All posts by h716a5.icu

Flocking to Twitter, these West Ham United fans have reacted to a major update on manager David Moyes’ transfer plans ahead of January involving Burnley star James Tarkowski.

Since defender Angelo Ogbonna suffered an ACL injury in West Ham’s 3-2 home victory over Liverpool before the last international break, Moyes has been tipped to target a new signing as cover in the winter window (The Evening Standard).

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/west-ham-developments-2/” title=”West Ham developments” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Of the players linked, which include Hertha Berlin mainstay Niklas Stark and Liverpool centre-back Nathaniel Phillips, Clarets favourite Tarkowski is a name repeatedly mentioned.

The 29-year-old is out of contract at the end of this season, with his current deal set to expire in 2022, and it is reliably believed that is he far from likely to sign an extension at Turf Moor (The Athletic).

As such, Burnley may feasibly have to let him go in January or risk losing him for free in the summer – with The Sun now coming out with a claim on what West Ham and Moyes have planned.

According to their sources, ‘West Ham boss David Moyes will make a final bid’ to sign Tarkowski this upcoming window with the club set for a transfer swoop.

It is believed they will lodge an offer of around £6m-£7m with the Hammers boss personally keen on a move.

West Ham fans react…

Reacting to this transfer claim, it’s safe to say these supporters hold mixed feelings.

There are those who believe he would be an ‘absolute steal’ at that price and ‘great addition’, hard to argue given he has averaged even more clearances per 90 (5.2) than any West Ham defender in the Premier League this season according to WhoScored.

Tarkowski has also been hailed as a ‘top player’ by Turf Moor boss Sean Dyche, highlighting his obvious quality.

However, others have mixed opinions on how willing Burnley would be to sell their prized asset amid a relegation battle whilst others question the validity of the claim.

One fan even worries for the West Ham youngsters coming through if Moyes decides to sign another ‘marquee’ defender like Tarkowski.

Find all of their best verdicts down below:

“He didn’t want to up root his family to come to us! What’s changed? Success!!!”

Credit: @Claret_Cook

“Like Burnley will sell one of their most important players in their bid to stay up.”

Credit: @Alex_COYI

“£7 million would be an absolute steal”

Credit: @stephenlott

“He’d be a great addition. But I do worry about opportunities for some of the really promising young CBs like Alese & Baptiste if we sign another marquee defender. Only reason for this can be that Ogbonna isn’t getting a new contract?”

Credit: @jackbuck123

“Tarkowski would be a good buy under Moyes”

Credit: @GkWhu

“Here we go again anything with 2 legs and a heartbeat and we are linked to them…”

Credit: @dazza7370

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Siuuuu’, ‘Tears’…Many West Ham fans erupt as ‘massive’ off-field news emerges, find out more here.

Graeme Smith, the South African captain, and Morne Morkel, one half of his hostile new-ball pair, have climbed to career-best rankings after South Africa’s resounding victory in the fourth Test at the Wanderers.

Cricinfo staff18-Jan-2010Graeme Smith, the South African captain, and Morne Morkel, one half of his hostile new-ball pair, have climbed to career-best rankings after South Africa’s resounding victory in the fourth Test at the Wanderers. Smith crunched a vital 105 in that Test, and Morkel finished with match figures of 7 for 98 as England fell to an innings defeat and South Africa drew level in the Test series.Smith moved up two places to second in the Test batting rankings, but Morkel’s ascent was far more dramatic. He started the series ranked 31st and has jumped 24 places to seventh after picking up 19 wickets at 21.47 in four Tests. Dale Steyn, Morkel’s opening partner with whom he shared the man-of-the-match award in the final Test, took 15 wickets at 23.80 despite missing the first Test at Centurion and playing in Durban while not yet fully fit.Steyn’s good showing in the series means that he consolidates his position at the top of the bowling rankings, extending his lead to 72 points ahead of Mitchell Johnson in second place. AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Mark Boucher also moved up the rankings, to 13th, 23rd, and 36th places, respectively, while Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince both dropped two spaces, to eighth and 29th positions.It’s a different story for England, however, as Paul Collingwood is the only batsman to move up the rankings after notching up 344 runs at 57.33 despite not scoring a hundred in the four Tests. Stuart Broad’s 13 wickets mean that he climbed up into the top 10, but James Anderson, who lacked penetration after struggling with a chronic injury to his right knee, slipped seven places to 14th.Far more worrying for England is the news that they are now without a batsman in the top 20 after both Andrew Strauss and Kevin Pietersen put in disappointing performances at the Wanderers. Strauss, who started the series ranked 14th, slipped seven places to 21st, while Pietersen’s series aggregate of 177 runs at 25.28 means that he now finds himself 27th in the rankings.As well as the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, South Africa also retained their second position in the ICC Test rankings after winning the fourth Test. In a tightly-spaced top three, South Africa are four points behind India and two ahead of Australia, while England are ranked fifth with 107 points.

