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In his two years in charge at Ewood Park so far, Tony Mowbray has led Blackburn Rovers to promotion back to the Championship and he looks to have seen them clear of relegation trouble this time around too.

However, some pressure may be building on the 55-year-old, as his side are currently in poor form – Rovers have lost each of their last four league outings. Mowbray referenced these struggles, and the associated pressures, ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Birmingham City.

What he said

As quoted by the Lancashire Telegraph, Mowbray has urged his side “to make sure they stay focused, believe in each other, and work hard.”

Who do you want to see promoted this year? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have picked their 3 favoured teams in the video below…

He also referenced the scrutiny he is currently under, stating that “the outside noise, you can’t do anything about, so from my perspective I don’t listen to it.”

He admitted that he puts himself under this kind of pressure too: “I feel an internal noise in myself that we’ve lost four games in a row, and for two years we’ve been used to winning games, and plenty of them.” He still believes he’s the right man to lead Rovers forward though, and has urged everyone at the club to “keep believing in each other, doing what we do.”

External pressures

The reference to ‘outside noise’ is particularly interesting as it highlights the fact that Mowbray may be feeling some external pressure. He could be referring to discontentment amongst the fanbase, the media or even coming from Rovers’ owners – Venky’s Ltd – themselves.

If Mowbray does feel that his position is beginning to come under threat, then he must arrest his side’s slump soon. However, frankly, he ought not to be in any such trouble. He has done a fine job since taking over at Ewood Park, and letting him go at this stage would be a huge error on the part of the club.

Aston Villa winger Anwar El Ghazi, who is currently on loan at Everton, isn’t wanted by either club in the summer, Football Insider have reported.

The Lowdown: Everton loan…

The 26-year-old hasn’t had the best of seasons, making just four Premier League starts, all of which came under former Villa boss Dean Smith.

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El Ghazi was sent out on loan to Everton in the January transfer window, but he has played just 11 minutes of football under Frank Lampard.

Labelled as ‘inconsistent’ by Villa podcaster Aaron Clark, it now looks as if the Dutch winger will be on the hunt for a new home over the coming months.

The Latest: Source’s reveal

Football Insider shared an update on El Ghazi after being informed by a Villa source. They claimed that the attacker will be let go by Everton in the summer, with Villa looking to secure a permanent exit for the player.

Steven Gerrard does not see the 26-year-old in his plans ahead of his first full season in charge, with the player set to enter the final 12 months of his Villa Park deal in the summer.

The Verdict: Right call?

Gerrard has also given the green light over an exit for midfielder Morgan Sanson in recent days, so it seems as if there will be a major shake-up over the coming months.

A permanent move away for El Ghazi does seem to be the correct decision, though, with the winger clearly not in the manager’s plans after he agreed to a winter loan move.

Villa officials may well have been hoping that Everton would take up the option to make El Ghazi’s move permanent for €10m (£8.4m), but it looks as if Johan Lange will be on the phone looking to find a new permanent home for the winger.

In other news: Newcastle now keen on signing another Villa player as advanced update emerges

Old Trafford has been home to many huge football superstars over the years, and it’s not often that Manchetser United get it wrong when they make moves for players to bring into the club.

However, Ed Woodward had an absolute howler in letting one player slip through the cracks, and the United board will surely regret not taking the player’s potential more seriously.

Former Red Devils scout Jorge Alvial revealed to Manchester Evening News that the powers at Old Trafford ignored the chance to sign Bayern Munich superstar Alphonso Davies on numerous occasions, ignoring 40 reports on the talent before he signed for the Bundesliga giants.

Eventually the club did offer Davies a trial, but the 17-year-old rejected the offer and committed his immediate future to Vancouver, with the player reflecting on the interest from English clubs when he signed for Bayern Munich two years later.

He revealed to the Daily Mail: “I know there were rumours about England. I know different teams had approached my agents. My full focus at the time was Vancouver and trying to get into the play-offs.”

At this point, the left-back has become one of Europe’s hottest prospects, winning 12 trophies with Bayern Munich since he joined in 2019, including a Champions League and three Bundesliga titles. Therefore, the United board must be having nightmares over relinquishing the opportunity to sign the 21-year-old when they had their chance.

Another kick in the teeth for the Red Devils will be the fact that the German champions signed Davies from Vancouver for just £9m, and according to Transfermarkt as of December 2021, the young player is now worth an astonishing £63m, a 600% increase in value in just three years.

When you compare Davies to United’s most recent left-back signing Alex Telles this season, the Bayern Munich star has made 23 more ball recoveries, completed over 200 more passes, has a better pass accuracy, completed 55 more take-ons and won 55 more ground duels according to Squawka.

