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Wolves winger Pedro Neto could make his long-awaited injury return at some point in January, according to manager Bruno Lage.

The Lowdown: Neto missing for months

The young Portuguese star hasn’t featured at all yet this season, as he continues to recover from a fractured kneecap suffered back in April.

Neto had arguably been Wolves’ standout player in the 2020/21 campaign prior to that setback, scoring five goals and registering six assists in the Premier League.

It appears as though his return is edging closer all the time, however, acting as a boost for all concerned.

The Latest: Lage gives injury update

Speaking in his pre-Everton press conference on Friday [via The Athletic], Lage confirmed that he expects Neto to return to first-team action in mid-January, after undergoing his own pre-season schedule:

“The good news is everything is OK with his injury. Now he will start to work harder than he has.

“I think maybe he’ll start with the team in one more month. After he’ll need to do a normal pre-season, for two or three weeks, to work and be fit to play in this competition.

“Maybe in the middle of January we’ll have him in the stadium to start to play with us. He can work harder now, this is the good news.”

The Verdict: Play the long game

Any Wolves fan is going to be desperate to see Neto back on the pitch as soon as possible, but it is vital that the club handle him with care.

Rushing him back too soon could end up having dire consequences further down the line, so an element of caution is required with a player so young and full of potential.

Having Neto back from injury will feel like an almighty boost, though – pundit Adrian Clarke has described him as ‘brilliant’ – adding quality and goal threat to a team who are already thriving at the moment, grabbing ten points from their last four games.

In other news, Tim Spiers has delivered a key Wolves injury update. Read more here.

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Boubacar Kamara to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Goal, who claim that all of Tottenham, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Southampton are keeping a very close eye on the situation of the Olympique de Marseille central midfielder, who is set to leave the Orange Velodrome on a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract with the Ligue 1 side this summer.

However, the report goes on to state that it is Atletico Madrid who are currently in pole position for the 22-year-old’s signature, with the France U21 international believed to be keen on the challenge of LaLiga and working with Diego Simeone.

Although, Goal also suggest that, with Antonio Conte – as well as the other interested parties from England – being able to offer the youngster a much bigger salary than the Spanish side, Kamara could yet decide on a move to the Premier League ahead of a switch to Spain.

Conte can axe Winks with Kamara

Considering the sheer amount of potential Kamara quite clearly possesses, in addition to Harry Winks having regressed greatly over the last year, it is easy to see why Tottenham would be interested in a move for the Marseille starlet this summer.

Indeed, over his 25 Ligue 1 appearances this season, the £22.5m-rated midfielder has been in breathtaking form for Jorge Sampaoli’s side, scoring one goal and creating two big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.8 key passes, 1.2 interceptions, two tackles, 59.1 passes and winning 5.6 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £46k-per-week dynamo who Rolando dubbed a “phenomenon” average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.09, ranking him as the Phocaeans’ second-best performer in the top flight of French football.

Furthermore, FBref rank the 22-year-old in the top 5% of midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues for passes attempted per 90, in addition to the top 6% for passes completed, the top 28% for progressive passes, the top 26% for progressive carries, the top 33% for tackles and the top 35% for interceptions over the last 365 days.

As such, with the £91k-per-week Harry Winks – who Dan Kilpatrick dubbed “out of form” earlier this season – looking as if he does not have a future at Spurs under Conte, having been offered to Leeds United in the January transfer window, it would appear wise for the 52-year-old to finally axe the England international on a permanent basis this summer, before reinvesting the money saved from his hefty weekly wage into a move for the much more exciting Kamara.

AND in other news: “I understand…”: Gold drops big behind-the-scenes Spurs update, Conte will be fuming

Lots of Manchester City supporters have been buzzing with the latest rumours linking Jude Bellingham with a move to the club.

The 18-year-old has impressed at Borussia Dortmund since moving to Germany in July 2020 and he could eventually follow the path of former City academy star Jadon Sancho and return to England in the future.

Bellingham already has more than 50 appearances for BVB and was part of Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2020 squad as England reached the final, with the Stourbridge-born midfielder making three substitute appearances at the tournament.

According to the Daily Star [via City Chief on Twitter], Pep Guardiola has identified the teenager as ‘being the best potential candidate around Europe’ to replace Fernandinho, who is now 36.

Bellingham’s performances in the Bundesliga have caught the eye of the City manager, with the teenager featuring in every game so far this season, scoring and assisting in the 3-2 victory over Hoffenheim.

With Jack Grealish being City’s only major signing over the summer, Bellingham – who is valued at £49.5m by Transfermarkt – could be the perfect future transfer for Manchester City.

