Manchester United are beginning to lay their transfer priorities on the table and have stepped up their interest in a key target at Old Trafford, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Man Utd finalise Bryan Mbeumo deal

There have been weeks of speculation surrounding Bryan Mbeumo’s move to Manchester United from Brentford. However, he has now arrived at Carrington and is set to seal a transfer to the Theatre of Dreams imminently.

The Cameroon star is set to bolster Ruben Amorim’s attack for a fee that could reach £71 million, inclusive of add-ons, and Romano has delivered the decisive news that he will officially join the Red Devils in time for the Premier League Summer Series.

In light of Liam Delap and Joao Pedro coming in at Chelsea, Manchester United have also turned their attention to Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson after missing out on Hugo Ekitike and Viktor Gyokeres.

Despite his £100 million valuation, Jason Wilcox is keen to cut a deal at a more affordable figure if the Senegal international is permitted to leave Stamford Bridge permanently.

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2 ByTom Cunningham Jul 19, 2025

Modern-day transfers take a different form when it comes to their structure. Manchester United are reported to have agreed personal terms with Valencia midfielder Javier Guerra. Still, it remains to be seen whether they can reach a club-to-club arrangement on a fee.

Entering a transitional period following a poor showing last year, the Red Devils will look to offload several fringe players to ensure they can recruit new personnel without violating PSR regulations.

Truly, it feels like there is nobody off-limits bar a select few, so it will come as no surprise to hear Amorim is keen on adding competition to an area that has proved problematic in recent years.

Romano: Man Utd make contact regarding Senne Lammens

According to world-renowned transfer reporter Romano, Manchester United have made “initial contact” to be informed on Royal Antwerp goalkeeper Senne Lammens’ situation, and the 23-year-old is said to be on their “main” shortlist if Amorim chooses to change tact between the sticks.

Aston Villa stopper Emiliano Martinez is another name being closely watched, albeit any move for the Argentina international would come at a greater financial cost.

Putting Andre Onana’s future in doubt, Lammens kept 10 clean sheets in 44 appearances last term across all competitions, conceding 56 goals.

Labelled “exciting” by Football Talent Scout – Jacek Kulig, the 23-year-old maintained a save percentage of 81.9% over the last 365 days relative to his peers and is a rising star who could be a future number one at Old Trafford for years to come.

However, you get the feeling any deal would be reliant on Onana moving elsewhere, which may create a waiting game for all concerned.

Leeds United have enquired over the potential signing of a Premier League player in the summer transfer window, according to a new report.

Leeds eyeing Longstaff and others this summer

Newcastle United midfielder Sean Longstaff has emerged a priority target for the Whites ahead of next season, as Daniel Farke looks to bring in players with genuine Premier League experience.

The Englishman is allowed to leave St James’ Park in the coming weeks, with Eddie Howe unable to promise him regular playing time, and he could be a shrewd acquisition for Leeds. In fact, they have even reportedly agreed personal terms with the 27-year-old, although a £12m offer has been rejected by the Magpies.

Longstaff is far from the only player being linked with a move to Elland Road this summer, however, with goalkeeping pair Dominik Livakovic and Angus Gunn thought to be on the Whites’ radar. The former is at Fenerbahce currently, while the latter is a free agent after leaving Norwich City.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa attacking ace Emiliano Buendia has also emerged as a rumoured target for Leeds, with the 28-year-old capable of adding a huge amount of quality in the final third. Now, another Premier League player has been mentioned as an option for Farke’s side.

Leeds enquire over another Premier League midfielder

According to a new claim from Punch Sport [via MOT Leeds News], Leeds have enquired over the availability of Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock this summer during discussions for Longstaff.

The Magpies are reportedly open to the idea of selling the 25-year-old before the new season gets underway, but he prefers the idea of joining a different Premier League rival instead.

The £80,000-a-week Willock could be a top-quality signing for Leeds, and if they could bring in both him and Longstaff, it would feel like excellent business.

