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Fabrizio Romano has dropped an update on the future of reported Leeds United transfer target Luka Jovic.

What’s the talk?

In a recent post on Twitter, the Italian journalist revealed that, despite Victor Orta reportedly making contact with the Real Madrid centre-forward in order to propose a move to Leeds this summer, the 24-year-old is now set to join AFC Fiorentina on a permanent deal – with the Serbia international rejecting the likes of West Ham United, Brentford and the Whites in the process.

In his tweet, Romano said: “Luka Jovic to Fiorentina, deal done. Full agreement on permanent deal, after long negotiations for a loan – Jovic will sign until June 2024 with an option for two more years. Real Madrid will have sell-on clause around 50%.”

Supporters will be gutted

Considering just how talented a player Jovic undoubtedly is, in addition to it being reported that the signing of a new centre-forward is one of Orta’s priorities in the summer transfer window, Romano’s update that the striker is now set for a move to Italy is sure to have left the Elland Road faithful gutted.

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While it is true that, following his €60m (£52.4m) move to Madrid back in the summer of 2019, things did not exactly pan out for the 24-year-old – scoring just three goals and registering five assists over 51 appearances for Los Blancos – the £14.4m-rated talent has nevertheless proven earlier in his career just how impressive an addition he would have made to Leeds’ attacking arsenal in 2022/23.

Indeed, over two separate spells with Eintracht Frankfurt, the £152k-per-week forward highly impressed, scoring 40 goals and registering ten assists over 93 appearances for the Bundesliga side – averaging a direct goal contribution every 107 minutes of football played for Die Adler.

Furthermore, the 26-cap international also caught the eye for his first professional club, Red Star Belgrade, bagging 14 goals and providing four assists over 48 fixtures for the Super Liga Srbije outfit – form that earned him a move to Portuguese giants Benfica.

As such, should Jovic have managed to refind this level of form following a potential €30m (£25m) switch to Elland Road this summer, it is undeniable that the Serbian sensation would have made an excellent to Jesse Marsch’s options up top, leading us to believe that Romano’s latest update will come as a huge blow to all involved with the Whites – not least Orta himself.

AND in other news: “It means…”: Fabrizio Romano reveals huge Leeds transfer twist, Victor Orta must act

Manchester United target Lisandro Martinez ‘will have his hopes pinned’ on a move to Old Trafford.

That’s according to the head of Dutch publication De Telegraaf’s sports section, Marcel van der Kraan (via Sport Witness), who is expecting ‘big developments’ very soon.

The lowdown

Fabrizio Romano reported on Friday night that United ‘are preparing a bid’ for the Ajax defender. Martinez is ‘very high in Erik ten Hag’s list’, but it’s an ‘open’ race, with Arsenal in the running too.

It will be United’s next priority after they seal a deal for Feyenoord defender Tyrell Malacia.

The 24-year-old is predominantly a centre-back but he can also play as a defensive midfielder or a full-back.

The latest

Van der Kraan says that Martinez is eager to reunite with his former manager Ten Hag in Manchester.

And he adds that the Argentine should be available for between £38.8million and £43million, unless a bidding war breaks out.

“Martinez is very high on Erik ten Hag’s wishlist, so I expect big developments in the 24 or 48 hours.

“Martinez will also have his hopes pinned on United, who are an absolute top club for him.

“Ajax will really cash out for Martinez and go to €45-50m, but that is the advantage if two clubs bid, as we saw with Lyon and Manchester United [for Malacia], then it suddenly goes higher.”

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The verdict

This is an indication that United’s pulling power remains, even with the club failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Frenkie de Jong hasn’t seemed overly enthusiastic about the prospect of joining the club, previously insisting that he’s happy at Barcelona, but it appears that Martinez dreams of playing for the 20-times English champions.

Similar in profile to Manchester City’s Ruben Dias, he’s been nicknamed ‘The Argentine Butcher’ and says that he ‘always goes into battle full of struggle’.

