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Tottenham Hotspur are eyeing up a move for Sevilla colossus Diego Carlos this summer, according to Spanish newspaper La Razon.

It’s claimed that Jose Mourinho has pushed the Spurs hierarchy to make a move for the 6 foot 1 Brazilian ahead of the transfer window, though he’s thought to have a whopping €75m (£64m) release clause.

However, Davinson Sanchez could be made available to send in the other direction to sweeten negotiations.

The search for a new centre-back shouldn’t come as a surprise after the ever-reliable Alasdair Gold at football.london revealed that the arrival of a new defensive leader was Spurs’ top priority going into next season.

Many names have surfaced since then, including former target Milan Skriniar, Fulham loan sensation Joachim Andersen, and Brighton veteran Lewis Dunk.

Carlos is a rather intriguing option, not at least because of his ties to current Spurs star Sergio Reguilon, who joined from Real Madrid in the summer.

The 24-year-old left wing-back has excelled in the English capital as one of Mourinho’s star performers, with three assists (only better by two players) and an average rating of 6.89, as per WhoScored.

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But this form is a mere continuation from his sparkling exploits on loan to Sevilla last season, where he thrived alongside Carlos at the back. Indeed, the duo formed a formidable partnership.

In 35 appearances together, the La Liga outfit lost only four games, with a win rate of 65.7%. The pair played five times on their way to clinching the Europa League trophy, including in the final, where they defeated Inter Milan 3-2, as per Transfermarkt.

Carlos contributed towards 21 clean sheets throughout the campaign too, keeping the likes of Edin Dzeko, Raul Jimenez, and Barcelona’s frontline of Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi silent.

It’s no wonder he has been nicknamed the “beast,” and this has been reverberated by Spanish football expert Domagoj Kostanjsak, who told the Liverpool ECHO’s podcast that the £45m-rated defender is “built like a tank” and that he’s “not called ‘the beast’ for nothing.”

Carlos and Reguilon evidently struck up a lethal partnership at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, and that’s something that Daniel Levy must recreate at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mourinho has been dealing with individual errors and defensive mistakes all season despite having the third-tightest backline in the Premier League, so pairing two players that have that proven track record together could be a game-changer for Spurs.

Levy must sanction this deal, whatever the price.

AND in other news, Forget Nagelsmann: Spurs should appoint “unbelievable” 48 y/o gem next…

Lots of Arsenal fans have been criticising the performance of Bernd Leno in their 1-0 home defeat to Everton in the Premier League on Friday night.

The Germany international made an almighty blunder as he somehow managed to divert Richarlison’s tame cross into his own net, which ended up costing his team all three points at the Emirates Stadium.

It is not the first time he has made a bad mistake which has ultimately cost his side, notably receiving a red card away at Wolves in February when the Gunners were already down to 10 men, bizarrely deciding to rush out of his goal and handling the ball outside of the penalty area.

With such a vital game coming up away at Villarreal in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final on Thursday night, Mikel Arteta now has a big decision to make in terms of whether he should drop the 29-year-old for Mat Ryan.

Arsenal fans on Leno display

These Arsenal supporters on Twitter blasted Leno’s performance, with one Gooner even going as far as to claim that the goalkeeper is a ‘fraud’:

“I’ve always been Arteta in but if he persists with Leno I fear I will lose faith in the process #AFC #Arteta #Leno”

Credit: @JakeHutchfield

“How’s Leno pitting that in!?! Nah that is dreadful. Wasn’t even an effort on target! #AFC”

Credit: @JonnyAFC

“Leno should be dropped for rest of season. Give Ryan the shirt, at least he tried hard. #KroenkeOut #ArtetaOut #AFC”

Credit: Marly_MarlsT

“Bernd Leno is a shambles who gets away with murder every week #afc”

Credit: @lee45301292

“Leno is such a fraud, not even in the same league as Martinez. But I guess he is not the only 1 in the club that’s just there for the pay check. #Arsenal #Afc #Leno”

Credit: @ReeceMayberry

“Bernd Leno is an absolutely abysmal keeper. Since the injury he has been worse than useless #Arsenal #afc”

Credit: @Gunnm_Angel

In other news, find out whose display was also slammed by numerous Arsenal fans.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans were delighted with an incident involving Scott Brown during the Old Firm derby on Sunday.

