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New Tottenham Hotspur manager Nuno Espirito Santo could be in line to secure his sixth signing during his short time in the dugout after the capital club were linked with a move for West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.

What’s the story?

According to The Sun, Spurs are one of three Premier League clubs eager to secure the signature of the highly-rated 28-year-old, with West Ham United and Southampton also credited with an interest.

Johnstone has entered the final year of his contract at The Hawthorns, which means he could leave for free next summer or for a reduced price over the winter window.

The report stated: “Both West Ham and Tottenham have pencilled in offers for Johnstone if he leaves, while West Brom have let him know there will be a lucrative deal to stay.”

It also claimed that the Saints would be willing to make an offer for the ‘keeper in the January window rather than waiting for him to become a free agent in the summer, so new Spurs director of football Fabio Paratici will need to act quickly if he is to secure his transfer target.

Spurs fans would love him

Johnstone rose to prominence during 2020/21 after putting in several impressive performances despite West Brom’s struggles ultimately leading to their relegation from the Premier League. Indeed, the £7.2m-rated ‘keeper was named the players’ and supporters’ Player of the Year at The Hawthorns for his heroics as the Baggies’ last line of defence last season.

Based on that, it’s hardly a surprise that Micah Richards described him as “outstanding.”

He has carried his exceptional form into the current campaign, starting ten of Albion’s 11 Championship fixtures so far this term, keeping four clean sheets and conceding just seven goals.

A recent article published by The Atheltic revealed that Johnstone has also begun to adapt his game to the modern demands of a goalkeeper under Valerien Ismael’s tutelage, completing 31 keeper-sweepings and six-headed clearances already, which is the same as his last three campaigns combined.

He is also down on saves and catches per game as he has been forced to become a more modern shot-stopper, and he appears to be coping well with the change.

With current Tottenham number one Hugo Lloris set to turn 36 in December, the north London outfit will need a fresh face between the sticks before long, and Johnstone would likely prove to be a popular choice amongst the club’s fanbase given his impressive displays for West Brom.

In other news… Imagine him and Hojbjerg: Spurs must swoop for £25m gem, he’s an “outstanding talent” 

With Southampton having failed to win a game in the Premier League so far this season, it’s safe to say that Saints fans have not had a lot to shout about recently.

However, one shining light that supporters can take some pleasure in is the progression and development of full-back Kyle Walker-Peters since his arrival at the club.

Southampton originally signed Walker-Peters on a loan deal from fellow Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur in the 2020 January window before securing him on a permanent deal in the following summer transfer window for a fee of £12m.

In terms of his development and progression since joining Southampton, the defender’s market value in April 2020 was £7.2 million according to Transfermarkt. However, after making a total of 51 appearances for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side across all competitions where he’s managed one goal and provided four assists along the way, Walker-Peters’ current market value has increased to £16.2m.

That’s a fine increase of 125% since penning terms on the south coast and suggests it was somewhat of a masterclass from the manager to sign him.

The rise in value shows just how well the 24-year-old, who is apparently earning a weekly wage of just over £23k-per-week according to Spotrac, has done since stepping away from Spurs and joining Southampton.

So far this season, the defender has made six appearances across all competitions where he has registered one goal and provided one assist, both coming in their 8-0 win over Newport County in the Carabao Cup.

For his five appearances in the Premier League, Walker-Peters has earned himself an overall season rating of 6.83/10 for his performances which puts him as Southampton’s third-highest rated player according to WhoScored.

Walker-Peters latest appearance for Southampton saw him play the entire 90 minutes in their recent 3-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Despite the poor result, Walker-Peters still managed to earn himself a respectable match rating of 6.8/10 for his efforts against the west London club. He won six duels all while playing out of position on the left-hand side of defence. His rating, via SofaScore, made him the second-highest-rated outfield player on the day from a Saints perspective.

Moving forward, we see no reason why Hasenhuttl would consider not continue starting Walker-Peters throughout the remainder of their Premier League campaign. However, they will need to make sure they secure their first win of the season as soon as possible or else they could find themselves in real trouble.

In other news: Forget JWP: £12.5k-p/w Southampton gem who made just 6 passes let Ralph down v CFC – opinion

Manchester United have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of their upcoming Premier League fixture.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by the Manchester United website, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed that the 24-year-old midfielder will miss the clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, as the Scotland international has undergone surgery on his groin.

