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West Bromwich Albion manager Valerien Ismael has dropped an injury update ahead of the Baggies upcoming Championship fixture.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Birmingham Live, the Frenchman revealed that, aside from Dara O’Shea, his West Brom squad is nearing a return to full fitness, with the 45-year-old confirming that the stricken trio of Matt Clarke, Kenneth Zohore and Rayhaan Tulloch are all back in first-team training, and will each be assessed prior to the trip to Cardiff City on Tuesday evening.

Speaking about the current state of his squad, Ismael said: “We have some players missing still, but they’re getting better and better; Rayhaan is back in training, Ken is back in training, Matty Clarke is now in full training with the team – it’s just the right time now, when is the right time, he needs to get that feeling too.

“If we have the possibility he can play earlier we will, but we need that feeling that we had with Kean Bryan.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how impressive Clarke had been for Albion prior to his injury, coupled with the fact that the Baggies have been struggling for goals in recent fixtures, the returns of Clarke, Zohore and Tulloch are sure to have West Brom fans buzzing.

Concerning Zohore and Tulloch, although neither players are exactly first-team regulars at The Hawthorns, their respective returns to fitness will nevertheless provide the Frenchman with greater options from the bench in the event that his side are once again finding it difficult to break an opponent down, something that can only be a positive for the club.

Meanwhile, Clarke has already proven over his three Championship appearances this season that he has the ability to play a very important role in the club’s promotion push, making an average of 2.3 interceptions, one tackle, 2.7 clearances and winning 7.3 duels per game.

These returns have seen the defender average a SofaScore match rating of 7.03, ranking him as the Baggies’ ninth-best performer in the league.

As such, should any of the three players indeed be available for the trip to the Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday evening, it will undoubtedly be a major boost to Ismael’s chances of picking up a positive result in Wales.

In other news: Ismael must unleash “refreshing” West Brom ace vs Cardiff, he’s just what Albion need

Lots of Wolves fans have been left pleading to sign Renato Sanches as a transfer update emerged.

Writing in his latest piece for The Athletic, Tim Spiers has said that the Midlands club are likely to make another move to try and sign the central midfield player in the January window, so long as his injury problems have cleared up.

Sanches has already missed a few game so far this season through injury, and has had extensive issues in the past (Transfermarkt).

However, he would give Bruno Lage another great option in the middle of the park, given his experience of playing at the highest level, exemplified by the fact that he has played for three different clubs in the UEFA Champions League and of course for his nation at major tournaments (Transfermarkt).

At 24 years of age, the Portugal international still has so much potential, and would certainly be a statement signing by the Molineux faithful.

Wolves fans on Sanches transfer update

These WWFC supporters pleaded for the signing of Sanches as the transfer update was shared on Twitter:

“Fosun, this is your last chance.”

Credit: @wwfcglover

“I BEG”

Credit: @AndyEvers1

“Can January hurry up then?”

Credit: @parker_bradley

“PLEASE WOLVES PLEASE”

Credit: @HarryWi57417449

“Come on Fosun pls”

Credit: @wwfcbilly

“I beg so so much”

Credit: @haydenbd_

In other news, find out what recent news has Wanderers fuming here!

Fulham have been dealt a fresh injury blow ahead of their upcoming Championship fixture.

What’s the latest?

Following Fulham’s comprehensive 4-1 victory over Birmingham City on Wednesday evening, a game in which Harrison Reed was withdrawn in the second half due to a knock, The Athletic journalist Peter Ruttzler revealed in a post on Twitter that the 26-year-old is still not operating at 100% fitness following his recovery from the calf injury which saw the defensive midfielder miss pre-season.

In his tweet, the journalist said: “Harrison Reed still building as he missed pre-season with a calf injury. Silva said [he] planned to take him or Chalobah off around 60/70mins. [Silva said:] ‘I hope it’s nothing special but will have to check.'”

Silva will be gutted

Considering just how impressive Reed was for Fulham against Birmingham, should the midfielder have suffered a setback in his recovery from injury, something that is clearly a concern following his substitution in the match, it would undoubtedly leave Marco Silva gutted.

