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Tottenham Hotspur sporting director Fabio Paratici could be about to deliver another masterclass in the transfer market.

The Italian chief has had mixed success since he took the helm in north London a little over a year ago but on the whole, it’s edging towards success so far.

Bryan Gil has failed to make his mark, though he’s still young, whilst Emerson Royal has flattered to deceive despite regular game time but the same cannot be said for the likes of Dejan Kulusevski, Cristian Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur.

All three have made an instant impact in Antonio Conte’s squad, emerging as three regular starters for the former Inter Milan coach.

Now, as Spurs close in on the signing of Clement Lenglet from FC Barcelona, Paratici could well have struck gold once again, even if it doesn’t look like it beforehand.

Indeed, the arrival of the French flop is hardly going to excite many around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium but the same was said for Bentancur, and to some extent, Kulusevski.

These so-called European misfits have hit the ground running with a bit of love and affection from those at the club, and they have since thrived from it.

“Lenglet’s situation with Barcelona reminds me of Bentancur’s at Juventus,” claimed Spurs podcaster Charlie Parrish. “A talented player in need of a fresh start (and a bit of love from fans and coaches) after getting slightly lost in the shuffle playing for a mega club going through a weird period of their own.”

That’s all Lenglet needs to refind his former glory – after all, he’s still ranking as a solid option when compared to his peers across Europe.

The 27-year-old centre-back, who is now valued at £26m by CIES Football Observatory, only managed to play 724 minutes in LaLiga in 2021/22 but according to FBref, he’s amongst the top 1% of central defenders for passes attempted, progressive passes and progressive carries per 90 minutes.

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They also liken his playing style to that of Premier League champion Ruben Dias and to some extent, Spurs’ very own Ben Davies, so that only goes to show that he could well be the perfect fit in not just England but in Conte’s system too.

Lenglet is likely to replace the Welshman in the starting XI in that left-sided role, given he is a natural centre-back.

The FC Barcelona flop could be a “smart” addition for the north Londoners, just as Italian transfer guru Fabrizio Romano explained to GIVEMESPORT this week. He said:

“It’s a loan deal, so it’s a smart deal for Tottenham because they’re not spending crazy money on the centre-back, on a player who has good experience. Conte wanted him, so he’s a smart deal for Tottenham.”

Whilst Lenglet isn’t going to thrill many supporters, Paratici has earned the right to be trusted with his signings, certainly if it’s had the seal of approval from Conte himself, too.

Just like with Bentancur, the Italian chief could be onto yet another masterclass with this low-risk move.

AND in other news, Fee agreed: Spurs get green light to seal “incredible” signing, Conte will be buzzing…

Aston Villa’s history is steeped with footballing legends. Fans are unlikely to forget Villa Park’s biggest icons and will want to keep a keen eye on what they’re up to in retirement.

We take a look at 10 legendary Villans below…

10) Martin Laursen

A modern-day Aston Villa legend, Martin Laursen made 91 appearances for the club after arriving from AC Milan, before retiring in 2009. Since retirement, the former defender has worked as a pundit on Danish TV for TV2, and has spent eight months in coaching at third tier Danish side BSV. As things stand, Laursen does not have a role in football.

9) Olof Mellberg

With 263 appearances to his name during his time at Aston Villa, Olof Mellberg is undoubtedly one of the best defenders in the Midlands club’s Premier League history. And he has since taken that know-how to management. The former centre-back has taken charge of Brommapojkarna, Fremad Amager, and Helsingborgs, but is currently without a club.

8) Peter McParland

With 121 goals in 341 appearances, legends don’t get much bigger than Peter McParland, who managed Bournemouth and Glentoran, before going to work in Cyprus, Hong Kong, and Kuwait. Now 88, McParland is enjoying a step back from a role in football.

