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According to reliable Chronicle Live reporter Lee Ryder, the ‘opportunity for a high profile loan move’ to sign Man City star John Stones could be presented to Newcastle United in January.

The Lowdown: PIF era begins…

In a seismic turn of events, the Mike Ashley era at Newcastle is now finally over with PIF taking full control in a £305 million takeover at St. James’ Park.

Following much delay, the Saudi consortium’s acquisition of United finally went through last week after they passed the Premier League’s owners’ and directors’ test for a sale.

As such, a new era has begun on Tyneside with Newcastle now becoming the one of the richest clubs in the world.

The Latest: Newcastle could sign Stones…

Following on from this major development in the club’s history, there have been no shortage of transfer links to football’s elite players, with news now emerging involving Stones.

The star centre-back, who shone alongside Ruben Dias in the Premier League last year, has cut a slightly more bit-part figure over 2021/2022 so far.

He has managed to appear for England but opportunities have been non-existent under Pep Guardiola, due to the resurgence of teammate Aymeric Laporte.

If Stones’ lack of chances continue, Ryder claims that a Newcastle deal for the 27-year-old may ‘fall on the lap’ of PIF (Chronicle Live).

Despite the player signing a new £250,000-per-week City deal in August, Steve Bruce’s side may be gifted the opportunity to take him on loan in January.

Labelled as what would be a ‘hugely popular’ move, Newcastle and PIF could indeed be handed that chance according to Ryder.

The Verdict: Get it done…

Lauded as ‘outstanding’ by former Premier League defender Jonathan Woodgate, Stones could certainly be an ideal acquisition for Newcastle in January and one who is proven at the very top level.

The defender revitalised his career at City last year whilst also impressing on the international stage under Gareth Southgate.

Even signing him on loan could be a masterstroke by PIF as Newcastle aim to avoid the drop and enjoy their newly-found riches.

While Dean Smith looked to have enjoyed a fine summer transfer window at Aston Villa, securing the signings of players such as Emiliano Buendia, Leon Bailey and Danny Ings, Villa have not exactly got their 2021/22 Premier League campaign off to the best of starts.

Indeed, having picked up just four points from their opening four fixtures of the season, Smith finds his side languishing in the bottom half of the table, with one recent report even claiming that the 50-year-old could be fighting to keep his job should results not improve before the next international break.

However, there have been some plus points for Villa so far this season, with new signings Ings, Buendia and Bailey all impressing over their first few appearances for the club, although, perhaps the biggest bonus for Smith this term has been the early-season form of 20-year-old academy product Jacob Ramsey.

He could save Villa millions

Indeed, over Ramsey’s three Premier League appearances so far this season – only two of which have come as starts – the £4.5m-rated youngster has highly impressed for Villa, making an average of 0.3 interceptions, two tackles, 1.3 clearances and winning six duels per game.

The 20-year-old has also looked sharp going forwards, taking an average of 1.3 shots, making one key pass and completing one dribble per league fixture.

These returns have seen the player Gabby Agbonlahor dubbed an “outstanding” talent earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.90, ranking him as the club’s joint fourth-best performer in the top flight of English football this season.

As such, should the £7.5k-per-week midfielder continue his current rate of development, he could well cement his place in Smith’s starting XI before the season is out, something that could end up saving the 50-year-old millions of pounds in the transfer market.

And, with the former Aston Villa talisman Jack Grealish having recently departed for Manchester City, the Villa Park faithful could well already have found a new homegrown hero to worship in the shape of the 20-year-old.

And in other news; Villa’s board could be heading towards a making a huge error…

Nigel Jemson insists that he fears for Nottingham Forest if they are relegated to League One this season.

The club have endured a horrific start to the season and have taken just four points from their opening eight games, prior to the appointment of Steve Cooper this week.

They came in a draw with Derby County, their fierce rivals, losing six of their other seven games under former manager Chris Hughton before they beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 away at the weekend.

Those defeats came against Coventry City, AFC Bournemouth, Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City, Cardiff City and, most recently, Middlesbrough, which convinced Forest to axe Hughton.

And Jemson is hopeful that is how things pan out, as he believes that the club could genuinely struggle if they are relegated, fearing owner Evangelos Marinakis could well look to leave at the first opportunity if the worst happens.

Indeed, he has drawn a comparison with Sunderland, who have languished in League One for some time.

He said: “Sunderland, it’s been very hard for them to get back to where they should be or where people think they should be and that’s certainly the Championship, at the bare minimum.

“I don’t want to think about Nottingham Forest being in League One because I fear for them if that happens. I fear for them in the fact that the owner, Marinakis, may not stay there long.”

Many Wolves fans have been left fuming after some news emerged on Christian Marques.

As per Transfermarkt, the central defender has left the Midlands club to sign for Belenenses SAD on loan for the rest of the 2021/22 season.

