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Manchester United have been linked with a move for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez as the summer window approaches.

What’s the story?

According to Spanish outlet Marca (as reported by TeamTalk), the Red Devils have enquired about the 26-year-old maestro ahead of a possible transfer.

Saul is set to enter the final 12 months of his contract at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium and is reportedly keen for a new challenge in his career after falling down the pecking order with the capital club.

Fans will be buzzing

The box-to-box midfielder made 33 league appearances for Diego Simeone’s men last season as Los Rojiblancos defied to odds to secure their first La Liga crown since 2014.

However, Saul is thought to have become frustrated at various points throughout the campaign after making just 22 starts, largely due to the highly impressive form of Marcos Llorente.

His subsequent absence from Luis Enrique’s Spain squad for Euro 2020 is believed to have convinced the Atleti academy graduate that it’s time for a move away from his boyhood club, alerting several of the continent’s top clubs.

The likes of Juventus, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain have also been outlined as potential suitors for Saul, but the Red Devils are believed to be in pole position in the race for his signature.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side have long been linked with a move for the instrumental figure, with ex-United star Rio Ferdinand previously suggesting him as a possible replacement for Paul Pogba.

Ferdinand told a live Q&A on Instagram last year (via TeamTalk): “I don’t want Pogba to go but if he does go I’d take Saul Niguez all day long. Not like-for-like, but still a top player. What a player. I’ve been harping on about Saul Niguez for a few years now.

“I think he’s a major player. He’s composed, calm, great left foot, lovely conductor, he can score goals, tactically he’s very aware. You can see (Diego) Simeone, he gets his teams really well set up, and he’s in the middle orchestrating and dictating things.”

In the past, it was been believed that only a fee in excess of £100 million would be enough to prize Saul away from Atleti, but it appears as though that figure has now dropped significantly.

Due to the Spaniard’s contract situation, a new price tag of just £43m is thought to be enough to acquire his services.

With the 20-time English champions requiring added quality to close the gap on Manchester City, Ed Woodward must swoop for Saul this summer and acquiring the ”conductor’ for his reported price would represent a final masterclass from the departing chief executive.

And, in other news…Man Utd could make for massive transfer mistake over 5-goal liability, Ole must avoid 

If you believe every newspaper cutting you see, then Wolves could be on the verge of selling a whole host of players this summer.

In recent weeks, Rui Patricio and Nelson Semedo have both been linked with Roma while Raul Jimenez is also attracting interest from elsewhere.

What’s the word?

Another player who has plenty of admirers is Adama Traore. Unfortunately, he might be a little more difficult to keep at Molineux.

The Spaniard’s contract expires in two years time and it doesn’t look as though he’s going to pen new terms.

Wolves were growing frustrated with his situation a few months ago but in recent talks, they haven’t got anywhere with negotiations. That’s according to Duncan Castles of the Transfer Window podcast.

Providing the latest on the situation, Castles revealed: “He’s currently under contract until 2023. I’m told they have made Traore an offer, but that it is way below the sums that Traore would be expecting to receive should he leave the club, and certainly what he’d expect to receive should he stay at the club.

“He wants to be on the same tier as the best-paid players are, he’s nowhere near that at present because he came from Middlesbrough, really kind of established his status at Wolverhampton. So, I think the sense from the people around Adama Traore is that they want to be told the price at which Wolves are prepared to sell.”

Huge blow

At present, the flying winger currently earns a salary of £43k-per-week at Molineux. For context, that makes him the club’s ninth-highest earner at the current time.

In order for him to receive parity with some of the best paid at Wolves, he’d need to receive an offer of around £100k-per-week in order to convince him to stay.

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Rui Patricio and Joao Moutinho currently earn that amount and at some stage, Jeff Shi may just have to bite the bullet and go all-in on negotiations.

After all, it would be a huge blow to lose a player as talented as Traore.

Described as “unplayable” by Jurgen Klopp, the Spaniard has quickly become one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League. On his day, he can clatter you to one side and throw on the afterburners in an unrelenting fashion.

Although he’s scored just twice this term, he had a hand in 13 league strikes throughout 2019/20.

