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Craig Hope has revealed the latest on Newcastle United’s reported pursuit of Diego Carlos in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Carlos ‘keen’

Speaking to The Transfer Tavern last week, Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie revealed that Carlos is now personally ‘keen’ on a move to St. James’ Park, but claimed that Sevilla ‘hold the aces’ when it comes to a potential deal this month.

Nonetheless, it is a story that looks set to develop further in the coming days, with another big game at the bottom of the Premier League table against Leeds United coming up on Saturday afternoon.

The Latest: Transfer request

As per The Daily Mail journalist Hope, the Magpies have still not had an offer accepted for Carlos, but he has now handed in a transfer request at Sevilla.

The Toon are hoping that they can do a deal with the La Liga side in the region of £30m:

“I’m told NUFC have not yet had an offer accepted for Diego Carlos but, as per reports, he has submitted a transfer request to Sevilla.

“Hope is for a deal in region of £30m.”

The Verdict: Get it done

After the disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Watford last weekend, the North East club cannot afford for the days to go by before they bring in a new central defender.

Carlos seems to be the strongest link, and if a deal for £30m can be done, it is well worth doing – the six-foot-one Brazilian is currently rated at £40.5m by Transfermarkt, and so could present a real bargain.

Nicknamed ‘The Beast‘, Carlos is exactly the kind of character needed to shore up the backline, and at 28 years of age, the Tyneside outfit will be buying a player in his prime.

La Liga expert Kevin Campbell claims Carlos is ‘amazing’ and ‘right up Newcastle’s street’ (Football Insider), while European football expert Andy Brassell says Carlos is a ‘real leader at the back’ (Express).

Nonetheless, this is a deal the Magpies cannot allow to slip through their fingers.

In other news, find out which ‘tenacious’ Carlos alternative NUFC are now in talks to sign here!

Journalist Pete O’Rourke has made a claim regarding Celtic’s possible permanent swoop for Tottenham’s Cameron Carter-Vickers, Give Me Sport report.

The Lowdown: Carter-Vickers under Postecoglou

Carter-Vickers was the club’s final addition over the summer, joining on deadline day in a season-long loan deal that includes an option to buy next summer.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-19/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Since then, the 23-year-old has been an ever-present figure at the back under Ange Postecoglou, making 20 appearances in green and white.

He’s missed just one Scottish Premiership fixture following his move and was hailed as an ‘excellent professional’ by Kenny Dalglish.

The Latest: O’Rourke’s claim

Give Me Sport shared the latest news on Carter-Vickers making a permanent Parkhead switch, suggesting both Celtic and the player are keen on a full-time move.

Reporter O’Rourke gave his thoughts on a possible permanent swoop to Give Me Sport, admitting he wasn’t sure if the Hoops could reach the £10m asking price, as reported by The Daily Record.

“Cameron Carter-Vickers has made a big impression since his loan move from Tottenham, but I’m not sure if Celtic could reach that £10m valuation that Spurs are looking for a permanent deal, though.”

The Verdict: Club record fee

Should Celtic stump up the fee for Carter-Vickers, they’d reportedly have to pay two separate add-ons which would take the deal over £10m.

That would make him the club’s most expensive signing of all time, eclipsing the £9.27m move that made Odsonne Edouard’s loan permanent from Paris Saint-Germain.

There’s no denying that Carter-Vickers has impressed at Celtic Park, however, £10m is a lot of money, especially with the Hoops already spending over £20m in the summer and seemingly looking at four January permanent additions in Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi, Daizen Maeda and on-loan Jota.

In other news: Devlin shares worrying injury update on Celtic ace after bone ‘break’. 

Aston Villa have reportedly joined some Premier League and European behemoths in the race to sign Denis Zakaria.

The Daily Mail listed the defensive midfielder as a player of interest to Steven Gerrard’s side on Saturday evening, and it has since had a number of Villa supporters talking on social media.

Zakaria, who plies his trade with Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach, is out of contract at the end of June. The 25-year-old is valued at £24.3m and has made 144 appearances for his current employers, attracting interest from the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

However, it now seems as if Villa are also keen on the Switzerland international as they look to bolster their defensive midfield ranks following Marvelous Nakamba’s injury. The Daily Mail named 10 players who are of interest to Villa, one of which was Zakaria.

Villa fans react

The AVFC Faithful shared the links on Twitter regarding the 6 foot 2 beast, whose 90.1% passing accuracy rate is better than any player to have started a league match for Villa this term. Here is what these fans had to say in reply, with many keen to see a move materialise.

