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Celtic secured their first deal of the summer transfer window earlier this month when they sealed a permanent move for Cameron Carter-Vickers from Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

After completing a rather successful season-long loan spell with the Hoops last term, which ended with Ange Postecoglou’s side winning the Premiership title and boasting the best defensive record in the division, it’s easy to see why the club were keen to keep hold of the American.

To highlight how important he was for the Bhoys at the back, in Carter-Vickers’ 33 league games, he racked up more interceptions (43) than any other Celtic player, along with the highest average of clearances per game (4.2).

Now that this deal has been confirmed, the Scottish champions have the rest of the transfer window to make any changes to the squad that they see fit.

In terms of another defender potentially coming through the door at Parkhead, one man with whom the Hoops have been linked and who could give Postecoglou the chance to form an unstoppable duo alongside Carter-Vickers is Ahmed Touba.

After working his way through Club Brugge’s youth ranks, the centre-back left the club on a permanent basis in August 2020 for a move to RKC Waalwijk. Since then, the Algerian has gone on to make 62 appearances for the Dutch side across all competitions, scoring three goals and delivering two assists in the process.

To highlight his defensive capabilities, the 24-year-old won more tackles (32) than any other player at Waalwijk this season and made the joint-highest number of interceptions (57).

Described by journalist Chebli Ishaq as a player with “has all the assets to succeed”, Touba certainly seems to have what it takes to be a solid addition to Celtic’s ranks in terms of his defensive attributes.

Having a player like Carter-Vickers next to him who has shown just how impressive he can be at Parkhead, this could make a potential pairing of him and Touba an unstoppable one for the Hoops.

With all this in mind, securing a deal for the Algerian this summer should definitely be in Postecoglou’s plans for the remainder of the current transfer window.

In other news: “Celtic would like..”: Joseph drops Lennoxtown transfer claim, Ange will be thrilled

Aston Villa have now made Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a transfer priority, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Busy summer

Villa haven’t wasted any time in preparing for Steven Gerrard’s first full season in charge of the club.

Four new signings are already through the door at a cost of just under £50m, while Matt Targett has sealed a permanent move to Newcastle. [Transfermarkt]

Gerrard is on the hunt for more additions, though, and it looks as if Oxlade-Chamberlain is a real target over the coming months.

The Latest: Villa interest in Oxlade-Chamberlain

Football Insider shared a story on Saturday afternoon regarding Villa and Oxlade-Chamberlain. They claimed that Gerrard is a ‘huge’ admirer of the midfielder and has made him a top priority.

Liverpool are willing to cash in on the 28-year-old as he enters the final 12 months of his Anfield contract, with the Villa manager keen to use Oxlade-Chamberlain in an advanced midfield role.

The Verdict: Interesting…

Oxlade-Chamberlain, who has been dubbed ‘unreal’ by journalist Joel Rabinowitz in the past during a reasonably prolific 2019/20 season, has lined out in a number of midfield and attacking roles throughout his career, so he would bring plenty of versatility to Villa Park.

He has been compared stylistically to Philippe Coutinho, although the Englishman has featured as an attacking midfielder on just 17 occasions throughout his career. Most of his displays have either come as a central midfielder or on the right, so it will be interesting to see how Oxlade-Chamberlain copes at Villa Park, should a move go through.

A transfer may not be too expensive due to the player’s contract situation at Anfield, and with Gerrard a ‘huge’ admirer of the 28-year-old, this appears to be one to watch closely.

In other news: Gerrard set to axe £18m-rated Villa pair next after Targett; ‘very important’ Smith star may go

Everton are said to be looking at signing Manchester City man Oleksandr Zinchenko in the summer transfer window, and the Ukraine captain could be a superb addition to Frank Lampard’s side.

What’s the word?

According to journalist James Benge, a number of Premier League sides including Arsenal and Everton have the 25-year-old on their radar ahead of next season.

Since joining City from Ufa in 2016, the versatile midfielder has gone on to make 128 appearances for the Citizens, contributing two goals and 12 assists, predominantly from left-back.

However, Zinchenko is equally adept in midfield and showed his quality with a superb performance in Ukraine’s 3-1 win over Scotland on Wednesday night.

As per SofaScore, he earned an 8/10 rating for his display, which ranked him as the best player on the pitch from both sides.

