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Keith Downie has now revealed what Newcastle United’s January transfer plans are as the club’s takeover was confirmed on Thursday evening.

The Lowdown: It’s happening…

The proposed takeover of the St. James’ Park faithful by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium is finally happening, after a breakthrough on Wednesday led to confirmation of the deal on Thursday evening.

It will finally bring an end to the reign of Mike Ashley, while a likely restructuring of the board brings the futures of the likes of Steve Bruce, Graeme Jones and Lee Charnley under question.

The Latest: Transfer plans

Downie has now told Sky Sports that ‘I do expect’ the North East club to spend money on the playing squad in the upcoming winter window, although he did not specify how much.

The journalist also claimed that spending on infrastructure will be the priority for the new owners first of all, and the stadium and academy will need improving as well.

The Verdict: Intriguing

It will certainly be intriguing to see how much money the Tyneside outfit will have to spend in January, assuming that the new owners are settled in and prepared to splash the cash immediately.

It will also be interesting to note the calibre of player that they will be able to attract, which could help them survive relegation from the Premier League, given their position in the table at the moment.

Nonetheless, it is only a matter of time before we can see just how much financial muscle they can flex now that the deal is through.

In other news, find out what big arbitration update Craig Hope has dropped here!

Celtic have a handful of SPFL games left to play this season as they aim to secure the league title in their first campaign under the management of Ange Postecoglou.

Their next match sees them take on Ross County away from home this afternoon after they were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Rangers last weekend.

Moving into this important period of the season, it seems as though the Hoops will have to make do without one of their key figures for the time being.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his latest press conference ahead of today’s showdown, Postecoglou revealed that full-back Josip Juranovic will be out of action for “a couple of weeks” after he picked up an injury during last weekend’s semi-final defeat.

With that in mind, it seems as though the Hoops will be without the Croatian for their next Old Firm clash against Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side as well as today’s match against County.

Awful news for Postecoglou

Celtic signed the defender back in the previous summer transfer window from Legia Warsaw in a deal worth a reported fee of £2.5m.

Since then, the right-back has made 35 appearances across all competitions for the Parkhead club.

In those appearances, the 26-year-old has scored five goals and provided two assists, showing how useful he can be in an attacking sense.

From a defensive point of view, the summer recruit has been a solid addition to Celtic’s squad having made more tackles (28) than any other Hoops player as well as the third-highest number of interceptions (22) behind Carl Starfelt (37) and Cameron Carter-Vickers (36).

Taking all of this into account, while he may only be out of action for a couple of weeks, this will still be a big blow for the team and bad news for the manager to be without him for that period of time given how close they are to the title.

Moving forward, with Anthony Ralston replacing Juranovic at Hampden Park last weekend, it seems likely that the 56-year-old Hoops boss will be relying on him to fill in for the Croatian while he’s out.

Therefore, today’s game against County will be a good way for the Scotsman to show he has what it takes to do a job for the team once again.

In other news: Sold for £2m, now worth £540k: Celtic struck gold on £17k-p/w dud who “had issues”

On the pitch, Newcastle haven’t had the best start to the season after just winning one of their 15 games of the campaign so far.

Off the pitch, however, it seems as though Newcastle’s new owners are working behind the scenes to appoint a director of football ahead of the upcoming January transfer window.

That said, it seems as though the club could be heading in a direction on the matter that would not have a lot of Newcastle fans happy.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from the Daily Mail by journalist Craig Hope, Nick Hammond, the former head of football operations at Celtic, has been spoken to by the Newcastle hierarchy about potentially becoming their new director.

Forget about him

With a report from The Scottish Sun evaluating the 20 players that Hammond helped Celtic sign during his time at the Parkhead club for a total fee of £35m and coming away with an overall negative summary, perhaps it wouldn’t be in Newcastle’s best interest if they hire him as their new director given his track record of poor recruitment at Celtic.

He signed former West Ham striker Albian Ajeti for £4.5m but he has only found the net on nine occasions in 47 outings for the Hoops while adding Polish forward Patrky Klimala to their ranks for £3.5m. The end result of his move was even worse with just three strikes in 28 appearances.

There was also the addition of goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas at £5m in the summer of 2020 but just a year and a half on, he looks set to be heading to pastures new after only 23 games for Celtic.

Thus, taking into account how Newcastle are still in the relegation zone of the Premier League table despite winning their previous league game against Burnley, the Tyneside club will have to make sure they sign find right person to help them sign the correct players in January.

