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Glasgow Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson completed a mini squad overhaul in the summer transfer window as a number of players arrived at Ibrox.

The Light Blues chief brought in Ridvan Yilmaz, Antonio Colak, Tom Lawrence, Malik Tillman, John Souttar, Rabbi Matondo, and Ben Davies to bolster the team, after Gio van Bronckhorst’s side failed to win the Premiership title last season.

Rangers did, however, reach the final of the UEFA Europa League, losing to Eintracht Frankfurt on penalties in the final, and their performances in Europe led to interest in a couple of their stars.

Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey were both snapped up by teams over the summer as Southampton and Dutch giants Ajax respectively swooped for them.

The latter left for a club-record fee as Sky Sports reported that Ajax paid an initial fee of £19.6m, with add-ons that could see it rise to £22.7m.

Bassey averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.96 across 28 appearances in the Premiership and a score of 6.90 in 14 Europa League outings for the Light Blues last season.

His excellent displays for the club in 2021/22 came after he averaged a score of 6.85 in the Scottish top-flight across eight matches and 6.80 in three European games during his first campaign in Glasgow.

Van Bronckhorst could now unearth the Gers’ next valuable talent, like Bassey, by helping central defender Leon King to fulfill his potential at Ibrox.

Fabrizio Romano claimed that Manchester United, Newcastle, and Leeds have all been scouting the youngster this season and their interest in his signature suggests that he has the scope to become a big asset for the club.

Former Gers defender Alan Hutton heaped praise on the 18-year-old gem earlier this year. He told Football Insider:

“I think when I did watch him last season, he was like a big Rolls-Royce, very elegant on the ball. He came out, kept possession and looked very comfortable for someone of such a young age.”

King has played ten matches in the Premiership this season and averaged a SofaScore rating of 6.84, completing 89% of his attempted passes and winning 56% of his individual duels.

This shows that he is performing at a similar level to how Bassey played during his first season in the top-flight, despite being two years younger than the Nigerian international was at the time.

If the Scottish enforcer is already nearly matching the now-Ajax gem’s performances whilst being two years behind the ex-Leicester man in his development then imagine how good he could be after another couple of seasons of experience at Rangers.

Therefore, King – who played six times in the Champions League this term – could have the potential to become van Bronckhorst’s next £22.7m talent as he is already attracting Premier League interest and catching the eye in the Premiership at the age of 18.

It is now down to him to kick on and develop in the same way that Bassey did during his second campaign with the club, in order to convince other teams to splash out big money on him.

Leeds United midfielder Mateusz Klich has been backed to make a move away from Elland Road during the upcoming January window by transfer expert Dean Jones. 

The Lowdown: Klich’s season so far

So far this season, Klich has appeared in 11 of Leeds’ 14 Premier League games, but has yet to find himself in a starting XI.

The summer arrivals of Marc Roca and Tyler Adams seem to have pushed the 32-year-old down the pecking order under Jesse Marsch, with those two players being regular figures in the team.

With Klich missing out on a place in Poland’s squad for the World Cup in Qatar, this has led to Jones claiming that a January exit from Elland Road could be on the cards for the player.

The Latest: Klich backed for January departure

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones had this to say on Klich current situation and what the future may hold for him.

He said: “It makes sense that he would probably be annoyed at the moment, particularly over the fact that he hasn’t made it to the World Cup with Poland.

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“That’ll be playing on his mind once they return to action too. I think Klich could be one that goes in January.”

The Verdict: Leeds should keep hold of Klich in January

Given the lack of league starts for Klich this season, it’s easy to see why Jones thinks the player may want to leave the club in January.

Across the 11 substitute appearances he’s made this season, the Polish international has still managed to win seven tackles, which is one more than Brenden Aaronson, who has played significantly more minutes than Klich.

This highlights the use the veteran has for the team and why we feel they shouldn’t consider letting him go in January.

Should the likes of Roca or Adams pick up an injury at any point throughout the rest of the season, Klich would provide a suitable option for Marsch to call upon.

