That was the case under Ange Postecoglou and those before, and that remains the case under Brendan Rodgers, with Serbia an area they are taking an interest in.

One of the players Celtic are reportedly following is a young forward named Nemanja Jovic, according to claims in Spain relayed by Unión Rayo.

The outlet mention this since Rayo Vallecano are reportedly also after the free agent, who is 21 years of age and hasn’t found a club since leaving Partizan Belgrade in the summer.

He left at the end of August, meaning he hasn’t been a free agent for long, but there is a strong list of suitors, including Celtic, after him.

Jovic reportedly turned down offer from Turkey and Saudi Arabia, giving the rest a better chance of signing him.

Something to keep an eye on, as he could be a real coup for Celtic going forward, if they can get him ahead of the likes of Vallecano and Basel.

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The young forward was one of the redeeming features of a disappointing last season in the Premier League, and that attracted the attention of a few clubs.

In the end, he stayed at Leeds, and was called up to the Italy national team by Luciano Spalletti, which he talked about with Sport Mediaset, amongst other things.

One of the other topics discussed was the differences between England and Italy, and the two most natural comparisons were brought up by the forward.

Speaking of the issues at Leeds outside of football, he said: “Life here is very different, but with the food, I was quite lucky because I came with my parents. The most difficult thing to work out is always the weather. It’s a bit sad around here…. The positive thing, on the other hand, is the level of football. It’s incredible.

“I’ve been to a lot of stadiums, and the atmosphere is fantastic. However, I think that abroad, there is more admiration for Serie A than we think. It’s a tournament that has made history and there is a lot of admiration both for Italy and the league itself.”

The 19-year-old, despite being left out by Daniel Farke at the beginning of the season when transfer rumours were swirling around him, has returned to Leeds’ squad and has even scored.

He has one goal in four appearances in the Championship, finding the back of the net in a 4-3 win over Ipswich away from home.

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The forward turned it on in the second half, and his brilliant goal to equalise set Pep Guardiola’s men in the right direction to walk away from London with the three points.

Sudinfo, via their columnist Emiliano Bonfigli, have another article on the winger on Tuesday, and fall over themselves to praise the Manchester City summer signing.

Referring to his ability to pick up speed as ‘dazzling’, and the fact Pep Guardiola himself was surprised at how quickly the Belgian adapted only makes the outlet happier.

As he says, ‘it’s already Dokumania’ in the Premier League, where they certainly believe he can follow in the footsteps of the likes of Kevin De Bruyne.

However, they do have a word of warning that everyone must not ‘get carried away too quickly’, especially after what everyone witnessed in Italy when Charles De Ketelaere became a different player at AC Milan after signing from Club Brugge.

Doku will have to ‘keep a cool head’ at Manchester City, and learn how to have ‘unfailing humility’ in a team where wins are the bread and butter.

He first needs to think ‘about learning, gaining great experience’ in the Premier League and take on board ‘everything that Guardiola can pass onto him’.

The Manchester City player has been handed a ‘rare privilege’ and he must ‘fully grasp’ it.

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Joe Hart is one of those, having had a chat with VTBL in the Netherlands, relayed by Soccer News, where he was asked about the upcoming game.

One of the aspects that was discussed was the potential atmosphere Celtic will face at De Kuip stadium, which could potentially intimidate Brendan Rodgers’ players.

Of course, that isn’t something they should be put off by, since they are used to heated games at Parkhead with a great backing.

However, away from home, in a tough competition that Celtic have often struggled in, there is always a thought, at least in the local media, that it could unbalance the players.

Joe Hart was having none of it though, saying: “They are strong. It’s an exciting team that scores a lot of goals. Winning the Eredivisie last season was a very good achievement. I believe they are back in the Champions League for the first time in six years. They have a great following. I think it will be a great atmosphere during our match.

“It’s going to be a great moment. It’s a great stadium. We – and I personally – have played in places with a special atmosphere in the past. Is it intimidating? That depends on how you look at it. For me, it’s actually a source of inspiration. I love it and it makes football exciting. Things will happen during the match and it’s all about how you deal with them.”

