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Leicester City have ended talks to sign Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard after a lengthy pursuit of the 23-year-old.

What’s the story?

The Foxes had been heavily linked with a move for the France Under-21 international in recent weeks as Brendan Rodgers aims to bolster his first-team squad.

However, according to well-known journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, negotiations to bring Edouard to the King Power Stadium have broken down as the Midlands outfit are set to sign Patson Daka instead.

Fans will be gutted

After narrowly missing out on a Champions League qualification spot last season, Rodgers has moved quickly this summer as he plots another assault on the Premier League’s top four.

Lille midfielder Boubakary Soumare is expected to sign in the coming days, and the addition of Daka from RB Salzburg will be another significant injection of quality for the current FA Cup holders.

However, news that Edouard won’t be lining up alongside the likes of Jamie Vardy and Youri Tielemans will leave large sections of the club’s supporters feeling gutted.

The 6 ft 1 forward has enjoyed four incredible years at Celtic Park, scoring 83 goals in 168 appearances for the Hoops, winning nine major trophies along the way.

Rodgers had previously managed the former Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate during his time in Scotland, with many hoping the reunion would see Edouard adapt to the demands of the English top-flight with relative ease.

After qualifying for next term’s Europa League, Leicester will need the resources required to fight on multiple fronts in 2021/22.

And although Daka will certainly help them do just that, an injury to either the Zambia international, Vardy, or Kelechi Iheanacho will leave them dangerous light on attacking options once again.

With only 12 months remaining on his contract at Celtic, Edouard appeared to be available at a bargain price this summer, and some fans may be left scratching their heads at the hierarchy’s decision to call off proceedings.

Rodgers has done a stellar job throughout his two-and-a-half-year stay with the Foxes, but he’ll have to try and improve on consecutive fifth-placed finishes without the addition of one of his former star performers.

And, in other news…Rodgers can save millions by unleashing “incredible” rarely-seen Leicester colossus 

Journalist Jordan Cronin has slammed both Richarlison and Anthony Gordon for their antics as Everton lost 2-0 away to Liverpool on Sunday.

The Lowdown: Everton tactics

Frank Lampard clearly set up his team to frustrate the hosts at Anfield, as they committed eight fouls in total and picked up five yellow cards (SofaScore).

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One of those was for Gordon, who was booked for simulation in the first half, while Richarlison was also cautioned late on after a nasty tackle on Jordan Henderson, amid the Brazilian being accused of play acting and deliberately time wasting throughout the game.

The Latest: Cronin reacts

Taking to Twitter, Cronin slammed Richarlison and Gordon for their antics on the pitch, saying:

“There’s trying to frustrate Liverpool and then there’s Everton. Embarrassing at times, especially Richarlison and Gordon.”

The Verdict: Nothing to show

Ultimately, the tactics employed by Everton did not pay off, as Jurgen Klopp’s team won 2-0 in the end.

Richarlison and Gordon did show some bright sparks in the match, as they won a combined 13 duels between them and also recorded four successful dribbles and two key passes in total (SofaScore).

However, they were guilty of giving the ball away no fewer than 33 times combined, and ultimately they could not make the most of their strides toward Alisson’s net.

Nonetheless, the Toffees will want to put this result behind them now and focus on Chelsea at Goodison Park next weekend as they aim to climb out of the relegation zone.

In other news, find out which Premier League club are now eyeing this Toffees centre-back

Pundit Kevin Phillips has shared when he feels Celtic will officially announce Eddie Howe as their new manager.

The Lowdown: Howe finalising his backroom staff?

The former Bournemouth boss has been heavily linked with a move to Parkhead, however, there have been a few bumps along the way.

Howe reportedly verbally agreed on a move to Glasgow before having second thoughts and then speaking to Crystal Palace.

He’s not the front runner to become Roy Hodgson’s successor, though, with Sean Dyche reportedly leading the way there, and it’s been reported that he is now looking to finalise his backroom staff ahead of a Scotland switch.

