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Leeds United continued their poor start to the Premier League season as they lost 1-0 to Southampton at St. Mary’s, leaving them 17th in the table.

One team enduring a worse campaign, however, is newly-promoted Norwich. The Canaries are rooted to the bottom of the league and held Brighton to a 0-0 draw on Saturday.

Interestingly, though, a Leeds transfer target was involved in a slight controversy, as Todd Cantwell was omitted from the matchday squad despite being available for selection after time out due to personal reasons.

Norwich manager Daniel Farke insisted that his lack of involvement was purely down to Kieran Dowell’s form in training, although the ex-Everton man was then an unused substitute. He said:

“It was not a decision against Todd. It was more about Kieran, who was always available during this period. He trains unbelievably hard and in an outstanding way.

“Todd missed many weeks and was only back in team training at the start of the week. For each and every player who comes back after missing a period of training they have to show consistency in how they train to be picked ahead of a different player.”

With Cantwell’s contract expiring at the end of the season, this potential friction at Carrow Road could allow Leeds to swoop in and secure a deal in the January transfer window. Norwich have the option to extend his terms for another year, which means that it is unlikely Leeds will be able to sign him for nothing, but the next window could represent their best chance to rake in a large fee for the attacker.

If the Canaries wait until next summer to cash in then he will only have 12 months left on his contract and could be forced to sell for a minimal fee. Therefore, Leeds could tempt them into selling him in January for a deal that would suit all parties involved, with the Whites not overpaying for his services and Norwich not losing him for next to nothing.

His former Norwich youth team coach, Gary Cockaday, hailed his talents in an eye-catching way. He told The Athletic: 

“He did things every week that were just special. It was God-given. No one taught it. I always believed if you had someone like that, don’t change them or make them conform.”

Orta must ensure that he can get a deal over the line for the midfielder as he could forge an exciting partnership with current first-team star Raphinha.

The Brazilian loves to get fans off their seats at Elland Road, with nine goals and nine assists in the top-flight since the start of last season. Cantwell was directly involved in 12 goals in the Championship last term and managed six strikes and two assists in the Premier League the year before.

This shows that, like Raphinha, the Englishman has the ability to score and create goals from an attacking midfield position. Therefore, they could form a deadly attack for Leeds by linking up together to open up chances for themselves to score, weaving inside and out of opposition defenders.

Imagine Cantwell and Raphinha playing one-twos on the edge of the box to work room for a shot or to feed the ball to Patrick Bamford for him to score…tantalising!

AND in other news, Concerning injury update emerges on £35k-p/w Leeds powerhouse, fans surely devastated…

Tottenham Hotspur may have just edged closer to the signing of West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper and soon-to-be free agent Sam Johnstone, according to a Football Insider ‘source’.

The Lowdown: Spurs in pole position…

The Lilywhites, as per reliable reports, are the current favourites to snap up Johnstone on a Bosman transfer when his current deal expires at the end of 2021/2022.

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The Times and reliable football.london correspondent Alasdair Gold both suggest that Tottenham are in pole position for the 29-year-old who has also attracted interest from the likes of West Ham and Southampton in past months.

Antonio Conte is reportedly chasing the possible signing of a reserve goalkeeper who can provide sufficient back-up to number one Hugo Lloris, with Johnstone a real target (The Telegraph).

Now, as per FI, a major update has come to light this week.

The Latest: Johnstone wants to join…

According to a ‘source’, speaking to the outlet, Johnstone has now told friends he wants to join Tottenham – informing his inner circle that he desires a north London move.

This is despite the fact he would initially be an understudy to Lloris, a fact he’s comfortable with, mainly due to the belief he could eventually succeed Tottenham’s long-standing number one.

FI go on to add that Johnstone’s availability appeals to both Conte and Paratici.

The Verdict: Conte edges closer…

It appears, going by this latest update, Tottenham’s head coach has just edged closer to sealing one of his summer transfer demands.

