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Many Everton fans have been left buzzing as transfer news emerged on Franck Kessie.

As per a report this week by 90min, which has since been shared by Toffee TV on their Twitter page, the Goodison Park club – as well as Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and Leicester City – are monitoring his situation at AC Milan, where he has yet to agree to sign a new deal with his contract expiring next summer.

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Atletico Madrid and Paris Saint Germain have all enquired about Kessie, but a move to the Premier League is high on the wish list for the Ivory Coast international, who struck 14 goals last season for the Rossoneri despite playing as a defensively-orientated midfielder.

Given the calibre of competition for his signature, and the fact that he is currently playing in the UEFA Champions League, it would be quite the coup for the Merseyside club if they were able to snap him up.

Everton fans on Kessie transfer news

These Toffees fans buzzed as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one claiming that they were ‘excited’ and another describing it as ‘awesome’:

“PLEASE”

Credit: @29tooffeeezz

“I heard this the other day before their match last night in which he got sent off. Once Everton has touched you ……. (P.S would be an awesome signing to be fair)”

Credit: @joshhodge81

“Absolute masterstroke if we pull that off”

Credit: @_EvertonTheGear

“JUST INJECT HIM IN TO MY VEINS!! He’s great on the counter which is what this team needs. There are critics to his tackling ability but we have that bulldog Allan to help with that. Please @Everton get this man!!!!!!”

Credit: @GeezyEFC

“I wish mate, imagine Allan, Doucoure and Kessie in midfield”

Credit: @JoeyOconnor22

“Don’t even get me excited like that!!”

Credit: @EFCDayne

In other news, find out what contract news has had these Everton fans buzzing

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Michael Bridge of Sky Sports has now backed some big reports out of Tottenham Hotspur involving West Bromwich Albion keeper Sam Johnstone.

The Lowdown: Tottenham enter battle…

As per Sky Sports, Football League World and The Sun – Spurs are firmly in contention to sign the Baggies ace who is set to leave on a free transfer at the end of 2021/2022.

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Johnstone, set to be in high-demand, is attracting interest from Man United as well as the Lilywhites – with the likes of Southampton and West Ham also having been mentioned.

The Sun and FLW in particular both claim that Tottenham are ‘confident’ of sealing the deal with the two reports suggesting those within the club believe Johnstone will move to north London.

The Latest: Bridge backs Johnstone interest…

Speaking to GMS, Sky reporter Bridge has now backed reports of the Lilywhites’ interest as they eye the England international for manager Antonio Conte.

He explained: “Sam Johnstone is English and he ticks most boxes. I think that one has got legs and I know they’ve been scouting in the Championship, so I think there’s legs in that.”

The Verdict: Seal the deal…

On a Bosman, Spurs could simultaneously solve their homegrown quota issue, sign a back-up to Hugo Lloris and seal the Frenchman’s eventual heir – making this move a no-brainer.

Paddy Kenny, an ex-Premier League shot stopper, certainly believes Tottenham should make a move – branding Johnstone ‘unreal’ and a would-be ‘top signing’ for Spurs (Football Insider).

For zero initial cost, Spurs and transfer chief Fabio Paratici seemingly have very little to lose.

In other news: Spurs officials sent to club as Paratici also eyes ‘imperious’ ex-Man City man for Conte! Find out more here.

While Celtic have seen their league form drastically improve under the leadership of Ange Postecoglou in recent months, with the Bhoys remaining undefeated over the last eight Premiership fixtures, the 56-year-old Hoops manager will nevertheless be aware that his side will face one of their sterner tests of the season at Parkhead this evening.

Indeed, Robbie Neilson’s Heart of Midlothian side have also been incredibly impressive in the current campaign, sitting just two points behind Celtic in the league, as well as having already taken three points off of the Bhoys on the opening day of the season.

As such, Postecoglou will know that he must get his team selection spot on against Hearts if he is to have any hope of his side reducing the gap between them the current Premiership leaders, with one player who the Greek-Australian coach simply must call upon tonight being Nir Bitton.

Game-changer

With Tom Rogic’s hamstring injury leaving Celtic somewhat short in the middle of the park, Postecoglou opted to slightly change his setup in the middle of the park, playing the more defensively-minded Bitton in place of the 28-year-old attacking midfielder.

And, while this change would, on the surface, appear to make the Bhoys more defensive, Bitton has in fact flourished in the absence of Rogic, with the 30-year-old being one of the Hoops’ most impressive players over the last four fixtures.

