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Despite securing a deal for 21-year-old winger Chiquinho in recent days, Wolves still have enough time left in the January transfer window to add some more players to Bruno Lage’s squad as they aim to secure a European place in the Premier League this season.

One potential deal that the Old Gold could look to complete is for Barcelona’s 24-year-old winger Ousmane Dembele, who has been mentioned with a move to Molineux recently with current Wolves winger Adama Traore possibly going in the other direction.

With the Spanish club apparently telling Dembele to leave by the end of the month if he’s not willing to sign a new deal at Camp Nou, this is a situation that Wolves could potentially pounce upon to bring the Frenchman to Molineux for a fresh start away from Barcelona.

Having been compared to a young Cristiano Ronaldo by former Rennes sporting director Mikael Silvestre in terms of his characteristics on the pitch, Dembele has shown throughout his career that he is capable of scoring and setting up goals in a similar vein to the iconic Portuguese attacker. The 24-year-old has scored 53 goals and delivered 50 assists in 208 senior club appearances for Rennes, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona across all competitions.

In addition to his comparison with Ronaldo, the £27m-rated winger has also been the subject of lofty praise from another footballing icon, with Lionel Messi describing his former Barcelona teammate as a “phenomenon” on the pitch.

If Jeff Shi and Wolves see a possibility of being able to secure a financially viable deal for Dembele this month, they should definitely go for it to see if he would be willing to test his game in the Premier League and put what seems to be an unsavoury situation with Barcelona behind him to potentially become Wolves’ own version of Ronaldo.

Given his fairly young age and Traore’s reported intention to leave Molineux, Dembele could also be Wolves’ dream replacement for the Spaniard and offer Lage’s side more of a goal threat going forward, given how Traore has only netted 11 goals in 153 Old Gold appearances across all competitions.

However, with a significant injury record against his name, this could potentially put off Wolves or any other club considering a move for Dembele from actually doing so.

In other news: Sky Sports journalist drops Wolves transfer update live on air, Lage will be delighted

Rangers will be looking to continue their fine form in the Scottish Premiership as Giovanni van Bronkhorst’s side return to action at Ibrox tonight.

They play host to St Johnstone three days after beating Hearts 2-0 away from home to maintain their four-point lead over Celtic in the table.

Alfredo Morelos and Joe Aribo scored the winning goals for the Gers in the first half, with the Dutchman’s team able to hold on for a clean sheet.

How many changes will he make to the team? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that he will make three alterations to the side, with Ianis Hagi, Steven Davis and Nathan Patterson coming in.

In his pre-match press conference, van Bronckhorst confirmed that he will be missing two players due to injury, revealing:

“Kemar (Roofe) has a setback and will hopefully return before the winter break. Ryan (Jack) we hope to have him back fully fit after the winter break. No fresh injuries from the match on Sunday.”

We are predicting that there will be a change in central midfield to keep the team fresh and avoid overplaying players during the festive period. Jack will be unable to slot in due to his knock and that could open the door for Steven Davis to come in for Glen Kamara.

The Finland international lost three of his five duels against Hearts and failed to make a single tackle or interception, suggesting that he could benefit from being axed in midweek before returning at the weekend as he was slightly off the pace. Davis is an experienced operator and can slot straight into the side for this match to play alongside Joe Aribo.

At right-back, Nathan Patterson could come in to offer James Tavernier in a move with a similar thought process to the Kamara switch. The ex-Newcastle man has started 15 of the 17 league matches this season and could drop to the bench to allow the youngster, who has four appearances in the Premiership this term, a chance to get some minutes under his belt.

Finally, Hagi could come in to replace Scott Arfield in the number 10 position. FFC published an article explaining why the £21k-per-week Romanian gem should be unleashed from the start after Arfield failed to catch the eye with his performance on Sunday.

The rest of the team could remain the same with, Allan McGregor, Calvin Bassey, Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson, Aribo, Fashion Sakala, Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos remaining.

AND in other news, Forget Arfield: Gio must unleash “dream” Rangers wiz who’s “a student of the game”…

A number of Manchester United supporters are delighted after Ralf Rangnick confirmed that Edinson Cavani would stay put at the club beyond January.

The Uruguayan has enjoyed a wonderful playing career, excelling in the likes of Italy, France and England, not to mention scoring 53 goals in 126 caps for his country.

Cavani has struggled for playing time at United this season, though, only starting three matches in the Premier League, leading to speculation surrounding his future.