7) Gareth Barry 

Making 436 appearances for Aston Villa, and also featuring for Manchester City, Everton and West Bromwich Albion throughout his lengthy career, Gareth Barry retired in 2020. Since retirement, the record holder for most Premier League appearances has taken up punditry with BBC and BT Sport, whilst also turning out for his local cricket team, according to Premier League Heroes.

6) Gordon Cowans

A true Aston Villa legend, Cowans made 286 appearances for the club, winning the league title and European Cup in the process. Following retirement, he returned to the club as a coach, with a place on Gérard Houllier’s backroom staff. Cowans, now 63, sadly announced in 2020 that he is suffering with early Alzheimer’s. 

5) Charlie Aitken 

With 561 appearances, Charlie Aitken is the all-time appearance maker at Aston Villa, and is an undoubted legend of the club. During his retirement, Aitken decided to move away from football, and into the jewellery and antiques industry, running his own business in Birmingham.

4) Allan Evans

Making 475 appearances for the club, Allan Evans is one of the biggest legends in Aston Villa history. The league-title winner has enjoyed retirement, in which he has had roles as a youth team coach at Plymouth Argyle. He also had a spell in charge of Brisbane United in Australia, and a spell at Leicester City as an assistant manager. 

3) Peter Withe

The scorer of the winning goal in the 1982 European Cup final, Peter Withe is highly regarded in Aston Villa history. Since retirement, Withe has had management spells at Wimbledon and Stockport Sports (Woodley Sports). Now 70, the former player is not currently in charge of a club.

2) Paul McGrath

The winner of the PFA Player of the Year award in 1993, Paul McGrath made 253 appearances for Aston Villa, before retiring in 1998. After retirement, McGrath took up the Director of Football role at Waterford United for a period of time. The former player had a battle with alcoholism, which was well-publicised, before his book ‘Back from the Brink’ became a best-seller.

1) Dennis Mortimer

The captain of the 1982 European Cup-winning Aston Villa side, Dennis Mortimer is one of the biggest legends in the club’s history. Since retirement, Mortimer has had roles such as a Community Officer and then assistant manager at West Brom, as well as a role in developing coaches with the PFA. 

Liverpool won’t bring Gini Wijnaldum back this summer and will instead wait to sign a younger midfielder, according to former Premier League striker Noel Whelan.

The Lowdown: Wijnaldum linked with shock return

A midfielder is reportedly on the Reds’ wish-list currently, with several players in that department now in their 30s and fresh blood required at some point in the next 12 months.

Wijnaldum has recently been linked with a surprise return to Anfield after a disappointing first season at Paris Saint-Germain, with a loan move back to Merseyside seemingly a possibility.

The 31-year-old enjoyed five superb years at Liverpool between 2016 and 2021, winning the Champions League and Premier League, being hailed as ‘sensational’ by Jurgen Klopp.

The Latest: Whelan laughs off rumour

Speaking to Football Insider, 47 year-old Whelan, former Leeds United front man turned club ambassador, claimed he can’t see the move happening, with younger midfielders arriving instead:

“If you ask the majority of Liverpool fans, they’d probably want him back.

“When it comes down to manager and the logistics of everything, it’s very hard to bring a player back so soon after they’ve left. Once you’ve made that decision, you’ve got to stick to that decision.

“He’s a fantastic player and he’d be a stop-gap, that’s all he would be. Liverpool need a more solid base when it comes to that midfield player that comes in. Someone with a bit of longevity.

“I think they are doing the right thing by biding their time and waiting for the right people to become available and go into the club for years and not just one season.”

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The Verdict: Seems highly unlikely

Wijnaldum was a fantastic servant for Liverpool for five years, making 237 appearances and proving to be such a key man in the middle of the park, but it is hard to see this move happening.

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At 31, the Dutchman is in a similar boat to James Milner, Thiago and Jordan Henderson in terms of age, and signing him would arguably feel too short-term and desperate.

It may simply be that Klopp is happy to wait a year before signing someone like heavily linked Jude Bellingham, showing faith in his current midfielders, including young pair Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott.

