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In 2018, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp would have been licking his lips in anticipation of the impending confirmation of Nabil Fekir’s transfer to the club, in a deal that collapsed like a dilapidated barn at the 11th hour.

Indeed, in June 2018, right before the World Cup in Russia, The Guardian reported that the Merseyside giants had agreed a fee to sign Olympique Lyonnais’ Fekir for €60m (£53m) following the club’s 3-1 defeat in the Champions League finale to the hands of the imperious Real Madrid.

Despite completing the lion-share of formalities and even conducting interviews ahead of the official announcement of the transfer, Fekir was left dismayed after Liverpool decided to pull the plug on the prospective acquisition, citing concerns over a long-term knee injury that has plagued the 29-year-old throughout the duration of his career.

Following the collapsed deal, Fekir would go on to play his final season in Ligue 1, scoring 12 goals and providing nine assists from 39 appearances across all competitions, before later moving to La Liga outfit Real Betis for an initial fee of only £17.5m, where he plys his trade to this day.

The exact reason that Liverpool decided to steer clear of the transfer remains a contentious topic, but undoubtedly, his dynamism and creativity from midfield would only enhance the current crop of beleaguered Merseyside players.

Liverpool’s desire for a midfielder has been a prominent fact this season, and one can’t help but wonder if Fekir had been granted his transfer in 2018, there might be a spark from the centre that the outfit does not quite wield right now.

Fekir, who has an impressive return of 96 goals and 72 assists across 327 appearances at club level, has cast aside the previous trepidation surrounding the strength of his knee and has managed to restrict his time shackled to the medical department to but a handful of matches each campaign, indeed emerging as one of Betis’ most integral cogs.

The £26m-rated playmaker, who has won the World Cup with France – weeks after the Liverpool deal collapsed – and the 2020/21 Copa del Rey with Betis, has recorded an impressive average career match rating of 7.26, as per WhoScored, indicating a stellar consistency that would have left Anfield “like fire” – in the words of Sadio Mane – with the burning intensity of his labours.

And over the past year, as per FBref, the “incredible” gem – as once dubbed by former Brazilian forward Malcom – ranks among the top 2% of positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues for shot-creating actions, 9% for dribbles completed and the top 12% for passes attempted – which highlights the level of progressive play and attacking emphasis that would only enhance the fortunes of the Reds.

With all of this in mind, Liverpool and FSG will undoubtedly rue their mistake as his particular skill set is exactly what Jurgen Klopp craves at present, and had they signed the ominous clouds that linger over Anfield may have never materialised.

Scottish champions Celtic are reportedly closing in on their fourth signing of the January transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph, the Old Firm giants are believed to have struck a deal to sign Suwon Bluewings striker, Oh Hyeon-gyu, with a fee of around £2.5m having been agreed upon for the 21-year-old.

Writing on Twitter regarding that developing story, the transfer insider revealed: “Celtic have agreed a £2.5m deal with Suwon Bluewings to sign striker Hyeon-Gyu Oh. The South Korea international, 21, has verbally agreed personal terms and is expected to finalise the move this week.”

That seemingly imminent move comes amid the uncertainty surrounding the future of fellow forward Giorgos Giakoumakis at Parkhead, with the Greece international having been mooted for a move to J-League side, Urawa Red Diamonds of late.

Postecoglou must be ‘incredibly excited’

Even without the potentially impending exit of the current Hoops marksman, there had been reports back in November that the Glasgow side were seeking to bolster their attacking ranks even further, with manager Ange Postecoglou seemingly set to continue his bid to keep improving his title-winning squad.

The addition of the aforementioned Oh could well prove a particularly astute capture for the 57-year-old, with the 6 foot 1 starlet having blossomed in his native Korea in recent times.

The one-cap international has proven himself a clinical presence in front of goal in his embryonic senior career to date, having scored 14 goals in 53 games for his current side, while also netting nine goals and laying on six assists in 40 games while on loan at Gimcheon Sangmu.

The most recent K-League campaign saw the emerging asset net 11 times in 32 league games, having enjoyed a particularly impressive end to the season with eight goals in his last ten top-flight games.

That sparkling form has unsurprisingly caught the attention of those at Celtic Park, with it looking as if he is set to progress even further in the years to come.

Such is Cho’s standout talent, journalist Jason Lee only recently stated that he is “incredibly excited” at the prospect of the Korean making the move to Scotland, with the same likely to be said of Postecoglou who will have the chance to help nurture and develop yet another impressive youngster.

With fellow forward, Kyogo Furuhashi currently delivering the goods with 20 goals in all competitions already this season, it will be a mouthwatering prospect to have even greater competition in the attacking ranks with the addition of the Suwon sensation.

Journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed that Liverpool have not placed a bid for midfielder Enzo Fernandez due to his ‘crazy’ transfer valuation.What’s the latest?After a brilliant World Cup where the Benfica man not only won the tournament but was also named the competition’s best young player, the 21-year-old has been linked with a big January move.For instance, according to reports in Italian media, Liverpool were preparing a notable bid for Fernandez in the hopes of signing him this winter.However, any rumours of the club’s interest reaching that stage may have been a little premature. Indeed, according to Jacobs, the Reds ‘never went in’ for the player due to the expected cost.He told the Born And Red podcast: “Liverpool never placed a bid. I know there are some reports out there that say to the contrary, but my Liverpool sources have categorically stated that they never went in for Enzo Fernandez because they know the valuation is crazy.”£106m player?Reports suggest that Benfica have a £106m release clause – having only signed the River Plate for an initial €10m (£8.8m) last summer – as they had no intention of selling him any time.Even so, after his stunning displays in Qatar at the World Cup, Fernandez has become one of the hottest properties in the game. What’s more, Liverpool have long been said to be in the market for a new midfielder.Still, it seems as though the Argentine just isn’t a realistic target for the Reds and so he may well be about to join Premier League rivals Chelsea instead. At least there is still hope for Jude Bellingham of course.

Tottenham Hotspur are edging closer to completing the signing of Atalanta’s Ruslan Malinovskyi, according to reports from Italy.

The Lowdown: Conte eyes Malinovskyi

Malinovskyi has been a long-term target of Antonio Conte, with Italian outlet Il Giorno previously reporting that Tottenham representatives were working on a deal at the start of November, via Daily Express.

Further details have now been brought to light, indicating that the move could be close to being concluded…

The Latest: Getting closer

As per Calciomercato, the Ukrainian’s current club were initially holding out for a fee in the region of €18m (£15.5m) to part with him, but they would now be willing to settle for €15m (£12.9m).

Other interested suitors Marseille are also said to be distant in regards to a switch, paving the way for Spurs to sign him in the January transfer window.

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The Verdict: Get it done

With the 29-year-old seemingly unwilling to commit to extending his stay with Atalanta beyond 2023, the Serie A side’s loss could be Spurs’ gain, as he would be a fantastic attacking midfield option for Conte.

Hailed as having a ‘wondrous left foot’ by journalist Emmet Gates, the £19k-per-week ace is a forward-thinking player, always trying to drive his team on by moving the ball forward, as indicated by an average of 5.72 progressive passes per 90 minutes over the past year, placing him in the 96th percentile.

In their pursuit of Champions League football, Tottenham could do with some fire attacking firepower, which the Ukrainian would almost certainly deliver, registering a stunning 20 goal contributions in 36 appearances in the 2020/21 Serie A season.

Although he is likely to play second fiddle to the likes of Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-min Son, Malinovskyi would provide excellent depth to Conte, and the reported price of just £12.9m seems an absolute steal for a player of his calibre.

Liverpool have been credited with an interest in Yunus Musah and now a new update has emerged on the club’s pursuit of the player ahead of the transfer market reopening next month.

What’s the latest?

According to 90min, Liverpool have now made contact with the Valencia and USMNT midfielder’s representatives to register their interest in the player ahead of the January transfer window.

As per the report, the Reds are joined in their efforts by fellow Premier League club Chelsea who have also made contact with those managing Musah’s future after the player had an impressive World Cup campaign with his national team.

It is also claimed that Valencia have now opened contract talks with the American in an attempt to fend off the mounting interest emerging from the Premier League.

Naby Keita replacement

It is no secret that Liverpool are in desperate need of reinforcements in the centre of the pitch which has been heavily reflected in their performances over the Premier League season so far.

The Merseyside giants are currently sixth in the league table after a run of inconsistent form and disappointing displays that have left them unable to challenge at the highest level to compete for the title with Manchester City and Arsenal, with the latter currently 15 points ahead of Liverpool at the top of the tree.

Liverpool have a number of midfielders that are coming into their last six months of their contracts at the club with James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain currently set to leave Anfield at the end of the season.

As a result, the Reds could have a brilliant opportunity in their pursuit for Musah’s signature and could sign the perfect replacement to fill the boots of Keita should he leave the club either in January or at the end of his contract in the summer.

The £86m-valued youngster has been capturing the attention of the world during his international campaign in Qatar at the World Cup with the USMNT, and his output has been so impressive, giving interested clubs a glimpse of his talents and capabilities.

Over four World Cup appearances, Musah – who was hailed the “real deal” by CBS Sport writer Ives Galarcep – won possession back 23 times, won eight tackles and prevailed in a whopping 18 duels, proving his combative force.

Furthermore, he has thrived offensively, making 13 passes into the final third, 12 passes into the opponent’s box, attempted ten take-ons, took four shots on goal and created three big chances.

