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Mohamed Diame is seemingly edging ever closer to a contract extension at Newcastle United, but the midfielder reportedly wants a longer deal with the club.

What’s the story, then?

According to The Chronicle, Diame is just three Premier League appearances short of earning a new one-year extension at Newcastle.

Indeed, the midfielder has made 22 league appearances for the Magpies this term and another three will earn him an extension to his current deal.

However, according to The Chronicle, Diame would like a contract until the end of the 2020-21 campaign to reflect his importance to the team.

Diame has actually only played four minutes of Premier League football since the 2-0 home defeat to Manchester United at the start of the year due to injury.

However, with the 31-year-old now fit and available, it seems almost impossible that he will not make another three league appearances before the end of the season.

Does Diame deserve a new contract?

Undoubtedly. And Newcastle should be offering a new deal until the summer of 2021 rather than being happy with the activation of an extension.

Diame is not the most talented of footballers in the Premier League, but he can certainly cope with Rafael Benitez’s physical demands.

He is also incredibly experienced, having made 96 appearances in all competitions for Newcastle since arriving in 2016, whilst he has made 232 appearances in the Premier League during spells with Wigan Athletic, West Ham United, Hull City and Newcastle.

Diame will be 32 heading into the 2019-2020 campaign, but he certainly has a couple more seasons of Premier League football in his legs.

Sean Longstaff has earned the plaudits in recent weeks, but Diame is another important figure in the Benitez machine.

A frustrating behind-the-scenes Rangers claim has emerged on Ibrox striker Rory Wilson…

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, a source has revealed that the Gers teenager could leave before even playing a minute under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

It’s understood that Brighton are in talks over a deal to sign the attacker as they look to swoop in ahead of their rivals to land him. They are said to be pushing hard to get this over the line after the striker turned down fresh terms in Glasgow.

The report claims that Rangers will only rake in £300k in development costs should he leave to join the Seagulls as he is out of contract at the end of the campaign.

Wilson is said to have met with his namesake Ross Wilson and Gio van Bronckhorst to discuss staying at Ibrox, but has decided that he wants to move on to pastures new.

Fume

This update will leave the Gers sporting director fuming as £300k is a paltry sum of money for a player with the 16-year-old’s potential.

The Scottish striker has scored 40 goals for the youth teams in Glasgow this season, whilst he has also netted seven times in six matches for his country at U17 level – scoring his latest against Georgia on Tuesday. He has been in phenomenal form for the academy and this suggests that he has the potential to make it in the first team if he is able to continue to progress.

Wilson has been showing that he is too good to be playing in the youth sides as he has been finding the net at a ridiculous rate, hence why Premier League sides are now trying to swoop him up.

The last time the Gers lost a hugely-talented prospect to an English side was when Billy Gilmour signed for Chelsea in 2017. He reportedly left for £500k with performance-related add-ons and is now valued at a whopping £10.8m by Transfermarkt – significantly more than the fee Rangers have seen for his talents.

If Wilson is able to follow in Gilmour’s footsteps and make his mark in England and at international level, then the £300k Brighton will need to pay this summer will look like a huge bargain.

This is why Rangers’ sporting director will be fuming that the Seagulls are now pushing to get a deal done and that they will only need to shell out less than half a million pounds for his signature.

AND in other news, Sold at £4m, then became a £22.5m hero: Rangers had a disaster on iconic “phenomenon”…

Aston Villa have shown over the past few years that they are not shy when it comes to spending significant amounts of money on new players.

The previous summer and winter transfer windows saw the Midlands club spend money on faces such as Emi Buendia, Leon Bailey, Danny Ings and Lucas Digne to help strengthen their squad and push forward in the Premier League.

Looking ahead to the upcoming summer transfer window, it seems as though the Villans could aim to bring in another familiar face to Villa Park for a substantial fee.

What’s the news?

According to a recent report from the Daily Mirror, Villa manager Steven Gerrard will try and launch a summer move for Liverpool defender Joe Gomez.

The Villans were linked with the £85k-per-week Englishman during the previous winter window but ended up signing Calum Chambers from Arsenal on a free transfer instead.

Gomez is a rare talent

Since joining the Merseyside club back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Charlton Athletic in a deal worth a reported fee of £3.5m, the centre-back has made 138 appearances for the Reds across all competitions.

