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Former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has exclusively told The Transfer Tavern than Eddie Howe should snub a move to Celtic to remain in the Premier League.

The 43-year-old, who’s been a free agent since leaving his position at Bournemouth following their relegation last July, is the number one candidate to replace Neil Lennon at Parkhead having been strongly linked with the job since making a verbal agreement at the beginning of April.

But Howe is reportedly waiting for the conclusion of Bournemouth’s play-off campaign in a bid to convince some of his former coaching staff to join him in the Scottish Premiership.

Since becoming frontrunner for the Celtic job, Howe has also been touted as a possible replacement for the departing Roy Hodgson at Crystal Palace, whilst Newcastle have also been mentioned.

The Magpies still have Steve Bruce in charge, but the Palace job is available after the ex-England boss confirmed he’ll be stepping down on Sunday.

With that in mind, Palmer has advised Howe to remain in the Premier League, but suggested his former side West Brom, who were recently relegated back to the Championship.

“No disrespect to Celtic, they’re a massive club, but the place to manage is in the Premier League,” he told The Transfer Tavern.

“The West Brom job isn’t as big as the Celtic job, but you’ve got a great chance to get them back into the Premier League.”

After Celtic beat Real Betis 3-2 in their previous Europa League outing, the Hoops are back in SPFL action this afternoon with a home clash against Motherwell.

With the Bhoys having the likes of Albian Ajeti, Kyogo Furuhashi, Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis out injured as well as Christopher Jullien and Karamoko Dembele, here’s how Ange Postecoglou could line up his team this afternoon with as many as ten changes.

In goal, we think Joe Hart will return to the starting XI with Scott Bain dropping out after scoring an own goal against Betis. 

At left-back, we can see Greg Taylor coming back in for Liam Scales with Josip Juranovic coming in for Osaze Urhoghide in the right-back position. 

For the centre-back positions, we think Postecoglou will bring Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt back in with Nir Bitton, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £14k-per-week according to Salary Sport, and Stephen Welsh dropping out after their appearances in midweek.

In the two central-midfield positions, we think Postecoglou will opt for club captain Callum McGregor and David Turnbull ahead of James McCarthy and Ismaila Soro who both started in the win over Betis.

Ahead of those two, we think Postecoglou will bring Tom Rogic and Michael Johnston back into the frame with Ewan Henderson also starting after coming on as a substitute against Betis and scoring a goal.

To make up for the severe injury issues Celtic have at the top of the pitch with the likes of Furuhashi, Giakoumakis and Ajeti out, we can see Liel Abada being given a shot to lead the team through the middle. He’s been an offensive threat this term, registering a tally of seven goals and eight assists across all competitions so far this season and could deliver the Hoops another league win. 

Whether Postecoglou goes with this exact starting XI that we have suggested or not, this will still be a big test for the Bhoys in their latest push for the title against a side that have won three of their five previous league games. 

With so many key attacking players out injured, Postecoglou and everyone else at the club will be hoping that the team will be able to keep racking up points while they are out of action so they don’t drop out of the title race.

In other news: “No estimated return date”: Devlin drops big Celtic injury update, Ange will be fuming

A number of Liverpool supporters have reacted positively to Neil Jones’ claim that James Milner will leave the club at the end of the season.

The 36-year-old has been a wonderful servant for the Reds since arriving in the summer of 2015, arguably becoming one of the greatest free transfers in the club’s history.

Milner has now made 268 appearances for Liverpool, winning the Champions League and Premier League along the way and being a great leader in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

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However, at 36 there is no doubt that the midfielder’s best days are behind him, and his current Liverpool deal expires this summer.

According to Jones on The Redmen TV [via LFC Transfer Room on Twitter], Milner will move on at the end of the current campaign, joining another club as he nears the end of a stellar playing career.

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Liverpool fans happy about Milner exit claim

These Liverpool fans were pleased to hear that the club are unlikely to keep Milner beyond the end of this season, with some feeling that his best days are behind him, a view perhaps borne out of some recent underwhelming performances and his rarity of starts this season.

“Finally”

Credit: @boff_daddy

“Freedom”

Credit: @_JazzyJaz_

“CM incoming then surely”

Credit: @TWregistalfc

“About time. Been a top loyal servant but is no where near good enough as a player anymore. Thanks Milly”

Credit: @iLikeFutb0l

“Wonderful. I’ll set off fireworks on the day he leaves”

Credit: @Sabista_

“Thank God. Thanks to James for his services, but I was dreading ‘let’s keep him for one more year because of his leadership'”

Credit: @PhilyRedd

In other news, some Liverpool fans are delighted over this Fabrizio Romano transfer claim. Read more here.