On the evidence provided, it doesn’t look like Hammond possesses the tools to be able to turn their season around and avoid the drop down to the Championship by the end of the campaign.

With the same report from Hope claiming that Newcastle have hired an external recruitment firm to help in their search for a director of football, this should give the fans some confidence that the hierarchy are doing their best at making sure they get the right person for the job in and push the club forward.

Looking ahead to the rest of this month and January, it’s safe to say that this will be an important period for Newcastle on and off the pitch for the right people to come in behind the scenes and for Eddie Howe and his players to keep getting points on the board and escape the relegation zone.

Yet, if they opt for Hammond, it would surely leave a number of the Toon Army fuming with the decision. His track record of signing players, especially in recent times, is not desirable whatsoever.

In other news: NUFC could land the next Xavi with £31.5m-rated gem who “always finds the best escape” – opinion

A number of Manchester United fans have flocked to Fabrizio Romano’s transfer news regarding Axel Tuanzebe.

According to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano, the deal between Manchester United and Napoli for the loan transfer of Tuanzebe is set to be signed this week. This comes following Aston Villa’s approval, where the club has agreed to terminate the defender’s current loan deal.

The 24-year-old has struggled for game time at Villa since the arrival of Steven Gerrard, having played just eight minutes under the new manager.

Manchester United are currently undergoing a centre-back crisis of their own however, with illness and injuries sustained by Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof and club captain Harry Maguire ruling the trio out of last night’s 1-0 loss to Wolves.

This led to Phil Jones’ first appearance in just under two years, and although the 29 year-old didn’t do much wrong, his return from cold storage perhaps epitomises the issues in the heart of defence.

Manchester United fans react to Tuanzebe transfer news

These United fans were left confused by Romano’s transfer update, as many asserted that Tuanzebe could have been an excellent addition to the side, amidst their central defender crisis.

Here’s what some of them had to say in response to Romano’s tweet:

“Why would we let Tuanzebe go on loan with Maguire injured, doesn’t make sense”

Credit: @RonaIdoProp

“We should keep Tuanzebe and play him over Maguire tbh”

Credit: @dbcoopa17

“Makes n0 sense offloading him when in our current state we have only 2 fit defenders”

Credit: @JassimAlThani4

“This makes no sense when we are starting Phil Jones tonight”

Credit: @Stanhods

“Can we delay this, we need him today”

Credit: @adisreee

“We need him now more than ever hello ??”

Credit: @drinii_

Aston Villa saw a £25million bid for Yves Bissouma rejected by Brighton and Hove Albion, according to The Telegraph’s John Percy. 

The journalist tweeted that Villa are now prioritising a deal for Juventus’ Rodrigo Bentancur after Brighton batted away their offer for the 25-year-old.

Steven Gerrard seems intent on signing another midfielder before the January transfer window closes in a week’s time.

Villa bid was only half of Brighton’s valuation

The Athletic’s Brighton correspondent Andy Naylor wrote earlier in January that it would take a bid of £50m for the Seagulls to consider parting with Bissouma this month. They don’t see any need to sell, even though the Mali international is into the final 18 months of his contract and has apparently given no indication that he will sign an extension at the Amex Stadium.

Bissouma has previously been ‘linked’ with the likes of Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal, who all may now hope to beat Villa to his signature.

The Midlands outfit have spent £27m so far in Gerrard’s first transfer window, signing Lucas Digne permanently from Everton and loaning in Philippe Coutinho and Robin Olsen.

Here’s what Villa fans made of Percy’s revelation about the rejected bid for Bissouma, with many believing that sporting director Johan Lange has foolishly low-balled on the midfielder’s true value.

Villa supporters baffled by Bissouma bid

“25 mil? That’s embarrassing”

Credit: @_ali_mans

“Villa’s ‘bids’ for JWP, Smith-Rowe and Bissouma have been laughable. Significantly undervalued talent with bids that were never in a million years going to be accepted”

Credit: @military_villan

“Bidding 25m for Bissouma was kind of wild tbh”

Credit: @obeball_

“Lange are you ok? 25m you know”

Credit: @WazeUTV

“£25m, they were never gonna accept that”

Credit: @DaleAC93

“£25m is embarrassing”

Credit: @villavisionben

In other news, another midfield target has emerged for Villa

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Son Heung-Min is emerging as Tottenham Hotspur’s clutch player.

