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Reacting to a development that Tottenham Hotspur are holding manager talks in the coming days, with Roberto Martinez featuring prominently (Football Insider), pundit and BBC Radio 5 Live commentator Alan Hutton has been left thrilled.

The Lowdown: Martinez links heat up

Over these last few days, Football Insider have brought developments in regards to the Tottenham manager hunt and have also dropped some pretty enticing claims involving former Everton boss Martinez.

They say that the 47-year-old is keen to take over at Tottenham and is making a ‘huge play’ behind the scenes, following that up with another claim that he is now featuring prominently as the Lilywhites schedule manager talks.

The Latest: Hutton thrilled by Martinez development

In reaction to this managerial development that Martinez is now high on the list for Spurs chiefs after his ‘huge play’, former Spurs defender Hutton has voiced his approval of the news.

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“I think he fits the bill. It’s exciting. It all comes down to the style of football that he plays,” Hutton explained to Football Insider.

“He wants to play the way Tottenham want to play. They want to play exciting football, attacking football and he fits that bill.

“I think the only problem, and I know these top managers will evaluate the squad and stuff, but he’s going to be with Belgium at the Euros until late on in the competition, probably. I can see Belgium doing well this year.

“For him to go far in that and then obviously come into the job in the summer, it’s very late. It’s a difficult one. I know he will be evaluating the squad and what he wants but there’ll be a quick turnaround.

“He’ll have to put his ideas and implement what he wants to do moving forward very, very quickly. It’s whether they can take on board what he wants really quickly before the season starts.”

The Verdict: Hutton bang on the money…

The Belgium international boss has, arguably, been one of the more underrated names to emerge on the Tottenham managerial list recently.

Having guided the Red Devils to their first semi-final since 1986 during their last World Cup outing in 2018, beating five-time world champions Brazil along the way (BBC), this experience proves he can manage big players on the biggest stages.

Promoting an attacking brand of football, allegedly fitting into the criteria of boss Tottenham are looking for, we agree that he is certainly a good match for Spurs, but it could indeed by a worry for fans to wait so long to get a new boss through the door.

In other news: Spurs in pole position to sign ‘sensational’ powerhouse, find out more here.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who scored 306 goals for Wolves during his career, has claimed that his former club doesn’t want players like Cristiano Ronaldo to sign.

Ronaldo has been linked with a move to Wolves, with his agent Jorge Mendes helping a number of his clients join the club since they won promotion back to the Premier League.

The £491,000 per week striker would join eight other Portuguese players currently on the books at Wolves, and he has been rumoured to have wanted out at Juventus since they were knocked out of the Champions League by Porto.

Speaking on how Ronaldo would be a good move but also why Wolves don’t need someone like him, Bull told FFC:

“I can’t see why he would want to come to Wolves unless it’s a publicity stunt and he’s short of money.

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“If the rumour happens then it’ll be good for the club because it’ll be a massive PR buzz around the club, but we also don’t want that because we want players to come in and play for the club and stay.”

Wolves’ last big money signing was Fabio Silva from Porto when they paid £36 million for the 18-year old wh0 has scored just twice this season.

Since moving to Juventus Ronaldo has continued to showcase his goalscoring ability having found the net 75 times across three Serie A seasons.

Rangers were heavily linked with a move for BSC Young Boys striker Jean-Pierre Nsame last summer and after another exceptional campaign from the Cameroonian international, it seems that Steven Gerrard and Ross Wilson made a mistake in not bringing him to Ibrox.

His performances in recent seasons have seen him being linked with several Premier League sides in recent weeks, with teamTALK suggesting that Newcastle, Southampton, West Ham and Celtic all said to be interested.

This season has seen the 27-year-old contribute 25 goals and nine assists in all competitions for the Swiss Super League side, so it certainly seems fair to suggest that he would have been an excellent addition to Gerrard’s side last summer.

Whilst the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe have impressed this season, Cedric Itten has struggled and Jermaine Defoe has featured a lot less, so having a prolific goalscorer such as Nsame in the squad could have resulted in Rangers prolonging their cup runs.

It is something of a surprise that Young Boys were able to keep hold of him last summer, as he scored a remarkable 41 goals in all competitions.

His manager, Gerardo Seoane, was full of praise for the striker after his extraordinary season, saying:

“Jean-Pierre Nsamé has had an extraordinary season. He has really progress especially in terms of taking responsibility in the team. He is very physical, with an unbelievable ability in front of goal. He is very present in the penalty area and all the balls that comes, he puts them in the back of the net, thanks to his technic and strength.

“Jean Pierre (Nsame) is a great personality, with a great character and mentality. He is also present and hard-working and put his all for the team. He is not egoistic. He always puts the team first, that’s what I like so much about him because it is a big human quality and above all he is very humble and I’m very certain that he will have a great career.”

