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Tottenham Hotspur have once again been linked with a move for a Championship defender ahead of the January transfer window…

What’s the word?

According to Football Insider, Spurs boss Nuno Santo is keen to sign Stoke City colossus Harry Souttar, having previously sanctioned a move for him during his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Earlier this month, the same outlet reported that several Premier League clubs were keen to sign the 6 foot 5 giant, who has been watched multiple times by scouts since penning a long-term deal at the bet365 Stadium.

The Lilywhites may need to battle Everton and Aston Villa to his signature, though it still remains to be seen what sort of fee such a deal would command.

Ex-Potters player Mike Pejic believes that Souttar is worth more than £20m, but Transfermarkt currently value him at a lowly £3.6m.

Imagine him and Romero

Heading into the new campaign, Spurs’ backline was quite a contentious topic as they were riddled with inconsistencies and a lack of leadership, whilst they were often let down by numerous individual errors.

The bulk of the defensive armoury still remains in N17 as only Toby Alderweireld departed the club, meaning that the likes of Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez are still playing matches.

New sporting director Fabio Paratici brought in Cristian Romero from Atalanta and he’s largely looked the part whenever he’s been involved. If he’s to sign permanently, then he could need a long-term partner, and perhaps Souttar can be that man.

The Australia international would hand Nuno height like no other in defence, which could be a scary prospect alongside the ruthless Romero.

He has won an average of 4.6 headers per game in the Championship this term, on top of 1.9 interceptions and two tackles per match, via WhoScored. It’s no wonder his manager Michael O’Neill once claimed that the 23-year-old is a “player blessed with great natural attributes” and “good game intelligence.”

By comparison, no Spurs player has managed more than an average of 3.6 aerials won, with Romero currently the best central defender (2.2) for that aspect.

Meanwhile, Souttar has been likened to players such as Harry Maguire and Virgil van Dijk, who started their careers elsewhere before becoming two of the most recognised centre-backs in the Premier League, so it’s already an early sign that he could follow suit.

Also dubbed a “Rolls-Royce” by former Stoke legend Ryan Shawcross – who himself played well over 300 times in the top-flight – it seems as if Spurs could be onto something with the 23-year-old Nuno target.

Paratici must look to seal a move for Souttar when January swings around. It could be a smart decision as the Portuguese looks to build a colossal backline for years to come.

AND in other news, Paratici could seal Spurs’ biggest signing since Son with “complete” £27m-rated beast…

According to a report in the paper edition of The Mirror (via West Ham Zone), West Ham United are now eyeing a new target as news emerges on attacker Paddy Lane.

The lowdown: Bursting onto the scene

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Signed for current club Fleetwood Town from Non-League Hyde United in 2021, the Northern Irish winger hadn’t been involved at a professional level prior to making the switch to the League One outfit.

The 21-year-old has made an instant impact in the North West and has rapidly become a regular starter for Stephen Crainey’s side.

Now another rapid rise could be on the horizon for the talented youngster.

The latest: Hammers interested

As per the Mirror (Page 74 via WHZ), the Hammers, and by extension manager David Moyes, are reportedly ‘keeping tabs’ on Lane ahead of the summer transfer window.

It’s claimed that the Irons view the versatile ace as a ‘potential understudy’ to Jarrod Bowen.

Furthermore, the report states that West Ham have sent club officials to scout the one-cap senior Northern Ireland international who has been dubbed the ‘next Jamie Vardy’ due to the similarities in his career pathway to date.

The verdict: Make it happen

Albeit far from a well-trodden path to the elite level, every so often a story such as this comes along and this time the east London club should do everything in their power to be the benefactors.

In truth, Moyes has developed a penchant for creating a squad full of players that have taken different routes to the elite level, Michail Antonio and Bowen to name just two,  and adding Lane to the London Stadium ranks would be another smart addition this summer.

Described as a ‘top player’ by Crainey, so far this season the Northern Irishman has scored five times and provided another eight assists in 36 league outings whilst operating in a variety of midfield positions.

Whilst the report makes no mention of a fee, it’s unlikely that the League One Young Player of the Year nominated youngster would be an expensive outlay for GSB and therefore certainly one the club should be pushing to complete.

In other news: Three West Ham players struggled in 1-1 draw with Burnley! Find out more here.

Sunderland moved up to third in the League One table on Tuesday night as they thrashed Morecambe 5-0 at the Stadium of Light.

The Black Cats were at their clinical best as they swept their opponents aside with ease, scoring two of their goals in the opening 17 minutes of the match.

Lee Johnson’s men are now two points off first place, currently held by Wigan, and two points behind second-placed Wycombe, who have played a game more than Sunderland.

