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Journalist Pete O’Rourke has revealed that Leeds United have been watching RB Salzburg midfielder Brenden Aaronson, Give Me Sport report.

The Lowdown: Aaronson links

Victor Orta is thought to be after two midfield additions before the month is out, with Aaronson an attacking midfielder who can also turn out on the wing.

Journalist Tom Begert revealed shortly before Christmas that Leeds were seriously interested in the 21-year-old, who shares the same agents as Adam Forshaw.

Reports then claimed before the New Year that a January swoop was unlikely due to RB Salzburg’s qualification into the last 16 of the Champions League, but it appears as if the American is still on the radar at Elland Road.

The Latest: O’Rourke confirms interest

O’Rourke was talking to Give Me Sport regarding Aaronson and Leeds’ pursuit of a midfielder.

This is what he had to say, revealing the Whites have had scouts watching Aaronson in action.

“With Aaronson at RB Salzburg, I know Leeds scouts have been watching him.”

The Verdict: Defensive midfielder a priority

Marcelo Bielsa is without Kalvin Phillips until March, so it could be a wise move for the club to sign a more defensive-minded midfielder first.

Leeds have been hit hard with injuries this season and are now also short of attacking midfielders, however, you could argue that the likes of Forshaw, Stuart Dallas and Mateusz Klich could occupy two number eight roles with the likes of Rodrigo and Tyler Roberts sidelined.

On that basis, an out-and-out defensive midfielder to cover for Phillips could be more beneficial before targeting someone like Aaronson, but it seems as if Leeds are keen.

In other news: ‘This is huge’ – BBC pundit reacts to ‘massive’ Leeds news he’s heard from Elland Road. 

An update has emerged on Newcastle United’s interest in Chelsea and England playmaker Ross Barkley…

What’s the talk?

According to The Northern Echo, discussions are underway between Eddie Howe and the club’s recruitment chief Steve Nickson over potential January signings.

The report claims that the Chelsea attacking midfielder is one of the names being discussed, along with Harry Winks, Jesse Lingard and James Tarkowski.

Get it done

PIF must ensure that they can get a deal over the line for Barkley, as the England international could improve their chances of avoiding relegation this season.

The £100k-per-week beast has 230 career appearances in the Premier League and knows what it takes to perform at this level, playing for Everton, Aston Villa and Chelsea in the top flight. He has racked up 28 goals and 31 assists in that time, showing that he is capable of delivering in the final third with contributions in front of goal.

Outside of Callum Wilson and Allan Saint-Maximin, no Newcastle player has more than one Premier League goal this term, which suggests that the squad could be bolstered by a goalscoring midfielder in January. Barkley has 11 goals and 11 assists in 94 games for Chelsea and could be the player to come in and provide a spark in the final third.

Indeed, his former Everton manager Roberto Martinez once compared him to ex-Premier League icons Michael Ballack and Paul Gascoigne. The Spaniard said: “I’ve never seen a young English player with his sort of mentality.

“I can see some (Michael) Ballack in him and some Gazza (Paul Gascoigne). It’s fine for us to make comparisons but he is Ross Barkley. He has great balance, is good with both feet and is developing an incredible awareness.

“You can compare him against any of the best young Brazilians, Dutch or even Spanish.”

This provides an insight into the type of player Barkley is, with his ability to create something out of nothing shown in his statistics for Chelsea. He is capable of popping up with a goal or assist from the middle of the park and that talent could help the Magpies to win games in the second half of the season in their fight against the drop.

Therefore, Howe and PIF must launch an official swoop for the 27-year-old and attempt to bring him to St James’ Park in the winter window.

AND in other news, PIF must seal dream NUFC move for “exceptional” 114-goal magician who Howe would love…

Aston Villa reporter Ashley Preece thinks Steven Gerrard may swoop for Liverpool forward Divock Origi in January.

The Lowdown: Origi’s Liverpool career

Origi has been at Anfield since 2014 and is out of contract in the summer at this moment in time.

