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Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Scottish Premiership defender Michael Ball believes Celtic fans want to see a big-name manager like Jose Mourinho arrive at the club, in a damning verdict of the pursuit of Eddie Howe.

Prior to accepting the job at AS Roma, there was some talk about Celtic being keen on bringing the ex-Tottenham boss to Glasgow.

Nothing, of course, materialised and Howe remains the frontrunner to permanently succeed Neil Lennon in the Celtic Park dugout. Lucien Favre has also reportedly been interviewed for the role in a potential twist.

Having lost out on the Scottish Premiership title to rivals Rangers, though, Ball feels supporters desperately want a manager of Mourinho’s profile to come in and prevent a repeat of this season.

On Celtic’s manager search, the retired full-back told FFC:

“Speaking to a lot of Celtic fans, they’re reaching for the top, they want the best of the best. I think there’s obviously a lot of talk about Eddie Howe right now, but Celtic… their demands as fans are huge and they want to push Steven Gerrard as much as possible to bridge that gap, so they want the biggest names available.

“Now even when Mourinho was available before the Roma job, they wanted him, so whether that board can go out and attract that type of manager is a different question, but what the fans want will be a big name.”

Given what Mourinho has accomplished in the game, bringing him to Celtic Park would have been some coup.

With that no longer an option, however, you would expect the Bhoys to continue in their pursuit of Howe.

Southampton currently have a number of players in their squad that have progressed through the club’s youth system such as James Ward-Prowse, Nathan Tella, Theo Walcott, Will Smallbone and Yan Valery among others.

One other current senior Saints star that worked his way through the youth system at the south coast club is defender Jack Stephens, who joined the youth ranks back in 2011 from Plymouth Argyle.

Since making his senior debut for the Saints back in January 2012 in an FA Cup victory over Coventry City, Stephens has gone on to make a total of 139 senior appearances for the club across all competitions, chipping in with six goals and five assists along the way.

The 27-year-old, who is currently valued at £7.2m according to Transfermarkt, played every minute of league action for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side before unfortunately picking up a serious knee injury in their  0-0 draw against Manchester City, showing just how important he is to the team.

Despite only being 27, Stephens is still Southampton’s oldest current senior centre-back, meaning that the club could well be looking to find a replacement in the next few years.

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With this in mind, the club could already have their ideal next version of Stephens with 19-year-old centre-back Dynel Simeu, someone who could save millions in transfer fees on a potential successor.

Despite only joining the club back in July from fellow Premier League club Chelsea, the teenage defender, who is currently valued at £900k according to Transfermarkt, has appeared in all but one of the Southampton B team games so far this season, playing the full 90 minutes in all of them, showing just how important he is for them.

In addition to this, Simeu, who has previously been described as “one to watch” by journalist Neil Moxley during his time at Chelsea, has shown in recent weeks how much of a goalscoring threat he can be as well as a defensive unit by bagging in each of his two previous league outings.

Moving forward, if Simeu can keep playing regularly for the B team until the end of the season, then there’s every chance that he could start knocking on Hasenhuttl’s door to potentially get some first-team minutes under his belt and integrate himself among the rest of the senior players at St. Mary’s.

Looking even further down the line, Simeu definitely has what it takes to then potentially become a regular figure in the senior squad and potentially save the club plenty in extra transfer fees when they eventually need to look for a replacement for Stephens.

In other news: Ralph must finally unleash “smart” £1.8m-rated dynamo, he could revolutionise Saints – opinion

Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa faces an anxious wait over Pascal Struijk after the versatile midfielder’s recent injury against Crystal Palace.

What’s the story?

The Dutchman has been a virtual ever-present for Bielsa’s side this season in the Premier League, making 12 appearances in the competition, but was forced off at half-time in the 1-0 victory over Palace at Elland Road.

And, as relayed by journalist Ben Dinnery on Twitter, Bielsa said after the game: “Yes it’s the same (injury). All of us value that he played with a physical limitation that he played with, that’s very generous and shows how important a teammate he is to all of us.”

Bielsa will be worried

With the number of injuries that Leeds have faced across the park this season, it’s been no surprise to see Struijk’s versatility really come to the fore, doing stints in holding midfield, centre-back and even at left-back too.

And, after a particularly impressive display against Manchester United last season, former Leeds man Noel Whelan waxed lyrical about the young starlet.

