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Rangers are reportedly preparing a bid for Santiago Moreno this summer, and the Colombian could be a superb addition to Steven Gerrard’s squad at Ibrox ahead of next season.

According to journalist Pipe Sierra on Twitter, the Gers are preparing a €3m (£2.6m) offer for the America de Cali winger this summer, who is also attracting interest from Norwich City and the MLS.

Leeds United and Southampton have also previously been linked with the 21-year-old, who has earned comparisons with Liverpool superstar Sadio Mane for his style of play.

The young winger has already established himself as a regular with the Liga Dimayor side, making 51 appearances in all competitions and contributing 10 goals and seven assists in that time, so he could certainly add something to Gerrard’s squad ahead of the 2021/22 campaign.

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The 41-year-old manager already has plenty of quality available to him on the flanks, with the likes of Ianis Hagi and particularly Ryan Kent two of his most consistent performers last season as they finished the Premiership campaign unbeaten, whilst Scott Wright and Kemar Roofe also featured out wide on occasion.

However, if Gerrard wants his side to compete in the Champions League next season, whilst also retaining their Premiership title, he needs to add young attacking talent to his squad, and Moreno could be a superb option for the future.

Considering that both Hagi and Kent have been linked with moves away from Ibrox this summer, signing a winger may prove to be a priority for Ross Wilson ahead of next season. If these latest reports are true, the sporting director is evidently keen on securing Moreno’s signing in the coming weeks.

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With eight goal contributions in just 17 league appearances for America de Cali last season, there seems no reason why the 21-year-old couldn’t have an impact in the Scottish Premiership, and it would be a huge boost for Gerrard if Wilson were to secure Moreno’s signing ahead of next season.

In other news… Rangers dealt huge blow over “top player”, Gerrard surely gutted

Newcastle United journalist Liam Kennedy, speaking to GiveMeSport, dropped an exciting update involving Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier after talks got underway. 

The lowdown

Links with the England defender date back to the autumn when The Telegraph named him as a realistic January target for the Magpies (via NUFC Blog).

The Northern Echo’s Scott Wilson has also reported that Newcastle manager Eddie Howe sees right-back as a priority position, with Newcastle willing to stump up £25m for Trippier.

Mark Douglas, a Northern Football Correspondent at the I, says it would be ‘a great move’ for the club, and sports journalist Josh Bunting says it is ‘exactly the sort of signing’ they need.

The latest

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Kennedy revealed that Newcastle have opened discussions with Atletico over a transfer fee for the 31-year-old, who is one of Howe’s leading targets ahead of the January transfer window.

The journalist said: “There have been some talks with fees with Atletico and I think it’s a deal that can get done. He is top of Eddie Howe’s priority list, along with a couple of others.”

The verdict

It seems that Newcastle might be able to convince Atletico, even though Trippier is a mainstay in Diego Simeone’s team, but can they persuade the player to swap Madrid for Tyneside when the La Liga side have qualified for the Champions League knockout stages and Newcastle face a relegation battle?

Wilson has written that the player could view the move as a means of strengthening his 2022 World Cup prospects, and perhaps his camp will also insist upon a relegation clause being included in his contract, allowing him to exit on the cheap if Newcastle do go down.

On top of this, Kennedy’s update suggests that the Magpies have more than a fighting chance of bringing Trippier back to England.

In other news, has an opportunity emerged for Newcastle to sign this Premier League player?

A Spanish outlet has dropped a key update in Barcelona’s attempts to sign Leeds United star Raphinha this summer.

The Lowdown: Summer shake-up?

It looks as if there could be a major summer shake-up at Elland Road over the coming months, with Jesse Marsch hopefully preparing for a first full season as manager in the Premier League.

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Along with Raphinha, exit links have emerged on Kalvin Phillips, Jack Harrison and Robin Koch. Three Premier League sides are interested in signing Phillips, whereas Tottenham are keen on Harrison while Marsch and Victor Orta are apparently ready to move on Koch.

Raphinha could well be the biggest exit from Elland Road, though, with his agent Deco travelling to Barcelona over the weekend for talks.

The Latest: In the next few hours…

A Spanish outlet dropped an update on Barcelona and Raphinha, leading with a headline that negotiations are indeed underway for the Brazilian.

Barca chiefs Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff are set to meet with Deco ‘in the next few hours’ to lay the foundations of a deal, with Raphinha himself keen on a move to the Nou Camp.

The Verdict: Leeds still in control

For now, Leeds are still in complete control over Raphinha’s future and are doing the right thing by putting talks on hold until the end of the season.