Forget Broadhead

Nathan Broadhead scored two of the five goals and may take the plaudits for his fine performance, but another Black Cats star stole the show with a sublime showing on the night – Lynden Gooch.

The American winger was exceptional throughout the match and was pivotal to setting the tone with his direct running and ability on the ball.

He set up the first goal in the 13th minute with a sublime mazy run down the left wing, as he jinked past a number of challenges before firing the ball into Ross Stewart’s path for him to find the back of the net. Four minutes later, he produced a couple of stepovers to beat the full-back and clipped up a brilliant cross for Broadhead to find the corner of the goal.

On the ball, he was a threat all night down the flanks. As per SofaScore, he completed a whopping five dribbles, out of six attempts, and created three chances for his teammates – two of those resulting in the aforementioned assists for Broadhead and Stewart. He also completed three of his six long pass attempts and two crosses, whilst having 85 touches of the ball overall.

Gooch also competed out of possession. As per SofaScore, he won 60% of his ground duels (6/10) and made one clearance and one tackle. Given that Sunderland had 62% of the ball and he had little defensive work to do, this was a strong showing from him against the ball and shows that he can compete in physical battles to get the better of his opponents.

Therefore, the £5k-per-week wizard stole the show as he was able to win the majority of his battles off the ball and was a constant menace to the Morecambe defence on it. He was able to consistently cause problems for the opposition with his dribbling and chance creation, ultimately leading – directly – to two of the five goals and setting the tone for the night.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt yet another injury setback ahead of their Premier League clash with Watford on Saturday.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by football.london, manager Antonio Conte revealed that winger Steven Bergwijn missed out on Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Southampton on Tuesday afternoon as the 24-year-old forward was suffering from a calf strain picked up in the 3-0 win over Crystal Palace last weekend.

The 52-year-old went on to state that, as a result of this knock, the Netherlands international looks as if he will remain sidelined for the visit of Watford on Saturday afternoon, as the player will need more time to recover before returning to first-team football.

When asked whether Bergwijn was injured for the Saints game, Conte said: “Yeah, yeah. During the game against Crystal Palace, he felt a problem in his calf. Yeah, he was injured. Together with [Giovanni] Lo Celso and [Cristian] Romero and [Ryan] Sessegnon.”

The Italian was then asked whether the winger would be back for Watford, to which he replied: “I don’t think so. He has a muscular problem and he needs to recover more time than 10 days or only a week.”

Conte will be livid

As we are well and truly in the thick of the busiest period of the Premier League calendar, with Spurs having at least six fixtures to play between now and the end of January – with the potential of more being scheduled due to earlier postponements – the news that Bergwijn will be unable to feature against Watford is sure to come as a huge blow to Conte, as well as leaving the manager livid.

Indeed, with the 52-year-old recently revealing that he considers the forward as a backup to Harry Kane – currently Tottenham’s only recognised centre-forward – something that is evidenced by Bergwijn replacing the 28-year-old at Selhurst Park last week, the Dutchman’s injury severely limits the Italian’s options should he wish to give the England captain a rest in the club’s upcoming games.

Furthermore, with the likes of Lo Celso, Romero and Sessegnon already in the Tottenham Hotspur treatment room, a fresh injury is the last thing Conte needs heading into 2022, as the former Inter Milan manager will need as many of his first-team squad fit and firing as possible if he is to have any chance of guiding Spurs to a top-four finish in the league this season.

In other news: “Serious chance”: Romano drops teasing Spurs transfer update that’ll have fans buzzing

Liverpool remain interested in West Ham United star Jarrod Bowen, with the club still following his development at the London Stadium this season.

What’s the story?

The Athletic have claimed that, following their summer interest, the Reds have continued to monitor the winger’s progress as they contemplate making a new signing out wide.

He was superb vs Liverpool

During his time at Hull City, Bowen was labelled an “unplayable” attacker by his then-manager Grant McCann, and he lived up to that billing and more with a superb individual display in the 3-2 victory over Liverpool back in November.

He set up two goals on the day as West Ham ended the Reds’ impressive unbeaten run, and his underlying stats were equally impressive.

As per Sofascore, he provided two key passes (the joint-most of any Hammer), while he created two official big chances too – the only player to do so in the game.

That’s not to mention he led the team in the number of crosses he put in, was tied second for successful dribbles, and was fouled the second most of any player too – the kind of exciting display which had Andy Robertson tied up in knots.

The Scotland international finished the game with no shots or crosses whatsoever (the mark of someone who had been pinned back for the entire match), made no tackles or interceptions, and won just the one duel over the course of the 90 minutes.

Writing in his post-match player ratings for The Liverpool Echo, Ian Doyle gave him a four, saying: “Plenty of overlapping down the left flank but delivery first half was inconsistent and had an absolute stinker second half.”

