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Former Leeds United player David Norris believes that Lewis O’Brien would be a good signing for the club. 

The Huddersfield Town player has been linked with a move across Yorkshire this summer and Football Insider reported the other day that Leeds were going to hold fresh talks over a possible deal for O’Brien.

The Yorkshire Evening Post reported that both clubs weren’t a million miles apart in their valuation for the player this week (August 10), and so with this news it’s possible a deal maybe edging closer.

O’Brien was a key player for Huddersfield last season, featuring 82 appearances, scoring five goals and providing seven assists.

Former Leeds player Norris believes that O’Brien would be a good signing for the club, telling Transfer Tavern: “Yeah, another good one. Whether it inspires Leeds fans, like I say I do think they’re looking for one big signing but someone like that who’s doing well, got potential, looks like he could suit the Leeds way, I think on paper it would still be a good signing.”

If the Whites do sign O’Brien, then he would be Leeds’ fifth summer signing after Junior Firpo, Jack Harrison, Lewis Bate, and Kristoffer Klaesson have all arrived at Elland Road during this transfer window.

Former Everton star Michael Ball insists that Moise Kean is attempting to get himself out of the club this summer.

The £31.5m-rated Italian striker has struggled during his spell at Goodison Park since his arrival from Juventus.

Kean has been with the Toffees since 2019 but has scored just four goals in 37 games for the club, and was sent on loan to PSG last season.

During his time in the French capital, the forward surprised many with his performances, as he netted 17 goals in 41 outings under Mauricio Pochettino.

His hopes of a permanent move to Paris appear to have been scotched, though, by the club’s amazing signing of living legend Lionel Messi from Barcelona.

Kean has since been linked with a potential move to Inter Milan in this transfer window after the Italian club sold Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea.

And Ball believes that the 21-year-old is doing his very best to force his way out of the club in this transfer window.

Speaking to Football FanCast, Ball said: “It obviously seems he’s pushing his agent to get out of the club and he’s not happy with his game time, which is understandable.

“If you’re a footballer and you’re not playing, you want to go somewhere to develop and play football and do what you love. But Everton need to be strong, he’s a young kid, he could be a very, very exciting prospect in the future.”

Leicester City failed to build on their opening day victory over Wolves, crashing to a 4-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham United on Monday night.

The Foxes went into the clash with a depleted backline after new signing Jannik Vestergaard added to the extensive list of absentees through injury and illness, but manager Brendan Rodgers would still have been confident of securing a positive result.

However, it was a poor night for the FA Cup holders at the London Stadium. The Hammers pounced on a poor Jamie Vardy touch to devastating effect on 26 minutes, with a swift counterattack resulting in a smart Pablo Fornals finish.

Things went from bad to worse soon after for Leicester, though. Ayoze Perez was dismissed just before half-time for a stamp on the goalscorer, leaving the visitors a goal down and a man down heading into the break.

Although the Spaniard had a night to forget, it was arguably one of his teammates who really killed off any chance of a comeback just 11 minutes into the second half.

After Leicester had kept things tight following Perez’s red card, a loss of concentration saw Caglar Soyuncu attempt a blind backpass for Kasper Schmeichel, presenting the ball straight to Michail Antonio, who set up a grateful Said Benrahma for a simple tap-in.

It was just one of several errors from the usually dependable centre-back, who proved to be a liability on the night. As per SofaScore, the Turkey international received a match rating of just 5.8 out of 10, the second-lowest of any player on the pitch.

Soyuncu also lost 50% of his duels on the night, coughed up possession a whopping 15 times (most of any Foxes player) and was successful with just four of his 12 attempted long balls (SofaScore).

In a game where he was tasked with marshaling the backline as the club’s senior defender and only fit centre-back, the £40.5m-rated beast let Rodgers down and heavily contributed to Leicester’s collapse.

Although Youri Tielemans’ effort gave the Midlands outfit a glimmer of hope at 2-1, Soyuncu and co. were unable to cope with an impressive Antonio, and his brace sealed an abject night for the visitors and for the Turkish defender.

In other news… Leicester confirm major update which will leave fans absolutely buzzing 

Newcastle United boss Steve Bruce is eyeing a late transfer window swoop for Manchester United defender Phil Jones.

What’s the story?

The Magpies have had a quiet summer thus far in terms of incomings, with Joe Willock being the only notable arrival after seeing his move from Arsenal turned into a permanent one for around £25m.

Now, according to The Daily Mail, Bruce is keen to bring in players with Premier League experience, and has got his eye on England’s Jones.

He’s a “waste of time”

If Newcastle are seriously contemplating making a move for Jones – who himself has had numerous injury problems in recent years and has missed a staggering 204 games for United since joining them – then they really need to have a strong, hard look at themselves.

