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Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard has been linked with numerous clubs since the start of the current campaign.

Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus reportedly joined the race for the Frenchman towards the end of 2020, with Arsenal, Aston Villa and Leicester City also keen on the 23-year-old.

Surprise Edouard twist; Celtic stance revealed

Reports earlier this month even claimed that the Foxes were closing in on a £15m deal for the Celtic star, however, Eurosport have now provided an update on the player’s future.

They claim that despite all the rumours, there is actually little concrete interest in Edouard, with an expected tussle for his services not yet materialising. The report name checks Leicester as seeing Edouard as a potential option for their front line in the future, though.

Eurosport also add that Celtic are not looking to sell the striker and won’t be disheartened by the lack of firm interest.

Transfer Tavern take

With interested clubs reportedly not convinced Edouard is worth £20m, the Hoops could be in for an interesting summer.

The forward’s deal will have just 12 months left to run during the summer window, so should he remain at the club and refuse to sign a new deal, Celtic could end up losing the player for nothing in 2022.

There’s plenty of time to go until we get to that stage, but at the minute, it doesn’t appear as if the Hoops will receive a fee above the £20m mark.

In other news: Celtic stalling over deal for in-demand winger due to off-field vacancies, find out more here. 

With the end of the season very quickly approaching, Celtic supporters will be able to breathe a huge sigh of relief. Neil Lennon is finally gone and, with that, they’ll be able to reset ahead of a new campaign.

They are on the verge of losing the Premiership crown to their biggest rivals and thus, a significant change could be on the cards.

Lennon and Peter Lawwell will have departed but their club captain, Scott Brown, may also be heading through the exit door.

The 35-year-old is an icon at Parkhead but his contract is expiring in the summer. We’re yet to receive word about whether he could renew his terms but it’s looking increasingly unlikely.

It could well come down to whoever the new manager is. One man who reportedly wants the job is former Huddersfield boss David Wagner.

Given the style of football the 49-year-old plays, it wouldn’t exactly be ideal for the current skipper. That’s because not only does the ex-Schalke manager like free-flowing offensive football, but he also likes his team to press relentlessly.

Brown has recently enjoyed a mini-revival in the Celtic side. He was superb in the 4-0 win over Kilmarnock last month, scoring and assisting. He also rolled back the years with a commanding display in another 4-0 victory over St Mirren.

Yet, it’s clear that Brown’s overall qualities have diminished somewhat. He has looked sluggish for the most part this season and has been guilty of a number of errors. As the Hoops were battered and bruised in Prague last autumn, the Scot was arguably one of their main culprits.

He was given the runaround in midfield and then reacted far too slowly for the opening goal, failing to clear his lines from a corner. His red card after being on the pitch for just five minutes against Livingston was also a low point.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-celtic-manager-hunt-stories-wagner-marsch-martinez-lennon-news” title=”The last stories on Celtic’s hunt for a new manager!”]

Judging by his age and indeed some of his performances this term, he would surely struggle under Wagner’s style of play. The German likes his teams to play at breakneck speed, hassling and pressing opponents relentlessly.

It’s a style he has used to his advantage on British shores before, achieving a “phenomenal thing” according to Don Goodman on Sky Sports’ match coverage of Huddersfield a few years ago. Indeed, he managed to get the Yorkshire side promoted from the Championship to the Premier League.

He is bred from the Ralf Rangnick school of football, basing his philosophy on the modern-day press. That requires players to hunt in packs to win the ball back within a matter of seconds of losing it.

For Brown, a man now in his mid-30s, this wouldn’t be perfect. The veteran has already lost a yard of pace and to expect him to play at full throttle each week would be near impossible.

With that in mind, hiring Wagner could finally give the Bhoys the armoury to wave farewell to his playing days.

AND in other news, Celtic gem makes big U-turn on his future, it’s good news for the Hoops…

According to recent reports, Victor Orta and Leeds United have targeted Ruben Amorim as the club’s next manager – should Marcelo Bielsa walk away from the Whites this summer.

Reports from Portugal, as cited by Leeds Live, claim that the Sporting CP manager is viewed by Leeds as a potential replacement for Bielsa, whose contract expires at Elland Road this summer.

While the 65-year-old Leeds manager has confirmed he will inform the club of whether or not he plans to stay on longer than his current deal before the summer – as yet, there are no reports that a deal has been discussed between the Argentine and Orta.

As a result, Portuguese journalist, Bruno Andrade, has claimed that Amorim is one of the candidates Orta has lined up as a potential replacement for Bielsa, should he indeed depart Leeds at the end of their current campaign.