And he combines that spirit with real quality, winning the Player of the Year award for Eredivisie champions Ajax.

West Ham United are reportedly closing in on a permanent deal for Alphonse Areola this summer after the Frenchman’s impressive loan spell at the London Stadium last season.

What’s the word?

The Hammers have been heavily linked with the shot-stopper in recent weeks, and it seems as if the transfer could soon be confirmed, going by what Fabrizio Romano has posted on Twitter.

On Thursday afternoon, the Italian journalist stated: “West Ham are finally progressing in talks to sign Alphonse Areola on a permanent deal, agreement now getting closer – positive feelings on player side too. West Ham are increasingly confident as Areola deal will cost around €12m.”

Supporters will be buzzing

Given that first-choice ‘keeper Lukasz Fabianski will turn 38 next season, signing a younger, long-term replacement for the Poland international was always likely to be a priority for David Moyes this summer.

He can already trust Areola after his excellent performances last season, with the 29-year-old making 11 appearances in West Ham’s fairytale Europa League run, while he also excelled in his three Carabao Cup outings, obtaining two Man of the Match billings from WhoScored.

If Romano’s reports are true and Areola is brought in for as little as €12m (£10.3m), it could prove to be a bargain deal for the Hammers, as signing an established Premier League goalkeeper (37 appearances) who is still only 29 represents excellent business for GSB.

While it is unknown whether Areola will become the Irons’ number one next season – Fabianski’s was still the club’s seventh-best player of 2021/22 according to WhoScored – West Ham fans would surely be delighted to see the Frenchman return on a permanent basis.

Club legend Mark Noble was full of praise for the 29-year-old last term, saying: “Alphonse knows Lukasz is number one at the minute but he’s great around the boys, he doesn’t sulk, he comes in and he’s been fantastic in the Europa League games that he’s played and fantastic in the Carabao Cup games.”

Considering West Ham’s propensity to leave deals until the last moment, supporters will no doubt be happy that Areola is seemingly on the brink of joining so early in the transfer window.

In other news… Roshane Thomas drops West Ham transfer update which will have supporters fuming

Reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano has shared the latest news surrounding Hugo Ekitike’s proposed transfer to Newcastle United.

The Lowdown: Newcastle’s January pursuit

In the dying hours of transfer deadline day in January, the Premier League club’s deal with Reims for the 20-year-old attacker fell through. The Magpies had a £33m bid accepted for the Frenchman, drawing a long round of negotiations to a close.

However, the striker ended up changing his mind and opted to stay in Ligue 1, with the plan to reassess his options in the summer following late January interest from Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain.

The Latest: Romano’s news on Ekitike

With Newcastle reigniting negotiations for Ekitike this summer, a move to St James’ Park appeared to be on the cards, with reports suggesting that the Magpies were closing in on a deal for the young forward.

However, Romano has now shared a major blow in Newcastle’s pursuit of the Frenchman.

Taking to Twitter, the journalist claimed: “Again, negative feelings around Ekitike deal. NUFC definitely not happy with the situation.”

The Verdict: Huge blow for Newcastle

When looking at Ekitike’s underlying statistics, it is easy to understand the hype surrounding a potential switch to the Premier League.

When compared with positional peers across Europe over the past year, the Reims marksman ranks in the 99th percentile for interceptions, the 97th percentile for dribbles completed and the 93rd percentile for non-penalty goals (via FBRef).

Whilst these figures are incredibly impressive, reports have suggested that Ekitike’s agent has been making ‘ridiculous’ demands.

Whilst Newcastle are keen on signing the striker, they ought not to be bowing to unrealistic requests. Therefore, this move seems highly unlikely given the current situation.

Leeds United are interested in a deal to bring Arnaud Kalimuendo to Elland Road in the summer transfer window.

What’s the word?

