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Rangers are reportedly considering a summer move for IF Elfsborg centre-back Joseph Okumu as they eye up potential replacements for Filip Helander in Steven Gerrard’s squad, with the Swedish international having been linked with a move away from Ibrox in recent weeks.

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, the Light Blues have made preliminary enquiries for the 23-year-old defender, as they prepare for the possibility of both Helander and Edmundson leaving this summer.

Helander has played a key role in Rangers’ title success this season and has earned admirers from the Premier League as a result, with both Leicester City and Aston Villa said to be keen on the former Bologna man.

Would he be a good signing?

After spending time in his home country Kenya, Okumu has had spells in South Africa and the USA before finding his feet in Sweden with Elfsborg.

Since then, he has made 34 appearances for the Allsvenskan side, in which he has contributed no goals and one assist.

The Kenyan international clearly had an impressive impact last season, as Elfsborg lost just two league games when he featured, which helped them to a second-place finish in the 2020 league table.

[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!”]

When Okumu made the move to South Africa earlier in his career, a source at the club praised Okumu as one of the best signings the club made that year and praised the defender, saying:

“He spent few days with us training with us and did well to impress the coach. He is a young, talented boy destined for a great future in football.”

The 23-year-old could help realise that potential should he make the move to Rangers in the summer, although with the report suggesting that there has already been a £2 million bid for the youngster, it seems that he won’t come cheap this summer.

[freshpress-quiz id=“588789″]

However, the 6 foot 3 defender could well prove to be an excellent replacement for Filip Helander, so Ross Wilson and Gerrard should definitely look at bringing him to Ibrox ahead of next season.

And, in other news… Rangers could make huge summer profit on gem dubbed “the steal of the century”

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Steve Howey, who made 193 Premier League appearances during his career, believes the one difference between Newcastle United under Steve Bruce and Rafa Benitez is the Spaniard had Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez.

Rondon spent the one season on-loan at Newcastle but did strike up a great partnership with Perez – between them they netted 23 goals during the 2018/19 season.

The Magpies now have Callum Wilson, Allan Saint-Maximin and Miguel Almiron to get the goals, however, with the trio out injured it’s become a struggle for Bruce to find an adequate replacement.

Bruce brought in Wilson last summer who currently has 10 goals making him the club’s top scorer this season, but Howey claims despite poor performances, the fact Benitez had two strikers helped him get results.

Speaking on the situation in front of goal for Newcastle and how Benitez could call upon Perez and Rondon during his time on Tyneside, Howey exclusively told FFC:

“Everybody talks about Rafa and rightly so because he did a great job, but at times the team was awful and they did have awful performances.

“He had two strikers in Perez and Rondon. Obviously, we brought in Wilson which was massive and I was really pleased with him as I’ve always liked him.

“I’m not being disrespectful to Gayle or Carroll but, where are the goals going to come from?”

Wilson has become someone Bruce relies on heavily since he signed the former Bournemouth striker for £20 million last summer.

Newcastle are fighting to stay in the Premier League as they sit just one point and two places above the relegation zone so, Bruce will be hoping his talisman can return to action sooner rather than later.

Southampton fans are delighted after journalist Adam Blackmore revealed Ibrahima Diallo, Kyle Walker-Peters and Takumi Minamino all have a chance of playing this weekend.

The Saints face Sheffield United on Saturday as they look to get back to winning ways – they have won just one of their last 14 games in the Premier League (Sky Sports). After a positive start to the season, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men have struggled to deal with a huge number of injuries.

However, there appears to be some positive news ahead of the clash with the Blades. Blackmore has revealed on Twitter that the aforementioned trio are all back in training and should be available this weekend. Minamino could provide a spark up front while Diallo and Walker-Peters would look to bring some much-needed stability at the back.

The St. Mary’s Stadium outfit’s fans were delighted with this update, and they took to the social media platform to share their thoughts.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the update from Blackmore below

“Finally. #SaintsFC”

Credit: @AdamAzor

“lovely stuff adam”

Credit: @sfcbilly_

“Great news.”

Credit: @Jan92539644

“FINALLY some positive news! #SaintsFC”

Credit: @C0AKESY

“Lovely”

Credit: @RitchieM03

“Finally some positive news”

Credit: @RhysTheSaint

In other news, Southampton enquire about this top Premier League striker.

Many Liverpool fans reacted in their droves to the latest update from the well-respected journalist from The Times, Paul Joyce.

He posted on Friday morning that captain Jordan Henderson has undergone surgery for the groin injury that he picked up against Everton and is “likely” to be out for up to eight weeks.

The 30-year-old joins the lengthy list of first-team names that are occupying the Anfield treatment room, with another central defensive option out of action.

