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Dropping news on Tottenham Hotspur’s January plans as they attempt to finalise a move for Wolves star Adama Traore, reliable reporter Alasdair Gold has shared what he knows.

The Lowdown: Conte eyeing new additions…

Lilywhites boss Antonio Conte is said to be eyeing multiple new additions in north London with Gold previously lifting the lid on his four main priorities.

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As explained, the Italian wants a right-wing-back, left-sided centre-half, a new midfielder and striker (football.london) – with AC Milan’s Franck Kessie and Fiorentina’s Dusan Vlahovic among those rumoured to be on the radar.

In an update, Gold has explained what Conte is now planning to do ‘on top of trying to wrap up the Traore deal’.

The Latest: Gold shares update…

According to his information, transfer chief Fabio Paratici could well be set for a ‘busy end’ to the winter window as Conte makes an updated personal transfer demand.

The 52-year-old has apparently ‘asked’ to bring in a central midfielder and another striker while Paratici is also tasked to move players on.

It is believed that Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele, Matt Doherty, Japhet Tanganga and Joe Rodon may well be up for grabs before January 31.

The Verdict: Interesting times ahead…

Arguably one of the best coaches in world football going by his glittering CV, it will certainly be interesting to see if Tottenham and Paratici can grant Conte’s wishes and provide significant backing.

Spurs are somehow back in contention to finish in a top four place following the regrettable but brief Nuno Espirito Santo era and their capture of Conte could be seen as their biggest coup of 2021/2022 – no matter which players come through the door.

Other reports have also claimed that chairman Daniel Levy could back the former Inter Milan boss with multiple new signings before the end of this month (The Sun), and Spurs fans will certainly be hoping that is the case.

In other news: Spurs ‘edging closer’ to signing ‘massive’ £15m defender, find out more here.

A big update has emerged on Rangers wide man Ryan Kent, regarding potential interest in his services…

What’s the talk?

The Athletic’s Aston Villa reporter Gregg Evans has ruled out the Premier League side making a move for the Gers forward in January.

A fan sent in a question asking whether or not Steven Gerrard will return to Ibrox to pinch some of his former players, with Gregg giving a snippet on Kent and Glen Kamara.

He replied:

“Kamara has been on Villa’s watch-list in the past, so he’s an interesting one but having just signed a new deal at Rangers, it looks unlikely in January.  It wouldn’t surprise me to see Villa wait until the summer to bring in a new midfielder if they can’t get a top target either, unless there’s another injury to add to Nakamba’s setback, then they will need to increase the numbers.

“I’m pretty sure it’s a no to Kent. Villa already have lots of options in the attacking areas.”

Big boost

Rangers fans will surely be delighted with this update as it suggests that the ex-Liverpool man will not be heading to Villa Park in January.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst will want to keep as many of his best players as possible and a lack of firm interest in Kent will come as a welcome relief. The Kamara update is slightly more worrying heading into next summer, but Evans claiming that a move is ‘unlikely’ in January is another boost for the side.

In the league this season, the Finland international has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.04 across 17 starts. The midfielder has completed 91% of his passes and won 54% of his duels, whilst chipping in with one goal and two assists.

Last term in the Premiership, Kent managed ten goals and nine assists as the Gers won the title. He averaged a terrific SofaScore rating of 7.23, showing that he can perform consistently to a high level in the division. This is why he is a crucial player for the club and why losing him in January would be a major blow.

Therefore, fans will be delighted with this latest update on Aston Villa’s plans for next month and the slim chances of them trying to sign Kent or Kamara to bolster their squad.

AND in other news, GVB could ruin Rangers’ title charge with major January gamble, fans would be livid… 

Celtic appear to be edging closer to the signing of Daizen Maeda in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Dan Orlowitz, with the Japan Times journalist and J League insider stating in a post on Twitter that the Yokohama F. Marinos centre-forward’s proposed move to Celtic appears to be all but done, with the 24-year-old looking set to join the Bhoys on an initial loan deal with a €2m (£1.7m) purchase option to be exercised this summer.

In his post, Orlowitz said: “Multiple Japanese outlets reporting in the last 30 minutes that Daizen Maeda is expected to join Celtic on loan with a €2m purchase option to be exercised this summer. Based on [the] variety of sources I’d say this is done.”

Postecoglou will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Maeda was in Japan this season, in addition to the fact that Ange Postecoglou is rather short of strength in depth up top, the news that the club’s deal to sign the striker looks to be all but complete is sure to have left the 56-year-old buzzing.

