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Gabriel Agbonlahor has expressed his shock as Glasgow Rangers have set Alfredo Morelos’ price tag at a reported £13m.

The Lowdown: Morelos linked with exit

Morelos has been heavily linked with a move to Porto this summer despite him currently competing for Colombia at the Copa America (Antena1).

Cagliari are said to have also made a €8m (£6.9m) bid for his services, but that was never going to be enough for the Gers to part ways with the 25-year-old (Bruno Andrade).

However, it is now said the Gers are looking for just £13m for him.

The Latest: Agbonlahor shocked

Speaking to Football Insider, Agbonlahor has shared his shock at the reported fee. He said:

“I think that’s really cheap.

“I thought it would be nearer £30million than £13million.

“He’s a very talented player, if I was selling him as Rangers I’d want at least £30million.

“But maybe with two years left on his contract that puts his value down.

“If I was Rangers I would not want to be selling him, I’d want to keep hold of him but you don’t know what the player wants to do.

“He might want to stay for another season and get his move after that. I don’t think he’ll leave now, I’ll think he’ll stay for another year.”

The Verdict: Too low

A sale of £13m for Morelos would still be a considerable fee – that would make him the most expensive sale in the club’s history, surpassing the £9m they received from Tottenham for Alan Hutton (The Scotsman). However, as Agbonlahor says, they should be getting more for him.

With 94 goals in 182 games (Transfermarkt), he has been a star performer for the Gers since his arrival in 2017. He has often been the Ibrox outfit’s go-to man, and he would be a hard man to replace. His importance to the Gers is surely worth more than £13m, anyway.

In other news, Rangers fans love a photo of this man.

Celtic have reached a basic agreement with Yokohama F. Marinos for attacker Daizen Maeda, according to Yahoo Japan.

The Lowdown: Hatate and Ideguchi moves

The Hoops are looking to make three Japanese signings in the New Year following the success of Kyogo Furuhashi’s £4.86m switch in the summer.

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Celtic have reportedly already reached agreements for midfielders Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi earlier this month, and it seems as if they are edging closer regarding a move for Maeda.

The 24-year-old, described as a ‘tireless worker’ by Kieran Devlin, netted 23 times in 2021 and now looks set for a reunion with Ange Postecoglou.

The Latest: Maeda update

According to Yahoo Japan, Celtic have struck a basic agreement with Yokohama F. Marinos for Maeda to sign on loan for the second half of the season.

The Hoops will then be able to make the move permanent for €2m, with Maeda expected to travel to the UK soon.

The Verdict: Final piece of the jigsaw?

Celtic have been working on moves for Hatate, Ideguchi and Maeda for some time now, and it appears as if deals are in place for the trio before the January window has even opened.

New Hoops CEO Michael Nicholson certainly isn’t hanging around, and who knows, should all three moves go through at the beginning of 2022, he could then look at permanent transfers for loanees Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

The pair have impressed in Glasgow, however, the duo could cost over £12m combined (Jota £6.5m, CV £6m), so it’ll be interesting to see how busy Celtic are after proposed moves for the Japanese trio.

In other news Celtic will look to move on ‘horrendous’ ace in January; ‘jittery’ man may also leave – Kieran Devlin. 

As per a report by 90min, an interesting Tottenham Hotspur transfer claim has dropped with the Lilywhites now eyeing Barcelona forward Ousmane Dembele.

The Lowdown: Paratici, time to get working?

After Spurs humbling 1-0 defeat away to Vitesse in the Europa Conference League, managing director Fabio Paratici has been urged to get working on the signings of alternative attacking options.

As well as being short of natural centre-forwards bar Dane Scarlett and Harry Kane, the club’s wide options are also a point of contention.

Injuries have already occurred to the likes of Son Heung-min and Steven Bergwijn while Lucas Moura could be slowly reaching the twilight phase of his career.

