Category Uncategorized

Manchester United are among the ‘main contenders’ to sign Atletico Madrid star and Arsenal target Joao Felix in January, reliable journalist David Ornstein has claimed.

The Lowdown: Felix linked with United move

The Portuguese superstar has fallen out of favour under Diego Simeone this season, being limited to only six starts in La Liga, despite his obvious talent.

Felix has been linked with a move to United in order to earn more minutes elsewhere, with Erik ten Hag potentially seeing him as an ideal January addition, given the ability to play up front or in various positions across the attack.

With the transfer window now open, it looks as though the Red Devils could be tussling with a Premier League rival for the 23-year-old’s services.

The Latest: Ornstein drops fresh update

Taking to Twitter on Monday, Ornstein claimed that United and Arsenal are the front-runners to snap up Felix:

“Atletico Madrid ready to loan Joao Felix – Man Utd & Arsenal main contenders at present. Both expressing firm interest in 23yo forward but at nowhere near €21m package Atleti currently want (€15m fee + €6m wages for 6 months).”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-man-utd-news-9/” title=”Latest Man Utd news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Snap him up

While Felix isn’t necessarily the out-and-out striker that United are crying out for in January, the chance to sign him until the end of the season is still too good to ignore.

The youngster is a past winner of the European Golden Boy award, such is his quality, and he has been described as a ‘special’ player by Alvaro Morata and adored by Bruno Fernandes for both his ability and attitude.

Felix would add a sprinkling of magic to United’s attack, enhancing their top-four chances, and he is still perfectly capable of taking up a central role in between Marcus Rashford and Antony, even though he often plays as a No.10.

Many Queens Park Rangers fans will be concerned about the future of Lyndon Dykes amid links to Rangers, but Neil Critchley may already have a replacement for the Scotland international in Charlie Kelman.

Recent reports have suggested that Michael Beale is keen to take Dykes with him to Ibrox when the transfer window re-opens next month, which would leave the Hoops extremely low on attacking options in the second half of the campaign.

The former Livingston forward is currently joint-top of QPR’s goalscoring charts alongside Chris Willock and while the Hoops currently sit sixth in the Championship, there is no doubt that finding the back of the net has been a problem for the west London side in the current campaign.

QPR have averaged just 1.12 goals per game in the second tier this season, which is the 12th-best of any side, which suggests that unless things improve in the attacking third, their current position is not particularly sustainable.

Losing Dykes would only make things worse for Critchley as he looks to keep his new side in the promotion hunt, and he might consider recalling Kelman, who is currently impressing with League Two leaders Leyton Orient.

The 21-year-old has hit four goals and two assists in just 19 league appearances for Richie Wellens’ side so far this campaign, averaging a solid 6.72 rating from WhoScored for his performances.

Since signing from Southend United in 2020, Kelman has been limited to just 15 first-team appearances for the Hoops but regular football on loan in the fourth tier might just be exactly what he needs to kick-start his career with QPR.

Former Hoops boss Mark Warburton was full of praise for the American forward in 2020, saying:

“Eighteen [years old], 30 appearances for Southend already, he’s a goalscorer. I’ve been very impressed by Charlie in terms of his approach, his technical ability, he’s just got an eye for goal in training. He’s been very impressive for the first team.”

Although Kelman is yet to replicate the form he showed when first breaking into Southend’s first team, he is still young and there is no reason why he can’t reach his obvious potential with QPR in the future.

If Dykes is to leave in January, then Critchley might consider recalling the 21-year-old in order to give him another chance to impress in the Championship.

Tottenham Hotspur will unlikely be able to sign Barcelona midfielder Franck Kessie in January, according to transfer insider Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Tottenham target Kessie

Spurs recently emerged as the most likely party to sign Kessie if his current club decide to sell him this winter, although there are several offers on the table, as per Spanish sources.

However, a fresh claim has come to light which indicates that the 25-year-old could be set to remain with the La Liga club, at least for the remainder of this campaign.

The Latest: Jones’ comments

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Jones played down the rumours linking the Ivorian with a Premier League move.

The journalist said in relation to Spurs’ recent transfer links with the player: “I think a cheeky bid for Kessie in January would probably be a waste of time to be honest.

