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Leeds United have been somewhat reliant on Patrick Bamford this season to score the goals upfront. Alex McLeish believes the club need to help the forward out by signing another striker.

What McLeish had to say

McLeish was asked whether Leeds need to sign a new striker, to which he told Football Insider: “Yeah, of course, of course they do, absolutely. Look at Callum Wilson at Newcastle, okay, he’s played up with Andy Carroll and started together the other day there but Andy’s kind of in the last couple of years of his career, I would think, and definitely Bamford is also relied on too much.

“When he doesn’t score, everybody’s almost like: ‘Well Bamford must have been rubbish,’ but there’s a lot of pressure on the guy to keep scoring every single week, it’s the hardest job in the game is scoring goals.”

Should Leeds bolster their attack?

Bamford has been in great form for Leeds so far in the Premier League. The player has proved many doubters wrong, scoring ten goals in 18 appearances (WhoScored). The Englishman has also managed 3.6 shots per game.

Former Premier League star Rob Lee was recently full of praise, saying: “Patrick Bamford has done brilliant, I think he’s done a fantastic job. He’s their focal point, he plays every game.”

The goals he has in England’s top flight puts him in the top seven goal scorers in the division and without them, the Yorkshire-based club would only have scored 20 times this season (SofaScore). To score a third of the teams goals in the Premier League is a great feat and it is understandable to see why McLeish says there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders. After Bamford, there are a few players who are joint second-top goal scorers at the club, but they have only scored three, so adding another prolific striker makes a lot of sense.

In other Leeds news, the club have managed to tie down an exciting prospect. Have a read here!

According to Sky Sports, Celtic have reached an agreement with Preston to sign Ben Davies in the summer.

What’s the story?

The 6 foot 1 centre-back is out of contract come the end of the season, and he was also reported to be of interest to Neil Lennon’s side last summer.

Now, Sky Sports claim that the Hoops look set to finally land their man, and that they will be fending off interest from the likes of Sheffield United to bring Davies to Celtic Park.

Bye-bye Duffy

With Shane Duffy enduring a nightmare spell whilst on loan from Brighton – reports in recent weeks have even suggested that Nottingham Forest have made an approach to the Seagulls to take him away from Celtic Park for the rest of the campaign – it’s no surprise that the Hoops are after a new centre-back.

And in Davies, Peter Lawwell could deliver his parting gift to Celtic following confirmation that he is set to retire in the summer.

Davies has been a virtual ever-present for Preston this season, making 18 appearances in the Championship this season, and only missing some games mid-way through the campaign due to a hamstring injury.

His boss at Preston, Alex Neill, said: “Once I had looked at Ben, assessed the whole squad and seen him for a couple of weeks I thought to myself that we have a really good player on our hands.

“Ben has got a good left foot and he should really have more confidence in it than he actually has. He is better with it than he gives himself credit for. The lad has really good pace, which for a centre-back is rare. He reads the game well and has the determination to get better.”

Celtic could wave goodbye to Duffy and bring Davies in as his replacement, and that could be Lawwell’s final major piece of business before he calls it a day.

Meanwhile, Celtic could sign their Kieran Tierney successor in this starlet…

Liverpool’s form in recent weeks has seen their title hopes take a serious hit, with Sunday’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City leading Jurgen Klopp to suggest that the aim for the Reds is now to finish in the top four.

The German manager has, of course, had a number of injuries to contend with throughout the season which have seen the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip ruled out for much of the campaign.

This has led to Fabinho moving to centre-back to cover for the lack of available players in that position, and whilst he impressed at first, he has struggled in recent performances at the back.

The Reds are also arguably lacking his presence in midfield, especially with Jordan Henderson having also featured at the back in recent fixtures, meaning that they are arguably without a defensive-minded player in the midfield three.

However, the Merseyside outfit brought in Ben Davies and Ozan Kabak as centre-back options during the winter transfer window, which hopefully could see Fabinho return to midfield in the near future.

The Brazilian international has averaged a solid 6.84 rating for his performances in the Premier League this season, averaging 2.1 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game.

Last season saw the former Monaco man earn a slightly more impressive 6.89 rating, with 2.2 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game.

Whilst his defensive stats are similar, his passing stats have suffered as a result of him moving to centre-back, as this season he has averaged just 0.2 key passes per game, compared to the 0.7 he averaged last season.