Willock has been an impressive servant for Newcastle, scoring 18 goals in 143 appearances from midfield and providing strong box-to-box energy, and he has been likened to Argentina and Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodrigo De Paul, who the Whites were linked with back in 2020.

Appearances

32

Starts

11

Minutes played

1077

Goals

0

Assists

2

Tackles per game

0.9

Key passes per game

0.7

Pass completion rate

87%

His versatility allows him to shine in a more attack-minded wide role, too, which could appeal to Farke, and Howe has spoken glowingly about him during their time working together.

“It’s part of what his game brings [scoring big goals]. He’s got that unexpected ability to do things that you don’t necessarily know what he’s going to do. I’m sure Joe doesn’t know. He’s one of those players who acts off instinct. Those instincts are usually creative and goal driven.”

Willock has proven that he is a top-level footballer, also making 78 appearances for Arsenal before his move to Newcastle, but he will want to be starting games regularly at this stage in his career, which doesn’t feel likely at Newcastle.

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Leeds could be perfect for him in that respect, allowing him to be a star man, and he possesses the natural talent and work ethic to be a crowd favourite at Elland Road.

The New Zealand quick crushed it in dry conditions, finishing with three wickets on the first day

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Sep-2024

William O’Rourke finished with three wickets on day one•Associated Press

In his first outing as a red-ball bowler in Asia, Will O’Rourke was a menace. In his first spell, when the pitch was at its bounciest, he was rapid – sometimes breaching 140kph, and generated uncomfortable bounce from his six-foot-four-inch frame.His first Test wicket in the continent came from a bouncer, with experienced opener Dimuth Karunaratne so shaken by the deliveries O’Rourke had bowled to him previously, that he fenced at one he could have left, and edged it to the wicketkeeper.Pathum Nissanka, a centurion in the last Test innings he played, barely 10 days ago, was dismissed by an even better ball, a rapid, yorker he brought his bat down too late on, and which ended up rattling his stumps.Related

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Often foreign seamers struggle in their first outings in dry conditions. O’Rourke crushed it.”Me and Tim Southee as the pace bowlers have the role to be aggressive and bowl quick and unsettle people – that’s what we’ve talked about with coach Gary Stead and bowling Jacob Oram,” O’Rourke said.In his first five-over spell, O’Rourke took two wickets for 26.”A lot of the talk going into the game was maybe that the pitch was a little bit flat and a little bit slow. We probably wanted to have a bat first. But we had a bowl, and Tim and I were getting good carry, so the communication was to run in hard and hit the deck hard. I probably scattered it around a bit more than I wanted to, but when I hit the right spot I was lucky enough to get a few edges.”O’Rourke’s third wicket was especially impressive. Not only did he get one to rise sharply to smack Angelo Mathews on the index finger late in the first session, causing Mathews to retire hurt at the time. But when Mathews – frequently a good player of fast bowling – returned to the crease, O’Rourke got his wicket with another short, sharp delivery, one that a seemingly muddled Mathews fended at from a bad position.”It’s very special being this early on in my career bowling to legends like Angelo Mathews,” O’Rourke said. “One ball maybe jumped and caught him on the finger and unsettled him a little bit. It’s special to be able to bowl to greats like him and lucky enough to get his wicket at the end.”O’Rourke, in his third Test, is also reveling in having Southee as a mentor. Southee has bowled several memorable spells in Sri Lanka, including in Galle on the morning of the second day in a 2012 Test. Southee also averages an impressive 18.46 against this opposition.”It’s been awesome having Tim as captain. Having another fast bowler as captain who has done as much for the game as he has – it can only be a good thing for a young guy coming through. Getting him at mid-on, or even third slip when he comes over and gives you a wee pointer – that’s a big part of our team and a big part of helping me out.”

علق رايان جرافنبيرخ لاعب خط وسط ليفربول على أدائه الرائع خلال فوز الريدز على إيفرتون بهدفين لهدف واحد على ملعب انفيلد في الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وقال جرافنبيرخ في تصريحات نشرتها “تلجراف” البريطانية: “أنا سعيد جداً بالهدف، في الموسم الماضي لم أسجل الكثير من الأهداف”.

