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Former Leeds United player Carlton Palmer believes it would be a great opportunity for Lewis O’Brien to join the club.

Football Insider reported last week that Leeds had opened talks with Huddersfield Town over the signing of the 22-year-old, with Marcelo Bielsa targeting both a winger and central midfielder before the window closes at 11pm on August 31.

The 5 ft 8 O’Brien made 42 appearances for Huddersfield Town last season in the Championship, scoring three goals and providing another three.

Whilst he predominantly played as a central midfielder for the Terriers, featuring 23 times their last season, O’Brien also played further forward as an attacking midfielder, as well as featuring down the left in both attacking and defensive positions.

After performing well for Huddersfield and attracting the attention of Leeds, Palmer believes a move across Yorkshire would be a great opportunity for O’Brien, saying: “It would be a great opportunity for him, I know Bielsa has watched him several times and has been keen on him. 

“He fits the remit for Leeds, the way Leeds play, he fits the age of 22 he’s going to come on. The question is now he’s established himself as one of the up-and-coming midfield players in the Championship, who’s done very well.”

Despite all of the speculation, Huddersfield Town manager Carlos Corberan told Leeds Live that he wants to keep Lewis O’Brien at the club, saying: “I understand that there is speculation around Lewis, he is a fantastic player. 

“We want to keep Lewis at the club.”

Peterborough United Director of Football Barry Fry insists Bournemouth underachieved in the Championship in the 2020/21 season.

The Cherries are reportedly closing in on the appointment of Scott Parker as their new manager, with the Fulham boss currently finalising the termination of his contract at Craven Cottage.

Bournemouth struggled to make the most of their talented squad throughout the campaign and ended up with a sixth-placed finish, sneaking into the play-offs through the back door.

They ended the campaign with 77 points, 20 points behind Norwich City, who won the title at a canter, and were ultimately beaten by Brentford in the play-off semi-finals.

Current manager Jonathan Woodgate could well be disposed of by owner Maxim Demin to make way for Parker and Fry, whose Peterborough side will take on the Cherries this season after their promotion from League One, believes that Bournemouth actually had the best squad in the league in 2020/21.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “Bournemouth got rid of a lot of players last year, but they still had a hell of a squad Bournemouth. To be fair, they had arguably the best squad of players in the Championship and they underachieved, in my opinion, for whatever reason.

“They won seven on the trot, you don’t win seven on the trot if you’re not a good side, but something wasn’t right there for whatever reason. It depends what the owner at Bournemouth does again, whether he gets rid of all the people, he’ll be very disappointed that he never got up again, so whether they even keep the manager again, I don’t know.”

Ipswich must seal a deal for “exceptional” Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher this summer.

What’s the talk?

According to Ipswich outlet TWTD, Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher is one of the players on the club’s radar ahead of the summer transfer window. Ipswich are in the market for a new number one for the 2021/22 campaign and have identified Kelleher as a potential replacement for Tomas Holy.

The report claims that Liverpool are willing to let Kelleher leave the club on loan this summer. Jurgen Klopp wants the Ireland international to experience regular first-team football and Ipswich are hoping to be the club to provide him with that.

Kelleher kept a clean sheet in the Champions League against Ajax in 2020 and Klopp hailed the “exceptional” shot-stopper for remaining patient and taking his chance. He told GOAL:

“Caoimhin is a sensationally talented goalie. And for goalies, it’s really difficult. Goalies have to wait, they can be exceptional but they have to wait for their chance because there’s only one goalie on the pitch and if he plays for 10 years in a row, it’s pretty difficult. You can be still a wonderful goalie and nobody will see.

“Now he got the chance and I think he convinced everybody. He didn’t have to convince us, obviously – we thought it will be like this. But he convinced everybody, that’s good.”

Cook would love it

Paul Cook would love it if Ipswich were able to seal a deal for Kelleher. It would be a major boost to his squad heading into next season after the issues they dealt with between the sticks in the campaign just gone. Tomas Holy started 36 of Town’s games, averaging an unimpressive WhoScored rating of 6.67. 30-year-old David Cornell was in goal for the other 10 League One matches and he failed to step up to the mark, with a dismal score of 6.58.