Henderson has been covering the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip in an attempt to ease Jurgen Klopp’s headache – but has suffered a similar fate to his teammates, albeit not as severe.

With this in mind, supporters were devastated by the update on his fitness, with some suggesting that the 2020/21 campaign should be “null and void.”

Familiar feelings of injury woes for these fans

“Weekend in ruins and its 9 am on Friday.”

Credit: @andy_lane

“Thanks Paul, ruined the weekend”

Credit: @perryh

“just null and void the season. for the love of God.”

Credit: @StateOfReds13

“Cursed”

Credit: @dannyb96

“Season is well and truly done and dusted”

Credit: @RedOesterCult

“LORD MAKE IT STOP”

Credit: @kyannaskrdj

“Championship here we come”

Credit: @haavardanm

In other news, Liverpool loanee hailed as “excellent” after featuring out of natural position.

David Moyes has confirmed that West Ham United will boast a near fully-fit squad when they travel to Fulham on Saturday looking to do the double over their London rivals.

The Irons beat the Cottagers 1-0 when the sides met in November, with a 91st-minute strike from Tomas Soucek all that could separate the two after Ademola Lookman’s Panenka-style penalty was easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski.

The result ended a three-game winless run for West Ham and sparked a turn of fortunes that has helped the Hammers push for a European qualifying berth for next season, while Fulham have won just one of their following 13 Premier League fixtures.

Moyes will hope he can extend Scott Parker’s dire run when the Hammers visit Craven Cottage on Saturday. And, with that in mind, here’s a potential XI West Ham could field…

Moyes will not be expected to tinker too much with his starting line-up at Fulham this weekend with West Ham only losing once in 2021, claiming seven wins in eight across all competitions.

The one change the former Manchester United boss is likely to make will come in midfield with Ryan Fredericks stepping aside for Jarrod Bowen to return, after the £40,000-per-week defender featured against Aston Villa to provide additional support for Vladimir Coufal against Jack Grealish.

Bowen fell out of the side as a result but would doubt a second game on the bench, having scored five goals in 22 top-flight appearances to date this term – only Soucek (8) has found the back of the net more often for the Irons.

Fulham do not possess players with the same skill as Aston Villa’s £100m talisman Grealish, so Moyes would be expected to go for the jugular rather than play things cautiously at Craven Cottage.

This opens the door for the tantalising prospect of a front four featuring Bowen beside Michail Antonio, Said Benrahma and midweek hero Jesse Lingard, who scored a brace on his Hammers debut following a late winter move from Manchester United on loan.

The quartet will also be joined by November’s match-winner Soucek and his pre-emptive runs into the box, and offered cover by Declan Rice in front of West Ham’s back four.

West Ham will be expected to name an unchanged defence of Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Craig Dawson and Coufal with Fabianski in goal against Fulham.

Dawson endured a difficult night against Aston Villa in midweek, but had scored his side’s third in a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace last month and found the back of the net against Liverpool for his third goal for the Irons since joining on loan from Watford.

Arthur Masuaku remains sidelined after knee surgery but is Moyes’ only absentee for West Ham’s visit to Craven Cottage, and has returned to light training ahead of a potential return next month.

AND in other news, David Moyes can give a £3.5m-rated outcast a new lease of life at West Ham with one decision…

Many Manchester United fans were left slamming the display of Marcus Rashford in their 3-3 draw with Everton in the Premier League on Saturday night.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team got off to a great start at Old Trafford, with goals from Edinson Cavani and Bruno Fernandes putting them 2-0 up and in a relatively comfortable position at half-time.

However, Abdoulaye Doucoure and James Rodriguez pegged the Red Devils back to 2-2, while a Scott McTominay goal was cancelled out by Dominic Calvert-Lewin in injury time.

Even though he got the assist for Cavani’s header, his overall performance flattered to deceive several Man Utd supporters.

The England international lost out on no fewer than 10 of his duels in the game, the most lost out of any player to have set foot on the pitch, and also lost possession of the ball the most times (20), earning him a very measly 6.3 overall rating on Sofascore, the third-lowest out of his teammates.

Manchester United fan reaction to Rashford display

These fans slammed his performance on Twitter, with one supporter even going as far to say that the 23-year-old was ‘awful’:

“Maguire, Lindelof and Rashford were awful, shocking. McTominay, Bruno and Cavani excellent, the rest ok”

Credit: @frankle444

“Rashford needs to visit the bench”

Credit: @Marqueage

“Rashford! He needs re-programming, something’s wrong, he keeps repeating the same mistake.”