He said: “I thought he was phenomenal at the back. I can’t tell you how impressed I am with this kid. He went through a stage of playing in Kalvin’s role but that was the wrong choice by Bielsa for me. He is a centre-half all day long. You can see him growing in that position.”

Dominic Matteo has also gone on record to admit he’s a big fan of the towering Dutchman, saying: “He reads the game a lot better than he’s credited for. He’ll get even better too. Struijk is one to look out for.

“There’s plenty of work to be done but, with the size of him, his physicality, his passing, he’s got it all and can step into midfield. He looks very calm on the ball, players who are a bit erratic are not for me but he looks comfortable in possession.”

Being without Struijk against a side like Brentford who boast some real aerial threats in the likes of Ivan Toney et al would be a major blow, and leave Bielsa seriously worried about how his team will cope.

It would be yet another injury blow for a side who have been decimated this season on that front.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has given his thoughts on Leeds United star Tyler Roberts…

Celtic forward Mikey Johnston has been spotted training with the squad ahead of this afternoon’s League Cup final against Hibernian.

The Lowdown: Ange’s attacking woes

Ange Postecoglou has had to deal with plenty of injury issues during his first season in charge and has been without a number of his attacking players in recent weeks.

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Jota, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Kyogo Furuhashi, Albian Ajeti, James Forrest and Karamoko Dembele are all sidelined, whereas Johnston also missed the 2-1 win over Ross County in the week.

The 22-year-old, who has been described as ‘sensational’ by Callum McGregor, had been involved in the previous nine Premiership matchday squads, but it seems as if his absence may only be a short one.

The Latest: Spotted at Lennoxtown

On Friday afternoon, Celtic’s official Twitter channel shared footage of the squad training at Lennoxtown.

As reported by Celts Are Here, Johnston was pictured back in training, which may mean he is ready to feature at Hampden Park today.

The Verdict: Boost

Postecoglou had to shuffle his pack massively during the week, with full-backs Adam Montgomery and Josip Juranovic playing further forward and winger Liel Abada lining out in a centre-forward role. [SofaScore]

On that basis, having a forward like Johnston ready to go against Hibs should come as a big boost for the Hoops manager.

It’ll be interesting to see what Postecoglou goes with at Hampden Park, with another option using Abada and Johnston out wide with either David Turnbull in a false nine role as he has done recently or even risking Furuhashi, with the Celtic manager set to give the Japan star as long as possible before making a call on whether he can feature today.

In other news: Postecoglou wants 49-cap colossus at the peak of his powers to cap Celtic’s January business 

According to a report by the Daily Mail, Brendan Rodgers is ‘admired’ by Tottenham Hotspur as a potential heir to under-fire coach Jose Mourinho – but the appointment would be ‘riddled’ with difficulties.

Tottenham eyeing Rodgers

Rodgers, who has a wealth of managerial experience at the top level, winning trophies galore north of the border with Celtic and overseeing a Liverpool title challenge in 2013/2014, is on the candidate list as a possible successor for Mourinho.

The Portuguese boss is under mounting pressure after a dismal Europa League exit at the hands of Croatian minnows Dinamo Zagreb as Tottenham squandered a 2-0 first leg lead.

Mourinho’s position was already under scrutiny, but this result has made his circumstances worse as Levy puts feelers out for potential replacements if he does decide to axe the former Chelsea and Man United manager.

Transfer Tavern take

As per the Mail, Rodgers seen as a candidate even if his appointment is ‘riddled’ with complications.

Links with the 48-year-old emerged last month as this report insists he is still on Levy’s list, with Football Insider even claiming that he was very keen to join Spurs before Liverpool’s formal approach and was the chairman’s ‘preferred choice’ nine years ago.

Lauded as an ‘elite manager’ by BT Sport pundit Robbie Savage (via the Daily Mail) for his job at the King Power Stadium, it will be interesting to see whether he is in fact still high on Levy’s priority list as the pressure grows on Mourinho.

In other news: Tottenham could lose this ‘top class’ player, find out more here.

Mario Husillos hit gold far fewer times than he unearthed gems during his time as West Ham United’s Director of Football, and there are few signings he made that were as bad the deal to bring in Andriy Yarmolenko.

Husillos oversaw the arrivals of 15 players during his 18-months at the London Stadium, in deals that set the claret and blue side back around £175m in fees reported at the time of their captures.

One-tenth of that amount went on Yarmolenko as the Ukraine winger was signed from Borussia Dortmund for £17.5m, already £3.5m less than his TransferMarkt valuation of £21m at the time of leaving the Signal Iduna Park.

