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According to The Telegraph, Stoke are considering the possibility of cancelling Saido Berahino’s contract after the striker was, yet again, embroiled in a controversy external to the football pitch.

The number 9 was recently arrested on suspicion of drink driving and the Potters have not let him off the hook easy – he is now training on his own at Clayton Wood but it could be about to get a whole lot worse for the Englishman.

Having signed for the bet365 Stadium outfit for a whopping £12m in 2017, Berahino has been unable to focus on his football and has flopped pretty spectacularly. West Brom, meanwhile, have come out of the deal quite well and will be thanking their lucky stars that they offloaded him when they did.

Who do you want to see promoted this year? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have picked their 3 favoured teams in the video below…

The Baggies have Jay Rodriguez up front now and the former Southampton man has notched 17 goals in the Championship this season as Darren Moore looks to guide his side back into the Premier League.

Some of the Hawthorns faithful cannot help but sympathise with their former hitman with his career hanging in the balance, while others are crucifying him for wasting his talent – here’s how they reacted on Twitter…

A big summer transfer claim has emerged that will impact Rangers’ plans for the upcoming window at Ibrox…

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports journalist Rob Dorsett has confirmed that Gers’ transfer target Sam Johnstone is set to leave his current club at the end of the season.

Gio van Bronckhorst and Ross Wilson are reportedly interested in bringing the shot-stopper to Glasgow and they will now be able to snap him up for nothing if they can win the race for his signature, amid stiff competition from other teams.

Dorsett Tweeted: “#mufc and #thfc to battle it out for the signature of goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in the summer. Johnstone won’t sign a new #wba contract, when it expires at the end of the season, as he seeks a return to the Premier League. Bruce said on Saturday he expects him to leave.”

Good news for Rangers

This is good news for the club for multiple reasons.

Firstly, this claim means that the Gers will not have to pay a penny in transfer fees for Johnstone. His deal with West Brom runs out later this year and he will become a free agent, which means that no club will have to deal with the Baggies to agree a fee.

The only concern will be his wages, but the lack of a transfer fee will, hopefully, offset any issues with budgeting for his salary. This, therefore, is why the club will be buzzing with this update as it lowers the potential cost of a deal for the England international.

It is also great news for Rangers as they are in need of a new goalkeeper to replace Allan McGregor next season. The 40-year-old has made four errors, three directly leading to goals, in the Premiership this season – costing van Bronckhorst’s side vital points against the likes of Ross County and Motherwell, making two direct errors in the former and being beaten at his near post for the equaliser in the latter.

Meanwhile, in the Premier League last time out, Johnstone made zero errors directly leading to goals as he averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.03. He is also 11 years younger than the current Gers number one and this means that he could be the first choice between the sticks at Ibrox for many, many, years to come – if they are able to bring him through the door.

It is now down to Wilson to make sure he can capitalise on the Englishman’s availability to snap him up ahead of the other interested parties this summer…

AND in other news, From £4.5m to £25m: Wilson had huge Rangers howler over “remarkable” 12-goal gem…

Liverpool saw FSG open their chequebook during the previous January transfer window when they secured a deal for Luis Diaz from Porto for an initial fee of £37m.

While the Reds still have a crucial period of the season left to play in to try and win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, it seems as though the club’s hierarchy could be in the mix to secure a very familiar player in the summer for another significant sum of money.

According to a recent report from Football Insider, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has identified West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice as his number one midfield transfer target.

If the Merseyside club were to secure a deal for the England international, this could see the Reds find their next version of Xabi Alonso.

On the subject of midfielders, former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch said that “every great team needs a defensively-minded man capable of progressing the ball.”

He then said that Alonso “was a perfect example” of this during his time at Anfield.

Taking into account how Rice has made 122 progressive passes for his side in the Premier League this season, the third-highest of any player at the east London club, he certainly has what it takes to replicate the same sort of attributes that the Spaniard offered.

The 23-year-old has also made a total of 43 live-ball passes that have led to a shot attempt, highlighting what a capable midfielder he is in terms of making attacking moves on the pitch.

Labelled as a “generational” talent by The Athletic’s West Ham journalist Roshane Thomas, Rice has been a pivotal figure for David Moyes this season.

