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Sunderland had one task that stood tall above the others during the winter transfer market; find a left-back.

It was Kristjaan Speakman’s biggest priority as he embarked on his first window in charge of their recruitment.

Unfortunately, it didn’t really pay off. The Mackems were linked with a number of left-backs, including Wimbledon defender Paul Osew.

They ultimately ended up with Jake Vokins, landing the young full-back on a loan deal from Southampton.

On paper this looked like a wise move. Vokins had played against Arsenal in the Premier League just a matter of days before penning terms in the north-east.

Things haven’t worked out for the Saints defender since signing though, enduring a horrendous debut that was described as one of the worst in the club’s history. His game time has since been halted by the ongoing pandemic and a worrying heart problem.

Though, on the field of play, it’s Callum McFadzean who has been left to take the majority of criticism.

He has been the mainstay at left-back while Denver Hume recovers from injury and it’s safe to say he’s been well below par.

The 27-year-old has been caught out on a number of occasions this term and has been left stranded by a whole host of wingers and flying full-backs.

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McFadzean was given the run around by Otis Khan in the EFL Trophy final as the Tranmere defender completed four dribbles.

The Mackems full-back was led a “merry dance” by Olamide Shodipo against Oxford United and was again terrorised by Mallik Wilks in the draw with Hull City this week.

Wilks beat him on countless occasions, providing two assists for the Tigers’ goals. With that in mind, a left-back should be near the top of Sunderland’s agenda again this summer.

Back in January, the Black Cats were touted with a switch for young Hibernian talent Josh Doig.

The defender is just 18 but has caught the eye of not only the lower leagues but also the likes of Leeds and Manchester City.

Luring him to the Stadium of Light, therefore, would be quite the accomplishment but it’s something they have to do.

Doig is very adept going forward and has contributed to four goals in the Scottish Premiership this season. Crucial, though, are his defensive attributes.

The teenager is very strong in the tackle and has won 1.7 challenges per match. That tally significantly betters McFadzean who has made just one successful tackle a game in League One.

It might not mean much to Sunderland supporters but Doig comes with a glowing recommendation from a certain Jack Ross too: “He has been brilliant this season for a young man who has just turned 18,” the Hibs boss said.

With a high ceiling and plenty of potential, the Scottish defender definitely seems like a better option than McFadzean. The Black Cats must try their best to prise him away.

AND in other news, Forget Jones: SAFC gem with 36 key passes now stealing the show, he’s very “dangerous”…

Rangers have been linked with a move for both Britt Assombalonga and Jonson Clarke-Harris in recent weeks, but who would be the better fit in Steven Gerrard’s side at Ibrox?

Britt Assombalonga:

According to GiveMeSport, Rangers are considering a move for the Middlesbrough forward this summer and could sign the 28-year-old on a free transfer after it was recently confirmed that he will depart the Teesside club at the end of the season when his contract expires.

The powerful striker has enjoyed prolific spells at Peterborough United and Nottingham Forest in the past but has struggled to have the same impact with Middlesbrough following his £15m move in 2017.

Assombalonga has managed just 47 goals in 159 appearances during his time with Boro and has endured a particularly difficult season so far, with just five Championship goals in 29 appearances.

Jonson Clarke-Harris:

According to Football Insider, Rangers scouts were looking at Clarke-Harris in a recent 7-0 thrashing of Accrington Stanley, in which the Peterborough frontman scored a hat-trick.

The 26-year-old has been in electric form for the League One promotion hopefuls this season, with 26 goals to his name in 38 league appearances.

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The former Rotherham United man only joined the Posh from Bristol Rovers last summer but has stepped up brilliantly following the departure of Ivan Toney and could demand a hefty fee in the summer should Rangers come knocking, especially if Darren Ferguson’s side earn promotion to the Championship.

Who would be better for Rangers?

Whilst Assombalonga boasts more experience than Clarke-Harris and has shown that he can cut it in the Championship, his career is on the decline at the moment, whereas Peterborough’s star man is very much on the up.

The 26-year-old would cost a significant amount more than Assombalonga in terms of a transfer fee, but perhaps wouldn’t demand anywhere near as much in wages, with the Middlesbrough captain reportedly earning £35,000 per week on Teesside.

[freshpress-quiz id=“593776″]

Therefore, we feel that, due to his “phenomenal” performances so far this season, Clarke-Harris is much more likely to be a success in Gerrard’s side next term, so Ross Wilson should forget about signing Assombalonga and go all-out for the Peterborough forward instead.

In other news… Gerrard could be set for huge Rangers blow with £4.05m-rated “class act” 

Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively told Football FanCast that “top” Premier League clubs have been watching Brentford striker Ivan Toney this season.

Toney, who has been the subject of interest from Leeds United, West Ham and Arsenal, is the top scorer in the second-tier having netted 28 times for the Bees following his move Peterborough last summer.