Also, with his current contract at Elland Road set to expire in 2024, it may be better for the club to wait until the end of this season, so they’d be able to cash in on him if he wants to leave and not sign a new deal.

Manchester City would be the “obvious landing spot” for Lionel Messi if he was to depart the French Champions at the end of his contract in the summer.

The Lowdown: The unthinkable?

In wake of Barcelona’s financial blunders, the Argentine, who is currently representing his country at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, put pen to paper on a 2-year deal with PSG back in the summer of 2021. 

The first season appeared to be a challenging transition for the 35-year-old, despite his haul of 20 attacking returns from 26 appearances in the form of six goals and 14 assists in Ligue 1 – testament to the exceedingly high expectations set in Spain.

Just a couple of years ago, hardly anyone would have predicted Messi to switch teams, yet it happened. 

The new scenario could be Messi plying his trade in the Premier League.

His contract set to expire in 2023 and with the Argentine still performing exceptionally, it is now a move that cannot really be ruled out.

The Latest: City or nothing

According to transfer reporter Dean Jones, if Messi is to make the “mooted’ switch to England’s top flight, a reunion with former boss Pep Guardiola at Manchester City would be the “obvious landing spot.”

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones said:  “We’d all love to see Messi in the Premier League, and it’s been mooted for years that it could happen.

“If it was to happen then Man City and Pep is the most obvious landing spot.”

The Verdict: As realistic as ever

Despite the fact that Messi is now well into his thirties, the megastar is showing glimpses of his old self, registering a sensational return of 17 goal contributions across 13 Ligue 1 games in the form of seven goals and 10 assists. 

There are certainly no signs of slowing down just yet, so a move to England cannot be ruled out, especially with his contract ticking down.

This is the safest move that £670k-per-week Messi can make if he wants to ply his trade in England.

It would arguably be a more seamless transition than the bed in period he endured in France, with Pep’s tiki-taka, mass-possession style suiting the Argentine icon down to a tee, with both cut from the same Barcelona cloth.

Wolverhampton Wanderers were linked with Dominik Livakovic in 2021 and after such an impressive start to the World Cup in Qatar, the Old Gold might regret not bringing him to Molineux.

It was suggested last year that the Croatian shot-stopper could be the man to replace Rui Patricio as he completed a move to Italy to join Jose Mourinho’s Roma but, in the end, Wolves would sign Jose Sa.

While the Portugal international was a big hit at Molineux last season, his performances have dropped significantly so far this campaign, with him currently underperforming on his expected goals against, while Livakovic continues to stand out as one of the top goalkeepers outside of Europe’s top leagues.

The 27-year-old scores above the 90th percentile for his shot-stopping ability, save percentage and goal kicks when compared to other ‘keepers in Europe, which emphasises how good he is with both his hands and his feet.

After helping Croatia through to the knockout stages after clean sheets against Morocco and Belgium, Livakovic proved to be the “hero” in Zlatko Dalic’s side on Monday as they beat Japan on penalties to set up a quarter-final game against Brazil.

During normal and extra time, the Dinamo Zagreb man would contribute three saves, one punch and one high claim, as he regularly thwarted Japan’s dangerous attacks.

However, his status as Croatia’s hero was confirmed during the penalty shootout, as he saved three out of four penalties, denying Takumi Minamino, Kaoru Mitoma and Maya Yoshida to send the Vatreni through to the next round.

Sofascore would award Livakovic a hugely impressive 8.1/10 rating for his performance, which ranked him as the best Croatian and second-best overall player on the pitch, which emphasises just how important he was in Dalic’s side progress in Qatar.

The Croatia manager was unsurprisingly full of praise for his goalkeeper following the game, saying:

“We had a fantastic goalkeeper. Today he was great, he saved each of the penalties in a very strong and stable manner.

“We practised penalties in training yesterday and he made several saves. When he had the penalty shootout today I was assured, yesterday he installed this confidence and I was sure he would show that capacity today.”

Livakovic’s value is certain to shoot through the roof after his impressive displays in Qatar and Wolves may rue not bringing the £15k-per-week star to the Premier League if he earns a big move next year and continues to shine.

