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Several Aston Villa supporters have been reacting to the club’s interest in Bournemouth teenager Ajani Burchall on social media.

According to an exclusive report from Football Insider, Villa, along with Leeds United, have joined Arsenal and West Ham in the hunt for the 16-year-old’s signature.

Villa have now registered their interest over a summer deal for Burchall, who looks set to leave the Cherries over the coming months after recently rejecting a scholarship deal on the south coast.

The Bermudan winger can play on either flank and has already made his first-team debut for Bournemouth.

Burchall came on for a three-minute cameo in a 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town back in December, becoming the club’s third-youngest-ever player in the process.

Villa fans react

The well-known @villareport shared Villa’s interest in Burchall on social media on Tuesday evening.

This is what some fans had to say in reply to the tweet, with some name-checking Villa’s current wingers and one supporter calling the youngster a ‘proper baller’.

“He’s definitely better than Trezeguet”

Credit: @AVFCOlly_

“16 years old and getting first team action in the championship, and he’s a winger. For my money, he’s probably better than Traore.”

Credit: @DOUGLASLUlZ

“All well and good signing youngsters but we need some established quality. Grealish isn’t gonna keep carrying us until they come through.”

Credit: @jamsey55

“oh yeah he’s a proper baller he is”

Credit: @wesavfc

“Youth team winning it all”

Credit: @josh_priv3

“building for the future!”

Credit: @craig48002241

“we should be aiming higher”

Credit: @MattcayleyM

In other news: Many AVFC fans impressed with Lee Hendrie’s transfer suggestion, find out more here. 

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has delivered a fresh update on Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer pursuit of Milan Skriniar this week…

What’s the word?

In an exclusive interview with GiveMeSport, Romano revealed that Spurs could revisit their interest in the Inter Milan sensation when the window re-opens at the end of the season, he said:

“I would mention again Skriniar because they love this player. They’re scouting, they love this player, they’re convinced he would be perfect.

“Mourinho loves this player. It’s one of the players they are convinced would be perfect, It’s about the scouting, it’s about the board, it’s about Mourinho, they love the player.”

The north Londoners were close to sealing the 26-year-old in the summer, with chief scout Steve Hitchen spotted in Milan before deadline day, as per the Evening Standard.

Romano went onto claim that Spurs had only offered €35m (£30m), though the Serie A front-runners wanted at least €50m (£45m) to let their star man, whilst that valuation is expected to soar come to the end of the current campaign.

“He’s doing so well fans are in love with Skriniar so I think it’s not 50 million euros (anymore). This summer it will be around 80 or 75 million euros for Milan Skriniar, so really, really complicated, let’s see what Tottenham will decide about the centre-back,” he added.

Dream for Mourinho

As Romano mentions, this really would be a dream deal for Mourinho.

Back in January, the reliable Dan Kilpatrick at the Evening Standard suggested the Portuguese was desperate for a new centre-back that could make a similar impact to that of Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool or Ruben Dies at Man City.

Skriniar can be that ‘transformative’ defender he’s lusting for.

Lofty comparisons to former Premier League beast Martin Skrtel are merely just one reason why the Slovakia international would need no time in adapting to the Premier League.

“He has always been the leader on and off the pitch,” claimed Tibor Goljan, Skriniar’s U17 coach at MSK Zilina, to ESPN.

That is something Spurs have perhaps lacked since the departure of the vastly-experienced Jan Vertonghen. Indeed, Spurs’s last league outing – a 2-0 win over Aston Villa – saw young prospects Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga feature in the backline, alongside Davinson Sanchez, who has often been dubbed a “weak link.”

A lot of Mourinho’s issues have boiled down to his disappointing backline. These are players far from hitting their heights of that resolute Chelsea side. There’s no John Terry or Ricardo Carvalho here at Spurs.

Indeed, ex-Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara recently dubbed Eric Dier and Sanchez the worst central defensive partnership in the league, going as far as urging the club to sell them on in the summer.

Skriniar could be that difference-maker.

His performances for Inter have largely contributed towards them sitting six points clear at the top of the Serie A standings. Only one side, defending champions Juventus, have leaked fewer goals this term.

The £49.5m-rated star ranks amongst Antonio Conte’s best performers with an average WhoScored rating of 6.96. In addition, he is contributing 1.1 interceptions, 1.4 tackles, and 2.7 clearances per game, showing an excellent reading of the game and merely reinforces why the 6 foot 2 monster would be able to easily transition into English football.

