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Derby County have recently been credited with interest in signing free-agent Richard Stearman, according to journalist Alan Nixon. 

What’s the story?

Stearman spent the 2020/21 season with Huddersfield Town, and it appears as though he’s a wanted man heading into the new league campaign.

The defender’s contract with the Yorkshire-based side reached a conclusion at the end of June, and Carlos Corberan’s side opted to not extend that deal into next season.

This has resulted in Derby County being one of the teams to push ahead with their negotiations to strike an agreement to sign Stearman this summer, although it remains to be seen as to what stage they’re at in their efforts to land his signature.

Nixon has also reported that the Rams are targeting a deal for former Sheffield United defender Phil Jagielka, as well as Stearman this summer.

Better options out there for the Rams

Stearman has a considerable amount of experience under his belt in the EFL, with his most recent spell before his time with Huddersfield Town being with Sheffield United.

The experienced centre-back made 17 appearances for the Blades in the 2018/19 campaign, where they won promotion into the Premier League whilst under the management of Chris Wilder.

But Stearman found game time hard to come by with Sheffield United towards the end of his time at Bramall Lane, which resulted in him making the move to the John Smith’s Stadium in January 2020.

His spell with the Terriers wasn’t the most memorable though, with Stearman making 38 appearances for Carlos Corberan’s team, as they finished 20th in the Championship table.

However, Huddersfield can count themselves lucky that other teams struggled for a positive run of results towards the end of that campaign.

They conceded 71 goals in total during the 2020/21 league season, which is the worst defensive record out of all of the teams in the second tier, which doesn’t make for the best of reading.

Derby only retained their status as a Championship team on the final day of the 2020/21 season, as they drew 3-3 with Sheffield Wednesday.

Reinforcements are certainly needed in defence this summer, especially an experienced head to help aid the development of some of the younger members of Wayne Rooney’s squad. Andre Wisdom was one of those to depart the club permanently in the summer, whilst George Edmundson, Matt Clarke and Teden Mengi returned to their parent clubs after their loan spells at Pride Park.

But the Rams could do far better than signing Stearman, and it’s pleasing to see the club reportedly edging closer to reaching an agreement to signing Manchester United youngster Teden Mengi on loan for the upcoming season, as he’s already shown glimpses of his potential in a brief loan spell with Derby last term.

At the age of 33, some might question whether Stearman is a good enough option to have in the Championship, especially after a forgetful recent season with Huddersfield Town, where he won an average of 3.4 aerial duels, and just one tackle per game, whilst on reported wages of £15,000 per-week (according to Salary Sport).

A move for Stearman would be a real disaster for Derby given his wages, age and the fact he isn’t a real improvement on what they’ve already go.

Arsenal could turn their attentions to a new target after suffering a devastating blow in their bid to sign Emiliano Buendia this week…

What’s the word?

The Gunners have lost the race to clinch the Norwich City playmaker after he opted to join Premier League rivals Aston Villa in an initial £33m deal but the North London outfit reportedly have a fresh name in mind.

According to CBS Sports journalist James Benge, AC Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu is on their shortlist, he tweeted:

“Another target who Arsenal are understood to have broached internally is Hakan Calhanoglu, out of contract with AC Milan this summer. He is an option, not clear how high on the list he might be but [the] expectation is he’s an alternative to Odegaard.”

Forget about Buendia

The 27-year-old, who is rated at £31.5m by Transfermarkt, is an intriguing solution to Mikel Arteta’s attacking midfield woes, not at least because he won’t cost Stan Kroenke and KSE a single penny in terms of a transfer fee.

And that could be important if Arsenal are to bolster the playing squad right across the pitch as we’re yet to see what sort of damage their failure to qualify for Europe will do to their finances.

Thus, signing a quality player on a free makes the world of sense to do right now, especially as he appears to fit a lot of criteria that Arteta is currently lacking.

Martin Odegaard was always going to be a short-term option, as much as the club want to keep hold of him, whilst Mesut Ozil was on a rapid decline prior to his long-awaited departure.

Calhanoglu has emerged as one of Milan’s star performers after registering nine goals and 12 assists across 43 appearances in all competitions this season, via Transfermarkt.

But perhaps more interestingly, his ability to progressively move the ball forward is what makes him most appealing.

The Gunners ranked 12th in the league for average number of shots per game (12.1) whilst they scored the second-fewest number of goals from set-pieces (six), as per WhoScored.