The 31-cap Belgium international has made 167 appearances for the Reds, 10 of which have come this season. He’s netted 40 goals in total, with his most recent strikes earning Jurgen Klopp’s side wins at Wolves and AC Milan.

The 26-year-old was linked with a move to Villa Park last year, and Preece feels Johan Lange and co could be back in for Origi over the coming weeks.

The Latest: Preece’s comments

Preece ran a Q&A on Birmingham Live on Wednesday, answering all things Villa-related.

One of the questions was on Origi, with a fan asking Preece if Villa should launch a loan move for the forward in January.

Here’s what the journalist had to say in reply, seemingly backing Gerrard to look at a loan-to-buy deal for the ‘fabulous’ striker, should Keinan Davis depart in the New Year.

“It’s one that Premier League clubs – and Villa – will be closely monitoring given his recent form. Still just 26 and happy to play second fiddle but will no doubt back himself to become a regular starter away from Anfield. It all depends on what he does from now until January but I expect Origi to be available and, should Keinan Davis move out, Origi would make perfect sense. A fabulous finisher. Loan to buy sounds ideal, for me.”

The Verdict: Needed?

Gerrard’s main New Year priorities are thought to be a new centre-back and defensive midfielder.

Villa already have experienced forwards Ollie Watkins and Danny Ings on the books, so perhaps a move for Origi isn’t needed at this moment in time.

If Villa are to make an attacking addition, it could be wise to look at another marquee wide addition. That’s because Gerrard is thought to be open to moving on two senior wingers in January, whereas Leon Bailey is out injured one again.

It’ll be interesting to see if Villa move for Origi, though, especially after Preece’s latest claim.

In other news: ‘Massive’ – Sky Sports pundit reacts as Lange weighs up Aston Villa swoop for £85k-p/w speedster. 

Speaking to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur ‘insider’/club source John Wenham has shared his thoughts on a recent development involving Inter Milan star Stefan de Vrij.

The Lowdown: de Vrij emerges as Conte target…

As per numerous claims from Italian, Spanish and English media, Nerazzurri defender de Vrij is very much on new manager Antonio Conte’s list of targets.

The 29-year-old is apparently one of many Serie A big names who could be targeted by the Spurs boss and managing director Fabio Paratici, with Calciomercato.it listing him among six others in Federico Chiesa, Matthijs de Ligt, Marcelo Brozovic, Alessio Romagnoli, Dusan Vlahovic.

Meanwhile, Fichajes believe that things are slightly more advanced – claiming last week that the Dutch international is edging ‘closer and closer’ to signing for Spurs as Conte seeks to solve his major defensive problems.

Last but not least, Football Insider have the most recent development, stating de Vrij is personally open to the idea of a Spurs move – wanting more information and telling friends he is ‘very keen’.

The Latest: Insider backs realistic Spurs chance…

Speaking to FI, in reaction to these developments, insider Wenham believes that the centre-back is indeed a ‘realistic signing’ if the Lilywhites can negotiate a reasonable fee – certainly not his reported £40m valuation.

“He’s clearly a player Conte trusts. if he does want De Vrij then that is a deal I can see us doing,” said the Spurs source.

“He’s an international player with 55 caps, he’s a trophy winner and he’s an instant improvement on Ben Davies.

“The £40million fee is a bit steep for a player who doesn’t have that long left on his contract.

“I think Tottenham would look for a discount there, a £25million deal seems fair to me.

“Especially if you look at his age as well. He is a more realistic signing.

“If Conte really wants him then the club have to back that decision.”

The Verdict: Get it done…

If Tottenham can indeed whittle his price down to around £25m, even despite his age, we believe it is certainly a deal worth pursuing.

Racking up over half a century of caps for the Netherlands, de Vrij has not only played in two major international tournaments, but also possesses lots of Champions League and Europa League appearances at club level.