وأضاف لاعب خط وسط ليفربول :”لذلك أنا سعيد جداً خاصة في ديربي ميرسيسايد، عندما يستلم محمد صلاح الكرة نعرف أنه يمررها، وأن اللاعبين تصبح لديهم مساحة للتحرك”.

أقرأ أيضاً.. ردود أفعال جماهير ليفربول على تألق محمد صلاح أمام إيفرتون: يملك إرثًا أكثر من كريستيانو رونالدو

وواصل عن جدول المباريات المزدحم: “نعلم أننا لعبنا ثلاث مباريات في سبعة أيام، في إنجلترا الوضع صعب للغاية لكن استعددنا جيداً”.

وتابع عن هدف إيفرتون: “لم يكن من الضروري أن يحدث الهدف الذي استقبلناه، كنا نتراجع قليلاً ونعتمد على الهجمات المرتدة وسنحت لنا فرص للتسجيل مرة أخرى لكننا لم نسجل”.

وختم: “هذا الموسم لدينا حرية أكبر في خط الوسط، في الموسم الماضي لعبت في مركز اللاعب رقم 6 بشكل صريح، لكن الآن أستطيع التقدم للأمام أكثر”.

MatériaMais Notícias

O São Paulo se reapresentou neste domingo (16) após a derrota no último sábado (15) para o Botafogo, no Rio de Janeiro (RJ), pelo Campeonato Brasileiro, e a principal novidade no treino realizado pelo técnico Rogério Ceni no CT da Barra Funda foi a presença do meia senegalês Iba Ly, contratado para integrar a equipe sub-20, mas que deve ganhar uma chance entre os relacionados do Tricolor para o duelo ante o Puerto Cabello, da Venezuela, às 21h30 (de Brasília) da próxima terça-feira (18), pela segunda rodada da Copa Sul-Americana.

Era um movimento esperado. No final de março, o LANCE! revelou que Ly impressionou o treinador atuando em uma posição carente do elenco profissional no jogo-treino contra os juniores, em Cotia (SP), durante a inter-temporada.

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Ajuda o jogador o fato do francês ser a sua língua nativa, mesmo idioma de Charles Hembert, natural do país europeu e principal auxiliar de Ceni. São fatores que levam a comissão técnica a acreditar em uma rápida adaptação.

O São Paulo vem contratando desde o final do ano passado uma legião de africanos para suas categorias de base. Chegaram para atuar no sub-20, além de Ly, o nigeriano Azeez Balogun, o ganês King Faisal e o também senegalês Etienne Clauvis.

Além das atividades deste domingo, Ceni terá apenas mais um treino, na manhã desta segunda-feira (17) no CT para definir a equipe que enfrentará o rival venezuelano na competição continental.

Há uma dúvida sobre promover a escalação de um time misto ou manter a base titular. Por enquanto, a balança pende para a primeira opção, com nomes como Raí Ramos e Matheus Belém, com poucas chances na equipes, serem escalados nos 11 iniciais. Luan, que avançou nas tratativas para renovar o contrato, deve voltar a ser relacionado.

Neste domingo, os jogadores iniciaram o dia com um aquecimento comandado pelos preparadores físicos. Na sequência, Rogério Ceni comandou uma atividade técnica de dois toques em espaço reduzido.

Depois, um grupo foi separado para um trabalho tático posicional, enquanto outros atletas treinavam finalizações. Por fim, foi feito um ensaio de bolas paradas.

Os atletas que atuaram por mais tempo na rodada de estreia do Brasileirão permaneceram na parte interna do CT da Barra Funda para atividades regenerativas.

+ Confira os jogos, classificação e simule resultados da Sul-Americana-23 na tabela do LANCE!