The City star registered an 87% pass accuracy and played three key passes, one of which found Artem Dovbyk who scored Ukraine’s third goal with the last kick of the game to seal a World-Cup qualifying showdown with Wales on Sunday.

Lampard would love him

According to WhoScored, last season saw Zinchenko register an impressive 7.05/10 rating for his performances in the Premier League, as he helped Pep Guardiola’s side to the Premier League title.

As regular captain of Ukraine, the £22.5m-rated man would offer Lampard some vital leadership, while his versatility could also be significant for the Toffees next season as they look to improve on what was so nearly a catastrophic 2021/22 campaign.

Although he has often been a bit-part player for the Citizens in his time at the club, his influence cannot be underestimated, and he played a key part in City’s final day turnaround against Aston Villa.

The Athletic’s Villa correspondent Gregg Evans was full of praise for his performance on Twitter, writing:

“Zinchenko has been so good for MCFC since coming on. The composure he shows in the final third is frightening.”

Not only would the 25-year-old offer Everton plenty on the pitch, but he could also be a great mentor for fellow Ukrainian Vitaliy Mykolenko, who was a regular starter for the Toffees at left-back towards the end of last season.

Therefore, this is a signing that would make a lot of sense for Lampard, and if Everton can prise him away from Manchester City, then he could be a superb addition at Goodison Park.

And in other news… Moshiri heading for transfer disaster deja vu with 5 ft 6 weakling

Recent reports have seen Arsenal heavily linked with re-signing Germany international Serge Gnabry from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, the 26-year-old having initially joined the Gunners’ youth ranks in 2011, before departing five years later after failing to establish himself in the first team at the Emirates.

With just ten Premier League appearances for the north Londoners under his belt, the Stuttgart born gem joined Werder Bremen on a permanent deal in 2016 after a disappointing season-long loan stint at West Bromwich Albion.

The 31-cap speedster was famously deemed not good enough for the Baggies by then-boss Tony Pulis during his dismal period at the Hawthorns, although has since made that assumption look truly ridiculous, having gone on to win a plethora of major honours at the Allianz Arena.

Having joined his current side in 2017 – initially spending the first campaign on loan at Hoffenheim – Gnabry has gone on to score 64 goals and register 40 assists in 174 appearances in all competitions, notably winning four successive league titles as well as the Champions League in 2020.

Once moved on by Arsene Wenger for just £7m, the latest indication is that the £115k-per-week menace could now cost as much as £34m, with that figure having only been reduced due to his contract expiring next summer.

There is, as expected, a great deal of excitement regarding a potential return to English football, although one club that will no doubt be fearing the worst is rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with the Lilywhites having been on the wrong end of a Gnabry masterclass a few years ago.

Then Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino saw his side completely dismantled by Hansi Flick’s rampant Bayern outfit in a brutal Champions League group stage mauling back in October 2019, with the hosts suffering the further ignominy of being torn apart by the aforementioned former Gunners gem.

In a scintillating showing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Gnabry hit four in a remarkable 7-2 victory for the eventual tournament winners, with the result seemingly contributing to Pochettino’s sacking just a month or so later.

The encounter had been relatively even heading in at the interval as the visitors led 2-1, before a blistering second period saw Flick’s men surge to victory in ruthless fashion, with the former Arsenal man becoming the first player to hit four second-half goals in a Champions League game.

His first illustrated his lightning speed as he tore past a lunging Davinson Sanchez before cutting onto his right foot to unleash a remarkable precise finish past Hugo Lloris, before bettering the Frenchman again with a composed finish off the post with his weaker left foot.

The £63m-rated man then put the game out of sight late on with another quick-fire double, wrapping up his hat-trick after racing clear to again slide the ball past a helpless Lloris, before completing his haul with a divine strike across goal that gave little chance to the flailing ‘keeper.

In truth, his greatest impact for Arsenal did in fact come in the red of Bayern, as the Gunners supporters revelled in that display, before he again punished a London outfit by netting twice against Chelsea in the last-16 a few months later.

Not living on past success, however, he has again impressed in the most recent campaign, netting 17 goals and ten assists in all competitions for the German champions, while he also compares remarkably well to those in his position across Europe’s top five leagues, ranking highly in a string of attacking metrics as per FBref.

