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Chris Sutton has been reacting to more Celtic injury news, this time on summer signing Giorgos Giakoumakis.

The Lowdown: Calf injury

Giakoumakis was included in a Celtic matchday squad for the first time on Thursday but failed to make his debut in a 3-0 win over Raith Rovers.

Ange Postecoglou confirmed after the game that the Dutch striker injured his calf in the warm-up and was sent for a scan as a result.

As a result, Giakoumakis looks set to join Christopher Jullien, Greg Taylor, Kyogo Furuhashi and Mikey Johnston on the sidelines, with captain Callum McGregor also missed the last three games.

The Latest: Sutton reacts

Sutton took to Twitter late on Thursday evening to give his thoughts on the striker.

He described the latest setback for Giakoumakis as a ‘nightmare’ for Postecoglou.

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The Verdict: Concerning…

Giakoumakis was brought in on deadline day to fill the void left by Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths.

However, he last kicked a competitive ball in May and seemed to be quite far off fitness-wise earlier this month.

Add a fresh calf injury into the mix, you’d expect he’ll miss Dundee United on the weekend, so it does seem a bit concerning in regards to the Hoops splashing £2.5m on the 26-year-old.

In other news: ‘Hopefully’ – Kieran Devlin shares ‘important’ area Celtic may add to next after McElhone. 

Manchester United could finally strengthen their midfield over the coming months after being linked with a transfer move for Marseille midfielder Boubacar Kamara.

What’s the story?

According to The Athletic’s transfer expert David Ornstein, United a keeping close tabs on the 22-year-old’s situation after he decided to leave the Stade Velodrome as a free agent at the end of the season.

Kamara’s current deal is set to expire in the summer of 2022 and is not expected to extend his stay in the south of France, opening the door to an imminent exit.

The report states that: “There are suggestions that Marseille could yet make a last push to secure fresh terms but The Athletic understands Kamara has now opted to leave as a free agent at the end of the season.

“He is under consideration at one of the traditional top-four Premier League clubs and Manchester United are also across the situation as they weigh up possibilities to bolster their midfield.”

Rangnick must seal Man Utd move

Given United’s recent struggles at the base of their midfield, new interim manager Ralf Rangnick must seal a move for the former France U21 international.

After rising through the ranks at his boyhood club, Kamara has made 141 appearances for Les Olympiens in all competitions, illustrating his top-class credentials in a variety of positions.

Comfortable at the base of midfield, centre-back and right-back, the £46,000-per-week gem shone from an early age, catching the eye of former teammate Rolando.

“This kid is a phenomenon,” said the defender. “When he started training with us, he was 15 years old. And from day one, I said, no, but this little one is going to be a great player.

“He’s the kind of central defender I like. He is full of qualities and, above all, he works, he listens. It is out of the ordinary.”

But it’s in a holding role at the foundation of the engine room where Kamara has truly excelled this season, elevating his game to new heights under Jorge Sampaoli.

As per FBref.com, the 6-foot dynamo has recorded 1.59 tackles won per 90 throughout 2021/22, 6.02 successful pressures and 1.50 interceptions, bettering Scott McTominay’s totals in each metric.

The United ace has produced tallies of 1.32, 3.77 and 1.40, respectively, highlighting how Kamara’s arrival would improve the Red Devils’ midfield options.

Therefore, Rangnick must sanction a swoop for the promising maestro, kickstarting United’s new era under his watchful eye with an extremely astute acquisition.

And, in other news…“As things stand..”: Romano drops intriguing Man Utd update, fans will be ecstatic

Wolves striker Raul Jimenez is reportedly a target of German giants Bayern Munich this summer – if the Bundesliga club are to part ways with Robert Lewandowski.

What’s the latest?

According to El Futbolero, Bayern have started identifying potential striker targets in case the Poland international were to depart Bavaria this summer, with Jimenez on that list.

The Mexican forward has been a sensation at Molineux since arriving from Benfica – initially on loan – in 2018 ahead of the Black Country club’s first season back in the Premier League.

Having sustained a career-threatening skull fracture last season, the 30-year-old has remarkably managed to return to action for Bruno Lage’s men this term, although has endured a goal-shy campaign for his standards.

Wolves must keep Jimenez

Despite scoring six goals in the Premier League this term, the 30-year-old is undoubtedly Wolves’ best striker – with 19-year-old Fabio Silva still struggling to adapt to the English top flight.