Brentford currently sit fourth in the Championship standings, although their automatic promotion bid has tailed off in recent weeks, but that hasn’t affected Toney, whose netted 12 goals in his last 12 matches.

With a number of clubs keen on him this summer, it appears that the former Posh frontman will be playing his football in the Premier League one way or another next season.

And whilst Fry echoes those thoughts, he revealed that Toney already has a host of Premier League sides that are watching his exploits at Brentford with a keen interest.

He exclusively revealed to Football FanCast:

“He loves it at Brentford, he loves the lads, he’s a leader. I should imagine Brentford will have to sit him down and offer him a lot more of a lucrative that what he’s on now. I still think they will struggle to keep him.

“He could finish up with 30 league goals this year. All the Premier League clubs that I spoke to last year are regretting not signing him.

“There’s only a few that will be able to afford him, but I know for a fact that top clubs in the Premier League are watching him with interest for what he does. I’m sure he will be playing in the Premier League next year for somebody.”

Toney has taken the Championship by storm this season, and is already on course to break the record for the most goals in a single campaign, so whether it’s with Brentford or someone else, he looks destined for the Premier League.

Carlo Ancelotti can sign a top-draw upgrade on Yerry Mina in SSC Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, as Farhad Moshiri looks to back the Everton manager in the transfer market once again.

What’s the word?

According to talkSPORT, Ancelotti is eying a cut-price deal for Koulibaly as he looks to be reunited with the Senegalese star.

The Italian coached Koulibaly for 18-months during his time in charge of the Serie A side, a period in which he lauded the 29-year-old as “the best defender in the world”.

Ancelotti now hopes he can convince Koulibaly to follow him to Goodison Park, as the former Liverpool and Manchester United target is expected to be valued at far less than the £89m that Napoli had demanded last year.

The Napoli star’s precise valuation remains to be seen, but Blues owner Moshiri is expected to back Ancelotti in the coach’s efforts to land his man.

Everton feel they have the right manager at the helm in Ancelotti, so will present the funds the 61-year-old feels are needed to sustain the club’s challenge for a consistent top-six spot.

Recent reports had suggested that Ancelotti has marked Koulibaly as his top defensive target for the summer market, as he does not believe Everton’s current options have the ability to play together in the long-term.

Ancelotti’s doubt in the talents of his current centre-back group, apart from Ben Godfrey, were also noted last month, with the Daily Mail claiming that questions marks had arisen over the Italian’s best possible pairing.

Should Everton sign Koulibaly?

The question marks that arose over Everton’s current centre-half options added that Mina could be moved on at the end of the season, seemingly having failed to imprint a positive impression on Ancelotti.

Mina had been a pillar of the Toffees backline before sustaining a calf injury at home to Manchester City last month, with the Colombian only failing to open four Premier League fixtures from a possible 23.

He returned to the line-up for last weekend’s FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Manchester City, but his long-term presence appears to be up in the air with Koulibaly being linked.

Ancelotti has previously questioned the performances of Mina, with the Blues boss noting in September how the 26-year-old was not aggressive enough in shutting down West Bromwich Albion whilst Grady Diangana opened the scoring.

“Yerry had an average game, I think he could be more aggressive and do more with the ball,” Ancelotti said, via quotes by the Liverpool Echo. “The only aspect we have to look at is him being more aggressive when he can press the opening.”

Reports of an uncertain future and interest in Koulibaly would suggest those concerns are still present, as the £45m-rated Napoli star – who former Chelsea star Craig Burley claims is “fantastic” – would offer Ancelotti a superb upgrade on Mina.

Ancelotti knows Koulibaly well from his time in Naples and clearly thought highly of him, having claimed the 43-cap international was worth as much as €150m (£130m) in 2019 and that there was “no question” that he would be staying.

Now, the question is whether Ancelotti can convince Koulibaly to leave southern Italy for Merseyside, and offer the Everton boss the defensive player he seems to feel is missing.

AND in other news, an “exceptional” Everton figure is being eyed by a Premier League rival…

After Aston Villa’s youngsters stole the show in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool earlier this year, naturally, attentions have been firmly centred on which one of the club’s brightest academy talents could be set for a break through.

One of those whose star is burning brighter than most, is Carney Chukwuemeka.

The 17-year-old has yet to make his senior debut for Dean Smith’s side, but is already making waves behind the scenes.

One scout told The Athletic: “He’s the best player Villa have got coming through. He can do everything in the midfield area and there are a lot of clubs monitoring his situation at Villa.”

And just recently on the 1874 podcast, Gregg Evans spoke about just how highly thought of he is in and around the club, revealing that “he’s the one everybody’s talking about” – the journalist even went so far as to describe him as “the real deal”.