Calhanoglu averaged 7.92 progressive carries per 90 minutes (FBRef) and created a whopping 50 chances from dead-ball situations alone with a further 48 taking him to a total of 98 for the season (WhoScored).

By comparison, Bukayo Saka was Arteta’s most creative influence with 36 key chances created – some margin off the 56-cap Turkey international.

It’s no wonder the 27-year-old’s head coach Stefan Pioli has waxed lyrical about his talents, he told reporters (via MilanNews.it):

“Calhanoglu is a leader of this team. He’s a leader on the pitch, he’s an intelligent player. Lately, we have faced teams that have closed the spaces and therefore, sometimes, I have had to lower him even though I want to keep him high.

“He knows how to marry perfectly with the game of his teammates. I have great respect for him and with intelligent players, you can play great games. He has the qualities to have some more goals.”

Also lauded as “generous and exceptional,” it’s evident that Calhanoglu would be a massive upgrade to Arsenal’s attacking midfield department and even though they missed out on Buendia, Edu Gaspar and co can alleviate the pain by landing the 5 foot 10 wizard for nothing.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Xhaka: Edu must seal Arsenal swoop for “unbelievable” £36m-rated “pure talent”…

Paul Stewart doesn’t think that Chris Smalling will make a return to the Premier League this summer.

The England defender left Manchester United to join Roma in the summer of 2019 and has enjoyed two stellar seasons in Serie A under the guidance of  Tottenham-linked manager Paulo Fonseca, who called him “extraordinary” last year.

The Italians initially loaned him from the Red Devils before signing him permanently 12 months later.

And with Spurs themselves now in desperate need of a centre-back or two, Smalling could possibly help solve some of their defensive problems.

Smalling has been linked with Tottenham in the past, including last summer when Jose Mourinho was on the lookout for a central defender, although Joe Rodon arrived from Swansea instead.

And Stewart told The Transfer Tavern that he believes the ex-United defender is suited to playing Italian football, and believes his age could prove a factor in Spurs deciding against signing him:

“I’m not sure whether he would come back now. I thought when United got rid of him it was a bad move.

“He is and has been quality but is getting to an age where you can’t have too many over 30 because they struggled with Vertonghen and Alderweireld because they have got to an age where they need to move on.

“Chris will be comfortable playing in Serie A because it’s not 100 miles per hour and you’re not getting constantly battered with crosses.”

A number of Liverpool supporters have been reacting negatively to James Pearce’s update regarding Jadon Sancho and Kylian Mbappe.

Jurgen Klopp and his Reds players are currently enjoying a breather, following a relentless season.

In the end, Liverpool’s campaign managed to finish in positive fashion, with a third-place finish sealed, despite so much going wrong throughout 2020/21.

Qualifying for next season’s Champions League is big financially for the Reds, but it also means top players are more likely to be keen on a move.

Two players who have been linked with joining Liverpool are Sancho and Mbappe – two of the most exciting young players in European football currently.

Unfortunately, The Athletic‘s Pearce has poured cold water on either player heading to Anfield, saying it has been ‘dismissed by senior club sources’.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/the-latest-liverpool-transfer-news-3/” title=”The latest Liverpool transfer news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Liverpool fans react negatively to Pearce update

These Liverpool fans took to Twitter to show their frustration at the news, although some weren’t exactly surprised.

“That’s because LFC are broke. Having spent nothing for 3 years”

Credit: @magicmasteryoda

“Shocker”

Credit: @Phenyo_

“I’m just gonna mute the word James Pearce this guy is nothing but bad vibes”

Credit: @danmarchh

“FSG OUT”

Credit: @Tjtrxcxy10

“Pretends to be shocked”

Credit: @vicxx18

“And in other news snow is white”

Credit: @george_forsythe

In other news, Pearce has also provided a key update on a current Liverpool player. Find out who it is here.

Serie A expert Conor Clancy has criticised Fabio Paratici ahead of his possible appointment as Sporting Director at Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs are reported to be in talks with the former Juventus supremo, who oversaw the club’s recruitment in recent years, as they look to appoint Antonio Conte as their new manager.

The pair worked together while Conte was at Juve, between 2011 and 2014, and it seems as though negotiations to bring the pair in are ongoing.

