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Nottingham Forest will be looking for ways to improve their squad ahead of their long-awaited return to the Premier League, and now there has been on an update on the club’s progress in signing a key transfer target.

What’s the latest?

According to 90min, Nottingham Forest have approached Wolverhampton Wanderers with the intention to make the club-record signing of Morgan Gibbs-White this summer.

As per the report, Steve Cooper is a huge admirer of the player and is hopeful that Forest will meet the transfer value set by his current club which is suggested as currently in excess of £20m.

Gibbs-White is currently contracted to Wolves until 2024, but 90min claim to understand that he has no interest in extending beyond that at this present time.

Johnson 2.0

Cooper’s efforts to sign Gibbs-White this summer prove that he is interested in injecting more youth into his forward line this summer and the Wolves midfielder could be the second coming of Brennan Johnson in the squad in terms of letting young offensive players lead the way at Forest.

The 22-year-old has been capturing the attention of the football world for his impressive loan spell in the Championship with Sheffield United.

Gibbs-White who was hailed “influential” by The Athletic journalist Stuart James, scored 11 goals, contributed nine assists and created 16 big chances, making 1.6 key passes and taking 2.4 shots on average per game in 35 Championship appearances.

His impressive and impactful performances led to him being ranked as the second highest-rated player in the squad this season by SofaScore.

The Forest manager is no stranger to the Wolves star as he worked with him at Swansea City back in 2020 when he joined the side on a season-long loan deal, but it was cut short when his parent club called him back in January 2021.

Cooper had high praise for Gibbs-White when talking about his loan spell at Swansea in an interview with The Athletic:

“He’s having a good impact. Like all of the young players their challenge now is to not get complacent and keep it going. He hasn’t played much football over the last couple of years. He’s getting that opportunity here so we’re hoping he gets fitter.”

“He’s just going through that young player process of making the most of their opportunities and having a good impact, fulfilling potential.”

Clearly the Forest boss wants to reunite with the player, and if they can secure a deal he could certainly have an instant impact on the team next season in the Premier League as the Welshman is already knowledgeable in Gibbs-White’s strengths and capabilities.

With that being said, breaking the club’s record to sign the midfielder would be a great piece of business for Forest in their pursuit to have a good run back in the top-flight next season.

AND in other news: Forget Spence: NFFC plot bid for “outstanding” £20m maestro, Cooper will love him

According to Noticias de Gipuzkoa, translated Sport Witness, West Ham United boss David Moyes holds a crucial advantage in the race to sign Real Sociedad forward Adnan Januzaj.

The Lowdown: Moyes eyeing reunion…

The Belgian attacker is reportedly on West Ham’s radar this summer window as Moyes sets his sights on possible additions in more advanced areas of the squad.

Watford pair Emmanuel Dennis and Ismaila Sarr are said to be of real interest to the east Londoners as well as club transfer chief Rob Newman seemingly adopts a scattergun approach.

Januzaj could return to the Premier League on a Bosman deal, though, making him a potentially attractive option for GSB and Moyes.

The Latest: West Ham in the lead…

According to Noticias de Gipuzkoa (via Estadio Deportivo and Sport Witness), West Ham are ‘in the lead’ for Januzaj due to one crucial advantage.

Indeed, it is believed their ‘superior’ finances and ability to pay the 27-year-old’s wage demands propel them ahead of other suitors like Real Betis – seemingly gifting the Hammers pole position.

The Verdict: Advance?

Januzaj is a player Moyes knows well from their time together at Old Trafford, and while things didn’t work out at Man United, the dynamic winger has since gone on to impress at Sociedad.

According to WhoScored, over his La Liga appearances last season, he stood out as one of their most effective attacking players – completing the joint-most successful take-ons per 90 in their squad.

Januzaj also averaged the fifth-highest rate of attempts at goal and third-most key passes made per match in that time (WhoScored), proving to be both an individual threat and creative presence.