In those appearances, the 24-year-old has managed to provide five assists and pick up a Premier League and Champions League title along the way.

Praised for a “mesmerising” assist for Diogo Jota during Liverpool’s recent 2-0 win over Watford in the Premier League, Gomez has also been labelled as a “rare talent” by BBC pundit Garth Crooks.

Having only started two of the six league games he’s appeared in this season, a potential move away from Anfield to a club like Villa where he may get more regular football under the management of Gerrard could be rather tempting for the Liverpool figure.

With a combined total of 195 league minutes to his name in this current campaign, the centre-back has managed to rack up a total of three tackles, four clearances and eight interceptions.

Also, taking into account how Villa have conceded nine goals in their past four league games, perhaps adding a player like Gomez could be just what Gerrard needs to make his side stronger at the back.

With Liverpool reportedly placing a £23m price tag on the defender, making a summer swoop for him should definitely be in Villa’s mind once the season comes to an end.

In other news: Klopp can axe £180k-p/w Liverpool dud with move for “tenacious” £36m-rated “monster”

Manchester United have been in talks to hire Erik ten Hag as their next permanent manager to take on the challenging role as manager at the club this summer, and now there has been a fresh update on the progress of the deal.

What’s the word?

The Athletic journalist David Ornstein has revealed more insight to the deal currently being discussed between ten Hag and Manchester United.

Ornstein Tweeted:

“Erik Ten Hag close to making decision on whether to join Man Utd, If agrees in principle, contract must satisfy all demands before he signs.

“MUFC may negotiate exit with Ajax rather than pay clause. No announcement pre KNVB final.”

Supporters surely buzzing

There were reports on Monday from Sky Sports News that RB Leipzig were planning to hijack the deal between the Ajax coach and the Premier League club by making their own approach for his services this summer, so this update from Ornstein will be well received and will surely delight supporters about the progress.

With the KNVB cup final taking place this Saturday, it would suggest that an announcement could be made as early as next week on the appointment of the Ajax boss, and the Manchester United board will likely also be similarly relieved to have the deal done so that they can focus on the massive project ahead of them to get the club back to their best.

Ten Hag is believed to want Robin Van Persie and Steve McClaren involved in his management team at Old Trafford, which would be another huge bonus for the fans as van Persie was a beloved player at the club and his reunion with the Red Devils would surely be welcomed.

The Ajax boss could win two trophies over the next few months, with the potential of winning his third Dutch Cup this weekend and his side are currently four points clear at the top of the table meaning they are in with a great chance to win their third Eredivisie title under the manager.

If the 52-year-old is triumphant in collecting trophies this season it will surely put him in good stead to inject a winning mentality at Old Trafford next term, with United desperately in need of their own silverware after falling into their longest trophy drought in four decades.

Manchester United now have the opportunity to sign a high-quality manager, with winning experience and the desire to have full involvement in the project at the club, so getting the deal over the line must be the top priority for the board over the next few days and weeks.

In other news: Man United eye move for “brutal” £45m-rated monster, he’s miles better than Maguire

Newcastle United are now targeting Brighton winger Leandro Trossard, according to The Daily Mail’s Simon Jones. 

The lowdown

The Belgium international, who joined Brighton from Genk in the summer of 2019 for £15m, is five games short of a century of appearances in the Premier League.

In his 95 top-flight outings to date, he has scored 15 goals and provide nine assists. He is a regular for Graham Potter’s side, starting 27 of their 31 Premier League matches so far in 2021/22.

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Valued at £15.3m by Transfermarkt, the 27-year-old is out of contract in just over 14 months’ time.

The latest

Jones wrote in The Daily Mail that Newcastle are expected to sell Allan Saint-Maximin this summer and reinvest the funds in a replacement winger.

Trossard is one of the players they have identified as a potential successor to the Frenchman, with extensive scouting reports currently being compiled.

Encouragingly for Newcastle, the Belgian is apparently keen to leave the Amex Stadium come the end of the season.

The verdict

Trossard would be a good successor to Saint-Maximin at Newcastle.

His tally of five goals this season may not be spectacular, but it’s worth stressing that Brighton are a low-scoring team. Indeed, only Burnley and Norwich City have netted fewer goals the Seagulls in the Premier League this term.

