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Everton are considering a move to sign AS Monaco defender Caio Henrique, according to reports from Brazil.

The Lowdown: Henrique profiled

The Brazilian signed a new deal with Philippe Clement’s side in August, meaning that his contract isn’t set to expire until 2027, but that hasn’t stopped him from attracting interest.

The 25-year-old has been a standout performer at the Stade Louis II this season, with six goal contributions in just 11 league appearances, and the Toffees have been name-checked as being keen on bringing him to the Premier League.

The Latest: Everton eyeing Henrique

According to Brazilian outlet IG Esporte (via Sport Witness), Everton are ‘interested’ in Henrique and have ‘probed the situation’ of a potential deal to land him in January.

The left-back is said to have ‘entered the sights’ of the Goodison Park club, although there is ‘no mention’ so far of negotiations being opened, nor what it would cost to prise him away from Monaco.

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The Verdict: Mykolenko alternative

Vitaliy Mykolenko has been brilliant defensively, posting the joint-second most interceptions per game for Everton with 1.7.

However, if Frank Lampard is looking for a more attack-minded full-back, Henrique is an ideal candidate.

The ‘perfect’ ace, as dubbed by journalist Josh Bunting, has clocked up 29 assists over the course of his career, compared to the Ukrainian’s 21, and currently averages 1.9 key passes per Ligue 1 game.

Ruben Vinagre has so far failed to challenge for regular game-time, so the addition of Henrique would add some excellent competition for places as Lampard looks to bolster his ranks in the New Year.

Ralph Hasenhuttl’s managerial position at Southampton may ‘have been of interest’ to Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper, according to journalist Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Hasenhuttl on brink of departure

According to a report by The Telegraph, the Austrian Saints coach is on the brink of facing the sack at the south-coast club.

It is believed Southampton desire a new manager who is better equipped at nurturing a squad of young talent.

Forest boss Cooper was reportedly included on a list of potential replacements for Hasenhuttl, but the 42-year-old has since signed a contract extension at the City Ground.

The Latest: Jones’ claim

Jones believes Cooper could be a brilliant appointment for Southampton, given his fantastic track record managing England at youth level.

With Forest bottom of the Premier League table, his job is also far from secure at the newly promoted club.

Speaking to GiveMeSport, the journalist claimed:

“At Southampton, you’ve already got the foundations. You need two or three changes in there and perhaps a bit of a re-jig with the formation.

“You look at what he was able to do with Forest last season in terms of lifting them from the bottom of the Championship to getting promoted. It’s easy to see him being able to improve this current Southampton team.

“So, if Steve Cooper had lost his job at Forest, I actually do think that Southampton might have been of interest to him.”

The Verdict: Tough start to the season

Having gained just four points from their opening eight Premier League games so far this season, Cooper’s side have not got off to the start they would have been dreaming of when they were promoted from the Championship for the first time in 23 years.

However, having welcomed 23 new faces at the City Ground this summer, the squad have had little time to gel with one another going into the new campaign. Consequently, a lack of familiarity is evident on the pitch.

As a result, Cooper’s circumstances this season were always going to be extremely difficult. Therefore, if the manager, who has been hailed as ‘fantastic’ by Grimsby boss Paul Hurst, is eventually relieved of his duties with the Tricky Trees, the 42-year-old could be a prime candidate to replace Hasenhuttl – who is now on his last legs at Southampton.

The fact that Cooper has signed a new contract at Forest may scupper his chances somewhat, but there is still a chance that he could leave if their poor form continues.

Everton have been handed a huge boost with regard to the fitness of Abdoulaye Doucoure in the wake of their Premier League clash against West Ham United. 

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Frank Lampard issued the following update on the 29-year-old’s health and his potential return to the starting XI.

When asked about when the midfielder could be back, the 44-year-old stated: “Yeah Doucs is fine, Doucs is fit to be in the squad”.

The question which may arise is whether Doucoure starts over Idrissa Gueye, who re-signed for the Toffees on deadline day.

 Lampard has missed him

Lampard has been vocal in his admiration for the Malian, with his power and relentlessness making his absence so much more pronounced.

In fact, in their opening day defeat to Chelsea, the Everton boss praised Doucoure’s combinations with Alex Iwobi, who has established himself as one of the first names on the teamsheet in recent weeks.

After that game, the Toffees manager noted: “I thought him and Abdoulaye Doucoure played very well in midfield today.

“We gave Alex and Doucs some particular instruction today, because of the threat of Chelsea playing through the lines – and their energy and their quality – and they dealt with that brilliantly.”

The 29-year-old has made 70 appearances in total for the Toffees, scoring five goals and setting up seven. He has often struggled to play in a midfield two due to his lack of defensive awareness, outlined in the fact that last season he only won possession 0.4 times per match.

