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According to CalcioMercato, Glasgow Rangers are still interested in signing long-term target Lovro Majer from Dinamo Zagreb.

What’s the word?

Reports at the start of the year revealed that the Light Blues were tracking the Croatia U21 international back in January. But Steven Gerrard’s side ended up signing Ianis Hagi initially on loan instead, before he impressed in his short spell at Ibrox before the Scottish Premiership was suspended in March.

And Rangers signed the Romania international on a permanent deal from Genk in the summer as he was described by Gerrard as a “pleasure to coach.”

It’s claimed that the Gers remain in the race to sign Majer in the winter transfer window but will face stiff competition from some of Europe’s top clubs, including Borussia Dortmund, Fiorentina, Sevilla and Valencia, whilst Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United are also closely monitoring the situation. But Ross Wilson must sanction a swoop for the £2m-rated ace, otherwise he may never get another opportunity.

Better than Kranjcar?

Croatia has become a scouting ground for the Gers in recent years, having signed both Borna Barisic and Nikola Katic since Steven Gerrard first took charge at the Ibrox outfit.

For every Nikica Jelavic or Dado Prso, there has been a Niko Kranjcar, so Ross Wilson may want to tread very carefully indeed.

This season, Majer has made one appearance in the Europa League, whilst he has averaged one shot, three key passes and three dribbles per game, via WhoScored. In comparison, Hagi has only managed one key pass per game, as per WhoScored.

The 22-year-old has scored three goals and supplied two assists in six games in the Croatian top flight, otherwise known as the 1.HNL, after bagging a brace against NK Lokomotiva at the start of the season, via Transfermarkt.

On the other hand, Kranjcar could only manage to score one goal and supply one assist in sixteen appearances in the Scottish Premiership, via Transfermarkt. The veteran was 31 at the time of his arrival and was plagued by constant injury setbacks over the course of his career, so he was undoubtedly past his peak, whereas Majer, who plays in a similar position, has stayed unscathed so far.

Despite his young age, Majer has already been compared to Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric. Hagi has also been tipped for greatness, with his father Gheorghe Hagi recently insisting that his son has a similar playing style to current Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane. Even so, he has copped a fair amount of criticism so far, as well.

Whilst it’s too early to tell whether or not Majer will be better than Kranjcar, it’s fair to say that, unlike his countryman, the youngster remains a relatively risk-free signing. One thing’s for sure, he’s certainly on the right track if his record is anything to go by.

Gerrard has shown he can get the best out of young players, as he has worked wonders with both Hagi and Calvin Bassey. So, he could take his game to the next level if he moves to Ibrox, as he’d almost certainly be guaranteed games. Get it done, Gers, before it’s too late!

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers striker Kemar Roofe steals the show against Standard Liege…

Newcastle surely look back at the summer of 2018 with a bit of regret, after missing out on key striking target Alassane Plea.

What was the story?

Sky Sports claimed that the Magpies were interested in signing the Frenchman who had scored 21 goals in Ligue 1 the season before. It was revealed that the Tyneside club had seen a £27m bid rejected by Nice, with the likes of West Ham, Fulham and Tottenham also interested in his services.

In the end, Plea left France to join Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, where he’s cemented himself as a proven finisher, capable of delivering big moments in big games.

Imagine him and Saint-Maximin

With Allan Saint-Maximin’s arrival from Nice in the summer of 2019, Newcastle have seen first-hand what a player from the south of France can do for them. And whilst Plea was with the current Magpies star in Ligue 1, they both developed a fine understanding together.

As per Transfermarkt, in Saint-Maximin’s professional career, the most goals he has combined for with a teammate, is with Plea. That link-up would have been incredible to see further grow at St James’ Park, and the French duo could have help tear the Premier League to shreds.

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Instead, Newcastle didn’t go further than their initial bid, and the striker has gone on to perform well at Monchengladbach. If any Magpies fan was watching the Champions League in mid-week, when the German side took on Real Madrid, then they would have seen Plea set up both of his team’s goals in a very impressive 2-2 draw.

Rated at £27m by Transfermarkt, Plea really would have been a fine signing for Newcastle.

Everton must avoid a dire swoop for Juventus midfielder Sami Khedira in the January window, with Carlo Ancelotti reportedly considering the has-been German for an important role at Goodison Park.

What’s the word?

According to Calciomercato.it, Khedira is preparing to leave Serie A heavyweight Juventus in the upcoming winter market, having failed to play a single minute under Andrea Pirlo this term.

Khedira has now come to terms with the Italy icon wanting to persist without his services in any competition, leading the 32-year-old to switch his focus to securing a mid-season move amid interest from the Premier League.

Everton and Tottenham Hotspur are both said to be open to a move for Khedira, with Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho holding high-regards of the midfielder they each managed at Real Madrid.