A claim has emerged on Tottenham Hotspur defender Ben Davies and his availability to face Brentford later this month…

What’s the latest?

Reliable journalist Alaisdar Gold of football.london delivered an “update” on the defender’s injury situation with a link to his article explaining that the centre-back has suffered a blow.

The report claims that the Welsh international injured a muscle in his stomach whilst representing his country at the World Cup in Qatar, as he was substituted in the 59th minute of Wales’ 3-0 defeat to England in their final group match.

Davies is now expected to be out for around four weeks, which makes him a big doubt for the club’s return to Premier League action after Christmas.

Frustration for Antonio Conte

This update will surely leave the Italian coach feeling frustrated as he is now set to be without one of his first-team regulars for the clash with the Bees.

Tottenham face Brentford, Aston Villa, and Crystal Palace between the 26th of December and the 4th of January and it remains to be seen whether or not the defender will be fit enough to feature in any of those matches.

His absence would be a big blow for the manager as the Welsh international has been a key player for the club in the Premier League so far this season.

Davies has averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.94 in the top-flight and that places him seventh in the squad, ahead of the likes of Richarlison, Hugo Lloris, and Ivan Perisic and level with Christian Romero.

He has started 11 matches in the division and scored two goals, whilst making 1.6 tackles and interceptions per game and helping the side to keep four clean sheets.

This comes after he started 28 times in the Premier League last season and kept 11 shutouts at the back, averaging a Sofascore rating of 6.88 for Spurs.

The former Swansea left-back has nailed down his place in Conte’s team on the left side of a back three, moving into a centre-back role instead of at wing-back, and his aforementioned statistics show that he has been thriving since the start of last season.

Davies is, therefore, a key player for Tottenham as he is one of their top performers and is a proven Premier League performer, which is why Conte should be frustrated by this injury blow. The head coach should now be hoping that the gem can make a quick recovery and be available heading into the new year.

Newcastle United are enjoying a phenomenal start to their Premier League season and are currently third in the table.

Eddie Howe will be thrilled at the rapid progress his team has made since joining the club just over 12 months ago, when they were in the relegation zone at this stage of the season. However, the manager will be keen to emulate the displays from their first 15 league outings over the remainder of the campaign.

Newcastle are still involved in both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup alongside attempting to maintain their Champions League qualifying berth inside the top four of the Premier League, so acquiring the services of some new additions in January could be the perfect opportunity for Howe to strengthen.

It has been reported by 90min this week that Newcastle remain keen on bolstering their wide forward positions, with Ukraine and Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk named as one of the players that the club have been monitoring over the last six months.

The talented forward has been attracting attention from a number of elite clubs for his form this season with Arsenal, Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, so if Newcastle hold genuine interest, they will need to come up with a tempting offer to fend off their competitors.

In 44 appearances for Shakhtar, the 21-year-old – who was dubbed “impressive” by Thierry Henry – has scored 12 goals and registered 17 assists with a goal contribution every 83 minutes, proving that he is a very consistent and reliable threat in the final third.

In terms of this season alone, Mudryk has been stealing the spotlight in the Champions League with his influential performances which have offered much more than just goal contributions.

Across six appearances in the competition, the £86m-valued dynamo has created one big chance and tallied an 81% pass completion rate, along with averaging one tackle, 42.8 touches, 1.7 successful dribbles and 4.2 successful duels per game. Those statistics further highlight his ability to get into positions to win the ball and offer a huge presence on the pitch.

Newcastle could even land their next David Ginola with the signing of Mudryk, as just like the former Magpies winger, the Ukrainian youngster uses his creativity and hard-working attitude to get the ball into dangerous positions for his forward team-mates, and he isn’t afraid to take on opponents to gain possession of the ball.

The signing of Mudryk would be a major coup for the Magpies if they pull it off, and he could be a great asset not just over the second half of the season but also a player for the future at St James’ Park.

Tottenham Hotspur are ‘ready to open negotiations’ for Fiorentina star Sofyan Amrabat as sources from Italy share Spurs’ chances of signing him.

