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According to a report from The Guardian, Tottenham Hotspur have suffered a further injury blow as news emerges on Giovani Lo Celso – with the Argentine reportedly set to be out for ‘at least’ another three more weeks due to hamstring trouble. 

Lo Celso injury blow emerges

Indeed, as per this update, the Spurs attacker’s comeback under manager Jose Mourinho has been delayed – coming as Tottenham also deal with the absence of Harry Kane.

While the Englishman could be back earlier than expected, with the player himself estimating a meagre two-week absence (Tottenham Hotspur official), the same cannot be said for Lo Celso, who is apparently set to be out for longer than anticipated.

The 24-year-old, who Mourinho called ‘amazing’ before his injury absence (Evening Express), especially due to his good run of form rotating in the attacking positions alongside Tanguy Ndombele, now won’t return to the pitch for an extended period of time.

Transfer Tavern take

Lo Celso will apparently miss the rest of February and there is also a ‘fear’ he could be out for even longer than that – with no date currently set on his return or even an estimate in this report.

Given Tottenham’s need for attacking quality, combined with the arguable overreliance on Ndombele, Kane and Son Heung-min, this update comes as a major blow.

Time will tell when he does return, but this update spells bad news for the immediate future of Spurs’ attacking play.

In other news: Sky Sports have dropped an update on this starlet’s future, find out more here.

According to Goal, Celtic are tracking Hibernian starlet Josh Doig ahead of a potential transfer move.

What’s the story?

The 18-year-old has established himself as a key part of Jack Ross’ squad this season, making 16 appearances in the Scottish Premiership alone.

And now, Goal claim that along with Celtic, the likes of Manchester City and Leeds United are also interested in the left-back, and that he would command a fee of around £1m.

The report adds that despite City’s interest, the likes of Celtic and Leeds could prove to be more attractive propositions given they could give him a clearer route into the first-team.

Could be Celtic’s Tierney successor

Ever since Kieran Tierney left Celtic to move south of the border to join Arsenal in the Premier League back in the summer of 2019, the Hoops haven’t quite settled on a player to fill his shoes.

This season, loanee Diego Laxalt has stepped into the mix, whilst Greg Taylor came into the side for the 2-2 draw against Livingston in the Scottish Premiership last weekend.

But in the 18-year-old Doig, Nick Hammond could well land the Hoops a long-term successor to Tierney. He’s already racking up considerable experience by starting for Hibs week-in and week-out – he’s made 15 starts in the league this campaign.

Goal claims that “scouts have noted Doig’s attacking output as a huge part of his game, with his crossing ability and tireless running two of his key attributes”,  something Tierney really made a name for himself with.

However, he did have a difficult day against Celtic earlier in the season.

Coming up against another young full-back in Jeremie Frimpong, Doig struggled to hold his own, so much so that he was hauled off at half-time in Hibs’ 3-0 defeat to the Hoops.

Speaking after the game, Ross admitted: “Look, it was difficult for him today. He was up against a difficult opponent who has been lauded in recent weeks for being one of their stronger players. He competed well in the first-half.

“When you are that quick and can be that quick from a standing start it is tough to play against. It is another learning experience for Josh. I had a good chat with him at half-time and I will do so again in the coming days. He has been brilliant this season for a young man who has just turned 18. He will be fine and will play a big part for us moving forward.”

One bad performance doesn’t make a player, certainly not someone who is just a teenager. Given his age, and the fact he’s been lauded for his crossing shows that he’s got potential, and could develop into Celtic’s heir to Tierney.

Meanwhile, Celtic could clinch a bargain in this League One gem…

Southampton are reportedly taking an interest in former Celtic centre-back Jozo Simunovic, with the Croatian available on a free transfer and if he were to sign, it could be bad news for Mohammed Salisu.

According to Goal, Southampton, VFB Stuttgart and FC Augsburg are all vying for the 26-year-old’s signature after his release from Celtic last summer.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side have struggled from a defensive point of view in recent weeks, conceding 18 goals in their last five Premier League fixtures, including that heavy 9-0 defeat against Manchester United.

Whilst someone such as Simunovic could steady the ship, the Saints have welcomed back both Jannik Vestergaard and Salisu from injury recently, with the Ghanaian still yet to make an appearance for the South Coast club since his arrival from Real Valladolid in the summer of 2020.