Transfer Tavern Take

While it still feels as if Bielsa’s job is unfinished at Leeds, as the newly-promoted side currently occupy 11th place in the Premier League standings despite the lingering feeling that they have not yet hit their ceiling, the previous unpredictability of the 65-year-old very much leaves the possibility of his departure this summer as entirely plausible.

And, considering the 37-year-old Amorim has impressed during his short time in charge of Sporting, losing just four of his 40 matches at the helm of the Portuguese side, he would very much appear to be an enticing prospect in the event that Bielsa does walk away.

In other news, Phil Hay shed light on this Leeds star’s contract details – find out more here!

Journalist Alan Nixon has recently issued an update about Rangers’ interest in Preston North End’s Ben Davies.

While Football Insider had recently stated that Rangers had made a ‘significant’ offer to sign Davies on a pre-contract basis in the summer, Nixon has claimed the complete opposite about the Preston defender and his links with a move to Ibrox.

Rangers yet to make Davies offer

Alan Nixon tweeted about Rangers’ interest in Davies when a fan asked him about the player’s situation. He revealed “there’s no Rangers pre contract offer for Davies”, despite claims from Football Insider that an offer has been made.

It has also been stated that Rangers are competing with their Old Firm rivals and English clubs for Davies’ signature.

Davies has made 16 Championship appearances for Preston this season, coming up with one assist so far. All of his appearances have come from the centre-back position this season (as per Transfermarkt).

The 25-year-old is currently valued at £2.16m by Transfermarkt and he has been described as a player who is comfortable on the ball and confident in the air.

Davies could be a good signing for Rangers

With Nikola Katic injured and George Edmundson seemingly on the way out, Steven Gerrard only has three centre-back options in the team – Leon Balogun, Filip Helander and Conor Goldson.

Davies would add depth and ability to that position and his versatility – he can play either centre-back role or at left-back – would also be an extra reason why the Ibrox side would benefit from signing him.

In other news, Rangers are eyeing another Championship star – read more here.

When it rains, it pours.

That’s what Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg quickly found out on Wednesday evening after the north London outfit were dumped out of the FA Cup by Everton in extra time.

And uncharacteristically, the Danish powerhouse was way off it at Goodison Park.

As Football FanCast outlined last month, the 25-year-old dubbed a ‘captain without the armband’ has arguably been Tottenham’s signing of the season so far but last night he was shocking in every sense.

Only Hugo Lloris (6.0) received a worse rating than Hojbjerg (6.1) as per SofaScore ratings, and it’s easy to see why.

The £27m-rated midfielder endured an absolute horror show – he was sloppy in possession for the Toffees’ opener as he gave the ball away in a dangerous position only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to slot home and then he committed the all too familiar sin of conceding a penalty by clumsily tripping up the talismanic striker.

Hojbjerg was also dribbled past a whopping five times, more than anyone else on the pitch. He’s usually a hard man to bypass in that engine room having averaged 2.7 tackles per game as well as only being dribbled past 1.8 times per match in the Premier League, via WhoScored.

He was even careless with the ball, losing possession 20 times, which was the second-most of any Spurs player on the night. Again, this is awfully unlike the Denmark international as that’s double his average (10.8) for the top-flight campaign so far.

It’s no wonder the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick graded his performance a 4/10 in his post-match ratings column, and he dubbed him ‘sloppy and uncharacteristic.’

Everything usually runs through Hojbjerg in the middle of the pitch – his match-high 135 touches would certainly reinforce that – but he was far too weak as he also won only 58% of his duels, often losing out to the Toffees’ playmaker Gylfi Sigurdsson and his supporting cast, Tom Davies and Abdoulaye Doucoure, whom all graded 6.8 or better as per SofaScore ratings.

As evident above, it was quite a nightmare for Hojbjerg – rare, but totally unneeded.

AND in other news, this £18m-rated liability badly let Mourinho down…

With just two wins from their last ten outings, Wolves are stuck in a diabolical rut.

Fears of relegation are suddenly looming for those at Molineux but with the transfer window open, they have an opportunity to turn their fortunes around.

What’s the word?

Last month, it was reported that Wolves were interested in signing Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard.

Claims stated that Jeff Shi’s club were willing to bid for the Frenchman, with a potential €20m (£18m) offer on the table.

However, new information has circulated suggesting that although the Scottish side have softened their stance on Edouard, it will take a much larger fee to secure his services.

