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Aston Villa are set to table a third transfer offer for Arsenal winger Emile Smith Rowe as their summer recruitment drive intensifies, according to The Mirror.

The 20-year-old chipped in with 11 goal contributions in 33 appearances for the Gunners last term, with  four goals and seven assists [Transfermarkt].

Despite seeing two previous bids knocked back for the playmaker, the Villains now look set to table a bid worth more than £30m in an ambitious attempt to secure his services [The Mirror].

He currently has two years on his deal in north London taking him until the summer of 2023, but uncertainty continues to grow surrounding his contractual situation as he has not yet penned an extension [Transfermarkt].

With Villa set to tempt Arsenal to cash in on one of their prize assets, many of the club’s supporters took to Twitter to rejoice in these recent developments.

Villa fans react:

Replying to popular Aston Villa fan outlet @villareport, here is how some supporters summarised their feelings on the continuing pursuit of Smith Rowe. who one fan believes would be a “great signing” for Dean Smith’s men:

“Would be a great signing, take us to the next level.”

Credit: @VillaInsider3″Praying this happens but can’t see it”Credit: @ClassyHenri”please Villa”Credit: @Josh1874_”SIUUUUUUUUU”Credit: @VillaVisionBen”Player wants the move clearly. Villa have already spoke to him or 3rd bid wouldn’t be going in.”Credit: @LunnRyanlunn”Odegaard not rejoining Arsenal. Hard to see this happening BUT I would love if it did”Credit: @Dazzler07317507In other news, these Aston Villa fans react to a pundit’s transfer recommendation.

As per Football Insider journalist Wayne Veysey, some news has emerged on West Ham United’s transfer plans for January with a new forward on the agenda in Rubin Kazan forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The Lowdown: Moyes eyeing January…

The Irons are still competing on all fronts with manager David Moyes aiming to bolster his squad in the January transfer window and cope with the increasingly congested fixture calendar.

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Injuries to Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma have prompted them to also hunt for an emergency centre-half but that hasn’t stopped them being linked to forward options.

Jesse Lingard is thought to be on the agenda, for example, while Moyes and recruitment chief Rob Newman also seek out a centre-forward as back up for Michail Antonio.

Now, some news has emerged on another attacker West Ham are now eyeing.

The Latest: West Ham ‘plotting’ Kvaratskhelia move…

As per Football Insider’s Veysey, West Ham and Everton are ‘plotting moves’ for Russian Premier League winger Kvaratskhelia as the Irons cast their net far and wide.

It is believed the Georgia international, a very highly rated prospect, now has concrete interest from West Ham as Newman and Moyes eye a swoop.

Kvaratskhelia has apparently caught the eye of Hammers scouts after a stellar performance for the Georgians in their 2-0 World Cup qualifying win over Sweden last month.

The Verdict: Exciting option?

Targeted by the likes of Tottenham before, it is clear that the 20-year-old certainly has bags of ability – with journalist Fabrizio Romano taking to his Twitch stream earlier this year and explaining that he is ‘incredible’ (via HITC).

He had many suitors in the summer window also, including Borussia Dortmund, with Sky Sports reporter Max Bielefeld saying that Kvaratskhelia is considered a ‘very interesting, but expensive’ player with a price tag that could reach €20 million (£16.9m).

The Kazan ace has also been dubbed ‘The Georgian Messi’, such is his stellar reputation, but we believe West Ham are better placed prioritising an out-and-out striker right now given Antonio’s poor run of form.

Their central defensive crisis also takes precedent, but a swoop for Kvaratskhelia certainly shouldn’t be ruled out for the future.

In other news: ‘We are back’, ‘What I wanted to hear’…ExWHUemployee’s ‘best news’ has many West Ham fans buzzing, find out more here.

Crystal Palace are enjoying a comfortable season in the Premier League, with Patrick Vieira guiding the side to a potential top-half finish in his first season in charge at Selhurst Park there could be a problem unfolding ahead of next season.

What’s the word?