Able to negotiate freely with clubs upon the expiry of his West Brom contract, the player’s green-light is seemingly the only obstacle to move past to seal a move.

As the 29-year-old becomes keen to join Conte and Spurs, it appears the Lilywhites have been given an almighty boost in pursuit of a player who pundit Paddy Kenny described as a would-be ‘top signing’ for them.

In other news: ‘That’s for sure’ – Sky Sports reporter backs big  transfer news out of Tottenham, find out more here.

It’s safe to say that Leeds United are in a bit of a crisis period at the moment with the number of injured players they have and the fact that the team have lost their three previous league games, conceding 14 goals in the process.

With the January transfer window opening in a matter of days, this could give Leeds a good opportunity to do some business and add some players to their squad that could either fill in for some of their injured players or strengthen the team in general.

In terms of which players Leeds could target to sign next month, the Yorkshire club could look to reignite their interest in one figure that they were chasing during the previous summer transfer window – Huddersfield Town midfielder Lewis O’Brien.

Taking into account how Leeds have Kalvin Phillips and Jamie Shackleton out injured, this has left them somewhat light in midfield and could therefore push the club to do what they couldn’t in the summer and bring O’Brien to Elland Road.

After reportedly making two bids for the 23-year-old in the summer which were ultimately rejected by Huddersfield, O’Brien put pen to paper on a new deal, keeping him at the club until 2025, which could make it harder for Leeds to sign him in January or at least mean they would have to offer a lot more money than they offered in the summer.

Labelled as a “powerful” player with a “great engine” in him by former Huddersfield defender Calum Woods, who played with O’Brien at Bradford City, he could be a magnificent capture.

He has played the full 90 minutes in 20 of the 21 Championship games he’s played in and donned the captain’s armband on four occasions, showing just how much of an engine he has that Woods spoke about and how important he is to the team.

In those league appearances, O’Brien has managed to rack up an average of 2.9 tackles per game in the league, higher than any other Huddersfield player, which is also higher than any Leeds player has managed to get this season, including Phillips, demonstrating how useful he could be for Bielsa’s side to help them stop conceding so many goals.

Looking ahead to January, Leeds should definitely explore the possibility of signing O’Brien again to see if Huddersfield would budge on potentially letting him go to see if he can fix their current issues and help them get out of a potential relegation battle.

In other news: Leeds United rocked by yet another injury issue that’ll surely have fans fuming – opinion

A major update has emerged on Rangers’ chances of bringing a key transfer target to Ibrox this month…

What’s the talk?

According to Danish outlet BT, via Inside Futbol, Belgian side Club Brugge are set to land Gers target Andreas Skov Olsen from Bologna, although it remains to be seen whether they are prepared to sign him permanently or just on loan until the end of the season.

This comes after a report claimed that Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side had made an offer to sign him on a permanent basis, with the Scottish champions now poised to miss out on his services.

Van Bronckhorst will be gutted

Van Bronckhorst will surely be gutted by this news, as it suggests that he will not be seeing Olsen in action for the club this season, with Ross Wilson headed for a blunder by missing out on a deal for the Danish attacker.

The youngster is a promising talent with a wealth of experience already under his belt and could have been an excellent addition to Van Bronckhorst’s squad. He has shown sparks of life in Serie A with Bologna but has failed to truly explode in the Italian top flight, with two goals and four assists in 18 league starts since the beginning of last season.

Olsen has also scored five goals and provided three assists in 10 World Cup qualifying matches for Denmark at senior level. This shows that he has the quality to regularly deliver goals and assists on the international stage.

Van Bronckhorst will be gutted that it seems as though he will not be able to enjoy coaching the 22-year-old in the Premiership this season, particularly given the issues they have had in the Dane’s favoured position on the right flank.

Ianis Hagi and Scott Wright have played out wide for Rangers this season and have just three league goals and no assists between them. This suggests that there is scope for the Gers to improve their options in that area of the pitch, and Olsen could have done exactly that.

