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Celtic are closing in on the signing of midfielder Riley McGree from MLS outfit Charlotte FC, according to The Daily Mail.

The Lowdown: McGree profiled

McGree is a 23-year-old Australia international who can play in a defensive, central or attacking midfield role. [Transfermarkt]

He recently returned to Charlotte following a second loan spell with Birmingham City, where he made 15 appearances under Lee Bowyer during the first half of the season.

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Valued at £540,000 by Transfermarkt, McGree appears to be a player of interest to Ange Postecoglou, despite the Celtic manager already bringing in two midfielders this month in Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi.

The Latest: In the coming days…

The Daily Mail shared a story early on Sunday morning, claiming that the Hoops are closing in on a move for McGree.

The report suggests that Celtic could win the race for the playmaker in the coming days, with Postecoglou adamant that the 23-year-old can make a big impact at Parkhead.

The Verdict: A shock target…

With the Hoops already bolstering their midfield ranks with the acquisitions of Hatate and Ideguchi, this update has perhaps come as a bit of a shock.

It seemed as if permanent moves for loanees Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota were next on the agenda, but instead McGree could well become the club’s fifth addition of 2022.

Should a move to Glasgow materialise, it could turn out to be a shrewd one, especially with the likes of Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough also interested. McGree would be able to turn out in a variety of roles, and who knows, he could be viewed as an attacking midfielder signing to cover for the injured David Turnbull at Parkhead.

In other news: ‘Big’ – Pundit buzzing after hearing ‘massive’ transfer news from Celtic Park

Everton journalist Adam Jones reckons Rafael Benitez could switch to a 4-3-3 formation with Richarlison up front for the visit of Arsenal on Monday night. 

The lowdown

Everton are looking to halt a dreadful run of form that has seen them win just one of their last 10 matches.

They’ve taken seven losses in that period, slipping to 16th in the Premier League table.

Benitez has almost always set out his team in a 4-4-1-1 formation since taking over at Goodison Park in the summer.

The Spaniard was criticised for maintaining a midfield two against Liverpool last time out, with one journalist arguing it was a move that ‘gave the game’ to the visitors and an analytics expert confessing himself ‘baffled’.

The latest

The Liverpool Echo’s Jones writes that Benitez ‘could opt’ for a change of system that would see Fabian Delph drafted into the midfield alongside Allan and Abdoulaye Doucoure, while Richarlison would serve as a lone number nine.

He points out that there have already been glimpses of this shape in the games against Wolves and Tottenham Hotspur, and says it seems to be ‘the most effective right now’.

The verdict

Delph may not be the most popular player amongst the Goodison supporters, but he put in a strong performance in that game against Conte’s Spurs, earning a SofaScore rating of 7.3/10.

He won four of his six ground duels and completed eight of the 10 long balls he attempted.

The Press Association’s Carl Markham called his display ‘excellent’, while The Daily Mail’s Dominic King dubbed him the team’s man of the match ‘by some considerable distance’.

Perhaps recalling the £80,000-per-week midfielder, and reinstating the 4-3-3 shape, could be a smart move.

In other news, fans flocked to this news on a possible Benitez replacement.

Many Wolves fans have been left slamming the display of Francisco Trincao in their game away at Brighton and Hove Albion in the Premier League.

The Portuguese international was given his chance from the start to try and impress Bruno Lage, but ultimately failed to take it.

He missed an opportunity to score early in the second half when put through by Adama Traore, seeing his shot saved by Robert Sanchez.

Aside from his tame effort, Trincao lost out on a fair few of his duels, and his dribbles did not pay off, while he was also guilty of giving the ball away on far too many occasions throughout the game (SofaScore).

Nonetheless, with the likes of Adama Traore and Fabio Silva on the bench, the winger may now find his place in the starting eleven under threat, especially with Pedro Neto due back in the new year as well.

Wolves fans slam Trincao

These members of the Molineux faithful slammed his performance on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he is ‘awful’:

“Let’s replace Trincao with a traffic cone and we could’ve scored 6”

Credit: @Supermancooks

“Great, great pass by Adama. Trincao just can’t hit the broad side of a barn.”

Credit: @joshuabuckley

“Trincao has the finishing of a 5-year-old”

Credit: @J0rdWilliams

“Bring on the kit man for Trincao”

Credit: @sbarneywillis

“Get Trincao off now. Like Casper with a wheat allergy.”

