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Newcastle United may not be able to permanently offload Yoshinori Muto to his Greek Super League suitor Aris Thessaloniki, according to The Athletic’s Chris Waugh. 

The lowdown

Greek outlet Sportime reported on Sunday that Aris, who finished third last season, were in ‘advanced contacts’ with the player.

Newcastle paid £9.5million to sign Muto from Bundesliga outfit Mainz in 2018, committing him to a four-year contract.

He’s now into the final 12 months of the deal, having scored only five goals since for Newcastle and SD Eibar, where he spent 2020/21 on loan (via Transfermarkt).

Newcastle have trimmed four players from their squad so far this summer. Andy Carroll and Henri Saivet were released, Cristian Atsu sealed a move to Al-Raed and Florian Lejune joined Alaves for an undisclosed fee.

The latest

Waugh reports that ‘NUFC are hopeful’ of arranging the forward’s exit this summer after Aris expressed ‘concrete interest’.

Newcastle ‘ideally’ want to sell Muto, but Aris’ preference is a loan move, which would see his wages split.

They’re willing to cover around 40% of his roughly £50,000-per-week salary, leaving the Magpies to make up the rest themselves. There’s ‘optimism’ on their side that a deal can be reached.

Muto returned to training on Monday, but that doesn’t herald a change of heart from the club. He has ‘no future’ at St James’ Park.

The verdict

It would be somewhat frustrating if Newcastle had to agree to a compromise here. While selling Muto probably wouldn’t have generated a big transfer fee given his contract situation and lean goal return, it would at least have cleared his substantial wages off the books.

Interest in Muto may not be plentiful, and so the Magpies may have to accept Aris’ proposal. If they were hoping to raise funds for incomings through sales, it seems they’re yet to make significant inroads.

In other news, could this midfielder arrive in addition to Willock?

Leeds United look set to miss out on the signing of goalkeeper Angus Gunn, with the Southampton man on the verge of joining Norwich City.

The Lowdown: Leeds linked with late hijack

The Whites have been linked with making a late swoop for the 25-year-old, with Marcelo Bielsa targeting the Saints shot-stopper as he eyes up a replacement for Kiko Casilla.

Gunn has largely been tipped to join Norwich, however, and it looks as though that will be the case, ahead of their return to the Premier League next season.

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The Latest: Norwich set to sign Gunn

According to Football Insider, the Englishman will have a medical with the Canaries at some point on Monday, sealing a move to the club where his father, Bryan, is considered a legend.

Leeds’ late interest is mentioned in the report, but Gunn appears to have made up his mind over his next destination.

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The Verdict: No huge issue for Whites

While it is a blow to miss out on Gunn as it would have been nice to have sorted Casilla’s replacement in a swift fashion, missing out him isn’t the most critical transfer miss of all time.

Illan Meslier is the undisputed first-choice ‘keeper at the club and Marcelo Bielsa still has plenty of time to find a suitable back-up to the Frenchman this summer, Gunn would have been a very good option, but there should be other targets who’d be keen to join a club like Leeds United.

Such is Meslier’s importance to the team, the hope is that whoever his deputy is next season ends up featuring as little as possible.

In other news, a European club have reportedly made a bid for one Leeds United player – find out who it is here.

It was a transfer saga with a predictable ending – a top Premier League player forcing a move to Spain. This time it was Philippe Coutinho, however his £142 million move has not worked out and he’s now linked with a return to Anfield, something that former Reds star Paul Stewart believes could be a snip at such a cheap price.

Coutinho has been somewhat of a bit-part player during his time at the Nou Camp having managed just 23 goals in 90 appearances for the Catalonian side and with Barcelona in financial ruins, they’re looking to flog him back to Liverpool.

This all comes down to Barcelona struggling to pay the remaining fee on Coutinho’s deal, therefore if he returns to Anfield then they will no longer have to keep paying the Reds the previously agreed fee.

Coutinho does not appear to be a natural fit into Jurgen Klopp’s current side but after finding goals a struggle to come by for large parts of last season, the Brazillian may be something Klopp is looking for and Stewart believes that Liverpool may not need him but that he could be a great option at a small price, as he told Football FanCast exclusively:

“Will he be able to have the same impact that he had when he went for over 100 million? I don’t think so. He certainly hasn’t done much at Barcelona and he’s been very much a fringe player.

“I think he could be a decent player for £35 million because you would have to say that it would be a snip.”