Therefore, Van Bronckhorst will be frustrated that they are set to miss out on Olsen, and it represents a blunder from Wilson. However, there is still time to go in the transfer window, so the Ibrox supremo has an opportunity to target a different player to come in and improve the side.

AND in other news, “Rangers keen”: Jordan Campbell drops exciting transfer claim that’ll delight GVB…

As an update emerges from Spain, it appears that Tottenham manager Antonio Conte may have  been dealt a blow over wing-back Sergio Reguilon.

The Lowdown: Galacticos buy-back clause…

Tottenham signed the Spanish defender in September 2020 from Real Madrid in what was seen as a real coup by chairman Daniel Levy and former transfer chief Steve Hitchen at the time.

However, the Galacticos and their president Florentino Perez insisted that a €40m (£33m) buyback clause be inserted into the deal in case they wish to re-sign their former player. Sporadic reports have since claimed that it remains an option for Real Madrid, and one that they may well consider before the re-purchase option expires in June.

In an update, news outlet ABC bring the latest development out of Spain.

The Latest: Reguilon the ‘safest bet’…

According to their information, Real Madrid are yet again pondering the buyback clause for Reguilon in the summer as the clock ticks towards its expiry.

It is believed that Los Blancos’ manager Carlo Ancelotti wants a new left-back, and the Spurs defender is the ‘safest bet’ for Real Madrid as they now earmark both him and RB Leipzig’s Angelino as possible targets.

The Verdict: Blow for Conte…

The wing-back has enjoyed a decent amount of playing time under Conte when fully available, with some critics suggesting that Reguilon was the ‘biggest winner’ during the Italian’s first month at Tottenham (90min).

Seemingly tailor-made for Conte’s three-man defence formations, the naturally attacking full-back has been tipped to become a big player for Spurs after the 52-year-old’s arrival. Speaking to Football Insider at the end of last year, Noel Whelan raved over Reguilon, calling him a ‘quality player’ whilst tipping him to become ‘absolutely pivotal’ as a left wing-back.

Still only 25, the former Sevilla defender was voted La Liga’s best left-back in 2019/20 after an impressive loan spell at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium.

As Real Madrid consider activating the buyback clause, it’s safe to say that losing Reguilon would come as a blow for Spurs and Conte.

In other news: Major boost for Conte as Sky Sports share great news for Spurs fans out of N17, find out more here.

Following last summer where they failed to sign anyone, Tottenham once again saw no new arrivals in the transfer window last month.

The north London club, however, did seem to be interested in signing a new striker with Harry Kane out injured if latest rumours are to be believed.

The Breakdown

According to TEAMtalk, Tottenham made an approach for Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic which, unsurprisingly, was rebuffed with the west London outfit uninterested in doing business, especially at the £27m fee reported.

And with the 24-year-old leading the club’s survival push, it is not hard to understand why. In 26 Premier League games, he has managed to find the back of the net on 10 occasions while his all-round centre-forward play has been top-notch, making Tottenham’s interest make some sense.

That being said, Mitrovic does not come without baggage with the Serbia international’s discipline having often come into question in the past, while a reported bust-up with former team-mate Aboubakar Kamara (Sky Sports) can be seen as another red flag.

Considering that, bringing in the Fulham man may not have been worth it in the end. Fernando Llorente has also sparked into life in recent weeks, giving Mauricio Pochettino a solid alternative to the injured Kane.

Mitrovic is certainly a good No.9 who could have added something to this Tottenham side but, given some of his history, plenty of supporters are likely to be delighted with his failed transfer and might actually see it as a bullet dodged.

Newcastle are in talks with the representatives of Bayern Munich defender Niklas Sule ahead of the transfer window, Liam Kennedy has reported. 

The lowdown

The 26-year-old’s contract is up at the end of the season, with negotiations over the course of the year failing to yield a breakthrough as yet.

