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Having entered the winter break in eighth place in the Premier League table with 34 points on the board from 21 games, Wolves are in a comfortable place to push on with their campaign and aim to secure a European place by the end of the season.

In addition to that, it seems as though the Old Gold could be set to see the return of one of their barely seen players from injury in the coming weeks.

What’s the latest?

On the subject of what the current situation is with defender Willy Boly in regards to his recovery from injuries that have kept him sidelined for the past few weeks, Lage had this to say on the matter.

He said: “He’s started training outside, not with the team, with his physio. Good news.”

Wolves originally signed Boly back in the 2017 summer transfer window from FC Porto on loan before securing him on a permanent basis a year later.

Overall, the 30-year-old has gone on to make a total of 137 appearances in a Wolves shirt across all competitions, scoring nine goals and providing four assists along the way, which is a decent return for a defender.

Fans will be delighted

While a full return to action may not be on the cards for the Ivory Coast international just yet, it’s good to hear that he has taken a step towards making a full recovery, something that surely delight a lot of fans in the process.

Even though the trio of Conor Coady, Romain Saiss and Max Kilman have been three of the top five outfield Wolves players in terms of minutes played this season in the Premier League, and have done pretty well as a defensive unit with Lage’s side conceding just 16 league goals this season, it would be a massive boost for them to have Boly back as a viable option at the back in case any of the other defenders get injured.

After all, he is still vitally important. Last term, for instance, in a three-month injury layoff Wolves played 15 league matches and kept just one clean sheet. Once Boly returned, they didn’t concede over the next 283 minutes of league action.

Moving forward, if the defender can recover as quickly as possible and keep his fitness up for the remainder of the season, he could put a turbulent first half to his latest campaign with Wolves behind him and potentially help his side secure European football again.

In other news: Alex Dicken delivers crushing Wolves transfer claim, Shi is making a huge mistake – opinion

Leeds United could help answer Marcelo Bielsa’s prayers by finally signing Reading star John Swift in the upcoming January transfer window.

What’s the story?

According to reports over from the summer by The Sheffield Star, Bielsa’s side, along with the likes of Newcastle United and Brentford, have got their eye on the attacking midfielder.

And now, former Arsenal star Kevin Campbell has delivered his seal of approval over a move, and suggested that his signing could be key for the Whites to recapture their form.

He said: “Yes, I think they’ll have to go in for a John Swift or someone like that. January is gong to be so important for Leeds. They need to recruit wisely.

“Swift is have an amazing season at Reading. I think he could be one of two or three players who come in to bolster that squad.

“I know there is good youngsters coming through but this is the Premier League. You need proven quality. The players coming in need to be ready to fight. It is a big month for Leeds coming up.”

Leeds need him

If Leeds were in need of a central midfielder in the summer, then they are absolutely crying out for one now given the extent of their Premier League performances and recent injury crisis.

The Whites find themselves firmly in the mix of a relegation battle heading into Christmas, while they received the massive blow that talisman Kalvin Phillips will be out for the next couple of months.

While Swift isn’t likely to be a like-for-like replacement for the England international, he does offer something much-needed in the Leeds engine room.

The Reading ace has a track record of being someone who can offer a goal-scoring threat from attacking midfield, managing an impressive 65 goal contributions in 185 games – in fact, his start to the current campaign for Reading has been impressive to say the least, netting eight goals in the Championship as well as chipping in with nine assists too.

Speaking back in August after a 2-1 win over Preston, Royals manager, Veljko Paunovic, said: “Now he’s back, it is important we keep him healthy and motivated as he is now because that will help us a lot.

“He is super talented and he showed an urgency that he wanted to decide the game. The first couple of passes to Azeez and Joao were fantastic vision and execution of the final pass – something we’ve missed in the past. We missed those slick combinations through the middle when we progress forward so that’s something we have to keep up.”