Once described as “magic” by Transfermakrt’s Stefan Bienkowski, the lethal forward has that rare quality to make an impact at the highest level on a consistent basis, with his arrival only set to bolster Arteta’s hopes of returning to Europe’s premier competition.

If not to aid them in getting back into the top four, Arsenal simply must sign Gnabry so that he can torment their north London rivals once again.

In other news, Arsenal eye bid for £76.5m-rated “fighter” who “always creates”, he’s better than Saka

Newcastle United’s potential swoop for Leeds United star Raphinha has now been deemed ‘unlikely’ by the Telegraph, who claim that Leeds’ Premier League survival has made a potential deal trickier to complete.

The Magpies also have enquired over the availability of Bayer Leverkusen winger Moussa Diaby with deals for both the Frenchman and the Brazilian unlikely.

Having joined the Yorkshire side from Stade Rennais in 2020, Raphinha has become one of the Premier League’s most talked-about stars, having been deemed as “magic” by Leeds ambassador and ex-striker Noel Whelan.

The 25-year-old’s first season in England saw the winger score six goals and provide nine assists as Leeds finished ninth.

However, despite his side battling relegation until the final day of the season, the £40.5m-rated Brazilian has been impressive once again, scoring 11 goals and providing three assists.

Although he would have been an excellent addition for Newcastle, Eddie Howe’s side can afford to miss out on Raphinha.

It’s not all doom and gloom for Newcastle

Already, the Magpies have a winger who can marvel supporters in Allan Saint-Maximin whilst also having incredibly deep pockets.

This summer transfer window is the first under the ownership of PIF and big signings are certainly expected to be made by the North-East outfit.

The January window saw statement additions come through the door in Bruno Guimares and Kieran Trippier, giving supporters. a taste of what can be expected now that Newcastle is the richest football club in the world.

Therefore, Howe and the Newcastle hierarchy will most likely have put together a mouthwatering wish list meaning that if they are to miss out on one target, they have a suitable alternative to swoop for.

This is exactly the case with Raphinha, with the Magpies now reportedly making an enquiry over Diaby, who actually provided more goal contributions than the Brazilian with 17 goals and 14 assists across all competitions.

Signing Raphinha would’ve been a seriously impressive feat from the Toon Army, however, missing out on a deal certainly isn’t doom and gloom with the Magpies already benefitting from the talents of Saint-Maximin whilst also targeting numerous other quality wingers.

AND in other news: Howe can ruthlessly axe £63k-p/w deadwood as PIF plot “insane” £40m Newcastle signing

The Chronicle journalist Charlie Bennett has revealed what he has now been ‘told’ from Newcastle United in relation to Dean Henderson.

The Lowdown: One to watch

With the Premier League season now completed, transfer rumours are already heating up for the summer, none more so than at St James’ Park.

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One player who has been strongly linked with a move to the northeast recently is Manchester United goalkeeper Henderson, and an update has now been given on that situation.

The Latest: Henderson deal ‘close’

Taking to Twitter, Bennett has revealed that Henderson is ‘keen’ on a move to Tyneside and would ‘prefer’ to sign permanently than on loan. The 25-year-old’s camp believe that a deal is now ‘close’ after meeting representatives of Newcastle in Northumberland last week.

Bennett tweeted: “Understand Dean Henderson is keen on a Newcastle move and has made it known he prefers a permanent transfer to a loan deal.

“Also told player’s camp believe a deal is “close” after meeting club representatives in Northumberland last week.”

The Verdict: Get it done

Given Henderson’s desire to move to the Magpies, and a seemingly positive meeting with their representatives, one would suggest that the Toon shouldn’t have to do too much more to get this deal over the line.

However, given his reputation in the top flight after keeping 13 clean sheets while on loan at Sheffield United in the 2019/20 season, and having played for England at international level, Henderson is likely to be a man in demand this summer.

Therefore, the Newcastle board need to wrap up this deal as soon as possible in order to fend off any other potential suitors.

In other news, Newcastle have now scheduled a meeting over signing this transfer target

Leeds United’s failure to bolster the playing squad in January was down to former manager Marcelo Bielsa, according to journalist Beren Cross.

What’s the word?

During a recent Q&A on LeedsLive, the reporter was asked about the club’s decision-making during the winter transfer window and in particular, why they did not sign a new striker, given Patrick Bamford’s troubles.