However, the Mexican’s quality in front of goal has undoubtedly dipped since suffering his serious injury, having scored a whopping 27 goals in 55 appearances during the 2019/20 season, with 17 of those coming in the Premier League.

Although, this season has seen the entire Wolves squad be rather timid in front of goal under Lage, with the Portuguese manager’s side scoring just 33 goals in 32 matches – with only Brighton & Hove Albion, Burnley, Watford and Norwich City having scored fewer.

That makes Jimenez’s six goals worth 18% of his side’s strikes, with no other Wolves player scoring more in the league this season.

Moreover, there are no guarantees that the striker would be a regular in Julian Nagelsmann’s Bayern side, with the German club certainly looking for a goalscorer that could come close to replacing the 341 goals scored and 69 assists registered in 370 appearances by Lewandowski.

The Mexican is brilliant, but his record comes nowhere near that of the Poland international.

Therefore, if the 30-year-old were to depart for Munich it would certainly aggrieve Wolves supporters seeing him struggle for game time, given how fond of the striker they have become over the last four years.

It would also mean that the West Midlands club would have to invest in a high-quality striker this summer, although, that may already be in the plans for the upcoming transfer window.

Jimenez has been a cult hero at Molineux and a departure would certainly infuriate the Old Gold faithful, with Lage agreeing to the centre-forward’s sale potentially being an unforgivable decision for many involved with the club.

AND in other news: Lage could unearth Wolves’ next £100m talent as Fosun plot offer for 19-year-old “missile”

Many Glasgow Rangers fans have been flocking to some comments which have emerged from Jermain Defoe.

Speaking on Sky Sports, the striker was talking about how he left club earlier this week and suggested that he wanted to stay and continue playing for them. He confessed: “Even at the age of 39 I still wanted to be involved. Towards the end it was affecting me, I was taking it home and I was a little bit down…”

Defoe was a wonderful servant to Rangers during his time at Ibrox, scoring 32 goals and supplying a further 10 assists in 76 games over all competitions across the last four seasons (title last term.

However, he has now left the Light Blues, and if he wants to continue playing football, he will have to find another club as a free agent. Nonetheless, many Gers supporters seemed moved by his admission.

Rangers fans on Defoe comments

These Rangers fans flocked to the striker’s comments as they were shared on Twitter, with one going as far as to claim that Defoe is a ‘phenomenal’ person:

“Phenomenal guy with a phenomenal attitude. @IAmJermainDefoe is always welcome back to Ibrox as a fan.”

Credit: @norrie9791

“Tears man… Absolute gem of a guy and fantastic player, wish we had him years ago, always welcome back JD”

Credit: @Rangers4life_

“Okay I wasn’t ready for this”

Credit: @RaviSood10

“Crying now! What a man”

Credit: @ClaireMackay19

“He gets it.”

Credit: @nrpsimpson

“Someone cutting onions somewhere”

Credit: @youngdavid85

In other news, find out what transfer update has had these Gers fans buzzing

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Gianluca Scamacca to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the January transfer window.

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet CalcioMercato.it (via Sport Witness), who claim that the Sassuolo centre-forward is viewed by Spurs as an alternative to Dusan Vlahovic.

The report goes on to state that Fabio Paratici’s “excellent relations” with the 22-year-old’s agents should “not be underestimated” in Tottenham’s pursuit of the Italy international – who Sassuolo are reported to be open to parting with January should they receive an offer greater than the £21.5m they were demanding for the striker this summer.

Forget Vlahovic

While it is undeniable that Vlahovic would be a fantastic signing for Spurs to get over the line in the January transfer window, the fact that Fiorentina are reported to be commanding a £68m fee in order to part with the centre-forward could well see Spurs priced out of a move for the 18-goal 21-year-old this winter.

As such, considering how much potential Scamacca quite clearly possesses, in addition to the forward’s considerably lower asking price, it could well be a wise move for Spurs to forget about Vlahovic and instead turn their attention towards the Sassuolo starlet.

Indeed, over his 18 Serie A appearances this season – only nine of which have come as starts – the £13m-rated man has scored six goals and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots and making 0.4 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the 6 foot 5 striker who Davide Ballardini compared to a young Christian Vieri average a SofaScore match of 6.85, ranking him as Sassuolo’s ninth-best performer in the top flight of Italian football.

As such, while the 22-year-old dubbed a “complete” player by Luigi Di Biagio would appear to be less of a finished article than Vlahovic, the Italian is someone who nevertheless possesses the ability to become a world-class player under the management of Antonio Conte.

