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Aston Villa are interested in signing West Ham United youngster Sonny Perkins, according to reputable journalist Fabrizio Romano. 

The lowdown: Rising star

Born in London, Perkins made the switch from the Leyton Orient academy to West Ham in 2019 before progressing through the ranks.

The 18-year-old striker has scored 19 times and provided five assists in 53 outings for the youth sides in East London, making three senior appearances under David Moyes last season.

However, as Villa continue to push for summer squad additions, Perkins appears to be the next on the radar of Steven Gerrard…

The latest: Romano on Perkins

Taking to Twitter, transfer expert Romano has claimed that the Midlands club and a major Premier League rival have initiated discussions with the England youth international.

He said: “Leeds and Aston Villa have opened talks to sign promising forward Sonny Perkins. Perkins has made 3 appearances for West Ham. Both clubs want to sign him.”

The verdict: Faith in youth

Already heavily tipped to complete the signing of Rangers starlet Rory Wilson, the pursuit of Perkins – who was described as a ‘real talent’ by journalist Tom Clark following a goal for the West Ham Under 23 side – is another nod towards those in positions of recruitment at Villa Park looking to freshen up the ranks in the Midlands.

Last season, the teenage frontman scored 14 times and registered another two assists in 29 outings across the youth levels and three senior displays.

Seemingly prepared to make a move this summer following a contractual disagreement, Tottenham are also in the mix to land the six-cap England Under 18 sensation and therefore, Villa should be pushing hard to make this deal come to fruition ahead of domestic competitors.

Since arriving at the club, Gerrard has shown a penchant for giving youth a chance having blooded Jacob Ramsey, Carney Chukwuemeka and Tim Iroegbunam at various stages last term, a factor that could give Sporting Director Johan Lange the upper hand when attempting to persuade Perkins to join.

In other news, Aston Villa are eyeing a Champions League star Gerrard saw up close on a scouting trip

Celtic haven’t exactly come flying out of the traps with their incoming transfer business since Ange Postecoglou’s side were crowned champions.

What’s the word?

That said, it does feel as though some movement is now beginning to take place at Parkhead with the Hoops confirming an exit from the squad.

Error-stricken goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas has departed the club for FC Utrecht on loan, a move that now leaves a gap in their squad.

As a result, the Bhoys are lining up potential candidates to replace him between the sticks. Celtic still have Joe Hart and Scott Bain but according to the Daily Mail, Postecoglou wants more options.

With that in mind, the club have now added 6 foot 4 Benjamin Siegrist to their list of options.

He has been at Dundee United but is out of contract this summer and will be available on a free.

Edouard tormenter

With Siegrist about to become a free agent, it feels like a no-brainer for Celtic to bring him to Glasgow.

After all, he is one of the best goalkeepers in the Scottish Premiership and has shown firsthand just how good he is to Celtic’s players and their supporters.

If we cast our minds back to March 2021, Siegrist was busy tormenting the Hoops’ attack and in particular, Odsonne Edouard.

The Frenchman, now of Crystal Palace, found it impossible to beat the 30-year-old as Celtic drew 0-0 at Tannadice.

Siegrist achieved a quite extraordinary match rating of 9.7 for his efforts from SofaScore as he made a mind-boggling 12 saves in one of the most memorable performances between the sticks in the SPFL over recent years.

Consequently, it’s hardly a surprise that he was once described as a “monster” by Micky Melon.

The mightily tall ‘keeper knows the league inside out and if Celtic want to guarantee some assurance should their no.1 be missing, the Swiss is the perfect choice.

He boasts a phenomenal record against Celtic, is competent when one-on-one while his agility and reactions, as shown back in 2021 vs the Hoops, are simply first-class.

Unlike Barkas, he is clearly reliable in goal and would come £4.5m cheaper as well. As a result, Celtic must ensure he’s playing for them next season.

AND in other news, Ange can land his own Denayer as Celtic eye £7k-p/w gem who has “fire in his belly”…

Fabrizio Romano has dropped an update on reported Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Djed Spence.

