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Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has shared news involving Manchester United chief scout Jim Lawlor on Twitter.

The Lowdown: Ten Hag announced

It looks set to be a summer of change at Old Trafford, with Erik ten Hag now confirmed as Ralf Rangnick’s replacement at the end of the season.

Romano revealed in the early hours of Thursday morning that ‘contracts and paperworks’ were ready for the Dutchman following a full agreement last week, with Ten Hag now penning terms until June 2025.

The 52-year-old previously demanded to be 100% involved in new signings, outgoings and fresh contracts, and he’ll be working with a new scouting team in England.

The Latest: Lawlor to leave

News emerged on Wednesday regarding Lawlor, who has been on the books at Old Trafford for 16 years. He is set to leave the club over the summer, while head of global scouting Marcel Bout is also departing.

Romano took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to drop the key exit news on social media, saying:

“Manchester United revolution begins as chief scout Jim Lawlor leaves the club.”

The Verdict: Revolution needed?

Lawlor and Bout worked together for seven years and made a number of high-profile signings, which you could say largely haven’t worked out.

They’ve spent over £1.1bn on 37 players since 2014/15, with Paul Pogba the most expensive of those, who now looks set to leave for nothing this summer.

Hopefully, Ten Hag will be heavily involved when it comes to incomings and outgoings with a new scouting setup, in what could be an extremely busy first summer on charge.

In other news: Big news: Man Utd now eyeing signing of ‘absolute beast’ for Ten Hag in potential £100m+ deal. 

Tottenham Hotspur are among the teams interested in signing Mauro Icardi, according to reports…

What’s the word?

Italian outlet Calciomercato claim two teams are keen on landing the Paris Saint-Germain striker, who is expected to leave Les Parcs des Princes by the end of the current campaign.

Spurs would have to battle Serie A outfit Juventus for his signature, though it remains to be seen how much he would command.

Transfermarkt currently value the Argentina international at £36m, nearly 18 months after costing the French giants around €50m (£45m) plus €7m (£6m) in add-ons.

Perfect Kane foil

It’s no secret that Lilywhites manager Nuno Santo originally wanted to deploy a system involving a two-man attack, targeting Danny Ings prior to his move to Aston Villa, as per the Telegraph’s Matt Law.

That clearly hasn’t been able to come to fruition, so for now, Harry Kane remains his only senior striker, with no backup – or in this case, no evident strike partner.

Icardi is in a similar mould to Ings, only a little more creative and of course, he has much more experience at the elite level.

Described as an “animal in the box” by ex-Inter boss Stefan Pioli, the 28-year-old talisman has frequently scored goals wherever he’s been. He’s just been unfortunate to be behind the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and now Lionel Messi.

At the San Siro, the 6-foot marksman bagged 124 goals in 219 appearances, averaging a direct contribution every 114 minutes, via Transfermarkt.

And he has somewhat continued such exploits in France, despite not starting more than 20 matches in any Ligue 1 campaign.

Icardi has scored 36 goals in just 72 appearances for PSG, managing a goal pretty much every other time he’s out on the pitch. That’s pretty good going.

But what makes him the perfect foil for Kane is his ability to not just offer something slightly different in the attack but also deliver some much-needed creativity.

As per WhoScored, the Argentine forward has averaged a total of 1.1 key passes every 90 minutes, with a career-best of 1.3 per game coming last term. When you have someone as clinical as Kane, he’ll only need that one chance, so it could be a match made in heaven.

Spurs sporting director Fabio Paratici and the club’s recruitment team must seriously consider a move for Icardi in the upcoming transfer windows.

AND in other news, Spurs receive huge transfer boost ahead of January window…

The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards dropped a late night Newcastle United update on transfer deadline day that will leave fans fuming.

What’s the story?

The Magpies endured a nightmare final day of the transfer window, failing to bring in any players as a number of reported deals seemed to collapse, including that of Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury.

And writing on Twitter at around 9pm, Edwards said: “Still no breakthrough on Choudhury to #nufc. You would have to suspect that, with 2 hours to go, that’s not going to happen. Player still wants to come. Only thing stopping it is Newcastle won’t pay loan fee. This is not the manager’s fault. I would say that but it really isn’t.

“Club have cut wage bill by more than £200,000 a-week this summer and have failed to bring in a player on loan to vaguely improve squad, in the area most in need of it – midfield. Justin Barnes and Lee Charnley answer to Mike Ashley but it feels like a dereliction of duty #nufc”

Fans will be fuming

In the end, Choudhury didn’t move to Newcastle, while a move for Marseille starlet Boubacar Kamara also failed to materialise before the transfer window closed.