Having returned from the Asian Cup with South Korea, the 26-year-old has been thrown into the fire at Spurs, playing against both Watford and Newcastle.

The north London outfit won both games, and the winger has been integral to the victories.

He netted an 80th-minute equaliser against Watford prior to the winner by Fernando Llorente, before scoring a late decider against Rafa Benitez’s men on Saturday.

The results kept Mauricio Pochettino’s men in touch with the Premier League leaders Liverpool, as well as second-placed Manchester City. Prior to Monday’s game between West Ham and the Reds, Spurs are just four points behind Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Former Wigan & Fulham man, Jimmy Bullard recently showed that he’s still got it! Check out the video below…

Of course, it remains to be seen if Liverpool will slip up any further, but Tottenham are in there, scrapping, and that is largely down to the performances of Son.

He has emerged as the club’s go-to player when it comes to needing to win a game, particularly with Dele Alli and Harry Kane both out injured.

Against the Magpies, the South Korean enjoyed a match-winning display and simply never stopped running.

Per Whoscored, he scored, his goal came after a total of five shots, he made one tackle and boasted a pass success rate of 90%. He also had four successful dribbles, continually running at the Newcastle backline and causing problems.

When needed, he stepped up with a goal that confirmed three vital points and has moved the club one step closer to both Champions League qualification and a title challenge.

With Kane and Alli both out, Spurs have needed a hero to step up; Son has done just that and should now be regarded as their most effective forward option when it comes to big games.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been left buzzing as some early team news ahead of their game at Brondby in the UEFA Europa League has emerged.

Speaking in his pre game press conference ahead of the match, Steven Gerrard has now revealed that Ryan Kent will travel with the squad after training with them, while Ryan Jack has also been training and has an ‘outside chance’ of being involved on the weekend, although Glen Kamara is currently rated at ’50/50′ to be able to play after receiving a knock on his ankle.

Nonetheless, the Ibrox faithful we’re particularly pleased to hear the news of Kent’s return, given how long he has been out injured now.

The Light Blues have only managed to win four of the seven matches in the Scottish Premiership without him (Transfermarkt), with the 6-1 demolition away at Motherwell on the weekend the only real convincing performance.

With them currently lingering in third place in their group, the winger’s return will no doubt boost their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages – he has bagged five times and provided 11 assists in his Europa League career.

Rangers fans on Kent news

These Light Blues paused as the news on Kent was shared on Twitter:

“We are back baby”

Credit: @Aidan72_

“Tweets you love to see”

Credit: @gibbo89

“Things we love to see”

Credit: @Chloetimpany

“He’s back”

Credit: @Ross_Herkes1

“KENTTTT KENT WILL TEAR YOU APART, AGAIN!”

Credit: @JaffaGer

“The news we’ve all been waiting for!”

Credit: @Kennyw_11

In other news, find out what club update has Gers fuming here!

Eddie Howe has been handed a huge behind-the-scenes boost over Newcastle full-back Kieran Trippier’s recovery from injury…

What’s the latest?

The Toon defender has been out of action since February and is now taking steps forward towards making his return to the first-team squad before the end of the season.

Journalist Miles Starford Tweeted: “Kieran Trippier close to injury ‘handover’.”

This Tweet was in relation to Howe’s comments on the defender’s current situation. Speaking about Callum Wilson and Trippier, the head coach said: “They’ll definitely be stepping it up.

“I don’t think they’ll be with us at all, so they won’t train with the group. There will be a handover period for Kieran, I think, where he’ll go with our sports science guys.”That might happen at some stage soon. It’s not happened yet. Both players are still with physiotherapists.” Howe will be buzzing

Howe will surely be buzzing with Trippier’s recovery and the pace at which he is going through it. These comments suggest that he is making good progress and stepping up the work that he is doing at Darsley Park to get himself back in contention to play in the Premier League.

The Toon boss will be keen to see him back out on the pitch in the coming weeks to make sure that he heads into the summer with a good base of fitness under his belt.

If he fails to play any minutes before the end of the campaign then that will mean that he will have gone around six months without competitive minutes by the start of 2022/23 and that is not an ideal way to start a season. Therefore, getting him back in for the last few matches would be a big boost ahead of the summer.