According to journalist, Pete O’Rourke, Crystal Palace are unlikely to improve the current salary of Wilfried Zaha to extend his contract beyond the current 15 months that he has left at the club.

O’Rourke told GIVEMESPORT: “He’s on a pretty good deal at Palace as it stands right now. I think he’s probably the highest-paid player at the club, so I’m not sure if Palace will be willing to give him an improvement on that.”

Disaster for Palace

Wilfried Zaha has been back to his best this season and surely Palace will want to do everything they can to keep the striker at the club next season, but with rumoured interest from Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal this summer, and the club unlikely to increase his wages, it could spell disaster for Vieira.

As per SofaScore, the 29-year-old hailed “phenomenal by Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, has scored 11 goals and contributed one assist so far this season in the Premier League, with 1.4 key passes and 1.2 tackles per game as well as a pass accuracy of 81%, proving he has become a key component in the progress at Selhurst Park.

The £130k-per-week star has even admitted he would be open to a move in an interview with The Face, which will again only add to the problems the Palace board are faced with in keeping the forward at the club;

“I feel like I can have another shot at the top teams, because my dream is to win things,” he said. ​

“I’m good enough to go out there and compete with the best. If the opportunity came, I wouldn’t turn it down, because I feel like I deserve it.”

Crystal Palace have already made the Ivorian goal machine their highest paid player, so it will be interesting to see if they make any movement on his salary ahead of this summer to secure his future before other clubs begin to make offers, otherwise Vieira will need to prepare for the loss of Zaha’s output going into next season.

In other news: Vieira can unearth CPFC’s next Mitchell in rarely-seen 18 y/o who is “full of energy”

West Brom have now gone three games without a win, which will be extremely frustrating for manager, Valerien Ismael, who has been tasked with the job to get the side promoted this season back into the Premier League.

The Baggies went to the Seasiders with the need for three points to try to close the gap on both Fulham and Bournemouth who are out ahead by a stretch in the automatic promotion places, with Fulham now eight points ahead at the top of the table and a game in hand to play.

Ismael’s side have now not won away from home for two months, and there will need to be questions raised as to what issues need ironing out, or where quality needs to be added to give the Baggies the confidence they clearly need to inject to start winning on away days.

Despite dominating in the early stages of the game, where it looked like West Brom could pressure enough to put a goal past Blackpool, after a string of chances over the course of the game, the side couldn’t break down Blackpool enough to finish them.

The Tangerines had an outstanding defensive performance as they struggled to find a lot of attacking opportunities, which held West Brom to a 0-0 draw in the end.

Speaking after the game Ismael reflected on the performance;

“We need to take what we can get at the minute and getting a clean sheet is a positive. We created a lot of chances, but compared to last Saturday, this time there were more real chances to score. At the minute it’s the final ball, and we need to work on that.”

One player who struggled to offer the presence and confidence needed to get a three-pointer over the line away from home for Ismael’s side, was Cedric Kipre, with the defender having fewer touches (39) than Baggies goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone (40).

The 6 foot 3 defender lacked positional discipline on many occasions, losing the ball a whopping 13 times which led to an awful pass success rate of 59%. The centre-back also gave away a number of fouls (3) throughout the game, which really disrupted the rhythm and flow of the game to get West Brom in a position to build attacking play. This is reflected in a dismal SofaScore rating of just 6.5.

This clear lack of discipline could’ve cost the side goals against a team offering more clinical finishing than Blackpool did last night. Thus, Ismael has work to do to make sure that these kinds of sloppy mistakes don’t cost them later in the week.

West Brom have another challenging game on Friday at home against Nottingham Forest and will be hoping to pick up maximum points by finishing their chances to climb their way back into a title challenge.

In other news: Lawrence could replace struggling Jordan Hugill

Tottenham insider John Wenham has made an interesting claim on Christian Eriksen possibly returning to the club under Antonio Conte.

The Lowdown: Creative issues; Eriksen’s absence

As we all know, Tottenham parted ways with Nuno Espirito Santo on Monday after just 10 Premier League games in charge. Conte has today been appointed as the man to replace him in the Spurs dugout, and one of his first tasks will be to click Tottenham back into gear in an attacking sense.