With a record of 40 senior goals to his name in his professional career thus far, Swift could help answer Bielsa’s prayers of needing a new midfielder this January.

Meanwhile, this Leeds star must be axed vs Arsenal…

Tottenham have joined West Ham in the race to sign West Brom goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, according to talkSPORT.

The Lowdown: Johnstone’s future…

Johnstone has been at The Hawthorns since 2018 and has made 154 appearances for The Baggies – 23 of which have come in the Championship this season.

The 28-year-old, labelled as ‘world class’ by Steve Bull, is out of contract in just six months time, with a number of Premier League clubs monitoring his situation.

Antonio Conte currently has Hugo Lloris and loanee Pierluigi Gollini as senior options in goal, and it seems as if Johnstone could well be a target for Spurs heading into the New Year.

The Latest: talkSPORT’s live claim

talkSPORT shared a story on Thursday lunchtime, citing on-air comments from reporter Alex Crook.

Crook claimed that Spurs have joined the likes of Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham in the race to sign Johnstone. He added that Conte is keen to keep hold of Lloris, who is in a similar contract situation to Johnstone, however, the Spurs boss is unsure when it comes to Gollini.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/spurs-latest-updates-5/” title=”Spurs latest updates!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

“I’m hearing Tottenham are joining the likes of Newcastle, Southampton and West Ham in showing a definite interest in Sam Johnstone.

“Hugo Lloris is out of contract himself in the summer, he hasn’t agreed a new one and as of January 1st he can sign a pre-contract agreement with overseas clubs.

“I am told Antonio Conte does want to keep hold of Hugo Lloris but it would be foolhardy not to look for alternative options.

“I know Antonio Conte isn’t convinced by Pierluigi Gollini – the goalkeeper who they signed from Atalanta in the summer. I don’t think they will be taking up the option to make that permanent.

“Sam Johnstone is very much on Tottenham’s radar.”

The Verdict: Smart move?

Should Spurs not exercise their option to buy clause for Gollini in the summer, they’ll need another shot-stopper ahead of the 2022/23 campaign.

Johnstone could be the perfect addition, and it appears as if he may well be available on a cut-price deal over the coming weeks due to his contract situation.

You’d expect the Baggies wouldn’t want to risk losing Johnstone for nothing in the summer, so an offer in the region of his £7.2m Transfermarkt valuation could prove to be enough.

The England international would bring Premier League experience to north London, and who knows, he could turn out to be Lloris’ long-term successor, so a transfer appears to be one to keep a close eye on.

In other news: ‘Wow’, ‘Statement’…Tottenham pundit thrilled as Paratici eyes ‘big signing’, find out more here.

An exciting Newcastle United claim has been made regarding the new owners and their plans for the club moving forward…

What’s the talk?

Magpies journalist Liam Kennedy has claimed that Amanda Staveley and co are not at St. James’ Park to mess about after buying the club from Mike Ashley last month.

He told GIVEMESPORT: “I’ve spoken to people who’ve got excellent contacts very, very close to the Saudis and PIF, very, very close to Amanda and Mehrdad and others, and they’re not coming here to mess around.”

Fans will be buzzing

Newcastle fans will surely be buzzing with this claim from Kennedy. His comments suggest that PIF mean business at St James’ Park and are not at the club to have a bit of fun or to oversee mediocrity on the pitch without a care in the world.

There is no hiding how dire the current situation is at the club in terms of their on-field efforts. They are bottom of the Premier League table after 13 games and the signs are not positive for the Magpies after a 2-0 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend.

The Magpies remain the only club in the top flight who are yet to win a single league match and they are currently six points off 17th as it stands. This shows that they are in risk of being cut adrift at the foot of the table and they need to start picking up results quickly or else relegation may become a likely scenario this season.

If Newcastle are relegated to the second tier, at least the supporters now know that PIF will not mess about with them. They appear committed to their plans for the club and, if the dreaded drop happens, they could restructure everything suitably to attack the Championship and return to the top flight before progressing from there.

