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A journalist has shared some promising insight on arbitration from the Newcastle United takeover consortium.

The Lowdown: Newcastle know arbitration date

A date has now been set for the pending arbitration hearing between the North East club and the Premier League over the failed deal between Mike Ashley and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) consortium.

The case has been set for July on an expedited basis, with the EPL being granted an extension to respond to the St. James’ Park faithful’s separate anti-competition lawsuit that has been launched against them.

The Latest: Journalist shares consortium insight

Writing in his latest piece for The Independent, Tony Evans has shared that the KSA’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) remain keen on investing in the Tyneside club, and that those around the consortium have insisted that the deal will eventually be completed.

They are confident that the arbitration process will result in the potential takeover being given the green light.

The Verdict: Confidence is promising

The confidence that the proposed bid will eventually go through is certainly promising for members of the Toon Army, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done first of all.

There is an uncertainty over how long the arbitration hearing will take, and whether the separate anti-competition case will follow straight after or whether a decision on the takeover would be taken without that in consideration.

Steve Bruce’s team will be going into the summer transfer window not really knowing what calibre of player to buy, as there is a chance that the takeover could be revived after it ends.

Nonetheless, it will no doubt be interesting to see whether the confidence of the consortium translates into the results of the arbitration case.

In other news, find out whose display was slammed versus Sheffield United here!

Many Everton fans have been left to plead for the Goodison Park faithful to sign Zeki Celik after a transfer update emerged.

As per L’Equipe (via The Toffee Blues), the Merseyside club as well as Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a move to sign the Lille right-back once the summer transfer window opens, with the player keen himself on a move to the Premier League.

Celik played a key part in his team snatching the 2020/21 Ligue 1 title off of the hands of PSG, scoring three goals and making a further three assists in 29 games in total (Transfermarkt).

At just 24 years of age, the Turkey international would be an ideal replacement in the longer term for 32-year-old Seamus Coleman, and so it is no surprise to see so many Toffees calling for his signature.

Everton fans on Celik transfer update

These Blues supporters buzzed as the transfer update was shared on Twitter:

“Yes please. Although not seen him play that much, heard good things about him”

Credit: @cazzawarrington

“This would be an outstanding transfer, likely great value for money and a really top player (at least by the numbers)”

Credit: @AndrewHelberg

“Please”

Credit: @Michael89770191

“Very solid RB who I’ve said previously I would look to get. With Lille’s financial mess I can imagine Celik will be very cheap for an established RB”

Credit: @taylor_davies77

“God please get this done before the Euros start”

Credit: @MadaElyod

“Get it DONE, very good player”
Credit: @efc_alex18

In other news, find out what transfer update has left EFC fans buzzing here!

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Aston Villa goalkeeper Tom Heaton, according to the Daily Mail.

The Lowdown: Heaton closing in on Man United

Recent reports from Football Insider have claimed that the 35-year-old has rejected a new Villa Park deal and has verbally agreed on a move to Manchester United.

Heaton will be available to leave for nothing over the coming weeks when his contract expires, and he looks set to return to Old Trafford, where he will take up a partial coaching role as well as providing cover to Dean Henderson and David de Gea.

The Latest: Goalkeeper offered to Liverpool

Despite Heaton reportedly closing in on a move to Manchester, it seems as if Liverpool were also offered the shot-stopper’s services. According to the Daily Mail, the Reds are assessing their goalkeeping options ahead of a possible backup addition.

Heaton has reportedly been offered to Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp’s side preferring a free transfer for any potential arrival in between the sticks.

The news comes as a surprise, with the likes of Alisson, Adrian, Caoimhin Kelleher and Loris Karius all under contract at Anfield at this moment in time.

The Verdict: What will Smith do?

With Heaton looking likely to leave Villa Park, it’ll be interesting to see what Dean Smith decides to do in terms of recruiting a new goalkeeper.

