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West Ham United are reportedly interested in signing Inter Milan full-back Robin Gosens. 

The Lowdown: West Ham’s previous transfer window

The summer transfer window saw the Hammers add several new players to their squad, including defensive figures in the shape of Nayef Aguerd, Thilo Kehrer and Emerson Palmieri.

After 14 games in the Premier League, only four clubs have conceded fewer goals than West Ham (15), but just three teams have scored fewer than David Moyes’ side (12).

With that in mind, it appears that the east Londoners have their eyes on signing a player who could help them out at both ends of the pitch.

The Latest: Interest in Gosens

According to a recent report from La Gazzetta dello Sport, West Ham have eyes on signing Inter full-back Gosens, who will be hopeful of featuring in Germany’s World Cup squad for the upcoming tournament in Qatar.

The report also stated that fellow Premier League side Leicester City have an interest in the player as well.

The Verdict: Could be useful for West Ham

Bearing in mind how the 28-year-old has only started in four of his 16 appearances for Inter this season across the Champions League and Serie A, it’s safe to say that he isn’t a particularly crucial player for them.

That could give West Ham a good chance of signing the player, who has been praised for his “outstanding” performances for Germany in the past by journalist Stefan Bienkowski, if they would be able to give him regular playing time.

Having played as a left wing-back this season, Gosens has won more tackles (eight) than any other Inter player in the Champions League, while also getting all three of his attempts at goal on target.

This highlights how effective the £77k-per-week wizard can be in a defensive and attacking sense, which would certainly make him a useful addition to West Ham’s squad given their struggles this season.

Glasgow Rangers turn their attention back to the Champions League tonight as Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side host Ajax at Ibrox in their final match of the group stages.

The Light Blues have no chance of making the knockout stages of the competition and it would take a huge scoreline to move above the Dutch side and into third, as they are 11 goals better off on goal difference.

The Dutchman’s team have lost all five of their matches in the Champions League so far and have been outscored by 19 goals to one, with Napoli and Liverpool the other two sides competing in the group.

The Gers head into the game off the back of a 4-1 win over Aberdeen in the Premiership last weekend, as Antonio Colak, John Lundstram, Alfredo Morelos and James Tavernier scored the goals to send the club into this clash with a crumb of confidence.

One player who will be unavailable for selection against the Dutch giants, however, is left-back Ridvan Yilmaz. He pulled up with a hamstring injury within the first ten minutes against the Dons and is now set to be out of action for a couple of weeks.

The full-back, who Ross Wilson dubbed “exciting” in the summer, had finally won his place in the starting XI as it was his third start in four games in all competitions.

Van Bronckhorst, unfortunately, must now forget about the former Besiktas man and unleash Croatia international Borna Barisic from the start against Ajax.

The £18k-per-week engine should come in at left-back instead of a change to a back three and an attacking player being moved to wing-back or another player coming in as a makeshift option.

Ex-Gers man Neil McCann once claimed the defender is “like a train” in attack, whilst covering a match for the BBC, and his statistics suggest that there is indeed no stopping him when he gets going.

In the Premiership, Barisic has assisted four goals and created six ‘big chances’ from left-back in 12 appearances, whilst creating 1.8 chances per game. This shows that he is capable of providing a huge threat down the left flank, despite playing in defence, as he has consistently created opportunities for his teammates to score from.

He has shown glimpses of being able to replicate this on the continental stage, with 1.0 key passes per match in the group stages, and he must now be thrown back into the starting line-up tonight to see if he can create something out of nothing to salvage at least a point out of the group.

North East reporter for The Daily Mail Craig Hope has shared the latest injury news from Newcastle United involving Joelinton, and it’s what Magpies fans were hoping to hear.

The Lowdown: Pain troubles

Joelinton was taken off at half-time in the St. James’ Park outfit’s 1-0 win at home to Everton in the Premier League on Wednesday night.