We also saw what a devastating weapon he can be when Nuno Santo introduced him to the fray against Brighton last weekend.

When Traore was substituted on with just under half an hour to go, Wolves were losing 1-0 to the Seagulls.

Yet, he made a crushing impact by scoring the equaliser in thumping fashion and creating a clear cut opportunity for Morgan Gibbs-White as they eventually won 2-1.

The Spaniard’s ability to beat players was typical, completing all three of his dribbles in a ruthless and conquering display at Molineux.

To see contract negotiations stalling, therefore, will do plenty to anger Nuno.

After seeing Diogo Jota and Matt Doherty depart last summer – 25% of their goals in 2019/20 – he won’t be keen on seeing another star player leave. They have to keep Traore in Wolverhampton.

AND in other news, Forget Mir: Nuno must unleash never-seen 20 y/o at Wolves, he “loves getting goals”…

Sheffield United could be heading for a huge mistake with Regan Slater this summer as Hull City line up a permanent move for the 21-year-old after spending the season on loan with Grant McCann’s side.

The young midfielder joined the KCOM Stadium on loan before the 2020/21 campaign and helped the Tigers win the League One title, making 27 appearances in the third tier.

It has now been reported that, following their promotion to the Championship, Hull are keen to make the youngster’s stay a permanent one this summer.

Slater’s initial contract with Sheffield United was set to expire at the end of this season but it has reportedly been extended for another year, although The 72 claimed that the Blades would still be open to letting him leave permanently this summer.

Although the youngster struggled for game-time earlier in the campaign, he established himself as a regular in McCann’s side towards the end of the season as they approached the climax of their campaign.

This demonstrates that he won over the former Peterborough boss with his efforts in training and on the pitch and convinced him that he should be a key part of their promotion run-in.

He started eight of their final nine games, in which they lost just once on the final day against Charlton, when the title had already been secured, so it is no surprise that McCann wants him in his squad again next season as they prepare for life in the Championship.

That run of games was kickstarted by an appearance against Gillingham, which earned him the praise of McCann, who said: “He was excellent. He picked up a lot of second balls. His passing was clean. His energy was good.

“It was a good performance from Regan, he’s a very good player. Hopefully, a lot of people could see that in his performance.”

Sheffield United also need to prepare for life back in the Championship next season following their relegation from the top flight, and it would perhaps prove to be a mistake to sell a bright prospect such as Slater to one of their divisional rivals.

With both Sander Berge and John Lundstram widely expected to leave in the summer, a young midfielder such as Slater could definitely be afforded first team opportunities next season, and any new manager at Bramall Lane would surely want to have a look at the 21-year-old to see if he has the potential to feature in the squad.

Therefore, Sheffield United sporting director Jan van Winckel should definitely avoid selling Slater on a permanent deal this summer, as he deserves a chance to show what he can do at Bramall Lane, and it could prove to be a huge mistake to let him go if he were to fulfil his potential elsewhere.

In other news… Sheffield United suffer huge blow with seven-goal beast, Blades fans will be fuming

Southampton take on Leicester City at St Mary’s on Friday night, where three points will all but seal the Saints’ place in the top flight for next season.

A woeful run of form in 2021 has seen Ralph Hasenhuttl’s team sucked into a relegation fight, although they appear to have been saved by Fulham and West Brom’s inadequacies rather than many strong performances of their own.

Southampton will be looking to avoid a repeat of the FA Cup semi-final against Leicester City on Friday night, as Hasenhuttl’s side were brushed aside 1-0 at Wembley recently and failed to have a single shot on target that evening.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects the Austrian to line up against the Foxes on Friday, with four changes from the side which lost 2-1 against Tottenham Hotspur in their last fixture…

Fraser Forster returns in goal after another less than impressive performance from Alex McCarthy in the defeat against Spurs.

With Ryan Bertrand still sidelined through injury, Hasenhuttl keeps faith in the same back four, with Mohammed Salisu continuing to deputise at left-back.

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There are two changes in midfield, as Ibrahima Diallo comes in for Stuart Armstrong in the centre of midfield to give Southampton some added defensive protection alongside James Ward-Prowse.

