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Former Newcastle United star Keith Gillespie has told The Transfer Tavern that the club must not sell Jacob Murphy for a reduced fee this summer.

A report from Football Insider earlier this week claimed that the winger could be set to leave the club this summer.

Scottish giants Rangers and Newcastle’s Premier League rivals Southampton are both said to be interested in a deal to bring Murphy in and they report that he would cost £3m.

The website has previously reported that Murphy has a contract until 2022, not 2021, despite contradictory reports.

And that means that he could go for a lower fee than expected as the summer window nears.

Murphy has made 19 appearances in the Premier League this season, scoring twice and laying on two assists, including a strike in the 2-1 win over Burnley.

And Gillespie thinks he needs to stay at the club, though he is unsurprised by the amount of clubs potentially queuing around the block to snap him up.

He told TT: “So, he’s impressed me lately, I must say, and I think he’s impressed a lot of Newcastle fans with his performances, but you wouldn’t want somebody leaving for 3 million, it’s nothing nowadays.

“I’m sure if he was available, and he was going for three million, there’d be plenty of clubs looking at Jacob Murphy because it’s relatively such a small fee.”

Leeds have been handed a transfer update in their chase for Nottingham Forest starlet Brennan Johnson.

What’s the story?

Reports from The Athletic back in January claimed that Johnson is attracting interest from the Premier League, with Burnley and Brentford keen, and Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds also having said to have watched him this campaign.

Now, The Athletic have delivered an update on the 19-year-old’s future, revealing: “With two years left on his contract, Forest do have some security. The club are understood to value Johnson at around £10m, which is a sign of the potential they believe he has.”

Leeds’ own Dele Alli

Johnson’s former boss at Forest, Sabri Lamouchi, hailed him not just as an “unbelievable player” but one with the “right mentality” too, and that will surely be music to the ears of Leeds and Bielsa.

The teenager has enjoyed an impressive campaign on loan at Lincoln City in League One, scoring ten goals and providing a further twelve assists in the league.

With that canny knack of finding himself in the right place at the right time, there’s a lot to like about Johnson’s game, and there are some very promising similarities between him and how Dele Alli emerged onto the scene.

His boss at Lincoln, Michael Appleton has raved about the fearlessness of the versatile attacker, something very much akin to Alli when he was at MK Dons – the England international predominantly played in central midfield, but could also play out wide and as a number ten too.

He said: “Brennan has been great. He has a lot of pace and gives us directness when we look to counter. He has played in numerous positions for us. He has played as a nine, as a ten, as a central midfielder. He has never moaned and just gets on with it.”

In fact a tweet shared by his dad, David, pointed out the kind of comparison between Johnson and Alli.

While Johnson is more comfortable playing out wide than Alli is or was, it’s that ability to break into the box and time his runs to either get on the end of things, or set others up that really stands out.

Just like Johnson, Alli was also prolific with both his goals and assists in his real stand-out campaign with the Dons during the 2014/2015 season, scoring 16 times and setting up nine others.

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Given that Spurs themselves signed the midfielder for just £5m at the time back in the summer of 2015, and now Johnson is available for £10m, Leeds could very well sign their own Alli – both in terms of price, and more importantly, the value and impact he brings on the pitch.

Meanwhile, Leeds could make an exciting swoop for this Bundesliga star…

Manchester United could be set to sign a centre-back this summer to add to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad.

It has been reported that a central defender could one of the club’s transfer priorities.

Intriguingly, two Frenchman are apparently on the club’s list of potential recruits in the form of Leicester City’s Wesley Fofana and Raphael Varane of Real Madrid.

Despite the latter boasting considerably more experience – and indeed trophies – throughout his career, it is actually the former Saint Etienne youngster who could be the better signing for the Red Devils.

In his short time at the King Power Stadium, Fofana has certainly had a huge impact since his arrival, Brendan Rodgers even hailing him as “colossal”.

Earning £51k per week with Leicester, he has played 21 matches in the Premier League so far, claiming seven clean sheets at a rate of one every three matches.

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The 20-year-old has also averaged two tackles, 2.4 interceptions and 3.8 clearances per game in the Premier League according to WhoScored, playing a key role as Leicester continue to challenge for a place in the top four as well as having reached the FA Cup final.

Surprisingly, these statistics are considerably better than that of Real Madrid’s World Cup winning defender this season.

Varane has averaged just 0.7 tackles, 1.3 interceptions and 3.7 clearances per match in La Liga so far this campaign – numbers that are hugely inferior to his compatriot Fofana.