Paratici joined Juve in 2010 and spent a total of 11 years at the club, but Clancy, who is the editor-in-chief for Forza Italian Football, has criticised his record when it comes to both bringing players in and moving them out.

Indeed, Joao Cancelo and Miralem Pjanic are two players Juve moved on, to be replaced, relatively unsuccessfully, by Danilo and Arthur respectively.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Clancy said: “It’s unbelievable that they had Joao Cancelo there, they let him go for Danilo. They had Miralem Pjanic who was one of the best midfielders in Italy and Europe.

“They did a weird swap deal with Barcelona that has worked out for neither Juventus nor Barcelona nor either of the players.

“And he [Paratici] has proven himself incapable of selling. He had all of these players on huge wages.”

It remains to be seen what kind of power Paratici is afforded if he does move to Spurs, though reports suggest it will place the job of Steve Hitchen, their current technical performance director, in doubt.

Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Barry Bannan has revealed the one positive to come from the Owls’ catastrophic season.

What’s been said?

In a statement written by the Wednesday club captain following the club’s relegation to the third tier of English football, the 31-year-old looked back on the Owls’ disastrous Championship campaign, before suggesting that Darren Moore will be key to ensuring the club bounces straight back next season.

He said: “It’s been a hard few days, nobody wants to get relegated, especially a big club like this. We gave our all but we came up short, and that’s been the story of the season, to be honest. There’s no doubt about the commitment side of things, but the quality has let us down during parts of the season when we needed it.

“I think it’s a massive boost for the club to have Darren Moore as manager. If there are any positives to take from this season, he would probably be the biggest one. His staff have been unbelievable too, they’ve been one of the best sets of managers and coaches I’ve worked with. Their ideas and how they want to go about things are second to none and it’s a big positive for the club moving forward.”

Fans will be buzzing

With fans of Wednesday having to endure a miserable season following the club, the words of Bannan regarding Moore are likely to give the Hillsborough faithful some hope for the future.

Indeed, since the 47-year-old arrived at the club back on 1 March, Wednesday went on to win three, draw four and lose six of their 13 fixtures under the manager, picking up 13 points – results which left the club in 19th place in the Championship standings over this specific time frame.

This is even more impressive when taking into account that Moore was absent for a large spell of his short time at the club due to being seriously ill, with his assistant Jamie Smith leading the side in his absence.

And, with something of a clearout looking likely for Wednesday ahead of their League One campaign, as a number of players will become out of contract in the coming weeks, Moore should be afforded a considerable amount of wage budget to play with in order to help build a team in his image this summer.

This would indeed appear to be a positive step for the Owls, as, as Bannon suggests, Moore looks to have been a highly astute appointment for the club, with the manager’s ideas and obvious coaching talent giving him a great chance of being the man who can finally turn Wednesday’s fortunes around.

As such, despite the club’s disappointing 2020/21 campaign, with a squad Moore helped to shape and a full pre-season behind them, in addition to Bannan’s beliefs regarding the manager, things could start to get better very quickly at Hillsborough, something that would undoubtedly delight fans of the club.

In other news: Chansiri heading for another grave Sheffield Wednesday mistake, fans will be furious – opinion

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Leicester City striker Brian Deane has dismissed the idea of Brendan Rodgers leaving the King Power for Tottenham this summer.

Tottenham are without a manager following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and have been heavily linked with Rodgers.

However, the FA Cup-winning coach made it clear to reporters that he has no intention of succeeding the 58-year-old, who has since gone on to become AS Roma boss.

Deane acknowledges that Spurs are a big club. However, with a lot of fires to put out at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium right now, including Harry Kane’s burning desire to leave the Premier League outfit, the ex-Leicester man cannot see why Rodgers would want to go there.

He told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“He goes to somewhere like Tottenham, then straight away you’re fighting different types of battles. Yes, people say it’s a bigger club, but they’ve got bigger problems and they’ve got a rebuild job coming on. So why would you swap?

“[At Leicester] you’re in control of all the recruitment. You can build a club in your own style. Why would you change and go to somewhere like Tottenham where they’re in danger of losing the likes of Harry Kane and other players? Stay put.”

When you look at where Tottenham are right now compared to Leicester, who have just won the FA Cup and have had a great league campaign, it really is hard to see why Rodgers would want to leave the Foxes for the Lilywhites.

