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Manchester United have reportedly made direct contact with Real Madrid over the potential signing of defender Raphael Varane.

What’s the story?

According to well-known journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Red Devils have returned to the negotiating table with the Spanish giants over the future of their World Cup-winning centre-back.

He tweeted: “Manchester United are now back in direct contact with Real Madrid for Raphaël Varane, after opening talks weeks ago. Negotiations on personal terms not an issue. Man United confirmed their intention to sign Varane – official bid in once they’ll know Real final position.”

Fans will be buzzing

News that United have made contact with Madrid over the services of Varane will surely have the club’s supporters buzzing.

Question marks have remained over the likes of Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe in recent years as they failed to showcase their long-term suitability alongside Harry Maguire in the heart of defence.

Therefore, adding a player of Varane’s calibre will be seen as a major coup by the Old Trafford outfit’s hierarchy, and his arrival would spark fresh hope of a title tilt next season.

The France international has established himself as one of the world’s best central defenders throughout his time at the Bernabeu, winning four Champions League crowns, three La Liga titles and one Copa del Rey.

Although his presence in the United starting XI would be no guarantee of silverware, Varane would certainly boost Ole Gunnar Solsjaer’s chances of claiming his first trophy while in charge of the 20-time English champions.

As per WhoScored, the 6 ft 2 beast recorded 3.5 clearances per league match last term and 0.6 blocks, bettering all of his teammates who played over two games on both metrics.

His addition would finally provide United with a centre-back pairing of a similar ilk to famous duos of the club’s past.

United have founded their incredible success from the solid foundations provided by Jaap Stam and Ronny Johnsen, Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister and Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

That solid base has been missing from the red half of Manchester for several years now, but Varane could change all that by forming a duo with captain Harry Maguire.

And, in other news…Woodward spends £141.2m on talent, Pogba stays: Predicted Man Utd XI for next season

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has claimed that Celtic want to make Cameron Carter-Vickers’ loan spell from Tottenham permanent as quickly as possible, as per GiveMeSport.

The Lowdown: Various reported fees

The Hoops secured a season-long loan for the centre-back last summer, which included an option-to-buy clause.

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Ange Postecoglou confirmed that signing the 23-year-old on a permanent basis is a priority, with a £6m fee touted.

GiveMeSport have suggested that there is a £10m price tag, whereas Tottenham insider John Wenham believes that a deal could be done for around £3m.

The Latest: O’Rourke’s comments

Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson has reportedly opened talks with Spurs regarding a full-time transfer for Carter-Vickers.

Talking to GiveMeSport, O’Rourke had this to say on a possible permanent move, believing the Hoops want it finalised ‘quickly’.

He outlined: “Celtic would ideally love to get this deal wrapped up quickly, but I think £10m would be a bit too much for Celtic right now, so they may have to wait to the summer.”

The Verdict: Good to see

It’s good to see that the Hoops are being proactive in the January transfer window, with moves for Japanese trio Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda all being announced on New Year’s Eve.

Following that with a permanent deal for Carter-Vickers could be another smart step, which could then give the club plenty of time to assess further targets, with another defender and winger possibly on the radar.

It remains to be seen as to how much the American could cost, but should it be under £6m, it might turn out to be a great piece of business, especially when you take into consideration that he has been a near ever-present figure this season and the club’s best-performing centre-back, as per WhoScored.

In other news: Celtic may swoop for 6 foot 1 beast who had Sadio Mane in his ‘pocket’ 

Former Aston Villa man Alan Hutton has been reacting to an update regarding Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Villa interest

Steven Gerrard is preparing for a first full season in charge at Villa Park and seemingly has his eye on a move for Phillips.

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Reports towards the end of March suggested that Villa are leading Newcastle and West Ham in the race to sign the England international and are willing to pay Leeds £60m for his services.

Villa are also prepared to pay the 26-year-old a whopping £10m a year in wages, with Phillips now in the process of changing agents.

The Latest: Hutton reacts to update

The Telegraph revealed last week that contract talks between Leeds and Phillips have stalled. Hutton, who contributes for Sky Sports News, had this to say to FI on that news and Villa’s interest, believing Leeds fans ‘won’t be happy’.

“I can’t see it, if I’m totally honest. Leeds fans won’t be happy with that.

“But in this situation at the moment, they’re eight points outside the relegation zone. There are still teams below them with games in hand.