The United manager said: “Scott has undergone surgery for an ongoing groin injury that was causing significant pain when playing. Having tried all other treatment options in pre-season, surgery was deemed necessary to resolve the issue. We hope to have him back soon.”

Solskjaer will be gutted

Considering just how important a player McTominay has become in the United first team in recent seasons, the fact that the Red Devils will be without the services of the midfielder for what is sure to be a difficult trip to Molineux on Sunday will undoubtedly have left Solskjaer gutted.

Indeed, the versatile £31.5m-rated man’s form for United last season illustrates his importance to the side, with the 24-year-old scoring four goals, registering one assist and creating three big chances over his 32 Premier League appearances, as well as making an average of 0.9 interceptions, 1.6 tackles, 1.3 clearances and winning 5.2 duels per game.

These returns saw the £20k-per-week Scot earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.08, ranking him as Solskjaer’s fifth-best performer in the top flight of English football last season.

As such, McTominay’s importance in the United side is clear for all to see, with his absence from the first team – the predicted length of which, at present, has not been revealed by the club – undoubtedly coming as a huge blow to the Norwegian manager, who will have to find a way to work around the midfielder’s absence for the trip to Wolves on Sunday.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano drops Man Utd claim which will be music to the ears of fans

Liverpool had no issue in keeping their unbeaten run in the Champions League going after last night’s 2-0 victory over FC Porto at Anfield.

Goals from Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah secured the win for Jurgen Klopp’s side in front of their home fans after convincingly beating Arsenal 4-0 at the weekend in their previous Premier League fixture.

However, one player that started in midweek that did not take the opportunity to shine with both hands was Takumi Minamino.

Despite playing the full 90 minutes of the game against the Portuguese club, Minamino only managed to have 33 touches of the ball, which was fewer than the 51 touches Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker had throughout the game.

In addition to this, Minamino failed to have much of an attacking impact as well, despite starting through the middle in between Salah and Sadio Mane.

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The Japan international failed to register even one shot at goal, only completed one of the two dribbles he attempted, make just 14 accurate passes and get caught offside on two occasions.

Minamino also managed to win just 35% of the 14 duels he was involved in and lose possession of the ball on nine occasions, ultimately earning himself a rather uninspiring overall match rating of 6.7/10, making him the lowest-rated Liverpool player that started the match according to SofaScore.

Given how Minamino scored in the 4-0 win against Arsenal after coming off the bench to replace Diogo Jota who picked up a knock to the knee against the Gunners, it’s easy to see why Klopp gave him the chance to shine from the start.

However, looking at his performance, it’s safe to say he didn’t fully use this opportunity to really stake a claim for a place in the team next time around for their upcoming Premier League clash against Southampton at the weekend.

With Roberto Firmino still out with a hamstring injury, it’s likely that Minamino will get the chance to prove himself again in the coming weeks and months for Liverpool and when he does, he will have to make sure he puts in a more assured performance than the one he delivered against Porto.

Otherwise, questions may start getting raised about his suitability to play a prominent attacking role in this team on a regular basis.

In other news: Edwards must avoid LFC catastrophe on £100k-p/w “wild animal”, Klopp would be furious – opinion

Former Leicester City defender Steve Howey does not think Dennis Praet has done too much wrong at the King Power, putting his struggles down to midfield competition.

Praet made just 10 league starts last season, partly due to injury, and could now be heading for the Leicester exit door.

According to The Sun, the 27-year-old has given manager Brendan Rodgers an ultimatum: play him or lose him.

Given the Leicester boss’ current midfield options, though, it is hard to imagine him giving Praet any guarantees. And for Howey, it is those other midfield options that have made life at the King Power difficult for the Belgian.

“I think it’s been difficult for him to get into the team because the players that are in those positions have done exceptionally well,” the former Leicester centre-back exclusively told TT.

“It’s not to say he’s a bad player because he certainly is a very good player. Sometimes a player goes to a club and it doesn’t quite work out.”

Indeed, the likes of Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi have done exceptionally well in the middle of the park for Leicester.

As per WhoScored, the former had one of the best passes per league game averages in the Foxes’ squad last season, while the latter made more interceptions per match than any of his team-mates. It leaves Praet in a real tricky spot.