It would be a blow for the 21-year-old’s chances if the 6 ft 3 Simunovic were to arrive, as it could potentially make him fifth-choice centre-back under Hasenhuttl – the likes of Jan Bednarek, Vestergaard and Jack Stephens have all been regulars at the heart of the Southampton defence this term.

Simunovic was solid at Celtic and helped them to five league titles in a row, making 126 appearances in that time, but was released last summer, most likely due to the injury issues that kept him out for large periods during his time with the Hoops.

Signing another injury-prone defender is the last thing Hasenhuttl needs when you consider the number of issues he has had to deal with this season, with Salisu having struggled with fitness and injury problems throughout his time with the Saints.

Therefore, Southampton may be best served by avoiding the six foot three Simunovic due to his injury concerns, as well as the fact that it could seriously harm Salisu’s chances of ever establishing himself in the first-team under Hasenhuttl.

And, in other news… Ruthless Ralph: Hasenhuttl must bench Saints “hero” who is bereft of confidence

Leeds United enjoyed an emphatic 3-0 win against Southampton in their last Premier League appearance and will be hoping to carry that momentum into tomorrow. They will face off against Aston Villa at Elland Road, looking to recreate their 3-0 win in the reverse fixture back in October.

The Whites have Diego Llorente back in action after his double injury spell, but Robin Koch remains sidelined through his knee problem. The squad has been battered by injuries throughout their returning Premier League season and it has taken its toll at times. But one positive leading into the Villa class is that Leeds stalwart Mateusz Klich could be available for selection tomorrow evening.

During an Instagram takeover for SoccerBible, the midfielder said that he is doing “everything I can to be fit for Saturday” before going on to say how much he enjoyed the win against the Villans last time round.

Klich was forced off the pitch during the match against Southampton just before the hour-mark. But no one knows their body more than the player himself and the Poland international seems fired up and eager to push for his spot back in the Leeds lineup tomorrow.

The £45,000 per week playmaker has been one of Marcelo Bielsa’s most important assets this season. According to Transfermarkt, he has played in a number of positions down the spine of the midfield, including the No.6 position and further up the pitch, just behind Patrick Bamford. He has accumulated two goals and five assists so far, with one assist actually coming against Aston Villa in the reverse match.

Klich has played in every single league match for Leeds this season, showing how much he helps keep the engine room ticking. Bielsa has only dropped him on one occasion – against Newcastle in January when he started on the bench but came on for Ezgjan Alioski in the second half.

If Klich can maintain his fitness levels and return to the starting lineup against Villa, Leeds will have a huge boost and a good chance of winning both fixtures against their former Championship rivals.

In other news, Leeds must prepare to sign replacement for exit-linked Struijk…

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, ex-Southampton player Carlton Palmer gave his opinion on the style of football his former side are playing.

Under Ralph Hasenhuttl, the Saints have gained a reputation for pressing, something the Austrian has discussed in the past. Earlier in the season, while acknowledging that pressing is part of their game, Hasenhuttl was quick to make it clear that there was more to this Southampton team than just running around.

Since then, the south coast club have been under the microscope for a dreadful run of form, which has included a 9-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United, and Palmer believes this pressing approach to matches is playing a part.

Discussing the subject in an exclusive interview with FFC, Palmer said:

“Maybe they’ve looked at the way that they’re playing the pressing game and whether they can actually play the pressing game for 90 minutes. It’s very difficult to play that pressing game for 90 minutes.

“If you look at the way Man City do it, to be fair, Man City have 90% of the ball, but the way Man City do it, it’s not a full-court press for 90 minutes and it’s more of a pushing people into areas to intercept the ball. It’s a much more educated and structured way of doing it at Man City.”

Heading into their clash against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, Southampton have lost eight of their last nine Premier League fixtures. Whatever the issue is, Hasenhuttl must address it quickly before the south coast club end up getting dragged into a relegation battle.

And with games against teams around them, such as Brighton, Burnley, West Brom and Crystal Palace, there is not a better time than now for the former RB Leipzig manager to get the team going again.

Many Crystal Palace fans are reacting to the latest comments from manager Roy Hodgson in which he discussed his decision to substitute Eberechi Eze at half-time against Tottenham on Sunday night.

The Eagles boss replaced him for talisman Wilfried Zaha, who had just returned from injury, and with the teams level at 1-1 going into half-time, it seemed like a strange decision no matter the quality of thr Ivorian.

As per The Athletic journalist Matt Woosnam on Twitter, Hodgson said: “He wasn’t injured. Someone had to make way for Wilf and we decided Eberechi was the player who would make way on this occasion.”

