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Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly eyeing a new manager target in Julen Lopetegui.

The Lowdown: Fonseca talks

As per BBC Sport, Spurs have opened up talks with Paulo Fonseca over their vacant manager role.

However, the North London club have yet to agree a deal with the 48-year-old, and will be increasingly wary over the situation given that they were in advanced talks with former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, before that deal eventually collapsed.

The Latest: Lopetegui eyed

As per Estadio Deportivo, the Lilywhites have also set their sights on appointing Lopetegui as their new coach, although he is not their first option.

Lopetegui has recently renewed his contract at Sevilla until 2024, and is already planning for the new season, but the report claims Spurs are ‘considering’ trying to appoint him anyway.

The news outlet also compares the potential appointment of the 54-year-old to that of Juande Ramos when he joined THFC, given that the latter was also at Sevilla before he was appointed at White Hart Lane, and were both doing similarly well in La Liga.

Ramos had finished third and fourth position in the table in his last two full seasons, while Lopetegui has managed to do the exact same.

The Verdict: Tottenham should consider Lopetegui

Even though it looks much more likely that Fonseca will end up at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs should at least be considering Lopetegui as an alternative options, especially if talks with the former break down like they did with Conte.

The Spaniard did very well with Sevilla last season, guiding them to an impressive 77 points in La Liga and a comfortable fourth-placed finish, only behind the three giants of Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona and a mere nine points off of top spot in the end (BBC Sport).

He has also shown that he can win major trophies, guiding Sevilla to a 2019/20 UEFA Europa League triumph, which is exactly the kind of coach that the Lilywhites should be looking for as they look to end their recent trophy drought.

In other news, find out which ‘phenomenal’ ace Fabio Paratici could sell here!

New Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has spoken to Steve McClaren over a possible Old Trafford role, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Ten Hag announced

The Red Devils officially confirmed the Dutchman as their new manager on Thursday.

Ten Hag will depart Ajax in the summer and has signed a three-year contract with United which includes the option of a further 12 months.

He looks set to be joined at Old Trafford by current Ajax assistant Mitchell van der Gaag, and a reunion with McClaren, who Ten Hag worked with at FC Twente, looks like it could also be on the cards too.

The Latest: McClaren talks

Romano, who has been on top of all Ten Hag to United developments, shared an update on Thursday afternoon regarding his coaching staff.

The reliable reporter said that Van der Gaag has ‘accepted’ to join his coaching staff, adding that Ten Hag has also had a ‘direct conversation’ with McClaren over a role at Old Trafford.

The Verdict: Interesting…

You can see why Ten Hag has spoken to McClaren over a possible reunion ahead of his first season as United boss, with a lot of work needing to be done off the pitch before he takes to the Old Trafford dugout for the first time.

The pair know each other well after Ten Hag served as McClaren’s assistant at FC Twente for 50 games. Roles could now be reversed in Manchester, and with McClaren already working under Sir Alex Ferguson for 142 games between 1999 and 2001, a backroom role could be a shrewd move by the new manager as he looks to settle in during his first season in England.

In other news: ‘Revolution begins’: Fabrizio Romano now shares key Man Utd exit news emerging from Old Trafford. 

Daniel Pinder, the editor-in-chief of Get German Football News, has exclusively told This is Futbol that Stuttgart striker Sasa Kalajdzic could be an ideal fit for Liverpool.

Kalajdzic has scored 14 times and added five assists in 29 Bundesliga appearances this term, with his impressive numbers catching the attention of several Premier League sides.

Along with both West Ham and Merseyside rivals Everton, the Reds are reportedly interested in signing the Austrian international, who’s previously spoke about his love for the club by saying that Liverpool are “simply special” to him.

Liverpool meanwhile are in desperate need of a prolific goalscorer following Roberto Firmino’s struggles in front of goal this season.

The Brazilian has scored just six times in 43 appearances in all competitions this term, with the Reds’ lack of goals one of the many reasons they could miss out on Champions League football.