The chance to reunite with either Ancelotti or Mourinho and become an important asset of their midfields is understood to hand Everton and Tottenham a greater chance of striking a deal with the 2014 World Cup winner, who Juventus would like to sell in order to offload his mammoth £185,000-per-week contract.

Khedira recently spoke to Sky Germany on his appreciation of the Italian and Portuguese tacticians, noting how he would not rule out reuniting with either should the chance arise.

“I really enjoyed working with Jose Mourinho but there are many coaches who I would like to work with,” he said. “I would never say no again to Jose Mourinho, but it is not the only guy who I would say I would like to work with again.

“There are many coaches, even in the Premier League that I respect a lot. Ancelotti is doing a great job at the moment and is a great personality. He is one of the coaches who impressed me also.”

Walk away

Everton Director of Football Marcel Brands would be well advised to avoid stepping up the Goodison Park outfit’s interest in Khedira and reuniting Ancelotti with the German, as the Juventus outcast is far from the player he was when the pair lifted the 2013/14 Champions League trophy with Real Madrid.

As well as being shunned by Pirlo this term, Khedira started just nine of his 12 Serie A appearances under Maurizio Sarri last term before enduring lengthy spells on the sidelines after knee surgery and a tear in the abductor muscle.

Only twice in those nine starts did the Stuttgart-born midfielder feature for the full 90 minutes, as well, with Sarri substituting the German before the 70th-minute in seven of his outings.

Khedira’s decline from his golden age with Real Madrid stretches back even further, too, with Germany icon Oliver Kahn slamming the 32-year-old for his woeful efforts in their country’s tumultuous 2018 World Cup efforts that saw Joachim Low’s men finish bottom of Group F after a disappointing 2-0 defeat to South Korea.

“They deserved to go out. The players didn’t show enough commitment throughout the Group Stage,” he said, via quotes by talkSPORT. “They lacked togetherness, and their play was far too static. The main disappointments for me were Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil.

“They were bypassed during the first game against Mexico, and were left on the bench against Sweden. They got another chance on Wednesday, but neither of them could take it. They are two of our most experienced players, yet they failed in too many areas.”

Khedira, who Shaka Hislop said of last year his “legs are gone”, has done nothing in the two-years since to suggest his career has enjoyed a second wind, so it boggles the mind to suggest he would improve Everton’s midfield unit in January.

AND in other news, Everton are on course to repeat a Steve Walsh horror with swoop for a gem with “incredible speed”.

Leeds United face Everton this weekend and Phil Hay has provided an injury update after Marcelo Bielsa’s pre-match press conference.

Hay provides big update

Hay reported that Bielsa has confirmed that Pablo Hernandez and Diego Llorente are both still missing due to their injuries. The return date for the two is still unknown.

Blow for Leeds

Hernandez shone in Leeds’ promotion season last campaign. He scored nine goals and picked up nine assists (WhoScored). He also managed on average 2.1 shots, 2.3 key passes and 1.1 successful dribbles per game.

Meanwhile summer signing Diego Llorente is yet to start for Leeds. However, in his career before joining the Premier League side, the six-capped Spanish international was very impressive. He is a defensive player with 247 appearances and has 18 goals to his name (Transfermarkt), so enough experience to come in and thrive when fit and healthy.

The fact that they are both unavailable to start or even come off the bench will definitely be a big blow for Bielsa and it will make his fixture against the Toffees even harder.

In other Leeds news, the club have managed to tie down an exciting prospect. Have a read here!

Such is the nature of English football during December, the games just come thick and fast, and for Nottingham Forest, Wednesday night gives them the perfect opportunity to finally put things right.

Chris Hughton’s side have endured a wretched run of results over these past few weeks, with no win in five (including four defeats), and not even managing to find the back of the net once.

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Their opponents on Wednesday, Norwich, are flying high in second in the Championship table, and are level on points with first-placed Bournemouth but having played a game less.

With the game at Carrow Road, all signs point to it being another difficult night for Forest, but if Hughton makes some bold calls in his team selection, there could well chance of an early Christmas miracle.

After dropping yet another clanger at the weekend, Hughton could make his first big decision by benching regular number one, Brice Samba, and instead bringing in Jordan Smith for his first game of the season.

The back four could remain unchanged, with the Forest boss admitting in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game that Scott McKenna is still having trouble with his ankle and is likely to miss out the trip to Norwich.

One enforced change Hughton will have to make is in midfield, with Ryan Yates of course being suspended following his red card last time out, and that could see Samba Sow start from the off.

After a particularly disappointing display at the weekend, the Forest manager may also consider dropping Anthony Knockaert from his starting line-up, with Joe Lolley and Sammy Ameobi taking up the wide spots.

Predicted XI: Smith; Christie, Worrall, Dawson, Ribeiro; Sow, Cafu, Arter; Lolley, Taylor, Ameobi.