The crucial point of note for Smith is the considerable transfer interest that Chukwuemeka is generating from rival clubs, with reports just last month suggesting that the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich, among some other European elites, are keen on making a move for the teenager.

The modern young player knows that they no longer have to stay put at their clubs and just wait patiently for a chance to play first-team football. The likes of Jadon Sancho at Borussia Dortmund and more recently Jamal Musiala at Bayern Munich have shown talented English starlets that they can enjoy a far quicker path-way to senior football by moving abroad.

It’s exactly why Villa should seriously consider giving Chukwuemeka a chance to shine in the first-team, and prove to him that he doesn’t have to leave the club to be playing at a senior level.

Meanwhile, Villa could find a new Gareth Barry in this man…

Southampton will be looking to put distance between themselves and the relegation spots in the Premier League when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion at St Mary’s on Sunday afternoon.

The Austrian manager has welcomed back the likes of Kyle Walker-Peters and Ibrahima Diallo from injury recently, and after they were rested in midweek, it seems likely that they will come back into the starting lineup against Graham Potter’s side.

Hasenhuttl rotated his side for the trip to Manchester City in midweek and whilst his side lost 5-2, they played in a positive way and looked good going forwards in the absence of Danny Ings.

Brighton look in serious danger of relegation from the top-flight this season, so defeat against the Seagulls would potentially drag the Saints back into a relegation battle this season.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Hasenhuttl to line his side up on Sunday, with five changes from the team that started in midweek…

After shipping another five goals in midweek, Fraser Forster should come back in for Alex McCarthy, with the 32-year-old boasting an impressive record of just one goal conceded in six appearances so far this season.

There’s one change in defence, as Walker-Peters returns at right-back, with Ryan Bertrand switching back to left-back, meaning Mohammed Salisu drops to the bench.

There are two changes in midfield, as Takumi Minamino returns in place of Moussa Djenepo on the left-hand side, after the Malian came off with a knock at the Etihad, whilst Diallo comes back in for Jack Stephens, who deputised in a midfield role in midweek.

Finally, Nathan Tella deserves to start after his impressive performance in the 2-0 win against Sheffield United, which led Owen Hargraves to label him a “handful”, so he comes in for Nathan Redmond to partner Che Adams in attack against Brighton.

And, in other news… Forget Forster: Southampton can sign serious McCarthy upgrade in £8.6m beast

According to a report by the Daily Express, Tottenham Hotspur and chairman Daniel Levy look likely to be offered Gareth Bale on a permanent deal this summer – with parent club Real Madrid eager to sell and wanting to get his £600,000-per-week wages off their books. 

Indeed, as per the outlet, Real want to clinch a permanent deal with Tottenham in order to bolster finances and potentially make a £135 million move for Paris-Saint Germain star Kylian Mbappe.

Tottenham could be offered permanent Bale deal

Shifting Bale would help greatly in their pursuit of the World Cup winner, with the Galacticos now looking likely to offer Tottenham a chance to sign the Welshman permanently at the end of the season.

Jose Mourinho, branding the attacker ‘incredible’ at the start of this season, began to utilise Bale very rarely – possibly due to fitness problems as figures in the media questioned if Spurs supporters will ever see the real Gareth Bale again.

After what has been a mixed start to his loan spell at Tottenham, the 31-year-old has since entered a fine run of form under Mourinho – recently putting in a Man of the Match display and running riot against Burnley (BBC).

Transfer Tavern take

The Tottenham boss then waxed lyrical over Bale and called him ‘better than ever’ – but it remains to be seen whether Spurs will opt to sign him permanently from Real Madrid in the summer.

From this Daily Express report, Spurs seem very likely to at least be handed that chance at the end of the season, but it could all depend on Bale’s wage demands and the supposed transfer fee.

In other news: Tottenham price tag for ace has been revealed, find out more here.

Many Liverpool fans did not take too kindly to what manager Jurgen Klopp had to say about Manchester City’s excellent form.

The German tactician commented during his press conference (via Anfield Watch) regarding his side’s fatigue issues this year, stating that the Citizens have had a two-week break after the outbreak which postponed their match against Everton.

Klopp was referring to City’s postponement of their trip to Goodison Park back in late December, following which they played a week later to beat Chelsea 3-1 at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool meanwhile have picked up just seven points in their past six games and have suffered back-to-back home defeats against the likes of Burnley and Brighton.

With this in mind, supporters could not come around to Klopp’s way of thinking and urged him to stop making excuses regarding the team’s recent form.

Fans criticise Klopp

“Even as a Liverpool fan this is just silly excuse, City had much less time to prepare for the season at the start of the season, that’s why they dropped points against Leeds and Leicester. You can’t use these kinds of things as an excuse to having 2 shots on target against Brighton.”

