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According to reports, Leeds are still interested in Reading’s Michael Olise ahead of the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

Reports back in January suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were very much interested in bringing the 19-year-old to the Premier League, and now Football Insider have delivered a major update on the situation.

The report claims that the Whites are still closely monitoring Olise, but are facing strong competition from a number of Premier League clubs, including the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool.

Game-changer for Bielsa

With five goals and ten assists, Olise has been an absolute revelation in the Championship for Reading this season, and it’s no surprise that so many of the Premier League’s biggest clubs are keen on seeing him play at a higher level.

His teammate at Reading, Sam Baldock, said early last year: “Michael is a real talent, he’ll get on the ball in any situation. He’s fearless, if you ask him today I’ll guarantee that he had no nerves. He’s a lively character and one who I’ve noticed a real change in the last couple of months.”

Hailed as “super talented” by Reading boss Veljko Paunović, the 19-year-old has already earned rave reviews for his ability, with his former manager at the Royals, Jose Gomes, adding: “Michael is really special. He can see, even before receiving the ball, more options than regular players. His technical ability and speed, decision capacity is really, really good.”

His tally of ten assists is significantly higher than anything that any of Leeds’ players have produced this season, and given his ability to play as a number ten or even out wide, could be a real game-changer for Bielsa.

Not only would he offer support for the likes of Raphinha and Jack Harrison, but he could really give Rodrigo a run for his money for that attacking midfield role.

As those who know him well have attested to, Olise has got that ability to take players on and create a moment of magic. And that’s exactly the kind of match-winning quality Bielsa would surely love to have in his side.

Meanwhile, Bielsa should unleash this Leeds starlet next season…

RB Salzburg striker Patson Daka has been linked with a move to Manchester City recently and the 22-year-old could be a superb addition to Pep Guardiola’s side.

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, a host of Premier League clubs including Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal are all interested in signing the Zambia international, who is enjoying another superb season in the Austrian Bundesliga.

Jesse Marsch’s side have gained a reputation for helping to develop superstars in recent seasons, with Takumi Minamino, Dominik Szoboszlai and Erling Haaland having all earned moves away from Salzburg as a result of their superb performances there.

Would he be a good signing?

Daka has enjoyed a superb season with Salzburg so far this campaign, having contributed a superb 20 goals and five assists in just 18 top-flight appearances.

He looks on track to improve on his remarkable returns from last season, when he managed 24 goals and eight assists in 31 Austrian Bundesliga appearances, with the last two seasons, in particular, emphasising why he is so in-demand at the moment.

The 22-year-old’s former coach in Zambia, Dan Kabwe, was full of praise for him last year, saying:

“When I saw Patson Daka, what came into my mind is this guy is the next Thierry Henry – and in no time, he has proved it.”

This is high praise indeed, and if Daka were to join City and have the same impacts as the Frenchman did at Arsenal, then he would surely prove to be a fantastic addition to Guardiola’s side.

Daka’s superb goal record in recent seasons, as well as the fact that he’s valued at just £18 million by Transfermarkt, suggests that he would arguably be a better fit at City than Southampton striker Danny Ings, who has also been linked with a move to the Etihad in recent weeks.

The 28-year-old’s last big move to Liverpool proved to be something of a disaster, as injury problems meant that he would make just 25 appearances for the Merseyside club, scoring four goals.

Daka has the edge over Ings in that he is younger and perhaps wouldn’t cost as large a fee and given time, the Zambian could establish himself as a top Premier League player under Guardiola’s tutelage, so sporting director Txiki Begiristain should forget about Ings and instead focus on bringing the Salzburg man to the Etihad.

And, in other news… No goals or assists in March: £63m-rated Man City ace let his standards drop this month

Wolves have opened negotiations with Valencia for Goncalo Guedes, according to Portuguese journalist Pedro Almeida.

An offer between €20-25 million will apparently be enough to tempt the La Liga side to part with the 24-year-old, despite him having an absolutely remarkable release clause in his current deal.