He responded:

“Only the people party to those conversations will know for sure who said what when it came to January recruitment, but sources have continued to say Bielsa had the final say and he said no to reinforcements like [Donny] van de Beek and [Harry] Winks in that window.”

Indeed, both the Everton loanee and Tottenham Hotspur outcast were linked with moves, as per the Yorkshire Evening Post, but it is in attack where the Elland Road giants have suffered most.

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Bielsa’s big mistake

Heading into the final game of the season against Brentford, the Whites occupy the final place in the relegation zone, tied on points with Burnley, who face an in-form Newcastle United side, albeit one with nothing to play for.

A whopping difference of 20 goals is what keeps them in the drop over the Clarets and in the far weaker position heading into the weekend. Only five teams have scored fewer goals than Leeds throughout the course of the 37 games played.

Meanwhile, only Raphinha (ten goals) has hit double figures in the Premier League this term, following on from Bamford’s 17-goal feat in 2020/21. This term, the 28-year-old has only managed nine top-flight appearances, scoring twice.

You’d imagine that if he had been available for even double that number of matches, they’d be out of sight of the drop zone by now. Even if that’s in hindsight.

The Elland Road faithful have long rued their unrelenting injury crisis throughout the season but this latest claim from Cross will do nothing to alleviate the negativity.

If anything, they will be furious to learn that Bielsa is said to have rejected reinforcements, a decision that is now looking very catastrophic indeed.

AND in other news, Jesse Marsch dealt fresh blow in relegation fight…

Wolves centre-back Romain Saiss was ‘waving goodbye’ to supporters after his team’s Premier League clash against Norwich City at the weekend, according to journalist Tim Spiers.

The Lowdown: Wolves draw with Norwich

It has been a disappointing end to the season for Bruno Lage’s side, who bowed out at Molineux for another campaign with a 1-1 draw against the relegated Canaries on Sunday afternoon.

It means that Wolves’ European dream is over for another year but the players still got a nice reception from the crowd as they showed their appreciation after the final whistle.

It was a moment to gauge the body language of some, in order to see if it looked as though they were saying their farewells in the Black Country.

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The Latest: Spiers reckons Saiss was ‘waving goodbye’

That certainly appeared to be the case with Saiss, with Spiers taking to Twitter to claim that the Moroccan may have played at Molineux for the last time as he shared a clip of the Wolves players acknowledging the fans in a post-match lap of honour.

The journalist tweeted: “Saiss at the end there. Waving goodbye you’d have to say.”

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The Verdict: Great servant for Wolves

It makes sense for Saiss to move on at this point, with his contract expiring next month. At 32, it would seem that his best days are no longer in front of him.

He should be remembered as a brilliant servant for Wolves, though, with the Moroccan making 206 appearances for the club, scoring 15 goals for good measure and standing out as one of their best performers this term.

It is now a case of replacing Saiss, who has been such a reliable and regular part of the defence for a number of years, to ensure that Lage’s side remain as defensively savvy next season as they were for the bulk of 2021/22.

In other news, Spiers has also lamented the decline of one Wolves player. Find out who it is here.

Assistant coach Watson says the team has spoken to Shaw to “have the freedom to go out there and trust his skills”

Hemant Brar15-Apr-20232:41

Muzumdar: Delhi Capitals have made too many changes

A glance at Delhi Capitals’ batting line-up for their game against Royal Challengers Bangalore will tell you that Lalit Yadav, averaging 30.67 with a strike rate of 137.82 in T20s before this game, walked in at No. 9. That looks like some batting depth. Except it wasn’t.That Lalit was slotted at No. 9 was Capitals’ attempt to guard against their batting failures so far in IPL 2023. In fact, their long batting line-up came at the expense of a bowling resource. They started with four frontline bowlers, with Lalit and Mitchell Marsh expected to fill in the fifth bowler’s quota.The extra batter made little difference. Chasing 175, they were 2 for 3 inside three overs, then 53 for 5, and finished with 151 for 9. It was their fifth successive defeat, further denting their playoff hopes.Losing wickets in the powerplay has been Capitals’ biggest headache. No team has lost more in the first six overs of the innings this season, and only Sunrisers Hyderabad have scored at a slower rate than Capitals in that phase.!function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<e.length;r++)if(e[r].contentWindow===a.source){var i=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";e[r].style.height=i}}}))}();