Meanwhile, the current Leicester man continues to dominate Varane in the air, winning 3.4 aerials per league game compared to the Madrid man’s 2.3.

Now, it must be taken into account that Leicester are more likely to need to defend more often than Madrid but even so, taking into account that Fofana is seven years Varane’s junior, those numbers are extremely impressive.

So on the search for a centre-back and seemingly having narrowed down their potential list to two Frenchman, Manchester United should certainly look to Leicester instead of Real Madrid as they’d be getting a younger, more productive and likely cheaper option.

AND in more news, the Red Devils have been boosted by a shocking departure from Old Trafford…

Lee Ryder has criticised the performance of Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark in their 1-1 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League at Saturday lunchtime.

Steve Bruce’s team managed to rescue what could be a vital point in terms of their hopes of avoiding relegation from the top flight. Joe Willock, who is on loan from Arsenal, equalised in injury time after Callum Wilson had a goal disallowed after a VAR review for his handball in the build up.

Nonetheless, while it was a decent overall performance from Bruce’s men, Ryder was critical of Clark in his latest player ratings for The Chronicle. The journalist said that the 31-year-old was ‘disappointing’, highlighting that he lost the ball for the opening goal scored by Mo Salah, giving him a mere 6/10 overall rating, the joint-second lowest of any Newcastle player to have started the game.

Clark not at his best for Newcastle

Clark was certainly not at his best for the Magpies as Jurgen Klopp’s men were gifted big chances on numerous occasions in the match from the defence trying and failing to play out from the back.

The Republic of Ireland international lost each of his duels and also failed to record a single interception or tackle (Sofascore).

He will likely be disappointed with his own performance, and will certainly want to improve on this performance in the last few games of the season.

In other news, find out what double injury blow Steve Bruce has revealed.

Sunderland have been dealt yet another significant injury blow ahead of their League One run-in.

What’s the latest?

In a statement posted on the club website, Lee Johnson confirmed that centre-back Jordan Willis, who had initially picked up a knock during the clash with Shrewsbury Town back in February, is now facing a further nine to 12 months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery.

In reaction to the news regarding Willis, Sunderland Echo journalist Phil Smith stated that the defender’s further injury was a “huge blow” for Johnson and his side.

Huge Blow

With Johnson having only confirmed on Tuesday that Willis’ fellow centre-back Dion Sanderson will miss the remainder of the season due to a back injury, the 39-year-old must be wondering if the universe has something against Sunderland achieving promotion from League One this season.

While it hadn’t appeared overly likely that Willis would be fit to feature in either of the crucial upcoming games against Plymouth Argyle and Northampton Town, the recent injury to Sanderson, as well the longer-term absences of Arbenit Xhemajli and Tom Flanagan, has now left Johnson with only Bailey Wright available as a senior out-and-out centre-back in his first-team squad.

These injuries would be a nightmare for a manager to deal with at the best of times, but during a period in which Johnson’s side have gone from automatic promotion contenders to potentially slipping out of the play-off places with a loss, the Sunderland boss will undoubtedly be raging about his bad luck.

Furthermore, the timescale of the injury to Willis means that the defender’s absence is not only something which will affect Sunderland presently but will also continue to do so next season, whichever league the Black Cats happen to be in.

In any case, Johnson’s challenge to guide Sunderland out of League One has just become that little bit more difficult.

In other news: Lost possession 22 times: Johnson surely furious with shocking £5k-p/w Sunderland ace – opinion

Leeds have been named as one of a number of Premier League clubs interested in signing Norwich City star Emiliano Buendia this summer.

What’s the story?

With the Premier League season entering the final weeks, attention will already be turning towards the start of the summer transfer window, and it appears that Marcelo Bielsa’s side have their sights set on Buendia.

According to French publication Foot Mercato, the Canaries sensation is attracting interest from almost half the clubs in the Premier League, including Leeds.

The report added that clubs across Europe are also keeping a close eye on him, with the likes of Atletico Madrid, Sevilla and Villareal said to be interested in the Argentina international.

He impressed Lionel Messi

The Athletic previously claimed that Buendia is someone who Leeds’ director of football Victor Orta has “always liked”, while the £19.8m-rated ace has previously been hailed a “revelation” by Chris Sutton.

His teammate Max Aarons has hailed the kind of creativity the 24-year-old possesses, saying: “He’s not really a player who will get on the ball and take you on as a full-back. His game is more about getting into pockets, playing neat passes and creating things.

