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In-form Southampton attacker Nathan Redmond has opened up to The Daily Echo on his one-to-one meeting with manager Ralph Hasenhuttl during the squad’s training camp in Tenerife earlier this month, saying that the Austrian told him to stop ‘standing still’.

What’s the word, then?

Well, the 51-year-old boss had a discussion with and provided feedback on every player in the squad that was present for the trip to the Canary Island, which included Redmond.

The 24-year-old has been in scintillating form since Hasenhuttl was appointed as Mark Hughes’ successor back in December, scoring six goals and providing a further two assists in all competitions.

However, despite being arguably the south coast outfit’s best player in the last couple of months, the former Norwich City man revealed to The Daily Echo that he wasn’t exempt from having things to work on and improve.

Redmond said: “In terms of the negatives, he told me to not stand still as much. He noticed at the start when he first came in that I stood still and that I was waiting for things to happen.

“He said I was still standing still a little bit, but not as much as before.

“There are a lot of things like decision making and stuff, but at the end of the day if I want to keep developing and performing in this team, then I have to take it on board.”

Is Hasenhuttl right?

He probably is, yes.

While Redmond has clearly stepped it up in terms of being a big threat in the final third for Southampton in recent times, there are still obviously more ways in which he can affect matches for his side.

Hasenhuttl clearly wants the one-cap England international to be more aware and on his toes, providing that movement to help his teammates out when they are looking for forward passes.

It is the sort of contructive criticism that can make the 24-year-old an even better player than the one he is showing he is right now, and that can only benefit Saints in their battle against relegation.

Newcastle United have reportedly now ‘made’ a club-record ‘offer’ to sign Darwin Nunez in the summer.

The Lowdown: ‘Marquee’ signing

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) reportedly want to make a ‘marquee’ signing this summer, and Nunez tops that list.

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Described as an ‘absolute beast’ by Liverpool podcaster Hari Sethi after an impressive performance in the UEFA Champions League against the Reds, the six-foot-two starlet has notched up no fewer than 32 goals in just 37 games in total over all competitions so far this season (Transfermarkt), and will no doubt be on a lot of club’s radars come the transfer window.

The Latest: Offer made

As per transfer insider Santi Aouna, the St. James’ Park faithful have now ‘made an offer’ for Nunez ‘in recent weeks’, but ‘several’ clubs in Europe are ‘trying’ to sign him from Benfica.

He expanded in his article for Foot Mercato that the North East club have offered ‘more than’ €60m (£49.6m) for his signature, but face competition from PSG, FC Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City and Atletico Madrid.

The Verdict: Unlikely

Given the calibre of clubs interested, and off of the back of the season that he is having, it seems highly unlikely that the Magpies would be able to persuade Nunez to move to Tyneside.

They would not be able to offer him any European football, and so it is too early in their project to be going for names currently being chased by what seems like half of the big teams in Europe.

However, he is only 22 years of age, and so the Uruguay international could be one that they look to target in the future, once the PIF project is fully firing.

In other news, find out which Van Dijk-like colossus NUFC have now sent scouts to watch here!

Sky Sports man Rob Dorsett has now revealed the latest on the future of Frank Lampard at Everton.

The Lowdown: Under pressure

After the 3-2 loss away at Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday night, Lampard is now a man seriously under pressure at Goodison Park.

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That was his perilously above the relegation zone.

Nonetheless, the board now have a big decision to make over whether to stick with Lampard or bring in someone new to get them out of trouble.

The Latest: Lampard update

Taking to Twitter, Dorsett has now dropped an update on Lampard’s future in Merseyside, revealing that the board are not looking to change manager at this moment in time:

“Real concern in Efc board, I’m told, but feeling is changing manager won’t solve problems right now.

“That’s not to say Lampard safe for rest of season.

“Relegation could be massive for Everton, with few players in squad on contracts that auto-reduce if in Championship.”

The Verdict: Keep the faith

The Toffees simply need to keep the faith with Lampard for now as they cannot afford to chop and change again and have so much uncertainty around going into the last few matches of the season.

While Lampard has lost eight times, and they sit just above the drop zone, they have not sunk into the bottom three yet, and so staying up is still in their hands.

However, the former Chelsea and Derby County boss will need a reaction at home to Manchester United at Saturday lunchtime, or things could really start to get ugly.

In other news, find out what ‘massive’ Blues claim this injury expert has now dropped here!

A huge Rangers transfer claim has emerged over Ibrox central midfielder Joe Aribo…

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, a recruitment source has revealed that an English team sent a scout to watch the Gers machine last week.

The report claims that the insider has told them that Crystal Palace are stepping up their interest in the midfielder ahead of the summer, with other – unnamed – Premier League teams also keen on him.