That leads us to believe Paratici should forget about spending nearly £70m on the Serbia international next month, and instead splash less than half that amount on the Sassuolo striker.

In other news: Conte should brutally axe £27m-rated “freak” who must never play for Spurs again

[ad_pod ]According to The Telegraph’s north-east sports reporter Luke Edwards via his official Twitter account on Thursday, Newcastle United are hoping to extend striker Salomon Rondon’s loan deal beyond the end of this season before the transfer deadline.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the Magpies have already enjoyed a busy final day of the window havingcompleted deals for Miguel Almiron and Antonio Barecca, but it appears as though Rafa Benitez isn’t finished there if Luke Edwards is to be believed.

According to The Telegraph’s live transfer blog (11:53am), Edwards says that the Toon Army’s mystery striker target is in fact a player they already have on their books until the summer, in West Bromwich Albion’s Rondon.

However, the sports reporter suggests that they will give Jacob Murphy to the Baggies on loan if the Baggies agree to loan the 29-year-old to them for another campaign, rather than pay the £15m they west Midlands outfit would want if they were to sell him this month.

Would it be good for Newcastle to extend the deal?

It certainly would be.

Rondon is probably never going to be a 20-goal-a-season striker at Premier League level, he has six goals in 18 Premier League appearances this term as per Transfermarkt, but he offers far more than just being able to find the back of the net for his team.

The Venezuela international is strong, decent in the air and has shown that he can score if given decent service, as he did during his side’s massive 2-1 win against Manchester City at St James’ Park on Tuesday night.

There is no doubt that keeping the 29-year-old beyond the summer would be massive for Newcastle, even if it does mean that they have to sacrifice Murphy now.

The only people more shocked by Newcastle’s 2-1 win over Man City than City fans were the Magpies fans themsleves! Check out their brilliant reactions in the video below…

Following on from their brutal 5-0 win over Watford in their latest Premier League match over the weekend, Liverpool are now back in European action with a clash against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday evening.

Ahead of the match against Diego Simeone’s side, Reds manager Jurgen Klopp revealed in his press conference prior to the match that midfielder Curtis Jones will not be available to play in the match alongside Thiago Alcantara and Harvey Elliott through injury, leaving the German with limited midfield options.

With this in mind, here’s how we feel Liverpool will line up against Atletico, who beat the Merseyside club twice in the Championship last 16 round of the competition in the 2019/20 season.

Big changes

Now that goalkeeper Alisson Becker will be back available for selection after missing the Watford match due to his recent involvement with Brazil, we feel that Klopp will put him back in the side against the Spanish club despite Caoimhin Kelleher managing to keep a clean sheet in Alisson’s absence at the weekend.

In defence, we think that the back four that played against Watford with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joel Matip, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson will all keep their places in the team to try and subdue Atletico’s attacking force.

For the midfield, in a similar situation to Alisson, Liverpool will have Fabinho back available to play after his time away with Brazil. With this in mind, we can see Klopp making the most out of the available midfield options he has at the moment by putting the holding player in the starting XI, replacing £120k-per-week earner Naby Keita who played the full 90 minutes against the Hornets.

Even though Liverpool have a big Premier League match at the weekend against Manchester United, we think the Reds boss isn’t likely to drop any of the front three attacking players that started against Watford for their midweek game, with the trio of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah managing to get on the scoresheet.

Also, taking into account how Atletico have only managed to concede six goals in their opening eight La Liga games of the season, we think Liverpool will have to go with their strongest attacking line-up to get a positive result in midweek.

Whether Klopp goes with this exact starting XI against Atletico or not, we feel that they will still be going out to secure a win to keep their unbeaten run this season going ahead of their next league match at Old Trafford.

In other news: 3 goals in 6 apps: Liverpool have future star in “exceptional” 18 y/o, he’s “fearless” – opinion

Eddie Howe was in the dugout for the first time as Newcastle United manager at Saturday lunchtime, but he saw his team lose 2-0 at Arsenal.

Second half goals from Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli were more than enough in the end for the hosts, as the Magpies failed to put up much of a fight.

Using statistical experts SofaScore, The Transfer Tavern have analysed the three worst players (to have played at least 45 minutes) on the day for the visitors…

Allan Saint-Maximin (6.2)

Admittedly tied with second place in terms of rating given by SofaScore (6.2), Saint-Maximin comes in third here as he at least looked quite lively, especially towards the end of the game.

However, the winger lost out on nine of his duels and managed only one shot on goal, while his 37 touches were among the fewest recorded out of his teammates.

