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As per The Evening Standard, there has been an update out of West Ham United as they continue their talks to sign Rennes star Nayef Aguerd.

The Lowdown: Moyes after new defender…

Hammers boss David Moyes is seeking to reshape his squad after just missing out on a finish in the Premier League top six last season, subsequently failing in their quest to seal Europa League qualification.

It is believed that West Ham are stepping up transfer talks with four departures having now been confirmed in Andriy Yarmolenko, Ryan Fredericks, David Martin and the retiring Mark Noble.

If the Irons are to maintain their phenomenal rise of the last two seasons, they’ll need to back Moyes, and it is believed they still have a major signing on the agenda in Aguerd.

The Latest: West Ham push for Aguerd deal…

According to The Evening Standard, West Ham are ‘pushing to complete a deal’ for the 26-year-old who has dazzled in Ligue 1 over 2021/2022.

The Morocco international is sought-after by Moyes with other reports suggesting he is a ‘key priority’ for the Scotsman.

The Verdict: Get it done…

A colossal presence for Rennes, Aguerd has received rave reviews with members of the media backing exactly why Moyes wants him at West Ham.

Indeed, Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Athletic was ‘told’ that the African is the ‘best value left-sided centre-back in Europe’ and ‘every club should be after him’.

Meanwhile, Malik Ouzia of The Evening Standard claims Aguerd is ‘highly-rated in France’ – potentially making his mooted €15 million (£13m) fee look like a bargain.

In other news: Journalist: West Ham ‘in talks’ to sign ‘amazing’ forward for Moyes…find out more here.

Journalist Paul Brown has delivered his verdict on the future of out-of-favour Everton striker Moise Kean. 

The lowdown: Flattered to deceive

Signed for £25.1m from Juventus in 2019 (BBC), the Italy international arrived on Merseyside with the world seemingly at his feet having made a successful transition from youth starlet to first-team performer in his homeland.

Following a disappointing debut campaign which yielded just four direct goal involvements in 29 Premier League outings, the young striker was sent out on loan to Paris Saint-Germain, where he appeared to recapture some form with 13 goals in 26 Ligue 1 appearances.

However, after just two more fleeting cameos for the Toffees, the 22-year-old was loaned back to Juventus last September for two years with an obligation to buy, but he now faces an uncertain future…

The latest: Kean’s Everton future in doubt

Speaking to GiveMeSport, journalist Brown dismissed the notion of the 12-cap Italy ace ever returning to Goodison Park.

He explained: “It’s clear he hasn’t got a future at Everton, and I don’t think he wants one either, I think that’s also quite clear.

“The move didn’t work out for him and the man that brought him in, Marcel Brands has gone and it’s a completely different club now.”

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The verdict: Not worth it

Lauded as ‘fearless’ by Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, under whom Kean played at PSG, there is certainly a top-level player waiting to be unleashed in the 22-year-old. However, seemingly unwanted by Juventus, he is now stuttering along in a career which is in danger of stagnating at a very early stage.

During 2021/22 the Italian scored six times and provided three assists in 44 appearances across all competitions, another below-par campaign from a young forward with an abundance of talent.

Couple these on-field struggles when it comes to output with the fallout when replaced by Duncan Ferguson against Manchester United in 2019, and Frank Lampard may be best served to avoid bringing a disenchanted Kean back to Merseyside, even in light of the possibility of losing frontline duo Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

In other news: Frank McAvennie has reacted to this behind-the-scenes Everton development

Leeds United officials Victor Orta and Angus Kinnear have been spotted in New York, just over five miles away from the stadium of a rumoured summer transfer target.

The Lowdown: Valentin Castellanos links

The Whites have made a start on their summer business after guaranteeing another season of Premier League football by signing Brenden Aaronson.

Rasmus Kristensen now appears to be the next potential arrival from FC Salzburg, with Leeds also after a striker.

New York City FC forward Valentin Castellanos could be that forward addition at Elland Road, with journalist Dean Jones recently labelling it as one to watch.

Castellanos, described as a ‘quality player’ and even dubbed the ‘new Didier Drogba’, can also play on the wing and has contributed to 76 goals in 126 games for the MLS side.

The Latest: Orta and Kinnear spotted

Orta and Kinnear were snapped alongside Leeds director Massimo Marinelli at Quality Meats Steakhouse on Central Park – just 5.6 miles away from New York City’s Yankee Stadium.

Marinelli uploaded the image of the three on Tuesday evening on his private Instagram account, which was shared by @LUFCBayArea on Twitter.

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The Verdict: Move possible?

