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Leeds United could finally land themselves a new creative gem this summer…

What’s the word?

According to Italian outlet 1000 Cuori Rossoblu, the Yorkshire outfit are among several teams interested in signing CF Montreal attacking midfielder Djordje Mihailovic when the transfer window reopens.

They are expected to face competition from Premier League rivals Newcastle United, as well as Bundesliga duo Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund, and Serie A sides AS Roma and Atalanta.

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Bologna could also be keen as they have the same owner, Joey Saputo, as the Impact.

The 23-year-old’s contract is set to expire in 2023 but it remains to be seen how much he’d command before then. Transfermarkt currently value the six-time USMNT international at just £5.4m.

Hernandez heir finally

After a campaign that saw Mihailovic provide four goals and a whopping 14 assists across 34 appearances, via Transfermarkt, it is no surprise to see so many of Europe’s top teams interested in his signature.

He has since continued that fine form this season, proving that it wasn’t merely a one-off, having contributed two goals and four assists in 12 games across the MLS and the CONCACAF Champions League.

As a versatile attacker, capable of playing on the left-wing and through the middle, the American could be of huge use to his fellow countryman at Elland Road as the Whites have failed to replace the likes of Samu Saiz and Pablo Hernandez in recent windows.

Indeed, Leeds have not signed a midfielder in eight transfer windows and in over four years, the last being Adam Forshaw’s arrival from Middlesbrough in January 2018.

Averaging an enticing 2.4 key passes per game in the MLS this term, it’s no wonder he has been lauded as a “gorgeous passer of the ball” by journalist Chris Smith, whilst a further average of 1.9 dribbles and 1.5 shots per game makes him a big threat in the final third.

Hernandez’s final full season in a Leeds shirt was during their title-winning run in the Championship, where he averaged 2.3 key passes per game. No one in the current side has managed to get anywhere near that in the Premier League, with Raphinha sitting on two chances created each outing.

Mihailovic could fit in well in England, especially after former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Victor Wanyama’s glowing endorsement of him. “To me, Djordje is a great player. We understand his movement, he’s a top talent,” he told the MLS website.

With a total of 24 goals or assists in under two seasons – an average of one direct contribution every 162 minutes – it would be very wise for Victor Orta and co to launch their move for the Jacksonville-born sensation this summer.

Leeds could well finally replace Hernandez at long last.

AND in other news, Marsch handed double boost ahead of Palace clash…

A journalist has now dropped a big blow to Newcastle United and their hopes of hiring Antonio Conte as their next manager.

The Lowdown: Conte linked

Conte has reportedly been linked with a move to St. James’ Park after the takeover by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium was completed.

With new owners now in the North East, Steve Bruce’s job is under threat, and him and Lee Charnley are expected to be casualties of the new regime.

The Latest: Conte stance

Duncan Wright from The Sun has now given an update on Conte and his link to Tyneside, revealing that he has “no interest” in managing the Magpies at this stage: “Not what NUFC fans may want to hear, but understand Conte has no interest in managerial job at this stage.”

He expands on this in his latest piece for The Sun, claiming that he wants his next job to be one at a team who are already in a position to genuinely challenge for titles.

Conte does not want to join a side with a long-term building programme, and an insider shared that he has “higher expectations” about his managerial career.

The Verdict: Shame

It would certainly be a shame if the Toon were to miss out on the chance to hire Conte as their next manager.

The Italian has a glittering CV, having ended the dominance of Juventus in the Serie A by winning the league title with Inter Milan last season, not to mention also having the added experience of managing in the Premier League before with Chelsea, again where he managed to win the league back in the 2016/17 term (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, the fact that they are even being linked with managers of his calibre just shows the kind of ambition that the new owners seemingly have.

In other news, find out which ‘proven winner’ NUFC are plotting a move for here!

An update has emerged on Manchester United winger Dan James, regarding Leeds’ interest in signing him before the deadline.

What’s the talk?

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Whites are in advanced talks over the signing of the United winger on a permanent deal.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side are now discussing personal terms with the forward ahead of officially completing the move before Tuesday’s transfer deadline.

Delight

United fans will surely be delighted with this news as it means that the club are set to receive a transfer fee for James that could go a long way to paying for Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to the club. The Red Devils have agreed a €23m (£19.7m) deal to sign the Portuguese international.

Dan James joined United for a reported fee of £15m from Swansea and is currently rated at £16.2m by Transfermarkt. Romano does not mention how much Leeds are set to pay for the forward, but if it is within the region of £15-16m then that could pay for the bulk of Ronaldo’s transfer fee – which could delight United fans as it is exceptional business on paper.

