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Wolverhampton Wanderers look to have been handed a boost regarding the return to fitness of Ruben Neves.

What’s the latest?

In recent photographs published on the Wolverhampton Wanderers website, the central midfielder, who only managed to feature for one minute of the 1-1 draw with Leeds United last weekend as a result of a knock picked up in the days leading up to the fixture, can be seen taking part in full training with Bruno Lage’s first-team squad – something that would suggest the Portugal international has now recovered from his injury.

Lage will be buzzing

Considering just how important a part of the Wolves side Neves has proven himself to be in recent seasons, the fact that the midfielder looks as if he will be available for selection for the visit of Everton on Monday evening is sure to have left Bruno Lage buzzing.

Indeed, over his nine Premier League appearances so far this season, the £37.8m-rated man has scored one goal and created one big chance for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 1.2 shots and making 1.4 key passes per game.

The 24-year-old has also impressed in metrics more typical of his position, making an average of 0.6 interceptions, two tackles, 1.4 clearances and winning 3.7 duels per fixture.

These returns have seen the £50k-per-week midfielder average a SofaScore match rating of 7.21, ranking him as Wolves’ second-best performer in the top flight.

As such, it is clear to see that Neves is a crucial player within Lage’s first-team squad, and his return to full fitness will undoubtedly provide the 45-year-old manager’s chances of picking up a positive result against Everton with a rather significant boost – something that Lage will undoubtedly be desperate for after the disappointment of dropping two points in the dying stages of the Leeds game last time out.

In other news: Shi must avoid Jan disaster on “undefendable” £46k-p/w ace, Wolves fans would be livid

Steve Bruce must unleash attacking midfielder Romaine Sawyers and involve him at the Hawthorns next season. The £1.3m-rated player has spent this season on loan at fellow Championship club Stoke City and could be key to the Baggies’ push for promotion next season.

Sawyers has featured 20 times for Stoke this campaign and has been one of the best midfielders at the club averaging the second-most assists of any midfielder at the club per 90 minutes.

His contract with West Brom runs out in the summer and his future is “up in the air” according to reporter Steve Madeley. However, the club are understood to have an option to extend his terms by a further 12 months and we think they should.

The 30-year-old watched from the sidelines as the Potters beat his parent club 3-1 last time out. However, speaking after the game Bruce gave Sawyers hope that he still had a future at the club.

He admitted that the player is “in his thoughts” and that he’s “always liked him” and with the club not willing to settle for being mid-table in the Championship he can look to Sawyers to help them climb the table next season.

The player moved to the West Midlands in 2019 for £2.8m after impressing at Brentford the season before assisting seven goals in 42 games. He then made several appearances in his first two seasons, including in the Premier League, before being loaned out when the club got relegated.

His experience is something West Brom can rely on and might need if they are to get back into the top flight, and Bruce seems to recognise that.

If you compare him to the Baggies’ current midfielders then it proves even more why they need to keep him. His number of goals and assists per 90 minutes is 0.31 compared to Alex Mowatt who has 0.19.

He even has one more assist this season than Mowatt despite playing 13 games less.

Ultimately he’s a player worth keeping hold of, at 30 it’s not worth offering him a long term contract, and West Brom are unlikely to make any profit from selling him.

Their best bet is to try and get the most out of him next season, and he could well help get them promoted.

IN other news: West Brom: Grady Diangana struggled in defeat to Stoke City…

To say things have been turbulent for Leeds United in recent weeks would be an understatement, with three defeats in a row from their previous three league fixtures and a total of 14 goals conceded in those games.

In addition to this dismal run of form, Leeds have a very hefty injury list at the moment with the likes of Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford, Rodrigo and Pascal Struijk out on the sidelines.

As well as these injured players, it seems as though the Yorkshire club have another player out of action for the time being, which will not please many fans at Elland Road.

What’s the latest?

Speaking in his post-match press conference (via Leeds Live) after their 4-1 defeat against Arsenal, Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa revealed that defender Charlie Cresswell was supposed to be in the matchday squad for the clash against the Gunners but had to pull out with a shoulder injury.

Bielsa then said that Cresswell now has a “long period of recovery” ahead of him, which suggests that his injury is a serious one and he could be out for a while.

Given the injuries to the likes of Cooper and Struijk and the fact that Leeds have conceded as many as 14 goals in their three recent league games, it’s safe to say that they could do with as many defensive players available as possible, which makes this injury to Cresswell such a big blow.

Even though the 19-year-old has only made four league appearances for Leeds this season, completing the full 90 minutes in just one of them, Bielsa would have undoubtedly preferred to have the teenager available in his squad for the Arsenal game and their next fixtures moving forward to call upon if needed judging by prior injury concerns.

