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Everton are eyeing up a potential cut-price January move to sign an unwanted Premier League defender, it has been reported, with Sean Dyche looking to bolster his side’s backline.
A disappointing 1-0 defeat to previously winless Southampton left Everton 16th in the Premier League, but there had been signs of progress before the defeat to the Saints. The Toffees had gone their previous four games unbeaten, having picked up two wins in that time as they managed three points against struggling duo Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town.
They had also managed to stem the flow of goals that they were conceding, with Dyche’s side proving uncharacteristically leaky in defence during the opening games of the season.
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Everton’s form turns for the better |
||
|
First five PL games |
Second five PL games |
|
|
Wins |
0 |
2 |
|
Losses |
4 |
1 |
|
Goals scored |
5 |
5 |
|
Goals conceded |
14 |
3 |
|
Clean sheets |
0 |
2 |
It follows a summer where they parted ways with Amadou Onana but added talent across the squad, with the likes of Jake O’Brien, Jesper Lindstrom and Tim Iroegbunam all yet to truly demonstrate their ability at Goodison Park, though Lindstrom has seen the most action to date.
With money tight on Merseyside amid a new stadium being built, the Toffees are on the lookout for any market opportunity to upgrade their squad on a budget, and now may have just been presented with one.
Now, a fresh report from Africa Foot claim that Everton are keeping a close eye on Brighton and Ghana defender Tariq Lamptey as they weigh up a potential swoop for the flying fullback.
Bursting onto the scene with the Seagulls, Lamptey was linked with clubs across the top flight, but a series of injuries have hampered his career to date. He has played just 10 minutes of Premier League football this season, and started just 10 games last season.
As a result, he is set to leave Brighton in 2025, with his £35,000 a week deal at the AMEX stadium due to expire at the end of the campaign.
And Everton could be a potential destination for the fullback, with the report claiming that the Toffees “have already expressed an interest in signing him” and that Lamptey has “expressed a desire to leave Brighton”.
For his part, Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler “would be open to letting him leave”, while Lamptey is keen to remain in the Premier League. The Seagulls want to move Lamptey on in January though, while they can still receive a fee for the 24 year old, which could force Everton into action midseason.
Lamptey was described as a “unique” player by former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi, who added: “He is an important, important player for us. He can play full-back, winger.”
He would certainly represent a younger alternative to current right-back options Ashley Young and Seamus Coleman, while providing cover for the injury-prone Nathan Patterson. Could Everton take a gamble on his own injuries to land him in January?
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Celtic could be set for another transfer windfall after it emerged that another of their players is catching the eye across the Atlantic, with talks over a potential permanent exit from Celtic Park now planned.
Brendan Rodgers’ side have enjoyed an almost perfect start to their season, sitting top of the Scottish Premiership and surprising plenty in the Champions League.
Celtic are yet to lose this season aside from their 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, and are level with Aberdeen at the top of the Scottish top flight, while a famous win over RB Leipzig helped them move into contention for qualification for the next round of Champions League action at the midway stage of the league phase.
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Central to their success has been Nicolas Kuhn, who has begun the season in the form of his life. The 24-year-old has grabbed 10 goals and 11 assists in just 17 outings this season, including two against RB Leipzig to help them come from a goal down to win 3-1.
His exploits have not gone unnoticed, with Brentford among the clubs credited with an interest in the forward ahead of a potential January swoop just 12 months on from his arrival at Celtic Park.
Should he depart, Celtic would likely demand close to a record fee to allow him to leave mid-season – a figure that currently stands at the £25m they received for Matt O’Riley over the summer.
Now, there is another deal that they could look to strike in January.
That comes as per a report from The Scottish Sun, which reveals that Brazilian giants Internacional are plotting talks over a move to sign Celtic outcast Alexandro Bernabei on a permanent deal.
Bernabei joined Celtic in the summer of 2022, but never managed to nail down a starting spot for the Bhoys and was quickly shipped out on loan to Brazil. Still just 24 years old, the Argentina U21 international revitalised his career on loan with Internacional in South America, becoming one of the best full-backs in the division and turning plenty of heads.
