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Rangers chief Ross Wilson has been told exactly how much it’ll cost to land one of Steven Gerrard’s top transfer targets this window…

What’s the word?

According to The Sun, the Scottish giants are looking to strike a deal with Preston North End for their playmaker Daniel Johnson before next month’s deadline.

Lilywhites boss Alex Neil has told Gers that they’ll have to make a “proper offer” before he’ll consider selling his star man – even though he has less than a year to run on his current contract.

The Daily Record believe a fee of around £4m could be enough to tempt the Championship outfit into a sale.

Bridges the gap?

Ten appears to be the magic number in Scotland this year with arch-rivals Celtic vying for a tenth successive title while it is the position in Gerrard’s starting XI that could challenge such prospects.

Rangers are crying out for that creative outlet sitting behind the striker that can cut defences apart with his vision and passing – and that’s what their top target Johnson would bring.

If you look at the Bhoys, they’ve got Ryan Christie, Olivier Ntcham and even James Forrest as solid number tens. That has been one major difference between the two teams in recent seasons.

The 27-year-old has been lauded as “one of the best” in the role by former teammate Chris Humphrey, he said:

“He is unbelievable and in that league he would be unreal. He’d be good for Rangers in Europe as well. He is excellent technically, scores goals and has pace. He drives forward with the ball and can play a pass. His all-round game is phenomenal.”

Johnson was integral to PNE’s fortunes last term as he delivered 12 goals and seven assists in the league whilst also averaging 1.7 tackles and 1.4 key passes per game, via WhoScored.

If the Ibrox outfit are to bridge the gap to Celtic anytime soon, then they must be making signings like this. It’s £4m that could prove to be game-changing.

Get it done, Wilson.

AND in other news, Reported £40k-per-week transfer target isn’t fit to lace Ryan Kent’s boots at Ibrox…

Everton must secure a positive outcome from crunch talks with rumoured Real Valladolid target Sandro Ramirez as the Toffees seek to mutually terminate the Spaniard’s contract.

What’s the word?

According to Fourth Official, Toffees chiefs are hoping the Merseyside outfit are able to reach an amicable solution with Sandro to terminate his £65,000-per-week contract having thus far failed to offload the 25-year-old this summer.

Sandro has spent most of the past three seasons away from Goodison Park on various loan deals after a string of managers decided the former Under 21 international was not up to the standards required to compete for minutes in Royal Blue.

The forward spent the 2019/20 campaign back in his native Spain with Real Valladolid, for whom he struck home four goals in 26 outings across all competitions. Nevertheless, the Jose Zorilla Stadium natives are understood to be keen on re-signing Sandro providing he arrives as a free agent.

Elche CF, SD Huesca and “especially” SD Eibar are also thought to be interested in the £2.88m-rated forward’s availability, although their hopes are likewise dependent on Everton agreeing to terminate Sandro’s contract.

A move now seems entirely dependent on Sandro accepting Everton’s offer of becoming a free agent, likely alongside a lucrative pay-off to end what has been a horror move for a deal once considered “ideal”.

Sandro’s “ideal” English adventure

Sandro lauded his move to Everton as the “ideal” destination in 2017 after the Blues agreed to trigger the £5.25m release clause in his Malaga contract, but the move has been nothing but a horror show since.

“I’m very happy, this is a big step in my career,” Sandro said, via quotes by AS. “I know I’m signing for a massive club in England.

“Everton is the ideal place for me, I’ve got the ideal manager who is going to keep giving me the confidence to improve my game.”

In three years, Sandro has managed to record just 16 appearances for the Toffees, with the last of which coming during an EFL Cup tie in August 2018 after returning from the first of what became many loan spells.

Everton fans have also only bore witness to a single goal from the Spaniard’s boots when he struck a consolation effort during a 5-1 defeat at home to Atalanta in the 2017/18 Europa League Group Stage.

Failing to score elsewhere – with his four goals for Real Valladolid his only achieved whilst out on loan in two-and-a-half-years – has ensured no suitors are willing to pay Everton for Sandro’s services, and the Blues must now strike an agreement to end the striker’s association with Goodison Park this summer.

AND in other news, Everton are warming to the idea of sending a rarely-seen man away from Goodison Park.

