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Former Manchester United man Keith Gillespie has told Football FanCast that the club are far too reliant on Bruno Fernandes.

The Portugal international has become a key component of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s squad since his arrival from Sporting Lisbon.

Throughout the campaign, Fernandes has scored 23 goals and registered 13 assists in 45 games.

Sixteen of those goals, and 10 of the assists, have come in the Premier League, with United attempting to qualify for the Champions League between now and the end of the season.

Only Marcus Rashford has hit double figures in terms of goals along with Fernandes, hitting 18 in all competitions.

Anthony Martial, Scott McTominay, and Edinson Cavani all have seven goals and Gillespie has urged United to splash the cash in a bid to relieve the burden on the Portuguese.

He has told the club to spend on a striker who can hit the back of the net regularly, or risk consistently relying on Fernandes again next season.

Speaking to FFC, he said: “They do need to go out and spend, and spend big on somebody who is going to get them a lot of goals each season.

“For me, they just rely on Fernandes too much, and there is a bit of a lull with his performances but he is the one that, effectively, you look to every game. When they need something to happen, he is the one who is going to provide it.”

United are currently second in the Premier League table but they are eight points clear of fourth-placed West Ham United; they are also 14 points behind leaders Manchester City.

Steven Gerrard was handed a huge boost at Rangers over the weekend as Steven Davis agreed a one-year extension to his contract to ensure that he will remain at Ibrox next season.

The former Southampton man has been a hugely important player for Rangers this season as they earned their 55th league title, so it is a big boost that the 36-year-old will be available for Gerrard for the next campaign.

Davis has made 30 appearances in the top-flight, in which he has averaged an impressive 6.99 rating, which emphasises that he remains a vital part of the Rangers midfield despite his age.

After signing the new deal, Gerrard was full of praise for the Northern Ireland international, saying:

“Steven embodies professionalism and continues to set the standards required to be a Rangers player. He has been instrumental this year, playing a key role in our league success.

“He is a role model to his teammates and continues to strive to be a better version of himself. I am very pleased to have a player with Premier League and international experience on board as we look towards next season.”

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/latest-rangers-transfer-rumours-and-news” title=”Read this week’s latest Rangers news, transfer rumours and more!”]

The £900k-rated midfielder’s experience could be vital next year as the Gers make their return to the Champions League, whilst they will also obviously be looking to retain the title they have so impressively won this season.

Earlier in the campaign, Gerrard dubbed Davis a “wonderful footballer”, so he clearly holds him in high regard and will be delighted that he opted to extend his stay with Rangers further, considering his deal was set to expire this summer, before the extension.

Davis has been an integral member of Gerrard’s squad since returning for his second spell, originally on loan in 2019, and has now made 302 appearances for the club, in which he has impressively contributed 23 goals and 67 assists.

[freshpress-quiz id=“588789″]

The 36-year-old is undoubtedly a leader on and off the pitch for Rangers, so it is a huge boost that they have managed to secure his services for what promises to be an exciting 2021/22 campaign.

And, in other news… Rangers could sign their ideal Defoe heir in £6.3m-rated beast

In a recent interview, Kevin Phillips stated his belief that on-loan Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Oliver Skipp should leave Spurs once again this summer.

So far this season, Skipp has highly impressed across his 33 Championship appearances on loan at table-toppers Norwich City, with the 20-year-old averaging of one interception, two tackles, 0.9 clearances and 48.7 accurate passes per match, culminating in an average SofaScore match rating of 7.02 – ranking him as Daniel Farke’s 10th-best performer in the second tier.

However, despite the recent revelation that Jose Mourinho would not be allowing the £24,000 per week midfielder to leave the club once again this summer, Phillips told Football Insider that a move back to Carrow Road would hugely benefit both Skipp and Tottenham.

He said: “I would send him back to Norwich next season. Is he going to get into that Tottenham side? You have got players like Harry Winks not playing regular football. Mourinho has lots to choose from in that area.

“If I was Skipp I would not be thinking about Tottenham next season. I would make sure Norwich gain promotion and then push to rejoin them on loan again next season. He will be playing week in, week out at Norwich. At Tottenham, even the experienced players get rotated.

“I am not saying he is not good enough, far from it, but I think for his development another season at Norwich would be best. He should learn his trade while playing week in, week out.”

Transfer Tavern Take

Indeed, as Phillips points out, Mourinho does has a number of options to choose from in the middle of the park, with the likes of Harry Winks, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Moussa Sissoko and Dele Alli all being candidates for the central midfield position – which could lead to Skipp’s playing time at Spurs being limited.