Spurs rank 19th in the Premier League for goals scored and 17th for xG, and one man who could help to remedy that is Eriksen, who contributed to 159 goals during his six-and-a-half years in north London.

The Latest: Premier League return, Wenham reacts

A report from The Telegraph towards the end of October suggested that Eriksen could go back to the Premier League due to Italian health rules stopping him from making a playing return with Inter Milan following his cardiac arrest during Euro 2020.

This is what Spurs insider Wenham had to say to Football Insider regarding a potential return, seemingly backing Conte to go after Eriksen:

“If Conte comes in, there is one transfer I would love to see.

“I’m just speculating here. Would Christian Eriksen fancy coming back?

“There is a story going around about him not being allowed to play in Italy.

“Obviously it’s amazing that we can even talk about him coming back because what happened to him during the Euros was awful.

“Tottenham should be exploring that and how it could work. If I could bring back one former player from the last 10 years, he’s the man.

“I hope Tottenham are looking into that and have the lawyers doing their due diligence on whether that would be possible.

“I would watch out for this one.”

The Verdict: Smart move?

Tottenham’s first team squad appear to be stuck in a bit of an attacking rut, so bringing in a player who knows plenty of the current squad and has had success in north London could be a wise move.

Eriksen scored 69 times and registered 90 assists for Tottenham, but the 29-year-old is yet to play this season.

On that basis, it could take the attacking midfielder a while to get back up to speed in England, but his arrival could give Spurs a much-needed boost.

In other news: Spurs meet with club of £45m-valued ace with 14 goals in 17 games ahead of possible January move. 

Peter Lawwell retired after 17 years as the chief executive of Celtic this year and left Parkhead having overseen countless title wins and trophy lifts with the Hoops.

Over the years, he was able to pull off some masterstrokes in the transfer market, bringing Virgil van Dijk to the club for example, but not every transfer works and one of his last pieces of business was to bring Ismaila Soro to Celtic in January 2020.

Soro was playing for Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv in Israel prior to arriving at Celtic, making 64 appearances for the club in three years after leaving Belarus-based outfit FK Gomel. His form in Tel Aviv seemingly prompted Lawwell and manager at the time, Neil Lennon, to take a gamble on him.

Celtic reportedly forked out a sizeable £2.07m for the defensive midfielder, which came as a phenomenal rise in value for him two years on from his move to Bnei Yehuda from Gomel. Transfermarkt valued him at £90k in January 2018, with Celtic paying a 2200% increase on that initial valuation.

This suggests that he was improving as a player and heading on an upwards trajectory in his career, which could be why Lawwell decided to pull the trigger on signing him. The young Ivorian may have been seen as a prospect who could develop at Celtic Park and either go on to become a top player for the club in the long-term or be sold on for profit, like the aforementioned van Dijk.

Unfortunately, Soro has been unable to kick on since arriving at Celtic Park, despite a positive first few months at the club. In the 2020/21 campaign, he completed 90% of his passes and made 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game for the Hoops in the Premiership. However, he only won 52% of his duels as a defensive midfielder, which meant that he was not dominating games in the middle of the park.

His form has taken a turn for the worse this term, with an average SofaScore rating of 6.63 in six Premiership appearances. He has made 1.4 tackles and interceptions per game, losing a whopping 64% of his duels on the pitch – including 75% of his ground battles.

Soro has started just once in the league, with the other five outings coming as a substitute, which shows that Ange Postecoglou does not trust him to play from the start. His horrific success rate in duels could be a major factor in his decision, with Soro failing to adjust to the physicality of the Premiership, allowing opposition players to come out on top of him more often than not.

At the time of writing (07/10/21), Soro’s market value on Transfermarkt is £810k. This means that his price has plummeted 60.8% from the £2.07m Celtic paid for his services less than two years ago, showing that Lawwell had a disaster with this piece of business as he overpaid for the 23-year-old.

Soro has not been able to establish himself in the starting XI and his value is continuing to drop as he flops on the pitch. The move, at this point in time, has not worked out and Postecoglou could have a decision to make on his future unless he turns things around quickly.