“When you’ve got someone, who wants to run at you, then it’s easier to lock them down whereas someone like him is quite intricate so it’s hard to get near him. He’s tenacious and very strong. He’s got a lot of attributes.”

In fact, Buendia has some very famous fans in his corner too. As per The Guardian, during Barcelona’s thrashing of the midfielder’s former side Getafe a few years ago, Lionel Messi came across to him at the end of the game to have a word.

Buendia revealed: “I maybe did something good to impress him. He asked: ‘What do you want to do? Do you want to play for Spain or Argentina?’ Quickly I said: ‘Of course I want to play for Argentina. I want to play with you – it is a dream.’”

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One man who should be salivating at the prospect of playing with a creative genius like Buendia is Patrick Bamford. The Leeds striker has enjoyed a fine season in the Premier League with 14 goals to his name, but he would surely fancy his chances of bagging even more often with a playmaker like the Argentine always looking to find him in behind opposition defences.

Buendia’s ability to pick a killer pass will be music to the ears of Bamford, and something he should really enjoy if Leeds manage to pull off a sensational summer deal for him.

Meanwhile, a Leeds source has revealed some exciting plans at Thorp Arch…

It is now nearly 11 weeks since Neil Lennon left his post as Celtic manager but the Hoops still haven’t been able to find a successor.

The Bhoys are thought to be close to finalising a deal for Eddie Howe but until he’s through the door and he’s signed on the dotted line, it is still a worrying scenario.

What’s the word?

There have only ever been three names recognised by the Celtic board as Lennon’s replacement.

An interview occurred with Roy Keane before they turned their attention to Howe. They have been in advanced discussions for the 43-year-old for over a month but it’s now been revealed the Hoops did actually seek an alternative.

In a report from Football Insider this week, they revealed that John Kennedy had been left completely in the dark over his role at Celtic.

In doing so, they also publicised an insightful tidbit of information regarding the full-time manager role.

We were already aware of the club’s interest in Lucien Favre but it’s been claimed that he has been interviewed for the position.

Fabulous Favre

We’ve waxed lyrical about the 63-year-old on a regular basis on Football FanCast but he would be an astute appointment for Celtic, one that could really excite the Celtic support and make them buzz.

First and foremost, the Swiss coach likes a dynamic and attacking brand of football. Last season, Dortmund scored 84 times, a number that was only second in the Bundesliga to Bayern Munich who netted 100 times.

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Another string to his bow is the European experience he possesses. The Hoops need someone who can be flexible between domestic and continental action; something Favre could definitely provide.

He won 61.82% of his matches with Dortmund, losing just 24 of the matches he took charge of.

Favre could also be useful for a rebuilding job, something that’s desperately required at Paradise.

Speaking exclusively to FFC last month, Bundesliga expert Dan Pinder said: “Looking at it, he has done a decent job at rebuilding. Whether he can go into a job that’s already there all set up for him, I think that’s a different matter. But if he goes into a rebuild job, I think it’d be a pretty decent appointment.”

He entered Dortmund at a time when they were completely lost in transition, needing to ship on old players and bring in younger ones. That scenario is incredibly similar to the one that’s playing out at Celtic right now.

He was relatively successful too. Dortmund finished fourth by the skin of their teeth in 2017/18 under Peter Stoger but Favre then guided them to consecutive second-place finishes. In the process, he was described as “outstanding” by BVB star Mario Gotze.

Bearing his attributes and the qualities he brought to Dortmund, Celtic fans should be elated at the thought of him taking over in Glasgow. That said, they shouldn’t complain if Howe is appointed either. You don’t get from League Two to the Premier League without a precise method about you. The 43-year-old’s aesthetically pleasing brand of football would undoubtedly be welcome at Celtic.

If those are the two men in the frame to take over at Celtic, as it appears, then Hoops fans should be buzzing as either of them would be a very welcome appointment.

AND in other news, Celtic can axe McGregor by unleashing rarely-seen 20 y/o with a “wand of a left foot”…

Leeds United are reportedly interested in signing Slavia Prague sensation Abdallah Sima, in what could be an exciting piece of business.

The Lowdown: Sima shines for Slavia Prague

The 19-year-old is seen as a hugely talented young attacking player, catching the eye for the Czech giants this season.

Sima has scored 11 goals in just 15 starts in the Czech First League this season, outlining his potential and showing why he has been compared to Premier League legend Thierry Henry.