The Brazilian was replaced by Joe Willock after picking up a suspected knee injury in the first half, and concerns were heightened given there were reports of the player suffering ‘considerable pain’.

The Latest: Joelinton ‘fine’

Taking to Twitter, Hope shared a significant post-game update from Eddie Howe on Joelinton, claiming that ‘he will be fine’ for their next match away at Tottenham Hotspur, after picking up a ‘knock’ against the Toffees:

“Joelinton took a knock to his knee, but Eddie Howe hopes he will be fine for weekend.”

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The Verdict: Boost

It is certainly a boost for the Toon Army to know that Joelinton’s injury is seemingly not serious, and that he should be able to play a part against Spurs.

The 26-year-old has been the Tynesiders’ fifth-best performer in the top flight so far this season, picking up one assist and one man-of-the-match award, while he has also ranked highly among his team-mates in terms of average shots, aerial duels won, tackles, interceptions, clearances, key passes, dribbles, crosses and through balls per game (WhoScored).

In his new midfield role, Joelinton simply does a little bit of everything for his side, and there is no doubt that the Magpies are a better team when he is playing.

Newcastle United are reportedly ‘confident’ of securing a deal for James Maddison in the January transfer window.

The Lowdown: Leicester double swoop?

The St James’ Park outfit registered interest in both the 25-year-old and his Leicester City team-mate Youri Tielemans in the summer.

They reportedly put in an official bid for the Englishman, which was rejected by the Foxes, while they were linked with a late swoop for the Belgian on Transfer Deadline Day.

The Latest: Maddison confidence

Taking to Twitter, journalist Owen O’Brien has revealed that Newcastle are now ‘confident’ of securing a January deal for Maddison, who has rejected another contract offer from Brendan Rodgers’ side, while the Magpies also ‘remain interested’ in Tielemans.

The Medium reporter tweeted: “Newcastle are confident of completing a January deal for James Maddison – Understand the 25yo has rejected another contract proposal from Leicester – Newcastle also remain interested in Youri Tielemans.”

The Verdict: Get both in!

Getting both Maddison and Tielemans through the door would not only strengthen Newcastle, but also significantly weaken one of their fellow Premier League rivals as well.

The latter’s contract expires in the summer, so signing a player of his quality and experience in January – possibly for a cut-price fee if his contract situation isn’t resolved – would be a real bargain.

Meanwhile, Maddison could really make a difference in the middle of the park, bagging three goals and one assist in the Premier League in a struggling Leicester side, for whom he currently ranks as the best-performing player in the top flight, just ahead of…Tielemans (WhoScored).

Signing both players from the King Power Stadium would send out a real statement of intent from PIF to the rest of the Premier League.

Leeds United are plotting another ‘push’ for PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo in January, according to Fabrizio Romano. 

The lowdown

The Whites agreed personal terms with the 23-year-old in the final days of the summer transfer window and even outbid Premier League competitors Southampton, but they were unable to pull off the transfer.

Leeds’ sporting director Victor Orta even flew out to the Netherlands for talks and hoped to bring Gakpo back him with on his private jet, but PSV ultimately refused to sell the Dutchman, a stance that the Yorkshire club hope will change in time for January.

Only three top-flight clubs – Nottingham Forest (21), Fulham (11) and Southampton (10) – signed more players than Leeds during the summer transfer window, with the Whites shelling out just under £100m on eight new arrivals.

The latest

Romano took to Twitter to share the news about Gakpo, who he cited as Leeds ‘main target’ for the winter transfer window. Their plan is already in motion, but the Italian cautioned that there will be plenty of rival suitors for the PSV star.

Romano tweeted: “Leeds are planning to push again for Cody Gakpo in January, after crazy change on Deadline Day. He’s the main target… but there will be lot of competition.”

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The verdict

Gakpo’s form in the early part of the season shows why the race for his signature will be so intense.