The Gers faced Celtic for the third time this season at the weekend and drew 1-1 after Alfredo Morelos cancelled out Mohamed Elyounoussi’s opener. In essence, though, the match was a dead rubber as the Gers had already confirmed their status as Premiership champions.

The week preceding the match proved to be a difficult one for the Ibrox outfit. They were knocked out of the Europa League last Thursday by Slavia Prague after losing 3-1 on aggregate, but the match was marred by allegations of racist abuse towards midfielder Glen Kamara.

The rivalry between Rangers and Celtic is fierce, but that did not stop Brown from walking into the Gers half to embrace Kamara as the two teams warmed up before kick-off. A clip of the moment was shared by Sky Sports Scotland on Twitter, and many Gers fans could do nothing but praise the Celtic captain.

These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts on Brown’s gesture.

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

“I might hate him with a passion but that was class, well done Scott, we stand together”

Credit: @sea_ibrox

“I totally cannot stand the boy as a player but an amazing gesture from Scott Brown, fair play! Some things are bigger than football!”

Credit: @theruralrider

“Any thoughts I hold on scott brown matter not a jot today. That was a touch of class. Fair play.”

Credit: @JackReg31454571

“Absolutely hit the nail on the head mate. Sometimes rivalry just doesn’t matter. Hats off to Broony”

Credit: @Gav1nsm1th87

“Class touch”

Credit: @ArgyllWarrior

“Hate him but good gesture from him”

Credit: @Declan_1872_

In other news, many Rangers fans slammed this man’s performance against Celtic.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Everton are now in the race to sign Tottenham transfer target Max Aarons in the summer.

What’s the story?

Reports earlier this month suggested that Norwich’s Aarons is on the radar of Jose Mourinho’s side, with Matt Doherty potentially being made available for a transfer as the Spurs boss has been left unconvinced of the right-back’s ability of being a success.

Now, Romano has claimed that Spurs’ fellow Premier League side and top four contenders Everton are “working” on signing the England U21 international, while Manchester United will also decide in the coming months about whether or not to pursue a move.

Bye-bye Doherty

Given that Doherty only joined last summer from Wolves, it’s a rather telling sign that Mourinho is already open to the idea of offloading him in the summer.

But if Daniel Levy can win the race to land Aarons, then Spurs would be making the perfect call by getting rid of Doherty and bringing the Norwich City sensation in.

Canaries boss Daniel Farke has spoken glowingly about the 21-year-old this season, saying: “Max is outstanding in many topics. I can’t praise him enough for what he has done since his first appearance. You watch some of our games now and the opponents go man-for-man on him. That is crazy for a player who is a full-back but it says a lot about his reputation. He is just a special player and he has an unbelievable future.”

The £18m-rated full-back appears to be the right-back version of Sergio Reguilon: young, quick and incredibly dangerous going forward. As per Whoscored this season, Aarons averages 1.3 key passes per game in the Championship, which ranks him fourth among his teammates, while his tally of 1.2 dribbles per match is good enough to rank him third.

That kind of offensive contribution would surely be perfect for Mourinho, who could have two of the Premier League’s most exciting full-backs in Reguilon and Aarons.

And it’s not just going forward that Aarons seems like he’s tailor made for the Spurs boss. He’s also someone who isn’t rash when making challenges a la a Serge Aurier, with the Norwich ace making just 0.5 fouls per game this season (19th in Norwich’s squad) – comfortably less than both Aurier and Doherty who rank joint-second among Spurs’ players with 1.5 per match.

Aarons is a flying full-back, but without the kind of defensive mistakes that has haunted Spurs’ right-backs. He seems absolutely perfect for Mourinho.