Meanwhile, after a poor display against Spurs, Theo Walcott is dropped to the bench, with Liverpool loanee Takumi Minamino replacing him after Hasenhuttl suggested that the £10.8m-rated attacker – hailed as a “machine” by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp – would get more minutes between now and the end of the season.

[freshpress-quiz id=“594431″]

Finally, in attack, Nathan Redmond comes in for the injured Danny Ings and he will be hoping to replicate some of his recent performances against Bournemouth and Burnley at St Mary’s on Friday night.

In other news… Semmens headed for Saints disaster over £2.25m-rated target, he’s scraping the barrel

Following a highly impressive goalscoring campaign for Sunderland, there is reportedly a great deal of interest in Charlie Wyke this summer, although the Black Cats could already have a ready-made replacement for the 28-year-old.

So far this season, Wyke has undoubtedly been the star at the Stadium of Light, with the £270,000-rated forward bagging 25 goals and providing three assists over his 42 appearances in League One, as well as averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.35 – ranking him as Lee Johnson’s best player in the third tier.

However, while the former Bradford City striker’s goals have fired Sunderland to the play-offs this season, form as good as Wyke’s is a double-edged sword for a club of Sunderland’s current standing, as his performances have attracted a number of Championship teams who have the intention of stealing the centre-forward from the Black Cats’ grasp this summer.

Although, while losing a player as important as Wyke will undoubtedly be a huge blow for Johnson, there may not be any need to panic, as the club could already own a striker who is capable of filling the boots of the 28-year-old next season.

“We’re talking £10 million”

Prior to making a £304,000 switch to Sunderland in the January transfer window, Ross Stewart had spent two and a half years at Ross County, with the forward scoring 11 goals and providing three assists over his 32 appearances in the club’s 2018/19 campaign, bagging 11 goals and registering three assists over 26 appearances throughout County’s 2019/20 campaign and netting six goals and providing two assists over his 24 fixtures before moving to Sunderland this season.

So, there is very much a goalscorer in Stewart, who, at just 24-years-old, still has a bit of development to complete in his career as a professional footballer, in addition to having to adjust to the pace of the English game.

But, despite having to play second fiddle to Wyke this term, the 6ft 4 striker has already shown what he is capable of in a Sunderland shirt as, over his 11 league appearances for the club – only two of which have come as starts – he has already found the back of the net twice, in addition to averaging an impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.95.

Indeed, Johnson appears very firmly of the belief that Stewart has a fantastic future ahead of him at the Stadium of Light, with the 39-year-old praising the striker’s mobility, technical ability and his “extremely good” physicality in recent comments, as well as claiming that you’d be looking at a player worth “£10 million” if he was the finished product, which he still has enough time to become.

As such, despite the fact it very much seems as if Wyke could be moving on to pastures new this summer, Stewart is ready and waiting in the wings to seize his moment as the Black Cats’ main man.

In other news: Phillips drops worrying transfer claim on SAFC £6.4k-p/w beast, Johnson will be gutted – opinion

Jonas Lossl has told The Athletic that he felt he had the talent to replace Jordan Pickford as Everton’s number one when he sealed a free transfer from Huddersfield Town in 2019.

The Blues moved to snap up Lossl under the leadership of Marco Silva following the Terriers relegation to the second-tier, yet the 32-year-old never played a game for the Merseyside outfit.

Silva ensured that Lossl remained a constant understudy for Pickford and that picture did not change when the Portuguese was replaced at the helm by Carlo Ancelotti, who sanctioned a loan move back to the John Smith’s Stadium just six weeks into his tenure.

Lossl hoped that his return in the summer of 2020 would see Ancelotti offer him a chance at earning minutes at Goodison Park after the departure of Maarten Stekelenburg, but the arrival of Robin Olsen on loan from AS Roma saw an end to that.

“The situation at Everton was not for me,” Lossl claims. “I went with the expectation and hope of challenging Jordan Pickford and getting game time. Because of different situations, that didn’t happen. I thought all along I could go and get in front of Jordan. It was my chance to get into a team like that, but I didn’t take it.”

The arrival of Olsen a year later and Ancelotti favouring the Sweden international as Pickford’s understudy caught Lossl by surprise, and paved the way for his eventual exit on Deadline Day in February when he re-joined former side FC Midtjylland.

