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Frank McAvennie doesn’t think Steven Davis will be a Rangers player come next season. 

The lowdown

The veteran midfielder rejoined Rangers permanently ahead of the 2019/20 season following a spell on loan from Southampton.

Overall, he has made 324 appearances for the club, scoring 25 goals and providing 69 assists (via Transfermarkt). He was named the Scottish Football Writers’ Association Player of the Year for 2020/21 after edging team-mates Allan McGregor, Connor Goldson and James Tavernier for the honouyr.

This season, the 36-year-old has started six of Rangers’ eight Premiership matches as well as both of their Europa League fixtures.

He extended his contract as recently as March, but only until the end of the current season. According to Salary Sport, that deal is worth £18,000 per week.

The latest

McAvennie says that, while Davis has been almost ever-present for the Scottish champions so far this term, he will need a rest eventually.

He pointed to the signings of Juninho Bacuna, John Lundstram and Nnamdi Ofoborh to back up his claim that the Gers are preparing for life without the Northern Irishman.

“Davis has been playing almost every game for them,” the former Scotland striker told Football Insider.

“He’s 36 now. No disrespect to him but surely he needs a rest? Fair play if he doesn’t but I get tired just watching him.

“There are plenty of options in that midfield as well. They signed two in the summer and they aren’t regular starters.

“I know he signed a contract last year, I suspect he won’t be at Ibrox next season.

“As a player anyway. Maybe that’s why they signed a few. They knew Davis will be leaving soon and wanted cover in earlier.”

The verdict

As McAvennie predicts, Davis will probably depart the club this summer or next despite still being a regular, although we shouldn’t rule out him staying on in a coaching capacity.

Could we see something of a changing at the guard at Ibrox over 2022? Look at those players who were nominated for the aforementioned SFWA award – this could theoretically be McGregor’s last season as a player, Tavernier’s place is under threat from Nathan Patterson and Goldson’s future is uncertain.

In other news, some Rangers fans were left raging by this Steven Gerrard claim. 

Everton beat Burnley 3-1 on Monday night to move into the Premier League’s top four, but some supporters weren’t happy with the performance of Lucas Digne. 

Ben Mee put the visitors in front after 53 minutes before Everton turned the game around with three goals in an incredible six-minute spell.

Former Burnley centre-back Michael Keane struck first before superb goals from Andros Townsend and Demarai Gray.

Digne ever-present but not quite hitting heights

Digne has played every Premier League minute thus far under Rafael Benitez.

Here, the Frenchman lined up as a left-wing back as the manager switched to a 3-4-3 formation from the start (via WhoScored).

He lost possession 23 times over the course of the match though, more than any of his team-mates (via SofaScore).

According to WhoScored, Digne is currently falling marginally short of his performance levels from last season. His average rating across the first four league games is 6.99, down on last term’s average of 7.08 over 30 games.

Here’s what Toffees fans made of Digne’s display.

These Everton fans want more from Digne

“Great win last night. 2 things that weren’t great, the 4 mile queue for the Goodison Chippy and Lucas Digne”

Credit: @ridroberts

“Digne’s form is not good at the moment and no one to take his place”

Credit: @RoyEFCPeo

“Is it me or is Lucas Digne not having a great season so far?”

Credit: @EFC_RI

“One for the “Digne doesn’t even approach Baines in quality” believers this”

Credit: @Will__EFC

“Digne’s been very disappointing”

Credit: @EFC_Wolfstein

“Think even Digne has lost confidence in his corners”

Credit: @_beanatron_

In other news, Noel Whelan has backed this potential Everton move.

Many Everton fans have been left fuming as some news emerged on their proposed new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Writing in his latest piece for The Athletic, Patrick Boyland has now revealed that the Goodison Park faithful are very close on getting two funding streams for the new ground.

While this is good news in terms of the stadium’s development, a lot of the Merseyside club’s supporters were left raging at the timing of it, as one supporter said: “Oh what a surprise a bad defeat and a stadium announcement.”

After two losses at the hands of Aston Villa last weekend in the Premier League and Queens Park Rangers in the Carabao Cup in midweek, it’s fair to say fans are in no mood for this.

Nonetheless, Rafa Benitez needs to get some good results soon in order to brighten the mood among the Toffees, especially in the build-up to moving grounds.

Everton fans on stadium news

These Blues fumed as the news on the stadium was shared on Twitter, with one EFC supporter even going as far as to claim that the timing of it was ’embarrassing’:

“The predictability. It’s embarrassing.”

