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Celtic have reached a ‘general agreement’ with Kawasaki Frontale for Reo Hatate, according to Japanese outlet Hochi.

The Lowdown: Hatate profiled

Hatate has recently just helped Kawasaki Frontale win a second consecutive J1 League title, making 38 appearances in 2020/21.

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He turned out in a number of positions, mainly in midfield and at left-back, with Celtic reportedly seeing Hatate as a midfield addition, with his current contract set to expire at the end of January.

The 24-year-old is on €38,000-a-year (around £625-a-week) with his current employers, but it seems as if a move to Glasgow to join countryman Kyogo Furuhashi is on the cards.

The Latest: Agreement reached

Japanese outlet Hochi posted on Twitter on Sunday evening, shortly after Celtic’s 1-0 win over Motherwell, claiming Hatate is set to ‘move’ to Scotland.

A ‘general agreement’ has been reached between the two clubs, so it seems as if the Hoops will pay a small fee to the J1 League side for Hatate’s services.

The Verdict: More good news

The Hoops have also agreed on a fee with Gamba Osaka for midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi, so Celtic are now closing in on two January signings already.

That can only be good news, especially with the number of injuries Ange Postecoglou has had to deal with in recent weeks, while the fact everything is in place so soon shows impressive planning from a club who have often been lacking in the boardroom in recent years.

Postecoglou will know just what Hatate and Ideguchi will bring to Scotland following his time as a manager in Japan, and the quicker Celtic can complete their January business, the better, with Japanese forward Daizen Maeda another on the club’s winter window wishlist.

In other news: Devlin claims ‘special’ Celtic ace may have broken bone amid ‘conflicting’ info. 

According to The Sunday Post (via The Scotsman), Southampton are interested in signing Ryan Christie from Celtic this summer.

The Lowdown: Saints prepare for new campaign

The Saints experienced a mixed 2020/21 season – they reached an F.A Cup semi-final but also finished a lowly 15th in the Premier League table.

As such, Ralph Hasenhuttl and co have plenty of work to do this summer, and that is likely to include a number of new arrivals.

The Latest: Saints eye Christie

It has now been suggested the Saints have an interest in Christie, along with Burnley.

They could sign him for a fee of little more than £1m, but potential interest from other clubs could drive that price up. (The Sunday Post via The Scotsman)

The Verdict: Bargain deal

This would no doubt be a bargain deal for the Saints. Christie may have spent all his career in Scotland, but he has been an important player for Celtic down the years, with 40 goals and 41 assists in 142 matches (Transfermarkt). Last season alone, he picked up 15 assists in all competitions during what was a disappointing campaign for the Bhoys.

The fee is the most eye-catching part of any potential deal, though. Valued at £6.3m by Transfermarkt, signing for a sum of around £1m would be an absolute steal, especially considering he is still only 26 years of age and has played at Euro 2020 this summer. Hasenhuttl will be hoping that Southampton can get a deal over the line for Christie.

In other news, many Southampton fans are desperate for this man to return to the club.

Numerous Manchester City fans have been reacting to the bizarre news that Sir Alex Ferguson visited the Lowry Hotel, where Paris Saint-Germain are staying, ahead of the Champions League semi-final on Tuesday.

The Citizens face the Ligue 1 champions at the Etihad Stadium tonight as they aim to reach the final of Europe’s premier club competition. They won the first leg at the Parc des Princes last week 2-1, so a solid performance this time around should be enough to see them through.

Ferguson is a Manchester United legend, having won numerous trophies at Old Trafford during a 26-and-a-halfyear spell at the club. It may seem to some that he doesn’t want to see City succeed though, as he just so happened to visit the same hotel at which PSG are staying hours before kick-off.

The news was shared on Twitter by the Manchester Evening News’ official Twitter account, and it attracted plenty of interest from City supporters. These fans took to social media platform Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Ferguson news below

“Disgusting”

Credit: @ThisIsDIR

“This club are sinking deeper than I ever thought was possible”

Credit: @Dylan_Currie01

“This has to be a joke”

Credit: @CjKofi

“they’re so obsessed with us”

Credit: @jessmcfcx

“imagine such hatred”

Credit: @FaraiCharuma

“So weird. Honestly.”

Credit: @CSR2693

In other news, some Man City fans fumed at this Premier League news.

Celtic have seen many players come and go out of the Parkhead club over the years throughout the numerous transfer windows that have gone by.

While a significant number of players that end up in a Celtic shirt have gone on to be successful with the Hoops, not every deal that was completed ended up being worthwhile.

One deal, in particular, that ended up falling into this unfortunate category is the club’s 2011 swoop for winger Mohamed Bangura.

Having previously been rather optimistically touted as “the next Henrik Larsson” by his agent, the then 22-year-old was also recommended for the Hoops by their Swedish hero.

