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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…

According to The Sun, Arsenal have put Wolves centre-back Willy Boly on their radar following his impressive start to the season amidst defensive concerns of their own.

What’s the word?

Wolves have now won three straight games in all competitions, including the stunning scalp of reigning Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday.

That’s a massive turnaround in form considering the west Midlands club were sitting second-bottom going into their fixture with Watford nearly ten days ago.

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Nuno Santo’s side have moved into 11th place with just two defeats on their record, which is better than Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

In midweek they also added life to their Europa League campaign with a 1-0 ‘snatch and grab’ win at Besiktas.

Meanwhile, Arsenal sit 3rd, but defensive issues continue to plague their team – even despite picking up a clean sheet on Sunday.

Unai Emery’s Gunners have conceded 11 goals from their eight matches, and reports suggest the Spaniard doesn’t see summer signing David Luiz or Sokratis as long-term options at the club. As such, they could move for Boly.

He has become somewhat of a fan favourite in his three years at Molineux, where he has amassed 92 appearances and scored eight times after being signed from Porto for £10m.

Indispensable

Wolves operate a system which utilises three central defenders, and if you took the 28-year-old out of the equation, then Nuno would be rather stuffed.

Despite now picking up three straight clean sheets, defending had been a cause for concern after Chelsea stuck five past them at home less than a month ago.

Boly’s featured in all three of those matches this week but didn’t against the Blues so it’s not a coincidence to see the west Midlands club looking more solid with him in the team

Those worries at the back are only emphasised by the fact that the Portuguese boss tried to add another player to his defensive ranks over the summer with Benfica ace Ruben Dias a regularly-linked target.

Aside from club captain Conor Coady, the other options in Ryan Bennett and Jesus Vallejo have been slated while Max Kilman is yet to taste more than a minute of top-flight football. Meanwhile, Romain Saiss has often looked better in midfield.

Wolves must not give in and they should do everything they can to keep hold of the towering 6 foot 5 colossus as he’s likely to be the most irreplaceable member of the currently squad. After all, they’re worst when he’s absent.

The Gunners will get to take a proper look at the £13.5m-rated man in just under a month when Wolves head to the Emirates.

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A number of Leeds United fans have lavished praise on Stuart McKinstry after the teenager’s impressive first start for the club’s Under-23 outfit.

McKinstry, who is just 16 years of age, won two penalties during his team’s 6-0 win against Watford’s Under-23 team on Monday night.

The midfielder took to social media after the match to reveal that he was “buzzing” to have been handed the chance to start his first game at that level.

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And it will not come as a surprise to learn that a number of the Leeds fans were out in force to lavish praise on the Scotland Under-17 international, who was signed from Scottish Premiership side Motherwell during the summer.

In a team that included plenty of first-team experience in the shape of Luke Ayling, Tyler Roberts, Eddie Nketiah, Barry Douglas, Gaetano Berardi and Jack Clarke, McKinstry certainly made a big impression on the fans.

Find out a how a world-record-holding freestyler got on with the worst football in the world in the video below…

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below:

تحدث رضا شحاتة المدير الفني لنادي الجونة عن تعادل فريقه أمام بيراميدز، في المباراة التي أقيمت اليوم الخميس في الدوري المصري الممتاز، مشيرًا إلى أن أداء اللاعبين لم يكن جيدًا.

وتعادل الجونة بهدف لمثله مع بيراميدز في الجولة الرابعة عشر من المسابقة المحلية.

وقال رضا شحاتة في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر فضائية “أون تايم سبورت”: “لم ندخل المباراة بالقوة المطلوبة، وأضعنا الشوط الأول، وفي الثاني أجرينا بعض التغييرات وأصبحنا أفضل نوعًا ما وأكثر خطورة والفوز كان قريبًا منا”.

وتابع: “لكن هذه المباراة كانت الأقل أداءً والنقطة كانت أفضل، الأداء لم يكن جيدًا، لذلك حاولنا الهجوم في الشوط الثاني لمحاولة خطف الفوز، ولكن شيء جيد أن اللاعبين استطاعوا التعادل”.

وأوضح: “من المشكلات التي عانينا منها هي إصابة أكثر من لاعب، وهذا خلق نوعًا من الخلل، بالإضافة إلى سوء التوفيق، كنا مسيطرين في المباريات الماضية وخسرنا من فرصة أو اثنين، ولكن الأداء سيتحسن”.

وتطرق للحديث عن عُطل الفار، قائلا: “الحكم أخبرنا بين الشوطين أن هناك مشكلة في تقنية الفيديو لنكون على علم بأننا سنستكمل المباراة بدونها”.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Liverpool announced their third signing of the summer on Sunday as Harvey Elliott joined the Reds.

The 16-year-old arrives as a relatively under-the-radar signing given the fact that he will not go straight into the first-team – he must wait until his 17th birthday in April until he can sign professional terms – but there are definitely reasons to get excited about the teenager.

Elliott holds the record as the Premier League’s youngest ever player, appearing off the bench against Wolves last term at just 16 years and 30 days old, and you only need to whack his name into YouTube to see why Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Manchester City were also keen.