 An update has emerged on Burnley captain Ben Mee, regarding interest from Newcastle United…

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun, the Magpies are eyeing up a swoop for the former Manchester City man ahead of the January transfer window.

The report claims that the centre-back is out of contract at the end of the season, with the upcoming window representing Sean Dyche’s final chance to recoup a fee for his services.

Key issue

Eddie Howe could solve a key issue for Newcastle by bringing Mee to St. James’ Park ahead of the second half of the campaign. It is no secret that the club have struggled in the Premier League this season and their defence has been a particular cause for concern.

The Magpies kept their first clean sheet at the weekend, ironically against Burnley, as they also picked up three points for the first time – highlighting their defensive issues up until the weekend. Mee missed out on the game due to a shoulder injury, which meant that Howe was unable to see him up close ahead of January.

However, his performances in the Premier League over the years for the Clarets should be enough to convince the 43-year-old. The defender has been a reliable top-flight performer for a number of years and could come in and provide a lift to the defence.

Dyche previously lauded him as a player who always delivers on the pitch, whilst labelling him as an important member of the squad. The 50-year-old once said:

“He is a very solid campaigner, week in, week out. He is always there for you and delivers and that is a big compliment.

“He is consistent, his values are consistent, a tough-minded fella and a very fair-minded fella and a lot of those qualities don’t just happen off the pitch, they go on the pitch with him.

“He is a player who has been an important part for us and I am sure he will be again.”

In seven full Premier League seasons for Burnley, Mee has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.86 or higher and a score higher than 7.00 in three of those campaigns. This shows that he has consistently performed to an impressive standard in the top-flight over a number of years – indicating that he is an established and proven player at this level.

Therefore, he could come in and improve the United defence with his consistent, solid, displays at centre-back by helping to keep the ball out of Martin Dubravka’s net, having played a part in Burnley keeping 22 clean sheets across the 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns. This is why Howe must get a deal over the line for the beast.

AND in other news, NUFC could finally replace Ryan Taylor with swoop for “outstanding” £19.8m-rated beast…

March was certainly not a kind month to reigning Premier League champions Liverpool.

The Reds’ title defence continued to falter, wit them winning just one of their three Premier League games and suffering consecutive defeats at Anfield once again. However, one slight saving grace was their progression to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals at the expense of RB Leipzig.

One player encapsulated Liverpool’s struggles throughout the month and that was right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The England defender started in three out of the four matches throughout the month, coming on as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat against Fulham.

Throughout his minutes on the pitch across the four games, he could only average a 6.74 WhoScored rating as Liverpool only notched one clean sheet in the Premier League. Whilst not the worst rating in the world, compared to his usually lofty standards, it was a very poor number.

For context, throughout Liverpool’s hugely successful 2019/20 campaign, the 22-year-old racked up an average score of 7.04, indicating his huge drop off throughout the past month under Jurgen Klopp.

It is not just in his ratings that Alexander-Arnold has taken a hit. Having notched a huge 15 assists from right-back last season, he has only got five this season, with none of those coming in March.

His defensive contributions also took a huge nose-dive throughout the month, too.

He only averaged 0.75 tackles and 0.5 interceptions per game throughout March which is hugely lower than his season averages of 1.6 and 1.2 respectively in the Premier League.

That poor form has certainly been noticed by Gareth Southgate. Having omitted the Liverpool man from his latest England squad, the Three Lions boss said that Alexander-Arnold has not hit the level “he found in the last few years” – a statement that is tough to disagree with.

With a couple of weeks’ break between now and Liverpool’s Premier League clash against Arsenal, the £90m-rated right-back and manager Klopp will be hoping he regains his form sooner rather than later after an extremely tricky March.

Alexander-Arnold let his manager down throughout the month, he’ll be keen to put that right in April.

AND in more news, read about which clinical striker Liverpool must move for this summer…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Bull, who made 561 appearances for Wolves, believes Raul Jimenez will be able to come back the same player despite fracturing his skull earlier this season, but thinks we’ll have to wait until next season to see the Mexican in full flow.

Jimenez suffered a fractured skull against Arsenal in November last year but is now back doing some training with the first team as he speeds up his recovery, and potentially aiming to get some game time before the end of the season.

The Mexican’s injury has left a huge void in Wolves’ side which has been clear to see by their results and performances this season with Jimenez being the club’s talisman and a Nuno Santo favourite, having netted 47 times in 110 games for the Midlands side.

Speaking on how the £31.5m-rated Jimenez may come back after his injury and if we will see the same player which Wolves relied so heavily on before his injury, Bull told FFC exclusively:

“I think it’s going to be tough because once you’ve been hit in the head with a 10-tonne hammer and you’ve cracked your skull, you’re going to be wary.

