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Celtic have slightly revised their transfer stance on Kristoffer Ajer, with the defender now unhappy with the Hoops hierarchy, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Ajer’s summer so far…

Ajer confirmed to Norwegian media at the start of June that he wanted to leave Celtic Park this summer and move to a top-five European league.

A number of clubs have shown an interest in the centre-back, including Bayer Leverkusen, Brentford, Newcastle United and Norwich City.

The Hoops rejected £10m bids from Leverkusen and Norwich last month and have recently knocked back an offer worth up to £15m from Brentford for the 23-year-old, who has 12 months left on his deal.

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The Latest: Source shares update

Football Insider shared a story on Ajer on Tuesday morning. They were informed by a source who claimed that the Hoops, who did value Ajer at £15m, now want £20m for his services.

The Norwegian has been left furious after Celtic altered their original £15m valuation, and his future is now once again up in the air.

The Verdict: What is McKay doing?

Ajer has made it clear that he wants to leave the club, and with time running out before Ange Postecoglou’s first competitive game in charge of Celtic, surely it would have made sense to accept Brentford’s bid worth £15m and reinvest in the squad with those funds.

He has just 12 months to go on his contract, and you’d expect that CEO Dominic McKay would be at the heart of decisions on Ajer’s future with no director of football in place.

The defender is becoming even more unsettled in Glasgow, so should his situation remain the same beyond the transfer window, Celtic will have an unhappy player on their hands who could agree on a free transfer in January with clubs outside of Scotland. That would be a far from ideal scenario given that they could easily reap an eight-figure fee by sanctioning his sale now.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano claims Celtic are keen on £2.5k-p/w French ace, find out more here.

With the 2022 January transfer window now open, this could see a number of Premier League clubs jump into action and make some business deals to strengthen their squads for the second half of the current season.

While it could be an exciting time for some teams, it seems as though Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa could be heading for a major transfer calamity that would surely disappoint a lot of fans at Elland Road.

According to a recent report in The Sun by journalist Alan Nixon, Leeds defender Charlie Cresswell has caught the attention of fellow Premier League clubs Manchester United and Liverpool.

As a product of Leeds’ youth academy, the 19-year-old has made 36 appearances across the club’s U18 and U23 sides, scoring four goals and providing one assist along the way.

Cresswell has also made six senior appearances for Leeds with four of them coming in the Premier League this season, the first of which being in their 2-1 defeat against West Ham United where he completed the full 90 minutes and had his performance described as “one of the finest debuts by a teenager in Leeds white for years” by Leeds Live.

His performance against the East London club was also labelled as “unbelievable” by Leeds YouTuber Joe Wainman, showing how capable he is of playing in the Premier League.

Taking all of this into account, it would be nothing short of a disaster for the club and potentially heartbreaking for the fans if Cresswell were to leave Leeds anytime soon, especially for a move to rival club Manchester United given how young he is and the potential he has to grow and develop into a regular first-team player at Elland Road.

Given how his current contract at Leeds isn’t set to expire until the summer of 2025 and the fact that Bielsa hasn’t been shy in giving Cresswell the chance to prove himself in the team, this should be reassuring for any fans that may be concerned about the teenager’s future in Yorkshire.

Even though he has missed Leeds’ two previous league games against Arsenal and Burnley with a shoulder injury, it would be good to see the centre-back get some regular playing time under his belt before the end of the season when he recovers to show that he can be a regular figure for the team in the future.

If he leaves, however, the club would be staring down the barrel of an early transfer blunder in the January market.

In other news: 10 defensive actions: £53k-p/w Leeds beast who had 70 touches stole the show v Burnley

Everton took a huge win from their clash against Manchester United at Goodison Park yesterday, with the side embroiled in a difficult relegation battle this season the three points couldn’t have been more crucial for Frank Lampard.

With reports that sources from Everton had claimed the Toffees boss would be sacked if he didn’t take points from Ralf Rangnick’s side on Saturday, Lampard definitely put up a fight to prove the doubters wrong in his pursuit to lead Everton to safety this season.

Although the manager can’t take all the credit, the team performance from Everton was outstanding in a rarely-seen impressive defensive display from the whole team who put in a shift to hold onto a clean sheet following Anthony Gordon’s 27th-minute goal.

Despite having less possession than the visitors, the Toffees made more tackles (18) and over twice as many clearances (35) throughout the game, with Jordan Pickford a clear contender for man of the match after making four saves and two clearances in a fantastic performance.

There was one player who did make an important return and huge impact on the team following his selection in the starting line-up alongside Alex Iwobi and Allan, with Fabian Delph proving that the side desperately missed his experience in the centre of the pitch.

