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Crystal Palace revealed on Tuesday lunchtime that they will face Watford in their final pre-season friendly, and a number of Eagles fans have been sharing their thoughts on social media about the fixture against the Hornets.

Palace already have friendlies against Portsmouth, Walsall, Stevenage, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic in July, and they will end their preparations against the newly-promoted Hertfordshire club.

Xisco Munoz’s side will be direct rivals for Patrick Vieira’s Palace next season following their immediate return to the top flight from the Championship last term.

The Eagles confirmed that the match will take place on Saturday 7 August at 3pm, a week before their trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea on the opening weekend of the new campaign. Fans will be able to attend, with the club set to release details soon.

Palace fans react

Palace posted the confirmation of the Watford friendly on Twitter. However, these Eagles supporters weren’t exactly thrilled at the news, with one labelling it as ‘awful’ – the two clubs have had a fractious relationship at times in recent years.

“Is there anything worse than playing other Prem clubs in pre season friendlies? This is the most uninspiring fixture I’ve seen and I’m gutted I’ll pay money to go. Hopefully means the Bromley fixture a week before may see some first team as still no opponent for the 31st”Credit: @cjbearcpfc”ugh”Credit: @cpfc_Rob”Please rest Wilf. Awful pre season choice.”Credit: @MarkyP7″How boring”Credit: @Mark_CPFC”Why though”Credit: @danofthesouth_”Unusual to have a friendly against a team in the same division as us.”Credit: @ricgoldinho77

In other news: ‘Oh yes’, ‘Games begin’, ‘I’m excited’ – Many CPFC fans buzz as ‘class’ transfer news emerges, find out more here. 

As per reliable reporter Scott Burns, writing for the Scottish Daily Express, some news has come to light on Southampton’s transfer plans for January involving Rangers star Joe Aribo.

The Lowdown: Semmens eyeing winter moves?

As the winter window looms, Southampton chief Martin Semmens, who oversees the club’s transfer activity, has already hinted that the Saints could be active business-wise as he aims to bolster manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s chances of Premier League survival.

Sitting just six points above the drop zone, Hasenhuttl’s men will potentially be looking to strengthen if the right opportunity arises, with links emerging to a few names like Angers wonderkid Mohamed-Ali Cho.

Now, as per an update from north of the border, another claim has emerged on the Saints’ transfer plans.

The Latest: Semmens eyeing Aribo bid…

According to Burns, Southampton, and by extension Semmens, are ‘weighing up a move’ for Gers star Aribo and they even had a representative sent to watch him in action at the weekend.

Standing out for the Teddy Bears this season, Southampton already have a number of reports on the midfielder as they keep tabs on his situation ahead of January.

The Verdict: Time to move?

The 25-year-old has been one of Rangers’ players of the season so far, making more SPFL appearances than anyone in their squad so far whilst averaging the second-highest rate of dribbles completed per 90 and scoring the second-most goals (WhoScored).

His contract is also expiring in 18 months, putting some pressure on the Ibrox side to contemplate a sale while they still can.

The Nigeria international, lauded as ‘red hot’ by pundit Gabriel Agbonlahor for his form this season, could well be an astute purchase for Southampton if they can negotiate a realistic price.

In other news: ‘Worst player we have’…Southampton fans blast ‘terrible’ player after recent ‘stinker’, find out more here.

Celtic have had a number of successful academy graduates make their way through to the first team at Parkhead over the years.

Callum McGregor and James Forrest are two great examples of players who have been able to rise through the ranks and establish themselves as key stars for the Hoops at senior level.

However, some talented prospects can slip through the cracks and that is what happened with left-back Aaron Hickey in Glasgow. He was brought to the club from Hearts in 2017 and did not make a single first-team outing as a teenager before Brendan Rodgers sanctioned his exit back to Tynecastle for nothing in the summer of 2018.

Two years later, Italian side Bologna snapped him up from the Scottish side and he is now attracting interest from England.

Fabrizio Romano recently reported that Premier League side Newcastle United are eyeing up a deal worth up to £20m for the youngster, which means his value has risen astronomically in the space of around four years. The Magpies are looking to snap him up this summer after watching him catch the eye in Italy this season.

In the Serie A, he has averaged an impressive SofaScore rating of 6.89 across 27 appearances. He has been able to showcase his attacking flair from full-back with four goals and one assist, whilst creating 0.5 chances per game.

Defensively, he has been solid throughout the campaign. Hickey has averaged 2.3 tackles and interceptions per game and has only been dribbled past 0.3 times per match, winning 60% of his overall duels in the Italian top-flight. This shows that he is a strong defender who also offers quality in possession, which makes him a modern-day full-back who can make an impact at both ends of the pitch.