“I’ve interviewed him a few times and he is very mentally prepared, so I think he’ll be very cautious when he first starts playing.

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“I think he will come back the same player. However, I doubt it will be this season. I think it’ll be next season because I think Nuno will gradually break him in this season to get his confidence up, and then get him ready for next year.”

Despite not playing since November, Jimenez is still Wolves’ third top scorer with four, only behind Ruben Neves and Pedro Neto who both have five respectively.

In his two previous seasons with Wolves, Jimenez had reached scored 13 and 17 goals respectively. However, he also registered eight and six assists across those two campaigns highlighting how important the Mexican is for Wolves’ general game plan to work.

Tuesday evening sees Nottingham Forest take on Championship leaders Fulham.

Fulham’s future was sealed last week when a 3-0 win against Preston North End confirmed that they would be playing Premier League football next season.

The Cottagers need six points to wrap up the title, though, Forest’s own ambition of promotion may forbid them of all three points.

On the chalkboard

Steve Cooper would have been ecstatic with the return of the club’s second-highest goal-scorer this season when he made his return in early April against Blackpool.

The Nottingham boss has eased Lewis Grabban back into action since then, with the Jamaican international making his first start in almost two months in the 1-0 defeat against Luton Town.

Grabban made a 15-minute cameo in Forest’s last game against Peterborough and was forced off in the 89th minute with an injury blow, with both Cooper and the 34-year-old Grabban hoping it is not serious.

Zero-to-hero

The timing of Sam Surridge’s resurgence to the starting XI has coincided brilliantly for Cooper.

The 23-year-old, who has been described as “clinical” by a reporter, has bagged five goals from just 11 shots for the Reds in all competitions.

His minutes per goal metric is very similar to Grabban’s 173 MPG, evidencing his decisiveness and suitability as an adequate replacement for the 34-year-old with a stat of 170 MPG.

Surridge has gone from a bit-part player to a starter over the last two games, with goals against West Brom and Peterborough in back-to-back starts allowing him to show Cooper exactly what he is about.

With three penalties awarded this season for the £12.6k-per-week earner’s efforts in the opposition’s box, he brings more unpredictability to Forest.

Grabban’s latest setback only strengthens Surridge’s case as a starter for however long the Jamaica international is out for.

He will be hoping to get another return in Tuesday’s game against Fulham and put a delay on their title celebrations in the hopes of boosting Nottingham Forest’s promotion ambitions.

In other news: Huge blow: Forest now suffer gutting injury setback, Cooper will be fuming…

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a move for a Serie A winger this week…

What’s the word?

According to Club Doria, Spurs boss Jose Mourinho is keen on signing Sampdoria sensation Mikkel Damsgaard with the north London outfit expected to bid ‘at any moment.’

It comes after mooted interest from Premier League rivals West Ham United, who are said to have held a meeting with the 20-year-old attacker.

There are also claims that his impressive performances this season has attracted Italian giants Inter Milan and Juventus.

Earlier in the month, it was reported by Gazzetta dello Sport that his value had tripled to around €20m (£18m).

Another Bergwijn?

Indeed, the young Dane has been one of the Claudio Rainieri’s star performers since his 50m kroner (£4.5m) move from FC Nordsjælland in the summer as he ranks fifth for average rating (6.78) of any player to start at least ten times.

Damsgaard has contributed two goals and three assists in 18 appearances, per WhoScored.

Whilst no other player in the I Blucerchiati squad is averaging more than his three dribbles per 90 minutes. He successfully pulls these off at a rate of 62.5%, which means more often than not, he beats his man.

Another interesting attribute of the industrious wide man is his defensive and off-the-ball capabilities, which may well point towards why Mourinho may be so keen to sign him.

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He’s averaged the sixth-most tackles in this Sampdoria team, managing 2.4 per game, making him quite a hard man to bypass on the flank. A tackle success-rate of just over 50% highlights the sort of graft he’s able to put in to deny the opposition, via WhoScored.

We’ve seen this sort of player over in north London already with Steven Bergwijn. Whilst his goal returns have been poor – contributing only two assists in the Premier League all season – he offers Mourinho a lot defensively.

For example, no other Spurs winger is averaging more than the Dutchman’s 0.8 tackles per game, whilst his seasonal heat map shows he’s having more of an influence in his own half, meaning he’s tracking back and helping whoever is starting between Serge Aurier or Matt Doherty.

It is why the former PSV star regularly starts (eight times) over Lucas Moura (four starts) and Gareth Bale (one start) in the Premier League.

As seen above, via SofaScore, one of Bergwijn’s most intense positions is just before the halfway line.