What’s the latest?

In a recent article for Caught Offside, the Italian journalist revealed that Antonio Conte’s side are currently the frontrunners in the race to sign the 21-year-old right-back, with an offer of £16m reported to be enough for Middlesbrough to sanction the sale of the England U21 international this summer.

The transfer insider goes on to state that Bayern Munich attempted to open talks regarding a move for the defender prior to their signing of Noussair Mazraoui, while Nottingham Forest are also said to be pursuing a permanent deal for the former Fulham starlet after securing promotion to the Premier League.

In his article, Romano wrote: “Spurs frontrunners for Championship wonderkid…Djed Spence has already received many important approaches from clubs for next season since March.

“Behind the scenes, Bayern Munich tried to start a negotiation before retiring from the race as the Noussair Mazraoui (initially close to joining Barcelona) opportunity opened up.

“Now, Spurs are still in contact for Spence and consider him a possibility for their right-wing, but Fabio Paratici is always able to have three or four targets in the same position; Nottingham Forest are already trying to find an agreement with Middlesbrough to have Spence in the Premier League. Surprises are not excluded.”

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“Unbelievable”

Considering the sheer amount of potential Spence quite clearly possesses, Romano’s claim that Fabio Paratici is currently leading the race to sign the right-back is sure to leave the Tottenham Hotspur faithful buzzing.

Indeed, over his 42 Championship appearances for Steve Cooper’s side this season, the £4.4k-per-week talent was in breathtaking form, bagging two goals, registering five assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.0 key passes, taking 0.6 shots and completing 1.8 dribbles per fixture.

The £7.2m-rated full-back who Romano dubbed a “wonderkid” also highly impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 1.5 tackles, 1.6 interceptions, 1.4 clearances and winning 5.8 duels per game.

These metrics saw the 21-year-old average a rather sensational WhoScored match rating of 7.05, ranking him as Forest’s sixth-best player in the division.

As such, with the signing of a new right wing-back reported to be one of Antonio Conte’s priority targets in the summer transfer window, the news that Tottenham are in pole position to land Spence is certainly an incredibly exciting prospect, as the England youth international would quite clearly be an “unbelievable” – in the words of Ian Wright – signing for Paratici to get over the line.

AND in other news: Paratici given green light for “unbelievable” £40m Spurs signing, he’s Conte’s “dream”

Alasdair Gold has dropped an update on reported Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Paulo Dybala.

What’s the latest?

In a recent video posted on his YouTube channel, the football.london journalist revealed that, despite widespread reports suggesting otherwise, he has been informed that Antonio Conte and Fabio Paratici are not pursuing a deal for the out-of-contract Juventus forward this summer – as the sporting director is not believed to be a fan of the Argentina international.

Concerning Spurs’ reported interest in the 28-year-old, Gold shared the following twist: “I know there are lots of Paulo Dybala links as there always are, but I’m told that’s not currently one that Spurs are currently looking at.

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“It’s interesting because you’ve also got to factor in that I don’t think Paratici is the biggest fan of Dybala, and I understand that he was one of the ones who were looking to move Dybala on from Juventus back in 2019 when Spurs were trying to sign him. So, I don’t see that as something that is likely to happen.”

Supporters will be gutted

Considering the quite extraordinary form Dybala has been in for Juventus this season, in addition to Tottenham supporters revealing in a recent poll ran by Football FanCast that they believe the attacker would be a fantastic signing for Spurs this summer, Gold’s suggestion that Paratici is not currently pursuing a deal for the Argentine is sure to come as gutting news to the club’s fanbase.

Indeed, over his 29 Serie A appearances this term, the £36m-rated talent was one of the standout performers in the league, scoring ten goals, registering five assists and creating 11 big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 3.4 shots, making 1.3 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the £220k-per-week forward average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.43, not only ranking him as the Bianconeri’s best performer in the Italian top flight but also as the joint fourth-best player in the division as a whole.