“I think they’ve done enough and I think they will stay up. But for Kalvin Phillips, as a footballer moving forward, he’s very capable of taking a step up.

“He’s a fully-fledged international player. If he wants to keep that spot, he needs to be playing at a high level.

“Are Aston Villa at that level at this moment in time? No, they aren’t, but that’s where they’re trying to get to.

“To get to that next stage, they have to be looking at players like Kalvin Phillips to make them better. I totally understand why they’re going for him. It’ll be interesting to see if they could get over the line.”

The Verdict: Coup

Bringing Phillips to Villa Park over the coming months could be a major coup by NSWE. He was named England’s Player of the Year for 2020/21 and has starred in the Premier League for the Whites.

Leeds have struggled without their star midfielder in recent months, who had to watch on from the sideline as Villa strolled to a 3-0 win at Elland Road last month.

He may have been impressed with Villa that night, and with just two defensive midfielders on the books at Bodymoor Heath, bringing in the Leeds man could be a wise move as NSWE prepare to back Gerrard this summer.

In other news: Gerrard tells another Aston Villa star he can leave in shock Bodymoor Heath development. 

Rangers continued their fantastic start to life under Gio van Bronckhorst as they won for a third match in succession since his arrival at Ibrox.

The Gers beat Hibernian 1-0 away from home on Wednesday night to move seven points clear at the top of the table, albeit having played one more game than arch-rivals Celtic.

Kemar Roofe came off the bench to score the winning goal from the spot after Ryan Kent won a penalty, with Rangers able to dominate the majority of the match.

Forget Roofe

Whilst the former Leeds man may have scored the decisive goal to win the three points, it was Glen Kamara who ran the show for Rangers with his sublime performance in midfield. He was the real star for van Bronckhorst’s side and was crucial to their domination throughout the game.

The Finland international was excellent in all facets of play, impressing defensively, in transition and in the final third. Per SofaScore, he won 70% of his 10 duels, making two clearances, one tackle and three interceptions. This shows how strong he was facing his own goal as he won the ball back consistently and snuffed out Hibernian attacks to keep Rangers on the front foot.

In transition, he completed two of his three attempted dribbles and three of his five long pass attempts. This highlights his ability to mix up his game and drive the side up the pitch, either by bringing the ball out by himself or unleashing his full range of passing to spread the play – moving the Hibs defence around and creating space for others to work in.

The £5.4m-rated gem also made an impact in the final third. Per SofaScore, he created two chances for his teammates, whilst completing 89% of his passes and having 72 touches of the ball. This shows that he was able to control the game whilst also making forward, defence-splitting, passes when needed to up the intensity and pile the pressure on the hosts.

Therefore, he was the star of the show and ran the game for van Bronckhorst. The Dutchman will surely be delighted by his player’s display in the middle of the park and hoping that this is the benchmark he sets for the remainder of the campaign.

AND in other news, Gio could unearth Goldson 2.0 in “superb” Rangers teen who is “going to be massive”…

Former England striker Kevin Phillips expects West Brom to sign a tailor-made replacement for goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: Johnstone on the move?

The 29-year-old has been a brilliant servant for the Baggies, standing out as one of his side’s best players in recent years and earning a call-up to the England squad.

While West Brom have had a season to forget in 2021/22, Johnstone has again stood out at times, starting 36 Championship matches in total.

With the Englishman’s contract expiring at the end of the season, it is widely expected that he will leave the Hawthorns, with Tottenham strongly linked with a move.

The Latest: Phillips expects replacement

Speaking to West Brom News, ex-Baggies man Phillips, who also works as a pundit for Sky Sports, admitted he expects a replacement for Johnstone to come in, even if it isn’t necessarily a priority:

“I think there is enough there. There’s a statement to be made there, one top keeper goes out and you replace him with another one. It’s just whether you want to use the funds to strengthen in other areas, which I think, whoever in charge will probably do that.

“I’m sure they would look at another keeper to bring in if one fell in their lap, but I don’t think it will be a priority to get one immediately.”

The Verdict: Signing must come in

In truth, not replacing Johnstone with an equally adept ‘keeper would feel negligent by West Brom, given the influence that a top-quality stopper can have.

They can make a huge difference in a season, as the likes of Alisson and Ederson show at Liverpool and Manchester City, and the Baggies’ current squad options are not at their current No.1’s level. David Button hasn’t started more than 20 league games in a season since 2017/18, for example.