Nuno’s side look to have stolen a march on West Ham and Everton, also named by Almeida as interested parties.

Valencia could make loss on Guedes

Valencia paid £36million to make Guedes’ loan deal permanent in August 2018 and tied him down to a six-year deal (via BBC Sport).ÂThat contract included an eye-watering £270million release clause.

But it looks as if Los murcielagosÂare now entertaining realistic offers, with Guedes only able to contribute two La Liga goals this season and the financial impact of the pandemic hitting the club hard.

In all, he has been directly involved in 42 goals in 128 Valencia matches (20 goals, 22 assists).ÂHe’s also been capped 22 times at senior level for Portugal, having last been called up in September.

Transfer Tavern verdict

It’s worth noting just how much Valencia have struggled this season. Last year, they made it to the Champions League of Round 16, but there’s no prospect of European qualification this time around with Javi Gracia’s side languishing in 13th.

So Guedes shouldn’t be written off just because his own statistics are a little underwhelming – Cristiano Ronaldo is such a big fan of his compatriot he allegedly wanted him to replace Gareth Bale at Real Madrid.ÂIf Pedro Neto were to be prised away, Guedes could be an excellent replacement.

In other news, fans flocked to another transfer update on Monday.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Southampton midfielder Carlton Palmer has backed Ralph Hasenhuttl after a turbulent couple of months at St Mary’s.

After a bright start to the Premier League season, a poor run of form has seen Southampton drop into the bottom half of the table. They have also been on the opposite end of a humiliating 9-0 defeat to Manchester United, a repeat of the 9-0 massacre against Leicester City last term.

It has certainly been a difficult period for Southampton and Hasenhuttl; however, Palmer is still backing the Austrian manager, praising the overall job he has done since arriving at the south coast club.

Speaking exclusively with FFC, the retired Premier League footballer said:

“I don’t like the bashing of the manager. I think he’s a very good manager. I think he’s done a fantastic job there and they’re just going through a difficult time at the moment.

“You know, you’re seeing that with Liverpool. Liverpool are going through a difficult time at the moment. That doesn’t mean Jurgen Klopp’s not a good manager. He’s not all of a sudden a bad manager because Liverpool are going through a difficult situation. Same with Jose Mourinho, these are good managers. All teams go through difficult periods.”

While Southampton are struggling at present, it has not been all doom and gloom at St. Mary’s this season. The Saints have put in some good performances, including in the 1-0 win over Premier League champions Liverpool, and have reached the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Hasenhuttl’s side take on Championship outfit Bournemouth in the competition, with the Cherries the only thing standing between them and a trip to Wembley. Ultimately, there is still a possibility that Southampton could make success of the current campaign.

Liverpool are on the verge of signing Preston defender Ben Davies on deadline day but it doesn’t look as though they are done there.

What’s the word?

Paul Joyce revealed late last night that Liverpool were in fact targeting two central defenders on transfer deadline day.

A move for Marseille defender Duje Ćaleta-Car now looks off the table but one move that could still happen is for someone plying their trade in the Premier League.

The Telegraph’s Chris Bascombe claimed in the last few hours that irons were in the fire and that Michael Edwards was spinning a few plates.

As a result of that, he noted it “could bring Shkodran Mustafi from Arsenal.”

The Reds have already been linked with a move for the £90-per-week centre-back in the window already in what would be a rather surprising move.

Edwards mistake

Liverpool may want two centre-backs on deadline day but it would be nothing short of a big error from Edwards to bring Mustafi to Merseyside.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/liverpool-deadline-day-latest-news-transfer-rumours-and-more” title=”Deadline day is here: Read the latest Liverpool news, transfer rumours and more!”]

The fact of the matter is that the German is far too error-prone and for a defence that has relied on Virgil van Dijk – one of the best in the world – it would be like swapping The Ritz-Carlton for a Premier Inn on the side of a motorway!