Indeed, over his 36 J League appearances this term, the £990k-rated forward scored a highly impressive 23 goals, provided three assists and created four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots and making 0.9 key passes per game.

These returns saw the Japan international earn an excellent seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as his club’s joint sixth-best performer in the league, as well as the joint top scorer in the division.

And, with all three of Kyogo Furuhashi, Albian Ajeti and Giorgos Giakoumakis suffering from various injuries this season, it would very much appear as if Postecoglou could use an extra body in attack ahead of the restart of the Premiership season next month.

As such, the news that the Maeda deal is close to completion will undoubtedly come as a major boost to the 56-year-old Bhoys manager, who will certainly be hoping to deploy the 24-year-old when Hibernian visit Parkhead on January 17.

In other news: Forget Jota: Ange can land the next Eriksen with Celtic swoop for £12.5m-rated machine

Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst is reportedly hoping to land Belgian youth development specialist Zeb Jacobs to the club.

It has recently been claimed that the Gers are attempting to prise him away from Royal Antwerp to bolster the Dutchman’s backroom staff, with his background consisting of work with the progress of young players.

His potential appointment could indicate a desire from van Bronckhorst to integrate more academy prospects into the first-team set-up, as Jacobs could come through the door and speed up their progression.

Goldson 2.0

FFC published an article explaining why Tony Weston could be an academy player who breaks through into the first-team under the former Feyenoord coach. However, he is not the only promising talent coming through the ranks, with centre-back Leon King another who could have a bright future in Glasgow.

Gio could unearth Connor Goldson 2.0 in King, with the club potentially needing a replacement for the ex-Brighton man at the end of the season. His contract is up next summer and it remains to be seen whether or not he will put pen to paper on an extension.

Therefore, bringing through the 17-year-old, King, in the next few months could be perfect timing for the Dutch manager. He could potentially shine in the first-team and be the natural successor to Goldson, taking his place at centre-back if he is able to show consistency and quality in the Premiership.

Ex-Gers player Mark Hateley once tipped him to be massive in the future, saying: “If you look at that [our bench at Livingston] there is only Leon King there you’ve got that question mark, but Leon King is going to be massive.”

Steven Gerrard also previously dubbed him as “superb” after handing him a first-team debut in the Premiership, showing how highly the current Aston Villa manager rated the youngster.

These quotes suggest that the potential is there for King to make his mark at first-team level for Rangers. Whether that time is now, at the age of 17, or not is a question that cannot be answered until he is given an opportunity to show what he can do by van Bronckhorst.

Therefore, the 46-year-old must offer him a chance in the first-team, whether that comes in the Premiership, Europa League or in the cup. If he is able to step in and perform, then Rangers could have their next Goldson on their hands.

AND in other news, Big boost: Gio hands Rangers massive injury lift pre-Hibs, fans will surely love it – opinion

After their run of five defeats in the Premier League that led to Dean Smith getting sacked from Aston Villa, the Villans have won three of the five games they’ve played with Steven Gerrard in charge, scoring seven goals in the process.

Taking this into account and the fact that the January transfer window is on the horizon, it seems as though Gerrard could have another attacking talent in his squad next month.

With recent reports suggesting that Wesley Moraes could be on his way back to Villa Park in January after his lacklustre spell on loan in Belgium with Club Brugge, this could not only give Gerrard another attacking option for his squad, but it could also finally kickstart the Brazilian’s career in the Premier League.

After joining the Midlands club back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Brugge in a deal worth a reported fee of £22m, Wesley made 26 appearances for Villa across all competitions before sustaining a serious knee injury that kept him out of action for well over a year.

In those 26 appearances, the 25-year-old, who is currently picking up a weekly wage of £46k-per-week according to Salary Sport, managed to score six goals and provide one assist.

During his loan spell with Brugge this season, Wesley has failed to register a goal or assist in 105 minutes of action in seven appearances across all competitions, which shows why his former side would be willing to let him return to Villa in January.

While his lack of goal contributions this season with Brugge may not be particularly encouraging for those at Villa, there’s every possibility that the forward could finally find his feet in the Premier League and flourish under Gerrard’s guidance if given the chance to do so.

Having been previously described as a player that will “get better and better” by Smith, Wesley deserves to have another shot at being a regular attacking figure for Villa given how much money they paid for him.

However, with Gerrard having the likes of Ollie Watkins, Danny Ings, Keinan Davis and Cameron Archer in their squad that play in the centre-forward position, it could be quite hard for Wesley to get back into the team if he does return in January and stay for the remainder of the season.

