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Derby County are one of a number of clubs who are interested in signing Norwich City striker Jordan Hugill, according to a new transfer report.

The Lowdown: Hugill out of favour at Norwich

The 30-year-old has forged an impressive career down the years, racking up a total of 51 goals in 252 appearances in the Championship.

Hugill has found himself almost completely out of favour at Norwich so far this season, however, failing to make a single league start and appearing just seven times as a substitute.

It could make sense then that the striker is allowed to leave this month, which is where Derby come into play.

The Latest: Derby eyeing up move

According to Football Insider, the Rams are keen on signing Hugill in the coming weeks, with Birmingham City, Rotherham and Reading also mentioned in the report.

Norwich are ‘open to offers’ for the veteran attacker in January, with his current deal expiring at the end of the season.

The Verdict: Proven quality

Hugill is someone who could aid Derby’s promotion push in League One in the second half of the season, with Paul Warne’s side currently fourth in the division.

As mentioned, the Englishman has proven himself over an extended period in the Football League and he could just give the Rams that extra bit of firepower and match-winning ability.

Hugill was once hailed as ‘unbelievable’ by Tony Pulis, in terms of his attitude, and he could be a really shrewd and experienced signing by Derby if they manage to get a deal over the line.

Tottenham Hotspur have seen an offer for Leandro Trossard rejected by Brighton & Hove Albion.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by The Athletic, who claim that Fabio Paratici recently made a verbal £12m offer for the 28-year-old. This bid was knocked back by the Seagulls, though, as they are believed to value the forward at a figure close to the £30m mark.

The report goes on to suggest that Antonio Conte’s side have not yet followed up their initial bid with an improved offer. However, the Belgium international’s agent Josy Comhair recently stated that the south coast club would be willing to part with Trossard in January, as the winger has had a falling out with Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi.

Paratici must move

Considering just how impressive Trossard has been for the Seagulls so far this season, coupled with Tottenham’s distinct lack of creativity and efficiency in attack being clear for all to see in the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday, the argument that Paratici simply must return with an improved bid for the Belgian is a very easy one to make.

Indeed, over his 16 appearances in the Premier League so far this term, the £27m-rated talent has already bagged seven goals – outperforming his xG of 4.42 – registered three assists and created one big chance, in addition to taking an average of 2.4 shots – 1.1 of which have been on target – making 1.5 key passes and completing 0.7 dribbles per game.

The £40k-per-week flanker has also caught the eye in a defensive capacity, winning the ball back an average of 1.3 times per match, in addition to making an average of 0.7 tackles and 0.4 interceptions and winning 2.6 duels per fixture.

These returns have seen the 28-year-old – who the New York Times journalist Tariq Panja dubbed “underrated” and Kwame Benaiah claimed has been “on fire” this season – average a Sofascore statistical rating of 7.10, not only ranking him as De Zerbi’s sixth-best performer in the league but also as the joint 48th-best player in the Premier League as a whole.

As such, with Trossard having scored more league goals than all of Son Heung-min, Richarlison, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil this season, it is indeed easy to argue that the signing of the 28-year-old would give a much-needed boost to Spurs’ goals behind those scored by Harry Kane – leading us to believe that Paratici simply must launch a fresh bid in the coming weeks.

Transfer insider Dean Jones claimed that Hakim Ziyech will be a “great fit” for Newcastle United with the Magpies “definitely” interested in the player.

What’s the word?

It seems almost certain that Eddie Howe wants his team to gain another attacker before the January transfer market slams shut next week.

After all, they are strongly linked with Everton winger Anthony Gordon, while the manager himself has spoken publically about the need to replace Chris Wood who has joined Nottingham Forest on loan.

One person who has been linked with a possible move to Newcastle has been Ziyech. Indeed, The Telegraph have reported this month that the Chelsea man is potentially being targeted.

When speaking on Chasing Green Arrows, Jones confirmed this news having spoken to his own sources on the matter and he certainly seemed to think the midfielder would be a good signing – even going as far as rating the likelihood of him signing as ‘hot’.

Indeed, the journalist said: “I’ve been looking into this one a lot over the past week. I know a few people that are well-informed on this deal. So I’ve been chatting to them quite a bit about the possibilities around it.

“And I have to say, the more I talk to them about it, the more I hear about Ziyech, how he’s feeling right now, I’ve gone hot. Like I’m hot on this from every angle.