Meanwhile, Hughton must surely consider unleashing this “elite” Forest talent.

Wolves’ season has turned into a peculiar state of affairs.

For the first time in Nuno Santo’s tenure at Molineux, he switched from a three-back to a four-man defence a few weeks ago.

It initially paid off with Wolves drawing with Southampton and then beating Arsenal.

However, combined with the injury to Raul Jimenez, Nuno’s defence is suddenly being breached on a regular basis. They have conceded five goals in their last two matches so clearly some degree of change is required.

In fact, we’re tipping Nuno to make as many as three alterations to his starting XI to face Chelsea on Tuesday evening.

We think that with Wolves on a poor run of form that the manager will shift back to his tried and tested three-man defence.

As a result, Wily Boly comes back into the side and we’re also tipping Nuno to remove Marcal from the squad and bring in summer signing Rayan Ait-Nouri.

A notable change comes in midfield where Joao Moutinho is suspended. Consequently, Ruben Neves is back in the side after a run of one start in the last three games.

The final alteration is in attack where Fabio Silva drops out of the side. Despite being the club-record signing, he’s not enjoyed the greatest of starts to his career at Molineux and thus, Daniel Podence leads the line again as he did against Liverpool a few weeks ago.

The Portuguese didn’t score on that occasion but has been lively in 2020/21, providing two goals and registering two assists.

With Jimenez out with a fractured skull, Nuno desperately needs to find a solution to his woes.

In other news, Forget Silva: Wolves can strike gold with swoop for “swashbuckling” 9-goal bully…

Liverpool were heavily linked with a move for Sevilla centre-back Diego Carlos during the summer and the Reds will definitely regret not signing the Brazilian considering their defensive injuries this season so far.

Both Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez have been ruled out with long-term injuries, whilst Joel Matip has struggled with injuries in the past and has missed sporadic games throughout the season through injury problems.

This has meant that Fabinho has been forced to fill in at centre-back for most of the season, usually alongside youngsters Nathaniel Phillips and Rhys Williams.

Whilst all three have done a superb job when relied upon by Jurgen Klopp, the Reds will surely want to avoid having to play the rest of the season with their current centre-back options, as any more injuries could seriously harm their chances of retaining the Premier League table.

The Merseyside club returned to the top of the table with a dramatic 2-1 win against Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, but with just three clean sheets to their name in the top-flight so far this season, their defensive vulnerabilities could be exploited later in the season.

Therefore, it could be argued that the Reds made a mistake in not securing the signing of Carlos during the summer, with it suggested that they were unwilling to match the defender’s release clause of £67.6 million.

Whilst this would have been an expensive deal for the club, the 27-year-old has been solid for the La Liga side since joining from Nantes, averaging a 6.90 rating for his performances last season, whilst also helping Julen Lopetegui’s side win the Europa League, as his overhead kick led to the Spanish side’s extra-time winner.

He has averaged a strong 6.81 rating for his performances this season and with WhoScored suggesting that the Brazilian’s main strength is passing, whilst he has no significant weaknesses, implying that he could’ve been a superb replacement for Van Dijk while he recovers from injury.

Perhaps we will see the Reds reignite their interest in Carlos in next month’s transfer window, with his release clause perhaps not seeming so bad now that Klopp is so short on senior defensive options.

And, in other news… Klopp must sanction January exit for LFC liability with “a taste for the big games” 

Tottenham Hotspur boss Jose Mourinho will have some interesting decisions to make over his current squad in the next month, and certainly heading into the summer.

Bye-bye Winks?

A lot has been made about the future of academy graduate and first-team midfielder Harry Winks in north London in recent weeks.

Eurosport’s Dean Jones believes Spurs will listen to suitable offers for him if any were to come in during the January transfer window, whilst he has also claimed that a reunion with Mauricio Pochettino at Paris Saint-Germain is possible.

Back in November, the 24-year-old described his situation as “difficult” ahead of the European Championships at the end of the season, a competition in which the eight-time England international will want to be featuring in.

La Liga outfit Valencia and Premier League rivals Everton are another two teams that have been linked with moves for Winks.

And here’s why Mourinho can afford to let the £36m-rated (€40m) maestro go…

Skipp successor?

Oliver Skipp.

Those two words are exactly why Spurs can say goodbye to Winks anytime in the near future.

The fellow homegrown midfielder has come on leaps and bounds during his first loan spell away from N17 this season, so surely it is only a matter of time before he breaks into the senior set-up under Mourinho.

At Championship outfit Norwich City, Skipp has recorded a total of 47 tackles at an average of two per game, whilst also managing to hit an 88.5% passing success rate from an average of 57 passes per outing, via WhoScored.