The Latest: Phillips drops ‘definite’ claim

The Hoops only have two games remaining in the Scottish Premiership, with John Kennedy taking interim charge following Neil Lennon’s resignation back in February.

Howe’s representative confirmed the earliest the 43-year-old would return to the dugout would be the summer, and Phillips feels an official announcement could be made on the last weekend of the season.

Phillips, 47, talking to Football Insider, said:

“I think Kennedy will see the season out.

“They’ll keep it quiet. There’s no rush to make an announcement now. Just get everything sorted with the plans for his arrival, if it is to be Eddie Howe.

“Maybe they can make the announcement on the last weekend of the season. This has been mooted for a long time and it won’t be a surprise when it is announced.

“But it will definitely be the last weekend of the season.”

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The Verdict: Timing doesn’t work for McKay

We don’t agree with Phillips on this one, as certain dates don’t seem to add up.

Howe reportedly wants to bring members from Bournemouth’s coaching staff with him to Parkhead, however, the likes of Stephen Purches and Stephen Weatherstone are currently busy preparing for the Cherries’ push for promotion to the Premier League through the playoffs.

The Championship semi-final second legs are played on May 22, with the final on May 29, whereas Celtic’s last game of the season is against Hibernian on May 15.

Going off those dates, we’d be very surprised if the Hoops and Howe managed to sort out deals for Purches and Weatherstone in time for the final weekend of Celtic’s campaign.

New Celtic CEO Dominic McKay may have to remain patient, but hopefully, their patience will ultimately pay off in the long run.

In other news: Alan Nixon drops 11-word Celtic admission on Eddie Howe, find out more here. 

This has been a torrid old summer for Everton Football Club as they strive to pick up the rubble following Carlo Ancelotti’s departure.

Rafa Benitez is now at the helm but with his association to the red side of Merseyside in mind, he’s had a difficult start to life at Goodison Park.

What’s the word?

The Spanish coach has so far had to make do with cheaper signings in the transfer window while he’s also had to deal with the threat of star players leaving.

James Rodriguez looks as though he could join AC Milan while Richarlison had even fielded a phone call from Ancelotti about a move to Real Madrid.

However, the Brazilian should be staying at the Toffees this summer after Fabrizio Romano provided an exciting update on his future during a Twitch stream.

Asked whether there was a chance that Richarlison could end up in Madrid, he simply replied; “No.”

Fans buzzing

With Everton not looking likely to spend big this summer, holding onto one of their most vibrant attacking players was of utmost importance.

Richarlison had a difficult end to the season, scoring just once in his final 12 matches and failing to assist a goal at club level in the entire of 2021.

However, his form during the ongoing Olympics has proved exactly why he’s such a talented player and why Everton must keep him at all costs.

During Brazil’s opening match, the striker scored a fantastic hat-trick for his country against Germany. Richarlison has since scored two more goals, meaning he now leads the pack in the race for the Golden Boot.

An incredibly tricky player, no individual in an Everton shirt recorded more than his 1.8 successful dribbles per match last term.

He was also the club’s second top scorer behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin, proving just how important the forward could be to Benitez this season.

Richarlison has the tendency to be a frustrating figure but on his day, he is a first-class talent, someone who can scare Premier League defenders to death.

Consequently, fans should be delighted that he’s set to stay put in Merseyside.

AND in other news, Everton can seal best deal since Lukaku with “electric” £36m star who’s “unstoppable”…

Aston Villa don’t rate West Brom star Matheus Pereira as highly as other targets, according to The Athletic’s Villa correspondent Gregg Evans.

And, as to be expected, the latest update has had plenty of Villa fans talking on social media.

Villa have been linked with a move for Pereira recently, however, it seems as if sporting director Johan Lange has two other players higher up on his summer wishlist.

According to Evans, Villa have already laid extensive groundwork over deals for Burnley’s Dwight McNeil and Norwich City’s Emiliano Buendia.

Evans adds that Pereira could still come into the reckoning regarding a Midlands switch, however, at this moment in time, the Brazilian isn’t rated as highly as McNeil or Buendia.

