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Leeds United are closing in on their third summer signing of the transfer window as a transfer update emerges on their pursuit of Wigan starlet Sean McGurk.

What’s the story?

Reports in recent months had suggested Marcelo Bielsa’s side were eyeing up a move for the 18-year-old, who has yet to make a single appearance for the first-team with the Latics.

Speaking on The Phil Hay Show, The Athletic journalist Phil Hay previously said: “The incomings are quiet, and that was what we expected. I never rule out academy signings at Leeds, because they seem to be recruiting on that front all the time. McGurk, the youngster over at Wigan, again, that you mentioned is somebody Leeds are still interested in.”

And now, Football Insider claimed on July 6th that McGurk was undergoing his medical at Elland Road as he looks to complete his permanent move to the Yorkshire side.

It’s added that “the terms of a permanent move have been agreed following a breakthrough in talks. An industry source has told Football Insider Leeds are confident the transfer will be completed in the next 24-48 hours.”

Bielsa will be excited

After the success of Leeds’ U23s in clinching the Premier League 2 Div 2 title last season, there’s a real feel-good nature to the club’s academy side at the moment, especially with burgeoning talents like Sam Greenwood and Joe Gelhardt coming through.

Gelhardt in particular will know all about McGurk given that he too made the step up from Wigan to Leeds last summer, and it may well be just a matter of time before he’s reunited with the 18-year-old.

Able to play in central midfield or out on the right, McGurk has delivered signs of his potential, even scoring in consecutive games in the FA Youth Cup the season before last, including against Manchester United.

And, speaking earlier last year, Wigan’s U18s coach, Peter Murphy, said: “Sean (McGurk) was brilliant, he’s been amazing. He had a slow start to his scholarship with an injury in the summer, but since he’s been fit, he’s got himself into the team and stayed there. He’s so effective in games, he sets things up, he scores goals and he’ll always do that because of his ability.”

With both McGurk and Gelhardt at just 18 and 19 respectively, there’s a real chance for the duo to develop their previous off-pitch relationship at Wigan into an on-pitch partnership, especially given they play more offensively.

With deals already tied up for Amari Miller and Junior Firpo, Bielsa will surely be excited at the prospect of Leeds sealing their third summer signing in a talented prospect like McGurk.

You only have to look at Kalvin Phillips’ rise into an England international under his management to see the kind of work he can do with young players, and Bielsa will feel no different about working with McGurk.

Meanwhile, Leeds could sign a dream De Paul alternative in this star…

Tottenham Hotspur right-back Matt Doherty is expected to leave north London in the January transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to Fabrizio Romano, with the journalist revealing on a recent episode of the Here We Go podcast that Spurs boss Antonio Conte is looking to move a number of first-team players on in the upcoming winter market, and that the 29-year-old defender is one of them.

Speaking about the potential exit of the Republic of Ireland international next month, Romano said: “Doherty has a serious chance to leave in January. Tottenham are also thinking about the outgoings. Doherty is going to leave.”

Fans will be buzzing

Considering how poor Doherty has generally been for Tottenham since his £15m move to North London back in the summer of 2020, the news that Spurs are looking to move the right-back on this winter is sure to have left many of the club’s fanbase buzzing.

Indeed, over his 17 Premier League appearances last season – only 13 of which came as starts – the £10.8m-rated defender helped his side keep a mere three clean sheets, as well as being beaten by an opponent an average of 1.2 times and losing possession of the ball a whopping 13.3 times per game.

These returns saw the £74k-per-week man earn an extremely disappointing seasonal SofaScore match rating of just 6.76, ranking him as Spurs’ 11th-worst performer in the top flight of English football last time out.

Things have not improved for the right-back over his four league outings this season, with the former Wolverhampton Wanderers defender averaging a SofaScore match rating of 6.72 – ranking him as Antonio Conte’s eighth-worst player in the division so far.

As such, it will perhaps come as no surprise to many Tottenham fans that, in a recent poll ran on Football FanCast, the overwhelming majority of Spurs supporters voted in favour of their club moving the 29-year-old onto pastures new this winter.

As a result, Romano’s latest update will undoubtedly come as music to the ears of many involved with the club, and we would have to agree that Doherty’s rather hefty weekly wage could easily be put to much better use by Fabio Paratici and Conte in the January transfer window.

In other news: Conte may have found his new Skriniar as THFC make contact for £76m-rated “oil tanker”

Former Premier League striker Kevin Campbell has given his reaction to Leeds United transfer news involving Rangers winger Ryan Kent. 

The lowdown: Kent a target for Leeds

This comes following a report from Football Insider which claimed that the Whites are interested in signing the 25-year-old.

The ex-Liverpool academy prospect could be viewed as a potential replacement for Raphinha should the highly sought-after Brazilian move on from Elland Road.