Their ambition could also be an exciting prospect for supporters ahead of the January transfer window as they could show they mean business with some signings to bolster the squad in an attempt to avoid relegation. The supporters know that they are in good hands either way, whatever their on-field fate at the end of the season, and that may be a comforting and even exciting thought for the Toon faithful.

AND in other news, NUFC to blow rivals out of the water for potential £29.5m deal, fans surely ecstatic…

Celtic are leading the race to sign Dilan Markanday in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Alan Hutton, with the former right-back suggesting in a recent interview with Football Insider that the 20-year-old Tottenham Hotspur forward, who has been linked with a move to both Celtic and Rangers this winter, would receive more game time at Parkhead than at Ibrox – something that would seem to give Ange Postecoglou’s side the edge over their Old Firm rivals in the race for the youngster.

Speaking about the interest in Markanday, Hutton said: “The fact they’re in Europe, it will boil down how much playing time is he going to get. If he’s going to come up to Rangers, maybe sit on the bench and be a bit-part player, that’s not ideal. If he’s going to go to Celtic and play more minutes – it’s all about the player’s development.

“His plan is to come up, do well, play games to go back and be a Tottenham Hotspur player. It’s whatever’s going to suit him the best game-wise. That will be the team that he fits.”

New Robbie Keane

Considering just how impressive Markanday has been for Spurs’ U23 side so far this season, it would very much appear as if the 20-year-old would make a fantastic addition to Postecoglou’s current options in attack.

Indeed, over his 13 Premier League 2 appearances this term, the versatile winger has scored a whopping 11 goals – including a brace against Manchester City U23s and a hat-trick against Leeds United’s youth side – and registered five assists, as well as providing a further two assists over his three fixtures in the EFL Trophy.

Furthermore, Celtic boast a rather successful history in loaning forward’s from the North London side, landing Robbie Keane on a three-month temporary spell back in 2010 – with the former Republic of Ireland international going on to bag a rather astonishing 16 goals and three assists over his 19 fixtures for the Hoops.

As such, while Markanday is by no means a forward as mature as Keane was upon his short-term switch to Parkhead 11 years ago, the 20-year-old dubbed a “bright” player by football.london reporter Alasdair Gold, nevertheless looks to possess the ability to be a roaring success for the Bhoys, much like the Irishman.

In other news: Celtic could be making a huge mistake on £720k-rated flop who Ange “sees something” in

Many Everton fans have been left reacting to some news that has emerged on Salomon Rondon.

As per Marca, the Goodison Park faithful are now trying to get their striker to stay amid a likely call-up to the Venezuela national team for the next international break.

If he ends up going to play for his country, he will miss a game in the Premier League on his return due to quarantine guidelines.

Rondon has not exactly hit the ground running at the Merseyside club so far however, as he is Whoscored’s match rating system.

As such, a lot of Toffees supporters have been particularly critical of his performances, and so would like him to go and play for his country if it means that he misses a match on his return.

Everton fans on Rondon news

These Blues gave some fairly harsh reactions to the news as it was shared on Twitter, with one even going as far as to claim that he has ‘offered nothing’:

“I’ll pay for his flight”

Credit: @steefcGT4

“Let him go, let him have a 5 year holiday”

Credit: @JimMcCaffery6

“Let him go, he’s offered nothing. I’m not sure if he’s even had a shot for us since joining.”

Credit: @PatrickDrohan

“I’ll drive him to the airport!!!”

Credit: @Pcf4

“Get him gone!! Feel sorry for the Venezuelans”

Credit: @g4j4s4

“I’ll pay for him to go.”

Credit: @lewissefc

In other news, find out which U21 update has Evertonians fuming here!

Following Steven Gerrard’s appointment as the new Aston Villa manager last week, the club have already been linked with a host of players in the upcoming transfer window, with the likes of Ryan Kent, Glen Kamara and Joe Aribo all being touted with moves to Villa Park this winter.

