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According to Le10 Sport, there has been a West Ham United update on their bid to sign Reims striker Hugo Ekitike, with an improved offer apparently made.

The Lowdown: West Ham eye last minute striker swoops?

As reliable reported by ExWHUemployee, the Irons and David Moyes see the French market as a real pool of talent, with the club eager to potentially take advantage.

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This has led to links with the likes of Mohamed Bayo of Clermont Foot and Bamba Dieng of Marseille in this last week of the transfer window with recruitment chief Rob Newman fast running out of time to make moves.

In a fresh update, it appears that West Ham have set their sights on signing Ekitike before January 31 as news emerges of an offer.

The Latest: Hammers table bid for Ekitike…

According to Le10 Sport, the Hammers have tabled a €25m (£20.8m) bid, plus bonuses, to sign the 19-year-old wonderkid this month.

This is an improvement on their original offer of around €15m (£12.5m) to Reims, but despite their revised proposal, the Ligue 1 outfit have rebuffed West Ham’s newest approach.

It is believed that Reims think they can get even more money for Ekitike as the clock runs down on this transfer window.

The Verdict: Come back again?

As already confirmed by Reims’ sporting director Jean-Pierre Caillot, speaking to Le Quotidien du Sport (via Get French Football News), it could take a grand total of €40m (£33.3m) to actually sign Ekitike. The club chief told French media earlier this month that his club will demand ‘€30m (£25m) flat and €10m (£8.3m) achievable bonuses’ to sell the teenager before transfer deadline day.

Taking this into account, we believe that West Ham should move on, even despite Ekitike being called an ‘outstanding talent’ whilst drawing comparisons to Kylian Mbappe (Graeme Bailey via Twitter).

The teenager has no Premier League experience, and any fee over £30m for such a young prospect could prove to be a gamble.

In other news: ExWHUemployee: West Ham set for talks as they chase last minute agreement to sign ‘quality’ 25 y/o, find out more here.

Wilfried Zaha apologised to his Crystal Palace team-mates after his sending off against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, team-mate Conor Gallagher has revealed.

The 29-year-old was sent off just 37 minutes into the game in north London after two bookable offences. For his second yellow, he was guilty of what sports journalist Josh Bunting called ‘absolute stupidity’ as he shoved Spurs defender Davinson Sanchez to the floor.

The red card only compounded Palace’s misery, coming at the end of a seven-minute spell which had also seen them concede two goals. They went on to lose the game 3-0, unable to offer any real attacking threat, as evidenced by their xG of 0.23.

Zaha’s apology after Spurs red

According to Gallagher (via The South London Press), Zaha ‘said sorry in the changing room’ and the players would now ‘forget about it, move on and focus on the next game’.

Fan feed Palace Xtra relayed Gallagher’s comments, and here’s what some supporters had to say in response.

Crystal Palace fans flock to behind-the-scenes reveal

“So he should have”

Credit: @brucemillington

“This has been coming all season. Vieira needs a chat with him and remind him that not only is he unlikely to get a move, but now he’s not even guaranteed a start with us if his attitude is wrong.”

Credit: @audreysprayer

“That sending off has been coming for months”

Credit: @JimmyT1965

“Least he could do”

Credit: @cpfcad

“How about the fans?”

Credit: @Griffo3926

“Also apologise to the fans esp. those who travelled for hours risking Covid to watch a match which ended when he was sent off. We all love Wilf, he’s the best player I have ever seen play for us but enough is enough. This could have happened in almost every game this season”

Credit: @stevemacdesign

In other news, this defender came under fire for his performance. 

Celtic defender Stephen Welsh looks set to remain at Parkhead beyond the January transfer window, according to The Daily Record’s Scott Burns.

The Lowdown: Welsh rumours

The 21-year-old has made 19 appearances under Ange Postecoglou this season, however, he’s been linked with a move away this month.

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Udinese recently enquired over taking Welsh on loan, with reports elsewhere claiming Celtic would be willing to sell for just £1.7m.

Welsh reportedly liked the idea of moving to Italy, but it appears as if a move will not materialise over the coming weeks.

The Latest: Burns’ update

Reliable reporter Burns shared a late-night update on Monday regarding midfield target Riley McGree and a possible departure for Welsh.

When it came to the defender, Burns claimed that Postecoglou and Celtic have made it clear to Udinese that Welsh won’t be leaving in January.

The Hoops boss wants Welsh to stay and battle it out for a starting spot and is in the mix alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers, Carl Starfelt and Christopher Jullien.