Man City fans want Bellingham

These City fans have taken to Twitter to react to the rumours of Bellingham’s links with a move to the Etihad Stadium.

“I approve this transfer”

Credit: @jaycity316

“Better than Rice”

Credit: @riszuan17

“God I hope this is true! Gonna be a star”

Credit: @LeoriPetrou

“Excellent talent, hope we can get him”

Credit: @R_Jeeem

“Get Jude and Haaland and we’re sorted”

Credit: @dasilvarito

“make it happen”

Credit: @rkmcr6

In other news, former City defender claims club never attempted to sign world-class star. Find out more here.

Patrick Vieira will be looking for his first victory as Crystal Palace manager when his side take on Watford in the Carabao Cup this evening.

The Eagles bounced back from an opening-day defeat at the hands of Chelsea with a goalless draw against Brentford over the weekend, and they’ll be hoping to build on that with another positive result at Vicarage Road.

What’s the word?

Vieira awarded Palace debuts to summer signings Conor Gallagher and Joachim Andersen last time out but the French tactician is expected to ring the changes once again for this midweek encounter.

However, one player who won’t be available is club captain Luka Milivojevic. The Serbia international is yet to make an appearance this season and was ruled out of the Brentford clash due to personal reasons.

“Luka is not gonna be available. He had his personal reason,” Vieira revealed in Friday’s press conference.

Milivojevic has not yet returned to the first-team setup in south London, and therefore, is set for an extended time away from the pitch.

The likes of Martin Kelly, James Tomkins, Jack Butland and Jean-Philippe Mateta will all be hopeful of receiving a rare chance to impress from the off, though, as Vieira looks to award some fringe players valuable game time.

He made his intentions to field a strong starting XI against Watford clear following their draw on Saturday, meaning the youth players may have to remain patient for a chance in the first team.

“The young players need to have a chance obviously, but they need to earn it as well. I will use this cup game to build on the confidence. If (on Sunday) and Monday morning, every player is available it will be for me to pick the strongest team because we want to compete in this competition,” Vieira declared.

Patrick Vieira will be gutted

Although securing a place in the third round of the Carabao Cup may not be very high up on Vieira’s priority list for the 2021/22 campaign, the former Nice boss will still be gutted to be without talismanic midfielder Milivojevic.

The 30-year-old has played a crucial part in the capital club’s success in recent years, and his continued absence will undoubtedly have a negative impact upon Palace and their ambitions to progress in the competition.

And, in other news…Vieira must unleash “impressive” £11.7m-rated gem today, could be CPFC’s game-changer 

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Jack Rodwell has started each of Blackburn Rovers’ last seven Championship games. However, last time out against Middlesbrough, after a truly miserable first half display, the 27-year-old was hauled off at half time by Tony Mowbray.

Should Darragh Lenihan be back to fitness in time to face Birmingham City at St Andrew’s Stadium on Saturday, then he must come into the starting XI in Rodwell’s place.

Watch how to cross the road like a boss with freestyler Ben Nuttall in the video below…

Rodwell looked against Boro like a player who needs some time out of the firing line. Given that Rovers have lost their last four consecutive league games, Mowbray has to change something in order to inspire his team to get back to their best.

Swapping out Rodwell would likely make Rovers a more solid unit at the back, and being dropped should also encourage the 3-cap former England international to concentrate on rediscovering his best form.

After last week’s woeful first half performance at Ewood Park, Mowbray needs something different, and taking Rodwell out of the team would be a positive alteration to make.

Crystal Palace were linked with a move for former Bournemouth winger Arnaut Danjuma over the summer, and the club’s hierarchy may be ruing not signing the 24-year-old just a few months on.

What’s the story?

According to Sky Sports, the Eagles were amongst Danjuma’s potential suitors in the previous transfer window after he put in a string of impressive performances in the Championship last season.

The Netherlands international was one of the second tier’s standout performers in 2020/21, bagging 15 goals and laying on a further seven assists in 33 appearances for the Cherries.

However, despite Danjuma adding a further two strikes to his tally during the two-legged play-off semi-final against Brentford, his efforts weren’t enough to see off the capital club, meaning Bournemouth were consigned to another year outside of the Premier League.

It led to a tussle for his signature between multiple clubs, but it was Spanish side Villarreal who stumped up the £21.3m asking price to secure the wing wizard’s services, and he’s been in scintillating form ever since.

One of Parish’s biggest Palace mistakes

Since arriving in La Liga, Danjuma has quickly established himself as one of the division’s most exciting attacking talents, bagging four goals in just seven league games, and adding another strike and two assists in three Champions League outings.

His eye-catching performances at club level have also earned to versatile forward a recall to Louis van Gaal’s national team setup where he scored in the 6-0 thrashing of Gibraltar.