Former England star Paul Scholes lavished praise on the player for his outing against United in the Europa League last year, backing ESPN reporter David Cartlidge’s claim that Januzaj can be ‘gifted’ and ‘very special’ (Twitter).

On a free deal, this move could be fairly low risk from West Ham’s perspective, providing the wage demands aren’t truly astronomical.

In other news: ‘In negotiations’ – Journalist says club are ‘considering’ West Ham bid for ‘superb’ striker, find out more here.

A big transfer tease has emerged over Christian Eriksen’s future amid speculation that Tottenham are interested in signing him… 

What’s the talk?

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that the player is set to make a final call on where he will be playing his football next season.

He Tweeted: “Brentford have submitted a serious, important personal terms offer to Christian Eriksen – but the player is considering his options with many clubs interested. Eriksen will make his decision on the future club in the coming days.”

It has previously been reported that the midfielder wants to play Champions League football in 2022/23, with Antonio Conte keen on reuniting with him.

Supporters will be excited

Spurs supporters will be excited by this claim from Romano as it suggests that a decision is now imminent from the player.

Brentford making a ‘serious’ offer will not concern Tottenham at this moment in time if the reports of him wanting European football are to be believed. The Bees do not have Champions League, or even Europa League, football to offer him and this is where Spurs may have a huge edge on their opponents.

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Although, Thomas Frank’s side are the ones that offered Eriksen a chance to return to the Premier League after his cardiac arrest last year and his gratitude for that may make him consider re-joining them.

Tottenham, however, also have a strong connection with him as he played 304 times for the club earlier in his career before joining Conte at Inter. This means that he has a pre-existing relationship with both the team and the manager, which is a boost for the north London side.

These factors all point towards a return to Spurs being on the cards for Eriksen and that is why supporters will now be excited by the prospect of the Dane making a decision in the next few days.

The 30-year-old has proven that he still has what it takes to be a significant player in the Premier League as he showcased his quality with Brentford this year.

In 11 top-flight outings, he averaged an exceptional SofaScore rating of 7.53 as he chipped in with one goal and four assists. He created an eye-catching 2.8 chances per game and Spurs fans will be buzzing with the thought of him being back at the club and delivering teasing crosses for Harry Kane and Heung-min Son.

AND in other news, Paratici and Conte now eyeing Spurs swoop for £45m-rated “machine”, he’s Eriksen 2.0…

A big update has emerged on Glasgow Rangers and their agreement to bring James Sands to Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s Ibrox ranks in 2023… 

What’s the talk?

Journalist Tom Bogert has revealed that Rangers will be able to sign the versatile gem for a fee in the region of £4.8m next year, at the end of his current loan spell.

He Tweeted: “Was told Rangers’ purchase clause for on-loan NYCFC and USMNT defender James Sands is $6 million. Dunno if there was a loan fee too or not. I would assume Rangers will trigger that. Think he’ll be really good this year.”

Supporters will be excited

The Gers supporters will be excited by this news for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it shows that there is money in the bank to spend a decent amount of money on permanent signings. The club have agreed a near-£5m fee for Sands, albeit with the intention of paying it in 2023, and fans will be pleased with the ambition shown by being willing to spend that kind of money.

Rangers have not spent more than £4.5m on a permanent signing since they brought Ryan Kent in from Liverpool in 2019 and this news indicates that they may be able to open up the purse strings again.

The supporter will also be excited by the prospect of seeing Sands develop at Ibrox in the years to come by signing him on a full-time basis.

He has now had five months to settle into life in Scotland and will be able to hit the ground running in 2022/23 with some valuable experience under his belt. The 21-year-old played 12 times in the Premiership and Europa League combined as he played at centre-back and in central midfield, showing off his impressive versatility as a youngster.

Sands showcased his potential in the 2021 MLS campaign for New York City FC as he won 58% of his duels and made 3.1 tackles and interceptions per game – averaging an excellent SofaScore rating of 6.91 whilst playing in multiple positions.

These statistics illustrate the kind of player he can grow into as he has strong defensive instincts and is not bullied by the opposition in individual battles, whilst he is also capable of delivering good performances on a regular basis.

