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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.

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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’. 

Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has revealed that Liverpool are “still pushing” to sign Fulham starlet Fabio Carvalho on transfer deadline day.

What’s the story?

After initially looking like the January transfer window would be a quiet one in terms of incomings for Jurgen Klopp’s side, the Reds gazumped Premier League rivals Spurs to the signing of Porto winger Luis Diaz.

Now, Sheth has revealed that the Merseyside club continue to pursue Carvalho amid interest from other clubs.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “Liverpool still pushing to sign Fulham forward Fabio Carvalho. A number of other clubs are interested. Fulham remain confident he will be at Craven Cottage until the summer. Carvalho has entered final 6 months of his Fulham contract.”

He’s an exciting talent

Speaking after he watched him score his first goal for the club against Southampton towards the back end of last season, former Fulham boss Scott Parker said: “Fabio was lively, he had great amounts of energy. All round his performance was very good for a young boy that has come into the team for his full debut.

“He showed real courage and bravery, he’s earned the right to get into this team. He’s not in this team because our season’s over, he’s in the team because he deserves it.”

No categories

Able to play anywhere across midfield and further forward too, Carvalho has been at his best for Fulham’s youth sides when playing just behind the striker.

In 42 games in that position for the Cottagers, the England U18 international has smashed in an incredible 20 goals and provided another nine assists too, while he’s also equally effective out wide too (he’s scored seven goals and set up another eight from the right-hand side).

This season has seen him start off with a bang for the senior side, bagging seven goals in 18 Championship games, including providing four assists too.

His recent form has been particularly impressive, netting three goals and setting up another three in just his past four league games – quite the feat considering he will likely be aware of all the transfer speculation surrounding him.

That speaks to the elite mentality and professionalism that he has even at just the age of 19, and it’s exactly why Sheth’s update that Liverpool are “still pushing” to sign him is likely to have fans absolutely buzzing at the prospect of him joining.

Frank McAvennie has slammed Glasgow Rangers’ lack of common sense from the corner that saw St. Johnstone equalise in their Scottish Cup clash last weekend.

McAvennie slams Rangers defending

The Gers were 1-0 up going into the final minute of extra-time in their quarter-final against the Saints after James Tavernier gave them the lead. However, the scored was levelled when Chris Kane tapped in goalkeeper Zander Clark’s header.

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie has slammed the Ibrox outfit’s lack of common sense. He said:

“The biggest thing I’ve said about Rangers all year is that they’re organised at the back, they’re rigid.

“But sometimes you have to use a bit of common sense and common sense told me you should mark a 6 feet tall goalkeeper at a corner kick. What a huge mistake. 

“Common sense would tell me, mark him. They didn’t get anywhere near him because they were all picking up the men they were told to. 

“Sometimes you have to think on your feet sometimes and adapt. You can’t leave someone unmarked in the box like that.”

Silly

It is hard to argue with McAvennie in this case. While Clark may not be used to being in the opposition penalty area, he stands at 6 foot 5, making him an aerial threat regardless of his actual footballing ability. That proved to be the case in this situation, and the goal eventually led to the Gers being knocked out of the competition.

It will be a blow for Steven Gerrard and co to already be out of the competition given they have already wrapped up the Premiership title. They will have wanted to complete a domestic double and, although the winner of the whole tournament only receives £240,000 (via The Daily Record), every little helps during these difficult financial times. Hopefully, this will be a lesson from which Gerrard and his players can learn.

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this club news.

Manchester City have received ‘enquiries’ from Barcelona and Juventus for striker Gabriel Jesus, ahead of a potential exodus from the club this summer.

The Lowdown: Jesus to follow Sterling?

The Brazilian has struggled to force his way into being a regular part of Pep Guardiola’s plans this season, often finding himself on the substitutes’ bench.

Jesus has only started 16 out of 32 Premier League games, as well as forcing his way into the starting lineup just once in the Champions League to date.

With Erling Haaland looking likely to join City this summer, it could be that their current No.9 is deemed surplus to requirements, following reports that Raheem Sterling could leave, too.

According to the Italian press, Sterling could join AC Milan because he is ‘no longer on good terms’ with Guardiola.

The Latest: Contact made

As per a report from Lance [via Sport Witness], both Barca and Juve have made ‘enquiries’ about Jesus, while it is claimed that he is ‘likely’ to be at another club next season.

The 25-year-old’s current deal expires at the end of next season, which increases the chance of him leaving this summer, in order for City to receive a fee before the risk of losing him as a free agent next year.

The Verdict: Time to move on

Jesus’ City career has been a curious one in many ways, with the Brazil international showing immense talent but never quite managing to kick on and become the true heir to Sergio Aguero.

While 89 goals in 229 appearances is not to be sniffed at, it is damning that Guardiola has often opted to play with someone like Phil Foden as a false nine instead, suggesting he doesn’t think his striker is good enough.

