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Leeds United have been in contact with AC Milan regarding a potential move for Charles De Ketelaere, according to TEAMtalk.

The Lowdown: Summer saga

De Ketelaere, labelled as ‘special’ by talent scout Jacek Kulig, was a key Elland Road target over the summer, with Andrea Radrizzani admitting that the club agreed on a €40m fee with Club Brugge.

However, the Belgium international, who is currently at the World Cup, ended up moving to AC Milan. The 21-year-old has struggled in Italy, though, failing to score in 18 appearances in all competitions, but it seems as if the Whites are still keen.

The Latest: Fresh rumour

TEAMtalk reporter James Marshment shared a story on Wednesday regarding Leeds and De Ketelaere. He revealed that the Whites have been in contact with AC Milan and have asked to be kept in the loop regarding the versatile forward.

Victor Orta and Jesse Marsch remain big fans and would be keen on a move if Milan made him available for transfer, even if that meant on loan.

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The Verdict: Unlikely?

It seems as if Milan are happy to remain patient for De Ketelaere to come good in Italy, so it seems as if a move to Yorkshire is extremely unlikely.

Orta and Marsch could do with an attacking addition in the New Year, though, with Patrick Bamford struggling for form and fitness in 2022.

His last competitive goal game over 12 months ago now, so signing a new forward could help take the pressure off the likes of Rodrigo and Crysencio Summerville, but it doesn’t look as if that will be De Ketelaere.

Manchester City would be the “obvious landing spot” for Lionel Messi if he was to depart the French Champions at the end of his contract in the summer.

The Lowdown: The unthinkable?

In wake of Barcelona’s financial blunders, the Argentine, who is currently representing his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, put pen to paper on a 2-year deal with PSG back in the summer of 2021. 

The first season appeared to be a challenging transition for the 35-year-old, despite his haul of 20 attacking returns from 26 appearances in the form of six goals and 14 assists in Ligue 1 – testament to the exceedingly high expectations set in Spain.

Just a couple of years ago, hardly anyone would have predicted Messi to switch teams, yet it happened. 

The new scenario could be Messi plying his trade in the Premier League.

His contract set to expire in 2023 and with the Argentine still performing exceptionally, it is now a move that cannot really be ruled out.

The Latest: City or nothing

According to transfer reporter Dean Jones, if Messi is to make the “mooted’ switch to England’s top flight, a reunion with former boss Pep Guardiola at Manchester City would be the “obvious landing spot.”

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said:  “We’d all love to see Messi in the Premier League, and it’s been mooted for years that it could happen.

“If it was to happen then Man City and Pep is the most obvious landing spot.”

The Verdict: As realistic as ever

Despite the fact that Messi is now well into his thirties, the megastar is showing glimpses of his old self, registering a sensational return of 17 goal contributions across 13 Ligue 1 games in the form of seven goals and 10 assists. 

There are certainly no signs of slowing down just yet, so a move to England cannot be ruled out, especially with his contract ticking down.

This is the safest move that £670k-per-week Messi can make if he wants to ply his trade in England.

It would arguably be a more seamless transition than the bed in period he endured in France, with Pep’s tiki-taka, mass-possession style suiting the Argentine icon down to a tee, with both cut from the same Barcelona cloth.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has earned plaudits for his work ethic at the club by pundit and former Hoops striker Frank McAvennie. 

The Lowdown: Celtic’s domination

Since arriving at Parkhead in the summer of 2021, the 57-year-old has transformed Celtic into an even more progressive and aesthetically pleasing side along their way to reclaiming the Premiership title last season. 

Averaging just under 70% possession this season, Postecoglou’s brand of Pep Guardiola-esque football has arguably transcended anything ever seen in the Scottish top flight, with the Australian’s winning mentality a key factor in the Hoops’ recent domination in their homeland. 

The Latest: McAvennie praises Postecoglou approach

McAvennie has been impressed with Postecoglou’s relentless efforts in seeking improvement within the Celtic squad through his approach to getting transfer business completed early. 

Speaking to Football Insider, the 62-year-old said: “What he is saying now is that he is going to use this time now that they are back from Sydney to identify players for the summer.

“That is a massive a difference from what Celtic used to be like. They would not buy a player until they had made sure they got into the Champions League.

“It is an incredible turnaround so well played to Ange, that is brilliant.”

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The Verdict: Perfect from Postecoglou

Postecoglou has been near-perfect at Celtic since swapping the J-League for the Scottish Premiership. 

The 57-year-old has lost just 16 games from the 83 he has overseen at Parkhead, clocking up an impressive win percentage of around 70% in the process. 

