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West Bromwich Albion reportedly have their eye on making a move to sign Leicester City goalkeeper Daniel Iversen.

What’s the news?

According to a recent Twitter post from journalist Alan Nixon, the Baggies are “keen” on signing the shot-stopper, alongside fellow Championship club Sunderland.

He also added that a potential deal involving Iversen will depend on whether he leaves Leicester on a loan deal or a permanent basis.

Nixon ended his tweet saying that he suspects the Danish goalkeeper’s situation won’t be decided until later in the window.

With 32 appearances for Leicester’s U23 side under his belt, the 25-year-old has managed to keep 12 clean sheets along the way.

Great news for Bruce

Iversen spent last season and the second half of the campaign before that on loan with Preston North End, where he has racked up 71 appearances in total and kept 23 clean sheets in the process.

Last season saw the Leicester figure face more shots on target (180) with Preston than any other goalkeeper in the division and managed to make the second-highest number of saves (126) as a result.

In fact, according to WhoScored, only three other Preston players won more man-of-the-match awards throughout the previous campaign than the on-loan goalkeeper.

This, and the fact that he played more minutes than any other player at the Lancashire club last season shows just important he was for them and how capable he is of playing in the Championship.

With all of that in mind and the fact the Baggies have seen Sam Johnstone leave the club this summer, a move for Iversen could be just what Steve Bruce needs for his side as they look to once again make a push for promotion back to the Premier League.

Now that the Hawthorns outfit only have David Button, who failed to keep a clean sheet in West Brom’s recent 1-1 draw against Middlesbrough, and Alex Palmer as their main options in goal, adding a figure like Iversen that certainly has what it takes to make himself the first-choice goalkeeper could be a smart move for the Baggies.

With Bruce recently saying that he wants to add some new players to his squad before the transfer window closes, most likely on loan deals, the Leicester shot-stopper should definitely be in the mix to make a move back to the Championship with the Baggies in the coming days and weeks.

AND in other news: Bruce can form frightening WBA duo with “physical” 19 y/o target, imagine him & Swift

Wolverhampton Wanderers could be set to lose one of their most influential players to a Premier League rival… 

What’s the word?

According to Sky Sports, club captain Conor Coady could be set for a return to Merseyside. With Everton interested in the defender, the Old Gold remain keen on keeping the England international at the club.

However, due to the arrival of Nathan Collins, they appreciate that the skipper’s minutes will be reduced this season. Therefore, there is the potential that the 29-year-old could become the sixth player to leave Molineux for good this summer.

 It would be a huge mistake

Coady has been instrumental in Wolves’ resurgence from a Championship team to an established Premier League outfit.

Having captained the club since their promotion in 2018, his adaptability, leadership and influence on the field cannot be understated. To lose this kind of figure could have a huge effect on the dressing room and must be avoided at all costs.

The defender has featured 317 times for the Old Gold and can be regarded as something of a cult hero around Molineux.

It boggles the mind how Bruno Lage is willing to sacrifice the man who only last season played in every one of their Premier League games. He was at the heart of a Wolves team which conceded just 43 goals, the fewest of any team who finished outside the top four.

Described as a “perfect leader and organiser” by Tim Spiers, the journalist further outlined some of the qualities that Lage would lose and Everton would be delighted to gain if Coady were to swap Molineux for Goodison Park – “clearing shots off the line”, “he’s become more aggressive”, “winning duels”, “kept physical strikers (Antonio and Wood) quiet.”

Whilst the 29-year-old’s supposed replacement Collins is a skilful defender who can come up with stunning moments, the motivating qualities that Wolves would lose if the captain were to depart could be catastrophic, while they would also be strengthening a direct rival in Everton.

Having lost five and drawn two of their final seven Premier League fixtures last season, Lage’s team were seemingly in freefall.

Starting the new season in that kind of wretched form could see them dragged into a relegation scrap, and without Coady, it could really emphasise just how huge a mistake it might be to allow him to leave.

Aston Villa return to Premier League action today as they welcome Everton to the Midlands to kickstart their home campaign.

Villains boss Steven Gerrard will be hoping to get his side performing better than last weekend, as they ran out a 2-0 defeat to newly promoted AFC Bournemouth.

Backed in the transfer market with no less than five summer signings, pressure will build on the English boss should he start this season off poorly. Their opening day result may reflect in his team selection to face the toffees.