Unfortunately for West Ham, his market value has continued to plummet in every season that has gone by, and TransferMarkt project that he is now worth just £4.5m, a £16.5m decline over the past 32-months.

No player currently at the London Stadium has seen their TransferMarkt valuation fall as drastically as Yarmolenko has since first adorning the claret and blue jersey, with Pablo Fornals’ £6.5m decrease the second-highest hit.

Husillos was delighted to have been able to unveil Yarmolenko as a Hammer during his and Manuel Pellegrini’s first summer in charge at West Ham, and claimed the club “did not hesitate” when the chance arose to sign him.

“He really is the kind of player that we were looking for,” said Husillos, via quotes by Sky Sports. “He is a left-footed player but can play on the right and is very quick, very good one-on-one against a defender. He gives the team a lot of attacking options and scores goals, is fast on the counter-attack and provides aerial threat with his height.

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“He also has very good experience, of playing for big teams and fighting for titles. At Dortmund, he had some good matches but perhaps didn’t quite show his very best. However, I think Manuel Pellegrini is the perfect coach for Andriy and his style of play.

“I believe he is joining us in the perfect moment. He is 28, the prime age for football, and we have great expectation about what he can achieve with West Ham United.”

But the move has not worked out as Husillos expected, and the drastic decline of Yarmolenko’s market value is just one sign of how poorly things worked out.

In two-and-a-half-seasons at the London Stadium, the 31-year-old forward has amassed just 53 appearances across all competitions, in which he has scored 10 times and provided six assists.

Yet of those strikes, only one has come this term when the attacker netted at home to League One side Doncaster Rovers in the FA Cup, before sustaining the latest in a long line of injuries away to Manchester United in the fifth round.

Surgery for an Achilles tendon injury brought a halt to Yarmolenko’s maiden campaign in England after just nine top-flight games, and his return the following season would only last 16 matches before he was back in the treatment room for an abductor tear.

The pandemic meant Yarmolenko, who is also West Ham’s top-earner on a £115,000-per-week contract, could help David Moyes keep the Irons in the Premier League, but the Scottish coach’s decision to retain his services last summer has backfired.

In 14 league games this term, Yarmolenko has a sole assist to his name and will have little expectations placed on him of offering a greater return once the 92-cap international has overcome his knee ligament injury.

It is no wonder that reports have already begun surfacing claiming West Ham will look to sell Yarmolenko at the end of the season, it just remains to be seen how much they can recoup after Husillos’ horrific mistake.

Buying older players with little resale value has hurt West Ham in the past, such as in this instance, lessons must be learned from it.

AND in other news, West Ham are set to sign a £13.5m-rated titan for free this summer…

Giovanni van Bronckhorst has given the Glasgow Rangers’ youth players a chance at Ibrox since replacing Steven Gerrard back in November.

In his very first press conference, the Dutchman mentioned that chances would be given to players regardless of age, and so far, he has stuck by that mantra in his six months in charge.

Opportunities have fallen to youth starlets such as Alex Lowry and Charlie McCann, with the two being deployed in the earlier stages of the Scottish Cup to great effect.

Lowry came on for Ianis Hagi against Stirling Albion and made an immediate impact, scoring in front of a raucous Ibrox crowd.

Meanwhile, former Manchester United youngster McCann emerged from the bench in the next round against Annan Athletic and suitably impressed.

This has led many to push for young striker Tony Weston to be given a chance in the first team, especially considering the fact Alfredo Morelos is out for the rest of the season through injury.

Weston signed for Rangers from Blackpool in the summer of 2020 on a three-year contract and has continued to impress ever since – scoring goals aplenty for the B team – 21 in the Scottish Lowland League alone this season – and pushing towards a first-team opportunity.

Rangers youth coach Steven Smith sang his praises earlier on in the season, dubbing him “clinical” following a double against Dalbeattie Star.

These goals have given the striker the perfect platform to impress Van Bronckhorst with the final furlong of the season approaches.

And, considering his impressive goalscoring record for the B team, Rangers could well have the next 355-goal Ally McCoist in their midst, and if Weston was even half the player that Super Ally was, then the Gers have got something special on their hands.

AND in other news: Van Bronckhorst can brutally axe “shaky” Rangers dud in deal for “annoyingly brilliant” £0 machine

When Aston Villa signed Scott Hogan for a then Championship record of £15m in January 2017, the club would no doubt have expected the striker to deliver on his money’s worth.