This has left the door open for a goalkeeper to come in and stake a claim for the number one jersey and Kelleher could be the perfect man for the job. The Irishman, as mentioned above, needs regular game time to take the next step in his development and playing 46 league games in a potential promotion season for Ipswich could be an ideal move for all parties involved. He could come in and get the experience Liverpool want him to get whilst also improving Cook’s current squad.

The £6k-per-week ace caught the eye in a breakthrough season at Liverpool. Kelleher managed to play five competitive games for Liverpool as cover for first-choice Alisson and put in some superb displays between the sticks. He conceded three goals and kept two clean sheets in the five matches, averaging a sensational WhoScored rating of 7.17. This suggests that he could be a major improvement on Holy and Cornell.

Cook will be buzzing if he can secure a deal for the 22-year-old to join the club this summer.

AND in other news, Ipswich must seal deal for 6ft 2 £5.1k-p/w goal machine, Cook needs him…

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Josh Windass could exit the club and join Millwall this summer, according to a fresh report which emerged on Friday.

The Lowdown: Windass shines for Owls

Though unable to keep the Owls in the Championship last season, the 27 year-old proved to be an impressive figure for Darren Moore’s side and was hailed as a ‘constant threat’ by pundit Sue Smith.

Windass chipped in with nine goals and five assists in 41 league games in 2020/21, outscoring the rest of his Wednesday teammates.

With Moore’s team now in League One, however, he could look for a way out this summer, eyeing up a return to the second tier of English football.

The Latest: Midfielder could join Millwall

According to Sky Sports [10:02am, Friday 18th June], Millwall are keen on signing Windass this summer and are ‘preparing to make a bid’ for him.

Preston North End and Birmingham City are both believed to be interested, too, as the battle to acquire his signature hots up.

The Verdict: Blow for Wednesday

In an ideal world, Windass would stay put with the Owls, helping them push for promotion back into the Championship under Moore.

Given his production last term, one would have to assume he would be a constant threat for defences in the third tier.

The harsh reality is that he will believe he belongs in the Championship, though, making it likely that he will return there in the near future.

Windass’ contract expires next summer, so Wednesday are in a tricky spot if they try keep hold of him, risking losing the former Rangers youngster on a free transfer next year.

In other news, Sheff Wed have suffered a blow in their quest to sign one player this summer. Find out who it is here.

Celtic’s head of sports science Jack Nayler has left for Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Rodgers recruit

Nayler was brought to the club by Brendan Rodgers in November 2016.

He previously worked under Carlo Ancelotti at the likes of Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid and actually remained at Celtic Park following Rodgers’ move to Leicester City in 2019.

He has now moved on though, opting for the Bundesliga and Champions League with Die Rotten Bullen.

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The Latest: Leipzig move

The Scottish Sun claim that Nayler has indeed swapped Glasgow for Leipzig.

Jesse Marsch, who was linked with the vacant Celtic managerial role prior to Ange Postecoglou’s arrival, is the manager there, and he’s brought in the Hoops man as part of his backroom staff.

Celtic haven’t actually let fans know regarding Nayler’s exit, with no social media posts or statement on the club website.

The Verdict: Will Postecoglou act?

Postecoglou admitted in his first press conference as Celtic boss that he is yet to decide on his backroom staff and would make decisions as he goes.

The Scottish Sun claim that Nayler left Celtic weeks before Postecoglou arrived at Parkhead, so it’ll be interesting to see if he brings in a new man as the club’s head of sports science.

He may well be more concerned about getting his assistant managers and coaching staff in place before looking at the sports science side of things, with John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan’s futures still seemingly up in the air.

In other news: Postecoglou now wants Celtic to halt advanced talks with ‘class’ ace as transfer news emerges, find out more here. 

Many Everton fans have been left to fume as a manager update emerged on Andrea Pirlo.

As per journalist Luca Momblano (via Calciomercato), there have been talks between the former Juventus boss and the Goodison Park faithful over potentially managing the Merseyside club.

Pirlo is ready to return to management straight away after leaving the Old Lady, with Sassuolo and Verona also thought to be interested on him becoming their next coach.