He said: “Celtic called and asked me, so I told them what I thought about him. I spoke to Neil and Johan Mjallby. I said that Mohamed is a clever, intelligent player. He is quick and strong, even if he isn’t even 180cm tall (5ft 9in). And most importantly – he knows how to score.”

Despite Larsson claiming that the Sierra Leone winger knew how to score goals, it seems as though Bangura failed to bring that knowledge with him to Celtic Park.

Signed from AIK Stockholm for a fee of £2.2m in the 2011 summer transfer window, the winger made just 16 appearances for the Bhoys across all competitions and failed to find the back of the net on even one occasion.

After having a loan spell back with his previous club and one with IF Elfsborg, the attacker left Celtic in February 2014 for a free transfer to Istanbul BBSK.

To highlight how disappointing the now 32-year-old was during his time in Scotland, with ten appearances to his name throughout the 2011/12 SPFL season, he only registered three shots on target.

As well as his lack of attacking prowess, injuries also hampered his time in Scotland.

In terms of how much of a financial blow signing Bangura was for the club, every appearance the now 32-year-old made for them cost £137.5k based on the transfer fee they splashed out to bring him to Parkhead.

While this deal ended up being a complete waste of time and money for the Hoops, it at least taught them to not rely on Larsson’s player recommendations.

In other news: Sold for £1.3m, now worth £107k: Celtic hit the jackpot on “selfish” 28 y/o “villain”

Many Everton fans have been left to hail a transfer update on Moise Kean as Calciomercato have reported that PSG are already in talks to sign him.

As per the news outlet, the Goodison Park faithful are demanding a transfer fee of at least €50m (£42.9m) to let him go, with Paris Saint Germain keen to buy the Italy international on a permanent deal.

It would mean that the Merseyside club would be able to make a tidy profit on a player that did not really show his talents while he was there, scoring a mere four goals in 37 games in total over all competitions across the last two terms for the Toffees (Transfermarkt).

Nonetheless, the quite large chunk of money could be used to invest in another striker when the summer window comes along.

Everton fan reaction to Kean transfer update

These Toffees hailed the transfer update on the 21-year-old on Twitter, with one Blues supporter even going as far as to claim that it was ‘lovely’:

“Lovely, double our money.”

Credit: @jackph21

“Even that though I’d be happy with mate getting anything like that for someone who won’t want to be here is a yes from me”

Credit: @jamie_byrom

“If we can get over £40m for him then we’ve done well! Put a sell in percentage in the deal and it’s a good deal. I’m sure we would get a decent striker for half that”

Credit: @AidyDews

“Can this week get any better?”

Credit: @DaveMcEFC

“€50m snap their hands off”

Credit: @DMass1990

“Take it”

Credit: @blueray1978

In other news, find out what Paul Joyce update has been lauded by EFC fans here!

Everton’s hunt for a new manager has now been a month-long pursuit.

A host of managers have been in the frame according to odds shown at coral offers at the signup but only one target still seems to be standing.

What’s the word?

The Toffees have been linked with the likes of Nuno Santo and Christophe Galtier but the head coach that looks set to arrive is Rafa Benitez.

The Spaniard has been in talks with Everton over the last couple of weeks, with negotiations reportedly starting to come to a close.

However, an article written by Paul Joyce in The Times shares a rather shocking revelation on the thought process of Alisher Usmanov, one of the club’s big sponsors, and Farhad Moshiri.

Joyce revealed the following: “The two billionaires are not oblivious to the fans’ reaction but have simply chosen to ignore the outpouring in the belief they are hiring a good coach, with a strong tactical understanding and someone who can improve players.

“They are tired of “losing”, according to sources, although the hire ’em, fire ’em policy and haphazard manner in which previous managerial appointments have been conducted means Everton have been their own worst enemy in terms of on-field progress since Moshiri came on board in February 2016.”

Supporters will be appalled

2021 appears to be a game of ‘which owners can upset their club’s supporters the most’.

Earlier this year, the Premier League’s big and now greedy six, attempted to break away from UEFA’s continental competitions – the Champions League and Europa League – to join a brand new European Super League.

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They were going to be joined by the continents biggest and best teams but that fell by the wayside after significant fan pressure.

Protests were held outside stadiums and social media campaigns were started that threw smoke in the faces of the likes of Daniel Levy at Tottenham, Stan Kroenke at Arsenal and The Glazers at Manchester United.

On this occasion, fan power won. It told the billionaires in charge of their respective clubs that supporters hold a great stronghold over what goes on behind the scenes.

Although their initial ploy to break away acted as a crime against football, the way they immediately pulled out spoke volumes.