Credit: @robbietaylor_86

“Oh what a surprise a bad defeat an a stadium announcement, could not write it”

Credit: @BarryWilliams93

“Two days too late Paddy, surely they should have timed this just after QPR put in the winning penalty?”

Credit: @melbourne1973

“Wow positive stadium news after a poor team performance – seems to be a pattern here”

Credit: @TonyJo1878

“Announcement on stadium after a few awful results. Doesn’t surprise me one bit. Need to focus on our atrocious squad than anything else right now”

Credit: @siewakes20

“Like clockwork”

Credit: @_DL96

In other news, find out what setback an injury expert has said Everton may now face here!

Ex-Everton star Michael Ball insists that the club’s fans would be happy to keep Moise Kean this summer if a bid is not tabled.

The striker went on loan to PSG last season and thrived under manager Mauricio Pochettino.

The Italian scored 17 goals in 41 outings for the French giants, but his hopes of a permanent move seem to have dwindled.

Indeed, PSG have secured the signing of Lionel Messi on a free transfer from Barcelona, meaning that a deal to sign Kean is particularly unlikely.

Inter Milan are said to see the Toffees star as an option in this transfer window, provided they do not manage to bring in their other forward targets.

Kean has somewhat struggled during his time on Merseyside and has scored just four goals in 37 outings, but Ball believes the fans would gladly keep him. If he does leave, however, he expects the money generated to be reinvested – he is valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt.

He said: “If he does stay, I think the fans will be happy but if he does move on, I think that’s when Everton’s transfer window will start getting a bit hectic, and the money they bring in for him will be going elsewhere.”

Tottenham Hotspur legend Graham Roberts believes that a deal to sign Adama Traore this summer could lead to the sale of Steven Bergwijn.

The club has been linked with a potential move to bring Traore into the club from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Spurs are reported to have tabled a loan bid initially with an option to buy him for £40m at the end of the season, but there is said to be a confidence that Spurs will be able to bring him to north London and reunite him with former manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

Traore operates primarily as a right-winger but is capable of playing on the left, as he did against Spurs at the weekend, as Wolves lost 1-0 at Molineux.

Bergwijn also operates on the flanks and has started both of Spurs’ games this season, as both Manchester City and Nuno’s former club have been dispatched.

However, he has been linked with a potential move to Ajax before the deadline and Roberts thinks that it would make sense for Traore to potentially replace the Netherlands international in Spurs’ squad.

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, he said: “Bergwijn, Ajax are after him and if they got the right fee for him, I think he would go and Traore would come in there, but we’ll wait and see.”

Tottenham Hotspur could swoop for Dusan Vlahovic before this month’s transfer deadline…

What’s the word?

According to La Repubblica (via Viola News), Spurs are keeping an eye on the Fiorentina striker ahead of a potential move, with sporting director Fabio Paratici very keen to secure him.

It’s not the first time that the 21-year-old talisman has been mooted with a switch to North London this summer.

The Telegraph revealed last week that Spurs would target Vlahovic to play alongside Harry Kane, rather than to replace him amid the speculation surrounding his own future at the club.

Mike McGrath has since backed up his claims during an appearance on Fabrizio Romano’s Twitch channel.

“I’m told they are looking at Dusan Vlahovic, ideally him and Kane,” he said. “I reported they looked at Danny Ings earlier in the window but Vlahovic is the one they want if they were to sign a striker.”

Vlahovic is likely to cost around £50m.

Frightening frontline

Only three other players scored more goals in the Italian top-flight than the young Serbian international last season – Cristiano Ronaldo, Romelu Lukaku and Luis Muriel.

At just 21, he’s already in very good company and that’s an encouraging sign for his future.

Indeed, Vlahovic found the net 21 times in 37 appearances, and he’s kickstarted the new campaign with a bang by bagging seven goals in one game during La Viola’s pre-season win over Polisportiva C4 Foligno.

It’s widely believed that Nuno Santo will look to deploy a two-man attack, so another striker is certainly needed this window. With Ings out of the question, since he’s joined Aston Villa, Spurs should absolutely look to the Fiorentina star.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-team-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-and-much-more-copy” title= “Read the latest Spurs news, transfer rumours, gossip and much more!”]

Whilst Kane is desperately trying to force a move to defending champions Manchester City, it is expected that chairman Daniel Levy will remain firm over his intentions to keep him in N17.