Making 44 cameos across the continent’s most elite European competitions since 2010/2011, de Vrij’s wealth of experience on the biggest stages in football could be invaluable to Conte and Spurs.

A remarkable ball-playing centre-back, de Vrij averaged a higher pass accuracy (93.8%) than any Tottenham player last season as Inter ended Juve’s stranglehold on the Scudetto (WhoScored).

We believe his composure and assurance would complement Cristian Romero to superb effect and potentially educate Tottenham’s relatively young defender in the process.

Lauded as a ‘worldbeater’ by pundit Noel Whelan, this could be one major potential coup for Spurs.

In other news: ‘Understand’, ‘In recent weeks’…Alasdair Gold shares exciting development out of Hotspur Way, find out more here.

Many Crystal Palace fans slammed James Tomkins for his performance in Saturday’s Premier League game against Aston Villa. 

Palace were looking to return to winning ways after twice surrendering the lead in their 3-3 draw with Burnley last time out, but lost 2-1 after Marc Guehi’s last-minute goal was not enough to cancel out strikes from Matt Targett and John McGinn, despite Douglas Luiz getting sent off for the visitors.

Patrick Vieira made two changes from the side that started at Turf Moor.

Tomkins slotted into defence alongside Guehi, with Joachim Andersen unavailable after picking up a hamstring injury.

And Jordan Ayew dropped to the substitutes’ bench to make room for Michael Olise on the right wing.

Recapping Tomkins’ performance vs Villa

Tomkins was partly to blame as Villa bagged the opening goal on 15 minutes. Ashley Young delivered a corner, the centre-back missed his header and Targett was able to control and finish.

Palace had conceded a league-high nine goals from set pieces prior to the game, and the introduction of the 32-year-old seemingly did little to address the issue.

Tomkins also failed to make any tackles, and was guilty of losing possession of the ball five times (SofaScore).

Here’s what Palace fans on Twitter made of his display:

These Crystal Palace fans tear into Tomkins

“Luka and Tomkins look lost”

Credit: @OrsonMcFeathers

“How bad has Tomkins been?!”

Credit: @ianace0

“Luka has been appalling, Tomkins is shaky”

Credit: @cpfcoscar

“Luka and Tomkins aren’t good enough and they never were”

Credit: @Mark_CPFC

“Vieira making all the wrong calls. Tomkins and Luka have been dreadful”

Credit: @Gswfanlee

“Tomkins has genuinely forgot how to man mark at set-pieces, a shadow of his former self”

Credit: @theunusedsub

In other news, this pre-game news had lots of Palace fans talking.

Former Aston Villa centre-forward Gabriel Agbonlahor has claimed that Ivan Toney would be a brilliant fit for Villa.

What’s been said?

Speaking recently on talkSPORT (via Birmingham Live), Agbonlahor stated his belief that the Brentford forward has the ability to play for a team that is fighting for European qualification in the Premier League, before suggesting that the 25-year-old would make an ideal strike partner for Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.

Speaking about the centre-forward, Agbonlahor said: “I think he’s got what it takes to be in a team that’s fighting for Europe… somewhere like Villa as a target man, playing with Watkins.”

Lange must move

While there are no concrete links being reported regarding a potential Aston Villa move for Toney, considering just how impressive the 25-year-old has been for Brentford this season, it would be difficult to disagree with Agbonlahor’s claim that the striker would make an impressive addition to Dean Smith’s options in attack.

Indeed, over his eight Premier League appearances so far this term, the £28.8m-rated man has already scored two goals, registered two assists and created four big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.3 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the player Thomas Frank claimed boasts the “mindset of a lion” earn a remarkable average SofaScore match rating of 7.47, ranking him as the Bees’ best performer in the top flight, as well as the ninth-best in the entirety of the division.

As such, the prospect of the £21k-per-week Toney lining up alongside either Watkins – one goal in six league appearances – or Danny Ings – three goals over eight league fixtures – is certainly a mouthwatering one.