At the age of 19, he also has the potential to improve further. He is in the infancy of his professional career and has plenty of time to develop further and progress as a left-back. If he is able to continue growing and raising his standards on the pitch then that £20m may start to look like a bargain and Celtic could rue their decision even more as time passes.

His former manager Daniel Stendl previously labelled him as an “extraordinary talent” and the youngster’s statistics in the Serie A at such a young age back that up. 

Hickey’s form since leaving Celtic and his immense potential as a player prove that Rodgers made a huge blunder by not offering him a route to the first-team and allowing him to leave fo nothing. He slipped through the now-Leicester boss’ clutches and the Hoops will surely be wondering what could have been, as they look set to watch him seal a potential mega-money move this summer.

AND in other news, £3m wasted: Celtic had a shocker on £7.9k-p/w “loner” who rinsed Desmond for 129 weeks…

Newcastle United are reportedly now willing to pay big money in order to sign Ronald Araujo.

The Lowdown: Destined for greatness

Despite the trouble in which Barcelona have found themselves in recent times, having to let Lionel Messi go to Paris Saint-Germain and potentially not being able to qualify from their Champions League group, the emergence of Araujo is at least one shining light at Camp Nou.

Recently described as a ‘spectacular’ player by his new manager Xavi, the 22-year-old looks destined for great things, and his teammate Gerard Pique already thinks that he ‘has everything’ for a central defender despite his tender age.

One of the most notable qualities about Araujo is his physique, as he stands at 6 foot 2, and he is in ‘exuberant physical condition’ according to former Uruguay centre-back and fellow countryman Andres Scotti, making him a bit of a beast.

The Latest: Wanted

As per El Nacional, Newcastle now want Araujo and are ‘one of the most interested’ clubs from the Premier League in the race for his signature, along with Chelsea.

They would reportedly be ‘willing’ to put an offer of £60m on the table, comfortably surpassing the club-record £40m that they spent on Joelinton, as well as giving the 22-year-old a ‘big’ contract.

Ideally, Barcceloa do not want to sell, but the report claimed that they would ‘have to study’ a prospective offer of that magnitude.

The Verdict: Unrealistic

It does seem too unrealistic that a player of Araujo’s quality and promise would move to Newcastle this early in the project, especially as they are currently in a relegation scrap.

Eddie Howe’s preference for high possession and attacking football would certainly suit Araujo more than some of the other centre-half options in the Magpies’ squad, given that the Uruguay international has averaged more passes at a higher success rate per game than Ciaran Clark, Federico Fernandez and Jamaal Lascelles in their respective domestic leagues so far this season (WhoScored).

However, despite the kind of money that the Tynesiders now have at their disposal, it seems likely that Araujo would look elsewhere for now, perhaps to reigning Champions League holders Chelsea, until the long-term project at St James’ Park has developed further.

In other news, NUFC are also eyeing this ‘incredible’ beast

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte is said to have green-lighted a move for Milan centre-back Alessio Romagnoli as he looks to reshape Spurs’ defence.

What’s the story?

The north Londoners picked up a win in the 52-year-old’s first match in charge on Thursday night when they beat Vitesse 3-2 in the Europa Conference League, and journalist Graeme Bailey has name-checked two of the Italian’s main transfer targets.

Writing initially on Twitter, he said: “Antonio Conte greenlights Tottenham’s pursuits of AC Milan’s Franck Kessie. They are also keen on Milan captain Alessio Romagnoli. Likely to be two of the best free transfers around in 2022.”

In a follow-up article for 90min, he added: “90min has been told that Conte is also a fan of Kessie’s Milan teammate Alessio Romagnoli. Rossoneri captain Romagnoli, like Kessie, has little over six months left on his contract at San Siro and Spurs are looking to sign him too. The club want to bring in at least one central defender, but two could arrive in 2022.”

Fans will be buzzing

While Spurs fans will no doubt hope and even expect Conte to make the team much harder to beat, particularly from a back five point of view, there’s no questioning that they could do with some strengthening in terms of sheer quality. In Romagnoli, they could find someone who could answer all their prayers.

Speaking about the 26-year-old a few years ago, Milan legend Paolo Maldini said: “He is one of the best ever, he is already at the national team. He must have well precise objectives. It’s a growth process. Milan of the last few years did not help Alessio but we now hope that he will help us return Milan back.”

