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Mauricio Pochettino could make a sensational return to Tottenham Hotspur this summer, according to emerging reports…

What’s the word?

The ever-reliable Alasdair Gold at football.london has dropped an exciting new claim suggesting that there is interest in bringing the 49-year-old home, over 18 months after his departure.

“Spurs have held talks with Mauricio Pochettino about returning to the club and I understand he wants to come back,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

Pochettino has made no secret of his intentions to one day return to North London to complete his ‘unfinished business but nobody could’ve expected to be this soon, even more so as he’s under contract as the manager of Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain.

It’s even thought that the Argentine is back at his home in England following a dismal end to the 2020/21 season, so it’ll be on Daniel Levy to negotiate with PSG if he’s to seal a comeback to Spurs.

Hugely exciting claim

If you’re a Spurs supporter, then this news is as good as anything you’ll hear this year. Many believed the fan-favourite coach was unfairly dismissed, just a few months after reaching the Champions League final.

In fact, much of the Lilywhites faithful have made their voices heard in response to Gold’s massive suggestion.

One fan claimed that he would “love Poch back” and another told the football.london journalist that he was a “magnificent bearer of good news,” whilst a further supporter dubbed it the “perfect appointment.”

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It’s hardly a surprise to see this sort of reaction as Pochettino gave Spurs many seasons of attractive and entertaining football, and he arguably overachieved with what he had at his disposal.

There was a time when the club went 18 months without making a signing, and even then, it wasn’t one for the senior side.

In comparison, Jose Mourinho was well-backed by Levy, bringing in Steven Bergwijn in his first window before going on a spree in the summer, adding Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Matt Doherty, Joe Rodon, Sergio Reguilon and even Gareth Bale to his ranks.

Indeed, Pochettino could well be the “ideal candidate” as it seems as if Levy is searching for an exact prototype – so why not the man himself, once again?

The Argentine’s return could also bolster Spurs’ claims to keep hold of wantaway talisman Harry Kane, as the England international has always spoken well about the relationship he had with his former boss.

That would certainly please the fanbase, who have been protesting against the chairman and the owners in recent weeks, even more.

All in all, the fact that Spurs have held discussions with Pochettino, and that he would be open to returning, is hugely encouraging and exciting news.

AND in other news, Imagine him AND Conte: Levy could transform Spurs with landmark double swoop…

Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah is considering an offer from Crystal Palace, according to The Times.

The Lowdown: January offers

The Eagles were after Nketiah’s services during the January window and made two bids for the striker.

However, as we know, the 22-year-old remained at the Emirates and has continued to play second fiddle to Alexandre Lacazette in recent months.

Nketiah has been handed rare starts in the Gunners’ last two Premier League fixtures due to Lacazette’s absence and scored twice in a 4-2 win over Chelsea on Wednesday.

The Latest: Palace offer

The forward is out of contract in a matter of months, and according to The Times, is now considering offers from Palace and Borussia Monchengladbach.

Arsenal haven’t given up hope of Nketiah signing a new deal, but the striker knows that Mikel Arteta is planning on bringing in at least one forward in the summer.

The Verdict: Shrewd move

Nketiah, who Arteta labelled as ‘extraordinary’, showed his quality in front of goal in the week, and still just 22 years of age, a free transfer to Selhurst Park could be an inspired piece of business from Patrick Vieira, Steve Parish and Dougie Freedman.

He has contributed to eight goals in just 784 minutes of action this season and can play anywhere across a front three, so clearly has ability and versatility which could prove useful if afforded more opportunities.

Reports in recent months have claimed that Christian Benteke could be on the way out this summer, so Nketiah may well be the perfect replacement for the Belgian in Vieira’s exciting young side.

In other news: Freedman now stepping up Palace move for ‘phenomenal’ left-footed star.

Daniel Pinder, editor-in-chief at Get German Football News, doubts that RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann will be tempted to move to Tottenham Hotspur, telling Football Fancast that he is likely waiting for the Bayern Munich job.

Spurs sacked Jose Mourinho on Monday, per David Ornstein of The Athletic, in an explosive 24 hours that also saw the club sign up to be founding members of the new European Super League. Ryan Mason and Chris Powell are to take over first-team duties.

Mourinho has struggled at times this season and Spurs are currently seventh in the Premier League table prior to this week’s game with Southampton, and this weekend’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester City.

Reports have previously linked Nagelsmann with the Spurs job, with the Daily Telegraph reporting he would become the top target if Mourinho was sacked.

The 33-year-old has been with Leipzig since 2019, and they are currently second in the Bundesliga, though they are seven points behind leaders Bayern.