Thiago was full of praise for Fabinho earlier this season and suggested that he is better in the defensive-midfield role, saying:

“Fabi [Fabinho] is an amazing player as a centre-back and he’s even better as a number six. I think with him at the back he gives us the security as a number six, eight or 10 to make the team play a bit more.”

Whilst the Spanish midfielder has filled the void somewhat with his tackles and interceptions in midfield, he doesn’t offer the physicality of Fabinho, so Klopp should definitely try and restore the 27-year-old to his natural position in the near future, as it could restore him to his former self, after some disappointing recent displays.

And, in other news… LFC missed ideal opportunity to axe £80k-p/w dud following James Pearce claim

When Sunderland face Fleetwood on Tuesday evening, they will do so full of confidence.

They swatted fellow promotion hopefuls Doncaster to one side in recent weeks, and their win over Burton demonstrated that the Mackems truly have the wind in their sails.

On the chalkboard

Lee Johnson won’t want to make too many changes to the side that beat the Brewers so comfortably at the weekend.

However, if he is thinking of making a change, then he must drop one specific player to the bench again. That happens to be Southampton loanee Jake Vokins.

The left-back has had a pretty torrid start to life at the Stadium of Light and to date, his temporary spell has been a difficult one. Roker Report said it was hard to picture many worse Sunderland debuts after the 2-2 draw with MK Dons and he’s looked unconvincing ever since.

He was at fault for the second goal during the defeat to Shrewsbury and misplaced a succession of passes in the win over Burton.

It eventually saw him hauled off in the second period in place of a man who simply has to start on Tuesday night.

The solution

The answer to their woes with Vokins lay at the feet of another loanee; Jordan Jones.

The winger has only played six times and started twice since his move south of the border from Rangers, but he’s caught the eye in his minimal time on the pitch.

He was hailed for his efforts by supporters after his cameo off the bench last time out and as his fitness grows game by game, he could become a force to be reckoned with.

Jones was only on the field for 23 minutes against Burton but managed three key passes – the second-highest number of anyone in a Black Cats jersey. On top of that, he finished the clash with a pass success rate of 100%.

You only need to heed words from Glasgow Live reporter Mark McDougall to understand what he can offer: “In all honesty, he should stroll League One if his attitude is right when he goes down there. He’s two-footed so can go inside or outside and has pace to burn.”

The journalist added: “He can be a joy to watch when he’s on his game because of how direct and tricky he is.”

Johnson has already extracted similar qualities from Aiden McGeady in recent weeks so it’s exciting to see what he could do with Jones.

He needs to be unleashed on Fleetwood, not just because of his individual attributes, but because Vokins is struggling down the left.

AND in other news, 1 goal in 15 games: SAFC ace who left Parkinson fuming has been a passenger for months…

Leeds United’s Illan Meslier has shown his qualities this season, and Alex McLeish has emphasised the need for the club to keep a hold of him.

McLeish discusses Meslier

Speaking to Football Insider, McLeish said: “You don’t want to lose a big talent. He’s a talent who’s playing as an ever-present in the Premier League.

“If you’re going to lose him and he’s not rewarded with a new contract, then you’ve got to go there and buy somebody for £30-40million. We know what that does to the club’s coffers, we know that the Premier League players invite big-money offers.”

Leeds have a potential future star

Marcelo Bielsa clearly sees Meslier as his number one choice and he has had a fairly decent season, managing to make 99 saves and keep eight clean sheets (Premier League). The best way to develop a young talent is to embed them into consistent matches straight away and it this method is bearing fruit so far.

Kevin Campbell praised the Frenchman this season as he said: “Leeds’ recruitment staff have done an exceptional job getting him in. He is one for the future and for now. Only 20? Wow. Brilliant signing.”

It is quite amazing that he is playing in the division and trusted by Bielsa as he is only 21 years-old. If the £10.80m-rated star is trusted at such a young age it is scary to imagine the potential he has and the quality he will show as he gets older.

In other news, Leeds are interested in this young star!

According to a report by Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur have offered a verbal 18-month contract to Birmingham City ‘rising star’ Rico Browne – but London rivals West Ham are allegedly in pole position to seal his signing. 

Browne’s future with the Championship club, despite showing plenty of promise bursting through the academy ranks, is currently in ‘major doubt’ as Birmingham look to overhaul their youngsters according to this report.