As such, it is clear to see just how exciting an addition Dybala would be to Conte’s current options in attack, however, following Gold’s latest update, it would now appear as if a Tottenham move for the 28-year-old sensation looks extremely unlikely this summer.

AND in other news: Conte could land his next Kante as Paratici plots Spurs bid for “unreal” £60m signing

Manchester City have reportedly identified Brighton’s Spanish full-back, Marc Cucurella, as a potential fix for their lack of squad depth at the back.

What’s the word?

That is according to a report from the Daily Mail, who claim that Pep Guardiola wants to add “hungry” players to his squad, with the 23-year-old reportedly fitting the bill.

In his report, the Daily Mail’s Dominic King states that a move for the former Barcelona youth prospect will set the Citizens back around £30m this summer – around double the £15.4m fee that Brighton paid Getafe for his services last summer.

Delivery Expert

In what has been his debut season in England’s top flight, it’s fair to say that Cucurella has taken the Premier League by storm, so it is no wonder why Guardiola has identified his countryman as a viable option to fix his depth issues at full-back.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is the fact that he is willing to move for the Spaniard less than a year after his move to Brighton.

This move also suggests a lot about the Man City boss’ tactics going into next season, as he clearly wants a more direct and orthodox option to create a plethora of chances from the wide areas and become a “delivery expert” – in the words of Statman Dave – for the incoming Erling Haaland – who has the potential to be an elite striker for City.

Guardiola has clearly taken a page out of Jurgen Klopp’s tactical notebook, the one that hits a fine balance between a mass-possession foundation, merged with a loud and abrasive pressing system that leads to direct counter-attacking transitions.

Cucurella is the man that can help City and Pep to achieve this slight switch in style, and his average of 2.69 crosses per 90 can benefit both the manager and Haaland massively – a metric that beats Zinchenko’s average of 1.78 crosses per 90 and falls just short of Cancelo’s average of 2.80 per match.

Pep’s experiment with an inverted full-back in Cancelo is clearly over, with orthodox full-backs now looking as though they will have a place once again in the Spaniard’s ever-evolving system.

In other news: Mike Keegan drops big behind the scenes Man City update, it’s awful news for Guardiola 

Sheffield Star journalist Joe Crann has provided an update on the futures of Massimo Luongo, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Jack Hunt and Joe Wildsmith at Sheffield Wednesday. 

The lowdown: Overhaul pending…

Having missed out on promotion to the Championship via the play-offs, there is expected to be a raft of changes amidst the Hillsborough ranks this summer, with Owls manager Darren Moore surely looking to strengthen the squad in order to aim for automatic promotion in 2022/23.

However, in order for wholesale changes to occur, a host of first-team figures could follow Saido Berahino, Chey Dunkley and Sam Hutchinson out of the Yorkshire club.

The latest: Four players offered new deals

Taking to Twitter, Crann issued an update on four Sheffield Wednesday players who have all played their part in Moore’s plans recently.

The reporter outlined: “Confirmed: #SWFC have offered new deals to Massimo Luongo, Jack Hunt, Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, and Joe Wildsmith – none of them have put pen to paper yet.”

Meanwhile, in a corresponding report for the Sheffield Star, the journalist also confirmed that Lewis Gibson, Tyreece John-Jules, Harlee Dean, Florian Kamberi, Olamide Shodipo, Bailey Peacock-Farrell and Jordan Storey would all be returning to their parent clubs after their respective loan spells at Hillsborough.

The verdict: Busy summer ahead

It appears that the hard work has already begun behind the scenes as Moore and co attempt to build a squad ready to challenge at the top of League One once again.

All three of Hunt, Wildsmith and Luongo are out of contract in July, whilst Mendez-Laing – who was hailed by Henry Winter for a ‘brilliant’ display against Liverpool in 2019 when he was at Cardiff – was only signed in November 2021 on a short-term deal and has since made 19 appearances for the Owls.

Overall, the quartet who are hoping to be retained made 103 combined outings across the 2021/22 campaign for Moore’s side, and it’s no surprise to see that the club would be willing to extend each of their stays into the 2022/23 season and possibly beyond.