Bayern have announced that Hansi Flick, their current coach, will leave the club at the end of the season and Pinder, editor-in-chief at Get German Football News, has speculated that he will take over from Joachim Low as Germany manager after this summer’s European Championships.

And asked about the prospect of Nagelsmann moving to north London, he rejected the assertion, insisting he is far more likely to replace Flick.

He told FFC: “I don’t think Nagelsmann would go to Spurs. I think he’s waiting for the Bayern Munich job.

“I was thinking earlier, there’s already a managerial merry-go-round in Germany, with Marco Rose to Dortmund, Adi Hutter to Gladbach, which then leaves a space at Eintracht Frankfurt.

“I think if Hansi Flick is the coach of the German national team after the Euros then that’ll open up the Bayern Munich spot and I think, ultimately, that’s where Nagelsmann will want to be in the end.”

Leeds United will only be able to make loan signings in the January transfer window, according to claims made by a Thorp Arch source.

The Lowdown: Signings needed in January

The Whites could badly do with reinforcements this month in order to ease the current injury problems and ensure that a Premier League relegation battle isn’t on the cards.

Leeds have had to make do without pivotal figures such as Kalvin Phillips and Patrick Bamford, but they are just a small sample of the players currently unavailable to Marcelo Bielsa.

Despite additions being needed, a new update doesn’t sound too positive for the Elland Road faithful.

[freshpress-quiz id=“383507″]

The Latest: Worrying claim emerges

According to Football Insider, a Leeds source has informed them that the Whites will only be able to make loan signings in January due to Financial Fair Play constraints.

The message has been ‘made clear’ by club chiefs to Bielsa, who must now weigh up whether or not he is happy to only bring in players on a temporary basis until the end of the season.

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The Verdict: Are panic signings required?

The downside to signing players on loan is that it brings little stability and rhythm to the squad in the long-term, only alleviating a problem for a short period.

Bielsa must work out if he thinks Leeds can get by without any new faces, with injury problems potentially easing in the coming weeks and perhaps allowing them to pull clear of danger.

A loan-to-buy option for a player could also be shrewd business, allowing the Whites to possibly snap up a player permanently in the summer, assuming he does well at Elland Road in the meantime. Someone like Cagliari midfielder and long-time target Nahitan Nandez could be perfect in that respect, considering the Serie A side are reportedly happy to see him leave.

In other news, Leeds have reportedly been boosted in their pursuit of one player. Find out who it is here.

Ligue 1 side Nice are leading the way to sign Crystal Palace youngster Zion Atta, according to The Daily Mail.

And a number of Palace supporters have been reacting to the update on social media

The Daily Mail suggest that Nice are in pole position to sign the 16-year-old attacker, who was snapped up by super-agent Mino Raiola earlier this year.

Atta has also had interest from Ajax, Juventus, PSV and Roma, but it appears as if a move to France could be on the cards.

Palace would be due compensation, should a move go through, however, the report claims the Eagles’ interest in Nice forward Deji Sotona could help negotiations between the two clubs.

Sotona, formerly of Manchester United, is 18 years of age and could be known to Patrick Vieira, who managed Nice between 2018 and 2020.

Palace fans react

@CPFCtransfersHQ shared The Daily Mail’s claim on Atta on Twitter on Saturday lunchtime.

Here’s what some Palace fans had to say in reply, with one describing a possible exit as ‘stupid’, whereas others were quick to slam Raiola.

“Raiola is the biggest disease in football”Credit: @palace_tommy”Oh well”Credit: @CPFCMax9″Stupid if you ask me. Look what we’re building here and the pathway for youngsters. But Raiola’s gonna Raiola. Cba with this talk every summer about him – if we don’t wanna be here, just go. We’ll stop developing you. See how you get on with no pathway”Credit: @Phillyconcarne”Go, don’t want that parasite (Raiola) near Palace”Credit: @OutYanks”Pain”Credit: @joelcpfc_”Go. Don’t want Raiola near Palace”Credit: @notconnorlmao

In other news: Alan Nixon’s 4-word admission in Palace and Leeds’ battle for Conor Gallagher; favours one club. 

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer believes Marcelo Bielsa would leave the Whites for Tottenham if the opportunity arose.

This comes after ex-Spurs star Jamie O’Hara tipped Bielsa, on talkSPORT, to replace Mourinho at the north London club following the Portuguese coach’s recent sacking.

RB Leipzig boss Julian Nagelsmann was reported to be Tottenham’s No.1 choice for the dugout, but the German now has a deal in place to take him to Bayern Munich in the summer.