Indeed, in this period, the £720k-rated Israel international has enjoyed 353 touches of the ball, completed 269 passes, made 15 tackles and won a whopping 31 duels, with these metrics seeing the £14k-per-week midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.33.

As such, while both Bitton and Rogic look as if they will be available for selection against Hearts this evening, Postecoglou simply must unleash Bitton ahead of the Australia international.

Not only would he help to solidify Celtic against a side who have already scored 25 goals in the league, the man the 56-year-old manager himself dubbed “influential” has also proven to be something of a game-changer in the middle of the park in the absence of Rogic.

In other news: Celtic handed big transfer boost ahead of January, fans will be elated

Rafa Benitez will need to make some important decisions in the upcoming transfer window, due to a poor first half of the season leaving the side plagued with injuries and sitting 15th in the Premier League table.

Everton could make signings to add depth to the side, and have been linked with a number of players already to fill positions of weakness, but they could also do with offloading some players that aren’t good enough for the side, and wasting the club money on the wage bill.

Cenk Tosun is currently on £69k-p/w at Everton, whilst making no impact on the team whatsoever this season, with only one appearance for just six minutes for the Toffees this season, and with that being said, it is clear Benitez doesn’t value the player as good enough for the side, even during an injury crisis that has seen the Spanish manager call up and rely on academy players in recent games.

Despite the lack of game time, The Athletic reported a few weeks ago that Tosun’s agent has claimed the Turkish international doesn’t want to leave the club in January;

“Cenk does not want to leave in January,” Dr Erkut Sogut said. “He has a contract until the end of the season and he wants to give something back. He feels like he can contribute and is not the type to just sit on the bench and be happy.”

Due to the 30-year-old’s contract ending at the end of the season, Benitez could offer out the player in a cut-price deal that could attract interest from clubs who are desperately seeking a striker to help their teams score goals, as he is clearly not needed at Everton or even favourable for a start over any of the other forwards in the team.

The centre forward has only scored 11 goals in 58 appearances for the Toffees since he joined the club from Besiktas in 2018, and has lost a position in the team to much more prolific goal scorers like Dominic Calvert Lewin and Richarlison, with the pair scoring a combined 90 goals more than Tosun in their time with the club.

Although there have been no recent links to other clubs for the Turkish striker to move in the January transfer window, if Everton could offload him in the January transfer window, it would free up funds and the wage bill for the manager to work his magic and bring in players that could make a positive impact on the struggling side in the second half of the season.

In other news: Journalist claims Everton could be reunited with Ross Barkley

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side got the second half of their Premiership campaign off to a perfect start against Hibernian on Monday evening, with the Bhoys securing a 2-0 victory at Parkhead to take them back to within three points of the current league leaders.

And, although the Hoops rather unusually saw the away side enjoy more possession of the ball, as well as Shaun Maloney’s side completing more passes in the fixture, the clinical nature of the Bhoys’ performance will nevertheless have been one that will have delighted Postecoglou – as putting teams to the sword is something that the 56-year-old’s side have struggled to do at points this season.

Furthermore, there were also two incredibly impressive debut displays for Celtic, with centre-forward Daizen Maeda – who took just four minutes to open his goalscoring account in Glasgow – and central midfielder Reo Hatate arguably being the 56-year-old manager’s best two players on the night.

However, while Maeda was fantastic against Hibs, it was undoubtedly the show-running performance of Hatate that will have most impressed Postecoglou and Celtic fans alike on Monday evening.

61 touches

Indeed, over his 75 minutes on the pitch, the central midfielder appeared to be everywhere for the Bhoys, with the 24-year-old enjoying 61 touches of the ball – the second-most of Celtic’s midfielders – completing 37 passes – three of which were key – and finding his man with three of his five attempted long balls.

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The £1.08m-rated man also had three shots at the Hibs goal – one of which forced Matt Macey into an excellent diving save from a shot from the edge of the box – won 100% of his ground duels and made one tackle, one interception and one clearance.

These returns saw the Japan international receive a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.4, while the midfielder was also dubbed an “absolute pler” by Everything Celtic and won the Man of the Match award for his efforts on the night.

Indeed, should Hatate be able to keep up this rather extraordinary level of performance going forwards for Celtic, the 24-year-old will very quickly make his £1.38m transfer fee seem like one of the bargains of the season, with the former Kawasaki Frontale star undoubtedly now a nailed-on starter for Postecoglou at Parkhead.