[freshpress-poll id=“378953″]

With Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford last August, it has seemingly been harder to fit the 34-year-old into the team’s plans. It appears as though Cavani will not be leaving United this month, though.

Fabrizio Romano took to Twitter to share these emphatic comments from Rangnick on the veteran Uruguay striker: “Cavani will definitely NOT leave in January. We spoke about Edi and he knows that I will definitely not let him go — we will definitely need Edi. He’s amazing.

“I told him from the very first day, for me he is a highly important player. He’s staying.”

Man United fans love Cavani latest

It is an update which has been met with resounding positivity by these United fans on Twitter, who provided their thoughts on Rangnick’s comments.

“Excellent”

Credit: @capt_bluntschli

“This news. I love it.”

Credit: @AshishRogers1

“SIUUUUUUUU”

Credit: @wheezingblud

“I am in love! I can’t deny! Our center forward is the king of Uruguay!”

Credit: @Gusti_Neg

“After that celebration for the 1st goal against Burnley I knew he wasn’t leaving.”

Credit: @_GrassIsGreen_

“I am in love”

Credit: @joshrushby_

In other news, a journalist has talked up United’s interest in one player. Find out who it is here.

While Celtic have seen their league form drastically improve under the leadership of Ange Postecoglou in recent months, with the Bhoys remaining undefeated over the last eight Premiership fixtures, the 56-year-old Hoops manager will nevertheless be aware that his side will face one of their sterner tests of the season at Parkhead this evening.

Indeed, Robbie Neilson’s Heart of Midlothian side have also been incredibly impressive in the current campaign, sitting just two points behind Celtic in the league, as well as having already taken three points off of the Bhoys on the opening day of the season.

As such, Postecoglou will know that he must get his team selection spot on against Hearts if he is to have any hope of his side reducing the gap between them the current Premiership leaders, with one player who the Greek-Australian coach simply must call upon tonight being Nir Bitton.

Game-changer

With Tom Rogic’s hamstring injury leaving Celtic somewhat short in the middle of the park, Postecoglou opted to slightly change his setup in the middle of the park, playing the more defensively-minded Bitton in place of the 28-year-old attacking midfielder.

And, while this change would, on the surface, appear to make the Bhoys more defensive, Bitton has in fact flourished in the absence of Rogic, with the 30-year-old being one of the Hoops’ most impressive players over the last four fixtures.

Indeed, in this period, the £720k-rated Israel international has enjoyed 353 touches of the ball, completed 269 passes, made 15 tackles and won a whopping 31 duels, with these metrics seeing the £14k-per-week midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.33.

As such, while both Bitton and Rogic look as if they will be available for selection against Hearts this evening, Postecoglou simply must unleash Bitton ahead of the Australia international.

Not only would he help to solidify Celtic against a side who have already scored 25 goals in the league, the man the 56-year-old manager himself dubbed “influential” has also proven to be something of a game-changer in the middle of the park in the absence of Rogic.

In other news: Celtic handed big transfer boost ahead of January, fans will be elated

Many Everton fans have been left fuming over some news involving one of their upcoming fixtures in the Premier League.

As per the official Twitter page of the Goodison Park faithful, their trip to Newcastle United in February has now been rescheduled, after being selected for live TV.

It will now be played on Tuesday 8th February at 7:45pm, in what is an ridiculously inconvenient time for supporters hoping to go to the game on Tyneside.

The late kick-off makes it difficult for Toffees to travel back, especially in a midweek when they are likely to have work the next day, and there will be fewer public transport options at that time of night.

Nonetheless, the anger also comes after a poor run of form on the pitch, which has seen the Merseyside club win just one of their last 10 matches in the Premier League.

Everton fans on fixture change

These Blues fumed as the news of the fixture change was shared on Twitter, with one EFC fan even going as far as to claim that it was ‘awful’:

“Why?”

Credit: @efc_1878___

“Keep going @premierleague – kick us when we’re already down”

Credit: @SpecterAndGold

“We’re actually never playing a game on a Saturday again”

Credit: @joejohnson1202

“Everton are not allowed to play Newcastle in broad daylight”

Credit: @jamesc_422

“Absolutely awful date change for Newcastle away that”

Credit: @Lammylad88

“Half the fan base just suffered an injury reading this tweet”

Credit: @SchneiderErnie

In other news, find out what injury news has Evertonians fuming here!

West Ham are reportedly interested in signing Marseille centre-back Duje Caleta-Car, with Newcastle United also eyeing up a move.