It feels like the right time for Jesus to move on and enjoy a fresh challenge, with a move to Barca allowing him to follow in the footsteps of Brazilian greats such as Ronaldo and Ronaldinho.

In other news, a journalist has shared a major City transfer breakthrough. Read more here.

Tottenham Hotspur star Dele Alli was once one of the most valuable youngsters in world football.

In 2018, a study conducted by CIES Football Observatory concluded that the Englishman was the most valuable midfielder in the world, ahead of the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Paul Pogba and N’Golo Kante.

Just a year earlier, former Spurs boss Martin Jol claimed Alli wasn’t too far off being a £100m player, as per football.london, and that was reflected by Transfermarkt at the turn of 2019, where they valued the attacking playmaker at a whopping £90m.

Value plummeting

Things are vastly different now.

CIES’ latest update (8th March 2021) sees the 24-year-old valued at just €30m (£26m), which emphasises just how drastic a downfall he has had in recent seasons.

By comparison, Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes is now the most valuable midfielder at an astonishing €151.1m (£130m), with Chelsea’s Kai Havertz closely following behind at €136m (£117m).

Alli has never been one to be overhyped, but his increased exposure at the elite level since a £5m move from MK Dons aged just 18 has levelled out the public’s expectations of him somewhat.

But what are some of the factors behind his seismic collapse?

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False dawn under Mourinho

After Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in November 2019, the arrival of Jose Mourinho handed Alli an opportunity to reinvent himself – to shake off that annoying tag of ‘Dele’s brother‘ often showing up rather than the player himself.

Indeed, this looked to be the case almost instantly, as a reinvigorated Alli delivered three goals and three assists in the first four matches under the ‘Special One’ but that would upturn in form turned out to be ever so short-lived.

Since then, Amazon’s ‘All or Nothing’ docuseries has come out, and there’s a clip of Mourinho calling Alli “lazy” but in more colourful language. As a result, the Pochettino favourite has only played 964 minutes in all competitions this season, of which 11 of 22 appearances have been starts, via Transfermarkt.

A move to Paris Saint-Germain, the new home of the Argentine boss, fell through in January and now he cuts an often isolated figure in the Spurs team or more so, on the Spurs bench.

Out of England reckoning

With a lack of game time and consistent performances, comes a consequence at international level – unless you’re called Jordan Pickford or Eric Dier.

Having racked up 37 caps for England, Alli was axed from Gareth Southgate’s squad for their Euro 2020 qualifiers and hasn’t actually been seen since their UEFA Nations League third-placed playoff win over Switzerland in July 2019.

It’ll come as a bitter blow to Alli that he won’t be involved in a major tournament this summer but given his age, he has every chance of salvaging his Three Lions career in time for the Qatar World Cup.

He could take a page out of Jesse Lingard’s book after the West Ham loanee earned his first call-up since the very same game.

Where now?

It wasn’t too long ago that Alli managed a whopping 31 direct goal contributions in one season (2017/18) and at just 24 years of age, he is still nowhere near his peak.

Around this time, he was being lauded as a “competitive animal” and a “freak of a talent” – also drawing lofty comparisons to the likes of Steven Gerrard and co.

Now the forgotten Spurs man has only contributed towards seven goals, which is still respectable considering the lack of minutes on the pitch.

Though he may well need to force an exit this summer and Spurs chairman Daniel Levy ought to cash in before his value sinks even further under Mourinho.

AND in other news, Spurs handed Sergio Reguilon transfer boost…

Tottenham Hotspur appear to have been dealt another devastating blow in their lengthy managerial search this week…

What’s the word?

According to Turkish radio station Radyo Gol, Nuno Santo is on the verge of being appointed as Fenerbahce’s next boss after talks accelerated over the weekend.

It’s claimed that a final meeting between the Super Lig giants and the Portuguese coach were held on Monday and that an announcement could be less than a few days away.

The 47-year-old has widely been touted as the front-runner for the Spurs job, with newly-appointed sporting director Fabio Paratici said to be ‘pushing hard’ to secure him in North London.

Nuno has been out of work for less than a month after leaving Premier League rivals Wolves by mutual consent at the end of last season.

Another setback

This would seemingly deal the Lilywhites their umpteenth setback since Jose Mourinho was sacked in mid-April. They’ve held talks with at least six to seven names, whilst as many as ten different options have been mooted throughout this tragic process.

In the early days, the likes of Julian Naglesmann and Brendan Rodgers were thought to be chairman Daniel Levy’s top candidates – the former opted for Bayern Munich and the latter played down a switch to the capital from Leicester City almost instantly.

There were then ‘confident’ talks with Antonio Conte – a former Premier League winner at Chelsea – but that collapsed late on due to concerns from both parties, whilst Mauricio Pochettino was even linked with a sensation return to the club he was sacked from in November 2019 after five years at the helm.