The 20-year-old is simply dominating matches at that level, as seen in his average of 69 touches per match, having helped the Canaries to top spot in the division.

His impact has been so good that his loan boss Daniel Farke has been left blown away, he said to reporters:

“To prove this for such a young lad in really his first full season, where he plays every three days, in the toughest league in the world is outstanding,” before adding: “With his character and how he behaves within the group it underlines why Jose said he could be a future Tottenham captain. He has this pedigree.”

Indeed, the ‘Special One’ has stumbled across his next gem, dubbing him a “future captain” – something first noted by Pochettino, who claimed Skipp was a “top player” all the way back in 2018.

Winks’ exit could fund other areas in the squad all whilst knowing that Mourinho has his perfect successor ready in waiting right under his nose.

AND in other news, Levy can secure Spurs their next Ricky Villa in “rare” £36m speed demon…

If Sunderland’s plight with Covid-19 a few weeks ago wasn’t bad enough, the squad has now been ravaged with injuries to a number of first-team players.

Denver Hume suffered a setback and is out for a further two months while his defensive colleague Tom Flanagan is also missing.

Luke O’Nien is still out as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder but Conor McLaughlin, Danny Graham, Lee Burge and Will Grigg are now absent.

Clearly, Lee Johnson’s start to life as Mackems boss hasn’t exactly been ideal. However, on paper, they should be victorious when they face relegation-threatened AFC Wimbledon on Saturday afternoon.

Though, with all of Sunderland’s injuries in mind, how will Johnson’s team look?

We’re tipping the Black Cats manager to make as many as three changes to the side that defeated Port Vale in the Papa John’s Trophy last week.

With McLaughlin set to go under the knife, Max Power keeps his place at right-back. Calum McFadzean is selected over Wolves loanee Dion Sanderson at left-back.

Jordan Willis retains his spot with Flanagan out so all of the aforementioned changes come in the final third.

Aiden O’Brien scored in Sunderland’s midweek win but we think that Jack Diamond should come in and start as he did against Hull City. The youngster was mightily impressive during that clash, making a team-high three successful dribbles from six attempted. As bright as O’Brien was against Port Vale, he failed to complete a single dribble.

Another change sees Elliot Embleton drop into midfield which means Aiden McGeady replaces Dan Neil. The Irishman netted late on in the Papa John’s Trophy so gets a chance to show what he’s capable of from the off once again.

The final change sees top-scorer Charlie Wyke replace Lynden Gooch as the centre-forward. The target man missed a wonderful opportunity to score when Sunderland played the Tigers but given his fabulous record of ten goals this term, simply has to start.

AND in other news, Speakman can end Johnson’s big SAFC dilemma with swoop for “clever and skilful” 20 y/o…

This hasn’t been the best of starts to 2021 for Leeds United.

They have lost all three of their outings this term but thankfully, Marcelo Bielsa has had over a week to reflect on where things are going wrong.

On the chalkboard

One of Leeds’ biggest problems this season has been their defence. They have shipped seven times in three outings this year and have the worst record when it comes to defending set-pieces in the Premier League.

Furthermore, they have conceded the second-highest volume of goals (34) in the top-flight. Only West Brom are worse than Bielsa’s side.

Therefore, change could be brewing among the backline. If that is the case then the first man to be axed from the XI simply has to be Gjanni Alioski. The North Macedonian has struggled this term and nothing epitomises that more than the battering he received at the hands of Dan James at Old Trafford.

Though, the left-back was also abject against Brighton. Alioski made a horrendous individual error and also surrendered possession as many as 17 times. That happened to be the fourth-worst tally recorded by any Leeds player on the pitch.

We shouldn’t be surprised by this form, though. After all, he’s previously been described as a “liability” by Leeds pundit Noel Whelan.

As a result, he simply has to be dropped.

The solution

Fortunately, Leeds have received a timely injury boost over the last fortnight. Diego Llorente returned to action for Leeds U23s last week and thus, is fit to be in the squad to face Brighton.

The Spaniard has played just once since penning terms last summer but such is Leeds’ poor defensive record that he should immediately come into the side to partner Liam Cooper.

That means that Luke Ayling would finally be able to shift over to his preferred position of right-back.

The former Yeovil man has played in the middle in each of his last seven outings so it will be a welcome return to the flanks.

Stuart Dallas has been deputising at right-back but Alioski’s inconsistent form gives the Northern Irishman an opportunity to keep his place in the team and move to the left.

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It’s an area Dallas is familiar with having playing in that role on 17 occasions last season. We know that the versatile defender is Mr Consistent at Elland Road and won last season’s Players’ Player of the Year for his displays at the back.

Unlike the £3.6m-rated Alioski, Bielsa can be assured that Dallas would do a capable job on the left this evening.

AND in other news, Leeds could end four-year-long problem with swoop for £25k-p/w beast…