Indeed, over his 65 minutes on the pitch on Wednesday, the £9m-rated man blocked one shot, made one key pass, one tackle and completed 100% of his attempted crosses.

These returns saw the former England U20 international earn a SofaScore match rating of 7.0, ranking him as the club’s joint sixth-best player to feature in the fixture.

As such, if the £31k-per-week midfielder is indeed ruled out of the club’s upcoming clash with Reading on Saturday, it would certainly come as a huge blow to Silva’s chances of keeping his side’s winning run going against the Royals.

However, hopefully for the Portuguese boss, Reed’s withdrawal against the Blues did enough to prevent a major injury recurrence, meaning he could well have a chance to feature once again this weekend.

In other news: £5.4m-rated Fulham flop who lost 80% duels failed Marco Silva’s trust vs Blackpool

Ex-professional footballer Nigel Jemson believes it’s a very difficult decision for Xherdan Shaqiri to make this summer, which is whether or not to leave Liverpool.

L’Equipe have previously reported that Shaqiri has agreed personal terms with Lyon but the clubs need to find an agreement on a price. Journalist Gianluca Di Marzio reported that Lyon’s offer was €6m, but Liverpool want €8m for their player.

The 29-year-old featured in 63 games in total, scoring eight goals and providing nine assists, and Jemson believes it’s a difficult decision for him to leave the club but understands due to him not featuring a lot of late.

In an exclusive interview with the Transfer Tavern, Jemson said: “I think it’s very difficult, I mean you look at Liverpool, massive, massive club.

“They’ve got a great squad together. I think that they’ve got to look at it from the players point of view, he’s not played the greatest amount of football in the last couple of years, he impressed in the Euros for Switzerland, but I think at some point, he’s going to turn around and say I need to be playing, you know, it is a short career.”

Whist it appears that Shaqiri will possibly leave Liverpool this summer, he has had a successful spell with the club, having won the UEFA Champions League, Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup.

West Bromwich Albion are expecting a bid which could see Matheus Pereira leave The Hawthorns this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Pedro Almeida, with the transfer journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that West Ham United are set to make an offer totalling €24m (£20.5m) for the Albion winger in the coming days.

In his tweet, Almeida said: “West Ham prepares an offer of around €20m + €2m bonus to present to West Brom [for] Matheus Pereira.”

It has also been reported that the 25-year-old is mulling over an approach from Al-Hilal, with the Saudi Arabian club having submitted an offer of €15m (£13m) to West Brom and proposing a tantalising salary to Pereira.

However, should West Ham indeed firm up their interest with a concrete bid of more than £20m for the Brazilian, it would appear highly likely that the Baggies accept the Irons’ offer ahead of Al-Hilal’s.

Ismael will be gutted

Although a scenario in which Pereira remains at The Hawthorns for the club’s upcoming Championship campaign always appeared unlikely, with the start of the new season now being just under a week away, perhaps Valerien Ismael had started to consider the possibility that he may be able to call upon the winger for the club’s opening game against Bournemouth next Friday.

However, with both West Ham and Al-Hilal now reported to be in talks over a deal for the 25-year-old, it very much seems as if the writing is on the wall regarding his exit, something which will undoubtedly leave the Frenchman gutted.

Indeed, over his 33 Premier League appearances last season, the £13.5m-rated winger scored 11 goals, registered six assists and created 11 big chances for his teammates, taking two shots and making 1.8 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the £39k-per-week man earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 7.18, ranking him as Albion’s best performer in the top flight.

As such, achieving promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking next year would appear to be a much more attainable feat with the services of the forward rather than without.

Having said that, the money that Pereira’s sale will bring into the club could lead to Ismael making a move for a number of his own targets in the summer transfer window. However, it would be optimistic to think that any player the Baggies could attract while in the Championship will be at the same level as the Brazilian.

In other news: Ismael handed major boost over £32.5k-p/w “diamond”, West Brom fans will be buzzing

Paul Jewell has warned Nat Phillips may have to leave Liverpool in order to reach the same heights as last season.

Phillips, who joined the Reds in 2016 having originally come through the ranks at Bolton Wanderers, got his first taste of regular Premier League football when he was thrown into Jurgen Klopp’s side last term.

