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Leeds United are interested in signing Lazio and Kosovo striker Vedat Muriqi in the January transfer window, according to a new transfer rumour.

The Lowdown: Muriqi forging impressive career

The 27-year-old has often caught the eye at international level for Kosovo, scoring 18 goals in 37 caps, an average of just under one in every two matches.

Also, back in 2019, his then-Fenerbahce team-mate Max Kruse described him as “Very ambitious, very enthusiastic, very hardworking… I compare him to Lewandowski”. That is lofty praise given how the Bayern Munich striker has netted 325 goals in 355 appearances for the Bundesliga champions.

Muriqi isn’t having such a fruitful time of things at Lazio, though, only managing one Serie A start this season and struggling to force his way into Maurizio Sarri’s plans. For that reason, a January exit looks set to be on the cards, and Leeds may be ready to swoop.

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The Latest: Leeds interested in Muriqi

According to La Lazio Siamo Noi [via Sport Witness], the Whites have a ‘formula’ to sign the Kosovan from Lazio, with their interest ‘registered in recent hours’ after Hull City pulled out of a move.

Muriqi’s current deal doesn’t expire until the summer of 2025, but the Serie A club could still be keen to offload him if the right offer comes along.

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The Verdict: Ideal January signing

Leeds are badly in need of attacking firepower in January, especially with Patrick Bamford suffering such an injury-plagued season to date.

There is too much reliance on the 27-year-old for goals – he is still the Whites’ joint-second-top scorer in the Premier League this season, despite only starting five games in the division – and Muriqi could help to ease that issue.

Granted, he has struggled at club level of late, but his international record speaks for itself and he could be an ideal man to bring into Marcelo Bielsa’s squad. Given that he scored freely in Turkey before joining Lazio, perhaps a change of scenery is all that’s needed to get the Kosovan firing again.

In other news, Leeds are eyeing up a move for a Premier League midfielder. Find out who it is here.

Craig Hope has now revealed five players that Newcastle United are targeting ahead of the opening of the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Bodies needed

As the St. James’ Park faithful are currently lurking in the relegation zone, it is clear that reinforcements are needed next month in order to give them the best possible chance of surviving.

Survival means everything to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium, as they can then kickstart their long-term project in the summer, and thus be able to attract bigger names to the North East given that they would still be playing in the top flight.

The Latest: Five targets

As per Hope, Lloyd Kelly, a player Eddie Howe signed back in 2019, as well as central defenders Matthias Ginter, Joe Rodon and Sven Botman, are among the Tyneside outfit’s January targets.

The Daily Mail journalist is ‘also told’ that Mohamed Elneny is an option in the middle of the park for the new owners.

The Verdict: Kelly, Elneny plus one centre-back

Kelly is of course a player that Howe knows well – in a 2019/20 season plagued by injuries, he started eight out of the nine games that he was available under the manager (Transfermarkt).

A player that Howe has a lot of admiration for, he would certainly know how to get the best out of Kelly, providing that he can stay free of injury.

Elneny offers a lot of Premier League 30 goals so far in the top flight, the second-most out of any team.

Rodon offers that Premier League Botman have played at the highest level in the UEFA Champions League.

Nonetheless, bringing at least three of those players in would certainly help bolster up the squad, and give them the best possible chance of avoiding the drop.

In other news, find out which former Magpies NUFC are eyeing in a shock transfer here!

Aside from two defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool, Steven Gerrard’s reign in charge of Aston Villa has been relatively positive with four wins under his belt against Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Norwich City.

However, there has been one bit of bad news that Gerrard has had to deal with in recent weeks with midfielder Marvelous Nakamba picking up a serious knee injury earlier this month.

With the Villa man having had surgery to fix the issue, Gerrard has shared some details on Nakamba’s recovery and when he could be back available for the team.

What’s the latest?

In a recent press conference (via Birmingham Live), Gerrard said that Nakamba is “going to be missing for somewhere in the region of 12 weeks if it is a fantastic rehab or it could be up to 16 weeks.”

Taking this into account, it’s safe to say that Villa will have to deal with Nakamba’s absence for a significant period of time regardless of how well his recovery goes, which will be gutting for the Villa fans to hear.

Since arriving at Villa Park back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Belgian side Club Brugge, the 27-year-old, who is currently valued at £6.3m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 64 appearances for Villa across all competitions but has yet to score a goal or provide an assist.

With Gerrard labelling Nakamba’s early performances under Villa’s new manager as “outstanding,” and the fact that the Zimbabwe international has managed to rack up an average of two tackles per game in the Premier League this season with 50% of his duels won, it goes without saying that he will be a big miss for the Villans in their midfield.