By comparison, no Spurs centre-back is close to this level of form, with Sanchez topping the WhoScored rating charts (6.74).

Lilywhites chairman Daniel Levy must now do what he can do seal the signature of Skriniar in the summer, it would be a dream deal for not just Mourinho but Spurs too.

Click here to see the full GiveMeSport interview with Fabrizio Romano

AND in other news, Get rid: Levy must cash in on £26m-rated Spurs “nightmare” amid Alasdair Gold claim…

David Moyes has refused to rule out the idea of West Ham selling Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek this summer, admitting that the club could listen to offers for the duo.

The Hammers have enjoyed a season to remember in the Premier League, finding themselves right in the Champions League battle. Victory away to Wolves on Monday evening would see Moyes’ side go fourth in the table, leapfrogging Chelsea after their shock 5-2 defeat at home to West Brom on Saturday.

Rice and Soucek have undoubtedly been two of West Ham’s key men this season, with the £90m-rated pair (per Transfermarkt) excelling in the middle of the park.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, their form has led to concerns over other clubs tabling bids for them at the end of the campaign.

Moyes provides update on Rice and Soucek

Speaking to reporters [via The Mirror], Moyes admitted that West Ham may be willing to hear offers for the duo, should they arrive, but stressed that they wouldn’t be leaving on the cheap:

“Yes, any club can make offers for players but we’ve not had any big offers. I hope we don’t get any but if we do, like any other club, we would consider them.

“I don’t know where the Bank of England is for Tomas Soucek but I’ve said with Declan, it would take the Bank of England and the Royal Bank of Scotland to get him.

“It will have to be the Bank of Czech as well for Tomas!”

Transfer Tavern take

Rice and Soucek have both been integral to West Ham’s success, so they should do all they can to keep hold of them this summer.

The Czech international is their top Premier League scorer this term despite playing in a defensive midfield role, while the Englishman’s tackling and interception averages are among the highest in the Irons’ squad (WhoScored).

Both of their contracts run until 2024, which should at least the Hammers in a strong negotiating position with only huge bids likely to be accepted, as Moyes has hinted.

In other news, David Moyes has dropped another big transfer hint ahead of this summer. Read more about it here.

Lyndon Dykes’ tenth goal of the season wasn’t enough to see Queens Park Rangers to victory as Rotherham United came from behind to thrash Mark Warburton’s side.

The Rs boss was left reeling after the match, claiming he was “angry” before adding: ” Very simply we didn’t deserve to win (after) the last half an hour.”

He’ll undoubtedly want to rethink ever giving Niko Hamalainen an opportunity again as he was absolutely abysmal on the left flank in the absence of Lee Wallace.

West London Sport graded him as QPR’s worst-performing player, and dealt a scathing review of his performance. ‘On this showing looks horribly out of his depth and probably won’t be seen again soon,’ wrote Ian McCullough.

‘Offered nothing whatsoever as an attacking outlet and looked vulnerable defensively all game. His weak challenge on Crooks on the stroke of half-time resulted in a broken nose for De Wijs and was then caught ball-watching as Ladapo wandered past him to slam home Rotherham’s equaliser.’

The numbers would reinforce such a statement.

As per SofaScore, the 24-year-old was unable to get a foothold on the game, managing only 49 touches which were some 11 touches fewer than goalkeeper Seny Dieng (60) and lower than the average that Wallace usually puts up (55).

Warburton’s current system is heavily dependant on his wing-backs getting up and down the pitch, but the Finland ace struggled to contribute at either end.

He failed to provide an accurate cross from four attempts, leaving Dykes to feed off scraps for large spells of the match, and he also made only 64% of his passes – the worst of any QPR outfield start barring the Scottish forward. Nor could he manage a successful dribble. Hugely ineffective.

Defensively, Hamalainen was just as poor. He lost possession a whopping 16 times, meaning every three touches saw him gift the ball back to the Millers, and similarly, the 5 foot 9 lightweight won just three of eight duels (37.5%).

This was the 24-year-old’s first start since an abysmal outing at Birmingham ten games ago, and it’s easy to see why as he once again let Warburton down when finally trusted to start.