The same attack that had looked largely innocuous for the first two sessions suddenly found its bite post-tea, and India’s coach credited the bowlers for the remarkable turnaround

S Aga14-Feb-2010Just what is it with the Eden Gardens and dramatic collapses? Nearly a decade ago, in the match that few in this part of the world will ever forget, Australia were in complete command at tea on the opening day. Matthew Hayden had biffed his way to 97 in typically muscular fashion and the scoreboard showed 193 for 1. Four balls after the interval, he went to hit Harbhajan Singh against the turn and found Hemang Badani at deep midwicket. Six more wickets fell in the final session, with Harbhajan taking a hat-trick, as Australia closed on 291 for 8.On the final day of the same game, Waugh’s side plummeted from a relatively secure 161 for 3 at tea to 212 all out. That collapse changed the course of an enthralling series, but what we witnessed in 25 overs after tea today was an even more drastic reversal of fortune.Alviro Petersen’s debut innings had ended shortly before tea, but there’d have been few alarms in the dressing room with the score a rudely healthy 228 for 2. But two indiscreet shots, from the two men who were the foundation of the victory in Nagpur, and everything changed. Hashim Amla misjudged a pull off Zaheer Khan, and Jacques Kallis top-edged a slog-sweep off Harbhajan that VVS Laxman took brilliantly over his shoulder while running towards fine leg.”When you looked at it at tea, we were in trouble,” said Gary Kirsten, India’s coach. “Let’s be honest about that. All credit to the bowlers for turning it around. They showed tremendous resilience. They have bowled pretty well this series without the rewards. When you’re picking four bowlers every Test, it’s an enormous workload on them. We’ve got to give them credit for the way they run in Test after Test. This is our fourth on the trot.”Perhaps the key passage of play had come just before the tea break, when Ishant Sharma gave a glimpse of what he can do when the rhythm is right. He went wicketless in a four-over spell that cost 12 runs, but Amla, who had eased to a hundred with few alarms, suddenly appeared troubled. Zaheer, who replaced Ishant, continued the good work, putting together an outstanding spell either side of the interval – 6-3-11-2.”We’ve felt that he’s just on the edge of doing some good stuff again,” said Kirsten of Ishant’s spell. “We know that he’s an exceptionally talented bowler and he’s just coming back to some really nice form. He bowled a nice aggressive spell. He wanted to get his pace up closer to the 140s where he wants to be. He was letting the ball go beautifully today. It was a very important spell because more than getting wickets, it set the tone for what we wanted to achieve after tea.”Suddenly, the same attack that had looked largely innocuous for the first two sessions found its bite. More importantly, chances were grabbed, and the stumps hit to catch the dangerous AB de Villiers out of his ground. “If you’re not getting wickets because the ball’s doing a bit, you’ve got to build pressure,” said Kirsten. “And there’s no better way of building pressure than getting a few wickets.”It happened to us in the first Test. We were going nicely with the bat, we lost a wicket and pressure was created. We did that in this game. We mustn’t always be looking for assistance to get wickets. When you can create pressure by doing some creative things on the field, which I thought we did today, batsmen play very differently.”Harbhajan Singh’s pitch map from Hawk-Eye•Hawk-Eye InnovationsFor two sessions, with both spinners seemingly incapable of bowling a maiden, the decision to go in with two slow bowlers and leave Sreesanth out had looked decidedly dubious. Amit Mishra was unlucky with a couple of leg-before shouts, and Harbhajan far from amused after Laxman dropped a straightforward chance at slip when Amla had made just 60. But there were too many four balls, and too little pressure, especially with a debutant at the crease.”We’d always like to have a third seamer, and two spinners,” said Kirsten, explaining the omission of Sreesanth. “But the balance of our team doesn’t work that way. We either have to opt for three seamers and one spinner or two and two. We felt that an extra spinner on this wicket is going to be important.”And after the criticism that Harbhajan Singh has received in recent times, Kirsten was understandably delighted with his efforts after tea, with both Ashwell Prince and JP Duminy quickly joining Kallis in the pavilion in a passage of play that utterly changed the complexion of the game. “I thought Harbhajan bowled really well in the last game, and I thought the South Africans played him very well,” he said. “Even though he was in good rhythm, he needed to come up with ways to get wickets. I’ve been very confident that his rhythm has got better and better as the series has gone along. When the confidence is going and the rhythm’s good, he’s going to get wickets.”The [Dale] Steyn menace looms large on day two, but Kirsten was quietly confident that there was nothing in the conditions to worry his batsmen. “We didn’t feel it took too much turn,” he said. “We didn’t feel that it offered that much assistance to the seamers. There’s a long way to go in the Test, but it looks a fairly good wicket at the moment. There was a lot less grass on the wicket today than there was yesterday, otherwise we would have gone for three seamers.”There was little encouragement in the Nagpur pitch either, but Steyn still ended up with a 10-wicket haul. It’s advantage India for the moment, but on a pitch where there’s been enough bounce for those willing to hit the deck hard, it would be foolhardy in the extreme to discount South Africa. Back in 2001, India were dismissed for 171 after Waugh had stretched Australia’s innings to 445 all out. If Monday sees that kind of drama, the roof might just come off a stadium that’s already half rubble.