Should the club remain in the top flight, they will hold the cards over a big-money move, with Raphinha under contract until 2024. However, if they drop back down to the Championship, a €25m relegation release clause will allegedly be active in the 25-year-old’s deal.

The next few weeks will be key, both on and off the pitch, but it seems as if Deco is doing all he can to get a deal in place ahead of the summer.

In other news: ‘Leeds fans won’t be happy…’ – Sky Sports man reacts to major update emerging from Elland Road

West Brom have a challenging fixture ahead of them away to Blackpool tomorrow night, and will be hoping to secure three points to put them closer to the top two spots in the Championship currently held by Fulham and Bournemouth.

The Baggies have only won two of their last five games, which will be frustrating for manager Valerien Ismael, who will have been tasked with the challenge to take the side back to the Premier League next season.

One player that has been proving he has potential to play for the side if they get back to the Premier League, is Callum Robinson.

The £5.4m rated forward had a fantastic international break with his national side, the Republic of Ireland, where he contributed in holding Portugal to a 0-0 draw and even beat Cristiano Ronaldo to be Man Of The Match award in the game.

Despite this impressive performance, the 26 year old attacker was left out of Ismael’s starting XI against Huddersfield Town last weekend, in which the side lost.

With Livermore red carded, an in game substitution for a forward in a ten man team clearly wasn’t in the manager’s thought process as he tried to maintain some damage limitation for the rest of the game.

When asked by Birmingham Live, Ismael gave this response about not including Robinson;

“For sure we would have liked to play with Robbo but we have another game on Tuesday so we have to manage this.

“We wanted to put Robbo in but come the red card we had to change the game plan so this situation is due to the comeback from Alex because that took one change from the three possibilities.

The Baggies manager will be hoping to emulate the Robinson we saw during international break, in West Brom’s difficult title challenging campaign ahead.

Ex-Ireland player, Kevin Kilbane spoke to The Athletic about Robinson’s striking attributes that make him such a promising player:

“He’s played in a number of positions but when he plays as a nine, he’s not restricted because he always likes to drift out to the left and then cut inside to try to get strikes away.”

“So you always feel he could do a job on the left-hand side but when we play him as a No 9, his work rate is excellent and he always gives us the option of dropping back and helping the midfield out a little bit.”

West Brom and Ismael will be hoping to unleash the Irishman in their upcoming fixture against Blackpool to help them secure three points and gain a win away from home, of which they currently only have three.

In other news: Injury blow dampens West Brom’s transfer plans for Zohore

Transfer insider Dean Jones has made a claim on Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips following links of a move to Manchester United, as per GiveMeSport.The Lowdown: Man Utd ‘working on a deal’ for PhillipsPhillips, who is in the process of changing agents, has been linked with the likes of Aston Villa, Newcastle United and West Ham in recent weeks.[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-updates/” title=”Latest Leeds United updates!” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-04-02T155252Z_391313781_UP1EI421841M9_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-SOU-REPORT.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]Manchester United have now become the latest club to show a serious interest and are thought to be ‘working on a deal’ for the Whites star.Despite links to multiple Premier League rivals, the 26-year-old is reportedly open to penning new terms at Elland Road, although his future won’t be resolved until the summer.The Latest: Jones’ claim on PhillipsTalking to GiveMeSport, Jones admitted that he can’t see a move to Old Trafford materialising for Phillips due to the ‘uproar’ and ‘backlash’ he could receive from fans of his boyhood club.The journalist outlined:

“I think Kalvin Phillips could fit in at Man United, I just don’t see it happening because I think there’ll be uproar, and I don’t think that Kalvin Phillips is likely to rock the boat.“I guess the closest comparison we could make to a player leaving would be Harry Kane when he threatened to leave Tottenham or looked like he was leaving Tottenham. The backlash that there was to him then, you would be risking something like that.”

The Verdict: Unlikely…Phillips chose to stay and extend his deal in Yorkshire back in 2019 after the Whites failed in their push for promotion to the Premier League.He had an offer from Aston Villa at that time and will now go down as a Leeds legend after playing a key role in taking the club back to the top flight.Therefore, it seems extremely unlikely that he’d risk ruining his Leeds reputation with a move across the Pennines, especially with Manchester United not as attractive proposition as they once were.In other news: Fabrizio Romano reveals big transfer blow for Leeds as key 21 y/o target now set to move elsewhere

At this point in the season, Liverpool have had more shots at goal in the Premier League than any other top-flight side with a total of 147, a full 20 more than second-placed Manchester City in that regard.