In other news, a Sheffield Wednesday transfer claim has emerged. Read more here.

A big Newcastle United claim has emerged on their potential interest in Kalvin Phillips heading into the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie has suggested that the Magpies might be looking at his situation as his team fight against the drop in the Premier League.

The Whites are currently 17th in the table and ahead of Burnley by one point with the Clarets having a game in hand over them.

When asked about a possible swoop for the England international, Downie told Football FanCast: “I just think Newcastle might be a really interesting move because he can be part of that project that I’ve mentioned before.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s one that Newcastle are really are kind of keeping a close eye on with Leeds’ perilous position at the moment.”

Supporters will be excited

The Toon supporters will surely be excited by this claim from Downie as the prospect of Newcastle making a swoop for Phillips if Leeds drop down to the Championship is a tantalising one.

He has proven himself in the Premier League and would be an excellent signing to add to Eddie Howe’s midfield options.

The England international is a combative midfield player who can get fans excited with his tackling in the middle of the park. He has the tenacity and ability to fly into tackles and set up attacks by winning the ball back off the opposition, which will surely get the fanbase off their seats in appreciation of his effort.

In the Premier League this season, he has made 3.8 tackles and interceptions per game for Leeds. This comes after he made 4.2 in 2020/21 – his first campaign in the top-flight – and he has won 4.8 duels or more per match across both seasons.

Ball-winning is not Phillips’ only attribute as he completed 4.7 long passes per game last term – creating 35 chances in 29 matches. He provided five ‘big chances’ and this form led to him being selected seven times for England at the European Championships last summer, illustrating how highly rated he is within the game.

This proves that he has quality in possession and can make an impact going forward to go along with his strong defending.

Therefore, fans will be excited by Downie’s comments and may now be rooting for relegation for Leeds if it means that the club can swoop for Phillips in the summer, with all due respect to the Yorkshire-based side.

AND in other news, “They expect..”: NUFC closing in on colossal summer signing, supporters will be elated…

The Athletic journalist Jordan Campbell has shared a big injury boost for Glasgow Rangers involving James Tavernier.

The Lowdown: Tav struggling

Giovanni van Bronckhorst admitted to the media after the 4-0 loss away at Ajax in the UEFA Champions League last week that Tavernier has been struggling with a knock that he picked up a couple of weeks prior.

He came off after just 45 minutes in that game, and so there are question marks over his fitness going into their next match against Napoli at Ibrox tonight.

The Latest: Tavernier ‘fit’

Taking to Twitter, Campbell has shared that Tavernier is now ‘fit’ after playing with a knock against Ajax, while Alfredo Morelos is also in contention to play:

“Morelos in contention after “wake-up call” pre-PSV & Tavernier fit after Ajax knock.”

The Verdict: Big boost

It is certainly a big boost for the Light Blues to have Tavernier fully fit for their clash against Napoli.

As the club’s captain, the right-back is such an important player both in the dressing room as well as on the pitch, and has produced on the big European stage before.

Tavernier was the Teddy Bears’ best performer in their miraculous run to the UEFA Europa League final last season, scoring a mammoth seven goals and making two assists, picking up a team-high three man-of-the-match awards in the process (WhoScored).

Nonetheless, the Gers are a much stronger side with him in it, and so supporters will be hoping that he is fit enough to start tonight.

Everton signed eight new players over the summer transfer window and Frank Lampard will be delighted with the progress the team has made so far following a disappointing relegation scrap at the bottom of the table last season in the Premier League.

Many of the new additions at Goodison Park seem to be making a good impact on the team as the Toffees are now unbeaten in their last five, picking up four draws and one win from their first seven outings in the top flight so far, meaning they currently sit 13th in the table.

Despite the good start, Lampard will still be wanting more from his squad with Richarlison’s exit and Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury problems contributing to the lack of goals, which led to Everton being active in the transfer window up until the final hours and minutes of Deadline Day.

Unfortunately, the powers at the club were unable to secure another forward signing despite their efforts and it could be something the club regrets as the season goes on.

