In the past few days, transfer news has been aplenty surrounding around Portsmouth, yet not much of it has made for pleasant reading for supporters.

Portsmouth News reported that the club have pulled out of a move for Plymouth Argyle striker Freddie Ladapo due to high wage demands as well as reveal that the club are miles away from agreeing on a fee for Peterborough United attacker Matt Godden.

Couple that with the news from Football Insider that Oldham Athletic defender George Edmundson has snubbed Pompey for a move to north of the border to Rangers, and you have a fairly clear idea in your head that the south coast side aren’t exactly doing well with transfers this summer.

Sure, the news of Scottish winger Gary Mackay-Steven being close to joining Portsmouth according to Aberdeen Evening Express is a promising sign that the club are building upon their sole signing so far this summer in James Bolton from Shrewsbury Town, but for a side that are aiming for a return to the Championship, Pompey can’t keep stalling over deals if they are to build a squad to go one better than what they did last season.

Indeed, as the League One fixture list was announced earlier today and with pre-season starting in just under three weeks’ time, Portsmouth need to see this as a sign that the new season isn’t too far away and that Kenny Jackett needs to ensure the majority of his transfer targets are signed and with the squad come the 10th July.

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Portsmouth fans, who do you expect the club to sign this summer? Let us know!

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According to The Sun, Crystal Palace could pounce if Scott McTominay fails to negotiate fresh terms at Manchester United, with the Scotsman uncertain over his future under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, despite having featured far more often since Jose Mourinho was sacked in December.

The 22-year-old remains highly-rated, though, by the Red Devils hierarchy, who are hoping that an improved contract will convince him to snub a switch to Selhurst Park this summer.

Having broken through to the first team setup in 2017, the 6 foot 3 midfielder has gone on to make 45 appearances and score two goals, both of which came in the 2018/19 league campaign, in all competitions for United.

The Lancaster-born star would have Cheikhou Kouyate, Luka Milivojevic, James McArthur, Jeffrey Schlupp and Max Meyer to compete with for a starting berth, although he is exactly the kind of hard-working, industrious midfielder that Roy Hodgson loves.

Would a Palace swoop for the 9-cap international make perfect sense; or would he flop in south London? Football Fancast’s writers give their verdicts below…

Charles Jones

“Scott McTominay is a difficult one to figure out. He looked half decent in a struggling United team, but he did have quality players around him who perhaps masked the weak points of his game. I’m not sure he would be great for a team that will most likely be battling towards the bottom end of the table, so perhaps Palace should avoid this one.”

Harry Sherlock

“McTominay isn’t good enough for United and it’s a sign of how far they’ve fallen that he’s still anywhere near their first-team. That’s not to say he’d be a bad signing for Palace – perhaps he’d thrive in a less pressurised environment – but this isn’t the kind of signing Palace should be looking to make. McTominay has never once stood out as a decent Premier League player; his level is probably below even Palace.”

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There’s some exciting changes happening at Crystal Palace next summer. Find out what in the video below…

Matt Dawson

“McTominay would be a marvellous signing for Palace judging by some of his displays for Manchester United last term. Albeit an inconsistent figure, he was one of the few shinning lights when Barcelona beat United at Old Trafford. On that evidence, it’s difficult to see how he’d turn out to be a bad signing for the Eagles. This is a player who still has his whole career ahead of him and as a result, Palace must leap at the chance to sign him.”

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It has been an astonishing few days in regards to the rumours surrounding Leeds, with Gianluigi Buffon and Francesco Totti to name but two linked to Elland Road. Today’s Whites transfer roundup includes an update on the exit of an 18-year-old, interest from a Championship club in two youngsters and a development in regards to that Buffon story.

Clarke medical

Jack Clarke underwent a medical at Tottenham on Wednesday, according to Football Insider. The Sun reported three days ago that the two clubs had agreed an £8.5m fee for the player, and the deal has now taken another step closer to completion.