Marques has never actually played a senior game for the Molineux faithful, but was left on the Transfermarkt).

His departure just leaves Bruno Lage’s squad even lighter, and although he already has five centre-backs to choose from, the fact that Marques made the bench for two games of the campaign suggests that he should have been kept as another option.

Wolves fans on Marques exit

These WWFC supporters fumed as the exit news was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that it was ‘ridiculous’:

“A disgrace, our squad is getting weaker by the day”

Credit: @PedroBackOfNeto

“What??????? We don’t have enough players as it is! Who is making the footballing decisions at the club?”

Credit: @parker_bradley

“Jeff, what are you doing to us?”

Credit: @NickAllen224

“We now have way more out on loan than we have in the club. When did we turn into a player rental agency? Fosun did identify movement of players is the only profitable part of soccer when they invested in festivity but this is getting ridiculous”

Credit: @HungryLikeThe14

“Gobsmacked ain’t the word”

Credit: @Stonewolf68

“What?”

Credit: @cal_wolvesfc

In other news, find out what Tim Spiers update has Wanderers raging here!

David Norris has criticised Ezgjan Alioski for turning his back on Leeds United in favour of a move to Saudi Arabia, claiming money was the decisive factor in his decision.

Alioski’s Elland Road career came to an end last month, when it was announced Leeds had been unable to agree fresh terms with the left-back.

His departure came having made 171 appearances since joining the Yorkshire club from Swiss side FC Lugano four years ago.

The 29-year-old, who played every minute of North Macedonia’s Euro 2020 campaign earlier this summer and got on the scoresheet in the defeat to Ukraine, has since completed a move to Al-Ahli.

His destination has been questioned in some quarters, with ex-Leeds right-back Danny Mills alleging Alioski has chosen to join the Saudi Arabian outfit to treble his wages.

Norris, who was on Leeds’ books between 2012 and 2015, believes the finances involved in joining Al-Ahli is the main reason for his Premier League departure.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “It’s all to do with the money, 100 per cent.

“I don’t think you go to Saudi Arabia to develop your football career or try to win big trophies.

“He must be getting weighed in big on the financial side. I don’t think you leave Europe, or the Premier League, unless you’re getting massive dough to go to Saudi Arabia.”

Southampton fans want to sign Duje Caleta-Car after it was suggested they are interested in a move for the Marseille central defender.

The Saints kicked off their Premier League season with a 3-1 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park despite taking the lead through Adam Armstrong. That defeat came without Jannik Vestergaard, who recently made the move to Leicester City from St. Mary’s Stadium (lcfc.com) – as such, the Saints could do with a new central defender.

As per Hampshire Live, the Saints are looking at Caleta-Car to come in to replace the Denmark international. He was previously at Red Bull Salzburg, where he won the Austrian Bundesliga four times, while he was also a part of Croatia’s squad for the 2018 World Cup when they reached the final.

The news was shared on Twitter by @TheSaintCentre, and it attracted plenty of attention from the Saints supporters. They took took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about Caleta-Car news below

“Yes please”

Credit: @oliverrschmidt8

“Put the money in Saints !!”

Credit: @sfc2110

“Make it happen! I don’t care what it takes but Semmens needs to get it done ASAP.”

Credit: @BenneseeWhiskey

“That’d be a great signing and there’s no way they can’t afford 22.5 mill”

Credit: @Sam_Maynard_

“This lad is Brilliant, been outstanding for MARSEILLE for a couple of years now. Never played for Lyon as far as Im aware?!?!”

Credit: @saintbannerman

“Would be an insane signing but anything above £15M isn’t gonna happen. More likely we get Cahill sadly!”

Credit: @SFCMart

In other news, Southampton fans want to sign this Champions League winner.

Gabriel Agbonlahor thinks Ryan Kent and Alfredo Morelos staying at Glasgow Rangers makes the Gers favourites to win the Premiership again this campaign.

The Lowdown: Kent and Morelos linked with exits

Both Kent and Morelos were linked with exits away from the Rangers during the transfer window.

Leeds United were said to be after the former (Football Insider), while the latter was even reported to have agreed personal terms with Porto (Antena 1).

The Latest: Agbonlahor confident for Gers

Speaking to Football Insider, Agbonlahor believes the Gers are now big favourites to the win the title after keeping the duo. He said:

“They had to keep hold of them.

“If they didn’t hold onto Morelos and Kent then the title probably changes hands from Rangers to Celtic. Keeping them makes Rangers favourites.

“That Rangers team is a good team but when you start to lose one or two of those star players, it’s not a great team. They need those players in there.

“For me, Steven Gerrard will be quite happy with his squad at the moment and will be thankful that nobody went before the window closed.”

