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A number of Wolves supporters are excited after they were linked with an audacious move for Napoli and Italy winger Lorenzo Insigne.

Bruno Lage’s side picked up a vital three points on Sunday afternoon, winning 1-0 away to Southampton to move up to 14th in the Premier League.

Raul Jimenez’s second-half strike proved to be the difference between the two sides, on what was a much-needed positive day at the office.

The hope is of course that Wolves are eyeing up potential new signings to take them up another level in the future though, and according to journalist Ekrem Konur [via Talking Wolves on Twitter], they are keen on the idea of bringing Insigne to Molineux.

The £43.2million-rated Italy Euro 2020 winner’s contract at Napoli expires at the end of the season, at which point he will be able to leave on a free transfer.

Wolves fans excited by Insigne rumour

These Wolves fans took to Twitter to show their excitement at the news.

“Imagine Insigne, Sanches and Botman in January”

Credit: @Ethanwwfc_

“I’m sorry, what now!? This would be insane. FORZA INSIGNE”

Credit: @LStradomsky

“Would be unreal but not happening”

Credit: @WolvesNumber37

“Wait there’s no way, if this happens then that’s mad”

Credit: @TheWaddd

“Yes please”

Credit: @Wolvoryan04

“Unreal player”

Credit: @mattywolves21

In other news, some Wolves fans have criticised one player’s performance against Southampton. Read more here.

Many Everton fans have been left raging at the latest transfer news involving James Rodriguez.

As per the official website of the Goodison Park faithful, the Colombia international has now left the Merseyside club to sign for Al Rayyan for an undisclosed fee.

He scored a total of six goals and supplied a further nine assists in 26 games across all competitions last season, but never featured under Rafa Benitez this campaign (Transfermarkt).

Given the restrictions with supporters going to grounds last term, it means that Rodriguez leaves without the full Toffees crowd being able to see him play in the flesh, and so the decision to let him go has left a lot of them filled with anger.

Nonetheless, with the summer window shut, it now leaves a big hole in the squad which needs to be addressed in January, as Benitez will surely need an additional creative spark behind his forwards.

Everton fans on Rodriguez transfer news

These Blues raged as the transfer news was shared on Twitter, with one EFC supporter claiming that they were ‘fuming’, while another says that it is ‘terrible’:

“I’m fuming”

Credit: @EvertonHel

“Liquidate”

Credit: @megxefc

“Terrible business”

Credit: @_SB67_

“Sack Brands”

Credit: @efcIucas

“Shambles what a waste”

Credit: @Willboy7William

“Your board’s a joke lads”

Credit: @DaraThePapa

In other news, find out how close Everton were to signing this £25.8m-rated ace here!

When Everton decided to lure Salomon Rondon to the club on transfer deadline day, it raised eyebrows for all the wrong reasons.

The Venezuelan is a powerful and robust striker on his day but has never been a consistent goal scorer.

Rafa Benitez knows him well from spells at Newcastle and in China but at the moment, the forward is struggling enormously.

His lack of pre-season is coming across with Rondon lacking fitness and composure in front of goal.

He was signed to play second fiddle to Dominic Calvert-Lewin in attack but with him and Richarlison both out injured, his chance of regular football has come earlier than imagined.

The attacker earned his debut from the bench in the win against Burnley but with Rondon starting, they have now lost two games in a row.

His performance against Aston Villa last weekend left plenty to be desired as he snatched a golden opportunity at the near post in the first half.

That wasn’t the only negative aspect of his display. During that match, the 32-year-old completed just five passes at a success rate of 38%. He also lost 15 of his 20 defensive duels.

Rondon was charged with leading the line against QPR again on Tuesday but as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup on penalties after a 2-2 draw, Benitez would have been concerned with his striker’s performance again.

It was a similar showing to the one at Villa Park only a few days ago as he completed just seven passes at a success rate of 58%. For context, that happened to be the worst tally – excusing Charlie Austin – of any player to start the clash.

Furthermore, the former West Brom man lost the ball every 2.5 touches and won only 50% of his physical battles.

It’s evident that Rondon is some way off the pace right now and with Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin set to miss another few weeks of action; he will need to make desperate improvements.

At the moment, he doesn’t look cut out for this Everton team whatsoever. Supporters and coaching staff should be alarmed.

AND in other news, £100k-p/w Everton dud who won just 22.2% duels severely let Rafa down last night…

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel says the club have no intention to recall Conor Gallagher from his loan at Crystal Palace in January. 

The lowdown

Gallagher has arguably been Palace’s standout player since he made the temporary move across London during the summer transfer window.

In 10 appearances, he’s scored a joint-team high four goals and provided two assists.