Furthermore, it matches the tally of Saint-Maximin at St James’ Park.

Newcastle know first-hand how good the 27-year-old can be after his man-of-the-match display in the 1-1 draw between the two teams at the Amex Stadium in November.

In addition to converting a penalty (which he won himself), Trossard created three chances, completed four out of five long passes and drew four fouls, earning him a SofaScore rating of 8.2/10.

He’s also won praise from Newcastle great Alan Shearer, who said that the ‘magnificent’ Albion winger boasts an ‘excellent’ all-round game.

If he’s good enough for Shearer, that’s a fairly strong endorsement in our book.

In other news, Newcastle are also looking at a move for this former Liverpool gem 

Many Wolves fans have been left buzzing over some transfer news that has emerged on Joao Palhinha.

As per Record (via Sport Witness), the midfield player now has ‘one foot out’ of Sporting Lisbon with less than a week of the January transfer window to go, and the Midlands club have been named as one of his next potential destinations.

Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla are also interested in his signature, and ‘many approaches’ from agents have been made in the past few days.

Sporting are also asking for a reduced price from what they wanted in the summer, now €30m (£25m), and it is Palhinha’s ‘dream’ to play in the Premier League, suggesting that the Molineux faithful have a good chance of signing him.

The Portugal international would give Bruno Lage a headache in terms of midfield selection, as he is currently averaging more tackles, shots and dribbles per game in Liga NOS than Leander Dendoncker, Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves are in the Premier League, and he has also contributed with three goals (WhoScored).

Wolves fans on Palhinha transfer news

These WWFC supporters buzzed as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one supporter hailing it as the ‘perfect’ deal for Fosun…

“Huge yes”

Credit: @ethanlilley1877

“Just imagine him and Neves in midfield. Get it done Wolves use the money for Traore deal”

Credit: @leighwolf007

“I NEED HIM, forget Renato Sanches.”

Credit: @__Grav

“Him or Mendes and we keep Adama Europe is on”

Credit: @DaneWWFC

“Fosun open to right players/deals and this is literally a perfect example of this, c’mon Jeff”

Credit: @calwwfc_

“Jeff please just give Sporting the €30m they want for him, then hope he wants to move”

Credit: @djgreen27

In other news, find out who Tim Spiers has now backed the Wanderers to sign here!

Sunderland have now been dealt a fresh blow before they play Cambridge United at home in League One on Saturday afternoon.

The Lowdown: Big game

The Stadium of Light faithful currently find themselves out of the play-off places, and so need a result against Cambridge to get themselves back in contention.

With title-chasing Rotherham United to come on Tuesday night, this is a big game that they really need to get all three points from.

The Latest: Dajaku illness

Speaking in his pre-game press conference ahead of the match, Alex Neil has revealed (via The Chronicle) that Dajaku is still suffering with illness, and so will not be available for his team:

“Leon is still ill, so he won’t be available.”

The Verdict: Blow

It is certainly a blow for the Wearside club that they will be without Dajaku once more.

The Union Berlin loanee has played more often than not this season, and has contributed four goals and four assists in League One so far (Transfermarkt).

Dajaku has also picked up one man-of-the-match award, and ranks highly among his teammates in terms of average shots, dribbles and crosses per game (WhoScored).

Nonetheless, his creativity and directness would have been useful in helping unlock the door against what could be a stubborn Cambridge side away at the Stadium of Light.

In other news, find out who SAFC’s three worst performers were against Shrewsbury Town here!

The Athletic’s George Caulkin has dropped a major update on Newcastle United’s search for a sporting director.

What’s the story?

In a Q&A for The Athletic, Caulkin said: “Newcastle now move on to appointing a sporting director and chief executive. Unlike the search for Bruce’s successor, which was board-led, outside agencies have been conducting interviews, but we are now approaching decision time.

“A fortnight ago, Chris and I wrote a piece about the first 100 days post-takeover, in which we were told by a (very) senior source that a sporting director was likely to be appointed ‘within the next month’. The Athletic has also reported that Dan Ashworth, Brighton’s highly regarded technical director, is among those interviewed for the role.

“Then comes the CEO, which is when ‘everything accelerates’, we were told. ‘They’ll make a massive difference — they’ll set the tone for everything. That’s when the whole place goes up.”