He will have Emiliano Martinez and Jed Steer as senior options, but as Smith knows all too well, one long-term injury – similar to Heaton’s last year – could spell trouble.

Bringing in an experienced ‘keeper for nothing ahead of the 2021/22 season might be the best idea, with the likes of Wayne Hennessey and John Ruddy just two names who are out of contract this summer.

In other news: Villa interested in £15m-rated defedner along with Tottenham, find out who it is here. 

According to Football Insider, Glasgow Rangers are interested in signing Danilho Doekhi from Dutch outfit Vitesse Arnhem.

Gers eye Doekhi

With the Premiership title already wrapped up, Ross Wilson can afford to cast his eyes towards the future as he looks to prepare the Gers for a potential Champions League run.

As such, they are said to be eager to sign Doekhi. Football Insider claimed that he is available for about £1.5m this summer, while Filip Helander’s future at Ibrox remains uncertain.

Potential

A quick look at Doekhi’s form so far this season would suggest that he could be a good signing for Steven Gerrard. He has appeared 27 times in the Eredivisie (Transfermarkt) as part of the second-best defence in the league behind Ajax (Sky Sports), and he has shown his consistency by averaging two tackles and 3.1 clearances per match (WhoScored).

Helander has been linked with a move away from the Gers in recent weeks, with the 55-time Scottish champions said to be looking for a fee of £6m as Leicester City and Aston Villa circle (Aftonbladet). The Sweden international is 28, while Doekhi has plenty more years ahead of him at just 22.

Letting Helander leave and replacing him with the Dutchman could prove to be a fantastic piece of business from Wilson and the Ibrox hierarchy.

In other news, many Rangers fans loved this video.

When Everton raided Swindon Town for their academy graduate Lukas Jutkiewicz in 2007, few may have forseen how poorly things would turn out for the striker at Goodison Park under David Moyes.

But after a nomadic career having failed to make the grade on Merseyside, the Polish forward found a home for himself at Birmingham City in 2017 on the back of an initial loan spell.

Life at St. Andrew’s has been good for Jutkiewicz in most, and on Sunday he reached a landmark by making the 500th senior appearance of his career in a 1-0 win over Rotherham United that moved Lee Bowyer’s side nine points clear of the relegation zone.

It was 15-years ago this month that Jutkiewicz made his senior debut for Swindon in a 2-1 defeat to Swansea City, just two weeks after his 17th birthday, but his efforts as the season petered out failed to prevent the Robins from being relegated to the fourth-tier.

Yet it was in League Two that Jutkiewicz caught the eye of Everton and Moyes, who agreed to hand the then 18-year-old a lucrative contract as part of a £1m move, after an impressive campaign with five goals and two assists in 33 appearances despite only starting 13 times.

Action was much harder to secure at Goodison Park, even with Moyes claiming in 2008 that the Southampton-born centre-forward “is certainly in our thoughts” after showing progress behind the scenes, with the only appearance of his Toffees career lasting just four minutes.

Jutkiewicz featured on the bench in dribs and drabs between his arrival in 2007, loan spells with Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town and Motherwell before eventually leaving in 2010 when sold to Coventry City. But his only outing for Everton came as a late substitute when replacing Tim Cahill in a 3-0 win at home to Sunderland in December 2008.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-everton-news%2c-views-and-gossip” title=”Latest Everton news, views and gossip!”]

His time with Coventry failed to make Everton regret his departure with Jutkiewicz only scoring 18 goals in 69 games across all competitions before joining Middlesbrough, where he would again attract Premier League interest – this time from Burnley.

The Clarets spent £2.5m on Jutkiewicz in 2014 but would fail to see the forward find the back of the net in any of his 35 appearances, but did offer three assists – including one in a 3-1 defeat to Everton to equalise after Samuel Eto’o had opened the scoring.