However, in order to make space for the club’s potential incoming signings, the 41-year-old may well have to look to move a number of the current Villa squad on come January, with one name likely to be high on the manager’s list of outgoing candidates being that of Keinan Davis.

Despite having made his debut for the club as an exciting 18-year-old prospect back in 2017, the centre-forward has failed to kick on in his professional career at Villa Park, still yet to enjoy what could be considered as his breakout season in first-team football.

Indeed, in his first season spent predominantly with the senior squad, the £2.7m-rated striker scored three goals and provided four assists over his 30 appearances in all competitions, returns which suggested that the former England U20 international could have the potential to go on and become a first-team regular.

However, the 23-year-old would ultimately make only 45 more appearances over the following three campaigns, scoring just three goals and registering three assists in the process, as the centre-forward found himself pushed further and further down the Aston Villa pecking order, while his returns did nothing to convince Dean Smith that he deserved a spot in the manager’s starting XI.

This is a lesson that Steven Gerrard must learn from, as, over the past four seasons the £25k-per-week Davis has consistently proven that he is not a player of the standard required at Villa Park.

Indeed, fans of the club also agree with this assessment, as, in a poll ran on Football FanCast, the vast majority of supporters made their feelings known that they do not believe the player who Jack Grealish once dubbed as “unplayable” has a future at their club.

As such, Gerrard simply must axe the 23-year-old in January, as his place in the squad, as well as his rather hefty weekly wage, could be put to much better use by the 41-year-old manager.

In other news: Lange could transform Gerrard’s AVFC by signing “frightening” £20m gem likened to Mane

Flocking to Twitter, these Sunderland fans seemed less than impressed with the performance of defender Denver Hume against Manchester United’s Under-21s in the Papa John’s Trophy on Wednesday night.

Lee Johnson’s side, looking to retain the cup they won last season, have now secured qualification from Group F as they narrowly beat the Red Devils 2-1 yesterday evening.

Tyrese Dyce opened the scoring for Sunderland on Wearside but it didn’t take long for the visitors to draw level again through United youngster Zidane Iqbal.

Alas, just under ten minutes later, The Black Cats regained control of the contest with Stephen Wearne getting in on the act – a strike which eventually guided Sunderland through the group stage with a game to spare.

However, on what was a solid evening, one man who didn’t impress supporters was Hume – with the 23-year-old losing possession 17 times and losing more than half of his ground duels (SofaScore).

Here’s what Sunderland supporters had to say on the left-back as they took to social media.

Sunderland fans slam Hume…

“Hume looks like he’s just not trying to actually run when we need to defend”

Credit: @safcreportt

“Hume is even out of his depth at this level, he is totally useless. Gives the ball away at this level at an alarming rate. Should not be anywhere near 1st team squad.”

Credit: @DarkKnightFTM

“All Hume does is play the team into trouble time after time.”

Credit: @newby08

“Denver Hume is even out of his depth against Man Utd youngens. He is absolutely dink. He’d struggle in non-league he would”

Credit: @Brysa08

“I’d very much like to never seen him in a Sunderland shirt ever again, please and thank you”

Credit: @MKA97FTM

“Things I learnt tonight watching our kids vs there kids. Denver Hume is a million miles away from Dennis Cirkin, Dyce looks a better back up to Cirkin, thought he was brilliant tonight. Don’t get the fuss or hype over losing Hugill, thought he was ok tonight but nowt special”

Credit: @44stu

Celtic’s topsy-turvy campaign under Australian boss Ange Postecoglou continued on Saturday afternoon as the Hoops played out a bore draw with one of their bogey teams.

Barring a 6-0 win for the Bhoys last term, Livingston have become a regular stumbling block for Celtic who often struggle against the Lions.

In six of their last nine outings with Livi, Celtic have failed to come out on top and their 0-0 draw this weekend was just the tip of the iceberg.

