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Express and Star journalist Luke Hatfield doesn’t see Aston Villa signing James Ward-Prowse this summer.

Sky Sports reported earlier in the transfer window that the Saints had rejected a £25m bid from Villa for their club captain and the Telegraph reported last week [11th August] that both Aston Villa and Tottenham were preparing moves for Ward-Prowse.

Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl told the media in his pre-match press conference ahead of Southampton’s opening Premier League match: “Prowsey [James Ward-Prowse] is a guy who everybody wants to have, but I don’t see a scenario for him not to be with us for the next few years” [football.london].

Luke Hatfield also can’t see a deal taking Ward-Prowse to Villa Park happening, telling Transfer Tavern: “The James Ward-Prowse one is tough for them.

“I just think when you sign a player from a club, like you signed Danny Ings it’s never a good look to sign a second player from them and for Southampton as their club captain as well who’s got a lengthy deal, I just don’t see it happening now.

“I think it would take a really large amount of money to even get Southampton considering to sell, especially considering that Ings and Vestergaard have both gone.”

Aston Villa have already completed the signing of Danny Ings from Southampton this summer, with the Saints also seeing defender Jannik Vestergaard leave St. Marys for Leicester City.

Villa have had a brilliant summer transfer window, signing six players, with Ashley Young, Caleb Chukwuemeka, Axel Tuanzebe, Leon Bailey, Danny Ings and Emi Buendia all arriving at Villa Park.

Crystal Palace remain in talks with Watford for midfielder Will Hughes, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.

And a number of Eagles fans have been giving their thoughts to the news on social media.

Hughes is into the final 12 months of his Vicarage Road contract and has actually turned down a new deal.

He’s been demoted to train with the club’s Under-23’s, and it seems as if a move to Selhurst Park could be on the cards.

Reports on the weekend from The Sun suggested that the Eagles tabled a £7m offer plus add-ons for the 26-year-old and were poised to agree a deal.

Sheth shared an update on Wednesday evening, claiming the gap in valuation between the two clubs is thought to be in the region of £10m.

Palace fans react

@CPFCtransfersHQ shared Sheth’s post on Twitter. This is what these Palace fans had to say in reply to the update, with some supporters responding to Sheth directly.

“The gap is 10 mil?!? Like ten mil difference!?! Surely not? If so forget”

Credit: @NickPRochford

“sky 2 weeks behind? imagine my shock”

Credit: @CPFC_Ollie_

“With respect, genuinely, £10mil. No thanks. Rather use that money on a winger and forward.”

Credit: @SuperSySez

“Yeah we need players but we don’t need Hughes for £10m”

Credit: @erictwigs

“I could have told you all that”

Credit: @SWPalace

“After this I am now more convinced than ever that Palace hold absolutely no interest in Hughes.”

Credit: @CroydonExile1

In other news: ‘On my knees’, ‘Get this done’ – Lots of CPFC fans erupt as ‘class’ transfer news emerges.

Jordan Cross has provided an update on Portsmouth’s transfer plans regarding the position in which they want to strengthen. 

What’s the talk?

According to The News journalist, Danny Cowley’s side are in the market to sign an attacking midfielder before the transfer deadline.

The report claims that Pompey could look for a loan move from a Premier League or Championship club, with Cross going on to speculate on some of the players they could potentially sign.

Fans will be excited

Portsmouth fans will be excited by this news as it shows that the club are actively looking to strengthen the squad before the end of the window and are not content with what they already have. Pompey have won three of their four League One matches this season, keeping four clean sheets and scoring an average of once per game.

Marcus Harness and John Marquis are the only attackers who have managed to get themselves on the scoresheet in the league, suggesting that there is room for improvement in that area of the pitch.

Cowley recently admitted that Gassan Ahadme is starting to find his feet in the number 10 role, but still has plenty left to learn. The manager said: “He showed his fitness and did really well for the penalty.

“He’s got a lot to learn but he played with power and energy. He got up to the ball and he gave us good quality in possession.
“Technically he did well and gave us something. He was a real plus for us, one of the real positives and he looks like he’s starting to find his feet.”