It was Danjuma’s first cap for the Oranje since 2018, but it’s unlikely to be his last after his standout showing from the substitutes bench earned glowing praise from the Dutch coach in his post-match interview.

“This was a spectacular substitute by Danjuma,” Van Gaal said. “He deserves to be praised because what he showed was very clever.

“On the left, we have plenty of options; on the right, we don’t. He deserves to be praised. Danjuma had nice, good dribbles. His fellow players were not quite ready for his hard crosses yet.”

Although Palace have made a promising start to the current campaign, no winger within Patrick Vieira’s first-team squad has hit the back of the net from open play.

Wilfried Zaha has bagged two penalties, while Jordan Ayew continues to search for his first goal since November 2020, and although Michael Olise has notched his first goal for the Eagles, he prefers to play through the middle.

Therefore, not signing the £22.5m-rated Danjuma will surely have to go down as one of Steve Parish’s biggest transfer mistakes during his tenure as Palace chairman.

The versatile forward could have been a mainstay of the south London outfit’s attack for many years to come, but now Vieira is left still searching for the final piece of his forward line.

And, in other news…Vieira could unearth the next CPFC prodigy in 20 y/o beast, he’s “one for the future” 

As per reliable club insider ExWHUemployee, there has been another update involving West Ham United and their interest in Manchester United attacker Jesse Lingard as the January window looms.

The Lowdown: West Ham eye move…

The 29-year-old has been linked with a return to the London Stadium over these last few months after he opted to stay at Old Trafford in the summer.

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

Lingard, amid his lack of game time at United, is yet to sign a new contract with the Red Devils as his current deal runs out in 2022 – prompting interest from a host of Premier League clubs including West Ham (ESPN).

Irons boss David Moyes is believed to be keen on a swoop for the 2020/2021 loanee who dazzled on a temporary spell over the second half of last season, where he managed to bag nine goals and four assists in just 16 top flight starts (WhoScored).

ExWHUemployee, sharing the latest, has issued an update on West Ham and Lingard’s transfer stance ahead of the winter window.

The Latest: Ex makes Lingard claim…

According to the insider, via The West Ham Way, it’s apparently ‘looking more likely’ that the Champions League midfielder will see out the remainder of his contract in Manchester and move on later in the new year.

However, Ex also believes ‘this could change’ as he refuses to completely rule out a January departure, with the club source also believing West Ham are ‘still looking set’ to ‘make a move’ for him early next month.

The Verdict: Priority?

West Ham’s need for a striking alternative to Michail Antonio and emergency centre-back amid their injury crisis arguably trumps a swoop for Lingard, with Aaron Cresswell’s serious injury also making a case for the possible signing of a left-back.

The presence of Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals, Nikola Vlasic, Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini, who can all play in the attacking midfield position, provide Moyes with a stable amount of cover just behind Antonio with other positions more in need of reinforcement.

A move for Lingard should perhaps be put on the back-burner until later in 2022 when he can sign as a free agent, providing another club don’t swoop before then.

Lauded as ‘top-quality’ by former Premier League striker Kevin Phillips, the England international would undoubtedly strengthen West Ham, but Moyes may have other more pressing holes to fill in his squad.

In other news: ‘Nooooo’, ‘Beyond a joke’, ‘Xmas ruined’…West Ham fans flock to ‘worrying’ player claim, find out more here.

Newcastle United return to action this evening as they face off against Wolves at St James’ Park in the Premier League.

The Magpies are currently on a run of three straight defeats and will be looking to put their poor form to an end with a positive result against Bruno Lage’s side.

Eddie Howe’s men were given a thrashing last time out in the top flight as they were hammered 5-1 by Antonio Conte’s Tottenham last weekend.

The ex-Cherries head coach will surely make changes to his team in the hope of turning in an improved performance, and one player he must finally unleash from the start is Bruno Guimaraes after benching him last week.

The midfielder came on as a substitute against Spurs and caught the eye with a strong showing amid a number of poor displays from his team-mates. As per SofaScore, he won seven of his nine duels, made four tackles and completed 96% of his attempted passes – resulting in one key pass – in just 31 minutes on the pitch.

To put those statistics into context, Joe Willock (six), Jonjo Shelvey (three) and Joelinton (two) all failed to win as many duels as the Brazilian despite all of them starting the match, with the former two playing the full 90 minutes and Joelinton coming off in the 59th minute.

His former Lyon team-mate Houssem Aouar dubbed Bruno as someone who “constantly offers solutions” for his team’s defenders by sweeping up ahead of them. This was on full display in his cameo performance in north London as the 24-year-old got stuck in and won possession back for his team in the little time that he had on the pitch.