Here’s the XI we’re predicting for today’s encounter…

In goal, Emiliano Martinez is a certainty to continue in between the sticks, looking to continue his fine form from last season.

Similarly, the back four almost names itself, with Matty Cash and Lucas Digne nailed on to start. Diego Carlos will likely partner Ezri Konsa once more, earning his home debut as Tyrone Mings continues his spell on the sidelines following the stripping of his captaincy as he continues to nurse his injury.

Gerrard will likely continue with his 4-2-3-1 system, allowing his front four to devastate defences with the defensive security of John McGinn and Boubacar Kamara, who made his debut last week and will also be welcomed to the Villa support.

Jacob Ramsey will therefore continue just in front of them and will be given the majority of the transitional burden, as he looks to convert safe play in midfield to chances up front.

It is up front where there may be a change, however, after Ollie Watkins’ surprise omission from the starting squad last week led reports to emerge that the £75k-per-week star was feuding with the manager.

Danny Ings will likely start up front and will be flanked by the South American flair of Emi Buendia and Phillipe Coutinho, forming a scary front three to take on the three centre-backs of Everton.

Predicted Villa XI (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Cash, Konsa, Carlos, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, Ramsey, Buendia, Coutinho, Ings

Everton are one of the clubs interested in signing Bristol City forward Antoine Semenyo in the summer transfer window, according to a fresh update by reliable journalist Adrian Kajumba.

The Lowdown: Semenyo stars for Bristol City

The 22-year-old has been one of side’s best players in recent times, proving to be a regular supplier of end product in the final third.

Semenyo chipped in with an impressive tally of 20 goal involvements last season (8 goals, 12 assists), Nigel Pearson also described him as a ‘nightmare to play against’.

It could be that the Ghanaian has outgrown City, with Premier League interest now emerging, including from Everton.

The Latest: Everton linked with move

According to Kajumba, writing for The Daily Mail, the Blues are eyeing up a summer move for Semenyo, with Crystal Palace and Bournemouth also battling to acquire his signature.

The Eagles are ‘prepared to pay £12million’, although City are likely to demand £15million.

The youngster’s current deal expires at the end of next season, which could force his club to sell this summer, rather than risk losing him for free in 2023.

The Verdict: Exciting attacking option

While some may turn their noses up at a move for Semenyo, due to him being a Championship player and never playing in the Premier League, someone like Ivan Toney is proof that players can make the step up to the top flight.

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Semenyo could be an exciting young addition for Everton, adding more vibrancy to the attack and bringing versatility, such is his ability to thrive both out wide and centrally.

The City man is coming into the best years of his career and he could provide Frank Lampard with much-needed squad depth, given Richarlison’s exit, Anthony Gordon’s potential departure and Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s current injury.

Arsenal have been told exactly how much it’ll take to sign transfer target Pedro Neto this month…

What’s the word?

According to talkSPORT sources, the Gunners are hoping to sign the Portuguese winger before the 11pm deadline on September 1st but they will need to pay £50m.

They also face competition from Premier League rivals Manchester United.

“BREAKING: Wolves are demanding a fee of £50m for Pedro Neto.

“Arsenal hope to sign the winger, who has also been offered to Man United – talkSPORT sources understand.”

Arteta in dreamland

After game week three, the north London giants remain the only Premier League side with a 100% record, having defeated Crystal Palace, Leicester City and AFC Bournemouth to kickstart the 2022/23 campaign.

Arsenal’s hunt for a new winger goes on and manager Mikel Arteta would surely be in dreamland if he can add Neto to his current in-form squad before the end of the month.

The 22-year-old has started the season awfully quiet, failing to register a goal or assist as Wolves remain winless but there’s no denying that the Portugal international is one of the most exciting talents in the top-flight right now.

Neto missed a large chunk of last season due to a serious knee injury but in 2020/21, the 5 foot 8 dynamo provided five goals and six assists across 31 appearances and that included two goal contributions against the Gunners at both Molineux and the Emirates Stadium.

Last season in the Premier League, despite a lack of substantial minutes, the Wolves gem ranked within the top 1% of all wingers for crosses (4.44 per 90), the top 2% for key passes (2.51 per 90) and the top 3% for shot-creating actions (4.44 per 90), via FBref, who also liken his profile to Bukayo Saka.