However, with Lampard opting for a midfield three against Liverpool, it could be time for Doucoure to recapture his best form.

In his best goalscoring season for Watford in 2017/18, he managed four assists, crucially playing in a midfield three.

Alongside the mercurial Nigerian Iwobi, and with the defensive security offered by Amadou Onana (Everton’s second-best tackler with 2.8 per game), the former Watford gem could be given all the freedom to flex his creative muscles against West Ham, and truly kickstart his career at Goodison Park.

He has been missed by Everton, who are yet to pick up a win in this Premier League campaign. The news of his return from injury will be welcomed with open arms, as he could be integral to their chances of victory this Sunday.

Fulham are reportedly interested in signing Musa Barrow this summer and the winger could be Marco Silva’s own version of Tottenham Hotspur star Heung-min Son at Craven Cottage.

Barrow’s agent spoke out recently about his disappointment that he wasn’t allowed to leave Bologna despite interest from Fulham and OGC Nice.

He claims that an offer of €16m (£14m) would be enough to prise him away from the Serie A side this summer, where he has struggled for regular game time in recent seasons.

The agent told Il Resto del Carlino: “We are certainly not happy. Torino wants him and he was also requested by Nice and Fulham but the demands of Bologna block the exit. The club asks for €16 million and I wonder how you can ask for such a figure for a boy who doesn’t even play?”

Last season saw Barrow make 34 appearances in Serie A for Bologna, in which he contributed six goals and six assists, averaging a solid 6.75 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

He hit 17 goals in the previous two league campaigns combined, so clearly knows where the back of the net is, and he could take some of the pressure off Aleksandar Mitrovic in Silva’s side this season should he make the move to Fulham.

According to FBref, the seventh-most similar player to Barrow in terms of style of play is the Spurs sensation, who finished as the joint-top scorer in the Premier League last season after a sensational campaign for Antonio Conte’s side.

The two players would average very similar numbers last season with regards to pass completion rates (76 vs 76.3), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.63 vs 3.86) and tackles (both 12).

This suggests that they can both be influential players in the final third and love to get goals and assists, but are also willing to track back and work hard for their team, which is something Silva would surely appreciate in a player.

WhoScored also suggests that both Barrow and Son excel at playing key passes, taking long shots and crossing, which suggests that they are equally comfortable cutting inside from the wing and influencing play, as they are taking the ball to the byeline and crossing for a teammate, something which is essential at Fulham to get the best out of Mitrovic.

Therefore, Fulham should definitely consider bringing the £14m man, who was dubbed a “beast” by scout Jacek Kluig, to Craven Cottage this summer, as if he proves to be even half as good as Son, then Silva will have an excellent player on his hands.

Following Glasgow Rangers’ terrific 3-0 victory against Union Saint-Gilloise on Tuesday which overturned the 2-0 defeat in the first leg and ensured passage into the Champions League play-off tie, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side welcome St Johnstone to Ibrox on Saturday.

The Premiership clash offers the Ibrox side a chance to make it three wins from three on league duty and continue building the momentum ahead of the crucial tie against PSV next Tuesday.

There are no fresh injury concerns for Rangers heading into the tie, with only Ianis Hagi and Filip Helander currently on the treatment table with long-term problems.

Van Bronckhorst will be expecting to see a repeat of Tuesday’s performance against a side who will surely apply a low block and try to ensure it’s a frustrating 90 minutes for the home crowd.

Predicted starting XI

In goal, Jon McLaughlin will continue his no.1 duties, having taken over from club legend Allan McGregor, who is a more than able deputy if needed.

The back four will remain unchanged from Tuesday, with James Tavernier and Borna Barisic taking up their usual spots, with James Sands and Connor Goldson aiming for their third clean sheet in a row at the heart of the defence.

There will be one change in midfield, with Glen Kamara replacing Scott Arfield and he will feature in a midfield three containing Tuesday’s star Tom Lawrence and John Lundstram.

The front three will see the biggest change, with club talisman Alfredo Morelos, who scored on his return against Kilmarnock last week as the Dutchman dubbed him “very important”, will replace £1.8m Antonio Colak in the starting XI. The “terrific” finisher is key to the Gers success and he will be supported by Ryan Kent from the left and Malik Tillman from the right.

The young American scored the goal that ultimately won the tie against USG on Tuesday evening and he has settled into life well in Glasgow.

Predicted Rangers XI (4-3-3): McLaughlin; Barisic, Goldson, Sands, Tavernier; Lawrence, Kamara, Lundstram; Kent, Morelos, Tillman.