It leaves Tottenham now needing to look elsewhere and, should their search take them to Bielsa, Palmer thinks the 65-year-old would find it hard to say no to their advances.

Responding to O’Hara’s take, the ex-Sheffield Wednesday player told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“You want to better yourself. You want to get the top jobs, just like players want to go to top clubs, so it’d be a fantastic opportunity for him.

“If Spurs come knocking, that’s a different ball game. That’s a great career opportunity for him. I’d be very surprised if Tottenham came knocking and he wasn’t prepared to go.”

At this moment of time, based on reports, Tottenham seem to be looking at the likes of Ajax manager Erik ten Hag and England boss Gareth Southgate, so Leeds supporters can probably breathe easy.

Arsenal’s search for a new playmaker has taken an interesting twist this week…

What’s the word?

According to Goal.com’s Charles Watts, Leicester City star James Maddison has emerged as a target, with the Gunners interested in his signature but his £60m price tag could prove troublesome.

It’s thought that bringing Martin Odegaard back from Real Madrid has always been a priority and whilst that still isn’t out of the question, Watts says that talks with parent club Real Madrid have left the North Londoners feeling that they will have to look elsewhere.

Forget Odegaard

If technical director Edu Gaspar and the rest of the Emirates Stadium hierarchy can find a way to make this deal happen, then they can forget about signing Odegaard.

Maddison has been one of the most consistent attacking midfielders in the Premier League in recent seasons, playing a big part in the Foxes’ monumental rise under Brendan Rodgers, in which they won the FA Cup this season.

Injury blighted a lot of his 2020/21 campaign but the one-cap England international still delivered 11 goals and ten assists across all competitions, including strikes against Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City.

These returns were better than every single Arsenal midfielder combined. And he missed several months of the season.

In his 29 appearances in North London, the Madrid wonderkid only provided four direct goal contributions, averaging a goal or assist every 288 minutes in the Premier League alone, via Transfermarkt.

The £60m-rated Leicester dynamo also averaged 0.2 more key passes each outing than the Norway international too, so it’s not at all a bad thing if Mikel Arteta’s attentions were to turn elsewhere.

His manager Brendan Rodgers has frequently lauded him during their time together at the King Power, dubbing him everything from having “immense quality” to being “sensational.”

Whilst The Times’ chief football writer Henry Winter believes the 24-year-old maestro “has a special talent”.

If the Gunners want to fill their creative void, then ultimately, they should look no further than Maddison.

Arteta is, according to Football London’s Chris Wheatley, said to be “a huge fan” of his and that should be enough for Edu and the club to pull the trigger to get a deal done.

AND in other news, Edu must sanction Arsenal swoop for “very talented” £40m monster who’s “like Ozil”…

Ange Postecoglou has provided a fresh injury update on Celtic centre-forward Giorgos Giakoumakis… 

What’s the latest?

The Celtic manager has hinted at Giakoumakis making his return to fitness for the club after the international break.

The Australian head coach singled out the Greek summer signing from VVV-Venlo as a player who could benefit from the break as he needs ten days to get himself fit.

He told The BBC, via Vital Football:

“I think from our perspective, the last international window wasn’t kind to us.

“We lost a couple of key players through injury so from our perspective we’re just keeping our fingers crossed that we get through this international window unscathed.

“There’s still guys like Giorgos who needs some work to get them over the next sort of ten days so when everyone’s fit, we haven’t been close to having everyone ready to go, so hopefully that happens.”

Excitement

Celtic fans will surely be left feeling excited by these comments from Postecoglou. They appear to suggest that he could be in contention to make his Premiership debut for the club shortly after the international break, with the Hoops traveling away to play Motherwell on the 16th.

Since joining from Venlo in the summer, the Greek striker has only made one appearance for Celtic. He played 16 minutes off the bench in the 4-0 defeat to Bayer Leverkusen, before missing the win over Aberdeen through injury on Sunday.

Upon his arrival at the club, Giakoumakis admitted that he has admired the club from afar and is confident that he has made the right decision to sign for the Scottish giants. He said:

“Celtic is one of the world’s great football clubs with the best fans around. It is a club I have admired for so long and it will now be an honour to wear this famous jersey.  To know that the manager wanted me so much to join Celtic is really humbling and it makes me know I have made the right choice.”

This shows how motivated he is to succeed at the club and fans should enjoy seeing his passion on the pitch. Along with that, his goalscoring record for Venlo suggests that he could be an exciting player for the supporter to watch in action.