If he does end up back at Villa in January and a regular figure for the team throughout the rest of the season, this could be a great opportunity for Johan Lange to save the club millions in future transfer fees by finding a reliable back up figure.

In other news: Gerrard must avoid AVFC disaster on gem who’s now out of the “shadow of Jack Grealish” – opinion

If Antonio Conte wanted his first game to sum up everything he will have to work with at Tottenham, then he no doubt saw it all against Vitesse in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night.

The Italian witnessed a quite incredible opening game in charge, with the Lilywhites storming into a 3-0 lead before being pegged back to 3-2 and seeing three red cards dished out in a frantic second half.

The defending would have left him scratching his head at times, but Conte would surely have been very excited by the performance and potential of one of the club’s summer signings in Emerson Royal.

The man signed by Fabio Paratici was deployed in the right wing-back role in Conte’s favoured formation and showed all the signs of industry and dynamism which could make him a real big player for the former Inter boss.

As per Sofascore, he won eight duels on the night (the joint-second most of any player on the pitch behind international compatriot Lucas Moura), made the most tackles with five, and had the second-most touches of any Spurs player with 81.

Whether it was being intense and fully engaged with the way he tried to pressure the ball, or his powerful running going forward, the Brazilian was a superb outlet for Spurs, especially on the counter-attack.

It was the former Betis man’s charging run towards the closing stages of the game which eventually saw Vitesse’s goalkeeper sent off after being adjudged to having handled the ball outside of his box.

Writing in their post-match ratings for Hotspur HQ, they gave Emerson a 7.5, saying: “From an offensive perspective, Emerson Royal is getting better and better. Royal was a consistent outlet on the right and pushed forward early and often. Royal showed stepovers and a willingness to knock the ball into the box.

“As the team went down a man Royal did what he could in the back four, although not a natural fullback. Was right back on the front foot after the Vitesse card. It was Royal beating Markus Schubert to a ball down that wing that led to Vitesse’s second red card. Endless energy and effort.”

If the first game under the new manager was anything to go by, then Emerson could be a game-changing player under Conte with his relentless work down the right flank, and the Italian would surely have been raving with the 22-year-old’s performance on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Spurs must replace this midfielder…

Many West Brom fans have been slamming the performance of Jordan Hugill in their 1-0 loss at Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

The striker, who is on loan from Norwich City, was brought on for Grady Diangana just after the hour mark but failed to make any sort of real impact on the game as Daniel Sinani’s early goal was enough to give the Terriers all three points.

Hugill lost out on all four of his duels and failed to record a single shot on goal, dribble or key pass, while he was also guilty of losing possession of the ball five times (SofaScore).

The 29-year-old has only scored one goal in 14 Championship appearances for the Baggies (Transfermarkt), so loaning him in has not proven to be good business so far.

West Brom fans slam Hugill

These Albion fans slammed Hugill’s performance on Twitter, with one supporter even going as far as to claim that the striker was ‘anonymous’ against Huddersfield:

“Hugill making me miss Diangana.”

Credit: @HOLLY073

“Hugill is a waste”

Credit: @TonySmi37140951

“Brings on Hugill who is just anonymous for the time he is on the pitch.”

Credit: @1toowatch

“Absolutely zero chance he’s worse than Hugill though, who is total dross!”

Credit: @MattW1lkes

“Nothing wrong with Reach. Hugill however…..”

Credit: @suttonbaggie

“Every night I go to bed thinking ‘what on earth does any football coach see in Jordan Hugill’? (I think of other things, too, of course).”

Credit: @DickLaurent96

In other news, find out what pre-game team news had these WBA fans buzzing

Lucas Digne has taken to Instagram to offer an apology to Everton fans after they were beaten at home by Watford on Saturday. 

The Toffees went down 5-2 to the Hornets at Goodison Park, having conceded four goals in the space of 18 minutes, and back-to-back defeats have seen Rafael Benitez’s side slip to eighth in the Premier League table.

Digne wrote that there was ‘no excuse’ for the loss and that all he could say was ‘sorry’, adding that Everton’s players must now ‘work hard’ and ‘show you our real face’.

How did Digne play?

If you go by SofaScore’s ratings, Digne was actually one of the Toffees’ better performers on the day.

Only Michael Keane, Richarlison (7.2 each) and Tom Davies (7.3) bettered his score of 7.1, while he won eight of his 12 ground duels and five of his seven aerial battles. Going forward, he was able to create three chances for team-mates.

However, he was also guilty of losing possession 23 times over the course of the game, and given that Watford were given just an 18% chance of winning beforehand, you can certainly understand Everton supporters’ overriding anger.