Coutinho was a fan favourite at Anfield before he started agitating for a move away to Barcelona, which saw his relationship with the Liverpool faithful turn sour.

To highlight just how many financial problems Barcelona are in, their four summer signings at the moment are all set to be free agents in Sergio Aguero, Georginio Wijnaldum, Eric Garcia and Memphis Depay.

A major update has emerged for Ipswich, one relating to the “influential” Rotherham midfielder Matt Crooks.

What’s the talk?

According to the East Anglian Daily Times, Ipswich are on the verge of submitting an offer for Rotherham midfielder Matt Crooks. Paul Cook has identified Crooks as a player who could strengthen this unit at Portman Road and the Blues are now ready to make their move.

The report claims Crooks, who has one year left on his contract at Rotherham, was previously attracting interest from Championship Nottingham Forest. Chris Hughton’s side have since exited the race for his signature, with Ipswich now preparing to swoop in.

Back in November 2020, Rotherham boss Paul Warne hailed Crooks as being “influential” to the Millers in recent seasons and backed him to fight his way out of bad form, amid links with an exit from the club. He told The Star:

“I don’t know how many of my players are absolutely 100 per cent but I think Crooksy sticks out because he was so influential over the last couple of years.

“If (Mohamed) Salah doesn’t play well for Liverpool everyone notices. With Crooksy, he is getting more like the player we want him to be.“Has the transfer rumour and anything else that has gone on in his life affected him? Maybe. But that is just an excuse. It might not have.“Every player has dips and troughs in his form and they play their way out of it. Crooksy is doing a lot to get out the other side of it.” Fans will be buzzing

Ipswich fans will be buzzing by this news. It shows a sign of intent from the club to push on and progress in the transfer window in order to mount a promotion push next season.

Crooks is one of their rivals’ key players and taking him away from Rotherham could weaken one of their competitors whilst improving their own squad in the process.

The 27-year-old produced six goals and three assists in the Championship for Rotherham last season, with Michael Smith the only player who was able to directly contribute to more goals for Paul Warne’s side.

Smith racked up 10 goals and three assists in the second tier, whilst Freddie Lapado equalled Crooks’ nine involvements with nine Championship goals. This shows that Crooks is one of Rotherham’s most dangerous players at the top end of the pitch and losing him could be a big blow to their squad.

Crooks, who is on £1.9k-per-week at Rotherham, could be an excellent addition to Ipswich’s squad. James Norwood was the only Ipswich player who managed more than six goals in League One last season, which suggests that Crooks’ goalscoring could be a major boost to Cook’s options in attack as he was able to score six in a division higher than the third tier.

Therefore, Ipswich fans will be buzzing to hear that the club are serious about pursuing a deal for the Rotherham star.

AND in other news, Get it done: Ipswich must seal swoop for “exceptional” £6k-p/w ace, Cook would love it…

According to Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers could sign Santiago Moreno for £2m less than his original valuation this summer.

The Lowdown: Gers eye Moreno

The Gers have been linked with a move for 21-year-old Moreno, who currently plays for America de Cali in his home country of Colombia.

There have also been other clubs credited with an interest, such as Premier League outfit Leeds United (The Telegraph).

The Latest: Gers set for discount

Now, though, as per a recruitment source, Football Insider have revealed Moreno could be signed for £3m instead of £5m – that represents a 40% discount.

Moreno is one of two Colombians targetted by Ross Wilson, with Santos Borre also on the club’s radar (El Deportivo).

The Verdict: Bonus

This is a bonus for the Gers. Moreno, who has been compared to Liverpool winger Sadio Mane (TEAMtalk), has a big future ahead of him, but £5m would have represented a big fee for the Gers.

At £3m, however, a deal is far more accessible for Wilson and co.

So far, Moreno has managed 10 goals and seven assists in 51 games for Cali (Transfermarkt). The Gers know exactly how influential Colombian players can be – Alfredo Morelos has been a prolific scorer for Rangers since signing in 2017. If Moreno were to have even half the impact of the 25-year-old, he would prove to be a top signing at this price.

In other news, Rangers fans were livid at this 21/22 reveal.

Glasgow Rangers fans have launched a petition urging the SNP’s Humza Yousaf to resign as Justice Secretary after comments the politician made concerning The Gers.