You only have to look at their respective league stats to see the difference in quality between the pair. James managed three goals and one assist in 15 Premier League matches, averaging a WhoScored rating of 6.61 for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, scored 29 goals and provided three assists in 33 Serie A appearances for Juventus, averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.61. Despite being 36, the ex-Real Madrid attacker still enjoyed a sensational season with the Italian side, scoring goals at a superb rate, whereas James struggled to find consistency for United.

The club are now on the verge of potentially selling James for almost as much, or more depending on the final figures that are yet to be reported, as they have agreed to pay for Ronaldo. Of course, this does not take wages into account, but it is still great reading for United fans all the same and represents a shrewd piece of business by the club on and off the pitch.

In a year where their owners have been protested against in such stern fashion, they should be pleased that they’re finally beginning to get things right.

Now, they can now look forward to Ronaldo potentially making his second debut for the club knowing that James’ prospective sale may well help pay for the signing.

Nottingham Forest have been dealt a potential blow to their chances of keeping James Garner at the City Ground for the entirety of the current Championship campaign.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Sun on Sunday (via Football League World), who revealed that Manchester United insisted upon a break clause in the 20-year-old’s season-long loan deal with Forest, meaning the central midfielder could be recalled by the Premier League club in the January transfer window should Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be unhappy with his progress in the second tier.

Cooper would be gutted

Considering the sheer amount of talent Garner quite clearly possesses, should Manchester United indeed take up their option to recall the England U21 international in January, it would undoubtedly leave Steve Cooper gutted.

Indeed, despite Forest’s disappointing campaign so far this season, the £3.6m-rated man has nevertheless impressed over his five Championship appearances for the Garibaldi, creating one big chance for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.2 tackles, 1.2 interceptions, 1.6 clearances and winning three duels per game.

These returns have seen the player United midfielder Fred dubbed an “incredible” talent earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.94, ranking him as the Reds’ second-best performer in the league.

As such, should Cooper fail to oversee an upturn in results at the City Ground, or United simply believe that Garner’s development would be served better by playing for another Championship side in the second half of the season, the possibility of Forest losing the services of the midfielder in January could be a very real one, something that would undoubtedly come as a major blow to the 41-year-old manager’s chances of getting his side out of their current predicament in the Championship relegation zone.

In other news: Steve Cooper drops claim which is sure to come as music to the ears of Forest fans

Out of sorts, out of the team and still out of England reckoning. Dele Alli could be feeling a sense of deja vu at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

Had Jose Mourinho remained in charge in north London, then there was always going to be a chance that the 25-year-old had moved onto pastures new but after the Portuguese’s sacking, he was given a new lease of life under new manager Nuno Santo.

And after starting their opening six league games, it certainly looked as if the England midfielder was going to be an influential figure under the 47-year-old.

However, he was a half-time casualty during their embarrassing defeat to arch-rivals Arsenal in the north London derby several weeks ago and has not featured since.

In his absence, Spurs have won back-to-back matches, ending a run of three straight heavy defeats with him in the side.

The £27m-rated star was restricted to only 1,355 minutes across all competitions last season, in which just 617 were in the Premier League as Mourinho did not favour him whatsoever – hardly a surprise after dubbing him “lazy” in more colourful terms during training, as seen in their ‘All or Nothing’ docuseries.

Football Insider even reported in September that Spurs were considering selling him, with sources claiming that he is ‘difficult to manage behind the scenes’ and is an ‘inconsistent trainer.’

Alli was a player known for bringing goals and creativity from midfield and at just 25, he should be continuing to elevate his game heading into the peak years of his career.

Back in 2016/17, the 6 foot 2 dynamo provided 18 goals and seven assists in one Premier League season alone. By comparison, he has delivered only nine goals and five assists since the start of the 2019/20 season, as per WhoScored.

His old form earned serious comparisons to the likes of Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard but after clinching 37 caps, he has not been called up by Gareth Southgate in over two years – his last appearance coming in the UEFA Nations League third-placed playoff in June 2019.

Lilywhites legend Darren Anderton described Alli as a “freak of a talent” who is “a real joy to watch” after that lucrative goalscoring campaign, yet we’ve not seen such returns in a long, long time.

Nuno’s recent decision to axe him from his regular starting XI must be a major cause for concern for Alli, even more so as the side appear to be winning without him and Tanguy Ndombele’s recent form certainly makes his chances of breaking back in even more difficult.

Heading into the winter transfer window and beyond, the 25-year-old star may well be fighting for his future in N17.