Newcastle fans will be buzzing

After a largely successful January transfer window that saw a number of signings come through the door, it’s no surprise the Magpies’ attentions have firmly towards trying to get the recruitment side of things even more streamlined and running smoothly.

The fact the club navigated last month so well without a sporting director speaks volumes to the excellent work that Amanda Staveley and co did behind the scenes in ensuring the likes of Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood among others could come in through the door.

Providing the Magpies survive Premier League relegation this season, the summer transfer window promises to be an even bigger one in the history of the football club, with a real chance to make that real first big step to competing for bigger and better things.

Having a sporting director and chief executive in place by then will go a long way to ensuring that the Tyneside club can navigate the transfer market far more easily.

It’s exactly why Caulkin’s latest update on the situation is sure to have fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, Newcastle must never play this man again…

As per The Evening Standard, Tottenham Hotspur are already weighing moves ahead of the summer window as news emerges on long-time target and Brighton defender Tariq Lamptey.

The Lowdown: Paratici watches on…

The Lilywhites and manager Antonio Conte were linked with a January move amid his search for a right-wing-back but any deal ultimately failed to materialise.

Brighton’s star defender is reportedly a wanted man in the Premier League and has been for quite a while, with reports of Spurs and transfer chief Fabio Paratici’s interest emerging as far back as last summer.

Indeed, Sky Sports revealed Tottenham’s interest a week after their managing director of football was appointed at the Lilywhites helm.

The Latest: Spurs ‘likely’ to consider Lamptey move…

In an update, reliable reporter Dan Kilpatrick has explained that Tottenham and Paratici are ‘likely’ to consider a move for the Seagulls ace this summer.

This comes after failed late January moves for the likes of Belgium forward Yannick Carrasco and Championship starlet Djed Spence, with Spurs already looking towards the summer window in a bid to back Antonio Conte.

The Verdict: Definitely swoop…

As the winter window passes, whilst it may have been too difficult to grant Conte’s RWB wish, Lamptey would be a perfect option for the club this summer.

Young, homegrown and already proven in the English top flight – his manager Graham Potter has even called the defender a ‘dream’ player.

However, Tottenham may have to invest significantly, with the Mail claiming Brighton value him at around £40 million.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano: Tottenham move for ‘bargain’ international fell apart in 11th hour, he wanted to join…find out more here.

Leeds United are eyeing up a late move for Noa Lang before transfer deadline day…

What’s the word?

That’s according to Belgian newspaper Het Belang van Limburg (via Sport Witness), who have mooted the Yorkshire outfit as a potential destination for the 22-year-old winger.

Although they face competition from Premier League rivals Arsenal.

The Whites were linked with a move for the Club Brugge sensation during the summer but evidently, no move came to fruition with the club instead signing Daniel James in a club-record deal.

Lang himself has even revealed that there is a “good chance” that he will depart the Belgian champions, sooner rather than later.

The initial report suggests that it’ll cost more than €25-30m (£21-25m) to secure him.

Raphinha 2.0

A new winger is probably the least of Leeds’ concerns this month but the form of James has been disappointing, if not shocking, and they will be resigned to the fact that Raphinha will not be around forever.

In fact, a move for Lang could bear some similarities to the arrival of the Brazil star, who was a relatively unknown but exciting young talent in France at the time.

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United paid Stade Rennes around £17m for his signature and he’s made a huge impact in the year or so he’s been at Elland Road. He’s currently their top goalscorer (eight) and leading creator (2.1 key passes per game) this season.

By comparison, James has managed only two goals and one assist and is outside the top ten for average WhoScored rating in the squad.

Meanwhile, Lang has been excelling for Brugge – last season, he delivered 17 goals and 11 assists on their way to the Jupiler Pro League title. That form has continued into this season, where he has found the net eight times and laid on 11 assists, as per Transfermarkt.

It’s no wonder the Holland international has been dubbed a “phenomenon” by Belgian journalist Peter Vandenbempt and “pure class” by Filip Joos explained to Extra Time.

The 5 foot 10 dynamo is capable of operating on the other flank to Raphinha but could well become Bielsa’s next beast out wide. A new central midfielder may be the priority but Leeds should not turn their nose up at a talent as promising as the £22.5m-rated Lang.

AND in other news, “I understand..”: Insider drops worrying Leeds transfer claim, Bielsa will be fuming…