That was the closest Jutkiewicz has ever come to making the Blues regret his exit, having gone on to round out the first 500 games of his senior career by establishing himself as a solid if not remarkable Championship centre-forward with Birmingham.

In 213 games across all competitions for the second city side, the now 32-year-old has hit 51 goals and offered 23 assists, with personal-best league returns of 14 goals in the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaigns.

Jutkiewicz currently has five goals in 39 games this term as the £10,000-per-week frontman enters the twilight years of his career as a two-time Premier League flop, having failed to fulfil the promise that first caught Everton and Moyes’ attention more than a decade ago.

AND in other news, Carlo Ancelotti faces a selection dilemma after a £16m-rated Everton star’s error-strewn weekend horrors…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who made 280 Premier League appearances, claims Joao Mario didn’t impress him at West Ham during the 2017/18 season so doesn’t want the Hammers to make a move for him this summer.

It has been reported that West Ham may look to bring the Portugal international back to the London Stadium with his contract set to expire at Inter Milan, where he hasn’t played since 2018/19, next summer.

Mario spent six months on loan with the Hammers during David Moyes’ first West Ham spell, but they opted against making the move permanent with his market value at that time being around £23.4million. The midfielder made 14 appearances in claret and blue, scoring twice, but still failed to convince the club that he was worth the money.

Speaking on how he can’t even remember Joao Mario playing for West Ham and why owners get blinded by foreign players and the clubs they play for, Lee told FFC:

“I don’t remember him impressing me that much and if he did impress people, why didn’t they sign him at the time? I don’t remember him really and I can’t remember many West Ham fans talking highly about him. 

“I think when people name all these foreign players owners seem to get carried away with their names and what club they’re playing for, but none of that means anything if you aren’t a good player.”

Since Mario left West Ham, he has experienced loan spells at both Spartak Moscow and Sporting Lisbon with one season at Inter Milan coming before those.

David Moyes will be looking to build around his team this summer and after working with the midfielder during his first stint as Hammers manager, it could be someone Moyes wants to bring back.

The upcoming transfer window could be the perfect time for Crystal Palace to wave goodbye to a costly arrival.

According to Correire dello Sport, centre-back Mamadou Sakho is on a list of potential summer targets for Serie A giants Lazio alongside the likes of Arsenal’s David Luiz and Chelsea’s Thiago Silva.

Out of contract at the end of the season after four years as a permanent Eagles player, Palace should certainly not fight too hard to keep the Frenchman at Selhurst Park.

Having arrived from Liverpool, initially on-loan, Sakho has endured a rollercoaster period with the club.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-crystal-palace-news%2c-transfer-rumours-and-more-townsend-bayindir-butland-van-aanholt-parish” title=”Latest Crystal Palace news, transfer rumours and more…”]

He has, at points, been an excellent option at the back for Roy Hodgson, specifically during the 2018/19 season where he played 27 times in the Premier League alone as the club finished 12th in the standings.

However, he has also endured frustrating injury problems, having missed a total of 67 matches through injury, whilst he has only appeared on six occasions throughout the current campaign.

For context, the defender has only actually appeared on 75 occasions for the club in his four years at the club since arriving for what was a reported fee of £26m from Liverpool.

As a result, Sakho has now fallen considerable down the pecking order, finding himself behind the likes of Gary Cahill, Cheikhou Kouyate, Scott Dann and James Tomkins for a starting berth at centre-back.

Considering that lack of action then, the £6.3m-rated French international has certainly not justified his £100k per-week wages at Selhurst Park.

With Lazio then now swooping for his signature, Palace now have the perfect opportunity to let him go as opposed to extending his contract.

It really now could be time then, for the Eagles to wave goodbye to Sakho in the upcoming transfer window.

AND in more news, Palace have been handed a huge boost in their pursuit of Aaron Ramsey…

Liverpool are closing in on a move for RB Leipzig centre-back Ibrahima Konate, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein.

