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Edinson Cavani’s time at Manchester United appears to be up, with journalist Fabrizio Romano claiming that the club have “no intention” to hand him a contract extension past the end of this season, along with Juan Mata and Jesse Lingard.

Meanwhile, Marcus Rashford could also be heading through the departure doors of Old Trafford, with Arsenal interested in offering him a way out of Manchester this summer – according to The Daily Mirror.

With the duo both potentially lining up for other clubs next season, and Anthony Martial not yet impressing or beginning to show signs of resurrecting his career on-loan at Sevilla, the Red Devils could find themselves short in the striking department – and thus, a move for Roma star Tammy Abraham could be on the cards.

What’s the news?

Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport (via Sport Witness) have claimed that United are “ready to make a big investment” in Abraham, who has scored 19 goals for club and country in all competitions this season, impressing since moving to Italy.

The report also states that “many clubs” have asked about the £40.5m-rated striker, including Tottenham – who have been linked with making a move for the Englishman should another United target, Harry Kane, depart the north London club this summer.

Made for Manchester

United fans are longing for a clinical, natural striker who can emulate the great Wayne Rooney and be the team’s primary goal-getter, and should Kane not be available this summer or choose to stay with Spurs, Abraham would be an excellent alternative.

Managing editor of The Athletic’s Tifo Football, Joe Devine, said that Abraham currently “owns the big stage”, which is evident by him netting two goals in Roma’s fierce ‘Derby della Capitale’ game with Lazio on their way to winning 3-0.

That’s as well as scoring the goal against Vitesse that sent the Serie A giants through to the next round of the UEFA Conference League – both coming in the club’s last two fixtures.

Among strikers in Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions, the 24-year-old who was dubbed “Drogba-esque” by Rio Ferdinand, ranks incredibly highly in some key barometers.

He is in the top 2% for xG per 90 (0.69), top 16% for through balls per 90 (0.18) and top 15% for tackles per 90 (1.28) – proving that he is a complete striker still in the making, who will only get better and better – and would most likely be a huge success in Manchester.

Made for the big stage, this is exactly the type of forward that United need heading into next term. Not only will he provide more goals; but he could also be the Premier League’s next Drogba. A very exciting prospect indeed.

In other news: Man Utd now plotting bid for £90m-rated “animal”, he’s even better than Haaland

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has apparently been blown away by one player at N17 who he’s barely selected as some interesting news emerges.

The Lowdown: No room in Spurs’ defence…

It appears the likes of Eric Dier, Cristian Romero, Davinson Sanchez and Ben Davies are all ahead of one man in the pecking order with centre-back Joe Rodon unable to get a look-in this season.

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Even Dier’s spell on the sidelines didn’t result in more game time for Rodon despite Conte previously stating that he is seen as a deputy to the England international.

The Welshman has made no Premier League starts this season, playing just 78 minutes in that time, with the vast majority of his minutes coming in the Europa Conference League.

The Latest: Conte now blown away…

Now, according to Wales boss Robert Page, it appears Conte has now been blown away by Rodon’s exploits on international duty.

The 47-year-old claims that Conte was ‘very complimentary’ about the defender’s performance last week during Wales’ 2-1 win over Austria.

“I know Antonio Conte was watching last Thursday,” Page explained (via The Sun).

“He was very complimentary about Joe’s performance, and rightly so. I thought he was outstanding.

“To come in off the back of not playing at club level, Joe deserves an enormous amount of credit for that level of performance.

“It shows he has looked after himself.

“If you are going to be a Tottenham player you have to be fit at this moment in time. I know that for a fact.”

The Verdict: Second chance?

As Rodon looks to battle his way into Conte’s plans, he wouldn’t have done his chances any harm.

The 24-year-old could be a real asset for Spurs at club level going by his exploits for Wales and former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho has made no secret of what he believes.

Mourinho called Rodon a ‘perfect’ player during his time at the club and it will be interesting to see whether Conte turns to Rodon more over the final stretch of 2021/2022.

In other news: Conte eyeing £25.2m-rated ‘game-changer’ who Spurs once agreed personal terms for! Find out more here.

A frustrating Rangers transfer claim has been made, regarding their chances of adding a winger to their squad…

What’s the talk?

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has suggested that the Gers may not be able to complete a deal to sign Crysencio Summerville this month.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “There’s Summerville at Leeds and, obviously, van Bronckhorst knows all about the young Dutchman from his time at Feyenoord.

“But I’m not too sure Marcelo Bielsa will be willing to loan him out right now.”

Worried

This frustrating claim will surely leave Rangers fans feeling worried about the club’s chances of signing Summerville on loan. There is little the Gers can do to change Leeds’ mind if they are unwilling to let him leave on a temporary basis, as there would be no significant financial motivation for the Premier League side to outweigh their need to keep him in their squad for the second half of the campaign.