As evident above, it would be a surprise to see Hamalainen given another shot before the end of the season – he really was that poor.

Paul Robinson has suggested Celtic could made another move for Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster in the summer.

Robinson discusses Forster

Forster spent last term on loan at Parkhead from the Saints, and has made 236 appearances for the Scottish side across a number of spells throughout his career (Transfermarkt).

Speaking to Football Insider, Robinson has suggested the Bhoys could make another move for the £3.6m-valued 33-year-old (Transfermarkt). He said:

“I worry because the pressure will be even greater next season when the fans are back in. As for Barkas, his future will be dependant on what manager comes in though.

“Celtic missed a trick by not re-signing Fraser Forster. He was amazing up there last season. I think he is a top goalkeeper.

“I am surprised as to why he stayed at Southampton. Maybe they will try again to sign him in the summer because it is a position they will need to strengthen in.

“If I was a new manager going in there I would be looking to sign a new number one.”

Role to play

Forster has had to spend much of the campaign at St. Mary’s Stadium as back-up to Alex McCarthy. However, in the 10 matches he has played in all competitions, he has kept six clean sheets. The Saints are through to the semi-finals of the F.A Cup without having conceded a goal in the competition, and Forster has played in all of those games so far.

McCarthy has come under fire at times this term after a number of mistakes – perhaps Forster may have a chance to stake a claim as Ralph Hasenhuttl’s number one next season. As such, he may be better staying at Southampton than returning to Celtic once more.

In other news, Southampton fans slammed this man against West Brom.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans are delighted after a report from The 4th Official claimed that Alfredo Morelos does not want to leave Ibrox this summer.

The 24-year-old was heavily linked with a move away from the 55-time Scottish champions last summer, with AC Milan (Football Insider via Glasgow Live) and Marseille (Le10 Foot) said to be interested, while the Colombia international even said earlier this year that his dream is to move to the Premier League (Radio Caracol). It seemed that the Gers would struggle to keep him at the club beyond this term, given such illustrious transfer interest.

However, this latest report has suggested that the 24-year-old wants to stay at Rangers. By winning the Premiership already this campaign, the Gers have earned themselves a place in the third qualifying round for the Champions League next season – a run in Europe’s premier club competition may be too enticing for Morelos to turn down.

The news was shared on Twitter by The 4th Official’s Twitter account, and it attracted plenty of delight from Gers supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Morelos news below

“I will drink to that”

Credit: @rs28x11

“Yaaaassss”

Credit: @JeremyFisher100

“Hope so! He’s here for 56!”

Credit: @stuart723

“Excellent news, More than likely Champions League football a big factor, oh and the Mighty”

Credit: @ell1s

“Great news for us. But get him on the slim fast just now so he’s trim and fit for his big introduction.”

Credit: @OfficialRG90

“Good, now get another few years on his contract”

Credit: @Faz_50

In other news, find out why Davie Provan slammed one Rangers man.

Former Leeds United midfielder Carlton Palmer has told Football FanCast in an exclusive interview that he cannot see Steven Gerrard replacing Marcelo Bielsa in the Elland Road dugout.

This comes after The Athletic’s Phil Hay, speaking on Ask Ornstein, mentioned Gerrard’s name when discussing who could succeed Bielsa as Leeds boss.

The Argentinian’s contract is set to expire in the summer, meaning that the Whites could be on the lookout for a new manager before the start of next season.

Palmer, however, cannot imagine Gerrard ditching the new Scottish Premiership champions for the Yorkshire club.

Speaking exclusively to FFC about the above, the ex-Leeds player said:

“I think Stevie G’s had a fantastic season up at Rangers. I can’t for the life of me see Stevie G leaving Rangers at this moment in time, apart from going back to Liverpool Football Club and I don’t think [Jurgen] Klopp’s going for a couple of seasons yet.”

Gerrard will surely want to have a go at defending Rangers’ Scottish Premiership title against rivals Celtic. He will also have the opportunity to manage the Glasgow club in the Champions League, so it really is hard to imagine an Ibrox exit for the Liverpool legend right now.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Marlon Harewood, who scored 54 goals for West Ham United, believes Jarrod Bowen is good enough to play as a striker in Michail Antonio’s absence.

West Ham were rocked by a huge injury blow to their only striker, Antonio, when he limped off during their 3-2 win against Wolves, with reports claiming he could miss the remainder of the season.