Villa reportedly want two or three signings ahead of the 2021/22 season, but it seems as if Pereira may not be one of those going off the latest update.

Villa fans react

@villareport shared Evans’ claims on Pereira on social media on Friday morning. This is what these fans had to say in reply, with many not exactly thrilled and one describing the call as ‘stupid’.

“Can you imagine what Jack Grealish must think of this? Dwight McNeil ahead of Matheus Pereira? It’s an absolute joke. And with our business supposedly limited to 2/3 ‘smart’ signings it’s hardly surprising he’s linked to a City move this morning. No ambition whatsoever.”Credit: @_porsalin”Madness. Absolute madness. Seriously Smith doesn’t know a good winger”Credit: @Harry34740948″We are so stupid if that’s true”Credit: @jackavfc1″McNeil over Pereira??? Really???”Credit: @willjonesavfc1″Pereira should be our main priority after Buendia”Credit: @OllyAVFC_”I really don’t understand this but I’ve got faith in Lange”Credit: @compsavfc_

In other news: Many AVFC fans react to Tom Heaton update, find out more here. 

An update has emerged on Southampton forward Danny Ings, regarding West Ham’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to The Athletic, West Ham are showing an interest in Southampton centre-forward Danny Ings as he continues to opt against signing a new contract at St. Mary’s.

He has 12 months left to run on his existing deal and is waiting to see what offers he gets from other teams this summer before committing his future to the Saints.

The report claims that Tottenham and Aston Villa are also interested in the England international, although, Ings is hoping to join a club already in the Champions League picture for next season.

Arnautovic 2.0

West Ham must seal a deal to sign Ings if there is any chance of them being able to land him. The line about him wanting Champions League football clearly does not favour the Hammers in any transfer pursuit, given that they failed to make the top four last term, but that does not mean that the situation cannot change. David Moyes may be able to sell the project to Ings and convince him that with his help, West Ham can become a top-four club in the not-too-distant future.

The club should be working hard to get a deal over the line for the English forward, as he could be a sublime addition to the squad as he is the type of player that Moyes needs.

Michail Antonio was West Ham’s top scorer last season with 10 strikes and Sebastien Haller’s tally of three was the next highest by a striker in the squad, suggesting that the Scot is in dire need of another centre-forward.

In terms of West Ham centre-forwards down the years, Ings is comparable to maverick ex-Stoke man Marko Arnautovic. Ings may not be the fiery character, to put it lightly, Arnautovic is but he carries similar qualities in the way he operates at the top end of the pitch.

The Austrian averaged over one dribble per game across his two Premier League campaigns for the Irons, as Ings has in the past two years for the Saints, whilst they both struggled aerially with 1.2 aerial battles won per game or fewer in each of their past two domestic seasons in England.

Both players like to take players on and create chances for themselves, taking shots from distance. They can create opportunities out of nothing to score goals, with both players hitting double figures for goals in those two seasons.

Clinton Morrison once said that Ings has “first-class” movement and claimed that he has the ability to play for a top-four club given his form for Southampton in the Premier League in recent seasons.

He said:

“Yes, I would say Danny Ings is top-four quality, most definitely. The season he’s had at Southampton, if you put him in one of the teams at the top four, he’d easily score goals like that.

“I used to play with a striker who used to play like Danny Ings – Robbie Keane.

“I look at the way Ings plays at the moment, his movement is first class and I used to say to Robbie Keane, ‘how do you get in behind defenders when you’re not rapid?’ His movement was first-class and Danny Ings is like that.”

Ings could be a sublime addition to West Ham’s squad and become the striker that Moyes has been lacking. His movement and wizardry to create chances for himself can help to unlock defences and help the Hammers win even more games in the Premier League next season, giving them a real shot at a top-four finish.

AND in other news, The Athletic drop concerning West Ham update on £10m “leader”, Moyes will be gutted…

An update has emerged on Aston Villa’s pursuit of Metz midfielder Pape Sarr… 

What’s the talk?