The central defender made 20 appearances in all competitions as he played a key role in helping Liverpool overcome their defensive crisis.

Season-ending injuries suffered by Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez resulted in Phillips being handed an opportunity to show his capabilities as the Reds looked to defend their Premier League crown.

Although Manchester City comfortably clinched the title, Phillips’ fine performances have resulted in interest from Brighton & Hove Albion, Southampton, Newcastle United and Burnley.

With van Dijk and Gomez back in the fold, former Premier League manager Jewell believes 24-year-old Phillips should depart Anfield in a bid to build on his promising campaign.

Jewell, who came through the ranks at Liverpool during his playing days, exclusively told Football FanCast: “I would imagine that once you’ve had the taste of playing at the top level, you want to play week in, week out, whether that’s for Liverpool or not.

“There’s nothing quite like playing and I’m sure Nat Phillips doesn’t want to go back to playing in League Cup and FA Cup games five or six times a season.

“That’s the problem you have when you give players a chance – the hunger and taste for it is there now.”

A number of Southampton supporters have slammed goalkeeper Alex McCarthy on social media for his display against Manchester United on Sunday.

Ralph Hasenhuttl named an unchanged team from the side which lost 3-1 to Everton on the opening weekend, sticking with a 4-4-2 system and McCarthy over Fraser Forster.

However, it was the 31-year-old’s performance which had a number of Saints fans talking online, and not for the right reasons.

McCarthy, who is on £50,000-a-week at St Mary’s, was making his 114th appearance for the club since joining back in 2016. He has been a regular under Hasenhuttl but is into the final 12 months of his contract, although reports have suggested he will extend his stay on the south coast.

His display didn’t exactly catch the eye, though, especially following his mistake shortly after the interval, while he also lost the ball on 15 occasions. He misjudged Mason Greenwood’s tame effort in the second half, which saw the visitors equalise.

Saints fans react

Here is what these Saints supporters had to say about McCarthy, with one describing his error-plagued performance as ‘dreadful’.

“McCarthy out our club”Credit: @BristolSaints”HANDS MCCARTHY! WHAT A JOKE OF A PLAYER!”Credit: @Too_Jazzee”Already Said McCarthy Is Trash “Credit: @Biscxtti”McCarthy out “Credit: @gregoryjkennedy”McCarthy is dreadful”Credit: @Stevie_LA”Picking McCarthy over Forster is just ridiculous. Does Ralph not see what everyone else does?!”Credit: @McKeeChristianIn other news: Southampton are reportedly keen on signing this Premier League midfielder

An update has emerged on Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, regarding Everton’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Everton are yet to make an official offer for Koulibaly. Romano has said that a Napoli source has confirmed this to be the case, whilst no other team has joined the race at this stage.

The Serie A giants want to keep the defender, with manager Luciano Spaletti quoted as saying “I’m ready to chain myself to keep Koulibaly here at Napoli”.

Fans would be ecstatic

Everton must sanction a swoop to sign Koulibaly this summer as it would leave fans ecstatic. The 30-year-old is a proven performer at the top level and would be a marquee addition to the squad.

The Senegal international has been a regular in the Serie A for Napoli since the start of the 2014/15 campaign, playing in the Europa League or Champions League in every season. Over the course of his career, he has averaged a superb WhoScored rating of 7.05 – showing remarkable quality and consistency over the past seven years with Napoli.

Former Liverpool and Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina hailed the centre-back last year when speaking about the best defenders he has played behind. He said:

“The defender who gave me more security? In a moment, Koulibaly was something extraordinary. In the national team [it was] Sergio Ramos.

“At Liverpool [it was Daniel] Agger, [Jamie] Carragher. Difficult to choose, there have been many strong [players]. In recent years, the Koulibaly – Albiol combination was phenomenal if it was in place.”

This shows how highly rated the £195k-per-week beast is by players who have played alongside him. Reina, as he explained, played in the Premier League with Liverpool and knows exactly what is required to compete in England, suggesting that his effusive praise of Koulibaly means the defender would be up to the standards required to excel at Everton.

Therefore, fans would love the club to sanction a deal for the defender.

