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Danny Ings has reignited his career at Southampton but that form has seen him attract interest from some of the Premier League’s top clubs, and if he was to depart former Saints vice-chairman Les Reed believes the striker would be heartbroken to leave the south coast.

The former Liverpool striker joined Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side in 2018 initially on loan and he has managed to find the net 46 times in 100 appearances, which has seen the likes of Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City linked with the 28-year old.

A lot of clubs will be on the hunt for a striker this summer and with Ings entering the final year of his current deal, the Saints may feel like they have their hands tied and have to sell him to bring money into the club.

Ings appears to have found his feet and best form at Southampton after struggling to ever get going at Liverpool due to numerous injurie,s and Reed believes that if Ings left he would find it tough, as he explained exclusively to Transfer Tavern:

“For Danny, there could be opportunities that open up in the last year of his contract and it will be heartbreaking for him to move but this is the time if he’s going to win a medal or achieve something bigger.”

Man City were credited with an interest in Ings earlier this year but now that Sergio Aguero has officially left they may step up their interest in the striker, especially if the likes of Harry Kane and Erling Haaland prove to be too expensive.

Ings is likely to have a lot of potential suitors both this summer and next year as teams up and down the Premier League will want someone who knows where the back of the net is.

Sunderland have been issued a huge injury lift over attacking midfielder Alex Pritchard after he was absent on Monday…

What’s the latest?

Black Cats boss Alex Neil has explained why he was not in the squad for the clash with Plymouth and provided hope for the final three matches of the campaign.

He told the Sunderland Echo: “What we couldn’t do is risk him, the last thing I want to do is put him on for 20 minutes, he breaks back down and we then miss him for the next week.”We’re at a stage now where if you are out for any period of time, you miss all the remaining games.”I’m very, very hopeful that if we get a good week, well three days under his belt [before Saturday], then let’s see how he goes for the next week.” Supporters will be delighted

Supporters will be delighted with this news as Pritchard’s return will be a major boost for the club ahead of a crucial set of games.

The Black Cats are one point above Sheffield Wednesday, having played one match more, in the race for a play-off position and are two points off fourth with a game in hand on fifth and fourth. This means that they have a big chance to land in the top six by the end of the campaign and their clashes with Cambridge, Rotherham and Morecambe.

Therefore, Pritchard coming back is vital for Neil as he has the quality to unlock defences. Sunderland struggled badly in the final third without him against Plymouth on Monday as they failed to create any clear-cut chances to score, managing two shots on target in the 0-0 draw.

In League One this season, the Englishman has created 2.1 chances per game and provided eight ‘big chances’ in 33 outings. This shows that he has regularly been delivering in the final third in terms of being able to create openings for his teammates, which would have helped the likes of Nathan Broadhead and Ross Stewart earlier this week.

The 28-year-old has the magic touch on the ball, with four goals and seven assists this term, and can be the difference-maker as Sunderland fight for a play-off position. This is why the fans will be buzzing to read Neil’s ‘hopeful’ comments regarding his current injury situation as he can play a huge role in the team in the coming weeks.

AND in other news, Fewer touches than Patterson: £2.7k-p/w SAFC gem with 87.5% duels lost flopped today…

John Kennedy has recently addressed the future of Celtic midfielder Olivier Ntcham and has appeared to offer him a Parkhead olive branch ahead of the 2021/22 season.

The Frenchman joined Marseille on loan during the winter window, with the Ligue 1 club having the option to make the move permanent in the summer.

However, his loan spell back in his native country hasn’t gone to plan and it seems as if Marseille will reject their £4.5m option to buy.

Ntcham will have just 12 months left on his Celtic contract should he return at the end of the season, which could leave the Hoops in a tricky situation.

Talking to the media, as reported by The Herald on Saturday, Kennedy insisted that no doors have been shut on the 25-year-old’s Hoops career and labelled the central midfielder as ‘talented’.

“We’re not closing any doors on Olivier. I spoke to him a few weeks ago and I have a good relationship with him.

“He was keen to get out for a new challenge and the club agreed on that. It was good for both of us at that time.

“But if there’s going to be changes in the summer, Olivier might be motivated to give Celtic another shot.

“He’s a very good player as we know so that’s a conversation that will have to take place at the end of the season if Olivier wants to come back and fight to be at Celtic.

“He could be a big part of the club moving forward because he’s a talented player.

“Marseille hasn’t worked out for him and sometimes the grass isn’t greener.

“He’s a good lad, he’s professional and in the coming weeks the club will need to speak to him about how his future looks.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/celtic-updates-2/” title=”Celtic updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Transfer Tavern take

Kennedy hasn’t ruled out a Hoops future for Ntcham, but reports elsewhere have suggested that the midfielder will leave for good over the coming months. A Celtic source revealed to Football Insider last month that the Frenchman doesn’t want to play for the club again regardless of what happens at Marseille, so Kennedy’s hopes of a Parkhead future for the midfielder could be short-lived.