Therefore, the 20-year-old winger may not be on his way to Ibrox before the end of the month. This will frustrate supporters as he could be an excellent signing for Gio van Bronckhorst’s squad if the situation changes and they are able to bring him in.

His teammate Jamie Shackleton previously lauded the young talent’s quality, saying: “There’s specific drills in training that we’ll do. We’ll do those repeatedly. It’s also coming up against better players in training. Coming up against top-class forwards and wingers that we have inside the club definitely helps.

“Cry Summerville is a nightmare to mark. He’s really sharp. For his size he’s very, very strong. I do my best to keep up with him and the other wingers. We’ve got some very sharp wingers at the club.”

He has nine goals and ten assists in 24 outings for the U23 side at Leeds and this suggests that he is a player who is capable of both scoring and creating goals. Although he is yet to prove that he can do it at senior level, these statistics show that he would be an exciting signing for the Gers as he would come in as an electric winger who wants to beat players and make things happen in the final third.

This is why fans will be frustrated and worried by this latest claim from O’Rourke that indicates a deal is unlikely this month.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Bassey: Rangers could pull off masterclass in £2m swoop for “calm” gem…

The return of the Premier League this weekend after the latest international break sees Southampton take on Leeds United at St Mary’s on Saturday, with both teams having had rather disappointing starts to the campaign.

The Saints’ previous league outing before the break saw them fall to a 3-1 defeat against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Djenepo should start for Southampton on Saturday

One player who did not feature in Southampton’s starting XI against Chelsea but who should come in against Leeds is Moussa Djenepo, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £55k-per-week according to Spotrac.

Southampton signed the winger back in the 2019 summer transfer window on a four-year contract from Belgian club Standard Liege in a deal which could rise to £15m.

Since then, the 23-year-old – who is currently valued at £11.7m by Transfermarkt – has made 58 appearances for the Saints across all competitions, in which he has scored four goals and provided two assists along the way.

So far this season, Djenepo – who was described by teammate Nathan Redmond as being a “super-talented” player – has played in all but one of Southampton’s league games, starting four of them, but has yet to score a goal or provide an assist.

Nonetheless, he has managed to rack up 1.2 shots per game so far this season in the Premier League according to WhoScored, showing that he is still very much an attacking threat for the Saints whenever he’s on the pitch, and he could therefore be a potential game-changer against Leeds. Only four players can exceed that tally and there is a strong chance that two of them won’t feature on Saturday through either suspension (James Ward-Prowse) or injury (Che Adams).

After replacing Nathan Tella in the second half of the Chelsea game, Djenepo made two successful dribbles and won five ground duels and two tackles in just 17 minutes, ultimately seeing him earn a match rating of 6.5/10. That was higher than the likes of Tella and Redmond, both of whom started the match according to SofaScore.

Looking ahead to the Leeds clash, we feel that Hasenhuttl should go with Djenepo over Tella on the left wing to see if the Mali international can help the Saints secure their first league win of the season against Marcelo Bielsa’s side – who they would overtake in the table if they manage to do so – based on the decent showing the 23-year-old delivered off the bench against Chelsea.

In other news: Hasenhuttl must unleash “perfect” £9m-rated Southampton gem, he’s a real game-changer

Red Bull Salzburg boss Jesse Marsch won’t be the next Celtic manager, according to reliable reporter Christian Falk.

The American recently admitted it was an “honour” to be linked with the Celtic job, describing the role as “interesting”.

That led to several Celtic fans urging the Hoops to seal a deal for the 47-year-old, with Parkhead chiefs admirers of Marsch, but those fans will now be disappointed after the latest update.

Marsch makes Celtic contact

However, Falk simply ended a tweet on Thursday morning claiming he has ‘confirmation’ that ‘Jesse Marsch won‘t join Celtic FC’.

Falk’s earlier post claimed that Marsch told the Celtic board that the interest is an honour, but he will not be available in the summer for the vacant job.

Transfer Tavern take

Even though Marsch is now out of the running to succeed Neil Lennon, we feel that the club can take heart in the fact that a boss with an impressive record was full of praise for the club and the available position.

The Hoops, we feel, should now be full of optimism over the coming months in their pursuit of a new manager.

The successful director of football candidate will also have a role to play in that search, and if the club get both appointments spot on, fans could well see an immediate response in the 2021/22 season following this season’s disappointing campaign.

In other news: In-demand Scot ready to quit Celtic as unlikely transfer destination emerges, find out more here. 

Many Everton fans have been criticising the performance of Mason Holgate in their 2-0 home loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.