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Kent is believed to have a £20m release clause in his contract at Ibrox – a deal which expires in 2023 (Transfermarkt) – although Campbell has suggested that it would be money well spent by Leeds.

The latest: ‘Very good business’

Speaking to Football Insider, the former Arsenal striker claimed that Kent would be capable of filling the void left by Raphinha if the Brazilian departs.

The 52-year-old said: “He’s done a great job up there under Steven Gerrard and now Giovanni van Bronckhorst, he’s been a real star.

“If Leeds look at him as the one who can come in and take that Raphinha role, with Dan James moving over to the right, then I think that would be very good business.”

The verdict: Time to move?

Since moving north of the border, Kent has been superb for Rangers and has directly contributed to 74 goals in 164 outings for the Scottish Premiership side.

So far this season, the man once hailed as ‘sensational’ by his former Ibrox boss Steven Gerrard has scored three times and provided 16 assists despite suffering with a hamstring injury for most of the autumn.

As for replacing Raphinha, the £12.6m-valued Englishman predominantly operates from the left wing and would require the switch for Dan James, as mentioned by Campbell, to work in order to make the move worthwhile.

Given that some of the Welshman’s best performances this season have come when operating on the right on occasion, it could be a reshuffle worth making, therefore adding weight to the theory behind Leeds moving for Kent.

In other news, journalist backs Leeds move for Austrian Bundesliga star. Read more here

West Brom have been struggling to register winning form in the last few weeks, failing to take three points from their last three games.

Valerien Ismael’s side were expected to return to the Premier League with ease, but Fulham and Bournemouth’s form has been undeniable, creating a significant gap of seven points between the two automatic qualifying spots and the Baggies.

One player who plays a crucial part in the team’s system, offering consistency and quality, is goalkeeper, Sam Johnstone.

The goalkeeper has been with West Brom since 2018, with 149 appearances and has gained the attention of many established Premier League clubs.

According to The Dialy Mail, Johnstone is a prime target for Tottenham Hotspur, with 35-year-old Hugo Lloris coming to the end of his contract this season.

The goalkeeper has not only received attention at club level, but was also called up to the England squad for Euro 2020. Despite not playing a game, the 28-year-old has remained part of Gareth Southgate’s plans and has gained three international caps this year, including squad appearances in World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

The £7.2m-rated titan is out of contract in the Summer and there has been a lot of talk on his future, including West Brom potentially cashing in on the keeper in January, which could be a huge mistake in the campaign for West Brom to gain promotion this season.

The West Brom boss had spoken out at the beginning of the season about the in-demand goalkeeper and his contract;

“He came back early from his holiday – which is a sign,” Ismael told. “I have spoken with him and the feeling is that Sam is happy to be back, for sure.

“We know the situation with him, but he’s given – completely – another feeling. You can see he is a big professional.”

As the side are currently struggling to make their impact on a title challenge and moving further back in the race for automatic promotion, it would not seem wise to cash in on the goalkeeper in January, but to hold down the player until, at least, the end of his contract, and re-explore opportunities to potentially keep hold of him should they be in a more attractive position in the league in the new year.

The cost of not being promoted back into the Premier League is far greater than the cost of losing, arguably, the best player at the club and Ismael should do whatever it takes to keep their greatest asset at the club until the summer, at the very least. After all, if he does go, it could prove disastrous at the Hawthorns.

Albion face Nottingham Forest on Friday and will be hoping to secure a crucial three points from the game at home.

In other news: Kipre drops a shocker against Blackpool

Harry Kane continued his fine form as the creative hub of Antonio Conte’s Tottenham Hotspur side as they thrashed Aston Villa in their own backyard on Saturday evening.

The win puts Spurs in a very healthy position in the race for the top four, leaving it in their own hands heading into the final month of the 2021/22 season.

Heung-min Son will take plenty of the plaudits, haunting the Midlands outfit – as he often does – with a hat-trick as he and his attacking teammates put in a clinical masterclass.

A trio of fine finishes with an equally sublime effort from Dejan Kulusevski sealed the victory up at Villa Park and it moved them three points clear of arch-rivals Arsenal in fourth place.

Kane may appear to have taken a backseat on the night, failing to score for a third game running in the Premier League, but he was once again a major creative outlet as he contributed his eighth and ninth assists of the season, in which five have come in that barren three-game run.

One of these assists saw him flick on a long ball from Cristian Romero straight into the path of Son, who raced in between the two Villa centre-backs before slotting past ex-Gunners goalkeeper Emi Martinez with aplomb.

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With the likes of Brighton, Brentford, Burnley and Norwich City on the horizon, Conte will be delighted with the way his side – particularly Kane – is playing.

