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Gary Mabbutt has told Football FanCast that some fans do not appreciate the magnitude of Tottenham Hotspur signing Gareth Bale.

The Wales international is slowly returning to full fitness and seems to have unlocked some of the form that saw him become one of the best players in world football in recent weeks.

Bale scored twice at the weekend as Spurs put Burnley to the sword in a 4-0 thumping, a performance that came on the back of a brilliant match-altering cameo against West Ham United, and a goalscoring substitute appearance versus Wolfsberger.

It has taken some time for him to become an undisputed starter, as his start against Burnley was only his third in the league.

But Mabbutt believes he is a terrific player, and thinks he is still underappreciated by certain sections of the support.

Indeed, he feels that the influence of the Real Madrid man will be felt more keenly in the dressing room at times than on the pitch itself.

Speaking exclusively to FFC, the former Spurs captain said: “Well, of course, I think from when Gareth was first signed, I think at times, people don’t actually appreciate just the signing of Gareth Bale.

“I think the impact it had on the dynamics within the dressing room, it made the players believe that the club wants to go places. It made the players believe that they’re now in a dressing room with a world class player.”

Bale is no longer the fresh-faced kid that made his debut for Spurs back in the 2000s, but Mabbutt has insisted he is still a youngster!

There is an element of humour in that, of course, but Mabbutt says he played his final game when he was approaching 37.

He added: “And in a lot of discussions about him, that he’s 31 years of age, he’s still a youngster. In my last game, the Spurs just going up to 37, so with all due respect I think he is a fantastic player.”

Bale struggled to force his way into the team at times at Real, particularly towards the end of his stint, as he made 12 starts in La Liga, and Mabbutt believes that set him back initially.

He added: “I think his time at Real Madrid this last time, with pressures from the manager and the manager not wanting to use him, I think that set him back quite a lot. Certainly for match fitness, game fitness. He arrived to us with an injury. But even though we knew that he couldn’t play for the first like, yeah, three or four weeks, our raising in our performances throughout the whole team was immense.”

Former Scotland international Alan Hutton believes that Celtic appointing a new sporting director could turn out to be a “disaster.”

Warning issued to Celtic

This comes after Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph claimed that the Hoops are looking to appoint someone who has experience in the role, with the likes of David Webb, Fergal Harkin and Matteo Tognozzi being considered for the position.

Reports back in January suggested that the Parkhead club are due to undergo a mass overhaul in the summer, with transfer guru Nick Hammond and recruitment chief Gary Penrice set to follow Neil Lennon out the exit door.

Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton reacted to the prospect of Celtic bringing a sporting director in but also sent a warning to the club.

“It seems to be going that way,” he said. “It takes a little bit of pressure, I think, off the manager and most teams are doing it.

“It doesn’t always work out. I think it has to be a solid relationship between the manager and the sporting director. If they’re pushing in different directions it is always going to end in disaster.

“It’ll work if they can get somebody there who gets on well with the manager. If they’ve got the same ideas, same philosophy, same way of moving the team forward.

“It’s as simple as that. I understand why they’re doing it and it just seems to be the way that football’s going at the moment.”

Transfer Tavern Verdict

We think the club should follow the path that the former Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers suggested – bringing in a Director of Football.

But Hutton is right – Celtic could be in danger of repeating the recruitment mistakes that have been made during the 2020/21 campaign if they do not make the right selection.

With the new chief executive Dominic McKay set to start his new role in the summer, time will tell whether Hutton’s warnings are heeded.

In other news, Alan Hutton predicts Celtic boardroom chief will ‘lose his job.’

When a new Astroturf pitch was built at Wolves’ Compton Academy in 2019, it didn’t mean a great deal, certainly at first glance.

Though, the money that financed such a development came courtesy of the undisclosed fee paid for a Portuguese player at Wolves.

You can take your pick from the plethora of Iberian stars plying their trade at Molineux but this was one who’d made just a solitary appearance for the first-team; a man who replaced Elliot Watt in a Carabao Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday.