“He’s basically chasing a dream here. And I think he’ll give it the rest of the season before he even contemplates going anywhere else.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-latest-news-3/” title=”Tottenham latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Blow for Tottenham

Once lauded as ‘fantastic’ by Serie A analyst Matteo Bonetti, the £69k-per-week earner would provide depth for Antonio Conte in Tottenham’s midfield engine room, providing a more defensive option to compete for a starting berth with the likes of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

His acumen in cutting out opposition attacks is highlighted by an average of 1.62 blocks per game over the past year, placing him in the 86th percentile compared to his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.

He is not limited to defensive contributions either, as indicated by his match average of 2.85 touches in the attacking penalty area (95th percentile), so he appears to offer a well-rounded package.

While it seems that the Ivorian enforcer currently wants to make a name for himself at Barcelona, Spurs should continue to monitor him over the winter, as his multi-faceted attributes would surely be of great use to the north London club in their push for Champions League football.

The Athletic’s Chelsea correspondent Simon Johnson has shared an exciting update on midfielder Mason Mount’s contract talks.

The Lowdown: Mount deal taking time…

The England international, who has been selected for Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad, has been at the centre of speculation linking him with fresh terms.

However, unlike fellow academy graduate Reece James, who put pen to paper on a new deal soon after rumours over his own future abounded, Mount’s proposed fresh contract has taken a fair bit longer.

The 23-year-old’s current deal is set to expire in 2024, with still no extension confirmed as of yet, but Johnson has shared some good news in this regard.

The Latest: Chelsea making a breakthrough?

The Premier League giants have apparently made a breakthrough in talks with the midfielder.

Taking to Twitter in sharing a corresponding article from The Athletic, Johnson has shared an update on Mount’s new contract.

He tweeted: “Update on Mason Mount’s contract talks at #CFC…positive talks were held recently & there is now great optimism a deal will be agreed when the next round of negotiations, scheduled for January, resume.”

Following on, the journalist states that a ‘significant development’ took place in the last meeting held before Mount left for the World Cup with England.

The Verdict: A must…

The Three Lions ace is a key player for Chelsea manager Graham Potter, ranking in the Blues’ top four  players in terms of shots at goal and key passes made per 90 in the top flight (WhoScored).

With Mount still very young at 23 and able to improve even further, the Blues and owner Todd Boehly certainly won’t want to risk the notion of needing to sell him before his deal expires in two years’ time.

Indeed, sealing a new deal for Mount should be among the club’s top priorities.

Leeds United youngster Leo Hjelde is considered an injury ‘doubt’ for his side’s Premier League clash with Liverpool, adding to the considerable list of problems for Jesse Marsch.

The Lowdown: Leeds head to Anfield

The Whites make the trip to Anfield on Saturday evening in what represents another crucial game for the under-fire manager.

The American is desperately battling to keep his job at the moment and there is no denying that he can’t afford too many more bad results.

Injuries aren’t helping Marsch’s current plight and another potential setback has emerged with kick-off against Jurgen Klopp’s side on the horizon.

The Latest: Hjelde could miss out

Taking to Twitter, Phil Hay confirmed that Joe Gelhardt, Rodrigo, Luis Sinisterra and Tyler Adams all need to be assessed while Stuart Dallas and Adam Forshaw will not play.

And with defensive depth already so thin, Hjelde could also miss out this weekend:

“Hjelde is a doubt too.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/latest-leeds-united-updates-10/” title=”Latest Leeds United updates” poster=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/cropped-2022-03-10T184055Z_1834933207_UP1EI3A1FW561_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-ENGLAND-LEE-AVA-REPORT-1-scaled-1.jpg” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The Verdict: Injuries continue to mount

Granted, Hjelde isn’t exactly is one of the first names on the team sheet at Elland Road but this still has to be considered a blow, affecting Leeds’ preparations for Liverpool.

The 18-year-old hasn’t yet played a minute of Premier League action this season but he is a huge talent who has actually even been compared to Saturday’s opponent Virgil van Dijk, so he may have been expecting to start getting some minutes as the injuries stack up in the defensive ranks.

The hope is that Hjelde is passed fit for the game and named on the substitutes’ bench – if not, the Whites simply have to crack on with even less depth and focus on picking up a desperately needed positive result.

Leicester City will be without defender Caglar Soyuncu for their crunch Premier League clash with Leeds United this evening.

The Lowdown: Foxes struggling…

The Foxes have endured a torrid start to this 2022/2023 campaign with manager Brendan Rodgers under some pressure to turn their fortunes around.

Leicester currently lie bottom of the table having conceded more goals than any other side in the English top flight, picking up just one win over their first ten matches.

Rodgers’ side have also conceded 13 goals in their last five, including five away to Brighton and six away to Spurs in north London.