West Bromwich Albion’s disastrous start to life in the Premier League continued as they were well-beaten by Southampton at the St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

It’s just one point from their opening four matches, meaning Slaven Bilic’s side are toying with the prospect of being early favourites for relegation and an instant return to the Championship.

Going by reports in the press, the Croatian feels that he needs a new striker in the form of Karlan Grant, who they have been pursuing for several months now but he’s hardly going to be the answer to all of the Baggies’ woes.

The Midlands outfit have leaked a whopping 13 goals already – that’s currently the most in the Premier League. Their backline does not look fit for a top-flight campaign whatsoever.

And one name displayed that during the Saints defeat.

Kyle Bartley was particularly poor with Bilic keeping the faith in the 29-year-old despite swapping a back three for Albion’s old 4-2-3-1 system.

Per SofaScore, the Englishman managed to lose 84% of his six duels whilst also losing possession 12 times, committing two fouls and recording a wasteful passing accuracy of 63%.

It’s no wonder the Saints peppered Sam Johnstone with 13 shots, eight of which coming from inside the box, which suggests Bartley wasn’t doing his job.

Grant may well come in and score goals but having the likes of Bartley and Semi Ajayi as your centre-backs all season could prove very costly.

When you’re letting in an average of over three goals per game, questions have to be asked defensively – splashing around £18m on Grant is risky business as it leaves the Baggies’ bank empty for any further reinforcements at the back.

That could well be the deciding factor come to the end of the season for Albion.

AND in other news, West Brom have dodged a bullet with one mooted transfer target…

Some Glasgow Rangers fans are livid as Dundee have been given a 3-0 victory in the Scottish League Cup.

The Championship side were set to play Forfar Athletic in the group stage of the competition on Tuesday evening but the match was called off in the build-up after one of Forfar’s players contracted Covid-19. As a result, they informed the SPFL that they were unable to fulfill the fixture, which led to Dundee being given a 3-0 win.

This was one of two matches that ended in such a manner, with Kilmarnock’s clash versus Falkirk also unable to be played. It is important to mention that this is only the first round of the competition.

These Rangers supporters, it seems, were absolutely perplexed as to why this decision was taken, and they also seem to fear for the rest of the competition. They took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below:

‘Gers fans, should the matches in question have been awarded as 3-0 results? Let us know what you think by commenting below!

West Bromwich Albion’s search for their first win back in the big time rumbles on after playing out the Premier League’s first 0-0 stalemate of the season against Burnley on Monday evening.

Baggies boss Slaven Bilic somewhat made a statement with his team selection, dropping both Semi Ajayi and Kyle Bartley for the experienced duo of Ahmed Hegazi and Branislav Ivanovic.

Romaine Sawyers was also dropped whilst late summer addition Karlan Grant made his debut.

There was even a return for Darnell Furlong at right-back despite Dara O’Shea’s recent debut outing for Ireland, but the 24-year-old failed to repay the faith put in him with a disappointing display at the Hawthorns.

Albion largely dominated the game, raking in 56% possession and 13 shots to the Claret’s nine, though the visitors had the richer chances in front of goal.

And even though they kept their first clean sheet of the campaign, Furlong was particularly wasteful.

He lost possession a whopping 30 times, considering he was up against the exciting Dwight McNeil, this could have ended poorly for the Baggies whilst Furlong also landed just one accurate cross from seven attempts, committed one foul and made only 64% of his passes, via SofaScore.

On a different day, or against a more lethal player like Sadio Mane or Raheem Sterling, he’d have certainly been punished for his mistakes.

This was backed up by BirminghamLive’s review – they graded him a 6/10 and said: “McNeil had a lot of space down the left in the first half and Albion’s centre halves had to cut out crosses that came from the flank, but going forwards Furlong gave as good as he got. Deliveries were often disappointing.”

Furlong was dropped for the Southampton defeat but his performance here fails to prove why he should be trusted over O’Shea going into Monday’s tie with Brighton & Hove Albion.

He’s way more suited to playing as a wing-back, which this four-at-the-back system does not account for.