He is out of contract in the summer of 2023 but it remains to be seen whether or not he will be willing to put pen to paper on an extension in Glasgow.

Supporters will be fuming

This update will surely leave the fans fuming as it suggests that Rangers are going to be under fierce pressure to sell the midfielder this summer.

Palace are pressing ahead with plans to snap him up and the Gers may be left with no choice but to cash in on him if they cannot negotiate a new contract. It is not worth the risk of losing him for nothing if they can recoup a sizeable fee for him ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, as the money the English side pay for him can then be used to source a replacement.

Whilst this means that a deal would make sense from a financial standpoint, that does not mean that the fans will be happy to see the back of him.

The midfielder has popped up with some big moments for the Gers throughout the campaign as he has chipped in with vital goals and assists – including two against Braga last week.

Earlier this season, van Bronckhorst lavished Aribo with praise as he said: “He’s played his role really well and I’m really happy with his performances.

“When you have a midfield player who is dangerous with his runs, with his off-ball movement, you create more danger from different areas. I think Joe is playing really well at this time. I’m happy with his performances.”

These comments highlight how much the head coach rates the gem and suggest that he would be gutted to lose him to Palace in the summer.

It is easy to see why the supporters and head coach will want him to stay when you look at his statistics this season so far. In the Premiership, he has scored eight goals and provided five assists in 31 matches – averaging a superb SofaScore rating of 7.11.

He has been for the Gers in the league as he has been able to deliver quality end product in the final third and it will now be a nervous few months as the fans await a verdict on his future at Ibrox…

AND in other news, Huge blow: Rangers hit with fresh injury concern that’ll infuriate Gvb…

The summer departure of Wolves captain Conor Coady would come as a huge surprise according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The 29-year-old centre-back has been at Wolves since July 2015 and has clocked up 311 appearances for the Old Gold during that time.

Though to the shock of supporters around the world, Coady has been linked with a move away from Molineux.

What’s the word?

£22.5m-rated skipper Coady has been placed in contention to leave the club this summer, having been one of their key-men for the past seven seasons.

Tottenham Hotspur’s appointment of former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo last summer saw Spurs hold talks with the England defender but the move didn’t materialise and he stayed put.

This summer however, it is reported that Everton are plotting a surprise move for the former Liverpool youth player, which has raised doubts over the England international’s future.

Though it seems positive for Wolves fans, with football insider Jones admitting that he would be shocked if Coady left the Old Gold for the Toffees.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said:

“He’s the guy that has held them up and got them through tough moments on and off the pitch, he’s so valuable to them, so I would be absolutely amazed if they even consider selling him in the summer.”

Supporters worried

If the centre-back stays in the Midlands this summer it’s safe to say it would leave their adoring fans buzzing. However, given that he is a pillar of solidity, reliability and strength at the heart of Wolves’ backline, supporters will have to be worried that he could leave the club this summer.

You can understand why Everton are casting their eyes on Coady, with the Toffees enduring a torrid season at the back, having averaged a total of 1.7 goals conceded per match.

Though it would not make much sense from the Wolves captain’s perspective, with Bruno Lage believing that the West Midlands side are in a position to compete with bigger clubs due to the ongoing project at the club:

“Every time I talk with Mathew Hobbs (Chief Scout), there is a feeling now that the good players who comes to use come because of the way we have been performing.” said Lage.

Having started all 32 Premier League games for Wolves this season, it would be a real shock if Coady decided to seek pastures new, but that appearance count only demonstrates his importance, especially to a defence that has conceded only 28 times this term, the fourth-fewest in the top-flight.

Should that be broken up, it would leave the Molineux faithful rather aghast.

In other news: Wolves eyeing £25m-rated Brazilian gem, Lage surely buzzing – opinion.

Everton owner Farhad Moshiri is sleepwalking into another Rafa Benitez-esque howler amid reports linking the club with Steve Hitchen.

What’s the story?

Following Hitchen’s exit from his scouting and recruitment role at Spurs, The Guardian have claimed that the Toffees are interested in giving him a similar position at Goodison Park.

The report claims that the Premier League club are embarking on this new restructure along with Frank Lampard as their new manager, with Everton having been working “without a director of football, head of recruitment and manager of scouting after the respective departures of Marcel Brands, Grétar Steinsson and Dan Purdy were announced in early December.”

Would be an expensive nightmare for Everton

While this previous summer might have seen Everton keep the purse-strings shut at Goodison Park, that has been the major exception to the rule since Moshiri’s arrival at the club.

The Toffees have been very big spenders in the transfer market, but have had very little to show for it, and it’s no surprise that journalist Alan Myers delivered this verdict on the club’s recruitment strategy.

