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Former Sheffield United striker Dean Windass has exclusively told Football FanCast that both Leeds players and fans will be concerned about Marcelo Bielsa’s future.

Leeds’ victory over Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United on Saturday means that only goal difference is keeping them in the bottom-half, although they face a daunting trio of fixtures against Man City, Liverpool and Man United later this month.

But despite virtually guiding Leeds to Premier League safety with eight games left, the Argentine is yet to extend his contract at Elland Road, meaning he could leave at the end of the season.

He first joined Leeds on a two-year contract, and only signed fresh terms 24 hours before they kicked off their Premier League campaign at Liverpool – penning a 12 month extension.

Bielsa has previously hinted about staying at Elland Road past this season by saying that he won’t manage elsewhere until “my job here at Leeds is done”, but does Windass think that Leeds fans should be worried about the situation surrounding their manager?

“Massively worried, yeah,” he told Football FanCast. “I think that’s the big question on everyone’s lips.

“The supporters want to know why he hasn’t signed a contract. I’d be saying ‘why hasn’t the gaffer signed a deal’, and that’s what the players will be saying in the changing rooms.

“It’s all uncertain, but we’ll know in the next two or three months.”

Writing for football.london and backing up reports made through the media, reliable correspondent Alasdair Gold has stated that Tottenham Hotspur and chairman Daniel Levy hold an interest in Brighton manager Graham Potter.

Gold backs reports of Tottenham interest in Potter

Indeed, the reporter insisted that Potter is on Spurs’ growing list of managerial candidates to replace the recently-sacked Jose Mourinho, alongside Julian Nagelsmann, Brendan Rodgers, Erik ten Hag and Massimiliano Allegri.

Potter, who has been called a ‘genius’ by one unnamed Swansea City player who worked under him (The Athletic), is apparently earning a number of admiring glances from Premier League clubs for his work at the Amex Stadium.

This includes Tottenham, and Gold said there is a ‘growing belief’ that the 45-year-old can transfer his methods to a larger club with little adaptability needed. The Daily Mail recently reported that Potter could emerge as a managerial target, with Gold now backing those reports in his own update.

Transfer Tavern take

As well as being called a genius, the former Ostersund gaffer has been hailed as an ‘excellent manager’ by esteemed members of the press for his tenure on the English south coast (Miguel Delaney).

Operating on a relatively small budget for Premier League level, Potter has also earned praise from Manchester City counterpart Pep Guardiola as ‘the best English manager right now’, known for playing an attractive brand of football.

For these reasons, we also believe he is an attractive outside candidate for the Tottenham job, even if Spurs are rightfully tipped to primarily target Nagelsmann.

In other news: Journalist lifts lid on what Mourinho told Spurs players after sacking, find out more here.

Many Glasgow Rangers fans are far from happy with a tweet from Slavia Prague in the aftermath of the Glen Kamara racism row.

Slavia knocked the Gers out of the Europa League on Thursday after winning 2-0 at Ibrox. They were the better team over the two legs in their round of 16 clash, but their progress was marred by a racism row, with Kamara accusing Ondrej Kudela of the crime towards the end of the 90 minutes.

Slavia have since vehemently denied the allegations, even suggesting that Kamara hit Kudela on the back of the head (slavia.cz). The Czech club has now taken to Twitter to post a rather ironic tweet. On Sunday, it was the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and the Czech champions shared a video of their players saying no to racism.

The clip appeared on both their Czech and English Twitter accounts, and unsurprisingly it attracted plenty of attention from Gers supporters. These fans took to the social media platform to share their thoughts on Slavia’s tweet.

Let’s see what the Rangers fans had to say below

“Obviously an attempt at damage limitation @slavia_eng . Embarrassing and absolutely pathetic!”

Credit: @Gilmourfella

“Digging the hole deeper by the day”

Credit: @SingyGBP1

“The irony of this club is unbelievable!!!!!”

Credit: @athomson71

“Doing everything they can not to get booted out”

Credit: @ThomasGillies1

“Too late. Say no to racism. Uefa to throw the book at you.”

Credit: @keithsp96712045

“You kidding?”

Credit: @islaadarlin

In other news, many Rangers fans slam this BBC pundit’s comments.

Dean Windass spoke exclusively with Football FanCast and hailed Sergio Aguero as a legend of Manchester City, even if he leaves this summer.

