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Aston Villa are reportedly fearful of losing promising teenager Carney Chukwuemeka, with the midfielder attracting interest from a number of elite clubs.

What’s the word?

According to talkSPORT, there is a ‘growing belief’ among those at Villa Park that they could lose the 18-year-old starlet this summer, with the England U19 international yet to extend his existing deal which runs until 2023.

The Midlands side run the risk of losing the emerging asset on a ‘free’ next summer, albeit with a compensation fee likely to be paid due to his age, while they could potentially be forced to cash in this summer, with clubs circling.

The report suggests that fellow Premier League sides Arsenal and Liverpool are keeping a watchful eye on his progress, as well as Bundesliga duo Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – the latter side having notably poached Jude Bellingham from rivals Birmingham City two years ago.

Supporters fuming

For all the strong, early business done by Steven Gerrard and co thus far – with four major signings already confirmed – the loss of Chukwuemeka could prove a notable setback, with supporters undoubtedly fuming at the prospect of losing such a promising, youth product in the near future.

While the Austrian-born youngster is yet to truly force his way to becoming a first-team regular under the Villa boss – making just two top-flight starts thus far – he has been earmarked as a player who will kick on in the future, having been originally plucked from Northampton Town six years ago.

A solitary assist in 16 senior games for the club may not be overly impressive, although the indications are that he will go on to be a real firm fixture of Gerrard’s side moving forward, with the 42-year-old previously stating his intentions to keep the highly-rated playmaker:

“Hopefully he is going to be a big player for Aston Villa. We want him to stay here long-term. We believe this is the best place for Carney. I hope that situation progresses in a positive way.”

The emerging talent is seemingly doing all he can at present to showcase just what he can do to the former Three Lions skipper – as well as to any interested parties – having shone while on international duty with England at the U19 European Championship in recent weeks.

The 6 foot ace registered a goal and an assist in each of the first two games in the competition, while also captaining the side in the third, with a semi-final clash with Italy to come on Tuesday.

The Villa starlet is showing the whole of Europe just what a talent he is, with both the club and supporters perhaps fearful that he is putting himself in the shop window by continuing to impress, with all fully aware that it may be hard to prevent his head from turning once the continent’s big boys invariably come knocking.

AND in other news, Lange eyeing Villa move for £30m “goalscoring machine”, he’d be their own Darwin Nunez

Liverpool have been credited with an interest in free agent Ousmane Dembele recently and the Frenchman could be Jurgen Klopp’s own version of Manchester City record-signing Jack Grealish should he make the move to Anfield.

Recent reports in Spain have linked Liverpool with the 25-year-old winger, who is available on a free transfer after his contract at Barcelona came to an end.

Injury problems disrupted Dembele’s spell at the Nou Camp but he would still make 150 appearances in all competitions, contributing 32 goals and 34 assists.

Remarkably, 13 of those assists would come in just 21 La Liga appearances last season, as the former Borussia Dortmund man was revolutionised following the arrival of Xavi as manager.

The Spaniard was keen to keep Dembele at the club but Barcelona’s financial restrictions played their part and he ended up departing, and Liverpool could be the beneficiaries, especially if he can consistently produce the form he showed last season.

FbRef suggests that Grealish is the ninth-most similar player to Dembele in world football, so Liverpool signing a free agent similar to someone who their title rivals landed for £100m would surely represent excellent value for money.

Despite featuring significantly less, Dembele outperformed Grealish in assists, dribbles and shots last season, while his shot-creating actions and assists per 90 were also far better than the England international.

WhoScored suggests that both Dembele and Grealish’s strengths include passing, dribbling, playing key passes and holding onto the ball, so they are clearly very similar players, and Liverpool could be signing a real gem by bringing the Frenchman to Anfield.

They will undoubtedly face competition from Chelsea, as Thomas Tuchel is a huge fan of the winger having managed him at Dortmund, and the German manager was full of praise for Dembele when he joined from Rennes, saying:

“Ousmane is a player who brilliantly combines dribbling passing and making space to a very high level. That’s extraordinary.”

