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Lots of Everton fans have been flocking to a transfer update involving Richarlison.

Speaking on his Twitch channel (via The Everton End), Italian football journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has claimed that there is ‘nothing’ between the Brazil international and Real Madrid, and Rafa Benitez is ‘convinced’ that the 24-year-old will remain on Merseyside for ‘at least one more season’.

This comes after a number of reports have recently linked Richarlison with a move to the Bernabeu to reunite with former manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The Brazilian did not have a great 2020/21 season, scoring just seven goals in the Premier League, and he was criticised by some Toffees supporters for a few of his performances. However, he remains a key player for Everton, scoring 42 times and supplying 10 assists in 119 matches in all competitions across the last three seasons for the club (Transfermarkt).

Everton fans on Richarlison transfer update

These Blues supporters seemed split as the transfer update was shared across Twitter:

“Get in”

Credit: @Everton0122

“Love it”

Credit: @bluetom_tom

“W”

Credit: @VetleMortvedt

“I was hoping we’d get an inflated fee for the incredible overrated sulk. Coyb”

Credit: @tedsdad63

“He’s going to miss at least the first month of the season and will battle fitness all year, sell now.”

Credit: @ohso_savage

“Get his replacement in NOW then Blues! It gives a player a year to bed in!”

Credit: @ToffeeDaft

In other news, find out what transfer update has had these Evertonians buzzing!

An update has emerged on Rangers and their pursuit of a striker from the English Championship…

What’s the talk?

According to TEAMtalk, the Gers are among a number of clubs keen on a deal to sign QPR centre-forward Lyndon Dykes this month.

The report claims that Norwich, Newcastle and Crystal Palace are among the other clubs interested in signing the attacker, although it remains to be seen how much the west London outfit will demand for his services.

Get it done

Giovanni van Bronckhorst must ensure that he is able to get a deal over the line for Dykes, as he could be a “brilliant find” for Rangers, to use the words of Alex McLeish.

The £8k-per-week bulldozer could provide a different option for the Gers boss at the top end of the pitch, as he is not built in the same way as Kemar Roofe and Alfredo Morelos. Whilst the current Ibrox duo are technically adept and like to make runs, Dykes is a forward who can be the focal point of the attack and hold up the ball for his teammates.

In the Championship this season, he has won an impressive 4.3 aerial battles per game, after averaging 4.8 last season. This shows that he can hold his own in the air and is capable of winning flick-ons by beating opposition defenders to long balls, whilst it also suggests that he could aid Rangers in their defending from set pieces as he could use his talents to defend his team’s penalty box.

Darren Jackson hailed him as “mobile” despite his big frame after he scored a winner against the Faroe Islands for Scotland three months ago. This suggests that the 26-year-old could also offer running off and on the ball to go along with the physical presence that he provides.

In terms of goals, Dykes has also shown that he knows how to find the net regularly. He has scored 18 Championship goals for QPR since the start of last season and has netted four times in six starts for Scotland in World Cup qualifiers.

Therefore, he could be a brilliant find for Rangers, as he is a striker who can score goals, bully defenders with his physique and work hard at the top end of the pitch with his mobile running. This is why Van Bronckhorst must work with Ross Wilson to secure his services before the end of the month.

AND in other news, Time’s up: Van Bronckhorst must ruthlessly axe £900k-rated Rangers dud, he’s a “weak link”…

Aston Villa midfielder Marvelous Nakamba could return to the first-team squad for the first time in nearly four months today as the Villans host Tottenham Hotspur.

What’s the story

According to Villa manager Steven Gerrard, the Zimbabwe international is nearing a return to action.

Ahead of the meeting with Spurs, the 41-year-old said of Nakamba: “He has played for the under-23s. So you couldn’t rule out the possibility of him making the matchday squad soon. If not for the Tottenham game, then he’s certainly going to be available for that Leicester fixture.

“But he has an outside chance of being involved in the matchday squad this weekend, although it wouldn’t be a start.

“It might be a bit too soon for him now because he hasn’t had any serious game time. Hopefully, he comes through that, recovers well and then he can be back with the group. He’s been back training fully for ten, 12 days, and he’s smiling, getting closer and closer.”

The Zambian has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury away to Liverpool in December but he featured for Villa’s under-23s last Friday, the 28-year-old’s first match since that pre-Christmas setback.

Gerrard will be buzzing

Although inconsistent form has ultimately denied the West Midlands side any late shot at qualifying for Europe, a top-half finish is still very achievable for the Villans.