And, while it would appear an incredibly unlikely scenario considering their highly impressive start to the season, should Brentford find themselves being relegated to the Championship at the end of the current campaign, and the opportunity to sign Toney presents itself, Johan Lange simply must do everything in his power to secure the 25-year-old’s arrival at Villa Park.

In other news: “Outstanding” Aston Villa gem who won just one duel failed Smith in derby collapse

With his current contract set to expire in the summer of 2023 and after scoring 15 goals in 12 appearances across all competitions so far this season, it’s been no secret that Liverpool have been trying to tie down Mohamed Salah to a new deal in recent weeks and months.

With this in mind and the matter still unresolved, football journalist Fabrizio Romano had something to share on the current situation, which we think should excite Liverpool fans a lot.

What’s the latest?

Appearing on a recent edition of Rio Ferdinand’s FIVE Podcast (via Empire of the Kop), Romano revealed that Liverpool are “optimistic” about the chances of Salah putting pen to paper on a new deal at the Merseyside club.

He said: “They are negotiating, they are in talks. Liverpool want to do it as soon as possible, not in April or May, they want to do it in the next weeks or months.”

Since joining the Reds back in the 2017 summer transfer window from AS Roma for a fee of £34m, the 29-year-old – who is currently valued at £90m by Transfermarkt – has made 215 appearances for Jurgen Klopp’s side across all competitions. In that time, he has comfortably cemented himself as a crucial figure for Liverpool, with 140 goals and 52 assists to his name.

Considering what Romano had to say and what Salah has delivered for Liverpool on the pitch since his arrival at Anfield, it would be safe to assume that Kopites would be delighted to see the winger sign a new deal at the club in the near future.

In our view, given how important Salah has proven over the years and how much of a consistent goalscorer he has been for the Reds, we feel that Liverpool and their owners should be doing all they can to make sure that Salah signs a new deal to keep him at the club and continue doing what he has been ever since he arrived.

If that means offering him more money in terms of his weekly wages, duly making him the highest earner at the club, we feel this is an expense worth taking if it keeps Salah at Anfield beyond 2023.

In other news: Klopp must unleash “important” Liverpool beast on Saturday, he’d terrify Brighton

Southampton suffered their third Premier League defeat of the season last weekend in their 3-1 loss against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, leaving Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side still without a win.

Heading into the game against Thomas Tuchel’s men, Hasenhuttl gave Saints winger Theo Walcott his first start since recovering from an injury.

On The Chalkboard

During the match, Walcott, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £75k-per week, the highest of any Southampton player according to Spotrac, had very little impact on the game in an attacking sense for the Saints.

Before being replaced at halftime by Ibrahima Diallo, the winger had just 17 touches of the ball, failed to have any shots on target and missed one big chance, ultimately earning himself a rather uninspiring overall match rating of 6.6/10 according to SofaScore. Furthermore, he could only manage a measly nine passes.

What made his outing even worse was the surprising nature of Walcott’s selection. Southampton writer Glen de la Cour noted: “I was absolutely stunned that Walcott came straight back into the team.”

Early in his playing career, Walcott worked his way through Southampton’s youth academy before making his senior debut for the club in August 2005 in a 0-0 draw against Wolves in the Championship under former Saints boss Harry Redknapp.

The speedster then left the club for a move to Arsenal in January 2006 before eventually returning on a loan deal from Everton in October last year and ultimately signing back to the Saints on a free transfer during the recent summer transfer window.

Overall, the 32-year-old, who is currently valued at £4.5m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 50 appearances for the Saints across all competitions, bagging eight goals and providing three assists along the way.

Moving forward, with Southampton set to take on Leeds United in their next league fixture after the international break, we feel that Hasenhuttl would be better off dropping Walcott for this game and perhaps start Mohamed Elyounoussi instead.

The Norwegian has more game time under his belt this season having played 90 minutes on four occasions in the league.