Credit: @JamesIngram89

“Trincao is awful”

Credit: @Spicer_Liam

In other news, find out what Bruno Lage revelation has Wanderers fuming here!

Taking to Twitter, Portuguese transfer journalist Pedro Almeida has now dropped an exciting transfer claim as Celtic eye a permanent deal for Jota.

The Lowdown: Jota shines at Parkhead…

Since signing on loan from Benfica in the summer, the 22-year-old has gone on to dazzle at Parkhead under Ange Postecoglou, and there have been reports speculating whether Celtic will trigger his €7.5m (£6.2m) option-to-buy clause in the deal.

Indeed, rumours from Portugal indicate that Postecoglou and the Hoops are eager to do so, as they have until the end of this season to decide whether to take him on permanently.

A Bola believe that Celtic are ‘willing to do so’ given they are ‘satisfied’ with the performance of Jota, with reporter Almeida now backing this claim as he drops an exciting Twitter transfer message.

The Latest: Almeida drops exciting Jota claim…

Taking to social media, the reporter believes that Postecoglou and co will now ‘advance’ to Jota’s ‘definitive’ signing from Benfica on a permanent move as he explained:

“Celtic will advance to the definitive signing of Jota from Benfica for €7.5M”

The Verdict: No-brainer…

It is no secret that the 22-year-old has been a revelation for Celtic in Scotland and we believe that the club would be remiss not to try and make his stay in Glasgow permanent.

A real statement of intent for £6.2m, a deal which would place Jota in the club’s top ten most expensive signings of all time (Transfermarkt), he is arguably worth every penny.

From a performance perspective, the Portugal under-21 international is currently Celtic’s joint-second top scorer in the Scottish top flight, while only David Turnbull has averaged a higher rate of attempts on goal per 90, marking Jota out as a true threat in the final third (WhoScored).

The attacker has also received garlands galore from Scottish pundits, including Celtic legend John Hartson, who branded him ‘dynamite’ and a ‘very special’ player (Daily Record).

It seems likely that Jota is only going to get better and better judging by his young age, not to mention the potential for a seismic sell-on value if he continues to impress in Scotland.

Taking all this into account, securing his signature indefinitely must surely be a priority for Postecoglou and Celtic.

In other news: Source reveals Celtic plan to cash in on record-breaker in January; replacement ready

Crystal Palace have received a potentially significant injury boost ahead of their Premier League encounter with Aston Villa at Selhurst Park this afternoon.

What’s the word?

In Friday’s press conference, Patrick Vieira revealed that midfielder Eberechi Eze has had a good week after returning to full training with the first-team squad, while Nathan Ferguson is also making good progress.

“Everybody trained this morning,” said the Frenchman. “Eze had a really good week, full session with the team. Nathan took part in some training this week, so everybody outside of Macca (James McArthur) are fit for the game.”

Vieira then went into more detail on McArthur, who picked up a hamstring tear a couple of weeks ago, providing another positive update.

“We don’t have a timeframe on the injury,” he revealed. “What we decided to do with the doctor is evaluate every week the progress he is making, and things are moving well. Obviously, it is still too early to start training with the first team.”

Patrick Vieira will be buzzing

The news that Eze has had another full week of training under his belt will leave Vieira buzzing with excitement, given the player’s importance to the team.

The highly-rated 23-year-old returned to the bench against Burnley last time out after being sidelined with an Achilles injury since May.

Last season, Eze established himself as a key player for the Eagles, scoring four goals and providing a further six assists in 34 top-flight fixtures and achieving the squad’s fifth-highest performance rating from WhoScored.

Since then, Palace have transformed their setup, replacing former manager Roy Hodgson with Vieira, who has overseen several exciting acquisitions.

The prospect of Eze lining up alongside the likes of summer signings Odsonne Edouard, Conor Gallagher and Michael Olise is a mouth-watering one, and it could occur for the first time against Villa today.

In other news… Vieira must brually axe “worrying” £32.5k-p/w Palace flop, it could be a game-changer

An update has emerged on Ajax chief Marc Overmars, regarding Newcastle’s interest in bringing him back to England.

What’s the talk?