With 29 league appearances under his belt, the midfielder has earned himself an overall season rating of 7.12 from WhoScored, making him their second-highest rated player behind Jarrod Bowen.

Moving forward, despite having a supposed price tag of £150m which would smash their transfer record, Rice would undoubtedly prove to be a wise investment for FSG given his fairly young age and the experience he already has in him.

With current Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson now at the age of 31, his England teammate could end up not only being the next Alonso, but also the former Sunderland man’s long-term replacement if Klopp were to get his wish and have the Hammers star in his squad.

In other news: Liverpool plot “massive” signing of “special” £75m wizard, he could dethrone Salah

Brennan Johnson features on Newcastle United’s list of potential replacements for Allan Saint-Maximin, The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones reports. 

The lowdown

Saint-Maximin, Jones writes, is expected to leave St James’ Park when the summer transfer window opens. The Magpies will then reinvest the funds from his exit into their planned ‘rebuild’.

Johnson is only under contract for another 14 months with Championship promotion hopefuls Nottingham Forest.

Aged just 20, the Wales international has scored 14 goals and provided seven assists in 39 league appearances this season.

The latest

Newcastle officials, led by Steve Nickson, have already ‘compiled reports’ on Johnson as they run the rule over potential additions on the flanks.

However, Jones does caution that the club will face ‘fierce’ competition for his signature.

Another player on their radar is Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby, but he too is highly coveted.

The verdict

It’s no surprise that a multitude of clubs are interested in Johnson. He’s Forest’s top scorer and he ranks joint-eighth overall in the Championship goal charts, despite being a winger rather than an out and out forward.

As for assists, he’s second for Steve Cooper’s side (behind Philip Zinckernagel) and again in the top ten for the division as a whole.

To put those figures into perspective, as of April 9, he boasts at least eight more goal involvements than any other player aged 21 or under in England’s top four tiers.

He’s already earned nine senior caps for his country and will hope to feature at the Qatar World Cup at the end of the year if Wales secure qualification.

Johnson, who’s been mentored by David Beckham, has inevitably earned some reviews. For instance, the ‘old-fashioned winger’ was dubbed a ‘beautiful footballer’ and a ‘super, super talent’ by sports journalist Josh Bunting. Newcastle should be delighted if they win the race.

In other news, Keith Downie has an update on Eddie Howe.

Robbie Keane and Joleon Lescott are perhaps the most notorious players to emerge from the Wolves Academy, with recent graduate Morgan Gibbs-White aiming to develop into a player of that esteem.

Though, the Old Gold have a new kid on the block, who has been compared to Manchester City and England star Phil Foden, by Wolverhampton Wanderers U23’s coach Jamie Collins.

Cundle’s recent performance for Wolves in their U23 match against Newcastle United left the head coach full of admiration for the 19-year-old:

“We took a little risk with the change of shape and the ‘false nine’ with no centre-forward.

“We played Luke (Cundle) up there, ‘Phil Foden-esque’, and I thought he played really well.”

The praise will be welcomed by Cundle, though he will surely be used to the plaudits after becoming one of Wolves’ most highly rated academy prospects of late.

The number 39 is a regular for Wolves’ Premier League 2 side but has made six appearances for the Old Gold first team with two of these appearances being Premier League starts against Spurs and Newcastle United respectively.

The Old Gold starlet had Bruno Lage waxing lyrical over his performance in the Premier League against Spurs in mid-February.

On Cundle, Lage said: “Maybe Luke [Cundle] can be a key man because it allows us to play with four midfielders.

“It was the way we play here and with the kid from the academy. He is just 19 and I am very happy with him. The most important thing is the confidence he gives to us. He was there against top players playing like he is in the playground.”

You cannot get much higher praise than that, which is why Wolves fans are eager to see more of their starlet, in what could turn out to be the West Midlands side’s greatest ever academy prospect.

In other news: Adama 2.0: Lage must now finally unleash Wolves 22 y/o “ridiculous talent”

Tottenham Hotspur have offered academy prospect Tobi Omole a new contract after he was named in Antonio Conte’s squad for the Premier League…

What’s the word?

That’s according to allnigeriasoccer.com, who claim that the 22-year-old defender isn’t eligible to qualify as a U21 or youth player anymore but the Italian head coach has included him as a senior member of the team.