However, with Southampton having failed to score a goal in three of the four games that Elyounoussi has played the full 90 minutes in, this could potentially put some doubt in Hasenhuttl’s mind as to which winger he decides to start against Marcelo Bielsa’s side.

With that in mind, we feel that Walcott didn’t do enough in the Chelsea match to show he should be starting against Leeds.

In other news: Signed for £0, now worth £28.8m: 26 y/o gem has become a Southampton masterclass – opinion

With 22 goals scored in their opening eight Premier League games of the season, it’s safe to say Liverpool have not been shy in an attacking sense so far in their latest campaign, with Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah contributing 16 of those 22 goals between them.

Despite this impressive start to their season in front of goal, it seems as though the Merseyside club have their eye on potentially adding a new attacking star to their squad.

What’s the news?

It has recently been reported by Italian media outlet Calciomercato (via Sport Witness) that Liverpool are in the lead to sign Club Brugge winger Noa Lang.

The Belgian club originally signed Lang, who has been described as “pure class” by analyst Filip Joos, on a loan deal from Ajax in October 2020 before securing him on a permanent deal in the recent summer transfer window.

Overall, the 22-year-old, who is currently valued at £22.5m according to Transfermarkt, has made 51 appearances for the club across all competitions in which he’s managed to score 21 goals and provide 16 assists in the process, which could be why the Reds are apparently interested in signing him.

Potential Mane heir?

In terms of a potential move to Liverpool, either in the upcoming January transfer window or the next summer window, we feel that he could well be a good signing for the Merseyside club and act as a potential long-term heir for current Reds winger Sadio Mane.

With the 29-year-old’s current contract at Anfield set to expire in the summer of 2023, we feel that if he were to leave Liverpool at that point, this could potentially see Lang take a prominent place in Klopp’s side.

With Lang having made more key passes per game (1.9) and dribbles per game (2.5) than Mane has managed in the Premier League so far this season, with 1.1 key passes and one dribble per game, this shows the similar qualities the two players have and why Lang could be a good option for the club in the future depending on what Mane does.

In our view, if Liverpool are interested in signing Lang for a suitable price, they should definitely explore the possibility to bring him in as a squad player with the potential to then become a regular first-team player given his young age.

In other news: 2.1 key passes PG: LFC could seal ideal Wijnaldum replacement in £58.5m-rated beast – opinion

There was a possibility Freddie Woodman could have left on loan on Deadline Day to facilitate an incoming, The Athletic’s Chris Waugh has revealed. 

The lowdown

Newcastle have taken the ‘unusual’ step of naming four goalkeepers in their 25-man Premier League squad, with Woodman joined by Martin Dubravka, Karl Darlow and Mark Gillespie.

Steve Bruce has had to call upon Woodman after Dubravka sustained a foot injury at the European Championships and Darlow was hospitalised with coronavirus (via The Athletic).

The Newcastle boss has been forced to make do with just one new addition – £25million man Joe Willock – partly because of finances, but also because they ‘would have had to make room’ in the squad.

The latest

Waugh reports that ‘privately, few at St James’ Park’ genuinely believed they would ever end up taking the ‘damaging’ step of naming four ‘keepers.

And the perceived necessity of doing so ‘affected transfer business’.

Bruce was weighing up the decision until the end of the transfer window, with the 60-year-old keen to sign Leicester City’s Hamza Choudhury on loan.

But allowing Woodman to leave and placing trust in Gillespie was ultimately deemed too risky.

The verdict

You do have some sympathy for Newcastle here. It’s bad enough having your first choice ‘keeper injured, but for your back-up to fall ill at the same time is woefully unlucky.

It might be said that Bruce should simply have backed Gillespie in the hope of bringing a much-needed reinforcement further up the pitch, but how many managers would truly trust a ‘keeper who is effectively the fourth best on the club’s books?

Bruce’s reign on Tyneside has been far from perfect, but it feels his hands were tied by almost impossible circumstances on this occasion.

In other news, Frank McAvennie has dropped a two-word verdict on Steve Bruce’s future.