The Verdict: Postecoglou gets his way

Celtic have backed Postecoglou this month with multiple signings, and it seems as if the Aussie is going to get his way again when it comes to Welsh.

It’s refreshing to see the club are willing to listen to the gaffer, and keeping hold of the 21-year-old seems to be the right call.

Welsh, Carter-Vickers and Starfelt have all made plenty of appearances this season, whereas Jullien’s last game came back in 2020.

It will take time for the Frenchman to get back up to speed, so having three other senior options available around Jullien will give Postecoglou a welcome headache when it comes to selection.

In other news: Big transfer update emerges as Celtic eye 3rd forward. 

After finishing their first season back in the Premier League after a 16-year absence in ninth place, Leeds United were active in the previous summer transfer window by signing the likes of Dan James, Junior Firpo and Kristoffer Klaesson to help boost their squad.

One other business deal the Yorkshire club managed to secure was the permanent signing of winger Jack Harrison from Manchester City after originally joining Leeds on a loan deal back in 2018.

With a total of 143 appearances, 20 goals and 22 assists under his belt for Leeds across all competitions, Harrison has not shown this season why Leeds were right to sign him on a permanent basis with no goals and just one assist provided in 13 league appearances.

Given how Harrison managed to end last season with eight goals and eight assists in the Premier League, these are the numbers that he will undoubtedly be aiming to reach or even improve on this time around.

Harrison has also only managed to successfully complete 43% of his dribbles in the league this season as well as winning just 33% of his duels, showing how ineffective he has been on and off the ball.

As well as this and his lack of goal contributions in the Premier League this season, the 25-year-old’s overall performances have also been underwhelming with Harrison racking up a season rating of 6.48/10 from SofaScore, lower than Leeds’ other summer signings James (6.73/10) and Firpo (6.61/10).

With that in mind, it’s hardly a surprise that Leeds journalist Phil Hay said he’s “wildly out of form” when speaking last month.

Taking this into account, it seems as though that Victor Orta and the Yorkshire club may have dropped a clanger in signing Harrison, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £60k-per-week according to Salary Sport, based on his performances so far this season.

However, the Englishman still has enough time in the campaign to turn his form around and prove to everyone connected to the club that they made the right decision to offer him a permanent deal in the summer.

With Leeds’ next game in the league putting them up against Harrison’s former side on Tuesday evening, this could be a perfect opportunity for the winger to really kickstart his season with Leeds, especially if he can grab his first league goal of the season and potentially secure a much-needed positive result for Bielsa’s side.

In other news: “Screams class”: £16.5k-p/w Leeds beast who won 100% duels proved Bielsa wrong v Chelsea

With no goals scored in their previous two Premier League games, the upcoming January transfer window could provide West Ham United with the perfect opportunity to strengthen their squad and set themselves up to push for a top-four finish by the end of the campaign.

Taking this into account, it seems as though the east London club have their eye on securing a new attacking talent who could be just what they need to end the season on a high.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from Football Insider, West Ham have their eye on making a move to sign Rubin Kazan attacker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia alongside fellow Premier League clubs Everton and Southampton.

Since joining Rubin on a free transfer from FC Rustavi back in the 2019 summer transfer window, the 20-year-old winger – who is currently valued at £16.2m by Transfermarkt – has made 68 appearances for his club across all competitions, scoring eight goals and providing 16 assists.

Having been likened to former Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery – who scored 124 goals and provided 182 assists in 425 appearances for the Bavarian giants – by Denis Bushuev, Kvaratskhelia could be an exciting prospect for West Ham to add to their squad in January.

In his 15 league games so far this season for Rubin, Kvaratskhelia has shown how talented an attacking player he is by averaging 2.2 shots and 1.4 key passes per game.

To put these numbers into perspective, current Irons attacker Said Benrahma has racked up similar averages of 2.1 shots and 1.1 key passes per game in 17 Premier League appearances this term, showing that the Georgian has what it takes to mix it with West Ham’s senior attackers.

Moving forward, taking into account Kvaratskhelia’s attacking talents and West Ham’s lack of recent goals, they should be doing all they can to beat Everton and Southampton to his signature to add an extra spark to their attacking ranks as they look to finish in the top four.

In other news: “I could see” – Journalist drops exciting claim at West Ham which will have fans buzzing

Newcastle United are reportedly now leading the chase to sign Chelsea ace Ross Barkley.

The Lowdown: Howe knows all about him

The 27-year-old is a player that Eddie Howe knows all about from his time managing Bournemouth, but probably for the wrong reasons.

