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Leeds have been handed a transfer update in their chase for Nottingham Forest starlet Brennan Johnson.

What’s the story?

Reports from The Athletic back in January claimed that Johnson is attracting interest from the Premier League, with Burnley and Brentford keen, and Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds also having said to have watched him this campaign.

Now, The Athletic have delivered an update on the 19-year-old’s future, revealing: “With two years left on his contract, Forest do have some security. The club are understood to value Johnson at around £10m, which is a sign of the potential they believe he has.”

Leeds’ own Dele Alli

Johnson’s former boss at Forest, Sabri Lamouchi, hailed him not just as an “unbelievable player” but one with the “right mentality” too, and that will surely be music to the ears of Leeds and Bielsa.

The teenager has enjoyed an impressive campaign on loan at Lincoln City in League One, scoring ten goals and providing a further twelve assists in the league.

With that canny knack of finding himself in the right place at the right time, there’s a lot to like about Johnson’s game, and there are some very promising similarities between him and how Dele Alli emerged onto the scene.

His boss at Lincoln, Michael Appleton has raved about the fearlessness of the versatile attacker, something very much akin to Alli when he was at MK Dons – the England international predominantly played in central midfield, but could also play out wide and as a number ten too.

He said: “Brennan has been great. He has a lot of pace and gives us directness when we look to counter. He has played in numerous positions for us. He has played as a nine, as a ten, as a central midfielder. He has never moaned and just gets on with it.”

In fact a tweet shared by his dad, David, pointed out the kind of comparison between Johnson and Alli.

While Johnson is more comfortable playing out wide than Alli is or was, it’s that ability to break into the box and time his runs to either get on the end of things, or set others up that really stands out.

Just like Johnson, Alli was also prolific with both his goals and assists in his real stand-out campaign with the Dons during the 2014/2015 season, scoring 16 times and setting up nine others.

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Given that Spurs themselves signed the midfielder for just £5m at the time back in the summer of 2015, and now Johnson is available for £10m, Leeds could very well sign their own Alli – both in terms of price, and more importantly, the value and impact he brings on the pitch.

Meanwhile, Leeds could make an exciting swoop for this Bundesliga star…

There were high hopes when Southampton signed Jordy Clasie from Feyenoord for £8 million in 2015 but the Dutch international would endure a nightmare spell on the South Coast before leaving on a free transfer in the summer of 2019.

Executive sporting director at the time, Les Reed, parted with the funds to bring him to St Mary’s, with Clasie having already worked under manager Ronald Koeman with the Eredivisie side.

Whilst he was a regular in that first season in the Premier League, making 22 appearances, he failed to set the world alight – as he averaged a 6.71 rating in the top-flight with no goals or assists to his name.

When Koeman departed for Everton the following summer, the midfielder’s Southampton career was perhaps destined to fail, and he made just 16 appearances in the Premier League, in which he averaged a pretty shocking 6.40/10 rating for his performances.

The following season saw the Dutchman loaned to Club Brugge, where he would make 25 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing two assists, before he returned to his old side Feyenoord on loan for the 2018/19 season.

His performances on loan were not enough to convince Southampton that he was worth keeping, however, as he was allowed to move back to the Eredivisie in the summer of 2019, joining AZ Alkmaar on a free transfer.

Things are not going well for the 29-year-old this season, as he has managed just two substitute appearances in the Dutch top-flight, which begs the question, why did Southampton ever think that he was good enough to be a regular in the Premier League?

Certainly, it was something of a disaster move by the Saints to bring him in for £8 million and then lose him for nothing four years later, as he would only manage 49 appearances in his four contracted years at the club, which represents terrible value for money.

It’s something they should keep in mind when assessing targets for the upcoming summer transfer window.

And, in other news… Hasenhuttl effect: Saints beast is now valued at £25.2m, Semmens is licking his lips

Glasgow Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos might be looking dominant in the Europa League but it’s Ianis Hagi who is actually the cream of the crop in Scottish football.

Since signing from Genk in the summer no Scottish Premiership player has recorded more assists than the 22-year-old, other than teammate James Tavernier.

Celtic’s Ryan Christie and Callum McGregor are the best of the rest behind the Rangers duo with seven assists apiece, with Ryan Kent not too far behind on six assists this season.