Jurgen Klopp’s men scored 85 times in their title-winning campaign, and are a massive 30 goals short of that total with just five games remaining.

The addition of Kalajdzic could help them challenge Manchester City again next season, and Pinder told This is Futbol that the striker would be a good signing for the Reds:

“He’s a completely different player to Firmino. He’s two metres tall – even despite his height he’s got a good first touch, movement, composure, and great anticipation.

“And in an interview, he said he likes to drop deep which could suit Liverpool with their style of play.”

A major update has emerged on Newcastle United’s efforts to seal a deal to sign Bruno Guimaraes from Lyon in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

Daily Mail journalist Craig Hope has issued a fresh claim on their attempts to close the transfer, as Eddie Howe seeks to complete his third signing of the transfer window after Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood.

Hope tweeted late on Thursday night: “Newcastle hoping to complete Bruno Guimaraes medical tomorrow.”

Howe will be salivating

This news will surely leave Howe salivating as his mouth waters over the prospect of Guimaraes holding up a Newcastle shirt alongside him in an official announcement photoshoot sooner rather than later.

Completing a medical will represent a huge step in their journey to completing the signing, as it will alleviate any worries over his physical condition, with the Brazilian – hopefully – not carrying any issues which will affect him in the long-term.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that the Magpies have agreed a fee which could rise to €48m (£40m) with Lyon and that he will sign a contract until 2026. This suggests that the medical could be the last piece of the puzzle before the Magpies are able to announce his arrival on Tyneside.

This is why Howe’s mouth will be watering over this latest update, as the midfielder is poised to link-up with the rest of the Newcastle squad ahead of their next Premier League match. It could also mean that the move is in place prior to deadline day, which will relieve the head coach as he will have no need to worry about scrambling to get the deal over the line in the final few hours. However, it remains to be seen whether or not that will be the case with other potential signings.

The ex-Bournemouth boss will also be excited by this news because of the quality of player the club are on the verge of bringing in. Guimaraes has averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.3 in Ligue 1, making 3.6 tackles and interceptions along with 1.8 key passes per game.

This highlights how much of an impact he can have at both ends of the pitch at the top level. The Brazilian can break up the play and win the ball back for his team whilst also having the quality to step forward and play brilliant passes to create chances for his teammates, which is why Howe will be buzzing to have him as part of his squad moving forward.

AND in other news, Newcastle plotting late swoop for £54m-rated “winner”, he’s far better than Wilson…

West Ham United could revisit their interest in Torino striker Andrea Belotti, according to ExWHUEmployee. 

The Irons have apparently held an interest in Belotti in the past, and a move could be explored once again.

Belotti has fired in 105 goals and provided 28 assists in 228 all-time appearances for Torino.

Last season, the 27-year-old scored 13 for a side that only avoided relegation to Serie B by four points.

His performances earned him a call-up to the Italy squad for the European Championships earlier in the summer.

Belotti only started one match for the eventual winners – the Group A finale against Wales. By that point, Italy had secured passage to the Round of 16.

Belotti one of many candidates for West Ham?

With only a year remaining on his contract, he’s valued at £31.5million by Transfermarkt, but Belotti is by no means the only striker with whom the Hammers have been linked.

They’re said to be keen on a move for Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham, bumped further down the pecking order by Romelu Lukaku’s impending arrival (via Daily Mail) and have apparently opened preliminary talks with Liverpool over Divock Origi (via Football Insider).

Fan feed West Ham Transfers relayed the link, and here’s how supporters reacted.

These West Ham fans call for Belotti signing

“This needs to be done! Would be a class signing”

Credit: @barnard_15

“Be chuffed with that”

Credit: @WilsonNotLuke

“Needs to happen”

Credit: @adamhammer7261

“I think that would be a great signing”

Credit: @Josephsimon007

“Get him now!!”

Credit: @bigtruth2

“Please”

Credit: @jonyb1981

In other news, Dean Windass has dropped this intriguing claim on Declan Rice’s future.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Premier League midfielder Lee Hendrie thinks moving for Bournemouth’s Asmir Begovic could be a good idea for Celtic, claiming that the 33-year-old is a “big player”.