On top of those two assists, he was also involved in a third with another well-timed and pin-point header, and he also registered three successful dribbles, made 93% of his 15 passing attempts and won a whopping 14 duels, both on the ground and in the air, as he had Three Lions’ teammate Tyrone Mings’ number all game.

Indeed, just as analyst Statman Dave suggested on Twitter, it was a “complete CF display” from England’s no.9. Meanwhile, the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick dubbed the £90m-rated talisman “decisive”, with football.london’s Tom Clark also described the form Kane’s in as “ridiculous” even without scoring.

Both Mings and Ezri Konsa will be having nightmares following that display from Kane and without him, you’d have to wonder if Son would’ve got the chances he did.

The 28-year-old striker is one of the most important cogs to this Conte system and we witnessed a creative masterclass at Villa Park. He ran the proceedings, there’s no doubt about that.

AND in other news, Spurs plot record-breaking swoop for £100m-rated “tank”…

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa is facing a key issue that needs solving for the club in the Premier League as Patrick Bamford remains out injured.

The Whites head coach has already confirmed that the forward will be absent for the League Cup clash with Arsenal, with question marks still hovering over his availability for next weekend’s huge clash with Norwich at Carrow Road.

Bamford watched on from the sidelines as Leeds scraped a 1-1 draw at home to Wolves on Saturday, which came after he also sat out of the 1-0 defeat to Southampton the previous week.

With one goal scored in two games, which came from the penalty spot, Bielsa clearly needs to inject some attacking quality into his team to improve their chances of picking up points. A defeat to Norwich next weekend would see Leeds just two points ahead of the Canaries, who are currently bottom on two points after nine games.

One thing he could do to improve the attack is unleashing 19-year-old gem Joe Gelhardt. Starting the promising young attacker could add some much-needed energy, enthusiasm, and quality to their frontline, against both Arsenal and Norwich.

Leeds Live reporter Beren Cross once claimed that Gelhardt is ‘absolutely outrageous’ and hailed the club’s work to bring him to the club from Wigan.

He said: “I think it remains, It’s very opportunistic. I think as we saw with Gelhardt, I think that was very much, unfortunately for Wigan, a case of Wigan were in administration, and they had to take what they could get.

“And as I’m sure we’ll find out in the years ahead, Gelhardt may well be the best bit businesses the club has done in the last 20 years, if not ever, because he just looks absolutely outrageous, very, very good player.”

Gelhardt came off the bench against Wolves at the weekend for his second-ever Premier League appearance, with both of his top-flight displays to date coming as a substitute.

He came ever so close to scoring his first goal in the cameo, with Jose Sa pulling off a sensational fingertip save to deny him. The youngster did make a telling contribution in the end, though, as he won the penalty after a silky piece of play in the box before Rodrigo stuck away the spot-kick to secure a point.

The former Wigan man has scored 17 goals in 23 Premier League 2 matches for Leeds, suggesting that he is too good to be playing development football. That is why Bielsa must unleash him from the start against Arsenal and Norwich, as he could solve the goalscoring issue they are facing with Bamford on the sidelines, judging by his performance against Wolves and his incredible record at youth level.

AND in other news, Leeds sealed dream deal over “very talented” gem whose value has increased 2300%…

Liam Kennedy has identified AC Milan’s Franck Kessie as a potential target for Newcastle United. 

The lowdown

Perhaps the key detail regarding Kessie is that he’s into the final year of his contract at San Siro. He reportedly rejected the offer of a new deal from Milan in September.

Despite the uncertainty, Kessie has started six games for the Rossoneri so far this season.

He’s averaged 2.6 accurate long balls, 1.2 tackles and 1.2 key passes per 90 minutes in Serie A (via WhoScored).

The Ivorian has been hailed as ‘a complete player’ by Milan boss Stefano Pioli.

The latest

Kennedy, writing for Newcastle World, runs through some ‘realistic and ambitious names’ which the Toon ‘could be looking at’.

Among them is Kessie, who would add ‘some much-needed defensive steel to the Magpies midfield’.

Kennedy hails the 24-year-old as a ‘super-talented’ and ‘dominating’ figure in the middle of the park.

The verdict

This Newcastle squad is perhaps in need of a new defensive midfielder. Steve Bruce thought so at the start of the summer window, but no deal was feasible.

Kessie is a specialist in the position and could transform it from an area of weakness to a real strength.

What’s more, his contract situation means Newcastle could try to sign him on a free transfer, though they will surely face stern competition.

In other news, this blockbuster managerial candidate has one vital condition. 

Aston Villa are preparing to make a new move for Juventus star Weston McKennie in the January transfer window.

What’s the story?

Italian publication Sport Mediaset claimed that the Bianconeri would be willing to let the USA international go this summer, with “strong interest” from both Villa and fellow Premier League side Spurs.