Since Antonio’s injury however, West Ham have not faltered in front of goal as they’ve found the back of the net five times, with three of them coming from on-loan midfielder Jesse Lingard.

Speaking on why Moyes will not struggle without Antonio and if Bowen is good enough to play as a striker, Harewood told FFC:

“Yeah I definitely think he’s good enough. I think they had a little bit of rotation amongst each other against Leicester, which is good because they’ve got three midfielders that can play in that role.

“It’s not just Jarrod who has to play there because he likes to go wide and get at players as well. So they’ve got others who can fill that spot.”

Bowen arrived in January on deadline day last season for £20 million and he’s taken to life in the Premier League seamlessly with eight goals and five assists in the league this season.

West Ham currently have six games left to play in the league and only lie outside of the Champions League places on goal difference from Chelsea.

Sheffield Wednesday head into their Championship fixture this weekend knowing that they must leave Hillsborough with all three points to have any chance of surviving the drop this season.

The Owls slumped to a 3-1 defeat last time out against Middlesbrough, a result which kept Darren Moore’s side languishing in 23rd place in the league standings, four points behind Derby County in 21st, with just two games left to play.

As such, nothing but a win will do against Nottingham Forest on Saturday if Wednesday are to have any chance of securing survival on the final day of the season, when the Owls face what could potentially be a straight relegation shootout against Wayne Rooney’s side.

So, will Wednesday make any changes to their starting XI last time out? Here’s our predicted XI, along with the latest team and injury news…

With Jamie Smith – Darren Moore’s stand-in while he recovers from illness – having to deal with the recent injury to key centre-back Tom Lees, as well as the fact that Wednesday simply must win the fixture, we’re expecting there to be two changes, as well as a shift in formation, from the team which lined up against Middlesbrough.

With the Owls starting in a 3-4-1-2 formation in their 5-0 victory over Cardiff City towards the beginning of April, we expect Smith to switch back to this setup for the clash with Forest in order to provide as much attacking threat in the final third of the pitch as possible.

As such, 31-year-old Jordan Rhodes comes in to partner Callum Paterson as the second striker, replacing Andre Green, who is unfortunate to drop to the bench following a decent performance last time out.

The other change is rather more necessary, with the injured Lees being replaced in the starting XI by Osaze Urhoghide, who appears the obvious choice after the centre-back came on for the 30-year-old after his withdrawal against Middlesborough.

In other news: Moore must axe Sheff Wednesday flop who’s cost £500k-per-goal, he “needs to go” – opinion

Celtic rejected a bid from a German club back in January 2020 for midfielder Ryan Christie, it has been revealed, via the Scotsman.

The Lowdown: Christie’s contract

Christie has been a regular for the Hoops this season, however, he could well end up leaving the club for nothing in less than 12 months’ time.

That’s because his contract, which Transfermarkt has down to expire in May 2022, actually runs out in January 2022.

That’s according to the Daily Mail, cited by the Daily Record, who revealed the Scotland international could use this summer’s European Championship’s as a shop window opportunity.

Should his situation remain the same, Christie can speak to club’s outside of Scotland in the summer and pen a pre-contract agreement for a free transfer in January 2022.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-2/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Latest: Celtic rejected Christie bid

The Scotsman recently ran a story on the midfielder and dropped a claim that the Hoops actually turned down a bid from a German suitor back in January 2020.

It is thought that, at the time, a move to Germany appealed to Christie, and it seems as if Celtic may live to regret that decision.

The news comes as a shock, as, at the time, a bid from Europe for the £7,700-a-week midfielder never came out from the club or in the media.

The Verdict: Peter Lawwell made a huge mistake

In our opinion, looking back, Peter Lawwell made a big transfer blunder.

Since the bid came in, Celtic only had a few months remaining of the 2019/20 season before the national lockdown, and they haven’t exactly thrived with Christie in the side this season.

He’s been criticised regularly by some Hoops fans for his displays, so accepting the bid last year could have been the better move in hindsight.

Unfortunately, now, it looks as if there is a real chance the Hoops may end up receiving nothing for Christie’s services and may have to work out what to do with him during the first half of the 2021/22 season, should he pen a pre-contract agreement elsewhere.

In other news: Alan Nixon shares what’s holding up Eddie Howe deal, find out more here.