Callum Wilson (6.2)

Wilson was given a 6.2 overall rating by SofaScore and might have felt that he should have had a penalty in the second half after a nudge from Nuno Tavares.

However, the striker’s opportunities were rare in truth, as he also lost nine duels and failed to record a single shot on goal or key pass in the entire match.

He also managed just 13 touches of the ball, the lowest out of any Magpies player to have started the clash, and completed a paltry four passes despite playing the full 90 minutes.

Matt Ritchie (5.8)

Ritchie was given the worst Newcastle rating by SofaScore, a measly 5.8.

The left wing-back endured a torrid time at the Emirates Stadium, finding himself booked at the end of the first half, while he lost out on all five of his duels and failed to make a clearance, tackle or block.

Offensively, he managed no shots, dribbles, or key passes, having just 19 touches of the ball on a day to forget.

In other news, NUFC are setting their sights on a move for this teenage starlet

Manchester United have not made any moves in the transfer window so far, but with three weeks left the club has been linked with a number of players, especially in the defensive midfield position.

However, there has been an update on one particular target.

What’s the word?

Fabrizio Romano has revealed on Twitter, that there have been no further developments on Manchester United’s pursuit for Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder, Denis Zakaria.

Romano tweeted on Monday:

“Manchester United have made no bid for Denis Zakaria as things stand. The option has been discussed as he’s appreciated by Rangnick – but there’s still no official bid to Borussia.

“More than four clubs are already working to sign Zakaria as free agent in July. Open race.”

United are reportedly joined by a number of clubs interested in signing the 25-year-old, who is out of contract in the summer, including Premier League clubs, Everton, Leicester and Arsenal, and if the Italian transfer insider’s tweet is to be believed, the chase for his signature remains wide open.

Fans will be gutted

Signing a defensive midfielder has been a long term prospect, especially in the eyes of the fans who have been crying out for in the side for over a year, so they will surely be gutted that no progress has been made on signing the Swiss target.

Taking to social media after a number of poor defensive performances from the Red Devils this season so far, citing how desperately the position needs to be filled, with one Man United fan tweeting:

“2 years ago we looked doomed at end of January after losing at home to Burnley. We signed Bruno, had a great run towards the end of the season and finished 3rd. Something similar needs to happen, but with a defensive midfielder if we’re to save this season.”

Zakaria has been impressive in his position for Gladbach, scoring two goals and bagging one assist for the Bundesliga side so far this season, with a 50% successful tackle rate. Meanwhile, he has completed 702 of his 777 passes successfully during his 14 appearances according to infogol.

All hope is not lost though, as Romano did hint in the aforementioned post that Rangnick has shown interest in the player and is “appreciated” by the German coach. Thus, it will likely not be the last time we see a connection made between the Switzerland international and the Manchester club, however, another club could swoop for the popular defensive midfielder if progress isn’t made soon.

The freshly appointed manager has a lot of work to do to get Manchester United into shape, but with an FA Cup win against Aston Villa on Monday evening, it will have given the fans a much needed boost after a disappointing performance in their last Premier League game against Wolves, when they lost at Old Trafford last week.

In other news: Rangnick could make a move for Milinkovic-Savic

Many Sunderland fans have been left raging over some transfer news that has emerged on Jermain Defoe before the Portsmouth clash.

As per The Northern Echo, Lee Johnson is reluctant to sign the former Glasgow Rangers striker in the January transfer window, despite the board giving the green light for a deal to go through.

Defoe himself would prefer to move to the Stadium of Light, but Johnson has reservations over his match fitness and what exactly his squad role would be.

With Nathan Broadhead currently injured at the moment, Ross Stewart is Johnson’s only striker option, and so it does seem strange that he would not want to bring another one in.

Defoe is also cult hero among the Black Cats faithful, having scored 37 times in 93 games in all competitions over three seasons (Transfermarkt), including a memorable winner at home to rivals Newcastle United in the Premier League back in 2015.

Sunderland fans on Defoe transfer news

These SAFC supporters raged as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that they are ‘fuming’, while another simply called it ‘pathetic’:

“LJ not doing himself any favours here”

Credit: @safctim

“Trying to derail us or summit?”

Credit: @ColArmy86

“Johnson Out if we don’t sign him”

Credit: @Mustardinho

“The mind boggles. Fuming”

Credit: @ConnorBromley

“IF true, Johnson has just lost the fans”

Credit: @LewisGreaves1

“Pathetic”

Credit: @JHerra18

In other news, find out what exit claim has Black Cats gushing here!