The £18m-rated beast has played top-level Serie A football for several seasons, and having emerged as a leader at the back for Milan, he could add some more steel and experience to the heart of the Spurs defence.

The fact that he’s Italian and therefore Conte will likely know him well merely adds to the feeling that Romagnoli should be able to hit the ground running in north London if he joins Tottenham. Given that he is still only 26, he is a prospective signing who would surely have Spurs fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, this Spurs ace surely impressed Conte against Vitesse…

With Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash in a remarkable run of form, having picked up 12 points from a possible 15 over their last five games, the 45-year-old will undoubtedly be hoping for yet another positive result this weekend.

With today’s hosts Leeds United being in a rather contrasting run of form at present, Marcelo Bielsa’s men having picked up just six points so far this season, Lage will know that his team have a fantastic opportunity to catapult themselves into the top half of the table with a result against the Whites.

Will the Portuguese manager decide to make any changes from the team which started the last-gasp 3-2 victory over Aston Villa last weekend? Here’s how we think Wolves could line up against Leeds, along with the latest team and injury news…

With Lage recently confirming that Willy Boly has been ruled out of the visit to Elland Road due to injury and revealing that Francisco Trincao will be available for selection once more – the winger has completed his quarantine period after falling ill while on international duty – we predict that the 45-year-old will make two changes to his starting XI today.

The back six of Jose Sa, Romaine Saiss, Conor Coady, Max Kilman, Fernando Marcal and Nelson Semedo remains unchanged, something which is largely down to Lage currently having just three fit centre-backs in his first team squad following Boly’s injury.

The first change comes in the middle of the park. After deploying a three-man central midfield against Villa, Lage reverts back to a two of Ruben Neves and Leander Dendoncker, with the £3.6m-rated Joao Moutinho dropping out of the XI.

This change also sees Wolves once more employing a three-man attack, in which Adama Traore and the £52k-per-week Daniel Podence start on the left and right flanks respectively as both players highly impressed in the win at Villa. Meanwhile, 25-year-old Hwang Hee-chan, who had a poor game at Villa Park, is replaced by Raul Jimenez up top, with Trincao having to make do with a place on the bench initially.

In other news: Wolves’ £6.3m-rated “breath of fresh air” could cause Lage a major problem next season

David Moyes will be tempted to remain with an unchanged starting XI for West Ham’s trip to Merseyside this afternoon.

But the Scotsman did hint at a couple of injury worries following the international break, so that may not be possible.

Last time out, the Irons suffered only their second defeat of the 2021/22 campaign, losing to a last-gasp goal against newly-promoted Brentford and now they head to Goodison Park to face an in-form Everton side.

It leaves Moyes with plenty of selection headaches but with that in mind, here’s the Hammers XI we’re predicting today…

There could be as many as three changes from the side that tasted defeat at the London Stadium.

Between the sticks, Lukasz Fabianski is expected to resume duties, with Paris Saint-Germain loanee Alphonse Areola only being used sparingly in the cup competitions.

We’re also predicting there to be a shuffle in defence as Issa Diop comes in for Angelo Ogbonna to form an all-French partnership in the middle. He’s yet to start in the league but after assistant manager Stuart Pearce described him as a “colossus”, it’s surely a matter of time before he does.

Whilst there have been concerns over the fitness of Vladimir Coufal.

The 29-year-old right-back pulled out of international duty for the Czech Republic during the break and still may not be risked just yet. You could tell he was rushed back for the Brentford defeat and he looked some way off his usual standard.

Instead, we may see Ben Johnson pair up with fellow full-back Aaron Cresswell.

It’s in midfield where there is a third and final change as club captain Mark Noble gets the nod over Tomas Soucek.

According to The Athletic’s Roshane Thomas, “it would not come as a surprise” if Moyes rested the Czech Republic international ahead of Thursday’s Europa League clash with Genk.

He has played a lot of football since the start of last season, resulting in some leggy outings in recent weeks. He played the full 90 minutes on international duty twice last week.

Noble joins England star Declan Rice in the engine room, whilst the attack remains untouched, meaning Michail Antonio leads the line, having benefitted from pulling out of the Jamaica squad.

He’ll be supported by the trio of Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals and Jarrod Bowen.

AND in other news, Moyes must brutally axe “unplayable” £45k-per-week star at Goodison Park…

Steve Parish and Crystal Palace will not budge on Wilfried Zaha’s valuation, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has told The Transfer Tavern.

Zaha had been strongly linked with both Tottenham and Everton at the end of last season but nothing is yet to materialise.

The latter’s interest dates back to 2019 where they had an offer rejected for the player, which was confirmed by the club (via Liverpool Echo).