Therefore, Liverpool should definitely consider making an offer to Dembele, as he could be Klopp’s own version of Grealish, without the stumbling block of a £100m transfer fee.

And, in other news… “Liverpool want..” – James Pearce drops update from Anfield that supporters will love

Celtic look set to potentially miss out on securing a summer move for Brazilian midfielder and reported target Vinicius Souza.

What’s the news?

According to journalist Fraser Fletcher, Celtic are set to lose out on the signing from Lommel with PSV Eindhoven and Betis wanting to sign the player.

He revealed: “Vinicius Souza at Lommel will be moving on soon. His new club to be revealed shortly. Many want him PSV and Betis and others. Celtic not close to deal as it stands.”

Last season saw the 23-year-old spend a loan spell with fellow Belgian club KV Mechelen, in which he showed how much of a capable midfield player he is.

Celtic fans will be gutted

As the Hoops are dealt a blow in their bid to sign the talented Souza, their supporters will no doubt be gutted as he would have added a great deal to the Parkhead ranks.

With 27 league appearances to his name, the midfielder ended the campaign with more interceptions (64) and more tackles won (66) than any other player at the club.

Souza also racked up the third-highest percentage for shots on target (53.8%) at the Belgian side, which shows just how deadly he can be with the ball going forward.

This shows how much of a well-rounded midfielder he is and why clubs such as Celtic and PSV have been after him.

It also proves how much of a disappointing blow it would to the Parkhead club and their fans, if they were to see him make a move to the Netherlands this summer.

Bearing in mind how the Hoops saw the likes of Scott Brown and Olivier Ntcham leave the club last summer and also saw Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic wave goodbye at the end of the previous season, it’s safe to say that the Bhoys could do with some reinforcements in the midfield area.

With the Brazilian being identified as a potential candidate to join Ange Postecoglou’s squad, Celtic will have to look at other midfield options to bring in before their next campaign starts.

Having shown during the previous summer and winter transfer windows, in addition to already securing deals for the likes of Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Benjamin Siegrist and Alexandro Bernabei over the past few weeks, that the club are very capable of being active in the transfer market, this should Celtic fans hope that there will be more signings made in the coming weeks.

While it would be bad news to miss out on signing Souza, it would give the club the chance to move on from the saga and focus on other possible midfield recruits.

AND in other news: Ange can unearth his own Van Dijk as Celtic eye £5.9k-p/w titan who has a “big future”

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish has delivered his verdict on Celtic’s pursuit of Sheffield United defender George Baldock. 

The lowdown: Celtic interested in Baldock

This comes after the Hoops were once again linked with a move for the Greece international recently, having previously been keen on the experienced right back.

The 29-year-old is believed to be lined up as a possible replacement for Josip Juranovic, who has been targeted by Atletico Madrid during the ongoing summer transfer window.

Upon hearing the speculation, one well-informed pundit has suggested that long-term target Baldock would be a smart choice to strengthen Ange Postecoglou’s ranks…

The latest: ‘Safe signing’

Speaking to Football Insider, former Premier League manager McLeish claimed that the four-cap defender could be relied upon to fit in at Parkhead.

The Sky Sports contributor said: “Baldock seems a safe bet, doesn’t he?

“He is a guy who, he won’t be fazed by the size of the club given the amount of experience he has. It should be another one of those shrewd signings. He knows his way about the position with a lot of expertise.

“It seems like a safe signing to me.”

The verdict: Shrewd option

Valued at £3.6m and under contract until 2024 (Transfermarkt), Baldock represents a likely affordable option for the Bhoys, particularly should Juranovic attract the mooted attention and the £15m asking price.

Boasting a mammoth 379 career club appearances – 70 of which have come in the Premier League – last season the marauding full-back scored once and provided three assists in 27 outings across all competitions.

Capable of playing as a conventional right-back, at left-back and in more advanced roles, Baldock – who was hailed as a ‘really intelligent’ operator by journalist Josh Bunting in 2019 – earned a 6.67 Sofascore rating whilst winning 3.7 duels, making 1.2 clearances and completing 30.2 accurate passes per Championship game last term. Those figures highlight a well-rounded defensive and attacking prowess.