According to the Birmingham Mail, Villa have decided to back out of the race to sign Metz midfielder Pape Sarr this summer.

The report claims that Villa’s interest in the 18-year-old midfielder has been cooled and that they are currently focussed on signing a number 10 as they also look set to miss out on a deal for Arsenal talent Emile Smith-Rowe.

Fans will be gutted

Director of Football Johan Lange is facing a disaster with this decision and Villa fans will be gutted as Sarr could have been a much-needed arival for the club.

At this moment in time, no alternative targets have been named and supporters will have every right to be frustrated that a promising young talent will not be arriving at the club.

Dean Smith lacks strength-in-depth in the central midfield positions and the signing of Sarr could have helped to alleviate that issue. Marvelous Nakamba is the current backup defensive midfield option for the former Brentford coach and he struggled throughout the 2020/21 campaign. The 27-year-old averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.52 in the Premier League as he made 13 appearances.

This suggests that Villa are in need of an upgrade on the Zimbabwe international. Sarr could have been that upgrade given his performances for Metz in Ligue 1. The teenager averaged an impressive WhoScored rating of 6.92 in 18 starts as a central midfielder, whilst making 3.2 tackles and interceptions per game.

Metz manager Frédéric Antonetti heaped praise on the young midfielder earlier this year, claiming that he “will go far” in the game.

He said:

“Pape Matar Sarr is elegance in the midfield, it’s talent, it’s making others play.

“He will be able to go as far as he wants to go. He must work, be as he is there, modest, regular, hardworking. He must continue to love football and he will do like the great players, he will go far. I think he will go very far.”

This shows why the £9m-rated gem could have been a very good signing for Villa, as he has the quality to fill a gap in Smith’s squad.

At the age of 18, he also has the majority of his career ahead of him to develop as a player and improve to potentially become a key cog in Villa’s XI.

Smith could have worked with him closely on the training pitch to nurture his game, but that now appears to be a distant memory with Lange now looking elsewhere. Villa fans will surely be gutted at this update.

AND in other news, NSWE must avoid grave £30m mistake with “Mr Conservative”, Villa fans would be fuming…

With an average squad age of 27.3, Manchester City have the eight-oldest squad in the Premier League at this moment in time, with 36-year-old Fernandinho being the joint-oldest player alongside goalkeeper Scott Carson, who is the same age as the Brazilian.

Taking this into account, and with the midfielder’s current contract at the Manchester club set to expire next summer, it seems as though the Premier League champions should be thinking about his eventual exit and who they could get to replace him.

However, we think that the club may not need to go out and spend a significant amount of money on a new player, as they have done in the past, to replace Fernandinho, and instead turn to 17-year-old defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia.

The teenager joined City’s under-18 side back in the 2020 summer transfer window from Belgian club Anderlecht for an undisclosed fee.

Since then, the midfielder – who has been described as an “aggressive” player by former City defender Vincent Kompany – has made 14 appearances for the under-18 side, as well as 25 appearances for City’s under-23s in which he has managed to score two goals and provide three assists, which we feel is quite impressive for a defensive midfielder at such a young age.

Lavia, who is currently valued at £900k by Transfermarkt, has also made one appearance for Guardiola’s first team in the 6-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers in the Carabao Cup last month, where he played the full 90 minutes.

For his performance against Wycombe, Lavia earned himself a decent overall match rating of 7/10 from the Manchester Evening News, who said that he “clearly likes a tackle, and his passes over the top and through the lines were Fernandinho-esque”. That further highlights him as a potential ideal long-term replacement for the Brazilian at the Etihad Stadium, if the veteran leaves when his current contract ends in the summer.

Moving forward, if Lavia can keep playing regularly for the under-23 side and make the most of any future chances that he gets in the first team, we believe he could well find himself becoming a significant part of Guardiola’s squad in the coming years.

In other news: 95% pass accuracy, 91 touches: £140k-p/w MCFC ace was Pep’s only shining light against West Ham

West Ham United are keen on signing Luka Jovic this month…

What’s the word?