He said: “Wow. I heard in the radio earlier, only Man City, Man Utd, Barcelona, PSG and Inter Milan had a bigger net spend than Everton across Europe over previous 10 windows (before this summer).

“Even the richest owner of any football club must surely look at the return for that investment and ask the question, why has this happened? Can it be just a string of failed managerial appointments or is it far more than that?”

In Hitchen, Moshiri would be making another Benitez-esque mistake, with his track record at his most recent club very unconvincing, if not down-right woeful.

After being appointed as Spurs’ chief scout back in February 2017, only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Lucas Moura remain with the north London side’s first-team under Antonio Conte as regular fixtures, while a far bigger number are either on the peripheries of the squad, or have already left.

In fact, the 2019 summer arrivals of Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso – both for a combined fee of around £115m – have actually both just left the Lilywhites in the January transfer window just gone by, a real indication of the kind of shocking misses that Hitchen has made at Spurs.

The last thing Everton need now is for another appointment from Moshiri that leads to yet more years of suffering in the transfer market.

Hitchen’s record at Spurs in recent seasons has been underwhelming to say the least, and would just be an expensive nightmare at Goodison Park.

Meanwhile, Lampard could bring the best out of this man…

Wolves are reportedly interested in a move for Stade de Reims forward Hugo Ekitke, according to The Telegraph. 

The lowdown: Rising stock

The 19-year-old spent the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at Danish side Vejle BK, scoring three times and registering two assists in 11 outings before returning to France.

Since then, the speedy frontman has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in Ligue 1 and has been linked with a move to a host of Premier League clubs, including the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United.

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Newcastle United were believed to be close to landing Ekitike in January but the move failed to materialise and now the Wanderers could be about to throw their name into the mix ahead of the summer window…

The latest: The Telegraph makes claim

As per the report from journalist for The Telegraph, John Percy, Wolves are the latest club to ‘show interest’ in the teenage sensation.

It’s claimed that officials from Molineux have been ‘scouting’ the France Under 20 international whose running style has been likened to that of compatriot and Paris Saint-Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe.

The report states that Wolves will face ‘serious competition’ for the two-cap youth international in the summer as Bruno Lage attempts to bolster the attacking options at his disposal in the Midlands.

The verdict: An exciting prospect

Described as ‘very special’ by manager Oscar Garcia, Ekitike has scored ten and provided another four assists in 24 appearances across all competitions this season playing as both a centre-forward and a left-winger, with transfer insider Graeme Bailey even reporting that many in France believe he is the ‘next Mbappe’ and would be a ‘huge signing’ in the Premier League.

Per FBref, the young Frenchman is actually a close match to Wolves star Raul Jimenez stylistically and it’s no surprise that Lage would look towards the ace to arrive as an understudy.

Standing at 6 foot 2, Ekitike possesses the necessary physical attributes to handle the rigours of the Premier League, something that until now Fabio Silva has struggled to cope with, and can therefore be considered as a realistic target to add to the ranks this summer.

In other news, Wolves are reportedly eyeing up a move for an exciting player. Find out who it is here.

Over the last three seasons, Crystal Palace have spent £30.24m on strikers who haven’t yet put together a string of form that justifies their transfer fees.

Odsonne Edouard has fallen out of favour since his £14.67m transfer this summer from Celtic, and manager Patrick Vieira is believed to prefer 6 foot 4 striker Jean-Philippe Mateta – who signed permanently in January for £9.9m.

With Edouard, Mateta, Christian Benteke and Jordan Ayew all scoring just 14 goals this season between them in the Premier League, Vieira will be hoping that any one of them steps up in the last couple months of the season and cements their place as the first-choice striker for the start of next.

They could have found their star striker in West Ham fan-favourite Michail Antonio though, with the club having been linked by The Sun with a move for the versatile forward back in 2018, worth about £15m.

Having made 218 appearances for the East London club, the Jamaica international won over the London Stadium fans with his athleticism, physicality and impressive work-rate for the team, but he is also beginning to add more goals to his game.

Out of Palace’s players, only Wilfried Zaha has bettered Antonio’s tally of eight Premier League goals this season, with nine, but in terms of average match rating, only Conor Gallagher has bettered Antonio’s average of 7.04, with a rating of 7.24.

It isn’t just fans though that have been in awe of the 31-year-old, who turns 32 tomorrow, as former manager and occasional pundit Harry Redknapp has heaped praise on the striker in the past.

What a good player he’s turned out to be,” said Redknapp. “What a handful he is, oh my God. He is frightening. Ability, skill, he scores goals. What a threat to any defence.”

Among Premier League strikers this season, Antonio ranks in the top 10% for goal-creating actions per 90 (0.51), top 5% for crosses into the penalty area per 90 (0.40), and top 12% for key passes per 90 (1.49) – proving that he is more than just a goalscorer, with the ability to create for his teammates too.

