edwards has dropped here!

The signing of Rodrigo has simply not worked out for Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa, that is according to former Whites midfielder Carlton Palmer, who discussed the player in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.

Rodrigo, 30, arrived at Elland Road for a club-record fee of £26m last summer but has not quite managed to make the sort of impact fans would have been hoping for.

In 21 league appearances, the former Valencia forward has only managed to score three times, while he has also had his trouble with injury.

Rodrigo is now being linked with a move back to Spain as he sweats over his future with the national team ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about the Spain international, Palmer said:

“Listen, when you sign players, you can do your homework, you can do everything about that player. The Premier League is a different ball game, but it doesn’t matter even about the Premier League. Sometimes the players hit the ground running, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the signings work, sometimes they don’t, that is a fact.

“Rodrigo is one of those that hasn’t worked out. As a manager, if you get seven out of 10 of your signings that work, you’re doing very well. If you’re getting less than seven, you’ll be out of work.”

The ex-Leeds player, however, did add:

“It doesn’t mean they’re bad players. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out at a football club.”

While Rodrigo has struggled this season, Bielsa does have some success stories from the last summer transfer window.

Raphinha, who joined from Rennes, has been brilliant in attack for the Whites, racking up six goals and six assists in the Premier League so far.

Perhaps one criticism you could make of Steven Gerrard’s title-winning campaign as Rangers manager was the lack of opportunities for young players, but he can put that right by promoting Chris McKee to his first-team at Ibrox next season.

The 18-year-old, who joined Rangers from Linfield in 2018, has been scoring goals for fun in the academy in recent seasons and was rewarded with a new contract with the club in 2020, one which will see him stay with Gerrard’s side until 2022 at least.

He also earned his first call-up to the Northern Ireland U’21s earlier this season as a result of his performances for the Rangers B team, with whom he had scored eight goals by November, which was double the amount scored by any other player, which certainly suggests that he is one of the stars in the academy.

Earlier this month, McKee was sent on loan to Brechin City in League Two, having scored twice and assisted another in a friendly match between Brechin and Rangers’ B team back in November.

Although games have been postponed for all of this year so far as a result of the pandemic, the season resumes this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how McKee performs for Michael Paton’s side.

If he can impress in lower league football then perhaps he will earn a chance to make his debut for Rangers next season, although opportunities for young players in Gerrard’s side have been hard to come by this season.

Other than first-team regular Ianis Hagi, who is 22, we have seen just Calvin Bassey (21) make seven appearances in the league this season, whilst Nathan Patterson (19), has made four league appearances – which is arguably only due to the injury suffered by the influential James Tavernier.

Earlier in the year, Noel Whelan was full of praise for McKee in an interview with Football Insider, saying:

“Rangers have barely paid anything for McKee. He is a young player who knows where the back of the net is so he is worth his weight in gold, he really is.”

Therefore, whilst it may be tough for McKee to force his way into Gerrard’s plans, this loan move to Brechin City represents a real opportunity for him to find his feet in ‘men’s football’ before returning to Rangers ahead of next season, where he can hopefully make a real impression.

And, in other news… Wilson must not rush transfer decision on Rangers ace who Gerrard dubbed a “real threat”