Unfortunately, Musah’s hard work wasn’t enough to secure the USA their spot in the quarter-finals as they were knocked out by the Netherlands in the round of 16 earlier this week. However, the powers at Anfield should have seen enough to know that the 20-year-old midfielder is a star worth capturing.

With that being said, the signing of Musah would be a great piece of business for Liverpool in their midfield rebuild over the coming months ahead, but FSG will need to make a lucrative and tempting offer to secure his services over their competitors also interested in signing the player.

West Ham United’s season has been a polarising one, as their form in domestic competition has been wholly disappointing whilst in Europe they have excelled.

Having cruised through their Europa Conference League group winning every game, they have instead lost their last three Premier League games before the World Cup break and will now have to mull over their issues for the next six weeks.

Of their current European campaign, David Moyes has not been shy of affording his academy players added involvement amongst the first team.

It has, therefore, given plenty of players a platform to showcase their talents for the Scotsman, although somewhat disappointingly, Freddie Potts only saw 24 minutes of action.

The midfield maestro had earned notoriety in recent years for his tempo-controlling displays that allowed the U23s to thrive.

This season alone he already has one goal and an assist too from the engine room in just 13 appearances for the youth sides.

His lack of involvement is likely down to the emergence of Conor Coventry, who given his slight seniority was preferred alongside Declan Rice.

However, in the near future, it could instead be Potts who could grow to surpass him and even the underperforming Tomas Soucek – who has just two goals this term – to partner with the club captain for years to come.

Having now made two senior appearances for the Hammers, he is clearly well thought of at the club given he is only 19 years old.

Back when he signed his newest scholarship deal, he was lauded by coach Gerard Prenderville as a “very, very good midfielder” who was “composed, ticks things over nicely and takes it forward when he needs to.”

He also referenced his father, Steve Potts, who made 285 appearances for the Irons across an 18-year career. With the history he shares with the east London outfit, the foundations are in place for his son to thrive and eventually nail down a spot in that senior side.

Acting as something of a metronome in midfield, he could soon offer a consistency that prevails over the Czech Republic international, who has been lambasted for his “awful mentality” by journalist Alan Rzepa this season.

Soucek too was a solid presence in their midfield who could both defend and attack, and should he not find his form soon it could spell the end for his guaranteed place beside Rice.

Boasting a proud history with the club already, Potts is seemingly making great strides towards breaking into Moyes’ team. The next time he gets his opportunity, he will just have to take it with both hands and make himself undroppable.

Renowned for their fine work in the transfer market, this summer boasted another set of new young recruits for Southampton to hopefully make successes out of.

Ten new faces entered the St Mary’s doors, with the vast majority unknown commodities mostly on the younger side.

Although their season has not started particularly strongly, sitting in 17th, their form of late can be seen as directly correlating with the absence of one of these summer additions.

The injury to central defender Armel Bella-Kotchap in mid-October has underpinned a run of form where they have won just one in their last eight Premier League games.

Signed for just £10m, the German has already gone on to make his debut for the national team since moving to the south coast and earned praise for his cultured performances at the back for the Saints.

With an average SofaScore rating of 7.03, the 20-year-old is impressing not only with his defending, where he averages 2.3 interceptions and 1.4 tackles per game, but his ball playing, where he boasts a 100% dribble success rate and 76% pass accuracy.

Ralph Hasenhuttl has led that acclaim, stating after their win over Chelsea: “When you see the physical quality he has it is perfect for the Premier League.”

Jermaine Jenas also joined in to say: “He has authority in the way he plays, how aggressive he is in the tackle and his positional sense, you always want one leading the way and he seems to want to take that mantle at 20 years of age.”

This emergence into the forefront of world football has understandably led to an increase in value.

Back in December of 2021, whilst still at VFL Bochum, the France-born gem was worth just £4.5m. Now however, as of November 2022, Transfermarkt value him at £16.2m. This marks a 260% increase in just under a year.

As he continues to improve, this will only continue to grow. It may only be early in Bella-Kotchap’s Southampton career, but he is already looking like another one of their infamously shrewd pieces of business.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank is ‘under consideration’ to become Aston Villa’s new boss after Steven Gerrard’s sacking, according to journalist Gregg Evans.

The Lowdown: Gerrard sacked by Villa

The Villans suffered a dire night at the office on Thursday evening, losing 3-0 away to Fulham in what felt like a must-win Premier League clash for Gerrard.

The 42-year-old was swiftly sacked soon after the final whistle, as his increasingly disappointing tenure at Villa Park reached its conclusion.

Villa are now on the search for a new manager and although Mauricio Pochettino has been strongly linked, it looks as though they could go shopping within the Premier League, following a new update.