Fan feed Toffee TV relayed Digne’s post, and here’s what some supporters made of it, with one irate Toffees fan calling the Frenchman a “fraud”.

These Everton fans rip into Digne

“He was pants. Responsible for the equaliser with a daft, needless foul, was caught out of position for one of the others. Woeful. He should say sorry. Must do better. Much better.”

Credit: @petermorris1878

“Hmmm, he was really poor yesterday defensively. We have heard these sound bites before and it wont change anything”

Credit: @Byrdsman75

“Meaningless, empty words”

Credit: @TimBlueKangaroo

“Well you can’t play any worse or can you !!! But you are not alone… Keane and Rondon”

Credit: @johnsonk62

“Not seen his real face for over 18 months”

Credit: @jayjones33

“Means nothing, straight from the Phil Neville and Jags book of excuses”

Credit: @gary2monty

“Should be sorry for the last 2.5 seasons, the fraud”

Credit: @DannoJ21

In other news, the figures show that these three players were Everton’s worst performers on Saturday

Plenty of West Ham fans have been going wild on social media following Sky Sports’ on-air London Stadium takeover claim.

The Hammers faithful have had plenty to shout about on the pitch this season, most recently after they knocked out holders Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup in the week, and it appears as if they may have some more good news off the field, possibly as soon as next month.

Sky Sports shared news on Thursday, video shared by Football Daily, revealing Daniel Kretinsky, a Czech-based billionaire who owns Sparta Prague and a big stake in Royal Mail, is within days of agreeing to buy a big stake in the club.

Kretinsky is in talks to buy a 27 per cent stake in West Ham, which they believe ‘crucially’ could lead to a full takeover.

Should Kretinsky eventually take full control, it would spell an end for David Gold and David Sullivan, who have been in charge of the Hammers for 11 years.

It is no surprise to see fans delighted at the news, considering the immense level of distrust between the Irons faithful and GSB.

Hammers fans react

This is what these West Ham supporters had to say in reply to Sky Sports’ on-air claim on Twitter, with many going wild.

“Here we go again…”

Credit: @Rishi250694

“WE ARE MASSIVE”

Credit: @xDoyley

“Pinch me. We are playing good football, in Europe, competing well in the league, into the quarters of the league cup and now we are getting a takeover!! What a time to be alive and be a West Ham fan”

Credit: @WHU_Will_

“NO WAY??? AND I THOUGHT THIS WEEK COULDNT GET BETTER”

Credit: @JoshBathtub

“The cherry on top of an outstanding week.”

Credit: @WHUsamzini

“please let this be true”

Credit: @Wattie732

In other news: ‘So massive’ – Many West Ham fans erupt as ‘great’ stadium news confirmed.  

Crystal Palace came back from two goals down to salvage a draw against Leicester City at Selhurst Park in their Premier League clash over the weekend.

Kelechi Iheanacho caught centre-back Joachim Andersen napping just after the 30-minute mark to dispossess the Danish defender before racing away and providing the Foxes with a rather undeserved lead.

Veteran striker Jamie Vardy then doubled the visitor’s advantage going into halftime, but Palace went to recover well after the interval, ensuring they head into the international break in 14th position.

And one player was arguably more responsible for the capital club’s comeback than most. Summer signing Michael Olise entered the field of play as a 53rd-minute substitute, and it didn’t take him long to make an impact.

The 19-year-old winger got on the end of a Tyrick Mitchell cross, hitting his initial effort into a Leicester defender. He then reacted to the loose ball in emphatic fashion, smashing a volley past the helpless Kasper Schmeichel to bag his first goal for the south London outfit.

Olise then played a pivotal part in Jeffrey Schlupp’s equaliser. It was his initial ball into the opposition box that caused the danger, providing the Ghana international with the chance to score against his former employers.

As a result, the youngster was awarded a match rating of 7.5 out of 10 by SofaScore, the highest total received by any of his teammates.

And when looking at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why. He only played 17 minutes during the match but made a devastating impact against Leicester. Olise achieved a passing accuracy of 82%, won three of his four duels (75%) and played two key passes.

Those would have been handy numbers for a starter, let alone a second-half substitute. Together with Schlupp, Palace looked a real threat. Yet, it was undoubtedly Olise who was the most exciting of the pair.

It was an extremely promising showing from the ex-Reading forward who is yet to feature from the off for the Eagles due to an injury. He’ll now surely be hoping to make his first start for the club after his heroic showing for Patrick Vieira’s charges on Sunday.

And, in other news…Parish must seal Palace move for “perfect” 23y/o maestro, Vieira needs him