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Wolverhampton Wanderers have been handed a boost in their bid to bring Renato Sanches to Molineux in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by French media outlet Foot Sur 7, who relayed the comments of LOSC Lille president Olivier Letang regarding the future of the 24-year-old, who was heavily linked with a move to Wolves this summer.

Speaking about the possibility of selling the Portugal international, Letang said: “I have already discussed with him, if an offer from a big club arrives, Renato will be able to leave. We will see what could happen but, for now, he is with us – and he’s happy.”

A previous report by The Athletic had claimed that Wolves could revisit a move for the former Bayern Munich man in January, on the premise that the central midfielder remains free from injury.

Major coup

While Sanches’ aforementioned injury has limited the amount of game time the 24-year-old has seen so far this season, his form throughout Lille’s title-winning campaign last time out is certainly enough evidence to suggest that his signing would be a major coup for Wolves.

Indeed, over his 23 Ligue 1 appearances last term, the £27m-rated man scored one goal, registered three assists and created five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 0.9 shots and making 0.8 key passes per game.

These returns saw the player Jose Fonte dubbed a “huge” talent earn a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.90, ranking him as the club’s joint 12th-best performer in the top tier of French football.

However, it is not only the impressive performances of Sanches that would indicate the £51k-per-week midfielder would make an excellent addition to Bruno Lage’s squad, but also the 45-year-old manager’s current options in the middle of the park. The quartet of Ruben Neves, Leander Dendoncker, the injured Bruno Jordao and the 35-year-old Joao Moutinho means they require much greater depth and something of a refresh.

As such, with the 24-year-old appearing to be available in January, and Lage seeming in rather desperate need of further additions in the position if he is to have any hope of securing a top 10 finish with Wolves, it would seem highly advisable for the Jeff Shi to reignite his interest in Sanches and close a considerable coup this winter.

In other news: Shi must seal Wolves swoop for “super talented” 12 G/A gem, he’s what Lage is missing

Liverpool have suffered a double selection setback ahead of their third-round Carabao Cup tie against Norwich City after right-backs Neco Williams and Trent Alexander-Arnold were both ruled out of the game.

What’s the word?

The Reds are already without key midfielders Harvey Elliott and Thiago due to injury issues, and now the club’s only two natural right-backs will also the sidelines for the League Cup game at Carrow Road

After Alexander-Arnold was unexpectedly absent for the weekend’s clash with Crystal Palace due to illness, assistant manager Pep Lijnders confirmed he will once again be unavailable for the trip to Carrow Road.

“He wanted to play, but we took the decision to leave him out. He’s still not feeling 100%. He will not be in the squad for tomorrow. But hopefully ready for the weekend,” Lijnders confirmed in Tuesday’s press conference.

He then also revealed that Williams is “progressing well” but not ready for Norwich, meaning the versatile James Milner is expected to deputise in their absence once again.

Jurgen Klopp will be gutted

Although Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has often preferred to rotate his squad in the domestic cup competitions, he will still surely be gutted to be without both of his senior right-backs as he’ll either have to ask Milner to play there again for the second time in less four days – hardly ideal for a 35-year-old – or use a youngster from the U23s set up.

Their hosts this evening are currently pointless in the Premier League, but thrashed second-tier Bournemouth 6-0 in the previous round of the cup, potentially giving them hope of pulling off a shock result.

The Carabao Cup is one of the trophies to have eluded Klopp since he arrived at Anfield back in 2015, and the German tactician will be hoping to keep his teams chances in this competition alive when they take on a struggling Norwich.

However, he’ll have to do that with his third or fourth choice right-back option playing, which is far from ideal.

And, in other news…Signed for £34m, now worth £90m: Edwards struck gold with “exceptional” Liverpool gem 

Lots of Wolves fans have been left bemoaning some injury news on Yerson Mosquera.

As per the official website of the Midlands club, the central defender will now face a lengthy spell out after it was confirmed that he needs surgery on his hamstring.

He made his senior debut last week, but it was unfortunately cut short after just ten minutes because of his injury.

The medical team have given a guideline of around ‘4-5 months’ before Mosquera could fully recover and regain his fitness, while both Pedro Neto and Jonny Otto also face lengthy spells out on the sidelines at the moment.

It is such a shame especially for Mosquera, who would have hoped to hit the ground running following his arrival at Molineux in the summer transfer window.