Given the amount of time that Nakamba could be spending out on the sidelines, it will be interesting to see whether or not this forces the Midlands club to splash the cash in the upcoming January transfer window to bring in a new midfielder to fill in for Nakamba while he’s out.

Moving forward, if Villa don’t sign a new midfielder in January to fill in for Nakamba, Gerrard and everyone else at the club will have to hope that the likes of John McGinn and Douglas Luiz don’t pick up any injuries as Villa’s other two senior midfielders and that Nakamba’s recovery will be a swift one.

In other news: Gerrard must offload Wesley

Steven Gerrard got his reign at Aston Villa off to the perfect start with a 2-0 win at home to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon.

The Villa Park faithful had to be patient, but great finishes from Ollie Watkins and Tyrone Mings in the 84th and 89th minutes respectively were ultimately enough to give the hosts all three points.

However, not every player enjoyed their best game in a Villa shirt, as The Transfer Tavern use statistical experts SofaScore to analyse who Villa’s three worst players (to have played at least 45 minutes or more) were on the day:

Emi Buendia (6.5)

Buendia takes third spot with a 6.5 overall rating given by SofaScore.

The former Norwich City star was hauled off after the 74th minute for Ashley Young with the score still at 0-0, summarising how little impact he had on the game.

He lost out on five of his duels and also failed to record a single shot on target, dribble, key pass, accurate cross or long ball, losing possession 11 times, the joint-fourth most out of any of his teammates.

Danny Ings (6.4)

Villa’s joint-worst player in terms of SofaScore rating (6.4), Ings takes second for only being on the pitch for 66 minutes in total.

The striker would have been disappointed not to get on the scoresheet – in fact, he did not have a shot on goal.

The 29-year-old also made no key passes or dribble attempts and lost out on six of his duels.

Jacob Ramsey (6.4)

Young Ramsey is perhaps unfortunate to be rated as the worst Villa player on the pitch, as SofaScore only gave him a 6.4 overall rating.

Taken off for Anwar El Ghazi just before both goals went in, Ramsey lost six duels and also failed to record a single shot.

The midfielder was unsuccessful in two of his dribbles and made no key passes, but will be sure to do better as he progresses under Gerrard’s management.

In other news: Villa have been backed to sign this ‘excellent’ striker

Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard will look to bring in a new centre-back and defensive midfielder in the January window.

That’s according to journalist Pete O’Rourke, talking to Give Me Sport, with a number of Villa fans reacting to the news on social media.

Gerrard has enjoyed a brilliant start to life at Bodymoor Heath, picking up three wins from a possible four and pushing champions Manchester City all the way in his only defeat at the helm.

Attention is now starting to turn to the January transfer window, and with NSWE promising the manager a huge winter budget last month, many are wondering what areas of the Villa squad he may bolster.

According to O’Rourke, the 41-year-old has identified a centre-back and a defensive midfielder as two priority positions.

Villa fans react

Both Total Villa and The AVFC Faithful shared O’Rourke’s claim on Twitter. Here is what these fans had to say in reply, with many unhappy over the apparent plans and some highlighting Marvelous Nakamba’s transformation under Gerrard.

“why would we need a CB”

Credit: @po7ok

“Why? We have 3 seemingly quality CBs…and a capable Hause….and Marvelous has been awesome, with Luiz capable of sitting… main concern is a replacement for Targett (not good enough) and back up for Cash.”

Credit: @TheCount_minusO

“Really? I don’t think we need either of them right now. Surely left back and maybe a winger with one on their way out?”

Credit: @StevieGsVilla

“The disrespect on Marv. LB is a must, CB is secondary rn”

Credit: @DomRay6

“Nakamba been class recently”

Credit: @villafanscentre

“4 quality CBs already? Sounds odd.”

Credit: @TimAsson1

In other news: ‘I am desperate’ – Lots of Villa fans erupt over ‘dream’ fixture news

West Ham United will be looking to break into the top-six in the Premier League when they welcome local rivals Tottenham Hotspur to the London Stadium this afternoon.

David Moyes’ side extended their 100% record in the Europa League on Thursday night after defeating Belgian outfit Genk 3-0, so they will head into kickoff buoyed by confidence.

And one of the standout performers from that encounter ought to feature today in Issa Diop.

The 24-year-old centre-back has slipped down the pecking order even more since the arrival of fellow countryman Kurt Zouma in the summer transfer window but he has been given opportunities outside of the Premier League and has pretty much impressed each time.

Diop’s four appearances across the Europa League and Carabao Cup have returned four clean sheets. By comparison, the Hammers have kept just two in their eight league outings so far this campaign.

Therefore, it could be wise to unleash the Frenchman with the likes of Harry Kane and Heung-min Son heading to east London.