That’s according to a report by Tutto Mercato Web (via Sport Witness), who claim that Victor Orta is making strong moves for the Paris Saint-Germain centre-forward this summer, with the Ligue 1 champions believed to be willing to part with the 20-year-old for a figure in the region of €20m (£17m).

An earlier claim made by Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna suggested that the Spanish director of football has even gone as far as to make a bid offer for the France U21 international, although the French reporter claimed that it would actually take an offer of €22m (£19m) in order for PSG to part ways with the young striker in the current market.

“Beautiful palette”

Considering the sheer amount of potential Kalimuendo quite clearly possesses, in addition to the signing of a new centre-forward reported to be one of Orta’s priority targets in the summer transfer window, it is easy to see why the Spaniard is believed to have made contact with PSG regarding a deal for the 20-year-old.

Indeed, over his 34 Ligue 1 appearances while on loan at RC Lens in 2021/22, the £17m-rated forward was in spectacular form, scoring 12 goals and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.8 shots, making 0.6 key passes and completing 0.8 dribbles per game.

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Furthermore, according to FBref data, the £6.6k-per-week forward also ranks in the top 28% of centre-forwards in Europe’s big five leagues for non-penalty goals per 90, in addition to the top 1% for pass completion, the top 19% for progressive carries and the top 11% for progressive passes received over the last 365 days.

These metrics saw the French youth international come in for a considerable amount of praise last season, none more so than from Lens head coach Franck Haise, who stated of Kalimuendo earlier this year:

“He is already the prototype striker of the present. From 18 to 20, he not only showed that he held his place in Ligue 1, but he continued to score in a team which evolves in the first part of the classification.

“He is an attacker for the future because he feels the blows and is clever in the finish. He is able to keep his back to the goal, attack the depth, to de-zone to create spaces for the others. He is already a beautiful palette that will be enriched.”

As such, with the PSG starlet evidently being a player who knows how to find the back of the net, boasts the potential to flourish into an exceptional top-tier striker and is available for an extremely reasonable £19m this summer, a move for the 20-year-old would appear an extremely smart one for Orta to make in the coming weeks.

AND in other news: Victor Orta now working on fourth summer signing, Leeds supporters will be buzzing

Rangers midfielder Stephen Kelly could possibly team up with an illustrious figure from the Ibrox club’s arch-rivals, as per a report from Football Scotland’s Euan Robertson.

The lowdown

Robertson says that the 22-year-old’s future is very much ‘up in the air’ this summer as he enters the final year of his contract at Ibrox.

Kelly, who came through the youth ranks at Auchenhowie, spent the latter half of the 2021/22 season on loan at English League Two club Salford City. It was his third temporary stint away from Ibrox after earlier spells with Ayr United and Ross County.

However, it’s said to be unlikely that he goes out on a loan for a fourth time, unless the Light Blues extend his contract beforehand.

The latest

According to Robertson for Football Scotland, Salford will ‘keep tabs’ on the situation with a view to a potential bid after Kelly ‘excelled’ at the Peninsula Stadium.

However, the 22-year-old may want to play at a higher level, and that could present an opportunity for Fleetwood Town boss and former Celtic stalwart Scott Brown, who is ‘actively exploring’ the Scottish market.

Robertson also names Dundee United, Hibernian and Kilmarnock, who wanted to sign Kelly in January, as potential suitors.

The verdict

Kelly’s loan at Salford was a resounding success, with the 22-year-old earning 18 starts and 21 appearances overall. His all-contribution was solid, as evidenced by his match averages of 1.9 tackles, 3.2 successful duels and 1.1 key passes (via SofaScore).

The 22-year-old has only made three appearances for Rangers’ first team, including one in a Europa League qualifier against Alashkert last summer.

However, his former manager John Hughes has called him a ‘magnificent’ player and ‘an absolute winner’ on the training pitch, and losing him to a Hoops icon in Brown would surely sting for many Rangers fans, if indeed Fleetwood can lure him from Ibrox.