Leeds fans quite often go into investigator mode whenever a player is linked – with the most recent example coming with Aaronson’s flight to England even being tracked across the channel.

We’ve saves supporters the work this time to show that Orta and Kinnear may well have been in New York to see Marinelli and work on a move for Castellanos.

The 23-year-old has enjoyed a fine 2021/22 season, contributing to 16 goals in 17 games, so a transfer could indeed be one to watch closely over the coming days.

In other news: After Kristensen: Radz & 49ers now ready to write Leeds cheque for ‘really exciting’ midfielder. 

Everton avoided relegation from the Premier League by the skin of their teeth following a stunning 3-2 comeback victory over Crystal Palace earlier this month.

Frank Lampard will be aiming for better things next season, if he is still in the job by then, and this may require a few new faces in his squad.

The likelihood is that there will be some outgoings as well, with Brazil forward Richarlison attracting interest from European heavyweights such as Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain.

It would be a blow to lose the 25-year-old, and with two years remaining on the player’s contract, Lampard doesn’t need to make an immediate decision on his future, although there could be an ideal replacement being lined up.

Chelsea forward Armando Broja is firmly in Lampard’s sights, and despite a price tag of £58m being placed on his head by Thomas Tuchel, it could be a wise piece of business to bring him to Goodison Park.

The 43-year-old gave Broja his senior debut whilst Chelsea manager and the Albania international has been in splendid form on loan at Southampton this season, scoring six Premier League goals.

Everton’s next Richarlison

Although a move for the 20-year-old would depend on receiving transfer funds from player sales, Lampard could unearth the new Richarlison with a move for Broja.

Both players are similar in their style of play, although the Everton star is slightly more versatile than the Chelsea forward.

Both men are nearly identical in their pass completion percentage (61.9% for Broja and 61.8% for Richarlison) whilst in terms of shooting, the Brazilian takes more shots per 90 (2.5) than the 20-year-old (2.19).

Richarlison (10) has scored more goals than the on-loan Southampton forward (six), but it seems beyond doubt that the young Albanian would net more frequently if he were in a team with higher-quality players providing him with better service.

The statistics show the two forwards are alike, and if the Brazil international does move on from Everton, then Broja – who has been described as “dangerous” by Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl – would appear to be the perfect replacement.

AND in other news, Everton plotting summer swoop for £17.5m “fabulous finisher”, Lampard will love him

Rangers ended their season in joyous fashion as the Glasgow giants lifted the Scottish Cup with a 2-0 win at Hampden Park on Saturday.

Gio van Bronckhorst’s men dug in deep to overcome the disappointment of their Europa League final defeat to win a trophy, as goals from Ryan Jack and Scott Wright in extra time sealed the win.

The initial 90 minutes were cagey from both teams as they struggled to create any clear-cut chances of note, aside from a Joe Aribo strike which was well-saved by Craig Gordon.

Jack then gave Rangers the lead two minutes into extra-time as he produced a sensational strike from the edge of the penalty box which cannoned into the back of the Hearts net off the crossbar.

Wright, who also came off the bench, then made sure of the result a couple of minutes later as he latched onto a pass from Ryan Kent and buried the ball into the bottom corner of Gordon’s net.

Whilst Jack sparked the Light Blues into life, and ultimately won the cup with his sublime goal in the 94th minute, the real Scottish Cup final hero for the Gers was full-back Calvin Bassey.

Bassey was Rangers’ real hero

After catching the eye with an excellent performance against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final at centre-back, the 22-year-old was moved to left-back against Hearts and was absolutely outstanding from start to finish.

Scotland women’s international Joelle Murray described his display as “phenomenal”, while The Athletic’s Jordan Campbell also heaped praise on the defender during the game.

He tweeted: “Bassey has been outstanding again here, this time at left back. A few brilliant crosses first half and already a couple of runs down the outside since the break. It’s like he now fully appreciates just how much of a physical advantage he has over most opponents.”

As Campbell highlighted, the Nigeria international kept breaking way on the outside of defenders and got joy down the left flank. He produced two magnificent crosses into the box in regular time as he teed up Joe Aribo and Amad Diallo, only for both players to miss with their head. He also had an effort of his own which required a save from Gordon.

Bassey kept the Hearts attackers at bay and added an attacking threat with his own play as he put together a complete performance for Van Bronckhorst, further enhancing his growing reputation at Ibrox.

Therefore, the full-back was the real hero of the day as he put in a sublime display from minute one to 120 as he bombed up and down the left flank non-stop throughout the match.