Looking ahead to the future, Bielsa and everyone else at the Yorkshire club will be hoping that their injury situation can improve sooner rather than later so they can have the likes of Phillips, Cresswell, Cooper and Struijk back available again. Once they have all of them back, their chances of avoiding relegation will improve significantly.

In other news: Forget Raphinha: Leeds’ £3.6m gem with 3 key passes was Bielsa’s shining light v AFC – opinion

Tottenham Hotspur will be “confident” of signing Stefan de Vrij this month…

What’s the word?

That’s according to journalist Paul Brown, who delivered a claim about Spurs’ interest in the Inter Milan defender to GIVEMESPORT recently.

Back in November, Football Insider revealed that the Dutch centre-back had told friends that he would be interested in a switch to north London to work under his former boss Antonio Conte. It’s thought that the Italian rates De Vrij a lot higher than Milan Skriniar, who was close to joining the Lilywhites during the 2020 summer transfer window.

Brown claimed: “I think they’d be fairly confident (of signing De Vrij). It just depends if Inter have a realistic price for him considering he doesn’t have long left on his contract.”

Conte loves him

It’s believed that the addition of a new central defender is among the priorities for Spurs during the January transfer window, and Conte’s former star could fit the bill greatly.

That’s hardly a surprise given that it is arguably one of the weakest areas of the pitch right now. Summer signing Cristian Romero is out injured and left-back Ben Davies is playing in the middle, whilst the remaining options of Davinson Sanchez, Eric Dier, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tangnaga have gone through inconsistencies and often cause mistakes.

Conte has tons of familiarity with De Vrij as the 6 foot 2 colossus played an integral role towards Inter securing their first Serie A title in over a decade, in which the Nerazzurri also recorded the best defensive record in the league.

In 2020/21, the 55-cap defender averaged an impressive 93.8% passing accuracy across 32 appearances, excelling with the ball at his feet, on top of two aerial duels won and 1.3 interceptions per league outing, proving to be a physical beast too (via WhoScored).

De Vrij was once lauded as a “monster” by his former Lazio teammate Mauricio, who told ESPN: (via Football Italia) “Stefan is a great defender and deserves to be at a big club. He’s very tall, he’s strong and fast, he runs a lot – he’s a monster!”. Mauricio later added: “He’s a calm defender who never gets agitated.”

It remains to be seen how much the Serie A giants would command for their leading defender, though Transfermarkt’s £40.5m valuation suggests that he wouldn’t come cheap.

However, on the above evidence, De Vrij would be a much-needed and welcome addition, especially considering how much Conte loves him. Spurs must look to seal his signature before the end of the month.

AND in other news, Spurs plotting move for “phenomenal” £16.2m-rated speed demon, he’s perfect for Conte…

A new loan ruling that is set to be implemented next season could have a big impact on Wolves, according to reliable journalist Tim Spiers.

The Lowdown: New loan ruling

According to The Athletic, clubs will be limited on the number of international players they can have out on loan in the future.

From next season, teams will only be allowed to have eight players on temporary moves elsewhere and that number will drop to six by 2024.

Wolves currently have ten players out on loan, highlighting how clubs will be affected by the new venture moving forward.

The Latest: Spiers reacts to claim

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Spiers gave his thoughts on the news, discussing how it will impact on Wanderers’ business:

“New loan rules coming in next season which will impact Wolves, who had 10 players on loan overseas in the first half of the season (max of 8 next year then max 6 from 2024) and four at Grasshoppers (max 3 at one club).”

The Verdict: Good decision

In truth, it is healthy to see this ruling introduced, with the report correctly stating that it is a good way of preventing clubs from ‘stockpiling talent’.

It is good to see that players aged 21 and under won’t be affected, however, as loan moves can be healthy for their development, such as Wolves forward Theo Corbeanu, who is currently at MK Dons.

It will make teams think more about recruitment in general and potentially ensure they get the most out the players already in their ranks, rather than stockpiling players for purely financial reasons.

In other news, some Wolves fans have reacted to an exit rumour regarding one player. Find out who it is here.

Sunderland have had their fair share of transfer successes and disasters over the years as they have felt the wrath of the window as well as the joy of it.

Not all moves work out as it is impossible to guarantee that a player will be able to fit in with the squad and consistently perform on the pitch.

Whilst it is easy to look at the transfers that did happen and judge them, you can also look at prospective switches that didn’t go through in the end.

According to The Sunderland Echo, one player the Black Cats attempted to land was Brad Friedel for £600k in 1995 as Peter Reid looked to snap up the shot-stopper. The move fell through due to a work permit issue, despite him having played for Newcastle’s reserves earlier in 1994.