According to the Premier League’s official statistics, Mustafi has made three individual errors leading to a goal but if you reflect upon his actual performances, they are far worse than that number indicates.

In fact, Football.London noted in April 2019 that the German had made as many as six errors that cost Arsenal during that particular campaign. He is a clumsy centre-back, one who has never been able to eradicate a moment of madness from his game, hence why he’s not in Arsenal’s plans.

The Germany international is about as error-prone as they come and judging by that, Liverpool are probably better off maintaining Jordan Henderson and Nat Phillips at the back than picking him. After all, they shipped just once against in-form West Ham on Sunday evening.

AND in other news, Deadline day Liverpool move for centre-back in jeopardy, Edwards should find a Plan B

Celtic failed to land any permanent signings during the January transfer window and in the process, lost key player Jeremie Frimpong. Olivier Ntcham also left the club, but will return following his loan spell with Marseille.

The Hoops did, however, scoop Jonjoe Kenny from Everton. The right-back joins the Glasgow outfit until the end of the season but there’s no option for permanently signing the £6.3million-rated Premier League gem.

Indeed, Celtic’s time with Kenny is numbered and they must utilise his services whilst they still have him. So far, this hasn’t been the case. As one of the new breeds of full-backs who love to join the attack, the Merseyside-born defender enjoys getting forward and pinging crosses into the box.

In his first two matches for Celtic, Kenny attempted a total of 13 crosses as he tried to set up an attack from out wide. However, since then, he has taken his foot off the gas when it comes to his forward contributions. His following three matches saw him try just the one cross, which came against Aberdeen last time out, according to Sofascore.

He did bag himself an assist against St Mirren, but it wasn’t a cross that set up Tom Rogic’s opening goal.

Kenny’s decision to drop back from his attacking contributions has raised a few eyebrows. Frank McAvennie recently raised this issue and said it was “strange” that the Everton loanee had reigned in his usual eagerness to get forward and get a cross into the box.

“We brought in Jonjoe Kenny and in the first couple of games he was whipping the ball across the box but that has stopped now. I was thinking, ‘Why has that stopped? What has happened to him?’. Maybe he is fed up because nobody is there,” the ex-striker told Football Insider. “He might be thinking, ‘What’s the point?’ Everyone wants the ball into feet.”

When you have a player like Kenny who is looking to change up the dynamic and catch the opposition off guard, you must utilise his influence. The Hoops are losing too much of his offensive quality by shackling him over these past couple of games.

It’s up to Lennon to tweak his tactics immediately and bring the best out of Kenny once more.

In other news, Celtic got lucky by missing out on signing Ben Davies…

David Moyes should urge another West Ham United raid on Slavia Prague to sign striker Jan Kuchta in the summer transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Irons joined a number of Premier League clubs in eying a summer swoop for Kuchta after scouting the Slavia Prague star in the Europa League.

It is claimed that the London Stadium natives had scouts observe the 24-year-old in person during Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Rangers, where there were representatives of Newcastle United, Southampton and Brighton & Hove Albion also in attendance.

West Ham already have two of Slavia Prague’s former stars at the London Stadium in eight-goal top scorer Tomas Soucek and Vladimir Coufal, who Moyes has described as “excellent”.

Kuchta has now caught the Hammers’ attention with his efforts in the Europa League this season, where he has scored twice and assisted two goals in seven games after hitting a brace against Ligue 1 side Nice in the group stage.

He helped Jindeich Trpisovsky’s side eliminate Leicester City from the competition in the round of 32 and could be the next to make a Premier League move as talent spotters look at Czech football as a key market.

The former Czech Republic under-21 international has also ruffled the back of the net 11 times and set up five goals in 17 Fortuna Liga fixtures this term, having excelled on his return to the Sinobo Stadium following a spell with Slovan Liberec.

Kuchta had struggled to establish himself at Slavia Prague before an initial loan move to Liberec which they turned permanent last year, but has kicked on magnificently since being re-signed in the summer.