Credit: @dizzydianajo1

“Still painful. I’m so disappointed in you yesterday, @ManUtd players most, especially @MarcusRashford for wasting those glorious chances. #MUNEVE”

Credit: @i_am_uchenna

“Rashford is just wasteful, poor decision making also. Yep better to deal with City than Liverpool. I don’t even have a single Liverpool player on my Fantasy Premier League team. If it were possible I’d want City and Liverpool to both lose tonight.”

Credit: @tonymillzk

“Still annoyed that Marcus Rashford didn’t take his chances again. He needs to work on his finishing. So poor in front of goal.”

Credit: @AraRedjeb

In other news, find out which ex-EPL referee was left baffled by one VAR decision versus Southampton here!

One of Daniel Levy’s summer transfer decisions has turned out to be an absolute stroke of genius for Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs needed a back-up striker to play second fiddle to Harry Kane before the 2020/21 season got underway and as a result, they were mooted with many names across Europe.

Indeed, the north London outfit suffered in the Englishman’s absence last term – following his injury on New Year’s Day, they crashed out of both the FA Cup and Champions League and only won three of eight matches in the Premier League.

On his return, he bagged seven goals, five of which coming in the final three matches to launch Spurs into European qualification.

So to ensure that didn’t happen again, a new forward was high on the agenda – eventually, they settled with a very wise loan-to-buy deal involving Benfica colossus Carlos Vinicius.

His hat-trick in the FA Cup last weekend showed exactly why they got the decision right. In resting Kane, the Brazilian powerhouse stepped up to the plate, making it six goals and three assists from only ten appearances this campaign, per Transfermarkt.

But it could’ve been so much different as Spurs were among the names linked with a move for former Gent talisman Jonathan David.

After scoring 23 times last term, it’s no surprise to see why so many teams were keen to sign him, including the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United, though it would be Ligue 1 outfit Lille that won the race, splashing out a record €30m (£27m).

Levy can count his lucky stars that he didn’t sanction that sort of transfer as he’s quickly become a massive flop. David has clearly struggled with the difference in quality between the Belgian top-flight and one of Europe’s elite five leagues.

He has scored just twice all season and has failed to bag in the Europa League despite starting all six group games, per Transfermarkt. The 21-year-old has seen a decrease in shots and dribbles per game in the competition too, which reinforces the above viewpoint.

We’ve seen in recent windows that the likes of Wesley and Mbwana Samatta struggled to hit the ground running in the Premier League, so it is certainly a bullet dodged for Spurs.

Despite being dubbed a “phenomenon” by former coach Hein Vanhaezebrouck, David has cost Lille around £14m per goal, when also factoring in his reported £46.5k-per-week wages.

A total waste of money.

Even Vincent Janssen was more worth his salt despite a tumultuous stint in N17 – in a largely bit-part role, he scored six goals in 42 appearances having cost a fraction of the price at £17m.

Could you imagine if Levy pulled the trigger at £27m only for him to struggle behind Kane?

That would have been devastating, all in comparison to the shrewd acquisition of Vinicius, who is only costing a €3m (£2.7m) loan fee upfront with an option of €45m (£40m) as per Benfica’s official statement, via The Sun.

Six goals for just £2.7m upfront looks a masterstroke in comparison to David costing Lille £14m per goal thus far.

Levy certainly dodged a massive bullet in not following through with Spurs’ interest in the Canadian flop this summer.

AND in other news, £140kp/w “revelation” was SO costly in Spurs’ draw with Fulham…

Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup and continued their dreadful start to the new year as they were beaten 3-2 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

A brace from Mohamed Salah was not enough for Jurgen Klopp’s side, as goals from Mason Greenwood, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes earned the home side the victory, to set up a fifth-round tie with West Ham.

Whilst young Rhys Williams struggled on his return to the side, it was perhaps the performance of Andrew Robertson that will concern Jurgen Klopp the most, with the Scottish international nowhere near his best on Sunday afternoon.

As per SofaScore, the left-back would pick up a dreadful 5.9 rating for his display, which was the second-worst of any player on the pitch, with only Williams rated lower.

The 26-year-old was caught way out of position for United’s first goal of the game and couldn’t get back to stop Greenwood from scoring, and resorted to shouting at the young forward, presumably in an attempt to put him off.

It seems as if Greenwood had the better of Robertson throughout the game, as he was rated as United’s best player, earning an 8.3/10 for his performance.

The former Hull City man was also dribbled past on four occasions, suggesting that he struggled defensively during the game at Old Trafford.

Robertson also failed to win any of his five duels during the game, meaning he was the only outfield player from either team who started the game and didn’t win a single duel.

The £67.5 million-rated left-back also struggled when going forwards, as he lost possession on 11 occasions, played no key passes and failed to find a Liverpool shirt with any of his crosses.