Instead of moving to Wearside, he sealed a transfer to Turkish giants Galatasaray. The giant kept 15 clean sheets in 37 appearances before moving back to the MLS with Colombus Crew, playing 45 times and keeping 13 clean sheets for the American outfit.

He then found his way to England as he secured a switch to Liverpool in 1997. This suggests that Sunderland did not get in quickly enough as soon as he was eligible for a work permit, as their interest in 1995 indicates that they would have had an advantage over their rivals as they already did their homework on the goalkeeper and had spoken with him previously to agree the £600k transfer.

Friedel endured a mixed time with the Reds as he kept eight shutouts in 31 outings across three seasons. Blackburn snapped him up from Anfield in 2000 and this is where his career exploded as he enjoyed a sublime spell with the Lancashire side. He played a whopping 355 matches for the club and kept the opposition out 118 times in what was a magnificent spell at Ewood Park.

The USA international ended his career with Aston Villa and Tottenham, making 198 appearances between the two clubs – keeping 55 shutouts.

Mark Bosnich previously lavished the veteran with praise, saying: “I remember talking to my then-agent Graham Smith and saying ‘this boy is really talented.’

“He then arrived at Liverpool, had a bit of a tough time, but since then his form for Blackburn and Villa has been absolutely outstanding.

“He is like a fine wine – as he’s got older he’s got better and better. Fair play, even when I first saw him he was very talented and he’s developed brilliantly.”

Overall, the monster ended his career with 450 appearances in the Premier League and 132 clean sheets between the sticks. He enjoyed a fantastic spell in England and Sunderland missed out on his talents, which is why this failed transfer was a blunder by the club as he was one that got away…

AND in other news, Sunderland heading for big disaster over £2.7k-p/w gem who’s “a dream for any manager”…

Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to extend their lead at the top of Group G in the UEFA Conference League later this evening.

Nuno Santo will take a much-changed squad to the Netherlands to face Vitesse and they head into kickoff on the back of three straight wins in all competitions, including a 5-1 whitewash against NS Mura in this very competition last time out.

Spurs defeated Newcastle United on Sunday to go fifth in the Premier League standings but none of the starting XI are expected to feature today.

But what sort of lineup could the Portuguese head coach select? Here’s what we are predicting…

As already mentioned, there could be a whole new 11 starting in Holland.

Between the sticks, club captain Hugo Lloris is replaced by Pierluigi Gollini, who has started all four of their matches in this tournament, whilst there could be a new back four of Ben Davies, Davinson Sanchez, Joe Rodon and Japhet Tanganga.

They come in for first-choice quartet of Sergio Reguilon, Eric Dier, Cristian Romero and Japhet Tanganga. The latter of which gets the nod over Matt Doherty, despite the Northern Irishman featuring regularly in this competition as he misses out through injury, along with Ryan Sessegnon.

Giovani Lo Celso was one player who did not see any minutes on the pitch at St James’ Park, so he is likely to come in to partner Harry Winks, with Dele Alli also coming back into the starting XI, likely as captain, despite being snubbed in their last two league outings.

Nuno has already confirmed that Steven Bergwijn will be back after injury, so he lines up on the right over Lucas Moura, as 20-year-old “big talent” Bryan Gil takes the place of Heung-min Son on the other flank.

Teenage starlet Dane Scarlett is in line for an opportunity as the only other centre-forward available to the manager. His involvement means Harry Kane is rested ahead of the weekend.

The likes of Dilan Markanday, Nile John, Jack Clarke and Harvey White could be involved from the bench.

AND in other news, Paratici could fix Nuno’s biggest problem with Spurs swoop for £31.5m-rated “animal”…

Craig Hope has delivered an update on Newcastle United’s transfer pursuit of Lille defender Sven Botman.

What’s the story?

Writing on Twitter, Hope said: “Sven Botman is interesting. They watched him when Lille played at Chelsea recently but there’s also now a suggestion they’re looking at other options. I’d say Diego Carlos is looking less likely given age & fee, it felt like one for January only.”

Better than Van Dijk?

Standing at 6 foot 5, Botman is a physically imposing defender, much like his Dutch compatriot Virgil van Dijk. Described as someone who is emerging as a “leader” by his boss at Lille, the centre-back has produced some superb performances this season for the French side.

Indeed, speaking on his podcast, Duncan Castles revealed that Botman’s teammate at Lille, Jose Fonte, had told him he rated him better than anyone else he has played alongside.

