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Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Southampton midfielder Carlton Palmer believes Ralph Hasenhuttl is right to demand a bigger squad for next season in a clear message to owner Gao Jisheng to back his manager.

The Southampton boss is aiming for success at St. Mary’s but is adamant he needs more first-team players if the Saints are to evolve.

Hasenhuttl has had to contend with an array of injuries this term, including to 2019/20 top scorer Danny Ings, making it hardly a surprise that he would like his squad to be significantly reinforced in the summer.

And it is a sentiment shared by Palmer, who highlighted Southampton’s pressing style as one reason for why Hasenhuttl needs better depth. The retired Premier League footballer told FFC in an exclusive interview:

“You need it [a bigger squad], especially the way they play. They play a very offensive, closing down style, which if you don’t retain the ball well when you’ve got it, that’s hard work game after game after game. So, yeah, every manager will tell you he wants a big squad, every manager would like to have two players for every position – so two first teams in effect.”

As well as losing Ings, Hasenhuttl has also had to cope without the likes of Theo Walcott, Michael Obafemi and Oriol Romeu, with all three players currently out injured. The latter, for a matter of fact, is out for the rest of the season after picking up a serious foot injury.

Evidently, Hasenhuttl has had a bad time with injuries this term, so any plea to the Southampton board for signings this summer would be understandable.

Leeds United have been handed a major boost in their chase to sign MK Dons starlet Matthew Sorinola.

What’s the story?

Reports back in December suggested that Marcelo Bielsa’s side were one of a number of Premier League teams interested in signing the 20-year-old, whose contract with the Dons comes to an end this summer.

Now, the club’s manager, Russell Martin, has delivered a major update on his situation, admitting that Sorinola has still yet to put pen to paper on a new deal, and seemingly opened the door to a potential summer exit.

The MK Dons boss said: “The situation with him hasn’t changed. He got offered a contract a long time ago, one which we consider fair and fits in with the structure of our club and for a young player but he hasn’t signed it. There has been no real discussion from his end.

“He has a decision to make at some point, but I cannot let it rumble on to the end of the season – that’s not ideal for anyone.”Bielsa’s protegeAt just 20, but able to play at left-back, left-midfield and right-midfield, Sorinola already has the kind of versatility that would surely make him an immediate Bielsa favourite given the likes of Stuart Dallas, Gjanni Alioski et al.Martin has made clear just how much he rates his starlet, saying: “I really like him as a player and as a person. He’s technically right up there with anyone in the squad. I love his calmness. He wants to play. For a young lad, he’s so composed and he defended really well tonight.”People may question his size but when you’re as brave as he is to play with the ball, and get in people’s faces and shut them down, he has so much ability and potential. It’s up to us now to develop him.”That composure and braveness in possession would be music to Bielsa’s ears, who’s tried to shape this Leeds team in his mould over these past few seasons. Sorinola’s youth and versatility could see him become a protege under the Whites boss, with the Argentine taking the 20-year-old under his wing and giving him a priceless footballing education at such an early age.Add that to the fact a move won’t cost Andrea Radrizzani a penny in terms of a transfer fee, and it’s all set up for Victor Orta to pounce.Meanwhile, Leeds could hire Bielsa’s dream successor in this maverick…

Bleacher Report’s transfer insider Dean Jones has had his say on the rumours linking David Moyes with a move to Celtic.  

The West Ham manager has emerged as a candidate to replace Neil Lennon, with the Hoops reportedly keen to on a possible switch.

Moyes has been in charge at the London Stadium since December 2019, leading the Hammers on an unlikely push for Champions League football during the current campaign.

The 57-year-old’s contract is actually up at the end of the campaign, but there have been suggestions West Ham are ready to offer him a new contract, due to concerns that other clubs are interested in his services.

Talking on a recent episode of Touchline Talk, cited by This is Futbol, Jones shared his views on the ‘leaks’, believing the Scot may have ‘been sounded out by a third party’.