The Lowdown: Yousaf aims criticism at Gers

Rangers players were recently accused of sectarian singing as they celebrated winning their 55th league title last week, but Police Scotland eventually decided there was “no criminality” involved (via The Daily Record).

Upon the allegations, Yousaf called for any Rangers player or staff member found guilty to be sacked immediately, while he also applauded Police Scotland for investigating the claims.

The Latest: Gers fans demand resignation

Following Police Scotland’s announcement, Gers supporters group Union Bears launched a petition demanding the resignation of Yousaf. They said:

“Humza Yousaf has disgraced himself and proven to be completely biased and untrustworthy to be a factual or reasonable member of the Scottish devolved administration.

“He must resign immediately so the Scottish people can have faith that politicians will not use lies or fake videos to smear demographics of society that disagree with his and his party’s political position.”

At the time of writing, more than 18,000 people had decided to take action into their own hands by signing a petition on change.org demanding Yousaf’s resignation.

The Verdict: Difficult

Yousaf seemingly jumped the gun in this case as he demanded strong action from the club before there was any significant proof of any criminality.

It is also not the first time the Justice Secretary has taken a hard-line stance against the Ibrox outfit – it actually appears to be a semi-regular occurrence.

In all fairness, in this case, he did make it clear people should be sacked “if” there was any criminality, so it may be best to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, it appears that thousands of Rangers supporters disagree, hence why there are so many signatures on the petition.

In other news, Rangers fans react to this Steven Gerrard video.

Leicester City should repeat the trick that they successfully used in 2018 to sign Ricardo Pereira with a move for Robin Gosens.

The Foxes have been linked with a switch for the Atalanta full-back in recent days, with Fabrizio Romano revealing that he is their “main option” should Jon Rudkin elect to sign a left-back this summer.

However, the East-Midlanders reportedly face competition for the £31.5m-rated German international, with Manchester City having also been linked in the past.

With current Leicester defender Pereira also being linked with Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur ahead of his move to the King Power Stadium nearly three years ago, the Foxes swooped by securing a deal early.

The Portuguese international, who was signed from FC Porto, was announced as a Leicester City player on the 19th May 2018 – just six days after the final Premier League fixture of the season.

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Whilst he did not officially sign his Foxes contract until the following month due to international clearance, the early deal allowed the East-Midlanders to steal a march on their rivals and sign Pereira.

He has certainly been a welcome addition at the King Power Stadium since, making 86 appearances for the club and winning the Player of the Season award in his debut campaign.

So, with Gosens interesting a number of clubs around Europe, it would certainly be useful for Leicester to tie up a deal relatively early, especially with the UEFA European Championships set to take place this summer, an event which could make any transfers later in the window a little more difficult to complete.

Having successfully completed the deal to bring Pereira to the club in 2018, Leicester should certainly take inspiration from that and beat the competition to the signature of the Atalanta man.

AND in more news, find out which former Tottenham starlet Leicester must also secure in the summer…

Rangers ensured that they would finish the league season unbeaten and achieve over 100 points for the first time in their history as they won 4-0 at Ibrox on the final day, with Steven Gerrard’s side providing a superb end to a monumental season.

One man who may have played his final game for the Gers during the drubbing of Aberdeen on Saturday was Jermain Defoe, as the veteran striker’s contract is currently set to expire at the end of May.

If the former Tottenham Hotspur man is to leave Ibrox this summer, then he will be glad to have finished his time there in typical fashion, as he came off the bench to score Rangers’ fourth goal of the game with a consummate finish.

The 38-year-old was found by fellow substitute Greg Stewart – another who is likely to leave this summer – and after some calm touches, he calmly slotted the ball past Joe Lewis, emphasising the immense quality that he still possesses.

As per SofaScore, Defoe would earn an impressive 7.4/10 rating for his performance, with only Allan McGregor (8/10) and Kemar Roofe (8.3/10) rated higher of the Rangers players who featured in the game, despite the veteran forward only being on the pitch for just 28 minutes.

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The Athletic journalist Jordan Campbell, who covers Rangers and Scottish football, was full of praise for Defoe on Twitter, saying:

“Jermain Defoe with another exquisite finish. Similar to last week, that feint to change the angle and get the defender to lean is just a killer move. Unreal how sharp he still is in those situations.”

Defoe also completed two dribbles, one key pass and won two duels during his brief time on the pitch, which highlights that doesn’t just contribute inside the box and can be a creative threat as well as a goalscoring one.