His average WhoScored rating of 7.5/10 is comfortably the highest in the Eagles’ ranks, with Christian Benteke the next best at 6.96.

His form hasn’t gone unnoticed at international level, with Gareth Southgate handing him a senior England debut in the 10-0 midweek rout of San Marino.

Pundits, like former Palace striker Ian Wright, have already begun to ponder his future at Stamford Bridge.

He says Chelsea simply ‘can’t ignore him’ on the back of his ‘unbelievable’ displays, while Joe Cole insists the Blues won’t make the ‘silly’ mistake of selling him.

The latest

Addressing the press ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Leicester City, Tuchel explained that remaining at Palace until the end of the season was best for Gallagher’s development.

And he also revealed that they’ll sit down with Gallagher in the summer to discuss his ‘goals’.

“I have not thought about bringing him back earlier, because it’s also important for him to be happy where he is, to stay in the moment and not change the next things,” he said, as quoted by The Independent.

“It’s important to be calm in his stage of the career. And I feel him happy there and I think everybody is happy and it’s good he has this kind of impact at Palace and now it’s about consistency.

“He had a game with the national team and we have to process all these things. Right now if you asked me today I don’t think it’s necessary to change everything for him again in the winter.

“And it’s too early to talk about next season and way too early to talk about it in public, and before we talk about it with Conor himself, what he wants and what his goals are.

“That will happen in the summer, because we all agreed to the decision that he wanted to join Crystal Palace and Patrick Vieira’s team.”

The verdict

If Gallagher keeps up this form, Palace will surely dream of keeping him beyond the end of the current season?

But will Chelsea agree to part with their £13.5million-rated asset? It seems increasingly unlikely, but the player himself is apparently having reservations over whether he will actually get a chance at Stamford Bridge.

With that in mind, the Eagles would surely be wise to at least test the Blues resolve with a bid. Either way, the fact Tuchel has no plans to recall the midfield maestro should be music to Vieira’s ears as far as this campaign is concerned.

In other news, fans react to these surprising transfer links.

Crystal Palace fans have expressed their frustration with Cheikhou Kouyate’s performance in the first half of their clash with Tottenham Hotspur. 

Palace came into the game with two points from their first three matches of the new season, having followed up an opening day defeat at Chelsea with draws against Brentford and West Ham United.

Visitors Spurs travelled to Selhurst Park with the only remaining perfect record in the division.

Patrick Vieira selected Kouyate at the centre of a midfield three, with captain James McArthur and Chelsea loanee Conor Gallagher either side of him.

It was the same trio he fielded in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium at the end of last month.

The Senegal international earned a SofaScore rating of 6.7 for his first-half display, the third-lowest outfield player in the Palace side. Only Tyrick Mitchell and James McArthur were rated lower.

Kouyate contested six ground duels in the first period and only managed to win three of them.

Here’s what Eagles fans had to say about his first-half display.

Palace fans slam Kouyate

“Kouyate and Ayew off please. I’ve seen enough.”

Credit: @palacecarlton

“Never seen a football player as bad as Kouyate”

Credit: @Hunchodini

“Kouyate just shouldn’t be playing”

Credit: @J_CPFC565

“Kouyate is NOT and I repeat NOT a ball playing midfielder”

Credit: @callum90CPFC

“STOP PLAYING KOUYATE”

Credit: @hollaatmefelix

“Kouyate can you just play good for once”

Credit: @SakyiSZN

In other news, fans loved this development.

Tottenham Hotspur have been dealt a gutting transfer blow ahead of deadline day…

What’s the word?

According to Spanish publication Sport, young Barcelona prodigy Ilaix Moriba has rejected a move to the north London outfit after listening to their proposal.

It’s thought that the 18-year-old believes he would be guaranteed more minutes at Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, who can also offer him Champions League football, unlike Spurs.

Furthermore, Mundo Deportivo have also claimed that Moriba has told the La Liga giants of his intention to only sign for the Red Bulls. The La Masia graduate is out of contract next summer, so Barcelona seem likely to sell before tomorrow’s deadline or risk losing him for nothing.

Gutting blow

The prospect of prising one of Barcelona’s most promising youngsters away from the Nou Camp would’ve been a very exciting prospect, especially given his touted potential.

Moriba only featured in 18 games last season but has already seen his value rise to £22.5m after contributing one goal and three assists, per Transfermarkt.

The Guinea-born teenager, who is capped for Spain at youth level, also averaged 1.2 key passes, 2.2 shots, 2.3 tackles and 3.2 dribbles per 90 minutes, via WhoScored, which suggests he’s an impressive box-to-box sort of talent and one that can deliver on the biggest stage.

[snack-amp-story url= “https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/read-the-latest-spurs-news-transfer-rumours-gossip-more” title= “Read the latest Spurs team and injury news, transfer rumours, gossip and much, much more!”]