His haul of 13 goals and seven assists in all competitions has marked the 2020/21 campaign as Kuchta’s most prolific yet, eclipsing the 10 goals and three assists penned across all competitions last term.

Should West Ham sign Kuchta?

Much can change for Kuchta between now and the end of the season, but West Ham are heading on the right path by scouting the 24-year-old.

Kuchta’s return to Slavia was a mostly sombre affair in the early months of his homecoming, but he turned a corner at the start of the year to net seven of his Fortuna Liga goals over his side’s four games played in January.

If the Slavia product is able to keep up a hit rate of that level, Moyes would absolutely have to urge West Ham to launch a swoop for the forward, having seen Soucek and Coufal adapt to the Premier League so quickly and become key components of his line-up.

Trpisovsky has lauded Kuchta for his endless work rate beyond his goals as well, noting [via quotes shared by iSport] how the forward is “an aggressive player who is annoying to the defender”.

The Slavia boss has also claimed of Kuchta: “I think the hardest part is his hard work and hunger. He goes for those situations and that rewards him with goals.

“That’s how it is in football. It’s about quality, the choice of place and teammates who can find it. He works for the team, does not spare a step and is optimistic in the line.”

Coufal’s endless energy is also one of the aspects which Moyes loves most about the right-back, suggesting he could quickly feel the same way about Kuchta if West Ham were to be successful in edging out their Premier League rivals to his signature this summer.

“I couldn’t keep him off the training pitch yesterday [the day after the Aston Villa game],” Moyes told The Athletic last month. “I wanted them to have a rest and just stay in but he’s on a different level.”

In other news, West Ham are keen to sign a “special talent” who his manager feels “privileged” to have in his squad…

When it came to Leeds’ transfer activity last summer, it was all about Rodrigo De Paul.

The Argentine was linked with a switch to Elland Road on a regular basis and it seemed at one stage that the player wanted the move himself.

His social media activity at the time was rather questionable but he ended up staying at Udinese. His asking price was above £35m and that was a move that Leeds simply couldn’t afford.

De Paul is still very much a player that United and Victor Orta admire but it’s unlikely he’ll end up in Yorkshire come the end of the January transfer window.

Similarly, it’s also unlikely that Norwich City dynamo Emi Buendia will leave the Canaries for Leeds. Daniel Farke wants to keep him at the club but like De Paul, he was someone they made an enquiry for in the summer.

If Leeds are still trying to pick between the two then their form this season dictates that Buendia can be the only option.

Dubbed a “revelation” by Chris Sutton, the attacking midfielder has been a mesmeric influence for the Canaries in the Championship.

He has scored seven goals and contributed seven assists for Farke’s men, producing performances that defy belief. The diminutive midfielder saved one of his greatest displays for Barnsley last weekend.

Buendia touched the ball on so many occasions that he lost possession a remarkable 28 times but he found the back of the net and completed six dribbles in the process. On top of that, Buendia won a whopping 12 duels in an all-action showing that left Barnsley defenders spinning.

De Paul is a fairly consistent player himself but he’s seldom replicated the 24-year-old’s stats. He’s scored just three goals but he has still been a dazzler with the ball at his feet – performing 3.3 dribbles a match.

That being said, the Norwich attacker is already well-versed in English football and would surely represent a cheaper and safer alternative.

Orta has to at least test the waters with a bid this year.

AND in other news, “He’d fit into Bielsa’s team” – Exclusive: Pundit claims £30m gem would be perfect Leeds signing…

With Steven Davis out of contract at Glasgow Rangers next year, there is surely no better time for Steven Gerrard to rebuild his midfield. Rangers have the second-oldest squad in the Scottish Premiership, a fact which won’t be lost on Gerrard as he seeks to stop Celtic from winning ten in a row.

The 35-year-old has arguably been one of the club’s best players so far this season since returning to Rangers in 2019. His first season back at Ibrox saw the centre-midfielder score one goal and supply three assists in all competitions, whilst he is averaging 1.7 tackles and 1.2 interceptions in the Premiership this season, via WhoScored.