Many Palace fans obviously would have wanted to see Zaha, but to take off one of their better creative assets in Eze instead of the more defensive attacking players in Jordan Ayew or Andros Townsend has frustrated much of the fan base. Hodgson’s plan clearly backfired as the Eagles lost 4-1, and it might perhaps teach him to not change something which was going to plan.

With West Bromwich Albion coming in their next fixture, many fans will be hoping they get to see both Eze and Zaha start so that they can boost their chances of victory.

Here is how Palace fans reacted to the comments:

“Eze was key in our goal. Had 3 touches, kept the ball under pressure, and made smart passes to keep possession. Then he gets subbed.”

Credit: @mendy_9

“He decided to go for it at the wrong time I think.”

Credit: @ChrissyPalace

“In that case, this was definitely a terrible decision from Roy. Not sure what he was thinking with this one. Id imagine in his mind he’s thinking we can kick on and go on to win with Wilf, but he’s made the wrong change.”

Credit: @palacecarlton

“It looked a strange decision. They obviously had a plan to bring Wilf on regardless of the state of the game. The goal before halftime should have put that plan on hold.”

Credit: @GaryMor86753184

“Can’t wait for this season to be over”

Credit: @LouisWhite_

“I give up”

Credit: @James0911CPFC

In other news, many Palace fans reacted to this transfer update!

Andre Gomes badly let Carlo Ancelotti down as Everton lost 2-0 at Chelsea on Monday night, having produced a passive performance at Stamford Bridge.

The Portuguese maestro retained his role in the Toffees’ engine room for a fourth successive Premier League match, having now failed to start just one of his side’s last eight.

But Ancelotti failed to see that faith repaid with a promising performance in south west London, as Thomas Tuchel’s Blues were easily able to bypass Gomes on route to a comfortable victory.

Chelsea took the lead on the half-hour mark when Kai Havertz’s shot was turned in for an own goal by Ben Godfrey, who could do little about the German’s attempt other than leave goalkeeper Jordan Pickford helpless.

Havertz later won his side a penalty, converted by Jorginho, in the second period after being brought down by Pickford, to seal a 2-0 win and maintain Tuchel’s unbeaten reign as Chelsea boss after eight wins and three draws in all competitions.

Gomes would remain on the field for a further 11 minutes after Jorginho’s strike beat Pickford before Ancelotti would replace the £18m-rated midfielder with Bernard, after he failed to offer much quality on the Stamford Bridge pitch.

The 27-year-old covered a vast area of the ground with his 47 touches taken across the middle third, per SofaScore, but he could not make his presence count despite boasting the Toffees’ only on-target effort of the night.

Gomes tried his luck from 25-yards out in first-half stoppage-time, although his low attempt on goal was easily saved by Edouard Mendy as he achieved his 13th clean sheet in 23 Premier League outings since a £22m move from Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais in September.

The result saw Chelsea stretch their lead over Everton in the race for Champions League qualification to four points, albeit having played a game more. The Goodison Park natives also slipped behind West Ham United, after the Irons beat Leeds later on Monday night.

Despite boasting his side’s only on-target effort with his only shot of the game, Ancelotti will have been disappointed with how poorly Gomes performed his defensive duties at Chelsea having struggled to cope with the man-marking system the Italian tactician initially utilised.

Gomes was a bystander whenever the hosts were in possession and rarely managed to take the ball from a Blues player, with the ex-FC Barcelona midfielder dribbled past six times – Allan (3) was beaten on the ground the second-most times by any player, per WhoScored.

Being dribbled past so frequently further saw that Gomes could only register a 14% tackle success rate, thanks to winning possession once, while also offering one interception but no clearances.

The 29-cap international is not generally a defensive powerhouse but has averaged 1.5 successful tackles a game in the Premier League this season, while being dribbled past just 1.6 times, making 0.4 interceptions and 0.5 clearances.

His struggles on the ground additionally ensured that Gomes lost 11 of his 14 ground duels – Richarlison lost the second-most by an Everton player with success in only five of his 10 contests, per SofaScore. Gomes averages 3.4 challenges won with a 40% success rate.

Altogether, Gomes’ performance meant he earned SofaScore’s worst match rating for a player who featured for either side at 5.9 out of 10 – the sixth time this season that he has scored below a base 6/10.

The Liverpool Echo also graded Gomes at 5/10, the same as Alex Iwobi but noted how the ex-Arsenal winger ‘couldn’t effectively get himself into the game’ while the Portuguese playmaker briefly improved after the break.