Celtic right-back Josip Juranovic will leave the club this summer for a fresh challenge elsewhere, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Juranovic a key figure

The 26-year-old proved to be a regular starter for the Hoops last season, as they clinched both Scottish Premiership and Scottish League Cup glory.

Juranovic made a total of 35 appearances for Celtic, in all competitions, chipping in with five goals and two assists for good measure.

Ange Postecoglou may be looking to build his squad out this summer with Champions League football looming, but it looks as though his right-back is heading off to pastures new.

The Latest: Right-back set to leave

Taking to Twitter on Monday, Romano claimed that the Croatian will leave Parkhead before the start of next season, with some Premier League clubs interested in signing him:

“Croatian national team right back Josip Juranovic is expected to leave Celtic FC this summer as many clubs are following him.

“Juranovic is attracting interests from Premier League clubs too after great season for club and country.”

The Verdict: Blow for Hoops

Losing Juranovic is an undoubted blow for Celtic, considering he was often such a model of consistency from right-back last season, averaging 2.5 aerial duel wins per game and also showing versatility, operating at left-back in times of need.

While not necessarily the Hoops’ most spectacular performer, he rarely produced a poor showing, enjoying a 7.04 average rating across the league campaign from WhoScored.

It is imperative that Celtic replace Juranovic with a similarly safe pair of hands this summer, providing strong competition for Anthony Ralston in the process.

In other news, a pundit has dropped a key Celtic transfer claim. Read more here.

Manchester United are on the brink of a deal to sign FC Porto midfielder Vitinha for £34m, according to reports in Portugal.

The Lowdown: Vitinha profiled

Vitinha is primarily a central midfielder who can also play in holding or attacking midfield roles. The 22-year-old spent the 2020/21 season on loan with Wolves, making ‘special talent’ after making the move to Molineux.

The Premier League side didn’t exercise their option to make a move permanent, but the Portugal international, who shares the same agency as Cristiano Ronaldo, could now be heading back to England to work under Erik ten Hag.

The Latest: Transfer ‘imminent’

Sports Witness relayed an update from Portuguese 0utlet Record on Tuesday morning regarding Vitinha.

They claimed that the midfielder is heading for an ‘imminent’ exit, with a Premier League club set to exercise his €40m (£34m) release clause. Manchester United are the only club mentioned, with Vitinha apparently fitting Ten Hag’s style of play.

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The Verdict: Interesting…

Vitinha only made attacking midfielder.

He seemed to improve last season and was a regular for FC Porto playing in a deeper role though, so that could be a position Ten Hag looks to use him in going forward.

That would leave Bruno Fernandes free to occupy a more advanced role, and still just 22 years of age, United could look back on a move for Vitinha in years to come as a smart piece of business.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano now drops more transfer news he’s heard from Man Utd after ‘internal’ talks. 

Everton narrowly avoided Premier League relegation this season as Frank Lampard guided his team to a dramatic 3-2 victory over Crystal Palace in their penultimate game to guarantee survival.

This close escape won’t be enough to satiate the Goodison Park faithful, though, and they may be expecting big things next season, especially with the manager getting a full summer transfer window to reshape the playing squad.

One move that they could make is signing defender Adrien Truffert from Rennes, as Farhad Moshiri looks to loosen the purse strings to sign the £10.8m-rated left-back.

He can be their own Theo Hernandez

That’s according to French outlet L’Equipe, who claimed that Everton are keen on the 20-year-old as Lampard aims to boost his porous defence.

Truffert could develop into Everton’s very own Theo Hernandez, the AC Milan and France left-back who has won the Champions League and UEFA Nations League, and the Merseyside club are in need of a defender with his quality.

FBRef’s similar player model compares Truffert with his compatriot and it’s clear to see why. Both are goalscoring full-backs and love to get forward as much as possible. Hernandez scored five goals and registered five assists in 2021/22, while the Rennes youngster notched three goals and three assists in Ligue 1.