The midfielder has scored three goals and provided a further three assists in eight games against the Cherries, winning four of those (Transfermarkt).

However, Howe could now have the opportunity to work alongside Barkley, should he make the move to St James’ Park.

The Latest: Newcastle leading the chase

As per TEAMtalk, Newcastle are now understood to be ‘leading the chase’ to sign Barkley, but they face competition from both Leeds United and Everton for his signature.

He may be available on a loan-to-buy option from Chelsea once the January transfer window opens, which could present an ideal scenario for the Tyneside club should they end up getting relegated from the Premier League.

Barkley has just over 18 months left on his current deal at Stamford Bridge, so if he impresses during a prospective loan spell at Newcastle, he could be signed for a cut-price transfer fee.

The Verdict: No-brainer

That the Magpies could sign a player with Barkley’s experience on a loan deal, given the predicament in which they find themselves, makes this potential move a no-brainer.

The Englishman already has 230 Premier League games under his belt, and his 28 goals and 31 assists show that he is composed in front of goal (Transfermarkt).

It would also present a potentially mouth-watering link-up with Callum Wilson, who dubbed him an ‘unbelievable’ and ‘unreal’ player, and one with whom he would like to play, on The Super 6 podcast (via The Chronicle) earlier this year.

At 27 years of age, Barkley still has a lot to give, and his signing would provide little risk for the new owners given that he is a proven Premier League operator potentially available on the cheap.

In other news, this speedster who Lionel Messi dubbed ‘frightening’ has ‘an offer on the table’ from NUFC

Phil Hay has dropped an update concerning Leeds United’s planned January transfer business.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on Twitter, The Athletic journalist relayed comments made by Marcelo Bielsa following Leeds’ 2-1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with the 66-year-old appearing to suggest that the Whites may not be overly active in the winter market due to their financial investment in previous windows.

In his tweet, Hay said: “Bielsa asked about [the] January window and whether he needs to add players. Says it would depend on getting better players than he has, and they can be expensive. Says adding to the group ‘should not be evaluated without looking at the economic possibilities.’

“Re-iterated again that he feels Leeds have already invested heavily in players on his watch. Says a lot of suitable players fall into the £20m/£30m bracket.”

Fans will be fuming

The suggestion that Bielsa may not be looking to delve into the January transfer window is sure to leave Leeds fans fuming, considering just how short he is in a number of areas throughout his first team squad at Elland Road, along with the high number of injuries Leeds players have sustained so far this season.

Indeed, at present, the Whites have four senior options at centre-back, one at left-back, four in central midfield and one (not including 19-year-old Joe Gelhardt) at centre-forward.

When taking into account that the likes of Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling, Raphinha and Rodrigo all missed the trip to Spurs on Sunday due to injury, Bielsa has often been left with no other choice than to fill his bench with a number of the club’s academy graduates. While such exposure will be good for the youngsters’ development in professional football, is not exactly ideal when chasing a result in a cut-throat Premier League fixture.

It would appear that Hay agrees with this view, as the journalist stated in a further tweet: “The first half of Spurs away was impressive but injuries and absences are a constant weight on this Leeds United squad. It’s increasingly hard to avoid the feeling that some business in January, even a little, would be in everyone’s interests.”

As such, should Bielsa indeed be reluctant to splash the club’s cash in January, and Leeds continue to pick up injuries over what remains of the current campaign, their current 17th-placed standing in the Premier League will almost certainly turn into a relegation scrap come the crunch stage of the season.

In other news – Huge boost: Cross gives quadruple Leeds injury update which is sure to have fans buzzing

Southampton currently have a significant number of players in their squad that have worked their way through the youth system at the club such as Theo Walcott and James Ward-Prowse, who have a total of 648 Premier League appearances between them.

One other player currently in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s squad that has made his way through Southampton’s youth academy is centre-back Jack Stephens, who currently has 114 league appearances under his belt.

Looking at him, in particular, the 27-year-old defender made his senior debut for the Saints back in January 2012 in an FA Cup victory over Coventry City before making his Premier League bow for the club in their 3-0 defeat against Everton in January 2017 under former Southampton manager Claude Puel.

Overall, Stephens has made 139 appearances for Southampton across all competitions, chipping in with six goals and five assists along the way after working his way through the club’s youth system after signing from Plymouth Argyle in a deal worth a reported fee of £150k back in 2011.