Capable of playing on either flank or through the middle, it’s evident that Neto is a major threat on his day and one that Arsenal could benefit from as they look to move club-record flop Nicolas Pepe on.

Neto would need little time to adapt and the fact that he’s similar to Saka could mean he’s a perfect fit for the Spaniard’s system in north London.

As such, technical director Edu Gaspar must look to pay up for the Portuguese, who has been lauded as a “huge talent” by BBC pundit Alan Shearer and dubbed a “superstar” by Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher.

Given the start that his side have enjoyed so far, Arteta would surely be overjoyed at the prospect of signing Neto before the end of the summer transfer window.

AND in other news, Fabrizio Romano: Arsenal eyeing £25m “phenomenon” as “top” priority, Arteta needs him…

The Rangers Review journalist Jonny McFarlane was left praising the display of Malik Tillman as Glasgow Rangers won their Champions League qualifier on Wednesday evening.

The Lowdown: Big win

It was a big win for the Ibrox outfit as Antonio Colak’s goal on the hour mark was enough to send them through to the UEFA Champions League group stages at the expense of PSV.

They will now join fellow Scottish Premiership rivals Celtic for the draw, in what promises to be another exciting European adventure for Giovanni van Bronckhorst and his team.

The Latest: Tillman praised

Taking to Twitter, McFarlane was left praising the performance of Tillman during the game, and noted his ‘outstanding pressing’ before the goal in particular:

“Take a bow Malik Tillman. Outstanding pressing.”

The Verdict: Huge performance

Tillman certainly put in a huge performance on the night, grabbing the assist for Colak’s goal and generally setting the tone for his teammate with his relentless work rate.

The Bayern Munich loanee won eight of his duels in total, and also managed to make two tackles and three successful dribbles (SofaScore).

Going forward, he also recorded one attempt on goal, and produced a match-high five key passes for his teammates (SofaScore).

Nonetheless, Tillman was highly influential in the Gers getting the result that they needed, and now they will be able to enjoy the return of Champions League football to Ibrox.

Bruno Lage made the bold call during the summer not to sign another centre-back, which has now come back to haunt Wolves after Nathan Collins’ sending-off against Manchester City.

Conor Coady, Romain Saiss and Willy Boly all left Molineux during the transfer window, with only Collins arriving as a replacement, which was perhaps always likely to leave the Old Gold short at the back.

While Collins and Max Kilman have shown that they can be a strong partnership in Wolves’ early Premier League games, with three clean sheets in total, there is a serious lack of depth at centre-back.

The club missed out on West Ham’s Craig Dawson on transfer deadline day, while they also turned down the chance to sign Jason Denayer on a free transfer, which may have to be revisited after Collins’ horror tackle.

The Republic of Ireland international was shown a straight red for a high challenge on Jack Grealish, which will see him miss upcoming Premier League games against West Ham, Chelsea and Nottingham Forest.

Given that Wolves have won just one of their opening Premier League games, it is a huge blow for Lage to be without his main centre-back partnership for these fixtures, particularly with tough games to come.

In the 3-0 defeat against Manchester City, Lage opted to deploy Ruben Neves at centre-back following Collins’ sending off, which perhaps emphasises that he does not completely trust either Yerson Mosquera or Toti to come in.

Mosquera has just one substitute appearance in the Carabao Cup to his name, while Toti has played only four Premier League games, so neither are ideal replacements for Collins in the upcoming fixtures.

While it is only three games in this scenario, an injury to Collins or Kilman could be a serious worry for Lage due to the lack of Premier League experience at his disposal, which suggests that his bold decision not to sign another centre-back during the summer has already backfired.

Tottenham Hotspur have suffered an injury blow after Antonio Conte confirmed that Lucas Moura remains sidelined for this weekend’s Premier League game vs Leicester City.

The Lowdown: Moura’s calf injury

The Lilywhites were on the receiving end of a shock 2-0 defeat to Sporting in the Champions League during midweek so will be hoping to put things right when they host Brendan Rodgers’ Foxes on Saturday.

The 30-year-old Brazilian has been ruled out of action since the end of August with a calf injury sustained against Chelsea, and after a fresh update, it sounds as if supporters won’t be seeing him until after the international break.

The Latest: Conte’s fitness update

Speaking to SPURSPLAY after training on Thursday, Conte revealed that Moura, once again, will not be available for selection when his side take on Leicester.