But Hagi also boasts an impressive average of two shots per 90 in the Premiership which also surpasses that of Tavernier (1.9 shots pg), Joe Aribo (1.7 shots pg) and Scott Arfield (1.3 shots pg).

For context, that’s far higher than his season’s average of 1.3 shots per game in the Europa League last term, which suggests that he has come on leaps and bounds under Gerrard’s guidance in such an incredibly short amount of time.

The Rangers youngster now has two goals in the past four Premiership fixtures he has played after opening the scoring in the 4-1 victory over Dundee United.

That opening goal only serves to highlight just how brilliant the Romania international has been at Ibrox. He’s now been directly involved in 22 goals (nine goals and 13 assists) in 48 appearances across all competitions for the club.

While Gerrard should be commended for the great job he has done in steering Rangers towards their first title in a decade, he also deserves immense credit for transforming Hagi from a young prospect to a fully-fledged first-team starter.

After all, he was initially considered a work in progress when he first arrived at Ibrox, but has now more than justified his place in Gerrard’s starting XI.

It’s about time the son of the great Gheorghe Hagi starts to get the respect he deserves, that’s for sure.

AND in other news, Nathan Patterson earns shot at redemption amid James Tavernier injury blow…

Many Liverpool fans were not impressed with what manager Jurgen Klopp said after his side’s atrocious 1-0 defeat at home to Chelsea on Thursday night.

Mason Mount was the difference between the two sides as the Reds lost their fifth game in a row at home in the Premier League – registering just one shot on target during the 90 minutes.

Speaking to reporters after the final whistle (via The Anfield Talk), the German tactician said that tactics were not the reason that they lost the game. Instead, not “showing heart” and not “being resilient” were the primary sources of the Merseysiders’ downfall, according to the charismatic boss.

Liverpool lost further track on the top four places and have lost their last four out of five games, leaving them behind the likes of Chelsea, Everton and West Ham, some of those still with a game in hand (via Fotmob).

With this in mind, supporters were stunned by Klopp’s comments, with some fans even bizarrely suggesting that he should leave the club after six years in charge.

Fans flip at Klopp

“‘It’s not about tactics’ This is so worrying to read…”

Credit: @LFCJosh23

“He’s done.”

Credit: @1CraigFisher

“He looks totally lost in this interview”

Credit: @stujohn4

“It’s about tactics mate. Leave my club”

Credit: @devinLFC__

“Klopp is suddenly clueless and it’s shocking to see”

Credit: @freddystarr1

“He’s lost the plot here”

Credit: @HoodPxlitics

In other news, Emile Heskey believes Liverpool star man needs to “take a backseat.”

Manchester City have been linked with a move for Wolves winger Pedro Neto recently and the 21-year-old could prove to be a superb addition to Pep Guardiola’s side should he make the switch to the Etihad Stadium.

What’s the word?

According to Duncan Castles on the Transfer Window podcast, Manchester United, Juventus and Manchester City hold an interest in the Portuguese international after his impressive performances in recent seasons.

It is claimed that City were originally scouting Adama Traore as a potential replacement for Leroy Sane after his move to Bayern Munich, and that is when the Citizens started to take note of Neto’s excellent performances and perhaps realised that he would be a better fit in Guardiola’s line-up.

Would he be a good signing?

Neto has impressed with the Old Gold since joining from Lazio in 2019, having contributed 10 goals and nine assists in 77 appearances thus far.

The 21-year-old has been one of the standout performers in Nuno Espirito Santo’s side so far this season, with five goals and four assists to his name in 29 Premier League appearances, resulting in an excellent 7.13 WhoScored rating over the course of the campaign.

This ranks him as Wolves’ best performer so far this season in the Premier League, whilst he is also their joint-top scorer, having stepped up impressively in the absence of Raul Jimenez, who has unfortunately been absent for much of the season after suffering a fractured skull.

Neto first gained recognition from across Europe when he scored in the Liga NOS for Braga when he was just 17 years old, becoming the youngest-ever player to score in Portugal’s top flight, a record previously held by none other than Cristiano Ronaldo.

WhoScored suggests that Neto’s main strengths include his ability to cross, dribble and play key passes, so it certainly seems as if he would be a good fit in Guardiola’s team on the wing.