أشاد جياني إنفانتينو رئيس الاتحاد الدولي لكرة القدم أمس الخميس في نيويورك بتقدم المشاريع والمبادرات الجارية في المغرب استعدادًا لبطولة كأس العالم 2030 بالاشتراك مع إسبانيا والبرتغال.

وقال إنفانتينو في تصريحات صحفية عقب اجتماع طلبه لاستعراض الاستعدادات للبطولة ونقلتها شبكة “يابالدي” العالمية: “أود أن أهنئ جلالة الملك محمد السادس والمغرب وحكومتها على هذه الإنجازات التي تقودنا نحو كأس عالم تاريخي، النسخة المئوية”.

وحضر الاجتماع عزيز أخنوش رئيس الحكومة المغربية وبيدرو سانشيز رئيس الوزراء الإسباني ووزير الخارجية البرتغالي باولو رانخيل.

أقرأ أيضاً.. قرار مهم من ترامب منعاً للشغب قبل انطلاق كأس العالم في الولايات المتحدة

وتذكر إنفانتينو زيارته الأخيرة للمغرب حيث تجول في الملعب الكبير بطنجة وملعب الأمير مولاي عبد الله الرائع في الرباط وأشار إلى أن: “العمل يتقدم بسرعة ليس فقط في الملاعب ولكن أيضاً في البنية التحتية”.

وأكمل إنفانتينو: “كل شيء جاهز بالفعل تقريباً، يمكننا عملياً تنظيم كأس العالم”، ورحب رئيس الاتحاد الدولي بالتعاون الممتاز بين الفيفا والمغرب.

وأكد رئيس الفيفا أن الاجتماع الذي عقد في برج ترامب بنيويورك أتاح فرصة لمناقشة الخطوات التالية في عملية التنظيم المشترك لكأس العالم 2030، وأنه من المقرر إجراء مزيد من المناقشات مع حكومات واتحادات كرة القدم في الدول المضيفة إلى جانب زيارات للمدن المضيفة المختارة.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot is prepared to work with FSG and bring in more signings this summer, despite the remarkable stream of arrivals over the past few months.

When Liverpool signed Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen in a British-record £116m deal, they confirmed to their rivals that they mean to defend their Premier League title and remain at the top of the pile over the coming era.

But with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike signed too, for an initial £69m fee, there’s a growing sense that Slot is shaping a super-team together.

Hugo Ekitike – Professional Career by Season (League only)

Season (* loan)

Apps

Goals

Assists

24/25 – Frankfurt

33

15

8

23/24 – Frankfurt*

14

4

2

23/24 – PSG

1

0

0

22/23 – PSG

25

3

4

21/22 – Reims

24

10

4

20/21 – Vejle*

11

3

2

20/21 – Reims

2

0

0

Data via Transfermarkt

Ekitike, 23, has got the potential to become “one of the best strikers out there”, according to analyst Ben Mattinson, but Ekitike might find himself dealt a heavy load in the early days at Anfield, given that two Reds stars are moving away.

And further change may be afoot, with the sale of Luis Diaz as well as Darwin Nunez’s anticipated departure emphasising FSG’s desire to spark further change before the window slams shut.

Why Nunez and Diaz are leaving Liverpool

Diaz has already left Liverpool, having signed for Bayern Munich in a £65.5m package earlier this week. It’s a poignant farewell for one of the most important players at the club over the past several years, but one which carries a sense of practicality.

Aged 28, Diaz had entered the next-to-last year in his Liverpool contract, and despite efforts from both parties to extend his deal, the gulf was too far to bridge.

And so he departs, leaving the question marks that linger over whether Liverpool will sign a successor, and if that successor will be a central frontman or an electric-paced, out-and-out winger.

Well, with Darwin Nunez appearing to be edging closer to a transfer to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal, it seems like Slot may be welcoming that former option.

In fairness, you need only look at the happenings in the English transfer market to note that sporting director Richard Hughes is indeed doing all within his power to sign a new centre-forward at Liverpool.

