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Wolverhampton Wanderers have begun their Premier League season with what can only be described as a whimper.

Three goals conceded, one scored and one point from nine doesn’t suggest the progress that Bruno Lage would have expected from his side this season.

This is despite the arrivals of Goncalo Guedes from Valencia in a £27.5m move and signing Matheus Nunes for a club record £42.2m deal following a quiet first month or so of the summer window.

The two new signings performed well enough against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in the 1-0 defeat, with both Nunes and Guedes receiving a SofaScore rating of 7.1. However, it was the lack of any clear goalscoring threat which has become Lage’s big problem of late and with one goal in three matches this season, he needs to solve this and fast.

The club may well be conceding goals but they can combat that with the addition of more firepower, something that is a necessity if the Old Gold want to finish in the top half come May.

Indeed, it was their one huge problem last term too, with Lage’s men scoring just 38 times, the fourth-worst record in the division.

The club have since been linked with forward Goncalo Ramos from Benfica recently and he is certainly a player who could jolt the side back into life.

Benfica could be forced to sell the player if they receive an offer of €40m (£34m) according to Jornal de Noticias (via Sport Witness) and this could be the breakthrough Lage needs.

The Portuguese contingent at Wolves would certainly be an advantage in the manager’s pursuit of the 21-year-old, and with his talent, he could light up the Premier League, gifting them the goalscoring prowess they need.

The player burst onto the scene last season, scoring seven times in 29 Primeira Liga matches, but he looks even better in the current campaign, netting five goals and grabbing three assists in just five matches.

His recent performance against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League qualifier, where he scored a hat-trick, gave Lage a glimpse of his wonderful talent and what he could add to his team.

He received a rating of 8.4 as per SofaScore, had six shots on target, missed four big chances and won 66.6% of his total duels. It was a masterclass in how to be a constant threat to the opposition side and despite missing several opportunities, he still found the net with great regularity, which is something Wolves urgently need.

Having been described as “one to watch” in terms of a Premier League move this summer, there’s no doubt Lage would land a major coup by bringing him to England.

In reality, though, it goes further than that. Wolves are majorly struggling in terms of scoring goals and Ramos would provide some much-needed star quality in the final third. Their Premier League ambitions could rely on this move.

Sunderland are reportedly eyeing up a potential move for Chester FC goalkeeper Wyll Stanway.

The Lowdown: Busy week

The Stadium of Light outfit confirmed the signing of Costa Rican winger Jewison Bennette on their official website this morning, as he joins from Costa Rican side C.S. Herediano for an undisclosed fee.

He becomes their seventh signing of the summer transfer window, after Daniel Ballard, Leon Dajaku, Aji Alese, Jack Clarke, Alex Bass and Ellis Simms, but it looks like they aren’t finished yet.

The Latest: Stanway next?

As per The Sun, the Wearside club have ‘looked at’ Stanway ahead of a possible move, while he has also attracted interest from West Ham United, Nottingham Forest, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield United and Wigan Athletic.

The younger brother of Lionesses hero Georgia Stanway, Wyll interestingly switched from being a central defender to a goalkeeper last season, and has never had any proper goalkeeping training.

The Verdict: Sign

With only two senior goalkeepers in Alex Neil’s squad at the moment, the Black Cats could do with a third in what is a long season in the Championship with extra cup competitions.

Hailed as ‘really exciting’ and a ‘real asset’ by Chester manager Calum McIntyre ahead of the new season, Stanway made 11 appearances in the National League North last term, and given that a number of Premier League clubs are interested in him as well as in the Championship, the six-foot-three colossus is clearly highly rated.

Stanway shares the same agent as three SAFC players, which could give them the edge in signing the 21-year-old, and his relative inexperience means a role behind two more senior figures at the Stadium of Light could be just what he needs for the next step in his development.

Patrick Vieira has begun his Premier League managerial career rather well, leading Crystal Palace to a 12th place finish last season, along with an FA Cup semi-final appearance, losing 2-0 to Chelsea.

It marked the club’s most successful league campaign since 2018/2019 and it looks like the Frenchman has managed to get the best out of his side and has spent wisely in the transfer window.

The same can’t be said of some of his predecessors, however, with a variety of big money flops arriving at Selhurst Park over the previous few years, with the likes of Christian Benteke (£32m) and Mamadou Sakho (£26m) draining the London sides coffers.

The Frenchman in particular ended up becoming a colossal waste of money and couldn’t turn the potential he had while making a name for himself at PSG in regular solid performances for Palace.

Over his five-and-a-half-year spell at the club, having joined on loan in January 2017 before signing permanently in September, he made 75 appearances and scored just once.