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Alexandro Bernabei in Brazilian Serie A 2024 |
|
|
Appearances |
19 |
|
Goals |
3 |
|
Assists |
4 |
|
Yellow Cards |
3 |
Now, Internacional want to sign him permanently, and are ready to open talks with Celtic to do so. Indeed, it is claimed that “they are due to fly to Europe for several recruitment meetings and want to discuss Bernabei’s situation with the Parkhead side”, with Bernabei’s deal set to expire in the new year when the Brazilian season comes to a close.
It is added that Celtic have slapped a mammoth £10m price tag on his head – something that would be a record signing for the Brazilian side, suggesting that a compromise may be needed to reach an agreement.
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However, with Bernabei having struggled in Scotland, this could represent a chance for Celtic to offload the Argentinian without losing any of the £3.5m that they shelled out to sign him two years ago, while Bernabei could continue to thrive closer to home in what could be a win-win for all parties.
It’s been a strange few years for Manchester United fans.
They’ve seen their club lift two domestic trophies but then perform so poorly in the league that Erik ten Hag was given the chop just a couple of months into this season.
However, following the announcement that Ruben Amorim is set to take the reigns at the end of this month, there is reason to be hopeful again for the United faithful.
With that said, while Ten Hag undoubtedly failed in his mission to take the club back to the top of the English game, he did get a few things right during his tenure, such as bringing through a contingent of promising youngsters who could become core members of Amorim’s next great United side, including one whose value has exploded in recent years.
So, before we get to the youngster in question, let’s look at another of the other young talents Ten Hag helped to bed into the side during his time in Manchester, Kobbie Mainoo.
The English midfielder was given his senior debut by the Dutchman back in a January 2023 League Cup game against Charlton Athletic.
Still, it wasn’t until last season that he was finally given a run of games in the first team, and to say he took his opportunity would be a massive understatement.
The Stockport-born gem has now made 44 appearances for the Red Devils, in which he’s scored five goals and provided one assist.
He has even won ten senior caps for England and started every knockout round at the Euros this summer, including the final – talk about maturity beyond his years.
|
Mainoo’s senior career |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Team |
Manchester United |
England |
|
Appearances |
44 |
10 |
|
Goals |
5 |
0 |
|
Assists |
1 |
0 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.13 |
0.00 |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
||
Overall, so long as he remains fit, there can be no doubt that a successful United side in the future includes Mainoo at the very heart of it. With that said, another young United star looks destined for a bright future at the Theatre of Dreams and is already worth a fortune.
Now, if the youngster in question isn’t the incredible Mainoo, it can only be one other: Alejandro Garnacho.
The Argentine international may have been signed for a small fee of £420k under the management of Ole Gunnar Solskjær and given his debut under the watch of Ralf Rangnick in April 2022, but his development into the player he is today all happened under Ten Hag’s watch.
For example, while he made just two appearances, totalling 12 minutes during the 21/22 campaign, the Madrid-born dynamo ended up making 34 appearances, totalling 1205 minutes, the following season, in which he racked up five goals and five assists.
His importance to the team only grew last year, as he ended the season with 50 first-team appearances, ten goals and five assists to his name, despite being just 19 years old at the start.
As with the entire team, things have been a little more difficult for the former Atlético Madrid prospect this season, but even so, he has still racked up an impressive haul of seven goals and four assists in 18 appearances.
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Garnacho’s Man Utd career |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
21/22 |
22/23 |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|
Appearances |
2 |
34 |
50 |
18 |
|
Minutes |
12′ |
1205′ |
3574′ |
1124′ |
|
Goals |
0 |
5 |
10 |
7 |
|
Assists |
0 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.00 |
0.29 |
0.30 |
0.61 |
|
Minutes per Goal Involvement |
N/A |
120.5′ |
238.2′ |
102.1′ |
|
All Stats via Transfermarkt |
||||
Unsurprisingly, such a rapid rise from unknown youth prospect to goalscoring “superstar”, as dubbed by BBC podcaster Gaz Drinkwater, has seen the seven-capped international’s valuations soar.
