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Celtic are reportedly circling like vultures as Nick Hammond aims to raid Wigan Athletic this summer – one team’s loss is another team’s gain, right?

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Mail, the Scottish champions are one of several teams eyeing up a move for Latics winger Jamal Lowe this summer as the cash-strapped side face a battle to keep their best players post-administration.

Paul Cook’s men were slapped with a 12-point deduction and after Wednesday’s Championship conclusion, they have been relegated to League One. Another damaging blow to their chances.

Celtic face competition from both Millwall and Cardiff City, who could be playing Premier League football next season if things go their way in the playoffs.

Lowe price

The 26-year-old has been one of the shining lights for Wigan, providing six goals and five assists in 46 appearances – primarily from right-wing – via Transfermarkt.

With the League One newcomers struggling financially, it’s a perfect time to pounce as Celtic may be able to land Lowe on the cheap.

Noel Whelan told Football Insider earlier in the week that the winger would be available for a “bargain price” and also claimed that he’d be a great signing for the Hoops due to his “power, strength and pace”.

Whilst Lowe’s former chairman at Hampton and Richmond tipped him to go all the way to top back in 2016, lauding his “exceptional” season at the non-league outfit.

The move would certainly feel similar to that of Scott Sinclair back in 2016 as Celtic managed to clinch the Villa man for just £3m as they were relegated to the Championship.

Coincidentally, the veteran winger netted six times for Tim Sherwood’s side that campaign and is only two inches shorter than Lowe.

AND in other news, Celtic simply must avoid making a £5m mistake amid links to PL flop…

تغلب فريق ميلان على ضيفه فينيزيا بثنائية دون رد، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما مساء الأربعاء بمنافسات الدوري الإيطالي.

وحل فينيزيا ضيفًا على ميلان بملعب “سان سيرو”، ضمن مباريات الجولة الخامسة للسيريا آ لموسم 2021-2022.

وجاء هدف ميلان الأول في الدقيقة 68 عن طريق إبراهيم دياز، ثم أضاف ثيو هيرنانديز الهدف الثاني لأصحاب الأرض في الدقيقة 82.

اقرأ أيضًا | أليجري بعد الفوز على سبيزيا: مباراة المعاناة.. ولاعبو يوفنتوس بحاجة إلى التحسن

حسمت المباراة بفوز ميلان بثنائية دون رد، ليرفع رصيده إلى 13 نقطة في المركز الثاني بجدول الترتيب.

ويتساوى ميلان مع جاره إنتر ميلان المتصدر بفارق الأهداف، أما فينيزيا الصاعد حديثًا للسيريا آ، يتوقف رصيده عند 3 نقاط في المركز 18 بجدول الترتيب. أهداف مباراة ميلان وفينيزيا في الدوري الإيطالي

Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness has written in The Sunday Times (via Football 365) that Wolverhampton Wanderers duo Ruben Neves and Raul Jimenez ‘would walk into anybody’s team’.

Speaking in his column about the Wolves team, the former Liverpool man also claimed that Neves and Jimenez are ‘too good to be sitting on the bench anywhere in the Premier League’, although he added that the one player at the club who intrigues him the most is Adama Traore.

Nevertheless, both Neves and Jimenez have shown their merits in this season so far. The Portugal midfielder averages 60.5 touches per top flight game, exemplifying his influence in getting on the ball, and he also wins 3.3 duels per match, showing the work that he does off the ball as well, according to Sofascore.

Meanwhile, Jimenez has been deadly in front of goal, scoring 13 times and making six assists, as per Sofascore. It is also worth mentioning that they have both featured in every league game so far, highlighting their importance to Nuno Espirito Santo’s side.

However, Souness’ claim is arguably a bit far-fetched. Take Jimenez, who is behind strikers like Jamie Vardy and Sergio Aguero in terms of goals scored this season, as well as Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Southampton’s Danny Ings, whose teams sit below Wolves in England’s highest division at the moment, as per the BBC.

Despite Neves’ work in the midfield, he has still only managed two goals and one assist in 29 Premier League appearances so far this campaign (via Sofascore). He may not walk into other sides with more productive midfielders in this sense.

However, Souness is right to laud them for what they have contributed to the Molineux outfit thus far.

Wolves fans, do you agree with Souness’ claims about Neves and Jimenez? Comment below with your thoughts!

Former Leeds United and Coventry City forward Noel Whelan has said that Newcastle United’s prospective new owners must keep current manager Steve Bruce until at least the summer, in an interview with Football Insider.

What did he say?

Bruce took over at St. James’ Park over the summer and has guided his side to 13th in the Premier League table with just nine matches to play.

Amanda Staveley is currently brokering a £300m deal to buy the club from Mike Ashley and this has led to speculation that Bruce could lose his job.

However, Whelan has argued that the club need to leave him in charge and give him time to build the side over a full season.

“You’ve got to at the minute, he’s only just started, he’s got to be given the chance,” he told Football Insider.