At the age of 21, he has plenty of growth left to go through and can, hopefully, fulfil his potential in Glasgow as he gains more experience, which is why the supporters will now be excited by Bogert’s expectation that the club will sign him permanently.

AND in other news, Big setback: Rangers dealt hammer blow that’ll leave van Bronckhorst fuming…

Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring George Hall to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Daily Mail, who claimed that Leeds are leading the race to sign the Birmingham City midfielder this summer. Victor Orta is said to have already made contact with the Championship side, while the Spaniard is also believed to be lining up a seven-figure bid for the 17-year-old.

The report added that both Newcastle United and Brighton & Hove Albion are also keeping a very close eye on the situation of the England under-18 international ahead of a potential summer swoop. The Blues are thought to be eager to keep hold of the teenager, who only signed a professional contract at St Andrew’s in November.

The next Bellingham

Considering just how exciting a talent Hall quite clearly is, coupled with Orta’s penchant for signing highly-rated prospects for the Whites (think Joe Gelhardt, for example), it is no surprise to learn of the Spaniard’s interest in a move for the Birmingham starlet this summer.

Indeed, the 17-year-old highly impressed for both the Blues’ under-18 and under-21 sides this season, scoring three goals and registering two assists over seven appearances in the Under-18 Premier League, also bagging three goals over 11 outings in Premier League 2.

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This form saw Birmingham under-18s coach Martyn Olorenshaw heap a considerable amount of praise on Hall, stating of the youngster last November: “He is explosive, dynamic and has the prowess to influence games. He is a really exciting player that has the ceiling to achieve whatever he wants to achieve. He has received international recognition recently which is a huge achievement, a testament to all his hard work and a reflection of his character.”

With the midfielder having already made his first-team debut for the Blues, it looks as if the teenager is on course to be the next big thing to come out of St Andrew’s after Jude Bellingham, the Borussia Dortmund and England playmaker who is currently valued at £128m.

As such, it would seem quite advisable for Orta to do all that he can to land Hall ahead of Newcastle and Brighton this summer. Should the youngster go on to fulfil his potential at Elland Road, he could well prove to be the next Bellingham – something which will undoubtedly be a hugely exciting thought for Marsch and Leeds supporters alike.

AND in other news: Phil Hay reveals Orta has “eyes on” next Leeds signing, supporters will be buzzing

Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Bruno Lage must brutally sell Morgan Gibbs-White this summer and could get up to £20m for the player.

What’s the story?

talkSPORT reporter Alex Crook spoke to GIVEMESPORT and said: “If he’s a player they can get £20m for they might see that as a good investment and a chance to rebuild.”

The 22-year-old had an exceptional loan spell with Sheffield United this past season, and helped them secure a play-off place before they lost out in the semi-final to eventual winners Nottingham Forest.

Wolves could sign him on a new contract, but with big clubs such as Serie A champions AC Milan interested, now is a good time to cash in.

He won’t make it at Molineux

Gibbs-White has risen through the ranks at Molineux and is one of the latest successes from their academy. He has had two loan spells with his most recent one at Sheffield United impressing the most.

He made 35 Championship appearances for The Blades and was directly involved in 20 goals during that time. Those are impressive numbers, and he’s been described as a “catalyst” in the EFL by journalist Laurie Whitwell. However, you have to put it into perspective.

They were one of the best teams in the division last season and it would be difficult for the Englishman to replicate that standard in a much tougher Premier League.

If he remained at Molinuex it would be hard to see where he would fit in. Wolves usually play a formation of three forward players so he would either have to be moved out wide or be put in a deeper position.

This would risk not getting the best out of him, as has been seen previously, particularly under Nuno Santo.

Gibbs-White isn’t necessarily a bad player, but if Wolves can get a good fee for him, then it makes more sense for them to use that to improve other areas of the team rather than keep a player who will likely be on the bench.

In the 86 appearances he has made for the Old Gold, he’s only scored three and assisted one, which ultimately proves that he isn’t good enough to stay at Molineux.