Truffert committed fewer fouls than the AC Milan defender (24 to 39), and although Hernandez makes more interceptions (26 to 19) and tackles (40 to 21), there is plenty of time for the former to improve certain areas of his game and, at 20 years of age, he isn’t near the finished product yet.

Hernandez displayed his attacking qualities by delivering almost three times as many crosses (141) as Truffert (47) this season, but a move to the Premier League could see him gain more experience playing at a much more demanding level of football than the French top flight.

The Rennes left-back has been dubbed “incredible” by the French media, and given his performances during the season, it’s clear to see why there has been interest from England. Everton might never sign Hernandez from Milan, but Moshiri could get the next-best thing with a swoop for Truffert.

AND in other news, Lampard must now brutally axe Everton’s £22m “walking red card”, he’s Klaassen 2.0

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Adama Traore to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by 90min, who claim that, despite the fact that Barcelona are not planning to take up their option to buy the Wolverhampton Wanderers winger following his loan spell at Camp Nou, Bruno Lage’s side will still look to move the 26-year-old on this summer – with Tottenham said to once again be exploring a deal for the Spain international.

The report goes on to state that Antonio Conte is believed to still hold an interest in the forward after failing to agree a deal with Wolves in January, while Leeds United and Newcastle United are also thought to be keeping a close eye on the situation of the attacker ahead of a potential move of their own in the coming weeks.

Perisic 2.0

With it being widely reported last winter that Conte intended to deploy Traore at right wing-back if he was to secure the signing of the winger, and with a new player in this position reported to be one of the Italian’s priority targets this summer, it is easy to see why the 52-year-old has retained an interest in the Wolves forward.

The Tottenham manager has a history of converting wide attacking talents into wing-backs, having done so at Inter Milan with none other than Spurs’ most recent signing, Ivan Perisic.

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Indeed, despite having spent the majority of his career playing on the left of a front three, the Italian tactician deployed the 33-year-old at wing-back to great success in the Nerazzurri’s title-winning 2021/22 campaign, with the £9m-rated talent scoring four goals, registering four assists, creating ten big chances and averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.90 over his 32 Serie A appearances in the position.

As such, considering the fact that Traore’s primary strength is his ball-carrying ability – with FBref ranking the forward in the top 1% of wingers in Europe’s big five leagues for dribbles completed, as well as the top 3% for progressive carries and the top 25% for shot-creating actions over the last 12 months – it is evident that the player who Carles Gil dubbed “unstoppable” and Xavi labelled a “beast” would be a perfect candidate for Conte at right wing-back.

And, with reports suggesting the £46k-per-week talent will be available for a fee of around €20m (£17m) this summer, not only could Fabio Paratici land Conte his next Perisic with the Wolves winger, but he could also seal what may prove to be one of the bargains of the window.

AND in other news: “They told me..”: Italian journo drops big Spurs transfer update, Conte surely buzzing

Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold was one of the first to react on Twitter to news that right-back Emerson Royal was a victim in an attempted armed robbery.

The Lowdown: Emerson involved in incident

The Brazilian first made the switch to the Premier League when he joined the Lilywhites on a five-year contract from Spanish giants Barcelona for a fee believed to be £25.8m. He has since made 41 appearances in all competitions for Antonio Conte’s side during his first season in north London.

News was broken by football.london reporter Rob Guest that in the early hours of Friday morning, the 23 year-old defender had successfully managed to escape an attempted armed robbery.

The article states that there were ’29 shots fired’ between police and the assailant, but the Spurs star has assured people that he is safe and well and will speak out about the incident soon.

The Latest: Gold reacts to Emerson update

In a new post on his personal Twitter account, Gold reacted to the shocking revelation he’d heard involving Emerson and wrote:

“This sounds horrible. Thank goodness Emerson is ok.”

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The Verdict: Relief

It will come as hugely positive news to not just his family and friends, but also to everyone associated with Tottenham to know that the six-cap international is unharmed.