However, there is hope for Leicester in the form of their goal scoring exploits.

The King Power Stadium side have scored as many goals as the likes of Chelsea and Man United (15) and more than any team south of 13th, backing their real threat in the forward positions.

The Latest: Soyuncu absent…

Leicester’s clear problem is leaking goals at the other end, a problem which won’t be helped by the absence of Jonny Evans and Turkey international Caglar Soyuncu.

The latter man has hardly featured this season, even when available, regardless of his past exploits, ranking as their fifth-best performing player by average match rating last season (WhoScored).

Even if Rodgers wanted to finally call upon Soyuncu to potentially fix their defensive woes, they won’t be able too, with the northern Irishman confirming he is set to miss Leeds.

“Cags [Caglar Soyuncu] he’s got an issue with his knee. He’s had it since he came back from international duty. He has had a scan. We think he’ll miss the game.”

The Verdict: Setback for Rodgers?

The 26-year-old enjoyed a stellar first couple of seasons at Leicester but has been unable to fight his way into the first team this year.

Called ‘very, very quick’ and ‘assured’ by Rio Ferdinand, it is unclear what exactly has happened between Soyuncu and Rodgers behind-the-scenes, but Soyuncu’s latest injury setback means he is a certain absentee for Leeds.

Considering the practically undroppable Evans was already ruled a doubt, this may have been the Turk’s chance to shine, so this is certainly a setback.

Southampton lacking a clinical edge in the final third will be a ‘big concern’ for Ralph Hasenhuttl, says transfer insider Dean Jones.

The Lowdown: Underwhelming start

The Saints have made a disappointing start to the new Premier League season, having found the back of the net just seven times, leaving them 14th in the table and just three points above relegation.

The Austrian has opted for the attacking partnership of Adam Armstrong and Che Adams in recent matches, but the duo have only managed to score three goals between them.

The Latest: Hasenhuttl’s ‘big concern’

Asked by GiveMeSport about Southampton’s problems in the final third and what they could do to resolve them, Jones identified the pace of the build-up play behind the front men as the real issue:

“They are a lacking goal threat for sure and it’s a big concern because they really are not an exciting team to watch most of the time.

“They need some life in this team, but they seem to play so slowly and Hasenhuttl has to rectify that.”

The Verdict: Time to take advantage

Before the World Cup in November, the Saints have a real opportunity to capitalise on some of their upcoming fixtures and try to take maximum points.

The south coast outfit have got games against West Ham, Bournemouth and Everton, all of which are more than winnable with those clubs each lying in a similar position in the league table.

Summer signing Sekou Mara is yet to get off the mark, and he will be hoping to make an impression after the international break in a bid to help his side regain some decent form.

West Ham United have been dealt a big blow in their bid to bring Aaron Wan-Bissaka to the London Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a recent David Ornstein report for The Athletic, in which the journalist revealed that, despite both West Ham and Crystal Palace making approaches for the Manchester United right-back, Erik ten Hag knocked back both clubs’ moves for the 24-year-old – with it being believed the Red Devils are not open to selling or loaning the defender prior to Thursday’s transfer deadline.

A previous report by the Evening Standard had claimed that the former England U21 international could have been available for as little as £10m this summer, however, it would now appear as if both David Moyes and Patrick Vieira will have to turn their attention over the remainder of the summer transfer window elsewhere.

Moyes should be gutted

With Vladimir Coufal having endured a particularly torrid start to his 2022/23 campaign – averaging a SofaScore match rating of just 6.67 over his four Premier League fixtures this season – coupled with Ben Johnson being brought off in the first half of the 1-0 win over Aston Villa with an apparent hamstring injury, it is not difficult to understand why Moyes would have been interested in a deal to bring Wan-Bissaka to the London Stadium in the coming days.

While it is true that the right-back looks to have fallen down the Manchester United pecking order following Ten Hag’s arrival at Old Trafford this summer – having played just 10 minutes of league football so far this season – the £22.5m-rated talent has nevertheless proven previously just how astute a signing he would be for a club such as West Ham.

Indeed, over his 34 Premier League appearances back in 2020/21, the £90k-per-week full-back highly impressed going forwards, scoring two goals, registering four assists and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.9 key passes and completing one dribble per game.

The 24-year-old also caught the eye in metrics more typical of his position, helping United keep 13 clean sheets, in addition to making an average of 2.6 tackles, 1.8 interceptions, 1.8 clearances and winning 5.1 duels – at a success rate of 58% – per fixture.

