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Glasgow Rangers legend Ally McCoist believes the Gers could lose a couple of important players ahead of the next campaign.

McCoist suggests exit

The Gers have already been confirmed as Premiership champions and are in with a chance of reaching the Europa League quarter-finals.

However, McCoist believes one or two players could depart at the end of the term. He told BT Sport (via Ibrox News):

“Recruitment is key, he’s (Steven Gerrard) intelligent enough and been in the game long enough to know you don’t stand still, you’ve got to move forward.

“You’ve got to plan. It’s one thing getting there, you’ve got to stay there, you’ve got to improve.

“Performances in the Europa League have been fantastic but the Champions League is a different ball game.

“I’ll be interested to see players coming in and I don’t want to tempt fate but [Gerrard] might lose one or two because of the success that they’ve had…it wouldn’t surprise me.”

Could happen

Unfortunately, McCoist may well be right. This has been a successful campaign so far, and the Gers do have a shot at Champions League football to offer to their stars, but the fact of the matter is that the Scottish Premiership lacks the glamour, finances and competitiveness of the Premier League and several other top European divisions.

For the Ibrox outfit, at least, they are now in a position to demand higher fees for their star men. Long gone are the days when they could be signed for bargain fees – their performances both domestically and on the continent mean that is no longer possible. They will be in demand, and Ross Wilson and co must use that to their advantage.

In other news, Rangers fans react to this Sky Sports news.

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!

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…

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…

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.

Carlo Ancelotti will be in dreamland if Marcel Brands is able to strike a deal with Real Madrid for Isco, potentially threatening Tom Davies’ future at Everton.

What’s the word?

According to La Razon, Isco has rejected the chance to reunite with former Los Blancos and Spain manager Julen Lopetegui, after snubbing a potential move to Sevilla for economic reasons.

The 28-year-old has turned his nose up to slashing his wage in order to continue his career in La Liga, as the Andalusian outfit would not be able to match his €6million-a-season (£104k-p/w) salary despite only having to pay the remaining €3m to sign Isco on loan.

Isco has further rejected the chance of joining Andrea Pirlo’s maiden voyage as Juventus manager, feeling the Serie A would not be best suited for his talents and would prefer to join a league more to his liking in the January window.

Madrid are looking to offload Isco on loan this winter with a potential view to a permanent deal come the summer and with the midfielder snubbing two exit routes, the Premier League is seen to be the most likely destination.

Ancelotti allegedly ‘dreams’ of reuniting with the 38-cap Spain international following their time together at the Santiago Bernabeu, despite recently dismissing reports of a move in a fiery response.

Hello Isco, goodbye Davies?

While Ancelotti was quick to rubbish speculation of a move for Isco last month, the persistent rumours linking the Italian with a bid to bring the Real Madrid outcast to Goodison Park would suggest there is interest on the Everton manager’s behalf.

Isco has been drip-fed minutes in the Spanish top-flight by Zinedine Zidane this term, who has called on the £18m-rated talent – valued as high as £81m in 2018 – to start three La Liga fixtures while earning the remaining 121 of his 306 minutes over five substitute appearances.

The four-time Champions League winner is also yet to register a goal or an assist, while penning a measly average of 0.5 key balls and 0.5 shots per league game, including zero accurate crosses, 1.1 successful dribbles and 18.1 accurate passes in the opponent’s half, per SofaScore.

Ancelotti welcoming Isco to Merseyside, despite his recent form, would surely spell bad news for Davies, who has found himself an outcast of the Italian’s plans this term with just one of his two Premier League starts to date coming in his natural midfield role.

Davies was called on to play at right-back for last Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Championship title-holders Leeds United, and had played just 18 minutes of top-flight football outside of his starting role in October’s 4-2 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.

Ancelotti clearly does not rate Davies to a high standard, and would surely be looking for a replacement to the Toffees product should Everton forge efforts to sign Isco in January.

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…

Glasgow Rangers ace Steven Davis celebrated in style by crowning his landmark night with a crucial victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in a Euro 2020 qualifying play-off semi-final.

The Rangers stalwart sent Steven Gerrard a timely reminder in a game that went right to the wire. His 120th appearance went all the way to 120 minutes, which ended with an iconic twist when Northern Ireland won their first ever penalty shoot-out.

Rangers recently signed Bongani Zungu from Amiens on a season-long loan, but he could be forced to wait his turn, as Davis has shown no signs of slowing down anytime soon. In fact, at times it looked like he was playing with a point to prove…

Steven Davis’ Rangers role

Gerrard generally only plays three men in midfield, and he is hardly short of options to choose from, although his side have sometimes been accused of looking lethargic in the final third. As previously highlighted by Football FanCast, he wanted an attacking midfielder and had been previously linked with Huddersfield’s Juninho Bacuna and Preston North End’s Daniel Johnson, before settling for Zungu instead.

Davis, Glen Kamara and Scott Arfield have started two out of the past three league games together whilst Ryan Jack worked on his return from fitness and Joe Aribo remains absent due to injury. However, although the 120-cap Northern Ireland international’s work ethic is second to none, he arguably isn’t in his absolute prime any more.

But the Gers may have stumbled across the second coming of the seasoned veteran. Per SofaScore, the 35-year-old took 59 touches of the ball against Bosnia, whilst he won 75% of his aerial duels and made 34 passes at a pass accuracy rating of 79%. He also completed two clearances, two interceptions and made two tackles. And a look at his heatmap reveals he put in an immense shift around the outside of the centre circle as a critical component of the midfield.

Speaking to Sky Sports, his former Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino insisted you can put him in the same bracket as Barcelona greats Xavi and Andreas Iniesta as he shares “the intelligence to read the game.” Against Bosnia, Davis showed he is still an important part of the supply chain, with the ability to dictate play and control possession, which is something he does so well for his club. Write him off at your peril.

If Rangers are to regain the title, Gerrard is going to need all of the help he can possibly get. With Zungu arguably bringing more creativity to the engine room, the former captain could be a useful asset in the months ahead. And he didn’t cost a single penny – what a bargain!

AND in other news, Rangers boss Steven Gerrard should start Jermain Defoe instead of Alfredo Morelos…

When Gareth Bale enjoyed his most devastating season at Tottenham in the 2012/2013 campaign, Andre Villas-Boas began to utilise him in a more central area, and to incredible effect.

In the ten games that he played in a second-striker position, the Wales superstar racked up six goals and five assists. There were a number of occasions where the 31-year-old picked the ball up in the inside right position before driving inside and unleashing a rocket into the top corner.

Ultimately, it was a case of getting the ball to the team’s best player and just letting him do his thing. Whilst Bale may have made his return to Spurs, there’s one man who Jose Mourinho could replicate AVB’s tactic with at the club: Heung-min Son.

The South Korea international, rated at £57.6m by Transfermarkt, has started the new campaign like a house on fire, scoring seven goals in six games, and picking up three assists too – just one of those goals came in the Europa League qualifying games, with the rest all in the Premier League.

The one game that he started the match through the middle came against Shkendija, and he showed his full ability, netting once and setting up two others.

His combination of pace, movement and clinical finishing has been a class above this season, and his outstanding four-goal haul against Southampton will live long in the memory.

The key takeaway from that game was how the 28-year-old didn’t play out wide or just hugging the touchline. Instead, he made a conscious effort whether through a tactical instruction or his own intuition to play more infield, and make those darting dangerous runs inside either the two centre-backs, or the full-back and centre-half.

Son is the man in form at the moment, and Mourinho would do well to strike while the iron is hot. Moving him into a more central position could see him wreak even more havoc.