On loan from Norwich, Ahadme has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.92 in three appearances. He has created 1.3 chances and completed one dribble per game, showing signs that he could add quality in the starting berth behind the strikers.

However, the forward has not directly contributed to a goal so far this season, and adding another player to compete with him for the number 10 position could push him to work harder in training and improve his own game. That is why fans could be excited to see who the club brings in between now and the end of the transfer window, as it could be a much-needed signing to bolster the attacking ranks and help Cowley’s team find the net more regularly.

AND in other news, Cowley must sanction deal for 20y/o gem, Portsmouth fans would be delighted…

Get French Football News features writer Adam White has exclusively told Transfer Tavern that he expects Jonathan Bamba to remain at Lille amid links with West Ham United on deadline day.

Reliable Irons insider ExWHUemployee said on his show, via Patreon, on Tuesday lunchtime that the east London outfit were in last-gasp talks to try and bring the attacker to the London Stadium before the 11pm deadline tonight, with discussions with the player’s agent ongoing.

The Frenchman helped Lille to a shock Ligue 1 title win last term scoring six goals and providing a further 11 assists in 38 French top-flight matches, although his best campaign in front of goal came in 2018-19 when he netted 13 times in the same number of appearances.

White doesn’t believe the 25-year-old has been in top form in 2021 to date, and believes he will stay at Lille, as he told Transfer Tavern: “As far as we understand at GFFN, Jonathan Bamba is expected to remain at Lille unless a late bid, that hasn’t materialised yet, arrives for the player.

“His career with Lille has been very up and down so far. Before Christmas last season he was perhaps the most important player for a team that eventually won the title, playing with a swagger and intensity as well as an end product that has often been lacking.

“However, since Christmas, his form has trailed off to the point where he wasn’t even a guaranteed starter at the end of the season before falling off a cliff this season. He’s been playing like a player who wants to leave.”

West Ham have been relatively busy in the transfer window to date, bringing in the likes of Alphonse Areola and Kurt Zouma, while Nikola Vlasic followed on deadline day from CSKA Moscow.

The Hammers are also being linked with a late swoop for Spartak Moscow’s Alex Kral, with a deal reportedly on the cards.

Celtic are tracking Drogheda United midfielder Killian Phillips, according to The Irish Independent’s Daniel McDonnell.

The Lowdown: Phillips profiled

Phillips is 19 years of age and joined his current employers earlier this year.

Described as a versatile midfielder, the teenager is out of contract with Drogheda at the end of 2021, as per Transfermarkt.

He’s made 20 appearances for the Irish side, scoring once and registering one assist, and it seems as if he is catching Celtic’s eye.

The Latest: Celtic interest

McDonnell shared a story on Wednesday lunchtime regarding Celtic’s interest in Sligo Rovers forward Johnny Kenny.

Within his report, McDonnell claimed the Hoops will watch Kenny in action on Friday against Drogheda before sharing Celtic’s interest in Phillips.

Phillips is attracting attention from overseas, seemingly Celtic, with his long-term future on the pitch reportedly viewed as a centre-back rather than a midfielder.

The Verdict: Another Scales?

Liam Scales made the move from Ireland to Scotland this summer, and it appears as if Phillips could well follow suit down the line.

Celtic saw Scales’ versatility as crucial when bringing him to Parkhead, so Phillips’ ability to play in both midfield and in defence could work in his favour.

He may well have the chance to impress Celtic officials live on Friday during their scouting trip to watch Kenny, and who knows, should he do just that, a cut-price move in the New Year could well be on the cards.

In other news: Celtic source shares transfer news different to Sky Sports claim; good news for McKay and Ange.

Having seen his Sheffield Wednesday side get their 2021/22 League One campaign off to an impressive start, with the Owls picking up 10 points over their opening five fixtures of the season, Darren Moore would have undoubtedly been hoping for another positive performance from his team on Saturday.

However, with a challenging trip to Plymouth Argyle on the cards, with Ryan Lowe’s side remaining unbeaten in the league since the opening day, a victory was by no means guaranteed for Wednesday.

And so it turned out, with Joe Edwards 7th minute strike giving the home side the lead, which Dan Scarr doubled shortly before the break, before Ryan Law made it 3-0 for Argyle in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time.