As certainties in the market go, this is a potential deal which would be as close as that comes, given the 29-year-old’s vast experience, current form and ability to play in Postecoglou’s system, having previously performed under a similar setup under Chris Wilder.

Tottenham Hotspur can finally cash in on Harry Winks this summer.

The long-serving academy graduate has been the subject of interest from several Premier League teams and as a result, has been left out of Spurs’ pre-season tour of South Korea in a bid to resolve his future.

Winks joined the Tottenham academy aged just five and started to feature in and around the first team by the 2013/14 campaign. That summer, he would go on to sign his first professional deal before making his senior debut in the Europa League against FK Partizan.

Since then, the 26-year-old midfielder has registered 202 appearances for the Lilywhites and has claimed ten caps for England.

However, the Hemel Hempstead-born star has struggled to maintain a place in the starting lineup, despite a large turnover of managers, ever since Mauricio Pochettino departed N17.

Winks could not break into the side regularly under Jose Mourinho, Nuno Santo or Antonio Conte. The Argentine, however, coached Winks in 115 of those matches and at one stage, tipped the Englishman for international stardom.

“Harry has the profile of the perfect midfield player,” said Pochettino in September 2018. “His characteristics are perfect. When we talk about midfielders like [Spain greats] Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta, he’s like this type of player.”

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more-2″ title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!”]

Now nearly five years on, that has been far from the case and if anything, his Spurs career is bordering on being similar to a Tom Huddlestone or Jake Livermore.

When you consider that Winks is earning around £50k-per-week, for largely sitting on the bench or in the stands, you soon realise that he is becoming deadwood in north London.

Since he signed those professional terms, the England flop has cost chairman Daniel Levy in excess of £16.6m, when you factor in his wages pre- and post-contract extension in 2019 (£3.6m between 2015 and 2018, £13m between 2018 and 2022).

For someone not really playing much anymore – he has started only 18 Premier League games since 2020 – it’s an extortionate amount wasted and is the sort of finances that could have been spent on a new player.

By comparison, Middlesbrough right wing-back Djed Spence is expected to cost in the region of £15m.

The likes of Southampton, Everton and Leicester City, among other top-flight teams, have been credited with an interest in the England international.

As such, Conte and sporting director Fabio Paratici are surely capable of axing him this summer as it’s time for the player to enjoy a fresh start elsewhere – with Oliver Skipp returning from injury and the arrival of Yves Bissouma from Brighton, there’s little chance of a comeback story for Winks at Hotspur Way.

AND in other news, Spurs could make another signing after Djed Spence…

A transfer report involving Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara has been shut down by official club media partners Heart & Hand.

The lowdown

90Min reporter Graeme Bailey claimed on Monday afternoon that Galatasaray had launched a bid for Kamara.

The Finland star joined Rangers in January 2019 in a £50,000 move from Dundee FC and is now valued at £6.75million by Transfermarkt. He’s played 158 matches for the club in the last three and a half years.

Kamara, who signed a contract extension last September, is ostensibly committed to the Gers until June 2025.

The latest

Heart & Hand took to Twitter shortly after Bailey’s report to make clear that they had received different information.

“Galatasaray haven’t made a bid for Glen Kamara despite reports,” they wrote.

The verdict

It remains to be seen whether Galatasaray do submit an offer in the coming days, or whether one of Kamara’s other suitors steps forward.

Indeed, Bailey noted that ‘a host of clubs’ are ‘tracking’ the 26-year-old, including Brighton, Marseille and Europa League opponents RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Kamara is clearly a key player for Rangers, having started both legs of the Europa League final as well as the Seville showpiece. Overall, he played in a whopping 52 games last season.

His importance is reflected by his £21,000-per-week salary, which places him in the club’s top seven.

Rangers have already lost Joe Aribo in this transfer window and are about to bid farewell to Calvin Bassey too. Limiting the exodus and keeping hold of Kamara could be a blessed relief.

Celtic had a rather successful season last time out as Ange Postecoglou saw his team secure the Premiership title at the end of his debut campaign in charge of the Hoops.