Vieira would have loved to have a striker like Antonio at his disposal, and should they have invested the £15m four years ago, they would have likely saved over £30m they have spent since on players in his position.

In other news: Forget Mitchell: Vieira can save CPFC millions with 18y/o who “takes your breath away”

Leeds United could have a real star of the future in Leo Hjelde following a string of fine first-team performances this season.

The 18-year-old colossus, who stands at 6 foot 2, was signed from Scottish giants Celtic in the summer for an undisclosed fee before going onto make his senior debut in their third-round FA Cup defeat to West Ham United last month.

He then came on as an early substitute for his Premier League debut against the same opposition a week later, this time coming out on top in a 3-2 victory.

The young Norway U21 international was possibly a standout across both matches as he filled in defensively at centre-back and left-back due to the mounting injury crisis at Thorp Arch.

His performances led to high praise indeed.

Club legend Jermaine Beckford waxed lyrical about the teenager to ‘The Leeds United podcast’, where he said:

“The young boy, Hjelde when he came on as well, what a player he’s looking by the way.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on him. But that’s twice we’ve seen him, twice we’ve seen him against West Ham, against a very physical, very strong, very quick centre forward in Michail Antonio and a tricky player in Jarrod Bowen. I don’t want to say he had them in his pocket, but I think he did.”

Hjelde is someone who is highly thought of at Elland Road and has been earmarked as a potential leader in the future. U23 boss Mark Jackson told reporters (via LeedsLive):

“I see good leadership qualities in Leo. I have done for a while when I’ve been watching him throughout the summer, before he signed for the club.”

His former boss at Ross County, John Hughes, has even gone as far as dubbing him as the next Virgil van Dijk.

“Leo is going to be the next Van Dijk. Trust me on that.”The quality he has shown, the physical challenge, playing real men’s football and standing up to it – it’s been a wonderful experience for Leo. He’s got massive things in front of him.”Given such qualities and the fact that he hails from Scandinavia, first-team manager Marcelo Bielsa could well have another Pontus Jansson on his hands, especially as the former centre-back has gone onto wear the armband for his new club, Brentford.Also dubbed a “massive talent”, it’s evident that Leeds have quite the gem on their hands and in the few times we’ve seen him, he’s already delivered at quite a remarkable level.Bielsa should turn to Hjelde more often as the season goes on.

AND in other news, Cost £0, now worth £18m: Leeds struck dream deal with 22y/o “beast” who’s “got it all”…

Sharing an update on Tottenham Hotspur’s January plans, journalist Sami Mokbel of The Daily Mail has made a transfer claim involving Paris-Saint Germain midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum.

The Lowdown: Alli and Ndombele nearing exit?

As reliably reported, Spurs stars Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele are two big names who could leave north London by deadline day as transfer chief Fabio Paratici works on both incomings and outgoings (Sky Sports).

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The former has seen his market value plummet in recent seasons and a move away may be best for all parties. The latter, Spurs’ club-record signing, is reportedly eager to join PSG after being left out in the cold by manager Antonio Conte.

Potential swap deals have been touted in the press, with journalist Jason Burt of The Telegraph stating recently that Spurs were ‘offered’ Argentina international Leandro Paredes in such a potential deal.

Sharing news on Tottenham’s possible exits this month, another reporter in Mokbel has now made a claim involving former Liverpool star Wijnaldum.

The Latest: Wijnaldum ‘open’ to signing for Spurs…

Indeed, The Daily Mail journalist claimed that the 31-year-old is ‘open’ to a PSG/Spurs swap deal which would see the Netherlands international join Spurs on loan for the remainder of the current campaign.

This could result in either Ndombele or Alli moving in the opposite direction as chairman Daniel Levy aims to back Conte in the transfer market and kickstart the Tottenham rebuild.

The Verdict: Get it done?

We believe that signing Wijnaldum on a temporary basis is certainly something Conte should consider, especially going by the midfielder’s pedigree in the Premier League and threat going forward.

The 31-year-old has racked up 26 goals over 85 caps at international level and can operate as an advanced playmaker, potentially coming as the unlikely but long-awaited replacement for Christian Eriksen if Spurs decide to move for him.

During his last season at Anfield, the tidy £165,000-per-week ace averaged a higher pass accuracy (92.7%) than any Liverpool player under Jurgen Klopp (WhoScored), so it’s little wonder why the Reds boss described him as a ‘legend’ and the ‘architect’ of their success in recent years (The Daily Mail).

At the very least, it’s certainly a swap deal which must get Paratici thinking, with Wijnadlum’s stance crystal clear.

In other news: Personal terms agreed: Conte edges closer to signing ‘world-beater’ for Tottenham, find out more here.