Having already signed Japanese defender Yuki Kobayashi from Vissel Kobe last week ahead of his January arrival, the Hoops have also agreed a fee with Montreal defender Alistair Johnston, who looks set to join up with the squad in that month too if all goes to plan. 

Celtic are constantly seeking improvement under the guidance of Postecoglou, so McAvennie is right to give the Australian his plaudits for the work done so far, especially in terms of getting some mid-season transfer business boxed off in very good time.

Manchester United have been named alongside Premier League rivals Leeds United in the race to sign Torino midfielder Sasa Lukic.

The Lowdown: Lukic profiled

Lukic is primarily a central midfielder but can also play in more defensive or advanced midfield roles if required. The 26-year-old, who has been labelled ‘outstanding’ by journalist Josh Bunting, has been away with Serbia at the World Cup in Qatar, starting their first two Group G games.

He will soon be entering the final 18 months of his Torino contract, and it seems as if a move to Old Trafford could be a possibility.

The Latest: Man United linked with Lukic

Sport Witness relayed an update from Torino Granata regarding Lukic on Thursday in which the Red Devils were named.

They claimed that Manchester United are interested in the midfielder, who has been followed by domestic rivals Leeds during the World Cup.

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The Verdict: Alongside Gakpo?

Leeds were keen to sign Cody Gakpo in the summer, but it seems as if the Netherlands star could soon be moving to Old Trafford after an ‘agreement in principle’ was reached.

Therefore, the Red Devils could look to pip their rivals to another possible signing in Lukic, who may be seen as a shrewd addition to Erik ten Hag’s midfield.

You could argue that United need more midfield reinforcements, with only two defensive, two central and two attacking midfielders on the books at this moment in time, so the versatile Lukic could bolster all three of those areas at Old Trafford.

Like many of Europe’s elite football clubs, Manchester City are reportedly interested in signing Borussia Dortmund and England sensation Jude Bellingham, and the teenage midfielder could reignite a phenomenal partnership with Erling Haaland if he moves to the Etihad Stadium.

It was reported earlier this month by Football Insider that the Premier League champions could look to cash in on £100m club-record signing Jack Grealish in order to fund a move for Bellingham, who would likely cost any interested suitors around €150m (£129m).

The former Birmingham City gem may well have increased his asking price further with some superb displys at the World Cup with England, averaging a 7.58 rating from WhoScored for his performances after impressing in all five of his appearances in Qatar.

This ranked him as the second-best player in Gareth Southgate’s squad as they fell against France in the quarter-final stage, which emphasises how important he already is to England despite his tender age.

He has also been in fantastic form for Dortmund so far this term, with nine goals and three assists to his name in all competitions for the Bundesliga giants, including four goals in the Champions League group stage.

His performances in Germany’s top flight have seen him average an excellent 7.45 rating from WhoScored, which comfortably ranks him as the best player in Edin Terzic’s squad, while the same rating would see him ranked behind only Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne at Man City.

City are hopeful that Bellingham’s friendship with Haaland could be a deciding factor in his next club, as the two played brilliantly together at Signal Iduna Park last season, with only one player in Dortmund’s squad setting up more goals for the Norweigian striker than the teenage English sensation.

The prospect of having another “generational talent” in Pep Guardiola’s squad – as dubbed by Raphael Honigstein – to play alongside the likes of Haaland and Phil Foden would surely be too good for City to turn down, regardless of the astronomical fee that it will no doubt take to bring Bellingham to the Etihad.

Therefore, Txiki Begiristain should do all that he can to ensure that Bellingham joins Guardiola’s squad in 2023.

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Sander Berge for quite some time, and a new update has emerged from a reliable source regarding the club’s pursuit of the Norwegian.

What’s the latest?

According to journalist Dean Jones, the Reds are “definitely interested” in signing the Sheffield United midfielder in 2023, amid recent links from French publication Jeunes Footeux.

The transfer expert told GIVEMESPORT: “There’s definitely interest here and there’s been an interest for a long, long time. Liverpool have looked at this in the past but he got a pretty serious injury and that was around the time when they probably had the most interest in him.”

Imagine him & Enzo

There is no doubt that Liverpool are in desperate need of reinforcements in midfield, especially after their worst start to a Premier League season in a decade.

The Reds are currently sixth in the table after a run of inconsistent form which has left them 15 points adrift of league leaders Arsenal.

Furthermore, Liverpool have several midfielders who will be out of contract at the end of the season, with Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner all entering the final six months of their deals at Anfield.

As a result, the upcoming transfer window could be the perfect opportunity for Jurgen Klopp to refresh the heart of the Liverpool team, and the prospective signing of Berge could be a major coup.