AND in other news, Baggies may have unearthed the next Shane Long in their “bull of a number nine”…

Southampton have boasted some excellent business over the summer after welcoming the likes of Ibrahima Diallo and Theo Walcott over the threshold. They also did well to keep hold of some of their key players, including Danny Ings, who was heavily linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur.

Another senior ace they retained in 2020 was Oriol Romeu, who was close to signing for Celta Vigo back in January. According to Sky Sports, the La Liga outfit were looking to strike a deal worth £8.5million to bring the Spaniard back to his homeland. However, between Ralph Hasenhuttl and Martin Semmens, the decision was made to keep the midfielder at St Mary’s.

Smart business to keep Romeu

Despite being guaranteed some profit after initially signing Romeu for £5million, the Saints were adamant the 29-year-old’s future was on the south coast. Indeed, it appears as though he is already showing his appreciation to Hasenhuttl with his performances this season.

The addition of Diallo potentially threatened Romeu’s position in the team, but since the Frenchman arrived at Southampton, the ante has been upped.

Romeu has limited the newcomer to just seven minutes of Premier League action so far. Diallo made two cameo appearances against Chelsea and Everton, limited to minor substitute impact as Hasenhuttl continues to favour his Spaniard. His decision is certainly warranted as well.

Southampton are flying at the moment are have already caused upset to league leaders Everton. They currently sit just two points outside of the top four after an extremely impressive start. Romeu has contributed to the Saints’ fine form, starting every game so far and keeping three clean sheets. He has also opened up his scoring account for the campaign, netting against West Brom in a 2-0 win (via Transfermarkt).

If they can keep up their winning ways, it’s more than likely that the midfielder will be rewarded with new terms. As it stands, Romeu earns £65,000 per week and is into the final 12 months of his current deal. A lucrative new contract could be on the horizon for the man that continues to elbow out Hasenhuttl’s new 21-year-old signing.

In other news, Ralph Hasenhuttl will be wishing Dusan Tadic was still at Southampton…

They do say a leopard never changes its spots, and that arguably doesn’t ring any truer than for Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce.

The veteran boss has been in the business for more than a couple of decades now, and clearly has his way of managing and style of play built up over the years.

So even despite the Magpies’ attacking struggles this season – they have managed a shocking ten goals in nine Premier League games – it was no surprise that the two-week international break didn’t result in anything different on Saturday afternoon against Chelsea.

It was simply more of the same drab football that has undoubtedly sent Newcastle fans to either sleep or meltdown. As things stand, the Magpies rank bottom for shots on goal (eight per game), shots on target (2.3 per game), and third-worst for possession (41.9%).

The pressure has surely gone up a notch on Bruce, but according to Luke Edwards’ latest update on the Newcastle boss, that may not actually be the case.

It’s suggested that despite the growing fan unrest, Bruce retains the full backing of the Newcastle hierarchy, and that both Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley are “far more appreciate” of the work he has done amid cuts to the transfer budget.

Sure, the club’s failed takeover meant there was no massive warchest or £100m plus spending splurge over the summer. But they did manage to bring in some very shrewd, exciting additions in the likes of Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser and Jamal Lewis. All Premier League proven, and capable of playing in teams who play front-football given their respective history with Bournemouth and Norwich.

What Bruce has done is shackle Newcastle’s attacking talent into his structure, and not the other way. If the argument before was that the Magpies just didn’t have the players to play more offensively, then that has gone out of the window with their recent additions.

The likes of Wilson, Fraser, Miguel Almiron and Allan Saint-Maximin all have pace, energy and movement. Everything the Premier League is completely set up for. Bruce’s stubbornness and unwillingness to change are costing Newcastle big time. And the fact Ashley is on board with everything is only setting the club up for yet more misery.

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic may soon not be the only one facing a dubious future at the Hawthorns.

Summer loan signing Conor Gallagher has taken to top-flight football like a duck to water and continued to impress this week when appearing for England U21s.

The young Three Lions side defeated Andorra 3-1 to move further afield at the top of their u21 European Championship qualification campaign, going ten points clear in Group 3.

Gallagher played the full 90 minutes and excelled in a box-to-box role.

Per SofaScore, the 20-year-old recorded the most touches of any non-defender (97), recorded three interceptions, two tackles and one key pass. Gallagher also made 90% of his passes, had a 100% dribble success rate and was unlucky to not get on the scoresheet with four shots.