The Argentine is Manchester City’s all-time record goalscorer with 256 goals in all competitions and a staggering 180 in the Premier League.

Aguero scored the goal which won Man City their first-ever Premier League title with a 94th-minute strike against QPR in the famous 3-2 win on the final day of the 2011/12 season.

The striker joined City from Athletico Madrid in 2011 for just £36 million and has easily become one of the club’s most loved and talented players in their history.

Despite being 32-years-old, Pep Guardiola still relies on the striker when fit to be the talisman of the team and in doing so he keeps Gabriel Jesus out the side.

Jesus was signed to be the heir to Aguero’s throne, however, it hasn’t gone to plan for the Brazillian as he’s been unable to show good enough form to dislodge Aguero as the main man at the Etihad.

There have been rumours that City’s leading goal scorer will depart for pastures new as he enters the twilight years of his career after giving his best years to City and helping them become a dominant force in the Premier League.

Dean Windass exclusively told Football FanCast that he believes Aguero has given his all to City, but Jesus would not believe to leave the same legacy.

He said: “He’s not past his sell-by date but I think he’s done enough for Man City to walk away as a legend.

“Jesus can’t walk away as a legend. They’ll say he was a great player, I’m not saying he isn’t a great player because he is, but not in the same bracket as Aguero.

“So, when Aguero leaves the club, like Vincent Kompany, he’ll leave as a legend.”

Aguero, who reportedly earns £230,000-a-week, has been at the Etihad for 10 years now and will turn 33-years old later in June. It may be the right way for both to part ways, especially if City can win the league and their first-ever Champions League.

After David Silva left last year without saying goodbye to the fans in person City will be desperate for fans to get back into stadiums to give their best every striker a good send-off.

According to a report by Football Insider, an inquest has come from senior club figures behind the scenes over their failure to pursue Everton defender Ben Godfrey before he signed for the Toffees – with this behind the scenes claim emerging after he was on the radar of Tottenham Hotspur for some time. 

Godfrey, who has started 18 Premier League games for Everton this season since signing from Norwich City in the summer transfer window, was at the centre of interest from Spurs for a while according to Football Insider.

Tottenham inquest held over Godfrey failure

Indeed, a Spurs source has explained to the outlet that Daniel Levy and co were monitoring the promising 23-year-old for a ‘long time’ before his move to Merseyside – and they even enquired about signing the defender in December 2019 but were knocked back (Football Insider).

Now, senior club figures are said to be addressing Levy’s failure to lodge a more serious pursuit for the centre-back – especially given Carlo Ancelotti is said to regard him as the best of his four centre-back options. 

An inquest has apparently been held over Spurs’ failure to push for the youngster, coming as manager Jose Mourinho faces some pressure regarding his managerial position.

Transfer Tavern take

Tottenham reportedly attempted to sign Milan Skriniar last summer in a potential fix for the Lilywhites’ defensive problems (Sky Sport Italia via Football Italia), but to no avail – with centre half being one of the few positions they didn’t strengthen.

Now, some senior figures are said to be unhappy over the botched Godfrey pursuit – one would now have to assume they will swoop for another defensive option this summer.

In other news: Tottenham expected to lose a ‘fantastic’ talent by this Sky pundit, find out more here.

Peterborough Director of Football Barry Fry has exclusively told Football FanCast that Gareth Bale only returned to Tottenham to build his fitness in time for this summer’s European Championships.

Having fallen out of favour at Real Madrid following his toxic relationship with Zinedine Zidane, the Welshman made a sensational return to Spurs last summer on a season-long loan.

But Bale’s opening few months back at Tottenham were frustrating, with the majority of his appearances coming in the Europa League and domestic cup competitions.

However, the attacker found some form during the Europa League tie against Wolfsberger last month, which allowed him to force his way into Jose Mourinho’s Premier League side.

During a six-game period recently, Bale contributed to nine goals, six of which were goals, although Fry believes that his sole reason for coming back to north London was with Wales in mind.

Fry exclusively told Football FanCast:

“I think Gareth jumped at the chance to join Tottenham because he loves it and he felt that he could get game time, where he wouldn’t at Real Madrid.

“He would have expected to play more, but the object of the exercise in Gareth Bale coming to Tottenham was to get fit for Wales. That’s all he came for, believe you and me – game-time, getting fit for the World Cup qualifiers and getting into the Euros.