The £22.5m-rated starlet has been a regular feature in Conte’s starting XI this season, making 31 top-flight outings, scoring one goal and providing one assist during that time, via Transfermarkt.

Royal is said to have returned to his home country for a short break following the conclusion of the season, but will obviously now need to be given the appropriate time to recover from the incident before even considering making a return to the football pitch ahead of the start of the new term.

In other news… Fabio Paratici has reportedly opened talks over the possibility of signing a ‘scary’ new player.

West Ham United manager David Moyes is now ‘ready’ to offload another member of his Premier League squad this summer, according to reports.

The Lowdown: West Ham exodus begins?

As per the Evening Standard, the 59-year-old seems to be orchestrating a significant summer overhaul as he steps up transfer talks, with the club already confirming four departures.

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Ryan Fredericks, Andriy Yarmolenko, David Martin and the retiring Mark Noble will all leave the London Stadium upon the expiry of their contracts, with speculation also continuing to surround Tomas Soucek’s future.

According to recent claims, West Ham could listen to offers for the Czech Republic midfielder, with club insider Claret & Hugh now claiming that Moyes is ‘ready’ to offload another player.

The Latest: Moyes ready to axe Vlasic…

According to their information, the Scotsman ‘appears to be ready to cut his losses’ on 2021 summer signing Nikola Vlasic and will ‘try to recover whatever he can’ from selling the Croatian.

The club, and by extension GSB, have allegedly ‘sanctioned his potential sale’ as they give the green-light for the 24-year-old to leave.

The Verdict: Right call?

Despite a phenomenal season with former club CSKA Moscow before joining the east Londoners, Vlasic’s lack of opportunities under Moyes during his debut campaign with West Ham is perhaps an indicator that he just doesn’t quite cut it at Rush Green.

Over the 2020/21 season, he averaged a brilliant rate of four shots at goal per 90 in the Russian Premier League whilst racking up 11 goals and five assists (WhoScored), standing out as a consistent threat.

However, starting just six top-flight matches for West Ham over 2021/22, he hasn’t been given much of a chance to replicate his CSKA form for the Irons, and it may be best for both player and club to agree an amicable departure.

In other news: Offer ready: West Ham leap ahead of European giants in race for £21m forward! Find out more here.

Celtic could make as many as seven signings during what could be an exciting summer transfer window, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Huge summer awaits for Celtic

The Hoops won the Premiership title earlier this month, with Ange Postecoglou working wonders since taking charge last summer.

This is no time for Celtic to rest on their laurels, though, and they are widely expected to use their imminent Champions League income to bring in new players.

A fresh claim suggests that this could be a particularly busy summer at Parkhead.

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The Latest: Journalist drops exciting transfer claim

Speaking to GiveMeSport, O’Rourke claimed that seven signings could be made altogether by Celtic this summer, including permanent deals for loanees Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota, both of whom the Hoops are intending to retain.

He claimed:

“I think if they could get those two in it would be good business and they’ll probably be looking at, at least another four, maybe five signings for Celtic.

“I think there’s positions in the team that they’ll need to strengthen, especially in midfield with Nir Bitton and Tom Rogic both leaving the club on free transfers, making a couple of midfield spots up for grabs.”

The Verdict: Build a dynasty

Postecoglou’s first year at Celtic has been extremely promising, but it is now important to try and build a dynasty at the club, with plenty more silverware hopefully coming their way in the coming years.

That will clearly depend on the manager signing a new deal – his current rolling contract expires at the end of this month – but if he does stay put, there could be many more great days ahead for the Parkhead faithful.

While seven additions may be a lot to expect, especially after last summer’s mammoth recruitment, strengthening across several areas of the pitch should allow Celtic to keep the balance of the squad ticking over nicely and ensure that there is no shortage of quantity and quality in Postecoglou’s ranks.

In other news, Celtic are eyeing up a summer move for one player. Find out who it is here.