Liverpool pushing to sign new striker

Sources from every far-flung corner of the footballing world have revealed details of different shapes and sizes about Newcastle United’s Alexander Isak over the past several days.

However, according to The Athletic’s trusty transfer-reporter-in-chief, David Ornstein, Liverpool remain interested in the Sweden striker after seeing a formal bid worth £110m rejected on Friday. For his part, Isak, 25, continues to push for a move to Merseyside.

However, it all depends on the Magpies’ success in signing a replacement, currently locked in negotiations with RB Leipzig for the 22-year-old Benjamin Sesko. Manchester United, crucially, want him too.

Liverpool may need to fork out closer to an unprecedented £150m if they are to sign one of the Premier League’s deadliest goalscorers.

Why Liverpool are desperate for Alexander Isak

Isak might not have the same indomitability in front of goal as Manchester City’s Erling Haaland (no active footballer does), but he’s still “the best all-round centre-forward” in the Premier League, according to pundit Ally McCoist.

The £120k-per-week star’s 27-goal return last season shows that he knows where the back of the net is too, and he would surely rise to the next level when joining a Liverpool side so replete with offensive quality.

Much has been made over whether signing Isak is even feasible, given that Ekitike joined Slot’s squad in July. However, it’s not as if a duel striking partnership hasn’t proved effective at Anfield in the past.

Just look back over a decade ago, when Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge combined to an emphatic effect across the 2013/14 Premier League season.

Under Brendan Rodgers’ wing, ‘SAS’, as the duo were affectionately dubbed, wreaked utter havoc together as Liverpool capered their way through the campaign. For a long time, the Reds appeared invincible, but they fumbled the bag in the closing stages of the term and ultimately ceded the title to Manchester City.

Still, Suarez and Sturridge played their part, all right. The Uruguayan, one of the most notorious, decorated and destructive footballers in history, obliterated all who lay in his path, scoring 31 goals and supplying 13 assists across 33 top-flight fixtures,

Liverpool had never seen the like (that is, until several years later, when Mohamed Salah came along).

Described by the legendary Steven Gerrard as being the best striker he had ever played with as a professional (sorry, El Nino), the South American was the cream of the crop, but Sturridge played his part too, notching 29 goal contributions from as many games in the league that year.

He perfectly complemented Suarez, a deadly finisher but a dynamic, selfless and mobile dance partner who knew how his strengths merged against his teammates’.

Ekitike could play that role alongside Isak. As per FBref, the Frenchman ranked last season among the top 10% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues for assists, the top 6% for shot-creating actions, and the top 4% for progressive carries and successful take-ons per 90.

While the two athletic number nines are similar in that they are intelligent and energetic both on the ball and without it, Isak is clearly the superior finisher, praised by Fabrizio Romano for being a “machine” in front of goal, whereas Ekitike indeed has a flair for the creative side of the game.

If Slot manages to find a way for them to dance to the other’s tune, Liverpool could be in for a treat over the coming years, proving to the world that two focal frontmen can work together in a side challenging for all the biggest prizes on offer.

Related Bigger mistake than Diaz: Liverpool ready to sell Slot's "monster" for £47m

Liverpool sold Luis Diaz to Bayern Munich, and now face the exit of another star player.

Posts 2 ByAngus Sinclair Jul 31, 2025

Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich are convinced they can sign a high-profile Chelsea player for just £35 million this summer, with BlueCo apparently weighing up the possibility of taking a significant loss on his sale.

Chelsea open talks for "new attacking priority" with near-£40m deal possible

He’s already expressed his desire to join them.

By
Emilio Galantini

Jul 23, 2025

The west Londoners have a glaring need to balance the books after their recent pact with UEFA.

Chelsea essentially agreed to balance out transfers through player sales this summer, or risk not being able to register new signings for their Champions League squad next season (Kaveh Solhekol), and there are many players in contention to leave Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s best performers in the Premier League last season	Average match rating
Cole Palmer	7.33
Moises Caicedo	7.02
Enzo Fernández	6.95
Nicolas Jackson	6.88
Noni Madueke	6.82
via WhoScored

Any potential incomings, like their current pursuit of RB Leipzig playmaker Xavi Simons, could well hinge on their ability to offload certain squad members.