Wolves fans on Mosquera injury news

These WWFC supporters bemoaned the injury news as it was shared on Twitter, with one Wanderer even going as far as to claim that they are ‘gutted’ for Mosquera:

“5 months, I hate this game”

Credit: @_TightWadBill

“This is a minor setback the will lead to a major comeback, such a shame”

Credit: @TooRiskyIam

“Wow! That’s so unfortunate, wishing @YMosquera15 a speedy recovery”

Credit: @EnergyWolves

“Poor kid, can’t remember him touching the ball last week now he’s out for months again.”

Credit: @bigmat1982

“Absolutely gutted for the lad. He must be devastated. Wishing you all the best in your recovery. Stay strong, you’ll be back”

Credit: @jaffajub

“Cheers, crying now”

Credit: @JoshPilee

In other news, find out transfer news has Wanderers talking here!

Sky Sports’ Michael Bridge believes that it is only Manchester City who have the money to afford Robert Lewandowski.

Sky Sports were told that Lewandowski is happy at Bayern Munich but wants a move to another top European club before he is 35.

Lewandowski, who turns 33 on his next birthday (21 August), has been in fine goalscoring form for Bayern Munich, scoring 297 times in 331 matches. The Poland international is second on the all-time top goal scorers in Bundesliga, with 276 goals.

Last season alone he managed to score an incredible 48 goals in all competitions.

The Sky Sports report also says that Bayern Munich value Lewandowski at more than £100m, with Michael Bridge believing it’s surely only Manchester City who have the money for the striker, telling Football FanCast: “Is it only City? I mean, surely it’s only City and we know how much Pep loved him at Bayern Munich, but no other club has the money to pay.”

City have been linked with a move for Harry Kane throughout the summer and there were also reports of them being interested in Fiorentina striker Dusan Vlahovic, but journalist Fabrizio Romano posted on his Twitter account that the Fiorentina president Commisso had said: “I don’t know what’s gonna happen but I’m planning to keep Vlahovic this summer, I want him to stay. But if we receive a bid of €100m, I’ll think about it.”

Newcastle United’s pursuit of Leicester City midfielder Hamza Choudhury has taken a fresh twist on transfer deadline day.

What’s the story?

Having only clinched the permanent signing of Joe Willock, it’s been no surprise that Steve Bruce’s side have looked to be active on the final day of the summer transfer window.

Writing initially on Twitter on Tuesday morning, The Telegraph’s Luke Edwards said: “#nufc are close to signing Hamza Choudhury on loan, this are more details will be on the @TeleFootball live blog shortly. It’s all kicking off. Will also have another story online later today.”

But then, a short while later, he tweeted: “Someone now appears to be briefing that Choudhury is not signing and business is done in this window. That would mean Bruce has been denied a loan he thought he could have. Whatever you think of him, this is scandalous. Leicester thought this was happening. So did player #nufc”

He added: “And by someone I mean the club… I predict trouble ahead.”

Fans will be fuming

If a move for Choudhury has broken down just a short while after it all seemed that he was set to arrive at St James’ Park, then it would be the latest in a long set of disasters under Mike Ashley.

As Edwards himself says, it’s certainly a “scandalous” situation that is sure to have Bruce and the club’s fans fuming.

What went on behind the scenes for it to collapse remains to be seen at the moment, but it’s clear that a late transfer twist has denied the Magpies a young, English midfielder with plenty of Premier League experience in his time with the Foxes over the past few years.

A loan deal for the season would have bolstered Bruce’s options in the middle of the park, and given a combative presence in the engine room – as per Whoscored, he’s averaged over 1.2 tackles and 1.1 interceptions per game in his career thus far.

The fact that Bruce himself admitted in recent days and weeks that only loan deals would be the most likely for the Magpies in terms of incomings, but now finds himself in a situation where he had one lined up, but has seen it taken away from him, is frustrating to say the least.

Not only will Bruce be gutted, but fans will surely be livid at how things have played out on transfer deadline day regarding Choudhury.

Meanwhile, Lee Ryder has dropped an intriguing transfer claim…

Angus Kinnear has dropped a major update on Marcelo Bielsa’s new contract at Leeds United, and it’s one that will have fans buzzing.

What’s the story?

Speaking on The Square Ball podcast, he said: “I think, bar the contract, we’re in great shape (heading into the 2021/22 season).

