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Liverpool have had a £34m bid for Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez rejected, with the La Liga champions demanding more for his services.

The Lowdown: Liverpool linked with Saul move

The Reds could be in the market for a new central midfielder this summer following Gini Wijnaldum’s exit to Paris Saint-Germain.

One player who has been linked with a move to Anfield is Saul, who has been such an influential performer for Atletico down the years. The Spanish giants may be willing to let the 26-year-old leave this summer, but only for the right price.

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The Latest: Reds see bid rejected

According to Mundo Deportivo, Liverpool’s bid of £34m has been turned down by Atletico, who deem the offer to be too low.

It remains to be seen if the Reds will come back in for a higher bid or look elsewhere for an alternative.

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The Verdict: Worth another punt?

The £36m-rated Saul is a fabulous player, ticking so many of the boxes required to be a success at Liverpool. Indeed, Neil Jones told Redmen TV [via Liverpool Echo] that the midfielder has “got massive admirers” at Anfield.

At 26, he still has a good few years left in him at the top, he possesses quality on the ball – 86.7% pass completion rate in the Champions League last season, bettered by only six Reds players – and works tirelessly for the good of the team, winning 1.7 tackles per game.

For that reason, Liverpool would be wise to make a higher bid for Saul, filling their Wijnaldum-shaped void in the process.

In other news, some Liverpool fans are delighted with a rumour surrounding one Reds player. Read more here.

Wolves have enjoyed a consistent and comfortable first half to their Premier League season, with the side sitting 8th in the table right now, but climbing as high as fifth and sixth over the past four months thanks to seven wins and four draws from their last 18 fixtures.

A lot of credit must be given to the defensive attributes that Wolves have displayed over the season, conceding only 14 goals, with an interesting statistic that proves just how strong Wolves have been out of possession – Bruno Lage’s side are the only Premier League team to not concede a goal from a set piece so far this season.

Although we could credit the whole team and Lage for the performances we have seen over the last four months, there is one player in particular that has been given high praise for Wolves and rightly so.

Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher recently did a ‘half season awards’ on Sky Sport’s Monday Night Football, with Neville naming Wolves goalkeeper, Jose Sa, as the best Premier League summer signing praising his “massive impact” on the side.

“The signing of the season properly is Ronaldo for what he has brought to the Premier League, but the kid at Wolves, I was flipping between the pair earlier, but he’s only conceded 14 goals from 18 games.

“The Wolves goalkeeper has had a massive impact on their season and at this moment in time Manchester United are struggling.”

According to OneVersusOne, Jose Sa has made 71 interceptions this season so far putting him in third place amongst his goalkeeper peers in the Premier League and in the top ten (sixth) when it comes to shots saved (62)

The 28 year old keeper also has the highest rating of any other player in the Wolves team on SofaScore, with a 7.15 average.

Neville isn’t the only one to recognise and credit Sa on his phenomenal form, his manager at Molineux has also praised his player;

“He is very important for us. He came with lots of ambition to replace a top goalkeeper in Rui Patricio, and he is doing very well.

“We are very happy with him and we hope he can continue with what he is doing for us.”

The £12.5m-rated beast will be hoping to keep up the impact he is making on his side as Wolves charge on into the second half of the season in the hopes of snatching a finish that could secure the club European football next season.

Given that he was only signed for just £6.25m, it’s fair to say Jeff Shi pulled off a transfer masterclass with the6 foot 4 goalkeeper.

In other news: Ruben Neves squashes rumours of a move away

Newcastle United are among the Premier League clubs chasing FC Koln defender Timo Hubers, according to The Daily Mail. 

The lowdown: Hubers profiled

25-year-old Hubers is predominantly a centre-back, though he has played a handful of games as a right-back, left-back and defensive midfielder during his career, showing impressive versatility from a young age.

He made headlines in the UK in March 2020 when he became one of the first professional footballers to test positive for Covid-19.

He’s played 15 Bundesliga matches for Steffen Baumgart’s eighth-place side this season, including 12 of the last 13.

Significantly, his contract at the RheinEnergieStadion is due to expire in just over 14 months’ time, potentially putting pressure on Koln to cash in this summer.

Newcastle did strengthen the heart of their defence in January with the signing of Dan Burn from Brighton and Hove Albion, but clearly Eddie Howe wants further reinforcements.