Manchester City are reportedly not willing to pay the asking price to sign Brighton & Hove Albion defender Marc Cucurella.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report in The Athletic from City journalist Pol Ballus, the Manchester club are not willing to meet Brighton’s £50m-plus asking price for the left-back and will instead focus on other players to sign in that position instead.

The report adds that City are “still interested in a deal for the defender, but are comfortable with signing someone else to play in that position if Brighton do not lower their demands.”

It was also reported by the same publication on Saturday that the Seagulls had ended their discussions with City over a potential deal involving Cucurella, despite claims that the player had put in a transfer request in an effort to force a move to Pep Guardiola’s side.

Guardiola will be fuming

Bearing in mind how impressive the full-back was during his debut campaign with Brighton last season, it’s easy to see why the Citizens are interested in signing him and why it would be bad news for Guardiola if they don’t sign him.

Specifically, the 24-year-old racked up more blocks (72), interceptions (72) and successful tackles (62) than any other Brighton player.

From an attacking point of view, he also delivered more crosses (94) than any of his current teammates as well as the third-highest number of dribbles attempted (59) and shot-creating actions made (78) in Graham Potter’s squad.

With the Premier League champions now rather light in terms of their current full-back options, signing another player for that position should be top priority for the club before the summer transfer window closes.

Now that it has been reported that City may not be willing to meet Brighton’s asking price for their star defender, this will surely have Guardiola rather angry, especially if the club don’t end up signing him.

Having spent the early part of his career in Barcelona’s youth ranks, this was surely one of the reasons that Guardiola would want the defender in his squad given his own obvious connections with the Spanish club.

If Brighton continue to stand their ground over Cucurella and the money they’d want for him, City will have to make a decision over whether they pay what the Seagulls want or move on to other options elsewhere.

Either way, this is a decision they need to make sooner rather than later.

AND in other news: Man City plotting swoop for “extraordinary” £102m-rated machine, he’s better than Dias

Journalist Ryan Taylor of The Daily Express has been left blown away by a potential ‘real statement of intent’ from Tottenham Hotspur, also hinting there could be even more moves to come this summer.

The Lowdown: Paratici making moves…

The former Juventus club chief, having attracted past criticism for his ‘scattergun’ approach to the transfer market, is seemingly silencing his doubters after a flurry of brilliant Premier League deals.

A quartet of major signings in Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison could soon be followed by even more as reports suggest Spurs are advancing for both Djed Spence and Clement Lenglet.

The latter men would fix two gaping holes in manager Antonio Conte’s back five – Middlesbrough’s starlet Spence would be able to potentially provide depth at right-wing-back, whilst Barcelona’s central defender is capable of doing similar for the Lilywhites’ central three.

The Latest: There’s still two months left…

Taylor, raving over the potential development of both Lenglet and Spence following on from Tottenham’s completed deals, claims sealing all six players before Conte’s pre-season tour of South Korea would be a ‘real statement of intent’.

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He explained: “Ivan Perišić, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Clément Lenglet, Richarlison & Djed Spence for a total outlay of around £105m (give or take) – all before pre-season tour of South Korea – would represent phenomenal business from Tottenham. Statement of real intent.”

Going further, he replied to a fan claiming they ‘need more’, seemingly hinting ‘from Spurs’ perspective’ that they might not be done here: “Beauty of it from Spurs perspective is still two months (to) do whatever business they please…”

The supporter had asked for another top centre-back, a creative midfielder and more depth up front, so we will have to wait and see if any of those now come to fruition.

The Verdict: Huge…

Sealing both Spence and Lenglet on top of their already-confirmed arrivals would certainly be huge from a north London perspective, but to add even more would be perhaps the club’s best ever window.

Spence would inject some serious quality in the right-back area whilst also balancing the books in terms of Tottenham’s troubling homegrown quota.

Meanwhile, Lenglet’s addition would provide Conte with an ‘experienced’ defensive asset at zero cost – leaving little surprise pundit Paddy Kenny has claimed the Frenchman would be a ‘big signing’.

Indeed, possibly signing the duo before pre-season may simply be a stroke of genius by Paratici, allowing the transfer guru to shop around for bargains and perhaps some young prospects having already secured the major targets before a ball is even kicked.

Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Alasdair Gold has been reacting to the signing of Richarlison, which was confirmed by the club on Friday morning.

The Lowdown: Spurs unveil Richarlison

The Brazilian’s Everton exit always seemed inevitable, with the Toffees only just narrowly managing to escape Premier League relegation last season.

There were several top-flight clubs interested in securing the forward’s services, predominantly Chelsea and Arsenal, but it was the Lilywhites who ended up beating their London rivals to win the race for his signature after it was officially announced on Friday that the 25-year-old had put pen to paper on a five-year deal with Spurs.