It’s fair to say that none of this can be counted as a landmark moment. Yet in the process of selling the Portuguese sensation, Wolves have arguably made a mistake.

The man in question, of course, is Pedro Goncalves. He was a star for the U23 team that won Premier League 2 and under Rob Edwards’ stewardship, was “outstanding” in the words of the Wolves coach.

Clearly, he wasn’t good enough at that time to earn a better deal in the Midlands. He departed for Famalicao and then joined Sporting Lisbon last summer.

Since then, he’s been dubbed the new Bruno Fernandes and has now been linked with a £50m move to none other than Liverpool. This is a classic tale of transfer woe for Wolves. They have let a diamond slip through the net and judging by their performances this season, they should regret it.

Losing Diogo Jota to Liverpool last summer was far from ideal, but in Pedro Neto they have someone capable of replacing him. They don’t, however, have someone capable of succeeding Goncalves. The attacking midfielder, who can also play on the right, has scored 14 goals in just 18 league appearances this season.

He is a mesmerising footballer but to Edwards, this will come as no surprise. The 22-year-old usurps plenty of Wolves players this season, no less than in the goals department.

Goncalves has registered more shots per game (2.7) than anyone at Molineux while his 1.6 key passes a match is only bettered by the aforementioned Neto.

On the face of it, Wolves will live to regret this decision. Selling him in 2019 didn’t seem like a bad idea but his development from that moment onwards has been astonishing.

If they can take any solace from the deal, it’s that they’ll take up 20% of whatever fee Sporting receive for his services.  That means they’d take a cool £10m. Not bad business at all from a financial point of view.

AND in other news, Wolves could have their next Boly in rarely-seen 22 y/o who’s “physically strong”…

Carlo Ancelotti should urge Everton to sign Keven Schlotterbeck amid claims Goodison Park is a potential destination for the SC Freiburg defender.

What’s the word?

According to Bild journalist Christian Falk, the Toffees have become aware of Schlotterbeck following a strong run in Christian Streich’s backline at the Schwarzwald-Stadion this season.

The 23-year-old centre-back is expected to be an inexpensive option in the summer market, and is considered as the next Bundesliga star to earn Premier League interest after Leeds signed Robin Koch for £13m last year.

Schlotterbeck returned to Freiburg after spending the 2019/20 season on loan with 1. FC Union Berlin to replace Koch at the Schwarzwald-Stadion, and has since started 13 of his 14 Bundesliga appearances after being inserted into Streich’s plans in November.

Freiburg had won just one of their initial eight German top-flight fixtures before Schlotterbeck made his first start of the term, but have since won seven of the following 12 while keeping three clean sheets to move up to eighth in the table.

Oliver Ruhnert, Union Berlin’s Director of Football, vastly rated Schlotterbeck’s talents for the Stadion An der Alten Forsterei side, noting: “Schlotterbeck is an excellent fit for our central-defender profile.

“He is young, highly talented and has already proven his skills at the highest level in the Bundesliga.”

Should Everton sign Schlotterbeck?

If Schlotterbeck is available for a similar fee to what Leeds paid Freiburg for Koch last summer, Ancelotti should absolutely urge Farhad Moshiri to fund a pursuit by Everton.

Schlotterbeck’s presence in Streich’s backline inspired a seismic change of fortunes for Breisgau-Brasilianer earlier this season, and has helped to inspire Bundesliga victories over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund plus draws with Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ancelotti could form an imperious wall in front of the Everton goal if the Italian were to sign Schlotterbeck, as his efforts in Germany have often been at a higher level than what the Toffees have seen in the Premier League from Yerry Mina and Michael Keane in an array of aspects.

Freiburg fans have seen Schlotterbeck offer Streich 1.4 successful tackles a game in the Bundesliga this term, compared to the one Blues fans see from Mina and 0.8 from Keane in the English top-flight thus far, per SofaScore.

Schlotterbeck also offers more interceptions (2) than all Everton defenders (Ben Godfrey, 1.6, offers the most), clearances (5.2, Mina offers a team-high 4.7) and significantly more ground duels won (3.2) than Mina (1.7) or Keane (0.9).