The latest: Premier League interest

Journalists Chris Wheeler and Olly Allen write that Steve Nickson and Newcastle are ‘understood to be tracking’ Hubers ahead of the summer transfer window.

PL rivals Leeds United, Crystal Palace, West Ham United and Southampton are also in the frame in his signature, with Championship promotion hopefuls Fulham keen too.

He’s apparently likely to cost as little as £6million, in part due to his contract situation.

The verdict: A cheaper Salisu

What kind of defender is Hubers? Well, he looks to be very comfortable in the possession, ranking in the 82nd percentile (among positional peers in the ‘big five’ leagues) for passes attempted and the 95th for dribbles completed.

He also very much defends on the front foot, recording 11.58 pressures per 90 minutes (80th percentile) and reads the game well, as evidenced by his 4.12 interceptions per game (99th).

According to FBRef, he boasts a similar profile to Southampton’s Mohammed Salisu, another player Newcastle are said to admire. Indeed, The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards revealed that Newcastle considered a move for the Ghanaian in January.

But he’s valued at £13.5million by Transfermarkt, and Hubers could be available for only half the price. It may be a no-brainer, then, for Howe and his recruitment team.

In other news, this trio struggled most against Tottenham Hotspur.

Crystal Palace slumped to their second consecutive defeat after Raphinha snatched all three points for Leeds United with an injury-time penalty in their Premier League clash at Elland Road.

The Eagles were looking to bounce back from their disappointing result against Aston Villa over the weekend and looked to be heading home with a point until referee Kevin Friend pointed to the spot in the 91st minute.

Summer signing Marc Guehi was adjudged to have handled the ball following an in-swinging corner, with the decision confirmed after the Video Assistant Referee advised Friend to go to the pitch-side monitor.

The result perhaps wasn’t a fair reflection of the game, though, with Palace having the better opportunities to win the closely fought encounter.

Substitute Christian Benteke had two golden opportunities to put the visitors ahead after Wilfried Zaha clipped a delightful ball to the back post before the Belgium international headed wide, and Illan Meslier just about kept out his effort after connecting with a long ball upfield.

However, the capital club’s backline looked suspect throughout the 90 minutes, not just when Guehi gifted Leeds a golden opportunity to claim their fourth top-flight victory of the campaign.

Experienced right-back Joel Ward struggled to cope with the pace of Dan James following the break, with the former Manchester United youngster playing two key passes and creating one big chance.

As per SofaScore, the 32-year-old was awarded a match rating of just 6.5 out of 10, the second-lowest total received by any of his teammates who featured from the off on Tuesday night, letting Vieira down as a result.

And when looking at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why. Ward achieved a measly passing accuracy of 61%, won just 50% of his duels and had only 39 touches, one fewer than goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

These figures highlight his underwhelming display, and Football.London reporter Mark Wyatt was equally disappointing with his sub-par showing.

“Solid outing in the first 45 minutes from Ward other than being booked, which means he’ll miss the next game against Manchester United. Less influential in the second period as Dan James got the beating of him on a couple of occasions,” wrote Wyatt after awarding him a lowly 5 out of 10.

With winnable fixtures against Everton, Southampton and Watford on the horizon for Palace, Vieira will be hoping one of his most experienced and reliable campaigners can get back to his best as soon as possible.

And, in other news…“I imagine”: Journo drops update over £7.2m-rated flop, Palace fans will be delighted 

Newcastle United have reportedly now offered a deal to Sven Botman ahead of a potential move in the summer.

The Lowdown: Two-way battle

It has been widely reported that there seems to be a two-way battle between the St. James’ Park faithful and AC Milan for Botman’s signature this summer.

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The former reportedly had a bid rejected from Lille for the Dutchman in the January transfer window, and now it looks as if they will return for him at the end of the season, while the latter have even had their club legends talking up a deal.

The Latest: Deal offered

As per Football Insider, a source from the North East club has revealed that they have ‘not given up hope’ of signing Botman, after holding ‘extensive negotiations’ since January.

Both the KSA Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Milan have ‘offered a contract’ to the central defender, and have already ‘verbally agreed personal terms’.

The Tyneside outfit now have to negotiate a fee with Lille, who are thought to value Botman at £30m.