In 10 matches across all competitions, he has been directly involved in 13 goals (scored seven, set up six) and averaged a goal contribution every 60 minutes.

Unsurprisingly, he tops the early tables in the Eredivisie for shots, goals and assists (via FBRef).

It’s hard to disagree with the assessment of The Athletic’s Carl Anka that the Dutch ‘playmaker’ (to quote European football expert Alex Barker) would be a ‘huge’ signing for Leeds, if they can finally land him in January.

Ben Jacobs has dropped an update on reported Leeds United transfer target Ollie Watkins.

What’s the talk?

In a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT, the CBS Sport journalist stated his belief that, despite a number of reports linking Victor Orta with a move for the Aston Villa centre-forward this summer, there is little to suggest that the Whites would be able to get a deal for the 26-year-old over the line prior to next week’s transfer deadline.

However, Jacobs went on to suggest that, should there in fact be an underlying tension between the England international and Steven Gerrard – as has been reported – the Spanish director of football could yet see an opportunity arise to move for the striker, before the journalist stated his belief that Watkins’ arrival would excite the Elland Road faithful.

Regarding Leeds’ reported interest in the Villa forward, Jacobs said: “I think Ollie Watkins is the one that would excite Leeds fans the most, but there’s nothing to suggest that they can get a deal done quickly.

“Between now and when the window closes – unless these Villa denials are more PR [and] there is an underlying tension and Watkins does want a fresh challenge at that point – perhaps Leeds will see a window of opportunity to capitalise.”

“Unbelievable” signing

With Orta’s bid to add a new centre-forward to Jesse Marsch’s attacking arsenal at Elland Road prior to the closure of the summer transfer window being well known, should the Spaniard manage to pull off a deal for Watkins in the coming days, the argument that it would be an unbelievable signing for the Whites is an easy one to make.

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Indeed, following his £28m move from Brentford back in 2020, the £31.5m-rated talent made an immediate impact for Villa over 37 Premier League fixtures in 2020/21, scoring 14 goals, registering five assists and creating eight big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.6 shots – 1.2 of which hit the target – making 1.2 key passes and completing 1.1 dribbles per game.

The £75k-per-week forward followed this campaign up with another impressive haul over his 35 league fixtures in 2021/22, bagging 11 goals, providing two assists and creating four big chances, in addition to taking an average of 2.2 shots – 0.9 of which hit the target – making one key pass and completing 1.1 dribbles per outing.

For context, those returns would appear to better that of Bamford, who registered an equal 2.2 shots but only managed 0.6 key passes and 0.4 dribbles per game as he struggled in a number of metrics.

Yet again, the player who Justin Allen dubbed “deadly” and Dean Smith labelled “unbelievable” has caught the eye over his three Premier League appearances so far this season, with Watkins proving himself to be a well-rounded striker that would benefit Marsch enormously.

Indeed, he has already scored one goal, registered two assists and created one big chance, as well as taking an average of 1.3 shots – 0.7 of which hit the target – making one key pass and completing 0.3 dribbles per fixture.

As such, while it is true that Watkins’ reported £50m asking price does look rather steep, considering just how consistent a goalscorer, assist provider and chance creator the seven-cap international has proven himself to be in the Premier League compared to Bamford, should Orta manage to get a deal over the line for the 26-year-old prior to September’s transfer deadline, he would indeed appear to make an unbelievable addition to Marsch’s current attacking options at Leeds.

Tottenham Hotspur could secure another Cristian Romero type of player before the transfer window deadline on September 1st…

What’s the word?

That’s according to ever-reliable The Athletic journalist Charlie Eccleshare, who claims that Spurs would love to sign a specialised left-sided centre-back to complete manager Antonio Conte’s backline.

“Last season, Spurs basically had no one else who could play left centre-back. Partly as a consequence of the fact that Conte came in mid-season with a different system that necessitated that position, whereas they hadn’t really had the same need for it before,” he told GIVEMESPORT.