According to Eurosport, the Irons are considering turning their attention to the Real Madrid striker, who is said to be a long-term target.

It’s claimed that Jovic is not in Carlo Ancelotti’s plans for the new season, so the La Liga giants are prepared to let him leave before the transfer deadline on August 31st.

David Moyes and co have struggled to find a new forward and are desperate to find competition for the injury-prone Michail Antonio.

However, the Hammers face competition for the 23-year-old from at least three Bundesliga sides. It remains to be seen just how much Jovic will command, with both Transfermarkt and CIES Football Observatory valuing him at £18m.

 A statement signing

Whilst the 6-foot Serbian has struggled to make much of an impact at the Bernabeu since a €60m (£50m) move in the summer of 2019, even returning to his former club Frankfurt for a loan spell last season, he would still be quite the coup for the East Londoners.

During the 2018/19 season, Jovic bagged a whopping 27 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions, via Transfermarkt, also striking up quite the partnership with Sebastien Haller, whose own exploits saw him make the switch to the London Stadium.

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His form, particularly that year, earned glowing acclaim from teammate Filip Kostic, who described the talisman as “just unbelievable” to Bundesliga.com.

Furthermore, Jovic has been likened to Radamel Falcao, largely due to his ability to use either foot, as well as his head, to find the net. It’s perhaps why another former teammate, Kevin-Prince Boateng dubbed him a complete striker.

“He has everything to become [a world-class striker]. You see that in training. He has football in his genes, he’s a street footballer, and he has a nose for goal,” Boateng said. “He scores with his head, right or left foot. He is technically good and can shoot well with both feet. He just has everything a striker needs.”

Also lauded as “fast, robust and technically savvy” by Haller, it’s easy to see why Madrid splashed the cash on the 14-cap Serbia international and you could forgive him for not living up to the expectations and pressure that comes with playing for Los Galacticos.

Hammers boss Moyes should absolutely consider a move for Jovic before the end of the month. Given his impressive goalscoring record and experience across Europe, he could be exactly the sort of signing that takes the club.

The self-proclaimed “fox in the box” is well worth a late punt to solve the Scot’s striker nightmare.

AND in other news, Imagine him and Antonio: West Ham must seal move for “special” £31.5m-rated goal machine…

Out-of-favour Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek would be a good fit for Everton, Alex McLeish has told Football Insider. 

The lowdown

The £35m signing was limited to just four Premier League starts during his first season at Old Trafford and has only played five minutes so far this term (via WhoScored).

Furthermore, his agent has said that the return of Cristiano Ronaldo to the club is ‘bad news’, as it will further limit the 24-year-old’s game-time.

The player’s camp held talks with Marcel Brands and Farhad Moshiri over a move to Everton, but United stepped in to prevent any such deal.

Van de Beek has shown occasional flashes of his ability since moving to the Red Devils. For instance, Owen Hargreaves said he was ‘close to perfect’ in a 4-1 win over Istanbul Basaksehir in last season’s Champions League.

The latest

McLeish has said that the Dutchman should be willing to ‘drop down a little bit’ from a title-contending side to one on the periphery of Europe, as that is apparently his best chance of proving himself at Premier League level.

“He’d be going to a club who are really ambitious, trying to get into the top six,” the former Scotland manager told Football Insider. “Maybe just drop down a little bit.

“He is highly regarded. The only way that we’re going to see how highly regarded he is is by seeing him on the field on a regular basis. I can see him at Everton.”

The verdict

In theory, Van de Beek would be an excellent signing for Everton if they could pull it off. Indeed, some might say it woud be following the ideal model of plucking talented players from the periphery of the elite clubs.

However, if Rafael Benitez is sticking with his 4-2-3-1 formation, then there could be issues. Van de Beek can’t really slot into the defensive midfield two and shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a number 10 either. If it’s all about game-time, he should be looking at clubs who play 4-3-3 instead.

In other news, many Everton fans were pleased with this transfer news.