Glasgow Rangers have been dealt a huge injury setback ahead of their upcoming Europa League fixture.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Goal, Rangers manager Giovanni van Bronckhorst revealed that, despite the centre-back having returned to first-team training this week, Leon Balogun will be unavailable for selection against Olympique Lyonnais on Thursday evening.

The 33-year-old has still not fully recovered from an injury picked up the club’s League Cup semi-final defeat to Hibernian back in November.

Speaking about the current state of his squad, the 46-year-old said: “Regarding the team news, I think Leon Balogun cannot travel [to face Lyon]. We still have a training session left and so far we have everyone on board. We just have to wait until after the training before I can announce my squad.”

Van Bronckhorst will be gutted

While it is true that Thursday evening’s fixture is not overly important in the grand scheme of things – as Rangers have already secured their place in the knockout stages of the Europa League – the fact that Balogun has not recovered in time for the fixture will nevertheless have left Van Bronckhorst gutted.

Indeed, with a much more important game against third-placed Hearts coming up for Gers this weekend, Thursday’s trip to Lyon would have been an ideal game to reintroduce the centre-back to first-team football, allowing him the freedom to get back up to speed without having to worry too much about the result.

And, considering just how impressive the £720k-rated man has been over his 11 Premiership appearances so far this season – making an average of 1.4 interceptions, 1.8 tackles and winning 7.7 duels per game, seeing him earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.05 – once again being without the services of the defender on Sunday would undoubtedly come as a huge blow to Gers’ chances of picking up all three points at Tynecastle.

However, considering the centre-back will have now missed the club’s last five fixtures in all competitions due to his injury, the risk of starting the 33-year-old against Hearts without having played a minute of football in nearly three weeks would appear to be a rather big one.

In other news: GVB must ruthlessly axe “incredible” 25 y/o Rangers ace who can “create danger” v Lyon

Tottenham Hotspur have been linked with a surprise move for Andreas Christensen this week…

What’s the word?

According to the Daily Star, the north Londoners have joined Manchester City and Manchester United in the race to secure the 25-year-old on a free transfer in the summer.

The 54-cap Denmark international is yet to sign a new deal at Stamford Bridge, meaning he is currently expected to become a free-agent at the end of the current campaign.

As a result, several Premier League teams have been put on high alert, including Spurs, where manager Antonio Conte is seeking defensive reinforcements.

Christensen is currently valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt.

Bargain raid

The defender dubbed the ‘Danish [Paolo] Maldini’ would be quite the coup for the Lilywhites, particularly snatching him from their rival’s grasp.