According to The Mirror, the Saudi Arabian consortium PIF are in talks with the Dutchman over a deal to become the director of football at St. James’ Park as they look to make a major decision behind the scenes.

The report claims that the former Arsenal player is interested in the role as he would be given funds to work with in the transfer window. He is also said to be keen on bringing Erik ten Hag along with him from Amsterdam to be Steve Bruce’s replacement.

Ecstatic

Newcastle fans will surely be left feeling ecstatic with this news for various reasons.

For starters, it shows that PIF are keen to immediately bring in a footballing figure to run the club behind the scenes. Overmars enjoyed a terrific career as a player, playing well over 400 competitive games for Arsenal, Ajax and Barcelona combined, showing that he has a strong footballing background.

He has taken his expertise and applied it to his job at Ajax. The Dutch giants have sold £600m worth of talent during his time at the club, with the likes of Hakim Ziyech, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt all coming through before being sold on for profit under Overmars’ watch. He has shown that he can oversee a successful recruitment system whilst still achieving results on the pitch, with Ajax reaching the quarter-finals and the semi-finals of the Champions League in that time.

The Magpies fans would also be delighted to see ten Hag arrive alongside Overmars. He has won five trophies in four years at the club, winning 2.34 points per game on average across 184 matches in charge of Ajax. This is along with his aforementioned achievements in the Champions League and the long list of talents, including de Jong and de Ligt, taken out of his squad throughout his time there.

The Dutch manager has shown that he can achieve success without spending huge amounts of money or retaining his best talent, which proves that he is an excellent coach who can get the best out of what he has at his disposal. That is why Newcastle fans would love to see him on Tyneside along with Overmars, as he could help them to avoid relegation before pushing on next season.

AND in other news,  Imagine him & Lascelles: PIF could land dream NUFC defence with “colossal” powerhouse…

Southampton secured a vital victory on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Watford thanks to a goal from Che Adams that secured all three points for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, taking them up to 14th place in the Premier League table with 11 points prior to Sunday’s fixtures.

Despite the positive result, one player that we feel didn’t have a good game against the Hornets was Saints winger Mohamed Elyounoussi.

The winger, who started the match at Vicarage Road but was taken off after 70 minutes to be replaced by Stuart Armstrong, managed to have just 30 touches of the ball and completed 11 out of the 20 passes at a success rate of just 55%.

He didn’t attempt one cross, failed to accurately complete any of his five long balls and then didn’t even manage a shot at goal.

On top of that, he lost possession ten times which ultimately earned him an overall match rating of 6.7/10, making him the lowest-rated Saints player that started the match according to SofaScore.

Taking this into account, it’s safe to say Elyounoussi was not at the same level as his teammates on the day and let Hasenhuttl down with his performance.

So far this season, the 27-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8m according to Transfermarkt, has started all but one of Southampton’s eight previous Premier League games, in which he has managed to score just one goal which came during the club’s 2-2 draw against Newcastle United in Elyounoussi’s first league appearance of the season.

Since joining the Saints back in the 2018 summer transfer window from FC Basel for a reported fee of £16m, the winger has gone on to make 28 appearances for the club, scoring four goals and providing two assists across all competitions.

Moving forward, we feel that it could be beneficial for the team if Hasenhuttl wielded the axe and took Elyounoussi out of the team for their next few fixtures to give Armstrong a shot from the start after recovering from a calf injury to see if he can have more of a significant impact on the team.

In other news: Hasenhuttl could unearth Saints’ next Redmond in ‘talented’ 18 y/o four-goal starlet – opinion

Many Liverpool fans have flocked to Twitter to react to the news that academy product Isaac Mabaya has signed his first professional contract at Anfield, as confirmed by the club’s official website and Twitter channel.

The 17-year-old has been at the Reds since the age of six and broke into the Reds’ under-18s last season as a wide midfielder before a mid-season switch saw him move to full-back. So far this season, the Preston native has played at right-back for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s team.

Mabaya has played 21 times for Liverpool’s under-18s, scoring four goals and setting up another five, and he has represented England at under-15 and under-16 level.

With Trent Alexander-Arnold and Neco Williams following the same path from the academy and featuring for Jurgen Klopp’s first team, the teenager will have eyes on emulating the two senior right-backs and has been rewarded for his performances and potential with a new contract from the club.