Omole is yet to make his senior bow for Spurs but did feature on the bench for their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace earlier in the season and has trained numerous times with the first team since Conte’s arrival in November.

The former Arsenal graduate has also been offered fresh terms ahead of next season, too.

Cesar Azpilicueta 2.0

Omole is capable of playing in pretty much any role across the backline, making him a very intriguing option for the Italian head coach and one that could earn some comparisons to one member of his title-winning squad at Chelsea, Cesar Azpilicueta.

Conte has very much tried to introduce a similar formation to one that once sealed the Premier League trophy, a 3-4-3, which saw the Spanish veteran partner a ball-player in David Luiz and an aggressive tackler in Gary Cahill.

Well, in Eric Dier and Cristian Romero, he has players to fit the mould of the latter duo. And for now, it’s Ben Davies taking up the other role. However, with plans to hand Omole a new deal, Conte may well see a future star fit to take the reins eventually.

As per Lilywhites insider John Wenham, the 22-year-old centre-back is considered to be a “top young talent” within the club and was even tipped to make a debut against Newcastle United back in October.

The young gem is also a left-footer, which will only bolster his claims of replacing Davies in the starting XI as the Welshman has largely been deployed at centre-back due to him being the only defensive-minded left-footer in the squad.

It may be a while before he truly comes to the fold but it’s clear that he has already impressed Conte enough for him to not only be handed fresh terms but also named in the official squad for the remainder of the season.

In Omole, the Italian head coach could well discover a new Azpilicueta.

AND in other news, Spurs “nightmare” who lost ball every 4 mins vs Brighton has given Conte a big dilemma…

Manchester City have not been shy when it comes to buying players from Spanish clubs over recent years such as Ferran Torres, Rodri and Aymeric Laporte among others.

Looking ahead to the next summer transfer window, it seems as though the Manchester club have set their sights on securing another one of La Liga’s star figures.

What’s the news?

According to a recent Twitter post from journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, City are “interested” in signing Villarreal defender Pau Torres this summer.

As a product of Villarreal’s youth system, the centre-back has made a combined total of 194 appearances for their senior and youth teams, prior to their Champions League semi-final clash against Liverpool this evening.

In those appearances, the 25-year-old has chipped in with 12 goals and four assists along the way.

In terms of his defensive capabilities, the Spaniard has the second-highest number of interceptions (39) and clearances (103) out of anyone in Unai Emery’s squad for this La Liga campaign.

Also, with a combined number of 57 tackles and blocks, Torres is clearly a very capable defensive figure.

Supporters will be thrilled

Having been described as a player that “fits perfectly in teams which want to play out from the back, with coaches who think that way,” by Paco Lopez, this would make the Spain international a seemingly good fit for Pep Guardiola’s side.

To put that into perspective, only nine other players in La Liga have completed more passes than the Villarreal centre-back this season (1562).

Taking into account how three of the Premier League’s top five passers this season are City defenders, this shows just how suitable a player like Torres could be for the reigning league champions at the back.

With that in mind, it would surely be a massive positive for the City fans to hear that Guardiola has his eyes on bringing another defender that can play his type of football to the Etihad Stadium.

Moving forward, securing a deal for the Spaniard this summer could be a great bit of business from the Manchester club and further strengthen what is already a rather strong defence.

In other news: “Man City have discussed…”: Romano drops exciting summer update, Pep will be buzzing

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Harry Winks is attracting increasing interest ahead of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Daily Star, who claim that both Southampton and Crystal Palace are keeping a very close eye on the situation of the England international ahead of a potential move for the midfielder at the end of the current campaign.

The report goes on to state that Tottenham are prepared to listen to any sensible offers for the 26-year-old this summer, as Antonio Conte does not view the academy graduate as part of his long-term plans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, while it is also said that, despite being a boyhood Spurs fan, Winks would welcome the chance of becoming a first-team regular elsewhere.

Conte must axe winks

Considering just how little Winks has featured since Conte’s arrival in north London last November, in addition to the fact that the midfielder is one of the higher-earners in the Italian’s squad, it would appear a wise move for the 52-year-old to move the Englishman on this summer.