As the January transfer window slowly approaches, news has emerged on what Spurs ‘may be willing’ to offer Dembele.

The Latest: Spurs ‘may be willing’ to offer Dembele wage increase…

As Tottenham eye the Barcelona forward, along with several other clubs, his current side are working to try and tie him down with a contract extension.

His current deal expires in 2022 and agreeing fresh terms is proving difficult for Barca, especially considering their financial situation and the fact Dembele wants a pay rise on his current wage in excess of £200,000-per-week.

This is where Paratici and Spurs come in, with the 90min report claiming they could be one of several interested sides now ‘willing to offer the money he wants’.

The Verdict: Worth the gamble?

Despite being called ‘frightening’ by Lionel Messi himself, offering the Frenchman over £200,000-per-week could be a very risky move by Paratici.

Dembele’s injury record speaks for itself and could be a real bone of contention to any Spurs move regardless of his ability, not to mention multiple incidents of behavioural issues affecting his career in Catalonia.

In other news: Matter of time: Yet another Spurs player eyeing N17 exit, he’s already said yes…find out more here.

Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has dropped a transfer claim linking Benfica striker Darwin Nunez with a move to a whole host of Premier League clubs, including West Ham United.

The Lowdown: Failed January move

The Uruguay international was at the centre of numerous transfer rumours in the January transfer window, one of the most prominent of which came with West Ham making a move towards the end of the month.

Whilst it was said that the transfer attempt was in the pipeline for weeks, Jack Rosser of the Evening Standard has claimed that the Irons submitted a club-record £60m bid for the 22-year-old on deadline day.

Nunez reportedly said that he preferred a move to a Champions League side, so Benfica rejected the east London club’s bid.

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The Latest: Romano’s news on Nunez…

Fabrizio Romano has now shared the latest news regarding a potential £66.6m summer move for Nunez.

Taking to Twitter, he claimed: “Darwin Núñez will leave Benfica in the summer, fee around €80m. His new agent will now meet with many top clubs to explore opportunities. #transfers

“Man United already discussed his name internally – Arsenal wanted him last January as West Ham but Darwin was not for sale.”

Whilst the Irons aren’t explicitly said to be planning on making an imminent move, it is implied that Nunez’s agents will meet with the club over a potential sale.

The Verdict: Would be a fantastic signing

Former Benfica manager Jorge Jesus has hailed the 22-year-old as one of the brightest prospects in world football, saying: “He was the most expensive player in the history of the Benfica and, with the pandemic I don’t know, but he could also be the most expensive player to leave the Benfica. This boy will be the best in the world and, unfortunately for me, I will lose him in no time.”

With such high praise, and with a return of 31 goals in 36 matches this season (including five in the Champions League), it is no wonder that a whole host of Premier League clubs are interested in the Uruguayan striker.

However, with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United now reportedly interested, a move to West Ham seems far less likely to come to fruition, particularly if they miss out on qualification for Europe next term.

In other news: ExWHUemployee drops triple transfer claim

West Bromwich Albion have made a late offer in a bid to secure a deal to bring Matt O’Riley to The Hawthorns in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Daily Record, who claim that Valerien Ismael’s Albion side have attempted to hijack Celtic’s move for the Milton Keynes Dons central midfielder with an 11th-hour bid for the 21-year-old.

However, the report goes on to state that, at present, it appears as if the former England U18 international is still set to make a £1.5m switch to Glasgow, with O’Riley having already undergone a medical with the Premiership side on Wednesday.

Finally, it is also believed that the likes of Swansea City, Blackburn Rovers and Huddersfield Town were also keen on a move for the midfielder, although it would appear as if West Brom and Celtic are the only two sides who lodged a concrete bid.

Ismael’s next Mowatt

While, at this stage, it seems as if a move to West Brom does not look overly likely, considering just how impressive O’Riley has been for MK Dons this season, it would appear highly advisable for Ismael to return with an improved offer in a bid to steal the 21-year-old away from Celtic’s clutches.