One player who was linked with a move to Merseyside was Shakhtar Donetsk star Mykhaylo Mudryk, Shakhtar chief, Darijo Srna claims that the club made a €30m (£26m) bid for the talented youngster.

“We received an offer of €30m [from Everton],” Srna revealed to CBS Sports.

“Mudryk is a serious talent. After Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr, he’s the best player in Europe in his position.”

“If someone wants to buy Mudryk they must spend a lot, a lot, a lot of money and respect our club and our president.”

Indeed, his performances have now attracted more interest with the winger believed to be taking the fancy of Everton’s fierce Merseyside rivals Liverpool, who could be forced to pay around £50m if they want to bring him to the red side of the city.

However, with Richarlison’s move to Tottenham Hotspur, the Ukrainian rising star could have been the perfect prodigy for Lampard to polish up and develop in the Brazilian’s former position on the left wing. That’s because the player has displayed enormous creativity and attacking capabilities over his short career so far.

Mudryk has registered a goal contribution every 87 minutes for Donetsk with four strikes and 12 assists so far over 31 appearances and has already been making a name for himself this season in the Champions League. After just two games he’s had some hugely influential performances in the group stage.

The 21-year-old scored once and assisted twice in Shakhtar’s 4-1 opener against RB Leipzig and followed up his form in Europe with a rasping goal against Celtic too, which has attracted attention from some of the biggest clubs in world football.

Arsenal are another club named as potential suitors for the player, whilst Newcastle United are also said to be monitoring the player’s situation.

With that being said, Everton may have now lost out on their chance to sign the player who could go to a club with much more tempting opportunities to continue playing in the Champions League, and Farhad Moshiri will surely be regretful that he didn’t push harder for Mudryk.

Leeds United will face a Nottingham Forest side without a key trio in Monday night’s Premier League meeting.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to a recent report by the Yorkshire Evening Post, who state that Steve Cooper will be without Moussa Niakhate, Orel Mangala and Omar Richards for the Red’s trip to Elland Road early next week, with all three players remaining sidelined as a result of long-term injuries.

Centre-back Niakhate picked up a hamstring injury in Forest’s 1-0 win over West Ham United last month – ruling him out for around two months – while central midfielder Mangala also sustained a hamstring injury in a 1-1 draw with Everton back in August – with this knock looking likely to keep the Belgium international out for weeks rather than months.

Meanwhile, Omar Richards is yet to make a competitive appearance for Forest following his £10m move from Bayern Munich as a result of a leg injury.

Good news for Marsch

While it is true that none of Niakhate, Mangala or Richards ever looked overly likely to make a return to action against Leeds on Monday, the fact that all three players will not be available for selection at Elland Road is nevertheless good news for Jesse Marsch and his side.

Indeed, Niakhate highly impressed over his 30 Bundesliga appearances for Mainz last season, helping his side keep eight clean sheets and scoring four goals, as well as making an average of 1.7 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, 2.2 clearances and winning 4.3 duels per game – proving his threat in both a defensive an offensive capacity.

Meanwhile, Mangala also caught the eye over his own 28 Bundesliga appearances for VfB Stuttgart in 2021/22, scoring one goal, registering three assists and creating four big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of one key pass and completing 1.5 dribbles per fixture – demonstrating his ability to push his side forward from the middle of the park.

Finally, despite Richards only starting five Bundesliga fixtures over the course of Bayern’s title-winning campaign last time out, the 24-year-old is undoubtedly an exceptionally talented full-back, with Harry Hudson going as far as to suggest that the defender has the potential to push for a place in England’s World Cup squad this winter, stating:

“There’s no reason to think why [he couldn’t get in the England team]. If he was a right-back he’d probably have more problems with Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker. I’m not saying there are less talented left-backs but maybe there is more of an opportunity there because Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw have been injured.”

As such, it is clear for all to see that Forest will be a much weaker side without the stricken trio on Monday evening, with their respective absences sure to come as a huge boost to Leeds’ chances of taking all three points from the clash.