So far this season, Stephens had played 90 minutes in all of Southampton’s Premier League games before picking up a serious knee injury during their 0-0 draw against Manchester City, ultimately ruling him out for 12 weeks according to Hasenhuttl, which is not only very unfortunate for the player, but for the team as a whole given how prominent he was for them beforehand.

In terms of his market value, in February 2017, shortly after making his Premier League debut for the Saints, Transfermarkt had his value listed as £675k, whereas it now stands at £7.2m, highlighting a significant rise over recent years.

This also shows just how much of a good purchase he was all those years ago for such a low price and how much the club have developed Stephens, who has previously been described as “excellent” by former Saints captain Steven Davis, to become a regular first-team figure for them.

Looking ahead to the future, if Stephens can fully recover from this unfortunate knee injury and get back to playing regularly for the Saints, we see no reason why his market value can’t go on and rise even further than it has done recently.

In other news: Southampton may be set for big blow after Saints news emerges, Ralph surely gutted – opinion

A journalist has revealed that agents and people in football have been left ‘astounded’ by some of the questions the new Newcastle United owners are asking.

The Lowdown: Chaos on Tyneside

It has all been a bit of a mess since the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium completed their takeover at St. James’ Park.

Steve Bruce left the North East club a few weeks ago, and it is only just looking like now that the new owners have found their permanent replacement for him in Eddie Howe.

As many as four different managers rejected the chance to manage on Tyneside, as it seems as if they have struggled to sell their ideas for the project.

Nonetheless, they will have to learn on the job if they want to get the Magpies back where they belong.

The Latest: Agents ‘astounded’

Writing on his official Twitter page, The Independent journalist Miguel Delaney has revealed that agents and people in football are ‘astounded’ by some of the questions that the consortium have been asking, and claims that they have ‘botched every step’ since taking charge:

“The Newcastle story so far is astonishing. The hierarchy have so far botched every step since taking over.

“Even from the opening days, agents and people in football were astounded at some of the questions they were asking.”

The Verdict: Early days

It is early days, so there should not be any panic at the Toon just yet.

The new owners are bound to make some mistakes along the way as they try and find their feet at NUFC, in what is a very ambitious task of trying to turn them from relegation candidates to eventual title contenders with the kind of money that they have at their disposal.

It will certainly not be easy, especially if they find themselves relegated at the end of this season, given that it will be difficult to attract top players to the Championship and persuade their best ones to stay.

It looks as if Howe will be appointed, and so at least the manager situation will be sorted out, so that they can now focus on the January transfer window and who they can bring in to save their campaign.

In other news, find out which £380,000-per-week magician who Howe knows well Newcastle may sign here!

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard will be hoping for another happy weekend as the Gers take on Hearts in the Premiership on Saturday.

The Jam Tarts travel to Ibrox this weekend as they aim to overtake Rangers at the summit after nine matches, as they currently sit one point behind the Glasgow giants.

A win for the Gers, though, would see them move four points clear at the top and in a comfortable position heading into the next few weeks.

In order to give Rangers the best possible chance of winning this weekend, Gerrard must get his starting XI selection spot-on. This means he could have some big decisions to make, one of which is regarding who starts between the sticks…

Allan McGregor started the 2-1 win over Hibernian, but the £13k-per-week dud has endured a difficult season in the league. He has a save percentage of just 50% in the Premiership for Rangers, which is the joint-lowest in the division.

Gabriel Agbonlahor recently claimed that such ropey form is to be expected at the age of 39 and that he will still be able to produce quality displays.

He told Football Insider: “At McGregor’s age, you’re going to get those moments when you’re in and out of the team.

“He’s been a great servant to the game, a great servant to Rangers. So, I’m sure that he’ll play his fair share of games for Rangers and they’ll still get some good performances out of him.”

Whilst McGregor may still be able to perform well at times, as Abgonlahor has said, his form so far this season suggests that he is a liability to the team. Gerrard cannot afford to have an inconsistent goalkeeper between the sticks as it could affect the confidence of the defence and cause issues at the back in key matches.

Jon McLaughlin has kept two clean sheets in four appearances and has a save percentage of 71.4%. This suggests that he has been superior in goal for the Gers in comparison to McGregor this season, which is why Gerrard must axe the veteran shot-stopper to play the former Sunderland man.

Therefore, the 34-year-old should be handed the gloves for this important match as he has shown he is a more in-form ‘keeper. Gerrard must axe McGregor in order to play McLaughlin as the 39-year-old has been a liability and Rangers need to maintain their place at the top of the table this weekend.

AND in other news, Wilson must avoid Rangers nightmare over “unique” beast compared to Yaya Toure…