As per WhoScored, the £13.5m-rated colossus has been their fourth-best player in Europe, where he is averaging two tackles (second-most) and 2.6 aerials won (third-most) per game.

Neither of Moyes’ first-choice league pairing of Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna are managing more than 0.9 tackles per outing. That will need to improve if they are to stop Kane and Spurs’ top-scorer, Son.

This is why Diop must be considered, perhaps taking the place of the latter, as he and the Champions League winner looked excellent together against Dinamo Zagreb.

Jose Mourinho once dubbed the £22m signing a “monster” in September 2018 for dominating Paul Pogba and co, but performances of that calibre have been far and few between ever since then.

However, that looks to be changing.

“I thought Diop was absolutely magnificent,” claimed Irons assistant manager Stuart Pearce, via The Athletic, after their 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup.

“The longer the game went on the more of a colossus he looked at the back and he’s still in relative terms, a very young man for a central defender so we’re absolutely delighted to have Issa at this club.”

Son has bagged four goals already this campaign, also averaging 2.9 shots and 1.4 dribbles per game, whilst Kane is threatening to add to his solitary strike with an average of 2.4 shots per match, via WhoScored.

Evidently, Moyes needs a rock at the back to put a stop to the pair running riot at the London Stadium, which is why Diop should be selected this afternoon.

AND in other news, Moyes must axe “special” £18m West Ham passenger v Spurs, he’s been abysmal for months…

Manchester United are reportedly becoming increasingly confident of being able to name Brendan Rodgers as their next manager should they decide to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

What’s the story?

The current Red Devils boss has been coming under increasing pressure in recent weeks as results and performances have continued to be extremely underwhelming.

A 2-0 defeat at the hands of local rivals Manchester City was United’s third Premier League loss in their last four fixtures, dropping them down to sixth position in the top-flight table.

It’s a run of form that has seen several star names linked with replacing Solskjaer in the Old Trafford dugout, with Rodgers now appearing to be at the top of the hierarchy’s wishlist.

According to the Daily Star’s Jeremy Cross, the Northern Irish tactician fits the profile of a potential successor and has a release clause in his Leicester contract, meaning prising him away from the King Power Stadium should be relatively easy for United chiefs.

The report states that: “Manchester United are growing increasingly confident of being able to make Brendan Rodgers as their next manager. United bosses are keen to appoint a British boss should the club have no choice but to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

“Rodgers is believed to have a release clause in his contract should a Champions League club come calling. But United wouldn’t hesitate in meeting it if they need to appoint a new boss.”

Man Utd fans will be buzzing

After arriving at Leicester halfway through the 2018/19 campaign, Rodgers has cemented his status as one of Britain’s most exciting and tactical astute head coaches in the modern era.

His promising spell at Liverpool ended with him getting sacked after coming close to claiming the top-flight title, but the 48-year-old successfully rebuilt his career during a two-and-a-half-year spell at Celtic.

During his time in Scottish football, Rodgers claimed seven domestic trophies – including two trebles – and guided the Hoops back into the Champions League.

He was then able to implement his expansive and attacking style at the King Power, achieving consecutive fifth-place finishes as well as winning the FA Cup and Community Shield, highlighting his managerial prowess.

Therefore, large sections of United’s fanbase will surely be buzzing at this fresh twist in the club’s pursuit of Solskjaer’s eventual replacement, and they’ll be hopeful that Rodgers is the man to bring silverware back to the red half of Manchester.

And, in other news…”I genuinely believe” – Whitwell issues MUFC manager claim that’ll leave fans fuming

Pundit Paul Robinson has been reacting to Celtic’s January transfer plans, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Ange’s comments

The Hoops were extremely busy in the summer, bringing in 12 new additions while cashing in on five players.

However, attention has already turned to the January market, with Ange Postecoglou revealing earlier this month he ‘will definitely be adding’ to his squad over the coming months.

Postecoglou went on to add that the J1 League in Japan will be a market the club will explore following Kyogo Furuhashi’s £4.86m move in the summer.

The Latest: Robinson reacts

Robinson, who has featured regularly on Sky Sports, was asked by Football Insider if the Hoops should expect another signing like Furuhashi in the New Year.

This is what he had to say in reply, labelling Postecoglou’s knowledge of the Japanese market as ‘incredible’ and describing winter window plans as ‘exciting’.

“Furuhashi has done outstandingly well since he has come in. If they dip into the Japanese market they will be looking for a player of similar ability.

“When you bring a manager like Postecoglou in you have to exploit the world market. Why would you not when he has an incredible knowledge of it.

“It will be the end of the J-League season there so the players will be fit. There will be no issues with them coming in and hitting the ground running.