It’s perhaps why he was deemed a “young [Paul] Pogba” by his former youth coach Denis Silva Puig.

“He’s physically very strong, but he’s also a very intelligent player,” he said. “Most people don’t appreciate this. Here he’s called the ‘Pogba of Barca’ because he’s like a young Pogba, but also he is very, very intelligent—and that is his big potential. He is a top player, no doubt.”

Spurs sanctioned the exit of Moussa Sissoko to fellow Londoners Watford last week in a move that eventually saw the veteran Frenchman feature against them on Sunday afternoon, whilst the future of Tanguy Ndombele is by no means certain, so the Lilywhites could well have done with another addition in Nuno Santo’s engine room.

Even more so after Fabio Paratici’s business thus far – he’s signed another one of La Liga’s biggest emerging talents in Byran Gil, so you could only imagine what Spurs’ long-term future would look like with Moriba joining the ranks alongside players like Oliver Skipp, Japhet Tanganga and Dane Scarlett, too.

Therefore, not only will the Italian sporting director be gutted to miss out on Moriba but the fans should be too. Their business has been rather exciting this window and nabbing a top youth talent from one of the best academies in the world would’ve surely been the icing on the cake.

For now, though, their attentions may have to turn elsewhere.

AND in other news, “It’s close”: Fabrizio Romano drops Spurs claim that’ll leave fans ecstatic…

Chris Broad landed back in Manchester and launched a stinging attack on the security in Lahore at the time of yesterday’s attack which left eight people dead, while expressing his concern that the incident sounds a ‘death knell’ for cricket in Pakistan

Cricinfo staff04-Mar-2009
Chris Broad: ‘We were promised high level security and in our hour of need that security vanished. There was not a sign of a policeman anywhere’ © PA Photos
Chris Broad landed back in Manchester and launched a stinging attack on the security in Lahore at the time of yesterday’s attack which left eight people dead, while expressing his concern that the incident sounds a ‘death knell’ for cricket in Pakistan.Broad, who was the ICC’s match referee for the Test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the city, accused the Pakistani authorities of leaving match officials as “sitting ducks” and claiming that players and officials arriving for the Test were not offered sufficient protection despite assurances given by the Pakistan board.”I’m angry with the Pakistani security forces,” Broad said. “We were promised high level security and in our hour of need that security vanished. There was not a sign of a policeman anywhere. They had clearly gone, left the scene and left us to be sitting ducks. I had an inkling before the Test match leg of the tour that something might happen. I certainly didn’t think this was going to happen.”Broad’s claims that he had flagged concerns about the security before the start of the series will raise issues. “I raised my concerns with the ICC before the tour started and they passed on those concerns to the Pakistan board. They assured me through e-mail that all security would be taken care of, presidential-style security. And clearly that didn’t happen.”When we were in the van we weren’t aware of what was going on outside. But after the incident when you watch the TV pictures you can clearly see the white van we were in, next to the ambulance in the middle of a roundabout, with terrorists shooting into our van and past our van and not a sign of a policeman anywhere.”Broad has been praised for throwing himself on top of fellow official Ahsan Raza as the vehicle they were travelling in came under fire. “I am not a hero,” he said. “Most of us were just waiting for a bullet to hit us.”Raza was shot in the back during the attack and rushed to Lahore’s Service hospital for surgery on a collapsed right lung and a damaged liver. Hospital staff said the operation was successful.Raza’s family members have said he is recovering fast and is likely to be released from the intensive care unit in the next two to three days.Broad went on to say that some of the security forces fled when the shooting started. “At some stage … someone opened the door of the van and an elite policeman threw himself inside and lay on top of me. That wasn’t particularly brave. When the shooting stopped, I shouted at him to drive us away but he said: ‘I don’t drive.'”For all Broad’s anger at the security concerns, he was just as dismayed at the impact that the attack could have on the future of cricket in the country. “They have a lot of very talented cricketers, and I feel sorry for the cricketers and for the cricket-mad public of Pakistan,” he said. “But this is a bit of a death knell for cricket in Pakistan and I feel sorry for those people. I can’t see it going on for the foreseeable future.”Ijaz Butt, the chairman [of the PCB] has come out and said that friends will come to Pakistan but I don’t think they have any friends in world cricket that will go to Pakistan after this has happened. Sri Lanka were a friendly country – they wanted to go, they wanted to support Pakistan. I don’t think they will be going back and certainly India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa won’t be keen.”Broad said the ICC would, in future, possibly have to take more direct responsibility for security arrangements rather than leaving matters to individual boards. “There are countries who have their own security experts,” he said. “I know England have Reg Dickason from Australia. Dickason didn’t think Pakistan was safe for anyone to go to. He was amazed the Sri Lanka tour went ahead. But he’s not advising Sri Lanka.”Maybe there’s something for the ICC to look at – that they themselves take the safety concerns into consideration and make the decisions.”