As a further example, the following is his heatmap against Arsenal – he failed to score or assist, but was imperious towards them keeping a clean sheet as he was almost acting as a wing-back.

Indeed, SofaScore graded him an abysmal 6.4 but you bet Mourinho was still happy with his display as he managed two tackles, two clearances and one successful dribble – all similar characteristics to Damsgaard.

The versatile Sampdoria winger has also caught the eye of former Spurs midfielder Christian Eriksen – he told TV2 Sport earlier in the campaign:

“We talked together after the match. He praised me for the situation around my assist. He is a really nice person and really sweet to talk to. It was just nice that he wanted to talk to me after the match.”

That day, Damsgaard ghosted past two Inter Milan defenders before slotting Keita Balde’s second-half winner and again proved he could contribute at either end of the pitch as he won five duels and made one clearance, per SofaScore.

It’s no wonder that PL-winning boss Rainieri tipped him to have a “big future.”

As we’ve seen with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Bergwijn, Mourinho loves a relentless workhorse and the Danish starlet would bring that as well as an extra creative influence in the attack, as evident throughout this piece.

For just £18m, Daniel Levy could well secure Spurs another Bergwijn-like beast.

AND in other news, £27m-rated passenger who made ONLY eight passes badly let Mourinho down on Monday…

Mel Morris is in talks with a number of interested parties regarding the sale of Derby County.

What’s the latest?

That’s according to The Sun journalist Alan Nixon, who claimed in a recent post on Twitter that there are a number of live bidders for the Rams, while also suggesting that the club’s impending points deduction may not be as bad as first feared – if new owners are in place upon Derby’s appeal.

Nixon said: “Derby County. Live bidders plural. Top insiders also hinting that points penalty could be less on appeal if new ownership in place down the line.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering just how much their club has been through this season, having to endure the heartbreak of two failed takeover attempts and seeing their side barely scrape Championship survival after a number of catastrophic performances on the pitch, Nixon’s latest update provides Derby fans with a figurative light at the end of the tunnel.

With Morris appearing to be absolutely desperate to sell the club, the Rams cannot truly begin to move forward under Wayne Rooney with an owner who is not committed, either financially or emotionally.

Furthermore, with Nixon claiming that Derby’s pending points deduction for breaking the EFL’s Financial Fair Play rules will likely be reduced on appeal after the change of owners, there is even more incentive for a sale of the club to be completed as rapidly as possible.

And, it goes without saying that the chances of the Rams’ sale actually going through are dramatically increased by more than one interested party bidding for the club.

As such, the journalist’s update is something that is likely to leave fans of the club buzzing, as once their side have sorted matters off the pitch out, they can begin to plan for next season under Rooney, with the aim of putting on a much more respectable showing in the Championship than last time out.

In other news: Imagine him & Mengi: Rooney must seal Derby deal for £1.8m-rated “leader” this summer – opinion

Southampton are being linked with Barcelona left-back Junior Firpo ahead of the summer transfer window and he could be a superb addition to Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side should he make the move to St Mary’s.

What’s the word?

According to ESPN, Southampton have asked about Firpo’s situation at Barcelona as they see him as a potential successor for Ryan Bertrand at St Mary’s, although they will have to see off interest from several Serie A clubs if they are going to sign him this summer.

Barcelona are preparing for a summer rebuild and since the 24-year-old has been unable to oust Jordi Alba at the Nou Camp during his time at the club, he is a likely candidate to be sold.

Would he be a good signing?

Firpo was regarded as one of the best young defenders in La Liga during his time with Real Betis, with his excellent performances in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 seasons convincing Barcelona to pay €18m (£16.3m) to sign him in the summer of 2019.

Unfortunately for the Spanish defender, his time with the Catalan club has not really worked out, as he has made just 41 appearances in the two years since, contributing two goals and three assists.

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This season saw the Dominican Republic born defender make just three starts in La Liga and one in the Champions League, so it is no surprise that Ronald Koeman is keen to cash in on him this summer, and Southampton could be the ones to take advantage.

Barcelona legend Eric Abidal was full of praise for Firpo back in 2020, saying:

“He’s a player with a lot of potential. He could be one of the best left-backs in the world. I always tell him that he must work hard and be aware of the (style of) play. He’s going to get better, for sure.”

This is high praise from one of the best left-backs from the past 20 years, so if Firpo can live up to his potential at St Mary’s, he would surely prove to be a very good signing indeed.

Therefore, Martin Semmens should definitely look to sign him for Southampton this summer, as Hasenhuttl desperately needs a left-back to replace Bertrand this summer, and Firpo could be the ideal man for the job.

And, in other news… Semmens can repeat Armstrong masterclass with bargain swoop for “top player”