“Newcastle are definitely looking at this deal. I think it’s a great fit.”

Worth the big spend?

Interestingly enough, Newcastle aren’t the only team said to be in the market for Ziyech with The Athletic reporting that he’s also on Unai Emery’s radar at Aston Villa.

What’s more, there has been some talk that Chelsea are reluctant to sell to the Magpies this summer as they don’t want to strengthen a rival in this season’s race for European football.

This certainly could complicate matters for Howe and co who will likely see Ziyech as someone to come in and take the pressure off Miguel Almiron.

Indeed, the winger has been in great form this season scoring nine league goals but hasn’t hit the back of the net in his last seven outings across all competitions.

No doubt Ziyech would be great depth to add and it’s certainly promising that Jones’ sources are suggesting that this could be a deal that gets done.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano has given his verdict on the possibility of Djed Spence leaving Tottenham Hotspur on loan this month.

The Lowdown: Spurs willing to loan out Spence

Football.London reported a few days ago that Antonio Conte’s side has given the ‘green light’ for Spence to go out on loan in January.

There are Premier League clubs interested in the player including Leicester City, Brentford and Crystal Palace, as well as European side Bayer Leverkusen.

In all competitions, the 22-year-old has only played six times for Spurs, with four of those appearances coming in the Premier League.

The Latest: Spence loan possible

Romano spoke about the possible loan move on The Last Word On Spurs. He claims that currently nothing is advanced with any club.

He stated (8:39), “I think is a possibility, I was asking today and I’m told there is a possibility but still nothing advanced with any club. So they want to wait for the next two, three days to understand if someone will advance with a concrete proposal.

“I saw many links with Brentford, but I’m told that Brentford are not in negotiations for Djed Spence at this point.

“Let’s see, I think this is another kind of last-minute deal, Monday, Tuesday so this is the possibility, because at the moment seen nothing advanced.”

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The Verdict: Spence needs minutes

We believe that Spence has talent in there and could really benefit from a loan move away from Spurs this month.

The Tottenham man received plenty of plaudits when he was out on loan at Nottingham Forest, as Danny Gabbidon raved about the player at the time. He labelled Spence as ‘a player right on the top of his game’, when speaking about him on Sky Sports (via The Nottingham Post).

Where he excelled last season was with the ball at his feet, ranking in the top 6% for successful dribbles in the 2021/22 campaign.

Of the clubs linked, we believe that Palace would be a good option for Spence to head out on loan in January.

Their recent transfer history shows that manager Patrick Viera loves to bring in young stars, they’re also light on options in the right-back position.

Both Nathaniel Clyne and Joel Ward are over the age of 30, it would come as no surprise if the Eagles were to bring in Spence to inject some youth into that position.

Aston Villa could make a late move for Leeds United winger Jack Harrison, according to Alex Crook.

The Lowdown: Leeds ready to listen to bids?

As of last week, Villa were hoping to bring in a striker, winger and midfielder after signing full-back Alex Moreno and forward Jhon Duran.

Any further business has yet to materialise, although the club have been linked with a move for Harrison, who pundit David Norris hailed as ‘really direct, quick and exciting to watch’.

Recent reports have now claimed that Leeds are willing to listen to offers for the 26-year-old, and it looks as if Villa Park could be a potential destination.

The Latest: Crook’s comments

Talking to GiveMeSport, talkSPORT reporter Crook said he’s been ‘told’ to watch out for Villa when it comes to Harrison’s future. He admitted he wouldn’t be shocked if the club kept a move for the winger quiet and ‘pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the final day’.

Crook stated: “Aston Villa, I was told to keep an eye on. They’ve shown in past windows that they’re very good at keeping their business quiet, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they pulled a rabbit out of the hat in the final day of the January window.”

The Verdict: Smart move?

Harrison has been Leeds’ fourth-best player this season, as per WhoScored, registering more assists than any Whites player and outperforming all of Villa’s attackers in the process.

Primarily a winger, Harrison has even lined out in an attacking midfield role in recent weeks, excelling in the FA Cup with four goal contributions in three games, highlighting his versatility in the final third.

You could say that he is in the prime years of his career at the age of 26, and with just 18 months left on his Leeds contract, now could be the ideal time for Villa to make their move, and it seems as if it may be one to monitor.

Tottenham star Harry Kane may attract interest from European giants Real Madrid if Mauricio Pochettino takes charge of the club.