Even if you didn’t include the injury issues he’s had, his performances on the pitch have left a lot to be desired too, with former Arsenal defender Martin Keown admitting he’s somewhat of a liability.

He said: “I don’t like to see someone be a figure of ridicule. But sometimes he looks like he’s on roller-skates, sometimes he looks like the stunt-man of the team.

“He’s just got to be calm and somebody has got to help him. I don’t know how much help he’s getting, but he needs it. If they haven’t got a defensive coach they need to get one, get in his ear and help him. There’s got to be a decent player in there still, but somebody has got to help him. He’s at a crossroads in his career.”

The last time Jones stepped foot on the pitch in the Premier League, he finished the campaign averaging more fouls per game than he did successful tackles or interceptions, and averaged a shocking 6.39 match rating as per Whoscored.

The fact Jones has remained at Old Trafford rather than trying to find a new club much sooner is something his former teammate Rio Ferdinand has openly questioned, leading to some very scathing criticism indeed – a question of attitude that should have the Magpies running away too.

He said: “If I was in a squad with someone like that, I’m not talking to them. They’re a waste of time. Why am I chatting to you and giving you any energy? Taking that away from my other teammates who are here to play and go into battle for 90 minutes every week.”

Earning a reported £75k-a-week, Newcastle would just be heading for a disaster both on and off the pitch with the kind of player they would be getting, and the money that they would have to pay him as well.

It’s a move that, put simply, is a “waste of time”.

Meanwhile, Newcastle are eyeing this Scottish Premiership star…

Jack Grealish has impressed since joining Manchester City and he was on top form once again for England as they beat Hungary 4-0 this week.

The 25-year-old, who joined City from Aston Villa in a deal worth £100m during the summer transfer window, spoke ahead of the game about how playing regularly for England had been a key factor in his move to the Citizens.

Despite a superb 2020/21 campaign with Dean Smith’s side, during which England team-mate Mason Mount hailed him as “unbelievable”, Grealish made just one start for England at the European Championship during the summer but was handed a spot in the starting lineup for the World Cup qualifier against Hungary on Thursday night.

He certainly gave Gareth Southgate a lot to ponder as he played superbly in the 4-0 win, giving a performance which continues to emphasise why City were willing to meet his release clause this summer.

As per SofaScore, the winger earned an impressive 8.2/10 rating for his performance, which was the best of any player to feature in the game from either team.

During the 90 minutes, Grealish complete 38 of his 44 passes, registering an impressive 86% passing accuracy, whilst he also contributed four key passes, the most of any player on the pitch.

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He played a big role in the opening goal as he played the ball through to Mason Mount to cut it back for Raheem Sterling, whilst he also claimed the assist for Declan Rice’s goal as he laid the ball off for the West Ham man to score England’s fourth of the night.

Grealish caused Hungary’s right-hand side all sorts of problems with his dribbling and passing, as right centre-back Ákos Kecskés was rated 6.0/10 and right wing-back Bendegúz Bolla earned a 6.1/10, which emphasises that the Man City maestro well and truly had the better of them.

The £100m man also created two big chances, completed two out of three of his dribbles and impressively won six out of seven of his duels during the game (SofaScore), so it was no surprise to see him rated as the best player on the pitch.

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Pep Guardiola will surely be delighted with the way the 25-year-old has started the season at Manchester City and will be hoping that this impressive England display only boosts his confidence further.

In other news… Txiki can redeem himself with move for “truly extraordinary” star

Sunderland are sitting pretty at the top of the League One table during the first international break of the season after winning four of their five matches in August.

Lee Johnson’s side came out winners against MK Dons, AFC Wimbledon, Blackpool and Wycombe, whilst their one defeat came in a 1-0 loss at Burton Albion. The Black Cats conceded four goals and scored eight on their way to the top of the table, with plenty of positivity to come from their excellent start to the campaign.

However, there are also areas where Sunderland can improve to make sure that they keep this run going and are ultimately successful at the end of the season. One player who let Lee Johnson down with his performances in August was wide midfielder Lynden Gooch.

The American started all five of Sunderland’s matches in League One and averaged a disappointing SofaScore rating of 6.66, placing him 12th in the squad. This suggests that the overall quality of his displays on the pitch was not high enough to make him one of their key players during August, as he struggled with his all-round game.

As per SofaScore, Gooch lost possession of the ball a whopping 89 times in August. He lost the ball 17.8 times per match, whilst averaging a passing completion rate of just 69%. The winger struggled to retain the ball for his side and gave it away on a regular basis, allowing the opposition more chances to attack Sunderland’s goal, although thankfully it did not have a major impact on the results in the grand scheme of things.