Credit: @jonesdefutbol

“He’s not helping himself. We don’t care about city or however long they have a break, how about we concentrate on why we can’t score against defensive teams and keep doing the same thing against them expecting different results”

Credit: @nabydeco08

“This season has definitely got to him”

Credit: @1CraigFisher

“No need for this excuse again, at the start of the season city only had 6 days to prepare”

Credit: @Subindra99

“I’m a Liverpool fan but Klopp is already saying rubbish here. We should care about how we’ll break them not being jealous of the break they had”

Credit: @IreOluwadiran

“A bit poor from Klopp there on this occasion. Probably just frustration manifesting but doubt he meant any real dig at Pep tbf”

Credit: @robfreelancer

In other news, Jurgen Klopp provides positive news regarding centre-back with ‘proper personality.’

Speaking recently to This is Futbol, former Premier League referee, Mark Halsey, discussed an incident involving Newcastle United centre-forward Callum Wilson and Everton defender Yerry Mina.

In the 27th minute of Newcastle’s 2-0 win against Everton on Saturday, Newcastle forward Wilson and Everton’s Mina had a coming together, with the latter going down holding his face after contact from Wilson’s arm.

However, after a brief VAR check, Wilson was cleared of any wrongdoing in the clash, and, after treatment, Mina was able to continue in the match.

The Newcastle striker then went on to score a second-half double in the fixture, ensuring that Steve Bruce’s side secured an impressive away victory, which helped to ease relegation concerns for the time being.

Speaking to This is Futbol, ex-referee Halsey suggested that Wilson may have been fortunate to still be on the pitch in order to bag the winning goals for the Magpies.

He said: “We’ve seen players sent off for a lot less this season and I think VAR looked at it, and, obviously, they didn’t feel it was an act of violent conduct – possibly a reckless use of the arm, which is a cautionable offence but obviously VAR don’t get involved with cautionable offences. But you do run the risk, players do run the risk when they raise their arms in that situation.

“Listen, I think it all depends [on] who’s sitting in the VAR chair and how high their tolerance level is. Then you have to question, was it an act of violent conduct? Was it a reckless use of the arm? The ball wasn’t in play, was it? In that situation, when those instances happen and the ball’s in play, then it’s not only [about] is it a caution or red card, it becomes a matter then, is it a penalty?”

So, from Halsey’s comments, it would indeed appear as if the former referee believes that Wilson was rather fortunate to remain on the pitch following the incident with Mina.

However, this will not likely bother many Newcastle fans, who will no doubt be delighted that the striker remains available for selection for their side’s upcoming games – Wilson has already bagged a highly impressive 10 goals over his 19 Premier League appearances for Newcastle so far this term.

In other Newcastle United news, Neil Lennon has finally made a decision on this reported Newcastle target, find out more here!

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, Crystal Palace are reportedly eyeing up a move for Stoke City starlet Nathan Collins.

What’s the word?

The Eagles have no fewer than eighteen players set to be out of contract in the summer, including defenders Gary Cahill, 35, and Scott Dann, 33, with several new start needed to come in ahead of their potential departures.

And now, The Sun claims Palace are scouting Stoke’s Collins, but that they face stiff competition from Premier League rivals Arsenal and Burnley.

The report adds that Burnley are lining up a £10m bid for the 19-year-old, who has been heavily linked with a bet365 Stadium exit.

Palace’s next Scott Dann?

Described as “very composed” by James McClean, Collins is a throwback to the traditional centre-back, possessing fine positional sense and awareness.

One of his other club-mates, Joe Allen, was also effusive in his praise for his younger teammate, saying: “There’s a lot of work to be put in and a long way for him to go, but I hope to see him in the Premier League one day. Hopefully with Stoke. He’s certainly got the tools for it — technically, and also in terms of his personality.”

And this level of maturity was clearly on display during his defensive shift in Stoke’s 2-1 defeat to Watford. Whilst he ended up on the wrong side, he held his own for the majority of the game.

As per SofaScore, the £1m-rated colossus made two tackles and three interceptions which was the joint-highest amount of any player for Michael O’Neill’s side, whilst he also took a game-high 98 touches of the ball as he looked comfortable at the back and confident in possession.

He kept Palace’s long-term target Ismaila Sarr in his back pocket for most of the game, as Sarr could only win four duels from 12 attempts as the teenager did his best to nullify the threat on the right-hand side of the pitch.

Despite his age, Collins clearly has an experienced head on his young shoulders, having made 44 appearances for the Potters across all competitions, and he is probably the closest thing Palace could have to the next Scott Dann, who has never been shown a card of any kind over the course of his career so far.

If Steve Parish can get a deal over the line, he could turn out to be a shrewd investment at Selhurst Park.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace target Jordan Amavi would provide ideal left-back cover and competition…