With eight matches to go, it is vital that Gerrard’s men finish the season as strongly as possible, with the manager certain to be making judgements over the coming weeks as to which players will have a future at Villa Park .

Therefore, Nakamba’s imminent return comes as excellent timing, both for him and for the team as a whole.

The regular midfield trio of Douglas Luiz, John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey have impressed during the 28-year-old’s absence, although having another option in the middle of the park will undoubtedly improve the Villa squad and give the manager some pleasant food for thought.

Indeed, Gerrard will be buzzing to have Nakamba back available, as the player had proven his worth for Villa earlier in the campaign. His match average of two tackles is the fourth-highest in the squad, while his 86.6% passing accuracy makes him the joint-leader in this regard of any current Villa player to have started a Premier League match this term, as per WhoScored.

Having as many players available as possible will be a high priority for Gerrard as his side look to finish the season strongly ahead of what could be a busy summer in the West Midlands.

In other news: Sources claim Aston Villa’s “crazy” £22.5m-rated talent could now leave, fans will surely be fuming

Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has been handed a major injury boost ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash with Brentford…

What’s the latest?

The Argentine is set to welcome back star striker Patrick Bamford to his matchday squad as the 28-year-old isn’t going to feature for the U23s on Friday night, as he had done last week.

“It’s likely Patrick and Luke [Ayling] will be available on Sunday. Pascal [Struijk] has a knock around his hip, but we think he’ll also be available,” Bielsa revealed to reporters during his pre-game press conference.

It remains to be seen if Bamford will start the match on Sunday but he came through 90 minutes against Manchester City’s U23s unscathed on Monday and has been back in training for a few weeks now.

Major boost

This will be a massive, massive boost at just the right time for Bielsa and the Leeds squad.

The Yorkshire giants finally picked up their third win of the season in midweek, defeating Crystal Palace at Elland Road, where they will host their old Championship rivals, so they will be in a confident mood heading into kick-off.

With Bamford potentially involved, it hands some further encouragement to everyone concerned with Leeds.

He had missed United’s last nine league games in the Premier League and they have largely struggled in his absence, particularly in front of goal as they have scored more than two goals in a game just once without him.

The £19.8m-rated frontman provided one goal and two assists from the opening five games of the season and has averaged three shots per game, so clearly he is a massive influence in the final third.

‘Top player, Bamford,” once claimed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, before adding: “I can remember before the season I heard on talkSPORT that people said, ‘Leeds need a proper goalscorer, Bamford is not good enough’. I’m so happy that he could prove them wrong, he’s an exceptional player, perfect.

“The work rate is outstanding and still playing the football he plays on top of that and scoring goals, that’s rare.”

That glowing endorsement from one of the very best managers in Europe shows exactly how crucial Bamford is to Leeds’ fortunes, so to have him back this week will certainly be a major boost to Bielsa and co.

AND in other news, Bielsa could repeat Gelhardt masterclass with Leeds swoop for 20 y/o “manager’s dream”…

Noel Whelan has been left shocked by what he has now heard coming from Newcastle United regarding Allan Saint-Maximin.

The Lowdown: £50m price tag

As per The Daily Mail, the St James’ Park club are now willing to entertain offers of around £50m for the 25-year-old once the season ends.

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It has also been reported that the Magpies could look at Moussa Diaby as a potential replacement for the Frenchman, along with Leandro Trossard and Brennan Johnson.

The Latest: Whelan shocked by Saint-Maximin latest

Speaking to Football Insider, Whelan – who regularly used to feature as a pundit for the BBC – has been left shocked by the news that the Newcastle board could sell Saint-Maximin for £50m, claiming that it would be a ‘ridiculous’ piece of business.

He said: “Look, I mean you can accept it. But if you’re going to go out there and get somebody with the same quality and love from the fans, firstly, they’ve got to earn that love, which Saint-Maximin has done.

“Secondly, he has put in the performances and been a talisman for a number of years now. £50million is not going to buy you a player of that quality, I don’t believe.

“Then you’d have the backlash from the fans. I’m very sure that they won’t see this as a positive. This is not what they expect after the consortium’s takeover of Newcastle.

“They thought they’d be spending £50million, not bringing in £50million by selling one of their best players.

“Saint-Maximin, for me, is one of these players that’s just unsellable right now to Newcastle, on many fronts. Shirt sales, fanbase and what he brings out there on the field.

“I’m sorry, but I just feel that’d be ridiculous business by Newcastle’s board.”

The Verdict: Hard to replace

As Whelan says, the Newcastle board could scoop a healthy £50m for Saint-Maximin in the summer, but the Frenchman would be very hard to replace.