Transfer insider Dean Jones, speaking on the Football Terrace, has claimed that Spurs are still looking at Zaha ahead of deadline day. Palmer, though, has warned them and other outfits not to expect a discount.

“Steve Parish is one of those guys. He won’t budge on this,” the ex-Leeds United player said. “If he’s said it’s 50 million, for example, it’s 50 million. So it’s for the clubs now to trigger that.”

While you would never rule anything out, it would be a surprise to see Tottenham splash out on Zaha in this moment of time.

Nuno Espirito Santo currently has the likes of Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn for those attacking positions, the trio all impressing in that recent 1-0 win against Manchester City.

They have also just brought in Bryan Gil from Sevilla so are hardly lacking in that area of the pitch right now.

The Birmingham Mail’s Ashley Preece has revealed that Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard is looking to lure Leon King away from former club Rangers.

What’s the story?

Writing initially on Twitter, he said: “Some transfer news into @birmingham_live prior to kick-off as Gerrard looks to take full advantage of Leon King’s contract situation at Rangers. The 17-year-old was promoted to first-team sessions under SG. Cut-price deal for #avfc via @RichardCusackBM”

Then, in a follow-up article for The Birmingham Mail, Preece added: “Aston Villa are considering a move for Rangers youngster Leon King – who they could get for just over £200k. The Ibrox side are in talks with their talented 17-year-old over a new contract. The young defender has still to agree an extension with the Scottish champions and as it stands he runs out of contract in the summer and could move in a cut-price cross-border switch.

“King is seen as one of the top, young talents north of the border and he is already being tracked by a host of top English clubs, including Manchester United, Newcastle United and Leicester City.”

Gerrard’s influence

While Dean Smith oversaw the signings of the likes of Leon Bailey and Emi Buendia in particular over the course of the summer transfer window, there’s no questioning that having Gerrard as your club’s manager brings with it a far bigger pull and attraction.

The former Liverpool skipper is an icon and someone who players around the world will be familiar with, and whether it’s a young starlet like King, or a more established first-team star, the lure of playing for Gerrard could prove to be a difference-maker for Villa.

With Preece claiming that the likes of Manchester United, Newcastle and Leicester are all keeping a track of King, Villa face a real battle on their hands to sign the 17-year-old.

Gerrard’s own connection with Rangers as the club’s former boss could be decisive, however, while the prospect of working under a young manager who clearly rates him already could further persuade the teenager.

Villa fans will no doubt be delighted at Preece’s latest transfer update. After all, this feels like the ideal match for Gerrard and the player.

Meanwhile, this Villa man was an “absolute revelation” vs Man City…

Manchester United have received a potentially significant boost in their pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Ilaix Moriba.

What’s the story?

The Red Devils have been linked with a move for the highly-rated 18-year-old in recent weeks as Barca have so far been unable to extend his contract, which currently expires next summer.

Well-known journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano recently provided an update on Moriba’s situation, tweeting some intriguing quotes from the Blaugrana’s president Joan Laporta.

He tweeted: “Barça president Joan Laporta again on Ilaix Moriba: “We cannot allow him to be promoted [to the first-team] and then leave. We won’t accept that with any player. If he wants to go and it’s because he has other options, he can leave the club”.

Manchester United fans will be buzzing

Moriba established himself as one of the most exciting young prospects in La Liga last season, scoring one goal and providing three assists in 18 senior appearances for his boyhood club.

However, with only 12 months remaining on his existing deal and no resolution in sight, an imminent Camp Nou exit could be on the cards for the teenager, who has rejected the club’s offer of a new contract.

The Spain under-18 international is likely to have plenty of potential suitors given his impressive array of skills, but news of Moriba’s availability will surely have the United supporters buzzing.

With Paul Pogba’s future far from secure, Red Devils manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is thought to be in the market for a new central midfielder over the coming months.

Big names such as Leon Goretzka, Saul Niguez and Eduardo Camavinga have reportedly caught the eye of the 20-time English champions, yet Moriba’s arrival would bring just as much intrigue as the aforementioned stars.

The 6 ft maestro would add significant strength in depth to United’s engine room, an area of weakness for them for so long, providing Solskjaer with the necessary tools to bring major trophies back to the red half of Manchester.

Whether the club’s hierarchy follow up their interest in Moriba with a concrete offer remains to be seen, but fans must be delighted to hear that he seems far from committed to the Barcelona cause.

In other news…Ole must move £7.2m-rated Man Utd ace this summer, he’s not been good enough so far