AND in other news, Ange must ruthlessly axe 26 y/o dud who left Celtic “livid”, he’s not good enough…

Celtic appear to have found their replacement for Odsonne Edouard in the form of Japan international Kyogo Furuhasi.

The summer signing has scored four times in four starts in the Scottish Premiership and eight goals in 11 appearances overall this season. He has been able to showcase his quality in the final third and looks set for a sublime campaign for the Hoops.

His form will surely come as a welcome relief to Ange Postecoglou, who inherited a misfiring striker upon his arrival at the club – Albian Ajeti.

Following the sale of Edouard to Crystal Palace, Ajeti was left to fill his boots and has scored three goals in 12 games in all competitions in the 2021/22 campaign.

How did Ajeti get to this point though?

The forward enjoyed a terrific season with Basel in his home country during the 2018/19 campaign. He scored 21 goals and provided 11 assists in all competitions, earning himself a £10.17m transfer to Premier League side West Ham.

This is where the struggles began for Ajeti as he never adjusted to life in England. He failed to score in 12 games for the Hammers the following season, including nine appearances in the Premier League, as he averaged a SofaScore rating of just 6.46.

Following his horrific debut campaign for West Ham, Ajeti was sold to Celtic in the summer of 2020 for a fee of £4.95m. Transfermarkt valued him at £4.32m at the time of the transfer, which was already £5.85m less than West Ham paid for him a year prior.

In his first year at Celtic, Ajeti scored six goals in 20 Scottish Premiership appearances. He averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.85 and lost 65% of his duels on the pitch throughout the campaign, suggesting that he was too weak to compete physically in the division.

At the time of writing (04/10/21), Ajeti is valued at £2.88m by Transfermarkt. This means that his value has dropped dramatically by £7.29m in just two years of football, with one of those being at West Ham and the other at Celtic Park in Scotland.

He needs to turn his form around soon or his career could be at risk. At the age of 24, he is exiting the potential stage and beginning to move towards his prime years where he should be expected to be at his best.

If he fails to deliver consistent end product sooner rather than later, it could put other clubs off wanting to go near him – leaving Ajeti to waste away at Celtic or be forced to drop down to a lower standard of football to play regularly.

His value continuing to drop since leaving Switzerland is proof of his faltering career and highlights the downwards trend that he’s on. Hopefully, the attacker will be able to find his feet in Scotland and start to show why he was bought for £10.17m only two years ago.

AND in other news, Postecoglou provides fresh injury update that should excite Celtic supporters…

David Ornstein has dropped a concerning update on the future of Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards.

What’s the talk?

According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards is set to step down from his role at the club at the end of the season.

He is out of contract next summer and has told the board that he will not be signing an extension, having been in the sporting director role since 2016 and at Anfield since 2011. His assistant, Julian Ward, is well-regarded, but it remains to be seen if he will take over from Edwards.

Fans will be fuming

Liverpool fans will surely be fuming about this concerning update from Ornstein. The man in charge of their transfer successes in recent seasons is now due to leave and that could leave supporters wondering what the future holds for the club in that department.

With no replacement lined up, unless Ward is the man to take the job, it will be interesting to see what route Liverpool go down. Edwards has been an influential figure behind the scenes at Anfield and Jurgen Klopp has benefited greatly from his work in the transfer market over the last few years.

The likes of Mo Salah, Alisson, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Fabinho and Sadio Mane are among the many successful signings Edwards has made for the Reds – with those players forming the spine of the team that won the Premier League and Champions League for Klopp.

These players mentioned highlight the level of quality Edwards has been able to bring to the club, but the fees he has brought in for players leaving Anfield is an equally impressive achievement. Reported fees of £142m for Philippe Coutinho, £20m for Danny Ings, £26m for Mamadou Sakho, £19m for Dominic Solanke and £15m for Jordan Ibe stand out as some of his finest pieces of work on Merseyside.

