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An update has emerged on Wolves centre-back Conor Coady, regarding Newcastle’s interest in his services.

What’s the talk?

According to The Sun, Frank McPartland, a leading advisor for Amanda Staveley, is championing a move for the England international ahead of the January transfer window.

The report claims that it would take an offer in the region of £20m to prise him away from Molineux, along with big wages to tempt him to quit Wolves.

Fans would be fuming

PIF must avoid their first major blunder as owners of Newcastle following this update on Coady. The fans would surely be fuming if the club splurged out on £20m for the centre-back when it could be better spent elsewhere.

Coady is renowned for his leadership and personality on and off the pitch. He has been the captain at Wolves since Nuno Santo initially joined in 2017 and his former Liverpool teammate Adam Morgan once hailed him as a ‘mentality monster’, saying:

“Some players leave a big club, their boyhood club, and they struggle to adjust. They can’t get their head round the fact they’ve dropped down.

“I couldn’t. I wasn’t mentally strong at that time. I am now, but I wasn’t then. Conor was different.

“A lot of football is played in the head, and Conor is as mentally strong as you can get. That’s a quality you can’t buy, but he had it in abundance. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realise Conor Coady was going to be OK when he left Liverpool. He was always a mentality monster.”

This suggests that Coady would be a fantastic presence to have around the club with the way he conducts himself on and off the pitch. However, you also want a top-class player if you are paying £20m and splashing out on significant wages. Simply, his statistics for Wolves do not suggest that Newcastle would be getting one.

In the 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21 campaigns, Coady averaged WhoScored ratings of 6.45, 6.51 and 6.53 respectively. During that same period, Lascelles, who is one year younger than the ex-Liverpool man, averaged scores of 6.80, 6.70 and 6.60. This suggests that the current Magpies defender has performed to a significantly higher level, despite declining each year, which is why the supporters would be furious to see such a fee spent on the Wolves man.

Therefore, PIF would be committing their first real blunder by spending big money to bring Coady to the club. Instead, they should look to bring in a player who can stand out on the pitch in the Premier League whilst also offering leadership in the dressing room. A daunting task… but one that could be worthwhile if they can unearth a gem in the transfer market.

AND in other news, Forget Wilson: Newcastle beast with 8 clearances stole the show vs Palace…

Crystal Palace are reportedly interested in signing Reading midfielder John Swift, according to Football League World.

The Lowdown: Swift’s situation

Swift has started the 2021/22 campaign in fine form for The Royals, scoring seven times and registering five assists in 10 Championship fixtures.

The 26-year-old, who has been with his current employers since 2016, is almost into the final six months of his contract. He has scored 39 senior goals during his career and is on £25,000 per week, less than Palace full-back Tyrick Mitchell, who is among the lowest earners at Selhurst Park.

The Latest: Palace interest

Football League World shared a story on Thursday morning, claiming that Palace, along with Premier League rivals Burnley, Norwich and Wolves, are interested in a January move for Swift.

It could well be a cut-price transfer when you take his contract into consideration, with the attacking midfielder unlikely to pen new terms with Reading.

The Verdict: Wise move?

Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman has reaped the rewards of dipping into the Championship market in recent years, most notably with the arrival of Eberechi Eze from QPR.

Loanee Conor Gallagher is set to return to Chelsea at the end of the season, so bringing in Swift in the winter could help him settle at Selhurst Park ahead of taking over from the 21-year-old next season.

He is capable of playing as a central or attacking midfielder and appears to be at the top of his game following his impressive start to the season, so a cut-price deal could be a shrewd call by Freedman.

In other news: ‘Wanted this to happen for so long’ – Many CPFC fans buzzing as news emerges on £25k-p/w ace

Evening Standard football writer Jack Rosser believes that Totenham Hotspur will look to try do some more business before the window closes.

Manager Nuno Espirito Santo has already been active in the summer window making three new additions to his Spurs squad, with Cristian Romero, Pierluigi Gollini and Bryan Gil all signing deals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with Barcelona’s Emerson Royal reportedly set to follow.

Spurs have started the season in fine form, winning both of their opening two matches in the Premier League against Manchester City and Wolves and were buoyed by the news that Harry Kane is staying at the club.