“He’s been a manager for a number of years now, been in some very, very big clubs, you’ve got to give him that chance to finish and give him that chance to have full season at Newcastle where he can build his team.

“If he’s got the money as well, he could build a better team than what he’s done with Mike Ashley, that’s for sure. You’ve got to give him the opportunity, I think it would be wrong to get rid of him but we also know football’s cutthroat.

“New owners come in, they’ve got new ideas, they might want a new manager. It’s a strange time for Steve, he’ll be wondering about his future but you’ve got to give him the opportunity to finish the season, minimum.

Newcastle fan? Prove it by naming these obscure Magpies players…

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“If they do let him go, he’s actually done a good job at Newcastle in a short time and he could go and get a new job somewhere else off the back off that.

“I think that’s important, do it the fair way, let him crack on for the rest of the season and Newcastle, it could be some really exciting times ahead for them.”

Transition

If the sale of Newcastle goes through, there is likely to be plenty of upheaval in the short term and given the current circumstances, it is easy to see why keeping Bruce would be the right decision.

He has done a good job with limited resources this season and with just nine matches to play, he deserves to be given until the end of the season at the very least before any decision is taken.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Sheffield Wednesday’s season could well be over already.

On Thursday afternoon, the EFL charged the club with financial misconduct after they sold their Hillsborough stadium to owner Dejphon Chansiri in order to offset debts in the 2017/18 season.

The move handed the Owls a pre-tax profit of £2.5m that year, but they broke league regulations to do so.

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Wednesday have since released a statement claiming they will contest the charges, and although no punishment has been set in stone, it seems somewhat likely that the club are made an example of.

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire believes the most likely consequence will be at the very minimum a 12 point deduction, but no timeframe has been set on that.

If they were to be faced with such a penalty today, sitting eighth on 25 points, they would slip to the edge of the relegation zone on goal difference with 13 points.

And if Maguire is right, they could see even more deducted, which would undoubtedly leave them in a battle to save their Championship status.

What a sheer contrast that would be as the club are currently a mere three points off being back in playoff contention.

But thankfully, they have a manager in charge that knows the situation all too well as Garry Monk was in charge of Birmingham City when they were slapped with a nine-point deduction back in March.

Their form after the news should offer serious encouragement to fans in south Yorkshire as the 40-year-old is the perfect man to keep them safe on the pitch for the foreseeable future.

In the eight games played post-deduction, the Blues managed to lose just one game, and at the end of the season, they should have been three places better off.

To only keel over in one match speaks volumes to Monk’s man-management abilities, so Wednesday are in a safe pair of hands for sure.

They even beat Owls’ Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in that run.

If there is to be one positive from this scenario, it is the fact that the club has a shining light in Monk – without him, their future prospects would look rather dismal.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Everton boss Marco Silva has praised his men for their newly found form against Southampton before the international break.

What did he say?

The Toffees have shown a slight revival in their season over the past few weeks, drawing against Tottenham Hotspur and beating Southampton to edge six points clear of the relegation zone.

In light of their recent form, the Blues boss has reminded critics of how he stated his side would react to the defeat against Burnley.

Now, with three wins in five games, it seems the Portuguese has done just that.

Silva told evertonfc.com: “It is turning – and that is what we wanted.

“Before the [October] international break, when we lost how we did at Burnley, I told people we would react, for sure and we reacted.

“It is good to see our players getting more mature and being stronger in their personalities.

“We played five games… and we could possibly be talking here about four wins and one draw. This is the reality.

“We could be talking about how the team reacted so strongly and showed the capacity we have.

“We know why in the previous [away] game [at Brighton] we did not win and we could be in a completely different position in the table.”

A sudden change

Everton have had a bit of a turn around in their form across the pitch. The likes of Tom Davies have seemingly come into their own lately, with a goal and commanding display against Southampton.

Plus, key players such as Richarlison now have five goals and two assists across the board and are flourishing at the moment. Elsewhere, Cenk Tosun has added to the positivity with his late goal against Spurs before starting in the victory at St Mary’s.

Then there is the fantastic form of Mason Holgate, who has pushed the struggling Michael Keane out of the side. Holgate has two assists and a goal, plus a clean sheet in the EFL Cup over the past month.

It seems there has been a rather sudden change in form for Everton and the signs are certainly positive right now.

Naby Keita was supposed to be Liverpool’s missing link. Instead, 14 months after signing in a £48m deal, he remains missing in action.

Determining why this is largely leads us to an array of injuries that have resulted in the midfielder being side-lined for 132 days all told. It can reasonably be deduced too that in many of the games in which he has appeared those injuries have been a factor, as he feels his way in to the frenetic confines of the Premier League.

Yet still from his 41 outings across all competitions in a red shirt it is difficult to conjure up a memorable moment, and this from a player who was expected to take Liverpool onto the next level after two outstanding seasons with RB Leipzig had him widely heralded as the kind of special talent who could do precisely that.

Instead they have reached that level without him.