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The £6.3m-rated striker certainly seems as if he could be on the move this summer and if he goes on to impress in the Premier League, or even in the Scottish Premiership with Rangers’ rivals Celtic, then Wilson’s failure to sign him last summer should definitely go down as a disastrous decision.

And, in other news… Wilson set to hand Gerrard huge boost as £2.25m-rated beast’s Ibrox deal edges closer

Glasgow Rangers midfielder Ryan Jack requires an operation to sort out a calf injury that has troubled him for the past two seasons, meaning he will not take part in the European Championships with Scotland as a result.

Jack out of Euros

Jack played a big role in helping the Tartan Army reach this summer’s showpiece, starting both the play-off semi-final against Israel, as well as the final versus Serbia.

Now, though, it has been revealed he needs surgery on his calf, and will therefore not be fit enough for Steve Clarke’s squad.

Blow for Scotland, boost for Gers

£2.7m-valued Jack (Transfermarkt) will no doubt be gutted. Participating in a European Championships, especially for a country so seldom used to playing at that level, may have been one of the pinnacles of Jack’s career. He will now have to do all he can to help the national side reach an international tournament again in the future.

However, Scotland’s loss is Rangers’ gain. Jack has played just 24 times in all competitions this campaign as he has struggled with injury (Transfermarkt). Taking the summer off to try and recover permanently from this issue may be fantastic news for Steven Gerrard and the 55-time Scottish champions in the long run.

In other news, Rangers fans are livid at this Alexey Sorokin comments.

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Widespread Twitter claims on Tuesday night said that on-loan Everton midfielder Mo Besic was one of three Middlesbrough players to mock the travelling fans following the club’s FA Cup exit at Newport County on Tuesday night, and Boro fans were quick to react on Twitter.

The Championship club would have had high hopes of reaching the fifth round and hosting Manchester City as a result as they made the journey south to face their League Two opponents, but instead they were on the end of a shock 2-0 defeat that saw them dumped out of the competition.

In what was a poor performance, it has been alleged by some travelling supporters that Besic, along with teammates Adam Clayton and Rudy Gestede, acted in appropriately towards them at the final whistle, with the Toffees man said to have mimicked somebody crying.

The Bosnia and Herzegovina international re-joined Boro on a season-long loan deal during the summer transfer window having enjoyed a similar temporary spell at the Riverside Stadium last term, but the latest incident hardly paints him a good light – if true, of course.

Middlesbrough fans took to social media to have their say on the 26-year-old’s alleged actions, and while one told him to “get out of our club now”, another labelled it as “disgraceful”.

Here is just a selection of the Twitter reaction…

Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin may be out for the season but it’s given him a chance to show off his new accessory. Check out the video below to see for yourself…

Former West Ham striker Frank McAvennie has exclusively told Football FanCast that Manchester United simply don’t need Declan Rice.

Following his outstanding form for both the Hammers and England in recent seasons, the midfielder is reportedly attracting interest from both United and Chelsea, with David Moyes claiming he’s worth more than £100m.

Rice has been sitting in a midfield two alongside the impressive Czech Republic international Tomas Soucek, playing a key role in West Ham’s push towards the top four despite missing recent victories over Wolves and Leicester through injury.

Despite West Ham’s bid for Europe this season, Rice has continuously been linked away from the London Stadium, with Manchester United’s keeping tabs on the 22-year-old.

But with Scotsman Scott McTominay, who plays in the same position as the West Ham man, a regular under Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer this term, having made 44 appearances this season, McAvennie doesn’t believe Rice is required at United.

He told Football FanCast:

“I think McTominay has been doing a wonderful job for them, and he would do the exact same job as what Rice what do.

“I’m not saying McTominay is better or vice versa, but they are very similar players and by all accounts they love McTominay up there. He goes about his business and doesn’t make any headlines.

“So unless you want to play the two of them, but they’re too similar. Could he get in the Man United team, course he can.”

With England and Scotland in the same group for the Euro’s this summer, providing Rice shakes off his knee problem, these two will come up against each other at Wembley on 18 June, in what could be an audition to become United’s first-choice defensive-midfielder next season.

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer has dismissed suggestions that Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte could replace Jose Mourinho at Tottenham.

Reports coming out of Italy (via Daily Star) claim Conte could leave the Italian giants in the summer if he is not backed in the transfer market, and have named Spurs as a possible destination.

With the north London club in a real battle to secure a Champions League spot after going on a very poor run during the January-February period, Mourinho’s job is now said to be on the line.

Palmer, however, believes sacking Mourinho would be a mistake and cannot see 51-year-old Conte ditching Milan for a return to London.

“I think it’ll be the wrong move to sack Jose, I really do,” the retired England international told FFC. “I don’t see the need to sack him, so when the media are talking about, ‘oh, well, he should be sacked’ and talking about replacements… I mean Conte’s just about to win the league in Italy. Why would he want to leave his club?”