As such, perhaps unsurprisingly, there were a number of Sheffield Wednesday players who turned in below-par performances in the fixture, with Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Liam Palmer and Sylla Sow all having games to forget, however, it was arguably Jack Hunt who was the most disappointing on the day.

Lost 100% duels

Indeed, prior to his substitution in the 45th minute, the £1.35m-rated right-back proved highly ineffective in defence, making no interceptions, no tackles, no clearances and conceding one foul.

The 30-year-old also lost 100% of his four duels, gave away possession of the ball on seven occasions and failed with his one attempted dribble and his one attempted cross.

These returns saw the £13k-per-week defender earn an extremely disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.0, with no outfield player from either side receiving a lower score than the Sheffield Wednesday man.

As such, whether or not Hunt keeps his place in Moore’s backline for the visit of Shrewsbury Town next week would appear to be very much up in the air at present, although, should the right-back indeed keep his starting spot, he will undoubtedly have to up his level of performance if his side have any hope of getting back to winning ways against the Shrews.

In other news: Moore could finally unlock “huge” potential of £1.35m-rated ace, he could fire SWFC up

Rangers failed to return to winning ways as they were held to a 1-1 draw at Ibrox by Motherwell on Sunday afternoon.

Fashion Sakala got off the mark with his first goal for Rangers to put the club in front, but a second half equaliser from Kaiyne Woolery secured a point for the away side.

Motherwell only managed one shot on target in the entire match, compared to the home team’s 24 shots and seven on target at the other end. However, Steven Gerrard’s side were unable to make the most of their opportunities in front of goal.

Despite Sakala finding the back of the net, the Zambian forward did not quite steal the show for Rangers. Instead it was central midfielder Joe Aribo, who took his place in the midfield three after a difficult night out wide against Lyon on Thursday.

The former Charlton man was deployed as a winger against the French outfit and struggled to show his best qualities, but that changed against Motherwell as Gerrard placed him back in his more favoured central role.

Offensively, he was outstanding today. As per SofaScore, he created six chances, including two ‘big chances’, and set up Sakala’s opener. He also completed all four of his attempted dribbles and 76% of his passes. This shows that he stepped up in terms of creativity and was able to hand his teammates opportunities in front of goal, but Rangers were only able to make the most of it on one occasion.

Aribo was also not afraid to put himself about in the midfield and win his 50-50s. As per SofaScore, he won an impressive 69% of his duels on the pitch, coming out on top in seven of his 10 ground duels and two of his three in the air, whilst also making one tackle and one interception.

This shows that he stood up to the physical test of Motherwell and was able to hold his own. He was then able to merge that with his quality on the ball, with the aforementioned creative statistics showing that he put in a complete performance.

Rangers did not win but Aribo created enough chances for them to do so, which is why he stole the show ahead of other players. Gerrard must be buzzing with the midfielder’s display and hoping that the Nigerian can keep up a similar level of performance throughout the rest of the campaign.

In other news: Wilson must work his magic to strike deal for Rangers “mountain”, fans would love it

Football Insider pundit Noel Whelan has been giving his thoughts on Everton’s reported January transfer plans.

The Lowdown: ‘Next van Dijk’ eyed

According to Football Insider, who were informed by an Everton source, Rafa Benitez wants the Toffees to sign the ‘next van Dijk’ in the New Year.

No specific names are mentioned in the report, but the Spaniard seemingly wants a top-class centre-back to lead his backline.

The Toffees have four senior centre-backs on the books at this moment in time, along with teenager Jarrad Branthwaite, but it appears as if another option is wanted in the winter window.

The Latest: Whelan reacts

Whelan was asked by Football Insider for his thoughts on Benitez’s plans. This is what the 46-year-old had to say in reply, believing that the right centre-back option “can win you matches”:

“Everton are sorted in some areas.

“There’s have a real good defensive midfield player there in Allan. They also have the striker position sorted with Calvert-Lewin, Richarlison and Rondon coming in.

“They got the wingers in Gray and Townsend as well so those areas are sorted. Yes, they did buy some new defenders under Ancelotti.

“But when you look at it, you think that one centre half could be the missing jigsaw piece.