Over in the Premier League, the Chelsea man is averaging a whopping five tackles per game, which is the highest of any player in the top-flight right now – more than Everton’s Allan, Leeds’ Kavin Phillips and Spurs enforcer Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

It surely is only a matter of time before Blues boss Frank Lampard takes a proper look at his academy sensation as we know, he isn’t afraid to use youth despite bolstering the squad with mega-money additions.

The likes of Reece James, Mason Mount and Tammy Abraham have all become regular options under his stewardship. Maybe Gallager is next? His loan spell at Charlton last season was cut short, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a similar clause in his deal at the Baggies.

It led to Addicks boss Lee Bowyer labelling the midfielder a “jewel” that was “impossible to replace.”

Such sentiments have already been echoed in the Midlands with Albion skipper Jake Livermore also waxing lyrical over the young enigma, he said: “His energy levels and quality in training every day is a steal for us and I’m tipping him to be a top, top player.”

Bilic must make the most of Gallagher whilst he still has him. His form has been immense but that should be a major concern to the faltering Baggies, without him after January would make them ten times weaker.

AND in other news, Slaven Bilic must axe underperforming £46k-p/w West Brom man…

According to Football Insider, Southampton are interested in Exeter City youngster Jack Veale.

Veale eyed by Hasenhuttl

It seems that the Saints are set for a Premier League transfer battle for the 18-year-old. Brighton are also interested in the teenager, it would appear, and the two sides are the leading the hunt ahead of the January transfer window.

Veale was in action on Wednesday for Exeter in the FA Youth Cup and netted twice in a 3-1 victory.

Next Ollie Watkins

Inevitably, Veale has been compared to arguably the most famous Exeter youth product in recent years, Ollie Watkins. After 26 goals in 78 games for the club, the striker joined Brentford, where he netted 25 times in 46 matches in the Championship last term.

That form saw him sold to Aston Villa during the summer, with the Villans paying a club-record fee of £28m for his services. He has already hit the ground running in the Premier League as well, netting six times in nine games.

If Veale can go on to achieve anything like what Watkins has done so far, then he could be a very interesting purchase for the Saints. And given his age, he wouldn’t set them back too much at the moment. This is definitely a low risk high reward type of deal Ralph Hasenhuttl and co should seriously consider.

In other news, Southampton fans are delighted by this huge development.

Crystal Palace were at times outfought and outwitted by Tottenham Hotspur on their own home turf, but Roy Hodgson’s side refused to give up all hope on Sunday afternoon.

Once again, they were undone by Harry Kane, who has now scored three goals in his past six games against the Eagles.

But Jeffrey Schlupp bundled in a late Eagles equaliser to deny Tottenham the victory ahead of their Premier League clash at Liverpool on Wednesday.

Hodgson confirmed new summer recruit Nathan Ferguson was ruled out due to injury, but that does little to hide from the fact that former Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne was a total liability in his position instead.

We said just this week that the stage was set for Clyne to make a real statement, but he failed to grasp the opportunity with both hands. His market value is estimated at £7.2m via Transfermarkt though there has been so far very little evidence to show for such a valuation.

Nor his reported £80k-per-week wages.

SofaScore graded the 29-year-old as one of the worst Palace players on the pitch with a lowly 6.6 rating – he lost possession 13 times, failed to register a single interception, made just one tackle and provided a pathetic 63% of his 24 attempted passes.

Clyne received a 5/10 rating from 90min, who claimed ‘most of Spurs’ attacks came down Clyne’s side, and the right-back just couldn’t deal with it’, whilst football.london were equally scathing in their assessment, insisting ‘Spurs’ width occasionally caused problems in the first half.’

That’s not to say the former England international has been necessarily bad per se, but he was uncharacteristically lacklustre with his teammates Christian Benteke and Eberechi Eze managing more passes on their own.

We can’t quite work out why he played the full 90′ minutes, save for the fact that Hodgson is short of options at the moment, although Joel Ward was left as an unused substitute on the bench.

With a trip to West Ham next on the agenda, perhaps the Portsmouth academy graduate could come back into the starting line-up.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace can’t afford to lose Christian Benteke amid interest from Club Brugge…