“Of course I was [surprised] and sad because they were changing me out,” Lossl added. “I didn’t expect that. If I’d known, I’d have tried to prevent it — if not get another move, then tell them not to do it because he took my place.

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“Robin came in how many hours before closing time? It was difficult [for me] to do something. I felt from the beginning that I did not want to be third-choice. I worked my *** off in autumn to try to prove that it was the wrong decision, and they should play me.

“We had a cup game the week before I left, so I went to Carlo and said: ‘Give me the chance to prove that I can play,’ but we had an honest conversation and they told me: ‘This is not the club for you and if you want to play, then we need to find a solution.’”

Lossl holds no ill-feelings for anyone for the way that his Everton career panned out, and is now back at the side where he began his career in Midtjylland, seven years after leaving the Danish club for EA Guingamp.

Yet minutes have not been overly forthcoming for the one-time Denmark international, with Lossl only playing the Ulvene’s last three Superligaen games before the international break after six appearances as an unused substitute.

There was a place on the bench for Lossl in 21 of Everton’s Premier League games during his 19-months at the club, with the shot-stopper finding even a back-up role hard to secure under Ancelotti who omitted him from 15 matchday squads.

The Italian ultimately made the right decision by telling Lossl to find a new side in the final stages of the winter market as Everton was “not the club for you”, as Ancelotti clearly did not rate the £2.5m-rated ‘keeper but has often sung the praises of Olsen.

Lossl’s disaster of an Everton career will see that he goes down in the record books as one of Silva’s flops, having failed to play a single second yet cost the Toffees just over £3m in wages.

Reports at the time of his arrival by Ekstra Bladet claimed Lossl signed a 100 million krona (£53.5k-p/w) three-year contract at Goodison Park, while Huddersfield covered his salary – thanks to a pay cut – during his 26-weeks back at the club on loan.

The money Everton flushed away through Lossl does not stop at his wages earned over 57 weeks on Merseyside, either, as the Blues reached a settlement agreement with the goalkeeper so that he could leave the club earlier this year.

Lossl will not be a player who lives long in the memories of Everton supporters for any other reason than failing to play a game for the club, and will hope to create better memories for Midtjylland in a battle with Brondby IF for the Superligaen title.

AND in other news, Everton can potentially save £13m by turning to this Max Aarons alternative…

A number of Liverpool fans have been reacting to the news that Jack Grealish will miss this weekend’s Premier League clash with Aston Villa.

The Reds face a must-win game in the top-four battle on Saturday afternoon, with Dean Smith’s men making the trip to Merseyside.

Jurgen Klopp’s side currently sit just three points adrift of fourth-place West Ham, with the likes of Chelsea, Tottenham and Everton also in the mix.

Villa are another team who have a chance of qualifying for the Champions League, though, having enjoyed a strong 2020/21 campaign to date.

Much of that has been down to the brilliance of the influential £54million-rated Grealish, with the England international scoring six goals and registering ten assists.

The 25-year-old been ruled out of Saturday’s match as Dean Smith revealed he has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury, acting as a huge boost for Liverpool.

Liverpool fans react to Grealish update

These Reds supporters been reacted to the news on Twitter.

“Let off that for us. Immense footballer”

Credit: @Romevoice

“Good. Need all the help we can get”

Credit: @poggiolino

“Trent will be buzzing”

Credit: @DavidElliott720

“Massive news if 100% true and not a bit of kidology”

Credit: @dannyhl26

“Huge W”

Credit: @lfcjonesiesta

“Thank God”

Credit: @hugonayme288

In other news, some Liverpool fans have launched into a rival player after his latest antics. Find out who it is here.

According to a report by club insider Claret & Hugh, West Ham United manager David Moyes has ‘no intention’ of leaving east London this summer to manage his former club Celtic despite links to the Glasgow outfit, coming after the Scotsman revealed that he had talks on the matter with David Sullivan last month.

Insider drops Moyes claim

Moyes has enjoyed a great season with West Ham United overall, with the Hammers on course for European football despite operating with a comparatively limited budget.

The Irons sold Sebastien Haller in early January without bringing in a recognised striker to replace him, but the signing of Jesse Lingard appears to have masked that issue.