“It was always going to be each of them using each other for their own means, which is still good for Tottenham fans if they see Bale how he played two or three times. He’s not going to be the player he was with the injuries and loss of game-time. But he can still contribute a lot, but I thought he would have played more than he has.”

Bale’s return to Tottenham hasn’t gone how some would have hoped, but with 10 goals and three assists, and at least 10 games remaining, it’s turned out to be a decent season for the Welshman.

For the most part, Andrea Radrizzani’s business at Leeds has been stellar. After pumping millions into the club, he has taken them to the Premier League with the aid of both Marcelo Bielsa and Victor Orta.

However, there have been some rather shoddy investments in the process.

What’s the word?

According to Voetbal International (via Sport Witness), Jay-Roy Grot’s future at Leeds is still very much up in the air.

The 22-year-old Dutchman hasn’t been seen all season and is now reportedly training with ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands.

Considering he’s still under contract with the Whites, it’s a rather bizarre set of circumstances. The 6 foot 4 forward spent last term on loan in the Eredivisie and it would appear that he’s not properly returned to England.

ADO are seemingly keen on signing Grot permanently and considering he’s training away from the club, it would appear he’s finally on the verge of departing for good.

Get rid

This has been an absolutely disastrous acquisition from Radrizzani. Grot has played just 22 times for the club after his £1.4m move in 2017 and is yet to even make a single appearance under Bielsa.

It’s safe to say that his time in Yorkshire has been far from profitable. He has been ransacking the club’s pockets for a number of years and now simply has to be the time they cut ties with him.

Grot has spent the last two years on loan at VVV-Venlo and Vitesse and as a result, hasn’t played for the Whites since April 2018.

That was just months before Bielsa walked through the door and it would appear the Argentine hasn’t taken kindly to him or his attitude. The head coach usually sets one clear precedent – work hard or you’re getting nowhere near his plans.

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He has only ever scored once for Leeds and it speaks volumes that the club have let him train away from Thorp Arch despite being under contract with the Premier League side.

When he first signed for the club, internet memes joked that he could be the club’s very own Zlatan Ibrahimovic. However, for the Dutchman, it simply hasn’t worked out over the last four years.

Like Ouasim Bouy, Pawel Cibiki and Laurens de Bock, this deal has to go down as one of Radrizzani’s worst.

On £2k-per-week for the duration of his stay, Grot has earned a pay packet without really doing much. Leeds’ Italian owner can’t be pleased at how this has played out.

Fortunately, with his contract expiring in the summer, his hellish nightmare at Elland Road will end sooner rather than later.

AND in other news, Bench him: £15k-p/w Leeds liability who lost possession 12x let Bielsa down on Tuesday…

Southampton have been linked with a move for Vitoria Guimaraes winger Marcus Edwards recently, and the Portuguese side have now reportedly set a fee for the former Tottenham Hotspur man.

According to Portuguese newspaper Record, Southampton would have to pay just £14 million to sign the Englishman in the January transfer window.

The 22-year-old has been in superb form for the Liga NOS side since joining on a free transfer from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2019.

In 46 appearances for Vitoria, he has contributed an impressive 10 goals and 11 assists, as he quickly found his feet in Portugal following disappointing loan spells away from Tottenham Hotspur in previous seasons.

During his time with Spurs, former manager Mauricio Pochettino compared him to Lionel Messi, but he wasn’t ever really able to live up to those immense expectations, as he made just one appearance for the senior side in his time with the Lilywhites.

However, Edwards’ former teammate at Excelsior Rotterdam backed this claim up in 2019, saying:

“He is of a bizarre level, what he can do is really not normal, I have not experienced a better player in my career, and Mauricio Pochettino did not make that comparison with Messi for nothing,”

“He was referring to his way of moving and there is really something in him.”

Therefore, it seems clear that Edwards is seriously talented, and it is no surprise to see him attracting Premier League interest now that he has shown his quality in the Portuguese top-flight, as he averaged a superb 7.38 rating for his performances last season.

If Southampton could sign the tricky winger for just £14 million next month, it could spell trouble for Nathan Redmond, considering the former Norwich City man has failed to contribute a single goal or assist so far this season, which has seen him average a very disappointing 6.39 rating.