Howe previously hailed the midfielder as a “standout” player and that is exactly what he can be for Newcastle against Wolves if he is named in the starting XI.

In his last Premier League start – against Everton in mid-March – Bruno impressed in the middle of the park. As per SofaScore, he won seven of his nine duels and made three tackles, whilst completing 97% of his passes and all nine of his long pass attempts.

This display – along with his ability to outshine Willock, Shelvey and Joelinton against Spurs – suggests that he has the quality to run the midfield for the Magpies. He can excel both on and off the ball and it is time for Howe to throw him in from the start at St James’ Park tonight.

AND in other news, Signed for free, now worth £9m: Ashley sealed his final NUFC gift in £35k-p/w “dream”…

Rangers enjoyed a sensational month in October as they went unbeaten in all competitions across all six of their competitive outings.

Steven Gerrard’s side won four of their six games, drawing the other two, as they retained their place at the top of the Scottish Premiership and picked up their first win in the group stage of the Europa League.

Forget Tavernier

Gers captain James Tavernier was superb in October as he registered two goals and a whopping five assists from right-back in all competitions for Gerrard. However, in doing so he lost possession of the ball an eye-catching 136 times in five games, which works out at an average of 27 losses of the ball per match.

In the 6-1 win over Motherwell, the ex-Newcastle man attempted 29 crosses throughout the match and completed just six of them – picking up two assists. This, along with his overall possession loss numbers, add context to his goal contributions throughout the month as he was consistently given opportunities to misplace passes and crosses before eventually finding a teammate to create a chance.

One player who had a hugely positive influence on the team during October was Romanian international midfielder Ianis Hagi. The playmaker was Gerrard’s real hero throughout the month as he put in a number of eye-catching performances for the Gers.

He played in five of the six matches, having endured a disrupted September due to isolation rules, and impressed with his displays in the Premiership and Europa League. In those five games, he averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.18 and that was not boosted by the 6-1 drubbing over Motherwell as he was given a deserved rest for that match.

Hagi also played a key role in an important win for Rangers as they faced St Mirren away from home. The hosts took the lead early on through a terrific long-range strike and the Gers were under the cosh against a well-drilled side defending for their lives.

However, this awakened something in Hagi as he took the game by the scruff of the neck and was crucial to everything Rangers did to end up winning the game 2-1, including winning the penalty for the equaliser from Kemar Roofe. He completed 90% of his passes and only gave possession away seven times, whilst recording a SofaScore rating of 7.5 as he ran the game from midfield.

The 23-year-old wizard ended the month with an exceptional eight chances created in five games, whilst also registering an assist by winning the penalty for Roofe. His average rating of 7.18 also shows that the overall standard of his performances were excellent, whilst he lost possession 71 times in five games – an average of 14.2 per game, which is significantly lower than Tavernier’s turnover rate.

Hagi’s starring role in the win over St Mirren in difficult circumstances also proves that he can turn up in the big moments for the Gers, which is why he was the real hero of the month.

AND in other news, Gerrard can save Rangers’ UEL hopes by unleashing “really dangerous” £12.6m-rated gem…

Many Everton fans have been left buzzing over some manager news involving Jose Mourinho.

As per Italian football journalist and transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the former Tottenham Hotspur manager will not leave Roma this season, and the vacant job at Goodison Park is currently ‘not in his plans’.

Sky Sports broke on Tuesday evening that Mourinho was ‘under consideration’ to become the next permanent boss on Merseyside following the departure of Rafa Benitez, with Duncan Ferguson only in temporary charge for now.

However, it looks as if it is very unlikely that he would take the job with the Toffees given his desire to stay at Roma, meaning that the board will now have to look at other candidates.

Of course, Mourinho has succeeded in English football, winning the Premier League title no fewer than three times with Chelsea, but he is arguably not the manager he once was, having left both Spurs and Manchester United midway through campaigns while outside of the UEFA Champions League places.

Blues supporters may not like his pragmatic style of play either, and so it is no surprise to see them feeling as if they have dodged a bullet.

Everton fans on Mourinho manager news

These Evertonians buzzed as the manager news was shared on Twitter:

“Fantastic”

Credit: @EvertoniaMatt

“Best news I’ve heard. Now tell me Lampard got lost on the M25 driving up to his ‘interview'”

Credit: @Tw1ttr1

“Happy days”

Credit: @Pablo_Beezo

“Thank heavens for that.”

Credit: @owendeasha

“Panic over”

Credit: @Day89

“Siuuuuuu”

Credit: @blue_toffees

In other news, find out what other manager update has EFC fans buzzing here!