Intriguingly, when discussing the success of Jadon Sancho over at Borussia Dortmund, Jurgen Klopp had this to say: “We are not blind – we saw him, we liked him and then we think, ‘Can we get him?’ No. Because English clubs don’t sell to other English clubs. I don’t know exactly what the reason is for that but they don’t do it.”

Manchester City owned Sancho at the time, and as Klopp mentions, there was little chance of the Citizens handing their wonderkid to a rival so an £8m deal was agreed with Dortmund instead.

Klopp says: “English clubs don’t sell to other clubs.” Luckily for Liverpool, Elliott rejected Fulham’s offer to stay and took it upon himself to join the Champions League winners, a circumstantial change which may have gifted Liverpool a player who could become just as good as Sancho is now at just 19.

You may wonder on what basis Elliott can be considered as having just as much potential as Sancho had at the same age, and it is merely the fact that the Liverpool new boy has had far more exposure to the senior game at such a young age.

Sancho never made a first-team appearance for Manchester City, and only got his first taste of action after moving to Dortmund as an 18-year-old.

In Elliott’s case, he made his Fulham debut at 15 years and 174 days old – becoming their youngest ever player – and has already made two Premier League appearances at just 16 years of age.

With the right manager in Klopp, a bit of guidance and belief in his own ability, there is no reason why Elliott cannot hit Sancho’s heights in a few years if he manages to get sufficient game time at Anfield.

Where Manchester City simply flat-out refused to sell their wonderkid to any English clubs, Liverpool have somewhat managed to break a trend and obtain a hugely talented youngster who is just as talented as Sancho was at 16, if not more.

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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to Football Insider, Noel Whelan has given his thoughts on West Brom ahead of the upcoming season, hinting they may well be an easier opponent to face.

What’s he said?

West Brom’s summer has only really kicked into gear over the last fortnight.

The early stages were dominated by the lack of a manager before Slaven Bilic finally walked through the door but it took a while for the club to get their act in gear in regards to transfers.

So far they’ve welcomed five new faces to the club, four of which were permanent deals.

Most recently Romaine Sawyers arrived from Brentford but they have faced tough losses in terms of outgoings.

And it’s due to that reason that pundit Whelan thinks opposing teams will travel to the Hawthorns in 2018/19 with far greater hopes. He told Football Insider:

“You know they’ll have quality, they’ll have experience still as well.

“They’ve lost two players in Gayle, he was on loan, he is a big loss. Jay Rodriguez, a huge loss because he was their talisman last year. It gives people a little bit more hope when they go to the Hawthorns and when they play against them.”

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A tough season on the cards?

West Brom still have plenty of quality in their squad and that’s been enhanced specifically by the signings of Semi Ajayi who scored seven times last term and Sawyers who helped himself to six assists.

However, the fact of the matter is that Albion haven’t replaced Dwight Gayle or Jay Rodriguez and that could indeed prove telling.

Between them last season, they scored 46 goals in the league which will be incredibly difficult to replace. They were a force to be reckoned with and made visiting the Baggies a daunting task.

Watch fans explain why the Football League is better than the Premier League in the video below…

Albion only lost four games at home last term, scoring the highest number of goals, 53, of anyone when playing at their own ground.

Goals win you football matches but having only recruited Kenneth Zohore in forward areas they may struggle. The Dane scored just once for Cardiff in the Premier League so it’s unlikely Bilic’s men will find things as easy.

They now arguably have greater options in midfield but they’ve suffered colossal losses in the final third and that may well have the biggest say in terms of where they finish this season.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers made some stunning signings last year, but the acquisition of Rui Patricio from Sporting Lisbon was on the rather understated side.

The Portuguese number one arrived in the Black Country with a Euro 2016 winner’s medal and many years of experience at the top level – including 93 appearances in Europe – so it was no surprise that he settled into the Premier League comfortably, finishing the season with seven clean sheets.

HRH, who can be seen in the video above filling out his Panini Tabloid, hopes that Wolves can make the most of qualifying for the Europa League aided by Patricio’s rich experience in Europe.

Check out HRH’s thoughts on Patricio in full in the video above.

The Premier League Panini Tabloid is a special commemorative newspaper sticker collection celebrating the exciting new partnership between the greatest league in the world and the legendary name in football publishing, Panini. As the official collectable licensee to the Premier League, Panini are delighted to bring consumers a new era of collectables and the best collecting experience. See more here: http://bit.ly/PaniniFFCEditorial

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Southampton fans on Twitter were absolutely loving the video their club used to announce the signing of Moussa Djenepo on the social media platform on Thursday afternoon.

The creative clip featured a train – “the Ralph Express” – fronted by manager Ralph Hasenhuttl with several members of the Saints squad as passengers.

The train started out at St Mary’s and went to Liege in Belgium and back, picking up Djenepo. At one stage it crosses over a bridge with a sinking ship bearing the badge of bitter rivals Portsmouth.

The impressive piece of banter reminded us that the rivalry between the two south coast clubs is alive and well despite them not facing off in over seven years, and Southampton supporters were drooling over the hilarious video.