“What Spurs would love is Romero on the right, who has been absolutely outstanding. If you could have a player of his sort of level on the left, you’re talking about really, really good defence.”

Conte wants Romero 2.0

Both Conte and sporting director Fabio Paratici have overseen a busy summer of business at Hotspur Way, bringing in no fewer than six new players and a swoop for a specialised left-sided centre-back could be the icing on the cake.

It is true that they have somewhat fixed this problem, having brought in Clement Lenglet on loan from Barcelona but given that is a temporary deal, they’ll only have this same issue next summer.

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After qualifying for the Champions League, Conte will need that depth if the Lilywhites are to remain competitive across all competitions and given Eccleshare’s comments, it’s clear that they would like further defenders in their ranks.

The Italian head coach missed out on his former Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni early in the window but have also been linked to the likes of Josko Gvardiol of RB Leipzig and Villarreal’s Pau Torres – the former being a natural left-footer.

Romero is a ruthless and aggressive presence in Tottenham’s defence but he can also act as a ball-playing option, having registered two clearances, one interception and an 85.1% passing accuracy on the opening day of the new Premier League season in Spurs’ 4-1 win over Southampton, as per WhoScored.

Last term, the Argentina international was described as an “animal” by former teammate Pierluigi Gollini to Standard Sport. “He’s perfect for the Premier League,” he added. “He’s a clever guy and an amazing player.”

If the north Londoners could secure a similar presence on the other side of defence, then Conte will have a frightening unit, so it’s no wonder that Paratici is on the lookout for a left-footed central defensive beast.

AND in other news, Paratici now eyeing Spurs swap deal for “ultimate” £148k-p/w dynamo, he’s another Giovani Lo Celso…

West Ham United have been given the green light in their bid to bring Justin Kluivert to the London Stadium this summer.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport, who claim that, following reports of West Ham’s interest in a move for the 23-year-old winger this summer, the Netherlands international has now been instructed to train separately from AS Roma’s first team squad ahead of his likely departure in the coming weeks.

Previous reports had already revealed that Jose Mourinho would be willing to part with the former Ajax starlet this summer, with the Giallorossi said to be happy to accept an offer in the region of €15m (£13m) for the Dutchman – while Ligue 1 side AS Monaco also said to be interested in Kluivert’s signing ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Imagine him & Kostic

Kluivert’s €17.25m (£15m) move to Roma has not worked out as the left-winger would have hoped, but should David Moyes believe that he can be the manager to help the 23-year-old realise his undoubted potential, a £13m move for the two-cap international could quite easily prove to be one of the signings of the summer.

Indeed, over his 30 Eredivisie appearances in his first full season with Ajax back in 2017/18, the £13.5m-rated forward was in astonishing form, scoring 10 goals, registering five assists and creating nine big chances for his team-mates, as well as taking an average of 2.7 shots (1.1 of which hit the target), making 1.7 key passes and completing 2.7 dribbles per game.

These returns saw the £54k-per-week talent who Nick Mercadante dubbed “limitless” and Match of the Day labelled “unreal” average a spectacular SofaScore match rating of 7.33, not only ranking him as Ajax’s fifth-best performer in the league – behind the likes of Hakim Ziyech, David Neres and Frenkie de Jong – but also as the joint 18th-best player in the Dutch top flight as a whole that season.

As such, should Kluivert be able to rediscover this level of form following a potential move to east London this summer, coupled with the Hammers managing to get a €15m (£13m) deal over the line for Filip Kostic – the left wing-back who scored seven goals and registered 15 assists over 43 appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt last season – in the coming weeks, it is clear to see that Moyes will have formed an incredibly deadly and exciting duo on the Irons’ left flank next term.

AND in other news – “Already scheduled…”: Romano drops West Ham transfer update that supporters will love

A major update has emerged on Rangers and their pursuit of Rabbi Matondo in the summer transfer window…

What’s the talk?