For comparison, the Scottish defender has averaged 1.9 key passes per game in the Premier League this season, emphasising that United were able to completely nullify his attacking threat on Sunday afternoon.

Therefore, whilst Williams struggled, he is only 19-years-old and was thrown into a pressure situation by Klopp so it was always going to be tough for him, whereas Robertson has plenty of experience in these sorts of matches but he also produced a really poor display, one that Klopp would not have been expecting.

And, in other news… one ex-PL player suggests Klopp should try to re-sign this former Liverpool star…

Glasgow Rangers will return to action for the third time in the space of a week when they travel to Paisley to take on St. Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Wednesday afternoon.

Steven Gerrard faces some tough decisions as he will want to avenge their defeat to the Saints after their Betfred Cup exit earlier this month.

Despite this, the Ibrox boss is expected to rotate his squad, with Scott Arfield and Ryan Jack facing a race to prove their match fitness.

With that in mind, here is Football FanCast’s predicted starting line-up for this afternoon’s action, which sees Gerrard make four changes to the team that edged past Hibernian at Ibrox.

Arguably for the first time this campaign, Gerrard faces his toughest test yet as he will want to avoid a second defeat to John Goodwin’s side in the space of little more than a week.

The Light Blues will make the trip to Paisley and they’ll be desperate to continue their newfound momentum, having won three consecutive games in a row across all competitions.

Gerrard has a few injury concerns, with both Arfield and Jack unlikely to be available for selection, which means he is likely to make several adjustments from the side he selected for the 1-0 win over Hibs with a clash with Celtic on the horizon.

It’s too early to tell exactly which players will be in the firing line but he’s likely to bring Alfredo Morelos, Filip Helander, Calvin Bassey and Bongani Zungu back into the fold.

We reckon Allan McGregor will keep his place in goal behind a much-changed back four consisting of Bassey, Helander, Connor Goldson and James Tavernier, which will give Borna Barisic a break before the second Old Firm derby of the season.

As is often the case, Gerrard will stick with his preferred 4-3-3 formation and deploy a midfield three of Joe Aribo, Glen Kamara and Zungu, with Steven Davis dropping out to make room for the South Africa international midfielder.

Ryan Kent offered little against Hibs, so switching Ianis Hagi back to the left and sticking Kemar Roofe on the right-wing could prove to be a tempting option, while Morelos will most likely lead the line. Hagi previously played on the left flank against Lech Poznan in the Europa League, scoring a header after Cedric Itten opened the scoring.

Itten could be in contention to start but the Colombian star striker will no doubt be chomping at the bit to break his goal drought, as he has so failed to score since the 3-3 draw with Benfica in Lisbon last month.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers must unleash Calvin Bassey vs St. Mirren…

Fulham and Newcastle United have both been linked with a January move for Schalke midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, but the Cottagers must avoid signing him.

According to the Sunday Mirror (via Tribal Football), both clubs are taking an interest in the Algerian international ahead of the January transfer window.

The former Spurs man spent the second half of last season on loan with the Toon but struggled to have much impact whatsoever, averaging a disappointing 6.47 rating across his 12 appearances in the top-flight (per WhoScored).

His performances this season have been even worse, with the 26-year-old averaging a shocking 6.12 rating from his seven appearances in the Bundesliga so far this campaign.

The midfielder was dropped to Schalke’s U23 side last year for disciplinary reasons, whilst back in 2016, German newspaper Sports Bild (via Sport Witness) labelled the Algerian as a “slacker” and criticised his “arrogance”.

Therefore, it seems strange that Fulham may be considering a move for the 26-year-old, as he has clearly been a bad influence and a troublemaker at times during his spell with Schalke.

Since joining Die Königsblauen in a permanent deal in 2017, having spent the previous season on loan, he has managed just 105 appearances for the club, contributing 19 goals and nine assists (per Transfermarkt).

Whilst this isn’t the worst record, his transfer value in recent seasons has significantly decreased, suggesting that he is no longer the player he was in his early days with the Bundesliga side.

Fulham are arguably already well-stocked in central midfield, so adding the £3.6 million-rated Bentaleb would surely just give Scott Parker a selection headache.

As well as this, the 26-year-old’s contract with Schalke is set to expire at the end of the season, suggesting that it would also make no financial sense to sign him for a fee in January when they could potentially sign him on a free transfer at the end of the season.

Therefore, Tony Khan would do well to avoid signing Bentaleb, who earns €96k (£86k) per week at Schalke, in January, as there is very little to suggest that he would be a worthwhile addition to Parker’s squad.

And, in other news… one Fulham star badly let Scott Parker down against Manchester City…