“It’ll be signed this week and announced to great excitement. It’s not even been discussed. The discussions are all around preparations, it really is a formality.

“We had a handshake probably six months ago and it really is just the details. Every day he’s talking to Victor (Orta), Andrea (Radrizzani) and myself but it’s all about preparations.”

Fans will be excited

With the Premier League season now inching ever closer to its beginning, the fact there hasn’t been any confirmation just yet about Bielsa putting pen to paper on a new deal at Elland Road might have raised some worry among fans.

The kind of affinity and love Leeds fans have for Bielsa is unquestionable, with the Argentine a firm favourite in Yorkshire for the way he has embraced the city and brought the Whites back to the big time of the Premier League.

Leeds enjoyed a superb first season back in the top-flight last term, finishing in the top ten and picking up some notable scalps along the way, not least a fantastic victory over Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad.

It’s exactly why Kinnear’s latest update that everything is virtually done and dusted, and a formal announcement is being readied, should have fans very much excited.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has dropped an update on Leeds’ chase for Adama Traore…

Bruno Lage’s start to life as Wolves manager hasn’t been an easy one.

The Portuguese coach hasn’t been able to spend too freely in the transfer market and then oversaw a defeat during his first competitive game in the hot seat.

What’s the word?

If Wolves’ 1-0 loss to Leicester on Saturday told us anything, it’s that the Old Gold still desperately need to bring in some new faces in the transfer market.

Fortunately, Fosun are planning on doing exactly that.

According to Sky Sports, the Molineux outfit are keen on signing two defenders based in Italy; Takehiro Tomiyasu at Bologna and Nikola Milenkovic at Fiorentina.

With Tomiyasu preferring a move to Spurs, we want to focus on the latter, a Serbian centre-half who Wolves have reportedly made an enquiry to sign.

Big upgrade

After Wolves had to field Max Kilman and Romain Saiss at centre-back on Saturday afternoon, it’s evident that Lage is in need of some more recruits.

The former was a player tipped to leave under Nuno Santo while Saiss is thought to be an expendable asset in the club’s bid to sell players this summer.

The versatile Moroccan hasn’t been at his best for a while now as he threw in some poor individual displays last season.

Sadly, he wasn’t really at the races in pre-season either, putting in a dismal showing against Celta Vigo where he gave away a penalty.

Signing Milenkovic, therefore, would give them an instant upgrade.

Speaking about the colossal 6 foot 5 defender in the past, journalist Dejan Stankovic compared him to one of the best we’ve ever seen in the Premier League.

“Milenkovic is better than Vidic with the ball at his feet, and he is much calmer on the field,” Stankovic began. “He is the most talented centre-back Serbia have had since Vidic, and they definitely have one thing in common – both are fearless.”

That’s quite the appraisal for a player who’s caught the eye in Serie A. He won three aerial duels per game last term while completing 86% of his passes.

Both statistics were greater than Saiss who succeeded with 81.2% of his passes and won 2.6 aerial duels a match.

He’s proven to be somewhat of a liability over the last 12 months and if Wolves have desires of breaking into the top half of the table again, they will need to find a suitable alternative.

Milenkovic should be that man.

AND in other news, Forget Jimenez: £46k-p/w “magnificent” gem who won 16 duels stole the show for Wolves…

Fulham centre-back Maxime Le Marchand could be set to leave Craven Cottage this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by French publication Le Bien Public (via Get Football French News), who claim that FC Dijon have made an approach to Fulham regarding a deal for the 31-year-old defender.

The report goes on to mention the fact that the former OGC Nice player has one year remaining on his current deal with the west London side, while it has also been claimed that the Cottagers’ former manager, Scott Parker, deemed the Frenchman surplus to requirements at the club last season.

However, in an interview with GVA earlier this year, Le Marchand suggested he could remain with the Championship side in the new season, despite having been exiled last year.

Le Marchand must go

Considering how infrequently Le Marchand has featured for Fulham since Slavisa Jokanovic signed the 31-year-old in 2018, it would indeed appear a wise move for Marco Silva to cash in on the defender while the interest is there.

Indeed, over his three years in west London, the £1.35m-rated man has gone on to make a mere 48 appearances in all competitions for the club.

Last season, the centre-back made just two Premier League appearances for the Cottagers, over which he made an average of 0 interceptions, one tackle and 1.5 interceptions per game.