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Although recent reports suggest that a new Rangers contract could be on the cards, as things stand, he will leave Ibrox at the end of this month, but at least if he does leave, he was able to sign off with another goal and another excellent cameo performance.

And, in other news… Gerrard handed huge boost with “frightening” £1.8m-rated beast, Wilson must deliver

Nuno Espirito Santo’s decision to quit Wolves last week came as a big shock.

He seemed happy and content with the direction in which the Old Gold were heading but, following a dialogue with Jeff Shi, he decided to hand in his resignation.

You can hardly blame him, either. The Portuguese was going to have small resources to work with this summer and they would have to sell their best players in order to spend big.

The Molineux outfit have consulted Jorge Mendes in their bid to find a new coach, with former Benfica manager Bruno Lage the frontrunner. Paulo Fonseca has also been in the frame but, according to Wolves legend Steve Bull, they should consider Julen Lopetegui.

When questioned by Football Transfer Tavern about whether he would be a good appointment, Bull commented: “I think so, I think so. There’ll be names bandied left, right and centre. If [Jose] Mourinho was free, you would have dropped him in the hat as well. But, you know, it’s just a lottery at the moment.”

Lopetegui has had an interesting couple of years in management. He was set to lead Spain at the 2018 World Cup but was relieved of his duties on the eve of the tournament after agreeing to become Real Madrid manager after the competition had finished.

Following a string of bad results, he was sacked in October of that year after just a matter of months at the helm.

He has enjoyed a fabulous renaissance with Sevilla, however, winning the Europa League with the Spanish outfit in 2020.

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Lopetegui developed a system which involved wing-backs and turned the Andalucians into a defensive powerhouse. Considering how poor Wolves were at the back this term, he could prove beneficial in leading them back up the table.

The Old Gold kept just ten clean sheets from their 38 league games this term, letting in goals on a regular basis. In 14 league matches between October and January, they only maintained two shut-outs during a wretched run of form.

Lopetegui could ensure that this drastically improves. His Sevilla team kept an incredible haul of 25 clean sheets in 54 matches this season.

The 54-year-old dubbed Nuno a “great coach” when the two teams met last season in the Europa League and has enjoyed great success with a defensive duo of Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos. Those two defenders arrived during his first summer in charge, proving that Lopetegui knows what he’s looking for in the transfer market.

Basing his philosophy on a possession-based brand of football, that would suit a Wolves team with plenty of ball-playing midfielders and defenders in their team.

Lopetegui endured a turbulent year in 2018 but has since shown great dedication and focus at Sevilla. He should definitely be considered by Jeff Shi and Fosun.

AND in other news, Wolves eye swoop for “outstanding” 25 G/A beast, he could be their new Traore…

Southampton will be looking to pick up three points when they travel to the Hawthorns to take on relegation-threatened West Brom on Monday evening, as a win for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side will all but confirm their place in the top-flight next season.

The Saints picked up an impressive 3-2 win against Burnley last time out after coming from two goals down, whilst the Baggies registered a superb 5-2 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, so both sides may well be in confident moods ahead of the clash.

Hasenhuttl has welcomed back key players from injury in recent weeks, with just Oriol Romeu, Michael Obafemi and Will Smallbone currently sidelined, so the Saints can be confident of finishing the season strongly.

Here’s how Football FanCast thinks the Austrian will line his side up against Sam Allardyce’s side on Monday, with two changes from the team that started in the win against Burnley…

Fraser Forster continues in goal as there was very little he could have done about Chris Wood’s penalty or Matej Vydra’s excellent finish last time out.

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A consistent back four is often the way to enjoy an excellent season and this defence is clearly the one most preferred by Hasenhuttl, so he will be glad that Kyle Walker-Peters has seemingly shaken off his knock to be fit for this game.

There’s one change in midfield, as Takumi Minamino returns to the side on the left after being rested against Burnley, with Theo Walcott dropping out as he has only just returned from injury, and should perhaps be rested for the FA Cup semi-final next weekend.

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Finally, in attack, after Hasenhuttl admitted that Che Adams was omitted against Burnley for tactical reasons but he comes back into the starting XI in place of Nathan Redmond, who is unlucky to miss out after some strong recent performances, but the “fantastic” Adams has also been in good form and he should cause the Baggies defence a lot of problems with his pace.

And, in other news… Southampton could repeat Romeu masterclass with swoop for “outstanding” PL gem