“There’s been a little bit of talk about David Moyes – I think it’s possible that he’s been sounded out by a third party just to see what he’s thinking right now.

“Obviously, his contract at West Ham is running down and I think he probably will sign a new contract at West Ham, but it wouldn’t surprise me even if the leaks have come from that end of things, because he wants to make sure that he gets what he wants at West Ham. He’s done such a good job, he should pretty much get to decide what happens from here.

“They should give him a couple more years and look to build on this, because it’s not very often that West Ham have had this kind of stability and such a strong position to build on. I’d be amazed if they didn’t assign David Moyes to a new contract, but I can definitely see why Celtic will be looking at that situation.”

Transfer Tavern take

Moyes took over from Manuel Pellegrini with West Ham flirting above the relegation zone in 2019. The transformation since then has been brilliant, and it seems as if a similar transformation at Parkhead is needed following this season’s disappointing displays.

Whether or not he would be interested in a return to Scotland remains to be seen, but with things in London going so well for Moyes, it could surprise many if he decided to make the move north.

In other news: Celtic manager target who’s had 16 jobs in 18 years makes sharp U-turn as comments emerge, find out more here.

According to Fotomac, Fenerbahce have rejected an offer of €8m from Crystal Palace for their Turkish midfielder Ozan Tufan.

What’s the word?

Palace submitted a bid believed to be worth an initial €8m – which they feel is reasonable considering the current economic climate – on Thursday after some deliberation over a bid.

However, the Turkish club value the 25-year-old at €12m (£10m), having signed him from his boyhood club Bursaspor in 2015.

But the report adds Palace may be prepared to increase their offer substantially, although Fenerbache are also expected to hike their price for the 55-cap Turkey international, who joined the club at the age of 19.

Significant upgrade in the midfield

Hodgson has got the Eagles well above the Premier League relegation battle and is now looking for January additions to keep them there.

Steve Parish has already signed Jean-Philippe Mateta on an initial 18-month loan deal with an option to buy from Bundesliga club Mainz to that effect and Tufan could follow suit if the club chairman can be persuaded to dip into his pockets.

The Eagles manager was interested in Tufan almost three years ago, but he turned his attentions elsewhere but if Palace want to prise him away from the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, they will have to match Fenerbahce’s asking price.

While Luka Milivojevic has established himself as a regular starter in the Premier League under Hodgson, the Palace boss has struggled to settle on his preferred midfield pairing.

Despite impressing at times for Hodgson’s side this season so far, Jairo Riedewald has been unable to nail down a starting berth in the squad, whilst James McArthur and James McCarthy are the other two men battling to bag the same spot, although there are questions over both.

It’s fair to say that Tufan – who has been heavily linked with a move to Selhurst Park in the past – would be a significant upgrade in the midfield. Now closing in on seven years at Fenerbahce, he has made 152 appearances for the club, scoring 19 goals and setting up a further 19 assists for his teammates.

Only McArthur (3.1) and McCarthy (1.8) currently average more tackles per game compared to Tufan’s exploits this season, with the Turk bettering both Milivojevic and Riedewald, per WhoScored. He currently averages more interceptions per game too, which suggests that he reads the game well and can break up attacks.

He also tops the charts in comparison to the Palace midfielders for the most shots (1.5), key passes (1.1) and dribbles (0.9) per game, which shows that his all-round game is solid.

Tufan, therefore, could be a valuable asset for the Eagles but it remains to be seen how much Parish will be willing to spend to finally land Palace’s long-term target.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace sign Mainz striker Jean-Philippe Mateta; spells bad news for Michy Batshuayi…

Alfredo Morelos has left Glasgow Rangers in a position where Steven Gerrard must unleash Cedric Itten against Hamilton Academical after Kemar Roofe struggled on his first game back having made a full recovery from injury.

Rangers have recently accepted a three-game ban handed to Morelos after being cited for violent conduct against Hibernian following a stamp on Ryan Porteous.