Paratici was hired as Spurs’ first director of football in six years and he quickly moved for former AS Roma and Shakhtar boss Paulo Fonseca, only for those discussions to break down at the 11th hour.

The Italian chief desperately turned to Gennaro Gattuso before fan backlash put pay to that, too. It has left the North Londoners back at square one but as you can see, it’s been blow after blow for the club’s hierarchy.

Even their interest in Nuno comes as a surprise because Paratici has had to convince Levy to do a U-turn on the ex-Wolves man and now it seems like he isn’t even going to be their next manager.

The Spurs supremo must be absolutely furious with these fresh developments and he, like the rest of us, has to be wondering if it will ever come to an end.

Pre-season training starts next week, they better find a solution – and fast.

AND in other news, Imagine him and Ndombele: Levy could form scary Spurs duo with £20m “exceptional talent”…

Rafa Benitez is the newly-appointed Everton manager and has already been promised money to spend in the transfer market.

The Toffees look set to splash the cash on improving their defence, with a mega £55m bid lined up to sign Ben White.

On the chalkboard

White isn’t the only impressive defender on Everton’s radar, with Juventus centre-back Merih Demiral also taking their fancy.

The 23-year-old disappointed as Turkey exited the group stages at Euro 2020 but Benitez and Marcel Brands could still lure some of the best talent from the tournament to Goodison Park this summer.

Dutch full-back Denzel Dumfries continues to be linked with a move to Merseyside, and a deal could be done more easily now Bayern Munich have reportedly pulled out of the race.

Dubbed a “freight train” during the competition by the BBC commentary team, he’d be a wonderful acquisition on the right-hand side of defence. He possesses pace and power in abundance and scored two goals during the European Championships.

However, if Benitez is looking for someone more astute defensively and with a bit more experience, he should look no further than Kieran Trippier.

The full-back won La Liga with Atletico Madrid last season and was the subject of interest from the Toffees a few months ago.

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Signed for £20m, his football has come on leaps and bounds since departing Tottenham. He has played at left-back for England at the Euros but also on his favoured right-hand side, and Everton could do with a player in that position with Seamus Coleman’s contract expiring in a year’s time.

Trippier would more than fit the bill. He leapfrogged Trent Alexander-Arnold in the England pecking order heading into the tournament and has started more often than Reece James.

Describing a previous outing for the Three Lions where the 30-year-old  impressed against Belgium, Gareth Southgate commented: “Trippier was like a soldier out there, unbelievable defensive performance.”

The defender put in a similar performance on the big stage against Germany in the last 16 of Euro 2020 this week. He provided two key passes, produced eight crosses and won 66% of his defensive duels in a battling performance.

Very rarely did Germany get any change from the 30-year-old as flying wing-back Robin Gosens barely advanced beyond the halfway line, failing to play a single key pass or complete a dribble.

Trippier has proven to be a particularly reliable performer for England and the defensive organisational skills he will have gained from playing under Diego Simeone have evidently made him a better player.

Benitez should definitely consider bringing him back to English football this summer.

AND in other news, Reliable journalist delivers exciting Everton transfer update, fans should be buzzing…

Writing on Twitter, reliable Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold believes Juan Foyth possibly joining Villarreal on a permanent deal this summer could be a transfer which ‘comes back to bite Spurs’ – with the La Liga side possessing an option to sign him for around £13 million on top of the loan fee. 

Foyth has impressed under former Arsenal boss Unai Emery on the continent recently after a slow start to life in Spain, often displaying his versatility as a right-back, centre-back or defensive midfielder (football.london).

Gold fires Foyth warning to Spurs

So far, the 23-year-old has made 27 appearances for Villarreal in all competitions and 14 in La Liga – with Gold relaying that Spurs could be set to lose a young player ‘on the up’ this summer (football.london).

Sending a warning, Gold believes Foyth and his spell at the Estadio de la Cerámica should be a lesson for the Lilywhites over loaning out promising youngsters at the right time (Twitter).

Given the option-to-buy inserted into the starlet’s loan agreement at Villarreal, Gold explains that Spurs now look unlikely to benefit from his recent rise to prominence and experience gained.

Instead, Spurs may just receive a relatively low transfer fee for a highly promising youngster.

Transfer Tavern take

According to WhoScored, the Argentine has made an impressive 2.6 tackles per 90 in those 14 league outings whilst managing to find a teammate with 87.4% of his passes.

Last year, the Athletic journalist Charlie Eccleshare heralded Foyth as a ‘really exciting’ player – and Tottenham possibly losing him this summer for just £13m comes as an possible hiccup by chairman Daniel Levy, who will be looking to raise big cash through sales to spend on any incoming players.

Emery, speaking to AS recently, even admitted he would like to keep the starlet – and it seems like only a matter of time before they make his move permanent judging by his accolades this season.