What will be most frustrating to Magpies fans and leave them fuming, is that crucial titbit of information surrounding why the Tyneside club couldn’t seal a move for Choudhury: “Only thing stopping it is Newcastle won’t pay a loan fee”.

For a club whose only permanent signing in the entire summer was that of Joe Willock from Arsenal, that reeks of complete mismanagement and “dereliction of duty” as Edwards puts it.

Steve Bruce himself admitted that the only new signings the Magpies would make in the final days of the window would be loan moves, but even then the club let him and the fans down badly by looking to penny-pinch.

The fact Choudhury wanted to come to St James’ Park lays the blame even more on the door of Mike Ashley and co upstairs, who failed to provide Bruce with the funds required, even the relatively small amount needed for a loan deal.

Fans will be absolutely livid with the fact it was the Magpies themselves who stopped a move for Choudhury from happening.

Aston Villa are once again interested in signing Reading midfielder John Swift amid suggestions that contract talks have stalled between him and the Royals.

What’s the story?

The former England U21 international was the subject of intense speculation over the course of the summer transfer window back in 2020, with reports even going so far as to claim that Villa were ready to make a bid for him.

While a deal failed to materialise back then, Football League World now claim that Dean Smith’s side are one of a number of teams keeping tabs on Swift’s situation at Reading.

It’s claimed that with the midfielder entering the final year of his contract, the Championship club have yet to agree a new deal with him, and thus opening the door to a potential move away.

Could be another John McGinn

Swift has a track record of being someone who can offer a goal-scoring threat from midfield much like McGinn has proven himself to be over the past few seasons, managing an impressive 58 goal contributions in 171 games for the club – in fact, his start to the current campaign for Reading has actually been quite incredible, netting seven in eight matches in the Championship as well as chipping in with four assists too.

Speaking back in August after a 2-1 win over Preston, Royals manager, Veljko Paunovic, said: “Now he’s back, it is important we keep him healthy and motivated as he is now because that will help us a lot.

“He is super talented and he showed an urgency that he wanted to decide the game. The first couple of passes to Azeez and Joao were fantastic vision and execution of the final pass – something we’ve missed in the past. We missed those slick combinations through the middle when we progress forward so that’s something we have to keep up.”

While McGinn has hardly been a Frank Lampard-esque midfielder in terms of his sheer number of goals – he’s contributed to 33 goals in 115 matches for Villa – he does pop up with some big goals in big games, not least scoring against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City last season.

The £3.6m-rated Swift could offer Villa another midfielder with some of the same attacking instincts as McGinn in the engine room.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa have another exciting academy starlet in this teenager…

At the age of 35, Liverpool midfielder James Milner is currently the seventh-oldest current Premier League player, with an astonishing 568 league appearances under his belt in what has been an impressive career in English football.

Taking that into account, and with his current contract at Anfield set to expire next summer, it’s not out of the question that the Merseyside club could be looking to replace the veteran if he ends up leaving then.

Rather than potentially splashing out a significant transfer fee on a new player from another club to replace Milner if he were to leave, we feel that Liverpool could already have their perfect heir for him within their youth squad in James Norris.

The 18-year-old, who is a product of Liverpool’s youth academy, is predominantly a left-back, a position where Milner has made 66 appearances throughout his career. He has also played as a central midfielder, centre-back and left-midfielder on two occasions for England’s under-19 side this season, showing her versatility at such a young age, just as Milner has done throughout his long career.

According to Liverpool’s official website, Norris is an “energetic left-back who can also play in midfield”, has “a great work ethic matched with a sweet left foot” and “loves to get forward and support the attack”.

Throughout his short career so far, he has made 35 appearances for Liverpool’s under-18 side, with five goals and five assists to his name, as well as making 13 appearances for the under-23 side, scoring one goal and providing one assist in the process.

Norris made his senior debut for the Reds during Liverpool’s 5-0 defeat against Aston Villa in the Carabao Cup back in December 2019.

Looking ahead to the future, if he can keep developing within Liverpool’s youth teams for the time being and adapting to different positions as he has been doing, he could well go on to become a very useful figure for Liverpool in their senior squad in the foreseeable future given his versatility, especially if Milner leaves the club when his contract runs out next year.

In other news – Forget Keita: Klopp must unleash £120k-p/w LFC outcast on Sunday, he impressed v Atletico

Leeds United are eyeing a late transfer window move for Orlando City striker Daryl Dike.

What’s the story?

According to reports in previous weeks and months, Marcelo Bielsa’s side were named among the clubs interested in signing the 20-year-old this summer, with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea also said to have been impressed by his performances on loan at Barnsley last season.

And now, writing on Twitter, TEAMtalk’s editor, James Marshment, revealed: “TEAMtalk has been informed that Leeds are looking at the possibility of signing Daryl Dike on loan from Orlando City before the window closes. USA striker notched 9 in 19 for Barnsley last season. West Brom also keen. Story to follow….”