This shows that Jurgen Klopp’s side have not been struggling to attack their opponents so far this season, but it seems as though the Merseyside club have their eye on potentially signing one of Europe’s top attacking talents.

What’s the latest?

It has recently been reported by Spanish media outlet Fichajes that Liverpool is a potential destination for Atletico Madrid attacker Joao Felix during the upcoming January transfer window, alongside Italian clubs Juventus and Inter Milan, on an initial loan deal.

Felix, who was described as an “exciting” player by Portuguese journalist Jose Delgado, signed for Atletico back in the 2019 summer transfer window from Benfica for a massive £113m fee.

Since then, the 21-year-old, who is currently valued at £72m by Transfermarkt, has made 81 appearances for the La Liga champions across all competitions, scoring 19 goals and providing nine assists along the way.

Felix won the Golden Boy award for 2019, beating the likes of Erling Haaland, Jadon Sancho and Kai Havertz and securing his status as one of Europe’s best young players.

The next Jota?

In terms of a potential move to Liverpool in January, if the Merseyside club are willing to take him on loan in January with a potential permanent move on the cards further down the line, we feel that Felix could be a good investment for the Reds based on his young age and the experience he has under his belt playing in La Liga and the Champions League.

Additionally, with the Portuguese star being able to play in a number of roles across the attack such as second striker, centre-forward and on the left wing, he could well be a younger version of Diogo Jota, who is also Portuguese, has spent some time with Atletico and is able to play in the same positions as Felix.

Furthermore, the 21-year-old has racked up a similar number of dribbles per game (1.3) in La Liga this season to what Jota has in the Champions League (1.5).

Also, with Roberto Firmino’s contract at Liverpool set to expire in 2023 when he will be 32, there’s every chance that Felix could be his long-term replacement at Anfield if he ends up joining on a permanent basis and the Brazilian leaves when his contract runs out.

With Liverpool set to take on Atletico in their next Champions League game next week, it will be interesting to see whether or not Felix plays a part in the match and shows why the Reds should make a move to sign him in January.

In other news: Possession lost 15 times: Klopp must ruthlessly axe £140k-p/w LFC ace, he’s a liability

With Bruno Lage’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side heading into Saturday’s Premier League clash on the back of a decent run of league form, the 45-year-old manager would have undoubtedly been hoping for yet another positive result when Wolves welcomed Newcastle United to Molineux.

And, while it was not exactly the best performance the Old Gold have ever put in, they nevertheless managed to overcome Steve Bruce’s winless Newcastle side thanks to two goals from summer signing Hee-Chan Hwang, with the South Korea international’s brace being enough for Lage’s men to secure a 2-1 win.

However, while the 25-year-old winger stole the headlines with his goals, Lage will have arguably been more impressed with the performance of Raul Jimenez, as, despite not getting himself on the scoresheet, the centre-forward put on a dominant display against the Magpies.

Three key passes

After scoring a match-winning first goal of the season against Southampton last time out, the 30-year-old striker will have gone into Saturday’s fixture in high spirits, and it certainly showed.

Over his 90 minutes on the pitch against Newcastle, the £25.2m-rated man proved an extremely creative outlet for Lage’s side, providing both of the assists for Hwang’s goals, making three key passes, creating one big chance and completing five of his six attempted dribbles.

The player who Nuno Espirito Santo dubbed a “special” talent also chipped in for his side in a defensive capacity, winning eight duels, making one tackle, one clearance and drawing one foul against the Magpies in a dominant physical display.

These returns saw the £41k-per-week man earn a SofaScore match rating of 8.0, with only Hwang receiving a higher rating than the Mexico international on the day.

As such, while Jimenez did not manage to score himself, the 30-year-old nevertheless ran the show for his side on Saturday, with his performance undoubtedly giving Lage and the Wolves fans confidence that their team can continue their current run of Premier League form after the international break.

In other news: Wolves dealt “massive blow” on 20 y/o beast, Bruno Lage will be gutted

Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba will not be leaving Old Trafford over what remains of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Fabrizio Romano, with the journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that, despite reports suggesting otherwise, the Frenchman will not be leaving United this summer, and the central midfielder was never discussed as a potential makeweight in the club’s proposals to Juventus in their signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.

In his tweet, Romano said: “Paul Pogba is also staying and he’s never been involved in any proposal to Juventus.”

