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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Barcelona’s Ernesto Valverde seems to be walking on thin ice at the moment. The rumours of his potential replacements have not yet died down and former Blaugrana star, Rafael Marquez, has tipped Marcelo Gallardo to be a good pick for the Catalans when talking to TNT Sports.

What did he say?

The now 40-year-old retired centre-back has played 242 games donning the Blaugrana jersey and has even managed to score 13 goals and assist further 12 in the process as well.

By all means, he is one of Barcelona’s ex-stars and knows a thing or two about the club.

And it seems that he believes Gallardo, the current River Plate coach, has what it takes to take charge of a giant that is the Catalan team.

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When talking to TNT Sports in an exclusive interview, he lauded Gallardo as the man with enough experience and knowledge to lead Barcelona in the future.

Here’s what he said in full, as quoted by Tribuna who provided a translation:

“I think he has earned their [Barca’s] trust with what he has achieved with River. I know that it’s not easy to come to Barcelona but Marcelo has all the experience and knowledge necessary to get a chance at such a big club.”

Time is up?

Even though it’s difficult to see Barcelona sacking Valverde mid-season, it seems that the Gallardo rumours are certainly getting some traction.

Marquez has basically given his blessing to the River Plate gaffer and his appointment could even seem realistic at this point.

But even though the former Blaugrana centre-back believes Gallardo has the experience and the knowledge necessary to handle the Catalan giants, his lack of any European experience might still stand in his way.

One way or the other, the clock seems to be getting nearer to midnight for Valverde and if results don’t suddenly start going his way, we could indeed be seeing a new Blaugrana coach sooner rather than later.

Of course, despite all those rumours circulating the media, Barcelona are still league leaders in La Liga and group leaders in the Champions League.

With that being said, the imminent sacking of Valverde does look unlikely at this very moment.

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

According to Tim Spiers of The Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers have agreed terms with young defender Nigel Lonwijk, and the move shows why Fosun’s ambitions hold no bounds despite facing first-team adversity.

What’s the word?

The club correspondent tweeted out the details surrounding the move, claiming that the PSV starlet will link up with Wolves’ academy setup.

Lonwijk has been capped at U16 level for the Netherlands and made 19 appearances in the youth Eredivisie last season, but is yet to taste senior football in his short career to date.

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Spiers describes him as a strong and athletic defender while other reports have labelled him as highly-rated, so that must come as a positive sign for those at Wolves.

The same outlet believes the nominal fee paid for the 17-year-old is around €200k (£171.5k).

Continuing Fosun’s ambitions

In recent times, Wolves have made it a priority to clinch emerging youthful talent from across Europe to bolster their development squads, which has been a precise aim set out by the ownership, Fosun.

Bruno Jordao and Pedro Neto joined the club this summer from Lazio, while Meritan Shabani and Raphael Nya were snatched from German giants Bayern Munich.

Fosun have invested heavily in the academy in recent times as they want to oversee players transitioning from their youth team into the first-team fold – it has only really been Morgan Gibbs-White since they took control of the club in 2016.

This goal of theirs is even the main plan amidst adversity in Nuno Santo’s side as they have had to endure the loss of Willy Boly after he sustained a fractured fibula during training last month.

There’s still a long way to go, but the description of Lonwijk is certainly in the mould of the 28-year-old, both are right-footed too – so who knows, later down the line you could see the Dutchman take over the reins if everything goes according to plan.

Jeff Shi and Nuno clearly want to build for the future and this signing would certainly help in that regard.

After Hatem Ben Arfa cemented his mixed status as one of Newcastle United’s most exciting players of the last decade, being a crucial component to their incredible 2011/12 season, supporters have yearned for a player with the flair to match – with some thinking they have found one in Allan Saint-Maximin.Â

Saint-Maximin, who got off to a slow start in a Newcastle jersey, has been flying recently with a string of influential performances that have been key to Steve Bruce’s side upping their momentum in recent games.

The Frenchman played a ‘lively’ role in their 1-0 victory over Manchester United at St. James’ Park, whilst also putting on man-of-the-match displays in their recent back-to-back victories against West Ham and Bournemouth.

Although he is yet to open his account for the club with a goal, he has arguably been unlucky – finding himself through on goal twice away to the Hammers but failing to capitalise.