The Verdict: Important

Of course, Kent and Morelos are two important players for the Gers. With 30 goals and 28 assists between them last season (Transfermarkt), they were instrumental in the Gers winning the league for the first time in ten years. If Steven Gerrard’s side are to be as successful this time out, they will need them at the top of their game.

There will have been temptation to cash in on the two assets during the summer – after all, they have a combined value of £23.4m – but, for now, they remain with the 55-time Scottish champions. Backing up last term’s success is now clearly the goal.

In other news, Rangers fans reacted to this man’s departure from the club.

According to a report by West Ham United insider Claret & Hugh, the club will now try to sell goalkeeper Darren Randolph before the end of this summer transfer window.

The Lowdown: West Ham exodus?

While incoming transfer activity has been relatively quiet for David Moyes and co, there have been plenty of exits from east London already this summer.

Fabian Balbuena and Oladapo Afolayan were the first to leave West Ham permanently, with the club then also selling Felipe Anderson back to Lazio.

Meanwhile, the likes of Nathan Trott and Nathan Holland have departed on 2021/2022 loan deals away from Rush Green.

The Latest: West Ham set to green light Randolph exit…

As per Claret & Hugh, West Ham have now deemed another player surplus-to-requirements in back up keeper Randolph.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-developments/” title=”West Ham latest developments…” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The signing of Alphonse Areola from Paris-Saint Germain has pushed the 34-year-old further down manager Moyes’ pecking order and GSB will now try to sell him this summer.

However, despite their eagerness to green light his exit, the Hammers admit that it may be hard to find new suitors for the Republic of Ireland international before August’s transfer window deadline.

The Verdict: Time to go…

Randolph, amassing 50 international caps for his country, is contracted until 2023, so West Ham still have some time to find a suitor if nobody comes knocking before the end of this month.

Over 444 career appearances to date, the shot stopper has kept 130 clean sheets across a plethora of different divisions whilst marking himself out as a reliable deputy for West Ham at times.

However, with the addition of Areola, we agree that there is just no place for him in Moyes’ squad anymore.

In other news: ‘We know’…Sky Sports drop live TV claim involving West Ham and ‘phenomenal’ striker, find out more here.

Raheem Sterling has been voted as the GIVEMESPORT Fans’ Euro 2020 Player of the Tournament after a scintillating few weeks for the England forward.

The Manchester City star played a starring role in the Three Lions’ journey to the final and ended the tournament with three goals and one assist, while he also won the crucial penalty that eventually secured his side’s place in the final of a major tournament for only the second time in their history.

Aside from his end product, the England talisman’s direct style of dribbling was a major threat throughout the tournament and a valuable weapon that carved out spaces for his teammates to exploit.

With a grand total of 31% of the vote, Sterling scooped the award ahead of the insatiable midfield metronome Jorginho, who is building a solid case for the Ballon d’Or having played a key role in Italy’s triumph just weeks after lifting the Champions League with Chelsea.

Jorginho was fundamental to Italy’s success in a three-man midfield alongside a combination of Marco Verratti, Nicolo Barella and Manuel Locatelli, and without him it’s unlikely that Roberto Mancini’s side would have been the same beast.

Leonardo Spinazzola, another of Italy’s most outstanding individual players, is third on the podium with 15% of the vote despite missing the final two games through injury.

Spanish wonderkid Pedri (13%), Czech Republic goal machine Patrik Schick (12%) and England centre-back Harry Maguire (10%) make up the rest of the nominees.

Here are the results in full:

– Raheem Sterling (31%)

– Jorginho (19%)

– Leonardo Spinazzola (15%)

– Pedri (13%)

– Patrik Schick (12%)

– Harry Maguire (10%)

The Celtic Way’s Anthony Haggerty reckons that Cameron Carter-Vickers would improve Celtic’s defence.

According to the Daily Record, the Glasgow giants are hoping to bolster their backline with the signing of the centre-back from Tottenham.

Carter-Vickers, who’s valued at £5m, played in Spurs’ opening pre-season victory at Leyton Orient on Saturday, although that was only because Nuno Espirito Santo was without most of his first-team squad due to Euro 2020.

The 23-year-old hasn’t played a competitive game for the north London outfit for more than four years and has spent the previous four seasons out on loan in the Championship.

However, having entered the final 12 months of his deal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, his days with the club are limited, with Spurs unlikely to let him leave for nothing next summer.

Celtic shipped 29 goals in the league last season, 16 more than runaway champions Rangers, and Haggerty told Football FanCast that the USA international would certainly improve them:

“Cameron Carter-Vickers has earned some decent reviews at Tottenham, but just hasn’t been able to break into the first-team.

“Any defender would feel they can improve that defensive line, so, someone like Carter-Vickers – he hasn’t made the first team grade at Tottenham, but he’s training with some good players, he’s in an around watching guys at the top of their trade and he’s done well in the Championship.”