According to SofaScore, the 32-year-old midfielder won 100% of his duels, made six clearances, three tackles and two interceptions, as well as offering up a pass completion rate of 80% (24/30) before he was taken off in the 84th minute to be replaced by Abdoulaye Doucoure.

Delph who was hailed a “leader” by Gerard Houllier, recently returned to full fitness following a number of injury issues this season including a hamstring injury that has seen him unavailable for selection for the entirety of 2022 so far, and he surely made up for it in his seventh appearance this season against Man United.

Lampard was full of praise for the £92k-per-week midfielder following the victory, claiming that they “missed him” in his post-match interview;

“Yeah we’ve missed him.

“Delph gave us a sense of calm, his positional behaviours — like when a centre-back is out of position he falls into the backline.”

Everton may have found the key to unlocking survival in the Premier League this season by unleashing Delph in midfield and Lampard will be hoping the former Man City star can continue to lead and dominate in midfield ahead of the remaining fixtures this season to give the side their best chance of staying up.

In other news: Fewer touches than Pickford: Everton’s 9-pass flop was “wasteful” once again vs United

Illan Meslier, Diego Llorente and Kalvin Phillips struggled in Leeds United’s 2-2 draw at home to Brentford in the Premier League on Sunday.

The Whites beat Crystal Palace in the dying seconds in midweek and this time it was a last-gasp equaliser for the Elland Road crowd to enjoy.

Tyler Roberts put Marcelo Bielsa’s side 1-0 up in the first half but goals from Shandon Baptiste and Sergi Canos turned the game on its head.

The returning Patrick Bamford made it 2-2 in stoppage time, though, leafing to scenes of joy inside Elland Road.

Here are Leeds’ three poorest performers according to SofaScore, only including those who played for at least 45 minutes.

Illan Meslier – 6.2

Meslier started between the sticks as usual, becoming the youngest-ever Premier League goalkeeper to make 50 appearances in the competition (21 years, 278 days).

It wasn’t the Frenchman’s best day at the office, however, with none of his intended accurate long balls finding a Leeds teammate.

On top of that, Meslier only delivered 50% of his accurate passes overall – nine out of 18.

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Diego Llorente – 6.6

Llorente was at the heart of Leeds’ defence but he was another who didn’t hit top form, as Leeds conceded twice to Brenford at home, which isn’t an ideal scenario.

The 28-year-old didn’t make a single tackle or interception against the Bees and he lost possession ten times in total, suggesting he was a little sloppy on the ball.

Llorente also failed to win a ground duel, losing his only on-field battle in that area.

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Kalvin Phillips – 6.6

Phillips has arguably been Leeds’ best player of the Bielsa era but he wasn’t at his best on Sunday, leaving the pitch with an injury in the second half.

The England international didn’t manage to play one key pass at Elland Road, losing the ball seven times and not making a single interception.

Phillips’ injury is hopefully nothing too serious but Leeds could do with his current form going up a notch.

In other news, a journalist has made a Leeds transfer claim regarding one player. Find out who it is here.

Leeds employee Noel Whelan has been left extremely impressed by the durability of goalkeeper Illan Meslier, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Meslier’s recovery

Meslier has kept up his record of starting every Premier League game this season, despite suffering an injury against Wolves last month.

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The 22-year-old, who has made the most saves in the Premier League this season, has featured against Southampton and Watford following the international break.

He was going to miss the win at Vicarage Road due to his hip issue, however, Jesse Marsch revealed after the win that Meslier made a ‘miraculous’ recovery 24 hours before the game to start.

The Latest: Whelan’s comments

Former Leeds striker Whelan, who is now an employee of the club, labelled Meslier as ‘an important player’ and hailed his mentality regarding that miracle recovery.

“He’s a really young, talented player.

“It’s good to see him hungry to play, no matter what the circumstances – and that’s the mentality with the young players all through this squad.

“Everyone wants to be a part of this because they know that Jesse Marsch will be taking stock ahead of next season.

“He’s such an important player for us, and it’s good to see him out there after that injury worry and getting a clean sheet.”

The Verdict: Fine for Palace?

Leeds aren’t in action now until April 25 when they travel to Crystal Palace, so the enforced break appears to have come at a good time for Meslier and the Whites.

Adam Forshaw missed the win at Watford with a calf strain, while Junior Firpo and Jamie Shackleton appear to be close to making a return to training.

Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips will also get the chance to build up their fitness with no game this weekend, so it does look as if Marsch could benefit from having no fixture this weekend.