Raheem Sterling, Ben Chilwell, Renato Veiga, Axel Disasi, Carney Chukwuemeka, Lesley Ugochukwu, Armando Broja, Tosin Adarabioyo, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Nicolas Jackson, João Félix, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile and Alfie Gilchrist have all been mentioned as players who could depart Chelsea before deadline day on September 1, with versatile attacker Christopher Nkunku also attracting serious interest.

The Frenchman actually racked up 15 goals and five assists in all competitions last term, including some noteworthy displays at the Club World Cup, but Nkunku has apparently been told that he’ll be a squad player next season if he stays.

In terms of potential suitors, Man United are said to have explored a swap deal for Nkunku involving Alejandro Garnacho, and fellow Premier League side Newcastle United have registered an interest in the 27-year-old too (Simon Phillips).

However, according to a report by TEAMtalk, both teams face stiff competition from Vincent Kompany’s Bayern.

Bayern Munich convinced they can sign Christopher Nkunku for £35m

Nkunku actually “100%” agreed personal terms over a move to the Allianz Arena in January, according to Sky Sports’ Florian Plettenberg, and it appears the Bavarians haven’t given up hope of bringing the former RB Leipzig star back to Germany.

TEAMtalk claim there is a belief at Bayern that they could sign Nkunku for as little as £35 million – £17m less than the £52m Chelsea paid for him in 2023 – and the report suggests that is actually a very realistic possibility.

United are named as rival suitors in the race for Nkunku, so Kompany won’t have a free run, but Nkunku is believed to remain keen on a move to Bayern with the European heavyweights also “prioritising” a move for him.

Maresca is on record stating he ‘loves’ Nkunku, but the competition for places in his squad means that he could find better luck getting minutes elsewhere.

There is no denying his quality, though, as evident by his return last season, with teammate João Félix calling him a “top player” and a pleasure to play with too.

Building a selfless team has been a key takeaway for India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav after his side swept Bangladesh 3-0 on a record-breaking day in Hyderabad. This was the second successive series sweep for Suryakumar and coach Gautam Gambhir since they took charge of the team in the shortest format.On Saturday, it was Sanju Samson who best exemplified India’s selfless and fearless approach with the bat. From 62 off 29 balls, he zoomed to 92 off 35 balls with a sensational sequence of 6,6,6,6,6 in the tenth over bowled by wristspinner Rishad Hossain. Then when he was on 96, he drilled offspinner Mahedi Hasan over his head for a 40-ball hundred – the second fastest by an Indian in T20Is. Samson’s blitz set India up for 297 for 6 – the second-highest total in men’s T20Is.”I think we have achieved a lot as a team,” Suryakumar told the host broadcaster during the post-series presentation. “Most importantly as I said at the start of the series, I want to have selfless cricketers in my team. We want to be a selfless team and as Hardik [Pandya] said, we want to just enjoy each others’ performance on the field and off the field and spend as much time as possible and that camaraderie is carrying on the field and we’re having some fun.”The chat around the team has been like that. Gauti said the same thing at the start of the series and when we went to Sri Lanka as well: ‘no one is bigger than the team’. If you’re at 99 or 49 or anything, if you feel you’ve to hit the ball out of the park for the team, you have to hit it and Sanju did the same thing. Really happy for him.”Related

• T20I series takeaways: India now a team of allrounders and fearless cricketers

• The day Samson and his truth burned bright

• Samson's epic, Suryakumar's innovation hand Bangladesh a shellacking in Hyderabad