Of course, the situation now unravelling at Everton is a very different set of events but Moshiri and co had an opportunity here to demonstrate that they do care about their own supporters by not hiring a manager with connections to their fierce rivals.

The Goodison Park faithful have protested against the idea of Benitez becoming their new manager due to his allegiances to Liverpool but the board don’t seem to care about that.

If the 61-year-old is successful on the blue side of Merseyside then surely all be forgiven. Unfortunately for Benitez, he might not be given the platform to achieve his goals by the crowd.

The fans should be appalled by what’s occurring.

AND in other news, Brands could seal huge Gomes upgrade at Everton by signing “world-class” £30m star…

Rafa Benitez has been in the Everton job for just over two days but he already has some big decisions to make.

He is faced with the potential departure of James Rodriguez, while Dominic Calvert-Lewin is also attracting interest from elsewhere.

What’s the word?

One of the most important decisions for the club this summer will be determining what happens with Moise Kean. The Italian striker spent last term on loan at PSG and he could head back to Ligue 1 for the upcoming season.

That’s the word of transfer guru Fabrizio Romano who took to Twitter on Thursday evening to report: “Paris Saint-Germain want Moise Kean back and it’s only loan negotiation with buy option included, as reported one month ago. NO permanent deal bid. Kean wants to join PSG. Leonardo is now waiting for Everton answer – it’s up to Rafa Benitez.”

Huge blunder

If Benitez sanctions a loan move for the young forward, it would be a mighty clanger within his first few days of being in the job.

If Everton are going to shift Kean on, they should be looking for a permanent move. Otherwise, they may as well give him another chance in the first team squad next season.

The Toffees were initially looking for a fee of £40m in order to relinquish him this summer, so to let him leave with only an option to buy feels like a rather peculiar decision. After all, this is the mighty PSG with which they’re dealing; they are not cash-strapped by any means.

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It’s a decision which has left plenty of supporters baffled and bewildered by the thought process at Goodison Park.

Reacting to the news on social media, one Everton fan said the club had dealt with Kean’s situation “absolutely terribly.” Another supporter claimed that the Toffees were becoming “easy to manipulate” in the transfer market, while a further individual fumed that it was an “absolute joke.”

You can certainly understand such anger. Kean had a breathtaking season in 2020/21, reviving his career after a disappointing first campaign in Merseyside.

After signing for Everton for £29m, he scored just four goals in 37 appearances before moving to France on a temporary basis. Since joining the Parisians, he lit up Ligue 1 and starred in Europe – he found the net on 17 occasions in PSG colours, even scoring against Barcelona.

At the age of 21, the Italy international has a very high ceiling. If Everton aren’t going to give him another opportunity, they may as well cash in on him now in order to fund a summer rebuild.

It would be a blunder from Benitez to agree to another loan move for the striker.

AND in other news, Everton eye swoop for “superb” 69-goal colossus, it could mean the end for DCL…

Celtic’s hunt for a new manager has rather summed up how the season has played out for the Bhoys at Parkhead.

It has been a messy affair, a saga that’s drawn out more questions than answers as the Hoops are dealt repeated setbacks.

What’s the word?

Celtic were thought to be in advanced discussions to bring Eddie Howe to the club a week ago.

However, over the last few days, it’s become increasingly likely that he won’t be arriving at Parkhead.

The reason why is unclear but a source close to the Hoops hierarchy revealed all over the course of the weekend.

Telling journalist and author Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, a source said: “Can’t be coming. Heard today that he wants to bring the kitchen sink with him – up to 5 backroom staff – and Celtic have dug their heels in and said no.”

This was after another source suggested that Howe had sought assurances from Dermot Desmond that he’d be able to bring his own staff with him to Parkhead.

Not good news

There have been a number of issues plaguing Celtic’s pursuit of the 43-year-old but until now, we hadn’t really been given a definitive ‘no.’

Thus, the dreaded three-word message; “Can’t be coming,” is unlikely to be too pleasing for Hoops supporters.

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The last thing they needed after a rather dreadful season was yet more toxicity and another tired saga.

The idea of Neil Lennon departing Celtic came about in the early months of the season but he didn’t actually leave his role until February. Even then, it wasn’t the Bhoys hierarchy that sacked him, the Northern Irishman simply stepped down himself.

Desmond, however, is unlikely to get a swift resolution here. He already knows that Howe doesn’t want to return to management until the summer and with backroom issues swamping him, he’d be better off seeking alternatives.

He does have one in the form of Lucien Favre but his future also remains unclear after being linked with Saudi club Al-Hilal.

The club’s majority shareholder, therefore, will need to act decisively. This is arguably the worst news he will have received yet.

Fortunately, it shouldn’t be a surprise given the events that have played out in recent days. Howe wants to bring Richard Hughes with him instead of Fergal Harkin, a man who was 90% through the door according to reports.