In other news: Tottenham make enquiry for £225,000-per-week star, find out more here.

West Ham United have once again been linked with a move for Olivier Giroud ahead of the upcoming transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Italian news outlet Calciomercato, there is a lot of interest in the out-of-contract Chelsea striker this summer, with teams in the Serie A and Premier League monitoring his situation. The likes of Juventus, Inter Milan, AS Roma and Lazio have been mentioned, as well as the Irons, who could battle their top-flight rivals Crystal Palace for his signature.

Giroud’s £110,000-per-week deal at Stamford Bridge expires next month, meaning he is free to find a new club unless the Champions League finalists offer him a new deal, which seems unlikely at this stage.

Perfect foil

Despite being 34, the 1.93m (6 foot 4) powerhouse ticks a lot of encouraging boxes for the Hammers.

It is abundantly clear that David Moyes is desperate for a new addition to his frontline after the club failed to replace the outgoing Sebastian Haller during the January transfer window, leaving him with an injury-prone Michail Antonio as his only senior option at centre-forward.

They have been linked with plenty of big-money signings, including Giroud’s Chelsea teammate Tammy Abraham, who could cost in excess of £40m. That’s an extraordinary amount of money and would undoubtedly take a serious wedge out of the 58-year-old’s summer budget, so Giroud is an appealing cheap and short-term fix instead.

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He also has vast experience in the game, racking up 255 appearances and 90 goals in the Premier League, as well as 107 caps for France, whilst he has won the World Cup, a Europa League and four FA Cups.

With the Irons just one point away from Europa League qualification, signing someone who has won that very competition could be rather valuable. Again, that’s another checkmark beside his name.

Of course, the French veteran is by no means a long-term fix to Moyes’ striker woes, but he is certainly still capable of delivering the goods on his day, and could either be a short-term plug or a perfect option to accompany any new addition – after all, West Ham probably need more than just one new centre-forward.

Giroud also offers something completely different to Antonio – that being his aerial threat – something about which Eden Hazard waxed lyrical in 2018.

“Olivier’s a target man, maybe the best in the world; I think so,” explained the former Chelsea star. “When he gets the ball, he can hold the ball and we can go in deep with him, so for us, it’s a pleasure to play with him.”

The 34-year-old beast, valued at just £4.5m by Transfermarkt, has also been lauded as “out of this world” by Glenn Hoddle, whilst his former boss Frank Lampard hailed him as “the ultimate professional.”

Furthermore, it is perhaps Gary Lineker’s past endorsement which should provide the most encouragement, as he tweeted: “Olivier Giroud is an extremely underrated player. His intelligent movement and finishing are exceptional. He’ll always score plenty of goals.”

All in all, on the above evidence, Moyes should urge a move for the free agent this summer. It won’t cost GSB a penny and Giroud would provide a bargain solution to their thin attack.

AND in other news, Hammers could be dealt Jack Wilshere 2.0 by signing £18m-rated “physical monster”…

Aston Villa have been handed a major injury boost over Ollie Watkins ahead of their Premier League clash against Chelsea later today.

What’s the story?

The England international had been out of action for Villa for the opening two Premier League games before coming on as a substitute late on in the draw against Brentford last time out.

Dean Smith’s side travel to Stamford Bridge to take on the reigning Champions League holders on Saturday, and via a tweet from the club’s official social media channels, Smith said: “We should be welcoming Ollie Watkins back. We’ve also got Leon Bailey back to full fitness now. Bertrand Traore has trained the last couple of days as well. John McGinn and Jacob Ramsey have recovered from their Covid-19 situations too.”

Villa fans will be buzzing

Make no mistake about it, while Danny Ings got his Villa career off to a decent start with a goal on his debut, missing Watkins for those opening couple of games would’ve come as a massive blow to Smith.

The striker led Villa’s charge up the table last term, bagging 16 goals in all competitions (including 14 in the Premier League alone) and netting in home and away fixtures against both Liverpool and Arsenal. Such were his impressive performances in his debut campaign in the top flight that reports even suggested that the Merseyside club were interested in signing him in the summer transfer window.

Indeed, former Villa striker Gabby Agbonlahor has even touted Watkins with winning the Premier League’s Golden Boot award, saying: “I think people might look at that statement and say ‘no chance’, but you look at last season, his first season in the Premier League, Watkins was scoring goals galore, he wasn’t even taking penalties and still got into double figures.

“I think if he is to win the Golden Boot he’d need to be on penalties, so we need to get El Ghazi off of them. But, he’s an outstanding striker, he’s got his England caps and he’s getting better and better with each game he plays in the Premier League.”

Dubbed a “machine” by Chris Deacon, programme editor at Watkins’ previous club Brentford, the £34m-rated star’s return is sure to have fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa had a transfer masterclass with this ace…