The 29-cap French international started off brightly at the Eagles, averaging a rating of 7.07 as per WhoScored, but his average soon started declining incrementally over the next four seasons with ratings of 6.81, 6.72, 6.24, and 6.06 respectively.

His appearances also decreased the longer he spent at Palace featuring a combined 18 times during his final two seasons, and overall, he cost the club £350k per match.

Journalist Alex Richards once described the player as “dreadful” and over five and a half seasons, he rarely lived up to his massive £26m price tag.

In 2021, Sakho ended his stint in England by signing for Ligue 1 club Montpellier on a three-year deal and has played 35 matches for the club in the French top-flight already, having just joined at the beginning of last season.

Vieira certainly looks like he won’t make much if any, similar blunders during his stint at Palace, and with the club In a good place, he could be set for a long stay in London.

Nottingham Forest are not interested in a January deal for Chelsea midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, according to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Marinakis plotting late Bakayoko move

The 28-year-old arrived in the Premier League when he joined the Blues back in 2017, but is currently halfway through a two-year loan with Italian giants AC Milan.

The Reds were believed to be eyeing up a shock late move for the Frenchman in the final days of the summer window, but a deal wasn’t agreed before the deadline.

The Latest: Forest don’t want Bakayoko

Taking to Twitter, Romano denied all claims linking Forest to Bakayoko and insisted that Evangelos Marinakis would not be pursuing a deal in the New Year. He wrote:

“Rumours about Tiemoué Bakayoko to Olympiacos and then to Nottingham Forest in January are wide of mark.”

The Verdict: Waste of money

Hearing the news that Bakayoko won’t be joining Forest will no doubt be music to the ears of most supporters.

The ‘different mentality’ ace, as dubbed by former AC Milan star Lucas Biglia, has failed to make a single appearance in the Serie A so far this season and is currently on £93k-per-week, a salary not worth paying for someone who’d be nothing more than a bench warmer.

Steve Cooper already has the likes of Lewis O’Brien and Cheikhou Kouyate at his disposal in midfield, so making the decision not to pursue Bakayoko is almost definitely the right one.

Leeds United loanee Daniel James made an appearance for Wales in their defeat to Belgium on Thursday, a result that now leaves them on the brink of relegation from Nations League Group A ahead of their clash with Poland tomorrow night.

The winger picked up his 37th cap for his county, however, he was completely anonymous against the Red Devils – contributing to Wales’ failure to pick up a single win in the international tournament so far, and helping to prove that Leeds made the right decision in letting him go out on loan with Fulham this season.

Over the course of his 90 minutes on the pitch against Belgium, the 24-year-old lost 100% of his duels, completed just 13 passes and lost possession of the ball every 3.1 touches, as well as failing to complete any of his dribble attempts – proving that he was merely a passenger in the defeat.

This performance doesn’t inspire confidence in James’ chances of returning to Elland Road any time soon, especially after Phil Hay predicted just weeks ago that the winger would be unlikely to ever return following his loan spell at Craven Cottage.

Hay took to a Q&A on The Athletic to give his predictions on the former Manchester United ace’s future:

“I don’t think I see Dan James coming back, or it feels like a long shot. James is 24. He’s not especially young and Leeds have essentially said to him that they can do without him this season.”

Back in the Premier League, James has not exactly been lighting it up at Fulham either, as, over his six performances for Marco Silva’s side he has enjoyed an average of just 16 touches per game, completed 33% of his dribbles and lost 53% of his duels, as well as failed to score or provide an assist.

Meanwhile, his replacement on the wing, Luis Sinisterra, has been making his mark within Jesse March’s side, scoring three goals and registering one assist in just six appearances – which will surely delight Jesse Marsch.

As such, it will be interesting to see what Leeds will do with James when he returns from his season-long loan next summer, but it is clear the club have moved on and rightly so, as he is proving for both club and country exactly why Leeds let him go.

Former Sunderland manager Alex Neil led the club back to the Championship by securing promotion out of League One in the 2021/22 campaign.

The Black Cats spent four years in the third tier of English football following their back-to-back relegations from the top two divisions between 2016/17 and 2017/18.

Sunderland were unable to break out of League One in the first three seasons and this resulted in a number of players coming in and out of the Stadium of Light during that time.

One player they had a mare with during those three years was attacking midfielder George Honeyman, who had risen through the youth ranks at the club.

The 28-year-old was a product of the academy system and played in the Premier League and the Championship before becoming the skipper in the third division.

Jack Ross made him the club captain in the summer of 2018 and hailed the talent, saying: “George’s attitude towards training on a daily basis is absolutely fantastic.”

Ross added: “He’s a mature and intelligent young man, and his energy levels and application in games will be a major asset for us, so I’m delighted he’s wanted to take on the responsibility.”