Across their 38 league games, the Bhoys ended up winning 29, drawing six and losing just three, scoring more goals (92) and conceding fewer (22) than any other team in the division.

However, one man in Postecoglou’s squad who was in and out of the team throughout the campaign and who the Hoops should consider getting rid of this summer is Stephen Welsh.

With just 10 league appearances to his name last season, the £3.6k-per-week centre-back started nine times, the majority of which came between August and December.

Having recently been linked with a move to French club Toulouse, this could be Celtic’s opportunity to move the defender out of Parkhead and bring in a new figure who could be a suitable replacement for him.

One player with whom the club have been linked and who could fit the bill is Schalke 04 defender Malick Thiaw.

With 31 league appearances to his name in Germany’s second tier last season, the 20-year-old ended up making more interceptions (55) and winning more tackles (45) than any other player at the club, which highlights his clear defensive credentials.

This also backs up why his former manager Christian Gross once said that the young defender has “great potential” in him, which was clearly on show last term.

Despite making 15 interceptions in the league for the Hoops in 2021/22, Welsh only won three tackles, which is fewer than the likes of Boli Bolingoli and Adam Montgomery.

Even though the Hoops have recently brought in another young German centre-back in the shape of Moritz Jenz, Thiaw has still proven he could be a very good asset for Celtic, especially if Welsh ends up leaving.

Should Postecoglou give the green light for the 22-year-old to join another club this summer, either on loan or on a permanent basis, the Scottish champions should definitely consider paying the €8m (£6.8m) that it would reportedly take to sign the Schalke starlet.

Having already spent money on the likes of Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alexandro Bernabei, it will be interesting to see whether the club could be persuaded to get the chequebook out once again before the transfer window closes.

AND in other news: “Celtic were..”: Sky Sports journalist drops transfer claim that supporters will love

Celtic had no issue when it came to scoring goals throughout their previous SPFL campaign.

In fact, with 38 games played, the Hoops found the net on 92 occasions in total, 12 more times than their Old Firm rivals Rangers managed to rack up.

To further highlight how deadly Ange Postecoglou’s side were, there were 18 different players that managed to get their names on the scoresheet at least once throughout the campaign.

One player that contributed to this total of goals scored throughout the season in a rather small degree is Albian Ajeti.

To be specific, with seven league appearances to his name, the striker could only fire in two goals for his side.

This shows that even when he’s been given the odd chance to play, he hasn’t always been a useful provider of goals for his side.

With rumours of a potential exit arising around the Switzerland international, the Parkhead club could be on the look to see who could be brought in to be a potential replacement for the 25-year-old.

One figure that has been mentioned with a move to Glasgow, that wouldn’t just be a good replacement for Ajeti, but also a significant upgrade is Antoine Semenyo.

The forward has regularly been linked with a switch and Pete O’Rourke confirmed they still have interested in the player late last week, saying: “Celtic have been keeping tabs on him for a while and I’m sure that will continue.”

With 31 league appearances for Bristol City last season under his belt, the striker scored eight goals and delivered 12 assists, which shows that not only is he very capable of scoring goals, he can also set them up for his teammates on a regular basis.

This is something that Ajeti hasn’t really been too consistent with as he’s only managed to supply five assists in a Celtic shirt with 48 appearances to his name.

Semenyo also racked up a higher rate for shots on target per 90 minutes (1.14) than any other player at the Championship club, along with the highest average for dribbles per game (1.2).

Again, this highlights the attacking attributes that the 22-year-old has over the current Celtic striker as he could only muster an average of 0.1 dribbles per game in the SPFL last season.

Hailed by Nigel Pearson as being a “nightmare” for defenders to play against, Semenyo would be an ideal candidate for Celtic to look at in terms of being a potential replacement for Ajeti in the future, as he has proved how different and effective he can be compared to what the 25-year-old has shown during his time at Parkhead.

Tottenham Hotspur are set to seal their seventh signing of the summer transfer window, according to an update from Fabrizio Romano…

What’s the word?

The Italian journalist said on Twitter:

“Destiny Udogie to Tottenham, here we go. Full agreement reached with Udinese for more than €20m – after personal terms in place. Talented Italian fullback will be Spurs player in 2023, wanted by [Fabio] Paratici.