Indeed, over his 26 League One outings in the current campaign, the £405k-rated man has been in astonishing form, having already bagged seven goals, provided five assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 2.1 key passes and taking 1.5 shots per game.

The £900-per-week midfielder – who is also adept at playing in both a more defensive and attacking midfield role – has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 1.5 interceptions, two tackles, 48.2 passes, one clearance and winning 4.6 duels per fixture.

These returns have seen the player who FLW founder Sam Rourke dubbed a “star” average a quite incredible SofaScore match rating of 7.37, not only ranking him as his club’s second-best performer in the league but also as the joint seventh-best player in the entirety of the division.

The editor then went on to heap a great deal more praise on the midfielder, stating in a post on Twitter: “[He is an] elegant central attacking midfielder who is comfortable with both feet. Seven goals, five assists in L1 so far. Strong dribbling ability with a real eye for a killer pass. Not afraid to shoot from distance too.”

Indeed, this description could quite easily fit one of Albion’s current options in the middle of the park, Alex Mowatt, who scored eight goals, registered seven assists and created nine big chances over his 44 Championship appearances for Barnsley last season, as well as making an average of 1.5 key passes and taking 1.8 shots per fixture.

As such, should Ismael manage to somehow get a deal over the line for O’Riley this month, the Frenchman could well have landed his next Mowatt, not to mention a significant upgrade on a number of the Baggies’ current central midfield options.

In other news: Sky Sports pundit drops worrying WBA January claim, it’d be a “huge blow” for Ismael

After a disheartening 2020/21 season which saw Sheffield Wednesday relegated from the Championship, Darren Moore’s side have had a mixed start to their League One campaign.

With nine games played prior to today’s clash against Oxford United, the Owls have won four, drawn three and lost two, with their latest match seeing them beat Wigan Athletic 2-1 at the DW Stadium.

Looking ahead to the game against Oxford, Owls manager Darren Moore revealed in his latest press conference that Sam Hutchinson and Lewis Gibson have both trained ahead of today’s clash but that George Byers will not be available. With this in mind, here’s how we feel the Owls will set up against Oxford, with two changes from the team in midweek.

Will Wednesday pick up another win this weekend?

In goal, Bailey Peacock-Farrell has been a regular for Wednesday so far this season and should continue there to face Oxford.

The defence could see full-backs Marvin Johnson and Liam Palmer retain their places in the team after the midweek victory, with the duo making a total number of seven tackles and five interceptions between them against Wigan, proving themselves to be useful defensive outlets for Wednesday.

There could be some change in the centre-back position, though, with Hutchinson taking Cheyenne Dunkley’s place at centre-back alongside Dominic Iorfa, who also impressed in midweek, earning himself an overall match rating of 7.1/10 (as per SofaScore).

This could then lead to Barry Bannan coming back into the squad after being an unused substitute against Wigan.

Elsewhere, the other change we think Moore should consider for the Oxford match would be to take Jaden Brown out of the team after failing to make an impact against Wigan from the left-midfield position, taking 27 touches and losing possession on 12 occasions, ultimately earning a rather lacklustre overall match rating of 5.8/10, making him Wednesday’s lowest-rated player on the day according to SofaScore.

In his place, we feel Moore should give Olamide Shodipo, who replaced Brown in midweek, a chance from the start to see if he can do a better job than the 22-year-old did against Wigan.

On the other side, Moore should stick with Dennis Adeniran on the right to see if he can have some sort of attacking threat, even though his two league goals this season have come from when he’s played in the centre of midfield.

Finally, Wednesday should continue with Lee Gregory and Callum Paterson, who scored against Wigan, as their two strikers to hopefully fire the club to another three points.

In other news: Sheff Wed handed big injury boost ahead of Oxford clash, fans will be delighted – opinion

Derby County have recently completed a deal to sign former Manchester United and QPR midfielder Ravel Morrison on a one-year deal.