In other news: Fabrizio Romano reveals big transfer blow for Leeds as key 21 y/o target now set to move elsewhere

Ange Postecoglou has confirmed that Celtic are in contract talks with Anthony Ralston.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by the Daily Record, the 56-year-old Hoops manager confirmed earlier reports that Michael Nicholson has initiated negotiations with the right-back regarding the extension of his current deal at Parkhead.

Speaking about the defender’s new deal, Postecoglou said: “In terms of Tony, Michael Nicholson is in charge of that area. My focus is trying to make sure that Anthony continues his development because he’s been fantastic.

“Contract negotiations will take care of themselves. There’s very little need to feel angst about it. The club has a lot of faith in Tony. That’s why they gave him a new contract before I even started here. I gave him a chance and you’d have to say he’s grabbed it with both hands so far.”

Fans will be buzzing

It is hard to disagree with Postecoglou’s claim that Ralston has taken the opportunity handed to him so far this season, as in the absence of injured summer signing Josip Juranovic, the 22-year-old right-back has been one of Celtic’s most impressive performers.

Indeed, over his eight Premiership appearances, the £5.5k-per-week defender has already scored two goals, provided two assists and has created six big chances for his teammates, as well as taking 1.5 shots and making 1.8 key passes per game.

The player who Brendan Rodgers dubbed a “huge” talent has also impressed in metrics more typical of his defensive position, helping his side to keep four clean sheets, in addition to making 0.5 interceptions, 2.5 tackles and 2.1 clearances and winning 7.5 duels per match.

These returns have seen the 22-year-old earn an exceptional average SofaScore match rating of 7.78, ranking him as the Bhoys’ best performer in the league among those still at Parkhead.

However, it is not only Ralston’s domestic displays which have caught the eye but also the right-back’s performances in his three Europa League fixtures, having scored one goal, made six key passes and averaged a SofaScore match rating of 7.10.

As such, considering these statistics, the news that the club are hoping to extend Raltson’s contract should not come as a surprise to Celtic fans, who must undoubtedly be buzzing with what they have seen from the £270k-rated man so far this season.

In other news: Postecoglou must unleash “phenomenal” 21 y/o Celtic prodigy, he’s destined for the top

Sky Sports reporter Michael Bridge has claimed that Jack Clarke will not make it at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lowdown: Clarke failing to make an impact

The 20-year-old made the move to Spurs from Leeds United in the summer of 2019 when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge, but he has so far struggled to make an impact at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

He has made just four appearances for the north Londoners (Transfermarkt), with him leaving the club to move on loan to Queen’s Park Rangers and Stoke City since that 2019 transfer, and even all four of those were as a substitute (Transfermarkt).

The Latest: Bridge sees no future for Clarke at Spurs

Although Clarke is still just 20, Bridge believes that he has no future at Spurs. The journalist told Give Me Sport:

“Even Leeds fans found it odd and then when he was loaned back Leeds fans were saying to me, they didn’t want him back.

“He didn’t get back into their team, so that was a season wasted for him. He’s had a lot of problems.

“He looks skinny to me, he hasn’t really bulked, he’s playing in the Under-23s, he’s never on the bench for the first-team.

“There becomes a time when they have to say, well have to sell him, he’s not going to make it at Spurs.”

The Verdict: Big improvement needed soon

With just those four appearances to his name, it could be argued Clarke has not been given a chance to really show his ability at Spurs. There has not been too much indication during his loan spells that he has what it takes to make it at the highest level, even if his former Stoke boss Michael O’Neill said that the 20-year-old has “great quality” (via Stoke Sentinel).

If Clarke is to make a telling contribution at Tottenham, he must do so quickly. At 20, it’s not as if his whole career is over, but you would have hoped for him to have done more than he has so far. The next 18 months could well decide whether it will ever happen for him at Spurs, with none of Pochettino, Jose Mourinho or thus far Nuno Espirito Santo putting much trust in him.

In other news, this man wants to leave Tottenham.

A number of Liverpool supporters are excited to see Trent Alexander-Arnold in a rare central midfield role for England against Andorra.

The 22-year-old has already achieved so much in his blossoming career, leaping from youth team prospect at Anfield to arguably the best right-back in world football.

Alexander-Arnold is already a Premier League and Champions League winner and he looks highly likely to be a future Liverpool captain given his current trajectory.

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While the youngster has matured into a stunning right-back under Jurgen Klopp, he also used to play in midfield during his youth team days.

According to The Telegraph [via journalist Mike McGrath on Twitter], Alexander-Arnold will line-up in that role in England’s 2022 World Cup qualifier at home to Andorra on Sunday.

It will give Liverpool fans a chance to watch their hero in a different position, potentially seeing whether or not it will work further on in his career.

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Liverpool fans react to Alexander-Arnold claim

These Reds supporters on Twitter reacted to the news of the 22-year-old possibly lining out at midfield this evening for England.

“Oh Trent in midfield? Can’t wait!”

Credit: @unbearablemo

“Don’t watch England but I’m 100% watching this tomorrow”

Credit: @_EliteElliott_

“Interesting…”

Credit: @jj__lfc

“Oh man it’s happening!”

Credit: @JDsJustTalking

“Will be very interesting to see”

Credit: @LFC_James

“First time I’ve been excited to watch England in years”

Credit: @kat_lfc13

In other news, some Liverpool fans are unhappy at a fresh transfer claim. Read more here.

Former Scotland manager Alex McLeish has been reacting to rumours of a permanent swoop from Celtic for loanee Jota, as per Football Insider.

The Lowdown: January move

Jota has proven to be an inspired signing for the Hoops, contributing to 14 goals in his 18 appearances in green and white.

The 22-year-old is currently out due to a hamstring injury, but as reported by Sky Sports, Celtic are expected to trigger their £6.5m option to make his loan permanent.

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The Hoops are set to do just that before the summer, so a January move is a real possibility.

The Latest: McLeish reacts

McLeish, who regularly contributes for BBC Radio 5 Live, was talking to Football Insider regarding the update on Jota.

Here is what he had to say in reply, admitting that he is ‘very surprised’ about a January move for the winger, who he called a ‘game-changer’:

“When he came in at first, I thought work in progress. Probably a work in progress for the Portuguese team to take him back after the loan spell.

“Very surprised that they’re willing to let him go in January, given the form that he’s been in. He really has expressed himself as a very good technical player. He’s taken people on, scored goals, worked hard.

“These are all the traits a manager loves in individual players, especially when he can change the game with his skills. As we say, a game-changer.

“If Celtic can buy him, he’s a very good, young, potentially great player.”

The Verdict: Celtic making their mark

Should Celtic complete a permanent transfer in the region of £6.5m, it would be the most expensive signing of the Ange Postecoglou era, surpassing Kyogo Furuhashi’s £4.86m move over the summer. However, even though it would take a relatively big fee, it could prove to be a steal in the long run.

You’d expect that Jota is still far from his prime at the age of 22, so a long-term deal could see his valuation increase past the £6.5m mark should he continue to impress in Glasgow.

Celtic could reap the rewards with impressive displays on the pitch and eventually go on to make a big profit on the Portuguese attacker when the time is right, in the likely event that wealthier clubs submit a tempting offer.

In other news: Celtic allegedly now looking at signing 34-assist ace in January; he’s his agency’s biggest star

Southampton are closing on the signing of Blackburn Rovers striker Adam Armstrong after a fee was reportedly agreed with the Championship side this week, a development which will surely delight Saints fans.

What’s the word?

Southampton have been heavily linked with Armstrong throughout the transfer window and it seems as if the shock departure of Danny Ings earlier this month has finally encouraged them to meet Blackburn’s demands.

Despite the 24-year-old’s contract at Ewood Park being set to expire at the end of this season, it is reported that the Saints will pay £15m to sign him this summer, with The Athletic’s Dan Sheldon suggesting that, with personal terms agreed, the former Newcastle United marksman will complete a medical today ahead of his permanent move and will join on a four-year deal.

Will Armstrong be a good signing?

If Armstrong can replicate his form from recent seasons with Blackburn, then he will surely prove to be a huge success in Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side.

Whilst he has big boots to fill after Ings’ departure, he and Adams could form an excellent partnership up front, with the likes of Armando Broja and Nathan Tella also providing competition in attack.

Last season saw Armstrong contribute a monumental haul of 28 goals and five assists in 40 Championship appearances, averaging a superb 7.15 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

Although he has made just 15 appearances in the Premier League in his career, the striker’s performances last season suggest that he is ready to make a more lasting step up to the top flight, and there seems little to suggest that he won’t be a consistent goalscorer for the Saints over the next few seasons.

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Southampton fans may need to give him time to settle into his new surroundings and adjust to the higher demands of the Premier League, but they will surely be delighted that the club has worked so quickly to bring in Armstrong and Broja as replacements for Ings ahead of their opening Premier League fixture against Everton this weekend.

In other news… Southampton can sign their next Pelle in £15.3m-rated beast hailed by Thierry Henry