“FINALLY, WHAT WE’VE BEEN MISSING”

Credit: @OP4C

“Please be true man”

Credit: @BallyLDM

“OHHH ITS MUSIC TO MY EARS”

Credit: @charliepowellm1

“WAIT WHATTTTTT”

Credit: @LordMillman29

“Things you love to see”

Credit: @K6Lion1874

“Exactly what we need”

Credit: @AJJ8Villa

In other news: Villa’s rivals now set sights on signing 6 ft 2 beast who has ‘put on a lot of weight’. 

Steven Gerrard has enjoyed a successful start to his reign as Aston Villa manager. So much so that the 41-year-old has been nominated for Premier League Manager of the Month for November after wins against Brighton and Crystal Palace.

Despite an impressive second-half performance from Villa, the former Rangers boss suffered his first defeat since replacing Dean Smith in the Villa Park dugout as they lost 2-1 to Manchester City on Wednesday evening.

Next up, they host a Leicester City side that has certainly looked under par this season and currently sit three points above their Midlands rivals in tenth.

Brendan Rogers’ men have shown a particularly weak underbelly, conceding 25 goals in 14 Premier League games, a factor that Villa will look to exploit.

Gerrard will need his entire frontline fit and firing if they are to get a result against City, but there’s one man in particular who could prove the difference for the Villans: Emi Buendia.

You only have to go as far back as Wednesday night to see that Brendan Rodgers’ side seriously struggle to deal with crosses in the box. In their 2-2 draw against Southampton, both goals conceded came from crosses not dealt with, a well-worked set-piece and a ball in from the right flank.

This is where Buendia can shine on Sunday. The Argentine hasn’t had the best start to life at Villa Park since his £34.56m move from Norwich City, scoring and assisting just once in the Premier League. However, with fellow wide man Leon Bailey injured, the 24-year-old is almost certain to start.

According to SofaScore, Buendia has created just three big chances in 12 games and only averages 0.3 shots on target a match; this must change.

Granted, prior to Gerrard’s arrival, the entire Villa team looked toothless, losing five consecutive league games before the 41-year-old replaced his fellow countryman, Dean Smith, in the dugout.

The former Rangers boss has instilled an easy on the eye, attacking system in a short space of time, one that will surely benefit the £31.5m-rated man.

Last month, ex-Villa striker Darren Bent admitted that he was “still unconvinced by” after the 24-year-old’s slow start to life in the top-flight after a stellar season with Norwich in the Championship last term.

However, upon his departure from Carrow Road, the winger was labelled by then-Norwich manager Daniel Farke “outstanding”, which certainly was the case at the time.

Buendia was the second tiers best player on route to the Canaries title-winning campaign, scoring 15 goals and registering 17 assists in 39 appearances.

The talent is undoubtedly there, it just needs to be unleashed and a strong showing against the Foxes on Sunday afternoon could prove the trick. Judging by his attacking talents, he could terrify Rodgers and co.

Celtic managed to secure another win in the SPFL this afternoon with a 1-0 victory over Motherwell thanks to a goal from Hoops midfielder Tom Rogic just before halftime.

One player that didn’t manage to fully impress in the win, however, was left-back Greg Taylor.

With 88 touches of the ball in total, Taylor managed to misplace ten passes in the 90 minutes he was on the pitch for, as well as making three misplaced crosses and three misplaced long balls, losing possession on 16 occasions.

As well as his erratic passing, Taylor was not particularly imposing from a defensive point of view either by losing seven of the ten duels he was involved in.

This overall performance earned the full-back, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £8.2k-per-week according to Salary Sport, an overall match rating of 6.7/10, making him the lowest-rated Celtic player on the day according to SofaScore, even lower than Mikey Johnston and Anthony Ralston who played fewer minutes in the game than Taylor did, which just goes to show how much he let Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou down.

Since joining Celtic back in September 2019 from Kilmarnock, the 24-year-old has made a total of 62 appearances for the Parkhead club across all competitions, scoring one goal and providing 14 assists along the way, showing that he is and has been Celtic’s first-choice left-back.

Having previously been described in the past as a “very limited” player in terms of his capabilities on the pitch by Celtic analyst Tony McLaughlin, the left-back showed an example of this in his latest performance for the Hoops, even though they managed to secure the three points and keep a clean sheet in the process.