Though Schlotterbeck lacks in the air with 1.9 contests won per game to Mina (3.3) – only Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s 4.5 is higher at Goodison Park.

But Ancelotti can make up for Schlotterbeck’s shortfalls in the air by playing the 6 ft 2 centre-half beside Mina, in what could prove to be an ideal defensive partnership.

AND in other news, Everton are monitoring an “exciting” teen prospect Carlo Ancelotti could sign for free…

Speaking exclusively to The Transfer Tavern, former Premier League footballer Carlton Palmer discussed Gareth Bale’s form since his summer return to Tottenham Hostpur.

After leaving Spurs for Real Madrid in what was an £85 million world-record deal back in 2013, Bale went on to feature 251 times for Los Blancos, scoring 105 goals and providing 68 assists, helping the Spanish giants to win a remarkable four Champions Leagues, two La Ligas, four FIFA Club World Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, two Supercopa de Espanas and one Copa del Rey.

Half a season into his return to Spurs, Bale has so far started just one Premier League game for Jose Mourinho’s side, playing just 160 minutes over a total of four appearances in the top flight, in which he has managed one goal.

“On the Gareth Bale situation, if that wasn’t at Tottenham, that would be an absolute catastrophe move and I thought it was inspired at the time,” Palmer told The Transfer Tavern. “But it’s not looking to be that way at the moment and Tottenham are lucky that he’s not become a main player for them, or not needed to be a main player, because it’s not worked out at the moment.”

He continued: “I knew he needed time to get his fitness up and get up to speed and whatever, but he should be ready to be playing an active part in the first team and delivering. Considering the wages they’re paying out to him at the moment, that’s turning out to be a bad, bad deal. At this moment, he’s been a waste of money because he’s not playing.”

Indeed, as Palmer suggests, Bale’s performances have not exactly been sensational for Tottenham so far this season, with the 31-year-old averaging a WhoScored match rating of 6.67 in the Premier League and a rating of 6.85 in the Europa League, ranking him as the club’s 11th-best performer in both competitions.

And, while Madrid are reported to be paying around 60% of the Welshman’s £600,000 weekly wage, Bale’s presence at Spurs is still costing the club around £240,000 per week, enough to rank him as Tottenham’s highest-paid player.

As such, it would appear that Palmer is entirely justified in dubbing Bale a “waste of money” at present, as, considering Harry Kane has 12 goals and 11 assists in the Premier League, while Son Heung-min has 12 goals and six assists in the top flight, both of whom earn less than Bale, it is easy to argue that the 31-year-old has not yet proved anywhere near good value for money for Spurs.

In other Tottenham news, Spurs have been linked with this French striker, find out more here!

Rob Draper has shared his own insight on the proposed £300m takeover of Newcastle United by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) group.

The Mail on Sunday journalist reacted to a video of a greeting between the KSA’s Crown Prince in Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), who was very much part of the consortium looking to strike a deal with Mike Ashley, and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, as he arrived to attend the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in the Kingdom, which had the aim of settling various disputes between the two countries.

Draper tweeted that the greeting was probably the ‘best hope for a Newcastle United takeover’, given the disputes that the two countries have over the banning of the beIN network in the KSA.

Can the Newcastle takeover be revived?

The settling of the disputes between the Kingdom and Qatar is certainly a step in the right direction in terms of trying to get the takeover bid back on track.

With the banning of Qatari broadcaster beIN in the KSA, games from the Premier League were left to be illegally streamed in the Kingdom, worsening their relationships with both Qatar and those in charge of England’s top division.

However, if beIN were allowed to broadcast matches in the KSA as a result of this settlement, then it could well be a step towards a possible revival of the prospective takeover at St. James’ Park as the piracy issue in Saudi Arabia could become one more problem that’s been resolved.

In other news, find out what takeover claim has been dropped after the latest activity from Jamie Reuben here!