The 22-year-old also couldn’t take advantage of a great chance to put Newcastle further in front against Bournemouth on Tyneside, but judging by his recent showings, it’s only a matter of time.

As a result, supporters have credited him with being the second coming of Ben Arfa – showing just as much flair and creativity.

Here’s what they had to say on Twitter:

Loads of Celtic fans have been fawning over some footage of Odsonne Edouard, as the club shared a clip of one of his best Old Firm goals.

If you were wondering how to become a fan favourite at Celtic Park, just ask French Eddy, he’s an expert after all.

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The 22 year-old has bagged six goals in six appearances in the Old Firm, which is of course the fastest route to a Celtic fan’s heart.

And with nothing to fill the football shaped void in all of our lives, the Hoops have been sharing memorable footage from past matches on their Twitter account, marking the one-year anniversary of a 2-1 derby win on Tuesday.

Edouard scored one and assisted one against the old foe, collecting a delightful James Forrest pass before sprinting 50 yards with the ball and hammering home.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Peter Lawwell could pull a master-stroke by selling Celtic star…

Loads of Sheffield Wednesday fans have been reacting after the club posted images of Jacob Murphy helping vulnerable people in Norfolk on their official Twitter account.

With football currently suspended in England due to a pandemic which has shut down almost everything worldwide, players certainly have plenty of time on their hands at the moment.

And Murphy, along with his twin brother Josh, has opted to use his time by giving back to the community. The duo have been picking up and delivering medication for the most vulnerable in Norfolk.

Both players have ties to the area having come through the ranks at Norwich City, with Jacob playing for them until 2017 whilst Josh was at Carrow Road until 2018. Jacob is currently on loan at Sheffield Wednesday from Newcastle United and he has made 30 league appearances for the Owls so far, scoring five goals (Transfermarkt).

After seeing images of his act of kindness, plenty of supporters have been praising him in response with one even suggesting that they should extend his loan for another year because of it. Here is what some had to say…

Owls fans, would you like Jacob Murphy to sign on a permanent basis? Let us know below…

Many Everton fans have revealed the one player that they regret leaving Goodison Park, with various names being thrown into the hat.

Italian boss Carlo Ancelotti will embark on his first summer transfer window in charge of the Toffees, and it is expected that the former AC Milan and Real Madrid man will look to allow numerous player exits in order to bring his own faces.

With the potential of a busy transfer window at the Merseyside club, many fans have looked back on players who have departed in previous seasons and in doing so, an abundance of household names have emerged.

Former striker Romelu Lukaku is one that pops up more often than not when Toffees fans think of players they wanted to stay, having seen the Belgian international spend a fruitful time at the club.

Wayne Rooney is another player who has gone on to play at the highest level after playing at Everton. The former England international is now turning out for Championship side Derby County, but his career saw him gain multiple successes at Manchester United.

Rooney did return to Everton prior to a stint in Major League Soccer with DC United, but many have been left asking ‘what if’ when looking back on his time at the club.

Other names that were thrown up in the debate were players such as Gary Speed, Steven Naismith, and Gary Lineker.

Reacting to the question on Twitter by fan account @thetoffees_com, fans gave a varied response, and below are some of those…

Everton fans, which player do you wish never left? Let us know in the comments below…

Many Newcastle United fans are fuming as the chair for the NUFC Trust Alex Hurst relayed information regarding the season ticket situation at the Tyneside club.

As was discussed on Pod On The Tyne (via The Athletic), the club are continuing to take money off the supporters in terms of season tickets for the next campaign, despite the takeover situation still looming large over the North East.

If the deal goes through, then Mike Ashley will not be the owner at St. James’ Park anymore, yet members at the top of the club’s hierarchy are still taking cash off of fans, to which Hurst believes is ‘unjustifiable’ and implied that they do not care about the supporters as much as they perhaps should.

This was a similar view shared on the podcast, to which the situation was further branded as ‘arrogant’, ‘condescending’ and ‘nasty’.

Indeed, the Saudi-led consortium, backed by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and head-hunted by businesswoman Amanda Staveley, are trying to take NUFC off of the hands of the likes of Ashley in time at least for next term to start.

