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Leeds United have been handed a major boost over their plans to expand Elland Road.

What’s the story?

Leeds had originally planned to expand the capacity of Elland Road to 50,000 whilst also relocating the Thorp Arch academy to a former high school site close to the site of their stadium.

However, Marcelo Bielsa’s side have changed these plans as they look to expand Elland Road into a 55,000 seater stadium by expanding into the space at the Fullerton Park site next to the stadium.

And now, writing on Twitter, Leeds Live’s Beren Cross said: “Elland Road went one step closer to 55,000 seats today. Councillors today agreed in principle to shift Fullerton Park plans to derelict Holbeck school site, thus making space for Leeds to expand. #lufc”

Fans surely buzzing

Cross’ latest update is an exciting one for Leeds fans who will be no doubt desperate to see Elland Road grow into one of the largest stadiums in English football to match its rich history.

At its current capacity of 37,792, Leeds have the 11th biggest stadium in the Premier League, behind the likes of Everton and Aston Villa.

However, the proposed increase at Elland Road to something around 55,000 would see them hover around the top-five, with champions Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium currently seating 55,017.

Not only would a bigger Elland Road mean more fans be allowed in to watch their team play, but it would also be a statement of ambition that Leeds mean business and are intent on bridging the gap to the Premier League’s elite.

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Leeds fans will be ecstatic to hear the news that councillors have agreed to allow space for the club to finally expand their stadium.

Meanwhile, Leeds must land this EURO 2020 star…

The Athletic’s Gregg Evans has dropped a major transfer update involving Aston Villa this summer.

What’s the story?

Dean Smith’s side enjoyed an impressive end to the Premier League season, registering back-to-back wins over both Spurs and Chelsea and capping off what was a remarkable campaign for a team which only just survived relegation the year before.

Evans has now indicated that plans are already underway at Villa Park for the club to try and strengthen their squad, and crucially, it is being done without the idea of having to replace club captain and talisman Jack Grealish.

He said: “Villa already recognise the need for another wide player, and The Athletic understands Burnley’s Dwight McNeil is of serious interest, as is Emi Buendia of Championship winners Norwich. Extensive groundwork has already been done on both of them.

“It should be made clear, however, that such a pursuit by Villa is not to replace Jack Grealish. Grealish has had open and honest conversations with Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris, chief executive Christian Purslow and head coach Dean Smith about his ambition to play European football. For now, though, Villa are relaxed about the situation after the 25-year-old midfielder signed a new five-year contract last September.”

Fans will be buzzing

After the success of last season’s transfer window, one in which the likes of Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez were signed, Villa fans may feel confident that their club has things in order when it comes to recruitment.

Perhaps most importantly for them, and Villa as a club, is what happens with Grealish.

The England international once again proved his class at Premier League level last season, scoring six goals and providing 12 assists in the top flight, and it was no surprise that Villa looked a little lost without him – their average points-per-game this season dropped from 1.7 with Grealish involved to just one when he was out injured.

Therefore, news that the club have every intention of keeping him and are “relaxed about the situation”, planning on ways of building the team with him in it, should be music to the ears of everyone at the club.

Villa fans will surely be absolutely buzzing with Evans’ latest transfer update.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa will surely be buzzing with this update…

It would take a brave man to say that Celtic’s managerial chase was finally reaching a conclusion.

It has now been over three months since Neil Lennon resigned from his position with the Hoops with an arduous saga taking place since.

The Bhoys missed out on Eddie Howe but now have another man in their crosshairs.

What’s the word?

After their ploy to lure Howe to Celtic Park fell through, Ange Postecoglou has been the primary target for Celtic.

They’ve reportedly been tracking him for months and now view the Australian as the man to finally replace Lennon.

A compensation fee has been agreed with his current club Yokohama Marinos but a hugely promising update emerged late on Saturday night.

According to The Scottish Sun, Celtic have now agreed personal terms with the 55-year-old over a move to Parkhead.

The outlet goes onto claim that barring any other hitches, a move will be concluded in the next 72 hours.

Exciting times for Celtic

If you told supporters when Lennon quit that on the eve of the transfer window they’d still be searching for a new manager, they’d have looked at you in disgust.

Unfortunately, that’s the reality of the situation for the despairing Celtic fan base.

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They have been left disgruntled this season and embarked on mass protests at Paradise against the club’s ownership.

You can hardly blame the anger when you consider a trophyless campaign and an abject summer on the recruitment front 12 months ago.