A source from Tottenham Hotspur has dropped a worrying two-word bombshell on Harry Kane.

According to Football Insider, a source has claimed that the England international captain is ‘hell bent’ on engineering a summer move away from Spurs after they lost the Carabao Cup final 1-0 to Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on Sunday evening.

Kane has made it privately clear that he would like to challenge at the very top and win major trophies, and that may not be possible at the North London club given their latest failure and the fact that he is not getting any younger.

However, sources have also claimed that he would like to stay in the Premier League as he is ‘desperate’ to beat the goal scoring record set by Alan Shearer, but Daniel Levy does not want to sell to a team in the top flight.

Tottenham must keep Kane

If the Lilywhites have any ambition to win trophies in the near future, they must try and keep hold of Kane at all costs.

The 27-year-old is simply too important to the side right now, with no fewer than 31 goals scored and a further 16 assists in 44 games in total over all competitions across the 2020/21 term so far (Transfermarkt), a simply remarkable return.

Nonetheless, it may hinge on the striker over whether he wants to stay at THFC, but they must show some more ambition in the transfer market to give them the best possible chance.

In other news, find out what ‘fantastic’ manager has been offered to Tottenham here!

Plenty of Aston Villa fans have been giving their thoughts to the latest update regarding Jack Grealish on social media.

The club captain, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester City this summer, has missed the last 11 games through injury.

He’ll once again be absent in Villa’s home clash with Manchester United on Sunday afternoon, however, manager Dean Smith did confirm that Grealish is now ‘out on the grass’ and ‘will start training with the group tomorrow’.

Grealish has been influential for Villa this season, contributing to 18 league goals. Smith’s side have struggled without their main creative spark, picking up 12 points from a possible 33.

It appears to be a positive step for the attacking midfielder, though, who last kicked a competitive ball for Villa back in February.

Villa fans react

The club shared the latest on Grealish on their official Twitter page on Friday morning, which, as to be expected, received plenty of interaction.

Here’s what some Villa supporters had to say on the 25-year-old.

“On the grass my lord, on the grass.”Credit: @DemonDays87″Always a week away from fitness isn’t he?”Credit: @Josh1874_”Good, hope next week is similarly too soon. Dean will use him as a get out of jail card and the fans will eat it up”Credit: @kagasis”“Short term injury””Credit: @DeanSmithball”Almost…”Credit: @RMoraal”Good news”Credit: @jackavfc1

In other news: Villa set to make £15m bid for Premier League ace, find out more here. 

Every day is like a merry-go-round in Celtic’s hunt for a new manager. The Bhoys have been touted with luring Eddie Howe to Parkhead but his future is now less certain.

Indeed, a major twist on Wednesday revealed that Howe wasn’t keen on returning to management until the summer.

What’s the word?

The Hoops lost Neil Lennon as their manager a number of weeks ago and now they’re in the hunt for a replacement.

Roy Keane was in the frame but Eddie Howe is now the current favourite. That being said, there have been a number of twists and turns in their pursuit of the 43-year-old.

Howe doesn’t want to return to management for another few months which has put a considerable dampener on Celtic’s plans. That being said, journalist Alan Nixon insists that the former Bournemouth boss still wants to move to Glasgow.

After being asked whether Howe may not actually want to come to Celtic, he issued a defiant four-word message; “Not heard that one.”

Nixon then admitted: “He’s telling people he knows he is taking it.”

Desmond should be buzzing

This will come as particularly pleasing news to majority shareholder Dermot Desmond.

Howe has already entered advanced talks with the Hoops and has even held discussions with Desmond himself. News that he may not come until the summer, however, will have been a considerable setback to the Celtic hierarchy.

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They may have been fearing the worst, potentially thinking that they might have to look elsewhere for Lennon’s replacement.

After all, former Borussia Dortmund head coach Lucien Favre has emerged as an alternative to Howe in case he rejects the offer from the Bhoys.

That being said, with Howe very much still wanting to take on the role, they can focus their efforts solely on the Englishman.

It’s frustrating that he won’t be in the hot seat any time soon, but it will leave Desmond purring with delight that Howe still intends to become the new manager.

Meticulous on the training ground, he could give Celtic a brand new dynamic; something they haven’t had since the days of Brendan Rodgers.

AND in other news, Left for £0, now worth £63m: Celtic will rue rash call on “unbelievable” £100k-p/w gem…