The 36-year-old goalkeeper has been at Celtic since August of 2021, and is the undisputed number one between the sticks under Brendan Rodgers.

He has played in all six games this season, conceding four goals and keeping three clean sheets, hoping to do so once more against a team that has found the back of the net 17 times in their past three league fixtures.

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The young left-back had started making waves in Italy with his performances, and Fabio Paratici, in charge of transfers at the time, decided to beat the competition to the talent.

He has since arrived at Tottenham, and immediately made his way into the first-team under Ange Postecoglou, which has made him a delighted young man, as explained by his agent Stefano Antonelli to Gianluca Di Marzio.

While his signing has been a gain for Spurs, the player’s move to England has potentially weakened Serie A a bit more, where big teams missed out on a homegrown talent.

Antonelli said: “It’s certainly a shame that the big Italians teams didn’t make the investment that Tottenham made early and that young people of this level have to find space and glory outside of Italy.”

Despite this, there is no regret in the decision made to transfer to London, where Udogie is already becoming a fan favourite with his performances.

The agent continued: “We are happy with everything that is happening and Destiny is very happy to be at Tottenham. Certainly, the one who had the intuition, and demonstrated once again that he is a winner, is Fabio Paratici, who, even in a moment where Sessegnon, Reguilon and Perisic were there, thought it was appropriate to have Tottenham, one of the top five or six teams in the Premier League, make an investment.”

Since returning to Tottenham from his loan at Udinese, Udogie has started every match in the Premier League, picking up two assists in five league games to date.

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A lot of the attention has been spent on Sandro Tonali, who is expected to start against his former club on Tuesday, but the Serie A side will look a bit different to the side that kicked off against their rivals.

This is according to Corriere dello Sport, who make it clear in their headline that ‘there’s a surprise in midfield’ after Pioli decided to ‘change something’.

It’s revealed that the ‘most surprising’ change will be Tommaso Pobega taking the place of Tijjani Reijnders in the left-midfield role.

This is allegedly done to provide ‘greater physicality’ against a Newcastle side boasting strong players in the heart of their midfield. 

Elsewhere, Christian Pulisic is expected to regain his spot in the starting XI, while Fikayo Tomori returns as well, where he will be partnered by Malick Thiaw after missing out on the derby due to the two yellow cards he picked up against AS Roma.

Whether this changes anything in Eddie Howe’s mind as to how his Newcastle team will begin the upcoming clash remains to be seen, but Pioli is seemingly ready for a battle to redeem himself after suffering an embarrassing defeat on Saturday.

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In the end, that never came, which is why another loan, this time to AS Roma, was organised late on to get rid of the Belgian for the campaign.

However, despite his prowess in front of goal while playing in Serie A when he has been fully fit, he hasn’t won over everyone, including Paolo Di Canio, who sees the Chelsea loanee as almost something of a relic.

Interviewed by Il Messaggero and relayed by FC Inter News, the former West Ham player gave his two cents on the Belgium international when comparing him to new Inter signing Marcus Thuram.

He said: “[Lukaku] is a centre-forward from the 1980s, predisposed at only playing off the shoulder. Thuram is quick, he kicks the ball with his left and his right. He makes effective passes. He doesn’t have the imagination of Edin Dzeko, but in our league, he makes a difference.”

Lukaku had to wait until after the international break to get his debut for his new team away from Chelsea, and he immediately had an impact, scoring a goal in the 7-0 win over Empoli.

His ability to get in behind is what has made him a success of late, showing how impressive he can be when playing for Belgium recently against Estonia, but few would argue he can do much else, compared to a more versatile Thuram, who can create as well as find the back of the net.

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The manager had recently undergone surgery, and was clearly still needing time to recover, but time has since passed, with no jobs taken.

That will certainly be because of him, as his stock in Italy hasn’t taken a hit in his home country, regardless of what happened at Tottenham, with Antonio Cassano, former footballer and now pundit, making a case for the Italian to take over at Napoli should Rudi Garcia fail, talking on Bobo TV, relayed by Area Napoli.