AND in other news, Ross Wilson plotting Rangers swoop for 16 y/o “teen talent”, GvB will be buzzing…

Wolves will face a Liverpool side with both Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk on the final day of the 2021/22 Premier League season this afternoon after both players were pictured in training earlier this week.

What’s the word?

As reported by the Mirror, images of the two Liverpool stars in training were taken this week and it appears as though both will be available for contention after missing Tuesday’s 2-1 win at Southampton.

The duo weren’t risked by Reds manager Jurgen Klopp for the trip to the South Coast after both being withdrawn with injuries in last weekend’s FA Cup final win over Chelsea.

Van Dijk appeared to have a knee issue and was withdrawn after Salah was replaced at half-time by Diogo Jota.

Wolves fans will be worried

Although there will be little expectations from the Wolves faithful regarding their side coming away from Anfield with a result, the thought of their team having to face both Salah and van Dijk will be a major concern.

Bruno Lage’s side have averaged just one goal per game in the Premier League this season and with the presence of a defender as solid as van Dijk, the visitors won’t fancy their chances of finding the back of the net.

Moreover, in Salah the Black Country outfit face one of the league’s most deadly goalscorers, with the Egyptian still in line to win the Golden Boot ahead of Tottenham’s Heung-Min Son.

The 29-year-old has netted 22 goals in the top-flight this term, just one more than the South Korean who faces relegated Norwich City today.

Therefore, there will be an extra incentive for this season’s FWA Player of the Year to score against Wolves today.

However, the main incentive for Liverpool will be to beat Wolves in order to give themselves a chance of winning the Premier League title.

The Merseyside outfit must win today and hope that Manchester City drop points at home to Aston Villa in order to be crowned Champions of England for the second time in three seasons.

What was already a major task for Wolves will now be a colossal one with the inclusion of van Dijk and Salah, with their return seriously bad news for Lage and co.

AND in other news: Lage must unleash Wolves’ £52k-p/w “mini-Hazard” today, he can spoil Liverpool’s party

When Leeds United splashed £13m on the signing of Junior Firpo last summer, Victor Orta would be forgiven for believing that he had secured the Whites’ first-choice left-back for the foreseeable future.

Indeed, after joining Barcelona in what was a €30m (£25.5m) deal back in 2019 – with the former Spain U21 international being handed a five-year deal that included a €200m (£170m) release clause – the 25-year-old went on to make 41 appearances for the LaLiga side over his two-year spell at the Camp Nou, helping the Catalans lift the Copa Del Rey in 2020/21.

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However, despite these early expectations, the £55k-per-week full-back has endured a torrid debut campaign in English football, suffering a number of injury setbacks and turning in a great many underwhelming performances on the left of Jesse Marsch’s backline.

Indeed, over his 22 Premier League outings this season, the £10.8m-rated defender has offered next to nothing going forwards, scoring no goals, registering two assists and creating three big chances for his teammates, in addition to making an average of 0.9 key passes, taking 0.4 shots and completing 0.3 crosses per game.

The Dominican Republic international has also failed to impress in metrics more typical of his position, helping Leeds keep just one clean sheet, as well as being beaten by an opponent an average of 1.1 times per fixture.

These returns have seen the 25-year-old who Paul Robinson dubbed “inexcusable” average a quite disastrous SofaScore match rating of 6.57, ranking him as the Whites’ seventh-worst performer in the top flight of English football.

As such, while it is true that the £100k-per-week record signing Rodrigo also looks as if he could be moving onto pastures new this summer, it would appear an extremely wise move for Orta to also tell Firpo to pack his bags at the end of the current campaign – something which has been predicted – as the former Barca starlet simply does not look cut out for the English game.

AND in other news: Advanced talks: Fresh update emerges on big summer deal, Leeds supporters surely livid

A major Newcastle United claim has emerged regarding PIF’s plans for the upcoming summer transfer window…

What’s the talk?

The Telegraph reporter Luke Edwards has revealed how many additions the Magpies are hoping to make to their squad ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

PIF showcased their ambition in January as they brought in Matt Targett, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn, Chris Wood and Kieran Trippier, and now they are set to dip into the market again.

Edwards tweeted: “Multiple sources have confirmed the plan for #nufc this summer is to bring in between four and six signings to boost first team strength. Will depend on how much money raised through sales but also looking closely at loan market with at least one likely towards end of window.”

Supporters will be excited

Toon supporters will surely be left feeling excited by this claim from Edwards, as it shows that the club will be looking to improve the squad in several areas this summer.