Barnsley after Leeds duo

Football Insider is also reporting that Barnsley are looking to bring in Leeds pair Mallik Wilks and Aapo Halme. And Leeds could be willing to let the two leave if they are able to bring in their priority summer targets.

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Buffon set for Juve return

Gianluigi Buffon was previously linked with Leeds United (Corriere Della Sera), but it now appears that the Yorkshire-based outfit are set to miss out on the 2006 World Cup winner. According to Sky Italia, Buffon is set to make a sensational return to Juventus during this transfer window.

With Liverpool spending, at the time, a world-record fee for a goalkeeper, it was easy to see that Simon Mignolet would play backup to Alisson. Still, to be frozen out almost completely might have come as a surprise. 

The 31-year-old managed just two starts last season as Alisson asserted himself as the first choice in both the Premier League and Champions League, and early exits in the FA Cup and League Cup meant Mignolet’s season largely consisted of watching Liverpool from the bench, which is why it makes sense that clubs are circling the ‘keeper this summer.

According to the Evening Standard, both Crystal Palace and Brighton are interested in the former Sunderland stopper, who is reportedly valued at £8 million, and with another season of being second-choice on the horizon, Mignolet should be jumping at the opportunity to leave for first-team football, and in particular, in south London.

The reasoning behind why Mignolet should prefer a move to Palace over Brighton is a simple one, the Belgian is surely more likely to be the number one at the Eagles rather than at the south coast side, who in Matthew Ryan have a clear and established number one given the fact he has started all but four games for the Seagulls over the past two seasons.

At Palace, though, Roy Hodgson switched between Wayne Hennessey and Vicente Guaita for the majority of last season, switching between the two custodians before settling on the Spaniard, and in Mignolet, the Eagles would potentially be securing an upgrade.

Comparing Guaita with Mignolet from stats from the Premier League’s official website, Mignolet managed the same number of clean sheets as the Palace keeper in his last season playing regular (2017/18) football, as well as making more claims from corners as well as saving more penalties.

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If given a choice of the two rivals, Palace do seem like a better destination. They are a settled Premier League side who boast a fairly stable defence (conceding 53 goals, the 10th best record in the league, with only Newcastle United in the lower half letting in less) and there is a clearer potential path to the No.1 spot.

Liverpool fans, would you sell Mignolet this summer? Let us know!

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Despite some late interest from Premier League side Brighton and Serie A outfit Atalanta, Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic has rejoined Hertha Berlin on another season-long loan spell.

The 23-year-old shone for the Bundesliga side last term, netting five goals and recording one assist in 22 league appearances for the Berlin-based team – head coach Pal Dardai was certainly pleased with Grujic’s contributions, saying: “This isn’t meant as an insult to anyone else, but Marko is by far the best midfielder I’ve seen in my time at the club.”

It sounds simple enough. Young midfielder, bags of potential yet to be fulfilled, and a chance to hone his talents at a club who clearly like him for one more season. However, Liverpool transfer guru Michael Edwards has struck gold with the finer details of this deal.

“It reminds me of a bus seat!” – Watch a damning verdict on Chelsea’s new kit in the video below…

Liverpool currently have seven first-team midfielders in their squad – James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana, Naby Keita, Fabinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gini Wijnaldum. In that respect, the 6ft 3 star being sent away on loan makes perfect sense. The Serbian presumably wouldn’t have played much, and any side keen to take the powerful midfielder on loan would have been doing Liverpool a favour.

But, Edwards has somehow made it so that Hertha Berlin have bent over backwards to make the deal happen.

Edwards has managed to obtain a £2m loan fee from the German club, including £500,000 in potential bonuses. Hertha Berlin will also pay all of Grujic’s wages, whilst there is a penalty structure in place to ensure that the talented prospect gets enough playing time to develop.