What’s the story?

Morrison had been training with the Rams during pre-season and had featured in their friendly clash with his former side Manchester United.

The 28-year-old had most recently been on the books with ADO Den Haag, although his spell with the Dutch side reached an early conclusion towards the end of the 2020/21 season.

Derby were struggling with numbers heading into the new Championship campaign, but have now been allowed to sign players this summer in ‘exceptional circumstances’.

Morrison is the latest signing to arrive at Pride Park, and Wayne Rooney will be hoping that the midfielder can make a positive impact with the Rams this term as they look to avoid relegation into the third-tier of English football.

‘A great player and person’

Morrison hasn’t exactly settled at any club in recent seasons, with the midfielder finding regular minutes hard to come by.

But that could be about to change with Derby County, with the Rams certainly needing additional strength in depth in their senior squad, with a number of their Under-23s having to be included in the matchday squad during pre-season and for their season opener against Huddersfield Town.

We’ve seen glimpses of Morrison’s exciting potential though, with the 28-year-old netting a memorable solo goal against Tottenham Hotspur whilst with West Ham United earlier in his career.

Rooney has evidently been pleased with Morrison’s impact during training and pre-season, and he and the club’s supporters will now be keen to see him make an instant impact with the Rams.

Speaking in a recent post-match press conference (quotes sourced from The Athletic’s Ryan Conway), Rooney expressed his delight at signing Morrison, and admitted that he’s ‘lifted’ the club, before labelling him as a ‘great player and person’.

“I’m delighted to get Ravel in. He can add to our creativity. I could speak about question marks people have against him off the pitch – he’s had a past. We’ve all got a past. But since he’s been at our club, he’s lifted us. He’s a great player and person.”

It could turn out to be a shrewd addition for Derby if Morrison can get back to his best, and he could turn out to be the difference between them staying in the Championship for another season or dropping into League One.

More importantly for the Rams, he’s another senior signing this summer, and that was certainly needed within Rooney’s squad ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

Morrison could be in line to make his Derby debut on Tuesday when Rooney’s side host Peterborough United at Pride Park in what could potentially be a tricky test in the EFL Cup.

While much of the excitement at Aston Villa at the moment will naturally surround Steven Gerrard and how he can get the club firing again, NSWE will be absolutely delighted at securing the services of another man: Michael Beale.

The 41-year-old arrived at Villa Park as Gerrard’s first-team coach from his time at Rangers, and has been widely hailed by numerous people for the role he has played.

Indeed, Gerrard himself told The Robbie Fowler Podcast: “What I’ll never do is try to do someone else’s job when they are better than me at doing it It would take me 15 to 20 years to become as good as Michael Beale as an on-pitch coach, delivering sessions on a daily basis, so I let Mick be Mick because he’s the expert.”

That sentiment is echoed by journalist Stuart Hodge who exclusively revealed to GIVEMESPORT the kind of role Beale has played, and will play at Villa Park over the coming months and years.

Hodge said: “Beale is the man behind him that’s doing things and looking at things from a different perspective. He’ll be the one doing a lot of the drills on the training pitch.”

He added: “Gerrard is the manager and Beale’s the coach, essentially. Beale is the brains behind the operation, whereas Gerrard is very much the face and the front of it.”

Having that respected coach who can really dig into the finer details on the training ground and really improve players will be particularly key for a young Villa side brimming with exciting talents coming through the academy – not least the likes of Carney Chukwuemeka and Cameron Archer.

And, speaking to BBC Scotland, former Gers star Peter Lovenkrands outlined just how Beale goes about things with individual players: “What he does with the players on the pitch is phenomenal. I remember he was giving me sessions to take down because I was doing the reserves; he wanted us to copy it. I was loving it. I actually wanted to take part in the training.

“He’s so on the ball. He’s so good at what he does. The players love it. His preparation for each game is fantastic to watch, and Gerrard is very lucky to have him.”