There is no harm in trying with a bid, something supporters would also enjoy as it shows a high level of ambition.

AND in other news, Greg O’Keeffe drops Everton update that should leave fans buzzing…

Ange Postecoglou has been placed with the arduous task of rebuilding a hampered Celtic squad.

The Hoops lost their dominance last term and it has been difficult to see them usurping their Old Firm rivals again heading into next season.

On the chalkboard

One area for improvement at Parkhead this summer should be in the goalkeeping position.

Vasilis Barkas has been treated harshly since his £4.5m move a year ago and only played twice since the New Year period.

Conor Hazard took Celtic to Scottish Cup glory in December during their penalty shoot-out win against Hearts but looked abject in normal time.

Scott Bain, meanwhile, is hardly of the highest calibre after making his own individual errors in the last 12 months.

As a consequence, Celtic have been considering a number of replacements. Postecoglou has been linked with a reunion for Mat Ryan who played so regularly under the new manager for Australia.

Swedish stopper Robin Olsen is another name on the agenda while Charlie Nicholas has urged the Bhoys to consider Leicester City goalkeeper Danny Ward.

A further target could be Liverpool’s Caoimhin Kelleher according to Nicholas, who suggested the Irishman as an alternative.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-celtic-news-doig-nketiah-mccann” title= “Read the latest Celtic transfer news!”]

Speaking to The Express (29/06), he said: “Caoimhin Kelleher has already played in the Liverpool first team, he is another one. My mate Phil Thompson rates him highly and he’s another who wouldn’t be overly expensive.”

Kelleher rapidly developed last season and signed a new deal last month to make him Liverpool’s number two.

With that in mind, it’s unlikely that Jurgen Klopp will be too willing to lose him. However, a loan move could be exactly what both parties need.

Celtic are in need of finding a more reliable goalkeeper while Kelleher could benefit from regular starts. After all, he is not going to leapfrog one of the world’s best in Alisson at Anfield.

The 22-year-old played five matches for the senior side last season as he was even handed a chance to thrive in the Champions League.

After impressing, Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson commented: “Imagine that: you’re making your European debut for Liverpool in a massive game in front of a global audience and you have to replace one of the best in the world in your position.

“Keeping a clean sheet in any circumstances is always an achievement, but in this particular situation it is an even bigger one and all of the accolades Caoimhín received afterwards were richly deserved.”

Capable of standing up in big games, that should suit Celtic who desperately need to improve on their European record – starting against Midtjylland in a few weeks time.

Pundit Noel Whelan described the youngster as “superb”, hailing his confidence in possession of the ball.

Not only is Kelleher a capable shot-stopper but he’s also calm with the ball at his feet. That should please the Hoops supporters who want to continue seeing a possession-based style of play.

Ultimately, though, it’s the hefty defensive issues that the Liverpool gem could solve.

Not since Fraser Forster have they had a reliable man between the sticks. Kelleher could change that.

AND in other news, Forget Vuskovic: Postecoglou must seal Celtic swoop for “incredibly fast” 24 y/o brute…

David Norris is excited for Leeds United’s future after it was revealed Kalvin Phillips is not interested in leaving Elland Road.

Following an impressive first-ever season in the Premier League, Phillips has been one of England’s biggest stars at Euro 2020.

The central midfielder made 30 first team appearances last term, with his eye-catching form resulting in him nailing down a place in Gareth Southgate’s preferred starting line-up at the international tournament.

While Phillips’ fine form will have pleased Leeds fans, it has left some fearing one of their prized assets could be interested in joining a side challenging for silverware.

The 25-year-old has been linked with a host of clubs this summer, with Liverpool and Italian giants Juventus touted as potential destinations.

But Phillips’ agent, Kevin Sharp, has confirmed Phillips is not interested in leaving his hometown club.

Former Leeds midfielder Norris, speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, is buoyed by the admission.

Norris said: “I think that’s massive and coming from an agent is probably even better because it’s normally the agent causing the trouble and trying to get the player to move so they can make their money.

“It’s stronger reinforcement than even the player or the club coming out.

“I think it would be ridiculous money that no-one is quite ready to pay that Leeds would want. They don’t need to sell so I can’t see him going.”