He has been at Bayern since 2018, when he joined from Hoffenheim in an £18m deal. The German has gone on to make 150 appearances for the Bavarian giants and win 37 caps for his country (via Transfermarkt).

He has racked up 13 major honours during his time at the Allianz Arena, including a Champions League triumph in 2020.

Sule is both imposing (at 6 foot 5) and quick, clocking a top speed of 21.6 miles per hour in the 2017/18 season. Only Kingsley Coman could match that in the Bayern squad (via Bundesliga).

The latest

According to Kennedy via Twitter, Sule is ‘very much on NUFC’s radar’ as they look to strengthen the heart of their defence in January.

Encouragingly, it’s thought that the player would be willing to trade Champions League football for a Premier League relegation battle. However, Newcastle face competition for the 26-year-old’s signature, with reigning Champions League winners Chelsea also in the frame.

The verdict

Newcastle have the second-worstt defensive record in the Premier League, with only bottom club Norwich City (26) conceding more goals than their 24 up to this point. Therefore, it’s no surprise to see that the Magpies are intent on strengthening the centre-back position at the first opportunity.

Signing a player of Sule’s calibre wouldn’t necessarily fix everything straight away, but he could certainly elevate the whole defensive unit, especially in terms of ball distribution – his 88.7% passing accuracy rate in the Bundesliga is better than every Newcastle defender this season and second only to rarely-seen midfielder Jeff Hendrick.

Beating Chelsea to a signing from Bayern Munich would also be quite a statement from the Magpies at the beginning of an exciting new era.

In other news, Newcastle are also battling for this Serie A maestro  

Juventus midfielder Aaron Ramsey is set to leave Italian giants Juventus this month with West Ham United amongst an array of clubs interested in securing the Welshman’s signature.

What’s the latest?

Juventus manager Max Allegri has confirmed that Ramsey is on his way out of Turin, stating: “Aaron’s not with the team as he’s set to leave the club.”

The 31-year-old has been neglected entirely this campaign, playing just 112 minutes of football for the Old Lady so far this season.

In fact, the midfielder’s move to Serie A after 11 years at Arsenal hasn’t materialised the way in which both parties would’ve hoped, with Ramsey making 70 appearances for Juventus across two-and-a-half seasons, scoring and assisting six goals.

Eurosport initially reported last month that West Ham were interested in signing the former Gunner with the Turin club looking to offload their fringe players with Newcastle, Arsenal and Everton the other named suitors interested in bringing the 31-year-old back to the Premier League.

West Ham must swoop for Ramsey

With ambitions of finishing in the top-four, David Moyes’ side will need reinforcements this month to give themselves a realistic shot at qualifying for the Champions League.

The Hammers are sat in fifth and are only one point off of fourth-placed Manchester United, however, the Red Devils have a game in hand whilst sixth-placed Arsenal have two and seventh-placed Tottenham have four.

A mixed run over the festive period has seen the east London outfit slip, meaning that Champions League qualification is currently out of their hands and will require an impressive run of form during the second half of the Premier League season.

Ramsey has a plethora of Champions League experience, having played in Europe’s elite competition on 78 occasions for both Arsenal and Juventus.

Moreover, during the 11 seasons he was at Arsenal, the Gunners finished in the top-four eight times with the final three seasons seeing the north London club fall short.

The Welshman also has bags of experience at international level, with Wales midfielder Joe Allen describing the 71-cap 31-year-old as “world-class.”

West Ham could also do with another offensive outlet from their midfield with regulars Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek defensive-minded midfielders whereas Ramsey would add creativity to the Irons’ setup.

Valued at £4.5m by Transfermarkt, the 31-year-old could well be available for a bargain fee and is certainly worth a gamble by the Hammers’ new head of recruitment Rob Newman.

Meanwhile, West Ham could upgrade on Michail Antonio with this striker…

TalkSPORT pundit Danny Mills has given his reaction to the injury news involving Liverpool midfielder Fabinho. 