“It is going to be an exciting window for Celtic because Postecoglou didn’t have much time in the last window to bring in the targets that he wanted. January will give him a real opportunity to add to what he has got.

“Why not tap into a market [Japan] that your manager knows well?”

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The Verdict: Exciting times…

Furuhashi has been Celtic’s standout performer this season, netting eight times in 11 appearances.

The 26-year-old has hit the ground running straight away in Glasgow, so hopefully, Postecoglou will have another few gems lined up to join Furuhashi.

Postecoglou described January as a ‘good time’ to look at the J1 League due to their end season.

If the Hoops can replicate Furuhashi’s transfer again, that could help them in their push to regain the Scottish Premiership.

In other news: BBC pundit thinks Celtic may have Kyogo ‘problem’ after what he’s seen. 

Cristian Romero had an afternoon to forget as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Newcastle United 3-2 at St James’ Park on Sunday.

Nuno Santo’s side moved into fifth place with the victory, their second in as many matches, and that was largely thanks to a first-half comeback inspired by goals from Tanguy Ndombele, Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.

The Magpies clinched a late consolation goal as Eric Dier turned the ball in past his own goalkeeper, Hugo Lloris, but at least he wasn’t the most calamitous player on the day.

Had Spurs played a better team, then it’s a possibility that Romero’s mistakes would have been punished.

‘Beaten far too easily by Wilson to head home the opening goal within minutes. Caught out of position a few times in the first half after some rash lunges. Better in the second half but he looked leggy at times like Emerson because of his international commitments,’ is how football.london’s Alasdair Gold described his performance.

Whilst The Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick echoed such sentiments and wrote: ‘Ultra aggressive and assertive, but not always effective. Caught out of position more than once and beaten by Wilson for the goal.’

The Argentina international, who only returned from the break on Saturday, saw a lot of the ball for the Lilywhites after registering 77 touches, the sixth-most.

But with those touches, he was wasteful, losing possession of the ball 14 times, whilst he only made five of 12 long balls, regularly handing the ball back to Newcastle.

Elsewhere, Romero was often caught napping and as Gold explains, it could be a result of his recent national team duties and the quick turnaround, though that is down to Nuno risking him.

He was dribbled past three times, the second-worst of any player on either team, and he also lost 60% of his aerial battles as he struggled with the threat of Wilson, one of these resulted in a goal, too.

The £60m-rated beast will certainly need to improve with fixtures coming thick and fast, starting with Vitesse in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday before a London derby with West Ham on Sunday.

AND in other news, 118 touches, 8 tackles: £36m-rated Spurs “monster” ran the show vs Newcastle…

Flocking to Twitter, many Manchester City fans have been left ecstatic following an update on Tottenham Hotspur star and summer target Harry Kane.

As confirmed by manager Pep Guardiola, the Sky Blues held an interest in Kane over the most recent transfer window with reliable sources even saying that bids had been made.

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Fabrizio Romano claimed that City lodged a £100 million offer for his services which was swiftly rejected as sporting director Txiki Begiristain refused to meet Tottenham’s £150m valuation. 

Kane bagged a phenomenal 23 goals and 14 assists in the Premier League alone last season, winning the Golden Boot, leaving little wonder why Guardiola wanted him at the Etihad.

Now, an update has emerged on City and their links to the 28-year-old.

Eurosport claim that the Sky Blues have now given up on their pursuit of Kane and are not planning a bid next summer, despite rumours.

Given his age at that point, bordering on 30 with little sell-on value, not to mention his history of niggling ankle injuries, you can see why City supporters are ecstatic at this news.

The Kane saga dominated Guardiola’s summer transfer window and there is a real argument to be made that other targets, like Erling Haaland for instance, represent more value for money with a similar goal record.

Following this update, City supporters are now happy their club is moving on from the forward.

Find all of their best verdicts on the development down below.

Man City fans left ecstatic by Kane update…

“This is good news , the club should be planning to bring Haaland and make him the main target next summer”

Credit: @Magednewyork

“Good, he and Levy had their chance. Let’s get somebody that wants to come”

Credit: @j10anne

“LETS GOOO! HAALAND HERE WE COME”

Credit: @MCFCTSaucy

“YESSSSS”

Credit: @hreanness1

“Txiki finally gained some common sense and realised that he is not the one to replace Aguero.

Haaland we are coming for you…”

Credit: @mxnciteh

“Oh YESSS”

Credit: @kae_saret

“Good to hear”

Credit: @thecityzensfc

“Haaland it is then boys”

Credit: @STERLINGRAZZ7

In other news: ‘Had a shocker’, ‘Please sell’…Many Man City fans slam ‘awful’ ace vs Leipzig, find out more here.