As a result of his job overall with West Ham, Moyes has apparently been attracting interest from Celtic – but club insider Claret & Hugh has revealed that the 57-year-old holds no interest in leaving London this summer.

Transfer Tavern take

This comes after he confirmed a conversation with Sullivan over the matter last month, and it’s safe to say this comes as a boost for West Ham given the job he has done this term.

Speaking to the press, Moyes also confirmed that he has an automatic 12-month extension clause in his contract if the Irons finish above 13th, something which looks a formality.

As Claret & Hugh share the latest on his future, it looks as if he isn’t going anywhere any time soon – something which is likely to please Hammers everywhere.

In other news: West Ham have already agreed a summer signing, find out more here.

Leeds face intense competition to sign Udinese star Rodrigo De Paul in this summer’s transfer window.

What’s the story?

Reports last summer suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were interested in signing the Argentina international; and then last month, The Athletic’s Phil Hay admitted that De Paul still very much wants to come to Elland Road.

Italian publication Calciomercato have now claimed that, as well as both Leeds and fellow Premier League side Liverpool, Italian giants Inter have thrown their hat into the ring, as Antonio Conte has earmarked the midfielder as his number one transfer target for this summer.

Exactly what Bielsa needs

His dynamism and box-to-box style has brought him six goals and six assists in just 27 league games, and his all-action displays are something which would surely fit in seamlessly with Leeds’ intense running.

Speaking to Yorkshire Evening Post, Smarterscout’s Dan Altman said: “There aren’t any central midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues who can match Rodrigo de Paul’s style of play and his pitch coverage.

“He’s most active in the right channel, crossing midfield, but he can pop up almost anywhere. He’s an avid defender, and his attacking contribution is huge at a Premier League standard. He’s Argentine and has enormous output on both sides of the ball, so he seems like a great fit for Bielsa’s Leeds.”De Paul has been described as a player who “lacks absolutely nothing” by his former boss Julio Velazquez, and the £34.2m-rated dynamo has shown this season what he could bring to the table if he joins Leeds.

Given the midfielder’s desire to come to Elland Road, and the qualities he exhibits on the pitch, De Paul must surely be a priority for Victor Orta and Leeds this summer.

Meanwhile, Leeds must reignite their interest in this star…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Tottenham defender Gary Mabbutt has admitted that Gareth Bale should now be starting every week, but praised Jose Mourinho’s management of the Welshman.

Bale has generally endured a difficult time back in North London since making his return from Real Madrid last summer.

However, the flying winger has enjoyed a revival in recent weeks, using Spurs’ Europa League tie against Wolfsberger to get up to speed for Premier League matches.

Bale scored in both legs against the Austrian outfit, and having made a significant impact off the bench against West Ham last Sunday was rewarded with just his third Premier League start of the season against Burnley last time out.

And Bale repaid Mourinho’s faith by producing a scintillating man of the match display against the Clarets, scoring twice and assisting once in Tottenham’s 4-0 victory.

Mabbutt told FFC:

“I think he’s been very well managed. There has been a lot of talk about should he be playing from the start week in week out, but I think the manager has to make decisions based upon what he’s seeing in training.

“And as long as that’s all clear cut, as long as there’s a lot of communications between the player and the manager, as to as to what they’re trying to achieve getting back to his full fitness, full match fitness. And for health fitness. He had an illness at one stage that kept him out.”

Bale has featured in each of Tottenham’s previous four games in all competitions, scoring four times, whilst providing three assists for his teammates.

Mabbutt continued:

“I think the last couple of games, certainly the European game last week, and the game against Burnley. I thought he was fantastic. He’s finishing, his composure, just his whole presence, his whole presence just on the field there, I think puts fear into the opponents, as they know what he can do.

“Should Gareth be in the first team every single week? Well, of course, on top of the performances that he’s got, but the manager’s got a massive squad to play with.”

For long periods of the season, it seemed strange as to why Bale wasn’t playing so regularly.

But Mourinho appears to have got this spot on. He’s allowed the Welshman to use the Europa League and domestic cups to get up to scratch before unleashing him for the most important part of the campaign.