“Udogie will stay at Udinese for one more year on loan.”

It’s thought that the Italy U21 international will cost Spurs in the region of £21m, taking their spending over the £120m mark, having splashed out £60m on Richarlison, £25m on Yves Bissouma and £15m on Djed Spence already this summer.

Seventh heaven

Fabio Paratici, the Lilywhites’ sporting director, is set to land another tenacious and exciting signing to make it a fantastic seven arrivals through the door at Hotspur Way, which is almost unprecedented at the club – at least in recent times.

Spurs supporters will not get to see Udogie in the flesh until 2023 at the earliest but it’s clear that this signing has been done with the long-term future in mind.

Despite only being 19 years of age, the young defender was only beaten by soon-to-be teammate Ivan Perisic (ten) for wing and full-back goal contributions in the Serie A last season, providing a total of eight, as per WhoScored.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-transfer-news-gossip-rumours-conte-paratici-premier-league” title=”Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours and more!”]

He is more than capable of offering solid defensive contributions, too.

Udogie ranked within the top 10% of his positional peers across Europe for tackles won (1.91 per 90), via FBref, whilst he’s also among the top 3% for goals scored (0.18 per 90) and the top 12% for touches in the opposition’s box (2.73 per 90), demonstrating his tenacious attitude across all areas of the pitch.

These credentials has seen the teenager lauded as being “extraordinary” by his former Udinese boss Gabriele Cioffi, whilst the player himself believes his best qualities are his pace, dribbling and skills.

And whilst he said he ‘loves to attack’, talent scout Jacek Kulig has described him as an “accurate and tenacious tackler” who is “versatile” and has “top pace and physicality.”

It very much seems like he’s an all-round monster and only goes to show why manager Antonio Conte and Paratici would want him signed to Tottenham.

He is set to continue his development over in the Serie A for another year but on the above evidence, he’s a mighty talent that could excite many around north London in the coming years.

AND in other news, Spurs dealt transfer setback over £50m “special talent”, it’s a gutting blow for Conte…

Sunderland could well be set to make more summer signings in the coming weeks, according to recent reports.

What’s the word?

As per journalist Alan Nixon, the Black Cats are looking to strengthen again in the transfer market, with a new centre-back – as well as a potential attacking addition – believed to be on sporting director Kristjaan Speakman’s radar.

Asked on Twitter about the northeast side’s transfer business, the respected source responded: “Centre half on radar…don’t know what extra forward they want.”

The Championship outfit – who achieved promotion from the third tier last season – have already wrapped up six summer signings thus far in the current window, notably already bringing in two central defenders in Aji Alese and Daniel Ballard.

Neil would love it

Despite those two new additions, manager Alex Neil currently has just four, recognised centre-back options to choose from at present, with the experienced pairing of Danny Batth and Bailey Wright rounding off that quartet.

With the former Preston North End boss favouring the use of a back three, further depth will surely be needed ahead of what will be a gruelling Championship season, with the Scotsman set to love the fact that a deal for a new defender could be in the works.

The 41-year-old has already overseen a positive start to the new campaign for his side despite having only just made the step up from the third tier, with the Stadium of Light outfit currently in second place after claiming a win and a draw in their opening two league games.

The most recent encounter away at Bristol City saw summer signing Ellis Simms net a brilliant brace on debut to help secure a thrilling, 3-2 victory for the visitors, although as Nixon alluded to, there could be further attacking reinforcements brought in before deadline day.

Just who that figure will be remains to be seen, however, with last season’s impressive loanee Nathan Broadhead having opted to join rivals Wigan Athletic on loan, despite Neil and co having reportedly been keen to bring him back to the club.

Alas, the Black Cats will now have to turn to alternative, attacking targets, although it remains a positive sign that the club are keen to bolster an area of the pitch that is already a position of strength, with the aforementioned Simms and last season’s top scorer Ross Stewart already looking like a formidable partnership.

Having cover for that stellar duo will be vital, however, with Neil surely set to love having a variety of stellar forward options to call upon this season.