Jurgen Klopp is likely to be eyeing up a new defender this summer, having experienced all sort of problems in that area throughout the season.

Liverpool are without injured trio Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip for the remainder of the season, with Nathaniel Phillips forced to become a regular and Ozan Kabak joining on loan from Schalke.

Konate is a player with whom the Reds have been linked numerous times in the past and it now looks as though he will be heading to Anfield in the summer.

Liverpool look set to sign Konate

According to Ornstein, significant progress has been made with regards to a deal for the 21-year-old , with talks now at an advanced stage.

Konate has been limited to just four Bundesliga starts this season, due to injuries of his own, but he is considered a player of big potential. His former coach Ralf Rangnick has said of the Frenchman: “He’s so good that he could play for Real Madrid or Barcelona one day.”

Transfer Tavern take

It is apparent that Klopp sees the importance of bringing in a centre-back this summer, with Matip particularly unreliable when it comes to staying fit consistently.

Konate is a player who could not only come in and do a job straight away, boasting ample Bundesliga and Champions League experience, but could also represent the long-term future at Anfield.

In other news, one Liverpool star has been tipped to stay put this summer – find out who it is here.

Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting to the news that the lawyer of Glen Kamara believes the police now have sufficient evidence to charge Ondrej Kudela of “racially aggravated conduct”.

Aamer Anwar is representing Kamara after the Finland international accused Kudela of racist abuse during the Gers’ Europa League round of 16 clash with Slavia Prague. The Czech champions have moved to deny the allegations, even suggesting Kudela was the man actually on the end of physical abuse (slavia.cz).

Now, though, Anwar believes the authorities have amassed enough evidence to charge the 34-year-old, and has revealed that, if found guilty, he could face a prison sentence of up to six months (The Herald). It now remains to be seen what the verdict is if and when the case goes to court.

Anwar’s comments were shared on Twitter by Clyde 1 Superscoreboard, and the tweet attracted plenty of attention from the Gers supporters. The fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say about the Kudela update below

“Aye but has Michael Stewart heard all the evidence yet?”

Credit: @URangersmedia

“This is THE opportunity to do something about racism in the game. If nothing happens this time then forget about holding big red cards up for show.”

Credit: @crmpicco

“Excellent news”

Credit: @ScottMcKean7

“No place in sports for this kind of people who abuse others Stamp it out.”

Credit: @Billy23119468

“Excellent. No doubt SK Statement Prague will be preparing a statement claiming this is all doctored evidence as we speak”

Credit: @jstodd25

“Excellent news x”

Credit: @NicolaB302

In other news, Rangers are said to be interested in this 27-goal striker.

Roy Keane is reportedly open to becoming Neil Lennon’s successor as permanent Celtic manager.

That’s according to The Scottish Sun, who claimed that the 49-year-old – who reportedly rejected the job to replace Lennon back in 2014 – would now consider a move to Parkhead.

Keane’s managerial absence

Well-known for his punditry roles in recent years, Keane last managed back in 2010/11 with Ipswich Town.

Since then, the Irishman – who finished his playing career with Celtic – has been an assistant at Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and for his native Republic of Ireland.

However, it seems as if he’s keen to return to the dugout, and his love for Celtic has seen him become keen on the vacant Parkhead position, according to The Scottish Sun.

Transfer Tavern take

Keane was left unimpressed with Peter Lawwell seven years ago as to how negotiations materialised, but he won’t have to worry about the chief executive this time around due to the latter’s impending retirement.

To us, a move for Keane would be a huge gamble. He has taken charge of just 181 games as a manager, with those coming between 2008 and 2011. Also, some players under his watch have gone public about the 49-year-old’s abrasive demeanour in previous coaching roles.

His long absence away from the hot seat could therefore prove to be a risky move by the Hoops board, but it seems as if the former midfielder is keen to head back to Glasgow.

In other news: Celtic impressed by Director of Football target following talks, find out more here.