As Rangers near their 55th SPFL title after a comfortable 3-0 win over St Mirren at Ibrox, many Gers fans were wowed by the performance of defender Connor Goldson – taking to social media and applauding the Englishman for a fine display. 

The 28-year-old, who partnered centre-back Filip Helander this afternoon, stunned many supporters with his showing at points – with Steven Gerrard’s men now closing in on 55 and only needing arch rivals Celtic to drop points tomorrow against Dundee United.

Goldson helped the Gers to a crucial three points in their quest to clinch a first league triumph since 2010/2011, with their long ten-year wait for a title likely to come to a close soon – if not this weekend depending on how their rivals perform on Sunday.

Flocking to the praise the centre-back for his performance, it’s safe to say the Ibrox faithful were impressed – dropping all of their verdicts on him through social media.

Rangers fans blown away by Goldson

“That was another Connor Goldson masterclass”

Credit: @Pena_Cartel

“Goldson turned into Messi”

Credit: @Stephen32789781

“Goldson unleashing his inner Bougherra”

Credit: @revanite72

“Connor Goldson is spectacular.”

Credit: @RakoTuke

“Connor Goldson. Player of the year.”

Credit: @Seanboy1872

“Conor Goldson, Rangers Legend. Can’t be anything less surely???”

Credit: @DylxnHxwarth

Goldson has been magnificent today

Credit: @macdonald1872

Connor goldson player of the year, won’t hear any different.

Credit: @RhysS98

In other news: Gers fans also loved these Gerrard comments, find out more here.

According to recent reports, there is a 75% probability that Tottenham Hotspur go on to sign Marcel Sabitzer this summer.

The report by Bild (via Sport Witness) claims that, with Sabitzer’s contract set to expire in the summer of 2022 and with RB Leipzig aware that the 27-year-old will not be signing an extension, the Bundesliga side could look to offload the midfielder this summer.

Furthermore, it is stated that the Austria international would like to leave the German club in the next transfer window, with a switch to the Premier League being his goal. It is also claimed that, with no release clause present in his contract at Leipzig, Julian Nagelsmann’s side will be demanding a fee of around €42m (£36m) to part with the 27-year-old.

Finally, it is claimed that Daniel Levy will have enough cash to fund a move for the £78,000-per-week midfielder as long as Spurs manage to sell Dele Alli, with Bild claiming that there is a 75% probability that Sabitzer’s switch to Tottenham goes through.

Transfer Tavern Take

With Mourinho thought to be a fan of Sabitzer, while the 58-year-old appears to hold a very different view on Alli – whom he has handed just two Premier League starts so far this season – it is not a difficult scenario to imagine that the Spurs manager will be doing all he can to persuade Levy to get a deal done for the Austrian midfielder this summer.

However, with Levy reluctant to offload Alli in previous transfer windows, as well as Mourinho’s future in north London not appearing to be particularly certain, whether or not the Spurs chairman gives in to the will of the Portuguese manager remains to be seen.

In other news: Levy is set to battle several PL clubs for the signing of ‘the next Zlatan Ibrahimovic’ – find out more here!

West Brom have a medical scheduled for Wednesday over a potential new addition, according to reports…

What’s the word?

The Daily Mail claim the Baggies are interested in bringing in former Leicester City forward Ahmed Musa with a view to signing him on a short-term contract this week.

Musa has been a free agent since leaving Saudi side Al-Nassr in October, and it is also thought that arch-rivals Wolves and fellow Premier League strugglers Fulham are also keen.

Albion are set to bring him in after requesting a UK visa and should all go well, he will sign on for the remainder of the season.

Big Sam’s next Okocha?

It wouldn’t be the first time that Big Sam has had an enigmatic Nigerian in his attack, so this move would certainly be shades of Jay-Jay Okocha, who was a sensation under the 66-year-old at Bolton Wanderers.