These returns saw the £24k-per-week defender earn an average SofaScore match rating of 6.75, ranking him as Parker’s 12th-worst player in the top flight of English football.

Indeed, it became clear that Parker was not a fan of the man Tony Khan dubbed a “valuable” asset, as the 40-year-old sent the player out on loan to Royal Antwerp for the second half of the club’s campaign.

And, with Le Marchand picking up a rather hefty weekly wage in comparison to his current standing in Fulham’s centre-back pecking order, it would appear wise for Silva to follow his predecessors lead over the Frenchman, and do everything in his power to move Jokanovic’s dud on ahead of next season.

In other news: Khan must axe Fulham’s “fabulous” £35k-p/w flop, he’s stealing a living

Southampton fans are far from happy with the news that they could swap Michael Obafemi for Adam Armstrong this summer.

The Saints are preparing for the new season as they aim to improve on their 15th place finish in the Premier League last term. So far, the St. Mary’s Stadium outfit have made three new signings in Romain Perraud (southamptonfc.com), Danyl Simeu (chelseafc.com) and Valentino Livramento but, with Danny Ings having turned down a new contract at the club (Sky Sports), they could well do with a new striker.

They have been heavily linked with a move for Blackburn’s Adam Armstrong, and now an update has been provided. As per Alan Nixon, a fee of £12m plus Obafemi would not be far off Blackburn’s valuation of the striker. The Saints fans, though, don’t agree – they want to hold on to the Ireland international.

The news was shared on Twitter by @SaintsExtra, and it attracted plenty of attention from the supporters. Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Obafemi news below.

Let’s see what the fans had to say about the Obafemi news

“Keep waiting and he’ll be available for 15 million towards the end of the window. No point losing Obafemi on the cheap”

Credit: @DanJean09

“No. Armstrong is barely worth £12m without Obafemi. I’d actually prefer to have Obafemi right now considering he’s younger and can still improve”

Credit: @Hyper_SFC

“I don’t think that would be a good deal, especially if Ings left this year too. We’d be back down to just 3 striker again. Obafemi is worth another year to see how he develops”

Credit: @SFCMart

“I really want him but I wouldn’t want to get rid of Obafemi in the process”

Credit: @Conor_SFC

“Lol if they want Obafemi they can make it 6-8 for Armstrong. Ridiculous”

Credit: @SallySu89591098

“Obafemi has looked sharp in preseason, strong and pacey – would hate to see him go now, just as Ralph appears to have the measure of him”

Credit: @Too_Jazzee

In other news, Southampton fans want to sign this Champions League midfielder.

Aston Villa shared details on how supporters can watch the club’s pre-season fixtures on Monday.

However, the update didn’t go down with some Villa fans, who vented their frustration on social media.

Villa take on Walsall, Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Sevilla in the space of two-and-a-half weeks prior to their first game of the new season against Watford on August 14.

A single match pass for any of those games on Villa TV will cost £4.99 to watch, with fans also having the option to subscribe for 12 months of Villa TV for £34.99 or two months free with the pre-season friendlies for £19.99.

The club made no mention of tickets for the games, admitting that Villa TV is the only place where fans can watch live coverage of all five friendlies.

Villa fans react

Villa posted the news on their official Twitter page on Monday evening and here is what these Villa supporters had to say in reply, with one left ‘disappointed’ by the arrangement.

“Watch live coverage of all five pre-season matches, plus 12 months access to Premium content on VillaTV (normally £19.99) – £34.99… huh?”Credit: @villanmike73″I love Villa and everything they are doing. But £5 a match for pre season games is a bit of a joke, can’t lie. I’d understand if it was Premier League games not on the TV but pre season and the fact they used to stream it for free”Credit: @VillaVisionBen”Slightly disappointed that as a club we need to charge people to watch a pre-season friendly online.”Credit: @JohnHadley1984″no mention of being able to watch Sevilla live, joke.”Credit: @joegodwin_”35 smackers to hear Jack Woodward commentating over a dodgy and unrefined feed of Walsall players. Nice”Credit: @DOUGLASLUlZ”Amazing how quickly everything gets a price slapped on it in football! It’s not like we give you our money in ticket sales (£500+), replica kits (£150+) & training wear (£100+) every single year, you now have to charge us for the 1 free thing we used to get from the club”Credit: @KingEightyOne

In other news: Many AVFC fans react to Julian Alvarez latest, find out more here.