Tottenham Hotspur have the potential to seal their best signing in recent times this month.

According to transfer expert Max Bielefeld on Sky Deutschland, Spurs are among the sides interested in signing RB Leipzig captain Marcel Sabitzer this window.

And now it has been claimed that the 26-year-old midfielder has rejected contract talks with the Bundesliga outfit as he enters the final 18 months of his current deal, as per Sky (via FussballTransfers).

This surely opens the door for Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to strike, though it’ll cost him in the region of £3om, something that is within their budget, suggests The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare.

The north Londoners have seen his credentials first-hand as he scored twice to knock Tottenham out of the Champions League’s final-16 last season.

Eccleshare also claims that Sabitzer fits the ‘Mourinho prototype’ due to his athleticism and character, and even believes he would slot in nicely alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has been tremendous since his £15m summer arrival.

Sabitzer is said to hate losing, so that is certainly right up the Special One’s street.

Levy has the potential to eclipse that with a move for the Austrian international – indeed, his arrival could be more important than that and could be their best since Heung-min Son.

Mourinho still lacks that true no.10 behind Harry Kane as neither Giovani Lo Celso nor Tanguy Ndombele have stepped up to plug the void left behind by Christian Eriksen – and Dele Alli is clearly not convincing his manager either having started just once in the Premier League.

Lo Celso and Ndombele have combined for only 11 assists since joining in summer 2019 – Eriksen got that number on his own in five of seven seasons at the club.

Sabitzer seems primed to take that role as he’s managed to deliver 19 goals and 14 assists since the start of 2019/20, per Transfermarkt.

Indeed, Leipzig boss Julian Naglesmann has lauded him as a “goal threat” from midfield and teammate Willi Orban believes he has “great shooting technique.”

He has also been praised for his “remarkable” personality by ex-coach Ralf Rangnick to Kicker (via Bulinews).

Forget Hojbjerg. Sabitzer could well become Levy’s best piece of business since Son, who has delivered 156 goal contributions in 254 appearances since costing £22m.

AND in other news, Dele Alli issued a huge statement to Jose Mourinho in FA Cup win…

According to Football Insider, Aston Villa are prepared to send Frederic Guilbert out on loan in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

The Frenchman has been out-of-favour this season at Villa Park, with the arrival of Matty Cash in the summer from Nottingham Forest further sending him down the pecking order.

It’s meant that Guilbert has yet to play a single minute in the Premier League, with his only competitive appearances for the club coming in the EFL Cup.

Despite the lack of first-team action, Football Insider claim that Villa are not prepared to sell him on a permanent basis either in January or in the summer, and are instead keen on loaning him so he can get some first-team football before returning to compete for a starting spot next season.

Sawiris & Edens will be fuming

Just what must the Villa owners be thinking?

Guilbert is about as out of the picture as you can get at a football club, and it’s quite telling that a 33-year-old Ahmed Elmohamady was keeping him out of a place in the match-day squad let alone in the starting eleven.

Cash’s arrival from Forest has given Villa a full-back that could well hold down his position for the next few years to come, so it’s difficult to see where Guilbert fits into the picture, other than as a potential fall-back if he gets injured.

But even then, Elmohamady seems to be the man Dean Smith is keen to rely upon. Earning around £40k-a-week, Guilbert is just a drain on the wages at Villa Park, and the sooner they permanently get rid of him the better.

Johan Lange is making an inexcusable blunder by refusing to make a ruthless call.

Leeds United have a tough hurdle to clear this evening as they prepare to host Newcastle at Elland Road in their midweek Premier League fixture. The Whites are coming off the back of two frustrating defeats, one against Chelsea and the latest against West Ham.

Despite scoring in both matches, Leeds couldn’t do enough to take anything away from either outing. Tonight will be viewed as a must-win by Marcelo Bielsa and his men, but they will be missing several senior players from their roster.

Speaking to Football FanCast correspondent Tom Ward, Carlton Palmer discussed the news that Robin Koch will be sidelined for up to three months following a knee injury sustained against Everton.