The Lowdown: West Ham juggernaut continues

The Hammers are absolutely flying at the moment and they picked up arguably their biggest result of the season so far on Sunday. David Moyes’ side won 3-2 at home to Liverpool, producing a strong all-round performance and jumping ahead of the Reds into third place in the Premier League.

It was further proof that the east Londoners are genuine top-four challengers at the moment, with everything seemingly going right for them.

The Latest: Caleta-Car linked with West Ham move

That doesn’t mean that the prospects of new signings is to be sniffed at, though, and according to Calciomercato, West Ham are keen on bringing Caleta-Car to the London Stadium.

The 25-year-old has made six starts for Marseille in Ligue 1 this season and was linked with a move to the Irons in the summer, as well as almost signing for Liverpool back in January.

Newly-rich Newcastle are also believed to be in the mix to sign the £16.2m-rated defender, who has won 19 caps for Croatia, who he represented in their run to the 2018 World Cup final.

The Verdict: Strong squad addition

While the Hammers have excelled in defence so far this season – Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna have been a strong centre-back pairing, starting 18 league games between them – more depth should be seen as a bonus.

Caleta-Car could come in and provide stiff competition for the first-choice pair, also allowing Moyes to rotate and keep his players fresh. He also comes with a ringing endorsement from international colleague and 2020 Premier League winner Dejan Lovren, who last year said that the 25-year-old is “physically very strong, stronger than other players” and “will explode in a few years and become even stronger”.

Aside from the strength of which Lovren speaks, Caleta-Car is also very composed in possession, with a 92.3% passing accuracy in Ligue 1 this season. That figure is higher than what anyone to have started a league game for West Ham has managed in 2021/22, so he could improve Moyes’ team in this regard.

The Marseille defender is also at a good age in terms of his peak years still hopefully being ahead of him, so he could be a shrewd investment for a number of years to come.

In other news, a journalist has provided an update on a potential Jesse Lingard return to West Ham. Read more here.

Tottenham appear to be leading rivals Arsenal and Manchester City in the race to sign Fiorentina forward Dusan Vlahovic, according to Corriere dello Sport, relayed by Sports Witness.

The Lowdown: Vlahovic profiled

Plenty of Spurs supporters will have heard of Vlahovic following links prior to Antonio Conte’s arrival in north London.

The 21-year-old, lauded as ‘incredible’ by Serie A expert Conor Clancy, broke several records with a hat-trick earlier this year and has netted 31 goals for his current employers since the start of the 2020/21 season.

He’s under contract with Fiorentina until 2023 but it seems as if a move away appears likely after he turned down a fresh deal last month.

At 6 foot 3, he is a huge physical presence who could perhaps fulfil the role in Conte’s system that Diego Costa did for Chelsea.

The Latest: Recent report

Sports Witness cited rumours from Italy in a report on Monday, claiming Tottenham have raised their interest ‘in recent hours’.

They add that Spurs want to ‘mock’ the likes of Arsenal and City by landing Vlahovic, with Fabio Paratici and Conte both fans of the forward.

The Italian outlet are believed to be confident about a switch and say the Lilywhites have moved ‘decisively and persistently’.

The Verdict: Smart…

Should Paratici and Daniel Levy successfully swoop for Vlahovic, it could prove to be a major piece of business in the long run with the Serbian already finding the back of the net so impressively this early into his career.

Conte liked to play a 3-5-2 system at Inter, however, Spurs’ only senior striker on the books at this moment in time is Harry Kane.

By bringing in Vlahovic, Conte would then have another prolific striker to partner Kane, which could then allow him to turn the club’s wingers into either wing-backs or coach them into a more central role by learning off Kane and Vlahovic.

In other news: ‘Complete and utter nonsense’ – 48 y/o fumes at ‘ridiculous’ thing Conte has done at Tottenham. 

As West Ham United breezed past Genk at the London Stadium this evening, taking yet more control of Group H, many Irons supporters were blown away by the performance and contribution of defender Craig Dawson.

David Moyes’ men took a giant leap towards finishing top by beating the Belgian giants this evening.

Indeed, they have gone six points clear with their victory and, as per the new Europa League format, potentially finishing as group victors will guarantee West Ham a spot straight into the last 16.

Moyes rested a fair few first teamers tonight with the likes of Manuel Lanzini, Andriy Yarmolenko, Nikola Vlasic, Alphonse Areola and Dawson all coming in after the weekend victory at Everton.