The Merseyside club did very well to keep out Pep Guardiola’s team for 84 minutes at Goodison Park before Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne struck late blows as Carlo Ancelotti’s side crashed out of the competition at the quarter-final stage.

Holgate did not have the best of games, losing out on four of his duels and failing to block any shots on his goal, while also recording fewer touches (36) than his own goalkeeper in Joao Virginia and losing possession of the ball no fewer than 11 times in total in the game, earning him a measly 6.2 overall rating on Sofascore, the third-lowest out of any Everton player to have set foot on the pitch.

Everton fan reaction to Holgate display

These Toffees supporters slammed Holgate’s performance on Twitter, with one Blues fan even going as far to say that he is a ‘major issue’:

“Used to rate Holgate highly. His decision making these past few months have been awful and have cost us. Must invest in a RB in the summer”

Credit: @CamoEFC1878

“Holgate is another what’s not good enough”

Credit: @stevie89940908

“Holgate out of his depth. Gomes is far to slow in midfield and get Iwobi out gives the ball away to cheaply.”

Credit: @AshleyElliott00

“Can’t fault the effort there! Best we have played against City for a long time, however, that kind of performance needs to be replicated against Fulham, Newcastle etc! I see progress but we need to be better with the ball! RB Holgate is a major issue! @EvertonBlueArmy #EVEMCI”

Credit: @RyanD1588

“We will have Sigurdsson, Iwobi and Holgate sacked please @Everton”

Credit: @BT_1878

“Holgate gets dragged out to easily”

Credit: @adamcarney01

In other news, find out which Everton player was slammed by some fans after comments emerged!

Alasdair Gold has shared some bad news for Tottenham Hotspur supporters involving midfielder and homegrown sensation Oliver Skipp amid his recent injury woes.

The Lowdown: Skipp setbacks…

The 21-year-old, who recently put pen to paper on fresh terms with the club, hasn’t been able to contribute for manager Antonio Conte since late January due to ongoing fitness issues.

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Skipp’s last minutes for Spurs came during a 2-0 Premier League defeat to Chelsea in the first month of 2022 with his pelvic injury keeping him sidelined.

The Englishman has suffered setbacks in his return to action since, coming as a source of real frustration for Conte, who has remained in the dark over his starlet’s recovery timeframe.

After the Lilywhites confirmed brilliant news of his new contract, Gold has now shared a damning update on Skipp and his injury, coming as the player himself admits it’s been a real problem.

The Latest: Gold shares Skipp update…

The reliable football.london correspondent, taking to Twitter, says that he’s still no closer to returning to Conte’s starting eleven.

Sharing an update on his recovery, in response to Skipp’s official reaction to signing fresh terms, Gold explained:

“Understand he’s not closer to a return yet.”

The Verdict: Bad news…

The promising youngster’s continued availability delay will come as bad news for both Conte and supporters as Spurs fight to finish in the Premier League top four.

Currently locked in a fierce battle for Champions League qualification with north London rivals Arsenal, Tottenham will need any quality at their disposal to come out on top.

According to WhoScored, no Spurs starter has averaged a higher pass accuracy than Skipp (90.1%) in the top flight this season, backing his real composure and assurance in Conte’s midfield.

Tipped as a future club captain, those inside and outside N17 will be hoping he can return to the grass as soon as possible.

In other news: Big name source: Tottenham in pole position to sign ‘unreal’ 6 ft 3 powerhouse for Conte! Find out more here.

Many Everton fans have been left lauding a transfer update involving their former player Morgan Feeney.

As per the official website of Carlisle United, the 21-year-old has joined the EFL League Two team on a short-term deal which keeps him there until the end of the 2020/21 term.

Feeney left the Goodison Park faithful on a free transfer to sign for Sunderland back in August of last year, and now he has left the Black Cats to join Carlisle.

The central defender won the U21 Premier League twice with the Merseyside club, and made two appearances in the first team in the group stages of the UEFA Europa League in the 2017/18 season.

It never really quite worked out at the Toffees, but that did not stop the Goodison faithful from showing their support for the move.

Everton fan reaction to Feeney transfer

These Blues lauded the transfer on Twitter, with one EFC supporter branding it as ‘wonderful’ while another even went as far as to claim that he is an ‘outstanding’ young player:

“He is a really good player and a leader too. Pathway blocked at Everton but an outstanding young player.”

Credit: @DavidHoward5

“You’ve got yourselves a good potentially great player there…Best of luck Morgan…”

Credit: @vaughanieno10

“Congratulations Morgan. Win them that league!”

Credit: @DaveMbootlebuck

“Good luck Morgan cracking player”

Credit: @Sungy_1878

“Best of luck to Morgan in his new adventure. He’s a top Toffee too.”