Also, should Norwich go on to secure promotion to the top flight this season, allowing the 20-year-old to return to the Canaries this summer would, in theory, allow the midfielder to continue developing in familiar surroundings, while also playing at Premier League level.

As such, it would appear as if the logic behind Phillips’ suggestion is sound. However, whether Mourinho holds the same point of view is another question altogether.

In other news: Tottenham have been sent a warning over Harry Kane – find out more here!

Steven Gerrard has teased a transfer drive as Glasgow Rangers target more success in the future – namely playing in the Champions League.

Gerrard teases transfers

Last Sunday, Glasgow Rangers’ status as Premiership champions was confirmed as Celtic could only draw 0-0 with Dundee United. Finishing top of the league means they have a chance of reaching the Champions League group stages, and they may even qualify automatically depending on their European results for the rest of the campaign.

Speaking following Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Slavia Prague in the Europa League, Gerrard revealed the Ibrox outfit will aim to recruit ahead of the new term. He said (via The Daily Record):

“Let’s hope so. It’s obviously been the dream since day one and I’d love nothing better than to try and deliver that for the supporters.

“What’s important is there will be private conversations. Recruitment never stops here, we all understand that football is all about levels and to keep progressing and moving forward you have to keep fine tuning and adding.

“Everyone’s on the same page, top to bottom. Everyone is sharing the dream, everyone wants to continue to add to the success.

“Everyone is hungry to keep improving things here, that is the message that everyone needs to hear.”

Needed

The Gers have been in fantastic form so far this campaign. They have lost just one game in all competitions (Sky Sports) – in the League Cup against St. Mirren – and have been by far the best side north of the border. However, the Champions League is a whole different kettle of fish.

If the Gers want to be successful in that competition, they must bring in new faces during the summer. The rise in quality will be sharp, and therefore improvements must be made. Gerrard and Ross Wilson have a busy summer ahead of them.

In other news, Rangers fans react to this Sky Sports news.

Spurs return to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon as they face a tough trip to the Etihad to face league leaders Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s side have now won 15 games in a row in all competitions and are comfortable at the top of the Premier League, so Spurs will have to be at their best if they want to avoid defeat against the Citizens.

Jose Mourinho’s side triumphed in the reverse fixture at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, winning 2-0 despite the visitors dominating the game, which will give them confidence ahead of Saturday’s late kick-off.

However, the 5-4 defeat against Everton in midweek suggests that changes are likely, as the Portuguese manager is unlikely to have been happy with his side’s defensive efforts at Goodison Park.

Here’s how Football FanCast expects Mourinho to line his side up at the Etihad, with three changes from the side that started against Everton…

Hugo Lloris keeps his place in between the sticks, despite struggling in midweek against Everton.

There are two changes to the defence, as Serge Aurier looks to be in contention to return at right-back after missing the game against the Toffees through injury, and he replaces Matt Doherty.

Eric Dier replaces Toby Alderweireld at the heart of the defence, in the hope that he can tighten things up alongside Davinson Sanchez, who deserves to keep his place after scoring a brace against Everton.

Mourinho should not be afraid to attack at City and should therefore go with a double pivot of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Tanguy Ndombele, with Lucas Moura playing ahead of them as a central attacking midfielder, a role he excelled in against West Brom recently.

In the final change, Erik Lamela drops to the bench, with Harry Kane starting up front, and the Englishman is supported by Heung-Min Son and Steven Bergwijn on the wings.

And, in other news… Spurs striker’s future in doubt after WBA omission; Jose has had enough

Crystal Palace have reportedly opened talks over a Bosman move for exciting young defender Radu Dragusin.

What’s the word?

According to The Evening Standard, Dragusin could yet be persuaded to leave Juventus with his representatives holding initial talks with Roy Hodgson’s side over a summer move.

The Romanian centre-back, 19, is out of contract at the end of this campaign, having made four appearances across all competitions this season thus far, per Transfermarkt.

Dragusin, who made his debut in Juventus’ 3-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League last year, has caught the eye in recent weeks, with Premier League rivals Newcastle and Tottenham also said to be interested in his services.

Planning for the future?

The highly-rated teenager certainly looks like a big prospect for the future, and he could be an exciting addition for Palace, with The Evening Standard claiming they’ve already started discussions about bringing him to Selhurst Park.

Despite his age, Dragusin cuts a tall and imposing figure, and has cited Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk as a source of inspiration.