Vlahovic has been lauded as a “complete” centre-forward, which could hint towards him being an ideal partner to the wantaway England international.

“He’s just a complete number nine and I know it’s just off the back of one season, but he’s strong, can link play up, can hold the ball up and most importantly, he’s scoring goals,” Serie A expert Conor Clancy told This is Futbol. “He’s one of those players that when he looks confident, you almost expect him to score every time he plays.”

In a further interview with The Transfer Tavern, he added:

“He is young and he was phenomenal in the second half of last season, in particular. He just couldn’t stop scoring.”

If Paratici and  Levy can secure Vlahovic, then they could well hand Nuno a frightening frontline that would strike fear into many a Premier League defence next season.

Between them, they scored 54 goals combined. That is a mouth-watering prospect for a side that finished seventh last season.

The £36m-rated goal machine would certainly be one hell of a signing. Nuno better hope they keep hold of Kane.

AND in other news, Paratici could secure Spurs’ next Eriksen in swoop for “magical” £18m-rated “prodigy”…

Wolverhampton Wanderers could look to sign FC Porto midfielder Sergio Oliveira, according to Jornal de Noticias. 

The report says that Bruno Lage is a fan of Oliveira and that Wolves have made €20m (£17m) available to pursue the signing.

Recapping Wolves’ summer

Wolves, who opened the season with a 1-0 defeat away to Leicester City on Saturday, have spent £23.67m on new players so far this summer. The window is open until 11pm on 31 August.

Left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri has joined permanently from Ligue 1 outfit Angers, while Jose Sa has come in to replace Rui Patricio after his move to Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma. Elsewhere, Colombian youngster Yerson Mosquera has arrived to bolster Wolves’ defensive ranks, and winger Francisco Trincao has swapped the Camp Nou for Molineux.

Lage’s options in the middle of the park currently consist of Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves, Leander Dendoncker, Bruno Jordao, Morgan Gibbs-White and Owen Otasowie.

These Wolves fans call for Oliveira signing

Oliveira enjoyed a tremendous 2020/21 season with FC Porto, scoring 20 goals and setting up another seven in all competitions. By way of comparison, Wolves’ four leading scorers managed 18 goals between them.

Fan feed Talking Wolves relayed news of the transfer link with the “creative” 29-year-old, and here’s what some supporters made of it.

“PLEASE”

Credit: @DannyClives

“This would be amazing”

Credit: @pjsaturday63

“Good player, we need someone like him who is creative”

Credit: @ToddWarner89

“I’m on my knees, I beg”

Credit: @Wolves_Dan74

“Let’s go”

Credit: @BabangTah

“This would be an incredible signing, Semedo, Oliviera, keep Mir and maybe another and that’s a very good window”

Credit: @Ethan74917547

In other news, fans fumed over this transfer update.

An update has emerged on Rangers forward Kai Kennedy, regarding West Ham’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, Rangers have rejected a second bid from West Ham for winger Kai Kennedy as they look to keep hold of the youngster.

The 19-year-old is under contract at Ibrox until 2023 and has now been called up for first-team training with Steven Gerrard’s side in an attempt to dissuade him from wanting a Premier League transfer.

Fans will be delighted

Rangers fans will be delighted by this news as it shows a willingness from the club to dig in and retain their best talents. Kennedy is a young prospect who could be a future first-team star and Ross Wilson has made it clear that he will not allow him to leave easily by rejecting two offers from the Hammers.

If the Premier League side are going to sign Kennedy this summer then they are going to need to shell out big money to land him, as shown by their two opening bids being turned down.

Rangers do not need to worry about his contract situation this summer, as he still has two years left to run, which means that they can demand as much as they like for the forward.

Fans will be happy about this because the attacker is a prospect who could have the potential to make an impact in the first team.

Inverness boss John Robertson heaped praise on the young winger last year and called him a “crowd-pleaser”. The Scottish coach said that he excites him with his direct play on the ball out wide whilst he was on loan there.

He said:

“He beats people for fun and gets out of tight situations – he’s a crowd-pleaser.

“Even in training when we see him getting the ball, he excites us. He goes past players and we think he’s going to lose it, then the next minute he wriggles away and he has created something.

“Kai at times looks like a wee ragamuffin as he just bounces about, but he goes past people and excites people. That’s the type of player we wanted to come.”

The 19-year-old managed two goals and five assists for Inverness and Raith Rovers combined last season during two separate loan spells in the Championship. This is a valuable experience for the teenager and shows that he can already make contributions in the second tier despite his age.