Credit: @CheersColin

“That is wonderful”

Credit: @toffeemanUSA

In other news, find out what transfer update has been lauded by Everton fans here!

After seeing him come off the bench to score twice against Burnley at the weekend, Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa will no doubt be very keen to see how Rodrigo fares if given the chance to start this evening at Southampton.

The Spaniard was outstanding in his cameo at Turf Moor, scoring twice off the bench, and the summer signing will be hoping to be rewarded with his first start in the Premier League since returning from injury.

However, with the season now reaching its climax, and Leeds having nothing much left to play for, it’s surely time for Bielsa to consider unleashing some of the club’s standout under-23 players, who recently clinched the Premier League 2 Division 2 title.

Top of that list would no doubt have been Joe Gelhardt, but he missed the under-23s’ final two games with injury, despite Mark Jackson insisting that it wouldn’t be too long before he returned.

However, in Crysencio Summerville, Bielsa could unleash one of Leeds’ hottest young prospects, with the Dutchman having been in scintillating form for the youth teams this season.

Described as a “bag of tricks” by Chris Powell – his former coach when he was a teenager at Dutch side ADO Den Haag – he scored a hat-trick against Burnley on just his second start for the under-23s earlier this campaign.

He has since bagged an impressive six goals and provided a further six assists in just 12 Premier League 2 games, including netting in the final game of the season.

The 19-year-old is an exciting winger who can play on either flank, and while he might be diminutive in stature at just 5 foot 9, he more than makes up for it with his quick feet and agility.

Summerville himself said earlier this year: “I often hear that there are doubts because of my physical condition, but when you are on the field, you are not concerned with that. There are often big defenders in front of me, I have to be smart about that. I know I’m agile and try to play with my mind.”

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While Rodrigo is the man of the moment and should be looking forward to a start tonight against the Saints at St Mary’s, Summerville will also be desperate to get his opportunity to shine, and a relatively low-stakes game like this could be the ideal setting for him to get his senior Whites debut.

Meanwhile, a journalist has dropped a major Leeds United update…

Crystal Palace have been linked with a move for Nantes striker Randal Kolo Muani ahead of the upcoming transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to French outlet Le10Sport, the Eagles are amongst a number of clubs interested in signing the 22-year-old after an impressive season at the Stade de la Beaujoire.

Kolo Muani has scored nine goals and provided a further nine assists in all competitions throughout 2021/22, with the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt and Lyon set to rival Palace for the youngster’s signature.

Heir to Zaha

With changes expected to be aplenty at Selhurst Park this summer, the capital club need to ensure their recruitment is an unequivocal success, otherwise, a fight to ensure their Premier League status could be on the cards.

Over a dozen first-team players are approaching the end of their current contracts at the capital club, while Eberechi Eze and Nathan Ferguson have been ruled out with Achilles injuries until the new year, at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the club’s talisman Wilfried Zaha has once again opened the door to a possible exit. It means Palace chairman Steve Parish and Roy Hodgson’s successor have an almighty task on their hands over the coming months.

One man who could make that assignment somewhat easier is Kolo Muani. The £6.3m-rated forward (as per Transfermarkt) has earned an impressive reputation for himself this season, despite finishing in the bottom three with Les jaunes et verts.

The France Under-21 international particularly caught the eye in an outstanding 2-1 victory over former Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes back in March.

Kolo Muani was unplayable on the day, bullying centre-back pairing Marquinhos and Presnel Kimpembe all game long, recording a WhoScored rating of 8.23 as he scored the opening goal before setting up Moses Simon for the memorable winner.

Although the youngster’s efforts weren’t enough to prevent Nantes from entering the relegation play-off, he showcased his top-class potential in a struggling side, and Palace must sanction a move over the summer.

When comparing Kolo Muani’s statistics to Zaha’s it’s clear the Frenchman shares many similarities with the Ivory Coast international’s game.

As per WhoScored, Zaha managed 0.4 dribbles and 0.4 shots per league game more than Kolo Muani, and also managed 1 more key passes per league game and outscored the Nantes man by two goals.

However, Kolo Muani provided two more assists than Zaha and miss controlled the ball on 0.5 fewer occasions per game than the 28-year-old.

Considering Kolo Muani is six years Zaha’s junior, the potential for the young striker to grow and potentially succeed the former Manchester United man’s ability is clear for all to see.

Palace need attacking reinforcements ahead of 2021/22, and Parish is going to have to make some tough decisions over the comings months, but deciding whether to sign Kolo Muani or not isn’t one of them.

And, in other news…Fewer touches than Guaita: Palace flop who lost 67% of his duels let Hodgson down