IN other news: Wolves now already heading for huge summer transfer disaster, Lage will be furious…

Newcastle United are heading into their first summer transfer window under PIF after enjoying an excellent month of business in January.

The Saudi Arabian consortium backed Eddie Howe by bringing in the likes of Kieran Trippier, Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Dan Burn and Matt Targett.

They also pursued a deal to sign Diego Carlos from Sevilla to bolster their options at centre-back before signing Burn from Brighton.

The Brazilian defender has now been snapped up by fellow Premier League side Aston Villa in a move that Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett has claimed to be worth around £26m. He has also stated that Newcastle attempted to sign him for £30m in January, but a deal collapsed after the La Liga outfit demanded £38m for his services.

This means that Sevilla’s valuation of the 29-year-old plummeted by £12m in just four months, so PIF would have overpaid by a considerable amount of money if they had decided to match the La Liga club’s asking price, which would have been a disaster for the Newcastle owners.

Not only would they have overspent by £12m, they would also have brought in a centre-back with huge question marks over his ability.

South American football expert Tim Vickery previously raised concerns over the defender, saying: “It was a couple of years ago that a Brazilian journalist, based in Spain, brought my attention to Diego Carlos and said ‘I think this is the best Brazilian centre-back in Spain, have a look at him’.

“My conclusion, and he won the Olympic gold medal as well, is that we may be dealing with a centre-back who may look better than he is.”

Vickery added: “I worry about Diego Carlos. There are moments when he looks classy, but there are lots of mistakes and wild man things.”

In La Liga this season, the now-Villa defender committed a whopping five errors directly leading to opposition shots or goals and gave away two penalties. This means that he essentially made seven big individual mistakes, and this is the error-prone nature to which Vickery alluded.

Burn, who joined Newcastle for £13m in January, has made zero errors leading to shots or goals and given away just one penalty in three Premier League seasons for Brighton and the Magpies combined.

This shows that he is much more reliable in comparison to Carlos, whilst costing £25m less than the latter would have in January. Along with the Brazilian’s plummeting value in 2022, that explains why PIF avoided a big disaster in the last transfer window.

AND in other news, PIF “are interested” in NUFC deal for “cold” £27m tank, he can be Howe’s own Varane…

Manchester United are willing to sanction the permanent departure of Brandon Williams, according to a report from CaughtOffside. 

The lowdown: Loan spell

Following an initial breakthrough at Old Trafford under the tutelage of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Williams spent the entire 2021/22 season on loan at Norwich City.

Unfortunately, the England youth full-back was unable to prevent the East Anglian outfit from suffering relegation from the Premier League.

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Now, having already amassed 50 senior appearances for United despite his tender years, the 21-year-old could be deemed surplus to requirements in Manchester…

The latest: Move pending…

As per CaughtOffside, Manchester United are believed to be willing to ‘listen to offers’ in the summer for Williams as incoming manager Erik ten Hag gets to work on rebuilding the squad.

It’s claimed that the one-cap England Under 21 starlet will be allowed to leave the club as the Red Devils cannot offer any guarantees over first-team action.

The report also states that there are expected to be a ‘host of interested parties’ in the youngster once dubbed as ‘brave as a lion’ following a stellar performance against Partizan Belgrade in the 2019/20 Europa League campaign.

The verdict: Best for all parties

Albeit there is a genuine talent waiting to blossom in Williams, as Ten Hag looks to begin a new era at Old Trafford it seems unlikely Williams will be a major part of the first transitional phase, and he is surely now set to follow Aaron Wan-Bissaka out the exit door.

This season the versatile defender provided one assist in 29 Premier League appearances, operating predominantly from left-back, and would be in direct competition with Luke Shaw and Alex Telles before any summer potential arrivals are even considered.

Whilst it’s always a blow to see an academy prospect leave the club so young, if United are going to successfully perform the required surgery on the squad then selling the likes of Williams for anything close to his £9million market value would be a shrewd starting place.

