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Speaking to Football Insider, pundit and Sky Sports regular Paul Robinson has been left thrilled by an alleged Son Heung-min contract development at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Son on the verge of Spurs deal…

Tottenham have been trying to tie down superstar attacker Son with a new deal since the start of 2020/2021.

Indeed, reports as far back as October last year claimed that the Lilywhites offered a mammoth new deal worth around £60 million in total (Football Insider).

Spurs were said to be nearing his extended stay but reliable news then emerged over Tottenham stalling his contract talks – mainly due to the financial toll of coronavirus.

The Latest: Spurs ‘confident’ of new contract

Now, Robinson has reacted to a claim by journalist Fabrizio Romano, who believes that Spurs board are now ‘confident’ an agreement can be completed soon.

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The reporter says Spurs are still in talks with the South Korea star but those within the club believe a deal will be agreed once the manager situation is resolved.

Robinson now believes this development comes as ‘massive for Tottenham’.

“We talk about the managerial appointment being appointment well Son staying is almost as important,” he explained to FI.

“If Harry Kane leaves, you start to wonder what other players might want to leave. If the likes of Son and Lloris started making noises about wanting to leave on the back of Harry Kane moving to say Manchester City then it would be a huge problem for Spurs.

“To hear Son is near to signing a new deal is massive for Tottenham. It is the best news that has come out of the club in the last six months.”

The Verdict: Robinson bang on the money…

Amid the noise surrounding star striker Harry Kane and his future at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs fans will indeed be relieved to hear the club are confident of tying down Son.

The 28-year-old has just come off a brilliant campaign in which he scored a brilliant 17 goals and added 10 assists in 36 Premier League starts (WhoScored).

Indeed, only Kane had a better season than Son by the numbers, and if the Englishman does leave north London then Spurs will need all the strength in depth they can muster, starting with their South Korean superstar.

In other news: Spurs could swoop for this ‘genius’ boss dubbed ‘the very best’ in world football, find out more here.

Gio van Bronckhorst had the opportunity to bring in his own players to Rangers for the first time in January and made a number of signings.

Aaron Ramsey, Amad Diallo, Mateusz Zukowski and James Sands all came in, whilst John Souttar has been snapped up on a pre-contract ahead of the summer.

It will now be interesting to see what the Dutch coach does with a full pre-season to prepare his squad as he works with Ross Wilson to shape the team to his desire.

One player who has been touted with a switch to Ibrox this summer is Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale, with Spanish outlet Sport naming them as a potential destination for him at the end of his contract with Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

The new Gazza

By signing the Wales international ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, van Bronckhorst can find his own Paul Gascoigne for Rangers.

After playing in the Premier League for Tottenham and Newcastle, Gascoigne made his way to Ibrox in 1995 and caught the eye for the Scottish giants as he scored 30 goals in 64 league starts for the club during his time in Glasgow.

Bale could be the next ex-Spurs and English top-flight star to shine for the Light Blues as he has enjoyed a sensational career as a forward for multiple clubs and at international level.

He has racked up 221 senior goals for club and country throughout his career for Southampton, Tottenham, Real Madrid and Wales. The winger has found the back of the net 106 times for Real in 258 outings to date, winning the Champions League on four occasions and the La Liga title twice.

Dean Saunders dubbed him a “freak of nature” and his incredible statistics for Spurs last season back up that praise. Whilst on loan with the English side in 2020/21, he scored 11 goals and provided two assists in ten league starts as he proved that he still – at the age of 32 – has the quality to deliver at the top end of the pitch on a consistent basis.

Therefore, signing him would be a big deal for Rangers as they would be bringing in a player with a recent track record of exceptional performances in a top European league and a history of winning major trophies. He has proven himself at the very top level over the years as van Bronckhorst must now make him the new Gascoigne at Ibrox by bringing him to Scotland this summer.

AND in other news, Sources: Shock Rangers transfer claim emerges that will leave Wilson excited…

Frank McAvennie has exclusively told Football FanCast that he doesn’t expect West Ham to pursue a deal for Norwich’s Max Aarons this summer.