Davies, who was hailed the “Usain Bolt of football” by Rio Ferdinand, clearly has a bright future ahead of him, and United must learn from the decision to ignore the young star as they move into their new era with a new manager at the helm this summer.

In other news: Man Utd suffer major Ten Hag setback which will have Red Devils fans worried

A big update has emerged on Rangers and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s plans for Ibrox loanee Aaron Ramsey…

What’s the talk?

According to TEAMtalk, the Gers are plotting a potential swoop to sign the gem on a permanent basis at the end of the season.

He is currently on loan from Italian giants Juventus and the Serie A side are said to be willing to let him leave on a free transfer, despite his current contract expiring in the summer of 2023.

Outstanding

Arsenal icon Martin Keown once dubbed the Welshman as “outstanding” and that is exactly what he would be for van Bronckhorst next season.

He has already shown glimpses of what he is capable of in a Light Blues shirt, with two goals in his last two games, and it is exciting to think about what he could do with a full pre-season under his belt.

The £175k-per-week midfielder has enjoyed an excellent career at the top level and his pedigree suggests that there is more to come from him in Glasgow. He scored 65 goals and provided 65 assists in 371 matches for Arsenal, before heading to Turin to chip in with 12 goals and assists in 70 outings.

This shows that he has the quality to regularly deliver in the final third with his bursts forward from the middle of the park. He played in the number 10 role against Celtic and caught the eye with a SofaScore rating of 7.6, winning 100% of his duels, scoring a goal, and creating two chances for his teammates.

Ross Wilson sang the gem’s praises in January, saying: “Not only is Aaron a world-class player who will play a key role in our team, his level of ability and professional standards will be an inspiration to our existing players.”

His recent form in the Premiership is now starting to live up to the hype and it is down to him to continue to deliver on the pitch, whilst making sure that he does not suffer any injury setbacks.

Ramsey’s career statistics and his two goals in two league starts for Rangers suggest that he will be able to have a huge impact on the pitch next season if they sign him permanently. He has the quality to be an outstanding player for the Glasgow giants and van Bronckhorst will surely be keen to keep him.

Wilson must now work hard off the pitch to make this a deal that is financially viable for the Gers, to take advantage of Juventus being willing to let him go for nothing.

AND in other news, Smith endured big Rangers howler over “world-class” £7.5m gem who was “admired by all”…

Alan Hutton has now revealed some ‘positive’ Glasgow Rangers injury news regarding John Lundstram.

The Lowdown: Groin niggle for Lundstram

Speaking to Sky Sports after their recent 4-0 win away to St Mirren in the Premiership, Giovanni van Bronckhorst confirmed that the 28-year-old picked up a groin niggle during the game but is ‘hopeful’ that he will be fit for their Europa League quarter-final second leg at home to Braga on Thursday night.

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Forced off after just 26 minutes on Sunday, Lundstram had played in the Gers’ last eight matches in the league, showing how much faith Van Bronckhorst has in him.

The Latest: Hutton reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, former Teddy Bears right-back and Rangers TV pundit Hutton has revealed that he ‘saw’ Lundstram walking out of the stadium to the team bus over the weekend, and ‘looked normal’, suggesting that he should now be okay to face Braga.

The 37-year-old outlined: “It depends on how serious it is. They seemed quite positive after the game, the way they were talking about it.

“I saw him walking out of the stadium to the team bus, he wasn’t limping. He didn’t look like he was stiff or anything, he just looked normal, which is a good sign.

“I think if there is a slight doubt, you would probably want to protect him on Thursday. That being a home game, you want a lot of attacking flair on the pitch.

“You could maybe get away with resting him and bringing him back in for for the big game at the weekend. You’re going to need his defensive qualities as well as his ball retention.”

The Verdict: Big boost for Rangers

The fact that Lundstram seems fine is certainly a big boost ahead of Rangers’ Europa League tie.

The former Sheffield United ace ranked as the Light Blues’ joint-best player in the first leg, as he won all three of his duels and managed one successful dribble, one clearance, two tackles and one key pass, while also making a team-high three interceptions and five accurate long balls (SofaScore).

The 28-year-old is clearly a key player for Van Bronckhorst, so the Dutchman will no doubt want to have him available for the return leg.

In other news, one man is now almost certain to leave the Gers in the summer

Speaking to Give Me Sport, journalist Sami Mokbel of The Daily Mail has made a Tottenham Hotspur transfer claim involving AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie as the Lilywhites also reportedly close in on Adama Traore.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye move…

The Ivory Coast international has been a transfer target for Spurs since the beginning of the January transfer window with reports suggesting manager Antonio Conte is ready to make a move.