While Villa fans will surely be very pleased with appointing Gerrard, the arrival of the 41-year-old Beale in tandem could be the real masterstroke that really ignites things behind-the-scenes.

Meanwhile, Ashley Preece has revealed what Gerrard has “transformed” at Villa Park…

Celtic are interested in a deal to bring Marco Bizot to Parkhead in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by French media outlet Homme du Match (via The Scottish Sun), who claim that Ligue 1 side Stade Brestois are looking to offload their £5m summer signing during the winter window, before going on to state that Celtic are one of the clubs considering making a loan offer for the 30-year-old goalkeeper.

However, it is then reported that, despite Ange Postecoglou’s preference of a short-term move, Brest would not be willing to sanction the departure of the shot-stopper on a temporary basis – unless a mandatory clause to purchase the Netherlands international is included in the deal.

Nicholson must move

With it being reported recently that two of Celtic’s current options between the sticks, Vasilis Barkas and Scott Bain, look as if they will be on their way out of Parkhead this January, a move for a goalkeeper in the winter market would appear to be a rather necessary one for Michael Nicholson to make.

And, while it is true that Bizot has not been in the best form of his life over his 16 Ligue 1 appearances so far this season – with the 30-year-old averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.67 – the Dutchman nevertheless proved during his final two campaigns with AZ Alkmaar that he would make a fantastic option for Postecoglou to be able to call upon at Celtic.

Indeed, over his 57 Eredivisie appearances over the last two seasons, the £4.5m-rated goalkeeper kept a whopping 27 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.4 saves per game – with these returns seeing the 30-year-old who has been nicknamed The Wall average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.97.

As such, a move for the £7.5k-per-week shot-stopper would indeed seem a highly advisable one for Nicholson to make this winter, as Bizot appears to not only possess the ability to be Joe Hart’s backup in the squad but also to push the former England international for his starting spot at Parkhead.

In other news: “I can’t..”: Ange drops transfer claim on £6.5m gem that may annoy Celtic fans

Crystal Palace have reportedly received an offer from Süper Lig outfit Trabzonspor for their versatile midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate.

What’s the story?

According to Turkish news outlet Sabah (as reported by the Evening Standard), talks are thought to be underway over a move that could be worth around £4m.

The report states that Trabzonspor want a player who can operate in central midfield and defence, meaning Kouyate fits the bill perfectly following last season’s exploits. Patrick Vieira will be fuming

News that the Palace hierarchy are thought to be negotiating Kouyate’s potential exit will surely leave new manager Patrick Vieira fuming.

The Senegal international was one of the south London outfit’s standout performers last season, filling in at centre-back on several occasions due to his teammates picking up a string of injury issues – as per Whoscored, he finished as the joint-ninth best player in terms of average match rating for Palace.

And the experienced 31-year-old could play a crucial part for Palace next term as well.

Following the departures of Gary Cahill, Mamadou Sakho, Scott Dann and James McCarthy following the expiration of their contract last month, the Eagles’ spine is looking extremely threadbare.

Kouyate has showcased his ability and potential to play in multiple positions, providing Vieira with cover and competitions through the centre of the pitch.

Since arriving at Selhurst Park back in August 2018, the £65k-per-week monster has established himself as a regular in the capital club’s starting XI.

Despite only bagging two goals and providing four assists in 110 appearances for Palace, Kouyate has made a significant contribution to their success, and chairman Steve Parish must keep hold of him this summer.

Letting an experienced, versatile, proven Premier League performer depart when Vieira is set to oversee a potentially tricky transitional period could prove to be a disastrous decision.

The club’s chief must be careful not to change the playing squad too quickly over the next couple of years, and Kouyate’s presence would add some stability and familiarity to a fast-changing environment.

And, in other news…Journalist provides exciting Palace transfer update that’ll leave Eagles fans buzzing