These returns saw the right-back who Dan Gibbs dubbed “unreal” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.14, ranking him as United’s third-best performer in the top flight of English football that season.

Furthermore, while Wan-Bissaka did see his game time become more limited last time out – featuring in 20 Premier League fixtures in 2021/22 – the former England youth international still impressed when given the chance, with FBref ranking the defender in the top 2% of full-backs in Europe’s big five leagues for blocks per 90, as well as the top 3% for interceptions, the top 4% for dribbles completed, the top 18% for passes completed and the top 24% for tackles over the last 365 days.

As such, it is clear to see just how much Wan-Bissaka would have brought to West Ham, especially for a reported fee of just £10m – leading us to believe that Ornstein’s latest update on the right-back is sure to have left Moyes gutted.

Sky Sports journalist Dharmesh Sheth has shared a big transfer update involving West Ham United and Paris-Saint Germain defender Thilo Kehrer.

The Lowdown: West Ham pursue centre-back…

The Hammers are actively pursuing the signing of a new central defender amid their plethora of worries in that department so far this summer.

West Ham stars Nayef Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna are unavailable through injury whilst Craig Dawson could well leave after the 2022/2023 Premier League season with just one year left on his deal (ExWHUemployee).

Concerns also surround Kurt Zouma’s injury history with Issa Diop recently putting pen to paper on a move to Fulham, potentially leaving manager David Moyes very stretched when it comes to central defensive options.

Youngster Ben Johnson had to play alongside Zouma in a makeshift role against Man City last weekend with West Ham eager to add more depth.

The Latest: Sheth shares big Kehrer update…

Now, taking to social media, Sky reporter Sheth has shared a big update out of West Ham on talks to sign Kehrer from PSG.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-latest-news-4/” title=”West Ham latest news!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

The journalist says that Moyes’ side have submitted an ‘improved offer’ for the player after their initial bid was rejected.

He explained:

“West Ham United have made an improved offer for PSG defender Thilo Kehrer after having their first bid rejected.”

The Verdict: Get it done…

Kehrer emerges as a brilliant option for Moyes, particularly given his ability to play at both centre-back and full-back.

He could hand West Ham a real degree of versatility with the 25-year-old also still yet to reach the prime of his career.

Club insider ExWHUemployee has called Kehrer an ‘exciting’ link and we believe he could be an astute purchase if West Ham get it done.

A teasing Sunderland claim has emerged on the club’s plans for the remainder of the summer transfer window…

What’s the talk?

Black Cats chief Kristjaan Speakman has revealed that he is targeting several new signings before the end of the window to bolster Alex Neil’s squad.

The sporting director has also confirmed that he wants to bring in young players with the potential to improve as he has a long-term vision of where he wants the team to be.

When asked about how many signings the club want to make, he told Sky Sports: “There’s two or three positions on the pitch, two or three profiles, that we’d like to get in to balance the squad. We’ll see how that pans out over the next four weeks.”

Supporters will be excited

Black Cats supporters will be excited by this claim from Speakman because it shows that the club wants to sign promising players who have their best years ahead of them.

This means that Sunderland are unlikely to sign any journeymen with no potential to improve or resale value in the future.

Instead, it will hopefully leave Neil with a group of young and hungry players who are keen to make their mark on the Championship whilst developing as players.

This is an exciting prospect for fans as they can look forward to seeing players giving their all out on the pitch with a point to prove, which may not be the case with older signings who have proven themselves in the past.

Sunderland supporters have already been shown a glimpse of the benefits of this strategy with Daniel Ballard’s debut against Coventry on Sunday. The young centre-back – signed from Arsenal this summer – impressed as he made two clearances, one tackle and two interceptions in the 1-1 draw.

He looked up for the fight and showed character as Neil’s men picked up a draw on the opening weekend, whilst fellow new signing Jack Clark scored and Ellis Simms was named on the bench.

The Everton loanee, 21, scored five goals in 11 Premiership starts for Hull last term and ten goals in 19 League One starts for Blackpool the year before that. This shows that he is a young player with promise, as he has already shown quality early in his career, and fans will be looking forward to seeing him in action.

Imagine two or three more players like Ballard, Clarke, and Simms coming through the door before the window slams shut on September 1st. It is an exciting prospect for the rest of the window and supporters will now be keen to see who Speakman is able to bring in.

AND in other news, Sunderland “seem hopeful” of sealing major deal that’ll leave supporters buzzing…