However, it’s fair to say that the Northern Ireland international isn’t getting any younger, whilst it remains to be seen if he will be handed a new and improved deal. A player the Gers could poach is their long-term target John Lundstram, who could be the ideal replacement for Davis in the not too distant future.

What’s the word?

Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder recently admitted that he is frustrated by the fact that contract talks between Sheffield United and Lundstram have stalled, with the midfielder likely to leave the Blades in the winter transfer window after rejecting a new deal at Bramall Lane.

This means that interested parties could potentially sign him on a pre-contract agreement in January, so he won’t cost Ross Wilson a penny.

Former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips believes the Liverpool-born Lundstram will be lured to Ibrox by the prospect of playing in the Europa League under Gerrard.

Perfect Davis replacement

Given his age, not only would the 26-year-old be a useful asset in the Gers’ engine room, but he would also be able to contribute in attack as well.

Last season, Lundstram contributed to eight goals in 34 appearances in the Premier League, which made up for nearly a quarter of their goals in the league overall. He has established himself as a integral part of Wilder’s side in recent years, having scored eight goals and supplied seven assists in all competitions so far. His influential presence in the team has not gone unnoticed either, with club captain Billy Sharp calling him a “real menace.”

But the Blades’ struggles have been well-documented this campaign, with only one point from their last nine games in the top flight as they sit rock bottom of the table.

It means that Wilson must strike while the iron is hot, otherwise he could live to regret missing out on the midfielder amid interest from Premier League clubs Burnley and Crystal Palace.

Bringing Lundstram to Ibrox would be a big step in the right direction as the Gers look to strengthen their position at the Premiership summit. Signing a player who likes to play long balls and through balls with high levels of concentration would be the perfect replacement for Davis when the Northern Irishman leaves the club for the final time.

AND in other news, Zungu beware: Glasgow Rangers midfielder Scott Arfield sends Steven Gerrard timely reminder…

Sunderland are back in action this evening as they head to League Two strugglers Oldham Athletic for the second round of the EFL Trophy.

Lee Johnson was only appointed on Saturday afternoon, and was thrown straight into the mire, though his presence in the dugout couldn’t inspire the Black Cats to a victory as Wigan Atheltic ended a ten-game winless run at the Stadium of Light.

Ahead of tonight’s fixture, the 39-year-old claimed he would use the encounter as an opportunity to implement his ideas, so there may not be too many alterations to the starting XI.

Although, there will be some changes in personnel as the likes of academy shot-stopper Anthony Patterson and Wolves loanee Dion Sanderson are set to be handed starts whilst Charlie Wyke is in line to feature.

The 20-year-old goalkeeper replaces Lee Burge between the sticks in the first change from Saturday’s defeat.

Central defensive pairing Bailey Wright and Tom Flanagan are set to keep their places, but Johnson will be forced into another change at left-back after Denver Hume was confirmed to be out for the rest of December.

We could see Callum McFadzean come in as the only alternative whilst Sanderson replaces Conor McLaughlin on the other flank.

In midfield, there could be some rare opportunities for the likes of George Dobson, taking the defensive midfield role from veteran Grant Leadbitter, as well as young 19-year-old sensation Daniel Neill, who may start alongside Josh Scowen further up the pitch.

Neill has started all three matches in the EFL Trophy thus far, but is yet to feature in League One this term.

Chris Maguire is another who keeps his place amongst the line-up but there are two more changes.

At left-wing we could see Jack Diamond come in as Aiden McGeady isn’t fit enough to start back-to-back matches in quick succession whilst the aforementioned Wyke replaces Will Grigg in the attack.

Predicted XI: Patterson; McFadzean, Wright, Flanagan, Sanderson; Dobson, Scowen, Neill; Diamond, Maguire, Wyke.

AND in other news, Sunderland could prosper immensely under Kristjaan Speakman…