Therefore, he could have the potential to improve further and become a key figure in Gerrard’s side moving forward, which is why fans will be delighted with Wilson’s approach to West Ham’s interest so far.

Hopefully, he can continue to ward off unreasonable offers and either keep hold of Kennedy or receive a sizeable fee for his services.

AND in other news, Time to go: Rangers must ruthlessly axe £9k-p/w “warrior”, Gerrard doesn’t need him…

Southampton fans have been reacting to the news that the Saints are interested in signing Bayer Leverkusen winger Leon Bailey this summer.

The St Mary’s outfit are preparing for the 2021/22 campaign, one in which they will be aiming to improve on their 15th-place Premier League finish last term. So far, they have added two new players to their squad in Romain Perraud (southamptonfc.com) and Dynel Simeu (chelseafc.com), but they must look to add more before the transfer window comes to a close.

Surprisingly, they have been linked with a big move for 23-year-old Bailey by 90min.com.

The Jamaica international was in top form last term, scoring 15 goals and providing 11 assists (Transfermarkt), and Saints are joined by the likes of Aston Villa and Leicester in their pursuit.

At £25m, he would not come cheap – that seems to be the main reason why Southampton fans are not too confident of signing him.

The update was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. They took to the social media platform to share their thoughts, with one fan calling the news a ‘dream’.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Bailey link below

“This is not fifa career mode @martin_semmens pls tell Gao to empty his wallet and sign him xx”

Credit: @Cal_SFC

“Southampton can’t afford a Championship striker so looking at £25m players is a waste of time.”

Credit: @SouthernMan7

“imagine”

Credit: @Trist_Brooks97

“have a day off!”

Credit: @scotteds156

“Just a dream for us sadly.”

Credit: @bfgfox

“With that fee, someone is having a laugh with our overdraft”

Credit: @SpencerHoughts

In other news, Southampton fans rage at an update on this 27-year-old.

Ange Postecoglou will have an early chance to lay down a marker on Wednesday as Celtic face their first pre-season friendly in Wales.

The Australian has been working the Hoops squad hard over the last few days but the moment the fixture is done, he must focus on transfers again.

What’s the word?

With Celtic’s first Champions League qualifying match rapidly approaching, Postecoglou needs to get as much business concluded before that day.

A European run would be lucrative for the club and would give the new boss a big chance to impress and make up for the torrid season they endured in 2020/21.

One player who could feature in that qualifying run is Aaron Hickey. According to a new report from the Scottish Sun, Celtic are confident of signing the player and expect to strike a deal with Bologna in the coming days.

The Bhoys have reportedly laid £3.5m on the table but the Italian side are looking for a fee nearer to €8m (£6.8m) for his services.

A tremendous signing

If Postecoglou and Dominic McKay can get this deal over the line then it would surely leave supporters absolutely elated.

After all, the club are hardly well stacked in a full-back position heading into the new campaign.

Greg Taylor and Boli Bolingoli will battle it out of a place on the left flank during pre-season but we’ve already suggested that the latter doesn’t deserve to have a place under the new management.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-celtic-news-doig-nketiah-mccann” title= “Read the latest Celtic transfer news!”]

Taylor is hardly a pillar of consistency either, struggling to nail down a permanent role in the team despite the questionable performances of Diego Laxalt last term.

Hickey, on the other hand, could bring greater consistency to the left-hand side of the Celtic XI.

The youngster may only be 19 years of age but he is a player wise beyond his years, and somebody who could replicate what Kieran Tierney brought to Celtic.

Now a rampant beast for Arsenal and Scotland, he loves roaming forward in search of driving to the byline and providing a cross.

Hickey doesn’t possess the same level as pace but he’s still capable of driving forward and beating his man.

Though, the defender is also tactically aware. Speaking about his game, former Hearts boss Daniel Stendal commented: “Aaron as a player is like Philipp Lahm.”

Stendel concluded: “For me at Hearts, he played as a full-back. He not only runs up and down the line, but looks for attacking moves like Lahm once did. And Aaron can also play in the central midfield. Trust me, he will have a great career.”

The full-back left Celtic when he was just 16 so to bring him back now he’s developed and become a first-team regular should delight supporters. It’s not often you earn a second bite of the cherry with somebody you let go at such a young age.

AND in other news, Celtic eye bargain swoop for 24 y/o “monster”, Postecoglou will adore him…