Fans will be buzzing

Just a few days after Bielsa himself admitted that any new signings could be unlikely before the end of the transfer window, it appears the Whites are still exploring every possible avenue behind the scenes.

The 20-year-old was in fine form after joining Championship outfit Barnsley on loan back in the January transfer window, netting nine goals in just 19 league games.

A player profile done by SBNation noted: “A physical striker, Dike is more than a bruising finisher. His ‘delicate touch’ and high level of technical ability belie his size, enabling a confidence in possession with both passing and dribbling. That said, he scores a lot of goals in a variety of ways. Headed finishes, short-range placement, and long-range bombs, the 6’2” attacker can do it all.”

Given the lack of genuine first-team cover behind Patrick Bamford up front – Rodrigo was deployed in the number nine role in the Carabao Cup second round clash against Crewe – Dike’s arrival, even on a temporary basis, would go a long way to addressing that need.

And with his style of play being so distinctly different to anything Leeds and Bielsa currently have at their disposal, he could give them a different dimension when starting games or even just coming off the bench.

After hearing news that they would be unlikely to make any further moves in the transfer market, this latest update on their pursuit of Dike is sure to have fans delighted.

Meanwhile, Leeds are eyeing this young record-breaker…

An update has emerged on Sunderland and their pursuit of free agent centre-forward Jermain Defoe…

What’s the talk?

According to INews, the Black Cats have made contact with the player and are one of a number of EFL clubs attempting to sign him.

The report claims that he wants to continue playing until the end of the 2021/22 campaign and is seriously considering a deal to join Sunderland.

SOL rocking

Lee Johnson could get the Stadium of Light rocking with a deal to re-sign the attacker. Not only does he have a successful history with the club but he is also a recognised name in English football and has enjoyed a brilliant career for club and country.

This means that he would almost be a marquee signing in the sense of the fanfare that would come with it, irrespective of his age. In 93 games for Sunderland between 2014 and 2017, he plundered an impressive 37 goals and four assists, which is why fans would surely be over the moon to see him back as they were able to enjoy his immense goalscoring talents previously.

The English predator has scored 200 club career goals to date and found the back of the net 20 times for England at international level. This means that the Mackems could be bringing in a player who has 220 strikes to his name, with the majority coming at the top level for club and country.

Rangers sporting director Ross Wilson once dubbed him “wonderful” and his record in Scotland suggests that he still has something to offer on the pitch at the age of 39. He managed 32 goals and ten assists in 74 games for the Gers, showing that he still has what it takes to be a regular goalscorer.

Therefore, he could bolster Johnson’s squad and score a few goals in League One to help the club with their promotion push back to the Championship. Fans would surely be buzzing to see him back in red and white after his previous spell with the club and the stands will be rocking if he comes in and has an impact on the season, as his statistics suggest that he will be able to do.

He was also part of the coaching set-up at Ibrox before Giovanni van Bronckhorst came in and brought in his own staff. This means that he could come in and play his part on the pitch before potentially retiring and taking up a coaching role at the club moving forward.

AND in other news, Alan Nixon drops Sunderland transfer claim that will leave fans gutted…

Steve Bruce must axe goalkeeper Sam Johnstone for the remainder of the season in order to prepare for life without him after the summer.

The former Premier League champion has had a “successful” career at the Baggies in the words of reporter Steve Madeley, but it looks like it could be about to come to an end with his contract set to expire in the summer.

When speaking to the Athletic, manager Steve Bruce said “the likelihood is that Sam is going to leave.”

The shot-stopper is poised to join a club in the Premier League in the hopes of gaining a place in the England squad at this winter’s World Cup in Qatar.

West Brom will now be looking at replacements for Johnstone but their campaign as good as done, they should consider axing the ‘keeper from their starting line-up now to best prepare for life without him.

His record this season is pretty good having kept 15 clean sheets overall in the Championship which is just three short of the league’s best which is held by central defender John Egan.

The 29-year old still has some of his best years left and has played over 15,000 minutes for West Brom. His overall record is impressive with 45 clean sheets in 167 appearances.

He has even been described as the “best English goalkeeper” by Jason Cundy.

So why drop him? Well, the Baggies have little to play for this season, their slim hopes of achieving a play-off spot were virtually ended with a 1-0 defeat to rivals Birmingham City the other week.

The remaining games they have would provide a great chance to give one of their other goalkeepers valuable experience in the league and would provide the coaching staff with a good idea of whether or not they could replace Johnstone.

Alex Palmer is the youngest of the three stoppers the club have available to them and has come through the academy having spent various spells on loan.