Of course, the 42-year-old is very inexperienced as a manager, and did not have the best of times at Juve, guiding them to a disappointing fourth-place in the Serie A and losing their recent dominance in the division at the hands of Inter Milan.

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Taking this into account, several Toffees supporters have been left to question whether he is ready to take on a job at the Blues, and ultimately whether the Italian is the right fit.

Everton fans on Pirlo transfer update

These EFC fans fumed as the manager update was shared on Twitter (via @EvertonNewsFeed), with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘ridiculous’:

“Getting ridiculous isn’t it!”

Credit: @woodbridgemonk

“Would rather have big Sam again than him”

Credit: @Gerardwood13

“For god’s sake! It doesn’t get any better does it!”

Credit: @ReeceMakinson

“We’re getting relegated aren’t we”

Credit: @18Lewis78

“He’s useless!!!!”

Credit: @efac1878

“Stop it!”

Credit: @AidyDews

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

Michael Ball has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Everton are simply not the same team without James Rodriguez, with his recent absence set to continue after he was once again ruled out for the Premier League clash with Aston Villa tonight.

It’s been a mixed first season in the Premier League for the Colombian, who scored three times and assisted as many in his opening six games in a Toffees shirt.

However, Rodriguez’s campaign has been hindered by an ongoing calf problem, forcing him to miss 11 matches, including the visit to Villa Park on Thursday evening.

The former Real Madrid man is expected to return before the campaign finishes, but Everton have struggled without his influence on the pitch, with each of their previous three league defeats coming without him in the side.

The 29-year-old has been suffering with niggles and various types of injuries for a number of seasons, missing 23 matches across the previous two campaigns for Madrid and Bayern Munich.

And Ball is excited to see what Rodriguez can do with a full pre-season under his belt, having signed for the Toffees less than seven days before their opening-day victory at Tottenham.

He told The Transfer Tavern:

“It’s disappointing. When James plays, we look more exciting. His quality is plain to see, every time he gets the ball, his decision-making.

“The excuse, but not just for Everton, for a lot of players this season is that it’s been a short pre-season, so you expect to get these niggles.

“I was looking into his history and he’s not a player that plays 30-40 games a season, he does miss a lot of games. While that’s really frustrating, it’s what Everton were expecting to happen. When he’s not playing, we don’t seem to hit the heights. It will be great to see him with a full pre-season, fully fit, match fit and see what he can produce week in, week out.”

According to reliable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, Boubakary Soumaré is set to join Leicester as a new signing, a new left-back is ‘incoming’ and midfield star Youri Tielemans will negotiate a new deal, prompting many Foxes fans to go wild over the ‘big’ news.

Brendan Rodgers’ side enjoyed a Saturday afternoon to remember as they clinched FA Cup glory for the first time in their history, having lost their previous four finals. Indeed, Leicester’s FA Cup win has been a long time coming, with Tielemans the hero as they enjoyed a glorious afternoon at Wembley.

Following on from this memorable occasion, many Foxes fans are now even more ecstatic after hearing the latest from Romano on Twitter. The journalist claimed that, as well as Soumare preparing to join Leicester, a new left-back’s arrival is on the horizon and cup final hero Tielemans will sit down and commence talks over a new deal at the King Power Stadium.

As a result, these Foxes fans went into pandemonium on social media – check out a flavour of their verdicts below.

Leicester fans go wild for Romano news

“YES YES YES”

Credit: @jayarita24

“Big things”

Credit: @EthanOBrien_

“This day gets better and better”

Credit: @WorldclassTimmo

“We’re in a good shape”

Credit: @hurdlesaquon

“We’re massive.”

Credit: @LBlcfc

“OH YEESSSS FABRIZIOOOOOOOO”

Credit: @DylanIsLCFC

In other news: Leicester target now likened to Foxes colossus, find out more here.

Former Glasgow Rangers defender Alan Hutton has shared his fears over Steven Gerrard leaving the Gers for a Premier League club this summer.

The Lowdown: Gerrard linked with exit

Earlier this year, Gerrard was linked with a move to Liverpool after it was suggested Jurgen Klopp could leave the Reds (The Mirror).