This shows that he has had a huge impact in terms of bringing excellent players to the club as well as being able to balance the books by selling players for big fees – allowing FSG to operate within their means instead of needing to finance signings to bolster the squad.

Fans will now be concerned about what is next for Liverpool and how they replace Edwards next summer, as his track record suggests that whoever takes over from him will need to produce high-quality work to replace him adequately.

Aston Villa are interested in a deal to bring Borna Sosa to Villa Park in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

According to reports from Germany (via the Express & Star), Steven Gerrard is keeping a very close eye on the situation of the VfB Stuttgart left-back ahead of a potential move during the winter market, as the 41-year-old manager is keen to bring in a top-class addition to challenge Matt Targett for his starting spot in the position.

The report goes on to state that the 23-year-old would likely be available for a fee of around £25m, and, while Gerrard is also thought to be considering an £8m move for Rangers defender Borna Barisic, Sosa is believed to be Villa’s favoured option due to his potential resale value.

Lange must act

Considering just how impressive Sosa has been for Stuttgart this season, in addition to the fact that Gerrard currently lacks a considerable amount of depth at left-back, a deal for the Croatia international would appear to be a very wise piece of business for Johan Lange to get over the line in the January transfer window.

Indeed, over his 12 Bundesliga appearances this term, the £14.4m-rated man has already registered three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.9 key passes, 2.4 crosses and 1.4 long balls per game.

These returns have seen the £15k-per-week defender average a SofaScore match rating of 7.05, ranking him as Pellegrino Matarazzo’s third-best performer in the top flight of German football.

Furthermore, the 23-year-old has also received extremely high praise for his style of play, with Stuttgart’s sporting director, Sven Mislintat, comparing Sosa to a very notable former England captain.

Speaking about the ability of the left-back, Mislintat said: “Borna’s said himself that David Beckham is his role model, and I think he has the same qualities. He puts in crosses from every angle: sometimes chipped, sometimes drilled, sometimes flat, sometimes in behind, sometimes to the front post, other times to the back post. His left foot is a real weapon.”

As such, considering all of the above, a deal for Sosa would indeed appear to be a very smart move for Lange, as the signing of a player who boasts the talent of the Croatian defender would very much appear to be one Gerrard would love.

In other news: “Some contact”: AVFC handed potential transfer boost that will leave Gerrard buzzing

Former Glasgow Rangers striker Nacho Novo believes Alfredo Morelos is in no great rush to depart Ibrox this summer.

The Lowdown: Morelos the subject of heavy interest

Morelos has been the subject of heavy interest already this summer (A Bola), with Portuguese outfit Porto in particular in pursuit.

So far, there does not appear to be any concrete approach made, but there is still plenty of time left before the transfer window slams shut.

The Latest: Novo discusses Morelos

Speaking to The Daily Record, Novo, who ‘took Morelos under his wing’ at Ibrox, believes the striker is in no rush to depart. He said:

“I don’t think Alfie has to prove himself to top clubs in Europe because his record is there for everyone to see. But obviously, if he can do as well in the Champions League as he did in the Europa League then he will attract even more attention and maybe a year from now he can move on.

“That’s a situation where everybody will win.

“He is a big, confident player. He believes in what he can do and he believes in himself. You look at him and he is more relaxed on and off the pitch. He has been at Rangers a long time now and he is settled.

“I know things can change very quickly in football and with agents involved anything can happen, but I know Alfie and I know he loves Rangers. He is passionate, he loves the atmosphere around the club and loves the fans. I honestly don’t think he is in a great hurry to move on.”

The Verdict: Big season ahead

Novo, who has been involved in some controversies down the years (centrocampista.com), knows all about what it takes to be successful in Glasgow. He helped the Gers win several titles, while he was also a part of the team that reached the 2008 UEFA Cup final, which the Gers lost to Zenit St Petersburg.

At 25, the Colombia international meanwhile still has plenty of time left ahead of him, but he will be aware that the time is approaching for him to move on. If the Gers qualify for the Champions League group stages this campaign, it may be the perfect way for Morelos to bow out and move on next summer.

In other news, Rangers fans were unhappy with the exit of this man.