The £25m-valued Norwegian has been a consistent and reliable performer for Sheffield United since he joined them in 2020, and this season has offered glimpses of how he could be a valuable asset to Klopp.

In 13 Championship appearances, Berge – who was dubbed a “fine talent” by The Athletic’s Richard Sutcliffe – has scored three goals, registered three assists and created four big chances, along with averaging 1.4 key passes, 1.5 shots, 1.3 tackles, 1.5 dribbles completed and 4.1 duels won per game.

Berge isn’t the only midfield talent with whom Liverpool have been linked, with Argentine World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez reportedly close to agreeing a move to Anfield.

The Benfica youngster started five of his country’s seven matches in their route to glory in Qatar, scoring once, creating one big chance, completing 88% of his passes and averaging 0.9 key passes, 3.1 tackles and 5.7 successful duels per game in the tournament.

If FSG can secure the signatures of Berge and Fernandez, it could give Klopp the chance to form a fantastic partnership between the pair, who are both complete midfielders with sound defensive and attacking attributes, as seen from their aforementioned performance metrics.

Signing Berge could be a fantastic move for Liverpool in their pursuit to improve performances on the pitch and build an imposing future midfield partnership at Anfield alongside Fernandez.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have been dealt a huge blow in their bid to bring Matheus Cunha to Molineux in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by the Evening Standard, who claim that, despite Wolves having been heavily linked with a move for the Atletico Madrid centre-forward in recent weeks, the LaLiga side have now offered Chelsea the opportunity to sign the 23-year-old this winter following the loss of Armando Broja to a serious knee injury.

This is sure to have come as a huge blow to Julen Lopetegui, with The Athletic reporting earlier this month that the Old Gold were initially leading the race to sign the 23-year-old this winter – something that would now appear to be in considerable doubt following the potential interest of the Blues.

Bad news for Wolves

Considering just how talented a forward Cunha undoubtedly is, coupled with the fact that Wolves are currently the Premier League side who have scored the least goals this season, the news that Chelsea now look to have entered the race for the striker’s signature this winter is certainly bad news for Lopetegui and his side.

Indeed, despite an underwhelming spell at Atleti – scoring seven goals and providing eight assists over his 54 fixtures for the LaLiga side – the £26m-rated talent proved in his first campaign with Hertha BSC back in 2019/20 just how deadly he can be in the final third, scoring five goals and registering a further two assists over his 11 Bundesliga appearances that season.

The £49k-per-week forward once again caught the eye over his 27 league outings the following season, bagging seven goals, providing five assists and creating six big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 2.3 shots – 1.3 of which hit the target – making 1.8 key passes and completing 3.0 dribbles – the joint second-most in the division – per game.

These returns saw the player who Bruno Labbadia dubbed “special” average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.15, not only ranking him as Hertha’s best performer in the league but also as the joint 26th-best player in the Bundesliga as a whole in 2020/21.

As such, should Lopetegui believe that he can be the manager to help Cunha rediscover his Hertha form, it is undeniable that the Brazilian would make an exceptional addition to Wolves’ current options up top ahead of the second half of the Premier League campaign.

However, following the news that Chelsea – who can offer the Brazilian Champions League football, as well as a considerably bigger salary – could now be interested in the centre-forward, it would appear as if Wolves’ chances of landing the 23-year-old have been dealt a significant blow, which is indeed terrible news for the Spanish manager.

West Ham United finally returned to Premier League action on Monday evening, however, it was largely the same old story for David Moyes and his men at the Emirates Stadium, with Arsenal running out comfortable 3-1 victors.

Indeed, despite taking the lead through Said Benrahma’s 27th-minute penalty, in truth, it never felt as if the Hammers would be able to hold on to all three points, something that a trio of second-half strikes from Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Edward Nketiah made sure of – with Mikel Arteta’s outfit making light work of the Irons’ backline after the break.

However, while it is true that none of the Hammers’ starting XI overly covered themselves in glory on Monday – with Vladimir Coufal, Thilo Kehrer and Tomas Soucek all particularly disappointing – it was undoubtedly the display of £51m summer signing Lucas Paqueta that was the most worrying at The Emirates yesterday night.

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch, the £62m-rated talent was anonymous in the middle of the park, losing 12 of his 19 duels – a failure rate of 63% – being dribbled past by an opponent twice and taking just one shot at goal – which failed to hit the target – in the whole match.

The £150k-per-week playmaker did return slightly more impressive numbers in possession of the ball, completing 40 of his 49 attempted passes – a success rate of 82% – and making two key passes, however, this was just about all the Brazil international offered the Hammers throughout the duration of the match.