The talented right-back has been on the radar of some of Europe’s clubs for some time following his emergence from the Canaries academy, including both Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

Tottenham are also keen on the 21-year-old, although reports suggest that the Hammers have emerged as surprise contenders for Aarons’ signature – with Norwich demanding £30million for his services.

Aarons has made great strides at Carrow Road in the past three seasons, racking up more than 120 appearances already, and does have previous experience in the Premier League.

But with Vladimir Coufal and Ryan Fredericks in their ranks, McAvennie would be surprised to see West Ham bring in another right-back, especially for such a steep price.

He told Football FanCast:

“I don’t know if they’re going to sell the boy, but £30million for someone in the Championship is a bit much, because he might not do it in the Premier League.

“I don’t know if West Ham would want him because they have Coufal, and Fredericks and the boy Johnson can step in there as well.

“So, it’s a strange one, they’re not going to drop Coufal, he’s been a wonderful signing, so I don’t get why they would pay £30million for him to sit on the bench.”

Huddersfield midfielder Juninho Bacuna only signed fresh terms with the club in May, but Football FanCast’s EFL spy reckons has suggested that Fulham sign him this summer.

The Dutchman was out of contract at the end of last season but exercised the option to extend his deal for an additional 12 months.

Bacuna has been with the Yorkshire outfit since joining in January 2019, the campaign when they were relegated back to the Championship.

And the tough-tackling midfielder man has returned impressive numbers in the second-tier – scoring 11 times and adding nine assists in 81 appearances having been a regular for Huddersfield across the last two years.

The 23-year-old is predominantly a central midfielder, but offers more versatility than most, having played in a crazy number of different positions last season, including right-back and centre-forward.

With that in mind, when asked whether he could be a potential addition for Marco Silva’s Fulham outfit, the EFL insider exclusively told FFC:

“He’s an industrious midfielder who was one of Huddersfield’s better players last year.

“He’s a tackler when needed but gets into good positions also, and helps set up breaks and counters.”

Leeds United are set to receive an injection of cash from Ronaldo Vieira’s move to Sheffield United, according to Samp News 24. 

The lowdown

Vieira left Leeds to join the Serie A outfit in the 2018 summer transfer window. He’d racked up 63 Championship appearances for the Whites at the tender age of 20 (via BBC Sport).

Having played 44 games for Sampdoria since, he’s now poised to return to England. Leeds’ Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United have agreed a fee, and he is due to travel to the city to put the finishing touches to the deal.

Blades manager Slavisa Jokanovic suggested ahead of his side’s Championship clash with Birmingham City that the deal was imminent, with news ‘in these next few hours’.

The latest

The report states that Leeds are entitled to 10 per cent of the fee paid by United to land Vieira. Sampdoria agreed to the sell-on clause, they say, to ‘qualify for an initial discount’.

It is not clear exactly what the fee will be at this moment in time, but the Whites are sure to receive a small boost to their transfer kitty.

The verdict

Whilst this cash influx won’t be a game-changer, it should be viewed simply as a case of every little helps.

Leeds have spent £26.82million so far this summer, signing Jack Harrison permanently and adding Junior Firpo and Kristoffer Klaesson to their ranks.

The Vieira deal will trigger the first real transfer windfall for Leeds this summer, with no money generated through sales. That should perhaps be their next focus, because the squad could do with a top-drawer central midfielder if it’s to truly mount a European challenge, something that won’t come cheap.

In other news, Leeds have been dealt a blow ahead of their season opener.

Tottenham Hotspur are still searching for Jose Mourinho’s successor and Paul Stewart, who spent four years at Spurs, has exclusively told Football FanCast, that Daniel Levy sacked the Portuguese manager to avoid a significantly bigger payout.

Spurs made the surprising decision to sack Mourinho just days before their Carabao Cup final against Manchester City, which they ended up losing 1-0 and managing just one shot on target.

In an astonishing turn of events, Graham Roberts exclusively told FFC that Mourinho played a big part in getting Mauricio Pochettino sacked as he told Levy that he could get more out of the players than Pochettino could.