The Latest: Gold reacts

Taking to Twitter, Gold shared his excitement about Richarlison’s move and is looking forward to seeing what other transfer business Spurs complete this window.

Quoting a tweet directly from the club unveiling the former Goodison Park man, the reporter wrote:

“That’s number four done, it’s July 1 and there’s more to come. What has happened to Tottenham Hotspur?”

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The Verdict: A fresh creative outlet

Richarlison now becomes Tottenham’s fourth summer signing, following in the footsteps of Ivan Perisic, Fraser Forster and Yves Bissouma as Antonio Conte continues to create his new-look squad ahead of next season.

The striker was the standout performer in a struggling Everton side under Frank Lampard, muserting 16 goal contributions in 33 appearances across all competitions last term, as per Transfermarkt, highlighting how prolific he can be in the final third.

Spurs do have plenty of attacking prowess in Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min, but Richarlison has the versatility to play either on the flank or down the middle, so his arrival will create a fresh new outlet for the Italian up top, who will need all the numbers he can get with the extra fixtures once the Champions League campaign begins.

Leeds United are getting close to securing the transfer of Bayern Munich midfielder Marc Roca.

What’s the news?

In a recent Twitter post from journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, he had this to say on the matter.

“Leeds are progressing in talks with Bayern for Marc Roca. Bayern are asking for €15m fee, negotiations underway – Leeds hope to get the deal done this week.

“West Ham have also explored this possibility but Leeds are leading the race, as Phil Hay reported.”

In a more recent post from Romano, he revealed that Leeds “have reached an agreement” with the player over personal terms and that a four-year deal is ready for him to sign.

He then added that talks between the two clubs are progressing well.

Romano ended his latest tweet saying that Jesse Marsch wants Roca and that the deal is a “work in progress with positive feelings.”

Taking all of this into account, it seems as though the 25-year-old could be at Elland Road in the coming days and being announced as a new Leeds player.

Leeds fans will be buzzing

As a product of Espanyol’s youth system, the midfielder made 172 appearances for the club across their senior and youth sides.

In those appearances, Roca scored nine goals and provided six assists before joining Bayern in October 2020.

Since then, the midfielder has only made 24 appearances for Julian Nagelsmann’s team across all competitions.

Having already secured deals for Brenden Aaronson and Rasmus Kristensen, it will surely have plenty of Leeds fans buzzing to see another new face put pen to paper on a deal at the Yorkshire club, especially one so talented as Roca.

Leeds ended up losing 14 of the 18 league games that Kalvin Phillips didn’t feature in this season so having another defensive midfielder in the squad that could fill in for the Englishman would add some much-needed depth to that area of the squad.

In fact, with just nine Bundesliga games under his belt throughout his latest campaign, the Spaniard still managed to make seven successful tackles as well as eight interceptions and seven blocks, showing that he is a capable and consistent defensive player when given the chance to play.

A fine technician capable at both ends of the pitch, he’d be very valuable asset to Marsch next term.

In other news: Marsch can form scary duo as Leeds eye move for £20m machine who’s “hungry for goals”

Newcastle United remain interested in signing Lille defender Sven Botman, despite growing talk over an AC Milan move, reports Chronicle Live.

The Lowdown: January’s failed pursuit

The 22-year-old was at the centre of a heavy transfer saga involving the Magpies in January. After extensive negotiations, the North East club failed to secure the Dutchman as he became increasingly wary of the move, with Newcastle at the time facing a serious risk of Premier League relegation.

As a result, the Tyneside outfit moved their attention elsewhere, and ended up signing Dan Burn from Brighton on deadline day, who has since started 15 top flight games.

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The Latest: Magpies still keen

According to a report by the Chronicle’s Lee Ryder, Botman has been included on a list of centre-backs that Newcastle will push for in the summer.

The Lille defender is strongly linked with a move to Milan, whilst other rumours have recently emerged linking the Netherlands U21 international with a switch to Manchester United, following the announcement of Erik ten Hag as manager.

However, the Magpies believe they will get another opportunity to hold talks with Botman’s agent.

As a result, Eddie Howe will wait to make a decision on signing James Tarkowski, with the belief that signing the 6 foot 4 Dutchman remains a possibility.

The Verdict: Tough competition

The report claims that Milan have been informing Italian journalists that they are set to win the battle for Botman at €30million.

However, with Newcastle’s insistence to re-open talks with the player’s agent, this suggests otherwise.

Described as a ‘golden boy’ by Francesco Miniero, it is clear to see why the Magpies are so intent on signing Botman, who already has a Ligue 1 winners medal at such a young age.

With such high praise from across Europe, this won’t be an easy signing to make in the summer, but it could be one that propels the Magpies into the European fight next season.

In other news: Newcastle United: Italian source makes Thomas Strakosha claim