Leeds United are edging closer to an agreement with Club Brugge over a deal for Noa Lang, according to Voetbal Belgie.

The lowdown

Lang has played all but 12 minutes across Club Brugge’s first four games of the new season. He got off the mark with a goal in their 4-0 rout of Zulte Waregem last weekend, and already has three assists to his name (via WhoScored).

Belgian sports journalist Peter Vandenbempt rates Lang very highly indeed, labelling the 22-year-old Dutch winger a ‘phenomenon’.

Lang only moved to Brugge permanently this summer after joining on an initial loan from Ajax, and has three years to run on his contract. He’s valued at £19.8million by Transfermarkt.

Leeds have already encountered frustration in their efforts to sign a winger, with Manchester United deciding that long-term target Dan James will remain at Old Trafford (via The Athletic).

The latest

The report states that after a lengthy period of ‘no movement’, Brugge fans now fear that Lang is headed for the exit door.

The player has apparently agreed personal terms with Leeds already, meaning the onus is on the two clubs to agree a fee. Those talks are said to be ‘progressing well’.

The verdict

Lang looks to be an excellent alternative to James and, if signed, will provide strong cover and competition for Raphinha and Jack Harrison.

He would represent an upgrade on Helder Costa and Ian Poveda, Leeds’ existing deputies, who have both been linked with exits.

Lang’s age, end product and contract situation could force the Whites into shelling out a significant sum, but it’s a long-term investment. If Raphinha was to be lured away by a Champions League club, for example, he could be the man to step up.

In other news, Leeds are planning to offload these three players.

Former Premier League striker Nigel Jemson insists that Bruno Fernandes’ goalscoring record last season was inflated by the amount of penalties he scored.

The Portugal international emerged as a key player for United throughout the campaign.

Fernandes scored a total of 18 goals in the Premier League last term, and also laid on 11 assists in 37 games as United finished second in the table, 12 points behind champions Manchester City.

Of those goals, half were penalties, while he also scored four penalties in European competition, two in the Champions League and two in the Europa League.

Fernandes did score a hat-trick from open play on the opening weekend of the season against Leeds United but Jemson believes that he has had his record artificially inflated by the spot-kicks he took last season.

Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, Jemson said: “Fernandes has got off to a great start, scoring a hat-trick, but he scored a lot of penalties last year. Take those out and his goalscoring record wasn’t as good.”

Fernandes will be out to add to his tally this season on Sunday, when United take on Wolves at Molineux before the international break.

When Celtic enter the League Cup on Sunday afternoon, they will take plenty of confidence into the clash.

The Hoops have now recorded three victories on the trot and have totted up back-to-back clean sheets. Both of those were rarities last season, so Ange Postecoglou’s men should savour that.

On the chalkboard

That being said, Celtic will have to be wary this weekend because their opposition are Hearts, a team who caused them grief on the opening day of the Premiership campaign.

The Bhoys were miles from their best as a late goal from John Souttar ensured a losing start to Postecoglou’s league reign two weeks ago. However, they are now in a very different place after scoring 13 goals in their last three outings across all competitions.

Their new signings have hit the ground running too, but one player who is yet to be seen at Parkhead or in Celtic colours is James McCarthy. The Irishman signed on the same day as Joe Hart, but with no pre-season minutes under his belt having been a free agent, he is some way behind in terms of his fitness.

Postecoglou has claimed that it could be a while before we see the midfielder in full action, but with the League Cup right around the corner, now feels like the perfect time to hand him his Hoops debut.

Celtic didn’t win a single trophy last season, so the cup competitions will hold a little more significance than normal. However, with weary legs setting in against Jablonec last Thursday, the manager may favour rotation.

Tom Rogic stood out in that match but tired significantly. With an important clash with AZ Alkmaar coming up, the Australian should be given time to recover with McCarthy coming in.

The former Crystal Palace man won’t be completely fresh himself but he’s an experienced campaigner who should be able to replace him and perform reliably at the base of midfield. Dubbed “top-class” by Postecoglou, the 30-year-old could be the heir to Scott Brown in the middle of the park.

Callum McGregor has performed admirably in a deeper role but McCarthy is more accustomed to playing there. During his last full season with Palace, he won 2.5 tackles per game, proving that he can stick his boot in and win the ball when it matters.

On that evidence, the 30-year-old might be the perfect player to combat Hearts, so Postecoglou needs to hand him some sort of role on Sunday.

AND in other news, Celtic close to signing £2.5m “creative monster”, he’s perfect for Postecoglou…