The Lowdown: Paratici interested…

Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici is thought to hold a serious interest in signing the Morocco international, who played a starring role in the African side’s run to this year’s World Cup semi-finals.

The Premier League side are eyeing a move for Amrabat after his brilliant individual campaign in Qatar, but they’re not the only ones, with Liverpool also thought to be in the mix.

Antonio Conte is tasked with clinching a second-successive top four finish for Spurs and potentially silverware, highlighting the need for quality reinforcements ahead of January.

The Latest: Spurs ready Amrabat talks…

Italian reports now share Paratici’s chances of signing the 26-year-old next month as the club prepare to enter discussions.

La Repubblica claim the north Londoners are in fact ‘ready to open negotiations’ for Amrabat with Spurs, and Paratici by extension, ‘trying’ to make a move.

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Fiorentina, it appears, are very reluctant to sell mid-season but an offer of ‘at least’ £44 million could sway them.

The Verdict: Right man?

There is little denying Amrabat’s quality given he has emerged as one of this World Cup’s breakout stars, with footballer Jamie Smith calling him ‘sensational’.

However, Conte already has many quality options in central midfield, including Rodrigo Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Yves Bissouma and Oliver Skipp – making the need for another body questionable.

Instead, perhaps Paratici should focus his efforts on the signing of a central defender or further attacking options to support the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Richarlison.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a potential blow in their bid to bring Alexis Mac Allister to north London in the January transfer window.

What’s the latest?

In a recent interview with BBC Sport, Brighton & Hove Albion chief executive Paul Barber revealed that, despite the reported interest of Spurs and a number of other big European sides, he is hoping to keep a hold of the central midfielder for a number of years – something that would suggest the Seagulls are unlikely to sanction the 23-year-old’s sale this winter.

Regarding the interest in the Argentina international, Barber said: “He will be sought after, we’re very aware of that, but we hope to keep him here as long as we can.

“Of course, when staff and players do well, as we’ve seen in the last few months, they do attract the interest of other big clubs.These are clubs that are wealthier and have the chance to give players a new level, we understand that and we’re not naive to that.

“All we can do is protect ourselves the best we can through the contracts and hope we can hold on to the player for as long as possible, but this is a young man who has just won the World Cup at 23 and set up arguably one of the most iconic goals in World Cup history.”

“Golden boy”

Considering just how impressive Mac Allister has been for both Brighton and Argentina this season, the argument that Fabio Paratici simply must launch a move for the midfielder in January, regardless of Barber’s latest comments, is an extremely easy one to make.

Indeed, over his 14 Premier League appearances in the current campaign, the £35m-rated talent has been in exceptional attacking form, having already scored five goals and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.9 shots, making 0.9 key passes and completing 0.6 dribbles per game.

The 23-year-old has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 3.1 tackles – the joint ninth-most in the league – 1.4 interceptions and winning 5.8 duels – at a success rate of 59% – per fixture, in addition to enjoying an average of 72.9 touches, playing 2.2 long balls and completing 51.1 passes – at a success rate of 89% – per match.

These returns have seen the starlet who Barber dubbed “incredible” average a remarkable Sofascore match rating of 7.31, not only ranking him as Brighton’s best performer in the league but also as the 10th-best player in the English top flight as a whole.

However, it was undoubtedly Mac Allister’s extraordinary performances during Argentina’s World Cup-winning campaign in Qatar that catapulted the youngster into the upper echelon of midfield talents.

Arguably his best display in the competition came in the final, with the £50k-per-week starlet enjoying 76 touches of the ball, completing 44 of his 52 attempted passes and providing the assist for Ángel Di María’s goal, as well as making one tackle, one clearance, blocking one shot and winning eight duels.

These returns not only saw the 23-year-old earn a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.4, but they also saw the midfielder come in for a considerable amount of praise, with Fentuo Tahiru Fentuo dubbing the 23-year-old both “fabulous” and “unreal” in the final, while Ryan Adsett labelled the talent a “golden boy” and Argentina’s “star-man” after the match.