In other news: Ten Hag loves him: Man Utd now ‘pressing’ to sign transfer listed Italian after agent meeting. 

Celtic play their final game of the season on Saturday as the Hoops return to Parkhead as newly-crowned Premiership champions after their 1-1 draw against Dundee United in midweek.

This time, the Bhoys take on Motherwell in front of their home crowd, after which they will the trophy and potentially topping off what has been a brilliant domestic season with another win.

In midweek, after a goalless first half, Giorgos Giakoumakis opened the scoring with 53 minutes on the clock, only for Dylan Levitt to equalise later on.

Despite the draw, a point was all that was needed for the Bhoys to take the league title off their Old Firm rivals Rangers.

Even though the title is already secured, Ange Postecoglou will still want to see his team pick up a win tomorrow and give their home supporters something else to celebrate. To that effect, one man who started at Tannadice but should not be in the team on this occasion is Reo Hatate.

Ange must axe Hatate

With 63 minutes of action under his belt on Wednesday, the midfielder only completed 22 of the 34 passes he attempted and failed to register even one shot on target before being replaced by Tom Rogic.

This underwhelming display caught the attention of The Scotsman journalist Alan Pattullo, who wrote that the 24-year-old was ‘wasteful with a couple of opportunities including when he took the ball off [Liel] Abada’s toes in the first half but fired high over’.

With that in mind, it could be said that the £14.5k-per-week Japan international has been holding the team back in an attacking regard and stopping them from getting as many goals as they can.

In terms of who Postecoglou could turn to on this occasion if he does take Hatate out of the side, with the recent announcement from the club that Rogic will be waving goodbye to the Hoops after this weekend, the 56-year-old may give his fellow Australian one last outing in front of the home fans before he leaves Parkhead.

With both Rogic and Nir Bitton leaving Celtic this summer, the Japanese ace will be able to show next season that he can be a suitable midfield replacement for the departing duo, and an important player for the club as a whole.

In other news: Big Lennoxtown claim emerges, it’s great news for Celtic supporters

Leeds United could already have their next Liam Cooper within their youth ranks.

The Whites’ U23 setup were unfortunately relegated from Premier League 2 this season but in their most recent outing, a 2-2 draw against Arsenal’s academy, there was one youngster who impressed in Jeremiah Chilokoa-Mullen.

‘Some brilliant tackles and blocks as the last man or in the penalty box during a goalmouth scramble or two. Could have won it with some dancing feet of his own in the latter stages,’ wrote LeedsLive reporter Beren Cross, who also graded him an 8/10 in his post-match ratings.

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No player was rated higher and it was even better than first-teamer Jamie Shackleton and the likes of Leo Hjelde and Nohan Kenneh.

The 17-year-old, who turns 18 in June, signed his first professional contract at Elland Road back in the summer, penning a deal until 2023. Despite being in his late teens, Mullen will be part of the U23s squad permanently going forward.

Indeed, he has made 11 appearances at centre-back in Premier League 2. His form and potential has caught the eye at the international level too, as he has seemingly emerged as a regular for Scotland U19s.

“I’m a player who reads the game quite well and I like to defend on the front foot, I want to keep learning under the coaching staff and become a better player in general,” the talented youngster revealed to Leeds’ official website.

Meanwhile, ex-defender Ben Parker has been left impressed by the teenager, telling the LS11 podcast in January 2021: “Young Mullen came in at centre-half. He’s a player who we snapped up from Liverpool, predominantly he’s been with the under-18s. Only a young lad. I thought he did ever so well with Cresswell.”

Also lauded as “really strong” by his former youth coach turned first-team assistant Mark Jackson, Mullen could well become the true heir to Cooper’s throne at Elland Road.

Considering the veteran has missed time with injury and will be 31 by the time next season starts, it could be wise to develop the 17-year-old with this in mind going forward.

The young Scot could well replace the 13-cap international in the coming years.

AND in other news, Forget Rodrigo: Orta must ruthlessly axe “inexcusable” £55k-p/w Leeds flop this summer…