Hoops managerial target Eddie Howe wanted Ntcham at Bournemouth back in 2016, so he too may be frustrated by the player’s recent thoughts regarding his Parkhead future.

Should his feelings remain the same, you’d expect that Celtic will look to cash in over the coming months, aiming to recoup most of the £4.5m they spent on him back in 2017.

In other news: Celtic source claims ‘absolute mess’ behind the scenes may scupper early summer signing, find out more here. 

Southampton fans are livid after they were linked with a move for Manchester United defender Phil Jones.

Ralph Hasenhuttl and co have plenty of work to do as the 2021/22 season fast approaches. Last term, the Saints could only manage a 15th-place finish in the Premier League despite a positive start. New signings are needed, as well, but as it stands they have only brought in Romain Perraud from French side Stade Brestois (southamptonfc.com).

They have other targets, though, and according to journalist Graeme Bailey, the Saints are interested in signing Jones (90min.com). Sir Alex Ferguson once said the 29-year-old could be the best player ever to play for the Red Devils (Manchester Evening News), but he made just eight appearances in all competitions under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last term (Transfermarkt).

The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts, with one fan calling the update ‘unreal’.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Jones link below

“Not gonna lie,but this is a low point for me”

Credit: @snwilliams10

“No no no and a big big no”

Credit: @Josh_b222

“We’ll become more of a banter club”

Credit: @sfc_Jay

“Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo”

Credit: @Juddster27

“One word. NO”

Credit: @perraud_time

“i am literally so done with this club its unreal”

Credit: @atterz_

In other news, Saints fans slammed these Martin Semmens comments.

Nottingham Forest have been dealt a frustrating update in their pursuit of signing Reading midfielder Josh Laurent, according to a recent report from Berkshire Live. 

The lowdown

Chris Hughton’s side had reportedly been keen on reaching an agreement to sign Laurent, who has caught the eye with some strong showings in his first season with Reading, having signed for the club after a spell with League One side Shrewsbury Town.

Football Insider claimed that Forest had made a bid in the region of £2million-£3million for Laurent this summer.

According to Transfermarkt, Laurent is valued at £1.8million, but it seems as though Reading value the midfielder higher than that, even though he has one year remaining on his contract.

Reading’s financial restrictions have been well-documented, with manager Veljko Paunovic revealing that some first-team players could still be heading for the exit door before the 2021/22 campaign gets underway.

The latest

Berkshire Live have reported that Laurent is keen to stay at Reading for the 2021/22 season, which will be pleasing to hear for their supporters.

But it’s far from ideal for Nottingham Forest, who were evidently eager to strike an agreement to sign the former Shrewsbury Town midfielder, who made 46 appearances in total for Reading last term as they narrowly missed out on a top-six finish in the Championship.

It remains to be seen as to whether the Reds will come back in with a second offer for Laurent’s services at this stage, or whether they’ll turn their attention to other transfer targets in the next couple of weeks.

The verdict

It’s a frustrating update for Nottingham Forest, who are clearly long-term admirers of Laurent, and it’s not difficult to see why.

The 26 year-old had an excellent first season with Reading, boasting an average Whoscored rating of 6.88 as the Berkshire-based side finished seventh in the second-tier standings.

Laurent was nominated for the Championship Player of the Month award in January 2021, earning a description as ‘superb reader of the play’ (quotes sourced from Berkshire Live).

“Has provided the midfield shield upon which Reading’s season has been founded.

“A superb reader of the play and a dynamo with bundles of energy, he also picks the right pass going forward. Scored the pivotal first goal against Bournemouth.”

It’ll be interesting to see whether Hughton and co are to come back in with a second bid for Laurent’s services, with the new Championship campaign set to get underway on Friday.

Daniel James was signed as a 21-year old from Swansea City in 2019 but he has seen first-team opportunities severely limited this season and former Man United midfielder, Keith Gillespie, has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern, that the winger must step up his game.

James enjoyed a run of four starts in six games in February and March, but since the emergence of Amad Diallo and Mason Greenwood’s upturn in form, the Wales international has made one appearance since April 4th.

There were reports back in January that the winger was set to leave Old Trafford but with no form of deal materialising, he remains on the outskirts of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s regular starting lineup.

Speaking on how James has a big summer ahead of him as he has failed to perform on a consistent basis for Man United, Gillespie spoke exclusively to The Transfer Tavern:

“He’s nowhere near the starting XI at the minute so he needs to really step up because he’s been very disappointing for me.

“I liked him when he first arrived but he doesn’t perform often enough so he’s got a big summer coming up.”

Back in 2019, James expected to be signing for Leeds United but after Swansea did not trust Leeds to pay the full amount for James, the Welsh club pulled the plug on a potential deal and the winger ended up signing for Man United the following summer.

The £45,000 per week attacked has failed to nail down a regular spot at Old Trafford as he has been handed just 14 appearances in the Premier League this season with 10 of them being starts.

Derby County owner Mel Morris is still personally paying the Rams players’ salaries.