Southampton have completed a deal for ex-Chelsea youngster Dynel Simeu, as their summer recruitment drive finally picks up some pace [GOAL].

The Lowdown: Southampton get ready for 2021/22

Progressing towards the new campaign, Saints manager Ralph Hassenhuttl will be looking to all scouting avenues in order to build a team capable of climbing the Premier League table in 2021/22.

So far, the South Coast outfit have tied up moves for Theo Walcott, Olly Lancashire and Romain Perraud [Transfermarkt].

Now, they have managed to ratify a fourth summer signing, with the new season now just a couple of weeks away,

The Latest: Simeu completes move to the South Coast

Following a breakdown in contract talks with former club Chelsea, Simeu now makes the move to Hampshire for around £1.5 million after leaving Stamford Bridge [GOAL].

Though he was out of contract in West London, the Blues have received a development fee due to their role in nurturing the 19-year-old through the youth ranks.

Growing up on the south coast, he has now returned home on a three-year-contract, keeping him at St Mary’s until 2024.

He will initially join up with the B team, but could follow an accelerated path into the senior squad should he impress at youth level.

The Verdict: Southampton will be the ideal environment for Simeu to continue his development

Proudly retaining a reputation for having one of the best academies in European football, Simeu’s addition will present an exciting prospect to the Southampton support.

Witnessing young prodigies such as the aforementioned Walcott, Gareth Bale and James Ward-Prowse break into the senior fold in recent times, the club have cultivated a model which is proven to provide long-term benefits to the football club.

In 2020/21, the Yaoundé-born centre-back registered two goal contributions in 23 appearances for the Chelsea Under-23’s side; one goal and one assist [Transfermarkt].

Promising to say the least, Simeu captained the Chelsea development squad to the 2019-20 Premier League Two title.

Despite this, he leaves his previous employers without making a first-string outing. Southampton will be keen to see how far his potential can stretch on the South Coast.

In other news, Southampton fans react to links with a Bundesliga ace.

Tottenham’s reluctance to pay big wages could make it difficult for the club to compete against the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool under Paulo Fonseca, warns football finance expert Kieran Maguire.

After a slight decline over the last couple of seasons, finishing seventh and scraping a Europa Conference League place in the 2020/21 Premier League campaign, Tottenham supporters will be hoping for improvement during Fonseca’s reign.

The former AS Roma boss is set for the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium dugout next term following Jose Mourinho’s sacking, with the 58-year-old now at Fonseca’s old stomping ground.

Maguire, though, has his concerns over the north London club’s ability to compete, with their Premier League rivals currently able to attract better players due to the wages they are willing to hand out.

“It’s just whether they’re willing to start to pay wages to players that are more attractive when they’re trying to recruit,” The Price of Football author said in an exclusive interview with FFC.

“Historically, Spurs have been significantly behind the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Chelsea. And, also, they’re even quite far behind Arsenal in terms of wages. Spurs’ wage bill is £45m below that of Arsenal.”

While the above is a concern, Fonseca can take inspiration from the earlier part of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham spell, where he was able to guide his side to finishes inside of the top three and have them competing for the title despite not having the same financial muscle as some of their rivals.

Celtic’s attractive playing style under Ange Postecoglou could suffer following the departure of Ryan Christie, according to The Celtic Way reporter Anthony Haggerty.

Christie made the deadline day move to Championship side Bournemouth for a fee believed to be in the region of £2.5million.

It comes despite Postecoglou, who was appointed as Celtic’s new manager in June, wanting to extend the winger’s contract following an impressive start to the season.

Christie’s Bhoys deal was due to expire in January and, with deadline day looming, the 26-year-old was also linked with Bournemouth’s south coast rivals Southampton at a cut-price fee.

Saints were not the only Premier League outfit who raised an interest as Burnley explored the possibility of being able to tempt Christie to Turf Moor on deadline day.

Christie leaves a sizeable gap in Postecoglou’s preferred starting line-up, having appeared in all four of Celtic’s Scottish Premiership fixtures so far this season.

Haggerty admits Christie was a key cog as Postecoglou recovered from a poor start to his reign.

He told The Transfer Tavern: “I think there were machinations going on behind the scenes to try and keep Ryan Christie sweet and keep him on board.

“I think the Celtic supporters, to a man, woman and child, would say it was a no-brainer to try to keep him.