• Stats – India smash 232 runs through boundaries

• Sanju Samson tees off: one over, five sixes

With some Test players getting a break ahead of the upcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand, India rejigged their combination, packing their side with allrounders. In the second and third T20Is, Suryakumar used as many as seven bowling options. India’s team management has similarly asked their batters to be flexible. Nitish Kumar Reddy, one of the debutants in this series, was promoted to No.4 in the second game and he responded with 74 off 34 balls, in what was only his second international innings, after India had been reduced to 41 for 3 within the powerplay.”We’ve to be very flexible when it comes to batting and bowling as well,” Suryakumar said. “Everyone has to chip in with few overs who can and batters have to be very flexible. The way they showed it in the series was very commendable.”Just [have to] maintain the good habits and continue that on the field and just be the same.”India’s next T20I assignment is a four-match series in South Africa, which will run from November 8 to November 15, overlapping with the Test team’s prep of the Australia tour, which kicks off with the first game in Perth from November 22.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he wants to add more players to his attacking arsenal before the end of the summer transfer window.

Speaking after the 1-0 win over St Mirren, the Hoops boss said: “It’s just about improving. There’s areas that we want to improve in the forward line. That’s something that we hope we can do over these remaining weeks.”

The Scottish Premiership champions kicked off their defence of the title with a win, thanks to a late goal from Luke McCowan, but it was far from an assured performance.

There were some underwhelming performances from a number of Celtic players across the park on Sunday, and one of those flops was Hyun-jun Yang.

Why Celtic need to sign a new right winger

After selling Nicolas Kuhn to Como, the South Korean forward appears to be the first-choice right-wing option for the Hoops, and he does not look ready for that responsibility.

Yang is a very capable and useful squad player for Celtic to have, as evidenced by his return of six goals and six assists in 34 appearances in all competitions last term.

The 23-year-old forward has not shown that he can deliver outstanding quality on a consistent basis, though, and failed to register a single shot, completed dribble, or chance created in almost an hour against St Mirren.

Yang did not take his opportunity to show that he can be the replacement for Kuhn, which is why the club should be pushing to bring in a new right winger to allow Rodgers to ditch the South Korea international from the starting XI.

Calcio Mercato recently reported that Celtic are interested in an ambitious loan swoop for Liverpool outcast Federico Chiesa, alongside Premier League side Fulham.

Why Celtic should sign Federico Chiesa

The Italy international, who is reportedly on £150k-per-week wages at Anfield, would come in as a big upgrade on Yang and allow the manager to drop the current Hoops forward down to the bench.

Chiesa, who was described as a “top-level player” by commentator Seb Hutchinson, only made 14 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool last season, starting once in the Premier League, which means that it is difficult to judge him on his time in England.

The 27-year-old star’s form for Juventus in the 2023/24 campaign, prior to his move to Anfield, though, suggests that he could be a terrific player for Rodgers to call upon.

xG

6.43

Top 32%

Goals

9

Top 23%

Shots on target

27

Top 14%

xA

5.58

Top 3%

Chances created

54

Top 3%

Crosses completed

40

Top 3%

Assists

2

Top 38%

As you can see in the table above, Chiesa caught the eye as both a goalscorer and a creative threat across 33 outings in the Serie A for the Old Lady that term.

The Italian forward scored more goals (nine) in one of Europe’s major leagues than Yang has managed in over two years at Celtic in all competitions (seven), which speaks to the gap in quality between the two right-sided attackers when it comes to scoring goals.

Chiesa, who scored 32 goals during his time at Juventus, could thrive if given regular game time as a loan signing for the Scottish giants, after a year of riding the bench for Liverpool.

The Italy international thrived as a regular for the Old Lady in the 2023/24 campaign and could get back to his best, providing a regular threat as a scorer and a creator of goals, by coming in to replace Yang as a starter at Parkhead.

It is not an easy deal for Celtic to do, though, as he is a full international who has proven himself in one of the best leagues in Europe, in Italy, so is likely to have plenty of suitors, including the aforementioned Fulham.

If the Scottish giants can find a way to agree a deal with Liverpool and convince Chiesa to make the move, though, then Rodgers can ruthlessly ditch Yang from the starting XI.