While that particular link has since quietened down, both Wolves (The Athletic) and Everton are said to have been in pursuit of the Gers boss more recently.

The Latest: Hutton shares exit fears

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton has admitted he is worried Gerrard could leave the 55-time Scottish champions. He said when asked if he was worried:

“Yeah, of course. I think it will be every Rangers fan’s nightmare knowing how well he’s done.

“He’s come in, it’s taken him a few seasons to settle in but we’re seeing how good he actually is as a manager at the moment and what he can bring to the table.

“With this managerial merry-go-round that literally is happening down south, there’s going to be opportunities. It doesn’t matter who you are. You want to be working or playing at the highest level possible.

“There’s a lot of money down south. If there’s an opportunity to go to a team and rebuild a team at a high level, of course you’re going to have to think about it. It’s only natural.

“I’m worried as a Rangers fan. We know how good a job Gerrard’s done and people will be looking at him.”

The Verdict: Not yet

It seems inevitable Gerrard will leave the Gers to move some south at some point. The 41-year-old, who earns £2.5m a year at Ibrox (£48,000 a week, The Daily Express), has done a fantastic job in Glasgow, leading Rangers to their first major trophy in 10 years. However, he is a Liverpool legend and an Englishman, and will therefore always likely be interested in a move back home.

Having said that, it feels unlikely that he will leave this summer. Rangers’ Premiership title means they have qualified for the Champions League third qualifying round. A run in Europe’s premier club competition is surely too big a challenge to pass up on.

In other news, Kieran Maguire has made this Ibrox claim.

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to end a 13-year wait for silverware on Sunday afternoon as they prepare for battle with Manchester City at Wembley in the 2020/21 Carabao Cup final.

It’s been a turbulent week of mixed emotion in north London, that’s for sure. Jose Mourinho was sensationally axed after 17 months in charge of the Lilywhites, then the European Super League fiasco was brought to an abrupt end.

Newly-appointed interim head coach Ryan Mason, a former midfielder at Tottenham, steered the club to a massive three points against Southampton in the midst of all the adversity to put their top-four pursuit back on the right path.

It was finally an encouraging step in the right direction, especially given that he had less than 48 hours to prepare and instil his own mark on this struggling Spurs squad.

However, in the absence of Harry Kane through injury, the Londoners looked toothless in attack despite dominating possession against Southampton.

Again, there were further signs of positivity that Mason had quickly eradicated Mourinho’s passive tactics of sitting back as Spurs held 61% of the ball, which increased as high as 64% in the second half when chasing the game.

Both goals were a little fortuitous, too. Gareth Bale pounced on a loose ball following a defensive error before Heung-min Son slotted home a match-winning penalty in the game’s dying embers.

If you took away both goals, Spurs would have had only one shot on target for all of that possession. That’s not going to be good enough against a team like Manchester City.

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It leaves Mason with plenty to ponder, even more so with Kane’s involvement still in doubt. Perhaps it is time for a lifeline to be gifted to Dele Alli, who could feel rejuvenated since the exit of his tormentor, Mourinho.

Under the so-called ‘Special One’, the 25-year-old playmaker has been restricted to just 232 minutes of Premier League action all season. However, in short appearances in the Europa League, he has still contributed towards seven goals in total.

It was only in 2016/17 that Alli found the net 18 times from midfield (and had seven assists), earning a second Young PFA Player of the Year record and also gaining numerous plaudits. Former Spurs midfielder Darren Anderton compared him to Premier League greats Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard before going onto suggest that he was “a freak of a talent” and a “real joy to watch.”

When given regular game-time, Alli has always proven to be a huge threat in attack, managing above 0.9 key passes and 1.6 shots per game in every Premier League season since his debut, barring this tumultuous stint under Mourinho.

If Mason needs a game-changer in attack, with or without Kane, then he must turn to the £26m-rated dynamo.

An Alli remontada in a cup final to bring Levy his first trophy in over a decade – it couldn’t happen, could it?

AND in other news, Spurs could find their own Marcelo Bielsa in ‘demanding’ La Liga boss…