Following Fraser Forster’s return to Southampton, Vasilis Barkas has spent some time between the posts for the Bhoys after joining the club from AEK Athens last summer.

However, the goalkeeper has really struggled, recently coming in for some strong criticism from Richard Foster.

Undoubtedly, the role in goal has proven to be a problem position for Celtic this season, and Hendrie believes a player like Begovic could be the solution – especially as the 6 ft 6 stopper is someone prospective new Bhoys boss Eddie Howe knows well from their time together at Dean Court.

The Sky Sports pundit told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“Begovic, you know, he’s a big player. Again, he’s had a very good season at Bournemouth.

“I do feel that, yes, the goalkeeping area is certainly a massive must for me. Begovic is a very, very good goalkeeper.

“There are lots of goalkeepers out there that would certainly be attracted to go into Celtic.”

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international had a spell at Chelsea between 2015-2017, where he was described as an “excellent ‘keeper” by former manager Jose Mourinho, so has experience playing for a demanding club where there are a lot of expectations.

Marcus Bent has been told by Everton that his former side aren’t any closer to signing Wilfried Zaha this summer, but hinted that there ‘is something going on’ regarding the Crystal Palace winger.

According to Goal, the Toffees are once again interested in bringing the 28-year-old to Goodison Park this summer as they look to push for European football under new manager Rafael Benitez.

Not for the first time, Zaha himself has made his feelings clear about wanting to leave Selhurst Park following another impressive season for the Londoners.

Zaha reached double figures in the Premier League for the second time  – with his 11 goals the best return of his career.

That report from Goal believes that the Palace man, who’s got two years left on his deal, would be available for £40m – a fee that wouldn’t put Everton off having previously spent around that mark more than once in recent seasons.

When asked about Zaha’s current situation, Bent exclusively told Football FanCast:

“Are Everton any closer to signing Wilfried Zaha? They don’t seem to be. That’s exactly what they’ve put.

“With the Euros going on, we’ve spoken about Zaha before – the price-tag, are Palace asking too much? At this moment in time, what happens is that everyone goes away, turns their phones off and watches the Euros.

“It’s still ongoing, but it’s a slow one. It seems like there is something going on, but whether it happens or not, I don’t know.”

Sheffield Wednesday’s latest League One outing saw them secure a third consecutive draw with a 1-1 result against Lincoln City at the weekend.

Owls midfielder Dennis Adeniran put the home side ahead ten minutes into the second half before the Imps grabbed an equaliser through Lewis Montsma in the 80th minute.

On the chalkboard

Looking ahead to Wednesday’s weekend clash against Cheltenham Town where Darren Moore will undoubtedly be hoping to secure a win this time out, one player that was not in the starting XI to face Lincoln that we think should be for their next encounter is 27-year-old striker Callum Paterson.

The 27-year-old replaced Lee Gregory in the second half of the match at the weekend and managed to have one shot at goal, completed seven of his nine passes and won one aerial duel, ultimately earning him an overall match rating of 6.6/10 according to SofaScore.

Wednesday signed Paterson back in September 2020 from Cardiff City for an undisclosed fee. Since then, the striker, who is currently valued at £1.62m according to Transfermarkt has made 57 appearances for the Yorkshire club, scoring 11 goals and providing five assists along the way, proving himself to be a fairly decent signing for the Owls based on his attacking output.

So far this season, Paterson, who has been described as “phenomenal” by Robbie Neilson, has managed to score two goals and provide one assist in 11 League One appearances showing he has what it takes to pop up at the right time and place for the Owls, leading us to believe he could bully Cheltenham’s defenders if given the chance to.

Looking ahead to the match at the weekend, in terms of who Paterson could replace in the team if Moore thinks his side would have a better chance of picking up all three points with him in, we feel that it could be a good time for Gregory to come out of the side for a while considering he had a poor game against Lincoln where he failed to even register one shot at goal in 62 minutes.