Further reports have claimed that Paris Saint-Germain have been considering a move for the 28-year-old, who has just one year remaining on his current contract at Old Trafford – with no agreement reached between the club and the player concerning a new deal at present.

Music to the ears of fans

While it would indeed appear something of a priority to ensure that Pogba does put pen to paper on a contract extension this season, as the possibility of the midfielder leaving the club for nothing next summer is currently a very real one, Romano’s claim that the France international will remain a United player beyond Tuesday’s transfer deadline is sure to be music to the ears of fans.

Indeed, since his return to Manchester back in 2016, the 28-year-old has consistently been one of the club’s most consistent performers in the Premier League, earning seasonal SofaScore match ratings of 7.66, 7.40, 7.21, 7.13 and 6.98 over the past five top-flight seasons respectively.

And, the £54m-rated man has already highly impressed over his two Premier League appearances for the Red Devils this term, having provided a whopping five assists and creating one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of three shots and making three key passes per game.

These returns have seen the £290k-per-week midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.55, ranking him as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s third-best performer in the league.

As such, it is evident that Pogba is a crucial component within the Manchester United side, who will undoubtedly play a key role in any success the club manage to achieve this season.

So, Romano’s claim that the Frenchman does not look likely to leave the club over what remains of the summer transfer window is sure to delight Solskjaer and fans of the club alike.

In other news: Man Utd make contact over £27m-rated “complete midfielder”, Ole would love him

West Ham youngster Ben Johnson was one silver lining for David Moyes as his side were defeated at a wintery and snow-hit Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Pep Guardiola now has ten wins in 11 top-flight matches over the Irons after Manchester City ran away 2-1 victors thanks to goals from midfield duo Ilkay Gundogan and Fernandinho. Hammers midfielder Manuel Lanzini came off the bench to seal an injury-time consolation goal but it wasn’t enough to salvage anything for the visitors in the most difficult of conditions.

It was another Premier League game in which Declan Rice excelled in the heart of the pitch, registering the most touches and accurate passes of West Ham’s visiting cast, but this level of performance is now expected for the England regular.

Instead, the spotlight deserves to be on 20-year-old right-back Ben Johnson, who for large spells of the game marshalled Rice’s international colleague Raheem Sterling to great effect.

The Evening Standard’s Jack Rosser was equally impressed, mentioning a similar observation in his post-match ratings column, where Johnson was amongst his best performers.

‘Very good up against Raheem Sterling on the right of the back four and made a superb block on the line to deny Jesus,’ he wrote.

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Indeed, only Rice (57) had more touches off the ball for West Ham than the impressive academy graduate (53), which suggests that he wasn’t afraid to assert some sort of authority against such a high-quality side as City.

That was also backed up by the fact that he lost possession 18 times, the most of any Hammers player – at the very least he was trying to influence the game, unlike some of his teammates.

Furthermore, the 5 foot 9 wing-back did his defensive dues, recording two clearances, including one desperate one off the line, as well as two blocks and he even recorded one key pass, per SofaScore.

It’s no wonder Moyes has lauded the emerging prospect a “really important player” for the club – clearly that’s the case, as he has usurped usual reliable stalwart Vladimir Coufal in the role.

Johnson was certainly one of the few positives for the Irons from Sunday’s disappointing defeat to the Premier League champions.

AND in other news, ExWHUemployee: West Ham are interested in this Bundesliga goal-machine…

Michael Ball thinks Everton could sell Richarlison to allow Rafa Benitez to sign top target Kalidou Koulibaly.

Benitez, who was named as Carlo Ancelotti’s successor last month, has bolstered his squad by signing Andros Townsend, Asmir Begovic and Demarai Gray.

He has his sights set on being reunited with Senegal international defender Koulibaly, who he managed at Napoli.

Current Napoli chief Luciano Spalletti has insisted Koulibaly is not for sale but that did not stop the Toffees making an opening bid, according to Calciomercato, which was rejected. It is thought that the Italian club will only allow the 30-year-old to depart for a significant fee.

Meanwhile, Richarlison is among those on former Everton boss Ancelotti’s wishlist following his appointment as Real Madrid’s new boss. It has been reported that Ancelotti has already made contact in the hope of taking the Brazil international to the Bernabeu.

Ex-Everton left-back Ball believes Richarlison could leave Goodison Park to allow Benitez to sign his top target.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, he said: “Summer windows, especially after tournaments, result in shock transfers happening.

“We don’t want Richarlison to leave but if he does there would be massive money in the kitty to replace him and bring players like Koulibaly to the football club.”