Of course, he is also a player that Conte knows well having managed him during his time at Stamford Bridge. Christensen played 40 times under the Italian, who also once backed him to become a leader for the club.

“Christensen is having a fantastic season and showing great maturity. For me, apart from the mistake, his performance was great, was wonderful,” he said (via the Evening Standard).

“I have a lot of trust in Christensen. This player is a player for the present for Chelsea, and for Chelsea’s future for 10 or 12 years. He can also become the captain of this team in the future.”

Indeed, the Danish star has emerged as a solid option for Spurs’ arch-rivals in recent times, starting ten of his 11 appearances in the Premier League this term, which comes off the back of 27 appearances last season, including 51 minutes in their Champions League triumph against City.

Christensen played the entire match during the clash between the two sides back in September, where he proved to be a massive nightmare for a front two of Heung-min Son and Harry Kane.

Nuno Santo’s side were thrashed 3-0 with is strike duo managing only two shots on target between them all game. SofaScore also grade the pair at 6.5 or lower – the two lowest of any starter. Son lost 75% of his duels and Kane was dominated in the air, winning just two of six aerial duels.

The Chelsea defender won 80% of his duels, earned a 7.5 rating and registered three interceptions (second-most in the game).

In the past, he has been dubbed a “really special talent” and “colossal” by TalkChelsea’s Simon Phillips, so that only goes to show how important he has been for the west Londoners and Denmark in recent times.

On the above evidence, sporting director Fabio Paratici could land Spurs an absolute bargain and quite the coup, should he win the race to seal Christensen’s signature.

Whether they truly stand a chance remains to be seen.

AND in other news, Paratici must brutally axe “terrible” £19.8m-rated Spurs flop, he’s cost £8m per goal…

Promising wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal is the only uncapped player in Sri Lanka’s 15-member squad for the ICC World Twenty20 tournament

Cricinfo staff31-Mar-2010Promising wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal is the only uncapped player in Sri Lanka’s 15-member squad for the ICC World Twenty20. Kumar Sangakkara will lead their campaign in the West Indies, and Muttiah Muralitharan will be his deputy.Chandimal, 20, has risen in prominence in recent times and has a batting average of 31.62 in 17 domestic Twenty20 matches. He scored a century for Ruhuna last week, against Basnahira North in the SLC inter-provincial tournament.Allrounder Thissara Perera, who has played six ODIs, has also been included in the squad. Dilhara Fernando, Kaushalya Weeraratne and Muthumudalige Pushpakumara were axed from the side that contested the two-match Twenty20 series against India in December.Sri Lanka play New Zealand in the tournament’s opening match on April 30, and Zimbabwe on May 3.Squad: Kumar Sangakkara (capt), Muttiah Muralitharan (vice-capt), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Thissara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Suraj Randiv, Ajantha Mendis, Lasith Malinga, Chanaka Welagedara, Chamara Kapugedara, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chinthaka Jayasinghe.

Celtic trio Kyogo Furuhashi, James Forrest and Mikey Johnston face a race against time to prove their fitness for today’s League Cup final against Hibernian at Hampden Park.

The trio all missed the Hoops’ 2-1 victory over Ross County on Wednesday night and have a deadline to recover from their respective setbacks in order to be available for the final.

However, the latter was reportedly in training on Friday, according to the Daily Record, and should therefore be in contention to play. However, Ange Postecoglu will be sweating over whether or not he’ll have two key players in Furuhashi and Forrest available.

Speaking about his injured players on Friday, the Celtic boss teasingly explained: “I’m not ruling anyone out, but I’m not ruling anyone in at the moment.

“From my perspective, if anyone is going to be available, they will have to train tomorrow [Saturday]. So the medical team will give me a briefing in the morning and we’ll go from there.

“The players are working hard to try to be available but, ultimately, it will come down to a decision of whether they are fit enough to contribute or not.”

While Postecoglou’s update is still laced with caution, his statement that he will not rule any of the trio out of featuring today could well have Celtic fans buzzing.

Forrest has already faced a spell on the sidelines this term, missing two months of action at the start of the campaign with a knee injury, whilst Furuhashi has missed the last two league games having picked up a hamstring injury against Real Betis in the Europa League.