Journalist Ignazio Genuardi said last week: “While no agreement could be reached for an extension, Celtic is gradually revising its requirements downwards for a possible departure of the former Parisian Edouard. Today, there is more talk of a price around €25-30m.”

In English money, that fee would equate to around £27m.

Sign him up

This would be phenomenal business from Wolves if they can find the cash to supplement a deal. Edouard is an exceptional talent and has become a genuine all-round goal scorer at Celtic.

Of course, the Scottish Premiership is a class below the Premier League but you only need to look at the way Kieran Tierney and Virgil van Dijk have stepped seamlessly into life in England following moves from Glasgow to see that players who succeed in Scotland can do well south of the border.

The latter has become a Premier League and Champions League winner while Tierney is among the best players in the Arsenal side in terms of chance creation this season.

Unlike those two players, however, Edouard is capable of scoring a bucket load of goals, something Wolves are missing in abundance. Since Raul Jimenez fractured his skull, Nuno’s team have scored three goals in one game just once.

They are clearly struggling without him and thus, the addition of a top-quality striker in January would go a long way to salvaging something from their season.

Edouard has scored 11 goals this term and registered a mighty haul of 28 strikes last season. Crucially, though, is his ability to bring others into play, just as Jimenez does.

In 2019/20, the 22-year-old picked up 19 assists for his troubles. He is the complete striker and can cause all sorts of problems for defenders.

His former coach Jean-Claude Giuntini once said: “He [Edouard] had the confidence and the obsession with scoring all great strikers need. He never doubts his qualities. But this behaviour can create panic – for the opposition defenders.”

It’s a rave review for the young forward who is currently making waves in Scotland. In the words of Frank McGarvey, he has “magic in his feet.”

Fabio Silva did score his first Wolves goal from open play on Saturday but despite his record-breaking move, he looks far from confident in front of goal.

Thus, with Jimenez out and the Old Gold requiring an instant injection of goals, Edouard could certainly save their season.

At present, they are 14th in the table. After two consecutive seasons finishing in the top half, that is not good enough. Shi needs to bring the youngster to Wolves.

AND in other news, Worse than Coady: Wolves star who made just 1 tackle all game betrayed Nuno…

Manchester City return to Premier League action on Sunday as they take on Chelsea away from home.

The Citizens’ last game against Everton was postponed after an outbreak of the virus in the Manchester City squad but with Pep Guardiola’s side having returned to training earlier this week after posting no new cases, there seems no current reason why Sunday’s game at Stamford Bridge won’t go ahead.

City haven’t lost in any competition since the game against Tottenham Hotspur in November, whilst Chelsea have picked up just one point from their last two games against Arsenal and Aston Villa respectively.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects City to line up against Chelsea on Sunday, with two changes from the starting side that beat Newcastle…

Unsurprisingly, City’s defence stays the same, with Guardiola’s side having now picked up eight clean sheets in their last 10 fixtures in all competitions, with the partnership of Ruben Dias and John Stones working wonders at the back.

Full-backs Joao Cancelo and Nathan Ake will be hoping to pick up where they left off against Newcastle, with Kyle Walker still unavailable for this fixture.

There’s one change on the wing, as Phil Foden replaces Bernardo Silva, with the Portuguese winger still without a goal or an assist in the Premier League this season and the young Englishman, once labelled a “magician” by Guardiola, warranting a start after his superb performances in the Champions League and Carabao Cup recently.

He starts alongside Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling, both of whom will be key if City are to leave Stamford Bridge with three points on Sunday.

Finally, despite his goal last time out, Ferran Torres drops to the bench, with Sergio Aguero no doubt keen to continue his excellent goal record against Frank Lampard’s side, having scored 15 goals against the Blues in his career, which is the joint-most of any team.

If Guardiola’s side can pick up all three points on Sunday, it would put their title charge well and truly back on track.

And, in other news, Man City must seal transfer swoop for 20 y/o wonderkid who tore Real Madrid apart…

After enjoying a superb start to life at Aston Villa, it was particularly galling to see Ross Barkley having to limp off after the opening moments of the defeat to Brighton with a suspected injury.

Now, The Express and Star have revealed that the England international is set to miss the next two weeks of action with that hamstring issue, and that whilst it isn’t too serious, he is now expected to sit out the games against West Ham and Newcastle – at the moment, the Midlands derby against Wolves at Molineux on December 12 is penciled in as being Barkley’s earliest possible return date.

Until then, Smith will have to look within his squad for a potential replacement, and he’ll be scratching his head at the lack of true options he has in that number ten role.