In terms of his end product when he did get into the final third, Gooch also struggled to provide high-end quality for Johnson’s side. To his credit, he did create one big chance and register one assist, but that was his only direct goal involvement over the course of the month. He missed two big chances and managed to fire off 10 shots in five games, failing to score.

Defensively, Gooch did little to make up for his flaws in possession. He won the ball back just 0.4 times per game and lost 59% of his duels on the pitch, whilst making 1.4 tackles and interceptions per game. This shows that he struggled all-round, letting Johnson down with his sub-par performances in League One throughout August.

AND in other news, Sunderland gem has seen value plummet £1.66m since leaving, Black Cats struck gold…

Celtic’s summer transfer window was an incredibly exciting and vibrant affair as a whole host of players joined Ange Postecoglou at Parkhead.

The Australian ensured there was a considerable upheaval of the playing staff as key players departed the Hoops but were replaced excellently with the funds available.

What’s the word?

Some of the business that Celtic concluded over the last few months was in the loan market.

Cameron Carter-Vickers became a late temporary arrival on transfer deadline day with the Spurs defender being confirmed just minutes before the window slammed shut.

They also managed to prise Jota away from Benfica on loan with an option to buy.

The forward hasn’t been seen on the field of play since arriving in Glasgow but it looks as though they already have plans to utilise that buy clause.

That’s according to Sky Sports’ Anthony Joseph who featured on The Celtic Exchange Podcast this week.

He commented: “I was told by one source that they fully expect to be trying to buy him next summer. They expect him to flourish, and they expect him to really set the place alight.

“He’s highly regarded at Celtic, and they’ve done very well to get him in with an option to buy.

“I believe it’s a bit less than £6.5m, the option to buy, I think it’s just over £6m.”

Exciting news

Jota hasn’t played a single minute for Celtic yet but this is a piece of news that should get supporters leaping for joy.

After all, the young Portuguese has immense potential and could go on to become a real star.

Portuguese football expert and Proxima Jornada’s Aaron Barton said after he signed for Celtic: “He’s tipped to be one of the brightest prospects to come out of Portugal in his age bracket.”

On top of that, he’s already been compared to some of the great wingers from his country, including a certain Manchester United legend.

Barton added: “Sometimes it can be his undoing, he does like to go back and do his man again – it’s in that very Portuguese dribbling style of running with the ball, coming almost to a standstill, throwing in a couple of step-overs and then beating the man and going.

“We saw Nani, Ricardo Quaresma and even Cristiano Ronaldo all do that same stance – they’d never be sort of just kick-and-run merchants, and Jota fits the same bill as well.”

At the age of just 22, Jota has received some phenomenal reviews without really showing much evidence of the true promise he possesses. That said, he’s suffered from a lack of football in Liga NOS.

Celtic could become the ideal opportunity for him to progress, therefore. What should also help is the fact that he’s a similar player to Liel Abada who has thrived since signing for Celtic.

Like Jota, he’s a particularly tricky winger with dangerous dribbling and that’s seen him rack up four goals and three assists in nine outings.

If the young Benfica prodigy can accumulate similar numbers then he will surely become an instant hit at Paradise.

On that evidence, it’s incredibly exciting they plan to keep him in Glasgow permanently.

AND in other news, Celtic could have another Turnbull in rarely-seen 19 y/o with “wonderful technique”…

Manchester United’s Champions League campaign got off to a disastrous start on Tuesday night after they fell to a last-minute defeat away at Young Boys.

Summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo scored his third goal in just two games since returning to the 20-time English champions, but it wasn’t enough to seal the three points in this Group F curtain-raiser.

The Portugal international opened the scoring after 13 minutes when he slotted the ball into the back of the net following a delightful through ball by compatriot Bruno Fernandes.

United were relatively comfortable at the Wankdorf Stadium in the subsequent 20 minutes as Ole Gunnar Solsjaer’s charges controlled possession and began to take control of the game.

However, Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first red card of his Red Devils career immediately changed the complexity of proceedings in Switzerland.

Moumi Ngamaleu bagged a much-deserved equaliser just after the hour mark following constant Young Boys pressure after the half-time interval before a stray backpass from substitute Jesse Lingard presented Theoson-Jordan Siebatcheu with a golden opportunity to wrap up a historical comeback victory for the Super League outfit. 

It was a poor night all round for United, with no player putting in a memorable performance, yet one arguably let Solskjaer down more than most in a hugely underwhelming midweek display.

As per SofaScore, Lingard received a match rating of just 5 out of 10, the lowest total received by anyone on the pitch in Bern.