The youngster is currently valued at £31.5m by Transfermarkt and is contracted with the Old Gold until 2025, so he certainly won’t come cheap; but considering his superb performances in a struggling Wolves side this season, there seems no reason why he wouldn’t be an excellent addition at Manchester City.

Therefore, sporting director Txiki Begiristain should try and convince the player to move to the Etihad this summer, or risk losing him to Juventus or rivals Manchester United instead.

In other news… 5 big chances missed: £99m-rated beast might not be the saviour Man City need

Crystal Palace defender James Tomkins is out of the Premier League clash with Wolves at Selhurst Park, Roy Hodgson has confirmed.

Tomkins has played in the full 90 minutes of four of Palace’s past five Premier League fixtures, including the draw at Arsenal and the 2-0 win at home to Sheffield United.

Hodgson recently revealed the £3m-rated 31-year-old suffered an eye injury during training which ruled him out of the midweek defeat to West Ham.

But this latest setback will come as a huge blow for the Palace boss, as Tomkins has re-established himself as a regular starter under Hodgson since the start of the year.

The Eagles have struggled defensively this season, as they have conceded 36 goals in 20 games in the top flight so far, bettered only by Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion, who find themselves bottom of the table.

Since his return to the starting line-up, Tomkins has been one of their standout performers, helping Palace record two clean sheets in a row for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

His contributions haven’t gone unnoticed, either, earning a solid WhoScored rating of 6.46 in the process. He is currently averaging more clearances (6.2) than any other player this season, which only reemphasises the important role he has played in the Palace squad this season.

Tomkins was a colossal at the back in Palace’s 2-0 win over Sheffield United, helping Hodgson’s side keep their first clean sheet since the 1-0 win at home to Southampton at the start of the season, which will cause the former England manager much frustration after his side conceded three goals against West Ham in his absence.

Gary Cahill and Cheikhou Kouyate are set to resume their shaky partnership in front of Vicente Guaita, and considering Cahill’s recurring injury problems in recent weeks, he could find himself exposed to a counter-attack from the likes of Ruben Neves and Pedro Neto.

Therefore, Hodgson will be hoping Tomkins can make a swift recovery ahead of their trip to Newcastle next week.

AND in other news, Crystal Palace can sign perfect Vicente Guaita replacement in Manchester United’s Sergio Romero…

Reigning Premier League champions Liverpool continue their fiery run of form and secure the top spot as we head into Christmas. The Reds carved open a helpless Crystal Palace this afternoon and made easy work of hitting them for an astonishing seven goals.

Roberto Firmino impressed for the second game in the row thanks his assist and two goals. Takumi Minamino also shone by opening up the scoring after just three minutes. But the Japanese winger took the place of Mohamed Salah, who was left on the bench for the Selhurst Park fixture having been reported this week as saying he was “disappointed” not to be given the captain’s armband in against Midtjylland in the Champions League.

However, his cameo appearance was more than a contribution to Liverpool’s win, and suggested that Jurgen Klopp made a mistake benching him in the first place.

Salah on fire

The Egyptian wasted no time before he had Palace begging for mercy. He came on in place of Sadio Mane just before the hour mark and it wasn’t long before he got in on the goalscoring action.

Salah assisted Firmino’s goal to make it 5-0 to the Reds, before going on to scoring the final two goals of the game for himself. According to Sofascore, he completed 100% of his attempted passes, converted 100% of his shots on goal and created a further big goalscoring opportunity for his team.

His blistering efforts now see him jump ahead of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Son Heung-min with 13 goals and three assists in 13 Premier League games played (via BBC Sport).

Salah’s efforts have helped Liverpool cement themselves at the top of the table before they next play, putting extra crucial daylight between them and Spurs.

The Reds’ next challenge will be against West Brom on December 27 at Anfield and Salah will be confident knowing that his spellbinding performance in the capital today was enough to make sure Klopp never leaves him on the bench again.

In other news, Liverpool should cash in on Divock Origi amidst Wolves interest…

West Ham United can forget Issa Diop with a swoop for FC Schalke 04 centre-back Ozan Kabak during the January transfer window.

What’s the word?

According to Sport1, the Irons and AC Milan are among a clutch of sides interested in a deal for Kabak in the mid-season market with Schalke now ready to sell the Turkey international.