“But he has left and a big part of Angeball has left now because he hit the ground running under Ange.”

Sunderland manager Lee Johnson will be buzzing after the club’s sporting director Kristjaan Speakman confirmed that Elliott Embleton will be part of the first-team squad next season.

What’s the talk?

Embleton spent the second-half of the 2020/21 season on loan to Blackpool in League One and earned promotion to the Championship last weekend by winning the play-offs. Sunderland failed in their play-off campaign and then watched a player on their books help Blackpool seal promotion to the second tier.

His contract at Sunderland was due to expire this summer before the club triggered an extension to keep him at the Stadium of Light until 2022. Speakman has now claimed that he will impact Sunderland’s team in League One next season, rather than seal a permanent transfer to Blackpool. He told SAFC Unfiltered, via Blackpool Gazette:

“The easiest thing with Elliot would have been to loan him to League Two, and we held out and we held out because we were desperate to get him with the right club and the right coaching staff.

“Neil and the guys at Blackpool have done excellent with him, given him that platform and he’s gone and performed.“He’s demonstrated the ability to play at the level we need him to play at, so when he comes back here he can hopefully impact our team.”Sunderland midfielder Max Power praised the “brilliant” Embelton earlier in the campaign. He told SAFC unfiltered:“He’s technically one of the best players I’ve seen. A good mark of knowing someone’s technically good is he can take corners with both feet.“I think Elliot’s at that age now where he knows that he needs to stay fit. I know it must be tough for him because I thought last season, he was brilliant in pre-season and then he done his hamstring away at Sheffield United in the [League] Cup.” Johnson will be delighted

Johnson will be delighted that Sunderland have decided to keep Embleton at the club and integrate him back into the first-team picture for next season. Speakman could have opted to cash in on the 22-year-old after his impressive spell with Blackpool, especially given that they achieved promotion to a higher division than Sunderland, but Johnson now looks set to benefit from Embleton’s talents next term.

Embleton produced two goals and four assists in 17 starts for Blackpool. He averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.75 across 21 appearances and set up Blackpool’s equalising goal in the play-off final against Lincoln as he helped his side win 2-1 at Wembley. This shows that he has the quality to make a real impact at League One level and that he is built to perform in the biggest games, having done it in the play-off final.

The £4.3k-per-week midfielder could prove to be an upgrade on Aiden O’Brien. Johnson deployed O’Brien as an attacking midfielder and a winger during the game, as the Irishman played 33 times for Sunderland in League One, averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.61 and providing one assist for his teammates.

Embleton averaged a higher WhoScored rating and was able to create more for his teammates in the league for Blackpool, suggesting that he could improve Sunderland’s squad upon returning to the club this summer.

AND in other news, fans should be delighted as £4k-p/w beast has been backed to sign a new deal

Bournemouth have reportedly made an approach to sign Leeds United right-back Cody Drameh this summer.

The Lowdown: Drameh at Cardiff

The Leeds youngster decided to head out on loan during the January window, joining Championship side Cardiff City until the end of the season.

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Drameh has become a regular for The Bluebirds, making 18 consecutive starts following his move to Wales.

The 20-year-old, who’s positioning was labelled as ‘awful’ by Ian Wright against Arsenal back in December, now appears to be catching the eye elsewhere following his spell in the second tier.

The Latest: Bournemouth approach

According to Wales Online, Bournemouth have made an approach over a move for Drameh, outlining how much they’d be willing to offer when it comes to wages.

The report adds that Leeds look likely to assess the full-back in pre-season, with Drameh open to the idea of another exit if he isn’t guaranteed minutes under Jesse Marsch.

The Verdict: Tricky…

Drameh will be entering the final two years of his contract in the summer, and it looks as if Andrea Radrizzani, the 49ers group, Victor Orta and Marsch will have another difficult call to make on the youngster over the coming months.

We have already seen that Drameh is willing to force his way out of Elland Road, and another temporary deal away could suit all involved.

Bournemouth could well be a destination, and it looks as if they are going to earn promotion back to the Premier League. Therefore, if regular minutes can be guaranteed, then the south coast could be the perfect place for Drameh ahead of a potential breakthrough into the Leeds side in 2023/24.

In other news: Sky Sports now share big news on Leeds star’s Elland Road future; ‘dealing’ already happening.