He said: “Fonte has played with an array of top-class centre-backs in his career including Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, Pepe in the Portuguese national team and Gabriel last season who is now at Arsenal. From what I understand of Fonte’s impression of Botman, he thinks he’s the best of all of them.

“He describes him as a machine and a man who doesn’t make mistakes and also indicates that for a young player playing alongside an experienced professional, he’s very open to learning and taking instruction and improving his game.”

For Fonte to suggest Botman is better than even someone like Van Dijk, who of course is a Champions League and Premier League winner now at Liverpool, is certainly a massive statement to make, but one that makes the prospect of him joining Newcastle even more mouth-watering than it already is.

And when you compare some of the key defensive stats between the duo, there’s not a lot between them.

As per Sofascore, Botman wins 3.9 total duels per game at an impressive average of 67%, which only just falls shy of Van Dijk’s 4.4 and 72% respectively. The Lille man actually also makes more than double the amount of tackles as the Dutchman, while they both register 0.9 interceptions per match.

In terms of bringing the ball out from the back, the pair average 0.2 dribbles per game although Botman has a perfect success rate of 100% – that’s not to mention he is incredibly similar when passing out too, boasting an 88% pass accuracy to Van Dijk’s 89%, and having the same percentage when it comes to successful long balls.

The 6 foot 5 defender could be a superb addition to this Newcastle side in the summer.

AND in other news – Sold for £36.9m, now worth £720k: Newcastle enjoyed a blinder with “unplayable” flop

Wolves are ready to turn down the opportunity to re-sign Matt Doherty from Tottenham this month, according to a fresh transfer rumour.

The Lowdown: Doherty tipped for Wolves return

The 29-year-old has struggled to make a significant impact at Spurs since leaving Molineux in 2020, making just 42 appearances in the last couple of seasons.

As such, Doherty has been linked with a return to Wolves in the January transfer window, in a move that could potentially go down well with Wanderers supporters given his incredible production in his last spell with the club, scoring 28 times in over 300 appearances..

If a new report is to be believed, however, the 25-cap Republic of Ireland international will not be making his way back to the Midlands.

The Latest: Contrasting rumour emerges

According to The Mirror, Wolves are ‘ready to snub’ a return for Doherty, with the player himself not thought to be keen on the idea of a move back.

The right-back still wants to remain in the Premier League, however, and an exit from Spurs could still be on the cards.

The Verdict: Could be an error

Doherty was a brilliant servant for Wanderers over many years, so the idea of missing out on a reunion with him is disappointing.

Granted, the former Black Country star is about to turn 30 later this month but he has been hailed as ‘absolutely superb’ by Danny Mills in the past and his attacking quality is undeniable, having registered 41 assists for Wolves last time out – that sort of creativity from the flank would not go amiss.

He would provide ideal competition and support for Nelson Semedo, adding depth in a position that requires players to maintain an immense level of fitness.

In other news, some Wolves fans have flocked to a piece of transfer news. Read more here.

After the departure of Dean Smith at Aston Villa, the club’s new manager Steven Gerrard has had the perfect start by winning his first two games in charge.

Despite it still being the early days of his reign at Villa Park, it seems as though they has already identified a new player that they would like to add to Gerrard’s squad.

What’s the word?

In a recent report from Ole (via Sport Witness) Villa have shown their interest in signing River Plate attacker Julian Alvarez after it was previously reported by the same publication that the Argentine club’s vice-president Jorge Brito revealed that the 21-year-old’s representatives recently travelled to England for discussions.

As a product of River Plate’s youth system, Alvarez – who is currently valued at £18m by Transfermarkt – has made a total of 92 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 33 goals and providing 23 assists in the process, which is presumably why Villa have such an interest in the attacker.

So far this season, the 21-year-old – who has been likened to former Liverpool and Barcelona striker Luis Suarez in terms of being “hungry” out on the pitch by Sebastian Abreu – has racked up 17 goals and six assists in 18 league appearances.

This hunger can be seen by the fact that Alvarez has averaged 3.3 shots and 2.1 key passes per game in the league, higher for both metrics than what current Villa striker Ollie Watkins has produced in the Premier League this season.

Taking this impressive goalscoring record and his age into account, the Argentine youngster could be a perfect signing for Gerrard as a young goalscorer with immense potential and attitude.

Moving forward, with Villa CEO Christian Purslow recently suggesting that some deals could be made in the upcoming January transfer window as Gerrard looks to make his mark on the team, this could pave a way for the club to make a swoop for Alvarez and keep him out of the clutches of Real Madrid, Inter, AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Ajax, who all reportedly have an eye on the Argentine as well.

 In other news: Gerrard could be heading for his first AVFC disaster over £31.5m-rated “absolute joy”