As such, he will not face Hamilton and Kilmarnock, which has deprived Gerrard of his first-choice striker ahead of the trip to New Douglas Park on Sunday.

The Colombian’s reckless behaviour means Roofe, Jermain Defoe, Greg Stewart and Cedric Itten remain Rangers’ recognised senior centre-forwards, with Gerrard in a position now where he may be forced to choose between the first two to lead the line. It’s unlike Stewart will make a rare appearance having hardly featured at all since the start of this season.

Yet if Gerrard opts for Itten and makes him a key cog in his attack, it could be his chance to stake his claim in the starting line-up against the Accies.

Itten’s development has been somewhat hindered by Gerrard so far this season, with the majority of his appearances coming off the bench. However, Gerrard rewarded him for his patience with a start against Lech Poznan in the Europa League and must now put his faith in his potential after he opened the scoring.

The 24-year-old boasted a pretty remarkable record for his former club St. Gallen, having scored 20 clubs goals for the Swiss side before sealing a move to the 54-time Scottish champions in the summer. He has since made 26 appearances across all competitions for the Light Blues and has five goals and two assists to show for his six starts.

However, while Itten was afforded 24′ minutes against St. Johnstone, he entered the action halfway through the second half and has been barely seen at all this season.

Gerrard clearly has high hopes for the Switzerland international, hailing him for his “fantastic” performance after the 2-0 win over Lech Poznan, and even admitting that he is someone who “deserves to play more”. Well, it’s about time the Ibrox boss put his money where his mouth is and gave him another shot instead.

Obviously, Morelos will resume his place as Gerrard’s first-choice striker after he has served his suspension, but in terms of his backup options, the £12.5k-per-week earning Itten deserves his chance given that he has waited patiently while slowly being eased into life in Scottish football.

AND in other news, Steven Gerrard should unleash Rangers defender Calvin Bassey against Hamilton Academical…

Glasgow Rangers fans have been reacting to the news that Michael Gardyne has finally been hit with a notice of complaint from the SFA after alleged comments made to Alfredo Morelos.

On December 6th last year, the Gers defeated Ross County 4-0. During the match, Gardyne allegedly made some insulting comments to Morelos, which manager Steven Gerrard bemoaned after the match. However, it took the SFA over three weeks to make a decision, with them sending the notice of complaint on December 31st.

This has attracted plenty of attention from the Gers supporters, and it seems they are a little unhappy. The time delay did not go down well, but they have also questioned why Celtic striker Odsonne Edouard has not received a similar punishment following his poor tackle against Dundee United during a 3-0 victory.

The supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts, and you can see some of the best comments from the social media platform below.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the SFA decision below

“Hold on , Morelos gets suspended straight away and this comes to weeks later !!! Aye nae bother”

Credit: @d4nny_80

“Corruption at its worst.”

Credit: @billyni99933742

“FINALLY”

Credit: @_andrew_tait_

“Sporting integrity eh Peter ??”

Credit: @Blabber08756401

“Wait hold on!! If that’s the case then we’re Ross county lying!?!! Or did the manager try cover it up and that’s why he’s away?? This stinks”

Credit: @Gazzacusgxo

“Joke of an organisation”

Credit: @Tour8sbyproxy

In other news, Rangers have been tipped to move for this Premier League man.

If Leeds decide to strengthen any area in the January transfer window, then the priority has to be in defence.

The Whites have only just welcomed Liam Cooper back from injury, but Robin Koch and Diego Llorente are both still on the sidelines. They can be thankful, therefore, that the market is open for business.

What’s the word?

According to Foot Mercato, Leeds are one of the teams interested in signing young Lens defender Loic Bade.

The report states that the centre-back is a very popular player and thus, both Lyon and Rennes are monitoring his situation.

The 20-year-old also has willing suitors away from France as Leeds are reportedly eyeing Bade along with Germany’s Borussia Monchengladbach and Italy’s AC Milan.