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Indeed, according to ESPN, Tottenham transfer chief Fabio Paratici was weighing a lucrative offer to sign Kessie earlier this month with The Telegraph since claiming that they are in fact weighing a move.

Conte is apparently a ‘huge fan’ of the San Siro ace with Mokbel sharing what he knows on the situation.

The Latest: Mokbel makes claim…

The Lilywhites are expected to come to an agreement with Wolves for Traore, say The Athletic, and speaking to GMS, the Mail reporter says that a deal to sign Kessie is also ‘doable’ before the January 31 deadline.

“I think that is certainly a deal that could be doable and I think that could be doable sooner rather than later,” he explained.

“I’m talking this window, if both clubs can come to an agreement.”

The Verdict: Get it done…

Signing a midfielder is reportedly one of Conte’s four transfer priorities at Spurs and we believe they don’t come more accomplished than Kessie.

The 52-cap star, despite a being a natural defensive midfield player, has been utilised in a more advanced role at Milan under Stefano Pioli and has thrived – scoring 19 goals since the beginning of 2020/2021 and adding to his career total of 46 (Transfermarkt).

He’s even called ‘sumptuous’ by his manager, and if Tottenham could either land him on a free deal in the summer or this month for a cheaper fee, we believe he could provide a real injection of threat in Conte’s midfield alongside Traore.

In other news: Spurs ‘edging closer’ to signing ‘massive’ £15m defender, find out more here.

Everton are back in action this evening with another home clash in the Premier League, this time against Leicester City.

Heading in off the back of their 1-0 victory over Manchester United earlier in the month, Frank Lampard and the Everton fans will undoubtedly be looking to see their team secure another win this time out to move further away from the relegation zone.

Looking ahead to tonight’s showdown and their remaining league games of the campaign, it seems as though the Merseyside club have been handed a major boost over one of their key players.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from journalist Patrick Boyland relaying news from Lampard’s latest press conference, Toffees defender Yerry Mina will be in the squad to take on the Foxes.

The centre-back has been out of action since February with a hamstring injury and has only made ten league appearances for his side due to previous issues.

Great news for Lampard

With the Toffees only losing four of the ten league games that the Colombian has played in and only two of the games he completed a full 90 minutes in, having him back in the squad as another option will be a great thing for Lampard going forward.

To highlight what a useful option he will be, the 27-year-old has won nine tackles and made 14 blocks and 36 clearances in the league this season.

If he can make a return to action and continue being a tough figure at the back for his side, he could end up being the difference between Everton staying up or going down.

In terms of tonight’s showdown, it seems unlikely that the Toffees boss will immediately throw Mina back into the team considering how long he’s been out of action for.

With that in mind, if Lampard wants to have the defender available for the rest of the season, the 43-year-old will have to manage Mina’s minutes, for the time being, so he doesn’t risk getting injured again.

Also, with the centre-back pairing of Ben Godfrey and Michael Keane managing to keep a clean sheet last time out against the Red Devils, it would make sense for Lampard to stick with those two on this occasion to see if they can do the same again against Leicester.

In other news: Insider drops behind-scenes Finch Farm update that’ll leave Everton supporters furious

Along with hiring a new manager in the shape of Bruno Lage after Nuno Espirito Santo made his ultimately unsuccessful move to Tottenham Hotspur, Wolves also managed to bring in some new players throughout last summer’s transfer window.

Some new faces who came in during the summer, such as goalkeeper Jose Sa (eight clean sheets in 21 league games) and Hwang Hee-chan – who came in on loan from RB Leipzig and had his deal made permanent last month after scoring four goals in his first six league games – have been a success so far, but this hasn’t applied to all of Wolves’ 2021 recruits.

On the chalkboard

Wolves secured a loan deal for Barcelona winger Francisco Trincao last July. Since then, the 22-year-old has made 19 appearances for the Old Gold across all competitions, scoring just one goal in the process, which came in the 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest in the Carabao Cup all the way back in August.

The £19.8m-rated attacker’s performances in the Premier League haven’t been much to shout about either, with WhoScored giving him an underwhelming overall season rating of 6.52/10, making him the third-lowest rated Wolves player to have started at least one league game this term.

Even though Trincao started two of Wolves’ three previous league games against Manchester United and Southampton, Lage should not continue playing him, as the 22-year-old seemingly hasn’t been able to adapt to the Premier League at all.