Indeed, despite the fact that Winks’ fellow central midfielder, Oliver Skipp, has been sidelined since January due to injury, the £15.3m-rated 26-year-old has started just eight Premier League fixtures under the management of Conte, having played a total of just 137 minutes of league football since the back to back defeats against Southampton and Wolves in February.

Furthermore, the £91k-per-week man – who Tottenham placed a £40m price tag on last summer – has been criticised for his lack of urgency in the middle of the park, none more so than by former Spurs defender Graham Roberts, who dubbed Winks “Mr Conservative.”

In an interview with Football Transfer Tavern last year, Roberts said of the 10-time capped international: “When Harry Winks got in the team years ago, it’s not the same Harry Winks now. He’s Mr Conservative.

“I’m watching games with people and they say: ‘Harry Winks had 347 passes of the ball today.’ I say: ‘Well, how many went forward?’ It’s always back to the centre-half or square to a centre-half or square to another midfield player. He never ever looks forward.”

As such, should Southampton and Palace indeed be considering a move for the 26-year-old at the end of the current campaign, Conte simply must cash in on the midfielder while the interest is there, as the hefty wages of the player who Tony Cascarino claimed is “casting shadows” at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could be easily be put to much better use by the Italian this summer.

AND in other news: Bid made: Spurs move for “special” £42m-rated “talent”, he “can be as good as Ronaldo”

The terms of Dele Alli’s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Everton are ‘astonishing’, in the words of The Telegraph’s Matt Law. 

The lowdown

The 25-year-old sealed a move to Goodison Park after Antonio Conte left him out of the matchday squad entirely against Chelsea recently.

The Englishman initially joins the Toffees on a free transfer, with a payment of £10m triggered once he has made 20 appearances. He has signed a two-and-a-half year contract with Frank Lampard’s side.

The latest

In a tweet on Monday evening, Law pointed out that Dele can’t reach the 20-game threshold for Everton this season given that he has already played for Spurs in the FA Cup, with the journalist admitting that he was stunned by the specifics of the move.

He proclaimed: “Also worth pointing out Dele Alli is cup-tied for the FA Cup so the maximum number of games he could play for Everton this season is 18….astonishing deal for Everton to negotiate and Spurs to agree to”

The verdict

While Spurs may not be receiving any fee from Everton before the 2022/23 season, the deal could prove to be lucrative for the Lilywhites in the long run. According to Fabrizio Romano, various add-ons could eventually take the fee as high as €40m (£33.4m).

If anything, that seems a little excessive for a player who has only managed one goal and one assist in the top flight since the start of last season – a sharp drop-off from his former heights – but Everton will probably look at things differently.

If Dele doesn’t perform and drops out of the team, then they may only end up shelling out a limited sum. If he does, it could be an expensive acquisition, but perhaps it’s a price worth paying considering the sheer talent he possesses.

In other news, some Everton fans absolutely loved this early decision from Frank Lampard

Many Everton fans have been left buzzing over some international news involving Yerry Mina.

As shared by Toffee TV on their Twitter page, the central defender will now miss Colombia’s FIFA World Cup qualifying game against Argentina on Tuesday due to suspension, after he picked up a yellow card in their most recent qualifier in the 1-0 loss against Peru.

It means that Mina should now be able to return to Goodison Park, with their next league fixture not coming until Tuesday 8th February away to Newcastle United, three days after an FA Cup clash with Brentford next weekend.

This should give the the 27-year-old enough time to complete any necessary health protocols and recover for the clash, which would have been a doubt had he been able to face Argentina.

The Toffees have only lost three games in the top flight so far this term when he has played, and so having him back would be a big boost.

Everton fans on Mina news

These supporters of the Merseyside club buzzed as the news was shared on Twitter, with one calling it ‘great’:

“The news just gets better and better this late Friday evening”

Credit: @maynard_hanna

“God is an @Everton supporter and knows we need him!”

Credit: @MistopherGuy

“That’s great news for us may come back fresher”

Credit: @ruben_holman

“Yessssss healthy for Brentford”

Credit: @SilentBlueGiant

“What a day.”

Credit: @lewissefc

“Praise the lord”

Credit: @dh_2__

In other news, find out what transfer update has Blues fuming here!