One of his most recent loan spells last year at League One outfit Lincoln City saw him make 46 appearances and keep 19 clean sheets in the division.

When you compare his performance last season to Johnstone’s, he has a better save percentage at 72.7 compared to 70.6.

Now would be the perfect opportunity to give him a more regular chance at Championship level and it could pay off for Bruce.

IN other news: West Brom: Grady Diangana struggled in defeat to Stoke City…

Liverpool suffered their first real setback in their chase for the Premier League title after picking up their first league defeat of the season in their recent match against West Ham United that saw Jurgen Klopp’s side lose 3-2 thanks to goals from Kurt Zouma, Pablo Fornals and an own goal from goalkeeper Alisson Becker.

One player that featured in the match that managed to get on the scoresheet to give the Reds some hope of grabbing a positive result off the substitutes bench was striker Divock Origi who replaced Diogo Jota after 76 minutes.

Opportunity knocks

The fact that Jota failed to register a shot on target against David Moyes’ side and the fact that fellow Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino is out for the next few weeks with a hamstring injury,  means it could be a great time for Klopp to give Origi a run in the team from the start rather than bringing him off the bench to get their season back on track after the current international break.

Liverpool signed Origi, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £60k-per-week according to Spotrac, back in the 2014 summer transfer window from French club LOSC Lille in a deal worth a reported fee of £10m before he eventually moved to the Merseyside club in 2015.

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Since then, the 26-year-old, who is currently valued at £10.8m according to Transfermarkt, has made a total of 164 appearances for the Reds across all competitions in which he has managed to score 38 goals and provide 16 assists in the process, showing that he does have a knack for scoring goals in him.

So far this season, the Belgian has managed to score three goals and provide two assists in seven appearances across all competitions but has had very little chance to shine in the Premier League, playing just two minutes of action prior to the West Ham clash.

Origi, who has been described as “unreal” by fellow Reds teammate Caoimhin Kelleher in the past, has also shown that he has the ability to pop up and score at critical moments for Liverpool such as the brace he bagged in their famous 4-0 win over Barcelona back in May 2019 and their last-gasp 1-0 win over Merseyside rivals Everton in December 2018.

Taking all of this into account, if Origi was given the chance to play consistently in the Premier League moving forward and start scoring regularly, we feel that he has the potential to push Liverpool closer to the title with his knack for scoring goals alongside the likes of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.

It’s time for Klopp to forget about Jota and the injury-stricken Firmino and unleash his devastating Belgian dynamo instead. It could well solve the severe blow that the Brazilian suffered last week.

In other news: Forget Salah: £67.5m-rated beast making 3.3 key passes P/G has been “fabulous” for LFC – opinion

Gio van Bronckhorst’s Rangers enjoyed a magical night at Ibrox as they made their way through to the Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

The Gers went into the game 1-0 down on aggregate and ended up winning 3-1 on the night, to go through on a 3-2 lead, and thus securing their place in the last four.

James Tavernier made Ibrox bounce in the opening 90 seconds as he latched onto a flick from Joe Aribo to slide the ball into the bottom corner from a tight angle, putting Rangers on the front foot early on.

Kemar Roofe thought he put them 2-0 up a few minutes later before VAR ruled that Borna Barisic used his hand in the build-up. However, the striker then played a pivotal role in Gers’ actual second goal as he won the penalty that Tavernier converted before half time.

Braga were able to take the match to extra time as David Carmo headed the ball in from a corner to make it 2-2 on aggregate.

Rangers reacted brilliantly to this setback as they dominated the last 30 minutes of the tie, with Glen Kamara and Aribo combining on the right to tee up Roofe for a tap-in from six yards out.

Whilst Tavernier will receive acclaim for his two goals and the attackers will get credit for the Gers scoring three goals, Connor Goldson deserves huge praise for his performance as he dominated Ibrox on Thursday.

The towering centre-back was a tank at the back for Van Bronckhorst and played a big role in allowing the Scottish giants to control the match and keep Braga at bay for the most part.

As you can see in the graphic above, Goldson was instrumental for the Gers as he dictated the play from the back and was strong defensively throughout.

He won nine of his 10 aerial duels and made one block and two tackles to go along with his five clearances, as per SofaScore, and was unlucky for the Braga equaliser as he was blocked off from marking Carmo by his own teammate.

His 162 touches also led the way for Rangers as he had more possession of the ball than any other player on the pitch on the night. This highlights his dominance on the ball, with his defensive statistics showing that he also dominated off it, and Van Bronckhorst will surely be delighted with the centre-back’s display.

Now it is time for Goldson and his teammates to prepare for a clash with Leipzig in the semi-final…

AND in other news, Major blow: Rangers hit with huge injury setback that’ll infuriate supporters…