Sport1 reporter Patrick Berger has revealed that the Gers will be finalising a deal to sign the forward imminently.

He Tweeted: “Glasgow Rangers set to sign Rabbi Matondo. The Scottish side agree fee with Schalke (around €3m). The player should fly to Glasgow within the next 24 hrs to complete medicals.”

The attacker will now go through the required tests before putting pen to paper on a contract to join the Light Blues for the 2022/23 campaign and beyond, although an announcement may not be within that timeframe due to the social content that will need to be put together first.

Supporters will be buzzing

This update will surely leave supporters buzzing for multiple reasons.

Firstly, they will be delighted with how quickly Ross Wilson is working in the transfer market after recently securing a deal to sign Antonio Colak.

After a slow start to the summer, Rangers are now on the verge of a second signing in quick succession and fans will be pleased with the progress being made in the window.

Secondly, they will be buzzing with the addition of Matondo as he has the potential to be an excellent player for Gio van Bronckhorst.

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola previously hailed the youngster as he said: “They (Schalke) are interested in another young player. I know how good he is, incredibly fast winger, and a young talent. This club is working so good.”

These comments from the Spaniard suggest that he will be an exciting player for the fans to watch as he has the speed to skip past his marker and make things happen in the final third.

As you can see in the graphic above, the Welshman showed signs of promise in Belgium last term. In all competitions, the attacker produced ten goals and two assists on loan at Cercle Brugge from Schalke and these stats offer a glimpse of what he can provide Rangers with.

At the age of 21, he is still in the infancy of his career and is a player who can make an impact in the immediate future whilst also holding the potential to improve and grow in importance and value in the long term.

Fans will, therefore, be buzzing to see him come through the door and will be hoping that there are no last-minute stumbling blocks in the move.

AND in other news, Gvb can find his dream Ramsey replacement in “unplayable” 16 G/A Rangers “talent”…

An update has emerged on Newcastle United and their chances of landing Eric Bailly in the summer transfer window…

What’s the talk?

According to the print edition of The Mirror, Manchester United are attempting to offload the central defender in the coming weeks.

The report claims that PIF have been given the green light to seal a deal as they have been offered the chance to sign him from the Red Devils.

It is stated that the Premier League giants will now demand a fee in the region of £8.5m for the out-of-favour centre-back.

Eddie Howe would love it

The Toon head coach would love Bailly at St. James’ Park as it would give him the opportunity to turn the defender’s career around.

Although he has fallen down the pecking order at Old Trafford, the Ivorian has shown signs of promise over the years that suggest there is a talented player in there.

Howe has shown that he can revive a player’s career as he turned Joelinton from a misfiring striker into a steamroller in midfield. The Brazilian won Newcastle’s Player of the Season award for his efforts in 2021/22, after the head coach switched his position up during the first half of the campaign.

Now, we are not expecting Bailly to come in and be converted into an attacking midfielder but the Toon boss can work with him on the training pitch to help him find consistency in his performances.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer previously dubbed Bailly “immense” and his form in the Champions League last term offered a glimpse of what he is capable of. In two appearances in Europe, he averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.35 as he made five tackles, three interceptions, seven clearances and won 60% of his aerial duels.

He also showcased his quality at the African Cup of Nations as he averaged a score of 7.40 across three games in the tournament earlier this year. The defensive brute won 70% of his duels and made 3.7 tackles and interceptions per game, illustrating the impact he can have when he is fit and firing.

Therefore, Howe will enjoy trying to get the best out of Bailly as he has shown that he has the potential to be an excellent defender when he is at the peak of his powers. He may not have been able to show that in the Premier League for Manchester United, given their willingness to sell him, but the Magpies can now test their luck with the 28-year-old.

AND in other news, NUFC can unearth their own Abraham as Ashworth plots bid for “fearless” £25m bulldozer…