In fact, speaking before the game in his pre-match press conference, Klopp himself said: “I like Bowen a lot. He made his way up from Hull and took not too long to show exactly what kind of player he can be in the Premier League. He made big steps.”

He has scored six goals and provided nine assists in just 22 appearances in the Premier League, while he ranks as the Hammers’ best performing player with an average WhoScored match rating of 7.27.

The £31.5m-rated star could be a superb signing for Klopp’s side.

Meanwhile, James Pearce has dropped a Liverpool transfer update…

Leeds United supporters are expecting one deal and one deal only on transfer deadline day: the permanent transfer of Swansea City’s Daniel James.

With the rumour mill refusing to throw up any other reason for Leeds fans to feel expectant on deadline day, all eyes are on James’ potential move from south Wales to Yorkshire.

Can Leeds get a deal over the line? Tell will tell but murmurs emerging from both clubs suggest that it’s one which is set to go right down to the wire.

Interest in James has arrived during a month in which Bielsa has clearly felt the need to strengthen in wide areas following the departure of Samu Saiz, with Pablo Hernandez expected to play a key role at number ten for the remainder of the season.

But the 21-year-old winger was relatively unheard of until just a few months ago, so why exactly did Bielsa decide to put all his eggs in one basket and launch a transfer mission to secure his signature?

Well, Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Phil Hay has shed some light on the matter, citing Leeds scout Craig Dean as the man who introduced James to Bielsa with a series of video clips.

‘James is understood to have been picked out first by Craig Dean, a scout who once worked for Oxford United and is Leeds’ head of emerging talent for players between the age of 17 and 21 (James turned 21 in November).

‘The video clips shown to Bielsa appealed to him. James was quick, direct and minded to go past full-backs, providing crosses for players arriving in the box as Kemar Roofe and Mateusz Klich like to do.’

If Leeds are ultimately successful in their endeavour to sign James, Bielsa will be desperately hoping that his crosses do indeed find their way to the likes of Klich and Roofe in the final months of the season.

Craig Dean, who left Oxford United for Leeds in October 2017, may well have been a focal figure in identifying Polish teenager Mateusz Bogusz as a player for Bielsa to bring in, but his decision to recommend James is the one which could really make or break Leeds’ season.

While football supporters appreciate that scouts are working behind the scenes to identify players worth signing, it’s intriguing to get this level of specific inside information from Hay on a proposed deal which has been in the media spotlight for the best part of 7-10 days.

Dean has done his part; Bielsa has taken the advice and given the green light; now it’s down to Victor Orta to conclude the deal before the 11PM deadline.

Leeds fans – thoughts? Let us know below!

West Bromwich Albion have only been able to score more than 50 league goals in just two of the nine Premier League campaigns they’ve been involved in since the start of the 2010/11 season.

Looking back down the years, one player the Baggies were linked with but didn’t end up signing that could have been a massive goalscoring threat for the team is Robert Lewandowski.

According to the Express & Star, former West Brom manager Tony Mowbray wanted to bring the then 20-year-old striker to the club in January 2009 when he was at Lech Poznan.

Having ended his time in Poznan with 41 goals in 82 appearances, it’s easy to see why the centre-forward was on West Brom’s radar.

The Polish side apparently wanted a fee of £2.6m for the striker, but Albion reportedly had no money to spend on him.Since then, the Poland international has shown with every season why the Baggies should have exhausted every financial possibility to be able to bring him to the Hawthorns when they had the chance.In the 2010 summer transfer window, the striker joined Borussia Dortmund for a fee of £3.7m where he then went on to score 103 goals and provide 42 assists in 187 appearances.The attacker then joined fellow Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in the summer of 2014 on a free transfer.During his time with the German giants, the 33-year-old has unbelievably found the back of the net 340 times in 369 appearances across all competitions.To highlight what an elite player he has become since moving to Germany, the veteran has won a combined total of 25 team titles and individual awards including nine Bundesliga trophies and one Champions League trophy.Labelled as a “breathtaking” player by Owen Hargreaves, Lewandowski has racked up a phenomenal total of 637 goals and assists throughout his illustrious club career.On the international stage, the former Poznan starlet has scored 75 goals in 129 appearances for Poland, showing just how much of an icon he is for his country.Taking all of this into account, it’s evident that had the Baggies been able to somehow finance a transfer deal for the striker, then they would have had a player in their side that could have been a vital figure for them.In other news: West Brom: Grady Diangana struggled in defeat to Stoke City…

Lots of Wolves fans have been blown away as news emerged involving Carl Ikeme.

As per the club’s official website, the 35-year-old was part of a selection of goalkeepers including Jose Sa and John Ruddy who helped to run a workshop to teach all of the ‘keepers in Wolves’ different age groups about their trade.