As per Transfermarkt, the Frenchman is valued at just £5.4m, so he presumably wouldn’t cost Victor Orta a great deal of money if he did push ahead with a deal.

Forget Struijk

Bade is hardly a household name but he has quickly emerged as one of the best young defenders in Ligue 1 and he could very quickly follow in the footsteps of William Saliba and Wesley Fofana.

Those two young centre-backs caught the eye in Ligue 1 for St Etienne before moving to the Premier League, joining Arsenal and Leicester, respectively.

It’s difficult to be certain about whether he’d take to English football as well as someone like Fofana, or if he’d take time to settle in as Saliba has, but either way, he’s an impressive talent.

Described as a “dominant” defender who plays like Raphael Varane by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, he has a host of qualities that could be game-changing for Leeds.

A crucial point to note, however, is that statistically, he is better than current stand-in defender Pascal Struik.

The Lens prodigy, who stands at a mighty 6 foot 3, has won 4.3 aerial duels per game this season while coming out on top of 2.2 tackles a match. On top of that, when watching Bade, it’s clear to see that his reading of the game is phenomenal, and the fact that he is making 2.8 interceptions a game on average, backs that up.

If you compare his numbers to Struijk, there are vast differences. The Dutchman has only wins, on average, two aerial battles a match, whilst avering just 1.8 tackles a game, so he wins fewer headers and challenges than Bade.

Clearly, Bade would be an upgrade on the Leeds youngster, but he could also offer more than the likes of Liam Cooper in the air.

That’s because he has, on average, won more aerial duels than any Leeds player per game this season. His numbers would also rank sixth among Marcelo Bielsa’s men for tackles, if they were compared to the Leeds squad.

But can he do it against the very best? Well, he was part of the Lens defence that kept a clean sheet and won 1-0 against PSG earlier this season. They didn’t have Kylian Mbappe or Neymar on that day but given that PSG still have some excellent players, he’s proven that he can be more than competent in the bigger games.

With Leeds lacking genuine centre-back cover and after their defence collapsing so badly against Crawley in the FA Cup last weekend when they had to rotate, signing a player with Bade’s expertise would prove invaluable as the season reaches its conclusion.

The 3-0 defeat last Sunday clearly showed that Bielsa can’t rely on those coming through the academy just yet. Thus, he needs to invest in the market and sign someone like Bade. The defender has potential – just as Leeds’ current crop of U23s have – but pivotally, he’s already proving himself in one of Europe’s top five leagues.

Orta needs to bring him to Elland Road.

AND in other news, Bye-bye Alioski: Orta must seal Leeds swoop for 22 y/o who “will fit Bielsa’s style”…

According to The Athletic, Glasgow Rangers’ current squad is valued at £170m, which is £115m more than last year and £67m more than Ross Wilson projected it would be this season.

True worth of the Rangers squad revealed

Last year, Ross Wilson said that the Ibrox outfit’s squad was valued at £55m, with a projected value of £103m.

However, that number appears to have significantly changed. In a report from The Athletic, which says that the Gers are the 47th best team in the world, they have arrived at a far higher value. The data comes from 21st Club, a football data analysis company.

Shows Gers’ improvement

This illustrates just how far the Gers have come recently under the tutelage of Wilson and Steven Gerrard. They currently top the Premiership by nine points, lead their Europa League group along with Benfica and are unbeaten in all 20 games they have played this campaign.

There is great news on the pitch, and indeed off it. The value of certain players is far higher than the transfer fees the club parted with to sign them. For example, Connor Goldson cost £3m and is now worth £16m, whilst Borna Barisic is valued at £12m after being acquired for £2.2m. All in all, this puts the 54-time Scottish champions in a strong position – they will be hoping it continues for as long as possible.

In other news, international fans slam this Rangers star.

Liverpool reportedly made a late enquiry about potentially signing Joao Pedro from Fluminese in 2019 and with the young Brazilian now establishing himself in the Championship with Watford, it seems that the Reds may have made a mistake in not signing him.