20-year-old Mali international winger Djenepo becomes the Saints’ first signing of the summer transfer window and joins from Standard Liege.

Southampton’s new man Moussa Djenepo divides opinion amongst fans in the video below…

Below is a list of the best Southampton reactive Tweets to the fruity video…

It’s not exactly rocket science, but Wayne Rooney has urged his former teammate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to target young players rather than established superstars in this summer’s transfer window.

New boss Solskjaer has a very busy summer ahead of him as he looks to improve on the disastrous end of the season which saw them win just two in 12 games, having inherited the throne from big spender Jose Mourinho in December – a man who broke United’s transfer record on Paul Pogba.

Up to 60 players (and counting) have been linked with moves to Old Trafford already this summer, but Rooney has advised a change in tact from the sort of strategy the club have seemingly used in recent years.

“For Ole, I think the first thing he’s got to do is try and build the squad,” the DC United forward told BBC Radio Five Live (via ESPN Sport). “I don’t think bringing one or two players in for over £100 million is going to really help with the squad and the players who are there.

“I think he needs to try and look at maybe five or six players who have got potential to be top players but you’re not spending £120m-£130m on these players.

“I think you spend £30m-£40m and then try to improve them, which will also give you longevity out of the players and allow you to build a squad around the five or six new players that come in, plus a few of the players who are still there.

“You could bring [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and [Lionel] Messi in, or Gareth Bale, for instance, and it’s going to cost you £300m-£350m which you’d get what? Maybe two years out of Ronaldo, a couple of years out of Ramos and then you’ve written that money off.”

It’s nothing we haven’t heard before, but there’s a very good reason why the same old sentiment keeps on cropping up.

Just look at January 2018 signing Alexis Sanchez, who currently sits pretty on around £500k per week – despite only providing five goals and nine assists, barely value for money.

What has he provided that a youngster like James Maddison, who’s tipped to join United (per the Independent) this summer, couldn’t? Surely it’s worth a shot.

It’s about time Manchester United go back to their roots of signing young promising players before they slip even further down the table. Indeed, as someone who so clearly understands the club as much as Rooney, perhaps the fanbase would start to feel a touch more connected to the club after sections of them fumed at Ed Woodward towards the end of the season.

Manchester United fans, do you agree with Rooney? Is it about time you changed your philosophy? Let us know in the comments below…

By no stretch of the imagination could anybody have predicted how badly Lazar Markovic’s Liverpool career would turn out as it did when he joined.

The Serbia international joined Liverpool in the summer of 2014 when Brendan Rodgers decided to splash a fee thought to be around £20million on him after making a name for himself during his time at Benfica.

The optimism around his signing would have been extremely high as the then-20-year-old had been extremely impressive for the Portuguese outfit and had just helped them secure a top-flight title.

Markovic also scored seven goals in 49 appearances during the 2013-14 campaign as Benfica sealed a domestic treble and reached the Europa League final.

When he arrived at Anfield, he told the club’s official website: “I am very happy that I have joined such a great club. I hope that I will fulfil the expectations of the supporters, coaches, players and all connected to the club. I have seen what the players are like, I have seen what the supporters are like, and I cannot wait to start playing here.” – Well, that certainly did not happen!

Following an encouraging first season (although it was not quite what many would have been expecting from a player who cost £20m), he was sent out on loan to Fenerbahce to try and improve his game further; but that proved to be as good as a bucket with a hole in the bottom of it – absolutely useless!

Things only got worse for Markovic the following campaign, with spells at Sporting Lisbon and Hull City, before January 2018 saw him head to Belgium and join Anderlecht, who were far from impressed with his condition and fitness levels and was subsequently put on a plan. How a professional footballer can get unfit so badly despite training constantly is beyond us!

Fulham gave him a chance (all of 44 minutes, Transfermarkt) to restore his Premier League career, but as is blindingly obvious with the amount of time he had on the pitch and the club’s relegation, that was a waste of time for everyone involved.

Still only 25-years-old, Markovic still has the best part of a decade left in the game provided he can find a new club to join; good luck Lazar, we think you might need it!

But, it is easy to say that his £20m transfer to Liverpool ended his career before it even had the chance to get started.

Liverpool fans, how disappointing was it to see how badly Markovic turned out? Let us know your thoughts below!

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According to The Sun, Aston Villa want to sign Liverpool attacker Ryan Kent in this summer’s transfer window.

And a number of Villa fans are keen for their club to swoop for the 22-year-old.

Kent has spent the 2018-19 campaign on loan at Rangers – scoring six times and contributing nine assists in 43 appearances in all competitions.

The attacker has actually only represented Liverpool’s first team on one occasion.

Indeed, the bulk of his first-team action has come during loan spells with Coventry City, Barnsley, Freiburg, Bristol City and Rangers.

According to The Sun, Villa are determined to purchase Kent in a £10m deal.

Rangers fans are desperate for their club to sign the former England Under-20 international on a permanent deal this summer, which shows just how dazzling he was for the Gers this term.

However, Villa appear to be in the driving seat and the club’s fans are keen for a swoop to take place ahead of the new campaign.

A selection of the Twitter reaction can be seen below: