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Tottenham goalkeeper Joe Hart is willing to take a pay cut to join Celtic, according to Football Insider.

The Lowdown: Hart not Postecoglou’s target

Links to Hart emerged last week via transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

He claimed that both clubs have opened talks over a deal for the 34-year-old, with reports elsewhere claiming Ange Postecoglou hasn’t requested the signing of Hart.

Sky Sports picked up on the story on Thursday, claiming the Hoops have approached Spurs for Hart, and 48 hours on, Football Insider shared a further development on Saturday.

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The Latest: Source shares update

A Celtic source informed Football Insider that the Hoops have been given encouragement over a deal for Hart.

The Spurs man, thought to be on £30,000-a-week in north London, is willing to accept a drop in salary ahead of a potential move to Parkhead.

The Verdict: A gamble?

With Hart seemingly not Postecoglou’s target, a move for the experienced ‘keeper could be a gamble.

He’s made just 13 appearances in the last two seasons for Burnley and Tottenham, so may not arrive in Scotland at his top level.

Postecoglou has already used Vasilis Barkas and Scott Bain in his first three competitive games in charge and he’s still looking for his first clean sheet as Hoops boss.

Bringing in Hart, who has plenty of experience in the Premier League, appears a smart move on paper, but due to his lack of game time, it could take him a while to get up to scratch.

In other news: ‘Worst of the lot’, ‘Waste of a jersey’ – Many Celtic fans slam ‘imposter’ who ‘needs sacked’.

Former Manchester City player Steve Howey rates Bernardo Silva highly, describing him as a “fantastic player.”

Since arriving at the Etihad Stadium, Bernardo has featured in over won three Premier League titles, four League Cups, two Community Shields and added an FA Cup winners’ medal to his collection in 2019.

Whilst he has been a brilliant player for City, there are rumours linking him with a move away this summer, with the Daily Mail reporting that La Liga champions Atletico Madrid and Barcelona are interested in his signature.

On a potential move, Howey told Transfer Tavern: “You’ve seen his performances whilst he’s been at City, you know, a fantastic player.

“I think technically playing in La Liga will probably suit him as well, so I think it could be a move which could suit all parties, but ultimately, only if Man City get the money that they want for him.”

Bernardo Silva offers versatility to his game as he is comfortable operating as an attacking midfielder and also has played off the right-wing in the past for the Cityzens.

The arrival of Jack Grealish this week has added further competition for places in Pep Guardiola’s midfield, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if a player like Bernardo Silva was sold this summer.

Transfermarkt value the versatile 26-year-old at £63m and so, if Atletico Madrid or Barcelona want to complete a move for him, they are going to have to make a substantial offer for City to agree to a sale.

Celtic have opened new discussions with Ryan Christie over the possibility of him signing a new deal at Parkhead, according to The Scottish Sun.

The Lowdown: Celtic build their way into the 2021/22 season

With 2021/22 in full swing, Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou will be evaluating all avenues to ensure that the best quality possible is at his disposal as the new campaign progresses.

In terms of acquisitions, the Aussie has managed to bring in seven additions in the form of James McCarthy, Liel Abada, Joe Hart, Carl Starfelt, Kyogo Furuhashi, Liam Shaw and Osaze Urhoghide [Transfermarkt].

However, he could now be set to carry out another important piece of business from an internal perspective following recent developments.

The Latest: Celtic re-open contract talks with Ryan Christie

The Celtic Park hierarchy are said to have re-opened talks with Christie over the prospect of extending his stay in Glasgow [The Scottish Sun].

There had been previous negotiations in 2020/21, but no such agreement has yet been finalised.

The 26-year-old has yet to receive a concrete offer from the Hoops, whilst he is free to talk to other clubs ahead of his January contract expiry, with Crystal Palace, Burnley and Nice waiting in the wings.

Despite this, the 1.78m (5 foot 10) Scotland international is reportedly open to staying at Celtic and has enjoyed his time working under Postecoglou in recent weeks.

The Verdict: Celtic should look to tie down Christie as soon as possible

Needing to safeguard every inch of attacking intuition moving forward, this news should come as a massive boost to Celtic supporters.

Fitting seamlessly into his manager’s pressing style of football, Christie has again shown why he is one of the most highly-regarded players in his native country. Starting off the 2021/22 season tremendously, he has delivered four goal contributions from five appearances, with one goal and three assists [Transfermarkt].

In his limited time on the pitch so far this year, Christie has been a constant thorn in opposition defences at Premiership level, making nine key passes in the Hoops’ two league games so far [WhoScored].

Once labelled as “a manager’s dream” by Celtic icon Chris Sutton [Daily Record], the Bhoys should do everything in their power to tie down the 26-year-old before it is too late.

In other news, Celtic have suffered a blow in the pursuit of a reported target.

Michael Stewart has predicted Glasgow Rangers will need to sell players after failing to reach the group stages of the Champions League.

The Lowdown: Gers receive CL blow

After winning the Premiership last term, the Gers will have been hopeful of reaching this season’s Champions League group stages and securing the financial boost which comes along with that.

However, they fell at the first hurdle, losing 4-2 on aggregate to Malmo in the third qualifying round.

The Latest: Stewart makes prediction

Taking to Twitter following the 55-time Scottish champions’ defeat to the Swedish side, Stewart wrote:

“Champions League money isn’t coming into Ibrox and surely that’ll mean they need to sell players to try and balance this years accounts. Which will obviously have an impact on the team on the pitch.”

The Verdict: Harsh but true

While this is something that many Rangers fans will not want to hear, it may unfortunately come to pass. Several Gers players have the ability to play at a higher level – Glen Kamara (Transfermarkt) and Alfredo Morelos, for example, competed at Euro 2020 and the Copa America respectively this summer and are entering the prime years of their career.

Neither have appeared in the Champions League before these two matches – they will likely want to play on that stage regularly.

Perhaps the one saving grace in some cases is that, if the Gers win the Premiership again this season, they will automatically receive a spot in the group stages of Europe’s premier club competition. Therefore, some of their top players may decide to give it one last chance at Ibrox.

In other news, Rangers fans were livid at this SPFL move.

Celtic have agreed on a fee with Legia Warsaw for Josip Juranovic, according to Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas.

The Lowdown: Juranovic profiled

Juranovic, who stands at 5 foot 7, has only been with his current employers for just over 12 months.

He’s made 40 appearances for Warsaw during that time, winning the Ekstraklasa last season.

The 26-year-old has turned out as a right-midfielder in all six of his starts during the current campaign and is also capable of playing as a right-back and a centre-back.

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The Latest: Thomas’ post

Sky Sports reporter Thomas has been on top of Celtic’s pursuit of Juranovic in recent days and took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to provide an update.

He admitted that a £2.5m fee between the two clubs has been agreed on, with finer details of a move and personal terms now being discussed.

The Verdict: McKay onto a winner

It seems as if Dominic McKay is about to land a versatile player for Ange Postecoglou who turned out at Euro 2020 for just £2.5m.

On paper, it seems to be smart business, especially with Postecoglou wanting a right-back and a winger before the end of the window.

Juranovic can play in both of those positions, so you’d expect him to rival Anthony Ralston and possibly push for a place on the right-hand side of midfield in Postecoglou’s 4-2-3-1 system, should a move officially go through.

In other news: Sky Sports reporter: Celtic now won’t sign right-back who pleaded for Hoops move. 

An update has emerged on Lille forward Jonathan Bamba, regarding West Ham’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to journalist Fabrice Hawkins, via Get Football News France, West Ham, Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta are all interested in signing Lille forward Jonathan Bamba.

The report claims all three sides are keeping tabs on the Frenchman ahead of a potential transfer, with the window set to close in less than two weeks.

Fans would love him

GSB must look to seal a deal for Bamba before the end of the month as he could be an exciting addition to the squad. There is no harm in trying, so West Ham must swoop in and make an offer for the winger to test Lille’s resolve in the coming days to see if it is possible to bring him to England.

Bamba enjoyed a terrific season last term as he was directly involved in 16 goals for the French club. He produced seven goals and nine assists across Ligue 1 and the Europa League, averaging a WhoScored rating of 7.07 in the former.

Said Benrahma’s tally of six was the most assists that any West Ham midfielder or attacker managed in the Premier League last season. This suggests that Bamba’s creativity could provide a boost to David Moyes’ squad, as he has proven he has the quality to regularly create chances in Ligue 1.

Lille boss Christophe Galtier hailed Bamba as important during the 2020/21 campaign. He said: “Jonathan’s been in fantastic form at the start of this season. Full credit to him. Jo’s on the pitch more often than not, and if that’s the case, it’s because he’s an important player for the team.”

Bamba also averaged 1.7 key passes per game for Lille last term, more than any West Ham player was able to manage. This further goes to show the level of ability he could bring to the London Stadium and why Hammers fans would love him.

The wing wizard can get supporters off their seats with his energetic displays whilst also having the end product to match his skill, which means he could create chances for the likes of Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen.

Of course, it is impossible to predict whether or not Bamba would be able to translate his form over from France to England, but his statistics for Lille suggest that he would have a very, very good chance of being able to make an impact.

West Ham must look to get this deal done.

AND in other news, Get it done: West Ham must sanction deal for “dominant” £25m beast, Moyes needs him…

Former Premier League striker Nigel Jemson believes that his beloved Liverpool could potentially make a move for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, provided they can drive his asking price down.

The Poland international has reportedly informed Bayern that he would like to embark on a new challenge in the summer transfer window.

Sky Sports reports that the striker has been valued at £100m in this transfer window, a price that is likely to make any transfer remarkably difficult in this market.

He is, of course, a legendary figure who has been nothing short of sensational for the Bavarian giants.

Lewandowski has scored 298 goals in 332 appearances for Bayern, and has also laid on 65 assists.

That is 363 goal involvements, and he has also won multiple trophies during his time in Germany.

He has won the Bundesliga nine times, including his time with Borussia Dortmund, and has also lifted the German Cup four times, the Champions League once, as well as the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

And Jemson believes that Liverpool should do their best to bring his price down to around £60m and make a move to sign him this summer.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, he said: “You’ve also got Lewandowski. That’s come up that he wants a new challenge but the price tag of £100 million or something like that for a 33-year-old, I think that’s going to scupper any move to the Premier League, I don’t think anybody’s going to pay that sort of money but if you could nick him for £60 million, I think people would be very interested then.”

West Ham manager David Moyes pulled the plug on the club’s pursuit of Fiorentina defender Nikola Milenkovic, reporter Jack Rosser has told Football FanCast.

Milenkovic became a target for West Ham after the east London outfit initially faced difficulties in trying to sign Kurt Zouma from Chelsea.

However, after agreeing a £29.8m fee with their London rivals, West Ham eventually managed to land Zouma on a four-year deal.

And Rosser has revealed that the Hammers turned back to the Frenchman after also encountering problems in their attempts to sign Milenkovic, who has since signed a new contract at the Artemio Franchi Stadium.

“When it comes to transfers, the money’s there. The board have given him [Moyes] the money,” the Evening Standard journalist said. “They’ve also given him the final say, so by the sounds of it, Milenkovic was an option they went to after Zouma.

“They tried with Zouma but it didn’t come off initially, went to Milenkovic and that sort of stalled and dallied a bit, had some problems with agents and Moyes then sort of had a change of heart. He decided to pull the plug and focus everything back on Zouma, which paid off.”

As he discussed Zouma in his pre-match press confrence ahead of West Ham’s recent 2-2- draw with Crystal Palace, Moyes stressed the need to add a fourth centre-back to the squad, so he will undoubtedly be delighted with the addition of the France international.

The Hammers’ new signing arrives with plenty of top-flight experience and an impressive honours list having won both the Premier League and Champions League during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Despite being heavily linked with a move away from Manchester City earlier in the window, it now looks as if Bernardo Silva is set to remain at the Etihad.

What’s the word?

It was widely reported that the former AS Monaco man was keen on a move away from the Citizens this summer, especially after City confirmed the £100m signing of Jack Grealish, with the Englishman seemingly set to take Silva’s place in the starting eleven.

Pep Guardiola’s side were clearly keen to cash in on some first-team players in order to raise enough money to bring Harry Kane to the Etihad and Silva seemed a prime candidate to leave, with AC Milan amongst the sides said to be interested in signing him.

However, after Kane confirmed he would be staying with Spurs this summer, it now looks as if Silva will remain a Manchester City player, with Portuguese journalist David Novo (via SI), claiming that there is a strong possibility that he won’t depart before Tuesday evening’s transfer deadline.

A boost for Manchester City?

Kevin De Bruyne’s injury has perhaps played a factor in Bernardo Silva starting two of City’s three games in the Premier League this season and whilst it is early days, the skilful midfielder is showing signs of the form he produced in the 2018/19 campaign when he was named in the PFA Team of the Year after helping City to the title.

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Last season saw the 27-year-old manage just two goals in 26 top-flight appearances but he was excellent in both of the 5-0 wins against Norwich City and Arsenal, with Guardiola singing his praises after the game, saying:

“Bernardo in his mind is happy – happy in his life and what a player.

“The year we won the Premier League with 98 points, he was the best player in the Premier League.

“All I want is his happiness. He can play in different positions. He always plays good and today he played exceptional again.”

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Although the Portuguese maestro might lose his regular starting spot when the likes of De Bruyne and Phil Foden return to full fitness, there is no doubting Silva’s quality when he is on form, and Guardiola would surely be delighted to keep him in his squad this season, so it seems unlikely, after this journalist’s update, that he will depart before the deadline.

And, in other news… Man City handed huge boost with “incredible” beast,  Pep will be buzzing

Aston Villa midfielder Conor Hourihane wasn’t interested in joining Birmingham City this summer after they showed an interest in him, according to Gregg Evans.

As to be expected, the transfer claim has had a number of Villa fans talking on social media.

Hourihane left Villa Park late in the transfer window to sign for Sheffield United on a season-long loan. His £30,000-a-week contract expires at the end of the season, so Dean Smith’s side may have seen the last of the 30-year-old in a Villa shirt.

However, a move to Bramall Lane wasn’t the only option that the central midfielder had in recent weeks. According to Evans, who was speaking on the 1874 podcast, as cited by This is Futbol, Villa’s city rivals Birmingham also showed an interest in Hourihane, with the journalist believing that the Republic of Ireland midfielder had no interest in a move to St Andrew’s.

He claimed: “Birmingham City tried to get him. They were interested in signing him. I don’t think he would have [joined them].

“I don’t think he was interested in doing that move purely because of what happened with Jack [Grealish], with the punching incident and the history. I just couldn’t see him ever been a Birmingham City player, but they certainly wanted him.”

Villa fans react

@Total_Villa shared Evans’ claim about Hourihane on Twitter on Saturday afternoon. Here is what these Villa fans had to say in reply, with many loving the Irishman’s apparent stance on their local rivals.

“One of us”

Credit: @ClaretVillans

“Villa legend”

Credit: @tom_comerford2

“Can I love this man anymore? @ConorHourihane you’re a king”

Credit: @EllisDennantAV

“What a guy”

Credit: @LukeKing_

“my cult hero”

Credit: @satriordz

“Some boy man”

Credit: @iMozza32

In other news: Aston Villa announce the signing of ‘creative’ free agent; he has the same agency as Konsa and Steer.