We’re talking about a player that presumably would’ve only appeared in domestic cup competitions for Liverpool next term had he stayed – Grujic was simply surplus to requirements for the 2019/20 campaign at least, but Edwards has managed to negotiate a cracking deal in terms of financial benefit to the Reds and in terms of getting the maximum for the Serb’s development.

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There simply isn’t anything to moan about in yet another shrewd piece of business from Edwards.

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Scott Arfield has returned to Rangers training and fans are very optimistic about his upcoming campaign.

Arfield had been away with Canada at the Gold Cup before returning to Steven Gerrard’s side. They got to the quarter-finals, but were beaten 3-2 by Haiti, despite going two goals up.

The 30-year-old now returns to Ibrox some way behind his teammates and Gerrard is aware of this. The Rangers boss has said Arfield is: “Only probably on day five or six of pre-season, so he is one we will integrate a little bit slower because we want to be careful with Scott.

“It’s important the fans understand that Scott is three weeks behind the team.”

Watch Rangers Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Arfield joins the Gers in between the two legs of their first qualifying round for the Europa League. Gerrard’s men recorded an emphatic 4-0 win over St. Joseph’s last week and will look to ease through the second leg tonight.

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He also spoke about his excitement for the season on his return, telling Rangers TV: “What an unbelievable opportunity for anyone playing for Glasgow Rangers at this time, you need to enjoy this experience because we’re all ready to go at it.”

Fans are loving his return and attitude, and plenty took to Twitter to welcome their midfielder back to the club…

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to Italian outlet Calcio Mercato, an intermediary acting on behalf of Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren met with Serie A giants Milan to discuss a potential move this summer.

What’s the word?

Amid speculation that the Croatia international could be set to depart Anfield this summer, reports in recent weeks had suggested that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was quite insistent on keeping the 30-year-old at the club.

How much money could you make busking for a week as a freestyle footballer? Find out in the video below…

However, according to Calcio Mercato, Lovren remains at the top of Milan’s shopping list and that the reported meeting between the agent and the club lasted over an hour; which according to the publication, is a potential sign that “good progress” had been made.

Much-needed squad depth

First and foremost, why would you want to sell “one of the best defenders in the world”? Perhaps Lovren isn’t quite as good as he thinks himself to be, but there is undeniably a Premier League level centre-back in there. The 30-year-old may have slipped down the pecking order last season, but he still has plenty of top-flight experience that Klopp will no doubt have to call upon over the course of a campaign.

Indeed, in his limited 13 Premier League appearances last season, Lovren averaged 1.2 tackles, 0.8 interceptions and 3.9 clearances per game. Compare that to fan favourite and highly-rated Joe Gomez’s numbers of 1.1 tackles, 0.9 interceptions and 2.4 clearances per game. Statistically the numbers appear to back up the Croatian maintaining his stay at Anfield next season, and he offers such a reliable option for Klopp.

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Watch Liverpool Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Gomez’s injury history is also a cause for concern and is perhaps another huge reason as to why the Reds have so far been reluctant to engage in active talks over Lovren’s exit. As the Reds look to have another crack at the league title next season, the Merseyside club will have to make use of all their resources, and the Croatian is certainly one that they can’t afford to lose at this stage.

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Tottenham Hotspur fans were left impressed with Troy Parrott’s senior debut for the club against Juventus at the weekend.

The striker started the pre-season friendly, a part of the International Champions Cup, against the Italian giants in Singapore on Sunday.

Parrott played the first 45 minutes in a game that ended 3-2 to Spurs, with his replacement, Harry Kane, scoring a barely believable winning goal from the halfway line in injury time.

The 17-year-old has been prolific in the youth teams in north London, scoring 15 goals in 13 outings for the Under-18s, while also netting two in 12 for the Under-23s.

A Republic of Ireland youth international, he has won 11 caps for the Under-17s and four for the Under-19s.