Similarly, the attacking maestro left PSG on a free transfer in 2002 following the World Cup and ended up at the Reebok Stadium. While Musa isn’t fresh off a major competition, it was only in 2019 that Nigeria won bronze at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Throughout Okocha’s time at the Trotters, he was regarded as a ‘flair’ player capable of trickery with the ball and creativity, but he was also known as being vastly inconsistent – only 18 goals and three assists in 143 appearances would reinforce that view, though he still had many fans on the edge of their seats every time he played.

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Once again, Musa isn’t too different.

The 28-year-old has already flopped in the Premier League before – following a then club-record £16m move to Leicester City in 2016, but he could only deliver five goals in 33 appearances.

But elsewhere, he has proven to be a prolific option, only adding to him perhaps being a bit of an enigma. At CSKA Moscow, the versatile wide man contributed towards 99 goals in 184 matches, whilst at Al-Nasser most recently, he delivered 11 goals and 14 assists, via Transfermarkt.

The Baggies desperately need firepower in attack as following Charlie Austin’s departure to QPR on loan, it leaves Allardyce with only one senior striker and right now in Karlan Grant, and he’s currently on the treatment table.

Valued at £5.4m by Transfermarkt, Musa would be a decent addition considering Luke Dowling and co won’t have to pay a penny in transfer fees. However, he cannot be the only attacking signing before the February 1st deadline.

AND in other news, Why West Brom need to take a punt on Christian Benteke

Manchester United moved to third in the table after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side put Leeds United to the sword at Old Trafford.

Scott McTominay opened the floodgates in the first half with a long-range effort, and the midfielder got his second just a few moments later, with Bruno Fernandes and Victor Lindelof adding the extras, before Marcelo Bielsa’s side pulled one back with a header from Liam Cooper shortly before the break.

But United extended their lead almost immediately after Daniel James got himself on the scoresheet before a customary penalty from Fernandes made it 6-1 after Pascal Struijk fouled Anthony Martial in the box.

However, there was still time for late drama after Stuart Dallas scored from long-range, but the Red Devils weren’t to be denied the spoils.

Fernandes was in scintillating form, McTominay was magnificent, but Martial defied his critics with a man of the match-worthy performance.

As any regular reader of this column will no doubt be aware, we can count ourselves among that number, but it’s hard to deny the fact that the Frenchman looked back to his very best against Leeds.

Per SofaScore, Martial received a high rating of 9.1 out of ten for his efforts – only McTominay was awarded a higher score – he took one shot on target, three shots off target, completed seven of his eight dribble attempts successfully, created three big chances, and contributed to two goals, while he won a penalty, was fouled once and made one clearance as well.

The France international took more touches of the ball than Fernandes (55) and clearly made the possession count, providing 25 out of 31 passes (81%), showing no hesitation in dropping deep into his own half to pick up the ball and bring others into play.

The Manchester Evening News were effusive in their praise for the 25-year-old, giving Martial a grade of 8/10 and claiming he ‘won the penalty in his best performance of the season by a distance’, whilst The Daily Express were equally glowing in their assessment, insisting he was ‘a constant threat upfront with his clever movement, pace and link-up play.’

It’s safe to say the French versatile forward was an influential presence as he provided two assists for the first two goals, despite not scoring himself as he blazed a shot over the bar.

There’s no doubt Solskjaer will have been secretly delighted with his sublime display, having launched a passionate defence of the £82m-rated (€90m) misfiring forward after his miss in the 3-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League ultimately proved costly as they were eventually dumped out of the competition by RB Leipzig.

Forget McTominay, it was Martial who stole the show at Old Trafford.

AND in other news, Lightweight: Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw badly let Solskjaer down vs Leeds…

Leeds haven’t been too embarrassed over the last year or so but on Sunday evening, they were demolished at the hands of League Two opposition.

Marcelo Bielsa got things wrong and he shouldn’t be afraid to admit that.