“Look at Liverpool with Van Dijk, Man United with Maguire, City with Dias.

“A player like that can really make the difference. That leadership and quality as a centre half can win you matches.

“That is definitely the right area to improve if you are Everton.”

The Verdict: The right move?

Everton kept 12 clean sheets during the 2020/21 campaign but have just one from their opening five league games this season, so bringing in a marquee defensive addition could make a huge difference in the long run as Whelan has suggested.

Liverpool and Manchester City have reaped the rewards in recent years by bringing in quality defenders in Virgil van Dijk and Ruben Dias, so Everton could follow suit.

That may not make them European challengers straight away, but it could be a solid base in the club’s aspirations to climb the table in years to come.

In other news: ‘Sack Marcel Brands’, ‘We’re going down’ – Lots of Everton fans fume as injury update emerges. 

Speaking to Football Insider, former England goalkeeper and Sky Sports pundit Paul Robinson has slammed Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno Espirito Santo after his ‘worrying’ reveal.

The Lowdown: Nuno makes revelation…

As quoted by The Telegraph, Spurs’ head coach has made an admission on the challenges he and his players face at Hotspur Way as they aim to put the dismal Jose Mourinho era behind Tottenham.

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

The Portuguese, speaking candidly to the press, made a revelation that there are still ‘many problems to solve’ – with it also being suggested that there is ‘not much time’ to fix them in training as opposed to matches over the coming weeks.

Reacting to this admission, Robinson has now slammed Nuno whilst making a claim.

The Latest: Robinson slams Nuno…

Speaking to FI, the former Spur and Sky Sports regular believes that the ‘many problems’ is a worrying statement and the lack of pre-season to sort them out comes as ‘no excuse’ for the Lilywhites boss.

“That is worrying to hear,” he told Football Insider.

“They have had a full pre-season and we’re only five games into the season.

“Yes, the pre-season was shortened by the international tournaments but that is no excuse.

“Five games in and there’s problems that he doesn’t have time to solve in the training ground? That is a concerning statement if you ask me.”

The Verdict: Interesting times ahead for Tottenham…

Linked with a plethora of new managers earlier this year before eventually deciding to appoint Nuno, it appears there is already plenty of pressure on the 47-year-old.

Their long-running search for Jose Mourinho’s era successor finally came to an end with the former Wolves boss, but given he was only offered a two-year deal, it appears he is very much on trial right from the off.

He will not have much time to gel Spurs into a formidable outfit who can challenge for a top four place and the heat is very much on.

In other news: Spurs now want ‘outstanding’ 29 y/o who Pochettino wanted to make one of his highest earners, find out more here.

Frank McAvennie has now revealed what he has heard about the ongoing situation with Connor Goldson and his Glasgow Rangers contract.

The Lowdown: No deal yet

Goldson is out of contract at Ibrox next summer, and West Ham United are reportedly monitoring his situation ahead of a potential approach in the January transfer window (Football Insider).

If he has not signed by January, then he can be approached by clubs ahead of a potential free transfer in the summer.

The Latest: McAvennie on Goldson

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie, who is now a pundit after playing as a striker for the likes of the Hammers and Celtic, has revealed what he and former Gers player Derek Ferguson have heard about the situation:

“There are a lot of rumours up here about Goldson.

“From what I hear, Rangers have offered him good money. I spoke to Derek Ferguson this morning and he’s heard there is a decent contract offer.

“There may be something going on, we just don’t know. It’s worrying he hasn’t signed a new deal yet.

“He’s a big player for them and he’s not tied down, that has to be a concern.

“There must be something going on otherwise he would have signed it. It sounds like the offer is good so it must be for Goldson.”

The Verdict: Sign him up

Goldson is clearly a very important player for the Light Blues, having played in all but two games and captained the team on a few occasions so far this season (Transfermarkt).

To lose him on a free transfer would be nothing short of devastating, especially as he still holds a decent market value.

Nonetheless, there are still a couple of months to go until January comes calling, and so it is imperative that the Gers get the central defender tied down between now and then, and meet whatever demands he has.

In other news, find out what early Team News before Hibernian Steven Gerrard has dropped here!