As such, it would indeed appear an extremely wise move for Paratici to launch a move for the Brighton wonderkid this winter, as Mac Allister has more than proven that he can perform on the very biggest stage world football has to offer – while he would also quite clearly make an exceptional addition to Antonio Conte’s current options in the heart of midfield.

Chelsea have held ‘internal talks’ regarding a move for Celtic defender Josip Juranovic in January, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.

The Lowdown: World Cup hero

The Croatian was one of the standout performers for his country at the World Cup, and his performances in Qatar have caught the eye of multiple potential suitors ahead of the winter market.

Unnamed Premier League clubs, along with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, have all been credited with an interest in the right-back, and it sounds like the Blues could well be one of the mystery outfits in pursuit of the 27-year-old.

The Latest: Chelsea hold Juranovic talks

Taking to Twitter, Sheth revealed that the Blues have held internal discussions over the possibility of a deal for Juranovic, though will also continue looking at other candidates in that position.

“Chelsea one of a number of clubs looking at Celtic right-back Josip Juranovic. Told internal talks have taken place at Chelsea to assess right-back options as they wait for the full extent of Reece James’ injury.”

The Verdict: James replacement

James has since been ruled out of action for a further four weeks in another massive injury blow, so Juranovic would be the perfect replacement and alternative even after he returns.

The Hoops star has posted nine goal contributions during his time north of the border and is currently averaging 1.6 key passes per league game.

Dubbed a ‘beautiful’ footballer by Josh Bunting, the Zagreb native putting pen to paper at Stamford Bridge would be a massive coup for Graham Potter and Todd Boehly.

Celtic defender Alistair Johnston was not good enough in the build-up to the first goal conceded by the Hoops in Monday’s Old Firm clash, says John Hartson.

The Lowdown: Old Firm draw

After only joining Celtic in December, the 24-year-old made his long-awaited Bhoys debut with Ange Postecoglou throwing him straight in at the earliest opportunity in the Old Firm.

The right-back played the full 90 minutes of the 2-2 draw at Ibrox as Celtic maintained their nine-point gap at the top of the SPFL thanks to a late Kyogo Furuhashi equaliser after the Hoops had surrendered a 1-0 lead.

The Latest: Hartson’s unhappiness

However, former Celtic striker Hartson was left unhappy with the Canadian’s defending for the hosts’ equaliser from Ryan Kent, who easily created space to whip a shot around the defender when facing him up one-on-one.

Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show, Hartson said: “It’s a brilliantly taken goal, but if you’re Alistair Johnston, you send him down the left side on his, I say weaker foot, he’s strong on his left side as well.

“He’s cut inside on his favoured right foot, you know what he’s going to do, you know he’s going to try and bend in that far corner beyond Joe Hart, and I just felt from a defensive point of view, it was too easy. I think Alistair Johnston should have done better, should’ve got closer.

“But listen, from Rangers’ point of view, from Ryan Kent’s, he’ll probably think that’s a wonderful goal, and it is a wonderful piece of skill, but defensively, I think you’ve got to get closer there to stop that.”

The Verdict: Had to be tighter

There couldn’t have been a tougher opposition to face on your debut with the unforgiving nature of the Old Firm swallowing up anyone who isn’t 100% at it.

Despite him faring okay on his debut, there was perhaps some naivety from Postecoglou who perhaps should’ve opted to start Josip Juranovic who was eventually introduced at left-back – although he had only recently returned from the World Cup and was rather forced on through Greg Taylor’s injury.

Nevertheless, Johnston wasn’t brave enough to get in the face of Kent and possibly too concerned about making a mistake and giving a potential penalty away on his debut if he dived in.

Kent instead used the 24-year-old as a screen to curl his shot around him and leave Joe Hart helpless, with the goal costing Celtic the lead and potentially three points.

Over the course of the match, Johnston lost the ball 17 times and lost four of his 10 duels, however, he did manage 88 touches, five tackles and an 85% passing accuracy (Sofascore), so we don’t feel this will define his performance nor the start of his Celtic career.