According to the Metro, the Merseyside club enquired about signing him when he was 17-years-old despite him having already agreed to join the Hornets a year earlier.

The young forward was eventually granted a work permit in October 2019 but would have to wait until January 2020 to join up with the squad (per BBC Sport).

Since then, Pedro has featured 20 times for the Hertfordshire side, in which he has contributed five goals and one assist.

All of those five goals have come in the Championship this season for Vladimir Ivić’s side and he looks to have established himself as a regular for Watford, having appeared in 14 out of 15 of their league fixtures thus far (per Transfermarkt).

This is an impressive return for a 19-year-old who is still finding his feet, and when you consider the quality of some of his goals, with his effort against Derby County earlier this season a stand-out finish, it seems as if Liverpool may well regret not pushing harder to try and sign him back in 2019.

This particular goal clearly impressed teammate Tom Cleverly, who suggested after the game that:

“It was a brilliant strike. He’s hungry, he’s another one who works hard. He’s put about 7kg of muscle on since he arrived in the country, he knows what he wants to do and it’s nice to see.” (per Watford Observer)

Former Watford man Jobi McAnuff was full of praise for the Brazilian after he scored in Watford’s 3-1 win against Blackburn Rovers earlier in the season, saying:

“They made a good start to the game and it was a great finish from Joao Pedro who’s had a [really] good start to the season.

“He made only three substitute appearances last year, but he’s started every game for them this season and he’s going to be a big player for them and he has a bright future.” (per Hertfordshire Mercury)

Therefore, he is clearly impressing with his performances in the Championship this season and looks to be a potential future star, so it could definitely be argued that the Reds may well have missed out on him when they tried to sign him in 2018.

And, in other news… Exclusive: Carlton Palmer claims one LFC key man is “clearly frustrated”….

Former Stoke City coach Kevin Phillips has given an honest opinion on Jack Butland as reports recently linked him with a move to Liverpool before the domestic deadline passes.

Phillips doesn’t hold back about Butland

The 27-year-old has fallen out of favour with the Potters, with Welshman Adam Davies being the preferred choice in between the sticks for manager Michael O’Neill.

Butland, who has won nine caps for England, only kept nine clean sheets in 35 appearances for the Potters in the Championship last season (as per TransferMarkt), with his side finishing 15th in the table.

Obviously, this is not where Stoke want to be as they seek to return to the Premier League, which may have influenced O’Neill decision to swap his goalkeepers around for the new season.

Butland has recently been linked with a move to Premier League champions Liverpool, with their first-choice shot-stopper Alisson Becker ruled out with a shoulder injury and Adrian having a horror show against Aston Villa.

With this in mind, one of his former colleagues may have an explanation for this having yet to make a league outing this season. Phillips worked alongside Butland at the bet365 Stadium and revealed details about the Englishman which may worry Liverpool fans, telling Football Insider:

“Over the past two years, Jack has been far too inconsistent. When I worked with him he made far too many mistakes.

“For me, he has fallen right down the pecking order of Championship goalkeepers.

“Jack possibly had his head turned a few years ago and has taken his eye off the ball a little bit in recent seasons.

“Look what happened to Joe Hart, how quickly he faded away. I think it is a similar scenario with Jack.”

Liverpool fans right to be concerned about Butland

The comparison to Hart, who has had a nomadic existence since losing his status as England’s number one, is a damning indictment of Butland and one that may cause some concern for the Anfield faithful. If Phillips is saying this having previously worked alongside Butland, Jurgen Klopp must proceed with extreme caution if he going to sign him before the domestic transfer window shuts on Friday.

Let’s not forget, Alisson is not exactly out for the season, so whatever changes that the German tactician opts to make would only be a temporary measure. With league leaders Everton on the horizon for them, Klopp has a huge decision to make over the course of the week.

Liverpool fans, what are your thoughts on Kevin Phillips’ comments? Do you agree or disagree? Join the discussion by commenting below…