With interest in the Romania U19 international starting to heat up, it seems like Palace are starting to plan for the future, amid rampant speculation over Hodgson’s future.

It’s no secret that the Eagles have the oldest squad in the Premier League, with every single centre-back currently above the age of 30.

Whilst admittedly very little is known about the Romanian, his manager Andrea Pirlo has made no secret of his admiration of the young defender, saying:

“He’s physically very strong. He’s very young and must develop on a technical level, but he will have time to do it, training every day with great champions.”

This sort of physical strength would be most welcome in south London and to be able to nab a prospect with so much potential could be a shrewd bit of business by Steve Parish if he can beat other Premier League clubs to this up-and-coming talent.

Given his age, Dragusin could be Palace’s starting centre-back for years to come if Parish can bring him to Selhurst Park and he is able to hit the ground running.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace suffer significant injury setback with Roy Hodgson unsure when Wilfried Zaha will return…

Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that Everton will be without midfielder Allan against Fulham on Sunday due to the Brazilian’s hamstring injury.

The Italian had hoped to see his £21m summer signing from Serie A side SSC Napoli be passed fit to face the Cottagers, after returning to training earlier in the month.

Allan has not featured for the Toffees since limping off the field away to Leicester City in December, but was expected to be declared available for Everton’s 5-4 FA Cup win over Tottenham Hotspur in midweek.

Allan has now missed more than two months of action, while Sunday’s Goodison Park encounter with Scott Parker’s Fulham will mark the 13th fixture across all competitions that he has played no role in.

The 30-year-old is not the only player unavailable for the Cottagers’ visit to Merseyside, with Ancelotti also ruling Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Jordan Pickford out.

“Both will not be available for the game on Sunday. We are looking for the next game on Wednesday where we think both of them will be available,” the Italian noted on Friday.

“We have back Andre Gomes, James [Rodriguez], Josh King, and in the next week we think Allan will be back, so the squad is ready for the next games.

“James is fine. He trained yesterday and today and is available for the game on Sunday. No problem.”

Allan had started all 13 of his appearances before sustaining a hamstring injury in the first half at the King Power Stadium on December 16, only sitting out two fixtures – once through a groin strain and once after being rested.

Tom Davies stood in for Allan against Tottenham in the FA Cup on Wednesday night and left Ancelotti impressed with his efforts.

“He’s doing really well, improved a lot,” the former Chelsea boss said, via quotes by the Liverpool Echo. “He’s a powerful midfielder, dynamic. He’s improved in managing the ball and possession. Tactically, he’s doing well.”

Davies was the driving force behind Everton’s performance in midweek as he constantly shouted for the ball, and never hid from a battle whenever Spurs were in possession.

It meant no Toffees player registered more touches than Davies (98), while only Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (135) and Davinson Sanchez (104) saw more of the ball for the visitors, per WhoScored.

Hojbjerg (8) and Ben Davies (6) were also the only players who featured for either side to attempt a greater number of tackles than Davies (4), who further offered the second-most interceptions (2) while completing (67) and attempting (74) the most passes among all of Ancelotti’s 14 men who featured.

The 22-year-old should now get another shot at impressing the Everton boss against Fulham with Allan still on the sidelines, potentially in a similar role of that he occupied in last week’s 3-3 draw at Manchester United with Gomes available to join the engine room again.

AND in other news, Everton are monitoring an “exciting” teen prospect Carlo Ancelotti could sign for free…

Many Aston Villa fans are reacting to a tweet which reports on what goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez did following the 3-1 loss to West Ham on Wednesday.

Jesse Lingard scored a brace on his Hammers debut during the match. Both of his goals however were ones which Martinez will probably feel he should have saved, as he managed to get his hands on the ball both times

According to @greggevans and tweeted out by @villareport, the Argentinian goalkeeper called on a few of the forwards for additional time on the training pitch this week. This was due to the fact that he wasn’t happy with his performance in the defeat to West Ham. One fan called him a ‘great professional’ after hearing the news.

Martinez has probably won a lot of points for Villa this campaign, but he was right to not be happy with his performance in that particular match. Clearly, the extra training worked wonders as he put in a solid performance in the 1-0 victory against Arsenal on Saturday.

Here is what fans said following the news:

“Fair enough too. He was sloppy for at least two of them, but that’s a great attitude.”