On the chalkboard

Heading into Sunday’s encounter it had Leeds win written all over it. Bielsa fielded his £30m signing in Rodrigo, while the experienced heads of Helder Costa, Pablo Hernandez, Kalvin Phillips and Kiko Casilla all started.

Yet, after suffering a 3-0 defeat to Crawley Town, none of them covered themselves in glory. A bizarre trio of substitutes at half-time arguably cost them the tie as three inexperienced men all entered the fray.

However, it was the likes of Phillips and Casilla who cost them the most with dire individual mistakes.

The brunt of the blame cannot be directed entirely at the defence, though, because Costa was also pretty shambolic going forward.

What happened?

Costa spent last season on loan at Leeds but after scoring just five Championship goals, hardly set the world alight. Unfortunately, they were tied down by an obligation to buy the player for £15m.

Truth be told, he has not been worth that and when you consider his yearly salary, it takes the amount paid to around £18m.

He has cost the club £3m per goal and his performance against Crawley typified why the club should think about axing him already.

It was a display that should have left Bielsa raging because Costa’s quality in the final third was extremely poor.

The winger failed to find a teammate with any of the four crosses he attempted, while he also missed two big opportunities to find the back of the net. It’s no surprise that Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross said he offered “nothing” in his player ratings.

On top of that, the Portuguese lost possession of the ball 15 times and made just a solitary key pass. Against considerably weaker opposition, Costa should have been a shining light.

Instead, he somehow managed to make himself look out of his depth.

The 26-year-old has been bleeding the club dry for nearly two seasons now and has become a mere passenger in Bielsa’s team. He is not good enough.

AND in other news, “A good fit for him” – EXCLUSIVE: Pundit makes claim on potential Leeds return for £140k-p/w ace…

Manchester United play host to Everton in the Premier League at Old Trafford on Saturday night, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side set to play their first league game since they humiliated Southampton at home.

The Red Devils ran riot over Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, putting nine goals past the nine-man Saints, with Anthony Martial ending his eight-game goal drought after the Frenchman bagged a brace in the second half.

Unfortunately for Solskjaer, it wasn’t all rosy, as both Edinson Cavani and Luke Shaw were substituted at half-time having struggled with injuries, with Eric Bailly a doubt ahead of the game against the Toffees.

With that in mind, Football FanCast has predicted how United may line up for tonight’s action, which sees Solskjaer make three changes to the team that thrashed the Saints.

Solskjaer’s side are currently second in the table, just three points behind Manchester City, who have built up a tremendous head of steam.

In defence, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka should start as usual, with Victor Lindelof and Alex Telles making up the rest of the numbers.

This game may come too soon for Shaw after he appeared to suffer a knock against his former club, so it’s likely Telles will slot into place alongside the club captain instead.

Paul Pogba is likely going to return to the midfield, which means Scott McTominay will be forced to settle for a spot on the bench.

After a goal drought stretching to 12-and-a-half hours, Anthony Martial ended it with a double against the Saints, and his return to form was warmly welcomed by manager Solskjaer.

As such, Solskjaer will have to decide whether to opt for experience and go with the £49.5m-rated Martial and Marcus Rashford out wide or the fresher, younger option in Mason Greenwood on the right wing.

With Cavani expected to be fit to face the Toffees given Solskjaer’s pre-match press conference, the United boss could start the Uruguayan, drop Martial and have Greenwood to his right and Rashford on the left.

It would certainly be a bold call to move Martial to the bench given his double against the Saints, but that was against a side who ended up going down to 9-men.

Solskjaer will recognise that an Everton side who beat Leeds away from home last time out will surely prove a sterner test of their title credentials, and will need his most reliable and consistent players on the pitch, and Cavani has delivered him for whenever he’s played – the Uruguayan has bagged five goals and provided two assists in just 663 minutes of Premier League football.

Predicted XI: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Lindelof, Telles; Pogba, Fred; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani.

AND in other news, Man Utd can find perfect Harry Maguire partner in Real Madrid’s Raphael Varane…