Last season, he scored 26 goals in 30 Eredivisie games as he averaged a phenomenal SofaScore rating of 7.35 for the Dutch side. He has shown that he can score goals on a regular basis at a respectable standard of football, which is why fans must be excited at the prospect of the Greek forward lining up against Motherwell in two weeks.

AND in other news, “We are looking”: Ange drops Celtic transfer claim which is sure to have fans buzzing…

Alasdair Gold has dropped a very encouraging claim on new Spurs manager Nuno Espirito Santo ahead of pre-season training next week…

What’s the word?

Due to the timing of their appointment, some doubts were cast over how quickly the Portuguese would be getting involved, having signed a two-year deal with the option of a third on Wednesday evening.

According to the ever-reliable football.london journalist, the 47-year-old will be on the training pitches in perfect time.

Speaking on a recent video on his YouTube channel, Gold said: “He is currently self-isolating at the Lodge, which if you’re not aware is the very swanky, luxurious five-star hotel at Hotspur Way, the training complex. He’ll be there until midway through next week.

“The plan is, as it always is, is that the non-internationals will return on Monday to go through all the sports science team tests that they do. They have loads of testing, you often see it every year. There are photos and videos, the bleep test. Things like that.

“What the plan is, on either Tuesday or Wednesday, Nuno Espirito Santo will come out of his isolation and will be able to immediately start work on the pitches. It’ll all sync up quite nicely.”

Timely boost

This is a very encouraging boost for the Lilywhites for numerous reasons.

First, it suggests that no time will be lost in their preparation for the 2021/22 campaign, in which the north London outfit will certainly have to improve on last season’s efforts – a seventh-placed finish in the Premier League, a Carabao Cup final defeat and embarrassingly crashing out of the Europa League.

At one stage, the club looked to be heading into next week without a manager, which would have been a rather damaging prospect, but now it seems as if Nuno will be able to prepare his entire pre-season schedule before getting hands-on early in the week.

Secondly, it means those players who haven’t been at Euro 2020 or the Copa America can get to grips with their new boss, understand his project, system and much more. This includes his former Wolves defender Matt Doherty, who has endured a tough time since his £15m switch to Spurs.

He’s just one of many players who are in line to benefit from a fresh start in N17, and if anything, his presence could help his former coach settle in a little easier. Ultimately, that is another boost working in favour of Spurs.

All in all, chairman Daniel Levy and new sporting director Fabio Paratici seem to have got this hire spot-on at exactly the right time. Any later and the club would be in further peril.

Ultimately, that should leave both Spurs’ hierarchy and supporters absolutely buzzing heading into the new season, thanks to this encouraging insight from Gold.

AND in other news, Dier, Doherty and 3 new signings start in 4-3-3: Predicting Spurs’ XI under Nuno Santo…

An update has emerged regarding Southampton’s interest in Everton defender Thierry Small.

What’s the talk?

According to Hampshire Live, the Saints are looking to sign the full-back from the Goodison Park outfit and are expected to pay £5m in compensation if they get it over the line.

It was reported last month that Small’s representatives were struggling to agree on a new contract with the Toffees, having been offered a first professional deal.

Fans would be livid

Marcel Brands must avoid an Everton howler regarding the 17-year-old. The Toffees faithful would surely be livid if the club allows one of their best young prospects to move to a Premier League rival, even in spite of the sizeable £5m in compensation.

He was handed his senior Everton debut at the age of 16 in the FA Cup last season, illustrating how much faith those behind the scenes have in him on Merseyside. The youngster also played 27 games for the under-18s and under-23s for the Toffees, scoring six goals and providing one assist from left-back.

Former Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti professed his admiration for Small’s talent earlier this year, stating that he has the quality to play in the first-team despite his age.

The Italian said: “Thierry did well. He is really, really young. He is like a kid, he is only 16 years old, but he has quality and physicality to play with the first team. He is one of our best players in the academy, so I was pleased to bring him to train with us. I think for what he is doing it was good for him, too.”

This shows how highly the current Real Madrid manager rates the 5 foot 8 beast, especially the comment on him being one of the best players in the youth setup, and that is why Everton fans would surely be furious to see him leave. The club should be doing everything in their power to ensure that Small puts pen to paper on a contract extension, as supporters could look back on this situation in a few years and be fuming with Brands and Rafa Benitez if the youngster ends up being a success at St. Mary’s.

Therefore, Brands needs to put an attractive contract on the table for Small. They should at the very least be attempting to match what Southampton are willing to offer him in order to retain one of their best young players. Hopefully he will commit his future to the Toffees and make strides in the first team for Benitez over the next few seasons.

AND in other news, Moshiri now preparing £25.7m Everton swoop for “formidable” wizard, fans will love it…