In other news: Ange Postecoglou drops teasing transfer hint that will have Celtic fans buzzing

West Ham supporters have been pretty downbeat in recent times after seeing their side suffer an 11th Premier League defeat of the season on Tuesday night.

Manuel Pellegrini’s men went into their clash with Wolves looking to bounce back after falling to a 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth in their previous league encounter, with an embarrassing FA Cup exit at the hands of AFC Wimbledon also sandwiched in between. Yet the Hammers were unable to do so in going down 3-0 at Molineux, with a brace from Raul Jimenez and a Romain Saiss strike sealing a routine victory for the West Midlanders, in turn instigating West Ham’s fall to 12th place in the Premier League table.

As such, there have been many disappointed Hammers fans up and down the country, plenty of whom have taken to Twitter to express further dissatisfaction at the news that Reece Oxford left the club on Deadline Day (as per the club’s official website).

The 20-year-old has come up through the ranks at the East London club to appear 17 times for the Hammers, and was tipped as the next big-thing upon bursting onto the scene many years ago as a 16-year-old when he starred in the Premier League against Arsenal back in August 2015.

However, the versatile defender has since then failed to really kick-on in appearing only 17 times in all for the Hammers, thus prompting the youngster to make loan moves to Borussia Monchengladbach and Reading in a bid to get his career going – that didn’t quite happen though either.

Yet the Englishman will again try his luck having officially signed for Bundesliga outfit Augsburg on loan until the rest of the season, and while he hasn’t actually featured for Pellegrini’s side prior to his departure, his exit does leave the club somewhat short of cover in the centre back ranks.

And that has been the source of much frustration and surprise among several West Ham fans on Twitter…

West Ham fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has delivered an injury update on Leon Balogun…

What’s the latest?

The 41-year-old has revealed that the Nigeria international felt something in his hamstring against Brondby, forcing him to be withdrawn in the second half.

Balogun scored the opening goal on Thursday night with a fine header from James Tavernier’s cross before limping off in the 64th minute. Gerrard has said that he is “praying” it is nothing serious, but they will not know until they do further tests.

He told The Herald: “We are hoping we have got to it before there is a tweak or any muscle damage.

“We are hoping it is a little bit of tightness and we will know in the next 24 hours. I will certainly be praying tonight. He felt something in his hamstring. That’s what he came off with, but he wasn’t sure if he felt something or whether it was a bit of tightness.

“We will work that out in the next 24 hours and hopefully he will pull through because he is important for us. I thought his performance was top tonight as well.”

Gutting blow for Gers fans

Rangers fans will surely be left feeling gutted after reading these worrying quotes from Gerrard. Whilst he has not ruled out an immediate return to action this weekend, the Gers boss has left it open-ended by refusing to make a prediction on how serious the blow will be for the defender.

This means that supporters could start to worry about Balogun’s situation and how many games he could miss. Even if he sits out one match for Rangers, fans could be dismayed as he is a terrific player for the club and an important cog in the defensive unit.

Balogun’s average SofaScore rating of 7.47 in the Europa League this season is the highest in the Rangers squad and his score of 7.11 ranks him fifth in terms of outfield players in the Premiership. This highlights the level of quality he brings to the side and why it is gutting news that he has picked up a hamstring injury on Thursday night.

The 33-year-old has made three tackles and interceptions combined, along with 3.9 clearances and 4.3 aerial duels won per game in the Premiership this season. His outstanding defending has helped Rangers to the top of the table and his impressive statistics show why his injury will be a big blow for Gerrard if it ends up keeping him out for a period of time.

AND in other news, Forget Kemar Roofe: Rangers dynamo with six dribbles stole the show against Brondby…

Crystal Palace and Tottenham are both thought to be keen on signing Spanish left-back Alex Moreno this summer.

The Lowdown: Moreno profiled

Moreno has spent his entire domestic career in his native country and currently plies his trade with Real Betis.

The 28-year-old, who can also play further forward when needed, is valued at £10.8m and is under contract until 2025.

He has impressed this season, contributing to ten goals in 36 games. Before 2021/22, Moreno had only contributed to seven goals in 58 appearances for Betis, and it seems as if his red-hot form this term has now caught the eye of Palace officials.

The Latest: Palace interest

Barca Universal relayed an update from Mundo Deportivo regarding Moreno on Thursday.

They claimed that Barcelona, Palace and Spurs are all keen on Moreno, with Betis preparing to lose the full-back over the coming months.