Therefore, the news that Celtic are well and truly finally on the verge of announcing a new manager should come as great comfort.

It might not be their first target in Howe but Postecoglou is still a fabulous choice for the hot seat.

First and foremost, he has more experience than Howe. He’s taken charge of Australia and began his managerial career back in 1996; 24 years ago.

Since then, he’s acquired expertise throughout Asia and had one spell in Greece, the country of his birth.

Postecoglou also ensures his team plays a vibrant style of football, something that will no doubt suit the Hoops hierarchy.

Raheem Sterling and Pep Guardiola have both complimented the way he gets his players to move the ball while his relentlessly high press can cause nightmares.

His Yokohama Marinos team have also enjoyed the highest percentage of possession of any team in the Japanese top-flight this season. That serves as a further plus point in their bid to lure him to Celtic.

Supporters should be excited that not only is this long-running saga set to end, but it’s coming to a climax with a manager who ticks plenty of boxes from a stylistic point of view.

AND in other news, Celtic can find a new Jullien by signing “special” 6ft4 tank, he’s “one of the best”…

Former Liverpool midfielder Paul Stewart has exclusively told Football FanCast that he’s surprised Thiago Alcantara has struggled to adapt to English football.

The Spanish midfielder arrived last summer with a weight of expectation on his shoulders following a glistening career with both Barcelona and Bayern Munich, where he won more than 20 major honours, including 11 league titles and two Champions Leagues.

A knee problem and Covid-19 saw Thiago restricted to just two appearances before Christmas, with that knee issue sustained in the Merseyside derby ruling him out for more than two months.

Since returning in late-December, the 30-year-old has started all but three of Liverpool’s Premier League matches, and scored his first Reds in the crucial victory over Southampton earlier this month, although he’s yet to assist in 29 games in all competitions.

Thiago, who was loved by Pep Guardiola during their time at Munich, has improved of late, though, and would have most likely claimed the man of the match award at West Brom on Sunday had it not been for Alisson’s dramatic last-gasp winner.

“He came with a lot of hype behind him, and I thought he would slot straight in,” Stewart told Football FanCast.

“But a lot of these players find the Premier League difficult because the game isn’t the same week in, week out.

“They might be playing Arsenal, who pass the ball around one week, but then you might be at Burnley at Turf Moor and if you don’t fight you are coming away with nothing. And I haven’t seen that in Thiago. Some of these players, and Thiago being one of them, find that side of the English game difficult.”

Lyon midfielder Houssem Aouar is reportedly available for £25m this summer, and Liverpool must swoop for the talented technician as they seek a replacement for Gini Wijnaldum.

What’s the story?

According to French outlet L’Equipe, the 22-year-old’s value has plummeted after an underwhelming campaign with the Ligue 1 giants, meaning a potential bargain is there to be had.

The report claims that Aouar would be open to offers coming his way, but with Arsenal also thought to be interested in acquiring his services, Jurgen Klopp may have to move quickly to secure his signature.

Liverpool must swoop

Liverpool will be glad to see the back of a testing 2020/21 campaign, where serious injuries to several key players destroyed their hopes of retaining their Premier League crown. The Reds recovered admirably in the latter stages of the season, winning their final five games to secure a Champions League qualification spot.

However, there are still expected to be several changes made by the Merseyside club over the coming months as Klopp looks to freshen up his first team squad, and a successor to Wijnaldum should be  top of the wish list.

The Dutch international is expected to join Barcelona on a free transfer once his current contract expires, leaving a substantial hole in the Liverpool engine room.

Wijnaldum offered a unique combination of skills which will be hard for any player to replicate, with the 30-year-old often impressing through his work rate, technical ability and eye for goal.

Nevertheless, when comparing the two midfielders’ numbers, there are some surprising similarities.

Despite Aouar regularly playing a slightly more advanced role at the Groupama Stadium than the one Wijnaldum often played in Klopp’s system, the France international still matched the Liverpool man’s 0.6 tackles per league game this season, and his total of 0.6 interceptions per league game was only just under Wijnaldum’s 0.7.

In an attacking sense, Aouar completely outperformed his counterpart. Admittedly this is partly down to the tactical responsibilities placed upon Wijnaldum, but it’s still telling all the same.

Aouar recorded 2.3 shots per league game compared to Wijnaldum’s 0.8, made 1.3 key passes where the Dutchman made just 0.6, and also pulled off 1.5 dribbles in contrast to Wijnaldum’s 0.9.