Jack Rosser believes that Tottenham will look to try and do some more business before the window shuts, telling Football FanCast: “I think they’ll look to try and do something by the sounds of it. Keeping Kane is obviously a big carrot for any signing that you’re going to go out and try and get now. 

“They’re not going to have to try and replace him or anything like that, they’re not going to have that burden. So yeah, I think they’ll look to do something, and I think Spurs fans can be quietly encouraged by the start of the season and keeping Kane as well.”

Spurs have also beaten Pacos de Ferreira 3-1 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa Conference League and progressed to the group stages, where they will face Stade Rennes, SBV Vitesse, NS Mura in Group G.

Sunderland are set to sanction the temporary departure of Anthony Patterson from the Stadium of Light.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a claim made by Alan Nixon, with The Sun journalist revealing in a post on Twitter that Notts County are closing in on a move for the 21-year-old goalkeeper, who looks set to join the National League side on a season-long loan deal.

In his tweet, Nixon said: “Notts County. Signing keeper Patterson from Sunderland on loan.”

Good news for Sunderland

It is undeniable that Patterson is a goalkeeper who boasts plenty of potential, but with Lee Johnson signing Bayern Munich’s Ron-Thorben Hoffmann in the summer transfer window, as well as already having Lee Burge in his ranks, loaning out the 21-year-old would appear to be a smart move by the Black Cats.

Indeed, Patterson impressed over his two League One appearances so far this season, with the youngster keeping one clean sheet, conceding one goal and making four saves.

These returns saw the £600-per-week ‘keeper average a SofaScore match rating of 6.95, ranking the 21-year-old as the Black Cats’ eighth-best performer in the third tier of English football – albeit with a limited sample size of fixtures.

The player who Johnson himself dubbed an “excellent” talent also turned in impressive displays in each of his two appearances in the Carabao Cup, averaging a SofaScore match rating of 7.05 in the competition.

As such, it is clear that Patterson is a goalkeeper who has the ability to one day become the Mackems’ first choice in the position. However, with both Hoffmann and Burge ahead of the 21-year-old in the pecking order, a loan move to a club where he will more than likely receive ample game-time this season is certainly the most beneficial decision for his development as a player, and should duly be good news for the future of the club.

In other news: Johnson drops injury update on “outstanding” 20 y/o, Sunderland fans will be buzzing

As shared by The Evening Standard, West Ham United boss David Moyes has been dealt a blow for Thursday evening with defender Vladimir Coufal still out of action.

The Lowdown: Coufal ‘discomfort’…

The Czech Republic star, who has been a revelation since his 2020 move from Slavia Prague, missed West Ham’s last Premier League game away to Everton due to injury.

Moyes, providing a cryptic update on Coufal’s condition after their 1-0 win at Goodison Park, revealed that he missed the trip due to ‘discomfort’ he has been carrying for a ‘few weeks’ (West Ham Zone).

The Latest: Coufal set to miss Genk…

While the Scotsman didn’t provide an update on the right-back in his pre-Europa League press conference yesterday, a report from The Evening Standard has shared his condition.

According to their confirmed team news and injuries piece, Coufal is indeed still out and set to miss tonight’s highly-anticipated clash at the London Stadium.

They say he is still nursing the groin injury and Moyes will also have to cope without summer signing Alex Kral, who has come down with COVID-19, and potentially Ryan Fredericks too, who is a doubt.

The Verdict: Blow for Moyes…

After winning their first two matches, West Ham could take one giant leap towards finishing top of Group H with another victory tonight.

If Moyes’ men can secure top spot, they would immediately qualify for the post-Christmas round of 16 as per the new Europa League format.

Tonight certainly comes as a big occasion in east London and losing Coufal through injury is undoubtedly a blow, especially considering he was a key player last season and lauded as ‘absolutely sensational’ by Stuart Pearce (Super Six Podcast via HITC).

In other news: ‘Yes yes yes’, ‘No brainer’…West Ham fans excited as contact made to sign ‘big’ striker, find out more here.

Former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley hopes that Brennan Johnson stays at the City Ground this summer. 