It would be a huge surprise if West Brom trusted those playing second fiddle and it is imperative that someone of a similar standard to Johnstone comes in instead.

In other news, West Brom are set for talks with one player over a summer move. Read more here.

Leeds United will once again be without Kalvin Phillips ahead of their Premier League clash against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.

What’s the story?

The 25-year-old was not involved in the matchday squad against Southampton last time out amid an injury which forced him to pull out of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the international break.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Wolves today, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa said: “Kalvin is healthy, but he hasn’t competed for three weeks. If he played on Saturday it would be far too quick. After three weeks out, it’s necessary some more football training.

“And in this stage he’s done training sessions for recovery and physical preparation and progressive work with the ball. I think that to think of him for Saturday would be to bring him back too soon before he’s back at his best.”

Bielsa will be gutted

Make no mistake about it, no Phillips in this Leeds team makes them an absolute shadow of what they can be.

Including the two games that he has missed this season (against Southampton and the opening day at Manchester United), and the nine that he missed last year, the Whites have won just two matches and lost the other nine.

That speaks to a worrying level of reliance on the talismanic midfielder to control things in the engine room for the Whites, and his absence is a major loss of influence. For instance, his match average of 2.3 tackles is bettered only by defender Liam Cooper, which shows just how much bite Leeds lose when the England international isn’t in the midfield engine room.

Given the kind of rut in which Leeds find themselves, being without someone like Phillips is a hammer blow to Bielsa and is sure to leave the manager gutted that the 25-year-old won’t be able to make it for today’s game against a resurgent Wolves.

Meanwhile, Leeds must finally unleash this academy starlet…

Fabio Paratici has seemingly been given a green light to secure one of Tottenham Hotspur’s mooted transfer targets.

Earlier in the summer transfer window, the north London outfit were linked with a move for Lille midfielder Renato Sanches, with French publication le10sport reporting their ‘strong interest’ in his signature.

At the time, he was thought to be available for around €30m (£26m) due to the Ligue 1 club’s financial problems.

His form at Lille last season carried into Euro 2020, where he delivered a number of eye-catching performances, so it’s no wonder Spurs were one of several clubs who were keen on him.

And now, comments from Les Dogues president Olivier Letang have opened up the door for a team like Tottenham to strike.

“I have already discussed this with him. If an offer from a big club arrives, Renato will be able to leave. We will see what will happen,” he told BFM Lille ahead of the January transfer window (via FourFourTwo).

One of Nuno’s bigger problems since arriving in N17 has been finding the right balance in midfield. They are amongst the Premier League’s least creative teams, having averaged the fourth-lowest number of shots per game (10.9) and fifth-lowest expected goals (8.80 xG).

Furthermore, who knows if Tanguy Ndombele will kick up a fuss again, whilst the form of Dele Alli has been concerning and it’s widely believed that Harry Winks will seek a temporary exit in January, so there could certainly be a place up for grabs.

In fact, a swoop for Sanches could be one of the club’s very best moves in recent times, perhaps since the arrival of Heung-min Son.

The 24-year-old, valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, has been likened to Clarence Seedorf due to his box-to-box qualities, whilst he is said to have the ‘strength of a WWE heavyweight and the nimble feet of a ballet dancer,’ as per Bundesliga.com.

Sanches won the Golden Boy award in 2016 and has also been lauded as a “machine” by the press and as a “complete athlete” by the aforementioned Lille chief.

A two-time winner of the Bundesliga and last season’s Ligue 1 champion, the young Portugal international would have to be considered quite the coup given his trophy-laden record, praise and touted potential alone.

AND in other news, Forget Son: “Phenomenal” £36m-rated Spurs dynamo has been Nuno’s big saving grace…

Express & Star journalist Luke Hatfield has told Football FanCast that he would not be surprised if Aston Villa listened to offers for Anwar El Ghazi this summer.

El Ghazi started in Villa’s 3-2 defeat to Watford last weekend, but his future at Villa Park looks far from certain if reports are to be believed.

According to Football Insider, the Midlands club would accept a bid of £15-17m for the 26-year-old winger, with Jose Mourinho and AS Roma thought to be interested in his services.