After Manchester City found life tough against an impressive Lyon side back in 2018, Pep Guardiola was quick to lavish praise on Les Gones’ midfield maestro.

“Houssem Aouar is a very good player. He is incredible. We talk a lot about (Tanguy) Ndombele, but Aouar is also excellent. He’s always very calm with the ball at his feet, with an excellent technical quality,” marvelled the City boss.

With Aouar having a market value of £45m (Transfermarkt), Liverpool could solve their midfield problem with a clever cut-price deal this summer. Their director of football Michael Edwards must swoop for the Frenchman and provide Klopp with the tools he needs to mount another title tilt next year.

In other news… Liverpool heading for massive transfer mistake over £30m liability, Klopp must avoid 

According to reports from Spain, West Ham United have been handed a massive boost in their pursuit of both Mariano Diaz and Luka Jovic this summer.

The report by Marca claimed that Real Madrid are open to offers for both Diaz and Jovic in the upcoming transfer window, with West Ham being linked with a move for the two players over the course of this season.

In November of last year, Defensa Central reported of David Moyes’ interest in the Real Madrid duo, while the Daily Mail reinforced West Ham’s interest in the pair back in January.

According to Milan News, Jovic would be available for around €35m (£30m) this summer, while Metro claimed in 2019 that Diaz would command an £18m fee.

Transfer Tavern Take

With Michail Antonio currently representing West Ham’s only option as an out-and-out centre-forward, it would indeed appear quite likely that Moyes will be in the market for attacking reinforcements this summer.

Also, considering the fact that the Hammers received £20.25m in January for Sebastien Haller’s sale to Ajax, a move for either of Jovic or Diaz – or potentially even both – would not appear to be out of reach financially for the east London side, particularly if they go on to secure Champions League football by the end of the season.

In other news: West Ham eye summer swoop for in-demand defender; GSB could land deal for £13m – find out more here!

While Raphinha may be the man stealing the headlines at Leeds, Stuart Dallas has been the real star of the show for Marcelo Bielsa.

The Northern Irishman has taken his game up a level since the step-up to the top flight and has been in superb form.

The 30-year-old spent a lot of the first half of the season at full-back, both on the right and left, but now playing in midfield, he looks like a star.

As per Transfermarkt, in the seven games that he’s played in a box-to-box midfield role, he has scored three times which is his best record in the opposition’s penalty area.

His match-winning display against Manchester City typified this when he scored twice at the Etihad Stadium.

The Athletic’s Phil Hay raved about Dallas and his worth to this Leeds side, insisting that on his current form, it would be difficult to leave him out of the team next season, even with some potential signings.

Writing in the Athletic he said the Leeds star was undroppable and looks like a quality asset in central midfield.

The Northern Irishman has certainly proven in recent matches that a midfield role can see him really shine at Leeds, and it would be silly to move him back into full-back.

As a result, Bielsa must unshackle Dallas as the club’s primary box-to-box midfield star from this point onwards.

Harry Kane’s future at Tottenham Hotspur is likely to be a contentious subject this summer.

The 27-year-old talisman is entering his peak years and will be desperate to add a piece of silverware to his goal-laden career so far – something he may well not achieve in north London.

And according to Mundo Deportivo earlier this week, the England international wants to leave Spurs this summer as La Liga giants Barcelona eye him up as an alternative to Erling Haaland.

In the past, Kane has never ruled out an exit from his boyhood club. He told Sky Sports 13 months ago: “It all depends on what happens as a team and how we progress as a team. So it’s not a definite I’m going to stay there forever – but it’s not a no either.

He’ll be a hard man for Jose Mourinho and Daniel Levy to replace, but one of their former targets could prove to be the solution amid fresh claims over his price tag.

Earlier this year, La Stampa (via Tuttomercatoweb) claimed that Spurs were keen on Torino forward Andrea Belotti as he seems a perfect fit for Premier League football, and now they’ve been given a boost.

According to Corriere dello Sport, the 27-year-old could be available for just €25m (£22m), having once been valued double that.

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Kane is the complete centre-forward – he can score with both feet, with his head, from outside the box and from inside. And Belotti is very similar.

It is perhaps a surprise that the Italy international has remained at Torino given his goalscoring form over the last few seasons. In six straight years, the 5 foot 11 beast has hit at least ten league goals, with a career-best of 26 coming in the 2016/17 campaign, via Transfermarkt.