Tottenham offered contract for Browne

Fellow promising up-and-comer Calum Scanlon joined Liverpool from Birmingham in January for around £500,000 – with Browne looking likely to head out the exit door alongside him.

He was on trial at Tottenham, a spell which ended last month, and after impressing in a match against Arsenal, he was offered a verbal 18-month contract with the Lilywhites.

However, they apparently have yet to offer a more formal, written proposal – which has opened the door for London rivals West Ham to make a move and take him on another trial across the capital.

As a result, West Ham are in pole position to sign the promising 17-year-old defender – with Tottenham in danger of missing out.

Transfer Tavern take

Browne is apparently nearing the conclusion of his two-year scholarship with Birmingham, and as they ponder overhauling their academy set up, he could be set to leave as per this report.

Tottenham did make an offer to take him to Hotspur Way, but it looks like West Ham are now favourites given the club’s lack of follow up action – will Daniel Levy and co live to regret their dithering?

In other news: Alasdair Gold lifted the lid on this promising youngster, find out more here.

Former Premier League striker Marlon Harewood described the rumours surrounding Danny Ings’ future at Southampton as “strange” in an exclusive interview with Football FanCast.

Ings’ £75,000-a-week contract is up next summer and, according to The Telegraph, the England forward is not looking to put pen to paper on a new one, as he aims to return to a Champions League level club.

Ings initially joined Southampton from 2018/19 Champions League winners Liverpool back in 2018 and has made success of his transfer down south. While he was only able to score seven league goals during that first season at St. Mary’s, the 28-year-old managed to find the back of the net an impressive 22 times the following campaign, making it no surprise that he is now attracting interest from other clubs.

Harewood, however, is not sold on the idea of Ings leaving a place where he has been thriving, also believing he owes the Saints after they helped him get his career back on track. Speaking on the speculation, the ex-West Ham striker told FFC:

“It’s a strange one really. Obviously it’s about what he wants to achieve. Are you happy or are you not happy? You’re playing week in, week out and you’re doing really well, so I don’t understand why he’s saying that.

“If there are clubs coming in for him, then fair play to him. But, at the same time, you have to show respect to Southampton, that they’ve literally brought you in from Liverpool to try and make you excel because you haven’t been playing that much.”

While Ralph Hasenhuttl and Southampton will be desperate to keep hold of their top scorer from last season, the club may be forced into making a decision in the summer, with Ings’ contract, of course, running down.

Manchester United travel to Italy on Thursday for a crunch UEFA Europa League last-16 tie against AC Milan.

The two teams find themselves level following the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford last week but with Stefano Pioli’s men scoring an away goal, the onus is really on the Red Devils.

Having played just four days ago, and with an FA Cup quarter-final creeping up this weekend, will Ole Gunnar Solskjaer be tempted to make any changes to his starting line-up?

Considering the importance of the tie, there might only be two alterations to the Man Utd XI and they will be in line with Solskjaer’s normal changes for Europa League matches.

Dean Henderson should remain in between the sticks with David De Gea only recently returning to action.

However, two changes should occur in front of him. Alex Telles has started all but two of the Red Devils’ European games so will likely replace £19.8m-rated Luke Shaw once again, despite the left-back currently being in excellent form.

Meanwhile, after sitting out the first leg, Victor Lindelof may also be swapped out for fellow centre-back Eric Bailly.

Despite that, the backline should remain otherwise the same.

Midfielders Donny van de Beek and Paul Pogba have handed Solskjaer huge boosts in their returns to fitness. However, having both been out for a considerable amount of time, they may be only afforded places on the bench, meaning Scott McTominay and Fred will once again be the Red Devils’ midfield pairing.

The attack meanwhile should have a very familiar look to it. Bruno Fernandes is likely to be flanked by Marcus Rashford and Daniel James. Owing to Edinson Cavani’s continued fitness problems, Mason Greenwood will continue in the centre-forward role.

AND in more news, read why the Red Devils have to make a move for Sporting CP’s Pedro Goncalves…

Ralph Hasenhuttl is facing a headache at Southampton following the international break, with Nathan Redmond’s superb performance against Bournemouth at the weekend highlighting his potential as a striker in the Austrian’s 4-2-2-2 system.

The former Norwich City man, who reportedly earns £60k per week at Southampton, has endured a poor campaign that has seen him manage just one goal and one assist in 20 Premier League appearances, resulting in a less than impressive 6.45 average rating.