He has been a mainstay in the team all season, with five goals and three assists in the Premier League so far (Transfermarkt).

Moreover, he currently ranks as the Magpies’ second-best performer in the top flight, and no team-mate comes close to his six man-of-the-match awards (WhoScored).

The 25-year-old also averages more shots and dribbles per game than any of his team-mates, so £50m may not even be enough to replace the quality that he possesses and his overall importance to Eddie Howe’s team.

In other news, find out which three stars PIF are now targeting this summer

In terms of incoming transfers, Liverpool were not very busy during the previous summer window, only managing to bring in defender Ibrahima Konate, with a number of players leaving the club.

However, even before the upcoming January transfer market, it seems as though the Reds are already eyeing up potential deals they could make in the next summer window.

What’s the news? 

According to Spanish media outlet RAC1 (via Liverpool Echo) the Merseyside club are interested in signing Inter Milan midfielder Marcelo Brozovic.

That’s if he fails to renew his current contract at the Italian club by the time it expires next summer when the Reds could sign him on a free transfer.

Extra quality

Inter originally signed Brozovic on a loan deal from Dinamo Zagreb back in the 2015 January transfer window before securing him on a permanent basis in the 2016 summer window.

Overall, the 28-year-old, who is currently valued at £36m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 252 appearances for the reigning Serie A champions, scoring 25 goals and providing 34 assists along the way. With that in mind, it’s hardly surprising that he was described as a player of “incredible quality” by Roberto Mancini.

So far this season, Brozovic has played in all of Inter’s eight league games in which he has managed to rack up an average of 1.8 tackles per game, 1.1 clearances per game, an impressive passing accuracy percentage of 92% as well as one key pass per game, showing how well-rounded the player is in defence and attack.

In terms of a potential move to Liverpool, we feel that if the Merseyside club were able to sign him on a free transfer next summer, this could be a great bit of business. It would nearly mirror their move for Thiago Alcantara back in the 2020 summer transfer window as an experienced and technical midfielder in his peak years moved to Anfield.

Speaking of Thiago, we feel that the idea of him and Brozovic linking up for Jurgen Klopp’s side could be something that would excite a lot of Liverpool fans and give the team a different dynamic to the likes of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson who may not be as attack-minded as the aforementioned stars in terms of creativity and their technical ability.

Specifically, Brozovic has a higher creativity rating (76) than both Fabinho (51) and Henderson (68) according to SofaScore, with Thiago’s standing at 74, much closer to Brozovic’s.

Moving forward, we feel that Brozovic’s situation at Inter is something Liverpool should be monitoring to see if they could eventually identify an opportunity for them to sign the player on a free transfer in the summer.

In other news: Liverpool dealt big injury blow ahead of Atletico clash, Klopp will be gutted – opinion

Manchester United’s winless run in the Premier League extended to three games after they fell to a hugely disappointing 4-2 defeat against Leicester City this afternoon.

The Foxes scored two late goals to snatch a deserved victory against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s charges, with strikes from Jamie Vardy and Patson Daka securing all three points.

In truth, no United player can be proud of their showing at the King Power Stadium, but some members of the back four were particularly disappointing.

Right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka was poor in possession, completing just 50% of his dribbles and failing to pick out a teammate with any of his three attempted crosses, but it was Harry Maguire who really had an afternoon to forget.

The Red Devils captain was returning the starting line-up after being sidelined with a calf injury, and the 28-year-old looked extremely rusty against his former club.

Leicester forward Kelechi Iheanacho dispossessed the centre-back on the edge of his own box after he misjudged the weight of a David de Gea pass, setting up Youri Tielemans for the Foxes’ equaliser after Mason Greenwood had opened the scoring.

However, things went from bad to worse for the England defender. He needlessly put the ball out for a Leicester corner under no pressure in the 78th minute and was unable to clear his lines after the ball had been swung into United’s box leading to Caglar Soyuncu smashing the ball home from close range.

His desperately poor display saw SofaScore award Maguire a match rating of just 6.1 out of 10, the lowest received by any player on the pitch. During the 90 minutes, he won just 56% of his duels, made one error leading directly to a goal and was dribbled past on one occasion, highlighting his underwhelming performance at the King Power Stadium.

Questions will be asked over whether Maguire should have been starting so soon after coming back from an injury, but the 6 foot 3 gem let Solskjaer down against Leicester, piling further pressure on the Norwegian.

In other news… MUFC could secure their next Pogba in “devastating” £74k-p/w gem, Ole would love him 

West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone could sign a new deal with a release clause included, according to former England defender Danny Mills.