It was long-believed in Germany that Die Konigsblauen would refuse to part ways with the 20-year-old but have now warmed to his exit, as Kabak is considered to be one of only a few players who Schalke can still cash-in on to fund winter reinforcements.

Schalke value Kabak at €15m (£13.5m) but West Ham could face competition from Liverpool, as Jurgen Klopp is said to be a big admirer of the seven-cap centre-back former Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner lauds as “one of the most talented defenders of his age in Europe”.

Kabak has been a pivotal part of the Schalke backline this season despite a bumpy start, after the Galatasaray product saw his one-game ban extended to four matches following an indirect sending off late into matchday two’s 3-1 loss at home to Werder Bremen.

Forget Diop, sign Kabak

Schalke have endured a torrid campaign this season having been one of Europe’s biggest disappointments, yet Kabak has come through the gloomy results as a rare shining light at the Veltins Arena – even with his sending off.

Kabak has commanded the centre-back slot in Schalke’s backline with a commanding threat, with the 6 ft 1 titan offering three clearances, blocking two shots, making one successful tackle and winning each of his two aerial duels in Saturday’s 4-0 win over TSG Hoffenheim, per SofaScore.

His performance took Kabak’s numbers for the season so far to an average of 1.0 successful tackles, 3.5 clearances, 3.1 ground duels won and 4.1 aerial duels won per Bundesliga appearance, despite this weekend’s commanding rout marking Die Konigsblauen’s first league win of the season.

West Ham signing Kabak in January would free the east London outfit to also move on from Diop, who has fallen out of favour under David Moyes and is now being touted with transfers left, right and centre.

Moyes stated last month that Diop would not be going anywhere amid interest from Liverpool, yet reports have continued to emerge of interest at West Bromwich Albion, OGC Nice and even rivals Tottenham Hotspur (Mirror, 5/1, p. 47).

The French defender, who the Irons signed for a then club-record £22m in 2018, has played just 117 minutes of action since testing positive for coronavirus in September and has now fallen behind Craig Dawson, with the Watford loanee starting the Hammers’ last two Premier League matches.

Former Arsenal and Everton striker Kevin Campbell firmly expects Diop’s time at the London Stadium to be over this month, having backed the £67,000-per-week dud to follow Sebastien Haller in securing a permanent exit.

AND in other news, “He’d only be a squad player” – Exclusive: Pundit reacts as West Ham target £45k-p/w striker…

When Joao Moutinho chose to come to Wolves in 2018, it raised a few eyebrows.

The Molineux outfit had just been promoted to the top-flight but that didn’t seem to matter for one of Portuguese football’s most consistent playmakers.

The bearded midfield general has been outstanding since signing for the Old Gold and has become one of Nuno Santo’s go-to men.

He has scored just two goals for Wolves but crucially, he has 21 assists in his two and a half years at Molineux. When you think of the word ‘consistent’, you usually associate it with the 34-year-old.

Normally, age has been no burden for Moutinho but unfortunately in 2020/21, it’s proving detrimental.

Wolves have now won just three of their last 13 matches in all competitions and their dismal form this campaign can be, in part, attributed to the abject performances of Moutinho.

It’s been hard to pick bones with the experienced performer in the past but this season, he’s been a passenger in Wolves’ midfield. It was no surprise that without him in the team in midweek, they looked a lot better.

Nuno’s men drew 0-0 with Chelsea in a solid display all-round but when he returned to the side on Saturday, they suffered another defeat – this time by a one-goal margin to Crystal Palace.

Moutinho was slow, he struggled to read the pace of the game and was given a torrid afternoon by the energetic Ebere Eze. His goal proved to be the difference between the two teams, but such was the vibrant counter-attacking nature of Palace, that Moutinho was dribbled past on four occasions.

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That’s a rather horrific statistic, one that proved to be the worst of anyone on the Wolves team on Saturday. As a result, he was far from prolific in defensive situations. The Portugal international won only 37.5% of the duels he competed in, looking way off the pace in the middle of the park.

Writing at full-time, Birmingham Live reporter Alex Dicken said: “A surprise selection ahead of his compatriot Neves and didn’t really justify his recall. He didn’t take any risks with the ball and contributed to a passive Wolves performance.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that Moutinho has let his team down in recent months. In fact, he’s pretty much been a passenger all season, failing to score or provide a single assist. His key passes per game this term are down 0.9 from last season, while he’s making more fouls per match in the Premier League this campaign.