The Lowdown: Kane on fire…

The 29-year-old has once again been a key player for Spurs as they attempt to seal Champions League qualification for the second-successive Premier League campaign.

Kane scored the only goal of the game as Tottenham secured a vital 1-0 win over champions Man City on Sunday – a result which keeps them within one point of Newcastle.

The Englishman also broke Jimmy Greaves’ goalscoring record at the weekend, surpassing the legend’s number with 267 in a Spurs shirt.

The Latest: Pochettino could look to steal Kane…

According to The Times and reliable journalist Gary Jacob, there ‘may’ be interest from Real Madrid in Kane depending on if Pochettino takes charge of the major club.

Bayern are also listed as potential suitors for the England international though chairman Daniel Levy is apparently adopting a firm stance over selling to domestic rivals.

The Verdict: Keep or sell?

Kane has entered the final 17 months of his contract at Spurs, so if there is any time to sell, it would be this looming summer if the club can’t agree fresh terms.

On the field, though, he is quite simply irreplaceable for Tottenham – having scored 17 goals with a further assist in the league alone this season.

If the club can tie Kane down to a new deal, that would certainly be the right move by Levy and Tottenham.

One aspect which may sway Spurs’ star is the thought of breaking yet another record – namely Alan Shearer’s all-time Premier League goalscoring number of 260.

Kane is currently on 200, just 60 shy of Shearer, and he can’t exactly surpass that number if Real and Pochettino swoop in successfully this summer.

This may well be a determining factor ahead of what will be an interesting few months determining his future.

Leeds United correspondent Phil Hay has revealed that Elland Road officials ‘admire’ Rayo Vallecano manager Andoni Iraola.

The Lowdown: Iraola profiled

Iraola began his managerial career at AEK Larnaca back in 2018 and has also been in charge of CD Mirandes before taking over at Rayo Vallecano in 2020.

The 40-year-old likes to play a 4-2-3-1 system and has averaged 1.53 points per game with Los Vallecanos in 118 matches. Iraola actually ended his playing career at New York City as a team-mate of Jack Harrison, with the Spaniard making 21 appearances alongside the Leeds star, and it now seems as if he is of interest to potentially take over from Jesse Marsch, who was sacked on Monday.

The Latest: Leeds interest

Hay took to Twitter on Monday evening, stating that Iraola is ‘one of the coaches Leeds United particularly admire’ as he shared a corresponding article from The Athletic.

The reliable reporter said that the 40-year-old ‘has built a very good team’ at Rayo Vallecano and is on Leeds’ radar as a result.

The Verdict: Shrewd move?

Iraola has led Rayo Vallecano to fifth place in La Liga this season after 20 games, drawing with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid and defeating Real Madrid.

All Leeds TV presenter Oscar Marrio believes that the Spaniard has a similar philosophy to another reported Whites managerial target in Carlos Corberan – ‘high pressing, possession based football with a heavy emphasis on maintaining width’.

Therefore, a Leeds swoop for Iraola by owner Andrea Radrizzani and Paraag Marathe, the president of investors 49ers Enterprises – who appear to have the decisive say when it comes to managerial decisions – could prove to be a shrewd one. However, his lack of Premier League experience may also make it a risk, with the club once again involved in a relegation battle.

Celtic are interested in signing Cliftonville winger Sean Moore this summer, according to a new report.

The Lowdown: Moore impressing

Moore is just 17, but he has already managed to cement himself as a consistent first team player for Cliftonville, making a total of 26 senior appearances for the club.

As such, the youngster has already attracted the interest of suitors from the Premier League, with West Ham United failing to get a deal over the line after entering talks at the end of the January transfer window.

The Latest: Transfer battle?

According to a report from NUFC Blog, Celtic are interested in signing the teenage sensation, who is also attracting interest from the likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, West Ham and Newcastle United.

It appears that Newcastle are the most serious about signing the Northern Irishman, however, having scouted him multiple times over the past season.

The Verdict: Exciting news

Northern Ireland U18 manager Gerard Lyttle has given an overview of what the winger’s main attributes are, saying:

“He has got that pace about him, with a drop of the shoulder and a trick to get away from players. I’ve played with and coached a lot of players that never understood how best to use their pace, but Sean does. He faces defenders up and goes at them. That gets fans out of their seats.”

Therefore, it is exciting news that Celtic are competing for what appears to be a very promising young player, and the experience that he already possesses in men’s football would stand him in good stead to soon make a push for the first team.