Mourinho only managed 17 months at Tottenham but has since been appointed as Roma’s new manager for the 2021/22 season and Stewart spoke exclusively to FFC about why he was sacked:

“We’ve probably taken a step backwards over the last couple of years and I don’t know why they hired Jose just to fire him a week before a cup final.

“It seemed ludicrous, but from what I was told it was because of money and how much they would have had to pay him if he had got Spurs into the top four or won a trophy.”

Ryan Mason was handed the task of getting Tottenham into some European competition for next season and they appear to at least be on course for a Europe League or Europa Conference League spot.

There have been reports suggesting that Graham Potter could be the front runner for the job following Steve Hitchen recommending him to Daniel Levy.

With Everton now finally hiring a replacement for the recently departed Carlo Ancelotti, the Toffees can begin ramping up their preparations for the new campaign.

It’s a huge summer for Rafa Benitez who will be keen to hit the ground running after a number of protests against his appointment.

What’s the word?

Unfortunately for the 61-year-old, he may head into the new campaign without one of Everton’s most creative players.

Last month it was revealed his former club, Real Madrid, were an option for him this summer.

Sadly for the Toffees, they’re not the only European giant looking to secure his services.

That’s according to reporter, Pipe Sierra, who took to Twitter this week to reveal the following piece of information: “AC Milan is interested in the Colombian midfielder James Rodríguez (29) and has made it known to his representative Jorge Mendes. Negotiations with Everton will start next week.”

Lusty blow

Benitez has only been in the Everton hot seat for less than a day but he is already facing a huge blow.

The Spaniard arrived on Wednesday afternoon suggesting that the ambition shown by Farhad Moshiri and co was eye-catching and played a major part in luring him to Goodison Park.

Benitez has only ever wanted to return to the Premier League and it must have been quite the package in order to tempt him to Liverpool’s great rivals.

However, the idea of Everton’s marquee signing from 12 months ago departing after just a year is likely to leave him pretty angry.

A number of the club’s star men have been linked with the exit door in recent weeks with Dominic Calvert-Lewin attracting interest from elsewhere as well.

He seems more likely to remain in Merseyside after failing to make an impression at Euro 2020 but James is someone that could have been a huge influence under Benitez.

After all, the duo have already worked together during the Spanish coach’s small tenure in Madrid.

The Colombian featured just 11 times under the new Everton manager but it was a profitable combination with the creative midfielder scoring three goals and registering six assists.

Speaking during his time at the Bernabeu, reports emerged of a rift between manager and player, something that was denied by Benitez. He commented: “There is no problem, he is a great player.”

James managed just 23 league outings last term but was the Toffees’ most creative player, producing 1.7 key passes per match. That was more than any other individual in the squad.

Based on that alone it’s a huge early blow for Benitez. He will have been looking forward to managing him for a second time.

AND in other news, Rafa can win over Everton fans by signing £13m beast who was “thrilling” at Euro 2020…

Sunderland will be looking to bounce back from their 1-0 defeat to Charlton on Saturday as they travel away to face QPR in the League Cup on Tuesday.

The Black Cats succumbed to a loss at the weekend as Jayden Stockley scored the only goal for the Addicks, sending Sunderland down to fourth in the table.

They now have a chance to regain momentum and gain some confidence as they face a Championship side in QPR, with the chance of progressing through to the fifth round of the competition.

Lee Johnson could make some changes to his team to freshen the team up and give other players a chance to show that they deserve to start in the league. As part of this, one player he must ruthlessly axe from the team is attacking midfielder Alex Pritchard.

The former Huddersfield and Norwich playmaker recorded the joint-lowest SofaScore rating (6.4) for Sunderland against Charlton as turned in a worrying display in midfield. Per the same source, he lost 85.7% (6/7) of his duels on the pitch, whilst failing to make a single tackle, interception, block or clearance.

This shows that he was a lightweight in his 50/50 battles and did not put the hard work in defensively to win possession back and get his side back on the front foot.

On the ball, he was inconsistent. Via SofaScore, he created three chances for his teammates as he showed off his quality to open up defences in the final third. However, he also had a dribble success rate of 0% and gave possession away 20 times from 52 touches, whilst also completing three of his eight attempted crosses and long balls.