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It should not be forgotten just how good Keita was in the Bundesliga. For two campaigns – yet more injuries aside – he was consistently sensational, scoring 16 goals, making 14 assists, and elsewhere running the offensive show.

He was on occasion an all-dribbling, all-running, all-action phenomenon and such was his impact that Jurgen Klopp not only identified him as a key signing but was prepared to wait a full year to bring him to Merseyside. It’s a rare thing indeed that a coach consents to putting the rebuilding of a midfield on hold for such a period. Keita was deemed worth it.

As already stated his failure so far to justify that wait partly comes down to injuries but a successful re-imagining of Klopp’s engine-room is also a consideration. Increasingly, as last season’s title race gave way to Champions League success Klopp favoured a workmanlike midfield three – typically Milner, Wijnaldum, and Henderson – and with the ever-more-influential Fabinho coming to the fore that has only pushed Keita even more to the margins.

The recent re-emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as Klopp’s go-to attacking option behind his formidable front three only drops the Guinean further down the pecking order.

But perhaps the most worrying clue as to what the future holds for Keita came from – ironically – glowing praise from Liverpool’s assistant manager Pep Lijnders back in September. “What a boy,” Klopp’s right-hand man exclaimed. “He makes our build-up play completely different.”

Liverpool are presently unbeaten in the league after 11 games. They are flying. They have no need to try anything different to this point and it’s likely that will remain the case for some time yet.

It is far too early to make any definitive claims about Naby Keita’s time at Anfield. He is still young and yet to string sufficient games in his preferred role to make a mark. He has too a manager who stopped the clock to secure his signature such was his faith in him. Lastly, that astonishing talent witnessed in Germany doesn’t dissipate overnight.

But right now the player who was supposed to provide answers remains a question. That cannot continue forever.

Loads of Tottenham Hotspur fans on Twitter have praised Watford midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure following his display against them at the weekend, with some suggesting their club should sign the Frenchman.

Despite his team being bottom of the Premier League table ahead of their short trip to north London to face Spurs, the Hornets were impressive and took the lead early on when the 26-year-old swept home Daryl Janmaat’s cross in the sixth minute.

The midfielder continued to make an impact against the likes of Harry Winks and Moussa Sissoko in the middle of the pitch throughout, and his display didn’t go unnoticed by the home faithful.

It was actually his first goal involvement of the season having scored five goals and picked up six assists in the top flight last term, and seven and four respectively in 2017/18, and he will be hoping it will be the first of many to help Quique Sanchez Flores’ strugglers.

Tottenham supporters were certainly quick to hail the powerful player, with one saying “Doucoure needs to be a Spurs player by January”, while another said “an injured Doucoure is still better than Winks and Sissoko”.

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Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez has admitted that he is open to a move away from the Emirates as he looks for more first-team football.

What’s the word?

Having been at the club for nine years, the Argentine stopper has found his opportunities limited.

He has made a total of 17 appearances for the club, with six coming in the Premier League.

And Martinez has now told Clarin that he may leave unless he is not offered more first-team chances, and insists he was told by Arsene Wenger that he would be first-choice, prior to the Frenchman’s departure.

“He [Wenger] always trusted me,” the goalkeeper said.

“Beyond his departure, people stayed in the club that already knew me. When I renewed with Wenger, he told me that I was going to be the number one at Arsenal.

“Unai Emery, the current coach, wanted to see me and was very surprised with me. In fact, I stayed because I knew I had real chances; otherwise, I would have gone to play somewhere else.

“London is very nice, I’m comfortable, but I’m not staying in comfort. And if I had to go somewhere else to play, I would do it.”

End of the road

Martinez has not found himself as Arsenal’s first-choice goalkeeper at any stage during his time at the club.

Since joining from Club Atlético Independiente in 2010, the 27-year-old has only played Premier League football during two out of the nine seasons he’s spent at the Emirates and has had six respective loan spells in that time with various Championship and European clubs.

The Argentine has never played more than four Premier League games in a season, during the 2014/15 campaign.

Despite a good performance during Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt in September, it appears that Martinez has been led down the garden path due to the change of management in 2018.

As a result, it would be best for both parties to part ways.

With the quality at Martinez possesses, he is more than capable of playing in one of the top European leagues.

Arsenal fans have been reacting to a tweet from Dani Ceballos as the Gunners prepare to face Sheffield United on Monday.

Ceballos, 23, has had a positive start to life in north London since his move from Real Madrid on a season-long loan. The Spaniard has proved to be a creative influence in the middle of the park with Mesut Ozil in and out of the squad.

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With two assists and a passing accuracy of 89% in the Premier League this season, the Spain international is becoming a vital asset for boss Unai Emery in terms of controlling the play and getting the ball to the attackers.

Supporters have been full of encouragement towards Ceballos after he issued a rallying cry on Twitter, as he prepares for a busy schedule of matches with the Gunners.

Arsenal will play four games in nine days, with a trip to Anfield against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup being the final game of a testing period.

Below you will find some of the best responses from Arsenal fans, who seem delighted by the summer arrival’s attitude…