The Latest: Leeds keen on signing Sima

According to Football Insider, the Elland Road outfit are in the mix to sign the teenager this summer, following his ‘remarkable rise’ during 2020/21.

It is stated that a number of Premier League clubs are showing an interest in Sima, however, suggesting it won’t be easy to acquire his signature.

Everton, Arsenal, Manchester United and West Ham are the top-flight teams mentioned in the report.

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The Verdict: Worth a punt?

It is vital that Leeds make reinforcements in the summer, ensuring they don’t sit still and fail to kick on from an impressive campaign.

At 19, Sima may still be raw, but in Marcelo Bielsa, he would have a hugely experienced, respected manager who knows how to nurture young talent – just look at how Patrick Bamford has taken to top flight football this term.

The list of clubs he is being linked with speaks volumes about his potential, so Leeds should consider taking a punt on the Czech starlet, especially considering how prolific he already looks in front of goal.

He could play second fiddle to the likes of Patrick Bamford and Rodrigo to begin with, potentially usurping them over time.

In other news, Leeds have been linked with another winger, as Bielsa looks to make a summer addition in that area. Find out who it is here.

According to a report by journalist Kevin Palmer, via Anfield Watch, the form of defender Nathaniel Phillips over these last few months has done enough to convince Liverpool he has a big role to play next season – prompting many Reds to react as one called it ‘brilliant news’.

Phillips has been forced to stand in for injured first team figures at the back like Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and the colossal Virgil van Dijk (inews).

The 24-year-old has started 13 Premier League matches under Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp as a result, making the most clearances per 90 (4.6) out of any Reds player in the squad (WhoScored).

Palmer now reports that Phillips has done enough to convince the club he can play a big role next season as the Reds seek to rebuild after what has been a title defence to forget.

While some Reds lavish this update, with one calling it ‘brilliant news’, others were also sceptical that Phillips is ready for a bigger role under Klopp next season.

Find all of their best verdicts from social media down below.

Liverpool fans flock to Phillips news

“Wow. Big respect for what he has done this season. But I’m not sure about using him next season. He is very good at winning headers, which is good when LFC face teams like Burnley and palace. Not up to the mark in passing though. But Klopp is a person who believes in training”

Credit: @SociallySober

“Great to hear, we still need to sign Konate but Phillips has absolutely earned his place in the squad”

Credit: @X29Fred

“He absolutely deserves it! Well earned! Can’t wait to see him next to Big Virg, a formidable defence in the making.”

Credit: @JaeTask

“He’s done the job well, very happy to see him be rewarded with a role for next season.”

Credit: @Adam1Marj

“Madness…. sell him while he’s at his highest, u make Him play 4th fiddle his value decreases massively.”

Credit: @pete8837

“Defo excellent player not just for the future but the present YNWA”

Credit: @roysie55

“Yeah he’s been outstanding”

Credit: @EdoFirst

“Buzzing to see this very well deserved”

Credit: @leightxn1

“Are people actually slating him? He’s been a solid 7-8 out of 10 for pretty much all season and it’s his first season in the prem? I think this is brilliant news that he’s gonna play a part next season!”

Credit: @cal_smxth

In other news: Liverpool fans now want this ace out of Anfield, find out more here.

Michael Ball has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern that Manchester City could take Harry Kane to the next level.

The Premier League champions are one of three English sides reportedly interested in signing the Tottenham ace this summer.

And with City’s financial history and need for a striker following Sergio Aguero’s departure, Pep Guardiola’s team are the most likely destination for Kane, with Daniel Levy expected to demand in the region of £150m.

The 27-year-old has been one of the standout players in the Premier League this season and heading into Spurs’ final-day trip to Leicester, is the joint-top goalscorer with Mohamed Salah and top assister.

Should Kane outscore the Egyptian on Sunday, he’ll be the first player in the league’s history to top both the goals and assists charts in the same season.

It’s not just in the league where Kane has done his damage, though. He’s contributed 48 goals in 48 games for Tottenham – more than anyone else in the top-flight.

And Ball believes that should the frontman seal a move to the Etihad Stadium this summer, Kane could become even better.

He told The Transfer Tavern:

“Harry Kane walks into many teams, his ability is second to none, and his link-up with Son is fantastic.

“Imagine him putting a City shirt on, with the other players either side of him. He’s not just got one or two like when he’s at Spurs.

“At Manchester City, the players around him could bring Harry to another level.”