Howe will also be delighted with his return to action because of the quality he has on the pitch. In the top-flight this term, he has scored two goals in four matches and made a whopping 6.0 tackles and interceptions per game from right-back since joining from Atletico Madrid.

The England international has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.67 for the Magpies so far and this is why the head coach will be keen to have him back in the squad. He is a joy to watch with his sublime performances in defence, as he was able to showcase his attacking and defensive quality prior to his injury against Villa.

AND in other news, NUFC could finally axe shocking £80k-p/w flop with “insane” £40m “star in the making”…

Celtic have been dealt a huge blow in their bid to bring Riley McGree to Parkhead in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Anthony Joseph, with the Sky Sports journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that, despite earlier reports suggesting that the 23-year-old’s switch from Charlotte FC to Celtic was all but a done deal, talks between the midfielder and Ange Postecoglou’s side have now broken down over personal terms.

Joseph went on to state that the Bhoys and the MLS side had agreed a £2.5m deal for the transfer of the Australia international, however, with the player being yet to put pen to paper on a contract at Parkhead, Championship side Middlesbrough now believe they are still in with a chance of landing McGree this month.

In his post, the journalist said: “Talks between Celtic and Charlotte FC’s Riley McGree have stalled at this stage. The clubs agreed an initial fee of £2.5m. Discussions have broken down over personal terms & the player has not signed any deal yet. Middlesbrough believe they are still in the race.”

Postecoglou will be fuming

Considering just how impressive McGree has been while on loan at Birmingham City this season, in addition to the fact that Postecoglou appears extremely keen to secure a deal for the midfielder this month – with the 56-year-old personally involving himself in negotiations with the player – the news that talks have broken down with the 23-year-old is sure to have left the Bhoys boss fuming.

Indeed, over his 13 Championship appearances this term, the £540k-rated man bagged two goals, registered two assists and created three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/?post_type=web-story&p=664142″ title=”Check out the latest Celtic news!”]

The £5.7k-per-week player also impressed in metrics more typical of his central midfield position, making an average of 1.3 interceptions, 1.2 tackles, 22 passes and winning 4.8 duels per league fixture, with these returns seeing McGree average a SofaScore match rating of 7.02 – ranking him as Birmingham’s sixth-best player in the second tier.

As such, it is clear to see that McGree would make a fantastic addition to Postecoglou’s current options in the middle of the park.

However, following Joseph’s latest update, it would seem as if a deal for the 23-year-old is far from done just yet – something that will undoubtedly come as a huge blow to the Greek-Australian manager.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Maeda: Celtic must swoop for 54-goal dynamo who can “sprint like Mbappe”…

With the recent news that Celtic centre-back Stephen Welsh picked up an injury while on international duty with Scotland U21s on Tuesday, in addition to the fact that fellow centre-back Carl Starfelt is also a doubt for the Bhoys’ upcoming Scottish League Cup semi-final, Ange Postecoglou will undoubtedly be starting to get something of a selection headache ahead of the weekend.

Indeed, should both Welsh and Starfelt be unavailable for the fixture against St. Johnstone, the 56-year-old Hoops manager will only have the options of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Liam Scales and Osaze Urhoghide to pick from in the heart of his defence, with the latter two yet to feature in a single league fixture for Celtic this season.

However, despite the magnitude of Saturday’s clash, the fixture would nevertheless appear to be the perfect opportunity for Postecoglou to finally unleash the 21-year-old Urhoghide, as the defender very much appears to possess the potential to become a first-team regular at Parkhead before too long.

Urhoghide is more than ready

Indeed, the £270k-rated centre-back has already more than proven he is ready for professional football, as, prior to his switch to Celtic, the 21-year-old made 16 Championship appearances in his final campaign with Sheffield Wednesday, helping his side keep three clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 1.8 tackles, 2.7 clearances and winning 5.8 duels per game.

These returns saw the defender who Darren Moore dub an “immense” talent average a SofaScore match rating of 6.63, a highly impressive feat considering his tender age and his club’s ultimate relegation to League One.

As such, despite Postecoglou’s recent suggestion that, due to a lack of opportunity, he may look to send Urhoghide out on loan in the January transfer window, the 56-year-old simply must unleash the centre-back this weekend, as, with a solid performance against St. Johnstone, the 21-year-old could well convince his manager he is worthy of his starting spot in the Celtic XI.

In other news: Out with the old: Ange can revolutionise Celtic with attention-grabbing 16 y/o prodigy