The Lowdown: Johnstone likely to stay put

The 28-year-old was one of the few positives to take from the Baggies’ 2020/21 campaign as they were relegated back to the Championship from the Premier League.

His form earned him a call-up to England’s Euro 2020 squad, and while he didn’t feature in the tournament, it was proof of how much he impressed throughout the season.

Johnstone looks set to stay put at West Brom this summer despite transfer interest in him, but his long-term future remains up in the air.

The Latest: Mills thinks Johnstone could swing a new deal

Speaking to Football Insider, Mills tipped the 28-year-old to sign a new deal at The Hawthorns, adding that a release clause could allow him to leave next summer if promotion isn’t achieved.

The former Leeds defender said:

“If he wants a bit of security, he can just say to West Brom ‘This is where we’re at, if we don’t get promoted I can go for x, y or z. If not, I’ll just sit here and wait until the end of the season to consider my options’.

“There is a good chance he’d be in a very strong position if he did that.

“All the cards are in his hands. He can now pick and choose what suits him best and what he wants to do. He can pretty much dictate the terms of a contract.”

The Verdict: Makes sense for all parties

Realistically, West Brom must accept that Johnstone won’t be content with being in the Championship for long, so a release clause could actually be a shrewd idea in a new contract.

Should Valerien Ismael’s side earn promotion this season, the England international may be happy to remain at the club, continuing to be a key player for Albion.

If that clause is one way of keeping hold of Johnstone right now, West Brom should go through with it, with his current deal expiring next summer.

In other news, West Brom have been tipped to sign a player on loan this summer. Find out who it is here.

Celtic transfer target Reo Hatate wants to make the move to Parkhead and will meet with Kawasaki Frontale chiefs this week to discuss his future, Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph reports.

The Lowdown: Hatate rumours

Links to Hatate emerged at the beginning of November, with the Hoops reportedly viewing the 24-year-old as a midfielder.

His contract with Kawasaki Frontale expires at the end of January, with talk recently suggesting that he could be a Hoops player before the club’s 2022 winter break training camp.

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Hatate, who can also play as a left-back, has scored 12 goals during his career and recently helped his team to a second consecutive J1 League title, but it now seems as if he wants to join Kyogo Furuhashi in Scotland and will talk to Kawasaki Frontale over the coming days.

The Latest: Joseph’s tweet

Sky Sports reporter Joseph took to Twitter on Tuesday to provide numerous Celtic-related updates.

One of those was on Hatate, to which he said: “Kawasaki Frontale left-back Reo Hatate is due to meet club chiefs this week to express his desire to join Celtic next month. He is out of contract in February but is hoping to engineer a move to Scotland in January, which would require a fee to be agreed by both clubs.”

The Verdict: First through the door?

Celtic have also been linked with moves for Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi, but it appears as if Hatate could be the first through the door in the New Year judging by this latest update.

For a winter window move to be possible, though, the Hoops will need to get the chequebook out and pay a fee, but you’d expect that it could be a minimal one due to his contract situation and the player wanting to leave his current employers.

Hopefully, interim CEO Michael Nicholson can strike a deal with the J1 League club, as Hatate could prove to be a shrewd addition in multiple areas under Ange Postecoglou, with Japan Times journalist Dan Orlowitz saying that a deal for under £2.5m-£3m would be ‘highway robbery’.

In other news: ‘Outstanding’ star may miss four games as Celtic issues worsen ahead of Betis clash

Former Everton player Michael Ball believes that it all depends on what players the Toffees move on, as to whether they make a move for Tottenham’s Harry Winks. 

Just last month, journalist Fabrizio Romano revealed that Winks was a possibility for Everton on his Twitch channel, and just a few days ago reported via the same channel that although there had been speculation linking him away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the player is happy in north London.

When asked about the speculation surrounding Winks and if he could come to Everton, Ball exclusively told Transfer Tavern: “Yeah, he’s sort of very experienced already, he’s obviously been at a good club, but it looks like his game time is going to be lessened at this moment in time and I think it’s all about what Everton do with players moving out. 

“Theres a lot of whispers and rumours right now with Andre Gomes, there’s even Allan, even James, Gbamin is coming back from injury so again we can’t really expect him to play 30/40 games next season, so we are going need players in those positions, especially if one or two players move on.”

Winks made 860 minutes of Premier League football across 2020/2021.

Winks featured as a half-time substitute in Spurs’ most recent pre-season fixture, a 2-2 draw against Chelsea.