Of course, Ikeme is a legendary figure at Molineux, having had his number one shirt number retired from 2018 following his leukaemia diagnosis, until Sa took it this season, .

On the pitch, he made came through the club’s academy.

Given how his football career ended, and considering his status as a fan favourite at Wolves, many supporters were unsurprisingly left blown away by his renewed involvement with the club.

Wolves fans on Ikeme news

These Wolves fans were left blown away by the news as it was shared on Twitter:

“This is a brilliant picture”

Credit: @LouisGutto2000

“Wow, what a amazing photo”

Credit: @NormWolves1877

“Great to see the big man back at Wolves passing on his wealth of experience!!”

Credit: @WWFC09

“Fantastic”

Credit: @cork1973

“Love this..”

Credit: @heighwaykaren

“What a picture, absolute class”

Credit: @BallyJNR

In other news, find out which news involving these loan players has left many Wolves fans buzzing

As per an update by reliable reporter Dan Kilpatrick of The Evening Standard, an exit update has come out of Tottenham Hotspur involving winger Steven Bergwijn.

The Lowdown: Conte makes ‘evaluations’…

As he recently admitted to the press, Tottenham boss Antonio Conte has been making his squad ‘evaluation’ for this January transfer window as he decides who could stay and leave north London this month.

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The likes of Dele Alli, Matt Doherty and Giovani Lo Celso have already been linked with moves away from the club this winter as Conte makes crunch decisions amid his potential overhaul.

As relayed by reporter Kilpatrick, Conte has ‘already’ made completed a thorough assessment of the Spurs team with decisions now made on who he can and cannot trust.

The Latest: Spurs could now sell Bergwijn…

According to The Evening Standard journalist, Spurs, Conte and managing director Fabio Paratici are now ‘open to offers’ for Bergwijn as well as midfielder Dele Alli.

The duo could be allowed to leave north London this month but Tottenham’s manager has apparently ‘ruled out’ an exit for midfielder Harry Winks.

The Verdict: Big update?

The Netherlands international only recently dazzled in a Man of the Match display during Tottenham’s 2-1 Carabao Cup quarter-final win over bitter rivals West Ham before succumbing to injury, so this news could come as surprising.

Bergwijn’s individual brilliance propelled Conte’s side into the League Cup semis where they take on Chelsea this evening and that wasn’t his only good showing this season.

Under former boss Nuno Espirito Santo, the 24-year-old shined at the start of 2021/2022 with the ex-Lilywhites manager hailing him as ‘fantastic’ and a ‘unique’ player within the squad (via TEAMtalk).

As Conte decides who he can and can’t trust with his evaluations made, we are surprised to see Bergwijn on the ‘for sale’ list.

In other news: ‘Expect an announcement’…Insider hopeful of big Tottenham news in ‘the next few days’, find out more here.

With their 3-2 defeat against West Ham United now behind them, Liverpool’s next Premier League clash sees them take on another tough opponent in Arsenal who are not only one place and two points behind Jurgen Klopp’s side in the league table, but they are also unbeaten in the league since August.

On the chalkboard

With this in mind and the fact that Mikel Arteta’s side have managed to score eight goals in their previous four league games, one player that should be in consideration to be in Klopp’s starting XI on this occasion is centre-back Ibrahima Konate.

Despite only playing in four games for the Merseyside club so far this season after arriving at Anfield during the previous summer transfer window from German club RB Leipzig in a deal worth a reported fee of £35m, Konate has managed to keep a clean sheet in three of those games, including their 5-0 win over Manchester United, keeping Cristiano Ronaldo quiet in the process.

This performance, in particular, not only earned the Frenchman an overall match rating of 7.2/10 from SofaScore but also heavy praise from Reds captain Jordan Henderson who described Konate’s performance against the Manchester club as “outstanding” after Konate made eight clearances, one tackle and won three of the four duels he was involved in.

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Despite this, Konate, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £70k-per-week according to Spotrac, didn’t manage to have a similar sort of impact during their 2-2 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion where the Liverpool Echo said that he was “a little slack on occasion” in terms of his distribution and decision-making.

However, with Joel Matip racking up a fairly disappointing overall match rating of 6.4/10 for his performance against West Ham from SofaScore, this could be a good time for Klopp to give Konate his chance back in the team again and put his shaky display against Brighton behind him.

Looking ahead to the Arsenal match, Konate has definitely shown during his time with the Reds that he has what it takes to step up to the plate in big fixtures such as the match at Old Trafford and dominate opposition attacking players, which he could well do against the Gunners.

In other news: FSG could seal Klopp’s dream transfer with swoop for “undefendable” £27m-rated machine – opinion