This season, Moore has two goals and two assists in 19 league appearances for Cliftonville, and he is only going to get better with age, so the Hoops will now be hoping they can fend off the interest from elsewhere and secure his signature in the summer.

Chelsea’s fondness for extravagant transfer fees, especially during the January transfer window, has seen them create a squad which, on paper, could be one of the most talented in the Premier League.

On the pitch, however, it is a totally different story. Of course, it takes time for players to gel into a new team and environment, and with the Blues securing eight new signings last month, it might take longer than most, but their form under Graham Potter has been poor.

The Blues have won just once in the league this year, and although he will be aiming to be at the club for the long haul, the 47-year-old will need to inspire an improvement from his players – and fast.

If he does make it to the summer with his job intact, Potter must then turn to the club’s academy for future talent instead of splashing the cash in the transfer market. With Conor Gallagher emerging from the youth system to become a member of the first-team squad, it’s evident there is more than enough potential to satisfy the Chelsea manager.

How much is Conor Gallagher worth now?

Under Frank Lampard, Mason Mount was given his chance in the first-team due to the transfer embargo which was placed on Chelsea at the time, and his success will have given many youngsters confidence that they could replicate it, Gallagher included.

Having impressed in the club’s youth academy, registering 30 goal contributions across 92 matches for the U21s and U18s, he gained some much-needed senior experience on loan at Charlton, Swansea, and West Bromwich Albion in the years which followed.

However, it wasn’t until he joined Crystal Palace on loan for the 2021/22 season that he really broke through into the public eye on the biggest stage of them all.

The 23-year-old played 39 times for the Eagles across all competitions, scoring eight goals and recording five assists, which from a central midfield role was even more impressive.

His league displays were of particular interest, earning a Sofascore rating of 7.08/10 while creating five big chances and averaging 1.1 key passes and 1.3 successful dribbles per game, with his attacking abilities made him stand out for the south Londoners.

The 5 foot 11 gem was lauded by journalist and analytics expert Patrick Rowe, who described the midfielder’s best traits to be his “relentless work rate” and “threat in the final third”, which suggests that he can be of great use to Potter.

Indeed, Gallagher has featured 20 times for Chelsea in the league this season, and although his scoring rate has dropped (netting just once), he has still managed to create five big chances and make 0.8 key passes per game.

With his continued improvement comes greater responsibility in this Chelsea team. According to Football Transfers, his market value is now €44m (£39m), and this should only rise as time goes on.

Chelsea have struck gold on Gallagher, and if he somehow falls out of favour at the club, then Potter could make a lavish profit on the midfielder, who came up from the Blues’ academy and therefore didn’t cost them a penny in transfer fees.

Brighton face a ‘battle’ to keep hold of manager Roberto De Zerbi as Tottenham Hotspur become linked with a move for the Italian.

The Lowdown: Spurs eye De Zerbi…

Spurs are reportedly eyeing a move for the Seagulls head coach amid doubts over current boss Antonio Conte’s future at N17.

Conte’s current deal at the club expires at the end of this campaign, and while the Premier League top-four chasers have an option to extend, there are growing murmurs he could depart at the end of 2022/2023.

As such, Tottenham are eyeing a move for De Zerbi as they identify possible replacements, with The Telegraph now sharing an update.

The Latest: Brighton face De Zerbi battle…

As explained by the outlet and journalist Matt Law, the 43-year-old is a man in-demand as he attracts interest from both Europe and England.

Roma, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Juventus could all consider De Zerbi if any of them part-company with their current bosses and Tottenham have been ‘linked’ as well.

As such, Brighton are facing a ‘battle’ to keep hold of the former Sassuolo boss.

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The Verdict: Right man?

If Spurs were to replace Conte at the end of this season, we could hardly think of a better man for the role.

Called ‘incredible’ by Man City boss Pep Guardiola, De Zerbi encourages an entertaining style of football and deploys a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The ex-Serie A coach had a real job on his hands replacing former Brighton fan favourite Graham Potter, but as pressure grows on the Englishman at Chelsea, De Zerbi has come into his own.

The south coast side are firmly in contention for a European qualifying place despite selling a number of star players like Marc Cucurella and Yves Bissouma last summer.

Testament to De Zerbi’s job at the Amex, Brighton reporters have called their manager ‘fantastic’ and we believe he ticks all the boxes to succeed Conte if it comes to that.