Giorgos Giakoumakis was charged with taking what would have been a decisive penalty in the clash but his effort was incredibly tame and was subsequently saved down to the right of Max Stryjek.

The decision to let the Greek forward take the spot-kick was a bizarre one. Josip Juranovic has taken two penalties since he arrived in Glasgow and has scored both of them.

However, Callum McGregor admitted at full-time that Giakoumakis was the designated taker.

It was a bizarre sequence of events that left Postecoglou with plenty of questions to answer. John Hartson was left perplexed by the decision on Twitter while other supporters ridiculed him for his display at Parkhead.

One took to social media to claim that he was hopeless during the clash and it’s not hard to see why.

Beyond missing the penalty, his impact in the game was incredibly poor. He registered just 19 touches of the football which was eight less than goalkeeper Joe Hart.

That led to the attacker making just five passes during the game as he went on to lose possession on four occasions.

On top of that, only one shot was on target which just so happened to be the penalty. However, little praise can be drawn from what was such a woeful attempt at goal.

Why Juranovic didn’t take it will be debated well into the season, especially if Celtic fall short of winning the Premiership by just a couple of points.

Livingston may well be a bogey team for the Hoops but this wasn’t just a case of bad luck. It was an extremely poor afternoon for Giakoumakis who has had such a stop-start time at Paradise.

He lacked match fitness after signing from VVV-Venlo and has only scored once. Immediately, his move to Glasgow is panning out to be poor business.

AND in other news, Forget Giakoumakis: Celtic lightweight who lost possession 25x let Ange down badly…

Celtic have had an extremely topsy-turvy beginning to the new season with Ange Postecoglou overseeing the Hoops’ worst start to a campaign in 23 years.

The Bhoys have played some mesmerising attacking football in that time frame but the problem is that Celtic are still a liability at the back.

On the chalkboard

What hasn’t helped matters in the last few weeks is a number of injury blows rocking the Lennoxtown camp.

Greg Taylor will miss the next 12 matches after undergoing shoulder surgery while we might not see Callum McGregor return to the squad until the match with Bayer Leverkusen has been and gone.

He missed the game against Betis because of a minor knock but that has now turned into something more substantial.

The skipper was absent from Celtic’s defeat to Livingston and won’t be fit enough to face Raith Rovers on Thursday evening in a big blow to their chances.

Who plays in his continued absence is a topic of hot debate after James McCarthy’s performance against Livi.

He was ridiculed by supporters after failing to set the world alight. He was too slow to transition play and surrendered possession on 15 occasions. It’s also been reported that he’s struggling with the intensity of Postecoglou’s methods.

The solution

It feels likely that the manager will revert back to Ismaila Soro versus Raith but he hardly set the world alight in his last start against Betis, nearly being sent off.

Consequently, it might be worth Celtic unleashing Liam Shaw.

The 20-year-old hasn’t made a big impression on the Hoops coaching staff since arriving from Sheffield Wednesday in the summer but a League Cup tie against Championship opposition feels like the perfect time to hand him a debut.

He earned plenty of experience last season in the second-tier of English football where he was described as “sensational” for his displays by The Mirror’s James Whaling.

Shaw is defensive by nature but unlike McCarthy, he has long levers that enable him to gallop from one end of the pitch to the other.

One of the Irishman’s key criticisms was his failure to really drive Celtic forward when they needed it against Livi.

Their young summer signing, therefore, could inject something that Postecoglou’s midfield is lacking.

For instance, against Rotherham earlier year, he completed three key passes and four dribbles as Wednesday lost 2-1.

That type of dynamism is exactly what Celtic lost when McCarthy was selected in the middle of the park.

If Shaw can conjure up a similar type of performance, he should weave his way into Parkhead hearts swiftly.

AND in other news, Imagine him & Jota: Celtic must unleash rarely-seen 19 y/o who “looks the part”…