In recent months, he has been especially poor. Against Everton, earlier this January, the former Monaco man won just 25% of his duels and versus another Merseyside outfit, Liverpool, he committed four fouls and won only 33.3% of the defensive battles he competed in. Nuno’s side consequently lost 4-0.

It’s clear that Moutinho is struggling and with Wolves needing a desperate improvement in their play, they require someone fresh and mobile in their midfield, not the Portuguese veteran.

Only last week, Tim Spiers revealed this could be his final campaign as a regular. On this evidence, The Athletic reporter isn’t wrong. With just a day of the window remaining and Wolves in such poor form, this whole situation is turning into a nightmare for the manager.

They were dreaming of European football this season, but partly due to Moutinho’s struggles, they currently sit in 14th place.

AND in other news, Shi must reignite Wolves swoop for 23 y/o “Rolls-Royce of a player” who bullied Traore…

Wolves started the 2024/25 Premier League campaign slowly, losing two and drawing one of their opening three fixtures. However, the Old Gold had a tough start, facing both Arsenal and Chelsea in their first two games.

Gary O'Neil lost one of his most important players this summer, with Pedro Neto making the move to Chelsea for a fee of around £54m.

​​​​​​Neto made 24 appearances for Wolves last season in all competitions, scoring three goals, providing 11 assists, and totalling 1,729 minutes played.

It may well come to pass that they end up missing the electric winger. Do they miss Morgan Gibbs-White, though? He's certainly gone to a new level after leaving Molineux behind.

Morgan Gibbs-White at Wolves

Morgan Gibbs-White came through the Wolves academy, joining the club at eight years old. He played 17 games for the U21 side, scoring two goals and providing five assists, but it didn't take long for the English midfielder to break into senior football.

Making his first-team debut in 2017, Gibbs-White went on to make 88 appearances for Wolves, scoring three goals and providing one assist, but many of these minutes were from the bench, totalling 3,053 minutes.

Gibbs-White spent two spells out on loan, his first being with Swansea in 2020/21, but his most successful time came at Sheffield United in 2021/22, where he made 38 appearances for the Blades in all competitions, scoring 13 goals, and providing ten assists.

This successful stint for Sheffield United caused Nottingham Forest to make a move for the English midfielder, paying a £25m initial fee, with add-ons that take the deal to a total of £42.5m.

How Gibbs-White is playing at Forest

Since being sold by Bruno Lage to Forest, Gibbs-White has been a key man, making 83 appearances for the club, scoring 12 goals and providing 18 assists, totalling 6,949 minutes played. He has already doubled his minutes played in fewer appearances for Forest than in his time at Wolves.

Labelled an "underrated playmaker" by Statman Dave, the 24-year-old has made an immense impact so far this season. Indeed, the English midfielder has created the most chances from open play in the Premier League (9), joint with Chelsea sensation Cole Palmer.

Goals

0.31

0.34

Assists

0.00

1.38

Progressive Carries

2.33

3.45

Progressive Passes

7.00

6.90

Goals/Shot

0.11

0.11

Key Passes

3.00

3.79

Passes into Final Third

6.67

4.83

Shot-Creating Actions

5.33

7.24

Successful Take-Ons

2.00

1.03

As you can see from the metrics so far this campaign, Gibbs-White is performing extremely close to Palmer's level, even bettering him in some metrics. The 24-year-old is averaging seven progressive passes per 90, more than Palmer's 6.90.

He is also averaging nearly double the successful take-ons of Palmer, with two per 90 minutes, compared to Palmer's 1.03. Gibbs-White has a more compact and durable body composition, where his ability to carry the ball with power and a long stride helps him to get away from his marker/defender. It's perhaps not a surprise, therefore, to see that the two are now teammates at international level.

Contrastingly, Palmer is more controlled with his movements, using body feints and agility to get away from his man and create separation, and he does this effectively, averaging more progressive carries than the former Wolves man despite their different carrying styles.

Wolves could have done with the creation of Gibbs-White this season, especially after losing Neto this summer, and it seems clear that selling him may well have been a mistake as he looks on track for his best season yet.

Wolves hit the jackpot on "fearless" star whose value has risen 233%

He has been superb under Gary O’Neil.

ByJoe Nuttall Sep 10, 2024