Therefore, he was not able to prove that he can be reliable off the ball or on the ball. Despite showing flashes of quality, the overall standard of his performance was not good enough and that was reflected in the final score as Charlton won the match.

Johnson must axe Pritchard from the XI for the encounter with QPR after proving himself to be a liability to the team, giving him the chance to get his head down in training and focus on next weekend’s League One game against Rotherham. Hopefully, it will fuel the fire inside the midfielder and encourage him to up his levels ahead of playing a starring role against the Millers.

AND in other news, Possession lost 18x: Sunderland dud with 25% dribble success had a ‘mare vs Charlton…

Many Everton fans have been left slamming Mason Holgate as some transfer news emerged on his future this week.

As per The Liverpool Echo, both Brighton and Hove Albion and Norwich City made tentative enquiries about the possibility of signing the central defender in the summer transfer window, but it was made clear that he wanted to stay and regain a place in the starting eleven.

However, he has only managed to play in a mere four games in total over all competitions so far this season, with only two of those coming in the Premier League (Transfermarkt).

Holgate has recently said himself that his displays last season were not up to scratch (The Liverpool Echo), and with the January window coming up, a lot of Toffees supporters feel as if his time is now up at Goodison Park.

Everton fans on Holgate transfer news

These Blues slammed Holgate as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one EFC fan even going as far as to claim that he is a ‘liability’, averaging just a 66 per cent pass accuracy in the top flight this term:

“He didn’t kick on last season when I hoped he would do after the end to the season before when he played very well. I think the time is right for him to move on. He’s 25 and can’t see him improving significantly enough to improve our squad.”

Credit: @Toffee84Tim

“He was a liability last season… blew his chance. Not good enough.”

Credit: @MarkPhillipson

“Not. Good. Enough”

Credit: @shaun00012

“He could help Norwich get relegated”

Credit: @timjenkinson28

“No chance…if Keane and Godfrey are Sunday league then Holgate is schools league, sorry he just ain’t good enough either.”

Credit: @davemc45

“No way lad he’s absolutely garbage proved year in year out.”

Credit: @Sean1878Lowe

In other news, find out what transfer update has Evertonians talking here!

Cast your minds back to 2017 and you may recall claims of a training ground argument between David Unsworth and two of Everton’s players at the times.

Kevin Mirallas and Morgan Schneiderlin were dropped from the Toffees squad to face Watford in November of that year after reportedly walking out of training.

Unsworth accused the pair of a lack of commitment and told them to go inside if they weren’t prepared to take the session seriously.

Schneiderlin battled back against those claims, commenting that it hadn’t happened but a similar sort of situation is now unravelling again.

It’s not a regular first-team player in question but Rafa Benitez could be heading towards his first Everton disaster over promising young defender Thierry Small.

The left-back has been tipped for great things but has refused a new contract at Goodison Park.

He’s also refusing to return to Finch Farm for pre-season and instead of training with the squad, he is building his fitness with his own personal trainer.

The Toffees have offered Small the opportunity to become more of a part of the senior side, even handing him a locker in the first-team changing room at the training ground.

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However, it looks as though the 16-year-old is trying to engineer an exit. A host of sides have been interested in his services including Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Aston Villa.

Small has played once for the first team but it would be a great surprise if he ever builds on that tally. After all, with the youngster’s attitude like it is at the moment, he should have no future at the club.

Described as a “fantastic boy” by the aforementioned Unsworth, it’s safe to say the coach would not be too impressed with his attitude now.

Supporters have been left rather puzzled with the teenager’s decision making this summer. One fan said Small was a bad egg while others claimed his attitude was “embarrassing” and that it “stinks.”

Harsh words but you can understand their point of view. Everton’s desire to entice a player to stay who is so intent on departing Goodison Park is strange but with the potential he possesses, you can see both sides of the coin.

This had the potential to be a key season in Small’s development but with his character being called into question, Benitez may as well sanction an exit.

AND in other news, Forget Zaha: Rafa could seal Everton masterclass by signing “scary” £60m beast…