Therefore, it will be interesting to see if the Saints can sign the £11.7 million-rated Edwards in the January transfer window, and whether or not he could establish himself as a key part of Hasenhuttl’s side.

And, in other news… Southampton can exploit key SHU weakness by unleashing colossus “role model”

The story of Kiko Casilla’s Leeds career is like a Shakespeare tragedy. So often the party pooper, he has played for the club during one of their most triumphant periods. He got Leeds promoted but then did something unthinkable.

Signing a player from Real Madrid was always going to raise eyebrows and indeed that’s exactly what happened in January 2019.

This was an eye-catching transfer, but media attention ended up being cast his way for all the wrong reasons.

That has been the story of his stint at Elland Road and two years on from when he first signed on the dotted line, he needs to be ousted from the club.

Leeds have ferociously stuck by the experienced Spanish goalkeeper in the last 12 months but he has been nothing short of a disastrous signing.

He was a marquee addition under Andrea Radrizzani but in simple terms, the Italian should be fuming with him. Casilla has not lived up to expectations and has been a considerable PR disaster.

Whether it was making individual errors on the field of play or racially abusing Jonathan Leko – something he was quite deservedly charged for – he’s never really got things right in Yorkshire.

Remarkably, the Spaniard is still at the club and rather shockingly has captained them since that incident with Leko.

Casilla has had more than one chance to save his Leeds stay but that has been one chance too many. He may not have played a single Premier League minute this campaign but he is still burning a colossal hole in Radrizzani’s pockets.

He is on a salary of £40k-a-week at Leeds, and thus, has cost the club over £5m in wages. For someone who now isn’t even playing, that doesn’t look great from a financial point of view.

Speaking about him in early 2020, Noel Whelan typified the 34-year-old: “He’s an accident waiting to happen at the moment. His body language is terrible and you can see the defence are losing confidence in him, they’re fearful and thinking, ‘can we trust him anymore?’”

That quote could have been used several times during his stint in England. Rarely has Casilla held accountability for his mistakes and he’s made them time and time again. For such an experienced professional, that isn’t good enough.

Now is the perfect time to finally sell him. Leeds have been linked with West Brom stopper Sam Johnstone and also QPR ‘keeper Seny Dieng – either would be an upgrade.

AND in other news, Leeds eye swoop for £16k-p/w flop, Orta could repeat their Jean-Kevin Augustin howler…

In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, former West Brom and England midfielder Carlton Palmer has backed the Midlands outfit to secure the signing of Christian Benteke before Monday’s transfer deadline.

According to The Sun’s Alan Nixon, the Baggies are closing in on a move for the Crystal Palace frontman, despite the arrival of Galatasaray striker Mbaye Diagne last week.

It’s claimed that the 30-year-old has been told his playing time at the Eagles will be limited so a temporary spell at the Hawthorns could be beneficial as it would put him in the shop window ahead of the summer window when he will be out-of-contract.

[snack-amp-story url=”https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-this-weeks-latest-west-brom-news-and-transfer-rumours” title=”Read this week’s latest West Brom news, transfer rumours and more…”]

Albion boss Sam Allardyce has managed Benteke before at Palace and revealed earlier this month that he would be keen should the Belgian be available, he said to Sky Sports:

“If he is available, I’d be interested because we all know I’m looking for a front-man if at all possible.”

And when asked if a deal could happen before the 11 pm deadline on Monday, Palmer told FFC:

“Benteke’s contract is up at the end of the season. If they take him now, they might have a deal with him.

“If they had a deal, and said ‘We’ll take him until the end of the season, and we can split the wages’ then Benteke might do that. And then [West Brom] might promise Benteke ‘if you keep us up, we’ll give you a year’s contract.’

“I think there’s a deal to be done there [before deadline day].”

Benteke, who is valued at £8.1m by Transfermarkt, enjoyed a fruitful spell under Big Sam at Palace during the 2016/17 season where he scored nine goals in 22 appearances.

It led to the 66-year-old lauding the 6 foot 3 colossus a “big catalyst” towards their survival bid, and he’d surely be hoping that history can repeat itself should the former Villa man swap south London for the Midlands before tomorrow night.

Albion only have one domestic loan space left to fill, and given they are among the lowest scorers in the division, Benteke could be a welcome addition to their cause.

AND in other news, Baggies can seal “major coup” in £35k-p/w diamond dubbed a “Rolls-Royce of a player”…