The Verdict: Competition for Mitchell?

Palace youngster Tyrick Mitchell has starred under Patrick Vieira, playing every Premier League game this season.

The 22-year-old is the only senior left-back on the books at Selhurst Park, though, so it could be wise to bring in someone like Moreno over the summer.

Moreno, who has 25 assists to his name during his career, would provide cover and competition to Mitchell and would also be able to play as a winger when required. Palace face some tough competition for his services, but it could be a deal to keep a close eye on.

In other news: Source drops big Palace claim as Freedman now closes in on first summer deal. 

Everton have been struggling for the entire first half of the season, picking up just five wins so far, and now one of their players could be on his way out of the club during the transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to news outlet, Football Insider, they understand that Burnley are interested in securing the signing of Everton player, Mason Holgate, during the January transfer window.

A Burnley source has told them that the 25-year-old is on the club’s radar, whether that be in the current window or the summer.

In the report, they confirm that Everton are interested in listening to offers for their player, as they are trying to balance the books to make sure they are in line with FFP regulations, after excessively spending over the last five years.

The £16.2m-rated defender has been getting in the side due to the injury crisis Everton have been experiencing, in which defender Yerry Mina is a part of, tallying up ten appearances in all competitions so far for the Toffees.

Not good enough

The 25-year-old player has not used his opportunity in the team to prove to Benitez that he should be a regular starter, in fact, quite the opposite, with fans blasting the player for being a “liability” when he was red-carded back in November for dangerous foul play on Hojberg;

One fan tweeted during the Spurs game when the side went down to ten men following the bad challenge: “Been an absolute liability since he came on Holgate.”

The former West Brom centre-back went onto put in another horrific performance in Everton’s ninth defeat of the season to Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend, only making one interception, tackle and clearance during the entire game that lead to conceding three goals according to SofaScore.

As far as his overall season is concerned, his statistics don’t get much better, as recorded by SofaScore, the defender on average, has a shocking 0.3 of possession won per game, loses the majority of his duels (51%) and has recorded only one clean sheet from the eight games he has featured in the Premier League so far.

Based on that, it’s rather remarkable that he was once dubbed “Mr Dependable” by reporter Sam Carroll.

If Burnley are in fact interested in Holgate, Benitez should do everything he can to facilitate the move to raise funds so that he can replace him with a more reliable defender to cover Mina in his absence.

In other news: Alan Myers reveals more about clubs chasing Lucas Digne

The current crisis at Manchester United is showing no signs of drawing to a conclusion as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s woes grow ever larger.

What’s the story?

United’s latest defeat at the hands of fierce rivals Manchester City was their sixth of the campaign in all competitions and saw them drop to sixth place in the Premier League table.

Their poor performances and dismal results have led to intensifying pressure on Solskjaer’s shoulders, with several star names linked with replacing the Norwegian tactician in the Old Trafford dugout.

The likes of Zinedine Zidane, Erik ten Hag and Ralf Rangnick have been touted as possible successors, but The Athletic’s Red Devils reporter Laurie Whitwell has claimed a new managerial arrival is not on the horizon.

Relaying Whitwell’s comments online, the United Journal tweeted: “I genuinely believe that Manchester United are not talking to any other candidates in a serious manner with a view towards (an) appointment.”

Manchester United fans will be fuming

Although Solskjaer has done vasts amount of good work throughout his two-and-a-half-year reign in the red half of Manchester, large sections of the club’s supporters are growing increasingly frustrated at the club’s displays.

Bar the opening day victory over Leeds United, the 20-time English champions have been below-par all season, resulting in humiliating defeats to Liverpool, City and Young Boys.

Their sub-standard season has led to a protest being organised by some fans who are calling for Solskjaer to be sacked and the Glazer family to relinquish their ownership of the club.

As a result, Whitwell’s latest revelation is likely to leave those supporters fuming, with no end in sight for the Scandinavian’s tenure.

It will be a huge shame if the 48-year-old isn’t fondly remembered by those associated with United in years to come after overseeing an extensive squad rebuild, achieving consecutive top-four finishes and blooding several exciting youngsters into the first-team squad.

Ultimately, though, things will have to drastically improve at the Theatre of Dreams if Solskjaer is to keep his job in the long-term, but it seems as though he’ll be given time to turn things around.

And, in other news…Imagine him and VDB: Man Utd must hire Ole alternative with a 73% win percentage