He played 38 times in the 2018/19 league campaign and chipped in with six goals and three assists from the middle of the park.

In the summer of 2019, the Mackems decided to cash in on the midfielder instead of running the risk of him leaving on a free transfer the following year. He signed for Championship side Hull City in a deal reported to be worth £400k to the Black Cats.

His form since departing Wearside will surely leave Sunderland regretting that they did not take a risk and attempt to convince him to put pen to paper on a new contract.

Although he suffered relegation from the second tier in his first season at Hull, Honeyman caught the eye with a phenomenal campaign in League One in 2020/21. He averaged a sublime SofaScore rating of 7.36 across 42 appearances – a score higher than any Black Cats player managed at that level last term – as he scored four goals and provided a whopping 14 assists, whilst creating 21 ‘big chances’.

The midfielder then made 35 appearances in the Championship for the Tigers in 2021/22 – scoring five and assisting four – before sealing a move to Millwall, where he has enjoyed a strong start to the season.

Honeyman has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.00 across nine appearances in the division this year, scoring once and assisting one goal whilst creating 1.6 chances per game. That would place him fifth in the current Sunderland squad among players who have played at least five matches.

At the time of writing, Transfermarkt value him at £1.35m, roughly 238% more than the initial £400k Hull paid to snap him up from Wearside.

Therefore, the Black Cats made a mistake by selling Honeyman as his value has gone up, in line with his impressive performances on the pitch, since leaving the club.

They should have taken the risk of him leaving for nothing, instead of accepting a measly fee as they could have been able to work on a new deal, thus cementing his future in the north east.

West Ham made it three wins from three in the Conference League as they earned an impressive 1-0 win away from home against Anderlecht.

David Moyes’ side created a plethora of opportunities against their Belgian hosts but were unable to find the breakthrough until the 76th minute when substitute Gianluca Scamacca scored the only goal of the game.

The result sees the Hammers sit comfortably at the top of Group B, with qualification all but secured thanks to their 100% record in the competition thus far.

While Scamacca will take the plaudits after scoring the winner, a lot of credit should go to fellow summer signing Flynn Downes, who produced another superb display in the middle of the park, perhaps emphasising to Moyes why he should start ahead of Tomas Soucek alongside Declan Rice in the Premier League.

As per SofaScore, 23-year-old would earn an impressive 7.5/10 rating for his performance, which ranked him as the second-top-rated player on the pitch in Belgium, with only Angelo Ogbonna rated higher.

The former Swansea man would have 83 touches of the ball, which was the most of any West Ham player, while he was also incredibly accurate with his passes, finding the mark 61/67 times to register an impressive 91% pass accuracy.

He also played a big part in the clean sheet, contributing five tackles and two interceptions, which was a significant increase on his numbers with Swansea last season in the Championship, where he averaged 1.3 interceptions and 1.1 tackles per game.

This shows that Downes really raised his game against Anderlecht and is surely pushing to start again when the Hammers face Fulham on Sunday afternoon.

Swansea manager Russell Martin was full of praise for Downes last season, saying:

“Flynn was incredible, it’s difficult to single people out, but he does the dirty work perfectly well.”

Downes certainly lived up to that reputation again on Thursday evening, as he just kept things ticking over with his excellent passing ability and also broke attacks up with his tackles and interceptions.

If that impressive performance hasn’t sent a message to Moyes to give him a try in the Premier League, then it is impossible to say what will.

Liverpool have signed some of the biggest superstars in the world over the years but have also produced some incredible talents in their academy.

Steven Gerrard, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler are just a few of the players who were developed into household names through the academy on Merseyside, and is something that Jurgen Klopp should exploit more often.

The Reds have been struggling over their Premier League campaign and are currently 10th in the table, matching Brentford and local rivals Everton for points so far, making it their worst start to a season in a decade.

Klopp has been searching for solutions over the last few weeks to get his team back to winning ways by changing formation and switching up the tactics to make the Reds more unpredictable against their opponents, but there may be an opportunity to find solutions within the youth academy too.

One player who has been a standout performer in Liverpool’s youth setup is Oakley Cannonier, an 18-year-old forward who has been scoring for fun.

Throughout his career so far coming through the ranks in the under-18 and under-21 teams, the teenager has scored an impressive 43 goals and delivered five assists across 56 appearances, with a goal contribution every 73 minutes.

In fact, the talented centre-forward – who was dubbed a “goal machine” by journalist Neil Jones – was the top scorer in the Under-18 Premier League last season with 28 goals in just 26 appearances, and this season the youngster is showing no signs of slowing down.

Cannonier has scored an astonishing seven goals in just four UEFA Youth League appearances so far, along with two goals in the Premier League 2, proving that he may be worthy of a first team call-up very soon.