Fellow teenage right-back Conor Bradley made his Liverpool first team debut last week in the Carabao Cup victory over Norwich City and Mabaya could be next in line to be handed a chance by Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool fans flock to contract news

These Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to react to the news of Mabaya’s first professional contract at the club.

“Future first teamer”

Credit: @F9Txrres

“Congratulations Isaac! Richly deserved for all the hard work and dedication you’ve put in over the years. Upwards & onwards, sky’s the limit for you. Well done mate”

Credit: @SimonHindley

“Amazing news for Isaac and his family – he has quality in his football and also a great personality. Well deserved for all the hard work you put in Isaac. This is the start of a lot more hard work, but you will smash it.”

Credit: @slingerpete1

“Congratulations homeboy”

Credit: @fariemuk

“Serious player”

Credit: @KonateEra

“This fella looks very promising”

Credit: @paulDix11248352

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been reacting to James Pearce’s update on this certain player. Find out more here.

With Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side heading into Saturday’s fixture on the back of securing their first away win of the 2021/22 campaign last time out, the manager will have undoubtedly been hoping for more of the same when the Hoops made the trip to Fir Park today.

Goals either side of half-time from Jota and David Turnbull ensured that the 56-year-old would not be disappointed, with Celtic running out 2-0 winners against Graham Alexander’s Motherwell.

However, despite the win, Postecoglou may well be concerned about the performance of Kyogo Furuhashi, as the Japan international endured a pretty abject afternoon while leading the Celtic line.

Fewer touches than Hart

Having scored eight goals over 11 appearances in all competitions prior to the Motherwell game, Kyogo has already demonstrated since his summer move to Celtic that he is undoubtedly a forward capable of doing a job up front for the Bhoys.

However, while his below-par display on Saturday could perhaps be blamed on a lack of service, ultimately the statistics do not lie – and the 26-year-old’s performance from a statistical point of view do not make pretty reading for the striker.

Indeed, over his 82 minutes on the pitch, the £1.8m-rated man had just one shot at the Motherwell goal, only 16 touches of the ball – 27 fewer than Joe Hart between the Celtic sticks – and completed a mere seven passes, as per SofaScore.

The player who Postecoglou labelled a “positive” character also lost three of his five duels, won only one tackle and lost possession of the ball on five separate occasions.

These returns saw the Japan international earn a disappointing SofaScore match rating of 6.6, the lowest received by any Celtic player to start the game.

As such, while Postecoglou will certainly be delighted with another three points on the road, the performance of Kyogo could well be a cause for concern for the 56-year-old, as the striker badly let his manager down against Motherwell this afternoon.

In other news: Celtic’s “irresponsible” £3m flop has seen his value plummet, Lawwell had a shocker

Aston Villa will consider loaning out exciting 18-year-old Aaron Ramsey in January, according to The Athletic’s Gregg Evans. 

The lowdown

Two developments this week underlined Ramsey’s potential. First, he was nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for August, having netted two goals in their first three matches (via avfc.co.uk).

He has now been directly involved in 18 goals (scoring 12 and setting up six) in just 24 appearances for Mark Delaney’s youth side (via Transfermarkt).

He then earned a call-up to the England under-21 squad, jumping up from the under-19s following injuries to Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott and Tottenham Hotspur’s Ryan Sessegnon.

The latest

According to Evans for The Athletic, Villa thought about loaning Ramsey out during the summer window, but with some ‘key senior players’ either injured or ill, they decided against such a move. However, the possibility is expected to be revisited during the next transfer window.

Villa are ‘carefully mapping out a pathway’ to the first team for the attacking midfielder, who has been ‘highly thought of for years’.

The verdict

Ramsey is a serious talent, and his record at under-23 level suggests that he’s more than ready to make the step-up to the men’s game.

You’d imagine that he’ll be sent to the Championship, but it’s about finding the right team, the right manager and the right style of play to ensure that it’s a productive loan spell.

Look at Elliott, whose injury led to Ramsey’s England promotion. He has now made his breakthrough at Liverpool after a move to Blackburn Rovers last season proved to be a perfect fit, making 18 goal contributions in 42 appearances at Ewood Park. His is an obvious case study for the Villa starlet to try and emulate if he is loaned out in the winter.

In other news, many Villa fans were left fuming by this news.