Watch Tottenham Hotspur Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

And Spurs fans were impressed with the teenager’s first senior outing in a Spurs shirt on Sunday, taking to Twitter to wax lyrical about the forward’s performance

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Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

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“I’m prone to a leftfield signing, it doesn’t scare or bother me. We have to take little punts now and again.”

These were Chris Wilder’s words after Sheffield United committed themselves to a one-year deal with midfielder Ravel Morrison following a successful trial period with the club and the Blades boss’ take on the transfer contains two distinct truths.

The first of which is that it is commonplace for promoted sides to take chances in the transfer market simply because they have no other choice but to. The established stars head to the top six. The emerging talent that still have lingering doubts attached to them are snapped up by the mid-table outfits. The brilliant but fundamentally flawed players – who have all the ability in the world ‘on their day’ but are too often undone by inconsistency or temperament – head to clubs who by necessity must be creative in their recruitment as they enter the fantasia of the Premier League. That’s how it works. That’s how it’s always worked.

The latter truth is that Wilder has indeed been prone to ‘leftfield’ targets in the past and encouragingly he is really rather good at picking them. Last summer he scoured the bargain bins for discarded gemstones – spending just £6m in the process – and emerged with enough of them to forge a promotion winning squad against all expectations.

Watch Sheffield United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Ravel Morrison though? There are risks and then there are risks who have already been gambled on so many times that placing faith in them feels like a pipedream.

Since he first broke through at Manchester United to much hype – in the same class of 2011 that contained Paul Pogba incidentally – the Wythenshawe-born prodigy has been reluctantly released by Sir Alex Ferguson  to West Ham where his immense promise once again was usurped by off-the-pitch problems and a questionable attitude as illustrated by former team-mate and captain Kevin Nolan’s recollections here. Loan spells followed: to Birmingham, QPR and Cardiff, before a permanent switch to Lazio saw Morrison make just eight outings amidst further short-term stints in Mexico and Sweden.

No matter how far he travelled however his baggage accompanied him. In February 2011 Morrison admitted to two counts of witness intimidation. Later he was convicted for criminal damage. Soon after it was seemingly obligatory to include the words ‘wasted talent’ in any article written about him.

Find out why Phil Jagielka’s move back to Sheffield United is so much more than mawkish nostalgia in the video below…

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Which, in many ways is undeniable. Since making his debut in October 2010, Morrison – now 26 – has participated in 125 professional games excluding youth international football. That equates to 15 per year. By comparison Pogba has made 403, including of course a World Cup final.

Yet anecdotal evidence suggests that Morrison was at least his peer’s equal as they developed at Carrington with Ferguson alegedly even going as far as to insist he was the finest prospect he had ever seen. Better than Giggs. Better than Scholes. Better than Rooney .

It is for this reason primarily why so many clubs have extended a chance of redemption to Morrison only for most to be let down. Will Sheffield United be the latest of them? If that’s not the case then Wilder has pulled off another masterstroke; a risk with high reward indeed.

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Tottenham Hotspur fans have urged the club to sell Christian Eriksen after he missed a penalty in the club’s pre-season friendly against Inter Milan on Sunday.

The two clubs drew 1-1 in north London, with Lucas Moura opening the scoring for the hosts, only for Stefano Sensi to cancel the strike out prior to half-time.

A penalty shootout settled matters, though both sides missed their opening kick.

Eriksen’s was saved, while Oliver Skipp’s penalty also failed to hit the back of the net, as Inter ran out 3-2 winners.

The Denmark international’s miss from the spot came just days after he also saw a penalty saved in the Audi Cup clash with Bayern Munich.

And fans believe the 27 year-old simply doesn’t want to play for the club anymore, having aired his desire to take on a new challenge following last season’s Champions League final.

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There have yet to be any bids for the playmaker, per reports, but nevertheless, a number of supporters have called on the club to cash in and reap the rewards in the coming weeks.

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Take a look at the best of the reaction below!

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