The Verdict: Sign

If the Magpies can snap Botman up for £30m, it could prove to be a real bargain in the future.

Described as a ‘golden boy‘ by his agent Francesco Miniero, he is already playing regularly at the highest level at just 22 years of age, and is surely a player that Eddie Howe would love to work with.

At six-foot-five, Botman is a colossus, and only two of his teammates win more aerial duels per game on average in Ligue 1 this season.

Nonetheless, he would certainly be a statement signing by the new owners and would seemingly settle into a monstrous back-line alongside 6 foot 7 Dan Burn.

In other news, find out who NUFC now ‘want’ as their ‘marquee’ signing here!

Liverpool managed to see off Championship side Preston North End in the Carabao Cup last night by a scoreline of 2-0 thanks to goals from Takumi Minamino and Divock Origi.

As well as the two goalscorers, one other Liverpool player that delivered a good performance at Deepdale was centre-back, Joe Gomez, over Adrian who managed to make three saves in the match and keep the Reds in the competition.

The defender, who started and played the full 90 minutes of the match in midweek with the captain’s armband, managed to make three clearances and one tackle, win 90% of the duels he was involved in.

He also completed 119 of the 131 passes he attempted, proving to be equally adept with the ball at his feet, and ultimately earn himself an overall match rating of 7.3, making him the joint-second highest-rated outfield Reds player on the day alongside the goalscoring duo, according to SofaScore.

This says to us just how much of an important figure Gomez is for the Merseyside club and how much they can rely on him when they need to even though he has only played a full 90 minutes on three occasions so far this season.

Liverpool signed Gomez, who has been previously described as a “sensational” player by Reds manager Jurgen Klopp, back in the 2015 summer transfer window from Charlton Athletic for a fee of just £3.5m.

Since then, the 24-year-old, who is now valued at £27m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 128 appearances for the Reds across all competitions, helping the club win the Premier League and Champions League in that time.

Forget Adrian, it was Gomez who was an absolute rock at the back despite the Championship outfit’s advances in the first-half.

Moving forward, with Liverpool set to take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League at the weekend, Gomez’s performance in midweek will certainly have given Klopp some food for thought over whether he should start the Englishman on Saturday or not.

However, with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate getting rested in midweek after keeping a clean sheet at Old Trafford in their 5-0 win over Manchester United last weekend, it would make sense for Klopp to stick with those two and put Gomez back on the substitutes bench for the Brighton clash.

In other news: FSG could land LFC’s next Henderson in 18 y/o “huge talent”, fans should be excited – opinion

Writing for Chronicle Live, reliable Newcastle United reporter Mark Douglas has shared news on another new managerial candidate in Giovanni van Bronckhorst.

The Lowdown: Far from over…

Despite former AS Roma boss Paulo Fonseca becoming an overwhelming favourite for the role at St James’ Park, with some reports suggesting it could even be made official soon, other reliable sources suggest that it is far from a foregone conclusion.

Craig Hope of The Daily Mail believes that other major contenders like Roberto Martinez, Lucien Favre and Unai Emery could emerge over this next week as PIF continue to deliberate who should take the club forward (Twitter).

Writing for The Chronicle, Douglas has now lifted the lid on yet another name to potentially succeed Steve Bruce in the Magpies dugout.

The Latest: Douglas makes Van Bronckhorst claim…

Indeed, as per the journalist, Van Bronckhorst is now eyeing the vacant Newcastle managerial role as he throws his hat into the ring.

This comes as a plethora of managers, beyond those mentioned in the bookies and press, make PIF aware of their availability as they contend for what is surely one of the most sought-after positions in football at the moment.

Van Bronckhorst in particular is an interesting fresh candidate, having worked closely with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola for a brief spell.

The Verdict: Good option?

The Dutch footballing icon, known more for his star-studded career as a player, certainly comes as a surprising name to emerge given his lack of experience compared to other contenders.

An Eredivisie title winner with Feyenoord in 2016/17, his most recent post in the Chinese Super League with Guangzhou City lasted just 23 matches before he ultimately left (Transfermarkt).

Only taking charge of two senior teams so far during his managerial career, the Newcastle job could be one major step-up too soon for Van Bronckhorst at this moment in time.

In other news: ‘In the coming week’…PIF could now turn to ‘world class’ boss over Fonseca, he wants Newcastle! Find out more here.