While a move failed to materialise before the deadline, journalist Alan Nixon has now revealed that Dean Smith’s side will look to make a fresh attempt at signing McKennie in the upcoming January transfer window.

He adds that Juventus have told the midfielder that he can find a new home as soon as possible, and Villa could now look to take advantage of the situation.

Fans will be buzzing

Hailed as a “leader” by David Wagner, McKennie’s performances in the Bundesliga for Schalke earned him a high-profile move to Juventus, where former boss Andrea Pirlo was a big fan of his.

Calling him a “rock”, the Italy icon added: “He’s young and can improve a lot. In my opinion, he’s a midfielder who can play as a No 8 in a three in midfield, right or left. He gets in the box and scores goals but he’s also very good at winning the ball back.

“His role is in a three in midfield as one of the two players on either side of the regista. Last year we played in a different system, so he had to adapt.”

Dubbed as an “outstanding talent”, the £22.5m-rated McKennie is as Pirlo says, a real box-to-box threat. While the end product hasn’t always been there – he’s only scored 11 goals in his short career thus far – all the key elements are: the power, the pace, the tackling and the energy to get up and down the pitch.

As per Whoscored, he has an impressive career average of making 1.3 tackles and 1.2 interceptions per game, while also managing just a shade under one shot and key pass per match too – a real indication of his all-action style of play.

Johan Lange renewing his interest in the midfielder is sure to have fans buzzing.

Given they failed to bring in a new central midfielder in the summer transfer window – the club were trying to sign Southampton’s James Ward-Prowse – a move for McKennie would go a long way to addressing that iss

Meanwhile, Ashley Preece has confirmed this major Aston Villa boost…

Southampton really need to start picking up points, and capitalising on a Norwich vs Newcastle draw should be Ralph Hasenhuttl’s goal tonight by earning three points and pulling further away from the relegation zone into a safer position in the Premier League.

Hasenhuttl will have a challenge on his hands when it comes to beating Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City side, but with only one player out with an injury, the Saints manager has the pick of the bunch to build a team and offer a tactical masterclass against the Foxes.

Saints had an awful first half against Liverpool last weekend, conceding three goals before the interval after Hasenhuttl set up the team all out for attack, which fell flat very fast when Jota scored in the second minute of the game.

The Austrian quickly changed the formation to the back four and made two substitutions at the break that were integral to stumping Liverpool from putting more than one goal past them in the second half of the game.

With that being said, here is how Football FanCast expect Southampton to set up against Leicester City;

We expect that Hasenhuttl will play it a little safer with his formation and tactics against Leicester, after the chaos of the first half against Liverpool, with a Ralph classic 4-2-2-2 formation, adding Nathan Redmond and Nathan Tella, whilst axing Jan Bednarak and Che Adams from the starting side.

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The £74k-per-week star, Redmond, and young winger, Nathan Tella, can be introduced into the starting team to help with building play and finding space to move the ball forward to assist both Adam Armstrong and Armando Broja in goal scoring opportunities that won’t come easy creating.

Redmond offers experience, high-quality dribbling skills and a strong attacking presence that will help Saints break down the Leicester defence to hopefully score and gain control of the game very early on.

Tella, who has scored two goals and offered one assist so far this term, we expect to come back into the team after being out of favour for the starting line up over the last few weeks. The wide man proved himself useful whilst playing a part in the damage control half of the heavy defeat at Anfield last weekend, so the manager may well deem him worthy of a starting position.

Southampton really need to take a win from the Foxes this evening and Saints fans will surely be hoping Hasenhuttl has learned from his mistakes last weekend.

In other news: An injury boost ahead of Leicester clash for Saints

Serie A expert Conor Clancy does not believe that Rafael Leao should move to Wolves despite links with the Premier League club this summer.

Wolves were first linked with an interest in the striker back in May, with the club looking to bolster their forward line amid doubts over the fitness of Raul Jimenez, who sustained a sickening head injury last term.

Leao is 22 and has been with the Serie A club since 2019, and he has gone on to make 73 appearances for the club.

In that time, though, he has scored just 13 goals, enduring hit-and-miss periods during his time at the San Siro. He has also laid on nine assists.

Leao has a contract until 2024 and is valued at £22.5m by Transfermarkt, and Clancy has warned that he is better off staying where he is and continuing to improve than trying to make a big-money switch to England.

The editor in chief of Forza Italian Football said: “I’m not sure if Leao would be a hit anywhere at the moment. He is very hit and miss. I do really like him but I think he’s guilty of making the same odd mistakes.

“His decisions aren’t always the greatest and his finishing is not always the best. I think the best place for him now is to just stay by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s side and let him take him on a little bit further because he has improved under Ibra.”