Whether Moore decides to stick Paterson back in the team at the weekend or not, we feel that Wednesday will need to get a win under their belts soon so they can stay in the running for a promotion place by the end of the campaign or else they could be facing another season in League One.

In other news: Get rid: SWFC liability who lost the ball every 1.6 touches badly let Moore down today – opinion

West Ham United will look to tie Declan Rice down to a new long-term contract for a third time after Felipe Anderson sealed his return to Lazio, according to Sam Inkersole.

Rice, who shone during England’s run to a first-ever European Championships final this summer, was among West Ham’s standout performers as they registered a club record Premier League points tally last season.

As a result, the Hammers will be involved in the Europa League in the upcoming campaign and are keen to hand Rice a new deal amid interest from the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United.

However, reports suggest the central midfielder has already rejected two contract offers since the end of last term.

Boss David Moyes, who has previously suggested it would take offers in excess of £100million for West Ham to even deliberate doing business, is adamant that the 22-year-old must remain at the London Stadium.

Inkersole, a reporter at football.london, believes getting Anderson off the wage bill by sealing his return to Serie A side Lazio three years after he moved to West Ham for a then-club record fee could boost the Hammers’ chances of keeping Rice.

Speaking to Football FanCast, Inkersole said: “Felipe Anderson was on huge wages at the club.

“Freeing up his wages helps. You also look at the likes of Andriy Yarmolenko, who is a big earner at the club. If they could shift him as well, that could help to get more wages in the pot for Rice.”

The Athletic’s Phil Hay has delivered some insight into why Leeds United opted against signing Club Brugge starlet Noa Lang in the summer transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Telegraph had claimed that Marcelo Bielsa’s side have been been watching the 21-year-old ahead of a potential move, before Sport/Voetbalmagazine (via Sport Witness) revealed that the Whites remained interested in signing Lang before deadline day.

But, in the end, the Yorkshire club decided to land Dan James from Manchester United, and Hay has now revealed why despite Victor Orta’s liking of Lang, Bielsa himself wasn’t too keen on him.

He said: “People will have seen Noa Lang linked all the way through the window, and the reality with Lang is that (Victor) Orta thinks a lot of him, and Orta thinks he could be very good value and he tends to have a good eye for a player – particularly a prospect – and he felt that that was worth investigating, worth setting up potentially for Bielsa to sign if Bielsa liked him.

“There were things about Lang’s game that Bielsa wasn’t totally sold on – he wasn’t saying that Lang in any way was a poor player, but I think defensively and tracking back wasn’t quite right, and you know that that matters to Bielsa.”

Mistake from Bielsa?

Able to play anywhere across the frontline, Lang showed he has a real eye for goal in his loan spell at Brugge last season, bagging 17 goals and providing a further 11 assists in just 37 games, including netting in the Champions League.

With the volume of goals and assists that Lang delivered last season, and with him still being very much in the infancy of his career, a move for the youngster would surely have been the kind of exciting one that would have had fans buzzing, not just this season, but in the years to come too.

The £19.8m-rated Lang looks to be the kind of player who makes a real impact in the final third and is someone who produces a genuine end product, rather than just flashes of promise.

Given that he only recently turned 22, Lang could have been the kind of long-term project who thrived under Bielsa and blossomed into a real star at both club and international level.

Compare that to James, who despite playing 74 games for United, has only managed to score nine goals and provide another nine assists. That is a measly record for someone who plays in a very offensive role for a side as good as the Red Devils, and while some of those appearances of course were off the bench, his end product and consistency is something that is very lacking.

Given his Premier League experience, Bielsa went with the more known quantity in James, and while that may be the safer option, it may not be the right one.

Lang looks to just have a higher ceiling than James, and this is a moment where Bielsa could have just taken a little bit of a gamble and gone with the more exciting player to see if he could have worked his magic to iron out the issues that he supposedly wasn’t a fan of.

Meanwhile, this Leeds ace has seen his market value decrease dramatically…