Credit: @CrippyCooke

“The exact mentality I expect from him. Hungry to better himself every game. You love to see it”

Credit: @TyBracey

“Elite mentality”

Credit: @catrinedwards18

“Didn’t think I could love this guy anymore.”

Credit: @lukewoodyy

“Not surprised at this. A great professional.”

Credit: @B31Villa

“Monster attitude. Monster performance.”

Credit: @jpearce88

In other news: Aston Villa fans flocked to this update by Gregg Evans, find out more here!

Fulham fell to a 1-0 defeat against Chelsea at Craven Cottage on Saturday afternoon, with Ivan Cavaleiro, in particular, disappointing with his performance for Scott Parker’s side.

Whilst Antonee Robinson’s red card was the turning point, as he received his marching orders after a poor tackle on Cesar Azpilicueta, it was perhaps the performance of Cavaleiro that will disappoint Parker the most.

The Portuguese winger was excellent in Fulham’s draw against Spurs in midweek, earning a 7.7 rating from SofaScore after his equalising goal, which was the best of any Cottagers player.

Unfortunately, consistency has been an issue for the former Wolves man throughout his time with Fulham, and Saturday’s performance against Chelsea emphasised this, as he earned a 7.0 rating, with only Ademola Lookman, Bobby Decordova-Reid and Robinson rated lower of the Fulham players who started the game.

Chelsea’s centre-backs Thiago Silva and Antonio Rudiger would earn 8.0 and 7.8 ratings respectively and both won the vast majority of their duels, suggesting that Cavaleiro didn’t cause them nearly enough problems.

As per SofaScore, Cavaleiro would have just 41 touches of the ball against Frank Lampard’s side, completing just 17/22 of his passes, which was only four more passes than goalkeeper Alphonse Areola would complete during the game.

The 27-year-old, who earns £60k per week at Fulham, would attempt two crosses during the game and none of them were accurate, suggesting that he was wasteful when presented with the opportunity to create on Saturday.

With Aleksandar Mitrovic out of form, Fulham are reliant on Cavaleiro to hold the ball up front, but he struggled to win duels against Chelsea. He would win just three out of seven ground duels, and one out of six aerial duels, resulting in an overall success rate of just 31%.

This demonstrates that he struggled a lot more than he did on Wednesday night against Spurs for example, where he would win four out of six total duels.

Despite grabbing a goal in midweek, the forward did not look confident in front of goal, and missed a glorious chance to give Fulham the lead in the first half following a flowing move, with Kenny Tete visibly frustrated that his teammate was unable to hit the target after he found him in space in the area.

Therefore, despite Robinson’s red card, Parker will surely be frustrated that Cavaleiro was unable to have any real impact on the game.

And, in other news… Khan must swoop for EFL youngster likened to Gareth Bale

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former Newcastle United footballer Steve Howey has been discussing the lack of centre-back options at Liverpool.

The Reds are currently without Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez due to long-term injuries, with Fabinho having filled in at centre-back for much of the season.

Whilst Joel Matip made his return from injury in the defeat against Burnley on earlier this week, the Cameroonian international has been terribly injury-prone throughout his time in the Premier League, so it would be something of a surprise if he was to stay fit for the rest of the season.

When asked about potential options for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the January transfer window, Howey suggested Brighton centre-back Lewis Dunk as someone who could help to fill a gap at the Merseyside club.

“Jurgen Klopp says he’s not 100% sure whether he’s going to go in [to the transfer window]. I’ve always liked the lad Dunk at Brighton. I think he’s decent, he’s got good distribution, he’s a big lad. He’s a unit.

“I’ve always liked the two centre-halves at Brighton to be quite honest.”

Dunk has been with Brighton throughout their time in League One and the Championship and has established himself as a solid centre-back with the Seagulls in the top-flight.

In total, the 29-year-old has made 324 appearances for Brighton, in which he has contributed 21 goals and 14 assists.

In that time, he has seen his value soar, and he is now valued at £24.3 million by Transfermarkt, suggesting that any move to Liverpool would presumably not come cheap, especially as he is contracted until 2025.

He is also captain of Graham Potter’s side, and they would therefore not be keen to let him go mid-season, especially when they are in a relegation battle.

Therefore, whilst the six foot four Dunk might have been a good short-term option for Liverpool this season, evidenced by his solid performances in the top-flight in recent seasons, he would not be a cheap solution for Klopp in the January window, so it would arguably be a surprise if Liverpool did bid for the Englishman.

And, in other news… Forget Origi: £99m-rated LFC star who lost possession 39x badly betrayed Klopp