AND in other news, Paratici could land Nuno’s next Neves in Spurs swoop for £18.9m-rated “special player”…

Sky Sports journalist Michael Bridge insists that Tottenham Hotspur were looking to sell Davinson Sanchez at the beginning of the summer.

Spurs have been attempting to restructure their playing squad this summer and have seen a number of players leave the club.

The club have sold Juan Foyth to Villarreal, Toby Alderweireld to Qatari side Al-Duhail SC, and Joe Hart to Celtic, while Erik Lamela moved to Sevilla in a part-exchange deal that has seen Bryan Gil join Spurs. Danny Rose and Paulo Gazzaniga have also left on free transfers.

Bridge now reports that Sanchez was seen as an expendable asset at the beginning of the summer but there may now be some reticence to move him on after the way he has begun the season.

Indeed, he played exceptionally well in the friendly against Arsenal, while he has also played in the first two Premier League games of the season, against Manchester City and Wolves, with Spurs keeping two consecutive clean sheets in a pair of 1-0 wins.

Bridge said: “Sanchez was probably the one they were going to look at to offload. However, he played very, very well against Arsenal, he was really good against City.

“I think the problem with Davinson Sanchez, though, is that we know he’s good but he has a real rocket in him.”

Leeds United look set to miss out on signing Red Bull Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson, according to Mike McGrath of The Telegraph.

The Lowdown: Leeds links

The Whites were credited with a ‘serious interest’ in the USA international last week by journalist Tom Bogert, with Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta thought to be after both a defensive and attacking midfielder in the New Year.

Aaronson is an attacking midfielder who can also play on the wing and has made 52 appearances for Salzburg – 26 of which have come during the current campaign. [Transfermarkt]

However, it doesn’t appear as if the Whites will be able to sign him in January, even despite the American link – the San Francisco 49ers recently increased their stake at Elland Road to 37%.

The Latest: McGrath’s claim

Reliable reporter McGrath shared his transfer notebook on Tuesday, with an update on Aaronson included.

He suggested that Leeds ‘are set to miss out’ on the 21-year-old after Salzburg’s qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League, the first blow in the upcoming winter window as the Whites search for midfield reinforcements.

The Verdict: All eyes on Swift?

John Swift is another winter window target for Leeds, so they may well place more eggs in the Reading man’s basket following the latest update on Aaronson.

The Englishman has been on fire for The Royals in the second tier this season, contributing to 17 goals in 21 games, scoring eight and providing nine assists.

He’s also out of contract at the end of the season, so you’d expect a January transfer would be in Leeds’ price range, with Reading possibly cautious they could lose their star man for nothing in the summer.

On the other hand, Reading will know that midfielders are needed at Elland Road, so Leeds may even have to bite the bullet and pay slightly over the odds for Swift despite his contract situation.

In other news: Leeds ‘set’ to sign attacker in January who has the same agent as Forshaw – journalist. 

According to the Daily Mail, Everton defender Jarrad Branthwaite is a transfer target for Manchester United. 

The lowdown: Star in the making

Flourishing as part of the set-up at Finch Farm since 2020, the 19-year-old has burst onto the scene in the last 12 months having made the switch from League Two side Carlisle United.

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Since arriving on Merseyside the teenager has represented England at Under-20 level and has made 11 first-team appearances for the Toffees.

However, the Blues could now face a battle to keep one of their most precocious talents.

The latest: Man United interested

As per the report from the Daily Mail, Manchester United are ‘keen’ on the talented centre-back and could look to make a move should Erik ten Hag be appointed as expected at Old Trafford.

It’s claimed that the Premier League giants are ‘monitoring’ the one-cap youth starlet who is under a fresh contract at Goodison Park until 2025 (Transfermarkt).

The report also states that Everton would be ‘reluctant’ to lose the powerful 6ft 5in ace who was described as being a ‘really skilful’ defender by former Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The verdict: No deal

This is yet another case of the club needing to pull out all the stops in order to keep its brightest prospects.

Albeit Branthwaite is yet to earn a regular place in Frank Lampard’s side, the English teenager has certainly shown glimpses of an ability that has clearly caught the eye elsewhere in the Premier League.

So far this season, Branthwaite has made just six senior appearances, but was a star performer with the goal, two tackles and one interception (SofaScore), as a young Everton side held on for an unlikely 1-1 draw against Chelsea back in December.

In other news, Everton linked with Bundesliga midfielder. Find out more here!

While Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic side endured a rather shaky start to their 2021/22 Scottish Premiership campaign, things have undoubtedly started to click under the leadership of the 56-year-old Hoops boss in recent months.