With Wolves having an option to make Trincao’s loan move a permanent one in the summer, it seems as though he hasn’t done enough on the pitch to warrant a full-time move to Molineux and may not be good enough to earn one.

Looking ahead to the summer transfer window, if Adama Traore ends up signing with Barcelona on a permanent basis when his current loan spell ends and Wolves don’t sign their current Barcelona loanee, the Old Gold would need to find another attacking wide player to come in and add some strength and depth to Lage’s squad instead. Either way, the manager would be wise to forget about Trincao, whose returns in the Black Country have frankly been shocking.

In other news – Forget Dendoncker: Lage could save Wolves millions by unleashing “outstanding” 19 y/o

According to Hampshire Live, Southampton are still in dialogue with Chelsea over the future of Armando Broja.

The Lowdown: Broja crucial for Saints

Since his summer arrival at Saint Mary’s Stadium, Broja has continued to impress both Southampton and Chelsea fans, scoring a top flight goal every 175 minutes this season, a fantastic rate for a player who had rarely stepped foot on a Premier League pitch before 2021.

The 20-year-old has netted five goals in 18 Premier League appearances for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, which makes him Saints’ second top scorer in the league behind James Ward-Prowse.

Hasenhuttl has previously stated that talks are taking place between Martin Semmens and Marina Granovskaia at Chelsea over the Albanian’s future.

According to previous reports from Dan Sheldon of The Athletic, another loan move for Broja is unlikely. Therefore, the loanee will either leave Chelsea on a permanent transfer or he will remain at Stamford Bridge in a bid to fight for his place in Thomas Tuchel’s side.

The Latest: Still in talks with Chelsea

According to Hampshire Live, Southampton are still in talks with Chelsea over the future of Broja, but it remains unlikely that a permanent deal will be completed before the transfer window closes.

Hampshire Live report that talks are only likely to advance once the club have escaped the risk of relegation, as Southampton sit just ten points above the relegation zone.

The Verdict: Unlikely now, possible in the summer

Hasenhuttl will be doing anything he can to ensure that Broja remains a Southampton player beyond the summer. With a lack of attacking threat sometimes an issue following Danny Ings’ departure, it is highly likely that the club will go in for the ‘dangerous’ striker on a permanent deal in the summer.

In the meantime, it seems unlikely that the Saints will be able to bring this possibility forward to the current window. However, Hasenhuttl will be optimistic that he can convince Broja to stay at the club over the remaining months of the season if they can steer well clear of the drop.

In other news: Saints now eyeing electric defender Djed Spence

In terms of incoming transfers this month, things have been rather quiet for Leeds United, who are currently sitting in 15th place in the Premier League table with 22 points from 20 games.

With there being now just two weeks left until the January transfer window closes, the Yorkshire club will have to get a move on if they want to get any new faces through the door at Elland Road to strengthen Marcelo Bielsa’s squad and give Leeds the best chance of finishing as high up the table as possible.

One transfer deal that the Whites could look to complete this month which would surely please Bielsa, is for Cagliari midfielder Nahitan Nandez.

After being linked with a move for the £39k-per-week Uruguayan back in the previous summer transfer window, the next couple of weeks could give Leeds another shot of securing what could be seen as Bielsa’s dream transfer.

With recent reports suggesting that Leeds would have an advantage over any other club that would be interested in making a move for the midfielder this month from a financial point of view, this could pave the way for Victor Orta to work out a deal to bring the midfielder to Elland Road before the January transfer window closes.

Having been labelled as “unstoppable” in the past by journalist Mina Rzouki, Nandez has played in 17 of Cagliari’s 22 Serie A games so far this season, showing how important he is to the team and why it could take a substantial transfer fee, specifically €25m (£21m), to get the Italian club to let him go halfway through the season.

In terms of what sort of fit he would be at Leeds in Bielsa’s side, the fact that Nandez has played in a number of different midfield positions this season shows that he is a versatile figure that could be very useful for the Whites given the small number of central-midfielders in their squad at the moment.

As a result of their injury crisis, which currently sees Kalvin Phillips and Adam Forshaw missing from midfield, it is surely an ambition for the Argentine coach to bring in a central player before the window slams shut at the end of January.

Thus, Leeds should definitely launch a move for Nandez to see whether he’d be willing to play in the Premier League under the guidance of Bielsa in a move that would surely push the team up the table.

The Leeds manager’s dream will be to keep the club in the division and with a midfield titan like the Uruguay international in their ranks, it significantly improves their chances of doing so.

In other news: Phil Hay drops another huge injury blow at Leeds that will leave Bielsa worried – opinion