In other news, Rangers have made an offer for this goalkeeper

Alasdair Gold has dropped an update on reported Tottenham Hotspur transfer target Romelu Lukaku.

What’s the latest?

In a recent Q&A on football.london, the journalist revealed that, following a number of reports linking Spurs with a move for the Chelsea centre-forward this summer, the 29-year-old is a player who Antonio Conte is a great admirer of – before suggesting that anything could happen in the transfer market.

However, Gold went on to state that it would appear unlikely Thomas Tuchel’s side would be willing to do business with a direct rival, as well as suggesting that the Belgian may not feel he would be a guaranteed starter in north London with the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski already at the club.

When asked whether there was any truth to the Lukaku rumours, Gold replied: “Conte loves him but I’d have my doubts over whether Chelsea would deal with Spurs and also whether Lukaku would feel he’d get to play week in, week out with Harry Kane at the club. He wouldn’t be the main man.

“They may well be able to play together but what that would mean for Son and Kulusevski I don’t know. It’s a lot of money for a player who hasn’t had the happiest time back in the Premier League. I just can’t see Chelsea dealing with a London rival and their former manager, but who knows what could happen in this crazy summer.”

Conte will be gutted

Considering just how much success Conte enjoyed with Lukaku during his two-year stay at Inter Milan, Gold’s suggestion that Chelsea may not be open to doing business with Tottenham this summer, in addition to the journalist’s claim that Lukaku himself may not be keen on a switch to north London, is sure to have left the 52-year-old gutted.

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Indeed, over Lukaku’s 95 appearances for the Italian coach, the £76.5m-rated forward scored an incredibly impressive 64 goals, as well as providing his teammates with a further 17 assists – meaning the £350k-per-week striker averaged a direct goal involvement every 96 minutes of football played under the current Spurs boss.

Furthermore, with 24 of these goals and 11 of his assists for Inter coming over the Belgium international’s 36 Serie A appearances in 2020/21, it is clear to see just how important the 29-year-old was within Conte’s Scudetto-winning side last season – form which, if repeated at Tottenham, would undoubtedly help to take Spurs to another level in 2022/23.

However, following Gold’s latest update, it would now appear as if a Tottenham move for the former Manchester United and Everton centre-forward this summer does not look overly likely, an outcome that is sure to come as a gutting blow to the 52-year-old Spurs manager.

AND in other news: “There is an option…”: Gold drops exciting Spurs update, supporters will be buzzing

Everton look set to rival Leeds United for the signature of New York City FC striker Valentin Castellanos. 

The lowdown

NYCFC are part of the City Football Group, but ‘per sources’, English champions Manchester City have declined to exercise their option to sign Castellanos.

The 23-year-old striker, valued at £10.8million by Transfermarkt, is under contract in the States until the end of 2025.

Everton may well need to bolster their no. 9 ranks this summer, with Cenk Tosun departing the club and Dominic Calvert-Lewin thought to be considering his future.

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The latest

90Min journalists Chris Smith and Graeme Bailey write that City have ‘recommended him to a number of other EPL clubs’.

Leeds United are said to be the most interested club, and have representatives in the United States running the rule over Castellanos.

If Leeds are to sign him, though, ‘they’ll likely have to fend off interest’ from Premier League rivals like Everton, West Ham and Newcastle United.

The verdict

Castellanos has been prolific in Major League Soccer.

He’s made exactly 100 appearances in the league, scoring 44 goals and adding a further 19 assists.

He bagged 19 last season to win the Golden Boot and secure a spot in the MLS’ Best XI, and he’s carried that form in the 2022 campaign with 11 goals in 17.

It is a gamble to sign a player from the US, with Miguel Almiron, the league’s most expensive export at £21.6million, derided as a ‘flop’ in some quarters.

But one journalist, James Nalton, felt that he was ‘ready to make the step up’ to Man. City, an immense show of faith, while another says a move to Europe would not be a ‘surprise’ for the ‘truly remarkable’ frontman.