For example, the CIES Football Observatory now values him at up to €120m, which is about £99m, or a whopping 23471% increase on the fee he cost United four years ago.
Ultimately, while Ten Hag made plenty of blunders during his time in charge of United, playing and developing youngsters like Mainoo and Garnacho was not one of them, and while Amorim will have to correct some of the Dutchman’s mistakes, he should be thankful to have two outstanding young talents ready to go in his squad.
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Everton manager Sean Dyche is now open to the idea of selling a “fantastic” Toffees player in the January window, according to a fresh transfer update.
After a promising spell earlier in the season saw Everton find some form as they responded to an awful start to the campaign, they have gone backwards again in recent weeks.
Admittedly, the back-to-back goalless draws away to West Ham and at home to Brentford aren’t disastrous results, but they were dull performances, with Dyche’s men unable to break down 10 men for much of the game in the latter. For that reason, the manager is under increasing pressure to keep his job, even though it looks like his position is safe for the time being.
Everton also continue to be linked with new signings to bolster their squad, with former Liverpool midfielder Arthur Melo seen as a potential option to bring in. He is currently at Juventus, but could be eager to seal a move away to enjoy more regular playing time.
Roma midfielder Bryan Cristante is also reportedly being looked at by the Blues, with additions needed in the middle of the park. He has started 11 Serie A games this season, averaging 2 aerial duel wins and 1.5 tackles per game in the competition this season.
According to AS Roma Live, Everton and Dyche could be willing to sell Dominic Calvert-Lewin in January, seeing him as an expendable figure at this point in his Toffees career. Serie A giants Juventus are named as a potential suitor for the striker.
Allowing the 27-year-old to leave would generate transfer funds for new signings, with the Englishman likely to be of interest to plenty of clubs.
Everton fans may be split about his situation, with some still seeing the £100,000-a-week star as an important player and their best attacker, while will say he is past his best and injury-prone.
Calvert-Lewin made himself a hero during last season’s memorable 2-0 win at home to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby, with Danny Murphy hailing his goal against their rivals:
“He gets the rewards of his great performance, yes why is he on the back post? Where is Van Dijk? Why is Trent not blocking him? A man of his quality in the air, it’s a fantastic leap, but you can’t be free.”
Injuries haven’t been as much of an issue for Calvert-Lewin this season, but he has struggled to make an impact in the final third, scoring only 2 goals in 12 Premier League starts.
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He is out of contract at the end of this season, so Everton know that January will be the last chance to earn a fee for the attacker, meaning that selling him midway through the season may be the best outcome, assuming they can bring in an excellent replacement.
Celtic have had a sensational start to the 2024/25 campaign across all competitions and Brendan Rodgers will surely be delighted with how his team have performed.
They are sat at the top of the Scottish Premiership table and have won 14 of their 15 matches in the division, whilst they have also only lost once in five outings in the Champions League.
The Hoops have a League Cup final clash with Rangers at Hampden Park to look forward to on Sunday, when they can lift the first piece of silverware of the season with a win.
Celtic have been fantastic across all competitions, domestically and in Europe, and are competing to improve upon the two trophies won by Rodgers in his first season back at the club last term.
The only negative, and it is only a negative if you perceive it to be important, is the lack of homegrown talent in the squad. No British player or academy product under the age of 26 has played more than one minute in the Premiership for the Hoops this season, with Francis Turley playing one minute.
Celtic, however, could rectify that in January by swooping to sign Motherwell central midfielder Lennon Miller to bolster their options in the middle of the park.
The Boot Room reported last month that the Scottish giants are one of the teams interested in signing the Scotland U21 international when the January transfer window opens for business.
Rangers and Celtic are both hoping to keep the talented 18-year-old gem in the Premiership ahead of the second half of the season, amid interest from a host of teams from England and Italy.