The lowdown: Fitness scare

Reds boss Jurgen Klopp confirmed earlier this week that he had a fully fit squad to choose from ahead of the trip to face Premier League title rivals Manchester City at the Etihad.

That’s despite concern over the availability of defensive midfielder Fabinho after the Brazilian was involved in a nasty head collision with ex-City ace Nicolas Otamendi against Benfica.

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However, having returned to complete the game following treatment, it appears that the 28-year-old has avoided further complications and will be available for the crucial clash, not requiring concussion protocols.

The latest: Mills reacts

Speaking to Football Insider, former Manchester City defender Mills was asked for his thoughts after the news of Fabinho’s all-clear, predicting the ex-Monaco star will have a big impact on the outcome.

“It’s a really intriguing game.

“Man City will try and do what they always do. They’ve had to patch up their defence a bit but you expect that to be a bit better with Kyle Walker coming back in and Joao Cancelo going to left-back. They are two outstanding full-backs.

“On the other side, you’ve got Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz. Fabinho is critical for them in the holding role.

“It’s going to be toe-to-toe. It could be one of those games that is a thrilling 0-0. It’s going to be a fantastic game of football it’s just about whether the goals come. Even in great games, goalkeepers have worldies, defenders have worldies.

“There might be half-chances and nearly moments because the defenders are equally as good as the forwards.”

The verdict: Key player

Although many may point towards the attacking prowess in the Anfield ranks, or indeed the defensive solidity provided by Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho’s importance at the base of the midfield cannot be underestimated.

Dubbed the ‘lighthouse’ by coaches on Merseyside, the defensive midfielder has produced 1.5 interceptions and 1.9 tackles on average per game in 38 appearances across all competitions this season (WhoScored).

So often among the first names on the team-sheet, having started 21 Premier League outings this term, if Liverpool are going to prevail against the current table-toppers Fabinho’s presence will indeed be crucial to Klopp’s side.

In other news, ‘Huge’ update emerges involving Liverpool star. Find out who it is here.

Crystal Palace are trying to sign Peterborough United defender Ronnie Edwards, according to The Daily Mail’s Joe Bernstein. 

The lowdown

Edwards is a 19-year-old centre-back who’s enjoyed a breakthrough season with Peterborough.

Having only made five appearances in 2020/21, he’s now a regular at London Road, with 10 starts in the last 11 league matches.

The Englishman still has more than three years to run on his contract with The Posh and is reportedly valued at £15million.

That would make him Peterborough’s record departure, ahead of the likes of Britt Assombalonga (£6.2million), Ivan Toney (£5million) and Dwight Gayle (£4.8million).

Marc Guehi and Joachim Andersen have established themselves as the first-choice centre-back pairing at the club this season following their summer arrivals, playing 36 and 32 games respectively.

The latest

Vieira sees the prospective signing of Edwards as part of the next stage of the rebuild at Selhurst Park.

They envision him as a ‘big part of their future’, along with 21-year-old Guehi and 25-year-old Andersen.

Palace are to set to battle his fellow admirers Tottenham Hotspur, but their hope is that Vieira’s ‘record in giving young players a chance’ appeals to Edwards.

The verdict

Palace remain one of the older sides in the Premier League when it comes to average age. At an average age of 26.9, they rank 15th in the Premier League, some way short of Arsenal’s benchmark (24.3).

However, this is a marked improvement from last season, when they sat at the bottom of this particular table under Roy Hodgson on 28.8.

Vieira, then, looked to reenergise his team with young talent, and if this report is anything to go by, he’ll be continuing those efforts this summer.

Edwards would be another exciting addition. Peterborough chairman Barry Fry has dubbed him a ‘Rolls Royce’ and is certain he’ll enjoy an ‘outstanding’ career, while Sir Alex Ferguson has apparently urged Manchester United to sign him.

In other news, Palace have also been linked with this Brentford star.