Indeed, the 25-year-old’s Sofascore match rating of 6.10 – the worst of any player to feature in the match – reflects just how disappointing Paqueta was against the Gunners, while the Evening Standard journalist Malik Ouzia also awarded the midfielder a four in his own player ratings, as well as stating:

“Back in an advanced role having excelled deeper for Brazil in Qatar but struggled to make any real impact as he was outshone by Martin Odegaard.”

Indeed, after an impressive World Cup campaign with Brazil, Moyes would have undoubtedly been hoping for Paqueta to continue his fine international form into the Premier League, however, after a shocking performance on Monday, there is much improvement needed should the playmaker get anywhere near the level he displays for A Selecao.

An update has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur and their pursuit of a new right wing-back ahead of the January transfer window…

What’s the talk?

According to football.london’s Alasdair Gold, sporting director Fabio Paratici has a number of wing-backs on his radar and wants to bring in a player in that position to bolster Antonio Conte’s squad.

The report claims that AS Monaco dynamo Vanderson is one of the players on the Italian’s shortlist as he is a fan of the young full-back, although they are also looking at Pedro Porro, of Sporting CP, Denzel Dumfries, of Inter, and Lyon’s Malo Gusto.

Back in September, it was reported that the Ligue 1 outfit wanted €60m (£53m) and this latest report does not add a new figure into the mix.

Big Matt Doherty upgrade

Matt Doherty has played nine times in the Premier League this season and started the club’s most recent clash in the division in the 2-2 draw with Brentford on Boxing Day.

The Republic of Ireland international has, however, failed to impress as he has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.79 and made 1.8 tackles and interceptions per match, whilst creating 0.4 chances per outing.

He also turns 31 in January and the upcoming transfer window provides Spurs with the opportunity to sign an upgrade on the defender, which could then open the door for them to move him on to another club heading into the second half of the season.

Vanderson could be the player to replace Doherty as he has shown plenty of promise in Ligue 1 this season. The Brazilian has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.86 and made 3.6 tackles and interceptions per game and this suggests that he would offer more to Spurs from a defensive perspective.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig previously described the “complete” full-back as a “similar” player to former Inter Milan and Brazil full-back “Maicon”, who won the Champions League and was capped 76 times by country.

The Monaco man has shown off his well-rounded game by being in the 84th and 89th percentile respective amongst his positional peers for progressive passes and dribbles completed per 90 in Europe’s top five leagues over the last 365 days. Doherty, meanwhile, is in the 10th and 29th percentile in those particular statistics and does not offer much in terms of quality in possession.

Therefore, Vanderson would be a big upgrade on the Irishman, who is nine years his senior, at right wing-back. The 21-year-old’s statistics indicate that he would improve Conte’s team in and out of possession and Paratici must now work hard to complete a deal for the dynamo.

Newcastle United are interested in a deal to bring Hirving Lozano to the Premier League.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet La Repubblica (via Sport Witness), who claim that both Newcastle and Arsenal are ‘courting’ the SSC Napoli right-winger ahead of lunching a potential offer to the 27-year-old at the end of the current campaign – when his current deal at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium is set to expire.

The report goes on to state that a number of clubs in the Bundesliga have also made their interest known to the Mexico international, however, Lozano is said to have ‘repeatedly expressed in the past the desire’ to play in the Premier League.

“Huge signing”

Considering just how impressive Lozano has been for Napoli this season, it is not difficult to understand why Eddie Howe would be interested in a deal to bring the forward to St. James’ Park this summer – especially on a free transfer.

Indeed, over his 15 Serie A appearances in 2022/23, the £25m-rated talent has been in fantastic form going forwards, having already scored three goals, registered three assists and created three big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking a seriously impressive average of 1.8 shots, making 1.1 key passes and completing 0.8 dribbles per game.

These returns have seen the £87k-per-week talent average an eye-catching Sofascore match rating of 6.96, currently ranking him as Luciano Spalletti’s 13th-best best performer in the top flight of Italian football – playing a key role in his side’s fantastic start to the current campaign.

The 27-year-old has also impressed over his five appearances in the Champions League this term, scoring one goal and creating one big chance, as well as taking an average of 1.6 shots, making 0.8 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per match – once again playing a crucial role in the Gli Azzurri’s progression to the knockout stages of the competition.

As such, it is clear that the winger possesses an incredible amount of danger in the final third with a host of destructive attributes just waiting to terrorise Premier League defences.

Couple that with the Champions League experience the Mexican “sensation” – in the words of journalist Bolarinwa Olajide – would add to Howe’s squad, should the Magpies manage to fight off the competition for the flanker’s signature next summer, it would very much be a “huge signing” for the club – a phrase that was used upon his move to Napoli too.