The Latest: Frank in contention

Taking to Twitter, Evans revealed Nassef Sawiris was actually in attendance at Craven Cottage and that Brentford boss Frank is now seen as a possible successor to Gerrard:

“Nassef Sawiris was at FFC tonight and left early into the defeat.

“Understand Thomas Frank is now under consideration as AVFC weigh up the next move.”

The Verdict: Would be a strong appointment

Frank, who likes an attacking 4-3-3 system, has done a superb job at Brentford, guiding them into the top flight, playing some good football along the way and turning them into a team looking unlikely to be threatened by relegation.

For that reason, he would be a strong candidate to come in and take charge, bringing with him modern ideas and a ball-playing approach to a club with much greater resources than his current home.

Chelsea boss Graham Potter said this week that the 49 year-old is very similar to him in terms of the way they approach the game and life in general, and based on his incredible rise through the ranks you’d bank Frank to make an impact at Villa.

Whether or not the Bees boss, labelled ‘fantastic’ by Potter, would be happy to leave Brentford remains to be seen, but the likely offer of larger wages at a bigger club could be too great to turn down.

Sunderland are currently experiencing somewhat of an injury crisis in their forward line as Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms are both out of action, and it now looks like it’s having an effect on the side’s results.

The Black Cats have picked up consecutive draws in the Championship which won’t be good enough over the season ahead in a very tight and competitive league to secure a spot in the playoffs, now dropping into seventh in the league table after their draw with Preston North End.

Tony Mowbray will be keen to find a solution and fast as Sunderland take on Blackpool at the Stadium of Light tomorrow night, and securing all three points from the game is essential to make sure they don’t create a bigger gap between themselves and the promotion positions.

The newly-appointed manager confirmed that Stewart will be out for around “six to eight weeks” at the beginning of September and the latest update on Simms is that Everton may want to scan their player’s toe injury so will need to wait for a definite time frame.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and Kristjaan Speakman could be regretting the decision not to reunite with Everton centre-forward Nathan Broadhead who was so integral to the club’s promotion success from League One last season.

Indeed, with a failed Elliot Embleton experiment at the weekend, the Mackems may well have not only been longing for Simms and Stewart, but also their former loanee.

The talented striker who was dubbed “fantastic” by former Sunderland manager Lee Johnson, scored 13 goals for the North-East club last season and five of those came at the most crucial part of the campaign in the last seven games during their competitive fight for a spot in the playoffs.

Broadhead is now at Wigan Athletic, scoring one goal in his first eight appearances for his new club, but there is no doubt that with his experience in the team and winning mentality, Mowbray could’ve got the best out of him.

He already knows the surroundings at the Stadium of Light and under a manager who extracted 22 goals from a certain Ben Brereton Diaz last term, the future would have bode well for Broadhead.

With that being said, nobody could have predicted that Simms and Stewart would both be out at the same time but it would have taken a lot of pressure off their return if they had a player like Broadhead who already has a connection with the players around him and a clear record for performing in the team.

An update has emerged regarding the future of Newcastle United striker Chris Wood on deadline day of the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

The Daily Mail’s Craig Hope has revealed that the Tyneside club have turned down multiple attempts from other teams to take the New Zealand international off their hands.

Eddie Howe brought the striker to St James’ Park from Burnley for £25m in January and the Magpies look set to keep him for the first half of the 2022/23 campaign at least.

Hope tweeted: “Newcastle have rejected several enquiries for striker Chris Wood. Watford among them, but also number of PL clubs. Newcastle do not want to lose any attacking personnel this window #nufc.”

Deadline day blunder

This decision not to cash in on Wood could end up being a deadline day blunder by Toon chief Dan Ashworth.

Earlier this year, Frank McAvennie claimed that the centre-forward was “struggling” at Newcastle and tipped him to leave the club in the summer.

Whilst the second part has not come to pass, Wood has been struggling in a Magpies shirt throughout his time at the club.

The £80k-per-week flop ranks in the 1st percentile among players in his position over the last 365 days in Europe’s top five leagues for non-penalty goals per 90 (0.11). This suggests that he is one of the worst players in the top five European leagues, not just the Premier League, when it comes to scoring from open play.

Since arriving at Newcastle, Wood has played 21 top-flight matches for Howe and found the net just twice, with one of those coming from the penalty spot.

The head coach wants his team to press, and the former Burnley man is average in this regard, ranking in the 58th percentile for pressures and the 25th for tackles per 90. This means that he offers very little at the top end of the pitch in possession and is not outstanding in terms of how the manager wants his side to set up off the ball.

At the age of 30, he is not a young player gaining experience or likely to make massive improvements at this point in his career.

Therefore, if he is unable to lift his performances, keeping him on the books and continuing to watch him struggle on the pitch could cause his value to drop, and they may not have the same interest in his signature in January, which is why this decision could be a blunder by Ashworth.