What’s been said?

That’s according to a claim made by The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, who revealed in a post on Twitter that Morris once again personally paid the wages of the Derby players for the month of June, something that has previously been reported to cost around £1.2m.

The owner remains in the midst of a battle to sell the club this summer, having already seen two takeover attempts fall through over the course of last season.

However, Nixon believes that, whatever Derby fans’ views are on Morris, the businessman deserves credit for his continued financial support, stating: “Mel Morris paid the wages yesterday. Whatever your views, the guy takes his responsibilities seriously.”

Morris will be fuming

While it may be nice to be praised for the efforts he is putting in to keep Derby afloat ahead of next season, the fact that Morris is still having to pay the Rams playing staff out of his own pocket is likely to have left the owner fuming.

Indeed, selling the club in the near future appears a rather monumental task, with Derby currently battling the English Football League over their alleged breach of financial fair play rules – with the club facing the very real possibility of relegation to League One if a decision is made efficiently on the matter – having an enormous amount of work to do in the summer transfer window – with just 16 players currently on the club’s books for next season – and generally being in something of a financial disaster.

As such, while Morris paying the players wages’ is enough to keep the club’s head above water at present, it is not a difficult scenario to imagine that, if the owner fails to find a new buyer in the very near future, he will eventually either run out of liquid capital to continue to do so, or simply just not want to have to keep coughing up every month – an outcome that would indicate a very bleak future for Derby.

In other news: Stone drops disciplinary commission update regarding Derby, Rooney will be relieved

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

Tottenham Hotspur have made a bid in an attempt to bring Pierluigi Gollini to north London this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet Calciomercato, who claimed that, along with Wolvers and Everton, Spurs have made an offer to Atalanta regarding the the goalkeeper.

The report added that the Serie A club expect to reap in the region of €20m (£17m) from the sale of the 26-year-old, with the shot-stopper himself believed to be keen on a move in order to attempt to establish himself as Italy’s number one for the 2022 World Cup.

Nuno would love him

With Hugo Lloris turning 35 in December, as well as being linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain earlier this year – although this now appears an unlikely transfer following Gianluigi Donnarumma’s move to the French capital – the argument could easily be made that Nuno Espirito Santo should be planning for life after the French veteran in north London.

Considering how impressive Gollini has been for Atalanta in recent seasons, as well as being almost nine years Lloris’ junior, a move for the Italian would very much appear to be a transfer that Nuno would love to get over the line this summer.

Indeed, in the season before last, the £15.3m-rated man was in exceptional form over his 33 Serie A appearances for Gian Piero Gasperini’s side, keeping eight clean sheets and averaging 2.5 saves and 0.5 successful runs out per game.

These returns saw the Italy international earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.82, playing a key role in helping Atalanta secure an impressive third-placed finish in the league.

The £25,000-per-week goalkeeper was also in decent form over his 25 league appearances last season, keeping nine clean sheets and averaging 1.6 saves and 0.4 successful runs out per fixture. However, a cruciate ligament injury kept him sidelined for a number of games at the start of the campaign.

In any case, the man Steve Clarke once dubbed a “big prospect” would appear to be a fantastic addition for Spurs this summer. The 26-year-old would not only be an excellent backup to Lloris, he also seems to possess the ability to strongly push the Frenchman for his starting spot between the sticks for Tottenham next season if he swaps Bergamo for north London.

In other news: Spurs dealt transfer blow over “important” £73k-p/w target, Paratici will be livid

Mohammed Elyounoussi has been enjoying a bit of a renaissance at Southampton and was in superb form once again recently, this time for his country.

The winger scored in Norway’s 2-0 win against Latvia on Saturday evening to make five goals in his last four appearances for club and country.

As per SofaScore, the Saints winger would earn an impressive 7.6/10 rating for his performance, with only Martin Odegaard (8.5) and Erling Haaland (7.8) rated higher of every player from both sides to start the game.

As well as his goal, the £10.8m-rated Elyounoussi would complete an impressive six dribbles and registered four shots on target in total, which emphasises just how dangerous and confident he is in front of goal at the moment.

The former FC Basel man endured a difficult start to life at St Mary’s and spent each of the last two seasons on loan with Celtic, contributing an impressive 24 goals and 14 assists in 67 appearances for the Hoops.

Ralph Hasenhuttl suggested that he would be given an opportunity to impress again with Southampton this season and after being left out of the side for the opening two Premier League fixtures he emphasised his quality with three goals and two assists in the 8-0 thrashing of Newport in the League Cup.

He was then rewarded with a start in the 2-2 draw against Newcastle United and scored Southampton’s first goal there, so it seems as if he has done enough to win over the Austrian manager and show that he can be a key player for the Saints this season.

Saints fans will no doubt be delighted to see him continue his fine recent form for his country and will be hoping to see him pick up where he left off when the Saints face West Ham at St Mary’s this weekend.

And, in other news… Bye-bye Forster: Semmens should seal Saints swoop for “exceptional” star