The 20-year-old has featured in all four of Forest’s opening Championship fixtures providing an assist for Lyle Taylor on the opening day of the season against Coventry.

The youngster spent last season out on loan at Lincoln City and was in fantastic form, scoring 13 goals and providing 14 assists and helped Lincoln reach the play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

His performances have captured the attention of Premier League newcomers Brentford but the Athletic reported that Brentford had been unsuccessful with their latest bid for the attacking midfielder and said that Forest value Johnson at around £10m, but the Bees’ bid fell considerably short of that figure.

Crossley hopes that Johnson stays at the City Ground, telling The Transfer Tavern: “I’d like to see him put pen to paper, sign a new deal. His career is more important moving forward rather than instantly going to a Premier League club where he probably wouldn’t play on a regular basis. 

“I’d like to see him stay at Forest because I really like him, I think he’s an excellent talent and for Forest to do well they need to keep hold of the talent that they’ve actually got.”

With just a week to go in the transfer window, will Nottingham Forest be able to stave off interest in Johnson and keep him at the City Ground?

Journalist Pete O’Rourke says that he ‘could see’ Celtic bringing in further attacking reinforcements before the window is out.

He was discussing The Hoops’ January transfer business with GiveMeSport.

The lowdown

Celtic have made four signings so far this month, shelling out a total of £2.2m. In addition to midfielders Reo Hatate and Yosuke Ideguchi, they’ve recruited Daizen Maeda, who can play as a left winger and through the middle, and centre-forward Johnny Kenny.

It is worth noting, though, that the latter is only 18 years old and is making a step-up from the League of Ireland (ranked 40th in Europe) to the Scottish Premiership (ranked ninth), so he may not be expected to make an impact at first-team level straight away.

The latest

O’Rourke alluded to how Celtic’s plethora of injuries, particularly among their forward players, has perhaps led to summer signing Jota being overburdened, but he believes the club could address that by doing further business in the remaining two weeks of the transfer window.

He told GiveMeSport: “I could see that being the case, that Celtic are looking to strengthen (in attack). Obviously, we know that they’ve had lots of injury problems this season.

“James Forrest has been in and out of the side, Mikey Johnson struggled as well. So, a lot of it’s been down to Jota, who is just recovering from injury himself.”

The verdict

Who could the next attacking addition possibly be?

One name to have been linked with a move to Celtic is Shabab Al-Ahli’s Mehdi Ghayedi. Varzesh Seh have reported that Ange Postecoglou is very keen to land the Iranian forward, who has been labelled an ‘extraordinary killer’.

The 23-year-old, who is valued at just shy of £1.1m by Transfermarkt, can play across the frontline, offering tremendous versatility. Also, with 41 career goals to his name, he could be a smart signing for the club if they can bring him in.

Given the injury issues that O’Rourke has mentioned, Celtic could do worse than further reinforcing their attacking ranks while they are getting the chance this month.

In other news, Celtic have taken this bold contractual step

Leeds United’s return to the Premier League saw them embark on a bit of a spending spree under Marcelo Bielsa, and the Whites’ most high-profile signing was undeniably the capture of Valencia star Rodrigo.

Reports claimed that the Yorkshire club shelled out a club-record sum to bring the Spain international at Elland Road, and almost a couple of years later, it’s quite safe to say things haven’t really worked out for the forward – he’s managed just 12 goals and three assists in 55 games across all competitions for Leeds.

What perhaps makes a move for Rodrigo even worse now on reflection, is that they were actually also attempting to sign Rafael Leao at the same time back in 2020.

Football Insider claimed that the Portugal Leao was of interest to Leeds, although it was suggested that luring him away from the San Siro may prove to be “complicated” as Milan still had “high hopes” for him.

It was added the Whites had made enquiries for the attacker, and that if Milan were going to sell, it would be for nothing less than the £20m they themselves have paid to sign him for French side Lille.

Since that deal failed to come to fruition, Leao has come on leaps and bounds in his time in Serie A.

Now valued at £60m by CIES, the 22-year-old – almost a decade younger than Rodrigo – has really come to the party for Milan this season, bagging 11 goals and providing another six assists in 34 games across all competitions – including notching in the Champions League earlier this year.

