The Athletic’s Tottenham Hotspur journalist Jack Pitt-Brooke believes that the club’s Player of the Season has been Giovani Lo Celso, per The View From The Lane podcast (February 25th, 33:47).

What’s he said?

The Argentina international arrived on loan from Real Betis in the summer, with the move made permanent in the January transfer window at a cost of £27.2m.

Thus far this season, he has made 17 Premier League appearances, with just six of them coming under the management of Mauricio Pochettino and just six top-flight starts in total.

Under Jose Mourinho, he has become a key member of the squad, playing a part in each of their last nine games.

While he has yet to score a goal or register an assist in the top-flight, he has impressed Pitt-Brooke, who picked his Player of the Season thus far.

He said: “I feel like it is Lo Celso even though he played like what two games under Pochettino.”

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Levy’s win

Chairman Daniel Levy played a blinder with the deal to sign Lo Celso.

Spending just under £30m for a player who is as skilful and silky as the ex-Betis man is astonishing in this inflated market.

He is the kind of player who almost defies statistics and his lack of goals and assists do not give the whole story; he carries the ball brilliantly and glides past players from his position in the centre of midfield.

Mourinho has already expressed his admiration for him, saying before the loss to Chelsea at the weekend – in which Lo Celso was, ironically, lucky not to be sent off – that he was “playing fantastic” and that he had undergone an “incredible evolution”.

Spurs fans will be hoping it continues until the end of the campaign, when he may will win the real Player of the Season award.

Meanwhile, Spurs fans have reacted to the latest update on a possible ban for Dele Alli!

Wolves travel to north London this Sunday to take on Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham.

The Midlands-based outfit won’t have had much time to prepare for this one having played Espanyol in the Europa League on Thursday evening, a game in which they suffered defeat but still managed to progress having won 4-0 in the first leg.

Contrastingly, Tottenham will have had a whole week to get themselves ready for this encounter, having last played against Chelsea on the 22nd – Nuno Espirito Santo will have to be wise with his squad management.

In that respect, here’s the XI that we think the Portuguese coach should opt to deploy…

As you can see, we think Nuno should make four changes to the side who suffered defeat against Espanyol.

Max Kilman, Leander Dendoncker, Daniel Podence and Morgan Gibbs-White should be replaced by Roman Saiss, Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez as Tottenham’s weak full-back areas must be Wolves’ focus.

Mourinho has far-from-perfect options in both of his wide-defensive areas. Ben Davies – who should presumably start with Danny Rose out on loan – is lacking in pace, so Nuno must stick Adama Traore on his side where the Spaniard could give the Welshman nightmares.

On the other flank, Serge Aurier is always capable of a brain-fart, so the positionally-excellent Jota – who has five goals in his last two games – could easily sneak in behind the Ivorian and nick another goal with the former PSG man far from the most defensively-aware player in the Premier League.

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Nuno has used a 3-5-2 system in each of Wolves’ last two outings, but that is a formation in which Traore can only be utilised as either a centre-forward or a right wing-back – putting him up against Davies is surely key to the attack, so a 3-4-3 would allow the former Barcelona man to hug the touchline where he is arguably at his best having completed more dribbles than any other Premier League player this season.

In other news, this Wolves man ignored Nuno’s lifeline this week in disappointing fashion…

Same time, same place, different year: The Man City Cup final featuring, you guessed it, Manchester City is set to take place at the home of English football on Sunday.

It’s the least coveted of all the available trophies, yet it’s psychological benefits are impossible to ignore. The Citizens have won the trophy four times since 2014 and victory in the competition has preceded a Premier League title on three of those occasions. One brings two; the insatiable appetite for silverware rises sharply in between the Wembley walls and lays the foundations for City’s characteristically relentless end of season push.

There is a feeling of inevitability surrounding the result. Death, taxes and Man City winning the Carabao Cup.

While football’s charm to a large degree derives from its unpredictability and its facilitation of David’s triumph over Goliath, the factors really are stacked against Aston Villa ahead of the clash. Since the start of December they have won just three of 14 league matches and they have lost their last three in a row. A relentless City side trounced them 6-1 at Villa Park shortly following the turn of the year, and Pep Guardiola’s side arrive in London on the back of a 2-1 Champions League win at the Bernabeu.

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The ray of hope for the Villains, though, is Jack Grealish, a player who is admired on both sides of Manchester, per Daily Telegraph.

Beyond Villa’s playmaker-in-chief the fact that Dean Smith’s prevailed on the same ground to reach the Premier League last season in a game of infinitely higher stakes will give the club hope of pulling off a minor miracle.

The game is set to take place amid a backdrop of financial and, arguably, moral corruption which hangs over the heads of the overwhelming favourites.

And while some may naturally view this as an unofficial audition for Grealish to earn himself a move to the Etihad Stadium, a footballing dream factory where professional and financial aspirations have been realised for the best part of ten years, City’s two-year ban from Europe’s elite cup competition could yet represent a transfer market kryptonite with the potential to derail their attempts to bring the budding England international into the club.

David Silva’s confirmed end of season departure will open up a vacancy to be filled and Grealish is undisputedly a worthy candidate even if, stylistically and statistically speaking, they are far from carbon copies of one another.

Statistically Grealish is a pulsating machine of noteworthy contributions. Rarely does a player consistently offer so much and impress to the point of near universal admiration, but that’s exactly what he has achieved on his return to England’s top tier this season. 

His ability to bamboozle defenders and drive his team forward is reflected by the fact he is the most fouled player in Europe this season, per Whoscored. On average he draws 4.9 fouls per game, which is 0.8 more than Neymar while his return of 2.8 key passes also trumps the Brazilian’s return of 2.6.

Grealish is no joke and he is certainly much more than a prodigy who happens to have hit a purple patch.

It would not be a stretch to say that triggering his £60m release clause is a no-brainer for Guardiola this summer, and his performance at Wembley could well cement his credentials as a future lynchpin in the Spaniard’s immensely talented midfield.

But City’s ability to dominate the market and cherry-pick a squad consisting of pretty much whoever the hell they want could soon become a distinguishing feature of a tainted past, a mere memory of the Utopian landscape they once prowled.

An outstanding display from Grealish in the EFL Cup final may not be enough to inspire a shocking result yet it may be enough to convince the soon-to-be dethroned Premier League champions that a summer bid should be on their agenda.

For the first time in Guardiola’s reign, though, there is the added complication of City’s Champions League ban which leaves the club’s transfer market prowess in jeopardy.

It will be a bitter pill to swallow for the club if a potential future star snubs their advances in favour of a club with Champions League football on offer, and that daunting feeling of what could have been may begin to manifest when Grealish begins to twist, turn and tantalise in Villa’s midfield at Wembley.

The tide is unlikely to turn on the pitch as City aim to fulfil their annual EFL Cup obligation. Away from the pitch, however, the future is less clear cut.

The Athletic’s Rangers correspondent Jordan Campbell has given a fitness update on four players ahead of the Europa League last 16 tie against Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday evening.

The Bundesliga outfit – who possess eye-catching talents such as Kai Havertz and Leon Bailey – will travel to Ibrox for the first leg of this two-legged tie, and Campbell has given a timely update on the availability of four Rangers players.

He reveals that Steven Gerrard will be without Jermain Defoe and Ryan Jack, while James Tavernier didn’t train on Wednesday but will be given until the last minute to prove his fitness – Scott Arfield will definitely be available.

Campbell states that Defoe will be missing for a minimum of two weeks with a calf injury, while it is not revealed what is wrong with Jack – in Tavernier’s case, he is struggling with a foot problem.

You can see what The Athletic journalist tweeted in full below:

In other news, these Rangers fans have been left “absolutely gutted” and “devastated” after a recent announcement…

Sunderland may have lost to Bristol Rovers on Tuesday but Kevin Phillips has identified one positive that could come out of the match.

What did he say?

Phil Parkinson has been reluctant to change things in recent weeks due to the Black Cats’ run of form that took them to fourth place in the league at one point.

However, after failing to win in three he decided to hand starts to summer signings Josh Scowen and Antoine Semenyo against Rovers, but the decision backfired and a below-par performance followed, with his side managing just two shots on target.

Despite that, Phillips feels that dropping Lynden Gooch for Semenyo was a necessary step, as the American’s contribution had tailed off recently – failing to score or make an assist in his three matches prior to Tuesday.

Reflecting on the defeat to the Gas, Phillips told Football Insider:

“Semenyo looked bright at the weekend. So I am not surprised he got a start.

“I know that Gooch has been carrying a slight knock. He and Maguire were not up to their usual tricks last weekend and they have had two or three quiet games. There was no surprise that Phil changed it.

“Phil only makes one, a maximum of two changes where Jack Ross was criticised for making too many. Phil just freshens it up.”

Lack of depth

It is little surprise that Parkinson made changes on Tuesday despite only being seconds away from getting back to winning ways against Gillingham last weekend.

That’s because there has been rising pressure from fans for the Black Cats’ boss to give the likes of Kyle Lafferty and Declan John a chance ahead of the underperforming Charlie Wyke and Denver Hume.

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However, the decision to drop Gooch was a bit of a risk, and although it was a good idea at the time to give him a rest it now seems there was little point in doing so, as matches have now been postponed.

Regardless of that, the fact Sunderland declined in their display should act as a concern for Parkinson. Supporters may have been impressed with the desire shown by Semenyo but he lacked a killer instinct in the final third, failing to make a key pass on his way to a lowly WhoScored rating of 6.4.

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As a result, when the north-east outfit do return to action Parkinson may have the repeat problem of being unable to change things up positively when he finds his team trailing or needing to find a winner, and he needs players like Semenyo to show more.

Elsewhere, Sunderland fans have been expressing their disappointment with one man following the mid-week defeat…

With no football on at the moment, it should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that focus has already shifted a little bit towards the summer transfer window.

If you read Phil Hay’s mailbag last week it was clear that fans wanted to know about Leeds United’s summer plans, and while not all that much was revealed, one potential target was named.

Indeed, the journalist stated that Leeds could go in for Manchester City’s young Brazilian right-back Yan Couto on loan this summer, and while bringing in the £3.6m-rated player is an exciting prospect, it should spell the end of one Marcelo Bielsa experiment.

Bielsa’s experiment

Leeds’ manager has something of a reputation for handing out chances to young players.

He’s given no fewer than 11 teenagers their debut since coming in at Elland Road, and one of the players he’s handed numerous opportunities to is Jamie Shackleton.

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The 20-year-old has played 40 times for Leeds since Bielsa’s appointment, but somewhat concerningly, he’s played out of position quite a lot.

Despite him previously saying that midfield is his favourite position, he’s been played at right-back 12 times for Leeds, and while he’s said that he has enjoyed learning the role, it isn’t necessarily the best thing for his development.

The arrival of Couto may put an end to that experiment though.

Couto’s arrival

The Brazilian was a €15m (£14m) signing for Man City last summer, and he has previously been compared to Dani Alves, so one would think that if he arrived at Elland Road he wouldn’t be rotting in the U23s like Ian Poveda or Jack Clarke.

The right-back would immediately shake up the pecking order in that role, and while whether or not he replaces Luke Ayling as the starter remains to be seen, it’s safe to assume that he’ll be ahead of Shackleton when it comes to that spot.

Hopefully, this leads to the homegrown talent getting more opportunities in his favoured midfield position as he’ll no longer be needed at full-back.

Of course, this could also have an adverse effect as it could see the 20-year-old get fewer opportunities on the whole, but at least it will allow him to have one specific role to focus on.

In other news, Leeds need to sever ties with one man.

Leeds United are surely going to be in for a busy summer irrespective of the division they find themselves in, so what sort of side will they look like come the start of the 2020/21 campaign?

The Whites are leading the Championship at the minute and hold a seven-point advantage to the playoff positions with only nine games remaining, so they’ll have themselves to blame for failing to go up.

There have been plenty of transfer reports linking the club to several players. Here is how Marcelo Bielsa could line up his side…

There’s sure to be a change between the sticks from Kiko Casilla. His ban for racial abuse has left an air of uncertainty hanging over his future whilst Illan Meslier’s loan move would need to become permanent.

Football Insider have claimed that Bournemouth stopper Aaron Ramsdale is on their shortlist of possible goalkeeper additions, and he’d be the perfect arrival given his profile.

Only 21 years of age and has picked up valuable experience in the division this term, featuring in 28 matches but has only kept four clean sheets – then again, the Cherries are at the wrong end of the table. Transfermarkt currently value him at £12.6m.

In front of him could be another new signing with Manchester City Tosin Adarabioyo who Leeds have reportedly enquired about earlier this month. The 6 foot 5 colossus has been enjoying a loan spell at Blackburn Rovers and Bielsa will have seen his exploits first hand this term.

His contract at the Premier League champions doesn’t expire for another year, so maybe they could push for a loan move or tempt City into a sale.

Ben White will return to Brighton this summer, so he will certainly need replacing.

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The rest of the defence could contain skipper Liam Cooper, the only other centre-back due on Leeds’ books at the minute, Leif Davis at left-back, given the reliability of other options, and Luke Ayling on the right as normal.

In midfield, there are no changes whatsoever – Kalvin Phillips continues his lynchpin role with Mateusz Klich and Pablo Hernandez ahead of him while out wide Jack Harrison’s loan move can be made permanent this summer for £8m, which is something Leeds should very much do with Helder Costa on the other flank.

Meanwhile, there’s no place for current top goalscorer Patrick Bamford, he could be replaced by a new striker and one they have been frequently linked to is Cyle Larin of Besiktas. He could cost the club €12m (£10.7m).

Premier League Inflation: You won’t believe how much these famous transfers would cost today…

AND in other news, Leeds should let Gaetano Berardi leave, says Beren Cross…

Back in October, Crystal Palace fans were not happy with Luka Milivojevic following a defeat to Manchester City.

While it was perhaps harsh criticism given the level of opposition that day, the overriding theme from the supporters’ complaints were based on the win against West Ham the week before losing to Pep Guardiola’s men.

They felt that Roy Hodgson’s side performed better without the Serbia international involved in the starting XI.

Now, while that might’ve sounded a tad reactionary at the time, given the difference in quality between the Hammers and the Citizens, those fans have since been proven right by the Eagles’ recent winning run.

The ex-Anderlecht man is Crystal Palace’s captain, but even that didn’t see Hodgson immediately reinstate him into the starting XI after he recovered from illness.

Milivojevic missed the 1-0 win over Newcastle in which Patrick van Aanholt’s freekick handed the south Londoners all three points, which added a bit more weight to the aforementioned argument from the supporters on Twitter.

Furthermore, their claims from October were only bolstered even more when the skipper was left on the bench for the following game against Brighton, in which the Eagles picked up three more points.

Perhaps keen to stick to a winning formula, Hodgson opted for the same XI for the next game against Watford, where Crystal Palace were again victorious without Milivojevic, who was introduced as a substitute with 20 minutes remaining.

While two games in September against West Ham and Manchester City did little to justify the Palace supporters’ claims, these recent three matches – in which the Eagles have won three games in a row without the Serbian – does mean that those fans have now been proven right.

Can you remember how much each of these transfer icons cost? Only experts will get 100% on our quiz…

For now at least, it does appear that the former England manager’s XI operates better without Milivojevic.

In other news, meet the unsung Crystal Palace employee who helped discover Joel Ward…

Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos has been in the headlines over the weekend and for once it isn’t about his brash antics, but rather for his act of “incredible” generosity.

The 23-year-old, valued at £13.5m by Transfermarkt, has donated £75,000 back to his home country, Colombia, in order to help underprivileged families during the current pandemic.

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Morelos has now given up approximately £300k in the past year to his own foundation as well as other charities.

He’s often been known for his questionable attitude on the pitch, where he has received a massive 36 yellow cards and has even been sent off seven times in his Gers career.

It has led to his manager, Steven Gerrard, calling for him to produce more mature performances this season.

Morelos has been integral to the Ibrox outfit, scoring 29 goals and assisting ten more in 46 appearances across all competitions, including in the Europa League.

And supporters have been lapping up his gesture on social media.

Here’s what has been said…

AND in other news, Rangers fans love message from Scott Arfield…

Newcastle United’s takeover by a Saudi-backed consortium is edging closer and closer by the day and Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail has fueled further encouragement over the weekend with his comments on the Sunday Supplement.

And it has left many fans at St James’ Park going nuts as a result.

He said: “I don’t see any official objection to [the takeover] whatsoever” before adding: “I began in a sceptical position, but I think this one is genuine. This one goes through. It works as a business proposition.”

Sky Sports believe the deal to take the reigns from Mike Ashley is nearing completion after PCP Capital Partners paid a £17m deposit and exchanged contracts last week.

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The Magpies chief has often used Samuel as a mouthpiece to push information out and that is exactly why some supporters are seeing their hopes increase tenfold.

They have taken to Twitter to share their thoughts to the latest update after NUFC360 relayed the information.

Here’s what has been said…

AND in other news, this ex-PL manager could be the perfect BRUCE REPLACEMENT…