Yet Gomes was worse than Iwobi throughout the match and will have left Ancelotti wondering if he should start when Everton host Burnley on Saturday.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti can delight an unsettled Everton ace with a summer swoop for his £13.5m-rated ex-teammate…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Wolves legend Steve Bull, who made 561 appearances for the club, says Adama Traore can be a very frustrating player to watch.

Traore has struggled in the final third this season with the Spain international still yet to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League this season despite appearing to have the beating of most full-backs.

It was reported by The Athletic that Traore has had 24 shots in the Premier League without scoring, the fourth-worst ratio of shots to goal conversion in the league,  which backs up Bull’s comments on Traore being frustrating for Wolves fans to watch.

Speaking on the winger’s shortcomings as well as the undoubted talent he possesses, Bull told FFC exclusively:

“He’s frustrating in my eyes. He spends a lot of time on his backside with his arms in the air claiming a foul.

“The referees know if it’s a foul. So, if it is, they’ll give one. Otherwise, get up and get on with the game.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/exclusive-andreas-sondergaard-wolves-premier-league” title=”Exclusive! Andreas Sondergaard talks all things Wolves”]

“He is a very talented and skilful player, but a frustrating one to watch. However, when he’s got the ball he is something special.”

Traore has been lacking that end product this season, however, the build-up has been second to none. The Spaniard has dribbled past 139 players, the most in the league by a considerable distance with Andre-Frank Anguissa second with 78.

When it comes to dribbling Traore is in a league of his own but to become a great player he needs to add that final bit of quality which can be severely lacking.

Adam Forshaw has been seen back in Leeds United training, acting as a huge boost to both Marcelo Bielsa and the player himself.

The 29-year-old was a key player for the Whites after joining from Middlesbrough back in 2018 and has made 52 appearances overall.

Sadly, a hip injury has hugely curtailed Forshaw’s progress and he hasn’t played since the beginning of last season because of it.

Forshaw has continually suffered setbacks in his recovery, but it may look as though his return is finally in sight.

Forshaw makes welcome injury return

According to MOT Leeds News, Forshaw is now back in Leeds training, with a fan spotting him alongside Gaetano Berardi in an ‘Inside Training’ video released by the club.

While the midfielder’s return to first-team action is still likely to be a way off, there is undoubted reason for positivity at the sight of him being back alongside his colleagues.

Transfer Tavern take

Forshaw has suffered such cruel luck over the past couple of seasons, so it would be heartwarming to see him back on the pitch in the near future.

A stint in the Under-23s is to be expected before there is any talk of him playing in the Premier League, but he may still have a Leeds career to look forward to.

In other news, Leeds have been tipped to sign a current Premier League defender – find out who it is here.

A number of Liverpool fans have been talking up Mateusz Musialowski as a future superstar, following footage from an interview with the youngster emerging on Twitter.

It is always exciting when a talented young player emerges in the Reds’ academy, as supporters dream of them eventually becoming darlings of the Kop.

For most youngsters, though, making the step up to first-team level at a club of Liverpool’s stature is an extremely difficult thing to do.

That being said, Jurgen Klopp has been a keen advocate of youth ever since arriving at Anfield in October 2015, turning the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones into household names.

[freshpress-quiz id=“343638″]

If the Liverpool manager believes a player is good enough to star for his team, their age becomes an irrelevance and he has complete trust in them.

One individual who Klopp may have his eye on is Musialowski, with the 17-year-old one of the hottest properties at the academy right now.

He recently scored an outrageous Lionel Messi-esque goal for Liverpool’s Under-18s and his performances have been receiving rave reviews from fans.

Liverpool fans hail Musialowski

Following a clip shared on Twitter by LFCTV, these Reds fans took to Twitter to talk up the young Pole’s potential.

“I’m genuinely convinced this boy’s gonna be a sensation”

Credit: @Iam_Ram2128

“Baller in the making”

Credit: @LFCTransferRoom

“Looks really promising. Hope he develops well before coming up to the first team”

Credit: @SchwartzHertz

“Boss little player!”Credit: @PeterGrayo13″I want Klopp to bring him to the senior team. He’s very good”Credit: @LfcMonsters”Don’t tend to get caught up in the hype around our youngsters but this lad looks special”Credit: @deano5_3

In other news, some Liverpool fans have been reacting to a shock transfer link – find out who the player in question is here.