“It’s always going to be a massive blow, ” the pundit said. “Any top player that gets injured for any club is going to create a problem.”

Joining Koch on Bielsa’s injury list is fellow centre-back and summer recruit Diego Llorente, who has made just one Premier League appearance for his new club (via Transfermarkt).

In the absence of the duo, Luke Ayling has been forced to step up and take on the centre-back role. Whilst he has been one of the Whites’ more impressive performers, his hard work isn’t being reflected in their recent results.

Whilst Bielsa will be pleasantly surprised to be ahead of Arsenal in the league table, they have a tough run ahead. After 16 years away from the Premier League, it would be crushing for fans if Leeds face relegation at the end of this season.

Palmer believes that there’s very little chance of the Championship winners facing the drop, but they must start banking more points. As it stands, Leeds are just six points outside the relegation zone. A poor run of form and some positive results from the likes of Fulham and West Brom could rapidly turn Bielsa’s dream season into a nightmare.

In other news, Radrizzani must move for free agent Danny Rose next summer…

Legendary Glasgow Rangers manager Walter Smith believes that James Tavernier is one of the best performing full-backs in the world when it comes to goals, let alone the Scottish Premiership, which is precisely why Rangers must keep him at all costs.

What’s the word?

The free-scoring full-back has been in impressive form for Steven Gerrard’s side so far this season, having scored 16 goals and supplied 11 assists in 25 appearances in all competitions, via Transfermarkt.

Speaking to The Daily Record, the former Ibrox gaffer was effusive in his praise for the “remarkable” 29-year-old, saying: “James is doing a remarkable job. I think he must be the highest-scoring full-back in the world, never mind Scotland!

“You can tell he’s enjoying being in the team and getting great results for them. Normally you look at a right-back and say to yourself: ‘If he gets up the park and delivers a good cross into the box, then that’s fine’.

“But he’s delivering an incredible number of goals. He’s top scorer in the division. I know he does penalties. But there are loads of boys who have been top scorers as forwards over the years and taken penalties as well.”

He added: “James has settled into playing for Rangers. He came when they were second best to Celtic so it’s great now he’s doing so well.”

Rumours about his future have also been rife, with his former teammate Andy Halliday expressing his concern that Premier League clubs will be closely monitoring his situation.

“Take away his penalties, he has still scored six goals. How can a team not be watching that? Everyone has their price, I think he would wait until the summer,” Halliday said, via Open Goal.

“But if a team sits down and offers double, triple your money – some people are going to get their head turned.”

Keep Tavernier at all costs!

Tavernier has previously insisted that he wants to stay at Rangers but Ross Wilson simply cannot afford to take any risks.

His goals and assists ratio are pretty incredible for a right-back, to put it mildly, with the Bradford-born beast having already bagged ten goals and seven assists in the Scottish Premiership after he contributed yet again against Ross County at Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon.

Since moving to Scotland, Tavernier has found the back of the net a whopping 62 times, whilst he has also scored twice and supplied three assists in the Europa League, including what now seems like a customary penalty against Standard Liege on Thursday night as the Gers fought back to qualify for the knockout stages for the second season in a row with a game to spare.

Not only is Tavernier a set-piece specialist, with nine from the penalty spot this season so far, he is also a marauding full-back who brings others into play like Alfredo Morelos and Kemar Roofe with his crosses and key passes, working in tandem with his teammates on the right wing.

Once “crucified by his own fans”, he seems to have finally won them over, for the most part at the very least.

With Brighton, Burnley and West Ham United among the interested parties, it goes without saying that he may be tempted by offers from clubs south of the border, as the club captain currently earns wages worth £14,000-per-week, which is less than what his young teammate Ianis Hagi earns.

Therefore, Wilson must rebuff any transfer interest in January, and he could fend off any potential suitors by offering the defender a bumper new deal to bring his wages in line with some of the highest-paid players at the club.

AND in other news, Glasgow Rangers wonderkid Leon King could be Steven Gerrard’s next Connor Goldson…