Liverpool youth coach Barry Lewtas has been singing the youngster’s praises after his hat-trick against Ajax last month, saying: “Getting a hat-trick in Europe isn’t easy. I think the real beauty, certainly in terms of Oakley’s goals, he’s been the one who has finished off the good attacks we have built.”

“He scores goals. He is always there to finish, which is the most exciting part of the game. So in fairness to him, he’s looked ever so sharp in the two games he has played for us in Europe.”

With that being said, the future is looking bright for Cannonier, and his clear eye for goal is something which will become harder for Klopp to ignore if he continues to score at this rate. It surely won’t be long before we see the striker getting his golden opportunity at Anfield soon and being famous not just for his ball boy role in that iconic Alexander-Arnold corner kick against Barcelona in May 2019.

Adding to the injuries sustained by Reds duo Luis Diaz and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool centre-back Joel Matip is also now sidelined, reports The Athletic’s James Pearce.

The Lowdown: Diaz and Trent hurt at Arsenal

After just 42 minutes of play in the 3-2 loss to Arsenal on Sunday, Diaz was forced off the pitch after sustaining a knee injury.

According to Sky Sports, the 25-year-old is expected to be out of action until after the World Cup, although a scan revealed a welcome boost as the Colombian will not require surgery.

During the same game, Alexander-Arnold was substituted at half-time having suffered an ankle injury accidentally inflicted by Gunners winger Gabriel Martinelli, and the full-back will miss around two weeks.

The Latest: Matip out

Adding to an already decimated Liverpool back-line, Pearce has now revealed another injury blow for Jurgen Klopp’s men.

Taking to Twitter, The Athletic journalist said:

“Liverpool’s injury problems have deepened with Joel Matip expected to be sidelined for around two weeks by a calf problem.”

The Verdict: Bad to worse

Having returned from injury towards the end of August, Matip featured for Klopp in all three of the Reds’ Champions League fixtures this season.

He also returned to the starting line-up for the previous two Premier League outings, and the absence of the former Cameroon international will come as a big blow to the side’s build-up from the back due to his ‘quality’ attacking abilities, in the words of Virgil van Dijk.

As per FBRef, compared with positional peers across Europe over the past year, the defender ranks in the top one percent for progressive carries and touches in the attacking penalty area, and also in the top four percent for assists and shots total.

With Ibrahima Konate making a late cameo during the Arsenal clash after a two-month injury absence, Klopp will be hopeful the Frenchman can step up in Matip’s shoes, but the likelihood that Joe Gomez will be filling in for Alexander-Arnold means there is virtually now zero depth in the heart of defence.

Deadline day transfer news keeps filtering out of Tottenham Hotspur, as chairman Daniel Levy attempts last-minute coups for manager Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham set sights on second defender after Kevin Danso

Spurs recently confirmed the signing of Kevin Danso from RC Lens, who joined on loan with an obligation to buy for around £21 million in the summer, with Postecoglou at long last seeing an outfield player come through the door before tonight’s 11pm cut-off.

Tottenham offered "extraordinary" £50m striker after failed Mathys Tel deal

Daniel Levy is forced to look at other options.

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By
Emilio Galantini

Feb 1, 2025

The Austria international is a solid one-on-one defender with great pace, so his addition comes as a welcome one for Postecoglou, who’s seen his defence absolutely battered by injuries over the last few months.

Micky van de Ven has just returned to action, while Cristian Romero is apparently still a bit away from coming back into the fold. Meanwhile, Radu Dragusin could miss the majority of this remaining campaign after suffering a serious knee injury (The Telegraph).

Their need for more defensive options is pretty evident, and Dragusin’s potential long-term absence means they could look to bring in another centre-back after Danso.

Tottenham did have a loan agreement with Chelsea for Axel Disasi. However, that transfer is now unlikely to happen, the Lilywhites ending their interest in the Frenchman as Aston Villa attempt to take advantage by reigniting talks.

Interestingly, according to reliable journalist Fabrizio Romano, Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi was subject to an audacious late swoop from Spurs and Daniel Levy as well.

Tottenham make "late bid" for Marc Guehi as Crystal Palace reply

Guehi had been attracting January interest from Chelsea, who reportedly had a low-ball offer rejected as Palace set a £55 million price tag to sell him (The Sun). As per Romano, Postecoglou’s side haven’t had much luck prising the England international away from Selhurst Park either.

Palace are said to have rejected a “late bid” from Tottenham and Levy for “top target” Guehi, which happened in the last 48 hours, as Spurs frantically pursue another centre-back signing.

The 24-year-old is likely to be a very hot topic again this summer, when Guehi enters the final year of his Palace contract, but it would surely take a seismic offer for Oliver Glasner’s side to sell today.