His tally of 103 goals in 219 appearances means he has found the net once in every two games, not too far back from Kane’s one goal every 1.5 matches record for Spurs.

Of course, the £108m-rated sensation is practically irreplaceable but for just £22m, Belotti would be as close to ideal as you’d ever get.

Current Spurs shot-stopper Joe Hart enjoyed a spell at Torino and waxed lyrical over his former teammate, he told Gianluca Di Marzio: “Andrea is similar to all the great strikers, English and not. It’s hard to compare him to someone else because he’s special. He’s Belotti and that’s it. He has instinct for goals, personality and he’s a team player: he’s always focused on his team and plays hard to help it.”

Whilst the £36m-rated goal machine could also help fill the leadership void left behind by Kane, should he depart, as he’s led the Bulls since 2017 and according to president Urbano Cairo, he’s a “real captain.”

If Kane is to leave north London anytime soon, then Levy must look to reignite interest in Belotti. There aren’t many other prolific scorers available for such a cheap price tag, so the Tottenham chairman should certainly pounce.

AND in other news, Spurs must regret not signing 28 y/o with 10 G/A since January…

Odsonne Edouard could end up leaving Celtic for as little as £8m this summer.

That’s according to an exclusive report from Football Insider, who have been informed by a recruitment source that the 23-year-old’s camp believes he can seal a Parkhead exit at the end of the campaign in a deal worth between £8m and 10m.

Edouard is entering the final 12 months of his Hoops contract in the summer, and regardless of who comes in to replace Neil Lennon, he wants to leave the club ahead of the 2021/22 season.

The Frenchman has netted 81 times in 162 appearances in green and white, but it seems as if his days at Celtic Park are numbered.

Transfer Tavern take

Should Celtic sell at £8m over the coming months, the Hoops could be in line to make an embarrassing loss on a player they valued at £40m last summer. They paid Paris Saint-Germain £9.27m back in 2018 and owe the French giants a whopping 40% of any sale.

Therefore, should an £8m transfer go through, Celtic would have to hand over £3.2m to PSG, leaving the Hoops with the remaining £4.8m – a £4.47m loss on the £9.27m they forked out three years ago.

There has been talk that AC Milan could offer loanee Diego Laxalt plus cash for Edouard’s services this summer, so that could be a possible avenue for the Hoops to explore over the coming months going off this latest update.

In other news: 25 y/o Celtic ace could leave this summer following eight-word admission, find out more here. 

Some Everton fans have been criticising the performance of Dominic Calvert-Lewin in their 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup on Saturday evening.

Late goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne were enough in the end to send Pep Guardiola’s men through into the semi-final stage of the competition and sink the Merseyside club at Goodison Park.

There were some decent performances for Carlo Ancelotti’s team, but Calvert-Lewin flattered to deceive in the eyes of some Everton fans.

The former Sheffield United man lost seven of his duels and also relinquished possession of the ball no fewer than 14 times throughout the match, the most out of any outfield Toffees player to have set foot on the pitch (Sofascore).

Everton fan reaction to Calvert-Lewin display

These Everton supporters slammed his performance on Twitter, with one fan even going as far as to claim that the 24-year-old England international striker was ‘terrible’ against the Premier League leaders:

“Thought Calvert-Lewin was lazy for their first goal. Let their centre-half run right past him.”

Credit: @sav4efc

“Not good enough. If you’re making the decision to defend all game….you defend all game. Calvert-Lewin literally cantered back and watched him run the ball past him to take the shot tipped on to the bar. If he had pressed this could’ve ended completely different.”

Credit: @Reverand_dave

“Asked for that all game, invited them every time they had the ball, backed off and with the team like them it’s a matter of time that you pay for it! Gomes, Calvert-Lewin and Richarlison all terrible tonight!”

Credit: @CJonesLJ

“Calvert-Lewin has to do more there, should be applying far more pressure than he does!!”

Credit: @ChrisPickles24

“Calvert-Lewin’s head seems in another place here. A good 5-7 yds off the game.”

Credit: @connjam

“#EVEMCI #FAcup We played well until 84th min, against a great #mancity team. #DCL #richarlison are NOT scoring enough goals, they need to play with an experienced striker! Next season we should improve! #weekendvibes”

Credit: @RitaBruceEFC

In other news, find out which Everton player some fans have slammed after comments emerged!