Moving forward, even though Motherwell only had 29% possession and could only rack up nine attempts at goal this afternoon compared to Celtic’s 71% possession and 26 shots at goal, Taylor will have to make sure he can improve his performances and deliver them on a regular basis or else he could find himself out of the team if he can’t perform against tougher opposition.

Given how 19-year-old Adam Montgomery has made nine appearances for Celtic in the left-back position this season, there’s every possibility that Postecoglou could make him the club’s first-choice left-back if the Australian decides that Taylor isn’t up to it anymore.

In other news: Forget Rogic: “Outstanding” Celtic star with 6 key passes stole the show v Motherwell – opinion

Tottenham winger Jack Clarke is attracting interest from a number of Championship sides ahead of the January window, according to TEAMtalk.

The Lowdown: Clarke impressed Mourinho…

Clarke, described as a player with ‘huge talent’, made the move to north London from Leeds United back in 2019 for £9.9m when Mauricio Pochettino was still in charge.

He’s spent time out on loan at three Championship clubs since signing, most recently Stoke City, and has made just four senior Spurs appearances.

Clarke, who will turn 21 later this month, ‘really’ impressed Jose Mourinho during his time in charge, but it appears as if he could be heading out in the New Year following Antonio Conte’s arrival.

The Latest: Four clubs interested

TEAMtalk shared a story regarding Clarke on Thursday morning, claiming four second-tier sides are interested in his services.

They suggest that Barnsley, Derby County, Luton Town and Millwall are keen on a winter window swoop.

The Verdict: Time running out?

The same site has recently suggested that Spurs are leading the way for Fulham youngster Fabio Carvalho, who can also play out wide, so time may well be running out for Clarke in north London with a possible replacement already on the shopping list.

Labelled as a player with very deceptive speed, Clarke has struggled to break into a Spurs side under multiple managers and now has just 18 months remaining on his contract.

On that basis, you’d think Spurs may well make a firm call one way or the other in the summer when Clarke enters the final 12 months of his deal, and at this moment in time, you’d say it’s not looking good for him.

In other news: Ball lost 38 times, 0 crosses, just 3 tackles: 3 Spurs players struggled in Conte’s first game. 

Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara is the player ‘most likely’ to follow Steven Gerrard and join Aston Villa, according to Ashley Preece.

The Lowdown: Kamara links

Gerrard made the move to the Midlands last Thursday to replace Dean Smith and is hard at work ahead of his first game in charge against Brighton this weekend.

As to be expected, links to his former players have already emerged, with Kamara thought to be one of his top Ibrox targets along with full-back Nathan Patterson.

Gerrard has urged Villa chiefs not to miss out on either player as he feels they could be signed in January in a double deal worth over £30m. [90min]

The Latest: Preece’s comments

Preece ran a Q&A on Birmingham Live on Tuesday, discussing multiple Villa-related topics.

One supporter asked if the links to Kamara are serious and also wanted to know about a pundit linking Joe Aribo with a move to Villa Park.

This is what Preece had to say in reply, believing Kamara is the ‘most likely’ to move south.

“Hi Dyl, yeah, that’s the one that appears most-likely from Gerrard’s Rangers links. We’ll see what materialises. Aribo, or the left-footed Yaya Toure as he’s been labelled, has been on Villa’s radar before like you say. Can he cut it in the Premier League, that’s the question… Kamara most-likely out of them but Gerrard will have his own players he likes knowing Villa’s budget blows Rangers’ out of the water. Intrigued to see how Gerrard will work with Johan Lange. Ross Wilson was Gerrard’s sporting director at Gers.”

The Verdict: A midfielder a priority?

Gerrard likes to play an attacking 4-3-3 system and seems to be fairly well stocked in most areas of the pitch.

A new midfielder could be handy, though, with Villa’s only attacking midfielder on the books being youngster Jacob Ramsey.

He has two defensive options in Douglas Luiz and Marvelous Nakamba, while John McGinn, youngster Carney Chukwuemeka and out of favour Morgan Sanson are the three remaining options. [Transfermarkt]

Kamara can play as a central or defensive midfielder and his eye for a key pass has also improved year on year since working with Gerrard.

On that basis, the Finland international could be a solid first signing of Gerrard’s era as Villa boss, so it’ll be interesting to see if the club decide to make their move in the New Year.

In other news: ‘Excited’ – Many Villa fans rejoice as Gerrard reveals ‘one thing’ he wants. 

Celtic have been dealt a huge injury blow regarding Karamoko Dembele ahead of their upcoming Premiership fixture.