Hatfield does not believe Villa are desperate to get rid of El Ghazi, though he can imagine a scenario where they accept an offer for the Dutchman before the transfer window closes. He told FFC:

“There are reports that Villa are open to selling El Ghazi. He’s been a really good servant for Villa.

“But in terms of a move, it wouldn’t surprise me if Villa were happy to listen to offers. But in the same respect, I don’t think they’re desperate to get rid of him. He offers cover that they need in the wide positions.”

El Ghazi certainly is a player worth keeping around the squad. Last season, the former Lille and Ajax star scored 10 goals in the Premier League, playing on both flanks under manager Dean Smith.

Pundit Alan Hutton has been reacting to Celtic’s interest in Tottenham winger Dilan Markanday, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Markanday links

Celtic already have Spurs defender Cameron Carter-Vickers on the books at Parkhead and have an option to make his loan move permanent.

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However, the Hoops have now been linked with a move for another Tottenham talent in Markanday. The Standard shared a story at the beginning of December claiming Celtic and Glasgow rivals Rangers are battling it out for the 20-year-old.

Markanday recently made his senior Tottenham debut and is also wanted by multiple Championship clubs, with his deal in north London set to expire in the summer.

The Latest: Hutton’s comments

Hutton, who regularly features on BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider regarding Markanday’s future and seemed to back a move to Celtic over rivals Rangers.

“The fact they’re in Europe, it will boil down how much playing time is he going to get.

“If he’s going to come up to Rangers, maybe sit on the bench and be a bit-part player, that’s not ideal. If he’s going to go to Celtic and play more minutes, it’s all about the player’s development.

“His plan is to come up, do well, play games to go back and be a Tottenham Hotspur player. It’s whatever’s going to suit him the best game-wise. That will be the team that he fits.

“If it’s a Championship team that is close to London, where he’s going to play week in, week out, that is better for his development.

“Better than maybe playing the odd European game for Rangers and Celtic and sitting on the bench. It’s all really going to depend on game time.”

The Verdict: Shrewd move?

Markanday is clearly highly-rated across the country with a number of sides interested and Tottenham keen for him to sign a new deal, so a Celtic swoop could turn out to be a shrewd one in the long run.

Ange Postecoglou does have six wingers on the books at Parkhead at this moment in time, but should Karamoko Dembele move on when his contract expires in the summer, he could come in to replace the 18-year-old.

Markanday would provide Postecoglou with an option on the left, right or in an attacking midfield role, and his versatility may appeal to the Hoops, who could launch a pre-contract agreement swoop in the New Year, should his situation remain the same.

In other news: Print newspaper claims European giants are willing to sell ‘explosive’ star to Celtic in January. 

Celtic have been name-checked with an interest in Fenerbahce winger Bright Osayi-Samuel by Turkish outlet Fanatik.

The Lowdown: Osayi-Samuel profiled

Osayi-Samuel only joined Fenerbahce in January from Queens Park Rangers and is under contract with the Turkish giants until 2025.

The 23-year-old, who has netted 19 times during his career, has struggled with his current employers. He has scored just one goal and registered a single assist in his 19 games for the club.

Described as ‘dangerous’ by QPR manager Mark Warburton last year, the Nigerian can play anywhere across the front three, with his main position coming on the right wing.

The Latest: Fenerbahce future

Fanatik shared a story on Osayi-Samuel on Tuesday morning. Within their report, they claimed that Fenerbahce are waiting for an offer for the winger, with both Celtic and Rangers credited with an interest.

A fee of €3m (£2.5m) is touted and it seems that Fenerbahce are willing to sell by evaluating any offers they receive, with Osayi-Samuel struggling to adapt to Vítor Pereira’s new system.

The Verdict: A gamble

Osayi-Samuel hasn’t had the best of years, so bringing him to Celtic Park could be a gamble. However, you’d expect that the Hoops would have looked into his career, and if he can get back to the form of the 2019/20 season, a £2.5m deal could be a steal.

He was involved in 14 Championship goals for QPR in that campaign and picked up two club accolades as a result.

Osayi-Samuel is still just 23 years of age and already has more than 200 senior appearances under his belt, so if Ange Postecoglou can get the best out of him, a £2.5m move would be seen as a great piece of business from Celtic in the long run.

In other news: Celtic now ‘in talks’ for ‘really, really good’ 6ft 3 ace; may cost ‘significant’ fee.