The Japanese forward has been a kingpin in Postecoglou’s side this season and is Celtic’s current top scorer with 14 goals in 24 appearances across all competitions. Therefore, the 56-year-old will be desperate to have his star man available as he eyes his first trophy since taking the reins at Parkhead.

All eyes will be on the manager’s team sheet when it is revealed in or around 2pm. Let’s hope that some, maybe even all, of the injured trio will be part of it.

In other news: Postecoglou must unleash Celtic’s “aggressive” £5k-p/w gem today, he could bully Hibernian

MCC will sponsor an international contest for the first time with the Twenty20 and Test series between Australia and Pakistan being played under their Spirit of Cricket branding

Cricinfo staff12-Apr-2010MCC will sponsor an international contest for the first time with the Twenty20 and Test series between Australia and Pakistan being played under their Spirit of Cricket branding.The neutral series is being staged in England to aid Pakistan who can’t play matches at home due to the security situation with Twenty20 games at Edgbaston and Tests at Lord’s and Headingley.”MCC is committed to the health of Test cricket, and by sponsoring the series and hosting the first Test, the club is supporting Pakistani cricket at a time when the country’s Test calendar has been decimated,” said Keith Bradshaw, the MCC chief executive. “We often speak about Tests being the pinnacle of the game – and we’re now acting to back up those words.”I believe that the club is breaking new ground in cricket by sponsoring two such exciting sides in both Test and Twenty20 formats with a not-for-profit campaign, aimed at improving awareness of the game’s cherished spirit and spreading that message as far and as wide as possible.””It is a very historic moment for PCB to enter into a unique relationship with MCC as sponsors of the Pakistan-Australia series,” said Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan chairman. The club has come forward to support this series wholeheartedly which speaks of their commitment towards cricket. I am hopeful that this relationship will further strengthen the ties between PCB and MCC.”Zakir Khan, the PCB’s director of cricket operations, said that the ultimate aim was for international cricket to return to Pakistan. “It’s very unfortunate that we haven’t played Test cricket for 14 months,” he said. “The passion is still there and we have a lot of youngsters coming up. We’re sustaining our domestic competitions and have a good four-day structure which is standing us in good stead. It’s unfortunate we’re not playing at home but hopefully the situation will improve and we’ll see Test cricket in Pakistan very soon.”MCC are also adding to their historic honours boards which are currently in the home and away dressing rooms at Lord’s to commemorate hundreds and five-wicket hauls. The club are now going to add a neutral honours board in the away dressing room to include achievements in matches such as the Australia-Pakistan series.In 1912 Charles Kelleway and Warren Bardsley scored centuries for Australia against South Africa in the last neutral Test held at the ground. They will be the first two names on the new neutral batting board.

Shane Warne produced the old magic, and Rajasthan Royals yet again defied the odds to stun Deccan Chargers