He could move Jack Grealish inside as a stop-gap for now, and that would open up a role out wide. If so, if the Villa boss were to move Trezeguet to the left-hand side where he has played for the majority of his career, then it could give Bertrand Traore the chance to finally show his worth.

Since arriving from Lyon in the summer, the Burkina Faso international has struggled to get consistent game-time, and has only shown flashes of the “immense talent” that Smith hailed him for.

He did however pick up a beauty of an assist for Ezri Konsa’s goal at the weekend after coming on as Barkley’s replacement, and whilst Villa may have ended up slipping to a defeat, Traore on a more personal note may have seen his confidence restored.

That could be huge for a Villa side who are no doubt desperate to get back to winning ways as soon as possible. It could be the kind of game-changing introduction that gets the club’s summer signing firing on all cylinders.

Kevin Phillips believes that Glasgow Rangers goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin will be regretting his move to Ibrox in the summer.

McLaughlin regretting switch

The 32-year-old made the move to the Gers from Sunderland during the summer on a free transfer. So far this campaign, he has made ten appearances in all competitions, keeping nine clean sheets. Allan McGregor, though, remains Steven Gerrard’s number one shot-stopper.

Speaking to Football Insider, Phillips says he believes McLaughlin will wish he stayed with The Black Cats. He said:

“It is a tough one for McLaughlin.

“When a huge club like Rangers come calling it is very hard to turn them down but any player in his situation will know that he needs to be playing football.

“The Euros are fast approaching and he will think he has got an opportunity of getting into that squad. But he needs to play football to cement his place in Steve Clarke’s plans.

“I think he will have a slight regret because if he was at Sunderland he would of course be playing week in, week out.

“Come January he might try and get a loan move somewhere because he will want to play regular football to keep his place in that Scotland squad.”

Long-term plus

Of course, McLaughlin would rather be playing every week than playing second fiddle to McGregor, who is 38 years old, and the back-up option has proven that he is more than reliable between the sticks. However, in the long-term, he should be happier north of the border than in Sunderland.

McGregor does not have too long left in his career, and you would guess that he may even think about hanging up his gloves if the Gers are successful this campaign in their quest for major silverware. McLaughlin should be in the Scotland squad irregardless of what happens this term, and he was always likely to be second choice for the Tartan Army behind David Marshall anyway. With Rangers, he has a real chance of winning trophies in the future, something that would not be the case in the north-east of England. Called “impressive” by Portsmouth’s Jamal Lowe last season, he certainly has the ability to play a big role for Gerrard.

For McLaughlin, it is about biding his time and remaining patient. For that, he will most likely be rewarded.

In other news, Rangers eye move for this Champions League man.

Celtic’s run of poor form continued after they failed to come away with a result in their most recent Europa League fixture. The Hoops were dealt another loss on home soil after AC Milan hit them for three following another disappointing defensive display.

With the news of Christopher Jullien’s back injury proving to be worse than expected, Neil Lennon will be without the centre-back for their trip to Aberdeen this afternoon. After losing two games on the bounce and shipping five goals in that time, it’s imperative that the 49-year-old pulls off a masterclass in order to get his side back to winning ways.

Football FanCast has predicted how Celtic might line up to face the Dons…

After concerns were raised over Vasilis Barkas’ recent performances, Lennon may have his hand forced when it comes to this afternoon’s selection. Scott Bain has made just one appearance in Celtic colours this season but it came during their 5-1 win over Hamilton in their opening fixture. With a lot of pressure on his shoulders to rectify his side’s form, the 28-year-old could put in a solid display between the posts.

After a lacklustre performance from Leigh Griffiths as Lennon’s lone striker against Ajax, it’ll be very unlikely if he starts against Aberdeen. Both he and Albian Ajeti earned poor Sofascore ratings and can be expected to be dropped in place of Mohamed Elyounoussi and Patryk Klimala.

The Saints loanee came on and immediately made an impact, scoring Celtic’s only goal of the game. Fellow substitute Ryan Christie provided the assist, and should therefore be placed in the starting lineup instead of Olivier Ntcham in the midfield.

It will be a tough ask for the Hoops to restore their winning streak, especially against Aberdeen who are just three points behind them in the league. Thanks to their Old Firm loss, bitter rivals Rangers have extended their lead at the top of the table and are now four points clear. Three points will be the only thing on Lennon’s mind, as they look to show the Gers who should be at the top.

In other news, Celtic suffer blow ahead of Aberdeen as Odsonne Edouard not likely to feature…