Among all of these fresh faces, it was the latter man who garnered real praise on Twitter for his display – especially considering he opened the floodgates with his towering first half header.

He was also among the highest-rated West Ham players on SofaScore and it’s safe to say his ‘massive’ display didn’t go unnoticed.

Find all the reaction to his outing down below.

West Ham fans blown away by Dawson…

“Dawson you beast”

Credit: @RyanG33A

“Dawson!!!!! What a player”

Credit: @WestHamNews24hr

“Craig Dawson is the hero we never knew we needed”

Credit: @_Sam_Chaplin

“We are absolutely massive and Craig Dawson is absolutely massive”

Credit: @Lew_Fountain

“DAWSON YOU MAGNIFICENT SET PIECE ROBOT”

Credit: @chojinzoku

“can we just bring dawson on in games to attack corners because he’s disgustingly good at it”

Credit: @whuemma

“Craig Dawson!!! Fisted hand Guys so dangerous at set pieces so good in the air”

Credit: @JJ_Hannaway

In other news: ‘Yes yes yes’, ‘No brainer’…West Ham fans buzz as contact made to sign ‘big’ striker, find out more here.

The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has implored Aston Villa boss Dean Smith to go “back to basics” amid his recent tactical shift in the Premier League.

What’s the story?

The Villans moved to a back-three for the trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea a few weeks ago, and while they were beaten 3-0 by the Blues, they stuck with it for the games against Everton and Manchester United – both of which resulted in victories.

However, since then, it’s been a real struggle, with the Midlands club now on a run of three successive defeats in the competition following last Friday’s dismal 3-1 defeat away at Arsenal.

And now, Preece has suggested Smith go back to his tried and trusted, even indicating that the players themselves appear to be lost right now.

During a Q&A for The Birmingham Mail, he said: “Yes, it’s time to get back to basics. The players don’t seem comfortable playing 3-5-2, such was their body language of late. Midfield non-existent last week in that first half. Lost count how many Arsenal players just ran straight through to Villa’s defence without a tackle going in.

“Yes, I’d go with what you suggested. Who starts up front for you; Ings or Watkins? Also agree re Buendia, he’s looking like a better option out wide where he did his damage for Norwich. Bossed again centrally last week.”

“Back to basics” for Aston Villa

While the switch to a back-three worked against the likes of Everton and United, it has been nothing short of a disaster since then, stifling any creativity and seeing their midfield overrun far too easily.

Against Arsenal, their dreadful first-half performance saw them have no shots on goal whatsoever compared to the Gunners’ 14, with Douglas Luiz and John McGinn simply find it too much to deal with the likes of Thomas Partey, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Emile Smith Rowe and Alexandre Lacazette dropping into central spaces.

With the returns of Leon Bailey and Bertrand Traore, Smith now has two genuine wingers who he can turn to and utilise in a more familiar 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, and that could see them rediscover their form.

Right now, Villa’s players just look completely uncomfortable in their system and roles as Preece says, and it’s high time Smith reverts to type ahead of this weekend’s crunch Premier League clash against West Ham on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, Villa must sell this star amid some Premier League interest…

Aston Villa have struggled when Ollie Watkins has not played this season, says Express & Star journalist Luke Hatfield.

Watkins missed Villa’s first two games of the new Premier League campaign due to injury, while he was only fit enough to make the bench in his side’s third fixture against former club Brentford.

During that run, Dean Smith’s men managed to beat Newcastle United 2-0. However, they lost to Watford on the opening weekend and were only able to scrape a draw against Brentford, with the 25-year-old missing the majority of that match.

Ultimately, for Hatfield, the Villans have not been quite at it in Watkins’ absence.

“I think it showed when he was missing in these first couple games of the season just how difficult Villa were finding things and struggling,” Hatfield said to TT.

“A lot of people put that down to Jack Grealish obviously leaving, but without Ollie Watkins, who only missed one game last season through suspension, the difference was pretty clear to see.

“His absence played a massive part in Villa’s struggles, particularly on opening day because he sets the standard from the front, pressing really high and trying to force mistakes from opposition teams.”

Watkins has since returned to Villa’s starting XI, playing the full 90 minutes in the 3-0 league defeat to Chelsea and 3-0 win versus Everton.

With him back, Smith is really spoilt for options when selecting his attack. The Villa boss, of course, added Danny Ings, Leon Bailey and Emiliano Buendia to his squad in the summer to join the likes of Watkins and Anwar El Ghazi, who were already at the club.