The Bulletin by Siddarth Ravindran05-Apr-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Siddharth Trivedi’s last-over heroics sealed a thriller•Indian Premier LeagueShane Warne produced the old magic, and Rajasthan Royals yet again defied the odds to stun Deccan Chargers and maintain their incredible IPL record of always defending a 150-plus total. Even after Warne turned in career-best figures, Deccan were in control going into the final over of the match, with Rohit Sharma still there with a level-headed half-century. But Deccan bungled the simple job of getting six runs in the last six deliveries, losing their heads and three wickets to be bowled out off the penultimate ball.Deccan have been abject with the ball and bat towards the end of the innings all tournament, but were in top form bowling in the final five overs of the first match in Nagpur. They snatched six wickets and gave away only 31 runs to keep Rajasthan to what seemed a gettable target after Shane Watson had bashed his second consecutive half-century to put Warne’s boys seemingly on track for 180.However, this proved to be of no avail as Adam Gilchrist’s team couldn’t correct their miserable record while batting at the death. In the face of a bewitching spell from Warne, Rohit kept Deccan relentlessly on course to a victory, and the match seemed over after the penultimate over from Morne Morkel was belted for 13 runs.Rajasthan medium-pacer Siddharth Trivedi had different ideas though. There was little sign of the drama to come when he was penalised for a bouncer off the second ball to make the equation a simple four runs off five deliveries with three wickets in hand. RP Singh swung-and-missed the next one before miscuing a slower delivery to mid-on, where Morkel ran back to hang on to a smart catch. Harmeet Singh’s run-out followed when Rohit wanted to get back on strike, attempting a non-existent second off an overthrow. The Deccan capitulation was complete on the next ball: Rohit slicing a lofted drive to the man at sweeper cover. Yet again, Rajasthan had come back from the dead, and a brilliant innings from Rohit ended with him flinging his bat to the ground in frustration.The comeback had started with Warne’s assortment of tricks. Coming on when Deccan needed 68 off 54, with only three wickets down, he willed his team on with a vintage display of legspin bowling. It seemed the struggles of this season would continue when he was dispatched for boundaries on dragging a couple of deliveries short, but all that changed when he had the left-handed Anirudh Singh inside-edging a legspinner onto the pad. The next ball was a slider, which took the outside edge and wicketkeeper Naman Ojha latched on to a sharp catch.Warne was at his best after that, with the unusual sight of a spinner bowling with a slip and silly point towards the end of a tight Twenty20. His range of legbreaks took out Dwayne Smith and two tailenders in the next two overs setting the stage for Trivedi’s heroics.Deccan are now staring at elimination, but a controlled innings from the usually explosive Rohit had seemingly brought them firmly back into the semi-final race. His knock was less about the Hollywood hits and more about smart placement illustrated by the ninth over from Aditya Dole: there was a fine glance for four, besides four in-the-gap twos and a couple of legbyes as well.Rohit’s effort came after contrasting performances from Deccan’s two big Australian stars. Gilchrist kickstarted the chase with typical haste, his familiar clean, quick swings of the bat resulting in a hurricane 34, while Andrew Symonds turned in an unconvincing 20-ball 15. No other Deccan batsman made it to double digits.After winning the toss, Rajasthan were disappointed with their batting effort after two Deccan bowlers who have had indifferent tournaments – RP and Harmeet – had good outings, and Ryan Harris also justified his selection ahead of fast bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Kemar Roach.Rajasthan’s troubles started after Watson and Faiz Fazal had shepherded them to 94 by the 11th over. Their brutal hitter Yusuf Pathan walked in at that stage, but Harris exploited the familiar failing against the short ball to nip him out with a delivery that jagged into Yusuf, who could only jab it to backward point to exit for 5.Watson blasted his way to his second half-century in two matches but wickets were tumbling around him. Harmeet got a couple of wickets in the 16th over, and Watson was undone by a slower bouncer from RP in the next. Warne was caught short by a direct hit and Trivedi holed out off the penultimate delivery to complete Rajasthan’s slump from 103 for 3 to 159 all out. It didn’t look an adequate total then, but the Rajasthan bowlers delivered to get the team back on track for a semi-final place.

Manchester United are eyeing up a move for Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves in the summer transfer window, according to journalist Pete O’Rourke.

The Lowdown: Neves shines at Wolves

The 24-year-old is enjoying an excellent season for Wanderers, recapturing his best form and standing out as a key performer under Bruno Lage. He has featured in 17 of Wolves’ 18 Premier League matches this term, starting 15 of those, while also being described as ‘magnificent’ by Jamie Redknapp in the past.

However, the Portugal midfielder has been linked with a move away from Molineux, with United thought to be circling.

The Latest: Man United backed to make move for Neves

Speaking to Give Me Sport, O’Rourke admitted that the Red Devils have long been monitoring Neves, although a shock January exit has been deemed unlikely.

The journalist claimed: “Ruben Neves, again, has been a long-term target for Man United. An excellent midfielder, had a good few seasons with Wolves in the Premier League so he’s Premier League proven. I don’t see a move happening in January.”

The Verdict: Potential massive blow

Neves is such an influential player for Wolves and is still only 24, so the idea of him leaving for United is a hugely worrying one from a Wanderers perspective.

His ability to dictate play in the middle of the park is arguably unrivalled at Molineux – he has enjoyed an 83.4% pass completion rate – and he has averaged 2.1 tackles per game in the league this season (fourth-highest in the squad), showing that he is also strong off the ball.

Neves would take some replacing at Wolves if he does end up at Old Trafford, and Ralf Rangnick will get a close look at him on Monday evening when the two teams lock horns in their latest Premier League clash.

In other news, Tim Spiers has made a key injury hint regarding a Wolves hero. Find out who it is here.