The Frenchman took over from Luciano Spalletti over the summer in a rather surprising appointment, and has yet to get his team replicate the form and football the now Italy manager was lauded for last season.

Last year’s Serie A champions currently sit in fifth after four games, one point behind Lecce and already five points behind unbeaten leaders Inter Milan.

This has already led to calls for a change, or at least for Napoli to consider it if nothing improves, and Cassano reckons Conte, following his stint at Tottenham, is the only realistic candidate to take over, ready to bet on it.

He said: “No to [Marcelo] Gallardo. The next Napoli manager can be a former teammate of yours, Bobo [Vieri]… I’ll bet a dinner on it, you’ll see. Antonio Conte is the right name. I’m ready to bet dinner for you all. If Rudi Garcia is sacked, there’s only one name that can go to Napoli, and that’s Antonio Conte. He’s the only one, trust me.

“Wouldn’t Napoli easily switch from the current 4-3-3 to the 3-5-2? But Conte, at Tottenham, did the 3-4-3 and he could reintroduce this scheme. He has balls and he has an idea for the game; I may not like his play style, but as a manager he is strong. In that team, after Spalletti, you need someone like him, a man of character and able to drag the fans along.”

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The forward was available for a transfer, and Vincent Kompany, a Belgian himself, wanted to continue to build his Clarets squad with players he knew to avoid relegation from the Premier League after a sensational promotion.

Lukebakio was targeted, but the 25-year-old signed for Sevilla in Spain despite the interest from Burnley; a decision he explained in an interview with Marca on Tuesday.

While Sevilla may not have had the best season in La Liga during the 2022-23 campaign, they more than made up for it in the Europa League, winning the competition in a heated final against José Mourinho’s AS Roma.

Marca ask the player directly about interest from the Premier League, which we all know included Burnley, and his choice of a move to Spain.

He replied: “Because they showed interest, so when a club like Sevilla show interest, of course you have to listen. We then talked a lot. You don’t have to think that much because they are a top club and that’s what I want, to play to show myself, to improve as a young player. It wasn’t difficult to choose Sevilla. 

“When we talked, I was watching a lot of videos on YouTube, for example when they won the last Europa League, and I also saw that the situation wasn’t easy last year, especially in the first part of the season. There was also interest in January, and I have been following Sevilla. Not everything, but I know a lot of things about Sevilla. I watch a lot of football.”

Since his move, and decision to turn down Burnley, Lukebakio has only had the chance to make one 29 minute cameo for Sevilla, which he made the most of by scoring the winner in a 1-0 win over Las Palmas.

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This came off the back of a rather disappointing loan spell at Leeds, who ended up being relegated, forcing the USA international to return to Juventus, where many thought he would be sold.

This is when Aston Villa started sniffing around, with Unai Emery reportedly crazy about the player, and, as recalled by Corriere Torino, they made some sort of approach, only to back away rather quickly.

The local newspaper look at how McKennie has turned his situation around since returning from England, as he is now an integral part of Max Allegri’s plans at the Serie A side.

The 25-year-old has started the last two league games for Juventus, being deployed as a right-midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation, showcasing his versatility in the process.

He was involved in all three goals in the 3-1 win over Lazio, showing how far he has come since being labeled ‘redundant’ by the Italians following his Leeds spell.

Juventus slapped a €30m price tag on his back, which was deemed ‘exaggerated’ by interested parties such as Aston Villa and Brighton.

The hope was that someone would bite to then have the funds to buy one of Sergej Milinković-Savić or Franck Kessié, but no offers came, leading to the player being reinstated ahead of the USA tour in pre-season, purely for marketing and merchandising purposes.

However, he grasped the opportunity with both hands and hasn’t looked back since, now looking completely ‘regenerated’, meaning that Aston Villa’s reluctance to pay €30m for him has worked out a treat for the Serie A giants.

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