Indeed, a number of the Greek-Australian manager’s summer signings have hit a run of excellent form, with Kyogo Furuhashi having scored 13 goals and registered three assists over his 18 appearances for the club, Benfica loanee Jota having bagged six goals and six assists over his 14 fixtures in green and white and Liel Abada having netted seven goals and provided five assists over 22 appearances for the Hoops.

However, while the argument could be made that any one of these three players have been Celtic’s signing of the season, there is perhaps one summer addition who could be classified as something of an unsung hero at Parkhead – in the shape of Joe Hart.

Indeed, having arrived at Parkhead following two seasons in which the 34-year-old had played just 13 games of football, Hart has slotted into the role of Postecoglou’s number one seamlessly, with the former England international’s experience in the game bringing with it a sense of calmness and stability between the Celtic sticks that was desperately lacking last season.

This is an opinion that Chris Sutton clearly agrees with, as the former Bhoys centre-forward recently said of the shot-stopper: “I think he’s done really really well. What he had strongly in his favour was [Vasilis] Barkas and [Scott] Bain have just been so poor in the Celtic goal and it was a low bar. But he’s come in and it’s been a massive boost.

“I think that he’s brought a calmness and an authority at the back. You watched Celtic [last season], and with the greatest of respect to Barkas and Bain, every time they were in goal you thought Celtic are going to concede the goal. I don’t feel the same with Joe Hart and I think that’s an enormous deal. I think his experience has been important. I think he’s been an enormous signing and a massive plus for Celtic.”

Indeed, this is something that is reflected in the £1.8m-rated man’s statistics, as, over his 12 Scottish Premiership appearances, Hart has kept six clean sheets, won 85% of his duels and made an average of 1.8 saves per game – with these returns seeing the 34-year-old average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.91.

As such, while Kyogo, Jota and Abada may well steal the headlines for Celtic, the veteran goalkeeper has undoubtedly been just as important for the Bhoys this season, as the £15k-per-week shot-stopper has been the rock which Postecoglou is building his side upon.

In other news: Major boost: Ange drops key update on Celtic duo which should leave Bhoys fans buzzing

Having been one of the rising talents of Leeds United’s academy, it no doubt would have hurt the club’s fans to see Jack Clarke being prised away by Tottenham.

Reports back in the summer of 2019 claimed that Spurs paid a £10m fee to Leeds to sign Clarke, with further payments scheduled based on whether certain conditions are met.

Sadly for both the north Londoners and more so the player himself, things just haven’t quite panned out for him, with Transfermarkt now citing his value at less than half of that amount at just £4.5m.

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That’s a real indication of just how much of a step backwards his career has taken since Spurs signed him, with the now 21-year-old having made just four senior appearances for the Lilywhites.

Having been unable to break into the senior setup at Spurs, Clarke was shipped out on loan to QPR, who were keen to see him rediscover his potential and help him find his form.

The club’s director of football Les Ferdinand said: “You can see that Jack is quality as we played against him last year when he was at Leeds. He’s a young boy but he has undoubtable talent and I think once he goes back they’ll probably look at him through pre-season, see how he does and then make a judgement on whether it’s another loan or (Jose Mourinho) may see a benefit to the Tottenham team now and the way he wants to play.”

However, Clarke would play just seven times for QPR before returning to Spurs, and it’s safe to say that things haven’t kicked on from then.

Along with spell with the Hoops, Clarke also spent time out on loan at fellow Championship outfit Stoke, and in January he moved to League One side Sunderland.

While he has featured more regularly for the Wearside club – he has played 13 consecutive times in the third tier – he has scored just one goal and provided one assist.

It was no surprise that Sunderland boss Alex Neil admitted that the versatile midfielder’s end product has let him down in his short spell with the club thus far, saying: “He can take people on one-for-one, which is obviously a good strength to have, and he’s been a threat for us. He’s missed a few key chances, and I think that’s the next stage for him. He just needs to be that bit more clinical in front of goal.

“I think there’s been a few games recently – Lincoln, in particular, is one that sticks in the mind – where he had a golden opportunity, and they’re the moments we’ve got to capitalise on. But, in the main, I think his appetite for the work that he needs to do and his willingness to be a threat for us and take us up the pitch, he’s done well.”

For Clarke’s sake, a good end to the season would do him the world of good and help him to find his groove again, but in Leeds’ case, they played an absolute blinder by letting go of the £25k-a-week earner for an eight-figure fee three years ago.

AND in other news – Leeds could strike gold with £42m teenage sensation, he follows Raphinha on Instagram