What’s the latest?

In a recent post on his Instagram account (via Daily Record), the 18-year-old winger – who has been sidelined since Celtic’s pre-season tour of Wales – revealed that he has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury, having to undergo surgery on an ankle fracture, which will keep him out of action until at least the turn of the year.

Regarding his injury, the England under-18 international said: “Unfortunately I’ve had some problems with the healing process of my ankle fracture, so I’ve had to get surgery done. Back on the field soon!”

Fans will be gutted

Considering the sheer amount of potential Dembele seems to possess, the news that he looks set to remain sidelined until at least 2022 is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful gutted.

Indeed, the £225k-rated teenager had started to feature more regularly for the Bhoys towards the back end of last season, playing in three of the club’s last four fixtures of the 2020/21 Premiership season, in which the winger scored his first senior goal for the club in a 4-0 drubbing of St Johnstone.

Prior to his injury, Dembele was also heavily involved in Celtic’s pre-season fixtures, featuring in both the 2-1 win over Charlton Athletic – a game in which the 18-year-old opened the scoring for the Hoops – and the 0-0 draw with Bristol City.

However, following his recent update, it now looks as if the teenage forward will not only miss Saturday’s visit of St Johnstone but also many more fixtures before he makes his return to first team action. That will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to Ange Postecoglou, who had admitted that he was looking forward to working with the youngster upon his arrival at Celtic this summer.

In other news: Ange makes approach for tough-tackling £3.2m sensation, Celtic fans will be buzzing

The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has revealed what he’s seen about Aston Villa in recent weeks amid a difficult start to the Premier League.

What’s the story?

Dean Smith’s side suffered yet another disappointing defeat in the top-flight last Friday when they went down 3-1 to Arsenal, and, during a discussion session for The Birmingham Mail, Preece made a very “alarming” claim.

He said: “It’s a combination of both. The finger-pointing came out at Arsenal last week, with Tyrone Mings, Matt Targett, John McGinn, Ezri Konsa, Matty Cash and Emi Martinez all dishing out rollickings to each other.

“The two boys up top, Danny Ings and Ollie Watkins, just have zero belief in what they’re doing at present. The body language amongst the group is alarming – and so too was Smith’s admission last week that recent, below-par performances have been nothing to do with that 3-5-2 system.”

Fans will be worried

While Jack Grealish’s exit in the summer transfer window was always going to be painful, Villa fans would surely have been in optimistic spirits heading into the new season given just how well their recruitment went.

The likes of Leon Bailey, Emi Buendia and Danny Ings, among others, were brought in to add a bit more excitement and attacking flair to Villa’s side, and given the fact they had a settled back four and goalkeeper from last season, things were looking up.

But, the momentum at Villa Park has well and truly shifted, with a couple of bad defeats in recent weeks really raising question marks about the club and the direction they’re heading in – they lie in the bottom half of the table, and have already suffered five defeats in just nine Premier League games.

The fact Preece claims the body language in the group is “alarming” is sure to worry fans about whether Smith can restore the kind of confidence needed to bounce back from their recent failures.

If this kind of run continues, then it’s hard to see where that leaves Smith.

Meanwhile, Villa should sell this star amid rival interest…

Lots of Newcastle United fans have been blasting Jacob Murphy after he missed a big chance to give them a win away at Watford on Saturday afternoon.

The winger was put through one-on-one against the goalkeeper in injury time with no pressure on the ball, but decided to try and chip a shot over Ben Foster rather than hit it hard into one of the corners.

It ended up a very tame effort which was easily saved, leaving many Newcastle fans angry over his poor finish.

Murphy did not have the best impact when he came on as a substitute, losing out on two of his duels and failing to make any dribbles, key passes, crosses or long balls (Sofascore).

Newcastle fans on Murphy’s miss

These Newcastle supporters blasted Murphy on Twitter after his miss, with one Magpies fan even going as far as to claim that the 26-year-old is a ‘Championship player’:

“Sell him.”

Credit: @LiamDowson_55

“Championship player”

Credit: @kanskelucas

“6-year contract though based on 5 half-decent games last season. Embarrassing.”

Credit: @gw850

“Criminal, absolutely criminal”

Credit: @Nosivi12

“Absolutely messed it up”

Credit: @emmagregory23

“Needs fining for that”

Credit: @ThePieMan8589

In other news, this ex-Newcastle ace thinks the takeover will now happen