These members of the Toon faithful fumed at the news:

Geordies, what do you make of the situation? Comment below!

Newcastle United’s prospective takeover by a wealthy Saudi-backed consortium comes as great news to many at St James’ Park, but it has also brought along some outlandish rumours.Mauricio Pochettino as new manager? Even Zinedine Zidane has been linked.Gareth Bale, Nabil Fekir, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edinson Cavani and Philippe Coutinho are a handful of European superstars that have been mooted with a switch to the Magpies as well.Astonishing.And now there have been suggestions that the would-be owners of the northeast giants are planning a major £25m investment to improve the training facilities, according to journalist Paul Smith.However, The Athletic’s George Caulkin has played down these reports straight away, in response to one supporter, he said:

The reliable Magpies scribe has been one of the closest reporters to the takeover bid, so his words are going to ring closer to the truth than most.

He claims that the consortium do not even know what they’ve got to work with in terms of a training base – and that has come straight from the mouth of the person advising Amanda Staveley, who will front the board despite only taking 10% of the ownership.

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The rest will come from Saudi’s public investment fund (80%) and the Reuben brothers (10%) as per Keith Downie at Sky Sports.

It’s not to say they won’t take a look at the Magpies’ lacklustre facilities at Darsley Park, it’s just a lot to plan for when the takeover is yet to even be official.

AND in other news, Newcastle fans react over former FLOP as Bundesliga is BACK…

Football.London journalist Alasdair Gold has revealed Tottenham starlet George Marsh continues to turn heads at the club..

What did he say?

With clubs unlikely to spend big money on new signings, academy prospects may never get a better chance than now to really prove themselves worthy of an opportunity.

And according to Gold, Marsh is one of those youngsters who appears to be set for a bright future, and that after a successful loan spell with Leyton Orient, has shown himself to be a very versatile option for Jose Mourinho.

Gold revealed that both Marsh and fellow starlet Harvey White were involved in a training game involving the senior side, but that the former’s ability to play across numerous position could see him stand out.

Can you name every one of Spurs’ top goalscorers from the past 15 seasons? It’s a tricky one…

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He said: “18-year-old White was joined by another versatile midfielder in George Marsh, who has returned from his loan spell at Leyton Orient with the League Two season having ended. The 21-year-old, who made his debut for Spurs last season in the FA Cup, has had a campaign to remember in his breakthrough season as a first team player at Orient.

“He made 26 appearances in League Two and impressed a lot of people both at the O’s and back at Tottenham. His ability to play in midfield, central defence and at right-back will have marked him out as a useful player for Mourinho to have right now before likely getting another loan to further his development next season.”

Trusting the youth

After the months of attention and scrutiny on Mourinho’s reluctance to throw Troy Parrott into the deep end despite the striker crisis in north London, it will be very interesting to see whether the likes of Marsh and White make an appearance for the first-team when the Premier League restarts this month.

If Daniel Levy chooses not to open the chequebook this summer, then Mourinho will surely have no other option but to place his faith in some of the Lilywhites’ promising youngsters.

And that could make all the difference in terms of whether Marsh and White go on to enjoy a successful career at Spurs.

Despite being outplayed for long spells, Everton were left frustrated after their return to Premier League action ended in a goalless draw in the Merseyside derby against Liverpool on Sunday evening.

The Toffees didn’t look like troubling Jurgen Klopp’s side for the majority of the game, but they burst into life with a host of late opportunities and ended up leaving an empty Goodison Park wondering how they didn’t record their first victory over the Reds since October 2010.

In a chaotic late spell, Dominic Calvert-Lewin was denied by goalkeeper Alisson Becker before Liverpool-born Tom Davies squandered Everton’s best chance, striking the post from the rebound when he looked a certainty to find the net.

Richarlison and then Calvert-Lewin also came close to grabbing a winner, but it wasn’t to be for Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who’ve now gone four Premier League matches without winning, their worst league run under the Italian.

In an attacking sense, the hosts were far from inspiring, but defensively, they held firm – with one standout performer in the shape of Seamus Coleman.

The Everton right-back put in a captain’s display and Toffee’s fans on Twitter were pleasantly surprised by what they saw from their longest-serving player.

Here are some of the best tweets…