As quoted by Tottenham’s official website, he said:

“Yes, only Lucas is out. The other players are all available for Leicester.”

The Verdict: Setback for Spurs

Whilst Moura has fallen down the pecking order following the arrivals of Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison, he is still a hugely effective player and it will be a blow for Conte to not have him at his disposal.

The Brazilian, dubbed a ‘ridiculous’ player by sports journalist Josh Bunting, netted eight goals and registered six assists in all competitions last season (Transfermarkt), showing the attacking contribution he can make in the final third.

Moura would have by no means been named in Spurs’ starting XI this weekend, but he would have still provided the boss with an excellent option from the bench which will no doubt be missed by the Italian.

Middlesbrough should be competing for a Championship play-off spot rather than struggling in the relegation zone, according to Sunderland writer and podcaster Philip West. 

The lowdown

After 10 matches, the Teessiders sit 22nd in the table, and to make matters worse, 23rd-placed Huddersfield Town have a game in hand.

Chris Wilder’s team have picked up just two victories, in addition to four draws and four defeats, and only two sides in the division – Hull City (21) and Bristol City (16) – have conceded more goals than Boro so far this term (15).

On Saturday, they missed the chance to move out of the relegation zone after being held to a goalless draw by Rotherham United at the Riverside Stadium.

The latest

West took to Twitter to express his surprise at Middlesbrough’s woes, having expected them to make a promotion push this season, echoing some pre-season Championship previews. He feels that Sunderland should have beaten their local rivals in the recent Tees-Wear derby, which Boro won 1-0.

He tweeted: “I’m staggered at how poorly Chris Wilder is doing at Middlesbrough.

“I really thought they’d kick on and be targeting the playoffs as a minimum this season, but it’s not working at all. Makes our loss at the Riverside slightly more frustrating, for me.”

The verdict

Part of the reason for West’s surprise may be that Middlesbrough were among the Championship’s highest spenders in the summer. They ranked fourth in the division for total expenditure after shelling out more than £8m on 11 new players.

The only major departure from the squad which finished seventh last season, narrowly missing out on the play-offs, was midfielder Marcus Tavernier, who joined Bournemouth. That makes their current struggles all the harder to fathom.

Wilder took Sheffield United into the Premier League in his last full season in the Championship in 2018/19, but he looks like he has his work cut out to turn things around at the Riverside Stadium – if indeed he is given the time to do so.

Harry Kane’s quest to become the Premier League’s all-time record goalscorer could see him stay at Tottenham Hotspur, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.

The Lowdown: Kane linked with Spurs exit

The 29-year-old’s future has been a big talking point of late, with reports linking him with a move away from Spurs in the not-too-distant future. Bayern Munich have stood out as potential suitors, but a shock switch to Chelsea also hasn’t been ruled out, should Kane desire a new challenge away from N17.

There is plenty of hope that the England captain will stay out and sign a new deal, though, especially with him eyeing up Alan Shearer’s Premier League record.

The Latest: Sheth thinks Kane could stay

Speaking to GiveMeSport, Sheth claimed that Kane’s focus on topping the scoring charts could be a big factor in him possibly extending his stay at Spurs..

The journalist stated:

“The other thing I would say is we can’t underestimate the ambition of Harry Kane to become the Premier League’s highest ever goalscorer.

“He’s chasing down Alan Shearer’s record of 260 goals and he probably thinks he can make that; he probably thinks he’s got enough seasons in him at the top level to be able to break that record.

“To move to Bayern Munich or to move away from the Premier League, even for one or two seasons, that would effectively end any kind of hope he would have of becoming the Premier League all-time record goalscorer. So, I think that is another aspect that you’d have to look at as well, when a club comes in for him.”

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The Verdict: Motivation to stay at Spurs

While Kane has never won a trophy in his career and will clearly want to change that soon, he is also a player who seems hugely driven by individual statistics.

He may be obsessed with beating Shearer’s tally of 260 Premier League goals, and with the Spurs hero on 189 and still at his peak, the target feels comfortably within reach at this point in his career.

For that reason, it would be a big surprise if Kane were to suddenly move abroad when he could be on the cusp of something special, while moving to a local and positional rival in Chelsea seems incomprehensible.

Despite the ongoing rumours over his future, he could yet commit his future to Tottenham, for the reasons that Sheth has stated.