Conte’s first spell in England was a very successful one. At Tottenham’s London rivals Chelsea, the 51-year-old managed to guide the Blues to the Premier League title in 2017 and the FA Cup in 2018.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Marcus Bent has revealed what Duncan Ferguson has told him about working with Carlo Ancelotti.

Ferguson’s final two seasons in his playing career crossed paths with Bent’s two years spent at Goodison Park, and the latter revealed they’re still in contact.

“I speak to him now and then. Dunc’s a hard one to get hold of and a hard one to get anything out of,” he told Football FanCast.

“He’s a very humble man and strict about what he says and what he does on and off the pitch.”

Having spent 11 seasons across two spells with the Toffees, the former Scotland striker returned to Merseyside in 2014 to become part of the coaching staff.

Following the departure of Marco Silva during December 2019, Ferguson became interim manager and remained unbeaten during a four-game spell, which included a memorable victory over Chelsea.

He was rewarded by becoming Ancelotti’s assistant after his appointment as manager later that month and has been working closely with the Italian ever since.

And Bent told Football FanCast that Ferguson has a great responsibility in his role:

“What he has said to me is that he’s good to work with, he asks Duncan’s opinion a lot of the time. The training is good, he lets Dunc take a lot of training sessions, so his opinion counts.

“Dunc is a massive Evertonian and a big part of the club, and he respects Dunc’s opinion.”

Steven Gerrard looks to have been handed a boost at Ibrox this week after it was confirmed that Rangers captain James Tavernier has made his return to training after a lengthy injury absence.

The right-back has been out injured since Rangers’ 4-3 win against Royal Antwerp in the Europa League in February, and although Gerrard was able to steer his side to title success in the absence of the 29-year-old, his goals and assists have been a big miss.

Fortunately, assistant manager Gary McAllister has confirmed that Tavernier has now made his return to training, although it sounds as if he is doing solo training on the grass with physios rather than with the rest of the first team.

The former Wigan Athletic man has been in outstanding form ever since making the move to Ibrox in 2015 but has been sensational so far this season, contributing 11 goals and nine assists in 29 league appearances. That has seen him average a superb 7.76 WhoScored match rating, which comfortably ranks him as Rangers’ best performer in the Scottish top flight.

Tavernier couldn’t have timed his return much better after it was revealed that Nathan Patterson will be suspended for Rangers’ next four fixtures as a result of him breaking lockdown restrictions earlier in the year.

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This leaves Gerrard without a natural right-back in his squad at the moment, and after some disastrous performances from Leon Balogun in that position in recent games, the manager will surely be delighted that Tavernier is close to a return to action.

If the English defender can pick up where he left off before his injury, there seems no reason why Rangers can’t finish the league season unbeaten, whilst they will also be eyeing success in the Scottish Cup.

Gerrard is certainly a big fan of his captain and was full of praise for him earlier in the season, saying: “I think Tav is someone who, when he goes through the gears, is unstoppable, and we have seen that, or flashes of that so far this season.”

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Therefore, it is undoubtedly a huge boost for Gerrard that his best performer this season is edging closer to a return to first team action, as it seems clear that Rangers are a much better outfit when he is in the side.

In other news… Gerrard handed huge boost with “world-class” beast who was vital to number 55

Premier League side Aston Villa are reportedly interested in signing Fenerbahce centre-back Attila Szalai.

There seems to be no shortage of interest in the defender, with Lazio and Napoli interested, along with other Premier League outfits like Leicester City and Newcastle United.

Fenerbahce want £21.5m for Szalai

Hungarian outlet Blikk have reported about Szalai, stating that the defender is attracting plenty of suitors from across Europe and Fenerbahce want a fee of £21.5 million to part ways with him. This could make the 23-year-old the most expensive Hungarian player in the game’s history.

The report claims: “His outstanding performances have also attracted the interest of top European clubs. Among others, Leicester City are third English club interested, Newcastle United and Aston Villa in the UK are also interested. Napoli and Lazio in Italy are competing for him.”

Szalai has made 15 appearances in the Turkish league this season, scoring two goals already and picking up a rating of 7.00. The defender stands six foot and two feet tall and he has won 2.7 aerial duels per game, making 1.3 tackles per game as well for the side.

Szalai would add depth to the Villa back line

As things stand, Dean Smith’s men have four out-and-out centre-back options – Ezri Konsa, Kortney Hause, Tyrone Mings and Bjorn Engels (as per Transfermarkt).

Engels though, has been linked with a move away from the club as Royal Antwerp are interested in the defender. So signing another defender could make sense in the summer, especially if Engels does leave. As his departure could leave Smith’s men short in the centre-back department.

In other news, ‘There will be no impact’ – Kieran Maguire gives his verdict following key AVFC financial update