In other news, Fabrizio Romano says Everton are in the race for this signing.

Two years ago, selling Adama Traore might well have been unthinkable for a lot of Wolves fans.

However, given his disappointing form since then, Bruno Lage’s reported decision to sell the Spain winger this summer might well be the right one.

What’s the word?

According to Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor, the Old Gold will look to cash in on the 26-year-old this summer, with Barcelona set to turn down their option to purchase him after his loan spell at the Nou Camp this season.

Taylor told GiveMeSport: “I couldn’t rule it out [Traore staying] because, technically, Barcelona are not going to sign him and he’s going to return.

“But I think he’s only got a year left on his contract, so Wolves will be looking to move him on and use that cash to sort of bolster the options within their squad.”

Should Lage axe Traore?

Since joining Wolves from Middlesbrough in 2018, Traore has gone on to make 154 appearances for the Old Gold, in which he has contributed just 11 goals and 18 assists.

Other than a strong run of form in the 2019/20 season, when he managed four goals and nine assists and averaged an impressive 7.49 rating from WhoScored for his performances, the 26-year-old has been wildly inconsistent at Molineux.

His pace and power make him a serious threat on the counter but, on far too many occasions, his final ball was lacking in quality as he found himself in good positions out wide, with his disappointing 1.2 crosses per game average in 2019/20 his best return as a Wolves player.

Therefore, given the interest being reportedly shown in him by Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Leeds United, this summer represents the ideal time for Lage to cash in on Traore.

The former Aston Villa man is valued at £18m by Transfermarkt and his contract with Wolves expires next season, so the Old Gold would surely be best cashing in on him now rather than potentially losing him for nothing in 12 months’ time.

While he has certainly excited opposition managers and players during his time at Molineux, with Jurgen Klopp labelling him “unplayable” and Southampton’s Che Adams dubbing him a “monster”, Traore has sadly been far too inconsistent, and cashing in on him now would be the right decision by Lage.

In other news… Wolves are targeting this prolific Championship striker

Former Scottish Premiership striker Frank McAvennie has been left slamming Glasgow Rangers after some transfer news that he has now heard from Ibrox.

The Lowdown: Bassey price named

As per Sky Sports, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s team are asking for a fee in excess of £25m to sell Calvin Bassey this summer, with Aston Villa among a number of clubs in the Premier League interested in his signature.

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This is currently the record fee received from a Scottish club for one of their players, when Kieran Tierney moved from Celtic to Arsenal a few seasons ago.

The Latest: McAvennie reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, McAvennie, who of course played for the Gers’ arch rivals Celtic as well as other clubs in Scotland, has claimed that they are ‘delusional’ for wanting £25m for Bassey and putting him in the same bracket as Tierney:

“I have a big issue with that.

“If they think Tierney is in the same stratosphere as Bassey then I don’t know what to say.

“He is a good player, he has done well but he’s in that league, not a chance.

“Players are worth what people will pay for them. The club can put these figures on them, good for them, no one is going to pay it.

“I just don’t see how you can compare Bassey and Tierney. Tierney had all these awards and loads of trophies when he went to Arsenal.

“What does Bassey have? He hasn’t played as well or achieved as much as Tierney did but Rangers want the same money?

“Not for me, I don’t see that happening.

“If Rangers think they are in the same category then they are more delusional than I thought.”

The Verdict: Worth it to Rangers

£25m may seem excessive to McAvennie for Bassey, but he is only worth what the Light Blues are willing to sell him for.

He was one of their standout players this term, ranking highly among his teammates in terms of average tackles, blocks, passes and crosses per game in both the SPFL and UEFA Europa League (WhoScored).

Nonetheless, he is only 22 years of age, and so his best years are ahead of him, which the Teddy Bears will no doubt want to benefit from as they look to snatch the league title back off of the hands of the Hoops.

In other news, find out who could also now leave RFC here!