The former Cherries boss isn’t even at Celtic yet but he’s already causing difficulties for the club.

AND in other news, Celtic hero sees value soar by 257% after leaving, Rodgers called him a “big talent”…

Just when you thought Celtic were rolling out the red carpet in preparation for Eddie Howe’s arrival at Parkhead, they’ve been dealt another potential blow.

The Hoops’ pursuit of the 43-year-old has been a tiresome saga but there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight for Paradise chiefs.

What’s the word?

TalkSPORT reported last week that a deal had finally been agreed to bring Howe to Glasgow. Promising signs have emerged in the last seven days with details of Crystal Palace’s managerial situation coming to light.

The Eagles have been keen on Howe but, after Roy Hodgson announced he’d be leaving, the 43-year-old reportedly flopped during the interview process. That meant Celtic had a free run at the former Bournemouth boss.

Unfortunately for the Hoops, a massive twist has now occurred. Palace have also been in discussions with Frank Lampard but, according to Football Insider, they have sensationally pulled out of the race for the former Chelsea man following extensive talks.

Consequently, a Celtic source has told the outlet that there are fresh concerns over Howe’s move to Glasgow, with Palace potentially pushing hard to try and land him.

Disastrous news

With Howe seemingly all but through the door at Celtic, news that a job in the Premier League could actually be on the cards could tempt him to remain south of the border.

The 43-year-old hasn’t been keen on a return to management until the summer, with his agent insisting that he can still land a job in England’s top flight.

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Palace seemed the most likely destination but, after he flopped during an interview with Steve Parish, Celtic became his first choice again. However, the failure of Lampard’s own talks mean Howe could change his thought process and stay in England.

With so much to do at Paradise this summer, it would be terrible news if the 43-year-old snubs a move to Scotland.

Celtic need a new head coach and they need one quickly. They have already waited long enough for the former Cherries manager and cannot afford to delay any longer.

If there is the slightest hint that he prefers Crystal Palace, Dominic McKay and Dermot Desmond need to focus their attention elsewhere and move for a coach who is 100% committed to the Hoops.

With several players likely to leave Parkhead, a new manager is needed quickly to assess the recruitment and swiftly bring in replacements.

If the transfer window opens and Celtic chiefs are still deliberating over who will be the new manager, it could leave them significantly behind in their planning and preparation for next season. Those in the boardroom should be incredibly concerned with how long this whole process has taken.

It’s a sorry state of affairs but, after how their season has played out, we should hardly be surprised.

AND in other news, Celtic can find the new Scott McDonald by signing 24 y/o with “everything to his game”…

Deadline day came and went without any real drama for Southampton fans, although it has emerged that Everton made a late bid for Kyle Walker-Peters, but Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were clearly not willing to let him leave St Mary’s.

What’s the word?

According to The Telegraph journalist Mike McGrath, Everton made a late move for the 24-year-old, who was also on his former club Tottenham Hotspur’s radar before their signing of Emerson Royal from Barcelona.

However, he suggested that Southampton were not willing to discuss any deal for the right-back, who has impressed at St Mary’s since joining on a permanent deal last summer.

Did Southampton avoid a disaster?

Walker-Peters quickly established himself as first-choice right-back when he originally joined Southampton on loan in January 2020, so it was no surprise to see his move made permanent when the season was over.

In total, the Englishman has made 48 appearances for the Saints, in which he has contributed one goal and four assists, something he will no doubt be looking to improve upon this season.

Whilst the £16.2m-rated defender lost his starting spot to 18-year-old Valentino Livramento in the first two Premier League matches of the season, the last two games have seen him feature at left-back, which emphasises his versatility and the fact that Hasenhuttl wants him in the starting side, regardless of Livramento’s impressive displays.

After last season saw Southampton’s lack of full-back depth cruelly exposed, with Ryan Bertrand and Walker-Peters both out for a period which left Hasenhuttl with very few options, it was crucial that the club brought in a number of players in those positions this summer.

Romain Perraud and Thierry Small arrived as left-back options, whilst Livramento joined from Chelsea as a right-back, which gives the Austrian manager far greater choice in those positions.

Therefore, it would have been a disastrous decision to let Walker-Peters join Everton on deadline day, as it would’ve given Southampton very little time to find a replacement and could’ve left them in the same worrying situation as last season. For a period, they only had one natural option at right-back other than Yan Valery, who has perhaps shown with recent performances that he should be nowhere near the starting XI.

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Southampton deserve credit for rebuffing the interest from Everton and you could definitely argue that they dodged a bullet by keeping him at St Mary’s rather than allowing him to join a Premier League rival.

In other news… Southampton can sign their next Walker-Peters in 21 y/o tipped to reach the “very top”