Bologna, who signed Lewis Ferguson from Aberdeen, and Atalanta are both looking to swoop for the teenage gem, whilst Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Newcastle United, and Liverpool are among the English teams in the race for his signature.
The report added that Motherwell, however, are looking for a fee in the region of £5m for the young midfielder, and it remains to be seen whether or not the Hoops are willing to shell out that kind of money for his signature.
His performances in the Premiership for his current club suggest that the quality is there for him to come in and be the only Scottish teenager playing regularly for Celtic this season.
|
24/25 Premiership |
Lennon Miller |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
15 |
|
Goals |
2 |
|
Big chances created |
7 |
|
Assists |
5 |
|
Key passes per game |
2.0 |
|
Tackles + interceptions per game |
2.9 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
As you can see in the table above, Miller has offered a regular threat as a creator in the middle of the park for Motherwell, with 30 key passes in 15 games.
He has coupled that with defensive nous, as shown by his 2.9 tackles and interceptions per game – more than any Celtic midfielder has averaged, and this shows that the 18-year-old has delivered quality all-round performances in the top-flight.
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Whilst Miller appears to be a big talent, given his performances at such a young age, Celtic already lost an even bigger talent in the form of Ben Doak, who had come up through the academy at Parkhead.
In the summer of 2022, the Scottish teenager opted to move on from Glasgow to sign for Premier League giants Liverpool for a compensation fee of just £600k, as he had not signed a professional contract with the Hoops.
He had come up through the youth ranks with Celtic and eventually made his first-team breakthrough under Ange Postecoglou in the 2021/22 campaign, with 25 minutes across two Premiership matches.
That early exposure, at the age of just 16, was not enough to convince the left-footed sensation that his future was in Scotland, though, and he decided to try his luck down south for Jurgen Klopp.
The teenage whiz made five first-team appearances for Liverpool in the 2022/23 campaign and a further five in the 2023/24 season, despite missing a whopping 43 matches through a meniscus injury.
Doak was then sent out on loan to Middlesbrough in the English Championship by new Liverpool boss Arne Slot this term, and he has thrived for club and country.
Despite being less than a year older than Miller, the Liverpool youngster has already been capped six times by Scotland’s senior team, whilst the Motherwell gem is still awaiting his first cap.
All six of his caps came in the UEFA Nations League and the teenage starlet caught the eye with six key passes, two ‘big chances’ created, one assist, and six completed dribbles, starting four of those matches.
This shows that Doak has emerged as a regular starter, with four starts in six caps, for Scotland at the age of 19, whereas Miller is yet to make the step up from U21 level.
After his showing against Croatia, pundit Ally McCoist claimed he gave Man City star Josko Gvardiol a “going over” and described him as a “fearless” star who is similar to Real Madrid sensation Jude Bellingham, in the sense that both young players play with freedom in their games.
That is not to say that he is as good as Bellingham, who has scored 28 goals in 60 matches for Real, but both players thrive at first-team level at such a young age because they are not afraid to express themselves and their quality on the pitch against more experienced stars.
The Liverpool loanee’s form in the Championship for Middlesbrough, who are fighting for promotion to the Premier League, also shows that he is able to shine domestically.
|
24/25 Championship |
Ben Doak |
|---|---|
|
Appearances |
14 |
|
xA |
3.29 |
|
Key passes per game |
2.4 |
|
Assists |
5 |
|
Successful dribbles per game |
2.1 |
|
Stats via Sofascore |
|
As you can see in the table above, Doak has averaged more key passes per game and recorded the same number of assists as Miller in fewer league appearances this season.
Whilst it is difficult to compare the two players directly, given Doak is a winger and Miller is a central midfielder, the former Celtic ace’s emergence for club and country suggests that he is the bigger talent of the two of them, and the Hoops lost him for just £600k.
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Unfortunately, there was little that the Bhoys could have done to prevent him from chasing his dreams at Anfield, and his development since moving to England suggests that he made the right decision.
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