And when taking a closer look at his underlying numbers, it’s easy to understand why. The 28-year-old came on as a 72nd substitute for Ronaldo as Solskjaer looked to catch his opponents out on the break, yet Lingard failed to make an impact in the final third.

The England international achieved a passing accuracy of just 17% after misplacing five of six attempted passes, only had eight touches and gave away possession five times.

His inability to keep hold of the ball seriously hindered United’s ability to get up the pitch and relieve the pressure on the backline and his sloppy backpass capped off a poor night on a personal level for the versatile forward.

Lingard will be hoping to bounce back quickly after enjoying a promising start to the season for both club and country, with next week’s Carabao Cup tie at home to West Ham United potentially presenting the ideal opportunity to get back to his best form.

And, in other news…Ole must keep faith with “outrageous” £175k-p/w gem, he could be MUFC’s game-changer 

Tottenham Hotspur could be gifted a second chance at signing Marco Asensio in January, according to emerging reports…

What’s the word?

Spanish publication Sport claim the 25-year-old midfielder is getting closer to leaving Real Madrid, having been frozen out by their new manager Carlo Ancelotti.

It’s thought that the Spaniard is far from happy with his role under the former Everton boss, who has not afforded him any league starts and a recent appearance on the substitutes bench against Valencia has nudged him towards an exit at the Bernabeu.

Recently, other reports in Spain suggested that Asensio was a ‘big target’ for Nuno Santo and Spurs in the summer, so the door could well open for the north London outfit to seal his signature this time around.

Second chance worth taking?

But is he a player that Spurs need or should want? The short answer is probably not.

There is no denying that Nuno’s squad is starved of creativity and that extra edge in the final third – as per The Athletic, they sit rock-bottom in the Premier League for expected goals (xG), registering a total of just 4.42.

They have also generated the second-fewest number of shots (46) and only created two big chances from their opening five matches.

The only player to be averaging above one key pass per outing, Steven Bergwijn (1.3), is currently out through injury, to make matters worse for the Portuguese head coach.

But going by Asensio’s overall record at the La Liga giants, he does not seem to be the likely solution to their problems, having only provided 37 goals and 22 assists across 198 appearances, via Transfermarkt – prior to his performance on Wednesday night.

That was direct contribution every 172 minutes.

It’s also hard to imagine that a player who has featured for only 140 minutes in 2021/22 will be able to hit the ground running in a completely different country so quickly.

If he did try to sign Asensio, new Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici could make the first major blunder of his Spurs career to date.

AND in other news, Spurs must regret not signing “exceptional” £31.5m-rated speed demon after PL masterclass…

Following a breathtaking 3-3 draw at Brentford in their previous Premier League fixture and a convincing 5-1 win against FC Porto in the Champions League, Liverpool are set to welcome Manchester City to Anfield on Sunday.

The clash is set up to be an intriguing one with the Reds, who have scored 15 goals in six league matches, facing a City side who have conceded just one goal in six top-flight games.

Milner could make the difference

One Liverpool player who will be missing from the match is right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold after Reds manager Jurgen Klopp confirmed that he is out with an injury after missing the midweek win at Porto.

Following this news, the manager revealed that the options he has to compensate for the 22-year-old’s absence are to either play James Milner, Neco Williams or Joe Gomez there, or even change the system altogether.

In our view, it should be the 35-year-old, who was described as “remarkable” by Match of the Day host Gary Lineker last month, who gets the nod over Williams or Gomez to start in the right-back position, even though Klopp revealed that the veteran apparently doesn’t like playing there.

Liverpool signed Milner, who is currently earning a weekly wage of £140k-per-week according to Spotrac, back in 2015 from Sunday’s opponents on a free transfer.

Since then, the 35-year-old – who is currently valued at £2.7m according to Transfermarkt – has made 254 appearances for the Merseysiders, more than for any other club he’s represented, with 26 goals and 45 assists along the way.

Throughout his career, Milner has played in just about every outfield position possible, providing five assists in the 15 games he has played as a right-back. While he may not like the roles and may have more experience playing in other positions, he has shown he is capable of being very effective from there.

Looking at the Porto game, the 35-year-old won three ground duels and three aerial duels, made two key passes and ultimately earned himself a solid overall match rating of 7.1/10 according to SofaScore. That shows just how capable he is of playing as a right-back who can balance attacking and defensive duties.

In our view, that should make him the favourite to fill in for Alexander-Arnold when City come to Anfield tomorrow. His experience and ability to operate at right-back could make a crucial difference against the champions’ prolific attack.

In other news: Klopp could finally replace Coutinho for Liverpool with “talented” £40.5m-rated beast – opinion