However, despite having not found the net in any competition since the 3-0 win against Sheffield United in December, the 27-year-old looked full of confidence at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday and contributed two goals and one assist in the 3-0 win.

This could give Hasenhuttl a very difficult decision to make following the international break, with Southampton set to face Burnley at St Mary’s in their first game back on April 4th.

Danny Ings is currently sidelined through injury but it is expected that he could make his return against his old side following the international break, so it will be interesting to see whether or not Hasenhuttl throws him straight back in.

There is also the added competition of young Nathan Tella, who has impressed in recent weeks in a striker role, particularly in the 2-0 win against Sheffield United recently.

Che Adams has also found his feet again after a poor run of form that saw him fail to find the net in January and February, before breaking his duck with a screamer at Bramall Lane, which he then followed up with goals against Manchester City and Brighton.

He was also unfortunate not to make it four goals in four in the 3-0 win at Bournemouth, as his fierce strike from 25 yards was ruled out for a tight offside.

Redmond was undoubtedly the star of the show though, as he played in Moussa Djenepo for the opening goal with a perfectly-timed pass and then making it 2-0 before half-time with a superb run and finish, before completing his brace by finding the bottom corner after Stuart Armstrong’s effort came back off the post.

Therefore, Hasenhuttl arguably has three in-form strikers to choose from right now, whilst Ings will surely demand a place in the starting eleven when he returns from injury, which gives the Austrian a huge decision to make following the international break.

And, in other news… Southampton could sign their next Mane with £8.5m swoop for 18-goal beast

The Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy will have a major decision to make this summer.

No, that’s not whether Jose Mourinho should be sacked, nor is it over keeping hold of Gareth Bale but what to do with forgotten superstar Dele Alli.

As Football FanCast outlined earlier this week, the 24-year-old’s transfer value has plummeted at an alarming rate since the turn of 2019.

Transfermarkt had him valued at £90m, but now his value sits in the region of €30m (£26m) as per CIES – that’s a decrease of 71% and undoubtedly a lack of game time has contributed towards that.

He has played just 964 minutes this term, and only half of his 22 appearances have been starts, largely in the Europa League against lower quality opposition too.

Now, chairman Daniel Levy blocked his departure to Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain in January but will have to consider any approach in the summer, otherwise, he risks losing out financially – quite substantially too, if the above is anything to go by.

Football Insider believe Spurs will let him go this summer and PSG returning with interest is a possibility.

That would subsequently leave Mourinho needing another attacking midfielder this summer.

However, there are far bigger needs amongst the current squad – he could finally find that ‘transformative’ centre-back signing he’s been longing for all season, and will need to resolve the Matt Doherty issue at right-back.

These defensive problems must be his top priority, so perhaps the Spurs boss could look from within to replace Alli, and there’s a clear candidate out there.

Dilan Markanday.

The 19-year-old has been involved in first-team training frequently and even earned a call-up to their Europa League squad for the second-leg knockout stage encounter with Wolfsberger AC.

He did not feature that night, but Mourinho hinted that he’ll play him soon, he said (via football.london): “Was not possible for Dilan [Markanday] today but one day it will come and for many more.”

Markanday described as a ‘clever attacking midfielder’ by the official club website and can play a multitude of positions, including on the right flank and at full-back. As per Transfermarkt, his 16 appearances for the U23 squad have come in four different roles this season alone.

That’s no mean feat either, to be some four years below the cut-off age and be playing for the cream of Spurs’ academy crop.

The teenage maestro signed a new contract earlier this year, keeping him at the club until 2022, so his time will certainly come in due course, and if Spurs are needing a creative and ‘clever’ replacement for Alli, they should look no further.

He’d save Daniel Levy from spending millions in the transfer market, that’s for sure.

Spurs reporter Alasdair Gold believes Markanday has a similar style to that of Marcus Edwards.

Speaking during the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium test event, he said: “Markanday has looked bright today. Have always felt he has a very similar running and dribbling style to Marcus Edwards,” adding to his previous remarks when Spurs’ U19s faced Inter Milan in 2018.

“Inter are struggling to deal with Dilan Markanday. His dribbling and passing ability is pulling their defence and midfield all over the place.”

Getting Markanday more regularly involved in the senior set-up before then should be a priority, and that will only help build the case towards him being groomed into a natural – and perfect – Alli replacement, should his departure come.

AND in other news, Forget Ings: Spurs should sign 6 ft 3 “model professional” who idolises Kane…