The president of Leao’s former club, Lille, Gerard Lopez simply declared him the “Portuguese Mbappe”, while Sporting CP’s former youth coach, Tiago Fernandes, proclaimed: “I pushed (then-Sporting coach) Jorge Jesus to take him in the first team and I said to him: ‘Yes, Gelson Martins has talent but Rafael is the best player in the history of the Sporting Academy’. At youth level, he was better than Cristiano Ronaldo.”

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Dubbed as an “extraordinary talent” by Croatia legend Zvonimir Boban, it’s clear missing out on Leao may rank as one of  Victor Orta’s biggest howlers at Elland Road, especially when you consider how Rodrigo’s career has turned out.

The man with 34 career goals to his name could have been a superstar signing for the Whites up front.

AND in other news: Orta can now axe “awful” £55k-p/w flop as Leeds eye “underrated” £12.5m-rated “threat”

Having been winless in their last three games, Southampton went into Saturday afternoon’s home clash against fellow south coast side Brighton hopeful for their first win in almost a month.

The Saints had impressed in midweek as they took the lead twice against Leicester City at St Mary’s, but couldn’t secure a victory over the Foxes with Jonny Evans and James Maddison scoring in reply.

However, with Brighton winless in nine top-flight matches, a run which started back in September, it appeared the ideal opportunity for the Saints to record a fourth league win of the season.

All was going to plan when Armando Broja’s cool finish gave Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men a deserved 1-0 lead going into half-time, with the score arguably flattering the visitors. However, Neal Maupay’s 98th-minute tap-in secured a dramatic point for Albion which saw Southampton lose points from a winning position yet again.

Despite the draw, there was one man who deserved plaudits for the Saints, namely Nathan Redmond.

Today saw the winger become the first Southampton player to register an assist in four consecutive Premier League home games, as well as becoming the first to do so in the English top flight since Kevin De Bruyne in October 2019.

The 27-year-old’s flick-on proved vital as Broja latched onto the pass to coolly finish past Robert Sanchez in the Brighton goal in the 29th minute.

Throughout the contest, the £16.2m-rated man was a livewire for the hosts, constantly looking to get the ball forward. In fact, he produced two key passes and had a 63% pass completion rate.

Realistically, the Saints should’ve had the game wrapped up before the Seagulls’ equaliser. According to SofaScore, Hasenhuttl’s side managed four shots on target as well as a further six off target and four blocked.

Yet again, it’s an opportunity missed for Southampton, but Redmond once again proved his value to the side and will surely continue to be a regular in the Austrian’s plans.

Everton academy director David Unsworth is to leave the club to ‘pursue his managerial ambitions’, Sky Sports News report. 

The lowdown

In addition to overseeing the academy, Unsworth was also the Under-23 boss at Goodison Park.

He’s had two spells at the caretaker manager during his time at the club, first at the end of the 2015/16 season when Roberto Martinez left the club, and more recently in the autumn of 2017 following the departure of Ronald Koeman.

Unsworth, a left-back, spent 11 years of his playing career with The Toffees across two stints (1992-1997 and 1998-2004). Overall, he made 329 appearances and scored 40 goals.

The latest

Sky Sports journalist Tom White broke the news live on air on Tuesday morning.

Unsworth wants to step up from coaching youth football and occupy the hot seat at the senior level.

“Significant news coming out of Everton,” White said. “David Unsworth is going to leave his position at the club.

He added: “He’s leaving because he wants to become a first-team manager, so that will be elsewhere.”

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The verdict

Chairman Bill Kenwright says the club are ‘sad’ to see Unsworth after a lengthy period of ‘great’ service. He also hailed the 48-year-old as a ‘winner’.

Theoretically, Paul Tait, the current Under-18 coach, may now be promoted to the U23 role. He’s steered Everton’s teenagers to fifth place in the current U18 Premier League standings.

But could another coach follow Unsworth out the door in the coming years?

Ashley Cole, who joined Frank Lampard’s staff in February, has said he ‘definitely’ wants to take on a managerial position. If an opportunity to be the main man presents itself in the future, he may also be tempted, leaving Lampard with plenty of moving pieces in the summer.

In other news, journalist Paul Brown has dropped this Frank Lampard claim.