This was far from the case at this point last year, as Joe Willock ended up being the only senior arrival at St James’ Park in summer 2021 when he joined on a permanent deal from Arsenal. Mike Ashley was prudent with his cash and gave Steve Bruce little in the way of help to build a strong squad.

The noises coming out of the club now suggest that Howe will not find himself in that position with PIF at the helm, as the owners are keen to progress the club in the coming years. Newcastle are on course to comfortably avoid relegation from the top flight and are only one point off the top half of the Premier League table, which may be the aim for next season – 10th and higher.

Fans will surely want to see progression on and off the pitch, and bringing in new talent to improve the team is one way of going about achieving that. They will be excited to see what kind of players Howe wants to bring in and who he wants to axe from the squad, as some duds will need to be offloaded in order to make way for additions.

Supporters will be buzzing to see deadwood players who are deemed to not be good enough cut from the squad in the summer, as it means that they will not have to worry about watching them in action again in the Premier League.

It is now over to PIF to put their plan into action and enjoy a successful summer of ins and outs on Tyneside…

AND in other news, Craig Hope drops worrying worrying £50m NUFC claim, it’s a first major disaster for PIF…

Leeds United goalkeeper Illan Meslier will have offers from several top clubs in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Beren Cross, with the journalist revealing in a recent Q&A on Leeds Live that, should Jesse Marsch’s side suffer relegation to the Championship this season, it would be difficult to imagine the France U21 international not being made several offers from clubs in Ligue 1, LaLiga and the Bundesliga this summer.

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In response to a question regarding the future of the goalkeeper, Cross said: “Meslier would see some value in continuing to be a first-choice goalkeeper, but it’s hard to imagine he would not get offers to play in the top flights of France, Spain or Germany.”

Marsch would be gutted

Considering just how exciting a prospect Meslier quite clearly is, should the 22-year-old indeed move onto pastures new following the Whites’ potential relegation to the second tier this summer, it would undoubtedly come as a gutting blow to Marsch and his side.

Indeed, over his 35 Premier League appearances last season, the £42.5m-rated shot-stopper was in breathtaking form, keeping 11 clean sheets, as well as making an average of 4.0 saves – the second-most in the league – and 0.3 successful runs out per game – with these returns seeing the Frenchman average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.13, ranking him as the Whites’ fourth-best performer in the top flight.

And, despite the Whites’ struggles this term, the £41k-per-week ‘keeper has still performed extremely admirably over his 34 league outings, making an average of 3.7 saves – the joint-most in the division – and 0.6 successful runs out per fixture – with these metrics seeing the 22-year-old average a SofaScore match rating of 6.89, ranking him as Marsch’s fifth-best player in the Premier League.

As such, considering his tender age, undoubted ability and potential for future development, it is clear for all to see that losing the services of Meslier this summer would be a disaster for the Whites – yet another reason as to why Marsch must do everything he can to beat the drop this season.

AND in other news: Sources: Orta eyeing Leeds bid for £19.8m-rated ace, he’s like “Messi inside the area”

Wolves are reportedly interested in signing Bodo/Glimt goalkeeper Nikita Haikin in the summer transfer window, but face competition for his signature.

The Lowdown: Sa excels for Wolves

Wanderers have seen a number of players shine in the Premier League this season, whether it be Max Kilman at the back or Ruben Neves at the heart of the midfield.

Jose Sa has arguably been as good as anyone, however, with the goalkeeper proving to be a model of consistency between the sticks and winning five Man of the Match awards from WhoScored.

It could be that Bruno Lage wants more competition for the Portuguese star, though, with a fresh transfer claim suggesting as much.

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The Latest: Wanderers keen on Haikin move

According to Football Insider, a recruitment source has confirmed that Wolves are in the market for a new ‘keeper and that Haikin is seen as a strong contender to come in.

The 26-year-old made two Champions League qualifying appearances for Bodo/Glimt earlier in the season and could be available for as little as £500,000 due to his contract situation.

Celtic are also thought to be interested in signing the Russian, whose current deal expires in December of this year.

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The Verdict: Good for squad depth

While Sa is unquestionably Wolves’ number one goalkeeper, it is important to have a strong deputy, should he ever miss a stint of action through injury.

There is currently fairly insufficient backup for him between the sticks, with John Ruddy now 35 years of age and his current Wanderers contract running out at the end of this season.

It means Haikin, hailed as ‘fantastic’ by journalist Sander Pipita, could come in as an upgrade on the veteran Englishman, further improving Wolves’ squad depth in the process.

In other news, a Spanish outlet has made a Wolves transfer claim. Read more here.