Southampton have reportedly joined the race to sign West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone next summer, should he decide to move on.

The Lowdown: Johnstone stays put

The England international was a standout performer for the Baggies last season, catching the eye despite his team’s relegation from the Premier League.

Although numerous reports linked Johnstone with a summer exit and a return to the top-flight, he has ended up staying at West Brom, acting as a huge boost to their promotion charge.

The Latest: Saints keen on signing

According to The Athletic, however, Southampton are interested in signing the 28-year-old next summer, seeing him as strong competition for Alex McCarthy.

The situation could change if the Baggies are promoted from the Championship and Saints go down, but that remains to be seen.

The Verdict: Promotion required

In truth, Valerien Ismael’s side will need to go up this season if Johnstone is to realistically stay put for another year.

He is someone who will want to be plying his trade at the top level, especially considering he was part of England’s Euro 2020 squad, hailed as ‘magnificent’ by former Three Lions boss Sam Allardyce last season.

It would be hard to begrudge Johnstone an exit next summer if promotion doesn’t materialise, but the current signs are good, with Ismael’s side sitting second in the Championship table.

In other news, a journalist has provided an injury update on one West Brom player. Find out who it is here.

Newcastle United may now have received a big boost in their pursuit of Luis Diaz in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: In the race

A Bola (via Sport Witness) reported last month that the St. James’ Park faithful were one of a number of clubs in the race to sign Diaz in January, along with the likes of Liverpool, Everton and Chelsea, Real Madrid and AC Milan.

He is a player that is having somewhat of a breakout season at FC Porto, with no fewer than 12 goals scored and three assists made in 21 games in total over all competitions (Transfermarkt).

Teammate Sergio Oliveira even went as far as to claim that he is ‘extraordinary’ after a match-winning display against AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League, and there is no doubt that he has a big future ahead of him.

The Latest: Financial trouble

As per Record (via Sport Witness), the North East club may now have received ‘good news’ in their hopes of signing Diaz, as Porto failed to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages.

It has made a big impact on their financial situation, and the ‘fastest solution’ is to sell some of their big stars next month, including Diaz.

Porto will now listen to any offers that come in for the Colombia international in January, and their ‘dream scenario’ would be to sell in the winter, but for him not to actually leave until the summer.

The Verdict: Unrealistic

Given the calibre of clubs that seem to be in for Diaz, it may prove too difficult for the Tyneside outfit to persuade him to join them at this moment in time.

Of course, they currently find themselves in a relegation battle, and a player of Diaz’s quality, who has just played in the Champions League, will surely want to move to other teams still in the competition ahead of them.

Still, with the financial backing that they have from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium, it will not hurt the Magpies to at least try to sign the 24-year-old, but it may well be an uphill battle.

In other news, find out which ‘warrior’ Eddie Howe is now targeting here!

Celtic are closely monitoring Fenerbahce winger Bright Osayi-Samuel, according to Turkish journalist Ekrem Konur.

The Lowdown: Osayi-Samuel set to leave

Osayi-Samuel only arrived at the club at the beginning of the year but looks set to move on just six months into his four-and-a-half-year deal.

Reports from Fantik last week touted a €3m (£2.5m) fee for the 23-year-old, who QPR manager Mark Warburton hailed as a  ‘dangerous’ attacker.

Osayi-Samuel has reportedly struggled to adapt to Vítor Pereira’s new system, with Celtic name-checked with an interest last week.

The Latest: Loan to buy?

According to Konur, who posted on Twitter on Monday, both Celtic and Rangers are closely monitoring the Nigerian.

He claimed that a temporary offer may come with an option to purchase Osayi-Samuel.

The Verdict: Sign

Ange Postecoglou still wants to sign another winger, and Osayi-Samuel could be another piece in fixing Celtic’s attacking issues over the last 18 months.

During the 2019/20 season, Osayi-Samuel averaged 2.9 successful dribbles per game in the Championship – Celtic’s highest last season was Odsonne Edouard with 1.6 (WhoScored).

On that basis, having a man who is capable of beating a full-back with ease could prove to be an excellent piece of business in the long run, and a loan with an option to buy could be sensible by Dom McKay, offering Postecoglou a genuine one-on-one threat on the flanks.

In other news: Roma interested in Celtic ace, find out more here.