Speaking after his signing, then Villa boss Steve Bruce declared: “He has got that hunger in his belly. He’ll give us something that’s been lacking.”

Sadly for Hogan and the club, he was nothing short of a disaster in his time at Villa Park. In total, he managed just ten goals in 61 games, whilst he spent the previous couple of campaigns on loan at Sheffield United, Stoke and then rivals Birmingham.

After getting into a bit of form for the Blues – he bagged seven goals in 17 games last season – the club decided to make his loan move from Villa into something more permanent.

And if Villa have been watching Hogan’s season thus far, then they will be absolutely laughing all the way to the bank.

The 28-year-old has struggled immensely to rediscover the kind of form that convinced Birmingham to

bring him in last summer, managing a measly two goals in 16 games in all competitions.

That hasn’t been down to him making substitute appearances either, with 14 of those matches actually seeing him start from the off. He’s averaged less than a shot per game this campaign in the Championship, evidence of a striker who is woefully out of form and can’t find himself in the positions to test the goalkeeper.

As per Whoscored, his average match rating this season of 6.31 actually ranks him 20th among all Birmingham City players, with only four players below him. Hogan has been shocking virtually all season, and the man with eight caps for the Republic of Ireland looks nothing like the player that convinced Villa to part big money with to sign.

Johan Lange played an absolute blinder by getting rid of him last summer.

Meanwhile, Villa must unleash this academy starlet in the Premier League…

According to an update by reliable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, via City Xtra, the Sky Blues are next targeting a new deal for winger Raheem Sterling – coming after Kevin De Bruyne recently committed his future to Manchester City.

The Belgian extended his stay until 2025 last week and has since repaid that faith with an outstanding second leg Champions League outing against Borussia Dortmund to help City into the semi-finals.

Now, providing an update on the Sky Blues, Romano has revealed that the club and sporting director Txiki Begiristain are planning a contract offer for Sterling next as City aim to secure their first team stars.

As well as this, City could look towards a new deal for sensational starlet Phil Foden ‘within the next year’.

Flocking to this Romano update, plenty of Citizens dropped their wide array of verdicts on the news with most of them seeming excited by this development – whilst a minority had mixed reviews.

Given Sterling’s brilliant 113 goals and 86 assists since joining the club, it’s little wonder most City supporters are ecstatic at the thought of possibly tying him down.

Find all of their verdicts down below.

Man City fans flock to Romano claim

“YESSSSSS”

Credit: @M7Zach

“Please let him sign”

Credit: @VirgioRepulic

“SIUUUU”

Credit: @kae_16_

“Yessir”

Credit: @Jamesmcfc101

“Oh brother”

Credit: @trevsenpai

“I’m happy for Sterling now…”

Credit: @4Foden

“Cmon”

Credit: @McfcArena

“He better not get a wild pay rise.”

Credit: @Creber_

In other news: Man City fans fumed at this official announcement, find out more here.

In an exclusive interview with The Transfer Tavern, former Newcastle United centre-back Steve Howey has claimed that Mario Lemina would not be liked by the fans if he cared more about his social media than the club.

Lemina, who posted a bizarre video on social media back in 2019 when seemingly trying to engineer a big move away from Southampton, has been linked with a move to Newcastle this summer despite failing to keep Fulham in the Premier League this season during his loan spell away from St Mary’s.

The £40,000 per week midfielder, who regularly uses the hashtag #TonicLikeLeminade on his Instagram account, had been linked with a move to Manchester United back in 2019 but since then he has lost his place in the Southampton side and failed to impress at Fulham, with a 6.58 WhoScored rating.

Speaking on why Newcastle fans wouldn’t like their club to sign Lemina and why the midfielder must be careful what he is like off the pitch, Howey exclusively told The Transfer Tavern:

“Even if he performs on the pitch then I still wouldn’t want to see him doing a lot on social media because there are an awful lot of people that don’t have a lot of money, and they won’t want to see somebody on social media flashing their new house or car.

“I mean, obviously with Lemina, if he is like that and the Southampton fans are not happy with him then can you imagine what Newcastle fans would think of him?”

Steve Bruce has confirmed that he would love to bring Joe Willock back to the club this summer either permanently or on another loan deal after the 21-year old’s impressive performances since January.

Newcastle are well stocked in Lemina’s position as they have Jonjo Shelvey, Sean and Matty Longstaff, Isaac Hayden and Jeff Hendrick all on long term deals.